SPRINGFIELD — With a New Year just days away, this is not just a time for resolutions and a “new year, new me” promise, but also for new laws passed in Springfield to take effect.
New laws include measures that impact fighting crime, government transparency, business, hunting, health, and family.
Several new laws will take effect with the goal of fighting crime, such as Senate Bill 627 that creates additional barriers that can prevent repeat DUI offenders from getting back behind the wheel.
SB 627requires individuals convicted of two or more DUIs or reckless homicide convictions to install a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device as a condition of a Restricted Driving Permit.
Another new law taking effect Jan. 1, goes after designer drug manufacturers.
SB 1129 combats dangerous synthetic or designer street drugs by targeting how they are made and allowing prosecutors to not have to wait as long for lab tests to show if the synthetic drug involved was illegal.
In addition, the sale of powdered caffeine to anyone younger than 18 and the sale of products consisting of or containing powdered alcohol will be prohibited under two new laws.
As more police officers start to use body cameras, SB 1304 establishes new rules and regulations for officers who use the technology.
The new law requires police officers who wear a body camera, to keep it on when conducting any law enforcement activities, among other rules.
Keeping people healthy and avoiding terrible diseases are the goals of a new law that requires any child care facility that takes care of children ages 6 and younger, must show proof their employees received the Tdap vaccine and have received two doses of the Measles, Mumps,
and Rubella (MMR) vaccine or provide proof of immunity under a new law that goes into effect Jan. 1.
Major airports in Illinois will have one year to establish a private breast feeding area set up behind the security screening process in 2016.
SB 344 also requires this area to include a chair and an electrical outlet and be outside the confines of a public restroom.
Illinois joins several other states Jan. 1 with a new law that can help save or prolong people’s lives.
Terminally ill patients in Illinois will have access to clinical trial, experimental medical treatments and medications, thanks to the Right to Try Law.
In keeping with the late Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka’s tradition of government transparency, SB
903 ensures that the Online Ledger and The Warehouse will continue to provide state financial records, official reports, and local government finances to taxpayers.
A complete list of new laws can be seen here.