As May approaches, it’s a good time to take stock of some of the legislation covered earlier in the session, among more than 11,400 bills and resolutions filed since the current General Assembly started in January 2025:

Feb. 14: State Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, introduced House Bill 5539 to clarify original statutory language regarding official state identification integrated with mobile devices, specifically a clause stating presentation of phone ID doesn’t constitute consent for looking at anything else.

“Your information is presented digitally to the identity reader, so you’ll never need to show or hand over your iPhone or Apple Watch to any business,” according to the state’s Mobile ID website. In an email, Spain told me the proposal resulted from “several issues” Joint Committee on Administrative Rules members discussed during their meetings.

“As a result, Secretary [of State Alexi] Giannoulias agreed to advance this trailer bill to update the enabling statute to clarify terms, prohibit an outside party from taking physical possession of a mobile ID device and prevent any permanent storage of data from a mobile device,” Spain wrote. “This is a great example of the bipartisan rulemaking process at JCAR.”

That bill has been in the rules committee ever since. However, Senate Bill 3449 contains essentially the same language and passed the Senate 46-11 on April 16. Spain is the chief House sponsor of this bill, which now includes an amendment ensuring any information obtained from a mobile ID “may not be maintained or stored for longer than what is strictly necessary for the purpose for which the information was provided.”

Feb. 25: Andrew Diaz and Allison Hovaniec, who attend Pontiac High School, worked with the Illinois Environmental Council and state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, to draft HB 4652, a plan to mandate vape disposal programs.

The bill picked up two additional sponsors in March, then moved from the Executive to the Cannabis & Intoxicating Products Subcommittee, but on March 27 returned to Rules. In an email, Diaz said House members want to change some of the languages and told the students it wouldn’t pass by the deadline, but they don’t yet have a handle on what amendments are forthcoming.

March 12: SB 3374 would amend the Illinois Vehicle Code by allowing certain government units to lower the default speed limit from 30 to 25 or 20 mph without first conducting a speed study. It’s got a third reading deadline of May 8.

March 28: Although the House Executive Committee voted 12-0 to advance HB 5319, a Public Community College Act amendment to empower those institutions to confer certain bachelor’s degrees, and despite bipartisan backing from dozens of sponsors, the bill is back in the Rules Committee as of April 17.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.