New laws 2021: Illinois laws that take effect January 1 in IL - WLS-TV

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CHICAGO (WLS) -- With the start of the New Year, there is always a new set of laws to obey.

Typically there are hundreds of new laws that take effect each, like the 255 new laws in 2020. But the spring legislative session was abruptly cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result lawmakers only passed a handful new laws to take effect in the coming year.

The Senate Democrats recently published their list of new and interesting laws that take effect next year, from new road safety measures, a more civic-minded and inclusive public school curriculum, and another minimum wage increase.

Minimum Wage Increase (Public Act 101-0001)

Illinois one of the states set to raise their minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. In 2021, that means minimum wage will increase to $11 an hour for standard workers, $6.60 an hour for tipped workers, and $8.50 an hour for workers under the age of 18 who work less than 650 hours per calendar year.

As of Jan. 1, 2020, employers are required to pay workers under the age of 18 the full minimum wage if they work more than 650 hours in a calendar year.

Insulin Cost Cap (SB 0667)

This law makes Illinois the second state in the nation to cap copayments at $100 for a 30-day supply of insulin, regardless of the type or amount of insulin needed. The law does not apply to insulin that is administered to patients intravenously.

The law also requires the Illinois Attorney General to investigate the pricing of prescription insulin to ensure consumer protections.

Address Confidentiality for Sexual Assault and Stalking Survivors (HB 2818)

An addition to the state's Address Confidentiality for Victims of Domestic Violence Act, HB 2818 allows victims of sexual assault and stalking, among other crimes, to apply for the address confidentiality program so that their abusers cannot find their address.

The bill also renames the act to the Address Confidentiality for Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking Act.

DNA Samples for Finding Missing Persons (HB 2708)

An amendment passed and approved in 2019, and taking effect on Jan. 1, 2021, HB2708 allows law enforcement to gather DNA samples from a missing person and from family members at the time a missing person report and adds the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System as a partner lab to process the DNA in an effort to find them.

The law also requires law enforcement to dispose of DNA samples from the person or family members after they have been located.

The hope is DNA will help find missing people quicker.

Small Business Grants for Pandemic Relief (HB 357)

Small businesses took an unprecedented hit in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic first induced a strict stay-at-home order and then drastically altered how brick and mortar commerce could operate, with capacity limits and extra safety precautions required.

As the federal government squabbled over national pandemic relief, Illinois established emergency small business grants and loan assistance. The state's Business Interruption Grant program, which is the largest state-run economic support program created in response to the pandemic, has distributed millions of dollars to help stabilize struggling small businesses this year.

Illinois Senate Democrats also highlighted some laws that took effect in 2020 you may have missed:

- Non-moving violations no longer result in the loss of a driver's license (SB 1786)
- Drivers involved in an accident that results in injury while using a phone are subject to a minimum $1,000 fine and could have their licenses revoked (HB 2386)
- Public school students will learn about the roles and contributions of the LGBTQ+ community, and middle schoolers now receive a semester of civics education (HB 246/HB 2265)

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New laws 2021: Illinois laws that take effect January 1 in IL - WLS-TV
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There is no sign that a bill on $2,000 checks is going to get a vote in the Senate - CNN

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Bottom line: There is absolutely no sign right now that a standalone bill on $2,000 checks is going to get a vote on the Senate floor. It looks like McConnell is simply going to run out the clock. There were several opportunities on Tuesday when McConnell could have made that assurance or let Democrats pass the bill with a unanimous consent agreement that would have shielded his members from having to take a potentially tough vote.

McConnell blocked those efforts.

Instead, he gave himself an out card down the line -- and only if he needs one -- by placing on the calendar a bill that would tie a repeal of Section 230 to increasing direct stimulus payments to $2,000 for Americans under a certain income level. The Kentucky Republican may never bring it up. It's there just in case he needs to put something on the floor. Democrats were furious. And there's nothing they can do about it.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tweeted Tuesday evening that direct payments to Americans were expected to begin arriving immediately. These would be the $600 payments included in the relief package President Donald Trump signed on Sunday evening.

McConnell vs. Trump

It's important to remember that McConnell is essentially ignoring Trump's request at the moment. Remember, he never made Trump any promises about what he was or was not going to do on the Senate floor. Trump's statement Sunday night was full of things he thought he'd won. McConnell made no such mention on fulfilling those promises in his own statement thanking Trump. In a lot of ways, this moment isn't that dissimilar to how McConnell has managed Trump for four years, letting the President rant and vent only to quietly conduct things the way he thinks is best for his members in his own chamber (remember how when the tax bill was drafted, McConnell ignored Trump's later requests to bring up health care for the zillionth time).

Trump tweeted on Tuesday that unless senators had a "death wish," they better vote fast on $2,000 checks. This is a time to remember that McConnell literally wrote a memoir that was titled "The Long Game." McConnell isn't focused on the next five days or even the final weeks of Trump's presidency. He's thinking about his majority and his legacy far beyond that. Right now, leadership aides tell me that the thinking is that it may be enough for both Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in Georgia to campaign on the fact that they support $2,000 checks. They don't necessarily need to have demonstrated they voted on it. Caving to a President, who had a negotiator in the room who agreed to $600 checks and is bullying members into voting "yes" on something that goes against the tenets of fiscal conservatism that they built their careers on -- that's not exactly McConnell's style.

Republican opposition to larger checks

At the end of the day, a lot of Republicans are still very uncomfortable with the idea of $2,000 checks for people who made less than $75,000. Even if they did support the direct payments in some capacity, they aren't comfortable with the House-passed bill. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican in leadership, told reporters Tuesday that he doesn't want the money to be "manna from heaven" for those who have been employed this whole time. He argued that if they did vote for bigger checks, they'd need to be far more targeted to people who have been out of work. That view is shared among a lot of members. Yes, a handful of Republicans senators have been on the record saying they'd vote for $2,000 checks. But note that none of them has said explicitly they would vote for the House bill.

"This is all funny money, borrowed money at this point. And that's another consideration, I mean being just ridiculously frivolous about the way we spend money and rack up debt. I think people are willing to do what we need to do when they feel like it's meeting a need, and it's an emergency, which we've already done and will probably continue to do. But this is just, I think, opportunistic on the part of the House," Cornyn said. "They think now they've got, they've got an issue. Unfortunately, it seems to be drowning out all the other good stuff we've done -- $4 trillion worth of relief for the public health and for the economy including these same people."

Stay tuned

Let's never rule anything out. Dynamics change. If something from polling in Georgia begins to shift to the point that McConnell feels like he needs to give Perdue and Loeffler a vote, he will. And he now has one on the calendar he can bring up. Cornyn summed it up best when asked if he thought checks would happen: "I've given up making predictions around here. I didn't think I'd be here today, either. So, I don't know. I don't know the answer."

In the meantime: There is still at least one objection to moving to a final vote to override the National Defense Authorization Act. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has shown no willingness to back off of his demands for a guarantee that there would be a vote on the checks. At this point, senators will return for a procedural vote Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. ET. That vote is simply procedural. A final vote to override could stretch into Saturday if Sanders continues to hold it up. Eventually, it will pass. It's just a matter of how long this takes.

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There is no sign that a bill on $2,000 checks is going to get a vote in the Senate - CNN
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