After the 2020 legislative session was truncated by the coronavirus pandemic, this year turned into a busy one for Illinois lawmakers and Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
From efforts to address the state’s pervasive political corruption to declaring an official state microbe, legislators tackled issues large and small as they passed more than 280 measures that were signed into laws taking effect with the start of the new year.
While some of the most high-profile legislation approved this year, including an energy policy overhaul that aims to make Illinois’ power carbon-free by mid-century, has already gone into effect, the new policies kicking in Jan. 1 touch on many aspects of daily life.
Statewide, the minimum wage increases by $1 to $12 per hour as part of a measure approved in 2019, when the minimum wage was $8.25 per hour, that set Illinois on a path to a $15 minimum wage by 2025.
In Chicago, the minimum wage went up to $15 on July 1 for employers with 21 or more workers. Cook County has set a $13 minimum wage, though most municipalities have opted out.
Law enforcement agencies overseeing counties or cities with 500,000 or more people will be required to equip all of their officers with body cameras. The measure would bring Illinois another step toward requiring all police officers in the state to wear body cameras by 2025.
On Jan. 1, the Chicago Police Department, as well as the Cook, DuPage, Will, Kane and Lake county sheriff’s departments, will have to meet the requirement....
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