SPRINGFIELD — Minimum wage workers in Illinois will see a boost in their hourly pay to $12 per hour starting Jan. 1, while tenants in affordable housing units will be allowed to keep pets.
Those are just some of the more than 300 new laws taking effect in the new year.
The minimum wage increase is the result of a 2019 law that phases in a state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. This year, it will increase by a dollar to $12 an hour.
The law allowing public housing tenants to keep pets is the result of Senate Bill 154 by Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, and Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego. It states that tenants of multifamily housing units acquired, built or renovated with money from the Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund may keep up to two cats or one dog, as long as the dog weighs less than 50 pounds.
It applies to residents of units designated as affordable housing for low- and very-low-income families. The bill passed both chambers on May 30; Gov. JB Pritzker signed it into law on Aug. 6.
Other new laws:
Vehicle taxes: Senate Bill 58 raises the private vehicle tax, a sales tax paid on the purchase of vehicles, by $75 when the sale price is less than $15,000 and by $100 for vehicles priced above that amount. The registration fee for trailers weighing less than 3,000 pounds will drop to $3 from its current $118.
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