McHenry Times

Suzanne M. Ness introduced HB1314 in the Illinois House on Jan. 14, 2025, during the general assembly session 104, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. In provisions requiring governmental entities to adopt ordinances or resolutions regulating specified ethical concerns, provides that a governmental entity may create an ethics commission to satisfy the requirements."

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, allowing government entities to establish an ethics commission to fulfill their ethical regulation requirements. These requirements include adopting ordinances or resolutions to regulate political activities and handling the solicitation and acceptance of gifts within six months, excluding community college districts subject to different timelines. Additionally, the bill mandates all governmental units to establish policies to prohibit sexual harassment, detailing the procedures for reporting allegations, prohibitions on retaliation, and consequences for violations. The bill requires amending sexual harassment policies to include an independent review mechanism for allegations against elected officials by other officials in units without an Inspector General. The Attorney General is tasked with developing model ordinances and advising entities on their adoption.

Suzanne M. Ness has proposed another five bills since the beginning of the 104th session.

Ness graduated from Arizona State University in 1999 with a BS.

Suzanne M. Ness is currently serving in the Illinois State House, representing the state's 66th House District. She replaced previous state representative Allen Skillicorn in 2021.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
HB1314	01/14/2025	Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. In provisions requiring governmental entities to adopt ordinances or resolutions regulating specified ethical concerns, provides that a governmental entity may create an ethics commission to satisfy the requirements.
HB1313	01/14/2025	Creates the Illinois Election Integrity Act. Amends the Election Code. Requires that each election authority (i) conduct an election day audit of a random sample of 10% of votes cast and (ii) provide by contract or employment for the performance by one or more independent auditors of post-election parallel tabulations and audits. Provides for the scope of the audits and the resulting reports. Requires that optical scan technology and direct recording electronic voting systems meet certain federal and independent testing standards. Creates a voluntary tax checkoff for the Fund. With respect to early voting, requires that an election authority using only direct recording electronic voting systems have paper ballots available for voters wishing to use them. Amends the State Finance Act. Creates the Election Integrity Fund as a special fund in the State treasury.
HB1329	01/14/2025	Amends the Co-Responder Pilot Program Division of the Illinois Municipal Code. Adds the McHenry County Sheriff's Office to the offices to which the Division is applicable and requires the Office to establish a co-responder unit no later than 6 months after the effective date of the amendatory Act and hire specified personnel. Makes conforming changes, including in the Counties Code. Provides that, along with the duties described elsewhere in the Division, the unit's social workers are responsible for following up with victims (rather than conducting follow-up visits for victims) who may benefit from mental or behavioral health services.
HB1311	01/13/2025	Amends the Employee Classification Act. Provides that in making a determination of a worker's classification under this Act, the Department of Labor shall consider any guidance provided by the Internal Revenue Service of the United States Department of the Treasury.
HB1144	01/09/2025	Amends the Common Interest Community Association Act and the Condominium Property Act. Provides that associations may establish and maintain a system of master metering of public utility services to collect related payments subject to the Residential Property Utility Service Act. Repeals the Tenant Utility Payment Disclosure Act and adds the provisions of the repealed Act to the Residential Property Utility Service Act. Amends the Rental Property Utility Service Act. Provides that a municipality may request a copy in writing of the formula used by the landlord, condominium, or common interest community association for allocating public utility payments among the unit owners. The landlord or condominium or common interest community association shall respond within 30 calendar days of receiving the municipality's request. Prohibits treble damages from being awarded to tenants under the Residential Property Utility Service Act for violations of the amendatory Act.
HB1145	01/09/2025	Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that a taxpayer who employs a person with a developmental disability or a severe mental illness, as certified by the Department of Human Services, during the taxable year is entitled to an income tax credit in an amount equal to 25% of the wages paid by the taxpayer to the person with a developmental disability or severe mental illness, but not to exceed $6,000 in wages paid during the taxable year to any single qualified employee. Effective immediately.
HB1146	01/09/2025	Amends the Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act. Provides that, beginning 18 months after the amendatory Act's effective date, (1) no store or food service business shall provide or sell a single-use plastic carryout bag to a customer and (2) no grocery store shall provide or sell a single-use paper carryout bag to a customer. Preempts home rule powers. Contains other provisions. Effective immediately.