In the early morning of Wednesday, May 29, the 103rd General Assembly adjourned its spring legislative session. Most significantly, lawmakers passed the final budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, including nearly $250 million in new investments for child care, preschool, home visiting, and Early Intervention (EI) as part of Smart Start Illinois. Governor JB Pritzker approved the state spending plan on June 5. Read our full response to the FY 2025 budget.  

Legislators approved several other bills advancing our prenatal-to-age-three policy priorities during this session. The following measures now await the Governor’s signature or have recently been signed into law:

Healthy Parents & Babies

• SB 3130, which establishes pregnancy as a qualifying life event for special enrollment in a health insurance plan once the state-based exchange is operational.
• SB 3136, the Family Recovery Plans Implementation Task Force Act, which creates an inter-agency task force to develop recommendations for Illinois to implement a model for serving infants with prenatal substance exposure that is less punitive for families.
• SB 3182, which requires hospitals to notify the gestational parent of a stillborn fetus of the parent’s right to receive a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth.
• HB 5142, which requires private health insurance to cover services for pregnancy, postpartum, and newborn care provided by doulas, midwives, and lactation consultants, as well as related medical supplies, starting in 2026.
• HB 5493, which prohibits health insurers from requiring prior authorization for obstetrical or gynecological care.

High-Quality Early Learning

• SB 2675, which expands eligibility for the Early Childhood Construction Grant (ECCG) to not-for-profit entities that rent or lease from another not-for-profit entity.
• HB 4491, which permits certain experienced teachers to open or close an early childhood facility on a given day, instead of the director.

Financially Secure Families

• HB 2161, which amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to prohibit employers from refusing to hire, refusing to promote, firing, disciplining, harassing, or retaliating against an employee based on actual or perceived family responsibilities.
• HB 4951, the FY 2025 revenue package, which includes a new state-level child tax credit for working parents with at least one child under age 12.
• HB 5290, the Medical Debt Relief Act, which establishes a pilot program to acquire and discharge the medical debt of eligible low- and middle-income Illinois residents; the FY 2025 state budget includes $10 million to fund this effort.

Strong Infrastructure

• SB 1, which establishes the new Illinois Department of Early Childhood. 
• HB 4959, the FY 2025 Budget Implementation Act, which, among other provisions, makes permanent the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) program.

Coming up next, the General Assembly reconvenes briefly this fall to hold its veto session from November 12-21. In the meantime, our #billsforbabies series will be exploring what the passage of these bills mean for Illinois' expecting families, infants and toddlers. Be sure to follow @raisingillinois on Twitter/X and Facebook to learn more all summer long!