New state laws in 2022: $12 minimum wage, legal lemonade stands, students' mental health days
The minimum wage in Illinois will rise to $12 per hour, criminal justice reform will continue updating police standards, residents of public housing will be able to keep pets, and students soon can take mental health days without a doctor's note.
Also, schools soon cannot discriminate based on hairstyles, Juneteenth will become a paid holiday, and governments soon cannot shut down kids' lemonade stands.
Those are just some of about 300 new laws that take effect in the new year.
Minimum wage: The increase is actually 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 one dollar to $12 an hour.
Students' mental health days: A new law will allow students in Illinois up to five excused absences to attend to their mental or behavioral health without providing a medical note. Those students will be given an opportunity to make up any work they missed during the first absence and, after using a second mental health day, may be referred to the appropriate school support personnel.
Relatedly, insurers who issue group plans will be required to make sure those they cover have quick access to treatment of mental or emotional conditions or for substance abuse.
Criminal justice reform: The wide-ranging criminal justice overhaul, spurred by police officers' killings of George Floyd and others, will bring the first statewide certification and decertification process for police officers. It standardizes the certification of officers to be tracked by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, and it allows for decertifying officers for repeated errant or unethical behavior, instead of only when they're convicted of a crime.
Pets in public housing: The law allowing public housing tenants to keep pets is the result of Senate Bill 154, by Sen. Linda Holmes, an Aurora Democrat, and Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, an Oswego Democrat. It allows tenants of multifamily housing units that are acquired, built or renovated with money from the Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund to keep up to two cats or one dog weighing less than 50 pounds.
It applies to residents of housing units designated as affordable housing for low- and very-low-income families.
Hairstyles in schools: Starting Jan. 1, schools may not regulate hairstyles historically associated with race and ethnicity, such as dreadlocks, braids and twists.
The new law aims to end discrimination based on students' hairstyles and was inspired by Gus "Jett" Hawkins, a Black student who at age 4 was told to take out his braids because the hairstyle violated the dress code at his private Chicago school.
Juneteenth: The paid state holiday will celebrate June 19, 1865, the day two months after the end of the Civil War when slaves in Texas finally learned they were free. President Joe Biden also signed a law making Juneteenth a federal holiday.
Lemonade stands: Another law cuts some slack for young business owners. If you're under 16 and set up a card table on a hot July day to sell lemonade or another nonalcoholic beverage, you can't be shut down.
"Hayli's Law" is named for Hayli Martenez of Kankakee, who a year and a half ago was shut down by local health officials when at age 11 she set up a business in 2017 to raise money for college.
Other new laws:
Drug prices: Pharmacies will have to post a notice informing consumers that they may request current pharmacy retail prices at the point of sale.
Vehicle taxes: The sales tax paid on the purchase of vehicles will rise by $75 for each model year where the purchase price is less than $15,000 and by $100 for vehicles priced above that amount. But the registration fee for trailers weighing less than 3,000 pounds will drop to $36 instead of $118.
FOID card changes: The Firearm Owner Identification card law will change. Among other things, the renewal process for FOID cards and Concealed Carry Licenses will be streamlined for people who voluntarily submit fingerprint records. The Illinois State Police soon can issue a combined FOID card and Concealed Carry License to qualified applicants. And a new Violent Crime Intelligence Task Force will be established to take enforcement action against people with revoked FOID cards.
College admissions: The Higher Education Fair Admissions Act prohibits public colleges and universities from requiring applicants to submit SAT, ACT or other standardized test scores as part of the admissions process, although prospective students may choose to submit them if they wish.
Organ transplants: Health care providers will be prohibited from discriminating against a person with a mental or physical disability by deciding he or she is ineligible for an organ transplant.
Official flags: State agencies and institutions will be required to purchase Illinois and American flags made only in the United States.
"Spouse": Married people may request a copy of their marriage certificate with the term "spouse" instead of a gender-identifying word. Under a different law, when listing their directors, public corporations must use the director's self-identified gender or sexual orientation.
"Sterilizing" pets: The vet will no longer "spay" or "neuter" your cat or dog, but regardless of gender, will "sterilize" your fuzzy friend, according to the language of the Animal Control Act.
Local journalism: A former Rockford television news anchor, Democratic Sen. Steve Stadelman, won approval for a task force to study the local news industry. Thirteen task force members representing broadcast and print media, journalism schools, and state and local government must report by Jan. 1, 2023, on ways to preserve news coverage in small and midsized communities.
• Capitol News Illinois and The Associated Press contributed to this report.