Illinois House Passes Abortion Access Fund, Junk Fee Ban and Consumer Protection Bills
The Illinois House voted Thursday to advance multiple bills that would expand access to abortion care, ban hidden fees, require stores to accept cash, and ensure all customers can access digital coupons. The legislation passed on party lines and now moves to the Senate.
House Bill 5408 would create the Abortion Access Fund under the Illinois Department of Public Health, using an under-used provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurance plans collecting at least $1 per month from enrollees for abortion coverage to transfer 90% of unused funds to the state.
Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, sponsored the bill. She said similar legislation has already passed in California and Maryland.
"We are aware that the Illinois health insurance industry came in kind of late with some concerns regarding the bill, so I anticipate there will be an amendment in the Senate," Moeller said.
The bill passed 69-36 along party lines.
Republican lawmakers strongly opposed the measure. Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, said the state is moving in the wrong direction on abortion services by continuing to provide public funding to organizations like Planned Parenthood.
"Now we see that insurance companies have been putting money into a fund that we are going to access for grants that we are going to give to folks such as Planned Parenthood to continue abortion access here in the state of Illinois," Niemerg said.
Rep. Regan Deering, R-Decatur, asked if the fund would connect to Gov. JB Pritzker's Prairie State Access program. Moeller said the fund would not connect to that program.
A fiscal note from the Illinois Department of Public Health said there would be no fiscal impact to the state in implementing the bill.
The junk fee ban, House Bill 228, sponsored by Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, passed 77-18. The legislation would amend the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to make it a violation for a business to not display all mandatory fees and charges added on top of listed prices.
"This bill delivers on a promise that is quite simple: the price that you see should be the price that you pay," Morgan told lawmakers during floor debate.
Morgan estimated hidden fees cost an average Illinois family $3,000 annually.
The Illinois House approved a ban on junk fees in 2024 but it never received a Senate vote. Gov. JB Pritzker explicitly called for lawmakers to pass the issue during his State of the State address, arguing such fees were quietly nickel-and-diming Illinois families out of thousands of dollars per year.
Nine Republicans joined the supermajority Democrats in supporting the amended bill. However, changes were not enough to remove opposition from the state's top business, banking and hospitality organizations.
Rep. Tom Weber, R-Lake Villa, who voted against the bill, said the underlying idea was good, but the legislation went a step too far on the already overburdened businesses.
House Bill 4592, which requires stores to accept cash in most circumstances, passed unanimously. The bill requires any store with a physical location that employs someone to accept in-person transactions to accept cash for transactions under $500. Stores would not be required to accept currency larger than $20.
The bill would take effect in 2028 and now awaits further consideration in the Senate.
House Bill 45, sponsored by Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, D-Naperville, would require retailers to provide digital promotions or coupons to eligible customers. The original version of the bill required merchants to provide paper coupons, but an amendment broadened the regulation to ensure all eligible customers for a coupon are afforded access to the promotion.
"There is no penalty to the merchant unless the establishment does not cure a violation within 15 days of being notified of the violation," Yang Rohr said.
The bill passed unanimously and moves on to the Senate.
House Bill 5093, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, removes a requirement in state law that a student who attended an Illinois high school could only receive in-state tuition at an Illinois university if they did not establish residency outside the state before enrolling.
With the change, students who attend at least two years of high school in Illinois could receive in-state tuition regardless of whether they moved out of state before going to college.
"As a first generation, I cant imagine having to live in Illinois all my life, but then when I go to a university, be considered for out-of-state tuition because I am an immigrant," Hernandez said.
The bill passed the House on a partisan 71-37 vote, with Republicans arguing the bill would unfairly benefit non-citizens.
House Bill 5302, sponsored by Rep. Justin Slaughter, D-Orland Park, would require the Illinois Department of Corrections to provide opioid antagonists like Narcan to any incarcerated person who was charged for a drug-related offense or has a substance abuse disorder upon their release.
"The bill passed 77-29 and awaits further consideration in the Senate," Slaughter said.
The House approved 81 bills Thursday to bring the week's total to 133.