Ban on ‘captive audience’ meetings, artificial intelligence regulations among 466 bills to be passed this session – Shaw Local

A bill banning what unionists call employer-sponsored “captive audience” meetings about religion and politics has cleared both houses of the General Assembly.

It was one of 466 measures passed during the recently concluded spring session of the Illinois Legislature, including measures targeting artificial intelligence and enabling the issuance of digital driver’s licenses. A Capitol News Illinois analysis shows 287 bills passed in the last two weeks of the session.

If the governor signs the “captive audience” bill, employers will still be able to discuss religion and politics with employees, but employees will have the right to leave meetings, whether they take place during or after work hours, without retaliation.

The Illinois AFL-CIO labor organization introduced the legislation to Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, and celebrated its passage as a victory for workers. In a press release, Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea said the meetings “constitute a direct violation of workers’ rights.”

Meetings were legalized in 1947 under the so-called Taft-Hartley Act. But labor advocates across the country, including other state AFL-CIO chapters and current National Labor Review Commission general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, are working to ultimately ban mandatory attendance at meetings where anti-union rhetoric is shared.

( Read more: Labor-backed bill banning meetings with ‘captive audiences’ awaits action in the House of Representatives )

Citing the Colorado governor’s recent veto of similar legislation, in which he said he would sign a narrower and more neutral bill, Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, said during the debate that the pending legislation, particularly who it would affect and how, would not is well defined.

“Let’s not play politics with unconstitutional legislation that will be struck down in court,” Plummer said.

Of the six states that have enacted similar laws, only two have ongoing lawsuits. One is in Minnesota and was filed by business groups including the National Federation of Independent Business Inc., and the other is in Colorado and was partially dismissed in 2023.

Senate Bill 3649 advanced out of the Senate on a 39-18 partisan vote after being approved by the House 79-30 with some Republican support. The final version has been amended to expressly exclude certain groups – including organizations operating under Art. 501(c)(4, 5, and 6) – that engage in lobbying activities and generally exist for the purpose of advocacy.

For the bill to come into force, the governor must sign it.

Artificial intelligence security

A bill banning the creation and sharing of child sexual abuse materials, called child pornography in state law, created using artificial intelligence, was one of several AI-focused measures aimed at cleansing the General Assembly in its final days.

House Bill 4623, sponsored by Attorney General Kwame Raoul, would expand current child pornography laws to also cover AI-generated child pornography.

Supporters of the bill say that if AI-generated child pornography skyrockets, law enforcement’s ability to identify real cases will become more difficult.

The bill, which passed unanimously in both houses, would also ban the non-consensual distribution of various sexual images generated by artificial intelligence.

House Bill 4875 would protect individuals from having their voice, image or likeness reproduced by artificial intelligence for commercial purposes without their consent. The bill will enable recording artists and the people they work with to seek compensation for the senseless use of their likenesses.

The amended act was approved by both chambers unanimously.

House Bill 4762, also passed unanimously by both chambers, would protect contractors and others from unlawful use of AI replicas. The bill would make contracts unenforceable if the contractor acted in person, the contract did not specify or detail how to use the digital replica, or if he was not represented by a lawyer or trade union during the contract.

Digital IDs

The Secretary of State’s office will be able to issue digital IDs such as driver’s licenses, study permits or state identification cards to Illinois residents under House Bill 4592, which passed unanimously in both chambers.

Under the bill, the cards will be issued “in addition to, and not instead of” a physical ID card.

The solution is to be effective from January 1, 2025, which gives the Secretary of State’s office time to implement and test the new digital identification platform before its launch.

Under the bill, agencies and private entities can choose whether to accept electronic identifiers instead of physical identifiers, but “if requested by law enforcement, the holder of the credentials must provide the physical credentials.”

Under the bill headed to the governor’s desk, a digital phone application that registers ID cards with the secretary of state’s office would cost a maximum of $6.

In 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union released a report warning of potential privacy risks that could result from the digitization of government ID documents. The bill addresses some concerns by prohibiting law enforcement from requesting or searching a person’s phone.

It also requires that the secretary of state “use an electronic credential system that is designed to maximize the privacy of the credential holder… and that will not track or compile information without the credential holder’s consent.”

Discrimination against family responsibilities

House Bill 2161 prohibits workplace discrimination based on family responsibilities.

Senate sponsor Sen. Natalie Toro, R-Chicago, said the bill’s purpose is to “prohibit discrimination based on the assumption that family responsibilities will interfere with job performance.”

For example, Toro said, a woman currently cannot be passed over for a promotion based on her family status if the promotion goes to a man of similar status. But she might lose her promotion to another woman without children.

Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, called the bill unnecessary because the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted federal Title VII — which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and gender — as applying to family obligations cases.

The bill passed the Senate 37 to 19 and the House 74 to 29. The bill will become law if the governor signs it.

Exoneree Higher Education Benefits

Senate Bill 3771 allows exonerees to transfer state benefits covering higher education costs to their dependents. It passed the Senate 45-11 and the House 71-38.

Illinois leads the nation in the number of people exonerated, with over 500 people having had wrongful annulments. Illinois’ layoff payments remain among the lowest in the nation, but the Higher Education Student Aid Act covers public university tuition and fees for layoffs.

( Read more: His sentence was overturned after 35 years of wrongful imprisonment. State law limits his compensation to 14 years. )

The bill allows the state benefit to cover the costs of a private, not-for-profit university, provided the amount does not “exceed the maximum amount of the stipend payable” to a scholarship recipient under the “most expensive comparable” program at a public university in Illinois.

If the recipient, either the exempt or dependent, maintains “satisfactory academic progress,” scholarship funds may pay for up to eight semesters or 12 quarters of full tuition and mandatory fees.

Mold Public Health Campaign

Senate Bill 1087 requires the Illinois Department of Public Health to create a public health awareness campaign to inform the public about the dangers and importance of indoor mold remediation. It also requires IDPH to establish a “procedure for registration with the state by parties providing mold remediation services.”

The bill passed both houses without opposition.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and television stations throughout the state. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, as well as by the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and the Southern Illinois Editorial Association.