The legislation was introduced in bill HB120 on Dec. 10, 2018, when Rep. Michael J. Madigan (D-22) filed it with the House clerk.
According to the General Assembly website, the bill as introduced was designed to "amend the Freedom of Information Act" and "make a technical change in a section concerning the short title".
After debate, the House passed the bill on April 4 and it arrived in the House on May 23, and both chambers agreed to the final version of the legislation on May 29. The bill was sent to the governor and signed into law on Aug. 9. The law went into effect immediately.
Illinois legislature enacts laws through bills that can be introduced in either the state House of Representatives or the state Senate. Either chamber of the legislature can reject or amend a bill before it becomes law. Legislators sometimes sponsor "shell bills" devoid of substantive provisions, introduced with the intention of being amended later to include actual legislation.
The following table shows the full history of actions on HB120.
| Date | Chamber | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 12/10/2018 | House | Prefiled with Clerk by Rep. Michael J. Madigan |
| 1/9/2019 | House | First Reading |
| 1/9/2019 | House | Referred to Rules Committee |
| 1/29/2019 | House | Assigned to Executive Committee |
| 2/6/2019 | House | Do Pass / Short Debate Executive Committee; 007-005-000 |
| 2/7/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate ** |
| 3/18/2019 | House | Chief Sponsor Changed to Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit |
| 3/19/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Rules Refers to Veterans' Affairs Committee |
| 3/19/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules Committee |
| 3/19/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate |
| 3/19/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit |
| 3/29/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Recommends Be Adopted Veterans' Affairs Committee; 013-000-000 |
| 4/2/2019 | House | Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Mike Murphy |
| 4/2/2019 | House | Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Daniel Swanson |
| 4/2/2019 | House | Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Randy E. Frese |
| 4/2/2019 | House | Chief Sponsor Changed to Rep. Jerry Costello, II |
| 4/2/2019 | House | Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit |
| 4/3/2019 | House | House Floor Amendment No. 1 Adopted |
| 4/3/2019 | House | Second Reading - Short Debate |
| 4/3/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Daniel Didech |
| 4/3/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. John Connor |
| 4/3/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Carol Ammons |
| 4/3/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Maurice A. West, II |
| 4/3/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Jonathan Carroll |
| 4/3/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate |
| 4/4/2019 | House | Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 112-000-000 |
| 4/4/2019 | Senate | Arrive in Senate |
| 4/4/2019 | Senate | First Reading |
| 4/4/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading |
| 4/4/2019 | Senate | Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. John J. Cullerton |
| 4/4/2019 | Senate | Referred to Assignments |
| 4/23/2019 | Senate | Alternate Chief Sponsor Changed to Sen. Cristina Castro |
| 4/24/2019 | Senate | Assigned to Veterans Affairs |
| 5/2/2019 | Senate | Do Pass Veterans Affairs; 006-000-000 |
| 5/2/2019 | Senate | Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Referred to Assignments |
| 5/2/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant |
| 5/2/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 7, 2019 |
| 5/2/2019 | Senate | Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Cristina Castro |
| 5/7/2019 | Senate | Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Assignments Refers to Veterans Affairs |
| 5/7/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Antonio Muñoz |
| 5/8/2019 | Senate | Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Referred to Assignments |
| 5/8/2019 | Senate | Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Cristina Castro |
| 5/9/2019 | Senate | Second Reading |
| 5/9/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 14, 2019 |
| 5/14/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Melinda Bush |
| 5/14/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Emil Jones, III |
| 5/14/2019 | Senate | Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Assignments Refers to Veterans Affairs |
| 5/16/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr. |
| 5/17/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Bill Cunningham |
| 5/17/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Steven M. Landek |
| 5/20/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Dale A. Righter |
| 5/20/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Craig Wilcox |
| 5/20/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Paul Schimpf |
| 5/21/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Jason Plummer |
| 5/21/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Neil Anderson |
| 5/21/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Brian W. Stewart |
| 5/22/2019 | Senate | Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Recommend Do Adopt Veterans Affairs; 006-000-000 |
| 5/22/2019 | Senate | Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Recommend Do Adopt Veterans Affairs; 006-000-000 |
| 5/22/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Robert Peters |
| 5/23/2019 | House | Placed on Calendar Order of Concurrence Senate Amendment(s) 1, 2 |
| 5/23/2019 | House | Arrived in House |
| 5/23/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Thomas Cullerton |
| 5/23/2019 | Senate | Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Adopted; Castro |
| 5/23/2019 | Senate | Recalled to Second Reading |
| 5/23/2019 | Senate | Third Reading - Passed; 058-000-000 |
| 5/23/2019 | Senate | Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Adopted; Castro |
| 5/23/2019 | Senate | Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading |
| 5/24/2019 | House | Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Motion to Concur Referred to Rules Committee |
| 5/24/2019 | House | Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Motion to Concur Referred to Rules Committee |
| 5/24/2019 | House | Remove Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit |
| 5/24/2019 | House | Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Motion to Concur Rules Referred to Veterans' Affairs Committee |
| 5/24/2019 | House | Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Motion Filed Concur Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit |
| 5/24/2019 | House | Chief Sponsor Changed to Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit |
| 5/24/2019 | House | Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Motion Filed Concur Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit |
| 5/24/2019 | House | Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Motion to Concur Rules Referred to Veterans' Affairs Committee |
| 5/27/2019 | House | Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Motion to Concur Recommends Be Adopted Veterans' Affairs Committee; 011-000-000 |
| 5/27/2019 | House | Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Motion to Concur Recommends Be Adopted Veterans' Affairs Committee; 011-000-000 |
| 5/28/2019 | House | Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Natalie A. Manley |
| 5/29/2019 | House | Passed Both Houses |
| 5/29/2019 | House | Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 House Concurs 118-000-000 |
| 5/29/2019 | House | Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 House Concurs 118-000-000 |
| 5/29/2019 | House | House Concurs |
| 5/31/2019 | Senate | Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson |
| 6/27/2019 | House | Sent to the Governor |
| 8/9/2019 | House | Effective Date August 9, 2019 |
| 8/9/2019 | House | Governor Approved |
| 8/9/2019 | House | Public Act . . . . . . . . . 101-0225 |
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