Will County Gazette

Meg Loughran Cappel introduced SB1948 in the Illinois Senate on Feb. 6, 2025, during the general assembly session 104, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a vehicle or combination of vehicles operated by an engine fueled wholly or partially by an electric battery or hydrogen fuel cell electric fueling system may exceed the posted weight limits by up to 2,000 pounds."

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Illinois Vehicle Code to allow vehicles or combinations of vehicles that are powered wholly or partially by an electric battery or a hydrogen fuel cell system to exceed posted weight limits by up to 2,000 pounds. This amendment appears to be aimed at incentivizing and accommodating eco-friendly vehicles by providing them with increased weight allowances, recognizing the additional weight of battery and fuel cell systems. However, it stipulates that these vehicles may not exceed any specific weight limitations posted on highways or structures.

Meg Loughran Cappel has proposed another 11 bills since the beginning of the 104th session.

Cappel graduated from Benedictine University with a BA.

Meg Loughran Cappel is currently serving in the Illinois State Senate, representing the state's 49th Senate District. She replaced previous state senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant in 2020.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
SB1948	02/06/2025	Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a vehicle or combination of vehicles operated by an engine fueled wholly or partially by an electric battery or hydrogen fuel cell electric fueling system may exceed the posted weight limits by up to 2,000 pounds.
SB1943	02/06/2025	Amends the School Code. Expands the definitions of "isolated time out" or "time out", "physical restraint" or "restraint", and "time out". Removes exceptions to the prohibition of prone restraint. Removes language providing that the parents or guardian of a student and the State Superintendent of Education shall be informed whenever isolated time out, time out, or physical restraint is used. Establishes complaint procedures to replace the complaint procedures set forth in the State Board of Education's rules. Provides that staff members responsible for implementing isolated time out, time out, or physical restraint must be trained in accordance with the system of non-violent intervention adopted by the school district and must be trained at least once every 2 years in a session that is not less than 6 hours. Requires the State Board to convene a group of stakeholders to annually review: (1) data associated with the use of physical restraint, time out, and isolated time out, and efforts made by public entities to reduce these practices; (2) strategies to reduce physical restraint, time out, and isolated time out; (3) decisions made by the State Board related to physical restraint, time out, and isolated time out; (4) student behavior and behavioral interventions that can be use as an alternative to physical restraint, time out, and isolated time out; and (5) professional development needed for public entities in behavioral interventions to ensure the proper use of physical restraint, time out, and isolated time out. Makes other changes.
SB1944	02/06/2025	Appropriates $9,200,000 to the State Board of Education for the purpose of new principal mentoring and new educator mentoring and coaching. Effective July 1, 2025.
SB1945	02/06/2025	Amends the Educator License Article of the School Code. Provides that if an assessment is determined to be non-uniform, a provisional in-state educator endorsement on an Educator License with Stipulations may be issued to a candidate who has completed an Illinois-approved educator preparation program at an Illinois institution of higher education and who has not successfully completed an applicable content area test but who meets certain requirements, which is valid for one full fiscal year after the date of issuance and may not be renewed. Provides that the process by which the State Board of Education evaluates content area tests to determine content validity, absence of bias, or scores required to pass shall be public information and is available on the website of the State Board. Requires the State Board to evaluate each content area test after it has been administered for at least 10 months, but not more than 12 months, and shall determine whether a content test is non-uniform. Provides that an assessment first introduced prior to January 1, 2017 shall be considered uniform, and an assessment introduced on or after January 1, 2017 that does not meet specified criteria shall be considered uniform. Provides that if the State Board finds that the content area test forms available as of January 1, 2025 are not uniform in the level of difficulty as compared to previous forms of those exams, any candidate for licensure who attempted any content area test in the form that was available as of January 1, 2025, and whose best scores in each subsection of the same content area exam, taken across multiple attempts on the same form of the exam, equal or exceed the passing score for that content area exam as of January 1, 2025, shall be determined to have passed that content area exam.
SB1946	02/06/2025	Amends the School Safety Drill Act. Requires any entity that receives crisis response mapping data to provide copies of the data to appropriate local, county, State, and federal first responders for use in response to emergencies. Requires the State Board of Education to provide crisis response mapping data to eligible entities in the order in which such entities apply for it and until any appropriations made for the purposes of this Section are exhausted. Makes other changes.
SB1947	02/06/2025	Amends the Educator Licensure Article of the School Code. Adds 5 administrative or faculty members of community colleges to the State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board. For a Professional Educator License: provides that the requirements to successfully complete specified coursework are only required until July 1, 2027 or the date that the revised test for a particular content area is implemented, whichever is later; and exempts persons seeking a school support personnel or chief school business official endorsement from the requirement that a person must successfully complete specified coursework. Requires, by July 1, 2027, the State Superintendent of Education to begin incorporating specified topics into revised examinations for individuals seeking a Professional Educator License endorsed in teaching or administration, excluding a chief school business official endorsement. Exempts, for educator licenses, applicants seeking a school support personnel endorsement who hold an active and valid professional license in the same subject matter as the endorsement sought from being required to pass a test of content area knowledge for each area of endorsement for which there is an applicable test. Creates the Teacher Performance Assessment Advisory Committee to aid in operationalizing and creating a pilot, State-developed, teacher performance assessment. Establishes the Paraprofessional to Teacher Pathway Program to provide an expedited pathway for paraprofessionals to earn a Professional Educator License in a specific content area. Sets forth the Program criteria, the requirements for individuals for entry into the Program, and the adoption of rules by the State Board of Education. Provides that an institution of higher education approved to offer educator preparation programs may enter into a partnership agreement with a community college to offer an approved educator preparation program leading to educator licensure for individuals who already hold a bachelor's degree. Makes other changes.
SB2002	02/06/2025	Amends the Illinois State Police Law, the State Finance Act, the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act, the Illinois Vehicle Code, the Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act, the Cannabis Control Act, the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act, the Narcotics Profit Forfeiture Act, the Unified Code of Corrections, the Sex Offender Registration Act, the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act, and the Illinois False Claims Act. Makes changes to provisions concerning how certain moneys paid to the State are deposited into certain funds pertaining to the Illinois State Police. Provides that certain funds shall be dissolved after transferring the remaining balance in those funds to designated funds. Makes conforming changes. Effective September 1, 2026.
SB2003	02/06/2025	Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates an income tax deduction for any amounts paid by the taxpayer's employer on behalf of the taxpayer as part of an educational assistance program. Creates an income tax deduction for any amounts paid by the taxpayer on behalf of an employee of the taxpayer as part of an educational assistance program. Provides that the deductions are limited to the first $5,250 of such assistance so furnished to any individual. Effective immediately.
SB1554	02/04/2025	Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that certain forms of false personation may be accomplished by artificial intelligence. Defines "artificial intelligence".
SB1555	02/04/2025	Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Adds the Secretary of Early Childhood or his or her designee as a member of the Advisory Council on the Education of Children with Disabilities. Provides that the Council shall establish a committee charged with ensuring that all children aged 3 to 5 with disabilities have access to high-quality, inclusive, early-childhood services, provided in the least restrictive environment, across all early learning settings. Effective immediately.
SB1556	02/04/2025	Amends the School Code. Requires the State Board of Education to establish the State Instructional Technology Advisory Board, which shall collaborate with the State Board of Education to provide guidance, integration, oversight, and evaluation of education technologies, including, but not limited to, artificial intelligence technologies. Sets forth the membership of the Advisory Board and terms. Requires the State Board, with the Advisory Board, to develop standards concerning safety, transparency, data privacy, and educational quality for any artificial intelligence technology that may be used in schools and develop guidance for school districts and educators on the use of artificial intelligence in education. Requires the annual school district report to the State Board regarding educational technology capacity and policies to include student, teacher, and district use of artificial intelligence. Effective immediately.
SB1492	01/31/2025	Amends the Property Tax Code. In provisions concerning platted and subdivided but undeveloped property, provides that (i) beginning with the 2025 taxable year, no property's assessed value shall be reduced to less than $150 under those provisions and (ii) beginning with the 2035 taxable year, no property shall be eligible for calculation of its assessed value under those provisions for more than a 10-year period.
SB1493	01/31/2025	Amends the School Boards Article of the School Code. Requires each member of a board of education, on the date of his or her election to the board, to be the age of 22 (rather than 18) years or over.
SB1231	01/24/2025	Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Allows the school district to initiate an impartial due process hearing within 14 (rather than 5) days of any written parent request for an independent educational evaluation to show that its evaluation is appropriate. Requires an independent educational evaluation at public expense to be completed within 60 school days (rather than 30 days) of a parent's written request unless the school district initiates an impartial due process hearing or the parent or school district offers reasonable grounds to show that such time period should be extended. Provides that if the due process hearing decision indicates that the parent is entitled to an independent educational evaluation, it must be completed within 60 school days (rather than 30 days) of the decision unless the parent or the school district offers reasonable grounds to show that such period should be extended.