2026 Articles

The Illinois General Assembly amended the Cycle Rider Safety Training Act to define and regulate cycle rider safety training course providers. The Act limits eligible providers to community colleges, state universities, government agencies, and qualified nonprofit or for-profit entities, while expressly excluding motorcycle dealers and businesses that sell motorcycles. 

The Illinois General Assembly amended the Illinois Vehicle Code, strengthening traffic safety protections near parks and schools. The amendment broadens the definition of a “park zone street” by removing the phrase “under the control of a local unit of government,” leaving the definition to encompass any portion of a street or intersection adjacent to a park zone.

The General Assembly amended the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to protect abortion medications if the federal government restricts approval of those drugs.

On June 12, 2026, the Fifth District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that the learned-intermediary doctrine applied to preterm infant formula administered in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The manufacturer’s duty to warn thus ran only to treating physicians, not to the infant’s mother.

On May 21, 2026, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a constitutional challenge to the suspension of a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card was moot where the plaintiff’s FOID card had already been reinstated, and no mootness exception applied.

On Dec. 26, 2025, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed dismissal of a patient’s tort and contract claims tied to a frozen-embryo dispute, holding that an in vitro fertilization consent form did not guarantee the clinic would prevent later custody litigation or avoid delay.

The Illinois General Assembly amended the Illinois Insurance Code to create the Climate Risk Disclosure Law and enhance transparency around insurers’ management of climate-related risk.

The Department of Public Health adopted amendments to the Hospital Licensing Requirements Part that alter hospital notice rules for emergency personnel and update emergency preparedness provisions.

On Nov. 17, 2025, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that an implied-in-fact contract may be established through the parties’ facts and conduct, and that a single cognizable form of damages is sufficient to state a claim.

The General Assembly enacted the Public Official Safety and Privacy Act (POSPA), which allows a public official to request that their personal information not be publicly posted or displayed by governmental agencies as well as private persons, businesses, and associations. 

The Illinois General Assembly amended the School Code to update planning and implementation for universal student mental health screenings. 

The General Assembly amended the Illinois Human Rights Act to revise the Department of Human Rights’ use of fact-finding conferences in investigating discrimination charges.

The General Assembly amended the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act to revise how certain law enforcement employees are classified for collective-bargaining purposes. 

The Illinois General Assembly amended the Property Tax Code to raise the maximum income limit for the “Low-Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption” to $75,000 for tax year 2026, $77,000 for tax year 2027, and $79,000 for tax year 2028 and beyond.