Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois Senate Bill SB2166 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2166 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 5 ILCS 120/7 Amends the Open Meetings Act. Allows attendance by a means other than physical presence under certain circumstances if a member of a public body is prevented from physically attending because of any reason designated in rules adopted by the public body in accordance with certain provisions in the Act. LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2166 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 5 ILCS 120/7 5 ILCS 120/7 Amends the Open Meetings Act. Allows attendance by a means other than physical presence under certain circumstances if a member of a public body is prevented from physically attending because of any reason designated in rules adopted by the public body in accordance with certain provisions in the Act. LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b A BILL FOR
2	2	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2166 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3	3	5 ILCS 120/7 5 ILCS 120/7
4	4	5 ILCS 120/7
5	5	Amends the Open Meetings Act. Allows attendance by a means other than physical presence under certain circumstances if a member of a public body is prevented from physically attending because of any reason designated in rules adopted by the public body in accordance with certain provisions in the Act.
6	6	LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b
7	7	LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b
8	8	A BILL FOR
9	9	SB2166LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b SB2166 LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b
10	10	SB2166 LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b
11	11	1 AN ACT concerning government.
12	12	2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
13	13	3 represented in the General Assembly:
14	14	4 Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing
15	15	5 Section 7 as follows:
16	16	6 (5 ILCS 120/7)
17	17	7 Sec. 7. Attendance by a means other than physical
18	18	8 presence.
19	19	9 (a) If a quorum of the members of the public body is
20	20	10 physically present as required by Section 2.01, a majority of
21	21	11 the public body may allow a member of that body to attend the
22	22	12 meeting by other means if the member is prevented from
23	23	13 physically attending because of: (i) personal illness or
24	24	14 disability; (ii) employment purposes or the business of the
25	25	15 public body; (iii) a family or other emergency; or (iv)
26	26	16 unexpected childcare obligations; or (iv) any other reason
27	27	17 designated in rules adopted by the public body in accordance
28	28	18 with subsection (c). "Other means" is by video or audio
29	29	19 conference.
30	30	20 (b) If a member wishes to attend a meeting by other means,
31	31	21 the member must notify the recording secretary or clerk of the
32	32	22 public body before the meeting unless advance notice is
33	33	23 impractical.
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37	37	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2166 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
38	38	5 ILCS 120/7 5 ILCS 120/7
39	39	5 ILCS 120/7
40	40	Amends the Open Meetings Act. Allows attendance by a means other than physical presence under certain circumstances if a member of a public body is prevented from physically attending because of any reason designated in rules adopted by the public body in accordance with certain provisions in the Act.
41	41	LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b
42	42	LRB104 08966 BDA 19021 b
43	43	A BILL FOR
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49	49	5 ILCS 120/7
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68	68	1 (c) A majority of the public body may allow a member to
69	69	2 attend a meeting by other means only in accordance with and to
70	70	3 the extent allowed by rules adopted by the public body. The
71	71	4 rules must conform to the requirements and restrictions of
72	72	5 this Section, may further limit the extent to which attendance
73	73	6 by other means is allowed, and may provide for the giving of
74	74	7 additional notice to the public or further facilitate public
75	75	8 access to meetings.
76	76	9 (d) The limitations of this Section shall not apply to (i)
77	77	10 closed meetings of (A) public bodies with statewide
78	78	11 jurisdiction, (B) Illinois library systems with jurisdiction
79	79	12 over a specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square
80	80	13 miles, (C) municipal transit districts with jurisdiction over
81	81	14 a specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square miles, or
82	82	15 (D) local workforce innovation areas with jurisdiction over a
83	83	16 specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square miles or
84	84	17 (ii) open or closed meetings of State advisory boards or
85	85	18 bodies that do not have authority to make binding
86	86	19 recommendations or determinations or to take any other
87	87	20 substantive action. State advisory boards or bodies, public
88	88	21 bodies with statewide jurisdiction, Illinois library systems
89	89	22 with jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than
90	90	23 4,500 square miles, municipal transit districts with
91	91	24 jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than
92	92	25 4,500 square miles, and local workforce investment areas with
93	93	26 jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than
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104	104	1 4,500 square miles, however, may permit members to attend
105	105	2 meetings by other means only in accordance with and to the
106	106	3 extent allowed by specific procedural rules adopted by the
107	107	4 body. For the purposes of this Section, "local workforce
108	108	5 innovation area" means any local workforce innovation area or
109	109	6 areas designated by the Governor pursuant to the federal
110	110	7 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act or its reauthorizing
111	111	8 legislation.
112	112	9 (e) Subject to the requirements of Section 2.06 but
113	113	10 notwithstanding any other provision of law, an open or closed
114	114	11 meeting subject to this Act may be conducted by audio or video
115	115	12 conference, without the physical presence of a quorum of the
116	116	13 members, so long as the following conditions are met:
117	117	14 (1) the Governor or the Director of the Illinois
118	118	15 Department of Public Health has issued a disaster
119	119	16 declaration related to public health concerns because of a
120	120	17 disaster as defined in Section 4 of the Illinois Emergency
121	121	18 Management Agency Act, and all or part of the jurisdiction
122	122	19 of the public body is covered by the disaster area;
123	123	20 (2) the head of the public body as defined in
124	124	21 subsection (e) of Section 2 of the Freedom of Information
125	125	22 Act determines that an in-person meeting or a meeting
126	126	23 conducted under this Act is not practical or prudent
127	127	24 because of a disaster;
128	128	25 (3) all members of the body participating in the
129	129	26 meeting, wherever their physical location, shall be
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140	140	1 verified and can hear one another and can hear all
141	141	2 discussion and testimony;
142	142	3 (4) for open meetings, members of the public present
143	143	4 at the regular meeting location of the body can hear all
144	144	5 discussion and testimony and all votes of the members of
145	145	6 the body, unless attendance at the regular meeting
146	146	7 location is not feasible due to the disaster, including
147	147	8 the issued disaster declaration, in which case the public
148	148	9 body must make alternative arrangements and provide notice
149	149	10 pursuant to this Section of such alternative arrangements
150	150	11 in a manner to allow any interested member of the public
151	151	12 access to contemporaneously hear all discussion,
152	152	13 testimony, and roll call votes, such as by offering a
153	153	14 telephone number or a web-based link;
154	154	15 (5) at least one member of the body, chief legal
155	155	16 counsel, or chief administrative officer is physically
156	156	17 present at the regular meeting location, unless unfeasible
157	157	18 due to the disaster, including the issued disaster
158	158	19 declaration; and
159	159	20 (6) all votes are conducted by roll call, so each
160	160	21 member's vote on each issue can be identified and
161	161	22 recorded.
162	162	23 (7) Except in the event of a bona fide emergency, 48
163	163	24 hours' notice shall be given of a meeting to be held
164	164	25 pursuant to this Section. Notice shall be given to all
165	165	26 members of the public body, shall be posted on the website
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