The new bill, authored by State Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin in the Illinois House, aims to support small businesses and workforce development through targeted grants and assistance, according to the Illinois State House.
The bill, introduced as HB5768 on May 8, 2026, during the general assembly session 104, was summarized by the state legislature as follows: “Appropriates $500,000, or so much of that amount as may be necessary, from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a grant to the Rich Township Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of making subgrant payments to small businesses for technical assistance, training equipment, operations, programming, training facilities, and curriculum implementation. Effective July 1, 2026.”
The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.
In essence, this bill appropriates $500,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to provide a grant to the Rich Township Chamber of Commerce. The chamber must use the funds to make subgrants to small businesses for technical assistance, training equipment, operations, programming, training facilities and curriculum implementation. The bill appears intended to support small business capacity and workforce development in Rich Township through targeted training and operational support. The act takes effect July 1, 2026.
Meyers-Martin has proposed another 15 bills since the beginning of the 104th session, with one of them being adopted.
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.
Meyers-Martin graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a BA.
Meyers-Martin, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State House in 2019 to represent the state’s 38th House District, replacing previous state representative Al Riley.
Bills Introduced by Debbie Meyers-Martin in Illinois House During General Assembly Session 104
| Bill Number | Date Introduced | Short Description |
|---|---|---|
| HB5768 | 05/08/2026 | Appropriates $500,000, or so much of that amount as may be necessary, from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a grant to the Rich Township Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of making subgrant payments to small businesses for technical assistance, training equipment, operations, programming, training facilities, and curriculum implementation. Effective July 1, 2026. |
| HB5560 | 02/06/2026 | Amends the Department of Human Services Act. Requires the Department of Human Services to establish a Community Grief and Violence Prevention Pilot Program to interrupt cycles of violence and address grief and trauma in the City of Chicago and Southland region. Specifies that, under the Pilot Program, funds shall be allocated to deploy Community Grief Response Teams, which shall provide immediate, on-site trauma support to families and neighborhoods within 24 hours of a violent incident; shall provide long-term case management and grief counseling to survivors; and shall facilitate restorative justice circles to resolve community conflicts before they escalate to violence. Amends the School Code. Provides that, beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, every public elementary school shall incorporate grief literacy and restorative justice practices and programs into its social-emotional learning standards. Requires the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Public Schools to expand the Parent University Program to include mandatory modules on violence prevention, trauma-informed care, and recognizing signs of grief. Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Requires the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to establish a grant program to support the recruitment and retention of mental health professionals in communities disproportionately impacted by violence. Requires the State of Illinois to formally recognizes the Master of Social Work (MSW) as a professional degree essential to public health and safety. Effective immediately. |
| HB5233 | 02/05/2026 | Amends the Nurse Practice Act. Provides that registered professional nursing practice is a scientific process founded on a professional body of knowledge. Provides that professional nursing practice is a learned profession based on the understanding of the human condition across the life span and environment, includes all nursing specialties, and means the performance of any nursing act based upon professional knowledge, judgment, and skills acquired by means of completion of an approved professional nursing education program. Provides that registered professional nurses may delegate nursing interventions and tasks (rather than nursing interventions) to other registered professional nurses and licensed practical nurses based on a comprehensive nursing assessment. Provides that registered professional nurses may delegate tasks to unlicensed personnel based on a comprehensive nursing assessment. Provides that a registered professional nurse is prohibited from delegating work requiring nursing knowledge, assessment, judgment, inference, and decision making (including medication administration), the development of a plan of care, and the evaluation of a plan of care to unlicensed non-nurse personnel. Removes provisions concerning delegation of nursing interventions and administration of medications in community-based or in-home care settings. Makes other changes. Effective immediately. |
| HB5272 | 02/05/2026 | Amends the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. In regard to involuntary admissions, provides that a circuit court has jurisdiction over persons who are subject to involuntary admission (rather than jurisdiction over persons not charged with a felony who are subject to involuntary admission). |
| HB4820 | 02/03/2026 | Provides that the Act may be referred to as the Veterans Housing Protection Act. Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act. Provides that it is a civil rights violation to refuse to sell or rent or to otherwise make unavailable or deny a dwelling to any buyer or renter who is a veteran because of the results of a criminal, credit, or eviction history records check. Provides that the prohibition against the use of the results of a veteran’s criminal history records check shall not preclude an owner or any other person engaging in a real estate transaction, or a real estate broker or salesman, from prohibiting the veteran, a member of the veteran’s household, or a guest of the veteran from engaging in unlawful activity on the premises. Expands the Act’s definition of “source of income” to include any federal, State, or local public assistance, and federal, State, or local housing subsidies, such as federal Department of Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers, rental assistance under the Supportive Services for Veterans Families program, and veterans’ benefits. Amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Act. Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to administer a statewide Landlord Rental Guarantee Program which reimburses landlords up to $3,500 for damages or unpaid rent associated with veteran tenants using any federal, State, or local housing assistance or veterans’ benefits to pay all or a portion of the rent. Provides that reimbursement payments shall be paid out of the Veterans Rental Guarantee Fund, a special fund created in the State treasury. Requires the Department to also establish and administer a pilot program to increase affordable homeownership opportunities among the veteran population. Provides that under the pilot program veterans shall be able to use federal or State housing vouchers to partially subsidize homeownership expenses for up to 10 or 15 years depending on the mortgage term. |
| HB4512 | 01/21/2026 | Amends the Cook County Forest Preserve District Act and the River Conservancy Districts Act. Makes changes to the competitive bidding thresholds for contracts entered into by River Conservancy Districts or the Cook County Forest Preserve District for supplies, materials, or work. Changes the bid threshold to $60,000 for contracts related to supplies or materials, $30,000 for contracts involving work, or a lower amount for any contract for supplies, materials, or work, if required by board policy. Effective immediately. |
| HB4415 | 01/13/2026 | Creates the Financial Empowerment Commission Act. Provides for the establishment of the Financial Empowerment Commission. Provides that the Commission shall support the Board of Higher Education and organizations that provide financial educational programming through various capacity building initiatives. Provides that the Commission, in consultation with the Governor and appropriate State agencies, shall design a database platform to communicate with and connect existing financial literacy resources, programs, products and services in the State. Provides that the Commission shall identify, document, and track key metrics for young adults’ financial health and well-being over time. Further provides that the Commission shall submit an annual report to the General Assembly, which shall detail the progress of financial empowerment efforts and the Commission’s achievement of its main objectives. Provides that the Commission may collaborate with State and federal agencies, local governments, research and educational institutions, community and nonprofit organizations, financial institutions, the 3 main credit bureaus, service providers, and philanthropic organizations to ensure a coordinated, comprehensive approach with equitable access to resources and programming. Provides that the Commission may issue advisory material to stakeholders across Illinois to ensure monitoring, compliance, and adherence to consumer protection standards and may issue a supplementary report to the Governor and associated State agencies on best practices concerning consumer protections. Provides that the Commission may make policy recommendations to the General Assembly to enhance Illinois students’ financial literacy and use of new and existing resources and may recommend that education programs be supported by economic policies dismantling structural issues, such as income disparities and financial barriers to health care. |
| HB4180 | 10/24/2025 | Amends the Counties Code. Requires county clerk offices to be closed on all legal holidays. |
| HB2853 | 02/05/2025 | Amends the Park District Code. Provides that all competitive bids for contracts involving an expenditure in excess of $50,000 (rather than $30,000), or a lower amount if required by board policy, must be sealed by the bidder and must be opened by a member or employee of the park board at a public bid opening at which the contents of the bids must be announced. Amends the Conservation District Act and the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act. Provides that specified contracts related to supplies, materials, or work involving an expenditure in excess of $50,000 (rather than $30,000), or a lower amount if required by board policy, must be competitively bid. Effective immediately. |
| HB2949 | 02/05/2025 | Amends the State Commemorative Dates Act. Designates September of each year as National Scarring Alopecia Awareness Month. |
| HB1887 | 01/29/2025 | Amends the Nurse Practice Act. Provides that registered professional nursing practice is a scientific process founded on a professional body of knowledge. It is a learned profession based on the understanding of the human condition across the life span and environment, includes all nursing specialties, and means the performance of any nursing act based upon professional knowledge, judgment, and skills acquired by means of completion of an approved professional nursing education program. Provides that registered professional nurses may delegate nursing interventions and tasks (rather than nursing interventions) to other registered professional nurses and licensed practical nurses based on a comprehensive nursing assessment. Provides that registered professional nurses may delegate tasks to unlicensed personnel based on a comprehensive nursing assessment. Provides that a registered professional nurse is prohibited from delegating work requiring nursing knowledge, assessment, judgment, inference, decision making (including medication administration), the development of a plan of care, and the evaluation of a plan of care to unlicensed non-nurse personnel. Removes provisions concerning delegation of nursing interventions and administration of medications in community-based or in-home care settings. Makes other changes. Effective August 1, 2025. |
| HB1753 | 01/24/2025 | Amends the Financially Distressed City Law of the Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that, if a financially distressed city or the city’s Financial Advisory Authority is awarded a State grant, any moneys the financially distressed city or Authority would be required to match under the grant are waived unless the moneys under the grant come from federal moneys that require the match. Provides that a municipality’s status as a financially distressed city may not negatively impact a decision of whether or not to award a State grant to the municipality or negatively impact the amount of moneys received by the municipality from a State grant. Provides that, in addition to a request by the corporate authorities of a municipality to be certified and designated as a financially distressed city, the State Comptroller may conduct a preliminary review of the municipality’s finances and establish a review team to make recommendations to the Governor for a municipality to be certified and designated as a financially distressed city. In the provisions concerning review by the State Comptroller, review team, and Governor, expands the categories allowing a municipality to become a financially distressed city. Includes provisions allowing the municipality’s Financial Advisory Authority to commence an action in circuit court to enforce the Law if the corporate authorities or employees of the municipality materially violate the provisions of the Law. Makes conforming and other changes. |
| HB1436 | 01/17/2025 | Amends the Illinois Housing Development Act. Requires the Illinois Housing Development Authority to establish and administer a Housing Hardship Program to provide up to 3 months of emergency rental or mortgage assistance or up to $1,600 per month for 3 months, whichever is less, to eligible applicants who demonstrate a hardship or other extenuating circumstances that place them at risk of eviction or foreclosure. Lists certain financial hardships that qualify for assistance under the program. Provides that applicants may apply for assistance once every 2 years regardless of household income. Requires applicants to submit a financial affidavit supported by banking statements and other documentary evidence as prescribed by the Authority. Requires the Authority to provide assistance to eligible applicants based upon the following factors in order of priority: (1) Whether the applicant has never previously received housing or public assistance from any other State or federal program. (2) If the applicant has previously received housing or public assistance, the number of times the applicant received such assistance. (3) The severity of the applicant’s declared hardship or circumstances. Amends the State Finance Act. Creates the Housing Hardship Program Fund. |
| HB1388 | 01/15/2025 | Amends the Illinois Gambling Act. Provides the Illinois Gaming Board shall: allow sworn law enforcement personnel employed by the Board who retire in good standing to keep their previously issued Board identification cards; or issue photographic identification cards to sworn law enforcement personnel employed by the Board who retire in good standing that indicate their separation from service and identify the person as having been employed by the Board as sworn law enforcement personnel. Provides that if a Board-issued identification card is lost or stolen, the Board shall immediately reissue a replacement identification card upon written request by the retired sworn law enforcement personnel. Effective immediately. |
| HB1332 | 01/14/2025 | Amends the Hospital Licensing Act. Provides that a hospital licensed under the Act must, at the time a patient is being checked in, give the patient an opportunity to designate an emergency contact to be notified if the patient dies or experiences a significant change in condition. If an emergency contact is designated, hospital staff must communicate with the emergency contact and ask whether the emergency contact would prefer to be notified by telephone call, by hospital staff when the emergency contact reaches the hospital, or by some other method. |
| HB1361 | 01/14/2025 | Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates a credit for certain small businesses in an amount equal to the lesser of (i) 10% of the property taxes paid by the qualified small business during the taxable year for eligible real property or (ii) $1,500. Effective immediately. |
