Nearly 200 new laws take effect on Jan. 1, according to State Sen. Ron Sandack (R‐21, Downers Grove).

Sandack was appointed to finish the term of former state Sen. Dan Cronin, who was elected DuPage County Board Chairman in November. Sandack said the new laws will include pension reforms for most new public employees, limits on campaign contributions and a requirement that governor and lieutenant governor candidates run as a team in primaries. Also of note is legislation requiring mandatory imprisonment for aggravated weapons convictions and a number of new measures to toughen penalties for sex offenders.

Bipartisan pension reforms will not change benefits for existing public employees, but new employees will be subject to a higher retirement age, limits on cost‐of‐living adjustments when they retire and an imposed ceiling on the maximum earnings that can be counted toward their pensions. Under the new measure, no additional benefits will accrue for salaries above the current Social Security maximum level of $106,800 (inflation adjusted).

Illinois will impose campaign contribution limits beginning in January. Political contributions for individual candidates will be limited to $5,000 from individuals and $10,000 from corporations, labor unions and trade associations. While applauding the intent of the legislation, Republicans criticized the measure because it allows unlimited campaign contributions from political party leaders in the general election.

Also beginning Jan. 1, a measure will mandate all red‐light violations be reviewed by a police officer, retired police officer or technician not employed by the company that runs the cameras and prohibits the ticketing of a vehicle that comes to a complete stop without entering the intersection. An image of the violation must be made available on the Internet, and any municipality or county that uses red light cameras must provide notice to the public by posting the locations of the cameras on the official Web site. Finally, a safety impact study must be undertaken to assess the number of accidents at the intersection.

A new law targeting gun violence will increase penalties for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. HB 5832/PA 96‐1107 requires mandatory imprisonment of one to three years for an individual 18 years or older without a valid firearm owners identification card who possesses a loaded and uncased firearm. The penalties also apply to those in possession of an unloaded, uncased firearm with ammunition accessible if they do not have a valid FOID card. Currently, individuals face one to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine. The new law will make imprisonment mandatory.

House Bill 4583/PA 96‐1087 targets the growing social issue of "sexting," a trend where explicit photos or video are sent via cell phone or e‐mail. The bill is aimed at people younger than 18, as sexting has become increasingly problematic among young people in recent years.

Currently, there is little that can be done to address sexting, aside from pursuing felony child pornography charges, which prosecutors are reluctant to do. HB 4583 seeks to create a middle ground by stipulating that a minor who electronically sends an indecent image of another minor can be brought into juvenile court for a proceeding to determine if he or she is a minor in need of supervision. A juvenile offender could be ordered into counseling and ordered to complete community service.

Other bills also becoming law Jan. 1 include:

• Animal Disclosure (HB 5772/PA 96‐1470): Requires animal shelters, animal control facilities and pet shops to disclose certain information regarding dogs and cats that are being adopted or purchased.

• Bilingual Information (HB 5044/PA 96‐1166): Requires the state to publish a Web page that contains information about predatory lending written in Spanish.

• Brian's Law (HB 5152/PA 96‐1235): Creates a system of independent review teams to hold inquiries into the deaths of residents of state‐operated facilities for people with developmental disabilities and/or mental illness.

• Burglary Tools (HB 4715/PA 96‐1307): Prohibits knowingly selling any key, lock bumping key or lock pick specifically manufactured or altered for use in breaking into a building, motor vehicle or depository designed for safekeeping or property.

• Chicago Public Schools Violence Hot‐line (HB 4647/PA 96‐1425): Requires the Chicago Board of Education to establish a telephone hotline for anonymous calls that may prevent violence in Chicago Public Schools.

• Child Protection (HB 4691/PA 96‐0914): Increases penalties for drivers transporting a child passenger who fail to properly secure the child in the appropriate child restraint system.

• Child Sex Offenders (HB 6464/PA 96‐1094): Makes it unlawful for a parent or guardian to leave their child in the custody of a convicted child sex offender and also requires registered child sex offenders to report to law enforcement whether they reside in a household with a child younger than 18 who is not their own child.

• Child Support (SB 2570/PA 96‐1072): Establishes that following the entry of a judgment for dissolution of marriage, a child support order cannot be suspended or stayed due to the filing of post‐judgment motions.

• Commercial Vehicles (HB 4673/PA 96‐1179): Increases the fine to no less than $500 for commercial trucks that fail to display the name of the company on the side of the vehicle.

• Cook County Treasurer (HB 6235/PA 96‐1159): Requires the Cook County Treasurer to post information related to un‐cashed checks on its official Web site.

• Credit History Discrimination (HB 4658/PA 96‐1426): Prevents an employer from inquiring about an applicant's or employee's credit history. An employer cannot refuse to hire or otherwise discriminate against an individual in employment, compensation or condition because of the individual's credit history or credit report. An employer may not order or obtain an applicant or employee's credit report from a consumer credit agency.

• Crime Victim Notification (HB 5791/PA 96‐1092): Allows the attorney general to establish a crime victim and witness notification system to assist public officials in carrying out their duties to notify and inform crime victims and witnesses.

• Dangerous Animals–Primates (HB 4801/PA 96‐1219): Prohibits a person from having in his or her possession any primate, except at a properly designated facility.

• Death Concealment (SB 2590/PA 96‐1361): This law was sought by law enforcement officers as a result of cases where individuals died of drug‐related causes and their companions disposed of the bodies in order to conceal their own drug abuse. Since the deaths were not the result of a homicide, there was not any charge that could be brought for concealing the deaths. The new bill provides the crime is a Class 4 felony, punishable by one to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

• DUI Fee Increase (SB 3616/PA 96‐1342): Provides for an administrative fee increase for DUI violations from $500 to $750 and gives the law enforcement agency that made the arrest a bigger percentage of the fine than previous law provides.

• False 911 Call (HB 6101/PA 96‐1261): Increases the penalty for making a false 911 call equal to the penalty for making a false police report.

• Intoxicated Vehicle Instructors (HB 5341/PA 96‐1237): Makes it a moving violation for a person who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs to accompany or provide instruction to a driver who is a minor operating the motor vehicle with an instruction permit.

• Lupus Education and Awareness Program (HB 4587/PA 96‐1108): Creates a program to promote public and health professional awareness of lupus, and increase knowledge concerning the causes and consequences of lupus.

• Meter Malfunction (SB 2476/PA 96‐1256): Provides that if a parking meter is malfunctioning due to accumulation of snow and ice, violators can use that as an affirmative defense.

• Misrepresentation Penalties (SB 3684/PA 96‐1113): Adds to existing home invasion and burglary offenses by adding: gaining entry to the home by misrepresenting oneself to be a representative of government, a construction company, a telecommunication company or a utility company.

• New Employee Portal (HB 6271/PA 96‐1387): Requires Central Management Services to establish and maintain a searchable, public database of information about new employees entering state employment.

• Political Signage (HB 3785/PA 96‐0904): States that municipalities may not prohibit political signs on residential property.

• Primary Elections (SB 355/PA 96‐0886): Moves the general primary election to the third Tuesday of March in even numbered years. In 2008 the primary was moved to February.

• Public Corruption (SB 2551/PA 96‐1019): Creates a public corruption profit forfeiture provision requiring forfeiture of profits and proceeds derived from a criminal public corruption offense that resulted in a criminal conviction, including forfeiture of all political contributions held by a political committee or organization controlled by the convicted person.

• Public Indecency (SB 2589/PA 96‐1098): Increases the penalty for public indecency and sexual exploitation of a child when the offense is committed by a person older than 18 on or within 500 feet of school grounds when children are present.

• Roadside Memorial (SB 3803/PA 96‐1371): Allows for placement of a fatal accident memorial marker for victims of reckless homicide not related to a DUI offense.

• Railroad Safety (HB 4987/PA 96‐1132): Makes it a crime to willfully place on a railroad track any object that would adversely affect safe railroad operations.
• Seat Belt Security (SB 3272/PA 96‐0991): Requires the driver of a motor vehicle to properly adjust and fasten a seat safety belt if they are transporting a passenger who is unable to do it themselves, due to infirmity, illness or age, but who is not exempted from wearing a seat safety belt.

• Sexual Predator (HB 5043/PA 96‐1089): Requires lifetime registration as a sexual predator for a sexually motivated first degree murder of a person under 18 by a person who is least 17, kidnapping or unlawful restraint of a person under 18 by someone who is not the child's parent, child abduction by luring a child under 16 without the consent of the child's parent, and sexual misconduct with a person with a disability.

• Sex Offender Restrictions (SB 2824/PA 96‐1099): Prohibits sexual predators and child sex offenders from being in a public park or loitering within 500 feet of a public park.

• Sex Offender Location Notification (SB 3176/PA 96‐1102): Requires a sex offender or sexual predator to register with the appropriate law enforcement agency if the offender is temporarily living in that jurisdiction for three or more days, and requires a sex offender or sexual predator who is temporarily absent from his or her current address of registration for three or more days to notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the current registration, including the itinerary for travel.

• Sex Offense Sentencing (SB 1020/PA 96‐1390): Gives the sentencing judge discretion to impose an extended prison sentence on a major sex offense if the victim was under 18 and the victim was known to be under the influence of alcohol at the time of the offense.

• Sex Offense Victim Polygraph (HB 5931/PA 96‐1273): Prohibits law enforcement from even asking a sex offense victim to submit to a lie detector test.

• Shaken Baby Conviction Registration (HB 5762/PA 96‐1115): Requires registration under the Child Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Law for a person convicted of involuntary manslaughter or endangering the life/health of a child, where baby shaking was the proximate cause of the child's death.

• Statute of Limitations (HB 6124/PA 96‐1093): Increases the statute of limitations for a civil action for childhood sexual abuse to 20 years from the date the person turns 18 or 20 years from the date the abused person discovers that the act of childhood sexual abuse occurred.

• Synthetic Marijuana (HB 6459/PA 96‐1285): Outlaws two synthetic marijuana‐like substitutes, commonly known as K2 or Spice.

• Truth‐in‐Sentencing (HB 4776/PA 96‐1230): Requires a person to serve at least 85 percent of a sentence on an aggravated DUI and eliminates the possibility for meritorious good conduct credit when the DUI was the cause of an accident that resulted in great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement of another person.