List of new Illinois laws taking effect July 1 – NBC Chicago

Starting July 1st, a slew of new laws will go into effect in Illinois and Chicago, with a handful of them affecting your wallet.

Here’s an overview of the changes residents can expect in Chicago, the suburbs and beyond starting July 1:

Chicago, Cook County minimum wage increases

An annual minimum wage increase is set to go into effect in Chicago in early July, along with updated provisions in the Fair Workweek Ordinance, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office announced.

Chicago’s hourly minimum wage is set to increase from $1[ads1]5.40 to $15.80 for employers with 21 or more employees, with an increase from $14.50 to $15 for employers with four to 20 employees.

In addition, hourly wages for tipped employees will increase from $9.24 to $9.48 for employees at large businesses, while tipped employees at smaller businesses will see their minimum wage increase from $8.70 to $9.

This year’s increase marks the final adjustment of an annual incremental minimum wage increase that culminated in small business workers reaching a minimum wage of $15 an hour.

The increase in Chicago mirrors an increase that will apply to suburbs in Cook County, with the hourly minimum wage set to increase from $13.35 to $13.70 for non-tipped employees and $7.40 to $8 for tipped employees.

Employees are covered by the Cook County ordinance if:

• The employee has worked for an employer in Cook County for at least 2 hours in a two-week period, and
• The employer has four or more employees (or the employee is a domestic worker) and
• The employer has a business facility in Cook County or is issued a business license by Cook County.

Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance

The city’s Fair Workweek Ordinance will also introduce updated compensation calculations starting July 1.

According to a press release from Johnson’s office, employees covered by the regulation include anyone working in one of the seven “covered” industries, while earning less than or equal to $30.80 an hour or $59,161.50 a year, and the employer has at least 100 employees globally.

• Construction services
• Health Service
• Hotels
• Production
• Restaurants
• Retail
• Warehouse services

According to the press release from Johnson’s office, the regulation requires certain employers to provide workers with “predictable work schedules and compensation for changes.”

End of grocery tax suspension in Illinois

Last year, on July 1, Illinois’ 1% grocery tax was suspended as part of a $46.5 billion 2022 state budget plan aimed at providing relief to families struggling with rising grocery costs and inflation. Officials said the extension, which is set to end on July 1, 2023, was predicted to save taxpayers up to $400 million over the fiscal year.

Currently, the suspension applies to “food for human consumption to be consumed off the premises where it is sold,” including baked goods and delicatessen, cheese and fruit trays, prepackaged snacks and baby formula. Other goods, such as alcoholic beverages, cannabis-infused food for adults, soft drinks, candy and food prepared for immediate consumption are excluded from the suspension, as are drugs and medicines.

According to government documents, the last day of the tax holiday is June 30, 2023.

According to the Illinois Department of Revenue, for a grocery bill of $145.29, a 1% tax would add $1.45.

Illinois gas tax

Also during the state’s annual budget for 2023, a mandatory increase in the gas tax linked to inflation was delayed by six months last year.

That increase, which went into effect Jan. 1, saw the tax rise to 8.2%, meaning the rate for Illinois motorists rose by about 3.2 cents per gallon earlier this year, bringing the state’s total fuel tax to unleaded gasoline at 42.4 cents per gallon.

But the annual inflation-based increase in the state’s gas tax goes into effect on July 1 each year because of the Rebuild Illinois Infrastructure Act, which passed the General Assembly in 2019. Before that, the state’s gas tax had been locked at 19 cents per gallon for nearly 20 years.

According to the state’s fiscal year budget for 2023, the tax increase for fiscal year 2024 will still take effect, which means that motorists could see another increase in fuel tax this year.

Changes to school holidays in Illinois

In an update to the state’s school law, teachers will not be required to teach on Saturdays, and the measure includes other school employees who are not present for building maintenance during school holidays.

Statutory school holidays include the following dates:

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• February 12, the birthday of Abraham Lincoln
• First Monday in March, Casimir Pulaski Day
• Good Friday
• memorial day
• Juneteenth
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day
• Veterans Day
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas

A school board can apply for dispensation to hold parent meetings or teacher institute days on the following days, provided that the board both recognizes the person or people honored on a nearby school date and holds a public hearing on the matter:

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• February 12, the birthday of Abraham Lincoln
• First Monday in March, Casimir Pulaski Day
• Columbus Day
• Veterans Day

Illinois is not among the 20 US states that recognize Indigenous Peoples Day instead of or in addition to Columbus Day.

In addition, the following days are “memorial days off”, which are regular school days on which school boards “shall include instructions in relation to memorialized persons, activities or events on the day of remembrance or at any other time during the school year and at any time in the curriculum when such teaching may be considered appropriate.”

• January 17, the birthday of Muhammad Ali
• January 28, Christa McAuliffe Day, commemorating space exploration
• February 15, the birthday of Susan B. Anthony
• March 29, Vietnam War Veterans Day
• September 11, September 11 Remembrance Day
• 17 September, Constitution Day
• School day right before Veterans Day, Korean War Veterans Day
• 1 October, Recycling Day
• October 7, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Memorial Day
• December 7, Pearl Harbor Veterans’ Day

In addition, the City of Chicago School District 299 will celebrate March 4 as a commemorative holiday, known as Mayors’ Day. The date “shall be a day to remember and be remembered by the former Executive Directors of the City of Chicago, and especially the late Mayor Richard J. Daley and the late Mayor Harold Washington.”

Mayor’s Day will be celebrated the following Monday if March 4 falls on a Saturday or Sunday.

More information about laws that go into effect in Illinois on July 1 can be found here.