Illinois House approves ban on junk fees, Pritzker’s abortion fund
proposal
[April 11, 2026]
By Ben Szalinski, Brenden Moore
SPRINGFIELD — For the second time in three years, the Illinois House
voted to ban hidden “junk fees” that are often added to the total cost
of ticketed events, hotel rooms and other goods and services.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, passed
77-18. It was among more than 80 bills the House approved Thursday
afternoon.
House Bill 228 amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
Practices Act to make it a violation for a business to not display all
mandatory fees and charges they’re adding on top of a listed price. The
goal is to ensure consumers are aware of the total price before making
the purchase.
“This bill delivers on a promise that’s quite simple: The price that you
see should be the price that you pay,” Morgan told lawmakers during
floor debate. He estimated that the hidden fees cost an average Illinois
family $3,000 annually.
Junk fees have long been a target for consumer advocates and progressive
lawmakers. The Illinois House approved a ban in 2024 but it was was
never voted on in the Senate.
In his State of the State address this year, Gov. JB Pritzker explicitly
called for lawmakers to get the issue across the finish line, arguing
that such fees were “quietly nickel-and-diming Illinois families out of
thousands of dollars per year.”
Morgan said the bill was like the one that passed a couple years ago,
but ambiguous language was tightened up to make it easier for businesses
to comply and the Illinois Attorney General’s office to enforce.
Nine Republicans joined supermajority Democrats in supporting the
amended bill. However, the changes weren’t enough to remove opposition
from the state’s top business, banking and hospitality organizations.
Rep. Tom Weber, R-Lake Villa, who voted against the bill, said the
underlying idea was a good one, but the legislation went “a step too far
on our already overburdened businesses.”
The bill now moves to the Illinois Senate.
Abortion fund
The House on Thursday voted along party lines 69-36 to pass a bill that
would create a grant fund to cover abortion care for uninsured and
underinsured people.
House Bill 5408, another of Pritzker’s initiatives, would utilize an
under-used provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurance
plans that offer coverage for abortions in instances that go beyond
rape, incest and the life of the mother to collect at least $1 a month
from enrollees to cover the cost of abortion claims.
Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, the bill sponsor, said she anticipates an
amendment in the Senate because of concerns from Illinois’ health
insurance industry.
“This is an important bill that helps support our reproductive health
care providers in the state of Illinois and ensure that women who need
this health care are able to access it,” she said.
Cash payment requirement
Many Illinois stores would be required to accept cash in most
circumstances under House Bill 4592, which passed the House unanimously
on Thursday.
The bill requires any store with a physical location that employs
someone to accept in-person transactions to accept cash for transactions
under $500. Stores would not be required to accept currency larger than
$20. The bill would take effect in 2028 and now awaits further
consideration in the Senate.
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Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, speaks on the House floor in April
2024. Morgan sponsored a measure to ban junk fees in Illinois.
(Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)
Grocery coupon access
House Bill 45 would require retailers to provide digital promotions or
coupons to eligible customers. Bill sponsor Rep. Janet Yang Rohr,
D-Naperville, said the bill came from concerns that eligible customers
were being denied access to the same benefits because paper coupons were
not available.
The original version of the bill required merchants to provide paper
coupons, but the amendment broadened the regulation to ensure all
eligible customers for a coupon are afforded access to the promotion.
There is no penalty to the merchant unless the establishment does not
cure a violation within 15 days of being notified of the violation. The
bill passed unanimously and moves on to the Senate.
In-state tuition
House Bill 5093 removes a requirement in state law that a student who
attended an Illinois high school could only receive in-state tuition at
an Illinois university if they did not establish residency outside the
state before enrolling in an Illinois university. With the change,
students who attend at least two years of high school in Illinois could
receive in-state tuition regardless of whether they moved out of state
before going to college.
“As a first generation, I can’t imagine having to live in Illinois all
my life, but then when I go to a university, be considered for
out-of-state tuition because I’m an immigrant,” bill sponsor Rep.
Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, told Capitol News Illinois. “Of course
in-state tuition, it is cheaper and I want to have more students be able
to access that.”
The bill passed the House on Thursday on a partisan 71-37 vote, with
Republicans arguing the bill would unfairly benefit non-citizens. It now
moves on to the Senate.
Narcan for formerly incarcerated
House Bill 5302 would require the Illinois Department of Corrections to
provide opioid antagonists like Narcan to any incarcerated person who
was charged for a drug-related offense or has a substance abuse disorder
upon their release.
Bill sponsor Rep. Justin Slaughter, D-Orland Park, said overdose rates
have decreased, and initiatives like this would further the initiative
to decrease overdose deaths. The bill passed 77-29 and awaits further
consideration in the Senate.
State bee
Illinois could soon have an official state bee after the House approved
House Bill 4438, which Yang Rohr said was an initiative of Lincoln
Junior High School students in Naperville. The bill would give the honor
to the Black-and-Gold Bumblebee — scientifically known as bombas
auricomus.
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