July 1 marks a second New Year’s Day in Illinois as a new budget takes effect along with more than a dozen new state laws.<\/p>\n
In addition to the state’s nearly\u00a0$56 billion fiscal year 2027 budget<\/a>\u00a0being implemented and the 1-cent motor fuel tax increase being suspended for the remainder of the year, 14 news laws will go into effect on Wednesday.<\/p>\n New regulations on prediction markets also go into effect on the first of the month, prompting a lawsuit against the state by Kalshi<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cocktails-to-go<\/p>\n A pandemic-era allowance is now law six-and-a-half years later.\u00a0Senate Bill 618<\/a>\u00a0makes cocktails-to-go permanent.<\/p>\n Illinois lawmakers passed legislation during the pandemic that allowed restaurants and bars to sell cocktails and mixed drinks for pickup or delivery as businesses were closed to in-person customers. That will be allowed to continue permanently under the new law.<\/p>\n AI and bullying<\/p>\n Posting unauthorized artificial intelligence images can be considered cyberbullying in Illinois schools under\u00a0House Bill 3851<\/a>. This includes posting or distributing sexual images. Creating sexual images of children can also be\u00a0charged under the state’s child pornography laws<\/a>\u00a0under a law passed in 2025.<\/p>\n “Many people are using AI to produce harmful materials, which has led to a whole new level of cyberbullying,” Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel, D-Shorewood, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. “We cannot let our laws fall behind technology. This legislation helps our state meet current challenges and ensures bullying via AI is addressed in the school code.”<\/p>\n Illinois lawmakers have broadly sought to regulate artificial intelligence, including its presence in schools.<\/p>\n Department of Early Childhood<\/p>\n The new Department of Early Childhood will officially launch on July 1, completing one of Gov. JB Pritzker’s top priorities of his second term.<\/p>\n Senate Bill 1<\/a>\u00a0to create the new agency passed the General Assembly with bipartisan support in 2024 and calls for consolidating a variety of early childhood services that are spread across multiple state agencies under one roof. Those include oversight and funding of preschools, childcare centers, home visiting and early intervention programs.<\/p>\n Pritzker tapped Teresa Ramos to direct the agency. She worked in childcare advocacy before joining the governor’s office’s education policy team.<\/p>\n Lawmakers appropriated $2.1 billion from the General Revenue Fund to the new agency in fiscal year 2027, which also begins July 1.<\/p>\n Contraband report<\/p>\n The Department of Corrections will have to report more information about contraband in its facilities as the department continues to\u00a0face scrutiny<\/a>\u00a0around substance exposures.\u00a0Senate Bill 2201<\/a>\u00a0requires the department to annually report data about what contraband is found, where it was discovered, how it got into the facility, and any disciplinary action that was taken as a result.<\/p>\n It also requires IDOC to report on medical responses and hospitalizations for staff members, including the cause.<\/p>\n Statewide public defender<\/p>\n The bricks of the new\u00a0Office of State Public Defender<\/a>\u00a0can begin being laid on July 1, as\u00a0House Bill 3363<\/a>\u00a0requires an 11-member commission to be appointed by Oct. 1. The commission will identify the costs and funding sources to establish the Office of State Public Defender. The remainder of the bill, including additional processes to set up the office, will take effect Jan. 1.<\/p>\n