ILLINOIS, USA — While most laws in Illinois take effect on the first day of the year, others don't start until the midpoint of the year, July 1.
Undocumented immigrants will soon be able to acquire a driver's license after HB 3882 was signed into law last year. The new law will allow immigrants to get a standard four-year license to replace the current Temporary Visitor Driver's License (TVDL).
Immigrants will be required to pass a driving test, provide proof of Illinois residency for at least one year and provide proof of car insurance.
Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, whose office issues driver's licenses, said the change will make roads safer and reduce stigma.
"It will help prevent the stigma, instances of discrimination, and problems that TVDLs have been known to cause while making roads safer and enabling immigrants to use a standard license as identification for basic necessities like filling prescriptions or renting an apartment," he said in a statement last year.
House Bill 1122, also known as the Freelance Worker Protect Act, was designed to provide protections to freelance workers.
Freelance workers are defined in the law as a "person who is hired or retained as an independent contractor by a contracting entity to provide products or services in Illinois or for a contracting entity located in Illinois in exchange for an amount equal to or greater than $500, either in a single contract or when aggregated with all contracts for products or services between the same contracting entity and the freelance worker during the immediately preceding 120 days."
The bill includes punishments for "contracting entities" that do not pay on time, worker protections from discrimination and a formalized complaint procedure, among other changes.
Senate Bill 1782 extended existing child labor laws to social media influencers.
The act says any child under the age of 16 is considered to be doing the work of "vlogging" if "at least 30% of the vlogger's compensated video content produced within a 30-day period included the likeness, name, or photograph of the minor" and the page meets a payment threshold through the site the content is published.
If those criteria are met, then the child would be protected under Illinois' child labor laws.
Other new laws
Other new laws include an increase in higher education grants through the states' Community Behavioral Health Care Professional Loan Repayment Program and provisions to ensure community input on standardized testing in local school districts.
For a full list of the laws going into effect on July 1, click here.
The first of July also marked the start of a gas tax increase in Illinois, taking it up to 47 cents a gallon.
According to Patrick Andriesen, with the Illinois Policy Institute, that means the typical driver will pay $184 more than in 2019.
"Prior to July, Illinoisians has already paid the nation's second-highest gas taxes. This newest change will add an additional two cents to the cost of every gallon," he said.
This is all thanks to a law passed in 2021, which ties the motor fuel tax to inflation.
"Every time you drive to drop your kid off at school, every time you drive to go visit friends and family, they're taxing you for that in Illinois, and it's going up every year," Andriesen said.
While inflation continues to climb, this increase isn't welcome news for most Illinoisans like Darrell Darby.
"It's too high, gas is too high. You can't afford it— living and everything. [The] cost of living is up. It's everything," he said.