HB5394eng 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5394 Engrossed LRB104 20008 JRC 33459 b

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Human Rights Act is amended by changing Section 1-103 and by adding Section 3-104.2 as follows:

(775 ILCS 5/1-103) (from Ch. 68, par. 1-103)

Sec. 1-103. General definitions. When used in this Act, unless the context requires otherwise, the term:

(A) Age. "Age" means the chronological age of a person who is at least 40 years old, except with regard to any practice described in Section 2-102, insofar as that practice concerns training or apprenticeship programs. In the case of training or apprenticeship programs, for the purposes of Section 2-102, "age" means the chronological age of a person who is 18 but not yet 40 years old.

(B) Aggrieved party. "Aggrieved party" means a person who is alleged or proved to have been injured by a civil rights violation or believes he or she will be injured by a civil rights violation under Article 3 that is about to occur.

(B-5) Arrest record. "Arrest record" means:

(1) an arrest not leading to a conviction;

(2) a juvenile record; or

(3) criminal history record information ordered expunged, sealed, or impounded under Section 5.2 of the Criminal Identification Act.

(C) Charge. "Charge" means an allegation filed with the Department by an aggrieved party or initiated by the Department under its authority.

(D) Civil rights violation. "Civil rights violation" includes and shall be limited to only those specific acts set forth in Sections 2-102, 2-103, 2-105, 3-102, 3-102.1, 3-103, 3-102.10, 3-104.1, 3-104.2, 3-105, 3-105.1, 4-102, 4-103, 5-102, 5A-102, 6-101, 6-101.5, and 6-102 of this Act.

(E) Commission. "Commission" means the Human Rights Commission created by this Act.

(F) Complaint. "Complaint" means the formal pleading filed by the Department with the Commission following an investigation and finding of substantial evidence of a civil rights violation.

(G) Complainant. "Complainant" means a person including the Department who files a charge of civil rights violation with the Department or the Commission.

(G-5) Conviction record. "Conviction record" means information indicating that a person has been convicted of a felony, misdemeanor or other criminal offense, placed on probation, fined, imprisoned, or paroled pursuant to any law enforcement or military authority.

(H) Department. "Department" means the Department of Human Rights created by this Act.

(I) Disability.

(1) "Disability" means a determinable physical or mental characteristic of a person, including, but not limited to, a determinable physical characteristic which necessitates the person's use of a guide, hearing or support dog, the history of such characteristic, or the perception of such characteristic by the person complained against, which may result from disease, injury, congenital condition of birth or functional disorder and which characteristic:

(a) For purposes of Article 2, is unrelated to the person's ability to perform the duties of a particular job or position and, pursuant to Section 2-104 of this Act, a person's illegal use of drugs or alcohol is not a disability;

(b) For purposes of Article 3, is unrelated to the person's ability to acquire, rent, or maintain a housing accommodation;

(c) For purposes of Article 4, is unrelated to a person's ability to repay;

(d) For purposes of Article 5, is unrelated to a person's ability to utilize and benefit from a place of public accommodation;

(e) For purposes of Article 5, also includes any mental, psychological, or developmental disability, including autism spectrum disorders.

(2) Discrimination based on disability includes unlawful discrimination against an individual because of the individual's association with a person with a disability.

(J) Marital status. "Marital status" means the legal status of being married, single, separated, divorced, or widowed.

(J-1) Military status. "Military status" means a person's status on active duty in or status as a veteran of the armed forces of the United States, status as a current member or veteran of any reserve component of the armed forces of the United States, including the United States Army Reserve, United States Marine Corps Reserve, United States Navy Reserve, United States Air Force Reserve, and United States Coast Guard Reserve, or status as a current member or veteran of the Illinois Army National Guard or Illinois Air National Guard.

(K) National origin. "National origin" means the place in which a person or one of his or her ancestors was born.

(K-5) "Order of protection status" means a person's status as being a person protected under an order of protection issued pursuant to the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986, Article 112A of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, the Stalking No Contact Order Act, or the Civil No Contact Order Act, or an order of protection issued by a court of another state.

(L) Person. "Person" includes one or more individuals, partnerships, associations or organizations, labor organizations, labor unions, joint apprenticeship committees, or union labor associations, corporations, the State of Illinois and its instrumentalities, political subdivisions, units of local government, legal representatives, trustees in bankruptcy or receivers.

(L-5) Pregnancy. "Pregnancy" means pregnancy, childbirth, or medical or common conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth.

(M) Public contract. "Public contract" includes every contract to which the State, any of its political subdivisions, or any municipal corporation is a party.

(M-5) Race. "Race" includes traits associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists.

(N) Religion. "Religion" includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, except that with respect to employers, for the purposes of Article 2, "religion" has the meaning ascribed to it in paragraph (F) of Section 2-101.

(O) Sex. "Sex" means the status of being male or female.

(O-1) Sexual orientation. "Sexual orientation" means actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, or gender-related identity, whether or not traditionally associated with the person's designated sex at birth. "Sexual orientation" does not include a physical or sexual attraction to a minor by an adult.

(O-2) Reproductive Health Decisions. "Reproductive Health Decisions" means a person's decisions regarding the person's use of: contraception; fertility or sterilization care; assisted reproductive technologies; miscarriage management care; healthcare related to the continuation or termination of pregnancy; or prenatal, intranatal, or postnatal care.

(O-5) Source of income. "Source of income" means the lawful manner by which an individual supports himself or herself and his or her dependents.

(P) Unfavorable military discharge. "Unfavorable military discharge" includes discharges from the Armed Forces of the United States, their Reserve components, or any National Guard or Naval Militia which are classified as RE-3 or the equivalent thereof, but does not include those characterized as RE-4 or "Dishonorable".

(Q) Unlawful discrimination. "Unlawful discrimination" means discrimination against a person because of his or her actual or perceived: race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, marital status, order of protection status, disability, military status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, reproductive health decisions, or unfavorable discharge from military service as those terms are defined in this Section.

(Source: P.A. 102-362, eff. 1-1-22; 102-419, eff. 1-1-22; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21; 102-813, eff. 5-13-22; 102-896, eff. 1-1-23; 102-1102, eff. 1-1-23; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23; 103-785, eff. 1-1-25.)

(775 ILCS 5/3-104.2 new)

Sec. 3-104.2. Credit history and subsidies.

(a) As used in this Section, "housing subsidy" means, but is not limited to, housing choice vouchers, permanent supportive housing program placements, or rapid rehousing subsidies.

(b) If there is a housing subsidy involved in the process of securing rental housing, it is a civil rights violation for an owner or any other person, or for a real estate broker or salesman, to:

(1) use a financial or income standard in assessing eligibility for the rental of housing that is not based on the portion of the rent to be paid by the tenant; or

(2) use a person's credit history as part of the application process for a rental accommodation or deny an applicant based on credit score or credit history, without offering the applicant the option, at the applicant's discretion, of providing lawful, verifiable alternative evidence of the applicant's reasonable ability to pay the portion of the rent to be paid by the tenant, including, but not limited to, bank statements, pay stubs, rental history, or benefit statements.

(c) If the applicant elects to provide lawful, verifiable alternative evidence of the applicant's reasonable ability to pay under subsection (b), the housing provider must do both of the following:

(1) provide the applicant reasonable time to respond with that alternative evidence; and

(2) reasonably consider that alternative evidence in lieu of the person's credit score or credit history in determining whether to offer the rental accommodation to the applicant.

(d) The Department shall adopt any rules necessary for the implementation and enforcement of this Section, including, but not limited to, rules on the circumstances and conditions under which use of credit scores or history to deny a rental application to a person with a housing subsidy may constitute a civil rights violation under this Section.