HB5606 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 20102 AAS 33553 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB5606

Introduced 2/13/2026, by Rep. Jaime M. Andrade, Jr.

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

225 ILCS 41/1-25 new

Amends the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Licensing Code. Provides that, as soon as practical after the effective date of the amendatory Act, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation shall study the current practices of funeral directing and embalming, including how other states regulate those practices and industries and the potential costs and benefits to licensing those professions separately, and shall determine what legislative and administrative changes would be necessary to establish separate funeral director licenses and embalmers licenses. Provides that the study and recommended legislative changes shall be presented to the General Assembly by no later than January 1, 2027. Sets forth findings. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning regulation.

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

Section 5. The Funeral Directors and Embalmers Licensing Code is amended by adding Section 1-25 as follows:

(225 ILCS 41/1-25 new)

Sec. 1-25. Separate licensing for funeral directors and embalmers; study and recommendations.

(a) The General Assembly finds that:

(1) Illinois law currently requires a unified funeral director and embalmer license for individuals who wish to engage in funeral directing, regardless of whether they perform embalming services.

(2) Funeral directing and embalming are distinct professional practices involving different skills, training, and responsibilities, as already recognized by the terms defined in this Act.

(3) Requiring embalming licensure for individuals who do not embalm creates unnecessary barriers to workforce entry, business ownership, and succession planning, particularly in lower-income, minority, and rural communities.

(4) Establishing separate licenses for funeral directing and embalming preserves public health protections while modernizing licensure to reflect current professional practice.

(b) As soon as practical after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly, the Department shall study the current practices of funeral directing and embalming, including how other states regulate those practices and industries and the potential costs and benefits to licensing those professions separately, and shall determine what legislative and administrative changes would be necessary to establish separate funeral director licenses and embalmers licenses. The study and recommended legislative changes shall be presented to the General Assembly by no later than January 1, 2027.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.