Upcoming Law Changes in Illinois in 2022
At the turn of every year, you might be focusing on resolutions, seeing family, and starting a new year as fresh as possible. One thing that you should keep in your yearly routine is looking into law changes coming into effect in 2022. If you don’t have time or the bandwidth to scroll through law changes, then our law firm is here to help.
Every year, we compile some of the most important law changes coming to your state that you should know. Staying up to date on Illinois law ensures that you act within the rules and regulations of your home state. Here are some upcoming law changes in Illinois in 2022 that you should know.
Amendment to the Health Care Surrogate Act
House Bill 4260 is an amendment to the Health Car Surrogate Act. It changes the definitions of some terms within the document that were made by Public Acts 102-140 and 102-182. The Health Care Surrogate Act recognized that Illinois citizens have the right to make their own decisions about their care, and can choose to stop or forgo life-sustaining treatment if they want.
The definitions that were included in the Public Acts listed applied to the decision-making process as well as specifications of key terms used in the legislature. The changes made by the Public Acts take effect January 1, 2022, and any changes made by HB 4260 are effective immediately.
Amendment to the Title Insurance Act
When you’re choosing an insurance company, you have rights—the Illinois Senate Bill 1751 makes amendments to the Title Insurance Act to ensure this. The changes made in this bill provide consumers with the time to choose an insurance option without having to pay for it first.
Before choosing a provider and being obligated to start payments, consumers must be given all information so they can make an informed decision. They also have the ability to consult legal counsel before they make a choice and payments begin.
Amendment to the School Code
House Bill 3173 makes amendments to the School Code. One of the amendments to the code is the addition of bullying and death of a family member as factors that a student can bring up during a suspension review or expulsion hearing, and the mitigating factors will be considered as contributing to their actions that led them to this hearing.
Another amendment protects victims of sexual violence or gender-based harassment. If a student experiences either of these types of harassment and they make those allegations against another student, then the student facing these allegations or their representative cannot contact the victim directly with questions. This does not apply to allegations of domestic violence.
Additionally, a student needs to be home schooled or out of school for two consecutive weeks to treat their physical or mental health after an act of domestic or sexual violence, then a qualified employee must provide a written notice.
All of these amendments take effect July 1, 2022.
Creation of the Loan Repayment Assistance Act
Student loan debt and repayment has been crushing graduates, and making them unable to pay for other bills and financial decisions that previous students with loans were able to afford. That’s why House Bill 4205 was introduced to create the Loan Repayment Assistance Act. While this doesn’t pertain to personal injury, it’s still helpful for the people of Illinois to know.
HB 4205 creates a repayment assistance program for eligible applicants in Illinois. At the bare minimum, applicants must have attended and graduated from a high school in Illinois and graduated from a higher education institution in this state or another state. There are some more specific requirements that a person must meet, which are detailed in the bill.
This repayment assistance program distributes funds as they are available, and creates requirements for loan forgiveness for applicants. This will help citizens with student loan debt be able to pay off their debt more efficiently and without causing them to struggle exponentially.
HB 4205 is effective immediately.
Our Lawyers Are Here to Support You
At Schweickert Ganassin Krzak Rundio, LLP, we understand that law changes can be confusing and hard to keep up with. That’s why we’re here to outline important changes to Illinois Code so you can stay up to date and informed.
When you’ve been injured by someone else’s negligence, you can also trust our personal injury lawyers to help you through your claim. Reach out to our office today if you have any questions so we can get started working for you.
