Lawmakers advance Pritzker’s cell phone ban, social media regulations

SPRINGFIELD — House committees advanced portions of Gov. JB Pritzker’s legislative agenda on Wednesday, though in many cases lawmakers conceded they’d need to amend their bills to gain broader support.

The House was working ahead of a Friday deadline for passing bills out of committee, an early test for Pritzker’s and other policy proposals, many of which have stagnated for multiple years.

One such measure would place new regulations on social media companies. But like many other bills advanced by House committees this week, the bill is expected to see more changes before being considered for a full vote.

House Bill 5511, the Children’s Social Media Safety Act, would require social media companies to confirm a user’s age through the device’s operating system, prohibit companies from sending nighttime notifications to users under 18, establish default privacy settings protecting a minor user’s location data and profile information, and allow more parental controls.

Supporters say the ultimate goal is to prevent children from consuming an addictive social media feed — and its advancement came the same day a New Mexico jury found that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, knowingly harmed children’s health. The company was fined $375 million.

In Illinois, the bill passed a House judiciary committee Wednesday on a partisan 13-7 vote.

“We’ve been a little bit too late to the game to talk seriously about how do we protect children’s mental health and children’s safety online,” said bill sponsor Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview. “These conversations I think have been taking place in every household in America.”

Cell phone ban

A House education committee unanimously approved the latest version of a bill that would require school boards to prohibit public school students from using their cellphones in the classroom.

As amended, Senate Bill 2427 would require Illinois school districts to adopt policies by the 2027-2028 school year banning the use of wireless communication devices like cellphones, tablets, laptops and gaming devices during school time.

The prohibition would be bell-to-bell for elementary and middle school students, but the legislation leaves discretion for school districts to allow high school students to use their devices during lunch and passing periods.

The bill also includes carve-outs for students with medical needs, who are caregivers for family members and who need their phone for English translation services. School officials can also permit device use if it’s for educational purposes.

“We know, as we’ve discussed many times, that the use of cell phones is causing a great distraction,” said state Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, the bill’s sponsor. “It’s an academic distraction, it adds to student anxiety, it contributes to bullying, and we really believe that all the research is indicating that students are much better off and more well focused and balanced when they have time away from their cellphones.”

School cellphone bans have become a rare area of bipartisan agreement in recent years, with more than 30 states banning or limiting their use. Pritzker called for the policy change in Illinois during his 2025 State of the State address. A version of the legislation passed unanimously out of the Illinois Senate last April but wasn’t called in the House.

Many school districts already have cellphone bans on the books. These districts would be able to keep their existing policy through 2030-2031 school year, after which they would have to adopt a policy conforming with the state’s requirements.

Four-year degrees

The House Executive Committee unanimously OK’d an amended version of legislation authorizing Illinois community colleges to offer four-year bachelor’s degree programs in high-demand fields — another Pritzker initiative.

House Bill 5319, sponsored by state Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl, D-Northbrook, would allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degree programs in select areas, provided the school’s board of trustees can demonstrate the program would help fill an “unmet workforce need” in the area the school serves, and that the school has sufficient resources, expertise and student interest to sustain the program.

Tuition and fees per credit hour for the third and fourth years would not be allowed to exceed 150% of the tuition and fees of lower-division course work.

The goal of the legislation is to make programs more affordable and accessible while addressing local workforce needs.

The measure, also a top legislative priority of Pritzker’s last session, stalled in May amid opposition from the state’s four-year universities, which feared that the new programs might undercut similar programs they offer.

Under the amended bill, community colleges would have to first collaborate with four-year institutions to determine if a partnership can address the workforce need. It also contains provisions meant to avoid the creation of duplicative programs.

Katz Muhl told the committee that she won’t run the bill until she’s certain everyone’s on the same page. But, she doesn’t anticipate any additional changes.

Abortion fund

The House Human Services Committee voted 8-4 to advance legislation that would create a state grant program to pay for abortions for uninsured and underinsured women.

The Affordable Care Act requires insurers that cover abortions beyond the limited circumstances allowed by the federal government under the Hyde Amendment to collect at least $1 per person per month. These funds can only be used to cover abortions, which has resulted in many insurance companies accumulating large sums they can’t fully use.

Under House Bill 5408, sponsored by state Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, insurance companies offering plans on the state’s exchange would have to annually report to the Illinois Department of Insurance how much money is in these separate accounts, how much they spent during the year and remit 90% of remaining funds to a state-controlled abortion access fund.

California and Maryland have passed similar legislation. The bill is an initiative of Pritzker’s office.

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