2026 Women Employed Illinois Legislative Recap
Now that the 2026 regular session for the Illinois General Assembly has come to a close, let’s take a look at where we won, where we made progress, and where we still have significant work to do.
WINS
Preventing Discrimination in Employment, Education, Housing, and More
We worked closely with the Illinois Department of Human Rights to pass SB 3777, participating in negotiations, testifying in committee, and sharing action alerts with our supporters. The legislation codifies “disparate impact” into Illinois law, allowing people to challenge policies and practices that may seem harmless, but result in discriminatory outcomes, particularly in employment, education, and banking. For decades, disparate impact has protected women, People of Color, people with disabilities, older adults, and more. However, the Trump Administration is actively undermining disparate impact, aiming to eliminate the use of it, so we ensured that Illinois had its own law in place.
Menstruation and Lactation Support on Construction Sites
Our partners at Chicago Women in Trades fought for—and won—SB 3465, which bill ensures that workers who menstruate or express milk have access to private, secure bathrooms, free menstrual products, and appropriate lactation accommodations. Historically, construction worksites have not been welcoming environments for many women, and bathrooms have been mechanisms for harassment and unequal treatment. As more women and gender-diverse workers enter the trades, workplace policies must evolve to remove barriers and prevent harassment. SB 3465 is an important step in the right direction.
Building NESTs for New Moms
Childbirth is one of the most economically precarious moments in a person’s life, at perhaps the moment of greatest need. Through SB 3365, the Illinois General Assembly provided one step toward establishing the Newborn Equity Support Transfer (NEST) program to give expectant mothers much-needed prenatal and postpartum financial support.
Preemption of Chicago One Fair Wage Ordinance
We defended Chicago’s right to pass laws regulating tipped wages by preventing the passage of HB 4263. This bill would have given the state the ultimate power to regulate tipping as part of a worker’s wages, taking away municipalities rights to allow tipped workers to earn a full and fair minimum wage, for instance. It would have rolled back Chicago’s One Fair Wage Ordinance as a result. While the ordinance was amended, leading to a two-year pause of the phase out of the tipped subminimum wage, it was the city that made the change.
PROGRESS
Establishing an Adequate and Equitable Funding Formula for Public Universities
Along with the Coalition for Transforming Higher Education Funding, we were able to move HB 1581, the Adequate and Equitable Public University Funding Act, out of the House Higher Education Appropriations Committee and to the House floor. We also secured 40 House cosponsors and 19 cosponsors on the companion bill in the Senate, SB 13. This new approach to funding our public universities ensures they and the students they serve have adequate, equitable, and stable funding that prioritizes the students and institutions most in need. Furthermore, the recommended formula will ensure our funding system is transparent and that universities are accountable to Illinois for meeting state goals.
Increasing Funding for Our Higher Education System
When the final budget was passed, it included an additional one percent of funding for public institutions. However, when compared to the actual funding received by institutions last year, it is functionally a three percent increase for public universities and two percent for community colleges. Still far below what we know our institutions need, but growth in this difficult budget year is still progress.
The Monetary Award Program (MAP) was maintained at just over $721 million. Unfortunately, without an additional investment, thousands of eligible students will not receive awards because they file their FAFSA after the funding has run out.
Raising Illinois’ Minimum Wage for All Workers
As part of Wage Justice Illinois, we introduced bills in both chambers, SB 3821 and HB 5367, that will raise the state’s minimum wage to $27 per hour by 2032. Last year, Illinois’ minimum wage reached its final increase; it now stands at $15 per hour statewide and will be stuck at $15 per hour until we change it. But $15 per hour is far below what we need to afford to live in Illinois. And for some—tipped workers, incarcerated workers, and youth workers—they still earn less than the full minimum wage. The bill we introduced makes sure those workers also earn the full minimum wage.
MORE WORK TO DO
Securing Paid Family and Medical Leave
Despite the fact that more than 60 workers and advocates traveled to Springfield to fight for SB 2413 and HB 3483, the bills failed to make progress this year. But the problem remains: All workers will need long-term paid family and medical leave to care for their own or a family member’s serious illness, or to welcome a new child. But in Illinois, 62 percent of workers cannot even take unpaid leave, forcing them to make impossible decisions about their health and their ability to care for their families. Illinois must create a state-run family and medical leave program and make a difference for thousands of Illinois families.
Fourteen states and Washington, D.C. have already passed laws creating their own paid family and medical leave insurance programs. Illinois should be the next state to ensure paid leave!
Women Employed leads the Illinois Time to Care Coalition that is fighting for paid family and medical leave—join us and let’s make it happen together.
For more information on our legislative priorities, please contact:
Sarah Labadie, Director of Policy and Advocacy
(312) 620-1786
slabadie@womenemployed.org
