2023 Articles

The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) adopted amendments to the Part titled Back to Business Grant Program, adding the Startup Grants Program and the Reactivating Vacant and Mainstreet Places (REVAMP) programs to DCEO’s Back to Business grants.

The Executive Ethics Commission amended its Organization, Information, Rulemaking and Hearings procedures for complainants. Complainants are those who are the subjects of alleged sexual harassment.

On June 13, 2023, the Fourth District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a personal injury verdict was invalid because the jury was dismissed after reaching an internally inconsistent verdict, reassembled, and then reached a second verdict that was legally inconsistent with the first.

The Department of Labor amended the Part titled Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act. The amendment expands protection under the Part to victims of gender violence and is now applicable to all employers with at least one employee.

On May 24, 2023, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) created the potential for liability in tort, as required by the Joint Tortfeasor Contribution Act (“Contribution Act”), such that a tortfeasor could set off recovery against it by a portion of another tortfeasor’s settlement with the plaintiff.

The Department of Healthcare and Family Services adopted amendments to establish violence prevention community support teams to provide trauma recovery mental health services to children and adults who have experienced chronic exposure to firearm violence.

The Department of Corrections adopted amendments to the Part now titled Impact Program. The Impact Program is no longer a short-term, military-style “boot camp,” but rather a longer-term, holistic program that utilizes counseling, team-building exercises, education, and work activities to emphasize self-control and self-esteem for eligible individuals in custody.

The Illinois General Assembly amended the Prevailing Wage Act. Any laborer, worker, or mechanic who is employed by a contractor, or by any lower tier subcontractor, and is paid for services in an amount less than the prevailing wage rate for work performed on a project, shall

On June 6, 2023, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that when imprisonment is ordered to enforce an indirect civil contempt order, the conditions of release must be contingent upon purging the contempt by compliance with the original order.

On July 14, 2023, the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a voluntary withdrawal of a property tax assessment appeal to the Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB) renders the claim a legal nullity, and so subsequently filing a tax objection complaint with the circuit court is allowed.