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Full Text of HB5394

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HB5394 - 104th General Assembly

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HB5394 Engrossed
LRB104 20008 JRC 33459 b
1

AN ACT concerning civil law.

2

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3
represented in the General Assembly:

4

Section 5.
The Illinois Human Rights Act is amended by
5
changing Section 1-103 and by adding Section 3-104.2 as
6
follows:

7

(775 ILCS 5/1-103)

(from Ch. 68, par. 1-103)
8

Sec. 1-103.
General definitions.
When used in this Act,
9
unless the context requires otherwise, the term:
10

(A) Age. "Age" means the chronological age of a person who
11
is at least 40 years old, except with regard to any practice
12
described in Section 2-102, insofar as that practice concerns
13
training or apprenticeship programs. In the case of training
14
or apprenticeship programs, for the purposes of Section 2-102,
15
"age" means the chronological age of a person who is 18 but not
16
yet 40 years old.
17

(B) Aggrieved party. "Aggrieved party" means a person who
18
is alleged or proved to have been injured by a civil rights
19
violation or believes he or she will be injured by a civil
20
rights violation under Article 3 that is about to occur.
21

(B-5) Arrest record. "Arrest record" means:
22

(1) an arrest not leading to a conviction;
23

(2) a juvenile record; or

HB5394 Engrossed
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LRB104 20008 JRC 33459 b
1

(3) criminal history record information ordered
2

expunged, sealed, or impounded under Section 5.2 of the
3

Criminal Identification Act.
4

(C) Charge. "Charge" means an allegation filed with the
5
Department by an aggrieved party or initiated by the
6
Department under its authority.
7

(D) Civil rights violation. "Civil rights violation"
8
includes and shall be limited to only those specific acts set
9
forth in Sections 2-102, 2-103, 2-105, 3-102, 3-102.1, 3-103,
10
3-102.10, 3-104.1,
3-104.2,
3-105, 3-105.1, 4-102, 4-103,
11
5-102, 5A-102, 6-101, 6-101.5, and 6-102 of this Act.
12

(E) Commission. "Commission" means the Human Rights
13
Commission created by this Act.
14

(F) Complaint. "Complaint" means the formal pleading filed
15
by the Department with the Commission following an
16
investigation and finding of substantial evidence of a civil
17
rights violation.
18

(G) Complainant. "Complainant" means a person including
19
the Department who files a charge of civil rights violation
20
with the Department or the Commission.
21

(G-5) Conviction record. "Conviction record" means
22
information indicating that a person has been convicted of a
23
felony, misdemeanor or other criminal offense, placed on
24
probation, fined, imprisoned, or paroled pursuant to any law
25
enforcement or military authority.
26

(H) Department. "Department" means the Department of Human

HB5394 Engrossed
- 3 -
LRB104 20008 JRC 33459 b
1
Rights created by this Act.
2

(I) Disability.
3

(1) "Disability" means a determinable physical or mental
4
characteristic of a person, including, but not limited to, a
5
determinable physical characteristic which necessitates the
6
person's use of a guide, hearing or support dog, the history of
7
such characteristic, or the perception of such characteristic
8
by the person complained against, which may result from
9
disease, injury, congenital condition of birth or functional
10
disorder and which characteristic:
11

(a) For purposes of Article 2, is unrelated to the
12

person's ability to perform the duties of a particular job
13

or position and, pursuant to Section 2-104 of this Act, a
14

person's illegal use of drugs or alcohol is not a
15

disability;
16

(b) For purposes of Article 3, is unrelated to the
17

person's ability to acquire, rent, or maintain a housing
18

accommodation;
19

(c) For purposes of Article 4, is unrelated to a
20

person's ability to repay;
21

(d) For purposes of Article 5, is unrelated to a
22

person's ability to utilize and benefit from a place of
23

public accommodation;
24

(e) For purposes of Article 5, also includes any
25

mental, psychological, or developmental disability,
26

including autism spectrum disorders.

HB5394 Engrossed
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LRB104 20008 JRC 33459 b
1

(2) Discrimination based on disability includes unlawful
2
discrimination against an individual because of the
3
individual's association with a person with a disability.
4

(J) Marital status. "Marital status" means the legal
5
status of being married, single, separated, divorced, or
6
widowed.
7

(J-1) Military status. "Military status" means a person's
8
status on active duty in or status as a veteran of the armed
9
forces of the United States, status as a current member or
10
veteran of any reserve component of the armed forces of the
11
United States, including the United States Army Reserve,
12
United States Marine Corps Reserve, United States Navy
13
Reserve, United States Air Force Reserve, and United States
14
Coast Guard Reserve, or status as a current member or veteran
15
of the Illinois Army National Guard or Illinois Air National
16
Guard.
17

(K) National origin. "National origin" means the place in
18
which a person or one of his or her ancestors was born.
19

(K-5) "Order of protection status" means a person's status
20
as being a person protected under an order of protection
21
issued pursuant to the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986,
22
Article 112A of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, the
23
Stalking No Contact Order Act, or the Civil No Contact Order
24
Act, or an order of protection issued by a court of another
25
state.
26

(L) Person. "Person" includes one or more individuals,

HB5394 Engrossed
- 5 -
LRB104 20008 JRC 33459 b
1
partnerships, associations or organizations, labor
2
organizations, labor unions, joint apprenticeship committees,
3
or union labor associations, corporations, the State of
4
Illinois and its instrumentalities, political subdivisions,
5
units of local government, legal representatives, trustees in
6
bankruptcy or receivers.
7

(L-5) Pregnancy. "Pregnancy" means pregnancy, childbirth,
8
or medical or common conditions related to pregnancy or
9
childbirth.
10

(M) Public contract. "Public contract" includes every
11
contract to which the State, any of its political
12
subdivisions, or any municipal corporation is a party.
13

(M-5) Race. "Race" includes traits associated with race,
14
including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective
15
hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists.
16

(N) Religion. "Religion" includes all aspects of religious
17
observance and practice, as well as belief, except that with
18
respect to employers, for the purposes of Article 2,
19
"religion" has the meaning ascribed to it in paragraph (F) of
20
Section 2-101.
21

(O) Sex. "Sex" means the status of being male or female.
22

(O-1) Sexual orientation. "Sexual orientation" means
23
actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality,
24
bisexuality, or gender-related identity, whether or not
25
traditionally associated with the person's designated sex at
26
birth. "Sexual orientation" does not include a physical or

HB5394 Engrossed
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LRB104 20008 JRC 33459 b
1
sexual attraction to a minor by an adult.
2

(O-2) Reproductive Health Decisions. "Reproductive Health
3
Decisions" means a person's decisions regarding the person's
4
use of: contraception; fertility or sterilization care;
5
assisted reproductive technologies; miscarriage management
6
care; healthcare related to the continuation or termination of
7
pregnancy; or prenatal, intranatal, or postnatal care.
8

(O-5) Source of income. "Source of income" means the
9
lawful manner by which an individual supports himself or
10
herself and his or her dependents.
11

(P) Unfavorable military discharge. "Unfavorable military
12
discharge" includes discharges from the Armed Forces of the
13
United States, their Reserve components, or any National Guard
14
or Naval Militia which are classified as RE-3 or the
15
equivalent thereof, but does not include those characterized
16
as RE-4 or "Dishonorable".
17

(Q) Unlawful discrimination. "Unlawful discrimination"
18
means discrimination against a person because of his or her
19
actual or perceived: race, color, religion, national origin,
20
ancestry, age, sex, marital status, order of protection
21
status, disability, military status, sexual orientation,
22
pregnancy, reproductive health decisions, or unfavorable
23
discharge from military service as those terms are defined in
24
this Section.
25
(Source: P.A. 102-362, eff. 1-1-22; 102-419, eff. 1-1-22;
26
102-558, eff. 8-20-21; 102-813, eff. 5-13-22; 102-896, eff.

HB5394 Engrossed
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LRB104 20008 JRC 33459 b
1
1-1-23; 102-1102, eff. 1-1-23; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23; 103-785,
2
eff. 1-1-25
.)

3

(775 ILCS 5/3-104.2 new)
4

Sec. 3-104.2.
Credit history and subsidies.
5

(a) As used in this Section, "housing subsidy" means, but
6
is not limited to, housing choice vouchers, permanent
7
supportive housing program placements, or rapid rehousing
8
subsidies.
9

(b) If there is a housing subsidy involved in the process
10
of securing rental housing, it is a civil rights violation for
11
an owner or any other person, or for a real estate broker or
12
salesman, to:
13

(1) use a financial or income standard in assessing
14

eligibility for the rental of housing that is not based on
15

the portion of the rent to be paid by the tenant; or
16

(2) use a person's credit history as part of the
17

application process for a rental accommodation or deny an
18

applicant based on credit score or credit history, without
19

offering the applicant the option, at the applicant's
20

discretion, of providing lawful, verifiable alternative
21

evidence of the applicant's reasonable ability to pay the
22

portion of the rent to be paid by the tenant, including,
23

but not limited to, bank statements, pay stubs, rental
24

history, or benefit statements.
25

(c) If the applicant elects to provide lawful, verifiable

HB5394 Engrossed
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LRB104 20008 JRC 33459 b
1
alternative evidence of the applicant's reasonable ability to
2
pay under subsection (b), the housing provider must do both of
3
the following:
4

(1) provide the applicant reasonable time to respond
5

with that alternative evidence; and
6

(2) reasonably consider that alternative evidence in
7

lieu of the person's credit score or credit history in
8

determining whether to offer the rental accommodation to
9

the applicant.
10

(d) The Department shall adopt any rules necessary for the
11
implementation and enforcement of this Section, including, but
12
not limited to, rules on the circumstances and conditions
13
under which use of credit scores or history to deny a rental
14
application to a person with a housing subsidy may constitute
15
a civil rights violation under this Section.

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