Lawmakers consider banning vehicle searches based on cannabis odor, changes to probation among new changes

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BY PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com

SPRINGFIELD

– Minimum wage workers in Illinois will see a boost in their hourly pay to $12 per hour starting Jan. 1, while tenants in affordable housing units will be allowed to keep pets.

Those are just some of the more than 300 new laws that take effect in the new year.

Measures would further decriminalize use of substance after its 2020

tenants to keep pets is the result of Senate Bill 154, by Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, and Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego. It provides that tenants of multifamily housing units that are acquired, built or renovated with money from the Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund may keep up to two cats or one dog weighing less than 50 pounds.

By NIKA SCHOONOVER Capitol News Illinois nschoonover@capitolnewsillinois.com

SPRINGFIELD – Just before lawmakers went on a two-week spring break, the Illinois Senate passed two bills that would work to further decriminalize cannabis use in Illinois.

The bills – Senate Bill 125 and Senate Bill 1886 – would prevent an individual’s vehicle from being searched solely based on the smell of cannabis and would allow some individuals on probation to consume cannabis or alcohol.

that individuals under the age of 21 are still eligible to have their vehicle searched solely based on odor.

After that provision was added, the ACLU of Illinois shifted from supporting the bill to having a neutral stance on it.

“We do have concerns that the amendment to the bill creates a workaround, or a loophole, that could have the effect of incentivizing police to target youth for unnecessary traffic stops or vehicle searches,” Atticus Ballesteros, an attorney with ACLU of Illinois, said in an interview.