Illinois Legislative News: April 20, 2026
Third Reading Consulting Group
Friday, April 17, marked the third reading deadline for legislators in both the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives to pass bills out of their chamber of origination. While there may be some extensions, the third reading deadline is the date that bills must be passed out of their initial chamber in order to continue forward in the legislative process. As of Friday morning, the House passed a total of 143 bills, and the Senate passed 135 bills.
Ever since the March primary election, the General Assembly session has moved very quickly. After an uncharacteristic session calendar with very few weeks so far where both the House and Senate were in session at the same time, both chambers will be in Springfield together throughout the entire month of May. The next deadline is the opposite chamber committee deadline on May 8. The opposite chamber’s third reading deadline will follow that on May 22, and the final adjournment of the 2026 spring session is scheduled for May 31. The state’s FY 2027 budget package and a variety of omnibus legislation will be introduced and passed in the final two weeks of session.
Data Center Subject Matter Hearings
Following a series of data center- and AI-related subject matter hearings last week, the House Executive Committee continued the discussion with a subject matter hearing on data center energy use on Wednesday, April 15. Data centers have become a major topic in both chambers, and the subject matter hearing series will continue in the House Executive Committee on Wednesday, April 22, focusing on water use. Additional hearings are likely to be scheduled before session is over. These hearings may result in omnibus legislation before the end of May or during the fall veto session.
Important Upcoming Dates – Statewide
May 8 – Opposite Chamber Committee Deadline
May 22 – Opposite Chamber Third Reading Deadline
May 31 – Adjournment
November 3 – Illinois General Election