Illinois Legislative News: March 2, 2026
Third Reading Consulting Group
Last week in Springfield, both the Senate and House were in session and made progress on a few bills ahead of the upcoming committee deadline. The Senate will return this week for additional session days, while the House will not reconvene until March 18, taking a break during the primary election period. The Senate faces several important deadlines, including March 13, the cutoff for substantive bills to pass out of committee. When the House returns, members will face their own committee deadline of March 27 for substantive House bills.
Both chambers moved a handful of bills last week. One notable exception is in the House Revenue and Finance Committee, which considered an amended version of House Bill 910 on Thursday. Filed late on Wednesday by House Speaker Pro Tempore Kam Buckner (D-Chicago), the bill includes provisions for a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) incentive, which would allow municipalities to collect negotiated property tax payments from large development projects, rather than confirming to the standard local property tax rates. While the legislation is seen as pivotal for keeping the Chicago Bears in Illinois, the PILOT incentive could also apply to other major developments and public-private projects across Illinois and is supported by Gov. JB Pritzker. The bill passed out of committee by a vote of 13-7-0 on Thursday morning but was not heard on the House Floor.
The push to move megaproject language is timely as Illinois seeks to counter Indiana’s push to lure the Bears to a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana’s legislative to incentivize a Bears stadium is expected to reach Gov. Mike Braun’s desk by week’s end.
Important Upcoming Dates – Statewide
March 13 – Initial Chamber Committee Deadline (Senate)
March 17 – Illinois Primary Election
March 27 – Initial Chamber Committee Deadline (House)
April 17 – Initial Chamber Third Reading Deadline
May 8 – Opposite Chamber Committee Deadline
May 22 – Opposite Chamber Third Reading Deadline
May 31 – Adjournment
November 3 – Illinois General Election