Rock Island Today

Gregg Johnson introduced HB1897 in the Illinois House on Jan. 29, 2025, during the general assembly session 104, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Creates the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure program. Provides that the Department of Agriculture shall provide grants to petroleum marketers, petroleum terminal operators, and any other companies that the Department of Agriculture determines are eligible for grant funding. Provides that eligible expenditures include tank modifications, tanks, piping, and fuel dispensers. Provides that an eligible grant recipient shall not receive more than $1,000,000 in grant funding. Provides that no funding under the program shall be made available to a public body. Creates the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Provides that, from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026, the Comptroller shall order transferred, and the Treasurer shall transfer, $3,000,000 each calendar quarter from the Underground Storage Tank Fund to the Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Fund, unless the Underground Storage Tank Fund has a balance at or below $75,000,000. Creates the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Task Force. Sets forth membership and duties of the Task Force. Amends the State Finance Act to make conforming changes. Effective immediately."

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, the bill establishes the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program in Illinois, administered by the Department of Agriculture, to provide grants for the installation of infrastructure necessary for higher ethanol and biodiesel blends. The Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Fund, created within the state treasury, will allocate up to $1 million per grant to eligible entities such as petroleum marketers and terminal operators. From July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027, $3 million will be transferred each quarter from the Underground Storage Tank Fund to support this initiative, unless the fund balance is $75 million or less. The program excludes public bodies from eligibility and requires recipients to cover at least 50% of associated installation costs. A Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Task Force will be formed to review program effectiveness and provide feedback, although it will not possess decision-making authority. The bill is effective immediately upon becoming law.

Gregg Johnson has proposed another six bills since the beginning of the 104th session.

Gregg Johnson is currently serving in the Illinois State House, representing the state's 72nd House District. He replaced previous state representative Michael Halpin in 2023.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
HB1897	01/29/2025	Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Creates the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure program. Provides that the Department of Agriculture shall provide grants to petroleum marketers, petroleum terminal operators, and any other companies that the Department of Agriculture determines are eligible for grant funding. Provides that eligible expenditures include tank modifications, tanks, piping, and fuel dispensers. Provides that an eligible grant recipient shall not receive more than $1,000,000 in grant funding. Provides that no funding under the program shall be made available to a public body. Creates the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Provides that, from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026, the Comptroller shall order transferred, and the Treasurer shall transfer, $3,000,000 each calendar quarter from the Underground Storage Tank Fund to the Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Fund, unless the Underground Storage Tank Fund has a balance at or below $75,000,000. Creates the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Task Force. Sets forth membership and duties of the Task Force. Amends the State Finance Act to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.
HB1773	01/27/2025	Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person shall not take, hold, conceal, or destroy mail addressed to another person with the intent to defraud any person or deprive the person to whom the mail was addressed of the mail. Provides that a person who violates this provision is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class 3 felony for a second or subsequent offense. Provides that the provision applies if the victim of the offense is an individual whether the individual whose mail is obtained, or attempted to be obtained, is alive or deceased at the time of the violation. Provides that the provision does not prohibit a person from being charged with, convicted of, or sentenced for any other violation of law committed by that person using mail obtained in violation of the provision or any other violation of law committed by that person while violating or attempting to violate the provision. Defines "mail" and "person". Effective immediately.
HB1620	01/23/2025	Amends the Downstate Firefighter Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that an active firefighter with 5 or more years of creditable service who is found unable to perform his or her duties in the fire department by reason of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) resulting from service as a firefighter is entitled to an occupational disease disability pension during any period of such disability for which he or she has no right to receive salary. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement by the State.
HB1630	01/23/2025	Amends the Nursing Home Care Act. Requires the directory published each year by the Department of Public Health for each public health region listing facilities to include the facility website address, if any.
HB1435	01/17/2025	Amends the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act. Provides that the accounts established under the Secure Choice Savings Program shall be IRAs, into which enrollees contribute funds that are invested in investment options established by the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Board. Provides that a separate account shall be established for each enrollee and the accounts shall be owned by the enrollee. Provides that the savings accounts established under the Program shall be portable and allow for an enrollee to make contributions from multiple employers into a single account. Provides that an enrollee in the Program may have both a Roth IRA and a Traditional IRA through the Program. Provides that the Board shall have the duty to assess the feasibility of agreements with other governmental entities, including other states and their agencies and instrumentalities, to achieve greater economies of scale through shared resources and to enter into those agreements if determined to be beneficial. Provides that an employer who fails without reasonable cause to enroll an employee in the Program within the time provided and fails to remit their contributions (rather than fails without reasonable cause to enroll an employee in the Program within the time provided) shall be subject to a penalty. Makes changes in provisions concerning employer and employee information packets. Effective immediately.
HB1080	01/09/2025	Amends the Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act. Authorizes a supervisor or trustee of a township with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants, during the term of office for which the supervisor or trustee is elected, to hold the office of school board member for a school district. Amends the Township Code. Provides that a township board may not direct a distribution to be made from the township's general fund to a school district if a supervisor or trustee of the township is concurrently serving as a school board member of that school district. Effective immediately.
HB1082	01/09/2025	Amends the Illinois Municipal Auditing Law of the Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that certain provisions concerning audit requirements shall become inoperable in fiscal year 2026. Provides that, beginning in Fiscal Year 2026, if a municipality has a population of 1,000 or more, then the municipality shall file annually with the Comptroller an audit report and annual financial report. Provides that, beginning in Fiscal Year 2026, a municipality with a population of less than 1,000 shall file annually with the Comptroller an annual financial report. Provides that, beginning in Fiscal Year 2026, a municipality with a population of less than 1,000 that owns or operates public utilities or has bonded debt shall file an audit report once every 4 years unless the latest audit report filed with the Comptroller contains an adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion. Provides that, if the audit report contains an adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, then the municipality shall file an audit report annually until the audit report shows no adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion. Provides that, beginning in Fiscal Year 2026, municipalities shall submit completed audit reports and annual financial reports within 180 days after the close of such fiscal year, unless an extension is granted by the Comptroller in writing.