Pritzker signs new laws requiring businesses to accept cash, pay
employees for jury duty
[August 04, 2026]
By Ben Szalinski
Most Illinois retailers will be required to accept cash payments
beginning in 2028 under a bill Gov. JB Pritzker signed on Friday.
House Bill 4592 requires retailers that employ someone to process
in-person consumer transactions must accept cash payments on purchases
under $500, though the businesses do not have to accept bills larger
than $20.
The requirement does not apply to self-checkout machines, overnight
sales, if a business runs out of cash, membership-only businesses, or
phone or internet purchases. Businesses that do not follow the law will
have to pay fines.
“For many Illinois residents, cash remains a dependable and necessary
way to pay for everyday purchases,” Sen. Christopher Belt, D-Swansea,
said in a statement. “People deserve the freedom to choose how they
pay.”
The measures was one of 87 bills Pritzker signed on Friday.
Jury pay
Employers will now have to pay their employees their full rate of pay
while they are serving on jury duty under House Bill 4844. Businesses
with 25 or fewer employees are exempt from the requirement, which begins
immediately.
CPR practice
House Bill 4788 requires schools, beginning in the 2028-2029 school
year, to provide breasted and non-breasted manikins for CPR practice in
middle school and high school. The goal is to give students more
practice with female victims, who studies show are less likely to
receive help from bystanders when suffering cardiac arrest.
“When someone’s life is on the line, every second counts,” Sen. Laura
Ellman, D-Naperville, said in a statement. “More inclusive, realistic
CPR training helps people act quickly and save lives.”
Workload report
Senate Bill 3314 requires higher education institutions to provide more
transparency about how many credits their faculty members are teaching.
The law requires the state’s colleges and universities to, beginning in
Sept. 2028, report annually the number of credit hours being taught by
full- and part-time faculty members. The reports would be organized by
tenure status and discipline.
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The Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. (Capitol News Illinois
file photo)
Lawmakers supporting the bill said the goal is to provide more
transparency for students and educators about the higher education
system and ensure faculty members are receiving necessary support.
“This legislation helps shine a light on who is doing the teaching in
our colleges and universities by making clear how many credit hours are
taught by full-time versus part-time faculty,” Illinois Education
Association President Karl Goeke said in a statement. “Our students and
their families deserve to know who is leading the bulk of the classes at
their colleges and universities.”
Human trafficking
Drivers on Illinois interstates will soon notice more information about
human trafficking at rest stops.
House Bill 4654 requires the Illinois Department of Transportation to
install signs with resources for human trafficking victims in bathrooms
at all rest areas, beginning immediately.
Airport noise
Senate Bill 4041 requires O’Hare and Midway airports in Chicago to
conduct noise studies at least every five years beginning by the end of
2030. The study must map out how sound is distributed around the airport
and forecast how noise will be distributed going forward.
Mental health treatment
House Bill 5193 allows more patients to be transported by ambulance to a
mental health institution rather than a hospital emergency room
beginning immediately. The law now allows people under the influence of
drugs or alcohol to be transported to approved mental health facilities
if EMTs determine that’s a more appropriate location and it is approved
by their supervisors.
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