Peoria Standard

A new bill authored by State Rep. Booth in the Illinois House seeks to expand paid leave coverage by removing exemptions and including additional employee groups, according to the Illinois State House.

The bill, introduced as HB4076 on June 6, 2025, during the general assembly session 104, was summarized by the state legislature as follows: "Amends the Paid Leave for All Workers Act. Removes a provision that exempts from the Act any employee working in the construction industry who is covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement. Deletes the definition of "construction industry"."

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

In essence, this bill amends the Paid Leave for All Workers Act by removing the exemption for employees in the construction industry who are covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, thus requiring them to comply with the Act. It deletes the definition of "construction industry" and includes domestic workers as employees, while specifically excluding students working at their educational institutions and certain short-term higher education employees. The bill grants employees in Illinois a minimum of 40 hours of paid leave per 12-month period, accruing at a rate of one hour for every 40 worked. Employers may provide all leave upfront but are not obligated to carry it over annually. Employees are not required to give reasons for taking leave and cannot be forced to find replacements. The Act allows for leave waivers in new collective bargaining agreements but voids any waiver of rights under the Act against public policy. Local ordinances that provide equal or greater leave benefits can override this Act. The new provisions take effect Jan. 1, 2024.

Booth has proposed another three bills since the beginning of the 104th session.

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.

Gordon-Booth graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BA.

Gordon-Booth, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State House in 2009 to represent the state's 92nd House District, replacing previous state representative Joan Krupa.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
HB4076	06/06/2025	Amends the Paid Leave for All Workers Act. Removes a provision that exempts from the Act any employee working in the construction industry who is covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement. Deletes the definition of "construction industry".
HB3765	02/07/2025	Amends the Criminal Identification Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title.
HB3768	02/07/2025	Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Sets forth findings and definitions. Provides that the Department of Insurance is authorized to enter into a contract with a private insurance broker to establish an Owner-Controlled Insurance Program. Provides that the Owner-Controlled Insurance Program shall provide specified forms of insurance, if applicable, to construction contractors for the purpose of satisfying requirements to contract with a construction agency. Requires the Department to comply with the Illinois Procurement Code when procuring a contract for an Owner-Controlled Insurance Program. Provides that a contract between the Department and an insurance broker for the provision of an Owner-Controlled Insurance Program shall not exceed 5 years in duration. Provides that all tiers of construction contractors shall be eligible to obtain any form of insurance required to contract with a construction agency for the purposes of satisfying the insurance obligations necessary to execute a construction contract for a construction agency. Effective immediately.
HB2470	02/03/2025	Amends the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act. In a provision regarding the selection of grantees, provides that: State appropriations shall be allocated with the intention of providing direct candidate support through consortia; and Grown Your Own Illinois may use no more than 5% of State appropriations for operational expenditures, but may supplement its operational expenditures with private funds. In a provision regarding expenditures under the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative: requires grants to be distributed to consortia from Grow Your Own Illinois in an equitable manner based on candidate needs and in such a way as to provide the required support for a cohort of candidates; and provides that site-based cohort coordinators shall indicate to Grow Your Own Illinois the needs of candidates and shall have the authority to inform the development and operations of the cohort pertaining to certain topics. Allows the Board of Higher Education to create a process to allow cohorts to communicate operational or funding challenges pertaining to the implementation of the Grow Your Own Illinois program. Allows the Board to adopt rules to establish a complaint process. Makes other changes.