South Cook News

Debbie Meyers-Martin introduced HB1388 in the Illinois House on Jan. 15, 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 Illinois Gambling Act. Provides the Illinois Gaming Board shall: allow sworn law enforcement personnel employed by the Board who retire in good standing to keep their previously issued Board identification cards; or issue photographic identification cards to sworn law enforcement personnel employed by the Board who retire in good standing that indicate their separation from service and identify the person as having been employed by the Board as sworn law enforcement personnel. Provides that if a Board-issued identification card is lost or stolen, the Board shall immediately reissue a replacement identification card upon written request by the retired sworn law enforcement personnel. 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 amends the Illinois Gambling Act to allow honorably retiring investigators appointed under certain provisions and sworn law enforcement personnel employed by the Illinois Gaming Board to purchase their issued badges and service firearms, provided they hold a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card. The badge must be marked to avoid any misidentification as an active officer, and the firearm's cost is based on replacement value. Retirees can retain their Board-issued identification cards stamped with "RETIRED" or receive new photographic ID cards indicating their retired status. If a card is lost or stolen, the Board must promptly issue a replacement upon request. The act is effective upon becoming law.

Debbie Meyers-Martin has proposed another two bills since the beginning of the 104th session.

Meyers-Martin graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a BA.

Debbie Meyers-Martin is currently serving in the Illinois State House, representing the state's 38th House District. She replaced previous state representative Al Riley in 2019.

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
HB1388	01/15/2025	Amends the Illinois Gambling Act. Provides the Illinois Gaming Board shall: allow sworn law enforcement personnel employed by the Board who retire in good standing to keep their previously issued Board identification cards; or issue photographic identification cards to sworn law enforcement personnel employed by the Board who retire in good standing that indicate their separation from service and identify the person as having been employed by the Board as sworn law enforcement personnel. Provides that if a Board-issued identification card is lost or stolen, the Board shall immediately reissue a replacement identification card upon written request by the retired sworn law enforcement personnel. Effective immediately.
HB1332	01/14/2025	Amends the Hospital Licensing Act. Provides that a hospital licensed under the Act must, at the time a patient is being checked in, give the patient an opportunity to designate an emergency contact to be notified if the patient dies or experiences a significant change in condition. If an emergency contact is designated, hospital staff must communicate with the emergency contact and ask whether the emergency contact would prefer to be notified by telephone call, by hospital staff when the emergency contact reaches the hospital, or by some other method.
HB1361	01/14/2025	Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates a credit for certain small businesses in an amount equal to the lesser of (i) 10% of the property taxes paid by the qualified small business during the taxable year for eligible real property or (ii) $1,500. Effective immediately.