State Bill of the Month – May 2025: Illinois SB1236

SB1236 – Amends the Business Assistance and Regulatory Reform Act.

Primary Sponsor: Illinois State Senator Jil Tracy

Introduced by Illinois State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-50), this bill amends the Business Assistance and Regulatory Reform Act. By alleviating burdens on Illinois businesses, this legislation will help them with permits and regulatory assistance.

SB1236 encourages streamlining the process of regulatory transparency for businesses operating in Illinois. It allows for better interagency coordination and encourages a faster permitting process. The bill also requires the Office of Business Permits and Regulatory Assistance to use computing technology to track various projects to increase transparency and accountability. This will also serve to reduce delays, and lower costs for Illinois taxpayers.

The legislation would also create the Interagency Permitting and Advisory Committee. This will allow state agencies to better communicate with one another and to better coordinate regulatory business matters. Further, the bill will create an online permitting dashboard so the public can track projects and hold regulators accountable for appropriate timelines. 

This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Assignments in the 2025 session. The bill awaits further consideration from the Illinois General Assembly in the 2026 session.

Background:

Elected officials across the country hold a significant amount of power when it comes to regulating businesses within their state. Thus, state governments can easily hinder businesses by implementing burdensome taxes and regulations. Oftentimes, just navigating the sea of rules to achieve compliance is its own deterrent.

TPA has engaged extensively on business regulations, including but not limited to: short term rentals, interchange fees, data centers, and artificial intelligence.  

Additional business regulations almost always impact small businesses the most. Large corporations (big box retailers, national banks, large restaurant franchises) can absorb the cost of regulatory changes easier than small businesses (businesses owned by small families or groups of business partners). Large corporations tend to have the resources to deal with burdensome regulatory changes compared to small businesses. This can include resources such as bigger budgets, larger and more dedicated staff to such issues, and connections within the business and regulatory landscape. Frequently, small businesses lack these resources which leads to delayed compliance with additional regulations.

It is for these reasons, among others, that TPA is pleased to make SB1236, as introduced by State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-50), its Bill of the Month for May 2025.