DuPage legislative committee hears Springfield briefing from lobbyist Mark Willis on housing, data centers and bills

DuPage County’s legislative committee met April 14 and heard a briefing from lobbyist Mark Willis on activity in the Illinois General Assembly, including a DuPage-focused housing bill, debate over local control of data centers and solar projects, and several consumer- and public-safety measures now pending in Springfield.

Mark Willis told the committee that the session’s dominant theme is housing and affordability. "The theme of this session, is housing, affordability," he said, urging members to review bills for their local impact. Willis gave the scale of activity in Springfield: "11,610 bills have been introduced in the Illinois General Assembly in this hundred and fourth session," and he said only a small share typically reaches the governor’s desk.

Willis highlighted several bills of interest to DuPage. He described House Bill 4571 as a county-backed affordable-housing initiative tied to a broader six-bill package commonly called the "missing middle" or BUILD Act; the package would, among other provisions Willis said, require municipalities to allow accessory dwelling units, reduce certain lot-size limits and affect parking controls. "4571 is particularly DuPage County’s initiative," Willis said, and he reported the bill recently added another county and a cosponsor and was on second reading.

On local infrastructure and siting, committee members pressed Willis about data centers and utility-scale solar projects. Members reported sustained public opposition in places such as Joliet and other suburbs. Willis said a statutory change (referred to in the briefing as "CJA") limited counties’ ability to block wind and solar siting if projects meet statutory criteria, and he described recent court action in Will County: "The court just early last week issued an order that said, take these six projects back to the county and approve them," Willis said, describing how the order will force local action.

Committee members and Willis also discussed a range of other measures moving through Springfield that could affect DuPage County operations or residents. Willis cited consumer-protection bills including a "junk fees" measure (House Bill 228) that would require businesses to disclose mandatory fees and a rental-fee-transparency bill (House Bill 1286) that would cap rental application fees at $50 and require fees appear on the first page of lease agreements. He also noted bills on cash-transaction requirements for retail (House Bill 4592), recyclable-metal dealer registration (House Bill 4943), extensions of commuter pre-tax benefits (House Bill 3094), and several health and safety items ranging from a proposed abortion grant fund to an unsolicited-image liability bill (House Bill 1590).

On education and social supports, Willis clarified that House Bill 4137 would allow — but not mandate — school districts to fund motel stays to help students experiencing homelessness remain in their original school district; he emphasized the statute provides authority, not a statewide unfunded mandate.

The committee also asked about the Safety Act and about a separate bill (House Bill 4086) discussed by members; Willis said major amendments were unlikely this election year because key law-enforcement stakeholders had not engaged in meaningful negotiations. On gas-tax proposals that have been filed to freeze or reduce the tax, Willis said the governor had signaled opposition, citing the need to maintain infrastructure investment.

The committee approved the previous meeting’s minutes by motion and second. Members closed the session with scheduling discussion and tentatively set the next legislative meeting for 11:30 a.m. during committee week in June.

What’s next: the county will monitor the progress of HB4571 and the missing-middle package, the DuPage Water Commission bill (reported on third reading in the Senate), and any court or statutory developments affecting local siting authority for renewables and large facilities. Committee members asked staff to follow up on the potential fiscal effects of any gas-tax change and on further amendments to high-priority bills.

(Attributions: direct quotes and paraphrases are from Mark Willis, lobbyist, and statements by the committee chair and members during the April 14 DuPage County Legislative Committee meeting.)