Bill
HB 5373
Modernizes terminology to replace “day care” with “child care” and tightens licensure/background checks for providers, plus updates labor relations definitions.
HB5373 Summary – Illinois 104th General Assembly (Introduced Feb 10, 2026)
Overview and Purpose
- This bill focuses on terminology updates related to child care and makes related structural updates to definitions within the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act (and associated acts), including clarifications to background investigations, licensure references, and certain exemptions.
- The core aim is to replace outdated terms like “day care/daycare/day-care” with “child care” across statutes, and to update several definitions and licensure-related provisions in the Child Care Act of 1969 and related regulation.
Effective Date
- July 1, 2026.
Key Provisions and Changes
- Terminology modernization:
- Replaces terms referring to “day care” with “child care” in various Acts and regulations to align with current usage.
- Child Care Act of 1969 amendments:
- Revises definitions for:
- Day care center
- Part day child care facility
- Day care agency
- Updates prohibitions on unlicensed practice.
- Revises criminal background investigations requirements related to child care providers.
- Potentially expands or refines when background checks are required and how they are conducted.
- Adjusts advertising provisions to reflect updated terminology and regulatory standards.
- Repeals exemptions:
- Repeals an exemption from licensure for:
- Day care homes serving children of military personnel and children from foreign states or countries.
- This repeal would remove a licensure exemption for these home-based providers, aligning oversight with other day care/child care facilities.
- Labor relations provisions (Sections 3 and 7 of 5 ILCS 315):
- The text of the bill includes amendments to definitions within the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, including:
- Confidential employee
- Exclusive representative
- Managerial employee
- Supervisor
- Public employee and other related categories
- These changes modernize terminology and align with current statutory language, ensuring consistent interpretation in labor relations discussions around public employees, including those in the child care sector as applicable.
- Clarifies unit composition and bargaining unit rules, including handling of police, fire fighters, and court reporters in specific circuits, and changes related to active petitions for certification.
- Maintains duties to bargain collectively, including good-faith negotiations over wages, hours, and terms of employment, with optional arbitration.
Who Is Affected
- Child care providers and facilities: day care centers, part-day facilities, day care agencies, and house-based providers (with licensure changes for military/foreign-state children).
- Families and children receiving child care services: impacted by licensure and background-check reforms, and the shift from “day care” to “child care” terminology.
- Public employers and labor organizations: updates to labor relations definitions and bargaining framework that affect negotiations and unit structures where applicable.
- State agencies enforcing child care licensure, background checks, and advertising standards.
Procedural and Timeline Aspects
- Status: Introduced and awaiting further committee action.
- Effective date for substantive changes: July 1, 2026, with licensure and background-check provisions taking effect under the amended Child Care Act and related sections.
Notes
- The bill’s primary substantive impact appears to be modernizing terminology and tightening/licensing standards for child care providers, along with aligning labor relations definitions and processes to current statutory language.
- Some provisions could increase regulatory oversight for home-based child care providers serving military or foreign-state children due to the repeal of licensure exemptions.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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