WeVote
Log In

Bill

Bill

HB 2659

EMPLOYMENT-ACADEMIC PERSONNEL

104th Regular Session Introduced by Gregg Johnson

The bill broadens unemployment coverage for non-instructional academic personnel by removing a cutoff and making weeks beginning on or after March 15, 2020 eligible.

Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee
0
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · HB 2659

Summary — HB 2659 (Employment — Academic Personnel / Unemployment Insurance)

Note: The document you provided contains text from two different HB 2659 measures (an Arizona bill about transfers to minors and an Illinois bill amending the Unemployment Insurance Act). This summary focuses on the Illinois measure titled “Employment — Academic Personnel” (amends 820 ILCS 405/612), which matches the subject line you gave. Where the bill text is truncated, I note limitations below.

Purpose and intent

The bill clarifies and expands unemployment insurance eligibility for certain academic personnel. Specifically, it changes the time period during which weeks of unemployment are treated as payable on the basis of wages earned in capacities other than instructional, research, or principal administrative roles at educational institutions or educational service agencies. In short, it removes a previously stated end date so that the special eligibility treatment applies to weeks beginning on or after March 15, 2020 (rather than only through a limited window ending in 2021).

Key provisions

  • Statute amended: 820 ILCS 405/612 (Section 612 of the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act — Academic personnel; ineligibility between academic years or terms).
  • Change to applicability window:
    • Prior text limited the special treatment to weeks beginning on or after March 15, 2020 and before September 4, 2021 (with additional cross-referenced windows such as Jan 1–June 25, 2021).
    • The bill replaces that limited window with a broader rule making benefits payable for any week of unemployment beginning on or after March 15, 2020 (removing the September 4, 2021 cutoff).
  • Who is covered: Individuals whose unemployment claims are based on wages for services performed in capacities other than instructional, research, or principal administrative roles at an educational institution or an educational service agency — provided they otherwise meet the Act’s eligibility requirements.
  • Existing ineligibility rules for instructional/research/principal administrative personnel during interterm/academic-year gaps remain addressed elsewhere in Section 612; this bill targets the non-instructional categories described above.
  • The bill preserves other statutory conditions and limitations (e.g., rule-based determinations, contract/assurance-based ineligibility language); full interactions should be reviewed in the complete statute.

Who is affected

  • Employees of educational institutions and educational service agencies who are employed in non-instructional roles (administrative support, clerical, maintenance, other staff functions) and who filed or will file unemployment claims for weeks of unemployment beginning on or after March 15, 2020.
  • State unemployment insurance program (potentially increased benefit payments and retroactive eligibility determinations, depending on administrative application and any retroactivity language).
  • Educational institutions and agencies insofar as unemployment chargebacks, employer tax experience, or benefit charging may be affected.

Procedural status / timeline (from provided excerpt)

  • Introduced in the Illinois General Assembly: 02/06/2025 by Representative Gregg Johnson (per document).
  • Bill amends Section 612 of the Unemployment Insurance Act; full text in the submission is truncated.
  • Further committee/referral actions, vote history, and enactment timeline were not included in the excerpt.

Notes and limitations

  • The submitted text is truncated in places; some operative sentences and examples are incomplete. The synopsis included with the bill indicates the principal change is removing the prior end date so the March 15, 2020 start date is open-ended.
  • For implementation details (e.g., whether benefits are made expressly retroactive for weeks beyond previously-covered periods, administrative guidance to the Department of Employment Security, or employer charging rules), review the full bill text as filed in the Illinois Legislative Information System and any accompanying fiscal notes or committee reports.

If you want, I can fetch or analyze the complete current text and fiscal analysis (if available) to provide specifics on fiscal impact, retroactivity, and exact statutory edits.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

Sign in to ask a question.