Bill
HB 3790
Designates Lunar New Year as a state holiday, prompting office closures and adjusted deadlines/schedules for state agencies, schools, elections, and procurement.
Status (as of 2025-06-01)
- Introduced: March 5, 2025 (Rep. Hoan Huynh). Chief sponsor later changed to Rep. Jehan Gordon‑Booth; multiple Senate sponsors added (primary sponsor in Senate: Sen. Celina Villanueva).
- Passed both chambers with amendments (House passage with amendment(s) April 10; Senate passage June 1, 2025). As of June 1, the bill with Senate amendments was returned to the House for concurrence.
Purpose
- A hybrid bill combining two principal themes:
1. Establish Lunar New Year as an official State holiday and insert it into several Illinois statutes that reference State holidays.
2. Make substantive changes to the Property Tax Code — notably reforms/clarifications to the Low‑Income Senior Citizens assessment freeze homestead exemption and related homestead definitions and sections.
Key provisions — Holiday / State law changes
- Adds a new section to the State Commemorative Dates Act designating "Lunar New Year" as a State holiday.
- Date defined as the second new moon after the winter solstice (or the third new moon if an intercalary month intervenes).
- If Lunar New Year falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday shall be observed as the holiday.
- Inserts Lunar New Year into multiple statutory lists of State holidays and related rules including:
- The Election Code (affects computation of filing/deadline dates if they fall on holidays),
- The Illinois Procurement Code (affects computation of statutory time periods and business‑day counting),
- The School Code (classifies Lunar New Year among legal school holidays and permits school boards to grant the special holiday),
- The Promissory Note and Bank Holiday Act (as reflected by the bill synopsis).
- Practical effects: state offices ordinarily closed on the holiday; deadline/computation rules that treat holidays as non‑business days will apply to Lunar New Year.
Key provisions — Property Tax Code changes (Senate amendments)
- Adds/edits multiple Property Tax Code sections (definitions and exemptions), including:
- New or revised definitions for "homestead" and "homestead exemption."
- Revisions to Section 15‑172 (Low‑Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption):
- Clarifies eligibility rules, base year concepts, and household income counting.
- Updates the "maximum income limitation" schedule, including increases for future tax years:
- 2026: $75,000; 2027: $77,000; 2028 and thereafter: $79,000 (with transitional entries for earlier years retained in statute).
- Allows certain program enrollments (AABD, SNAP, LIHEAP, Benefit Access, Senior Real Estate Tax Deferral) to serve as alternative presumptions of income eligibility and permits county assessment officers to verify eligibility without disclosing program specifics.
- Other amendments to county assessment/appeals provisions (Sections 21‑150, 21‑385 and additions such as 21‑254 and 21‑291), intended to implement or support the exemption program changes (details in amendments are technical and affect administration, filing and assessment processes).
Who is affected
- Broadly:
- State employees and agencies (observance and operations on the new holiday).
- School districts, teachers, school staff, and students (Lunar New Year becomes a legal school holiday; school boards may grant special holidays).
- Election authorities and candidates (deadline computations shift when actions fall on the holiday).
- State procurement officers and vendors (statutory day computations change).
- Low‑income senior homeowners/lessees (possible expanded eligibility or clearer administration of the assessment freeze homestead exemption and higher income thresholds).
- County assessment officers and local taxing districts (administrative and fiscal effects from exemption changes).
- Fiscal impact: the bill includes changes likely to affect local and state property‑tax revenues (by expanding or altering eligibility for a freeze/exemption) and administrative workload; a fiscal note was requested/filed during consideration but detailed cost estimates are not included here.
Procedural notes and next steps
- The bill has received multiple floor and committee amendments in both chambers (notably Senate Floor Amendments filed by Sen. Celina Villanueva and a Committee Amendment by Sen. Don Harmon).
- After Senate passage June 1, 2025, the bill was returned to the House for concurrence on Senate amendments. Final enactment requires House concurrence (or further conference) and gubernatorial signature.
For readers wanting the statutory details
- Key statutory targets: 5 ILCS 490 (State Commemorative Dates Act), 10 ILCS 5 (Election Code), 30 ILCS 500 (Procurement Code), 105 ILCS 5 (School Code), and multiple sections of 35 ILCS 200 (Property Tax Code), including 15‑172 (as amended).
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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