2026 Spring Legislative Session - Early Childhood Education (ECE) Bills that Passed Both Chambers

2026 Spring Legislative Session - Early Childhood Education (ECE) Bills that Passed Both Chambers

IDEC Legislative Initiatives

HB3595 - Child Care Terminology (Licensing Redesign) (Rep. Maura Hirschauer, Sen. Julie Morrison)

Amends the Early Childhood Act. The bill honors early childhood educators and caregivers by moving away from outdated terms like "day care" to "early care and education" and "facility" to "provider." It lets IDEC tie background checks to the individual instead of the provider and streamlines license exempt structure and application requirements, providing consistent licensing decisions, reduces delays, and duplications in process.

Effective dates once signed by the Governor:

New license exemption structure is not effective untill July 1, 2027 for child care providers and not effective untill July 1, 2028 for Park Districts. Will require rulemaking.

Changes in terminology are effective in statute on July 1, 2026.

Background check changes will not go into effect until July 1, 2027, upon approval by the FBI.

HB5099 - IDEC Background Check (Rep. Joyce Mason, Sen. Julie Morrison)

Amends Early Childhood Act and Child Care Act of 1969. Effective July 1, 2027, provides authority and responsibility to conduct fingerprint-based criminal history check on child care providers to IDEC. Allows IDEC to seek federal approval for this authority (until then, DCFS retains). The bill also adopts the National Child Protection Act.

Effective date once signed by the Governor or July 1, 2026, whichever is later, except for: Provisions related to authority and responsibility to conduct fingerprinting and background checks: July 1, 2027.

Will require rulemaking

HB5204 - IDEC Early Learning Council (Rep. Joyce Mason, Sen. Lakesia Collins)

Amends the Illinois Early Learning Council Act. Updates provisions, on appointees, sets forth provisions regarding conflicts of interest, and makes other changes.

Effective date: January 1, 2027

Other ECE Initiatives

HB2190 - Child Care Licensing First Aid (Rep. Joyce Mason)

Increases the minimum number of non-administrative staff required to be certified in first aid, the Heimlich maneuver, and CPR from at least one to at least two per child care institution.

Effective date: Once signed by the Governor

Will require rulemaking

HB4587 - Interim Child Care Directors (Rep. Faver Dias, Sen. Cappel)

Sets minimum educational requirements for newly hired child care directors and temporarily allows centers to hire an Interim Conditional Child Care Director until July 30, 2032.

Effective Date: July 1, 2027

Will require rulemaking

HB5364- Expanding HFS-OIG Authority to IDEC (Rep. Maura Hirschauer, Sen. Lakesia Collins)

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code to add the Department of Early Childhood and its Secretary, allowing the Inspector General of Healthcare and Family Services to carry out investigative duties for the Department and report findings to its Secretary when asked.

Effective: Once signed by the Governor

SB2771 - Suicide Prevention Information (Sen. Christopher Belt, Rep. Mary Beth Canty)

Requires that IDEC include in child care center licensing regulations the requirement that all licensed child care centers prominently display contact information for the 9-8-8 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline where children and staff can easily see it.

Effective Date: January 1, 2027

Will require rulemaking

HB3772 - Preschool Suspension/Expulsions (Rep Davis / Sen. Lightford)

Requires Preschool for All (PFA) programs to limit suspensions by mandating director or superintendent approval for suspensions over three days and capping them at the time needed to create or update a behavior or safety plan.

Effective Date: July 1, 2027, for the sections impacting IDEC

Will require rulemaking

SB2773 - Paraprofessional Short Term Approval/Licensure (Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel)

Updates the qualifications for obtaining the Educator License with stipulations endorsed for Paraprofessional (ELS-PARA).

Effective date: Once signed by the Governor

May require rulemaking

HB5225 - Autism Diagnosis by SLPs (Rep. Natalie A. Manley, Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel)

Allows a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP) with the right autism-diagnosis training to diagnose autism in children under age 3 in Early Intervention, as long as the child has no known medical conditions.

Effective: January 1, 2028

HB1783 - LEAD-K (Rep. Michelle Mussman, Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel)

Creates the Language Equality Acquisition Act to help Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or DeafBlind Children ages 0-5 build language skills, communicate with peers and staff, and access resources they need before starting school.

Effective date: Once signed by the Governor

HB4606 - Universal Newborn Home Visiting (Rep. Laura Faver Dias, Sen. Cristina Castro)

Department of Human Services may identify, develop, and manage the administrative infrastructure needed to support existing and future short-term universal newborn home visiting services.

Effective: July 1, 2027

HR0923 - IDEC Study: Day Care Licensure (Rep. McCombie)

Encourages IDEC to study ways to reduce licensure and regulations burdens on day care homes, specifically examining how to consolidate multiple required trainings and certifications into fewer trainings, and how to prevent minor technical violations from unfairly blocking license renewals when providers are acting in good faith toward full compliance. Report due July 1, 2028.

Effective Date: Immediately upon adoption