SPRINGFIELD – Governor Rauner signed HB 40 into law Thursday, but there's a controversy brewing as to when it will go into effect, the Legislative Information Systems office is telling Illinois Review.
The law itself does not state the effective date – so the question was are taxpayers paying for Medicaid and state employee abortions today and tomorrow, or when exactly will that begin?
It is not in effect immediately – that would have been clearly stated in the statute's language.
The confusion as to when the law goes into effect stems from Senator Donald Harmon holding HB 40 until after May 31st before sending to the governor.
Since it was not sent to the governor before or on May 31st, the bill would normally then not go into effect until June 1 of the following year.
But Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office is saying that since it passed both the House and the Senate by May 10th – before May 31st – it should go into effect January 1st of 2018.
"A final decision on the effective date will be posted Monday morning," the LIS officer told Illinois Review.
