Illinois Governor Pritzker Signs New Liability and Red-Tape Provisions into Law

August 26, 2025

Illinois Public Act 104-0161 will prevent regulatory relief for small businesses and expose them to more lawsuits

Governor J.B. Pritzker signed SB 1976 (Peters) into law. The new law (PA 104-0161) will require Illinois state agencies to impose federal workplace rules from the Biden Administration—at the state level—that are rolled back or eliminated by the Trump Administration.

PA 104-0161 also grants so-called “interested parties” the right to sue employers for alleged violations of workplace safety protocols.

NFIB opposed the legislation, fearing that it would:

lead to a divergence between state and federal workplace regulations
prevent Illinois small businesses from realizing any federal regulatory relief from overreaching governmental red tape
expose small businesses to frivolous and bad-faith lawsuits by so-called “interested parties”

NFIB Illinois State Director Noah Finley joined Greg Bishop on Illinois in Focus to discuss the harmful impacts of this legislation.

Topics:

Regulations

State:

Illinois

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