Chicago City Wire

Nicholas K. Smith introduced HB1758 in the Illinois House on Jan. 24, 2025, during the general assembly session 104, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the State Property Control Act. In a provision concerning submission of an Annual Real Property Utilization Report, changes the due date for the Report from July 31 to August 31 of each year."

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, the bill amends the State Property Control Act to outline the process for the disposal of surplus real property held by the State of Illinois, managed by an administrator. It defines surplus real property as real estate owned by the state that is vacant and no longer needed by the owning agency. The bill requires an annual report by responsible officers detailing property use and plans for unused properties. The administrator must notify all state agencies of surplus properties by Oct. 31 annually and manage the appraisal and sale process, ensuring sales at no less than 75% of fair market value. Proceeds generally go to the General Revenue Fund, with specific allocations for special funds or trust funds in cases of mental health or developmental disabilities facility sales. The administrator is granted authority for necessary legal and sales documents and required to submit an annual report on property transfers or conveyances by Feb. 1.

Nicholas K. Smith has proposed another two bills since the beginning of the 104th session.

Smith graduated from Chicago State University in 2000 with a BS.

Nicholas K. Smith is currently serving in the Illinois State House, representing the state's 34th House District. He replaced previous state representative Elgie R. Sims, Jr. in 2018.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
HB1758	01/24/2025	Amends the State Property Control Act. In a provision concerning submission of an Annual Real Property Utilization Report, changes the due date for the Report from July 31 to August 31 of each year.
HB1371	01/15/2025	Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that, if a Public Act transfers State real property to a municipality for nominal consideration and the Public Act requires the property to be used for "public purposes" without defining that term, "public purposes" means any lawful purposes when used in a Public Act with an effective date prior to, on, or after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Makes conforming changes to a Division heading.
HB1376	01/15/2025	Appropriates $6,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Human Services for a grant to the Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago for costs associated with funding equitable mortgage lending, homeownership rehabilitation and development, and homebuyer subsidies and support. Effective July 1, 2025.