Chicago City Wire

A new bill authored by State Rep. Lisa Davis in the Illinois House seeks to permit political committees to use campaign funds for personal security measures to protect candidates from harm, according to the Illinois State House.

The bill, introduced as HB4131 on Sep. 18, 2025, during the general assembly session 104, was summarized by the state legislature as follows: "Amends the Election Code. Provides that a political committee may make expenditures to provide for personal security services and security enhancements to a candidate's personal home or office, including, but not limited to, security systems, cameras, walls, fences, or other physical structures, if the expenditures are reasonably related to protecting the candidate from harm. Provides that the provision applies to all expenditures made by a political committee after the 2024 general election. Makes a conforming change."

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 Election Code to allow political committees to use funds for personal security services and enhancements at a candidate's personal home or office. This includes expenditures for security systems, cameras, walls, fences, or other physical structures, provided they are reasonably related to protecting the candidate from harm. This change applies to all expenditures made by political committees following the 2024 general election. The bill ensures that such security expenses are considered legitimate uses of campaign funds, aiming to enhance the protection of candidates without contravening existing restrictions on fund usage.

Davis has proposed another eight bills since the beginning of the 104th session, both of them being adopted.

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.

Davis graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2001 with a BA and again in 2007 from Northern Illinois University with a JD.

Davis, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State House in 2025 to represent the state's 32nd House District, replacing previous state representative Cyril Nichols.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
HB4131	09/18/2025	Amends the Election Code. Provides that a political committee may make expenditures to provide for personal security services and security enhancements to a candidate's personal home or office, including, but not limited to, security systems, cameras, walls, fences, or other physical structures, if the expenditures are reasonably related to protecting the candidate from harm. Provides that the provision applies to all expenditures made by a political committee after the 2024 general election. Makes a conforming change.
HB3996	02/26/2025	Appropriates $2,000,000 to the Department of Human Services for a grant to the Illinois Prison Project for the purposes of legal support, representation, and education for incarcerated persons in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Effective July 1, 2025.
HB3348	02/07/2025	Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person found legally accountable for the conduct of another when either before or during the commission of an offense, by taking deliberate action (deletes and with the intent) to promote or facilitate that commission, he or she solicits, aids, abets, agrees, or attempts to aid that other person in the planning or commission of the offense shall be sentenced pursuant to the Unified Code of Corrections, except when: (1) the person initiated the commission of the offense; or (2) the person expressly directed another person to engage in conduct that constituted an element of the offense. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that a person convicted under such an accountability theory shall be sentenced according to the provisions of the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that no separate sentence shall be imposed for the offense in which the conduct of another person satisfied an element of the offense for which the individual has been found guilty. Establishes penalties for being legally accountable for the conduct of another under such an accountability theory. Effective immediately.
HB3458	02/07/2025	Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that it is a defense to aggravated battery when the individual battered is a peace officer and the officer responded to an incident in which the officer interacted with a person whom a reasonable officer could believe was having a mental health episode and the person with whom the officer interacted has a documented mental illness and acted abruptly.
HB3649	02/07/2025	Creates the Health Care Workforce Commission Act. Contains only a short title provision.
HB3086	02/06/2025	Amends the Veteran Service Organizations State Charter Act. Changes the name of the Act to the Veteran Service Organizations Equal Act. Provides that a veteran service organization shall be considered to have veteran service organization status (rather than shall be considered state chartered) when the organization meets all of the requirements listed in the Act and the organization's application for veteran service organization status (rather than state charter status) has been approved by the Attorney General. Makes corresponding changes throughout the Act. Provides that the Attorney General shall grant veteran service organization status (rather than state charter status) to any organization that has demonstrated that all requirements for obtaining veteran service organization status have been met. Requires a veteran service organization to have annual expenditures that demonstrate that 20% (rather than a majority) of the organization's expenses reflect support for veterans in order to qualify for veteran service organization status. Requires an application for veteran service organization status to include a statement from the organization's Commander, President, or chief executive officer (rather than all officers of the organization) attesting that all requirements for a veteran service organization status have been met. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that it is an unlawful practice for any person proving veteran or military benefits services to: (i) receive compensation for referring any individual to another person to advise or assist the individual with any veterans' benefits matter; (ii) guarantee, either directly or by implication, a successful outcome or that any individual is certain to receive specific veterans' benefits; (iii) utilize international call centers or data centers for processing veterans' personal information; and (iv) other matters.
HB3099	02/06/2025	Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Requires each applicant for a Firearm Owner's Identification Card to submit evidence to the Illinois State Police that the applicant has not been convicted of a felony, unless the applicant has been granted a certificate of relief from disabilities, in which case the applicant shall submit a certified copy of the certificate of relief along with his or her application. Defines the term "forceible felony". Allows the Illinois State Police to deny an application for or revoke and seize a Firearm Owner's Identification Card if the person is or was convicted of a felony, unless the offense was not a forcible felony and the person has received a certificate of relief from disabilities. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that a person sentenced to imprisonment shall lose the right to use or knowingly possess any firearm. Provides that this right shall be eligible for restoration 5 years after the person has completed the person's sentence, including applicable periods of probation or parole, under a certificate issued by the court, with certain requirements.
HB2517	02/03/2025	Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Department of Public Health shall create a professional development course that addresses racial disparities in maternal health treatment and the impact of racial disparities on non-Hispanic Black and American Indian women. Provides that the course shall have a length of at least one hour. Requires the course to include education on (i) current statistics about pregnancy-related death for all racial and ethnic groups, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (ii) potential risk factors associated with women that are a part of a marginalized racial or ethnic group that has increased maternal mortality rates, and (iii) medical care plans and programs that have been demonstrated to successfully decrease maternal mortality rates and complications before and after pregnancy. Provides that the Department shall require health care professionals to complete the professional development course.
HB1697	01/24/2025	Amends the Illinois State Police Law. Provides that, beginning January 1, 2026, all 9-1-1 telecommunicators who provide dispatch for emergency medical conditions shall be required to be trained, utilizing the most current nationally recognized emergency cardiovascular care guidelines, in high-quality telecommunicator cardiopulmonary resuscitation (T-CPR). Defines telecommunicator cardiopulmonary resuscitation for the purposes of the provisions.