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HB2698

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CABLE/VIDEO OUTAGE CREDITS

What this bill does

Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that every cable or video provider operating in the State shall issue a prorated bill credit to consumers for any service outage lasting more than one hour. Provides that the credit shall be calculated based on the consumer's monthly service rate, prorated for the duration of the outage, and that the credit shall be automatically applied to the consumer's next billing cycle without requiring any action or request from the consumer. Requires cable or video providers to notify consumers of the outage and the applied credit within 24 hours after the restoration of service. Provides that internet providers and cable or video providers shall maintain records of all outages and corresponding bill credits issued for a minimum period of 3 years. Provides that the records shall be made available to the Illinois Commerce Commission upon request for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the Act. Provides that any cable or video provider that fails to issue the required bill credits in accordance with the outage provisions shall be subject to penalties as determined by the Commission. Provides that, if, due to a contract dispute, a cable or video provider will not be providing a consumer with a channel for which the consumer has been or will be billed, the cable or video provider shall, within 10 days after the cable or video provider knows that the contract dispute will result in the loss of the channel, provide each affected consumer with notice that the channel will not be provided due to a contract dispute. Provides that, if a cable or video provider does not provide a consumer with a channel for which the consumer has been billed, then the cable or video provider shall credit the consumer an amount equal to the percentage of the consumer's bill that the channel represents multiplied by the consumer's monthly service rate, which shall be prorated for each hour that the consumer was not provided with that channel due to a contract dispute. Requires that the credit be applied on the statement issued to the consumer for the next monthly billing cycle.

Sponsor: Tracy Katz Muhl Chamber: House Introduced: 2025-02-04
Stuck
P(Advance)
10.7%
Chance it ever reaches a milestone (committee, floor, etc.). Not “next step.”
P(Law)
0.0%
Chance it becomes law given where it is now (stage, momentum).
Forecast
1.2%
Low P(law) at intro — sponsor & topic only; no progress or delay.
Confidence: 89%

Calculating prediction drivers...

Pipeline Progress

Current stage: Floor Vote · Last action 456 days ago · STAGNANT

How does a bill become law in Illinois?
  1. Introduction of Bill

    A member of the Senate or the House introduces a bill, which is assigned a unique identifying number (e.g., "H.B. ___" for House bills and "S.B. ___" for Senate bills). If not enacted, it must be reintroduced in the next General Assembly with a new number.

  2. Committee Work — Hearings

    The bill goes to the appropriate committee, which holds hearings to gather expert opinions and determine the need for the legislation.

  3. Committee Work — Markup, Amendments, Report

    The committee may make amendments to the bill. If approved, a committee report endorsing the bill is issued.

  4. Floor Debate

    The bill is debated and can be further amended. The debate transcripts are accessible online for public viewing.

  5. Passage and Consideration in Second Chamber

    If the bill passes in the first chamber, it moves to the second chamber for a similar review process. If both chambers approve, it goes to the governor.

  6. Gubernatorial Action

    The governor can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action (resulting in an automatic law after 60 days). The type of veto can be total or amendatory. Once signed, the bill becomes a Public Act and is assigned a Public Act number.

Sponsor Context

Public Engagement

12 witness slips filed 11 proponents / 1 opponents 8 organizations

Witness slips

12 slips filed. Proponent / opponent / no position as filed with the committee.

Name Organization Representing Position Hearing committee Hearing date
Julia Warheit Citizen Action Illinois Citizen Action Illinois Proponent Public Utilities 2025-03-19
Matthew Slade Myself Myself Proponent Public Utilities 2025-03-19
Abraham Scarr Illinois PIRG Illinois PIRG Proponent Public Utilities 2025-03-18
Griffin Murray NEIU Proponent Public Utilities 2025-03-18
John Colby Lewis V Private Citizen Proponent Public Utilities 2025-03-18
Julia Warheit Citizen Action Illinois Citizen Action Illinois Proponent Public Utilities 2025-03-18
Matthew Slade Myself Myself Proponent Public Utilities 2025-03-18
Raymond Sorensen BurkesOptimizations Proponent Public Utilities 2025-03-18
Thomas Davies Self employed Self Proponent Public Utilities 2025-03-18
Julia Warheit Citizen Action Illinois Citizen Action Illinois Proponent Public Utilities 2025-03-11
Matthew Slade Myself Myself Proponent Public Utilities 2025-03-11
Joe Handley Illinois Broadband & Cable Association Illinois Broadband & Cable Association Opponent Public Utilities 2025-03-18

Roll-call votes

Total votes and outcome per event. Deciding vote = margin of 1; those voters on the winning side could have changed the outcome by flipping.

Date Chamber Type Description Yea Nay Present NV Outcome Margin Deciding voters
H Committee Public Utilities 14 7 0 0 Passed 7 —

Action History

10 actions recorded. Last action: 2025-04-11 — Rule 19(a) / Re-referred toRules Committee. Each action's meaning and outcome signal are classified automatically.

2025-02-04 Introduction & Filing
Filed with the Clerk byRep. Tracy Katz Muhl House Rule 6(b)
Bill officially submitted to the House Clerk during the session.
2025-02-06 Introduction & Filing
First Reading Senate Rule 5-1(d)/5-2; House Rule 37(d)/38
Formal introduction — title read into the official record. Required procedural step; bill now exists in the system.
2025-02-06 Committee Assignment
Referred toRules Committee Senate Rule 3-8(a); House Rule 18(a)
Sent to a committee (usually Rules in the House, Assignments in the Senate). The gatekeeping step — Rules/Assignments decides which substantive committee hears the bill.
2025-03-04 Committee Assignment
Assigned toPublic Utilities Committee Senate Rule 3-8(a); House Rule 18(b)
Sent to a substantive committee (e.g., Transportation, Revenue). This is where the bill gets a real hearing and evaluation.
2025-03-19 Committee Action Positive
Do Pass / Short DebatePublic Utilities Committee; 014-007-000 Senate Rule 3-11(a)(1); House Rule 22(a)(1), 52(b)
Committee recommends passage and places it on the Short Debate calendar (limited floor discussion time). Strong positive signal — committee believes bill has broad support.
2025-03-19 Floor Process Positive
Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate Senate Rule 4-4(7-8)/5-2; House Rule 31(8-9)/38/52
Bill placed on the Second Reading calendar. Positive — bill is queued for floor action.
2025-03-26 Floor Process Positive
Second Reading - Short Debate Senate Rule 3-12(a)/5-4(a); House Rule 24(a)/40(b)/52(a)(1)
Bill reaches the floor amendment stage on Short Debate calendar. Major milestone — bill has passed committee and is on the floor.
2025-03-26 Floor Process
Held on Calendar Order of Second Reading - Short Debate Senate Rule 4-4(7-8)/5-2; House Rule 31(8-9)/38/52
Bill was ready for Second Reading but was paused/held by the sponsor. Usually indicates the sponsor is still negotiating amendments or gathering votes. NOT a negative signal — the sponsor controls the pace.
2025-04-08 Co-Sponsorship Mild +
Added Co-SponsorRep. Camille Y. Lilly Senate Rule 5-1(a); House Rule 37(a)
A legislator adds their name as co-sponsor, signaling public support for the bill.
2025-04-11 Deadlines & Re-referrals Mild −
Rule 19(a) / Re-referred toRules Committee House Rule 19(a); Senate analog: Rule 3-9(a)
MISSED COMMITTEE DEADLINE — bill did not get a committee vote before the deadline and is re-referred to Rules/Assignments. The bill is NOT dead but faces an uphill battle to be reassigned. Most bills that hit Rule 19(a) do not advance.

All actions (table)

Date Chamber Action Category Signal
2025-02-04 House Filed with the Clerk byRep. Tracy Katz Muhl House Rule 6(b) Introduction & Filing —
2025-02-06 House First Reading Senate Rule 5-1(d)/5-2; House Rule 37(d)/38 Introduction & Filing —
2025-02-06 House Referred toRules Committee Senate Rule 3-8(a); House Rule 18(a) Committee Assignment —
2025-03-04 House Assigned toPublic Utilities Committee Senate Rule 3-8(a); House Rule 18(b) Committee Assignment —
2025-03-19 House Do Pass / Short DebatePublic Utilities Committee; 014-007-000 Senate Rule 3-11(a)(1); House Rule 22(a)(1), 52(b) Committee Action Positive
2025-03-19 House Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate Senate Rule 4-4(7-8)/5-2; House Rule 31(8-9)/38/52 Floor Process Positive
2025-03-26 House Second Reading - Short Debate Senate Rule 3-12(a)/5-4(a); House Rule 24(a)/40(b)/52(a)(1) Floor Process Positive
2025-03-26 House Held on Calendar Order of Second Reading - Short Debate Senate Rule 4-4(7-8)/5-2; House Rule 31(8-9)/38/52 Floor Process —
2025-04-08 House Added Co-SponsorRep. Camille Y. Lilly Senate Rule 5-1(a); House Rule 37(a) Co-Sponsorship Mild +
2025-04-11 House Rule 19(a) / Re-referred toRules Committee House Rule 19(a); Senate analog: Rule 3-9(a) Deadlines & Re-referrals Mild −