HB 4261 Illinois House · 104th Regular Session

LIBRARIES-GRANTS

Summary

Amends the Illinois Library System Act. Increases the amounts to be provided by the State Librarian for annual library system grants, for annual grants to qualified public libraries in the State, and for annual school library grants. Effective immediately.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Apr 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Apr 10, 2026 Last action May 22, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Engrossed · 3 edits · Apr 8, 2026

MINOR

The bill was amended to update the Illinois Library System Act to reflect new funding amounts for public and school library grants. The changes primarily involve updating the specific dollar thresholds and per capita funding rates to ensure libraries receive adequate state support for the 2025 fiscal year and beyond.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on state funding for public and school libraries, but the specific eligibility criteria and funding calculations have been updated to align with new appropriation levels.

FISCAL

Updated the minimum per capita tax revenue threshold from $17.50 to $17.50 (text appears unchanged in snippet but context implies alignment with new fiscal year requirements) and adjusted funding formulas for library systems to include updated per capita ($1.46) and per square mile ($50.75) rates.

ELIGIBILITY

Added a provision allowing corporate authorities to provide an equivalent cash amount instead of levying a specific tax rate to qualify for grants.

DEFINITION

Added a requirement for the Illinois State Library to use the latest federal census data when determining the population of areas served by library systems for grant calculations.

Floor votes · House Apr 8, 2026

How they voted

105–0

Passed · 11 other

Total votes 116

Apr 8, 2026

D Democratic76

71 Yea 5

93% Yea

R Republican40

34 Yea 6

85% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 22, 2026

Committee

Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments

upper

May 15, 2026

Upper · Passed

Rule 2-10 Committee Deadline Established As May 22, 2026

upper

May 8, 2026

Upper · Passed

Rule 2-10 Committee Deadline Established As May 15, 2026

upper

Apr 22, 2026

Committee

Assigned to Appropriations

upper

Apr 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to Assignments

upper

Apr 10, 2026

Introduced

Arrive in Senate

upper

Apr 8, 2026

Lower · Passed

Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 107-000-000

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Do Pass / Short Debate State Government Administration Committee; 009-000-000

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Assigned to State Government Administration Committee

lower

Jan 14, 2026

Committee

Referred to Rules Committee

lower

2 primary · 18 co-sponsors