Reparations · State · IL

Illinois "Enslavement Redress Act" Would Require State Contractors to Disclose Slaveholding Ties and Fund a Redress Fund — Bill Stalled in Rules Committee

Why this rating

MECHANISM: If fully enacted and effective, the bill would require state contractors to disclose historical participation in slaveholding or the slave trade and pay into a state-administered Redress Fund, creating a dedicated revenue stream tied specifically to the history of enslavement — the basis of Freedmen lineage. Because the material does not specify who receives fund disbursements, in what amounts, or under what eligibility criteria (i.e., whether payouts flow to descendants of enslaved persons or to general state purposes), the entry scores this as a meaningful but unconfirmed-scope benefit (+1) rather than a maximal, confirmed direct-payment reparations program (+2). FORCE: The bill remains at the earliest legislative stage — filed January 2025, referred to Rules Committee, briefly assigned to a substantive committee in March 2026, then re-referred to Rules Committee under Rule 19(a) as of 2026-03-27, a procedural holding pattern reflecting no committee vote or floor action. This is scored 0.10 (introduced/referred, no effect yet). The low force score reflects that nothing has taken effect on the ground, not that the measure's direction is neutral or ambiguous — its purpose and mechanism point toward benefit for Freedmen, but that benefit is entirely unrealized at this stage.

Summary

Illinois HB1227, the Enslavement Redress Act, would create the Enslavement Era Disclosure and Redress Act. It requires any contractor participating in a competitive bid with the State of Illinois to review its own records and those of related parties for evidence of participation in slaveholding or the slave trade and to disclose that history. Contractors that disclose such participation would be required to submit a 'statement of financial redress' at the time of bidding, with the proceeds directed into a newly created Redress Fund. The bill sets notice requirements for public hearings following disclosures and directs the Illinois Office of Equity to appoint an administrator to oversee the disclosure-and-redress program, along with conforming amendments to the State Finance Act.

The bill was filed by Rep. Sonya Harper on 2025-01-09 with roughly twenty Democratic co-sponsors in the Illinois House, given first reading, and referred to the Rules Committee on 2025-01-28. It was assigned to the House State Government Administration Committee on 2026-03-12 but, as of 2026-03-27, was re-referred to the Rules Committee under Rule 19(a) — a procedural mechanism triggered when a bill has not advanced by a chamber deadline. The provided history shows no committee vote, substantive hearing outcome, or floor action.

The source material does not specify who would receive disbursements from the Redress Fund, in what amounts, or under what eligibility criteria — only that the fund is populated by contractor 'statements of financial redress' tied to disclosed historical slaveholding participation.

Sources

• ENSLAVEMENT REDRESS ACT — bill text · primary · legiscan

Rated under the published impact rubric. Direction records what a measure would do if fully effective; force records how far it has actually travelled. Neither is inferred — both trace to the sources above. Think something here is wrong? Tell us and we will log the correction.

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