Reparations · State · IL
Illinois SB2212 'Enslavement Redress Act' Would Require State Contractors to Disclose Slavery Ties and Fund Redress Program
- Direction
- +1 — benefit to freedmen
- Force
- 0.10 — introduced or referred
- Status
- Developing
- Date
- 2025-02-07
Why this rating
If fully enacted and effective, the bill would establish a state-level mechanism — contractor disclosure requirements plus a dedicated Redress Fund financed via 'statements of financial redress' from contractors with historical slaveholding ties — aimed specifically at addressing the legacy of slavery, which is the direct historical harm underlying Freedmen lineage claims. This is a meaningful, direct mechanism rather than a purely symbolic gesture, but the provided material does not specify how or whether Redress Fund proceeds would flow to descendants of enslaved people individually versus general state use, so it is rated as a benefit (+1) rather than a major benefit (+2). On force, the bill remains at the earliest legislative stage: filed and referred to committee on 2025-02-07, with only sponsor additions recorded through May 2025 and no hearing, markup, or vote — so realized impact to date is effectively nil despite the bill's stated hostile-to-status-quo, redress-oriented intent.
Summary
Illinois Senate Bill 2212, the Enslavement Era Disclosure and Redress Act, would require companies bidding on competitive state contracts to review their own records — and those of related parties — for evidence of historical participation in slaveholding or the slave trade, and to disclose any such participation as part of the bidding process. Disclosures would trigger public hearings, overseen by an administrator appointed within the Illinois Office of Equity.
Contractors that disclose historical participation in slaveholding or the slave trade would be required to submit a 'statement of financial redress' alongside their bid. The bill creates a Redress Fund and amends the State Finance Act to accommodate it. The bill would take effect immediately upon passage.
The bill was filed by Sen. Willie Preston on 2025-02-07, received a first reading, and was referred to the Assignments committee the same day. It has since added several co-sponsors, most recently Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Mike Simmons on 2025-05-15, but the source material shows no committee hearing, markup, or floor vote to date.
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.