"Illinois Bills on Private Equity Making Moves in the Capital" - IVCA Provides Updates for State Legislative Issues – 04/29/2026
IVCA Illinois Legislative Report
David Stricklin
, IVCA Legislative Liaison
, Stricklin & Associates
ILLINOIS BILLS ON PRIVATE EQUITY MAKING MOVES IN THE CAPITOL
IVCA is actively advising policy makers on several pieces of legislation in the Illinois General Assembly:
HB 5487 is legislation advanced by the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association to keep non-lawyers from taking an ownership stake in law firms. There are several models in the market whereby outside investors could support the back-office functions of a law firm. The trial attorneys and the Illinois State Bar Association oppose this and originally legislation was introduced which specifically stated, “private equity” and hedge funds would be prohibited from these investments. The private equity and hedge fund language was removed and substituted with “persons not licensed as attorneys.” The bill passed easily in the House and is now in the Senate, where a more deliberative approach is being applied. The bill is in the Senate Judiciary Committee but is not being called for a hearing this week. There are advocates in the legal space who want to explore these opportunities working to amend the bill and its prospects for this session are unclear.
A bill which is being called this week is HB 5000 which clarifies and expands the types of transactions in health care deals which must be reported to the Illinois Attorney General. Our analysis has been the bill is acceptable as is, but we’ve raised caution to policy makers that these bills are often the first in a litany of measures which seek to further restrict or prohibit activities of private equity or venture capital firms. This specific bill is proposed by the Illinois Attorney General and is all but certain to pass.
SB 3501 is in the Senate Executive Committee and was presented last week in a “subject matter” hearing, meaning the sponsor could make the case for the bill but no votes are taken. The bill would impose a tax on private equity firms who purchase more than 10 residential properties. The bill is opposed by the Illinois Realtors and many other real estate interests in the Capitol along with the IVCA. Whether it is called for a vote in committee is to be determined.
MILLIONAIRES TAX PROPOSAL FALLS BY THE WAYSIDE