Civics Navigator: Top Bills of 2025

Introduced by Stella Pekarsky (Chief Patron)

Title: Public elementary & secondary schools; bell-to-bell student cell phone & smart device possession.

Summary as Introduced: Directs each school board to develop and each public elementary and secondary school to implement age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate policies relating to the possession and use of cell phones by students on school property during regular school hours. The bill requires such policies to (i) restrict, to the fullest extent possible, student cell phone possession and use in the classroom during regular school hours; (ii) aim to reduce or prevent any distraction in or disruption to the learning environment, including bullying or harassment, that could be caused or facilitated by student cell phone possession and use on school property during regular school hours; (iii) ensure that implementation and enforcement of the policy is the responsibility of the administration, minimizes, to the extent possible, any conflict with the instructional responsibilities of teachers or any disruption to instructional time, and does not involve any school resource officer; (iv) include exceptions to such policies permitting any student, pursuant to an Individualized Education Plan or Section 504 Plan or if otherwise deemed appropriate by the school board, to possess and use a cell phone on school property, including in the classroom, during regular school hours to monitor or address a health concern; and (v) expressly prohibit any student from being suspended, expelled, or removed from class as a consequence of any violation of such policies. Finally, the bill clarifies that (a) no violation of any such student cell phone possession and use policy shall alone constitute (1) sufficient cause for a student's suspension or expulsion from attendance at school or (2) disruptive behavior authorizing a teacher to remove a student from class and (b) that any such violation that involves, coincides with, or results in an instance of disruptive behavior, as that term is defined in applicable law, shall be addressed in accordance with the regulations on codes of student conduct adopted by each school board pursuant to applicable law.

Introduced by Schuyler VanValkenburg (Chief Patron)

Title: Child labor; child engaged in the work of content creation, trust account.

Summary as Introduced: Specifies certain criteria for a child to be considered engaged in the work of content creation and prohibits a child who is under 14 years of age from engaging in the work of content creation. A child 14 years of age or older who is considered a child engaged in the work of content creation shall be compensated by the content creator, defined in the bill, whose video content includes such child's likeness, name, or photograph. The bill requires the content creator to set aside gross earnings on the video content including the likeness, name, or photograph of the child in a trust account to be preserved for the benefit of the child upon attaining 18 years of age or being declared emancipated. The bill also requires the content creator to maintain certain records specified in the bill and retain them until the child reaches 21 years of age. The bill allows the child, or his parent or guardian on behalf of such child, to commence a civil action to enforce the provisions of law related to the trust account. Finally, the bill gives the Attorney General the authority to enforce the provisions of the bill by issuing a civil investigative demand and causing an action to be brought in the appropriate circuit court to enjoin any violations. This bill was incorporated into SB 998.

Introduced by Angelia Williams Graves (Chief Patron)

Title: Child labor; child engaged in the work of content creation, trust account.

Summary as Passed House of Origin: Requires that a child under the age of 16 who meets certain criteria specified in the bill to be considered a child engaged in the work of content creation be compensated by the content creator, defined in the bill, whose video content includes such child's likeness, name, or photograph. The bill requires the content creator to set aside gross earnings on the video content that includes the likeness, name, or photograph of the child in a trust account to be preserved for the benefit of the child upon attaining 18 years of age or having been declared emancipated. The bill also requires the content creator to maintain certain records specified in the bill and provide them to the child and the holder of the trust account on an ongoing basis. The bill also allows the child, or his parent or guardian on behalf of such child, to commence a civil action if the content creator fails to maintain the required records and to enforce the provisions of law related to the trust account.

Introduced by Mark Sickles (Chief Patron)

Title: Political campaign advertisements; synthetic media, penalty.

Summary as Introduced: Prohibits electioneering communications containing synthetic media, as those terms are defined in the bill, from being published or broadcast without containing the following conspicuously displayed statement: 'This message contains synthetic media that has been altered from its original source or artificially generated and may present conduct or speech that did not occur.' The bill makes it a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 to violate such prohibition and for a willful violation, a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Introduced by Ellen Campbell (Chief Patron)

Title: Animal Cruelty Conviction List; established.

Summary as Introduced: Requires the Superintendent of State Police to establish no later than January 1, 2028, and to maintain an Animal Cruelty Conviction List (List) and to make the List publicly available on the Department of State Police's website. The bill specifies that the List include the names of persons convicted of certain felony animal cruelty offenses on or after July 1, 2025. The bill requires persons convicted of any such offense to pay a fee of $50 per conviction to fund the maintenance of the List. The bill also requires the Department to remove a person's name and information from the List 15 years after its listing if he has no additional felony conviction for any such offense.

Introduced by Tim Griffin (Chief Patron)

Title: Voter registration; high school registration activities and parental consent.

Summary as Introduced: Prohibits any person or organization, except a high school administrator, teacher, or staff person or a general registrar or his staff, from facilitating voter registration activities at a public high school. The bill also requires the form of the application to register to vote to include a statement of consent that must be signed by the parent or legal guardian of any applicant who is younger than the age of 18 at the time of his application. The bill specifies that such statement must include an acknowledgement that the minor applicant's personally identifiable information is required for voter registration.

Introduced by Michael Jones (Chief Patron)

Title: Sale and distribution of plastic carryout bags by grocery stores prohibited; civil penalty.

Summary as Introduced: Prohibits any grocery store, as defined in the bill, from selling or distributing any plastic carryout bag, as defined in the bill, to its customers on or after January 1, 2027, unless such bag qualifies as an exempt bag, as defined in the bill. The bill provides that any grocery store that violates this provision shall be issued by the Department of Environmental Quality a written warning for the first violation and shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for a second and each subsequent violation as determined by the Director of the Department. The bill also requires any grocery store, no later than January 1, 2027, to develop, implement, and maintain a program to encourage its customers to utilize reusable bags, as defined in the bill.