Illinois state senator Michael Hastings became chief sponsor of SB 1486 on February 24, 2026.
Takeaways:
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Legislative maneuver puts 10% rate hike cap back on the table
State Senate has to consider following House approval
Regulator's suit against State Farm continues
The Illinois legislature may have found a way to enact a limit on insurance rate increases, after an effort last fall failed.
On March 19, the Illinois House passed SB 1486, a bill with an overall purpose of banning hidden fees on various types of consumer transactions. Before its passage, the bill was amended to include a 10% limit on rate increases for auto and fire insurance.
Abe Scarr, program director for energy and utilities at the Illinois Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).
SB 1486 is what the legislature calls a "gut and replace" of an existing bill, according to Abe Scarr, program director for energy and utilities at the Illinois Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). "The original bill, which was totally different, about junk fees, has already passed the Senate, which means it has fewer hoops to move through as a legislative vehicle," he stated in an email. "It's basically a new bill, but it skips the procedural line by being amended into an existing bill."
The Illinois Senate must reconsider the bill and whether to confirm the amendments, under the legislature's concurrence process. If passed and signed into law, it would take effect on July 1, 2027.
HB 3799, a bill banning rate increases higher 10% and giving the state's Department of Insurance authority to prohibit increases that are "excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory," failed to pass the House on October 30, but was still actively being considered again as of March 10.
SB 2691, a bill directing the Department of Insurance to study and report on how auto and home rates are set, did not move beyond its introduction in October.
The legislative activity on insurance rates follows rate increases by Allstate in December and State Farm last July. Also last July, Illinois governor JB Pritzker called for the state legislature to act on regulation of rate increases.
Illinois' insurance regulator sued State Farm in October, seeking the zip code-level property data underlying its rate increases. A first hearing on the case was held in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois on March 4, but no further details were available.
Michael Shashoua is Senior Editor at Digital Insurance. He joined the site in April 2022, after working as a marketing communications writer... Read full bio
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The state's House passed a bill concerning hidden consumer transaction fees, but with amendments, drawn from previous failed bills, setting a 10% limit on auto and fire insurance rate increases.
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