---
type: "Bill"
title: "DISABILITY BENEFIT-FIREFIGHTER"
description: "Amends the Public Employee Disability Act. Provides that the term \"eligible employee\" as used in the Act includes firefighters employed as full-time paramedics or firefighters who perform paramedic duties."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "100th"
identifier: "HB 5221"
citation: "Illinois HB 5221 (100th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 45
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2018-02-15"
last_action: "2018-11-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/22e4f008-a543-47ef-9bcf-33f18d1c2ebb"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=5221&GAID=14&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=110922&SessionID=91&GA=100"
source_hash: "c47530155f65162e2ad16d694faf42bbdae418d641bc5b4a622f919bbe530a3e"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois HB 5221 (100th) — DISABILITY BENEFIT-FIREFIGHTER

Amends the Public Employee Disability Act. Provides that the term "eligible employee" as used in the Act includes firefighters employed as full-time paramedics or firefighters who perform paramedic duties.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=10000HB5221&GA=100&SessionId=91&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=110922&DocNum=5221&GAID=14&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=10000HB5221eng&GA=100&SessionId=91&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=110922&DocNum=5221&GAID=14&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=10000HB5221enr&GA=100&SessionId=91&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=110922&DocNum=5221&GAID=14&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **101–8** (pass) · lower
- Motion — **95–14** (fail) · lower
- Third Reading — **51–2** (pass) · upper
- Motion — **45–5** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Kathleen Willis — primary (person)
- Neil Anderson — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-02-15** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Kathleen Willis `filing`
- **2018-02-16** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2018-02-16** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-21** Assigned to Labor & Commerce Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-10** Do Pass / Short Debate Labor & Commerce Committee; 023-003-000 `committee-passage`
- **2018-04-11** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2018-04-12** House Floor Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Kathleen Willis `amendment-introduction`
- **2018-04-12** House Floor Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-17** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2018-04-17** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2018-04-18** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Jay Hoffman
- **2018-04-18** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Grant Wehrli
- **2018-04-18** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Silvana Tabares
- **2018-04-18** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Frances Ann Hurley
- **2018-04-18** Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit
- **2018-04-19** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 101-008-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2018-04-23** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2018-04-23** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2018-04-23** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Thomas Cullerton
- **2018-04-23** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2018-04-23** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2018-05-01** Alternate Chief Sponsor Changed to Sen. Linda Holmes
- **2018-05-02** Assigned to Labor `referral-committee`
- **2018-05-08** Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Neil Anderson
- **2018-05-09** Do Pass Labor; 011-003-000 `committee-passage`
- **2018-05-09** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 10, 2018
- **2018-05-15** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2018-05-15** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 16, 2018
- **2018-05-22** Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Patricia Van Pelt
- **2018-05-24** Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Michael Connelly
- **2018-05-24** Third Reading - Passed; 051-002-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2018-05-24** Passed Both Houses
- **2018-06-22** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2018-08-21** Governor Vetoed `executive-veto`
- **2018-11-13** Placed on Calendar Total Veto
- **2018-11-14** Motion Filed Override Governor Veto Rep. Kathleen Willis
- **2018-11-14** 3/5 Vote Required
- **2018-11-14** Override Governor Veto - House Passed 095-014-000
- **2018-11-14** Placed Calendar Total Veto November 15, 2018
- **2018-11-15** Motion Filed Override Governor Veto Sen. Linda Holmes
- **2018-11-28** 3/5 Vote Required
- **2018-11-28** Override Governor Veto - Senate Passed 045-005-001
- **2018-11-28** Both Houses Override Total Veto `veto-override-passage`
- **2018-11-30** Effective Date January 1, 2019
- **2018-11-30** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 100-1143 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/22e4f008-a543-47ef-9bcf-33f18d1c2ebb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).