---
type: "Bill"
title: "MANDATORY ARBITRATION"
description: "Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Allows the Supreme Court to provide for mandatory arbitration of civil actions as the Court deems appropriate in order to expedite in a less costly manner any litigation wherein a party asserts a claim not exceeding $75,000 (rather than $50,000) or any lesser amount as authorized by the Supreme Court. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "102nd"
identifier: "SB 277"
citation: "Illinois SB 277 (102nd)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Michael Halpin", "Scott M. Bennett"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-02-19"
last_action: "2021-07-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d6c7260b-8d6c-4692-8650-6d507441f211"
source_url: "https://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=277&GAID=16&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=131287&SessionID=110&GA=102"
source_hash: "d56e00fe01ce41d60a33c3e945227a7a4d1e315b2cbdcbf07a2425e123e8ab5d"
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 SB 277 (102nd) — MANDATORY ARBITRATION

Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Allows the Supreme Court to provide for mandatory arbitration of civil actions as the Court deems appropriate in order to expedite in a less costly manner any litigation wherein a party asserts a claim not exceeding $75,000 (rather than $50,000) or any lesser amount as authorized by the Supreme Court. Effective immediately.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://ilga.gov/legislation/102/SB/PDF/10200SB0277.pdf)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://ilga.gov/legislation/102/SB/PDF/10200SB0277eng.pdf)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://ilga.gov/legislation/102/SB/PDF/10200SB0277enr.pdf)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **111–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Michael Halpin — primary (person)
- Scott M. Bennett — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-19** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Scott M. Bennett `filing`
- **2021-02-19** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-02-19** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-24** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-09** Do Pass Judiciary; 007-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2021-03-09** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading March 10, 2021
- **2021-03-24** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2021-03-24** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading ** March 25, 2021
- **2021-04-21** Third Reading - Passed; 056-000-000 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-22** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2021-04-22** Chief House Sponsor Rep. Michael Halpin
- **2021-04-23** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-04-23** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-28** Assigned to Judiciary - Civil Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-05** Do Pass / Consent Calendar Judiciary - Civil Committee; 016-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2021-05-05** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Consent Calendar
- **2021-05-12** Second Reading - Consent Calendar `reading-2`
- **2021-05-12** Held on Calendar Order of Second Reading - Consent Calendar `reading-2`
- **2021-05-13** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Consent Calendar
- **2021-05-14** Third Reading - Consent Calendar - First Day `reading-3`
- **2021-05-21** Third Reading - Consent Calendar - Passed 111-000-000 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-05-21** Passed Both Houses
- **2021-06-17** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-09** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2021-07-09** Effective Date July 9, 2021
- **2021-07-09** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0089 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d6c7260b-8d6c-4692-8650-6d507441f211`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).