---
type: "Bill"
title: "COMMERCE COMM-FOREIGN ATTORNEY"
description: "Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that attorneys licensed another state, territory, or commonwealth of the United States, or a foreign country may appear before the Commerce Commission as provided in Illinois Supreme Court Rule 707."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "98th"
identifier: "HB 4235"
citation: "Illinois HB 4235 (98th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 34
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2014-01-17"
last_action: "2014-08-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/23380db1-d93c-43ca-93aa-a696e7b0f5b2"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=4235&GAID=12&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=78252&SessionID=85&GA=98"
source_hash: "8878795a095c473d149458864e40abb657b921980c9a5e3b3f3b6a964ca2b0ec"
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 4235 (98th) — COMMERCE COMM-FOREIGN ATTORNEY

Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that attorneys licensed another state, territory, or commonwealth of the United States, or a foreign country may appear before the Commerce Commission as provided in Illinois Supreme Court Rule 707.

## 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=09800HB4235&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=78252&DocNum=4235&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB4235eng&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=78252&DocNum=4235&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB4235enr&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=78252&DocNum=4235&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **55–2** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **97–8** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Kelly Burke — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2014-01-17** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Kelly Burke `filing`
- **2014-01-17** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2014-01-17** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-02-11** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2014-02-14** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Kelly Burke `amendment-introduction`
- **2014-02-14** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-02-18** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Rules Refers to Judiciary
- **2014-02-20** House Committee Amendment No. 2 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Kelly Burke `amendment-introduction`
- **2014-02-20** House Committee Amendment No. 2 Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-02-24** House Committee Amendment No. 2 Rules Refers to Judiciary
- **2014-03-05** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted in Judiciary; by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2014-03-05** House Committee Amendment No. 2 Adopted in Judiciary; by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2014-03-05** Do Pass as Amended / Short Debate Judiciary; 016-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2014-03-05** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2014-03-06** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2014-03-06** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2014-03-19** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 097-008-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2014-03-20** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2014-03-20** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2014-03-20** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Michael Connelly
- **2014-03-20** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2014-03-20** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2014-03-20** Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. James F. Clayborne, Jr.
- **2014-04-23** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2014-04-29** Do Pass Judiciary; 008-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2014-04-29** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading April 30, 2014
- **2014-04-30** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2014-04-30** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 1, 2014
- **2014-05-20** Third Reading - Passed; 055-002-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2014-05-20** Passed Both Houses
- **2014-06-18** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2014-08-15** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2014-08-15** Effective Date January 1, 2015
- **2014-08-15** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 98-0895 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/23380db1-d93c-43ca-93aa-a696e7b0f5b2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).