---
type: "Bill"
title: "COMMERCIAL FISHING LICENSE"
description: "Amends the Fish and Aquatic Life Code. Provides that blind or disabled residents may fish with commercial fishing devices without holding a sports fishing license. Provides that veterans who, according to the determination of the federal Veterans' Administration as certified by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, are at least 10% disabled with service-related disabilities or in receipt of total disability pensions may fish with commercial fishing devices without holding a sports fishing license during those periods of the year that it is lawful to fish with commercial fishing devices, if the respective disabilities do not prevent them from fishing in a manner that is safe to themselves and others."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "98th"
identifier: "HB 4277"
citation: "Illinois HB 4277 (98th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 29
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2014-01-23"
last_action: "2014-08-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6780a08c-fe34-481c-a72c-3ef9716d1990"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=4277&GAID=12&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=78429&SessionID=85&GA=98"
source_hash: "fe8edde01d81354ec9b69de2f25353998584276af1e6294f75d70eb3cf2f527e"
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 4277 (98th) — COMMERCIAL FISHING LICENSE

Amends the Fish and Aquatic Life Code. Provides that blind or disabled residents may fish with commercial fishing devices without holding a sports fishing license. Provides that veterans who, according to the determination of the federal Veterans' Administration as certified by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, are at least 10% disabled with service-related disabilities or in receipt of total disability pensions may fish with commercial fishing devices without holding a sports fishing license during those periods of the year that it is lawful to fish with commercial fishing devices, if the respective disabilities do not prevent them from fishing in a manner that is safe to themselves and others.

## 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=09800HB4277&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=78429&DocNum=4277&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB4277eng&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=78429&DocNum=4277&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB4277enr&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=78429&DocNum=4277&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **112–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **57–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Laura Fine — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2014-01-23** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Laura Fine `filing`
- **2014-01-24** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2014-01-24** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-02-11** Assigned to Agriculture & Conservation Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-02-18** Do Pass / Short Debate Agriculture & Conservation Committee; 015-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2014-02-19** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2014-02-26** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2014-02-26** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2014-03-04** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 112-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2014-03-04** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Al Riley
- **2014-03-04** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2014-03-04** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading March 5, 2014 `reading-1`
- **2014-03-04** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Julie A. Morrison
- **2014-03-05** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2014-03-05** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2014-04-23** Assigned to Agriculture and Conservation `referral-committee`
- **2014-04-29** Do Pass Agriculture and Conservation; 006-000-000 `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** Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins
- **2014-05-20** Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Michael E. Hastings
- **2014-05-20** Third Reading - Passed; 057-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2014-05-20** Passed Both Houses
- **2014-05-30** Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Steven M. Landek
- **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 . . . . . . . . . 98-0898 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6780a08c-fe34-481c-a72c-3ef9716d1990`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).