---
type: "Bill"
title: "NUISANCE ORGANISMS"
description: "Amends the Fish and Aquatic Life Code. Provides that an individual who knowingly imports any nuisance organism into this State is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor or a fine not exceeding $1,500 per organism imported, with a maximum fine not exceeding $25,000. Defines \"nuisance organism\" as a nonnative aquatic organism that will foreseeably alter and threaten to harm the ecosystem or the abundance and diversity of native or naturalized fish and other organisms."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "98th"
identifier: "HB 5869"
citation: "Illinois HB 5869 (98th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 33
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2014-02-14"
last_action: "2014-08-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/29129153-fa09-407a-8146-d5c37cae768f"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=5869&GAID=12&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=81174&SessionID=85&GA=98"
source_hash: "b34cfc630662b4cb05589ccbce0ea01747ee59103ed3e5b9d96921702c2502e1"
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 5869 (98th) — NUISANCE ORGANISMS

Amends the Fish and Aquatic Life Code. Provides that an individual who knowingly imports any nuisance organism into this State is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor or a fine not exceeding $1,500 per organism imported, with a maximum fine not exceeding $25,000. Defines "nuisance organism" as a nonnative aquatic organism that will foreseeably alter and threaten to harm the ecosystem or the abundance and diversity of native or naturalized fish and other organisms.

## 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=09800HB5869&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=81174&DocNum=5869&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB5869eng&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=81174&DocNum=5869&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB5869enr&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=81174&DocNum=5869&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **56–0** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **107–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Julie A. Morrison — cosponsor (person)
- Sam Yingling — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2014-02-14** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Sam Yingling `filing`
- **2014-02-14** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2014-02-14** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-03-06** Assigned to Agriculture & Conservation Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-03-25** Do Pass / Short Debate Agriculture & Conservation Committee; 015-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2014-03-26** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2014-03-26** House Floor Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Sam Yingling `amendment-introduction`
- **2014-03-26** House Floor Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-03-31** House Floor Amendment No. 1 Rules Refers to Agriculture & Conservation Committee
- **2014-04-01** Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch
- **2014-04-02** House Floor Amendment No. 1 Recommends Be Adopted Agriculture & Conservation Committee; 016-000-000 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2014-04-03** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2014-04-03** House Floor Amendment No. 1 Adopted `amendment-passage`
- **2014-04-03** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2014-04-04** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 107-000-001 `reading-3, passage`
- **2014-04-07** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2014-04-07** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading April 8, 2014 `reading-1`
- **2014-04-07** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Melinda Bush
- **2014-04-08** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2014-04-08** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2014-04-09** Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Julie A. Morrison
- **2014-04-30** Assigned to Criminal Law `referral-committee`
- **2014-05-07** Do Pass Criminal Law; 010-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2014-05-07** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 8, 2014
- **2014-05-12** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2014-05-12** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 13, 2014
- **2014-05-23** Rule 2-10 Committee/3rd Reading Deadline Established As May 31, 2014
- **2014-05-28** Third Reading - Passed; 056-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2014-05-28** Passed Both Houses
- **2014-06-26** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2014-08-25** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2014-08-25** Effective Date January 1, 2015
- **2014-08-25** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 98-1044 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/29129153-fa09-407a-8146-d5c37cae768f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).