---
type: "Bill"
title: "HEALTH CARE WORKER BACKGROUND"
description: "Amends the Health Care Worker Background Check Act. Provides that an individual otherwise qualified for and intending to apply for a direct care position who has a disqualifying conviction may initiate a fingerprint-based criminal history record check where a conditional offer of employment has not been made and such a background check has not been previously conducted, and allows those individuals to request a waiver of the prohibition of employment. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "101st"
identifier: "SB 1965"
citation: "Illinois SB 1965 (101st)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 36
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2019-02-15"
last_action: "2019-07-31"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/47b6712f-bb72-4313-8bd1-5fada9534077"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=1965&GAID=15&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=119886&SessionID=108&GA=101"
source_hash: "ecdb5bf78d66ebef977fbb86b989324322734f507c769df8c210fd9ee80426ac"
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 1965 (101st) — HEALTH CARE WORKER BACKGROUND

Amends the Health Care Worker Background Check Act. Provides that an individual otherwise qualified for and intending to apply for a direct care position who has a disqualifying conviction may initiate a fingerprint-based criminal history record check where a conditional offer of employment has not been made and such a background check has not been previously conducted, and allows those individuals to request a waiver of the prohibition of employment. Effective immediately.

## 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=10100SB1965&GA=101&SessionId=108&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=119886&DocNum=1965&GAID=15&SpecSess=&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=10100SB1965eng&GA=101&SessionId=108&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=119886&DocNum=1965&GAID=15&SpecSess=&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=10100SB1965enr&GA=101&SessionId=108&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=119886&DocNum=1965&GAID=15&SpecSess=&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **54–0** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **77–35** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Elgie R. Sims, Jr. — primary (person)
- Justin Slaughter — primary (person)
- Michael P. McAuliffe — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-15** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr. `filing`
- **2019-02-15** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-02-15** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-05** Assigned to Public Health `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-12** Postponed - Public Health
- **2019-03-15** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr. `amendment-introduction`
- **2019-03-15** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-15** Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr. `amendment-introduction`
- **2019-03-15** Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-19** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Assignments Refers to Public Health
- **2019-03-19** Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Assignments Refers to Public Health
- **2019-03-19** Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Postponed - Public Health
- **2019-03-19** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted `amendment-passage`
- **2019-03-20** Do Pass as Amended Public Health; 012-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2019-03-20** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading March 21, 2019
- **2019-03-22** Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-26** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2019-03-26** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading March 27, 2019
- **2019-03-27** Third Reading - Passed; 054-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2019-03-27** Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Tabled Pursuant to Rule 5-4(a) `amendment-failure`
- **2019-03-27** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2019-03-27** Chief House Sponsor Rep. Justin Slaughter
- **2019-03-27** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-03-27** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-04-09** Assigned to Health Care Licenses Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-04-10** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Michael P. McAuliffe
- **2019-05-01** Do Pass / Short Debate Health Care Licenses Committee; 014-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2019-05-02** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2019-05-16** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2019-05-16** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2019-05-23** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 077-035-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2019-05-23** Passed Both Houses
- **2019-06-06** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-07-31** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2019-07-31** Effective Date July 31, 2019
- **2019-07-31** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 101-0176 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/47b6712f-bb72-4313-8bd1-5fada9534077`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).