---
type: "Bill"
title: "IL CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 2003"
description: "Amends the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003. Provides that any party aggrieved by conduct that violates the Act may bring a civil lawsuit in federal or State circuit court (instead of just a State circuit court). Provides that the court may grant as relief any permanent or preliminary negative or mandatory injunction. Removes language concerning punitive damages."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "93rd"
identifier: "SB 2946"
citation: "Illinois SB 2946 (93rd)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 38
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2004-02-06"
last_action: "2004-07-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c030f606-42bb-4619-980e-c13ec6b98981"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=2946&GAID=3&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=10067&SessionID=3&GA=93"
source_hash: "da7344ed1cff8970ad9d6a349e8bbb4a9ccd81dfc5612f6d510c4046a88c2ca7"
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 2946 (93rd) — IL CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 2003

Amends the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003. Provides that any party aggrieved by conduct that violates the Act may bring a civil lawsuit in federal or State circuit court (instead of just a State circuit court). Provides that the court may grant as relief any permanent or preliminary negative or mandatory injunction. Removes language concerning punitive damages.

## 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=09300SB2946&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=10067&DocNum=2946&GAID=3&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300SB2946eng&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=10067&DocNum=2946&GAID=3&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300SB2946enr&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=10067&DocNum=2946&GAID=3&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **114–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **56–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Don Harmon — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2004-02-06** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Don Harmon `filing`
- **2004-02-06** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2004-02-06** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2004-02-18** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2004-02-24** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Don Harmon `amendment-introduction`
- **2004-02-24** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2004-02-24** Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Don Harmon `amendment-introduction`
- **2004-02-24** Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2004-02-25** Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Rules Refers to Judiciary
- **2004-02-26** Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Adopted `amendment-passage`
- **2004-02-26** Do Pass as Amended Judiciary; 010-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2004-02-26** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading March 2, 2004
- **2004-03-24** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2004-03-24** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading March 25, 2004
- **2004-03-26** Added as Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Mattie Hunter
- **2004-03-26** Added as Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. James T. Meeks
- **2004-03-26** Added as Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins
- **2004-03-26** Third Reading - Passed; 056-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2004-03-26** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Tabled Pursuant to Rule 5-4(a) `amendment-failure`
- **2004-03-26** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2004-03-26** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2004-03-26** Chief House Sponsor Rep. John A. Fritchey
- **2004-03-29** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Constance A. Howard
- **2004-03-29** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2004-03-29** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2004-04-20** Assigned to Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee `referral-committee`
- **2004-04-28** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. David E. Miller
- **2004-04-29** Do Pass / Short Debate Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee; 018-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2004-04-29** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2004-05-04** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2004-05-04** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2004-05-04** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Monique D. Davis
- **2004-05-11** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 114-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2004-05-11** Passed Both Houses
- **2004-06-09** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2004-07-15** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2004-07-15** Effective Date January 1, 2005
- **2004-07-15** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 93-0750 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c030f606-42bb-4619-980e-c13ec6b98981`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).