---
type: "Bill"
title: "BOAT & SNOWMOBILE SAFETY"
description: "Amends the Snowmobile Registration and Safety Act and the Boat Registration and Safety Act. Provides that a person who has not been previously convicted of or assigned supervision for operating a snowmobile or watercraft under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or intoxicating compounds (OUI), and has not had his or her operating privileges suspended under the applicable provision, is a first offender regarding the applicable provision. Provides that a forfeiture of bail to secure a court appearance or a failure to appear for trial is equivalent to a conviction. Provides that a person may not operate a snowmobile or watercraft while his or her privilege to do so has been revoked in this State, by another State, by a federal agency, or by a province of Canada. Provides that the Department of Natural Resources shall suspend for one year the watercraft operating privileges of any person convicted of misdemeanor OUI under a local ordinance or federal law and for 3 years the privileges of anyone convicted of felony OUI or reckless homicide. Requires the operator of a vessel to report an accident involving any injury requiring treatment beyond first aid (rather than any injury resulting in the victim's incapacitation for a period of 72 hours). Requires reporting of a watercraft accident resulting in $2,000 or more in property damage or complete loss of a vessel (rather than reporting of any accident resulting in $500 or more in property damage)."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "94th"
identifier: "HB 1339"
citation: "Illinois HB 1339 (94th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2005-02-09"
last_action: "2005-07-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/38d7872c-3efb-4245-9a78-958b6275edbd"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=1339&GAID=8&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=16340&SessionID=50&GA=94"
source_hash: "17d036b0d7ae9eccedf14e284baa9a69c7d17e68fdb30ad7a97b81a304dbfd2e"
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 1339 (94th) — BOAT & SNOWMOBILE SAFETY

Amends the Snowmobile Registration and Safety Act and the Boat Registration and Safety Act. Provides that a person who has not been previously convicted of or assigned supervision for operating a snowmobile or watercraft under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or intoxicating compounds (OUI), and has not had his or her operating privileges suspended under the applicable provision, is a first offender regarding the applicable provision. Provides that a forfeiture of bail to secure a court appearance or a failure to appear for trial is equivalent to a conviction. Provides that a person may not operate a snowmobile or watercraft while his or her privilege to do so has been revoked in this State, by another State, by a federal agency, or by a province of Canada. Provides that the Department of Natural Resources shall suspend for one year the watercraft operating privileges of any person convicted of misdemeanor OUI under a local ordinance or federal law and for 3 years the privileges of anyone convicted of felony OUI or reckless homicide. Requires the operator of a vessel to report an accident involving any injury requiring treatment beyond first aid (rather than any injury resulting in the victim's incapacitation for a period of 72 hours). Requires reporting of a watercraft accident resulting in $2,000 or more in property damage or complete loss of a vessel (rather than reporting of any accident resulting in $500 or more in property damage).

## 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=09400HB1339&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=16340&DocNum=1339&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09400HB1339eng&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=16340&DocNum=1339&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09400HB1339enr&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=16340&DocNum=1339&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **116–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **58–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Patrick J Verschoore — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2005-02-09** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Patrick J Verschoore `filing`
- **2005-02-09** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2005-02-09** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2005-02-10** Assigned to Judiciary II - Criminal Law Committee `referral-committee`
- **2005-02-10** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Paul D. Froehlich
- **2005-02-18** Do Pass / Short Debate Judiciary II - Criminal Law Committee; 016-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2005-02-18** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2005-02-25** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2005-02-25** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2005-03-10** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 116-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2005-03-15** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2005-03-15** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading March 16, 2005 `reading-1`
- **2005-04-11** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Mike Jacobs
- **2005-04-12** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2005-04-12** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2005-04-13** Assigned to Agriculture & Conservation `referral-committee`
- **2005-04-20** Do Pass Agriculture & Conservation; 008-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2005-04-20** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading April 21, 2005
- **2005-05-10** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2005-05-10** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 11, 2005
- **2005-05-11** Third Reading - Passed; 058-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2005-05-11** Passed Both Houses
- **2005-06-09** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2005-07-14** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2005-07-14** Effective Date January 1, 2006
- **2005-07-14** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 94-0214 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/38d7872c-3efb-4245-9a78-958b6275edbd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).