republic-os/legislation/us/states/il/96th/sb-2178.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "PLAIN LANGUAGE TASK FORCE ACT"
description: "Creates the Illinois Plain Language Task Force Act. Provides that a Task Force chaired by the Lieutenant Governor or his or her designee shall conduct a study on, and propose legislative measures designed to realize, the potential benefits of incorporating plain language in State government documents, statutes, and contracts into which the State enters and how plain language principles might be incorporated into the statutes governing contracts among private parties so as to provide additional protections to Illinois consumers, to reduce litigation between private parties over the meaning of contractual terms, and to foster judicial economy. Contains provisions regarding the term \"plain language\", the composition and duties of the Task Force, and the guidelines the Task Force will follow. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "96th"
identifier: "SB 2178"
citation: "Illinois SB 2178 (96th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 30
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2009-02-20"
last_action: "2009-08-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4e1e3e0c-ff56-4cdc-958b-63f96139a776"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=2178&GAID=10&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=45115&SessionID=76&GA=96"
source_hash: "2ac71fdd30c636e759b692a01230a1b859904407129552bb79bc4a39178ef370"
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 2178 (96th) — PLAIN LANGUAGE TASK FORCE ACT

Creates the Illinois Plain Language Task Force Act. Provides that a Task Force chaired by the Lieutenant Governor or his or her designee shall conduct a study on, and propose legislative measures designed to realize, the potential benefits of incorporating plain language in State government documents, statutes, and contracts into which the State enters and how plain language principles might be incorporated into the statutes governing contracts among private parties so as to provide additional protections to Illinois consumers, to reduce litigation between private parties over the meaning of contractual terms, and to foster judicial economy. Contains provisions regarding the term "plain language", the composition and duties of the Task Force, and the guidelines the Task Force will follow. 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=09600SB2178&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=45115&DocNum=2178&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600SB2178eng&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=45115&DocNum=2178&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600SB2178enr&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=45115&DocNum=2178&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **114–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **57–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Michael Noland — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2009-02-20** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Michael Noland `filing`
- **2009-02-20** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2009-02-20** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2009-03-04** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2009-03-10** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Michael Noland `amendment-introduction`
- **2009-03-10** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2009-03-10** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Assignments Refers to Judiciary
- **2009-03-10** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted `amendment-passage`
- **2009-03-11** Do Pass as Amended Judiciary; 008-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2009-03-11** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading March 12, 2009
- **2009-03-24** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2009-03-24** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading March 25, 2009
- **2009-04-01** Third Reading - Passed; 057-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2009-04-02** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2009-04-02** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2009-04-22** Chief House Sponsor Rep. Ronald A. Wait
- **2009-04-22** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2009-04-22** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2009-04-22** Assigned to State Government Administration Committee `referral-committee`
- **2009-05-06** Do Pass / Short Debate State Government Administration Committee; 017-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2009-05-06** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2009-05-12** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2009-05-12** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2009-05-19** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Jack D. Franks
- **2009-05-19** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 114-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2009-05-19** Passed Both Houses
- **2009-06-17** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2009-08-13** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2009-08-13** Effective Date August 13, 2009
- **2009-08-13** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0350 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4e1e3e0c-ff56-4cdc-958b-63f96139a776`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).