republic-os/legislation/us/states/il/97th/hb-3888.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "BOATS-AQUATIC LIFE TRANSPORT"
description: "Amends the Boat Registration and Safety Act. Provides that no person may place or operate a vehicle, seaplane, watercraft, or other object of any kind in waters of this State if it has any aquatic plants or aquatic animals attached to the exterior of the vehicle, seaplane, watercraft, or other object. Provides that no person may take off with a seaplane, or transport or operate a vehicle, watercraft, or other object of any kind on a highway with aquatic plants or aquatic animals attached to the exterior of the seaplane, vehicle, watercraft, or other object. Provides exceptions. Provides that a person must comply with instructions given by a law enforcement officer who has reason to believe that the person is in violation of the new provisions. Provides that the Department of Natural Resources shall produce and make copies available of a notice containing a summary of the new provisions and that owners of boat access sites must post and maintain a copy of the notice."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "97th"
identifier: "HB 3888"
citation: "Illinois HB 3888 (97th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2011-11-28"
last_action: "2012-07-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c8bb3212-1d64-4097-8a5a-752cc9a5e26d"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=3888&GAID=11&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=62619&SessionID=84&GA=97"
source_hash: "11a3c17ad3cea4c75c13c62bd4ab92d684ef6aa5b087bb0a8b0210b27d284b17"
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 3888 (97th) — BOATS-AQUATIC LIFE TRANSPORT

Amends the Boat Registration and Safety Act. Provides that no person may place or operate a vehicle, seaplane, watercraft, or other object of any kind in waters of this State if it has any aquatic plants or aquatic animals attached to the exterior of the vehicle, seaplane, watercraft, or other object. Provides that no person may take off with a seaplane, or transport or operate a vehicle, watercraft, or other object of any kind on a highway with aquatic plants or aquatic animals attached to the exterior of the seaplane, vehicle, watercraft, or other object. Provides exceptions. Provides that a person must comply with instructions given by a law enforcement officer who has reason to believe that the person is in violation of the new provisions. Provides that the Department of Natural Resources shall produce and make copies available of a notice containing a summary of the new provisions and that owners of boat access sites must post and maintain a copy of the notice.

## 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=09700HB3888&GA=97&SessionId=84&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=62619&DocNum=3888&GAID=11&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09700HB3888eng&GA=97&SessionId=84&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=62619&DocNum=3888&GAID=11&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09700HB3888enr&GA=97&SessionId=84&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=62619&DocNum=3888&GAID=11&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **104–13** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **48–6** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- JoAnn D. Osmond — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2011-11-28** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. JoAnn D. Osmond `filing`
- **2011-11-28** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2011-11-28** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2012-01-24** Assigned to Agriculture & Conservation Committee `referral-committee`
- **2012-02-21** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Karen May
- **2012-02-21** Do Pass / Short Debate Agriculture & Conservation Committee; 013-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2012-02-22** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2012-02-23** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2012-02-23** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2012-02-28** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 104-013-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2012-02-29** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2012-02-29** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2012-02-29** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Suzi Schmidt
- **2012-02-29** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2012-02-29** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2012-04-11** Assigned to Agriculture and Conservation `referral-committee`
- **2012-04-18** Do Pass Agriculture and Conservation; 006-002-000 `committee-passage`
- **2012-04-18** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading April 19, 2012
- **2012-05-02** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2012-05-02** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 3, 2012
- **2012-05-15** Third Reading - Passed; 048-006-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2012-05-15** Passed Both Houses
- **2012-06-13** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2012-07-26** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2012-07-26** Effective Date January 1, 2013
- **2012-07-26** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 97-0850 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c8bb3212-1d64-4097-8a5a-752cc9a5e26d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).