republic-os/legislation/us/states/il/96th/hb-5951.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "WHISTLEBLOWER-FALSE CLAIMS ACT"
description: "Amends the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act and changes the short title to the Illinois False Claims Act. Provides that penalties are remedial, not punitive, and are not precluded by any criminal prosecution. Defines \"obligation\" and \"material\". Provides relief necessary to make an employee, contractor, or agent (instead of an employee) whole from a retaliatory job action taken against him or her because of the person's lawful act to stop a violation of the Act. Provides that the State may intervene in an action brought under the Act and that, for statute of limitations purposes, a State claim is timely if the claim arises out of the conduct that is asserted in the complaint. Makes other changes. Amends the Illinois Procurement Code by making a conforming change. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "96th"
identifier: "HB 5951"
citation: "Illinois HB 5951 (96th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 34
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2010-02-10"
last_action: "2010-07-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3a79e757-6ccc-46b9-97fd-d8721ee14b8b"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=5951&GAID=10&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=51616&SessionID=76&GA=96"
source_hash: "0ec3ed10ce8b2ec581aca89272ecee76c3914d5e21d3c973113814a09c610589"
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 5951 (96th) — WHISTLEBLOWER-FALSE CLAIMS ACT

Amends the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act and changes the short title to the Illinois False Claims Act. Provides that penalties are remedial, not punitive, and are not precluded by any criminal prosecution. Defines "obligation" and "material". Provides relief necessary to make an employee, contractor, or agent (instead of an employee) whole from a retaliatory job action taken against him or her because of the person's lawful act to stop a violation of the Act. Provides that the State may intervene in an action brought under the Act and that, for statute of limitations purposes, a State claim is timely if the claim arises out of the conduct that is asserted in the complaint. Makes other changes. Amends the Illinois Procurement Code by making a conforming change. 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=09600HB5951&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=51616&DocNum=5951&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB5951eng&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=51616&DocNum=5951&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB5951enr&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=51616&DocNum=5951&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **115–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **56–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- William D. Burns — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2010-02-10** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. William D. Burns `filing`
- **2010-02-10** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2010-02-10** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2010-02-22** Assigned to Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee `referral-committee`
- **2010-03-10** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee `amendment-introduction`
- **2010-03-10** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted in Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee; by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2010-03-10** Do Pass as Amended / Short Debate Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee; 016-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2010-03-10** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2010-03-11** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2010-03-11** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2010-03-18** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Filed with Clerk by Rep. William D. Burns `amendment-introduction`
- **2010-03-18** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2010-03-22** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Recommends Be Adopted Rules Committee; 004-000-000 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2010-03-22** Recalled to Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2010-03-22** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Adopted by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2010-03-22** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2010-03-23** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 115-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2010-03-23** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2010-03-23** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading March 24, 2010 `reading-1`
- **2010-03-23** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Jeffrey M. Schoenberg
- **2010-03-24** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2010-03-24** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2010-04-06** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2010-04-14** Do Pass Judiciary; 009-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2010-04-14** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading April 15, 2010
- **2010-04-15** Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Michael Noland
- **2010-04-22** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2010-04-22** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading April 23, 2010
- **2010-04-29** Third Reading - Passed; 056-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2010-04-29** Passed Both Houses
- **2010-05-28** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2010-07-27** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2010-07-27** Effective Date July 27, 2010
- **2010-07-27** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-1304 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3a79e757-6ccc-46b9-97fd-d8721ee14b8b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).