Updated
Updated · Block Club Chicago · Aug 3
Illinois Requires Cash for Purchases Under $500 as Pritzker Signs 87 Bills
Updated
Updated · Block Club Chicago · Aug 3

Illinois Requires Cash for Purchases Under $500 as Pritzker Signs 87 Bills

3 articles · Updated · Block Club Chicago · Aug 3

Summary

  • Illinois retailers with staffed in-person checkout must accept cash for purchases under $500 starting in 2028 under a law Gov. JB Pritzker signed Friday; bills over $20 can still be refused.
  • The cash mandate exempts self-checkout, overnight sales, membership-only businesses, online and phone purchases, and cases where a business runs out of cash; violations will bring fines.
  • A second major measure took effect immediately, requiring employers to pay workers their full wages during jury duty, though businesses with 25 or fewer employees are exempt.
  • Pritzker’s broader 87-bill signing package also set new rules on CPR training in schools, faculty workload reporting, anti-trafficking signs at interstate rest stops, airport noise studies and ambulance transport to mental health facilities.

Insights

Will forcing Illinois retailers to accept cash by 2028 save the unbanked, or expose small businesses to unprecedented security risks?
Can mandating breast-shaped CPR manikins in Illinois schools finally close the deadly gender gap in emergency bystander rescues?
Will the upcoming ban on hidden junk fees actually lower consumer costs, or just force corporations to invent clever new pricing loopholes?