House passes HB4119

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the Illinois “shark fin ban” bill (HB4119) was passed by the state House of Representatives yesterday with a vote of 81-33, after going through with “virtually no floor debate.”

If the bill is taken up in the Senate, it would require 30 votes to be passed into law, according the Sun-Times report.

The bill which was drafted by the Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research, and Education (COARE) and is supported by both the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Humane Society International (HSI), according to Christopher Chin, a representative of COARE. Rep. Sara Feigenholtz is the bill’s chief sponsored.

If signed into law, a ban on the possession, sale, trade, and distribution of shark fins in the state of Illinois would go into effect on January 1, 2013. A six-month grace period would allow fins acquired prior to 2013 to be exempt from the ban through July 1, 2013.

You can read Illinois HB4119, as proposed, at the Illinois General Assembly website.