Illinois Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove, is expected to request a deadline extension for legislation he filed last year to repeal the Sunday closing law. It would mark the seventh consecutive spring that Oberweis has pushed legislation to open dealerships to Sunday operations. A similar bill also was introduced in the Illinois House.
 
Senate Bill 22, also known as the "Religious Equity Act," would allow dealerships to be open on any six days of the week of their choosing, including Sundays.
 
First introduced last year, SB 22 was itself a repeat of legislation Oberweis introduced in 2018 that he called the Freedom to Choose Act, which would have allowed dealerships the opportunity to be open on any six days of the week of their choice, including Sunday. Oberweis reasoned that if one dealership opened on Sundays, many others would follow.
 
Sunday car sales have been banned in Illinois since 1984. Automobile dealers largely supported the ban when it was enacted because it gives them a chance to close one day a week, giving workers a day off and saving the business the cost of opening. The CATA still supports the Sunday ban.
 
In the House, Rep. Yehiel "Mark" Kalish in January filed House Bill 4212 to eliminate the Sunday sales ban. He has since softened his position on the matter.