Illinois legislators are looking to add some more festive activities to the Fourth of July this year.
28th District Democrat Bob Rita has a bill in the Illinois General Assembly looking to add additions to a short list of allowable novelty fireworks in the state. The new fireworks would be “ground-based sparklers that are nonexplosive and non-aerial.” These fireworks are commonly called sparkler fountains, which are currently illegal due to the amount of concentrated firework powder. Illinois currently has some of the nation’s strictest fireworks laws and is neighbored by states that have some of the more lax fireworks laws.
Rita says that the state could get additional sales tax revenue from the sales of the fireworks. According to the Illinois Associated Press, more than a dozen groups oppose the measure, including the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal. The last annual fireworks report of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission counted an estimated 10,000 fireworks-related injuries requiring emergency room treatment in 2019, or roughly 3 per 100,000 people, a statistically steady number since 2004.