Spouse as additional driver in IL - is this act still valid?
 

I've read in few places that Illinois is one of the states where a spouse is automatically added as an additional driver to any rental car. Problem i have is that non of the rental companies that usually charge for additional driver, even if it is the spouse, have IL listed in the terms as being the state where the fee is waved. Sixt mentions "other states" which is the closest i could find (For rentals in the state of California and in other locations where required by applicable law, the additional driver is free of charge.)
The act where this is mentioned for IL is from 1997 (!!) and some language is crossed off (https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/pub...he%20case%20of)
I spent significant time researching this online and have not found much of newer info. Only place i did find is the Autoslash post updated in Jan 2022 (https://blog.autoslash.com/rental-ca...an-drive-free/) but this is blog post. Does anyone here know if this act is indeed valid and legally binding?

It is valid and legally binding as per the statute you cited regardless of whether or not the rental companies specifically call it out in their terms and conditions. They do not have the power to override state law, in their contracts.

The original statute was put in place back in 1997 and the ability for a spouse to be considered an "Authorized Driver" remains in effect today. While there is some strikethrough text there, the part about spouses being an authorized driver is not stricken, hence it is valis

The key thing here is that you should NOT list your spouse as an additional driver on the rental contract, otherwise the rental company may charge you to do so. Since state law allows spouses to be considered authorized drivers, a rental or insurance company cannot deny a claim if a spouse was driving the car and had an accident.

Note that we're not lawyers, so the above should not be construed as legal advice, but it represents established law based on our reading of the publicly available Illinois state statutes.

OP: Do you know yet which company you will be renting from? Some companies, such as Hertz, automatically let a spouse drive without additional charge on rentals in every state if the renter is a member of the company's frequent-renter program.

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/reser...ATORS&EOAG=ORD

That would obviate the need to worry about differing state laws on this issue.

Even without frequent-renter membership, some companies always permit spouses to drive for free on U.S. rentals:

https://www.avis.com/en/help/usa-faqs/additional-driver

https://www.budget.com/en/help/usa-f...-driver-policy

I note that Hertz currently has an offer of free Five Star® elite status through June 30, 2022, for new enrollees in the Hertz Gold Plus frequent-renter program:

​​​​​https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/membe...kinnyGold/fast