[2] The legislature also enacted a measure to curb the use of billboards on Illinois highways, which was amended several times thereafter,[3] and the state's first Good Samaritan law making physicians who render assistance in emergencies immune from civil liability.

[4] Notable failed legislation in the 74th General Assembly included a measure to abolish capital punishment in Illinois, which passed the House by a 97–69 vote.

[5] Had it been enacted, Illinois would have joined Iowa, New York, West Virginia, and Vermont in ending capital punishment that year.

However, in a nationally unprecedented event,[16] in 1964 all members of the Illinois State House were elected at-large statewide, as a result of the legislature's failure to agree on a redistricting plan the previous year.

[20] Consequently, Illinois' 1965 redistricting, which implemented the one person, one vote rule imposed by the United States Supreme Court in Reynolds v. Sims, had little effect on the subsequent balance of power in the House.