103rd ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
The Illinois General Assembly remains adjourned until the November Veto Session.
The Senate Transportation Committee will hold a subject matter hearing on August 9 at 10 am in the Naperville City Hall to discuss how transit supports community quality of life.
The House Health Care Availability and Accessibility Committee will hold a subject matter hearing on September 4 at 10 am in the Bilandic Building in Chicago to discuss pharmacy benefit managers and specialty drugs.
GOVERNOR’S HIGHLIGHTS:
New Laws: Governor Pritzker signed HB 3144 which represents the local government tax omnibus bill. The new law eliminates the 1% statewide tax on grocery items and allows local governments to implement a grocery tax by ordinance. The law also makes several other changes to municipal tax code rules and regulations, including prepaid wireless surcharges and a Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax. Read more here.
The Governor also signed SB 2979 which makes changes to the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act. The measure limits the number of claims accrued should an employee bring a lawsuit against a company for a violation of BIPA. Under the new law, if the same employer collects a certain biometric identifier in the same manner, only one violation would accrue. This is a change from the previous interpretation of BIPA, where claims were accrued on a per-collection basis, which resulted in hundreds of claims on a repeated violation. The new law also modernizes the Act to allow electronic signatures to be collected for purposes of written consent.
The Governor also signed a package of bills designed to protect reproductive rights in Illinois. The package of bills signed includes HB 581, which ensures that pregnant women can access needed emergency medical care, HB 5239, which expands Illinois’ shield laws, and HB 4867, which clarifies and expands the Illinois Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on reproductive health decisions. Read more here.
Governor Pritzker also signed several other measures into law over the last week.
HB 307 Expands opportunities for student-athletes to receive compensation in Illinois.
HB 778 Requires IDFPR to establish guidelines for qualifications to give limited licensing
HB 2601 Modifies the rules regulating the custom slaughter of meat products in Illinois.
HB 3763 Allows employees to request bargaining contracts, policies, handbooks, press releases, discrimination reports, or any similar documents about the employee.
HB 4409 Grants Adult Redeploy Illinois more flexibility in funding allocation through its grant awards and adds two new membership positions to its Oversight Board.
HB 4813 Transfer authority to the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology, (rather than the Department of Human Services), to review electronic accessibility standards for state entities.
HB 4848 Requires vehicles that transport garbage to be covered to prevent windblown trash.
HB 4863 Authorizes the conveyance of property from the Department of Military Affairs to the City of Aurora.
HB 4874 Regarding opioid prescriptions, provides that a pharmacist may not refuse to fill a valid prescription solely because it is not prescribed electronically.
HB 4891 Prohibits dentists from arranging for or establishing third-party financing for a patient.
HB 4899 Eliminates a fee paid by local health departments to IDPH in connection with the licensure of a hospice program or home health agency.
HB 4902 Requires that school vendors adhere to the comprehensive literacy plan for the State developed by ISBE.
HB 4903 The State Board of Education shall, in consultation with the Department of Public Health, compile resources for schools relating to indoor air quality in schools.
HB 4921 Establishes the Low-Interest Home Improvement Loan Program that provides funds to be used to repair or prevent damages to a residence due to natural disasters.
HB 4939 Clarifies the definition of publication in the State Library Act to reduce the cost and space of physical document storage.
HB 4954 Amends the Coal Mining Act. Requires coal-producing mines to maintain fully equipped mine rescue teams, based out of State mine rescue stations.
HB 4961 Requires notice be given to interested parties when a hearing for the appointment of a successor guardian is set.
HB 4993 Requires the local registrar of a district to send a copy of a death certificate to the deceased’s county of residence if the individual dies outside their county of residence.
HB 5232 Amends the deadline for when the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity must complete a personal care products industry supplier disparity study from December 31, 2022 to December 31, 2027.
HB 5250 Among other changes, allows districts to waive a course or unit instruction requirement if completion of it is a graduation requirement, and the district has determined that the student has demonstrated competency in the content.
HB 5407 Amends the Education for Homeless Children Act. In provisions concerning the Education of Homeless Children and Youth State Grant Program, provides that grants shall be awarded to applicant school districts based on the percentage of students experiencing homelessness in an applicant school district (instead of to applicant school districts).
HB 5431 Codifies nutrition and restraint protections for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated individuals in all Illinois Department of Corrections facilities.
HB 5640 Provides that whenever there is a reference in any Act to “armed forces”, “armed forces of the United States”, “U.S. Armed Forces”, “United States Armed Forces”, or “uniformed services”, these terms shall be construed to include the United States Space Force.
SB 56 Allows 65- to 75-year-olds to purchase a Medicare supplement policy with the same issuer or any affiliate authorized to do business in the State during their open enrollment period.
SB 86 Amends the Know Before You Owe Private Education Loan Act. Requires information regarding student loans be provided to cosigners as well as borrowers.
SB 331 Amends various Acts relating to the governance of public universities and community colleges in Illinois. Requires the governing board of each public university and community college district to pay employees and contractors their daily, regular rate of pay and benefits if a campus is closed due to a city, county, or State declaration of a winter weather emergency.
SB 691 Amends the county code to allow any joint regional planning commission to acquire property through gift, legacy or purchase under a twenty-year installment contract.
SB 773 Requires group policy insurance to cover IVF services and annual menopause visits beginning January 1, 2026.
SB 857 Gives the IDHS OIG authority to conduct reviews of facilities and agencies.
SB 2573 Requires insurance coverage for wigs or scalp prostheses worn due to hair loss caused by alopecia, chemotherapy, or radiation treatment beginning January 1, 2025.
SB 2601 Requires landlords to disclose to every potential tenant if a property is located in a high-risk flooding area.
SB 2626 Creates the Rehabilitation Expungement Streamlining and Empowerment for Transition Act to allow for a defendant’s counsel to pre-file expungement petitions 61 days before their case is dismissed.
SB 2654 Provides enhanced consumer protections for victims of vehicle theft who have had their cars towed or impounded.
SB 2660 Requires a chaperone to be present during all patient encounters with a massage therapist charged with a sexual assault-related crime and enhances IDFPR oversight in such instances.
SB 2672 Requires insurance companies to cover brand-name prescription drugs in situations where the generic version or a therapeutically equivalent drug is unavailable due to shortage.
SB 2675 Allows not-for-profit early childhood entities renting space from other not-for-profits to be eligible for early childhood construction grants.
SB 2683 Prohibits and defines electronic stalking as using any electronic tracking system or acquiring tracking information to determine a targeted person’s location, moment, or travel patterns.
SB 2702 Defines a fire sprinkler inspector as one who is employed by a single contractor at a time.
SB 2715 Modifies the Illinois Act on the Aging to clarify the release of ombudsman resident records allowed under limited circumstances.
SB 2731 Extends the sunset for the Genetic Counselor Licensing Act to 2030.
SB 2872 Allows school districts to provide relaxation activities to students.
SB 2934 Strengthens existing laws by explicitly stating that consent or permission from the hazing victim does not absolve perpetrators from prosecution for hazing.
SB 2935 Gives mobile homeowners the right of first refusal to join together and purchase their mobile home park when the owner of a mobile home park decides to sell it.
SB 2957 Amends the Act on the Aging to include language specifying state ombudsmen’s access to facility incident reports.
SB 2976 Amends the Historic Preservation Act. Creates the State Historic Preservation Board, a 9-person board that advises the Department of Natural Resources on the preservation, management, acquisition, and deaccession of historic properties. Amends the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council Act. Renames, and makes changes to the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council.
SB 2980 Eliminates the public notification process when a childcare institution, maternity center, or group home licensed by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services changes the age of children served or a change in the area of the facility used by children.
SB 2987 Requires that training for school board members include a topic of improving student outcomes.
SB 3077 Creates the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Act.
SB 3091 Authorizes the Department of Natural Resources to convey by quitclaim deed specified land in Will County to the Forest Preserve District of Will County.
SB 3110 Provides that if a vacancy on a regional board of school trustees occurs in a single county educational service region, then the vacancy may be filled by a person who is a resident of a congressional township not represented on the board.
SB 3111 Requires IDPH to renew 2-year assisted living facility licenses (instead of reviewing and approving a facility’s application for a 2-year license renewal) as long as the facility has met certain requirements. Removes a provision that would allow DPH to renew a facility’s license for longer than 2 years at the facility’s request.
SB 3115 Requires nursing homes changing ownership to submit a plan to DPH on how they’ll work together to ensure a smooth transition.
SB 3130 Represents a Department of Insurance initiative with several technical cleanups of the State Based Marketplace.
SB 3133 Amends the State Treasurer Act to allow savers with a Bright Start or Bright Directions account to roll over any funds that were not used for college or trade school into a Roth IRA for the beneficiary, as authorized by federal law.
SB 3134 Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act to give the Illinois Department of Public Health authority to suspend a licensee statewide if the licensee is charged with a crime while performing their official duties and poses a safety threat to the public.
SB 3156 Represents the ISBE’s annual School Code clean-up proposal, which moves up the reporting date for the Teacher Performance Assessment Task Force to October 31 instead of August 1, 2024.
SB 3479 Creates the Veteran’s Consumer Fraud Bill. The legislation broadens the definition of “veteran or military benefits services” to include any consultation services that would assist in obtaining, changing, or appealing benefits decisions. The bill also targets predatory “claim sharks,” or non-VA accredited individuals or companies that charge for consultation and filing services.
SB 3762 Creates the Language Equity and Access Act which requires the Governor’s Office of New Americans (ONA), in partnership with the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), to craft, implement and oversee statewide language access requirements to ensure that language proficiency is not a barrier for Illinoisans seeking to access state agency resources.
Gubernatorial Appointments: Governor Pritzker appointed Wynona Redmond to serve as a member of the Lottery Control Board.
IDFPR Licensing Software: The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation announced the agency has reached an agreement to secure a new professional licensing system for individuals whose careers require a license to work in Illinois. The Department will invest $9 million over the next three years and partner with NIC Licensing Solutions, LLC to implement the new online system.
IDFPR will immediately begin implementation of the new software, and all Departmental licensees will be transitioned to the new licensing system in six phases, ensuring every application and fee payment will be available online.
According to the Department, the new licensing system will feature a user-friendly interface with improved communications and create a streamlined review of license applications and fees. Prospective licensees will be notified electronically when applications are received, reviewed, and licenses are issued by the Department. Read more here.
Permanent Supportive Housing Development Program: The Illinois Housing Development Authority is accepting applications for the development of permanent supportive housing. Funding through the state’s Permanent Supportive Housing Development Program will provide loans, forgivable loans, and grants to qualifying developers who build or preserve affordable, permanent housing paired with case management and supportive services.
Non-profit, for-profit, and joint venture developers are eligible to apply for funds from the PSH Development Program. The application process is competitive, and development teams interested in learning more about this funding opportunity are strongly encouraged to attend IHDA’s upcoming webinar on Thursday, August 15, from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Participants are asked to register in advance here. Read more here.
Transportation Enhancement Program: The Illinois Department of Transportation is now accepting applications for the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program. Projects eligible for funding through ITEP include biking and walking paths, trails, streetscape beautification work and other improvements designed to encourage safe travel across the various modes of transportation at the local level.
Applicants can include local governments and regional planning commissions. Nonprofit and private entities that apply must have a public sponsor. The maximum award is $3 million. For more information, including instructions on how to view and participate in webinars on the application process, visit the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program page. Applications are due September 30. Read more here.
OSFM Small Equipment Grant Program: The Office of the State Fire Marshal is now accepting applications for the Small Equipment Grant Program. The OSFM will award $4 million to eligible fire departments and ambulance services for the purchase of small firefighting and ambulance equipment. All interested departments should send an application to OSFM electronically or postmarked no later than October 1, 2024. Read more here.
Climate Pollution Reduction Grant: The Illinois Department of Agriculture in partnership with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency will receive an $111 million investment in the ag sector through a federal U.S. EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant. Building on existing federal and state initiatives, this opportunity provides farmers with the sustainability and security needed to make long-term on-farm decisions.
Through this program, IDOA will receive $73 million for climate smart ag practices and IEPA will receive $38 million for electrification of small engines. These funds will be distributed over a five-year period. Funded projects are intended to improve soil health, reduce erosion and improve air quality.
Emergency Shelter: The Illinois Housing Development Authority will begin accepting applications for the development of emergency shelters for persons experiencing homelessness. Available through the HOME-ARP Non-Congregate Shelter Development Program, the funding will support experienced shelter providers as they acquire or develop non-congregate shelter facilities across Illinois. The program is part of IHDA’s continuing efforts to improve the housing safety net and help Illinois achieve “functional zero” homelessness.
Eligible applicants must be current shelter providers who participate in the Emergency Solutions Grant Program or the Emergency & Transitional Housing Program administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services or have another verifiable operating funding source.
Organizations interested in learning more about this funding opportunity are strongly encouraged to attend IHDA’s upcoming webinar on Wednesday, August 14, from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Participants are asked to register in advance here.
Abandoned Mines Reclamation: The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is accepting public comment through September 20 about the abandoned mine lands reclamation projects that have been selected for work through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). States may use federal grants to address coal abandoned mine land problems, including hazards resulting from legacy coal mining that pose a threat to public health, safety, and the environment; water supply restoration; and coal abandoned mine land emergencies. Read more here.