Labor & Employment

Amends the Hospital Licensing Act. Provides that a hospital licensed under the Act shall not charge a covered hospital employee more than 10% of the total health insurance premium cost. Provides that any agreement permitting a charge to a covered hospital employee in excess of 10% of the total health insurance premium cost shall be deemed invalid, void, and unenforceable. Provides that a hospital in violation of those provisions shall pay a civil penalty of $500 to the Department of Public Health for each impacted covered hospital employee.

Amends the Illinois Works Job Program Act. Establishes the Illinois Municipal Works Preapprenticeship and Service Trainee Program to be administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Provides that the goal of the Program is to create a network of community-based organizations within the region served by Morton College that will recruit, prescreen, and provide preapprenticeship and service trainee skills training to create a qualified, diverse pipeline of workers who are prepared for careers in the construction and building trades and in the union service trades that have collective bargaining agreements with municipalities, the health care sector, and other service sectors. Creates the Illinois Municipal Works Preapprenticeship and Service Trainee Fund. Provides that the Fund shall be administered by the Department. Provides that the Fund shall be used to provide funding directly to Morton College and, through Morton College, to trade unions, municipal employers, health care employers, and other service sector employers who are associated with the Program. Provides that every July 1, $250,000 shall be transferred from the Rebuild Illinois Projects Fund to the Illinois Municipal Works Preapprenticeship and Service Trainee Fund. Sets forth an annual report for Morton College. Provides for bid credits for employing apprentices who have completed the Program. Amends the Public Community College Act. Provides that the Illinois Community College Board shall monitor the Program. Provides that, by no later than July 1, 2031, the State Board shall recommend legislation to the General Assembly that will, based upon the experience of Morton College, establish and fund an Illinois Pipeline for the Advancement of the Union Service Workforce Program. Effective immediately.

Creates the Human Services Equitable Pay Task Force Act. Provides that the Department of Human Services shall establish the Human Services Equitable Pay Task Force. Requires the Task Force to examine and publish a report, by December 1, 2027 and every 2 years thereafter, that studies various issues relating to recruitment, retention, and wage inequity within the human services sector in Illinois. Provides that the Task Force shall examine, among any other issues it chooses to investigate with respect to human services, the following issues: (1) grant levels and reimbursement rate levels that human services providers have received since Fiscal Year 2021; (2) patterns in entry-level wages and wage growth among community-based providers and State agencies; (3) existing State resources and programs that assist in the development of a strong pipeline of workers for human service positions; and (4) funding interventions needed to support the findings generated from the Task Force. Sets forth the membership of the Task Force and requires the Department of Human Services to provide administrative and other support to the Task Force. Provides that the Task Force shall receive the assistance of legislative staff and may employ skilled experts. Effective immediately.

Makes appropriations for the ordinary and contingent expenses of the Illinois Labor Relations Board for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, as follows: General Funds $2,855,100.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that the tax credit for employee child care shall be (i) 30% of the start-up costs expended by the corporate taxpayer to provide a child care facility for the children of its employees and (ii) 10% (currently, 5%) of the annual amount paid by the corporate taxpayer in providing the child care facility for the children of its employees. Creates an income tax credit for corporate taxpayers that are qualified small businesses in an amount equal to 10% of the federal tax credit claimed by the taxpayer for the taxable year for qualified child care expenditures. Effective immediately.

Makes appropriations for the ordinary and contingent expenses of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, as follows: Other State Funds $4,465,600.

Amends the Attorney General Act. Provides that, prior to initiating an action, the Attorney General shall conduct an investigation and, in addition to other powers, may: (1) issue subpoenas for documents; (2) require written answers under oath to written interrogatories; (3) inspect the premises of an employer and inspect and make copies of employment-related records kept at the premises; and (4) conduct interviews with workers at an employer's premises during normal business or working hours. Sets forth additional provisions concerning investigations; interviews; subpoenas; obstruction; and search warrants.

Amends the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act. Provides that required health coverage benefits and education benefits are contingent on the law enforcement officer being killed in the line of duty. Provides that a surviving spouse shall not be required to submit a notarized affidavit or other notarized documentation attesting that the surviving spouse has not been remarried as a condition of eligibility for any benefit, payment, or right guaranteed under the Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Prevailing Wage Act. Provides that, if a laborer, mechanic, or other worker, to whom the prevailing rate of wages is required to be paid, is classified in 2 or more trade titles for any amount of time during a day on which the individual is employed on a public works project, the individual shall receive the prevailing rate of wages that is the highest among those trade titles for all hours worked that day. Provides that a laborer, mechanic, or other worker, to whom the prevailing wage is required to be paid, may be paid at an apprentice rate of pay if the laborer is enrolled in an apprenticeship and training program. Provides for the withholding of payments for violations of the Act. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Nursing Home Care Act. In provisions concerning a facility's safe resident handling policy, provides that "safe lifting equipment and accessories" includes emerging technologies approved by the Department of Public Health by rule.