Creates the Financial Oversight Panel Law of the School Code. Allows a school district (other than the Chicago school district) to petition the State Board of Education for the establishment of a Financial Oversight Panel for the district. Allows the State Board to establish a Financial Oversight Panel without a petition from a district. Contains provisions concerning duties of the district; members and meetings of a Panel; powers of a Panel; officers of a Panel; collective bargaining agreements; deposits and investments; cash and bank accounts; the financial, management, and budgetary structure; the School District Emergency Financial Assistance Fund; grants and loans; the issuance of bonds; a tax levy; a debt service fund; a debt service reserve fund; bond anticipation notes; tax anticipation warrants and other certificates and notes; reports; a Panel audit; Panel property being exempt from taxation; sanctions; and abolition of a Panel. Makes related changes in the School Code, the Property Tax Code, and the Illinois Pension Code. Further amends the School Code with respect to districts in financial difficulty, the custody of school funds, bank reconciliation reports, and deficit reduction plans. Effective immediately.
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Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Provides that a person commits the offense of concealment of death when he or she knowingly conceals the death of any other person. Provides that a violation is a Class 4 felony.
Amends the School Code. Provides that 2 contiguous school districts that meet specified criteria may, when in their judgment the interest of the districts and of the students will be best served, jointly pilot a cooperative elementary school or cooperative high school, or both. Provides that the agreement for joint operation of any such cooperative elementary school or cooperative high school, or both, shall include, but not be limited to, provisions for administration, staff, programs, financing, facilities, and transportation. Contains provisions concerning the composition and operation of a governing board. Contains provisions concerning the costs of the program. Provides that upon formation of the cooperative elementary school cooperative high school, or both, the school board of each participating district shall perform specified activities with respect to teachers, employees, and the governing board. Provides that the provisions concerning a cooperative elementary school or cooperative high school are repealed 3 years after the beginning date of operation of a pilot cooperative elementary school or a pilot cooperative high school. Effective July 1, 2010.
Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning legislative intent in connection with public assistance fraud.
Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that the Secretary of State shall immediately revoke (rather than may, within 6 months of the date of conviction or one year of the date of the accident, revoke or suspend) the driving privileges of any person who has been convicted of an offense that involved the unlawful operation of a motor vehicle and caused or contributed to an accident resulting in the death of any person.
Amends the Weights and Measures Act. Authorizes the use of the specifications and tolerances in National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 105-8 as weights and measures standards. Authorizes the Director to accept calibration and verification reports from certain laboratories in lieu of the otherwise required submission of physical standards. Requires the sealers of a city having a population of 25,000 or more to attend an annual training workshop in order to exercise certain powers and duties ordinarily delegated to the Director of Agriculture. Changes the date upon which sealers must file an annual report with the Department of Agriculture. Authorizes the Department to collect interest on overdue fees. Increases monetary penalties for violations. Deletes cross references to several provisions that have been repealed. Makes other technical changes. Amends the Soil Conservation Domestic Allotment Act. Replaces a provision requiring the Department to formulate an annual State plan with a provision authorizing the Department to formulate that plan. Repeals a provision requiring the Department's annual report to cover the administration of those plans. Amends the Motor Fuel and Petroleum Standards Act. Creates an octane requirement for midgrade gasoline and increases the octane requirement for premium and super grade gasoline. Deletes provisions that establish labeling requirements for biodiesel blends. Increases monetary penalties for violations. Effective immediately.
Creates the Mercury Thermostat Collection Act. Requires thermostat manufacturers to establish an out-of-service mercury thermostat collection program that meets certain requirements. Requires thermostat manufacturers to submit certain reports on their collection programs to the Agency. Sets goals for the collection of out-of-service mercury thermostats. Provides that if those goals are not met, then the manufacturers must revise their collection programs as necessary to achieve the applicable goal. Requires contractors, service technicians, thermostat wholesalers, thermostat manufacturers, and thermostat retailers to handle and manage out-of-service mercury thermostats in a manner that is consistent with the provisions of the universal waste regulations adopted by the Illinois Pollution Control Board. On and after January 1, 2011, prohibits (i) thermostat wholesalers from selling, offering to sell, distributing, or offering to distribute thermostats unless certain requirements are met and (ii) contractors from removing, replacing, or otherwise taking mercury thermostats out of service unless the contractors deliver those thermostats to a collection site. On and after January 1, 2011, prohibits thermostat manufacturers that are in violation of the Act from selling, offering to sell, distributing, or offering to distribute thermostats in the State. Requires the Agency to post certain information on its website and to report certain information to the General Assembly. Provides for prosecution by the Attorney General or the State's Attorney of the county in which a violation occurs. Requires the Agency to make certain recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly by January 1, 2012. Effective immediately.
Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, if a taxpayer has been awarded a disabled veterans standard homestead exemption, and that taxpayer subsequently becomes a resident of a facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act or a facility operated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, then the exemption shall continue (i) so long as the residence continues to be occupied by the qualifying person's spouse or (ii) if the residence remains unoccupied but is still owned by the person who qualified for the homestead exemption.
Amends the Property Tax Code. In a Section concerning the returning veterans' homestead exemption, provides that the veteran may apply the exemption for the taxable year after he or she returns if (i) he or she first acquires a principal residence during the taxable year in which he or she returns, but after January 1 of that year, and (ii) if the property is owned and occupied as a principal residence by the veteran on January 1 of the next taxable year. Effective immediately.
Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that when a peace officer discovers the commission of a misdemeanor and is the complaining witness, the signing of the complaint by the peace officer is sufficient to charge the defendant with the commission of the offense without the need for the complaint to be sworn to. Provides that the peace officer signing the complaint is subject to the penalty for perjury for false certification.