Declares 2026 as the Illinois Route 66 Centennial Year in the State of Illinois. Encourages communities, historical societies, and state agencies to organize commemorative events and educational initiatives to honor this historic occasion.
Declares the week of May 5 through May 11, 2025 as Read with Your Child Week in the State of Illinois. Encourages all Illinois schools to promote Read with Your Child Week with appropriate activities.
Maddy summaryHR 29 declares September 15 through September 21, 2025, as Farm Safety Week in the State of Illinois. This bill officially recognizes and highlights the importance of safety practices for the agricultural community within the state during that designated week.
Amends the Military Veterans Assistance Act. Expands the Act to allow for the formation of multi-county Veterans Assistance Commissions. Provides that veteran service organizations located in 2 or more adjacent counties having a population of 60,000 or less may enter into an agreement to come together and jointly form a multi-county Veterans Assistance Commission to serve the adjacent counties in accordance with the Act. Provides that a multi-county Veterans Assistance Commission may also be formed under an agreement between an existing county Veterans Assistance Commission and a veteran service organization located in an adjacent county that is without a veterans assistance commission and has a population of 60,000 or less. Requires an agreement to form and maintain a multi-county Veterans Assistance Commission to set forth: (i) the distribution of funding with respect to each member county; (ii) the location of the Commission's office; (iii) the type of services provided; (iv) the superintendent selection or appointment process; (v) Commission rules and policies; and (vi) the composition of delegates and alternates on the Commission. Provides that multi-county Veterans Assistance Commissions shall have the same powers and duties under the Act as Veterans Assistance Commissions that serve one county. Makes corresponding changes in the Counties Code, the Illinois Public Aid Code, the Drug Court Treatment Act, the Veterans and Servicemembers Court Treatment Act, and the Mental Health Court Treatment Act. Effective immediately.
Amends the Cycle Rider Safety Training Act. Removes motor driven cycle and moped from the definition of "cycle". Defines "Cycle Rider Safety Training Course Provider" and "Provider" as a for-profit or nonprofit business, community agency, community organization, community college, or State university that is capable of providing courses. Provides that the Department of Transportation shall put out notices to the public seeking Cycle Rider Safety Training Course Providers to provide courses in the State, and that such courses shall be open to all residents of the State who hold a currently valid driver's license and who have reached their 16th birthday before the first day of the course to be held. Allows providers to charge a nominal registration fee set by the Department. Provides that responses from potential providers shall include the location where classes are to be held at, the number of students they intend to train, whether they would be providing motorcycles or using motorcycles owned by the Department, and the cost for courses provided on a per student basis. Provides that contracts shall be awarded by the Department to providers based on training needs and cost effectiveness of each bid or proposal. Provides that a provider shall only be paid grant funds under one of the following conditions: a course was held; expenses submitted related to the maintenance of department owned equipment; or submitting other non-personnel expenses. Provides that a provider awarded a contract with grant funding shall: submit proof that each instructor employed by the provider meets the qualifications to teach the curriculum for the courses; have at least one employee on staff certified to do quality assurance or quality control visits where instructors are evaluated per curriculum standards on teaching; perform at least one quality assurance or quality control visit on each instructor employed during the year and submit the results of those visits to the Department; maintain appropriate liability insurance to cover training activities; submit requests for payment in a timely manner; and adhere to additional program rules and regulations. Prohibits a provider awarded a contract with grant funding from adopting any policy, requirement, or expectation regarding employee's manner of dress outside of the employee's scheduled work hours. Makes other changes. Effective January 1, 2026.
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Removes provisions prohibiting the construction of new nuclear power reactors with a nameplate capacity of more than 300 megawatts of electricity to be located within the State until the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security finds that the United States Government has identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear waste.
Amends the Administration Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that subject to appropriation and any necessary federal waivers or approvals, the Department of Human Services shall develop and implement a transitional benefits program for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that is designed in such a way that a TANF or SNAP beneficiary will not experience an immediate loss of benefits should the beneficiary's income exceed the maximum allowable income under the TANF or SNAP program. Provides that the transitional benefits offered shall gradually step down the beneficiary's monthly benefit proportionate to the increase in the beneficiary's income. Sets forth monthly benefits amounts based on monthly household income. Requires beneficiaries to comply with TANF and SNAP work requirements. Provides that, subject to appropriation, the Department shall implement, by July 1, 2026, a program to allow recipients to receive transitional child care benefits without the requirement that such recipients first be eligible for full child care benefits. Provides that transitional child care benefits shall be determined on a sliding scale for recipients with household incomes in excess of the eligibility level for full benefits. Sets forth the sliding benefit schedule for the program. Requires the Department to track the number of participants in the program and issue an annual report to the General Assembly by September 1, 2027 and by September 1 each year thereafter, detailing the effectiveness of the program in encouraging recipients to secure employment earning an income greater than the maximum wage eligible for the full child care benefit. Requires the Department to pursue all necessary waivers from the federal government to implement the program. Provides that upon federal approval, the Department shall limit any initial application for the SNAP, TANF, or the Child Care Assistance Program to a one-page form that is easily accessible on the Department's website. Provides that persons participating in TANF, SNAP, or the Child Care Assistance Program who are required to complete a periodic eligibility review form, may submit such form as an attachment to their Illinois income tax return. Requires the Department of Human Services and the Department of Revenue to adopt rules. Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Act. Makes certain changes concerning estates that contain qualified farm property. Provides that, for the purposes of calculating the State Death Tax Credit, those estates are subject to an exemption of $6,000,000 (rather than an exclusion amount of $4,000,000), which shall be deducted from the net estate value after the net estate value is computed in accordance with the Act. Provides that the exemption shall be adjusted each year according to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. Makes changes concerning the calculation of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount for those estates. Provides for a special use valuation to provide that the value of the qualified farm property shall be calculated without regard to certain limitations under the Internal Revenue Code. Makes changes concerning the definition of "qualified heir".
Appropriates $6,100,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Agriculture for costs associated with the Crop Insurance Rebate Initiative to provide incentives for at least 1,000,000 acres of eligible land. Effective July 1, 2025.
Amends Public Act 103-0589. Increases the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriation to the Department of Agriculture from the Partners for Conservation Fund for grants to Soil and Water Conservation Districts for ordinary and contingent administrative expenses from $4,500,000 to $8,500,000. Effective immediately.
