Amends the Illinois Public Accounting Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the Board of Examiners.
Amends the Illinois Horse Racing Act of 1975. Adds a caption to a Section concerning the Illinois Standardbred Breeders Fund.
Creates a special revisory Act that re-enacts and repeals various statutory provisions to eliminate changes that were made by Public Act 89-7, which was held to be void in its entirety by the Illinois Supreme Court in Best v. Taylor Machine Works, 179 Ill. 2d 367 (1997). Effective immediately.
Amends the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act. Provides that a person is liable for "knowingly" conspiring to defraud the State. Requires the State to conspicuously display employees' protections. Provides that certain awards to Qui Tam plaintiffs are not deposited into the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Fund. Provides for the payment of awards to the State and attorneys' fees and expenses to the Attorney General.
Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Requires the Environmental Protection Agency to give notice concerning: (i) toxic chemical release forms received through the federal government; (ii) violations of the Environmental Protection Act; (iii) remedial actions; (iv) contamination information provided by the federal government; or (v) any other contamination. Sets forth the requirements for the notice. Provides that the Agency is not liable for the accuracy, availability, or use of the information provided in the notice. Effective immediately.
Amends the State Employees Political Activity Act. Provides procedures and conditions for State employees to engage in political work. Amends the State Gift Ban Act. Deletes provisions concerning judges. Provides that certain gifts, contributions, and expenses are exempt from the gift ban and removes some of the current exemptions. Provides that an ethics commission may issue rulings and make advisory opinions. Requires ethics commissions to adopt certain rules and allows them to hold meetings in person or by telephone. Deletes provisions concerning units of local government and school districts. Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides for the disclosure of time sheets for the time spent working as a public employee or official or applications for reimbursement for certain expenses. Amends the Election Code. Provides that an entity that accepts contributions or makes expenditures during any 12-month period in an aggregate amount exceeding $3,000 for the purposes of electioneering communications is a State and local political committee. Prohibits executive branch constitutional officers, employees, and candidates from soliciting contributions from the constitutional officer's employees and from promising anything of value in return for a contribution. Lists permitted expenditures of political committee funds. Provides that the fines for violations of the Act shall be up to the value of the unreported contribution. Amends the General Assembly Staff Assistants Act. Provides procedures and conditions for legislative staff assistants to engage in political work. Amends the Illinois Procurement Code. Deletes the current revolving door provisions. Prohibits former State officers or employees from accepting employment or receiving compensation from an employer under certain circumstances. Makes other changes. States that a 2/3 vote of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly is required for passage.
Creates the Honest Employee Act. Provides that a public employer may not take retaliatory action against an employee who: (a) discloses, threatens to disclose, or is about to disclose to a supervisor or to a public body an activity, policy, or practice of the employer, a co-employee, or another employer that the employee reasonable believes is in violation of a law, or of a rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to law; (b) provides information to or testifies before any public body conducting an investigation, hearing, or inquiry into any violation of law or a rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to law by the employer or another employer; (c) discloses, threatens to disclose, or is about to disclose to a supervisor or to a public body, an activity, policy or practice of the employer, a co-employee, or another employer, that the employee reasonably believes is incompatible with a clear mandate of public policy concerning the public health, safety or welfare or protection of the environment; (d) assists or participates in a proceeding to enforce the provisions of this Act; or (e) objects to, opposes, or refuses to participate in any activity, policy, or practice that the employee reasonably believes (i) is in violation of a law, or a rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to law, (ii) is fraudulent or criminal, or (iii) is incompatible with a clear mandate of public policy concerning the public health, safety, or welfare or protection of the environment. Provides that an employee may bring an action against the employer in the circuit court for a violation of this Act. Provides remedies for a violation of this Act. Provides that the rights afforded employees under this Act may not be waived or modified, except through a court-approved settlement agreement reached with the voluntary participation and consent of the employee and employer. Provides that an employer may not require an employee to waive, as a condition of settlement, his or her right to reasonably engage in conduct protected under this Act. Preempts home rule powers. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Repeals the Whistle Blower Protection Act. Effective immediately.
Amends the Tobacco Product Manufacturers' Escrow Act. Allows funds to be released from escrow to the extent that a tobacco product manufacturer establishes that the amount it was required to place into escrow on account of units sold in this State in a particular year was greater than the Master Settlement Agreement payments, after final determination of all adjustments, that the manufacturer would have been required to make on account of the units sold (instead of to the extent that the amount required to be placed into escrow in a particular year was greater than the State's allocable share of the total payments that such manufacturer would have been required to make in that year under the Master Settlement Agreement before any of the adjustments or offsets provided for in the Agreement.)
Amends the School Code. Provides that the required unit of instruction studying the events of the Nazi Holocaust shall be expanded to include the study of other events of genocide, including those in Ukraine, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Identification Card Act and the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that Illinois Identification Cards and Illinois Disabled Person Identification Cards (beginning January 1, 2004, instead of January 1, 2003) and Illinois driver's licenses issued to a person under the age of 21 must display the date upon which the person becomes 19 (instead of 18) years of age. Amends the Sale of Tobacco to Minors Act, the Smokeless Tobacco Limitation Act, and the Tobacco Accessories and Smoking Herbs Act. Changes the short title of the Sale of Tobacco to Minors Act to the Sale of Tobacco to Underage Persons Act, and changes the full titles of all 3 Acts. Changes references to "minors" to "persons under 19 years of age". Increases from 18 to 19 the age at which a person may lawfully buy cigarettes or other tobacco products, tobacco accessories, or smoking herbs. Effective January 1, 2004.
