Appropriates $20,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Transportation for grants to the City of East St. Louis for street repair and construction. Effective July 1, 2005.
Creates the Welfare to Work Act. Places qualified welfare recipients in State jobs or jobs contracted out by the State. Provides that State agencies shall provide the Department of Human Services a job announcement simultaneously with posting its positions or putting a position out for hire by contract, except for those positions subject to recall by laid-off employees, or those otherwise exempt. The Department shall review positions, make eligibility determinations, recruit and screen potential employees, and refer aid recipients to apply for positions listed in job announcements. Employers shall make all employment decisions based on merit, with not less than 5% of the hours worked on a State contract meeting certain specifications being worked by qualified aid recipients, with some exceptions. Employment terms and conditions shall be the same as for any other member of the employer's workforce doing the same or similar work. Provides for reports regarding hiring practices under this Act to be submitted to the General Assembly, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Human Services. Amends the Personnel Code and the Illinois Procurement Code to make changes in conformance with this Act. Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Allows a tax credit of up to $2,000 for an individual taxpayer who pays the burial expenses for a fetus for which a fetal death certificate has been issued. Provides that the credit (i) may be taken by only one taxpayer with respect to any one fetal death, (ii) may not be carried forward or back, and (iii) may not reduce the taxpayer's liability to less than zero. Requires the Department of Revenue to adopt rules concerning the credit. Effective immediately.
Creates the State Advocacy Program for the Homeless Mentally Ill and Developmentally Disabled Act. Requires that a staff advocacy position within the Bureau of Homeless Services and Supportive Services of the Department of Human Services (DHS) be created to promote and facilitate the development of community-based support systems to protect the health, safety, welfare, and human and civil rights of homeless individuals with mental illness or developmental disabilities and to perform other functions. Requires DHS to initiate requests for proposals or continued funding forms for the establishment or expansion of nonprofit agencies and organizations that will be responsible for developing or coordinating comprehensive and integrated community-based support systems for homeless individuals with mental illness or developmental disabilities. Amends the Illinois Housing Development Act to require the Illinois Housing Development Authority to ensure that a number of the units held available for persons of low or moderate income are held available for the homeless mentally ill and developmentally disabled as defined in the State Advocacy Program for the Homeless Mentally Ill and Developmentally Disabled Act.
Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that prior to release of a person on parole, mandatory release, final discharge or pardon the Department of Corrections shall screen that person for Medicaid eligibility. Requires prison officials to assist an eligible person fill out a Medicaid application to ensure that the person begins receiving benefits immediately after his or her release.
Amends the Property Tax Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the definition of "33 1/3%".
Appropriates $1,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Capital Development Board for a grant to the Family Resource Center for operational expenses. Effective July 1, 2005.
Appropriates $700,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a grant to the Village of Washington Park for the removal of derelict housing and trash. Effective July 1, 2005.
Amends the Property Tax Code. Re-enacts the Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption. The exemption was created by Public Act 88-669, which has been held to be unconstitutional as a violation of the single subject clause of the Illinois Constitution. Includes validation provisions. Effective immediately.
Congratulates Rev. Henry Nicholson on the occasion of his 50th anniversary as pastor of Truelight Baptist Church.
