Rep. Kelly Cassidy

Creates the Illinois Student Loan Investment Act. Provides for the establishment, operation, and administration of the Student Investment Account by the State Treasurer. Provides that the State Treasurer shall establish fees to cover the costs of administration, recordkeeping, marketing, and investment management related to the Student Investment Account. Provides that the State Treasurer may charge and collect insurance premiums and deduct wages under the Act. Requires the State Treasurer to develop, publish, and implement one or more investment policies covering the investment of moneys under the Act. Provides for the creation and use of specified Funds to be held outside of the State Treasury with the State Treasurer as custodian. Provides for the adoption of rules. Amends the Deposit of State Moneys Act. Allows the State Treasurer to invest or reinvest State money in, among other items or purposes, investments made in accordance with the Student Loan Investment Act. Amends the Student Loan Servicing Rights Act. Provides that the term "student loan servicer" shall not include, among other entities, the State Treasurer and its agents when the agents are acting on the State Treasurer's behalf. Defines terms. Effective immediately. Fiscal Note (Office of the Treasurer) The Treasurer's Office projects that $150,000 will be needed for additional staff and related operational expenses to oversee and implement the Student Loan Investment program, the cost of which is expected to be paid for from the Treasurer's Administrative Fund, which receives revenue from investment earnings. The program should become self-sustaining when investment earnings and administrative fees are earned to cover operational and administration costs. Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of the introduced bill with changes. Creates the Student Investment Account Act (currently, the Student Loan Investment Act). Adds a provision concerning the use of earnings from the Student Investment Account. Modifies provisions concerning the establishment, operation, and administration of the Student Investment Account by the State Treasurer, and adds requirements concerning income share agreements and income share agreement providers. Allows the State Treasurer to enter into income share agreements with participants (currently, borrowers) and to facilitate such arrangements between participants and eligible income share agreement providers (currently, lenders). Provides that the State Treasurer or his or her designee (currently, only State Treasurer) may charge and collect insurance premiums under the Act. Provides for the creation and use of specified Funds as non-appropriated separate and apart trust funds in the State Treasury (currently, Funds to be held outside of the State Treasury with the State Treasurer as custodian). Amends the Student Loan Servicing Rights Act. Provides that the term "student loan servicer" shall not include, among other entities, the State Treasurer (currently, the State Treasurer and its agents when the agents are acting on the State Treasurer's behalf). Modifies and defines terms. Makes other changes. Effective immediately. Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Provides that "student loan servicer" or "servicer" includes persons or entities acting on behalf of the State Treasurer.

Amends the Illinois Enterprise Zone Act. Provides that a business that intends to establish a new utility-scale solar power facility may apply for a high impact business designation. Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. Increases the long-term renewable procurement plan goals after the 2025 delivery year. Requires the long-term renewable procurement plan to include the procurement of new renewable energy credits. Provides that the Adjustable Block program shall be designed to be continuously open. Authorizes utilities to recover certain costs related to the Adjustable Block program. Excludes certain costs from a limitation on the costs of the Adjustable Block program. Makes other changes concerning the Adjustable Block program. Amends the Public Utilities Act. Requires the Illinois Commerce Commission to open a proceeding to update the interconnection standards and applicable utility tariffs. Requires the Commission to revise certain standards for interconnection based on specified criteria. Establishes an interconnection working group. Makes changes to provisions concerning net metering and the distributed generation rebate. Requires the Commission, in consultation with the Illinois Power Agency, to study and produce a report analyzing the potential for and barriers to the implementation of energy storage in Illinois. Requires the Agency to include a plan to procure energy from energy storage resources as part of its procurement plan for 2021. Extends a provision concerning a review, reconciliation, and true-up associated with renewable energy resources' collections and costs. Makes other changes. Amends the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to authorize emergency rulemaking. Effective immediately.

Amends the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program Act. Provides that, if there is an amount in excess of $7,500,000 in the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Fund on the effective date of the amendatory Act, the State Treasurer shall so certify to the Department of Public Health and the State Comptroller, and the Department of Public Health shall certify to the State Comptroller the names and addresses, as well as any other necessary information, of all medical cannabis patients who made any medical cannabis product purchase in the 180-day period preceding the effective date of the amendatory Act. Provides that the State Comptroller shall determine a refund amount by dividing the amount in excess of $7,500,000 by the number of medical cannabis patients certified by the Department of Public Health, and the State Comptroller shall disburse the refund amount to each medical cannabis patient certified by the Department of Public Health. Provides for the issuance of refunds if there is an amount in excess of $7,500,000 in the Fund on June 30, 2022 or June 30 of any subsequent year. Effective immediately.

Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, in counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, taxpayers of income producing property shall submit income and expense data related to the property annually to the chief county assessment officer. Provides that, in counties with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the county board may provide by resolution that taxpayers of income producing property shall submit income and expense data annually to the chief county assessment officer. Provides that, when determining the value of property for assessment purposes, the assessor may consider all relevant information pertaining to the fair cash value of the property, including, but not limited to, income and expense data, sales data, property characteristics data, construction cost data, appraisals, and other valuation information. Effective immediately. Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of the introduced bill with the following changes: (1) provides that the term "income producing property" includes only non-owner-occupied real property; (2) defines "property"; (3) provides that failure to submit income and expense data shall result in a penalty of 0.5% (in the introduced bill, 2%) of the prior year's assessed value; (4) provides that the taxpayer shall not be required to pay more than $100,000 in penalties per property; (5) removes provisions from the introduced bill providing that, if the taxpayer fails to submit income and expense data, the taxpayer shall not be permitted to appeal the assessment of that income producing property for the applicable taxable year; and (6) provides that the chief county assessment officer is not prohibited from disclosing compiled and anonymized income and expense data. Effective immediately. Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Deletes reference to: 35 ILCS 200/9-155 35 ILCS 200/9-160 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of Senate Amendment 1 with changes. Removes conforming changes concerning income and expense data, but retains the new Article concerning income-producing property. Provides that the term "income and expense data" include specific federal income tax returns (in Senate Amendment 1, federal income tax returns generally). Provides that "income-producing property" means property that is not exclusively owner-occupied (in Senate Amendment 1, non-owner-occupied). Removes a reference to gas stations. Defines "owner-occupied" and "taxpayer". Provides that the chief county assessment officer shall notify taxpayers of their obligation to submit income and expense data. Makes changes concerning the submission of federal tax forms. Provides that the penalty for failure to submit income and expense data shall be 0.05% (instead of 0.5%) of the prior year's market value. Adds provisions concerning administrative hearings. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the General Assembly Organization Act. Provides that in times of pestilence or an emergency resulting from a domestic or foreign terrorist attack, members of the General Assembly may participate remotely and cast votes in sessions, by joint proclamation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, and committees of either the House of Representatives or Senate may participate remotely pursuant to the rules of the chamber. Provides that the House of Representatives and the Senate shall adopt rules for remote participation. Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012 concerning first degree murder. Provides that a person who kills an individual without lawful justification commits first degree murder if he or she acting alone, commits or attempts to commit a forcible felony other than second degree murder and, in the course of and in furtherance of the crime, he or she personally causes the death of an individual. Provides that a person who kills an individual without lawful justification commits first degree murder if he or she, when acting with one or more participants, commits or attempts to commit a forcible felony other than second degree murder, and in the course of and in furtherance of the offense, another participant in the offense causes the death of an individual, and he or she knew that the other participant would engage in conduct that would result in death or great bodily harm. Makes technical changes.

Amends the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Act. Requires the Authority to produce a monthly Pretrial Order Report, Pretrial Bail Proceeds Report, and Pretrial Custody and Release Report. Specifies requirements for these reports. Provides that the Authority shall post each county's monthly Pretrial Order Report, Pretrial Custody and Release Report, and Pretrial Bail Proceeds Report on the Authority's website on a monthly basis and those reports shall remain on the website for at least 5 years after being posted. Amends the Counties Code and the Clerk of Courts Act to require certain reporting requirements. Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Changes violation of bail bond to violation of conditions of pre-trial release. Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Abolishes monetary bail under the Code, except under the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act. Provides for considerations for granting and denying pre-trial release. Provides that a person arrested with or without a warrant on an offense for which pre-trial release may not be denied shall, except as otherwise provided, be released by the officer without appearing before a judge. Provides that the court may use a regularly validated risk assessment tool to determine conditions of release. Provides that if a risk assessment tool is used, the defendant's counsel shall be provided with the information and scoring system of the risk assessment tool used to arrive at the determination. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Creates the Certified Professional Midwives Practice Act. Provides for the licensure of midwives by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and for certain limitations on the activities of licensed midwives. Creates the Illinois Midwifery Board. Sets forth provisions concerning application, qualifications, grounds for disciplinary action, and administrative procedures. Amends the Regulatory Sunset Act to set a repeal date for the new Act of January 1, 2031. Amends the Illinois Insurance Code, the Medical Practice Act of 1987, the Nurse Practice Act, and the Illinois Public Aid Code to make related changes.

Amends the Unemployment Insurance Act to provide that if an individual's benefit year begins on or after March 8, 2020, but before the week following the last week of a disaster period established by the gubernatorial disaster proclamations in response to COVID-19, recovery by suit in the name of the People of the State of Illinois or recoupment from benefits payable to an individual for any week shall be permanently waived if the sum was received by the individual without fault on his or her part. Provides that, in cases of such permanent waiver of recovery or recoupment, the Director of Employment Security may not request the Comptroller or the Secretary of the Treasury to withhold a sum of benefits for which an individual is found to be ineligible. Effective immediately. Fiscal Note (Dept. of Employment Security) The Illinois Department of Employment Security has reviewed House Bill 5861 and has determined that the legislation, as it affects recoupment of unemployment insurance benefits payable under Illinois state law, could have a fiscal impact. The Agency has asked the Unites States Department of Labor (USDOL) for a standard conformity review with federal regulations, which is pending. Non-conformity with federal regulations could result in a loss of Federal Unemployment Tax Credits for Illinois employers, in essence increasing employer taxes, potentially by 900%. 42 U.S.C. §3303-3304. A determination of non-conformity could also result in the loss of federal grant funding for the administration of the unemployment insurance programs in Illinois. 42 U.S.C. §502. Additionally, it is unclear what, if any, actions the federal government may take regarding unemployment insurance programs, and whether there would be restrictions included in any such actions which would discourage states from taking an action that could worsen the health of the unemployment trust fund. The legislation may also have a fiscal impact on the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The reported data indicates that for the programs payable under Illinois state law: (1) Fiscal Year 2019, non-fraudulent; recoupments totaled approximately $14,303,046.00; (2) Fiscal Year 2020, non-fraudulent recoupments totaled approximately $16,552,059.00; and (3) First Quarter Fiscal Year 2021, non-fraudulent recoupments totaled approximately $5,527,893.00. Based on the above date, it appears the legislation could forgive $3.3 million to $5.5 million for each quarter the waiver provision remained in effect. While the system is generally designed to replenish the state's Unemployment Trust Fund account by charging employers for benefits paid from the account, employers would not be directly charged for the forgiven overpayments as the bill is currently written.

Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Provides that each officer, member, and employee must complete, at least annually, a diversity, inclusion, and cultural competence training program. Provides for the contents of the training program. Provides that proof of completion must be submitted to the applicable ethics officer. Provides that the training program shall be overseen by the appropriate Ethics Commission and Inspector General. Requires each ultimate jurisdictional authority to submit a report summarizing the training program with specified content. Requires governmental units to adopt an ordinance or resolution establishing a policy of diversity, inclusion, and cultural competence training.