Rep. Joseph M. Lyons

Amends the Home Health Agency Licensing Act. Provides that a home health agency shall (i) annually administer a vaccination against influenza to each client, unless the vaccination is medically contraindicated or the client has refused the vaccine, and (ii) provide or arrange for administration of a pneumococcal vaccination to each client who is age 65 or over who has not received this immunization prior to or upon service initiation, unless the client refuses the offer for vaccination or the vaccination is medically contraindicated. Sets forth requirements in connection with the administration of the vaccinations. Effective immediately.

Creates the Home Care Consumer and Worker Protection Act. If an agency places a home care worker with a consumer to provide home care services, requires the agency to give the worker and the consumer a notice setting forth the rights and responsibilities of each of them as well as appropriate phone numbers and addresses of the Department on Aging. Provides that the Act does not apply to nursing homes, home health agencies, and certain other agencies. Provides that an agency subject to the Act must comply with the Health Care Worker Background Check Act and must ensure that every home care worker placed by the agency for hire by a consumer has the appropriate credentials and is appropriately licensed or certified as required by law. Authorizes the Department on Aging to investigate complaints of violations of the Act, issue cease-and-desist orders, and seek injunctive relief. Provides for a civil penalty of $1,000 per day for each day that a violation continues. Effective January 1, 2006.

Creates the Firearms Act. Contains only a short title provision.

Amends the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning definitions.

Amends the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act. Provides that "medication administration" refers to a licensed health care professional engaging in administering insulin and vitamin B-12 injections (instead of "routine" insulin and vitamin B-12 injections). From the list of purposes for which an assisted living or shared housing establishment may not employ a licensed health care professional, eliminates the purpose concerning a person who requires sliding scale insulin administration unless self-performed or administered by a licensed health care professional. Provides that an assisted living or shared housing establishment contract must include a statement outlining whether the establishment charges a community fee and, if so, the amount of the fee and whether it is refundable. Provides that if the fee is refundable, the contract must describe the conditions under which it is refundable and how the amount of the refund is determined. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Act on the Aging. Creates the Community Care Program Advisory Committee in the Department on Aging to advise the Department on issues related to the Department's programs of service to prevent unnecessary institutionalization. Sets forth the terms and conditions of membership on the Committee. Provides that Committee reports and recommendations are advisory only. Effective July 1, 2005.

Amends the Older Adult Services Act. Provides that no later than January 1, 2006 and every January 1 thereafter, the Department on Aging and the Illinois Housing Development Authority shall file with the Governor and the General Assembly a plan that establishes goals for the number of affordable housing units to be made available to the frail elderly in the next fiscal year. Requires that the plan: (i) detail the number of new units of housing to be created, the number of units made accessible through rehabilitation and renovation, and the number of new supportive living units to be created and certified; and (ii) include recommendations for statutory or policy changes needed to reduce barriers to the establishment of affordable housing units for the frail elderly. Effective immediately.

Amends the Cannabis Control Act. Provides that before or after the trial in a prosecution for certain enumerated violations of the Act, a law enforcement agency or an agent acting on behalf of the law enforcement agency must preserve, subject to a continuous chain of custody, not less than 5,001 grams of any substance containing cannabis and not less than 51 cannabis sativa plants with respect to the enumerated offenses and must maintain sufficient documentation to locate that evidence. Provides that the court may before trial transfer excess quantities of any substance containing cannabis or cannabis sativa plants with respect to a prosecution for any enumerated offense to the sheriff of the county, or may in its discretion transfer such evidence to the Department of State Police, for destruction. Effective immediately.

Amends the Film Production Services Tax Credit Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning applications for certification.

Amends the Illinois Lottery Law. Requires the Department of Revenue to offer a special instant scratch-off game, with the title of "Ticket For The Cure", to commence on January 1, 2006 and to be discontinued on December 31, 2011. Provides that the net revenue from the game shall be deposited into the Ticket For The Cure Fund for appropriation by the General Assembly solely to the Department of Public Health, in consultation with the Ticket For The Cure Board, for the purpose of making grants to public or private entities in Illinois for the purpose of funding research concerning breast cancer and for funding services for breast cancer victims. Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois to create the Ticket For The Cure Board as an advisory board within the Department of Public Health. Amends the State Finance Act to create the Ticket For The Cure Fund. Sets forth procedures for the appointment of Board members and for the operation of the Board. Effective immediately.