Amends the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Allows regional councils of government to participate in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. Effective immediately.
Amends the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Act. Provides that the District may establish one or more post employment benefit trusts for the funding and payment of certain benefits for retired, disabled, or terminated employees. Effective immediately.
Amends the State Employee Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Sets the rate of compensation for a person who takes a leave of absence at the rate of compensation on the day before the date the leave began. Effective immediately.
Amends the Use Tax Act and the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. Provides that the manufacturing and assembling machinery and equipment exemption also includes production related tangible personal property. Defines "production related tangible personal property" as all tangible personal property used or consumed by the purchaser in a manufacturing facility in which a manufacturing process takes place, including tangible personal property purchased for incorporation into real estate within a manufacturing facility and including, but not limited to, tangible personal property used or consumed in activities such as research and development, preproduction material handling, receiving, quality control, inventory control, storage, staging, and packaging for shipping and transportation purposes. Provides that "production related tangible personal property" does not include (i) tangible personal property used, within or without a manufacturing facility, in sales, purchasing, accounting, fiscal management, marketing, personnel recruitment or selection, or landscaping or (ii) tangible personal property required to be titled or registered with a department, agency, or unit of federal, state, or local government. Effective immediately.
Amends the State Employee Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that, beginning January 1, 2008, the social security offset shall no longer be applied to any widow's or survivor's annuities. Provides that the retirement contribution for covered employees is increased 0.5% to remove the Social Security offset from their widow's or survivor's annuity, thus making their total contribution for that purpose 1.0%. Provides that, on or before January 1, 2008 and at future dates as established by the State Employees' Retirement System of Illinois, the covered employee may elect not to increase or to decrease his or her contribution, thus making his or her widow's or survivor's annuity subject to the Social Security offset. Provides that, after January 1, 2008, any contributions already made to the System for the purpose of removing the Social Security offset shall not be refunded and any election with reference to the Social Security offset shall be made within the limitations specified by the System. Specifies that the increased contributions are included in certain refunds. Specifies the required funding for the new benefit increase; specifies the effects of expiration if the General Assembly fails to extend the new benefit increase. Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Increases the amount of the earned income tax credit from 5% of the federal credit to: (i) 7.5% of the federal tax credit for taxable years ending in calendar year 2007; and (ii) 10% of the federal tax credit for taxable years ending in calendar year 2008 or thereafter. Effective immediately.
Amends the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title.
Amends the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Adds an appointed retiree member and an elected employee member to the Board of Trustees. Beginning on the effective date of the amendatory Act, increases the terms for successors to the employee members from 3 years to 4 years. Effective immediately.
Amends the Township Code. Provides that a township may use eminent domain powers to acquire land for park purposes in a township in which a referendum was approved prior to August 18, 2005 authorizing the issuance of bonds for the purchase and improvement of a public park. Effective immediately.
Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that a person who has been sentenced to life without possibility of parole for a crime committed when he or she was under 18 years of age may, after serving 10 years of his or her sentence, submit an Application for Review and Assessment. Provides that the application shall be submitted to the applicant's Illinois Department of Corrections counselor, who shall, within 30 days after receipt of the application, forward the application to the Prisoner Review Board together with the applicant's criminal history sheet, mittimus, disciplinary history, supplementary program considerations, mental health evaluations, social evaluations, evidence of physical abuse and drug abuse prior to the offense, and any other documents the counselor considers relevant. Provides that the Prisoner Review Board, acting through a committee of at least 3 members, shall undertake a review and assessment of the applicant and shall determine, by majority vote, whether the applicant should be certified as eligible to seek release to parole from the Prisoner Review Board. Provides that the Prisoner Review Board, after consideration of information from the State's Attorney, may require a prisoner who has satisfactorily met the conditions for release to serve a reasonable parole term. Provides that the Application for Review and Assessment shall be prescribed by the Prisoner Review Board. Provides that the application may be submitted every 2 years.
