Rep. Will Davis

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Deletes provision that no person serving a term of natural life imprisonment may be paroled or released except through executive clemency. Provides that a person serving a term of natural life imprisonment is eligible for parole or mandatory supervised release. Provides that a committed person who has attained the age of 60 years and served at least 20 consecutive years of imprisonment or a committed person who has served 25 consecutive years of imprisonment may submit a petition to the Prisoner Review Board seeking parole. Provides for the requirements of the petition. Provides that victims' families shall be notified in a timely manner and provided opportunity to participate at the parole hearing concerning the petitioner's application for parole under this provision in accordance with the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act, the Open Parole Hearings Act, and this Code. Provides that Prisoner Review Board hearings under this provision shall be conducted by a panel of at least 8 members of the Board and a majority vote of the panel is required to grant the petition and release the petitioner on parole. Provides that if parole is denied, the petitioner shall be eligible to reapply for parole no later than 3 years after denial. Effective immediately. Fiscal Note, House Floor Amendment No. 1 (Prisoner Review Board) HB 2399 (H-AM 1) will have an increased cost to the Prisoner Review Board of over $4.0 Million in first 10 years of program.

Amends the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act. Defines "good faith effort" for purposes of the Act. Provides factors for determining whether a good faith effort has been made for purposes of granting a waiver under the Act. Provides for a uniform standard of contract goals for State agencies, public institutions of higher education, and other departments. Specifies further requirements concerning the uniform standard of contract goals. Provides that the terms of every contract entered into by a State agency or public institution of higher education for purposes of the Act shall include a provision requiring vendors who fail to comply with a utilization plan to return all funds paid to that vendor with an expectation of compliance. Provides that the Business Enterprise Council may (rather than shall) grant a waiver under specified circumstances. Makes conforming changes. House Floor Amendment No. 1 Adds reference to: 30 ILCS 575/5 from Ch. 127, par. 132.605 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of the introduced bill with changes. Modifies requirements concerning the establishment of a uniform standard of contract goals by the Business Enterprise Program. Provides that the Secretary of the Business Enterprise Council for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities shall have the duty to establish an enforcement procedure whereby the Council may recommend to the appropriate State legal officer that the State exercise its legal remedies which shall include, among other legal remedies, the imposition of a penalty in the amount of the discrepancy between the commitment contained in a utilization plan, as such amount may be amended over the term of the contract, and the qualifying payments made to the eligible certified vendors listed in the utilization plan. Specifies further requirements concerning exemptions and requests for waivers from specified requirements under the Act. Makes further changes concerning enforcement procedures under the Act. Modifies and adds defined terms for purposes of the Act. Makes conforming and other changes.

Amends the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title. House Committee Amendment No. 1 Deletes reference to: 20 ILCS 605/605-1 Adds reference to: 65 ILCS 5/11-42.1-5 new Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that specified municipalities may give preference to a qualified and responsive local business in the solicitation of bids for supplies, materials, and equipment or a contract for any work or public improvement. Includes requirements if a municipalities choses to give preferences under the Section. Excludes certain types of contracts and purchases from the provisions, and provides that application of the local business preference to a particular purchase, contract, or category of contracts may be waived at the discretion of a municipality's city council. Provides that the local preference established under the Section shall not be construed to inhibit, limit, or restrict the right or obligation of a municipality to compare and review the quality of materials proposed for purchase, and to compare and review the qualifications, character, responsibility, and fitness of all persons, firms, or corporations submitting bids or proposals. Provides that the specified municipalities shall adopt an ordinance, or modify existing ordinances or resolutions, that allows each municipality to give preference to a qualified and responsive local business in the manner permitted by the Section no later than January 1, 2022. Defines terms. Limits home rule powers. Effective immediately.

Amends the Educator Licensure Article of the School Code. Removes a provision limiting the issuance of Short-Term Substitute Teaching Licenses to June 30, 2023. Allows the State Board of Education to issue a Short-Term Teaching License to an individual who holds a Professional Educator License to teach in a position, including in special education, for which the individual does not hold the necessary qualifications in those situations in which a school district's need for an individual who holds a Short-Term Teaching License is a result of the lack of teachers with the necessary content-area or grade-level endorsement who are available to fill a particular teaching position. Sets forth the qualifications, requirements, and fee for the license. Effective immediately.

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that incidental sales of finished compost do not need to be applied to agronomic rates in determining whether a person needs a permit to conduct a landscape waste composting operation at specified sites. Removes a provision requiring that no fee is charged for the acceptance of materials to be composted in order for a site having 10 or more occupied non-farm residences within 1/2 mile of its boundaries to be excepted from permit requirements.

Creates the Endow Illinois Tax Credit Act. Creates an income tax credit for taxpayers who provide an endowment gift to a permanent endowment fund. Provides that the amount of the credit is an amount equal to 50% of the endowment gift. Sets forth the aggregate amount of the credit. Provides that the Department of Revenue shall administer the credit. Provides that the Department of Revenue shall submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly concerning the activities conducted under the Act during the previous calendar year. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Election Code. Allows the State Board of Elections to receive voter registration information provided by applicants using electronic voter registration portals (rather than the Board's website). Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who is otherwise qualified to vote may preregister to vote on or after that person's 16th birthday, with the registration held in abeyance by the appropriate election authority until that individual attains the required age to vote. Requires preregistration to be completed using the online voter registration system or an electronic voter registration portal. Provides that for the purposes of the Code, an individual who is 16 years of age or older (rather than who is 17 years of age and who will be 18 years of age on the date of the general or consolidated election) shall be deemed competent to execute and attest to any voter registration forms.

Creates the Securing All Futures for Equitable Reinvestment in Communities Act. Provides legislative intent. Creates the Securing All Futures for Equitable Reinvestment Tax Credit Pilot Program Act. Provides that an applicant that hires certain formerly incarcerated individuals during the incentive period may apply for a tax credit against the applicant's withholding tax liability. Provides that the savings from the changes made to the Unified Code of Corrections shall be deposited into the Securing All Futures for Equitable Reinvestment (SAFER) Communities Fund for the purpose of funding the program. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections to reduce the sentencing ranges for all classes of felonies, and to remove minimum sentences for Class 4 felonies and Class A and Class B misdemeanors. Provides that the provisions of the Act apply to offenses committed before the effective date of this Act, and to offenses committed on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act. Provides for resentencing of currently incarcerated persons based on these changes. Effective immediately. Fiscal Note (Dept. of Revenue) Although the bill limits the credit to $1.5 billion over its 6-year life, the Department is unable to provide a fiscal impact estimate for House Bill 3215 because the legislation, as introduced, contains multiple drafting ambiguities, errors, and incomplete definitions. For example, the bill defines "participant" to mean, in part, a full-time employee who was formerly incarcerated between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2019. The bill, however, provides later that the credit is limited to 10,000 participants "newly released" from prison and 10,000 participants that were released between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2019. Additionally, the bill provides the credit amount awarded is to be between $10,000 and $15,000 each year per participant hired. The bill further provides a list of criteria to be considered in determining the amount of the credit, but no guidance is provided as to how that list of criteria computes to a given credit amount. These problems, among others in the bill as introduced, prevent the Department from making adequately precise determinations of who qualifies for the credit and of how to calculate the credit.

Amends the Criminal Identification Act. Provides that a petitioner may petition the circuit court to expunge the records of his or her arrests and charges not initiated by arrest when each arrest or charge not initiated by arrest sought to be expunged resulted in: (1) an order of misdemeanor diversion under the Unified Code of Corrections, and the diversion program was successfully completed by the petitioner; or (2) a conviction for possession of certain specified amounts of a controlled substance; (3) a conviction for possessing less than 5 grams of methamphetamine; or (4) a conviction where the statutory penalty changed as a result of a resentencing hearing under the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. Changes the penalties for the manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, or possession of a controlled substance. Amends the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act. Changes the penalties for methamphetamine delivery or possession. Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that a person serving a sentence, including a sentence of probation, for an offense for which the statutory penalty has been subsequently reduced under the amendatory Act to petition the trial court that entered the judgment of conviction to request resentencing in accordance with the statutory penalty in effect at the time of the filing of the petition. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections to create a Misdemeanor Diversion Program. Fiscal Note (Admin Office of the Illinois Courts) HB3447 amends the Criminal Identification Act regarding expungements. Based on a review of the bill, it has been determined that the proposed legislation would have no fiscal impact on the state appropriation to the judicial branch. It is not possible to determine what fiscal impact, if any, the bill would have on local judicial budgets.

Amends the Chicago Teacher Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that payment from the Fund shall be made upon checks or through direct deposit transmittals authorized by the executive director (instead of upon warrants signed by the president and the secretary of the Board of Education, the president of the Board, and countersigned by the executive director) or by such person as the Board may designate from time to time by appropriate resolution. Makes other changes.