Rep. Marcus Evans

Creates the Kratom Consumer Protection Act. Establishes safety requirements for the preparation, distribution, sale, and exposure for sale of Kratom products and extracts. Prohibits the preparation, distribution, sale, and exposure for sale of adulterated Kratom products and extracts. Provides that a processor of Kratom products that violates the Act is subject to an administrative penalty of not more than $5,000 for the first offense and not more than $10,000 for the second or subsequent offense. Provides that the penalty shall be collected by the Department of Public Health and paid into the Food and Drug Safety Fund. Requires, upon the request of a person to whom an administrative penalty is issued, the Director of Public Health to conduct a hearing in accordance with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. Provides that a processor shall not distribute, sell, or expose for sale a Kratom product to a person under 18 years of age. Provides that a person who violates the age restrictions shall be punished as provided in the Kratom Control Act. Provides that a processor does not violate the Act if it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the processor relied in good faith upon the representations of a manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor of food represented to be a Kratom product.

Creates the Agricultural Drought and Climate Resilience Office Act. Establishes the Agricultural Drought and Climate Resilience Office. Provides that the Office may provide voluntary technical assistance, nonregulatory programs, and incentives, including grants, that increase the ability to anticipate, prepare for, mitigate, adapt to, and respond to hazardous events, trends, or disturbances related to drought or the climate. Provides that the Director of Agriculture may promulgate rules necessary for the administration of the Office's assistance, programs, and incentives, including grants. Requires the Director or the Director's designee to conduct a study to examine greenhouse gas reduction and carbon sequestration opportunities in the agricultural sector and in agricultural land management in the State. Includes provisions regarding Office assistance, programs, and incentives; grants; a greenhouse gas offset program; rules; and other Office studies. Defines terms. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that a health plan shall limit the total amount that a covered person is required to pay for a covered prescription inhaler at an amount not to exceed $25 per 30-day supply and shall limit the total amount that a covered person is required to pay for all covered prescription inhalers at an amount not to exceed $50 in total per 30 days. Provides that coverage for prescription inhalers shall not be subject to any deductible. Provides that nothing in the provisions prevents a health plan from reducing a covered person's cost sharing to an amount less than the cap. Authorizes rulemaking and enforcement by the Department of Insurance. Effective January 1, 2025.

Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that a municipality shall receive a waiver from paying a required match to a State grant of State moneys if the municipality meets all the other requirements needed for approval of the grant and submits documentation to the Governor's Office of Management and Budget, in a form and manner prescribed by the Office, that the municipality: (1) has a population under 25,000; (2) has over 13% of its residents under the federal poverty guidelines; (3) has had a negative fund balance within the past 5 years; or (4) has at least twice the debt compared to the retail market value of the municipality's real and personal property and moneys in the municipality's accounts. Effective July 1, 2025.

Amends the Public Employee Disability Act, the Line of Duty Compensation Act, and the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act. Includes mental health professionals within the scope of the Acts. Defines "mental health professional" as any person employed and dispatched by a unit of local government to respond to crisis calls received on public emergency service lines instead of or in conjunction with law enforcement.

Creates the Electric Vehicle Charger Grant Act. Provides that any State agency that disburses grant funds for electric vehicle charging stations must include provisions in the criteria for awarding grant funds that encourage the use of equity eligible contractors by the grantees. Provides that the provisions shall include, but not be limited to, additional points to those grantees who commit to exclusively using equity eligible contractors, a portion of the grant funds devoted exclusively for equity eligible contractors, and inclusion of aspirational goals for all grantees to use equity eligible contractors. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that an insurer shall not, with regard to any motor vehicle liability insurance practice, (i) unfairly discriminate based on age, race, color, national or ethnic origin, immigration or citizenship status, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, or gender expression or (ii) use any external consumer data and information sources in a way that unfairly discriminates based on age, race, color, national or ethnic origin, immigration or citizenship status, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, or gender expression. Allows the Department of Insurance to examine and investigate an insurer's use of external consumer data and information sources, algorithms, or predictive models in any motor vehicle liability insurance practice. Specifies that the provisions shall not be construed to require an insurer to collect consumer's demographic data, to prohibit the use of a driver's history that has a direct relationship with risk, or to prohibit the use of or require testing of longstanding and well-established common industry practices in settling claims or traditional underwriting practices. Prohibits an insurer from canceling, refusing to renew, or increasing the premium for any policy of automobile insurance solely because an insured person has reached the age of 65 years if the insured has a valid Illinois driver's license. Defines terms.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates a child tax credit in an amount equal to the product of a specified credit amount multiplied by the number of qualifying children of the taxpayer. Effective immediately.

Amends the Preventing Youth Vaping Act. Provides that any distributor, secondary distributor, or retailer who sells, offers for sale, or distributes electronic cigarettes shall (i) obtain certification by the manufacturer stating that the electronic cigarettes are not adulterated; (ii) not sell, offer for sale, or distribute any electronic cigarettes for which it has not obtained a certification; (iii) maintain, for at least 2 years, a copy of any certification provided to it by a manufacturer; and (iv) produce a copy of any certification provided by a manufacturer upon request by the Department of Revenue, the Attorney General, or any entity with enforcement authority under the Act. Provides that no manufacturer of electronic cigarettes shall provide any false or misleading statement in any certification.

Amends the Interscholastic Athletic Organization Act. Provides that, for the benefit of the physical and mental health of athletes, beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, all practices, games, or contests by a State high school athletic program or team that is a part of an association or other entity that has, as one of its purposes, promoting, sponsoring, regulating, or in any manner providing for interscholastic athletics or any form of athletic competition among high schools and high school students within this State shall meet all specified requirements pertaining to athletic practice time limits. Provides that an association or other entity that has as one of its purposes promoting, sponsoring, regulating, or in any manner providing for interscholastic athletics or any form of athletic competition among schools and students within this State shall enforce a penalty for a State high school athletic program or team exceeding practice maximums, which may include, but are not limited to, a loss of a practice day or other sanctions determined by the Illinois High School Association for each violation and shall be imposed as appropriate to the level, extent, and duration of the penalty. Effective immediately.