Rep. Will Guzzardi

Amends the Public Community College Act. Provides for the election (rather than appointment) of the board of trustees of the City Colleges of Chicago beginning with the 2023 consolidated election. Provides that the City of Chicago shall be subdivided into 20 trustee districts by the General Assembly for seats on the board of trustees, in addition to one at-large trustee. Makes related changes. Effective immediately.

Appropriates $500,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Children and Family Services, for grants to the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Cook County to advocate for the timely placement of children in permanent, safe, and stable homes. Effective July 1, 2021.

Amends the Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Act. Provides that the exclusion amount is $2,000,000 for persons dying on or after January 1, 2022 (currently, $4,000,000). Effective immediately.

Amends the Speech Rights of Student Journalists Act. Requires each school board to adopt a written policy for the right of student journalists to exercise the freedoms of speech and the press in school-sponsored media. Sets forth specific requirements for the policy. Prohibits the dismissal, suspension, discipline, reassignment, or transfer of or other retaliation against a student media adviser for (i) refusing to infringe on conduct or (ii) acting to protect a student journalist engaged in conduct that is protected under the Act or the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Sets forth provisions concerning injunctive and declaratory relief.

Congratulates Terry Cosgrove on his retirement from serving as the president and CEO of Personal PAC. Further commends him for his years of dedicated service.

Amends the Employee Sick Leave Act. Removes language exempting from coverage under the Act an employee of an employer subject to the provisions of Title II of the federal Railway Labor Act.

Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that any renewal of a certified charter must include a union neutrality clause. Requires a union neutrality clause to be included in a charter school proposal. Defines "union neutrality clause". Effective immediately.

Creates the Safe Patient Limits Act. Provides for the maximum number of patients that may be assigned to a registered nurse in specified situations. Provides that nothing shall preclude a facility from assigning fewer patients to a registered nurse than the limits provided in Act. Provides specified requirements for the Act's implementation by a facility. Establishes recordkeeping requirements. Provides that the Department of Public Health shall adopt rules governing the implementation and operation of the Act. Provides that nothing in the Act precludes the use of patient acuity systems consistent with provisions of the Hospital Licensing Act concerning nurse staffing by patient acuity; however, the maximum patient assignments in the Act may not be exceeded regardless of the use and application of any patient acuity system. Provides that all facilities shall adopt written policies and procedures for training and orientation of nursing staff and that no registered nurse shall be assigned to a nursing unit or clinical area unless that nurse has, among other things, demonstrated competence in providing care in that area. Provides for specified nurse rights and protections. Provides that the Act's provisions are severable. Contains other provisions. Amends the Hospital Licensing Act. Provides that a hospital shall not mandate that a registered professional nurse delegate nursing interventions. Amends the Nurse Practice Act. Provides that the exercise of professional judgment by a direct care registered professional nurse in the performance of his or her scope of practice shall be provided in the exclusive interests of the patient. Makes other changes.

Creates the Second Chance State Behavioral Health Workforce Development Act. Contains findings. Provides that each institution of higher education shall annually allow for the admission of at least one returning resident (a person who is a resident of and domiciled in Illinois, has graduated from high school or the equivalent, has been convicted of a felony by a specified court, was sentenced to incarceration pursuant to that conviction, and is no longer incarcerated) in an undergraduate or graduate academic program that will lead to the qualification of the returning resident as a behavioral health care professional. Provides that the returning resident shall not be required to pay any tuition, fee, or other charge for any class the returning resident takes if the State appropriates funds for reimbursement. Provides that the Illinois Student Assistance Commission shall contract with community-based organizations and legal service providers to provide specified services to returning residents. Provides that certain criminal convictions and dispositions are not cause for a licensing agency to deny an individual a license, permission, or authorization to be a behavioral health care professional. Provides that a licensing agency shall consider specified mitigating factors when considering an application for a license, permission, or other authorization to be a behavioral health care professional. Provides that, if a licensing agency refuses to issue a license, permission, or other authorization to perform a behavioral health care profession based upon a conviction, the licensing agency shall notify the individual of the denial with specified information included in the notice of denial. Provides that neither the Commission nor a community-based organization providing services under the Act shall enter into a contractual or other financial, service, or volunteer relationship with and shall not pay any money or provide any other form of consideration to specified persons or entities. Provides that institutions of higher education shall strictly comply with the Act and the Commission shall take actions necessary to obtain compliance and enforce the Act. Contains provisions concerning judicial proceedings, certifications, adoption of rules, notices, conflicts, severability, and other matters. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that all the corporations, wherever incorporated or domiciled, that are members of a unitary business shall file a combined return as a combined group. Makes changes to the definition of "unitary business". Contains provisions concerning a water's edge election. Provides that, with respect to unitary business groups, "United States" means the 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia, and United States' territories and possessions. Fiscal Note (Dept. of Revenue) The revenue impact of this bill is unknown. Several issues need to be addressed before determining if and how this bill might impact State revenues. As an example, in a provision relating to a water's-edge election, the bill provides that a taxpayer's "entire income" must be considered. The bill does not define "entire income" nor is this a relevant term in the Illinois Income Tax Act. Aside from this and similar type issues needing addressed, there are other challenges to determining a fiscal impact. For example, where there might be a revenue impact, there is no way to compute an estimate since the provision brings income into the apportionable base from companies that previously have not had to file with the Department. There is no way for the Department to know anything about those companies, their income, or their apportionment factors. In fact, the Department cannot definitively say whether the overall revenue impact of this bill, as written, is positive, negative, or neutral.