Rep. Fred Crespo

Congratulates Mrs. Lourdes F. Diaz of Chicago on her 50th birthday.

Amends the School Code. Allows school boards to award high school diplomas to honorably discharged veterans who served in the armed forces of the United States during the Vietnam Conflict. Effective immediately.

Appropriates $2 from the General Revenue Fund to the Board of Higher Education for its FY 10 ordinary and contingent expenses. Effective July 1, 2009.

Amends the Illinois Finance Authority Act and the State Finance Act. Provides that the Illinois Finance Authority must establish a financially distressed provider revolving loan program. Provides that the Authority may issue bonds in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $300,000,000 for the purpose of providing short-term, no-interest loans to qualified health care and human services providers. Provides that certain amounts shall be transferred from cigarette tax receipts into the Financially Distressed Provider Debt Service Fund, and amends the State Finance Act to create the Financially Distressed Provider Debt Service Fund. Amends the Cigarette Tax Act to make conforming changes. Amends the State Comptroller Act to provide that delinquent loan amounts may be offset from warrants. Effective immediately.

Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Creates the offense of unlawful manipulation of a judicial sale. Provides that a person commits the offense when he or she knowingly and by any means makes any contract with or engages in any combination or conspiracy with any other person who is, or but for a prior agreement is, a competitor of such person for the purpose of or with the effect of fixing, controlling, limiting, or otherwise manipulating (1) the participation of any person in, or (2) the making of bids, at any judicial sale. Provides that unlawful manipulation of a judicial sale is a Class 3 felony. Provides that a mandatory fine shall be imposed for a violation, not to exceed $1,000,000 if the violator is a corporation, or, if the violator is any other person, $100,000. Provides that a second or subsequent violation is a Class 2 felony. Establishes injunctive relief and a private right of action for damages or injunctive relief. Effective immediately.

Amends the Military Leave of Absence Act. Requires that a full-time employee of the State, a unit of local government, or a school district who is a member of a reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces or the Illinois State Militia must be given a leave of absence for any training or duty required by the U.S. Armed Forces not otherwise covered by the Act. If the employee's military pay for that training or duty is less than his or her compensation from the public employer, requires that during the leave the employee receive his or her public employment compensation, minus the amount of the military pay.

Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Provides that a person may bring a civil action in a circuit court for a court's stalking protective order against a person if: (1) the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly engages in repeated and unwanted contact with the other person or a member of that person's immediate family or household thereby alarming or coercing the other person; (2) it is objectively reasonable for a person in the victim's situation to have been alarmed or coerced by the contact; and (3) the repeated and unwanted contact causes the victim reasonable apprehension regarding the personal safety of the victim or a member of the victim's immediate family or household. Creates the offense of violating a court's stalking protective order. Provides that a first offense is a Class A misdemeanor and a second or subsequent offense is a Class 4 felony. Provides that the offense is a Class 4 felony if the defendant had a prior conviction for stalking or aggravated stalking. Effective immediately.

Creates the Emerging Technology Industries Act. Requires the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to establish and maintain a program to award grants to emerging-technology enterprises in the State. Sets forth eligibility requirements and funding priorities for awarding the grants, and sets forth procedures for awarding the grants. Requires written contracts in which the emerging-technology enterprise guarantees that it will perform the actions expected to be performed. Sets dollar limits on matching funds for federal Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants and total grant matching funds per year. Limits total credits to $15,000,000 in any one State fiscal year. Amends the State Finance Act to create the Emerging Technology Grant Fund. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates an income tax credit for qualified investors who make an investment in an emerging technology enterprise in the State. Provides that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity must certify the amount of the credit and sets forth the procedures for the application and certification of the credit. Sets forth provisions for the revocation and recapture of the tax credit. Contains other provisions. Effective immediately.

Amends the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act. In connection with the pharmaceutical assistance program under the Act, provides that to become a beneficiary under the program, a person must have a maximum household income equal to or less than 239% of the Federal Poverty Level (instead of less than specified amounts or equal to or less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. Provides for 4 (instead of 5) Eligibility Groups (eliminates current Eligibility Group 3). For persons in the Eligibility Group consisting of persons who have a diagnosis of HIV or AIDS, provides for an alternative co-payment according to whether or not a drug is covered by the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan in which the beneficiary is enrolled (in addition to whether or not the drug is included in the formulary of the Illinois AIDS Drug Assistance Program operated by the Illinois Department of Public Health). Makes changes in the definitions of "covered prescription drug" for each Eligibility Group. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Public Community College Act. Provides that the Board of Trustees of Community College District No. 512 may establish and offer a pilot program under which the district may offer bachelor's degrees in 2 fields of study if certain conditions are met, including requiring (i) that the degree programs not compete with any nearby public university and the public universities in this State have the right of first refusal to offer the Bachelor of Applied Science Degree programs on the community college campus or a community college extension site, (ii) that the district identify and document unmet workforce needs, (iii) that the degree programs not require any additional funding from local taxes, the State, or the community college students not enrolled in the program, (iv) that the Board of Higher Education approve the offering of the degree programs, and (v) that the pilot program expire 4 years after the initial offering of the degree programs, unless otherwise extended by law. Prohibits Community College District No. 512 from becoming a primarily baccalaureate degree-granting, 4-year institution of higher learning. Effective July 1, 2009.