Rep. Fred Crespo

Amends the Transportation Cooperation Act of 1971, the Department of Transportation Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois, the Bi-State Development Agency Act, and the Regional Transportation Authority Act. Provides that a railroad passenger service, a Transportation Service Association, the Department of Transportation, the Regional Transportation Authority, the Chicago Transit Authority, and the Commuter Rail Division of the Regional Transportation Authority shall issue an annual report on or before December 31 of each year containing all rail safety recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board during the previous 12 months and the status of the entity's implementation of those recommendations. Provides that the Federal Railroad Corporation (also known as Amtrak) and the Bi-State Development Agency may issue a similar report. Provides that a report issued under the provisions shall be made publicly available on the website of the entity. Effective July 1, 2024.

Appropriates from the General Revenue Fund to the Auditor General $7,500,000 for personal services and $600,000 for State contributions to Social Security to meet the ordinary and contingent expenses of the Office of the Auditor General, as provided in the Illinois State Auditing Act. Appropriates $38,229,296 to the Auditor General from the Audit Expense Fund for administrative and operational expenses; for audits, studies, and investigations; and for expenses related to actuarial services. Effective July 1, 2024.

Appropriates $35,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the State Board of Education for the New Arrival Student Grant Program. Effective July 1, 2023.

Creates the Firefighter Paid Family Leave Act. Provides that a firefighter shall receive 6 weeks of paid family leave that may be used: (1) for the birth of a child in order to care for the child; (2) to care for a newly adopted child under 18 years of age, a newly placed foster child under 18 years of age, or a newly adopted or placed foster child older than 18 years of age if the child is incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability; and (3) to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Provides that the paid family leave requirements shall be provided to a firefighter regardless of the employer's leave policies and shall be provided to a firefighter who has been employed by the employer for at least one year. Provides that a firefighter may voluntarily waive his or her right to paid family leave. Provides that the Department of Labor may adopt any rules necessary to implement the Act.

Amends the Chicago School District Article of the School Code. Provides that a local school council shall have and exercise the power and duty to contract with the Chicago Police Department to have police officers or school resource officers on school grounds. Effective immediately.

Amends the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Administrative Act. Provides that, for community-based providers serving persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities, subject to federal approval of any relevant Waiver Amendment, the rates taking effect for services delivered on or after January 1, 2025 shall include an increase in the rate methodology sufficient to provide a $3 per hour wage rate increase for all direct support personnel and all other frontline personnel who are not subject to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' average wage increases and who work in residential and community day services settings, with at least $1.50 of those funds to be provided as a direct increase to base wages and the remaining $1.50 to be used flexibly for base wage increases. Provides that the rates taking effect for services delivered on or after January 1, 2025 shall include an increase sufficient to provide wages for all residential non-executive direct care staff, excluding direct support personnel, at the federal Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics' average wage as defined by rule by the Department of Human Services. Provides that for facilities licensed by the Department of Public Health under the ID/DD Community Care Act as ID/DD facilities and under the MC/DD Act as MC/DD facilities, subject to federal approval of a State Plan Amendment, the rates taking effect for services delivered on or after January 1, 2025, shall include a $3 per hour wage rate increase for all direct support personnel and all other frontline personnel who are not subject to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' average wage increases and who work in residential and community day services settings, with at least $1.50 of those funds to be provided as a direct increase to all aide base wages and the remaining $1.50 to be used flexibly for base wage increases to the rate methodology for aides. Provides that for residential services delivered on or after January 1, 2025, the rates shall include an increase sufficient to provide wages for all residential non-executive direct care staff, excluding aides, at the federal Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics' average wage as determined by the Department. Requires the Department to adopt rules, including emergency rules, to implement the amendatory Act.

Amends the School Code. Provides that the State Board of Education shall implement and administer a program to make New Arrival Student Grants available to school districts to support the needs of students who are newly arriving immigrant students, regardless of immigration status. Provides that to receive a grant under this program, a school district shall submit an application to the State Board of Education at such time, in such manner, and containing or accompanied by such information as the State Board of Education may reasonably require. Provides that in awarding funds under this program, the State Board of Education may consider (i) the number of new arrival students enrolled in preschool, elementary school, and secondary school within the school district, (ii) the needs of new arrival students in the school district, and (iii) the ability of the school district to meet the needs of new arrival students. Effective July 1, 2023.

Maddy summaryThis bill is a memorial resolution honoring Officer Luis M. Huesca, a Chicago Police Department officer who was killed in the line of duty in April 2024. The text formally expresses the sadness of the Illinois House of Representatives regarding his death and extends condolences to his family, friends, and community. It also directs that a copy of the resolution be given to the Huesca family as a gesture of sympathy. This legislative action serves to acknowledge his service and sacrifice rather than to change laws or policies.

Declares May of 2024 as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in honor of the contributions made by Asian American and Pacific Island residents and communities across Illinois.

Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Provides that the resident district for a student who, as a result of the student's medically complex status resides exclusively at a full-time residential care facility, shall be the school district in which the residential facility is located if the residential facility provides the student with a regular fixed night-time residence for reasons other than placement in a specific school district and the student is not enrolled in a school district outside the district in which the residential facility is located. Provides that as a resident of the district in which the residential facility is located, the educational costs for a student shall be provided directly by the State Board of Education and shall be calculated based on the applicable per diem rate provided by the Illinois Purchased Care Review Board, with such per diem rate being based solely upon the audited submission of the cost financial report for the residential facility for special education students during the applicable school year. Provides that a residential facility shall submit monthly invoices to the State Board of Education for the education costs of a student in a residential facility. Provides that the State Board of Education shall ensure that a representative of the resident school district of the student in a residential facility attend and participate in an individualized education program meeting for the student and shall proffer a nonpublic facility placement contract for each student and the school district shall immediately execute and return the nonpublic facility placement contract to the residential facility. Provides that for a student in a residential facility, an educational surrogate shall be appointed who shall have authority to execute an individualized education program in the place of the student's parent or guardian on behalf of the student. Provides for restrictions on withholding payment to a residential facility. Provides that the provisions apply only to a special education student who lives at and relies on a residential facility as the student's overnight residence but who has not been enrolled by the student's parent or guardian in a school district. Effective immediately.