Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that a unit of local government or school district with an operating budget of $1,000,000 or more shall maintain an Internet website and post to its website for the current calendar or fiscal year specified information. Provides that the information required to be posted must be easily accessible from the unit of local government's or school district's website home page and searchable. Provides penalties for noncompliance. Provides that no home rule unit may adopt posting requirements that are less restrictive than those provided in the Act. Provides that all local records required to be posted shall remain posted on the entity's website, or subsequent websites, for 10 years. Exempts the School District of the Department of Juvenile Justice. Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides an exemption from inspection and copying of any record or information that a unit of local government or school district maintains an electronic copy of on its Internet website in order to comply with the Open Meetings Act. Amends the Department of Central Management Services Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that within 6 months after the effective date of this amendatory Act, the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal shall have the capability to compile and update its database with information received from all school districts and units of local government. Authorizes the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal to provide direct access to information compiled under specified provisions of the Open Meetings Act. Provides an exempt mandate provision. Provides a severability clause. Effective immediately.
Sponsored bills
Urges Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the Illinois Department of Public Health to reinstate local control and allow duly elected school board members to make decisions on COVID-19 mitigation efforts that best fit the community and school districts in which they serve.
Creates the Relieve College Costs Pilot Program Act. Creates a pilot program for a 4-year degree pathway based on texts that served as the core foundational basis for western civilization and the Enlightenment, under which one public high school, one public community college, and one public university shall develop a competency-based baccalaureate degree program for a Fundamental Issues and Texts Humanities Degree. Includes as goals of the program: (1) preparing students with skills relating to critical thinking, problem solving, rational inquiry, and oral and written communication needed for employment or further graduate study; (2) using open educational resources if available; (3) using online course options if available to reduce costs; (4) identifying pathway courses to promote dual credit course enrollment in the participating high school; and (5) having a $20,000 maximum tuition rate for the entirety of the degree pathway. Contains provisions concerning a program director, the curriculum, open educational resources, reporting, and rulemaking. Effective immediately. House Floor Amendment No. 1 In provisions concerning the panel created by the State Board of Education, Illinois Community College Board, and Board of Higher Education, requires the panel to seek and identify initiatives to support the use of foundational materials and original sources that reside in the public domain or open educational resource materials in support of the degree program (rather than only to seek and identify initiatives to support the use of open educational resource materials). Provides that the panel is dissolved on January 31, 2023. Provides that a public institution, at the request of its board of trustees, must highlight the courses that use low-cost digital or print options for students (rather than courses that may have a lost-cost option for print versions).
Amends the Liquor Control Act of 1934. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title.
Amends the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act. Provides that, in counties with more than 3,000,000 inhabitants, any elected officer for a prosecutorial office or judge (1) who sets a policy of refusing to enforce an existing law, or (2) where the exercise of discretion is not individualized based on the merits of a particular case, but is exercised for the purpose of refusing to enforce an existing law, and (3) who does not have a written, good faith belief that the law in question is unenforceable as a matter of law, shall be personally liable to an injured party for legal or equitable relief or any other appropriate relief resulting from the refusal to enforce the existing law. Provides that no unit of county government is obligated to indemnify a prosecutorial officer absent specified findings. Provides that a court shall award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the plaintiff who is a prevailing party. Provides that, in actions for injunctive relief, a court shall deem a plaintiff a prevailing party if the plaintiff's action was a substantial factor or significant catalyst in obtaining the results sought by the litigation. Provides that, if a judgment is entered in favor of a defendant, the court may award reasonable costs and attorney's fees to the defendant for defending claims the court finds frivolous. Provides that a civil action shall be commenced: (1) within one year after the cause of action accrues if the damages are less than $50,000; or (2) within 2 years if the damages involved equal or exceed $50,000. Provides that implementation of a policy of nonenforcement of an existing law, where the public employee does not have a good faith belief that the law in question is invalid, inapplicable, or unconstitutional, is presumptively willful. Makes other changes.
Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that if a Medicaid enrollee of a managed care organization is referred by his or her primary care provider to another provider who was on the in-network referral list provided by the managed care organization for a medical service, the managed care organization must cover the medical service from that provider if it was a covered service on the date of referral.
Repeals the Statewide Use of Force Standardization Act, the No Representation Without Population Act, the Reporting of Deaths in Custody Act, and the Task Force on Constitutional Rights and Remedies Act. Restores various provisions of specified Acts to the form in which they existed before their amendment by Public Acts 101-652 and 102-28, except for changes made to the Crime Victims Compensation Act. Effective immediately.
Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, in the case of property that is occupied as a residence by a person who: (1) is 55 years of age or older during the taxable year; (2) is liable for paying real estate taxes on the property; and (3) is an owner of record of the property or has a legal or equitable interest in the property, property taxes shall be paid on a monthly basis. Effective immediately.
Mourns the passing of Sister Thomas Leo Monahan, O.P.
Amends the Department of Employment Security Law. Directs the Department of Employment Security to take necessary actions to ensure that Illinois residents interact safely and legitimately with the Department under the Unemployment Insurance Act. Requires the Department to regularly review its practices and implement strategies, including the adoption of a two-factor authentication system to process claims. Requires the Department to conduct a study of its practices and report its findings to the General Assembly.