Rep. Maura Hirschauer

Amends the Department of Human Services Act. Establishes the Nonprofit Clinical Supervision Grant Program. Provides that, subject to appropriation, the Department of Human Services shall provide grants to eligible nonprofit associations to provide grants to nonprofit associations to hire licensed clinical social workers and to administer programs for group clinical supervision to assist social workers in fulfilling their supervised clinical experience requirements for licensure. Sets forth eligibility requirements for nonprofit associations. Sets forth requirements regarding the use of grant funds. Describes annual reporting requirements for grant recipients. Allows the Department of Human Services to adopt rules needed to implement the Nonprofit Clinical Supervision Grant Program. Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Changes the name of the School and Municipal Social Work Shortage Loan Repayment Program to the School and Municipal/County Social Work Shortage Loan Repayment Program. Increases the maximum amount of grants that may be awarded through the School and Municipal/County Social Work Shortage Loan Repayment Program. Allows a recipient to apply for additional grant funding in subsequent years only if the recipient verifies that the grant amount allocated in the prior year has been applied to reduce the balance of the recipient's educational loan.

Amends the Electric Vehicle Rebate Act. Provides that, beginning July 1, 2026, the rules adopted under the Act shall cause the Agency to establish one rebate application cycle for each State fiscal year, shall cause each rebate application cycle to have a duration of one State fiscal year, and shall cause the Agency to accept rebate applications and issue rebates under the Act throughout each rebate application cycle.

Amends the College Campus Press Act. Defines "public media produced at a State-sponsored institution of higher learning". Provides that all public media produced at a State-sponsored institution of higher learning is a public forum for expression by the employees producing media at the particular institution of higher learning. Provides that public media produced at a State-sponsored institution of higher learning shall not be subject to prior review by public officials of a State-sponsored institution of higher learning. Allows an employee working for or an agent of an entity creating public media produced at a State-sponsored institution of higher learning to commence a civil action to obtain appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief as determined by a court for violation of the Act by such State-sponsored institution of higher learning. Provides that expression made by an employee or agent of an entity producing public media produced at a State-sponsored institution of higher learning is neither expression of campus policy nor speech attributable to a State-sponsored institution of higher learning. Provides that a State-sponsored institution of higher learning shall be immune from any lawsuit arising from expression actually made by the public media produced at a State-sponsored institution of higher learning

Maddy summaryHR 174 designates April 2025 as Prescribed Burning Awareness Month. This bill supports the appropriate and continued use of prescribed fire practices within Illinois.

States that the new Department of Early Childhood and its planning process should prioritize appropriate attention to the facilities needs of our State's mixed-delivery system of early care and education. Additionally states that the State should move expeditiously to award its remaining Early Childhood Construction Grant monies to qualified applicants, to assist providers of critical birth-to-five programs in meeting their growing building-and-repair demands. Finally states that the State should also move as quickly as feasible to replenish Early Childhood Construction Grant resources to help Illinois achieve the long-term vision of the bipartisan Funding Commission for making services "simpler, better, fairer" for young children, their families, and communities statewide.

Declares February 7, 2025 as Wear Red Day in the State of Illinois. Urges all residents of Illinois to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in women, and to show their support for women and the fight against heart disease by wearing the color red to commemorate this day.

Amends the Administration Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that any program of study at a public institution of higher education that improves employability shall be considered equivalent to an acceptable SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) program component, unless prohibited by federal law. Defines "public institution of higher education". Requires the Department of Human Services to adopt any rules necessary to implement the amendatory Act. Provides that rulemaking shall not delay full implementation of the amendatory Act. Effective immediately.

Declares April 2025 as Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month in the State of Illinois to help increase public awareness of the need to support individuals with autism and the family members, medical professionals, and human services professionals who help care for individuals with autism.

Declares October 2025 as Military Toxic Exposures Awareness Month. Recognizes the profound impact toxic exposures have had on veterans, members of the Armed Forces, their families, and their survivors. Honors the sacrifices of individuals impacted by toxic exposure in the Armed Forces.

Honors the memory of the Jewish people who were victims of the Holocaust and recognizes the bravery of survivors who have shared their stories with the world. Honors the memory of the millions of additional people, including prisoners of war, ethnic Poles, Romani people, Serbian civilians, people with disabilities, political opponents and dissenters, people labeled as asocial, Jehovah's Witnesses, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and Black Germans, who were persecuted and murdered by the Nazi state and their collaborators. Expresses gratitude for the soldiers, resistance fighters, and all those who helped defeat the Nazi regime and end the Holocaust. Expresses gratitude for the American soldiers who fought around the world during World War II, including the over 980,000 men and women from Illinois who served in the U.S. Armed Forces and the approximately 22,000 who gave their lives in pursuit of liberty. Expresses gratitude for the American forces that liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp on April 11, 1945, and who would go on that month to liberate concentration camps at Dachau, Dora-Mittelbau, and Flossenburg before liberating Mauthausen in early May 1945. Urges all Illinoisans to commit to learning about the Holocaust in order to ensure that such atrocities are never perpetrated again. Urges all Illinoisans to enhance their efforts to combat antisemitism, bigotry, intolerance, and racism.