Rep. Thomas Morrison

Amends the Service Obligations and Conditions Article of the Public Utilities Act. Requires a natural gas public utility serving more than 35,000 customers to submit with its annual filing certain information concerning existing and newly installed pipeline facilities to the Illinois Commerce Commission. Requires the Commission to submit a report containing the information and evaluating the safety and reliability of the natural gas distribution system in Illinois to the General Assembly. Requires the reports to be made available to the public on the Commission's website.

Amends the Illinois Pension Code. With respect to the 5 State-funded Retirement Systems: requires each System to prepare and implement a Tier 3 plan by July 1, 2020 that aggregates State and employee contributions in individual participant accounts that are used for payouts after retirement. Provides that a Tier 1 or Tier 2 participant may irrevocably elect to participate in the Tier 3 plan instead of the defined benefit plan and may also elect to terminate all participation in the defined benefit plan and to have a specified amount credited to his or her account under the Tier 3 plan. Makes related changes in the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971. In the Downstate Teachers, State Employees, and State Universities Articles, authorizes a person to elect not to participate or to terminate participation in those Systems. In the General Assembly and Judges Articles, authorizes a participant to terminate his or her participation in the System. In the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF), State Employees, State Universities, and Downstate Teachers Articles, for participants who first become participants on or after the effective date, prohibits (i) payments for unused sick or vacation time from being used to calculate pensionable salary and (ii) unused sick or vacation time from being used to establish service credit. In the Downstate Teachers Article, prohibits an employer from making employee contributions on behalf of an employee, except for the sole purpose of allowing an employee to make pre-tax contributions. Amends the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act to prohibit collective bargaining over that prohibition. Effective immediately.

Amends the General Assembly Operations Act. Provides that on and after the effective date of the amendatory Act, the General Assembly shall, by joint resolution, establish a revenue estimate for the following State fiscal year by April 30th of each year. Effective immediately.

Amends the General Assembly Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Requires the General Assembly Retirement System to establish a self-directed retirement plan. Provides that for persons who become participants on or after the effective date of the amendatory Act, participation in the System shall be limited to participation in the self-directed retirement plan. Allows a Tier 1 or Tier 2 participant to make an irrevocable election to participate in the self-directed retirement plan instead of the defined benefit plan. Makes changes to the pensionable salary for active participants. Provides that upon a participant's first day of participation in the self-directed retirement plan, the participant becomes vested in his or her contributions to the self-directed retirement plan, the employer's contributions to the self-directed retirement plan, and the investment returns attributable to those contributions credited to his or her account.

Creates the Revenue Estimate Act. Provides that the General Assembly shall not enact any bill to appropriate funds within any fiscal year prior to its adoption of a joint resolution reflecting the estimate of funds available for that fiscal year as required under the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a defendant who has been found guilty of first degree murder and who at the time of the commission of the offense had attained the age of 18 years or more may be sentenced to natural life imprisonment if the murder was committed against a victim who was the parent of a child under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense and the defendant is: (1) the spouse or former spouse of the victim; (2) a person who shares or formerly shared a common dwelling with the victim; or (3) a person who has or allegedly had a child in common with the victim.

Amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003. Provides that it is unlawful for an employer to require an employee to sign a contract or waiver that would prohibit the employee from disclosing or discussing the employee's wage or salary; however, an employer may prohibit a human resources employee, a supervisor, or any other employee whose job responsibilities require or allow access to other employees' wage or salary information from disclosing such information without prior written consent from the employee whose information is sought or requested. Provides that it is unlawful for an employer to seek the wage or salary history of a prospective employee from the prospective employee or a current or former employer or to require that a prospective employee's prior wage or salary history meet certain criteria, with some exceptions. Provides that an employer against whom an action is brought alleging a violation of the Act's prohibition against gender-based wage differentials and who, within the previous 3 years and prior to the commencement of the action, has completed a self-evaluation of the employer's pay practices in good faith and can demonstrate that reasonable progress has been made toward eliminating wage differentials based on gender for the same or substantially similar work in accordance with that evaluation shall have an affirmative defense to liability. Provides that an employer who cannot demonstrate that the evaluation was reasonable in detail and scope shall not be entitled to an affirmative defense, but shall not be liable for any civil fine in excess of: (1) $500 per employee affected, if the employer has fewer than 4 employees; or (2) $2,500 per employee affected, if the employer has 4 or more employees. Provides that if an employee recovers unpaid wages under the Act and also files a complaint or brings a sex discrimination action under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 that results in additional recovery under federal law for the same violation, the employee shall return to the employer the amounts recovered under State law or the amounts recovered under federal law, whichever is less.

Amends the Open Meetings Act. Requires a unit of local government or school district with an operating budget of $1 million or more to maintain an Internet website and post to that website, for the current calendar or fiscal year, the following information: (1) information about elected and appointed officials; (2) notice of and materials prepared for meetings; (3) procedures for requesting information from the unit of local government or school district; (4) annual budget; (5) ordinances; (6) procedures to apply for building permits and zoning variances; (7) financial reports and audits; (8) information concerning employee compensation; (9) contracts with lobbying firms; (10) taxes and fees imposed by the unit of local government or school district; (11) rules governing the award of contracts; (12) bids and contracts worth $25,000 or more; (13) a debt disclosure report; and (14) public notices. Provides that any citizen who is a resident of the unit of local government or school district may bring a mandamus or injunction action to compel the unit of local government or school district to comply with the Internet posting requirements. Limits home rule powers. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides for a statutory exemption for any electronic copy of a record or information maintained on specified websites. Amends the Department of Central Management Services Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act. Provides that, once an agreement is reached between a public or educational employer and its employees regarding all of the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, the agreement shall be reduced to writing and published on the website of the public or educational employer. Requires the public or educational employer, not less than 14 days after publishing such an agreement, to hold an open public meeting on the ratification of that agreement. Provides that any contract between a public employer and an employee where the total compensation exceeds $150,000 shall be published on the employer's website for a period of not less than 14 days prior to being signed by both the employer and the employee. Requires the public employer to hold an open public meeting on the contract in addition to posting it for 14 days if that contract is subject to board approval. Makes conforming changes in the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act. Effective immediately.

Creates the Limitations on Actions for Negligent Hiring Act. Provides that an action may not be brought against a party solely for hiring an employee or independent contractor who has been convicted of a nonviolent, non-sexual offense. Provides that in a negligent hiring action for the acts of an employee or independent contractor, the fact that the employee or independent contractor was convicted of a nonviolent, non-sexual offense before the beginning of the employee's or independent contractor's employment or contractual obligation may not be introduced into evidence. Provides that the new provisions do not preclude the filing of an action based upon any existing cause of action for failure of an employer or other person to provide adequate supervision of an employee or independent contractor, except that the fact that the employee or independent contractor has been convicted of a nonviolent, non-sexual criminal offense may be introduced into evidence in the suit only if: (1) the employer knew of the conviction or was grossly negligent in not knowing of the conviction; and (2) the conviction was directly related to the nature of the employee's or independent contractor's work and the conduct that gave rise to the alleged injury that is the basis of the suit. Provides exceptions in certain situations.