Rep. Karen May

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that the Department shall not impose requirements for prior approval based on a preferred drug list for any short-acting beta agonists used as rescue therapy in the treatment of life-threatening conditions due to acute bronchospasm in patients with reversible obstructive airway disease that results from asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or emphysema.

Mourns the death of Richard E. Wurtzinger of Oak Park.

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Department of Human Services, in consultation with its Child Care and Development Advisory Council, to develop a comprehensive plan to revise the State's rates for the various types of child care provided for TANF recipients. Requires completion of the plan by September 30, 2004. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that the Department of Public Aid may not establish any formulary limits on, or restrict by any prior authorization requirement, any insulin prescription drug as prescribed and determined to be medically necessary for the treatment of diabetes. Effective July 1, 2004.

Creates the Department of Education Act and amends the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois, the Illinois State Auditing Act, the Illinois Pension Code, and the School Code. Creates the Department of Education, with a Secretary of Education as its head. Provides that all of the rights, powers, duties, and functions vested by law in the State Board of Education or the State Superintendent of Education (except the State Board of Education's duty under the Illinois Constitution to appoint a chief State educational officer) are transferred to the Department of Education on July 1, 2005. Provides for the transfer of personnel and property. Requires the Auditor General to conduct a financial audit of the State Board of Education. Provides that the State Board of Education's powers and duties are limited by law, as provided in the Illinois Constitution, to only the following: (i) the State Board of Education shall research current educational best practices and policies and shall report its findings to the Department of Education, (ii) the State Board of Education shall provide suggestions to the Department of Education as to the long-range implications of the practices and policies, and (iii) the State Board of Education shall consult with the Department of Education on all matters related to education-related topics. Makes other changes. Certain provisions effective July 1, 2004; other provisions effective July 1, 2005.

Creates the Public Service Accountability Act. Sets out the requirements for privatization contracts between contractors and State agencies. Provides for the monitoring and enforcement of privatization contracts. Establishes fines and prison sentences for a violation of certain Sections of the Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Board of Higher Education Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning reimbursement for a Board member's expenses.

Creates the Comprehensive Housing, Health, and Supportive Services for Older Adults Act and amends the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act, the State Finance Act, and the Nursing Home Care Act. Requires the Director of Public Health, in coordination with the Director of Aging and the Director of Public Aid, to monitor and analyze the distribution of housing and services for older adults in the different geographic areas of the State and implement corrective action plans by July 1, 2005. Provides for a program for conversion of nursing homes to assisted living or shared housing establishments; makes such conversions exempt from the requirements of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act, and provides for transition planning grants to nursing homes making such conversions. Creates special funds in the State treasury for use in implementing the Comprehensive Housing, Health, and Supportive Services for Older Adults Act. Provides for transfers from the Long Term Care Monitor/Receiver Fund to the new Nursing Home Conversion Fund and the new Nursing Home Transition Planning Grant Fund. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act. Provides that the Attorney General may commence a civil action in the name of the People of the State of Illinois as parens patriae to enforce the Act. Provides for venue and limitations. Provides that remedies are available to the Attorney General to the same extent that remedies are available to an aggrieved party, and that, in addition to those remedies, the court shall award the State, as monetary relief, 3 times the amount of profits that accrued to the respondent by reason of the act, conduct, practice, or system challenged in the action, plus costs and a reasonable attorney's fee as determined by the court. Provides that the court shall: require that damages for injuries sustained by persons other than the State be paid to those persons (with certain exceptions) to the extent they are identifiable and there is a practicable method for making the payment; and direct that damages that cannot practicably be paid to injured individuals shall be paid to the State. Provides for notice by publication or other means to aggrieved parties who may be bound by the court's judgment in the Attorney General's action and the right of any aggrieved party to elect to exclude his or her claim from adjudication. Provides that the Attorney General may intervene as parens patriae on behalf of persons in civil actions brought by aggrieved individuals under the Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois and the State Finance Act. Subject to appropriation, requires the Department of Public Health to develop a comprehensive statewide asthma management plan to (i) reduce the rate of hospitalizations due to asthma and (ii) facilitate the effective management of asthma in persons with asthma. Requires the Department to implement programs to meet the objectives of the statewide asthma management plan. Provides for the use of moneys from the Tobacco Settlement Recovery Fund to implement the statewide asthma management plan.