Rep. Dan Didech

Amends the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act. Provides for the dissolution of the Special Committee on Minority, Female, Persons with Disabilities, and Veterans Contracting. Creates the Task Force on Equity in State Contracting to study the effectiveness of State programs created to empower minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, businesses owned by persons with disabilities, and veteran-owned businesses. Provides for the membership of the Task Force. Provides that the Task Force shall serve without compensation. Provides requirements for meetings and administrative support. Requires the Task Force to submit a report to the Governor and General Assembly with specified contents. Repeals the Task Force on January 1, 2022.

Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Provides that all actions shall be tried in the county in which they are commenced, unless a statute specifically requires transfer to a different county (rather than except as otherwise provided by law). Abolishes the doctrine of intrastate forum non conveniens.

Amends the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act. Provides that any full-time law enforcement, correctional or correctional probation officer, or firefighter that suffers a catastrophic injury or is killed in the line of duty, as well as their spouse or child, shall be offered by the employer of the law enforcement, correctional or correctional probation officer, or firefighter the choice of any health insurance plan available to currently employed full-time law enforcement, correctional or correctional probation officers, or firefighters.

Amends the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Requires the Department of Public Health to provide by rule for the establishment of a list of self-excluded persons who may request to be placed on the list and are prohibited from entering a dispensary or purchasing any product or service at a dispensary. Provides that the rules must establish specified procedures regarding the list and require dispensaries to establish procedures designed to remove self-excluded persons from targeted mailings or other forms of advertising or promotions and deny self-excluded persons entry and access to the dispensary and the products and services provided by the dispensary. Prohibits dispensaries from allowing entry to or serving any person who is on the self-exclusion list. Provides that the list of self-excluded persons shall be exempt from public inspection, copying, and disclosure, except for the limited purpose of assisting in the proper administration of procedures established under the amendatory Act. Allows the Department of Public Health to adopt rules requiring a dispensing organization to use a purchaser's identification to check whether the purchaser is on the self-exclusion list. Provides that allowing entry to or serving any person who is on the self-exclusion list is grounds for discipline by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that a taxpayer who (i) has an associate's degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree from an institution of higher education accredited by the U.S. Department of Education, (ii) has annual student loan repayment expenses, and (iii) is employed full-time in the State, or has an offer of full-time employment in the State, in one or more of the specified science and technology fields is eligible for an income tax credit equal to the taxpayer's student loan repayment expenses for the taxable year, but not to exceed a maximum credit limit. Effective immediately.

Amends the Ivory Ban Act. Renames the Act the Animal Parts and Products Ban Act. Makes the Act applicable to animal parts or products. Defines "animal part or product" as, in addition to ivory and rhinoceros horn, any item that contains, or is wholly or partially made from, the following animal family, genus, or species: cheetah, elephant, giraffe, great ape, hippopotamus, jaguar, leopard, lion, monk seal, narwhal, pangolin, ray or shark, rhinoceros, sea turtle, tiger, walrus, or whale, insofar as the species, subspecies, or distinct population segment is listed on specified endangered species lists. Authorizes the Department of Natural Resources to permit the transfer of covered animal parts or products to or from a museum. Makes changes concerning exemptions for certain antiques.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Prohibits a life insurance company from denying coverage to an individual, limiting the amount, extent, or kind of coverage available to the individual, or charging an individual or group to which the individual belongs a different rate solely because the individual has been prescribed or has obtained through a standing order an opioid antagonist.

Amends the Barber, Cosmetology, Esthetics, Hair Braiding, and Nail Technology Act of 1985. Provides that the continuing education requirement for cosmetologists does not apply to a licensee who is 70 years or older and has been licensed as a cosmetologist for at least 25 years.

Amends the School Code. Prohibits a school district employee or volunteer or an independent contractor of a school district from placing a student in seclusion; defines seclusion. Provides that this prohibition does not apply to the use of seclusion in a court-ordered placement, other than a placement in an educational program of a school district, or in a placement or facility to which other laws or rules apply. Requires State Board of Education rulemaking. Effective immediately.

Amends the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act. Provides that the office of the State's Attorney shall: (1) consult with the crime victim regarding the State's Attorney's decision to charge or not charge an offense, and the victim has the right to have an attorney, advocate, and other support person of the victim's choice attend this consultation with them; and (2) give the crime victim timely notice of any decision not to pursue charges and provide the notice in a way that does not put the victim's safety at risk. Crime victims' rights shall be asserted in the court in which a defendant is being prosecuted for the crime. Provides that if no prosecution has been commenced, a complaint for mandamus, injunctive, or declaratory relief may be filed in the circuit court in the jurisdiction in which the crime occurred. Provides that filing fees that would otherwise be owed by the victim shall be waived for any court filing with the main purpose of enforcing crime victims' rights. Provides that the Act grants a victim a private civil cause of action for injunctive relief and compensatory damages for lost wages, attorney's fees, and costs directly related to enforcing a crime victim's rights when officials willfully or wantonly violate a victim's right or rights and the officials do not correct their actions and afford the right or rights to the victim when given written notice and reasonable time to comply.