Rep. Sonya Harper

Declares a commitment to ensuring access to quality health care for patients and healthcare consumers in Illinois, urges the Illinois Congressional delegation to support federal legislation to ensure all copays count, and urges the federal regulators to specifically clarify that all copays count in the 2023 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters and tri-agency guidance.

Amends the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the School Code's construction.

Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, in counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, taxpayers of income producing property shall submit income and expense data annually to the chief county assessment officer on or before July 1 of each year. Provides that, in counties of fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the county board may provide by ordinance or resolution that taxpayers of income-producing property shall submit income and expense data annually to the chief county assessment officer on or before March 31 of each year. Contains certain exceptions. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that an individual taxpayer age 65 or older is entitled to the earned income tax credit without regard to the requirement under the federal Internal Revenue Code that an individual taxpayer without a qualifying child has not attained age 65. Provides that an individual taxpayer age 18 to 24 is entitled to the earned income tax credit without regard to the requirement under the federal Internal Revenue Code that an individual taxpayer without a qualifying child has attained the age of 25. Provides that certain taxpayers using individual tax identification numbers are entitled to the earned income tax credit. Creates the eligible dependent tax credit. Provides that the total amount of credits between the eligible dependent tax credit and the earned income tax credit may not be less than $600. Amends the Earned Income Tax Credit Information Act to delete certain provisions concerning dependent children. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Act on the Aging. Provides that rates and minimum mandated wage increases for homemaker services shall be, at minimum, a rate of $24.96 as of July 1, 2021 to sustain a minimum wage of $15 per hour. Requires rates in subsequent State fiscal years to be no lower than the rates in effect on July 1, 2021. Provides that providers of in-home services shall be required to certify to the Department on Aging that they remain in compliance with the mandated wage increase for direct service workers. Provides that fringe benefits, including, but not limited to, paid time off and payment for training, health insurance, travel, or transportation, shall not be reduced in relation to the rate increases described in the amendatory Act. Effective July 1, 2021.

Amends the Health Care Professional Credentials Data Collection Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the adoption and incorporation of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. House Committee Amendment No. 1 Deletes reference to: 410 ILCS 517/45 Adds reference to: New Act Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Creates the Consumer Choice in Maternal Care for African-American Mothers Pilot Program Act. Requires the Task Force on Infant and Maternal Mortality Among African Americans to partner with community-based maternal care providers to develop rules and regulations for a Medicaid voucher pilot program to expand consumer choice for Black mothers that includes planned home birth services and in-home perinatal and postpartum care services provided by racially concordant nationally accredited certified professional midwives. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to implement the pilot program no later than January 1, 2023. Provides that the pilot program shall operate for a 5-year period. Requires the Task Force to submit annual reports to the General Assembly, beginning January 1, 2024, and each January 1 thereafter through January 1, 2028, that provides a status update on the pilot program and annual impact measure reporting. Provides that the pilot program shall implement a maternity episode payment model that provides a single payment for all services across the prenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal period which covers the 9 months of pregnancy plus 12 weeks of postpartum. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to make available to the Task Force all relevant data related to maternal care expenditures made under the State's Medical Assistance Program so that budget-neutral reimbursement rates can be established for bundled maternal care services spanning the prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum phases of a maternity episode. House Committee Amendment No. 2 Provides that the Medicaid voucher pilot program includes home birth services and in-home perinatal and postpartum care services provided by racially concordant nationally accredited certified professional midwives who are licensed and registered in Illinois (rather than racially concordant nationally accredited certified professional midwives). Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of the engrossed bill with the following changes: Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to take all necessary steps to ensure that the State is eligible for, and receives, the maximum federal matching funds available under Title XIX or XXI of the Social Security Act for the purposes of the pilot program. Requires the Department, beginning January 1, 2024, and each January 1 thereafter through January 1, 2028, to report to the General Assembly the expenditures associated with the provision of perinatal care services to pilot program participants who are insured under the State's Medical Assistance Program. Provides that the Department shall report the incidences of low birth weight, preterm birth, hospital admission for neonatal intensive care services, and severe maternal morbidity, pregnancy-related mortality, and neonatal mortality among program participants. Requires the Department to collect and maintain deidentified demographic data for all program participants. Provides that the demographic data collected for any program participant shall include the participant's zip code of residence at the time of program enrollment, parity, maternal race and ethnicity, maternal age at delivery, and weeks' gestation at the time of program enrollment. Requires the Department of Public Health to monitor and evaluate implementation of the alternative health care delivery model provided under the pilot program in accordance with the relevant terms and standards under the Alternative Health Care Delivery Act.

Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Department of Public Health, subject to appropriation or other available funding, shall conduct a program to promote awareness of firearms restraining orders to the general public. Provides that beginning July 1, 2022, the program must include the development and dissemination, through print, digital, and broadcast media, of public service announcements that publicize the options victims of domestic violence have to seek help with special emphasis on the firearms restraining order. Amends the Illinois Police Training Act. Provides that the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board shall develop and approve a standard curriculum for a training program on the Firearms Restraining Order Act. Provides that the Board shall conduct a training program that trains officers on the use of firearms restraining orders, how to identify situations in which a firearms restraining order is appropriate, and how to safely promote the usage of the firearms restraining order in a domestic violence situation. Officers who have successfully completed this program shall be issued a certificate attesting to their attendance. Amends the Firearms Restraining Order Act. Provides that a firearms restraining order includes the seizure of the respondent's ammunition. Provides that "family member of the respondent" includes a former spouse and a person with whom the respondent has or allegedly has a child in common. Provides that a petition for a firearms restraining order may be filed in any county where an incident occurred that involved the respondent posing an immediate and present danger of causing personal injury to the respondent or another by having in his or her custody or control, or purchasing, possessing, or receiving, a firearm or ammunition. Includes printing a petition for a firearms restraining order for which no fees may be charged by the circuit clerk. Provides that the Illinois State Police shall submit a yearly report to the General Assembly concerning the applications and issuance of firearms restraining orders.

Amends the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act. Provides that an employer may not refuse to hire an individual or discipline an employee because results of an individual's drug test indicate the presence of THC on the part of that individual. Permits an employer to enforce a pre-employment drug testing policy, zero-tolerance drug testing policy, random drug testing policy, or a drug-free workplace policy or disciplining an employee for violating such policy, but provides than an employer may not take adverse action against an employee solely because of a positive drug test for cannabis unless the test result exceeds limits set forth in certain DUI provisions of the Illinois Vehicle Code. Sets forth conditions under which an employer may discipline an employee for impairment. Provides that there is not a cause of action for any person against an employer for disciplining or terminating the employment of an individual when enforcing a compliant policy. Effective immediately. House Committee Amendment No. 2 Adds reference to: 410 ILCS 705/10-50 rep. Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of the introduced bill with the following changes: Amends the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Repeals provisions concerning employment and employer liability. Amends the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act. Defines terms. Provides that discharge for the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol is permissible if the employee works in a safety sensitive position, if the employee demonstrates impairment, or if the test results for tetrahydrocannabinol exceeds the limits under specified provisions of the Illinois Vehicle Code. Replaces references to "cannabis" with "tetrahydrocannabinol" and "premises" with "workplace". Provides that nothing in the Act prohibits an employer from enforcing a pre-employment drug testing policy, random drug testing policy, or a drug-free workplace policy or from disciplining an employee or withdrawing a job offer to an applicant for violating such policy if the policy is applied to employees working in safety sensitive positions. Removes the effective date. Makes other changes. House Floor Amendment No. 3 Deletes reference to: 410 ILCS 705/10-50 rep. Adds reference to: 410 ILCS 705/10-50 Further amends the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Provides that nothing in the Act shall be construed to create or imply a cause of action under the Act for any person against an employer for actions taken pursuant to an employer's workplace drug policy that complies with the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act. Removes specified provisions concerning employment and employer liability. Removes the repeal provision. Amends the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act. Provides that nothing in the Act prohibits an employer from disciplining or discharging an employee whose use of a lawful product adversely affects or impairs the employee's job performance, conduct, or ability to safely perform the assigned job duties in the employer's workplace during working hours or hours the individual is on call or implementing and enforcing workplace policies regarding the possession, use, or impairment of lawful products in the employer's workplace during working hours or hours the individual is on call. Provides that specified provisions do not apply to any employer (rather than any employer that is a non-profit organization) that, as one of its primary purposes or objectives, discourages the use of one or more lawful products by the general public. Provides that the definition of "safety sensitive position" includes a position working for a law enforcement agency in a capacity that impacts the safety of others. Provides that the definition of "critical services and infrastructure" means physical and cyber systems and assets that are so vital to the public (rather than State) that their incapacity, compromise, or destruction (rather than incapacity or destruction) would have a debilitating impact on physical or economic security, public health, or safety. Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Provides that the term "safety sensitive position" includes a position that requires working around heavy machinery in a manufacturing facility.

Amends "An Act in relation to violence against women", approved August 5, 2003, Public Act 93-416, by adding clauses to the preamble. Amends the Gender Violence Act. Includes domestic violence in the definition of "gender-related violence". Provides that an employer shall be liable for gender-related violence committed by an employee or nonemployee if the employer, through the employer's acts or omissions, engages in: (1) encouraging or assisting in the commission of the gender-related violence by failing to supervise, train, or monitor an employee or nonemployee; (2) having prior knowledge of an employee's or nonemployee's propensity for engaging in similar conduct but failing to take remedial measures; (3) failing to investigate complaints or reports of similar conduct by an employee or nonemployee; or (4) otherwise failing to investigate or take remedial measures in response to complaints or reports of similar conduct by an employee or nonemployee. Requires an action based on gender-related violence relating to domestic violence to be commenced within 7 years after the cause of action accrued or, in a case where the person was a minor at the time the cause of action accrued, within 7 years of the person reaching the age of 18. Provides that no person has the power to waive any provisions of the Act as part of a dissolution of marriage agreement, civil union, domestic partnership, or custody agreement. House Floor Amendment No. 2 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Amends the Gender Violence Act. Defines "employee", "employer", "work environment", and "workplace". Changes the definition of "gender-related violence" to include domestic violence. Provides that an employer shall only be liable for gender-related violence committed in the work environment by an employee or agent of the employer. Provides specific instances in which an employer is liable for gender-related violence. Provides that no person shall have the power to waive any provisions of the Act as part of a dissolution of marriage agreement, civil union, domestic partnership, or custody agreement. Makes corresponding changes.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that the earned income tax credit shall be: (i) 20% of the federal tax credit for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2023 and prior to January 1, 2024; (ii) 22% of the federal tax credit for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2024 and prior to January 1, 2025; and (iii) 25% of the federal tax credit for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1 2025. Provides that the earned income tax credit is available to persons who have attained the age of 18 but have not yet attained the age of 25 and to persons who are 65 years of age or older, without regard to any age requirements that would otherwise apply to individuals without a qualifying child under federal Internal Revenue Code. Extends the earned income tax credit to individuals filing a return using an individual taxpayer identification number. Creates a child dependent tax credit that shall be not less than $600 when combined with the taxpayer's earned income tax credit. Effective immediately.