Rep. Rita Mayfield

Amends the Department of Human Services Act. Removes a requirement that the Department of Human Services must report quarterly to the Governor and the General Assembly on certain expenditures under the WIC nutrition program. Amends the Capital Spending Accountability Law. Provides that reports on capital spending are due on or before the forty-fifth day after the end of each quarter (currently, the first day of each quarter). Amends the State Finance Act to eliminate a report on certain transfers. Amends the Higher Education Veterans Service Act to eliminate a requirement that certain survey results must be posted on an Internet website. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections concerning the DNA testing backlog. Effective immediately.

Amends the School Code. Provides that a school district shall employ a ratio of no less than one counselor to 150 students (rather than allowing a school district to employ a ratio of no less than one counselor to 250 students).

Creates the Clean Jobs, Workforce and Contractor Equity Act. Creates the Equity and Empowerment in Clean Energy Advisory Board to administer the Clean Jobs Workforce Hubs Program, the Expanding Clean Energy Entrepreneurship and Contractor Incubator Network Program, the Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program, and the Illinois Clean Energy Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Primes Contractor Accelerator. Creates the Illinois Clean Energy Jobs and Justice Fund Act, the Community Energy, Climate, and Jobs Planning Act, the Energy Community Reinvestment Act, the Clean Energy Empowerment Zone Tax Credit Act, the Coal Severance Fee Act, the Building Energy Performance Standard Act, and the Public Utilities Intervenor Compensation Act. Amends the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to allow for emergency rulemaking. Amends the State Finance Act to create the Energy Community Reinvestment Fund, the Illinois Commerce Commission Intervenor Compensation Fund, and the Illinois Clean Energy Jobs and Justice Fund. Amends the Electric Vehicle Act, the Energy Efficient Building Act, the Illinois Power Agency Act, the Illinois Income Tax Act, the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act, the School Code, the Public Utilities Act, the Environmental Protection Act, the Illinois Nuclear Facility Safety Act, and the Prevailing Wage Act by making changes to implement certain programs. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person is not accountable for the conduct of another if he or she was subjected to specific and credible coercion, compulsion, duress, or threats. Provides that no offense is excepted from the provision that a person is not guilty of an offense by reason of conduct that he or she performs under the compulsion of threat or menace of the imminent infliction of death or great bodily harm, if he or she reasonably believes death or great bodily harm will be inflicted upon him or her, or upon his or her spouse or child, if he or she does not perform that conduct. Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. In a provision concerning relief from judgments, changes the allegations a movant must establish when presenting a meritorious claim to: (1) the movant was convicted of a forcible felony; (2) the movant's participation in the offense was related to experiencing or the effects of gender-based violence; and (3) no substantial evidence or incomplete evidence of gender-based violence against the movant was presented at the movant's sentencing hearing. Changes the term "domestic violence" to "gender-based violence". Removes the definition of "intimate partner". Makes corresponding changes. House Floor Amendment No. 1 Replaces everything after the enacting clause with the provisions of the introduced bill, and makes the following changes: In the Criminal Code of 2012, removes language providing that no offense is excepted from the provision that a person is not guilty of an offense by reason of conduct that he or she performs under the compulsion of threat or menace of the imminent infliction of death or great bodily harm, if he or she reasonably believes death or great bodily harm will be inflicted upon him or her, or upon his or her spouse or child, if he or she does not perform that conduct. In the Code of Civil Procedure, restores language providing that a movant may present a meritorious claim if the allegations in the petition establish that the evidence of domestic violence or gender-based violence against the movant is material and noncumulative to other evidence offered at the sentencing hearing, and is of such a conclusive character that it would likely change the sentence imposed by the original trial court. Restores the term "domestic violence". Defines "gender-based" violence. Restores the definition of "intimate partner". Makes other changes.

Creates the Insurance Business Transfer Act. Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law, a court may issue any order, process, or judgment that is necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions of this Act. Sets forth provisions concerning notice requirements, application procedure, application to a court for approval of a plan, approval and denial of insurance business transfer plans, and fees and costs. Provides that the Department of Insurance shall adopt rules that are consistent with the provisions and that no insurance business transfer plan shall be approved in the State unless and until such rules are adopted. Provides that the portion of the application for an insurance business transfer that would otherwise be confidential, including any documents, materials, communications, or other information submitted to the Director of Insurance in contemplation of an application, shall not lose such confidentiality. Provides that insurers consent to the jurisdiction of the Director with regard to ongoing oversight of operations, management, and solvency relating to the transferred business. Defines terms. House Floor Amendment No. 1 In provisions concerning the independent expert's report and the approval of an insurance transfer plan, changes references from "policyholders and claimants" to "policyholders, reinsurers, and claimants", and "policyholders or claimants" to "policyholders, reinsurers, or claimants".

Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Deletes language providing that nothing in the Act requires that each parent be allocated decision-making responsibilities. Provides that it is presumed that fit parents act in the best interests of their children. Deletes language providing that in determining the child's best interests for purposes of allocating parenting time, the court shall consider the amount of time each parent spent performing caretaking functions with respect to the child in the 24 months preceding the filing of any petition for allocation of parental responsibilities, or, if the child is under 2 years of age, since the child's birth.

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 Retention of Illinois Students and Equity Act. Provides that a noncitizen graduate student who does not possess a valid visa or status as a lawful permanent resident is eligible for State financial aid and benefits.

Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that if the defendant is acquitted, the court shall order 100% of the defendant's bail deposit returned to the defendant or to the defendant's designee by an assignment executed at the time the bail amount is deposited. Deletes provision that in no event shall the amount retained by the clerk of the court as bail bond costs be less than $5 and deletes in counties with a population of 3,000,000 or more in no event shall the amount retained by the clerk of the court as bail bond costs exceed $100.

Amends the State Universities Article of the Illinois Pension Code. In provisions concerning mistakes in benefit calculation, provides that if the amount of the benefit was mistakenly set too high, the error was undiscovered for 3 years or longer, and the error was not the result of incorrect information supplied or information omitted (instead of incorrect information supplied) by the affected member or beneficiary, then upon discovery of the mistake the benefit shall be adjusted to the correct level, but the recipient of the benefit need not repay to the System the excess amounts received in error. Provides that regardless of the date an overpayment is discovered, if the System determines that the overpayment has occurred for specified reasons, the System may recover the overpayment from the recipient thereof or the recipient's estate, plus interest at the effective rate from the date of the overpayment to the date of recovery, either directly or by deducting such amount from the remaining benefits payable to the recipient or the recipient's estate, or by any other means available to the System. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.