Rep. Joyce Mason

Amends the Department of Revenue Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois and the Unemployment Insurance Act. Provides that the Department of Revenue and the Department of Employment Security shall cooperate by sharing information and data necessary to identify fraudulent activity with respect to claims for unemployment benefits and to protect taxpayers from the effects of reported income in connection with fraudulent claims.

Amends the Public Community College Act. Provides for the election (rather than appointment) of the board of trustees of the City Colleges of Chicago beginning with the 2023 consolidated election. Provides that the City of Chicago shall be subdivided into 20 trustee districts by the General Assembly for seats on the board of trustees, in addition to one at-large trustee. Makes related changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Workers' Compensation Act. Provides that the rebuttable presumption concerning specified conditions or impairments of health of an employee employed as a firefighter, emergency medical technician, emergency medical technician-intermediate, advanced emergency medical technician, or paramedic is intended to shift the burden of proof to the employing entity and any party attacking the presumption must establish by clear and convincing evidence an independent and non-work related cause for the condition or disability and prove that no aspect of the employment contributed to the condition. Provides that the rebuttable presumption relating to hearing loss cannot be overcome with evidence allegedly showing that the injured employee did not meet specified exposure thresholds.

Amends the Unemployment Insurance Act. In a provision concerning the recoupment of any overpayment made to an individual who is found to have been ineligible for benefits, provides that the individual must be provided written notice of his or her appeal rights including the ability to request waiver of any recovery. Provides that if the Department of Employment Security has previously recouped or recovered overpayment funds from an individual and that individual is granted waiver with respect to those funds, then the individual shall be refunded those funds.

Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to develop a program designed to provide over-the-phone academic detailing and clinical consultation from a qualified provider to behavioral health providers and providers in academic medical settings who need assistance on how best to care for patients with a severe mental illness or a developmental disability. Requires the Department to track all inpatient and residential detoxification and treatment beds that are available for medical assistance beneficiaries and for provider referrals. Requires the Department to record provider trainings and publish the trainings online within one month of the training, whenever feasible, to be available on demand for staff who are unable to attend. Provides that beginning on January 1, 2023, the Department shall cover services rendered by virtual peer support specialists under the medical assistance program for behavioral health and substance use support. Requires the Department and the Department of Human Services to collaborate to review coverage and billing requirements for substance use prevention and recovery and mental health services with the goal of identifying disparities and streamlining coverage and billing requirements to reduce the administrative burden for providers and medical assistance beneficiaries. Requires the Department to increase the rate for prenatal and postpartum visits to no less than the rate for an adult well visit, including any applicable add-ons, beginning on January 1, 2023. Requires the Department to evaluate the rate for external cephalic versions and increase the rate by an amount determined by the Department to promote safer birthing options for pregnant individuals, beginning on January 1, 2023.

Amends the State Treasurer Act. Makes changes concerning the Illinois Higher Education Savings Program. Provides that the State Treasurer may make supplementary deposits to children in financially insecure households if sufficient funds are available. Provides that the State Treasurer shall annually prepare a report that includes a summary of the Program operations for the preceding fiscal year, including, among other items, the rate of seed deposits claimed, and, to the extent data is reported and available, the racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic data of beneficiaries and of children in financially insecure households who may receive automatic bonus deposits. Provides that such other information that is relevant to make a full disclosure of the operations of the Program and Fund may also be reported. Makes conforming changes.

Congratulates Terry Cosgrove on his retirement from serving as the president and CEO of Personal PAC. Further commends him for his years of dedicated service.

Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act. Provides that emergency medical (EMS) personnel may provide preveterinary emergency care to a dog or cat to the extent the EMS personnel has received commensurate training and is authorized by his or her employer to provide care. Provides that requirements governing the circumstances under which EMS personnel may provide preveterinary emergency care to dogs and cats may be specified in the employer's policies governing the provision of care. Contains language stating that nothing in the Act imposes upon EMS personnel any obligation to provide care to a dog or cat or to provide care to a dog or cat before a person. Amends the Veterinary Medicine and Surgery Practice Act of 2004. Provides that nothing in that Act shall apply to EMS personnel who provide preveterinary emergency care to a dog or cat under the amended provisions of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act. Effective immediately. House Floor Amendment No. 1 Provides that "preveterinary emergency care" means the immediate medical stabilization of a dog or cat by EMS personnel, in an emergency to which the EMS personnel is responding, through means including oxygen, bandaging, or basic first aid (rather than oxygen, fluids, medications, or bandaging), with the intent of enabling the dog or cat to be treated by a veterinarian. Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Deletes reference to: 210 ILCS 50/3.260 new 225 ILCS 115/4 Adds reference to: 210 ILCS 50/1 from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5501 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title. Senate Floor Amendment No. 3 Deletes reference to: 210 ILCS 50/1 Adds reference to: 720 ILCS 570/401 from Ch. 56 1/2, par. 1401 720 ILCS 570/414 720 ILCS 570/415 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. Provides that for various offenses involving the manufacture or delivery of a fentanyl analog, 3 years shall be added to the term of imprisonment imposed by the court, and the maximum sentence for the offense shall be increased by 3 years. Provides that the 3-year penalty enhancement applies when the person knew or should have known that the substance containing the controlled substance contains any amount of fentanyl or a fentanyl analog. Provides that provisions regarding limited immunity from prosecution for a victim of sexual assault for the use, possession, and consumption of a controlled substance and limited immunity from prosecution for a person who is experiencing a drug overdose or for a person who in good faith seeks or obtains emergency medical assistance for someone experiencing an overdose, in relation to fentanyl, only apply to a person possessing less than 3 grams of a substance containing fentanyl or an analog thereof. Effective immediately.

Amends the Employee Sick Leave Act. Removes language exempting from coverage under the Act an employee of an employer subject to the provisions of Title II of the federal Railway Labor Act.

Amends the Medical Patient Rights Act. Provides that a health care professional or health care provider shall not contact a collection agency to collect unpaid debt when a patient has a late payment or nonpayment of a medical bill for COVID-19 testing, nor shall the health care professional or health care provider report the late payment or nonpayment to a credit reporting agency. Effective immediately.