Rep. Joyce Mason

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that in a county having a population of 3,000,000 or more, the county sheriff shall establish with other law enforcement agencies a vehicle theft hotline to facilitate the location of stolen vehicles via their installed existing global positioning systems, collaborate with vehicle manufacturers and dealers to provide information and assistance to law enforcement officers in the investigation of vehicle theft, and ensure that consumers are provided with information concerning the hotline and any new or used vehicle manufactured with a global positioning system by publishing the information in a conspicuous location on the county sheriff's website. Provides that the manufacturer of any vehicle sold in this State shall establish a hotline available to State, county, and local law enforcement agencies exclusively for the purposes of law enforcement information sharing and the electronic tracking of vehicles stolen in vehicular hijacking incidents or that have been used in the commission of kidnapping, aggravated battery with a firearm, attempted homicide, or homicide. Provides that the manufacturer's hotline shall relay vehicle location information, including real-time vehicle location information whenever possible, to the 9-1-1 call center or designated dispatch center for the responding agency, to the best of the manufacturer's technical capability. Requires State, county, and local law enforcement agencies to use their respective 9-1-1 system call centers or designated dispatch centers for the purpose of verification of law enforcement officers' identities and bona fide incident report numbers related to incidents. Requires manufacturers to prepare written statements detailing tracking and disabling system capabilities and make them available to State, county, and local law enforcement agencies upon request. Requires that, if a vehicle is not subscribed to the manufacturer's tracking service, the manufacturer of any vehicle sold in this State shall waive all fees associated with initiating, renewing, reestablishing, or maintaining the location, disabling, or alert service with which the vehicle is equipped during a law enforcement response or investigation of specified offenses.

Amends the Illinois Act on the Aging, the Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities Act, and the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that individuals with a score of 29 or higher based on the determination of need (DON) assessment tool shall be eligible to receive services through the Community Care Program, services to prevent unnecessary or premature institutionalization, and services through the program of supportive living facilities. Further amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that on and after July 1, 2023, level of care eligibility criteria for home and community-based services for medically fragile and technology dependent children shall be no more restrictive than the level of care criteria in place on January 1, 2021. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to execute, relative to the nursing home prescreening project, written agreements with the Department of Human Services and the Department on Aging to effect, on and after July 1, 2023, an increase in the DON score threshold to 37 for applicants for institutional long term care, subject to federal approval. Provides that on and after July 1, 2023 but before July 1, 2025, continuation of a nursing facility stay that began on or before June 30, 2023 by a person with a DON score between 29 and 36 may be covered when such stay would be otherwise eligible under this Code, provided the nursing facility performs certain actions. Requires the Department to, by rule, set a maximum total number of individuals to be covered and other limits on utilization that it deems appropriate. Effective July 1, 2023.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that the credit for wages paid to qualified veterans also extends to wages paid to a qualified veteran's spouse. Provides that active duty members of the United States Armed Forces are also considered "qualified veterans". Effective immediately.

Amends the Property Tax Code. In a Section concerning the homestead exemption for veterans with disabilities, provides that: (1) for taxable years prior to 2015, "surviving spouse" means the surviving spouse of a veteran who obtained the exemption prior to his or her death; (2) for taxable years 2015 through 2020, "surviving spouse" means (A) the surviving spouse of a veteran who obtained the exemption prior to his or her death and (B) the surviving spouse of a veteran who was killed in the line of duty in the current taxable year or any preceding taxable year; and (3) for taxable year 2021 and thereafter, "surviving spouse" means (A) the surviving spouse of a veteran who qualified for the exemption prior to his or her death, (B) the surviving spouse of a veteran who was killed in the line of duty in the current taxable year or any preceding taxable year, (C) the surviving spouse of a veteran who did not obtain the exemption before death, but who would have qualified for the exemption if he or she had survived, and (D) the surviving spouse of a veteran whose death was determined to be service-connected who is a current recipient of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. Effective immediately.

Creates the Right to Read Act. Provides that the State Board of Education shall offer support: to each public school district to select evidence-based core reading instruction programs and implement them using structured literacy instruction; and to each early childhood, elementary, and special education teacher, reading specialist, literacy coach, and administrator to complete evidence-based training in teaching reading. Requires the State Board of Education to annually compile and post on its website information on the steps it has undertaken to support school districts to deliver high-quality, evidence-based literacy instruction, including a list of any Early Literacy Grant recipients, documentation of how the recipient allocated the funding to support improved literacy, and what evidence-based literacy curricula the recipient is utilizing. Amends the School Code. In provisions concerning educator testing, requires applicants seeking specified licenses to pass a test in reading foundations, which shall include assessment of the applicant's understanding of phonological and phonemic awareness, concepts of print and the alphabetic principle, the role of phonics in promoting reading development, word analysis skills and strategies, vocabulary development, application of reading comprehension skills and strategies, and methods for assessing reading development. In provisions concerning minimum requirements for educators trained in other states or countries, provides that an applicant who has successfully completed a reading foundations test of at least comparable rigor to the Illinois reading foundations test is not required to complete a reading foundations test. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Creates the Minimum Energy and Water Efficiency Standards Act. Provides that the Environmental Protection Agency shall adopt rules establishing minimum efficiency standards for types of new products. Requires the rules to provide for specified minimum efficiency standards. Provides specified dates for the implementation of efficiency standards relating to particular products. Provides that the Agency may adopt new rules increasing efficiency standards. Provides protection against repeal of federal standards. Provides penalties for noncompliance with the Act. Provides that the Act's provisions are severable. Effective immediately.

Amends the Criminal Identification Act. Provides that a petitioner may petition the circuit court to expunge the records of his or her arrests and charges not initiated by arrest when each arrest or charge not initiated by arrest sought to be expunged resulted in: (1) an order of misdemeanor diversion under the Unified Code of Corrections, and the diversion program was successfully completed by the petitioner; or (2) a conviction for possession of certain specified amounts of a controlled substance; (3) a conviction for possessing less than 5 grams of methamphetamine; or (4) a conviction where the statutory penalty changed as a result of a resentencing hearing under the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. Changes the penalties for the manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, or possession of a controlled substance. Amends the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act. Changes the penalties for methamphetamine delivery or possession. Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that a person serving a sentence, including a sentence of probation, for an offense for which the statutory penalty has been subsequently reduced under the amendatory Act to petition the trial court that entered the judgment of conviction to request resentencing in accordance with the statutory penalty in effect at the time of the filing of the petition. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections to create a Misdemeanor Diversion Program. Fiscal Note (Admin Office of the Illinois Courts) HB3447 amends the Criminal Identification Act regarding expungements. Based on a review of the bill, it has been determined that the proposed legislation would have no fiscal impact on the state appropriation to the judicial branch. It is not possible to determine what fiscal impact, if any, the bill would have on local judicial budgets.

Creates the Infrastructure Delivery and Program Transparency Act. Provides for the creation of an Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator within the Office of the Secretary of Transportation to administer the Rebuild Illinois Program. Provides that the Office of the Secretary of Transportation shall develop a publicly available project information website that includes detailed information about each infrastructure project. Provides that the Coordinator shall track and make publicly available a master program, budget, and construction schedule and program metrics. Provides that after a review of the program metrics, the Coordinator shall implement improvements to the Rebuild Illinois Program in accordance with the established overall program budget and project schedule. Provides that the Department of Transportation and the Coordinator shall implement certain initiatives to assist the Department with meeting program goals.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates an income tax credit in an amount equal to any investment made by the taxpayer during the taxable year for the installation or operation of an anaerobic digester. Effective immediately.

Amends the Wrongful Death Act. Allows for the recovery of punitive damages in a wrongful death action.