Rep. Steve Reick

Amends the Departments of State Government Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that an office of Inspector General established within a department of State government, or otherwise established in any agency under the jurisdiction of the Governor, that is in existence on the effective date of this amendatory Act, or which may be established thereafter, shall be a fully independent office with its own appropriation separate from the overall appropriation for the department in which such office is established.

Amends the Educator Licensure Article of the School Code. Provides for the reinstatement of a lapsed Professional Educator License upon the payment by the applicant of the lesser of a $100 penalty or a $10 penalty for each year the license has lapsed (rather than a $500 penalty). Effective immediately.

Creates the McHenry County Children and Family Services Agency Division in the Counties Code (referred to as AJ's Law). Establishes a county children and family services agency in McHenry County for a 5-year period to replace the operations of the Department of Children and Family Services within that county. Provides that the McHenry County children and family services agency shall have all powers and duties of the Department under the Children and Family Services Act and the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Provides for the appointment of an executive director and employment of employees. Provides for requirements for operation of the county children and family services agency, including unit-based multidisciplinary teams. Provides for State funding of the agency after submission of a budget to the Department each year. Provides for transfer of power and duties back to the Department should the county children and family services agency cease operators after the initial 5-year period. Effective immediately.

Amends the School Code. Makes changes in provisions prohibiting certain unfunded State mandates. Provides that a school district or private school may discontinue or modify the mandate if (i) a separate State appropriation does not fully fund the mandate or (ii) the mandate does not improve the educational outcomes of the school district or private school. Requires a school board to notify the regional superintendent of schools of its decision to discontinue or modify the mandate. Requires the regional superintendent to approve the discontinuation or modification unless he or she demonstrates that (i) the costs imposed by the mandate are fully funded by a separate State appropriation or (ii) the mandated activity improves the educational outcomes of the school district. Makes other changes. Effectively immediately.

Urges Governor JB Pritzker to instruct the Illinois Department of Corrections to comply with federal law and allow the DOC to continue to work with ICE and local law enforcement agencies.

Amends the Safe Bottled Water Act. Requires tests administered under the Act to be made available to the public upon request.

Amends the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. Provides that for each rule proposed to be adopted by the State Board of Education impacting the operations of any school district, any interested person may request the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to determine whether the proposed rule is a State mandate. Provides that if the Joint Committee determines that the proposed rule is a State mandate, then the running of all periods under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act shall be tolled, and no Certificate of No Objection may be issued for the rule, until the rule has been approved by a joint resolution of the General Assembly. Effective immediately.

Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Provides that, to ensure that the education of a youth in care is not interrupted after the youth is placed in a residential treatment facility and held in the facility beyond medical necessity, on the date a youth is initially admitted to a residential treatment facility, the Department of Children and Family Services must update its records and list the address of the residential treatment facility as the official address of the youth in care so that the youth is eligible to receive education services from the school district in which the residential treatment facility is located, including services provided under a remote educational program as defined in the School Code.

Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to establish and operate a case tracking system which shall be designed to collect, maintain, and monitor information on payments made by the Department on behalf of individuals eligible for medical assistance whose case files are marked as "inactive" in the Department's Medicaid Management Information System. Provides that the Department shall use the case tracking system to prevent payments from being made on behalf of an individual who was ineligible for medical assistance due to the person being deceased. Provides that to ensure the case tracking system contains the most up to date information on an individual whose name and case file is entered into the case tracking system, at least once a month the Department shall cross-reference the individual's name, social security number, and any other relevant information belonging to the individual with the death records information maintained by the Department of Public Health's Division of Vital Records. Requires the Department to adopt any rules necessary to implement the case tracking system.

Amends the General Assembly Compensation Act. Provides that a member of the General Assembly who has held office any part of a month, but not for the entire month, is entitled to compensation only for those days during that month that he or she held office (currently, entitled to compensation for the entire month). Effective immediately.