Rep. Maurice West

Amends various Acts relating to the governance of public universities and community colleges in Illinois. With regard to in-state tuition charges, provides that, beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year, per the federal requirements for maintaining approval for veterans' education benefits, if a person who is on active military duty or is receiving veterans' education benefits, then the board of trustees of each university or community college shall deem that person an Illinois resident for tuition purposes for any academic quarter, semester, or term, as applicable. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that the Police Memorial Committee may use funds derived from the issuance of Police Memorial Committee license plates for the purpose of giving grants (in addition to scholarships) to spouses (in addition to children) of police officers killed in the line of duty. Effective immediately.

Amends the Department of Innovation and Technology Act and the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the Director of Corrections and the Secretary of Innovation and Technology shall jointly adopt a rule or best practices protocol that permits each committed person in a Department of Corrections institution or facility to access specific and approved job search and career building websites within a specified period before the person's release from the Department of Corrections institution or facility and to access only those job search and career building websites.

Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act concerning the Prescription Monitoring Program. Excludes licensed veterinarians from the reporting requirements under the Program. Provides that a licensed veterinarian shall report information required under the Prescription Monitoring Program if the person who is presenting an animal for treatment is suspected of fraudulently obtaining any controlled substance or prescription for a controlled substance to the Department of Human Services. Provides that a licensed veterinarian may not be subject to any licensure or disciplinary action by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for the failure to report such a person. Effective immediately. Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Adds reference to: 720 ILCS 570/320 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act concerning the Prescription Monitoring Program. Provides that beginning on and after the effective date of the amendatory Act, a licensed veterinarian shall be exempt from registration and prohibited from accessing patient information in the Prescription Monitoring Program. Provides that licensed veterinarians that are existing registrants shall be removed from the Prescription Monitoring Program. Exempts licensed veterinarians from the reporting requirements of the Program. Provides that if a person who is presenting an animal for treatment is suspected of fraudulently obtaining any controlled substance or prescription for a controlled substance, the licensed veterinarian shall report that information to the local law enforcement agency. Removes veterinarian members from the Prescription Monitoring Program Advisory Committee and the Peer Review Committee. Effective immediately.

Amends the Video Gaming Act. Provides that the City of Rockford may not impose any fee for the operation of a video gaming terminal in excess of $250 per year.

Amends the Homelessness Prevention Act. Changes certain types of assistance grantees shall offer households to prevent homelessness as follows: (1) payment of a rent or mortgage arrearage (rather than payment of a rent or mortgage arrearage in an amount established as necessary to defeat the eviction or foreclosure, but shall in no event be greater than 3 months of rental or mortgage arrears); (2) payment of a security deposit (rather than payment of a rent deposit or security deposit and payment of not more than 2 months rent or mortgage payments); and (3) payment of rent or mortgage. Provides that in no case shall the total assistance for a household be greater than the equivalent of 6 months of rent or mortgage payments. Provides that, on an annual basis, a grantee's administrative costs and case management expenses shall not exceed 15% of the grant amount it receives.

Amends the University of Illinois Trustees Act. Provides that in order to determine residency status of a potential or current student trustee, the student must provide evidence of the student's Illinois domicile for at least the previous 6 months and either (i) evidence of the student's current, valid Illinois driver's license or Illinois Identification Card or (ii) evidence of the student's valid Illinois voter registration (instead of having evidence of the student's Illinois domicile, Illinois driver's license, and Illinois voter registration positively demonstrate residency). Effective January 1, 2020.

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that children and stepchildren, in addition to the spouse and parents, of a police officer or firefighter who has died in the line of duty may be issued special license plates.

Amends the Jury Act. Provides that except as otherwise specifically provided by statute, no person who is qualified and able to serve as a juror may be excluded from jury service in any court of this State on the basis of, among other things, sexual orientation.

Creates the Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act. Provides for intent, legislative findings, purposes of the Act, and definitions. Provides that to raise mental health awareness on college campuses, each public college or university in this State must complete specified tasks. Provides that the board of trustees of each public college or university must designate an expert panel to develop and implement policies and procedures that (i) advise students, faculty, and staff on the proper procedures for identifying and addressing the needs of students exhibiting symptoms of mental health conditions, (ii) promote understanding of the rules of Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to increase knowledge and understanding of student protections under the law, and (iii) provide training if appropriate. Provides that because peer support programs may be beneficial in improving the emotional well-being of the student population, each public college or university must develop and implement a peer support program utilizing student peers to support individuals living with mental health conditions on campus; specifies best practices for the peer support programs. Provides that each public college or university must form strategic partnerships with local mental health service providers to improve overall campus mental wellness and augment on-campus capacity; specifies what the partnerships must include. Requires the Board of Higher Education to develop a Technical Assistance Center; specifies the duties of the Center. Requires each public college or university to evaluate the required programs under the Act using specified criteria. Effective July 1, 2020. House Floor Amendment No. 2 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of the introduced bill with the following changes. Provides that 2 years after the effective date of the Act, and once every 5 years thereafter, the Technical Assistance Center must propose to the General Assembly an updated ratio of clinical, non-student staff members to students based on actual ratios in this State and any new information related to appropriate benchmarks for clinician-to-student ratios. Provides that the updated benchmark must represent a ratio of no less than one clinical, non-student staff member to 1,250 students. Removes a provision providing that 5 years after the effective date of the Act, each public college or university must maintain a ratio of one clinical, non-student staff member to 1,000 students. Provides that the monitoring measures of local partnership programs must include the ratio of clinical, non-student staff to student population and the number of linkage agreements and contracts in place based on student population (rather than only the number of linkage agreements and contracts in place based on student population). Provides that the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, in conjunction with the Illinois Community College Board and the Board of Higher Education, must make recommendations to the General Assembly on the amounts necessary to implement the Act. Provides that the initial recommendation must be provided by the Commission no later than December 31, 2019 and any appropriation provided in advance of this recommendation may be used for planning purposes. Provides that no provision of the Act may be funded by student fees created on or after July 1, 2020 (rather than new student fees). Makes other changes. Effective July 1, 2020, except that certain provisions are effective immediately.