Rep. Dave Vella

Amends the Downstate Police and Downstate Firefighter Articles of the Illinois Pension Code. Establishes a presumption that a firefighter or police officer who becomes disabled as a result of exposure to and contraction of COVID-19 was injured in the line of duty and is entitled to receive a duty disability benefit under the applicable Article of the Code. Specifies that the changes made by the amendatory Act apply retroactively to March 9, 2020, and any police officer or firefighter who has been previously denied a duty disability benefit that would otherwise be entitled to a duty disability benefit under the amendatory Act shall be entitled to a retroactive duty disability benefit. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.

Creates the Illinois Rust Belt to Green Belt Pilot Program Act. Creates the Illinois Rust Belt to Green Belt Fund as a special fund in the State treasury and makes a conforming change in the State Finance Act. Provides that the Fund shall be used by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to encourage and facilitate the employment of construction workforces located in underrepresented populations. Provides that applicants that are applying for a new utility-scale offshore wind project with the Illinois Power Agency shall file with the Department, as part of the applicant's application, an equity and inclusion plan. Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. In provisions concerning the procurement of renewable energy credits, provides that in addition to the amount of renewable energy credits to be procured from wind projects, the Illinois Power Agency shall procure at least 700,000 renewable energy credits, delivered annually for at least 20 years, from one new utility-scale offshore wind project. In provisions concerning the development of a long-term renewable resources procurement plan, provides that the total of renewable energy resources procured under the procurement plan shall be reduced for all retail customers based on the amount necessary to limit the annual estimated average net increase due to the costs of these resources included in the amounts paid by eligible retail customers in connection with electric service to no more than 4.25% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the year ending May 31, 2009, and to no more than 4.5% of that amount as of the billing month following the expected date that a new utility-scale offshore wind project commences commercial operations and is expected to begin delivering power to the PJM Interconnection, LLC transmission grid. Provides that the Agency shall conduct at least one new utility-scale offshore wind procurement within 360 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Defines terms. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that evidence of a defendant's voluntary intoxication is not admissible for the purpose of negating the defendant's mens rea, nor shall any such argument to the trier of fact be permitted. Provides that if evidence of the defendant's intoxication, either voluntary or involuntary, is admitted, the trier of fact shall be instructed that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to the crime charged.

Amends the Downstate Police and Downstate Firefighter Articles of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that the annual employer contribution shall include an amount sufficient to bring the total assets of the pension fund up to 90% of the total actuarial liabilities of the pension fund by the end of municipal fiscal year 2050 (instead of 2040). Makes a conforming change. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Requires insurance policies to be written in language easily readable and understandable by a person of average intelligence and education. Provides the factors the Director of Insurance shall consider in making the determination that the policy is easily readable and understandable by a person of average intelligence and education.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that a health plan shall limit the total amount that a covered person is required to pay for a covered prescription inhaler at an amount not to exceed $25 per 30-day supply and shall limit the total amount that a covered person is required to pay for all covered prescription inhalers at an amount not to exceed $50 in total per 30 days. Provides that coverage for prescription inhalers shall not be subject to any deductible. Provides that nothing in the provisions prevents a health plan from reducing a covered person's cost sharing to an amount less than the cap. Authorizes rulemaking and enforcement by the Department of Insurance. Effective January 1, 2025.

Amends the Criminal Identification Act. Provides that the court may not order the sealing or expungement of the records of arrests or charges not initiated by arrest that result in an order of supervision for or conviction of driving under the influence of alcohol, other drug or drugs, intoxicating compound or compounds or any combination thereof (DUI) under the Illinois Vehicle Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance; except that the court may order the sealing of one misdemeanor record of arrest or charge not initiated by arrest that results in an order of supervision for or conviction of DUI under the Illinois Vehicle Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance per petitioner if each of the following conditions have been met: (1) the petitioner has not previously been convicted of or placed on supervision for DUI under the Illinois Vehicle Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance; (2) 10 or more years have passed since the termination of the petitioner's sentence; (3) during the commission of the violation, the petitioner did not proximately cause death or personal injury to any other person or damage the property of any other person; (4) the petitioner has no other misdemeanor or felony driving charge on his or her driving abstract; and (5) the judge examined the driving abstract of the petitioner petitioning to have his or her records sealed under this provision and made a finding entered on the record that the petitioner did not enter into a plea agreement on a lesser charge other than a DUI under the Illinois Vehicle Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance, and the facts did not support that the petitioner had previously committed a DUI under the Illinois Vehicle Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance. Provides that the Secretary of State shall maintain orders of court supervision and convictions for DUI under the Illinois Vehicle Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance on court purposes driving abstracts.

Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. Provides that in competitive procurements conducted by the Agency for utility-scale energy storage resources from owners of existing or retired fossil-fueled power plants, the Agency, in ranking the bids, shall apply a downward bid price adjustment to any project bid that is located or proposed to be located within a one mile radius of an existing substation that serves or has served as a point of interconnection for a fossil-fueled power plant and that meets one of 3 specific criteria. Provides that if the project meets 2 or more of the criteria, the Agency shall apply the bid price adjustment 2 times. Provides that the Agency shall develop a storage procurement plan that results in the electric utilities contracting for energy storage resources. Provides that, within 90 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act, the Agency shall develop an energy storage procurement plan. Provides that an owner of the energy storage resources must have entered into a project labor agreement for the construction of the energy storage resource and certify that not less than the prevailing wage was or will be paid to employees who are engaged in construction activities. Provides that, if the owner or owners of the energy storage resources own existing or retired fossil-fueled power plants, the owner shall commit to a job training and education program to provide the requisite skills, knowledge, and training required to operate and maintain energy storage resources and create employment opportunities for graduates of the program. Provides that the Agency shall conduct an analysis every 2 years to determine whether the contracted quantity of energy storage in energy storage capacity and energy storage duration is sufficient. Provides that the Agency shall retain an independent consultant to conduct the analysis. Sets forth requirements of the independent consultant and the analysis. Provides that the Agency is authorized to collect costs for conducting the analysis from electric utilities. The electric utilities are authorized to recover the cost of the analysis. Provides that if the Agency determines that the need for energy storage capacity or energy storage duration is greater than the energy storage resources already procured, the Agency shall establish and the Commission shall approve new energy storage resources targets to meet the identified need. Effective immediately.

Creates the Parental Digital Choice Act. Provides that the Act may be referred to as Sammy's Law. Provides that, before August 1, 2025, or within 30 days after a service becomes a large social media platform after August 1, 2025, a large social media platform provider shall create, maintain, and make available to any third-party safety software provider a set of third-party-accessible real-time application programming interfaces, including any information necessary to use the interfaces, by which a child, if the child is 13 years of age or older, or a parent or legal guardian of a child, may delegate permission to the third-party safety software provider to: (1) manage the child's online interactions, content, and account settings on the large social media platform on the same terms as the child; and (2) initiate secure transfers of user data from the large social media platform in a commonly used and machine-readable format to the third-party safety software provider. Sets forth disclosure requirements to the child and the parents or guardians of a child; requirements of third-party safety software providers; and liability of third-party safety software providers. Provides that a violation of any of the provisions of the Act is an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to make a conforming change. Effective June 1, 2025.

Amends the Property Tax Code. In provisions concerning charitable exemptions granted to limited liability companies, removes a requirement that the limited liability company must be a disregarded entity for federal and Illinois income tax purposes.