Rep. Dave Vella

Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that an elected or appointed member of a public body of a township may satisfy specified training requirements of the Act by participating in a course of training sponsored or conducted by an organization that represents townships created under the Township Code. Specifies the contents of the course of training. Provides that if an organization that represents townships provides a course of training, it must provide a certificate of course completion to each elected or appointed member of a public body who successfully completes that course of training.

Amends the Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Act. Provides that, for persons dying on or after January 1, 2024, the exclusion amount is the greater of $12,900,000 or the applicable exclusion amount calculated under specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Provides that the exclusion amount includes any deceased spousal unused exclusion amount available after a valid election is made under the Internal Revenue Code. Effective immediately.

Amends the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act. Provides that any person convicted of a second or subsequent offense under the Act and any person convicted of an offense under the Act who has been previously convicted of an offense under a similar law of the United States or of another state relating to the manufacture or possession of methamphetamine (rather than just convicted of a second or subsequent offense under the Act) may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term up to twice the maximum term otherwise authorized, fined an amount up to twice that otherwise authorized, or both.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Increases from a Class 2 felony to a Class 1 felony, the penalty for a person who commits aggravated criminal sexual abuse if that person commits an act of sexual conduct with a victim who is under 18 years of age and the person is a family member. Makes technical changes to the statute.

Amends the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Provides for the licensure of consolidated transport centers. Specifies requirements for consolidated transport centers, including operating documents, security plans, facility requirements, plant monitoring, prohibitions on ownership, and prohibitions on offering things of value to certain persons and licensees. Provides that cannabis business entities shall adhere to the traceability and consumer protection guidelines established by the Department of Agriculture when utilizing the cannabis plant monitoring system or cannabis transport GPS tracking system. Provides that entities awarded a transporting license may defer paying the associated license fee for a period of no more than 3 years. Provides that from January 1, 2024 through January 1, 2026, the Department shall not issue any transporting licenses other than those issued before the effective date of the amendatory Act. Provides that all products received and shipped to and from a consolidated transport center shall be tracked within the cannabis plant monitoring system. Provides that a craft grower or infuser may enter into a contract with a transporting organization to transport cannabis to a consolidated transport center or a different transporting organization at the consolidated transport center. Provides that no person, cannabis business establishment, or entity other than a licensed transportation organization shall transport cannabis or cannabis-infused products on behalf of a cannabis business establishment to or from a consolidated transport center, unless otherwise authorized by rule. Makes other changes. Authorizes emergency rulemaking. Makes a conforming change in the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Reimagine Public Safety Act. Requires the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention to conduct a study to assess and analyze any funds appropriated under the Act to implement the Act. Provides that the study shall consider how the monies appropriated have aided the communities, prevention services, and organizations who receive funding under this Act in preventing and reducing the amount of violence in the State. Allows the Office to collaborate with other State agencies or organizations that collect or retain data or statistics related to violence in the State. Requires the Office to submit a report of the study to the General Assembly within one year of the effective date of the amendatory Act.

Amends the Costs Article of the Code of Civil Procedure. Provides that on the application of any person, before or after the commencement of an action for child support, if the court finds that the applicant is a person whose income is below the poverty level, the court shall grant the applicant a full waiver entitling the applicant to sue or defend the action without payment of any of the fees, costs, and charges.

Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, beginning in taxable year 2024, no taxing district, other than a home rule unit, may levy a tax on any parcel of real property that is more than 105% of the base amount unless (i) the increase is attributable to substantial improvements to the property, (ii) the taxing district did not levy a tax against the property in the previous taxable year, or (iii) the increase is attributable to a special service area. Provides that "base amount" means the tax levied by the taxing district on the subject property in the immediately preceding taxable year, except that, if the property received a homestead exemption in the immediately preceding taxable year and is not eligible for that exemption in the current taxable year, then the base amount shall be the tax that would have been levied by the taxing district on the subject property in the immediately preceding taxable year if the homestead exemption had not been applied. Provides that a taxing district may elect to be exempt from those provisions for one or more taxable years if the exemption is approved by referendum. Effective immediately.

Amends the Pharmacy Practice Act. Provides that a pharmacist must ensure that a sign warning of the dangers associated with opioids is conspicuously displayed in the pharmacy. Provides that the Department of Public Health shall develop the form and content of the sign.

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Hijacking and Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention and Insurance Verification Act. Provides for the repeal of the Act's repealer. Amends the School Code and the Illinois Vehicle Code. Requires all driver education courses to include information pertaining to the best practices for safely sharing the roadway with bicyclists and pedestrians. Allows the Secretary of State to disclose social security numbers and associated information to the Selective Service System for compliance purposes. Prohibits a person from, without authority, acquiring, selling, exchanging, giving away, or transferring a salvage vehicle. Includes an unvacated revocation of a pretrial release in the definition of "conviction". Removes a provision that requires a person whose license is suspended to surrender the license to the Secretary and removes holding a suspended license from the offense of unlawful use of a license or permit. Increases the maximum period of time a seasonal restricted permit for farmers may be held from 180 days to 210 days, in accordance with updated federal regulations. Clarifies that a driver's license suspended after involvement in an uninsured vehicle crash shall remain suspended until the applicable statute of limitations for recovering damages has expired unless a driver submits a security deposit with the Secretary in the amount of damages expected to be entered in any civil suit arising from the crash. Allows the Secretary to destroy records over 20 years old under specified conditions. Requires bicyclists to adhere to traffic signals and motorists to yield the right of way to bicyclists adhering to those signals, and allows bicyclists to proceed in accordance with pedestrian traffic signals. Requires motorists passing a bicyclist to change lanes, if possible and, if not, maintain a distance of at least 3 feet from the bicyclist. Prohibits a motorist from driving in a bike or pedestrian lane or trail. Makes the submission to an examination for the purpose of obtaining a driver's license or permit for some other person a Class 4 felony (was previously designated as a Class A misdemeanor).