Rep. Karen A. Yarbrough

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that the Department shall not impose requirements for prior approval based on a preferred drug list for any short-acting beta agonists used as rescue therapy in the treatment of life-threatening conditions due to acute bronchospasm in patients with reversible obstructive airway disease that results from asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or emphysema.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that written disclosure of a fee that is separate from a commission must be provided to the consumer before the service to which the fee relates is performed. Changes the name of business organizations licensed to sell insurance from registered firm to business entity to conform usage to changes made by Public Act 92-386. Makes technical changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that the Department of Public Aid may not establish any formulary limits on, or restrict by any prior authorization requirement, any insulin prescription drug as prescribed and determined to be medically necessary for the treatment of diabetes. Effective July 1, 2004.

Amends the Counties Code and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Act. Requires counties located within the area served by the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission and having a population over 400,000 to enter into intergovernmental agreements setting standards to control stormwater runoff so as not to cause flood damage in adjacent counties. Directs the Department of Transportation, upon petition, to adopt the standards if an agreement is not created. Provides for the adoption and implementation of a Cook County stormwater management plan by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. Authorizes the District to implement the plan throughout the county. Authorizes the District to impose fees on areas outside the District but within the County. Authorizes a special tax levy for stormwater management purposes and reduces the District's authorized tax levy for general corporate purposes by a corresponding amount. Preempts some home rule powers. Amends the Property Tax Code to exclude the stormwater management tax from the tax caps imposed under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law. Effective immediately.

Mourns the death of Hezekiah Davis.

Mourns the death of Alghia Griffin Jr.

Creates the Department of Education Act and amends the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois, the Illinois State Auditing Act, the Illinois Pension Code, and the School Code. Creates the Department of Education, with a Secretary of Education as its head. Provides that all of the rights, powers, duties, and functions vested by law in the State Board of Education or the State Superintendent of Education (except the State Board of Education's duty under the Illinois Constitution to appoint a chief State educational officer) are transferred to the Department of Education on July 1, 2005. Provides for the transfer of personnel and property. Requires the Auditor General to conduct a financial audit of the State Board of Education. Provides that the State Board of Education's powers and duties are limited by law, as provided in the Illinois Constitution, to only the following: (i) the State Board of Education shall research current educational best practices and policies and shall report its findings to the Department of Education, (ii) the State Board of Education shall provide suggestions to the Department of Education as to the long-range implications of the practices and policies, and (iii) the State Board of Education shall consult with the Department of Education on all matters related to education-related topics. Makes other changes. Certain provisions effective July 1, 2004; other provisions effective July 1, 2005.

Creates the Public Service Accountability Act. Sets out the requirements for privatization contracts between contractors and State agencies. Provides for the monitoring and enforcement of privatization contracts. Establishes fines and prison sentences for a violation of certain Sections of the Act. Effective immediately.

Creates the Comprehensive Housing, Health, and Supportive Services for Older Adults Act and amends the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act, the State Finance Act, and the Nursing Home Care Act. Requires the Director of Public Health, in coordination with the Director of Aging and the Director of Public Aid, to monitor and analyze the distribution of housing and services for older adults in the different geographic areas of the State and implement corrective action plans by July 1, 2005. Provides for a program for conversion of nursing homes to assisted living or shared housing establishments; makes such conversions exempt from the requirements of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act, and provides for transition planning grants to nursing homes making such conversions. Creates special funds in the State treasury for use in implementing the Comprehensive Housing, Health, and Supportive Services for Older Adults Act. Provides for transfers from the Long Term Care Monitor/Receiver Fund to the new Nursing Home Conversion Fund and the new Nursing Home Transition Planning Grant Fund. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act. Provides that the Attorney General may commence a civil action in the name of the People of the State of Illinois as parens patriae to enforce the Act. Provides for venue and limitations. Provides that remedies are available to the Attorney General to the same extent that remedies are available to an aggrieved party, and that, in addition to those remedies, the court shall award the State, as monetary relief, 3 times the amount of profits that accrued to the respondent by reason of the act, conduct, practice, or system challenged in the action, plus costs and a reasonable attorney's fee as determined by the court. Provides that the court shall: require that damages for injuries sustained by persons other than the State be paid to those persons (with certain exceptions) to the extent they are identifiable and there is a practicable method for making the payment; and direct that damages that cannot practicably be paid to injured individuals shall be paid to the State. Provides for notice by publication or other means to aggrieved parties who may be bound by the court's judgment in the Attorney General's action and the right of any aggrieved party to elect to exclude his or her claim from adjudication. Provides that the Attorney General may intervene as parens patriae on behalf of persons in civil actions brought by aggrieved individuals under the Act. Effective immediately.