Amends the Hospice Program Licensing Act. Changes the definition of terminally ill to include a patient that has a life expectancy of one year or less (rather than 6 months or less). Makes changes in the definition of "hospice service plan". Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. Makes grammatical changes in the statute relating to the unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to a pregnant woman.
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that a public utility may not disconnect for nonpayment service during the period from December 1 through March 31 to a residential customer who is eligible for assistance under the Energy Assistance Act of 1989. Effective immediately.
Amends the Department of Human Services Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the legislative purpose of the Act.
Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code and the Criminal Code of 1961. Provides that the vehicle of a person who drives without a license and without insurance and causes death or personal injury to another person is subject to seizure and forfeiture. Effective immediately.
Amends the Child Care Act of 1969. Provides that no person may operate a child care facility, receive a license to operate a child care facility, be employed by a child care facility, or live as an adult in a child care facility, if the person has been declared a sexually dangerous person under the Sexually Dangerous Persons Act or a sexually violent person under the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act or convicted of committing or attempting to commit specified offenses. Provides an exception if specified criteria are met. Defines "child care facility" for the purposes of the provision concerning background investigations. Effective immediately.
Amends the Child Passenger Protection Act. Provides that every person, when transporting a child at least 4 years of age but under 12 years of age in certain vehicles, is responsible for securing that child in seat safety belts or in a federally approved lap-and-shoulder belt system and a booster seat designed for a child weighing 40 or more pounds but not more than 80 pounds or a child less than 4 feet 9 inches in height. Provides that failure to secure the child as required does not constitute contributory negligence and is not admissible as evidence in the trial of any civil action.
Amends the Children's Health Insurance Program Act to extend the sunset date for the Act from July 1, 2003 to July 1, 2006. Effective immediately.
Amends the School Code. Repeals provisions concerning the Reading Improvement Block Grant Program. Provides instead that the State Board of Education shall make reading improvement grants to school districts in order to improve the reading and study skills of students in kindergarten through twelfth grade (from a separate appropriation made for these purposes). Provides that the State Board may use up to 2% of the appropriation for the purpose of providing teacher training and retraining. Provides that of the remaining funds (i) up to the first $5,000,000 in new funds in the 2003-2004 school year shall be distributed to districts serving grades 7 through 12 and (ii) the remainder of the appropriation shall be distributed to districts serving kindergarten through grade 6. Includes provisions concerning application requirements, reporting assessment results, eligibility in the third or subsequent years, requirements for the use of grants, and reporting results to the General Assembly. Effective July 1, 2003.
Amends the Income Tax Act to create the Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) Research Fund checkoff. Provides that the Department of Revenue shall print on its standard individual income tax form a provision indicating that if the taxpayer wishes to contribute to the Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) Research Fund, he or she may do so by stating the amount of the contribution on the return and that the contribution will reduce the taxpayer's refund or increase the amount of payment to accompany the return. Amends the Department of Public Aid Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that, subject to appropriation, the Department of Public Aid shall make grants from the Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) Research Fund to the Les Turner ALS Foundation for research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Amends the State Finance Act to create the Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) Research Fund. Effective immediately.
