Rep. Sharon Chung

Creates the Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact Act. Provides that the State of Illinois ratifies and approves the Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact. Provides that the purpose of the Compact is to facilitate interstate practice of Occupational Therapy with the goal of improving public access to Occupational Therapy services, and states that the Compact preserves the regulatory authority of states to protect public health and safety through the current system of state licensure. The Compact contains provisions concerning definitions; state participation in the Compact; Compact privilege; obtaining a new home state license by virtue of Compact privileges; active duty military personnel and their spouses; adverse actions; establishment of the Occupational Therapy Compact Commission; a data system; rulemaking; oversight, dispute resolution, and enforcement; date of implementation of the Interstate Commission for Occupational Therapy Practice and associated rules, withdrawal, and amendment; construction and severability; and the binding effect of the Compact and other laws.

Mourns the death of Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough.

Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that the assessed value of qualified affordable housing property shall be reduced by 30%. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. In a provision concerning coverage for mammograms, provides that if a woman's physician has ordered the patient to receive breast tomosynthesis because it has been determined that high breast density will make low-dose mammography inaccurate or ineffective, the insurer shall not require the physician to order an additional low-dose mammography as a precondition to breast tomosynthesis, nor shall an insurer require the patient to receive a low-dose mammography as a precondition to breast tomosynthesis. Provides that if the results of a woman's first 2-dimensional mammogram screening determine that the patient has high breast density, coverage of breast tomosynthesis shall be provided at no cost to the insured, regardless of whether the breast tomosynthesis and 2-dimensional mammogram occurs within the same calendar year, coverage year, or 365-day period.

Amends the Property Tax Code. In provisions concerning the senior citizens homestead exemption, permanently removes the requirement to reapply for the exemption in counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants (currently, that requirement was eliminated only for taxable years 2019 through 2023). In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, provides that, if the county board passes a resolution removing the requirement to reapply for the exemption, the chief county assessment official shall conduct, by no later than December 31 of the first year of each reassessment cycle, an audit of all senior citizens homestead exemptions granted for the preceding reassessment cycle.

Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Requires proof that each party to the marriage has attained the age of 18 years in order to obtain a license to marry and a marriage certificate from the county clerk. Deletes language allowing proof that each party to the marriage will have attained the age of 18 years at the time the marriage license is effective or will have attained the age of 16 years and has either the consent to the marriage of both parents or his guardian or judicial approval. Makes corresponding changes. Repeals a provision regarding judicial approval of underage marriages. Effective immediately, except that specified provisions take effect 2 years after the amendatory Act becomes law.

Amends the Election Code. Provides that any county in which there is a city, village, or incorporated town with a board of election commissioners may establish that municipal board of election commissioners as a county board of election commissioners if approved by a referendum of the electors of the county. Provides that any county with a population of less than 300,000 persons (rather than less than 200,000 but more than 175,000 persons) as of the 2020 (rather than 2010) federal decennial census in which a city, village, or incorporated town with a board of election commissioners is located may establish a county board of election commissioners by vote of the electors of the county. Provides that a county board of election commissioners may not be dissolved unless the dissolution is approved by a referendum of the electors of the county.

Amends the Election Code. Provides that a person shall not distribute, or enter into an agreement with another person to distribute, materially deceptive media if: (1) the person knows the media falsely represents a depicted individual; (2) the distribution occurs within 90 days before an election; (3) the person intends the distribution to harm the reputation or electoral prospects of a candidate in an election and the distribution is reasonably likely to cause that result; and (4) the person intends the distribution to change the voting behavior of electors in an election by deceiving the electors into incorrectly believing that the depicted individual in fact engaged in the speech or conduct depicted, and the distribution is reasonably likely to cause that result. Sets forth exceptions to the provision and penalties for violations of the provision. Effective immediately.

Appropriates $2,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Transportation for the Statewide Railway Program for salaries and other expenses related to adding the professional staff in the rail division of the Office of Intermodal Project Implementation. Effective July 1, 2024.

Declares April 2024 as Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month in the State of Illinois to help increase public awareness of the need to support individuals with autism and the family members, medical professionals, and human services professionals who help care for individuals with autism.