Rep. Sue Scherer

Amends the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act. Requires health insurance carriers that provide coverage for prescription drugs to ensure that, within service areas and levels of coverage specified by federal law, at least half of individual and group plans meet one or more of the following criteria: apply a pre-deductible and flat-dollar copayment structure to the entire drug benefit, limit a beneficiary's monthly out-of-pocket financial responsibility for prescription drugs to a specified amount, or limit a beneficiary's annual out-of-pocket financial responsibility for prescription drugs to a specified amount. Provides that all plans for prescription drugs offered under the amendatory Act must be clearly and appropriately named, marketed in the same manner as other plans offered by the health insurance carrier, and offered for purchase to any individual and group plan sponsor. Effective January 1, 2021.

Creates the Domestic Violence Task Force Act. Creates the Domestic Violence Task Force. Provides that the Task Force shall: (1) conduct a comprehensive review of the process, operation, and enforcement of current domestic violence laws across the State; (2) identify gaps in the process, operation, and enforcement of those laws; (3) develop recommendations to address those gaps; (4) establish a framework for specialized protective networks for victims, treatment options for victims and offenders, and specialty courts for the accumulation of specialized domestic violence skills for courts; and (5) review the need for special consideration for conditions of bail in cases involving domestic violence within the ongoing changes brought on bail reform. Establishes membership and appointment of the Task Force. Provides that the Attorney General shall provide administrative support to the Task Force. Provides that the Attorney General, or the Attorney General's designee, shall be the chair of the Task Force. Provides that the Task Force shall review available research, best practices, and effective interventions to formulate recommendations. Provides that the Task Force shall produce a report detailing the Task Force's findings and recommendations. Provides that the Task Force shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly and the Governor on or before September 1, 2022. Repeals the Act on September 1, 2027. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that no registration fee for gold star license plates shall be required from a surviving widow, widower, or parent of a person who served in the Armed Forces of the United States and lost his or her life while in service.

Amends the Educator Licensure Article of the School Code. Provides for the reinstatement of a lapsed Professional Educator License upon the payment by the applicant of the lesser of a $100 penalty or a $10 penalty for each year the license has lapsed (rather than a $500 penalty). Effective immediately.

Amends the School Code. In a provision concerning substitute teacher recruiting firms, provides that an individual hired by a recruiting firm may teach no more than 5 consecutive days per licensed teacher who is under a collective bargaining agreement.

Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Provides that notwithstanding any other law or rule to the contrary, no child under the care or custody of the Department of Children and Family Services shall be subjected to mechanical restraints during the provision of any transportation services provided or arranged by the Department, unless required by court order. Provides that nothing under the amendatory Act shall be construed to apply to the Department's policy on medical restraints. Effective immediately. House Committee Amendment No. 1 Adds language providing that soft restraints may be used for transporting youth under the care or custody of the Department of Children and Family Services only in the following limited circumstances: (i) if, based on a youth's mental health needs, a psychiatrist orders the use of restraints for transporting a youth under the care or custody of the Department; or (ii) if a court orders the use of restraints for transporting a youth under the care or custody of the Department. Also provides that, even in those limited circumstances, the use of soft restraints is not permitted unless there is a written recommendation by the Department's Chief Deputy Director, Clinical and Child Services and written approval by the Department's Chief Deputy Director.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code to require a group policy of accident and health insurance that is amended, delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2021 to provide coverage for a colonoscopy that is a follow-up exam based on an initial screen where the colonoscopy was determined to be medically necessary by a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches, an advanced practice registered nurse, or a physician assistant. Provides that a group insurance policy shall not impose a deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or any other cost-sharing requirement on colonoscopy coverage, except to the extent such coverage would disqualify a high-deductible health plan from eligibility for a health savings account under the Internal Revenue Code. Makes conforming changes in the Counties Code, the Illinois Municipal Code, and the Health Maintenance Organization Act. Effective January 1, 2021.

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that the Secretary of State shall reinstate the driving privileges of a person whose driving privileges were were suspended or revoked under certain circumstances if the person shows the following: (1) the suspension or revocation of the person's driving privileges resulted from an incident in which the person's vision was impaired exclusively by the glare of the sun; (2) the incident would not have occurred but for the impairment of the person's vision by the glare of the sun; (3) there is no evidence that the person was, at the time of the incident, otherwise impaired, distracted, or inattentive in a manner that would constitute a violation of this Code or an ordinance; and (4) other than any offenses for which the person was charged as a result of the incident, the person was not charged with any offense against a law or ordinance regulating the movement of traffic after the accident or in the 12-month period preceding the accident. Effective immediately.

Amends the Downstate Teacher Article of the Illinois Pension Code. In provisions that limit the number of days and hours an annuitant may accept employment for without impairing retirement status, provides that the limitation does not apply to an annuitant who returns to teaching as a substitute teacher in a school district that has been granted a waiver by the System. Provides that a school district may apply for a waiver by providing to the System sufficient evidence that there is a substitute teacher shortage in the school district and an estimate of the number of paid hours in the school year that the annuitant will work. Effective immediately.

Amends the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. Provides that, beginning on July 1, 2020, breast pumps, breast pump collection and storage supplies, and breast pump kits are exempt from the taxes imposed under those Acts. Effective immediately.