Creates the High-Quality Early Childhood Care and Education Advisory Committee to recommend ways to enroll more children and families in high-quality care and education programs.
Amends the School Code and the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Eliminates the requirement that the Chicago Board of Education establish an Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication. Requires the Chicago Board of Education to implement a socio-emotional focused attendance policy that targets the underlying causes of chronic truancy. Makes changes concerning the Chicago school district's truancy intervention services for a pupil and the pupil's parent or guardian. Revises language to make certain actions permissible rather than mandatory with respect to truancy. Makes other changes, including changes concerning penalties.
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that a participating gas utility may elect to recover its natural gas utility service costs through a formula rate approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission. Provides that the Commission shall have the authority to conduct hearings concerning the prudence and reasonableness of the service costs incurred by the utility to be recovered. Provides that a gas public utility may apply for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to increase its gas service territory and extend its gas distribution system to serve a designated hardship area. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall, after notice and hearing, grant a certificate of public convenience and necessity if, based upon the application filed with the Commission and the evidentiary record, the Commission finds that specified criteria are satisfied. Provides that the Commission shall issue its decision with findings of fact and conclusions of law granting or denying the application no later than 120 days after the application is filed. Defines terms. Effective immediately.
Amends the Educator Licensure Article of the School Code. Removes the requirement that educator licensure candidates pass a teacher performance assessment. Makes related changes.
Supports all efforts to make it easier for Americans in crisis to access potentially life-saving resources about suicide prevention, intervention, and mental health crisis by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Urges the FCC to establish a new hotline for those Americans experiencing suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis. Further urges the FCC to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to consider designating 988 as the 3-digit code to be used for this purpose.
Amends the Humane Care for Animals Act. Prohibits a carnival from offering, awarding, or giving away any live animal in a game, contest, or tournament involving skill or chance. Provides that the carnival may offer a coupon, certificate, or voucher to obtain the live animal from a licensed pet store as the prize. Defines "carnival".
Amends the Compulsory Attendance Article of the School Code. Provides that a public school student shall be granted up to 5 days of excused absences in any school year for the reason of the mental or behavioral health of the student. Requires that a student whose absence is excused for this reason be provided the opportunity to make up any school work missed during the absence.
Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. For electric utilities that serve less than 3,000,000 retail customers but more than 500,000 retail customers in this State: defines "energy efficiency"; in provisions concerning the renewable portfolio standards, specifies the goals for procurement of renewable energy credits and cost-effective renewable energy resources that shall be included in the long-term renewable resources procurement plan and makes other changes concerning these procurements; and provides for the calculation of the cost of equity for the purposes of recovering all reasonable and prudently incurred costs of energy efficiency measures from retail customers. Provides that savings of fuels other than electricity achieved by measures that educate about, incentivize, encourage or otherwise support the use of electricity to power vehicles shall count towards the applicable annual incremental goal and shall not be included in determining certain limits. Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that an electric utility that serves less than 3,000,000 retail customers but more than 500,000 customers in this State may plan for, construct, install, control, own, manage, or operate photovoltaic electricity production facilities and any energy storage facilities that are planned for, constructed, installed, controlled, owned, managed or operated in connection with photovoltaic electricity production facilities without obtaining a certificate of public convenience and necessity subject to specified terms and conditions. Defines "electric vehicle", "electric vehicle charging station", and "energy storage" for the purposes of the Electric Service Customer Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997. Provides that, beginning in 2022, without obtaining any approvals from the Illinois Commerce Commission or any other agency, regardless of whether any such approval would otherwise be required, a participating utility that is a combination utility shall pay $1,000,000 per year for 10 years to the energy low-income and support program. Adds provisions authorizing certain utilities to plan for, construct, install, control, own, manage or operate electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including, but not limited to, electric vehicle charging stations within their service territories. Effective immediately.
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012 concerning the offense of financial exploitation of an elderly person or a person with a disability. Expands the scope of "person who stands in a position of trust and confidence" to include a friend or acquaintance of the elderly person or person with a disability who is in a position of trust.
Amends the Board of Higher Education Act. Requires every voting member of the governing board of a public university to complete professional development leadership training covering, among other topics, equity and student success. Amends the Public Community College Act. Requires every voting member of the board of trustees of a community college to complete professional development leadership training covering, among other topics, equity and student success.
