Sen. Celina Villanueva

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title.

Amends the School Code. Provides that a pupil shall be excused from engaging in a physical education course during a period of religious fasting if the pupil's parent or guardian notifies the school principal in writing that the pupil is participating in religious fasting. Effective immediately.

Amends the School Construction Law. Includes a program of a special education joint agreement in the definition of "school district".

Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act. Provides that it is a violation for an owner or any other person engaging in a real estate transaction, or for a real estate broker or salesman, to otherwise make unavailable or deny a dwelling because of unlawful discrimination, familial status, or an arrest record. Allows a plaintiff or defendant to demand a trial by jury for specified civil actions. Allows a circuit court or jury to award any remedy set forth under a provision regarding a hearing on a complaint upon the finding of a civil rights violation. Effective immediately.

Creates the Tenant Protection Act. Provides that a landlord may increase the rent no more than once every 12 months, by an amount no greater than the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for the same 12-month period or 3%, whichever is lower. Creates the Residential Rental Registry and requires a landlord to pay a rental registry fee. Requires a landlord to register all dwelling units with the Illinois Housing Development Authority by January 15th of each year. Creates the Right to Counsel Program and directs the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts to contract with or enter a memorandum of agreement with an administering entity to administer the Right to Counsel Program. Creates the Small Rental Property Owner Repairs and Improvement Fund and provides that money in the Fund shall be used by the Illinois Housing Development Authority to provide financial support in the form of grants, zero-interest loans, or low-interest loans to owners with no more than 12 dwelling units. Provides that a landlord found liable for charging rent in excess of the Act shall pay the prevailing tenant damages. Creates the Tenant Bill of Rights, with provisions governing exclusions, the identification of an owner and agent, a landlord's right of access, prohibited harassment, required notices, a landlord's responsibility to maintain, a tenant's remedies, security deposits, notification of foreclosure actions, and the prohibition of retaliatory conduct by a landlord. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides for a rental property capital improvement credit. Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Adds provisions governing the refusal to renew and the termination of a tenancy for other good cause. Removes a provision regarding the notice to terminate a tenancy for less than a year. Makes other changes. Makes conforming changes in the State Finance Act and the Condominium Property Act. Repeals the Rent Control Preemption Act. Effective immediately.

Provides that the Act may be referred to as the Addressing Health Equity for Uninsured and Underinsured Illinois Residents Through the Support of Free and Charitable Clinics Law. Contains background provisions. Appropriates a total of $15,000,000 from the State Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency Fund to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services for provision to the Illinois Association of Free and Charitable Clinics for specified grants and expenses. Provides that no less than 70% of the funds shall be used for expenses relating to free and charitable clinics serving minority populations. Effective July 1, 2022.

Amends the Higher Education Cooperation Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title.

Amends the Illinois Horse Racing Act of 1975. In provisions requiring an organization licensee to contribute to charity, provides that the contributions shall be made to community centers awarded grants under the Community Health Center Expansion Act (rather than non-profit organizations) that provide certain services to persons who reside or work on the backstretch of Illinois racetracks. Adds dental and behavioral health services to the services required to be provided.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that notwithstanding to the contrary, any provision of the Code, the Post-Conviction Hearing Article of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, or the Habeas Corpus Article or the relief from judgment provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, a person serving a term of imprisonment, including a term of natural life, in a Department of Corrections institution or facility is eligible for earned discretionary reentry if he or she has served a term of imprisonment of at least 20 years. Provides that petitions for earned discretionary reentry shall be administered by the Prisoner Review Board. Establishes procedures for the hearing. Removes provision that no person serving a term of natural life imprisonment may be paroled or released except through executive clemency. Provides that if any incarcerated person is released on earned discretionary reentry, his or her sentence shall be considered complete after the term of mandatory supervised release. Applies retroactively. Contains a severability provision.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that a taxpayer who may claim a qualifying student as a dependent is allowed a credit of up to $2,000 for qualified tuition and fee expenses paid by the taxpayer. Provides that the term qualifying student means a person who (i) is a resident of the State, (ii) is under the age of 24 at the close of the school year for which a credit is sought, and (iii) during the school year for which a credit is sought, is a full-time student enrolled in a program at a qualifying college or university. Effective immediately.