Sen. Emil Jones

Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Auditor General to perform a performance and financial audit of the State's managed care medical assistance program. Provides that any safety-net hospital that received grant funding in State Fiscal Year 2019 shall not be obligated to pay any assessment amount, including penalties, that is past due and payable to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services until the Auditor General determines through the required audits that the average denial rate for MCO payments to safety-net hospitals is below 10%.

Amends the Medical Practice Act of 1987. Provides for the licensure of naturopathic physicians. Makes conforming changes in various other Acts. Effective immediately.

Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that an alternative retail electric supplier and alternative gas supplier shall: make certain information available on its website; send a separate written notice or electronic mail informing the residential customer of the upcoming change in price or other charge; and not automatically renew a contract with a residential customer at a rate higher than the initial term of the contract or automatically change or renew a fixed contract to a variable rate contract. Provides that all marketing materials shall contain the Historical Price to Compare from the immediately preceding 12 months. Provides, with exceptions, that beginning 90 days after the effective date of the Act, no customer who has received specified financial assistance within the preceding 12 months shall be switched to an alternative retail electric supplier or alternative gas supplier. Provides that beginning January 1, 2021, an alternative retail electric supplier or alternative gas supplier may apply to the Illinois Commerce Commission to offer a savings guarantee plan. Provides that every alternative retail electric supplier and alternative gas supplier shall include specific information on bills issued to a residential customer. Provides that every electric utility or gas utility that provides delivery and supply services shall include specific information on each bill to a residential customer who obtains supply from an alternative retail electric supplier or alternative gas supplier. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Makes changes in provisions concerning electric service provider selection and alternative gas suppliers.

Amends the Chicago Teacher Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that service retirement pensions shall begin on the effective date of termination as reflected in the records of the Employer. Provides that upon certification of a member's termination (instead of cancellation of his teaching certificate) and on written application, a teacher shall be paid a refund. Provides that to obtain a refund for a member who has completed the minimum term of service required to establish eligibility for a pension, the member must execute and deliver to the Board a written acknowledgment of forfeiture of all service credit and rights to pension payments (instead of a written receipt and acknowledgment). Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Circuit Courts Act. Provides that the associate judgeships in the Circuit of Cook County existing on the effective date are converted into resident judgeships. Provides that the Supreme Court shall allot the resident judgeships for election from the 15 subcircuits. Amends the Associate Judges Act.

Amends the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning Reserve Officer's Training Corps scholarships.

Amends the Minimum Wage Law. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title. Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Deletes reference to: 820 ILCS 105/1 Adds reference to: 5 ILCS 100/5-45 from Ch. 127, par. 1005-45 35 ILCS 5/704A 820 ILCS 105/4 from Ch. 48, par. 1004 820 ILCS 105/7 from Ch. 48, par. 1007 820 ILCS 105/10 from Ch. 48, par. 1010 820 ILCS 105/11 from Ch. 48, par. 1011 820 ILCS 105/12 from Ch. 48, par. 1012 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act and the Minimum Wage Law. Provides for an increase in the minimum wage and for a credit against withholding payments in relation to the increase. Increases the minimum wage to $9.25 per hour beginning January 1, 2020. Provides for annual increases in the minimum wage culminating in a minimum wage of $15 per hour beginning on January 1, 2025. Provides to employers with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees a credit against tax withheld beginning January 1, 2020. Reduces the credit beginning January 1, 2021. Provides employers may claim the credit amount in effect on January 1, 2025 until December 31, 2026 and that employers with no more than 5 employees may claim that credit until December 31, 2027. Authorizes the Department of Labor to perform random audits of employer to ascertain compliance with the Minimum Wage Law. Authorizes a penalty of $100 per employee for failure to maintain required records. Effective immediately. Pension Note (Government Forecasting & Accountability) There is no readily discernible fiscal impact associated with SB1, as engrossed. To the extent minimum wage workers participate in pension funds governed by the Pension Code, there could be an increase in accrued liability, but it would presumably be very small and likely actuarially insignificant. State Debt Impact Note (Government Forecasting & Accountability) This bill would not change the amount of authorization for any type of State-issued or State-supported bond, and, therefore, would not affect the level of State indebtedness. Fiscal Note (Dept of Revenue) Increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour over 6 years increases state revenues. The positive effect on tax revenue, in the form of income and sales taxes, is only slightly offset by the negative effect on income tax revenues of the tax credit extended to eligible businesses. Overall, the net impact of this proposed legislation is an increase in state revenues of nearly $390 million by fiscal year 2027. The positive effect on tax revenue is produced by the additional income tax collection and sales tax collection given by higher wages and personal consumption expenditure in the state economy. We estimate Individual Income tax (IIT) revenue at the current individual income tax rate of 4.95 percent. The estimate for Sales Tax revenue values were decreased to account for the fact that the state does not tax services and receives no share of revenue on food for consumption off site, prescription drugs or certain medical devices. The negative effect on Income tax revenue is due to the tax credit against withholdings. The tax credit for eligible employers is a declining percentage of the wage increment defined as the differential between the employee's hourly wage from the final quarter of the previous calendar year and the State's minimum wage of the present year). The credit, applied on a calendar year basis, is set to scale down over the course of the ramp (to year 2025) at which point the calculation of the credit shifts to a flat, fixed dollar amount. The schedule of credits is as follows: 25% credit in 2020; 21% credit in 2021; 17% credit in 2022; 13% credit in 2023; 9% credit in 2024, and 5% credit in 2025. In calendar year 2026, the credit for businesses is fixed to match the credit taken in 2025; in calendar year 2027, the credit for those businesses with 5 or fewer employees is fixed to match the credit taken in 2025. In calculating the cost of the tax credit, we considered the number of minimum wage jobs increasing from $8.25 in 2019 to $10.00 in 2020, from $10.00 to $11.00 in 2021 and so on until 2027. We discounted those jobs in firms with more than 50 employees using Census bureau data on small firms in Illinois. We considered 1750 hours of work as full time in accordance with prior studies on the subject. All estimates above are static estimates, meaning that they do not account for changes in the labor supply and demand associated to the increase in labor cost. Home Rule Note (Dept. of Commerce & Economic Opportunity) This bill does not pre-empt home rule authority. State Mandates Fiscal Note (Dept. of Commerce & Economic Opportunity) This bill does create a State mandate. Balanced Budget Note (Office of Management and Budget) Please be advised that the Balanced Budget Note Act does not apply to SB 1, as it is not a supplemental appropriation that increases or decreases appropriations. Under the Act, a balanced budget note must be prepared only for bills that change a general funds appropriation for the fiscal year in which the new bill is enacted. Correctional Note (Dept of Corrections) There is no fiscal or population impact on the Department of Corrections. Judicial Note (Admin Office of the Illinois Courts) This bill would neither increase nor decrease the number of judges needed in the State of Illinois. Housing Affordability Impact Note (Housing Development Authority) This bill will have no effect on the cost of constructing, purchasing, owning, or selling a single-family residence.

Amends the State Universities Civil Service Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning temporary appointments.

Amends the Real Estate License Act of 2000. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title.

Amends the General Provisions Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that a firefighters' pension fund may invest up to 75% of the net present assets in common or preferred stocks. Provides that any corporate bonds held by the pension fund shall be deemed fixed income. Effective immediately.