Sen. Elgie Sims

Amends the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning credit memorandums and refunds.

Amends the Assumed Business Name Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the alphabetical index kept by each county clerk.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning conspiracy.

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

Amends the State Commemorative Dates Act. Designates the month of April of each year as Arab American Heritage Month to be observed throughout the State as a month to recognize the valuable contributions of Arab Americans to this State and to the various aspects of American society. Effective immediately.

Amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003. Provides that no employer may discriminate between employees by paying wages to an African-American employee at a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays wages to another employee who is not African-American for the same or substantially similar work on a job that requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility and is performed under similar working conditions. Sets forth exceptions,

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Department of Human Services and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services' Office of the Inspector General to perform the following actions to ensure that applicants submit completed applications for long-term care benefits: (i) provide each applicant with a checklist of information and documents the applicant must submit to complete an application for long-term care benefits; (ii) notify each applicant of the date upon which such information or documents were received by the Department; (iii) update and maintain the Department's computer hardware and software to ensure each applicant receives a timely response to any email sent by the applicant to the Department; and (iv) notify each applicant of the 30-day time period to submit all requested information or documents to the Department.

Amends the School Code. With respect to school discipline improvement plans, makes changes to how the State Board of Education determines the top 20% of school districts, when notification is given that a plan must be submitted, which school districts are required to submit a plan, the timeframe for school board approval of a plan and submission of that plan to the State Board, and when additional annual progress reports are required. Establishes the Safe Schools and Healthy Learning Environments Program and grants under the program. Sets forth requirements for grant applicants and provisions for the distribution of funds appropriated for the program. Requires the State Board of Education to issue a yearly report on the results of the program in cooperation with school districts participating in the program. Provides that the State Board may adopt rules necessary for the program. Effective July 1, 2018.

Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that it is an unlawful practice to offer to consumers at retail a rebate made on a stored-value card that charges dormancy fees or other post-issuance fees. Defines terms.

Amends the School Code. Provides that, no later than day 60 of instruction in each school year, a school board shall report to the State Board of Education for kindergarten through grade 12 classes certain information about actively employed teachers, pupil-teacher ratios, class instructors, and class sections; defines terms. Requires the State Board of Education to publish the information contained in the reports on its Internet website no later than December 1, 2019 and annually thereafter. Sets forth class size goals to be achieved by the 2020-2021 school year.