Amends the School Code and the Public Community College Act. Transfers all powers and duties of the State Board of Education and State Superintendent of Education with regard to high school equivalency testing under the School Code to the Illinois Community College Board.
Amends the Department of Human Services Act and the State Finance Act. Creates the Diabetes Research Checkoff Fund and provides that, from appropriations from the Fund, the Department of Human Services must make grants to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and to the American Diabetes Association for the purpose of funding research concerning the disease of diabetes. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act to create a tax checkoff for the Fund. Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code and the Illinois Anatomical Gift Act. Provides that the Secretary of State may establish a First Person Consent organ and tissue donor registry. Provides that the Secretary may offer, to each applicant for reissuance or renewal of a driver's license or identification card who is 18 or older, the opportunity to have his or her name included on the registry. Provides that the Secretary must advise the person that he or she is under no compulsion to have his or her name included. Establishes additional procedures for creating the registry. Provides that the Secretary must continue, until the registry has been established, to provide, on the reverse side of each driver's license issued, a format that the licensee may use to execute an anatomical gift. Provides that a person may make an anatomical gift by consenting to having his or her name included in the registry. Provides that in the absence of gross negligence or willful misconduct, the Secretary of State and his or her employees are immune from criminal or civil liability in connection with a person's consent to be listed in the registry.
Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that a consumer who has been the victim of identity theft may place a security freeze on his or her credit report by making a request in writing by certified mail to a consumer credit reporting agency with a valid copy of a police report, investigative report, or complaint that the consumer has filed with a law enforcement agency about unlawful use of his or her personal information by another person. Requires a credit reporting agency to place a security freeze on a consumer's credit report no later than 5 business days after receiving a written request from the consumer. Provides that if the consumer wishes to allow his or her credit report to be accessed for a specific party, parties, or period of time while a freeze is in place, he or she shall contact the consumer credit reporting agency, request that the freeze be temporarily lifted, and provide certain information. Provides that if a security freeze is in place, a credit reporting agency shall not change any of the following official information in a credit report without sending a written confirmation of the change to the consumer within 30 days of the change being posted to the consumer's file: (i) name, (ii) date of birth, (iii) Social Security number, and (iv) address. Provides that certain entities are not required to place a security freeze in a credit report provided certain conditions are met. Defines "proper identification".
Amends the Criminal Code of 1961 and the Unified Code of Corrections. Requires a mandatory sentence of imprisonment for certain violations of the statutes concerning unlawful use of weapons, the unlawful use or possession of weapons by felons, and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Provides that a period of probation, periodic imprisonment, or conditional discharge may not be imposed for these violations.
Amends the Alternate Fuels Act. Provides that beginning July 1, 2005, owners of vehicles using domestic renewable fuel are eligible to apply for a fuel cost differential rebate. Provides that biodiesel blended fuel facilities may be included in the Alternate Fuel Infrastructure Program administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Provides that "alternate fuel" includes, among other fuels, "80% bio-based methanol" (instead of "bio-based methanol"), fuels that are 80% (instead of 70%) derived from biomass, and hydrogen fuel. Provides that "domestic renewable fuel" includes, among other fuels, "80% bio-based methanol" (instead of "bio-based methanol") and 20% biodiesel fuel (instead of "fuels derived from bio mass"). Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that it is an unlawful practice for a person to deny credit or public utility service to or reduce the credit limit of a consumer solely because the consumer has been a victim of identity theft, if the person had prior knowledge that the consumer has been a victim of identity theft. Provides that a consumer is presumed to be a victim of identity theft if he or she provides certain information. Effective immediately.
Amends the Organ Donor Leave Act. Provides that the Act applies to all public employers in the State and to all private employers in the State who have 15 or more employees (now, the Act applies only to any branch, department, board, committee, or commission of State government).
Creates the Payday Loan Reform Act. Provides that the Division of Financial Institutions of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation shall license and regulate entities that offer payday loans (loans under which a lender accepts a post-dated check, authorization to debit a consumer's bank account, or an interest in a consumer's wages as security for the loan). Establishes requirements and restrictions applicable to license applications and licensing. Contains provisions regarding: limitations, requirements, and disclosures applicable to loan agreements, terms of loans, finance charges, and renewal of loans; revocation, suspension, and surrender of licenses; information to be available to the public; complaint handling; hearings; books and records; reports; advertising; prohibited acts; bonding; administrative rules; and other matters. Amends the Financial Institutions Code to provide for the administration of the Payday Loan Reform Act. Amends the Consumer Installment Loan Act to provide that the Act does not apply to payday loans. Provides that a violation of the Payday Loan Reform Act constitutes a violation of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Effective immediately.
Commends the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work program and encourages holding the event on non-school days.
