Amends the Hearing Instrument Consumer Protection Act. Provides that no more than 5 hours of continuing education credit per year can be obtained through programs sponsored by hearing instrument manufacturers. Effective immediately.
Creates the Inclusion of Women and Minorities in Clinical Research Act. Provides that in conducting or supporting a project of clinical research, a grantee receiving State funds must ensure that women and members of minority groups are included as subjects in research projects. Provides that a grantee must conduct or support outreach programs for the recruitment of women and members of minority groups as subjects in projects of clinical research. Provides for exceptions.
Amends the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning State goals and assessment.
Creates the Community Benefits Act. Provides that a nonprofit hospital shall develop (i) an organizational mission statement that identifies the hospital's commitment to serving the health care needs of the community and (ii) a community benefits plan defined as an operational plan for serving the community's health care needs that sets out goals and objectives for providing community benefits that include charity care and government sponsored indigent health care and identifies the populations and communities served by the hospital. Provides that each nonprofit hospital shall prepare an annual report of the community benefits plan to be filed with the Attorney General and provides a civil penalty for failure to file the report.
Creates the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003. Prohibits any unit of State, county, or local government from excluding a person from participation in, denying a person the benefits of, or subjecting a person to discrimination under any program or activity on the grounds of his or her race, color, or national origin and from using criteria or methods of administration that have the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination because of their race, color, or national origin. Authorizes a person to bring a lawsuit for a violation of the Act in State or federal court.
Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. In provisions concerning child care for TANF recipients, provides that the Department of Human Services must annually establish income thresholds for determining eligibility for child care benefits. Provides that the thresholds must be no less than 50% of the then-current State median income for each family size, and deletes a provision requiring such a 50% threshold only for FY 1998. Provides that in determining a family's income, the Department must disregard 10% of the family's gross wages and salary.
Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Creates the offense of drug related child endangerment. Provides the a person commits the offense of drug related child endangerment when he or she endangers the life and health of a child by knowingly exposing the child to a clandestine drug laboratory environment. Provides that the penalty is a Class 2 felony. Creates the offense of aggravated drug related child endangerment. Provides that a person commits the offense of aggravated drug related child endangerment when he or she: (1) commits a violation of drug related child endangerment, and (2) the child experiences death, great bodily harm, disability or disfigurement as a result of the drug related child endangerment. Provides that the penalty is a Class X felony. Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Police Training Act to provide instruction for the handling of domestic violence complaints with the guidelines developed by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board and representatives from named State and private offices with an interest in preventing domestic violence. Amends the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 to mandate the implementation of a system for recording domestic violence calls and annually reporting the number of those calls. Provides that law enforcement officers shall also annotate signs of whether the alleged abuser was under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance.
Amends the Department of State Police Law and the Department of Transportation Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, the Illinois Police Training Act, and the School Code. Establishes program requirements for the statewide child abduction emergency alert system of the Department of State Police. Requires the Department of State Police and the Department of Transportation to coordinate in the use of electronic highway message signs to convey abduction information. Requires the Department of State Police to establish a task force to monitor and review implementation and operation of the child abduction alert system. Requires the Department of State Police and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to coordinate in the development of a promotional program on child abduction prevention and response. Requires the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board to train local law enforcement personnel in the child abduction alert system. Requires the Department of State Police and the State Board of Education to coordinate in the development of child abduction prevention instruction to be included in school curricula. Requires the Department of State Police to appoint an uncompensated Child Safety Coordinator to advocate for State standards for child safety from kidnapping and abduction. Prohibits the use of new appropriations for the Coordinator's expenses. Effective immediately.
Amends the School Code. Provides that in order to be eligible for election to a school board (or in Chicago to be eligible for appointment), a person must not be a child sex offender.
