Amends the Urban Weatherization Initiative Act. Provides that the efforts of the Urban Weatherization Initiative shall be coordinated with federal weatherization programs. Requires the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to administer the Initiative so as to qualify for federal grant or matching programs. Provides the salary of employees hired under the Initiative in accordance with the hourly wages associated with the federal prevailing wage rates for weatherization workers. Provides that the maximum per unit expenditure is limited to $10,000 (currently $6,500) and that a grant recipient may not be awarded grants totaling more than $2,000,000 (currently $500,000) per fiscal year. Provides that 2 voting members of the Weatherization Initiative Board must have experience in residential weatherization or energy efficiency and that one voting member must have experience in workforce development. Requires the Board's annual report to be filed by May 31 (instead of December 31).
Sponsored bills
Creates the Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act. Provides that the purpose of the Act is to require all authorized insurers regulated by the Department of Insurance to undertake good faith efforts, as specified in the Act, to locate and pay beneficiaries' proceeds under unclaimed life insurance policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts issued in the State or remit such proceeds as unclaimed property to the appropriate jurisdiction if the beneficiaries are unable to be located or paid. Requires insurers to implement the certain policies and procedures for performing a comparison of its policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts against the United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File. Provides that failure to meet any requirement of the Act is an unfair trade practice under the Illinois Insurance Code, and amends the Illinois Insurance Code to make a corresponding change.
Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that if the defendant pleads guilty the plea shall not be accepted until the court shall have fully explained to the defendant the following: (1) the maximum and minimum penalty provided by law for the offense which may be imposed by the court (rather than the consequences of the plea and the maximum penalty provided by law for the offense which may be imposed by the court); (2) any possible increased sentence by reason of the fact of a prior conviction or future conviction and any possibility of the imposition of consecutive sentences; (3) any registration requirement that accompanies the plea and the restrictions associated with the registration; and (4) the consequences of the plea on a defendant's ability to: (A) retain or obtain housing in the public or private market; (B) acquire loans for educational or other purposes; (C) enroll in certain degree programs; (D) retain or obtain employment; (E) retain or obtain an occupational or driver's license; (F) possess a firearm; and (G) retain or obtain custody of a child.
Amends the Nursing Home Care Act. Requires the Department of Public Health to make the Health Care Worker Registry that includes background check and training information accessible by health care employers. Allows the Department to maintain a publicly accessible registry. Makes changes regarding information that must be contained in the registry accessible to health care employers. Requires the Department to limit specific offense information on an applicant or employee. Requires that after June 30, 2016, the public registry report that an individual is ineligible for employment if he or she has a disqualifying offense under the Health Care Worker Background Check Act and has not received a waiver under that Act. Requires that the public registry report than an individual is eligible for employment if he or she has received a waiver but not the waiver information. Amends the Health Care Worker Background Check Act. Allows a health care employer to hire an individual with a disqualifying offense if the individual has received a waiver under the Act (rather than in the discretion of the Department of Public Health, no health care employer shall knowingly hire, employ, or retain any individual in a position with duties involving direct care for clients, patients, or residents, and no long-term care facility shall knowingly hire, employ, or retain any individual in a position with duties that involve or may involve contact with residents or access to the living quarters or the financial, medical, or personal records of residents, who has been convicted of committing or attempting to commit certain offenses). Creates a Health Care Worker Registry working group in the Office of the Governor. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
Amends the Interscholastic Athletic Organization Act. Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, requires an association or other entity that has, as one of its purposes, promoting, sponsoring, regulating, or in any manner providing for interscholastic athletics or any form of athletic competition among high schools and high school students within this State to require all member schools that have certified athletic trainers to complete a monthly report on student-athletes at the member school who have sustained a concussion. Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, requires the association or entity to compile the data reported during the previous school year into an annual report and submit copies of this report to the General Assembly. Provides for immunity. Effective immediately.
Amends the School Code. Annually requires each school district, public school, charter school, or nonpublic school to request an asthma action plan from the parents or guardians of a pupil with asthma; sets forth provisions concerning the asthma action plan. Requires the State Board of Education, in consultation with statewide professional organizations with expertise in asthma management, to develop a model asthma episode emergency response protocol before September 1, 2016, and requires each school district, charter school, and nonpublic school to adopt an asthma episode emergency response protocol before January 1, 2017 that includes all of the components of the State Board's model protocol. Provides that, every 2 years, school personnel who work with pupils shall complete an in-person or online training program on the management of asthma, the prevention of asthma symptoms, and emergency response in the school setting. Requires the State Board, in consultation with statewide professional organizations with expertise in asthma management, to make available resource materials for educating school personnel about asthma and emergency response in the school setting. Makes technical changes having a revisory function. Effective immediately.
Creates the Employee Sick Leave Act. Provides that employees may use personal sick leave benefits provided by the employer for absences due to an illness, injury, or medical appointment of the employee's child, spouse, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, or stepparent, for reasonable periods of time as the employee's attendance may be necessary, on the same terms upon which the employee is able to use sick leave benefits for the employee's own illness or injury. Provides that the Department of Labor shall issue rules to implement the Act. Effective January 1, 2017.
Amends the School Code. Establishes the State Global Scholar Certification Program to recognize public high school graduates who have attained global competence, sufficient for meaningful use in college and a career. Provides that school district participation in this certification is voluntary. Sets forth the purposes of certification. Requires the State Board of Education to adopt such rules as may be necessary to establish the criteria that students must achieve to earn certification, which shall minimally include attainment of units of credit in globally focused courses, service learning experiences, global collaboration and dialogue, and passage of a capstone project demonstrating global competency, as approved by the participating school district for this purpose. Sets forth the duties of the State Board and of participating school districts. Provides that no fee may be charged to a student. Effective immediately.
Amends the Prevailing Wage Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning State policy.
Amends the School Code and the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a driver education course (whether offered by a public school, a non-public school, or a driver training school) shall include instruction concerning law enforcement procedures for traffic stops, including a demonstration of the proper actions to be taken during a traffic stop and appropriate interactions with law enforcement.