Sen. Iris Y. Martinez

Amends the Registered Surgical Assistant and Registered Surgical Technologist Title Protection Act. Provides that a person qualifies for registration as a surgical assistant if he or she is currently certified by the National Commission for the Certification of Surgical Assistants (rather than the National Surgical Assistant Association). Provides that in order for a registrant to renew his or her surgical assistant registration or surgical technologist registration, he or she must maintain certain current certification. Effective immediately.

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 Election Code. Provides that each election authority shall collaborate with the county jail within the jurisdiction of the election authority to facilitate voting by mail for voters eligible to vote in the county who are confined or detained in the county jail. Provides that in a county with a population of 3,000,000 or more, the election authority in the county shall establish a temporary branch polling place in the county jail. Contains additional provisions concerning the temporary branch polling place in the county jail. Amends the Counties Code. Provides that each election authority shall collaborate with the county jail within the jurisdiction of the election authority to facilitate voter registration for voters eligible to vote in that county who are confined or detained in the county jail. Provides that a county jail shall provide a voter registration application to any person in custody at the jail who requests an application and is eligible to vote. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that upon release of a person who is eligible to vote, the Department of Corrections shall provide the person with a specified form that informs him or her that his or her voting rights have been restored. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections and Counties Code. Provides that upon discharge from a county jail or release from the Department of Corrections, a person shall be provided with a voter registration form. Provides that the Department, each county jail, and each county probation office shall provide an individual in its custody with specified information on voting rights. Makes other changes. Effective January 1, 2020.

Amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003. Prohibits an employer from: (i) screening job applicants based on their wage or salary history, (ii) requiring that an applicant's prior wages satisfy minimum or maximum criteria, and (iii) requesting or requiring as a condition of being interviewed or as a condition of continuing to be considered for an offer of employment that an applicant disclose prior wages or salary. Prohibits an employer from seeking the salary, including benefits or other compensation or salary history, of a job applicant from any current or former employer, with some exceptions. Limits defenses. Provides for penalties and injunctive relief.

Amends the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971. Removes a provision prohibiting the non-contributory portion of a program of health-benefits from including the expenses of obtaining an abortion. Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Removes a provision excluding abortions or induced miscarriages or premature births from the list of services provided under the State's medical assistance program. Removes language providing for the adoption of rules to prohibit a physician from providing medical assistance to anyone eligible for medical assistance benefits if the physician has been found guilty of willfully and wantonly performing an abortion procedure upon a woman who was not pregnant at the time of the procedure. Removes other provisions concerning abortion restrictions. Amends the Problem Pregnancy Health Services and Care Act. Removes language prohibiting the Department of Human Services from making grants to nonprofit agencies and organizations that use such grants to refer or counsel for, or perform, abortions. Amends the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975. Provides that it is the intention of the General Assembly to reasonably regulate abortion in conformance with the legal standards set forth in the decisions of the United States Supreme Court of January 22, 1973. Removes language concerning the General Assembly's declaration that the unborn child is a human being from the time of conception and is, therefore, a legal person for purposes of the unborn child's right to life. Makes other changes.

Amends the Department of Professional Regulation Law. Provides that the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation shall allow an applicant to provide his or her individual taxpayer identification number as an alternative to provide a social security number when applying for a license. Provides that no applicant shall be denied a license solely based on his or her immigration status or citizenship status. Amends the Pharmacy Practice Act. Removes language providing that an applicant for a registered pharmacist license shall provide evidence indicating that he or she is a United States citizen or legally admitted alien.

Amends the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act. In provisions concerning transition of services, provides that the health care plan shall not modify an enrollee's coverage of a drug during the plan year if the drug has been previously approved for coverage by the plan for a medical condition, the plan's prescribing provider continues to prescribe the drug for the medical condition, and the patient continues to be an enrollee of the health care plan. Provides specific prohibited modifications of drug coverage in the health plan. Provides that the provisions do not prohibit a health care plan from requiring a pharmacist to effect generic substitutions of prescription drugs. Provides that the provisions do not prohibit the addition of prescription drugs to a health care plan's list of covered drugs during the coverage year. Provides that the provisions do not apply to a health care plan as defined in the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971 or medical assistance under the Illinois Public Aid Code. Effective immediately.

Amends the Predator Accountability Act. Changes the short title of the Act to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Adds references to involuntary servitude and labor trafficking throughout the Act. Provides that a victim of involuntary servitude or labor trafficking has a cause of action against any person or entity who knowingly subjects, attempts to subject, or engages in a conspiracy to subject the victim to involuntary servitude or labor trafficking. Provides that the standard of proof in specified actions under the Act is a preponderance of the evidence. Provides that a legal guardian, family member, agent of the victim, court appointee, certain type of organization, or government entity responsible for enforcing the laws of this State may bring an action on behalf of a victim. Provides that it is not a defense to an action brought under the Act that a defendant has been acquitted or has not been investigated, arrested, prosecuted, or convicted under the Criminal Code of 2012 or has been convicted of a different offense for the conduct that is alleged to give rise to liability under the Act. Makes other changes, including corresponding changes in the Code of Civil Procedure.

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. In provisions concerning the child care assistance program, provides that a family's eligibility for child care services shall be redetermined no sooner than 12 months following the initial determination or most recent redetermination. Provides that during the 12-month periods, the family shall remain eligible for child care services regardless of (i) a change in family income, unless family income exceeds 85% of State median income, or (ii) a temporary change in the ongoing status of the parents as working or attending a job training or educational program. Effective October 1, 2018.

Amends the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that nothing in provisions concerning the election of employee and annuitant trustees shall preclude the Board of Trustees of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund from adopting rules that provide for Internet balloting or phone balloting in addition to election by mail. Provides that an Internet or phone ballot cast in accordance with these rules shall be a valid ballot. Effective January 1, 2019.