Sen. Iris Y. Martinez

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a vehicle that is owned by a self-insured company and is to be sold in the State of Illinois shall be considered salvage if the vehicle has sustained damage to the extent that the self-insured company determines the vehicle to be a total loss, or if the cost of repairing the damage would be greater than 50% of its fair market value. Establishes requirements for obtaining a salvage certificate for the vehicle. Provides for exchange of a salvage certificate for a certificate of title if a vehicle owned by a self-insured company that was declared a total loss because of a theft is recovered without damage.

Amends the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act. Makes changes concerning the Act's purpose and the definition of "hard-to-staff school". Changes certain references from target schools to eligible schools. Provides that in any fiscal year in which an appropriation for the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative is made, the consortium shall guarantee that support will be available to an admitted cohort for the cohort's training for that fiscal year (instead of providing that the consortium shall guarantee that support will be available to an admitted cohort through the cohort's full period of training). Makes changes concerning expenditures under the Initiative with regard to requests for waivers or deferrals of the teaching obligation, the way grants are awarded to provide the required support for a cohort of candidates, and what a program budget must include. Provides that grant funds may be used by any member of a consortium to offset the costs of child care and other indirect expenses that are necessary to permit candidates to maintain their class schedules. Makes other changes.

Amends the Counties Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning jurisdiction over Lake Michigan.

Amends the Illinois Highway Code. Provides that the Department of Transportation shall, upon application, erect and maintain roadside markers to identify the locations where persons were killed in accidents involving drunken drivers. Establishes requirements for the application for placement of the markers and for the markers themselves. Provides that, if the new provision conflicts with federal law, the markers shall not be erected or maintained. Provides that the Department shall prepare an evaluation of the program authorized by the new provision and shall report its findings to the General Assembly by January 1, 2008. Effective immediately.

Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Requires a motor vehicle dealer, who enters into a retail transaction where a consumer trades in or sells a vehicle that is subject to a lien to a dealer, to: (i) within 7 calendar days of the date of sale, give written notice to the lien holder of the traded-in or sold vehicle that the vehicle has been traded in or sold to the motor vehicle dealer; (ii) within 14 calendar days of the date of sale or within 10 calendar days of receiving payment in full for the motor vehicle sold to the consumer, whichever date is earlier, remit payment to the lien holder to pay off the lien on the traded-in or sold motor vehicle, unless the underlying contract has been rescinded before expiration of 14 calender days; (iii) within 5 calendar days of rescission of a contract give written notice to the lien holder that the contract has been rescinded and that the motor vehicle originally traded in or sold has been returned to the consumer, if the underlying contract entered into between the motor vehicle dealer and the consumer has been rescinded for any reason before the expiration of 14 days; and (iv) fully comply with the certain provisions of the Act if the contract entered into between the motor vehicle dealer and the consumer is rescinded for any reason. Provides that a motor vehicle dealer who violates these provisions commits an unlawful practice within the meaning of the Act.

Amends the Local Planning Technical Assistance Act. Provides for reimbursement to school districts for increased education costs associated with affordable housing that is part of an affordable housing plan.

Creates the Illinois Food, Farms, and Jobs Act and the Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force. Sets out the composition of the Task Force. Provides that the Task Force shall develop a plan for expanding and supporting a State local and organic food system and for assessing and overcoming obstacles to an increase in locally grown food and local organic food production. Sets out the contents of the plan. Amends the State Finance Act to create the Illinois Local Organic Food and Farm Fund. Effective immediately.

Creates the Employee Classification Act. Provides that an individual performing services for a contractor is deemed to be an employee of the employer. Provides that an individual performing services for a contractor is deemed to be an employee of the contractor unless it is shown that: (1) the individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of the service for the contractor, both under the individual's contract of service and in fact; (2) the service performed by the individual is outside the usual course of services performed by the contractor; and (3) the individual is engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business; or (4) the individual is deemed a legitimate sole proprietor or partnership. Provides that subcontractors or lower tiered contractors are subject to all provisions of the Act. Provides that he Department of Labor shall post a summary of the requirements of this Act in English, Spanish, and Polish on its official web site and on bulletin boards in each of its offices. Provides that it is a violation of the Act for an employer or entity not to designate an individual as an employee under the Act unless the employer or entity satisfies the provisions of the Act. Provides for civil remedies and civil penalties. Amends various Acts to make conforming changes. Effective January 1, 2008.

Extends the reporting deadline for the Joint Task Force on the College Insurance Program from October 31, 2006 to March 15, 2007.

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that when the two Houses adjourn on Friday, March 02, 2007, the Senate stands adjourned until Tuesday, March 06, 2007 at 11:00 o'clock a.m.; and the House of Representatives stands adjourned until Tuesday, March 06, 2007, at 12:00 o'clock noon.