Sen. Carole Pankau

Amends the Property Tax Code. Includes disabled persons within the provisions granting an assessment freeze homestead exemption to senior citizens. Changes the name to the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption (now Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption). Makes corresponding changes to a cross-reference to the exemption. Amends the States Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.

Creates the Music Therapist Registration Act. Starting 6months after the effective date of the Act, prohibits any person from practicing music therapy or presenting himself or herself as a music therapist in the State, unless he or she is registered under the Act, falls within one of its enumerated exemptions, or has been issued a temporary registration. Establishes the Music Therapy Committee. Requires the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to authorize credentialing examinations through the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT). Sets qualifications for registration as a music therapist. Provides for licensure without examination for a music therapist who is licensed or otherwise certified as a Music Therapist-Board Certified (MT-BC) by another state or national certifying body which has substantially the same standards for registration as are required by the Act. Provides for the expiration, renewal, and restoration of music therapy registration. Creates a continuing education requirement. Establishes limits on the use of advertising. Effective November 1, 2011.

Amends the Property Tax Code. Includes disabled persons within the provisions granting an assessment freeze homestead exemption to senior citizens. Changes the name to the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption (now Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption). Effective immediately.

Amends the Children's Health Insurance Program Act, the Covering ALL KIDS Health Insurance Act, and the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of any of those Acts to the contrary, the Department of Human Services or the Department of Healthcare and Family Services shall require an applicant for or recipient of benefits under any of those Acts to supply at least 2 consecutive pay stubs for the purpose of determining the applicant's or recipient's income eligibility for those benefits. Effective immediately.

Resolves that in alignment with the Department of Human Services' Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2011-2017, all children and adults with developmental disabilities living in Illinois will receive high quality services guided by a person-centered plan that maximizes individual choice and flexibility in the most integrated setting possible regardless of intensity or severity of need.

Amends the State Finance Act. Creates the Medicaid Fund Receipt Account within the General Revenue Fund. Provides that the receipt of all federal Medicaid reimbursement funds must be recorded as an entry in this account and that all such receipts must be expended solely for the purposes for which they were received and may not be expended or diverted for any other purpose.

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a county or municipality may not use an automated traffic law enforcement system to provide recorded images of a motor vehicle for the purpose of issuing violations to persons driving a motor vehicle who enter an intersection to turn right against a red signal indication. Provides that a county or municipality may require any registered owner responding to an automated traffic law violation notice to submit proof of minimum liability insurance coverage of the motor vehicle at the time of the violation. Effective January 1, 2011.

Amends the Governor's Office of Management and Budget Act. Requires GOMB to establish a single updated searchable database website accessible by the public at no cost that includes information concerning each entity that receives Illinois funding. Requires GOMB to report to the General Assembly concerning the website. Effective immediately.

Amends the Covering ALL KIDS Health Insurance Act. Provides that to be eligible for benefits under the Act, an individual who is otherwise eligible must be either a United States citizen or included in one of certain specified categories of non-citizens. Provides that the Department of Healthcare and Family Services may, by rule, cover prenatal care or emergency medical care for non-citizens who are not otherwise eligible under these provisions. Provides that nothing in these provisions affects the eligibility status of a child enrolled in the program on the effective date of the amendatory Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Children's Health Insurance Program Act, the Covering ALL KIDS Health Insurance Act, and the Illinois Public Aid Code. In connection with eligibility for the KidCare and Covering ALL KIDS programs, sets an asset limit of $10,000, excluding the value of the child's residence and the value of a vehicle (other than a recreational vehicle) used for transportation. Makes changes concerning the reporting of changes in income and other circumstances that affect eligibility, and provides that a failure to report is a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $10,000 under the public assistance fraud provisions of the Illinois Public Aid Code; also provides for repayment of an amount equal to benefits that were wrongly received. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to adopt rules within 60 days. Makes the reporting, penalty, and rulemaking provisions also applicable to the FamilyCare program under the Children's Health Insurance Program Act. Effective immediately.