Sen. Karina Villa

Amends the Hospice Program Licensing Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title.

Creates the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force Act. Creates the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force. Provides that the Task Force shall be composed of 12 appointed members and the State's Chief Behavioral Health Officer, or the Officer's representative. Provides that the 2 Task Force co-chairs shall appoint experts to contribute and participate in the Task Force as nonvoting members. Provides for meetings of the Task Force and responsibilities relating to examination of the first year of implementation and use of the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in Illinois. Requires the development of an action plan with specified recommendations to be filed with the Governor and General Assembly by December 31, 2023. Includes legislative findings. Repeals the Act on January 1, 2025. Effective immediately.

Appropriates $7,500,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Human Services for the purpose of making a grant to the Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living to administer and implement the Home Modification Program. Effective July 1, 2023.

Provides legislative findings. Appropriates specified amounts to the Department of Public Health for grants, expenses, and administrative costs of programs relating to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and human immunodeficiency virus; the Getting to Zero-Illinois plan to end the HIV epidemic by 2030; the prevention, screening, and treatment services to address sexually transmitted infection cases; and the PrEP4Illinois Program to provide client navigation for pre-exposure prophylaxis services and medication access. Contains other provisions. Effective July 1, 2023.

Makes an appropriation of $717,765,720 from the General Revenue Fund to the State Board of Education for early childhood education. Makes various appropriations from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Human Services for early intervention, for grants and administration expenses associated with the Maternal and Child Home Visiting Program, for grants and administrative expenses associated with the Healthy Families Program, and for grants and administrative expenses associated with child care services, including prior year costs. Effective July 1, 2023.

Appropriates $20,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Human Services to implement Public Act 102-522 and provide grants to local school districts and community organizations for comprehensive personal health and safety education in kindergarten through the 5th grade and comprehensive sexual health education in the 6th through 12th grades. Effective July 1, 2023.

Creates the Graduate and Retain Our Workforce Act. Establishes the GROW Illinois Program, in which public institutions of higher education award incentive loans to applicants. Provides that, subject to appropriation, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission may, each year, administer applications for assistance under the GROW Illinois Program. Sets forth qualifications for recipients, degrees, and jobs. Provides for loan repayment and rulemaking. Amends the State Finance Act to create the Graduate and Retain Our Workforce (GROW) Illinois Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Effective immediately.

Creates the Tickborne Disease Prevention and Protection Act. Presents legislative findings. Requires the Department of Public Health, in conjunction with the medical entomology lab of the Prairie Research Institute's Illinois Natural History Survey and a statewide association representing physicians, to develop protocols and best practices for identifying, diagnosing, and treating tickborne diseases in Illinois and a mandatory accredited continuing medical education course that describes those protocols and best practices. Provides that the Department shall require health care professionals and laboratories to report cases of tickborne disease to each other and the Department. Directs the Department to train local health departments to respond to tickborne disease-related inquiries. Requires the Department to prepare a report of all efforts undertaken by the Department under the Act.

Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that if a merchant closes a customer's credit account because the merchant's business is closing or being liquidated, or due to inactivity on the credit account by its owner, the merchant shall report to the credit reporting agencies and to the owner of the account information explaining that the account was closed due to issues related to the merchant or inactivity and not the customer's failure to pay the balance of the credit account. Provides that any person who violates the provisions commits an unlawful practice.

Creates the Social Work Alternative Licensure Path and Barriers to Access Task Force to address the significant shortage of mental health professionals in the State of Illinois, particularly licensed clinical social workers.