Sen. Mark Walker

Amends the Public Utilities Act. Deletes language that provides that no construction shall commence on any new nuclear power plant to be located within the State, and no certificate of public convenience and necessity or other authorization shall be issued therefor by the Illinois Commerce Commission, until the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency finds that the United States Government, through its authorized agency, has identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear waste, or until such construction has been specifically approved by a statute enacted by the General Assembly. Effective immediately.

Amends the Health Facilities Planning Act. Modifies provisions concerning Safety Net Impact Statements. Provides for Emergency Medicine and Trauma Systems Impact Statements and Maternal and Child Health Impact Statements. Provides further requirements concerning the discontinuance of a hospital facility or a category of service. Provides requirements for hospital closure during a pandemic. Provides for a right of action under the Act. Specifies and modifies penalties for a violation of the Act. Allows a health facility to be placed under receivership. Specifies further powers and duties of the Health Facilities and Services Review Board under the Act. Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires a general acute care hospital that ceases to provide hospital services before January 1, 2022 to pay specified amounts. Provides further requirements concerning the payments. Defines terms. Makes conforming and other changes. Effective immediately. House Floor Amendment No. 1 Deletes reference to: 20 ILCS 3960/4 20 ILCS 3960/14.2 new Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of the introduced bill with changes. Modifies provisions and requirements concerning Safety Net Impact Statements, Emergency Medicine and Trauma Systems Impact Statements, and Maternal and Child Health Impact Statements. Makes changes concerning requirements for applications for permits, exemptions, and certificates for changes in ownership of a health care facility and discontinuation of health care facilities or services thereof. Further modifies the powers and duties of the Health Facilities and Services Review Board (State Board). Makes changes in provisions concerning the revision of criteria, standards, and rules. Modifies provisions concerning State Board notice of hospital reduction in health care services. Restores provisions allowing the State Board to accept in-kind services or donations instead of or in combination with the imposition of a fine. Removes provisions concerning membership of the State Board and receivership. Modifies defined terms. Makes conforming and other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall provide on its website a central repository for new and existing businesses with specified business-related content. Amends the Illinois Enterprise Zone Act. Contains provisions concerning certification and decertification of Enterprise Zones. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Makes changes concerning the angel investment credit. Provides for a credit for taxpayers who hire full-time employees to fill positions at a location in a county with fewer than 250,000 inhabitants. Amends the Technology Development Act. Removes a provision limiting investment in funds created by an Illinois venture capital firm. Provides that distributions from a TDA II-Recipient Fund, in an amount not to exceed the commitment amount and total distributions received, may be reinvested into a specified account without being counted against the 5% cap. Provides that specified moneys in the Technology Development Fund may be provided as grants to technology businesses in order to foster, accelerate, and scale technology innovation in Illinois. Modifies the term "technology business" to expand the meaning of technology oriented or emerging activity. Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Department of Veterans' Affairs Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning offices of the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Amends the Department of Revenue Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Department of Revenue may adopt rules for payment by cryptocurrency of any amount due under any Act administered by the Department only when the Department is not required to pay a discount fee or charge to convert the cryptocurrency to United States dollars. Defines terms. Effective immediately.

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Requires the Environmental Protection Agency to annually review and update the underlying data for, and use of, indicators used to determine whether a community is designated as an environmental justice community and to establish a process by which communities not designated as environmental justice communities may petition for such a designation. Provides that an applicant for a permit for the construction of a new source that will become a major source subject to the Clean Air Act Permit Program to be located in an environmental justice community or a new source that has or will require a federally enforceable State operating permit and that will be located in an environmental justice community must conduct a public meeting prior to submission of the permit application and must submit with the permit application an environmental justice assessment identifying the potential environmental and health impacts to the area associated with the proposed project. Provides requirements for the environmental justice assessment. Provides that a supplemental fee of $200,000 for each construction permit application shall be assessed if the construction permit application is subject to the requirements regarding the construction of a new source located in an environmental justice community. Contains provisions regarding public participation requirements for permitting transactions in an environmental justice community. Provides that, if the Agency grants a permit to construct, modify, or operate a facility that emits air pollutants and is classified as a minor source, a third party may petition the Pollution Control Board for a hearing to contest the issuance of the permit. Contains provisions regarding environmental justice grievances. Defines "environmental justice community". Contains other provisions. House Floor Amendment No. 1 Adds reference to: 415 ILCS 5/39.5 from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1039.5 Replaces everything after the enacting clause with the provisions of the introduced bill with the following changes. Removes language requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to annually review and update the underlying data for, and use of, indicators used to determine whether a community is designated as an environmental justice community. Requires the Agency to conduct an evaluation of a prospective CAAPP permit owner's or operator's prior experience in owning and operating sources of air pollution. Provides that the Agency may deny such a permit if the prospective owner or operator or any employee or officer of the prospective owner or operator or any employee or board member has a history of specified criminal actions. Removes language requiring the air dispersion modeling to examine air quality related impacts to determine estimated emissions of specified pollutants. Makes other changes.

Creates the Commission on Interstate and Intrastate Trafficking of Firearms Act. Creates the Commission on Interstate and Intrastate Trafficking of Firearms within the Illinois State Police to assess the current needs relating to firearms trafficking and advise the Governor and General Assembly on necessary strategies to reduce illegal firearms trafficking. Provides for the membership of the Commission. Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Provides that on or after the effective date of the amendatory Act if an applicant is applying for or renewing a Firearm Owner's Identification Card he or she must submit evidence to the Illinois State Police that he or she has completed at least 8 hours of handgun safety training approved by the Director of the Illinois State Police. Provides that notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, each local law enforcement agency shall issue a firearm permit to an applicant who seeks the purchase of a firearm to verify the identity of the purchaser and shall complete a full criminal background check of the applicant that includes obtaining fingerprints from the prospective firearm purchaser. Provides that each local law enforcement agency shall keep records of those permits and make them available to the Illinois State Police through the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS). Provides that the duration of the permit shall be 10 days after its issuance. Provides that the local law enforcement agency may deny a permit to purchase a firearm to an applicant if the agency, in its discretion, believes it is in the interest of public safety. Amends the Criminal Code of 2012 to make conforming changes. Makes other changes.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that an insurer or producer authorized to issue policies of insurance in the State may not make a distinction or otherwise discriminate between persons, reject an applicant, cancel a policy, or demand or require a higher rate of premium for reasons based solely upon the basis that an applicant or insured has been convicted of a felony.

Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Expands the Post-Master of Social Work School Social Work Professional Educator License scholarship to allow a recipient to work as a social worker for an Illinois municipality who does not report directly to a police department (instead of only recipients who work at a public or nonpublic not-for-profit preschool, elementary school, or secondary school located in this State) for at least 2 of the 5 years immediately following the recipient's graduation or termination of studies.

Amends the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law in the Property Tax Code. Provides that, for levy year 2021 and thereafter, the limiting rate shall include 50% of the value of new property (currently, 100% of the value of new property is excluded). Effective immediately.