Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that any taxing district may order the county clerk to abate its taxes on any property if (i) a new business first occupies a facility located on the property during the taxable year, and (ii) the facility was vacant for a period of at least 24 continuous months prior to being occupied by the business.
Amends the Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act in the Illinois Municipal Code. Adds to the definition of "redevelopment project costs" the costs of and the costs associated with the development or redevelopment of areas within a one-half mile radius of an existing or proposed Regional Transportation Authority Suburban Transit Access Route station. Makes revisory changes. Includes a non-acceleration clause. Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code and the State Finance Act. Creates the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Provides for the issuance of International Brotherhood of Teamsters license plates. Provides that in addition to the appropriate registration fees, an applicant for the special plate shall be charged a fee of $40 at original issuance and $27 at renewal. Provides that $25 of the additional original issuance fee and the renewal fee shall be deposited into the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Fund. Provides that $15 of the original issuance fee and $2 of the renewal fee shall be deposited into the Secretary of State Special License Plate Fund. Provides that, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly and approval by the Secretary of State, the moneys in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Fund shall be paid as grants to the Teamsters Joint Council 25 Charitable Trust, an independent organization established and registered as a tax exempt entity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Act. Provides that the Department shall employ and maintain sufficient and qualified staff at the veterans' homes to fill all beds. Effective July 1, 2009.
Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. With respect to an executive branch State employee who is the subject of an Executive Inspector General's investigation and whose agency head or ultimate jurisdictional authority agrees with the Inspector General as to disciplinary action against the employee, establishes procedures for providing a redacted version of the Inspector General's summary investigation report to the Executive Ethics Commission, to the employee, and to the public, under certain circumstances.
Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Redefines the term "compost" to mean compostable material that has, by composting, decomposed to the degree that it will not, when subjected to optimal thermal conditions and optimal levels of oxygen, moisture, and nutrients, reheat significantly due to the action of microorganisms, and that is also suitable (i) for use as a soil conditioner, (ii) for use as a cover material for a municipal solid waste landfill, or (iii) for another use approved by the Agency (now, the humus-like product of the process of composting waste, which may be used as a soil conditioner). Redefines the term "composting" to mean the decomposition of compostable material into compost by a biological process that produces carbon dioxide and water as primary by-products (now, the biological treatment process by which microorganisms decompose the organic fraction of waste, producing compost). Excepts food scrap from the definition of the term "garbage". Exempts certain types of facilities, sites, portions of facilities, and portions of sites from regulation as pollution control facilities. Defines "compostable material" and "food scrap". Effective immediately.
Amends the School Code. Requires each school superintendent to create a program to ensure that students attending the schools that he or she manages cannot access those schools' grounds for at least 12 hours after those grounds are treated with a lawn care product. Requires each district superintendent to appoint a Lawn Care Coordinator whose duty it shall be (i) to implement that program, (ii) to supervise the provision of notice under subdivision (f)(2) of Section 3 of the Lawn Care Products Application and Notice Act, and (3) if the district adopts a pesticide-free turf care program, to supervise that program. Amends the Lawn Care Products Application and Notice Act. Requires applicators for hire to provide additional types of information to customers. Requires the owners or operators of day care centers to provide parents with one of two types of notice before applying pesticide or having pesticide applied to day center grounds (now, only school districts must provide that notice). Requires the Illinois Department of Public Health to inform school boards and the owners and operators of day care centers about these requirements. Requires the Illinois Department of Public Health to report violations to the Department of Agriculture for enforcement. Effective immediately.
Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Provides that it is a Class 4 felony for a child sex offender to knowingly operate, whether authorized to do so or not, any vehicle or specific type of vehicle, including, but not limited to, an ice cream truck or authorized emergency vehicle, for the purpose of attracting or enticing a person under 18 years of age to be in the presence of the offender. Provides that it is a defense that the offender was the parent of the person under 18 years of age in the offender's presence. Effective immediately.
Amends the Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral Act. Increases the income limitation under the Act to $55,000 (instead of $50,000) beginning in 2009. Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that the maximum income limitation under the Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption is the income limitation set forth in the Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral Act. Effective immediately.
Amends the School Code. Provides that each school district shall require that all students in grade 7 and all high school students enrolled in a course concerning history of the United States or a combination of history of the United States and American government view the Congressional Medal of Honor film made by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Provides that this requirement does not apply if the Congressional Medal of Honor Society charges the school district a fee for the film. Effective July 1, 2009.
