Sen. Mattie Hunter

Amends the Network Adequacy and Transparency Act. Adds definitions. Provides that the minimum ratio for each provider type shall be no less than any such ratio established for qualified health plans in Federally-Facilitated Exchanges by federal law or by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Provides that the maximum travel time and distance standards and appointment wait time standards shall be no greater than any such standards established for qualified health plans in Federally-Facilitated Exchanges by federal law or by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Makes changes to provisions concerning network adequacy, notice of nonrenewal or termination, transition of services, network transparency, administration and enforcement, provider requirements, and provider directory information. Amends the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act. Makes changes to provisions concerning notice of nonrenewal or termination and transition of services. Amends the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to authorize the Department of Insurance to adopt emergency rules implementing federal standards for provider ratios, time and distance, or appointment wait times when such standards apply to health insurance coverage regulated by the Department of Insurance and are more stringent than the State standards extant at the time the final federal standards are published. Amends the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to make a conforming change. Effective immediately.

Amends the Legislative Commission Reorganization Act of 1984. Provides that the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability shall create a Veteran Internship Pilot Program for the purpose of providing internships for honorably discharged veterans to participate in the General Assembly's legislative staff internship program. Provides that, subject to appropriation, beginning on July 1, 2024, the Commission shall implement the pilot program. Provides that the Commission shall operate the pilot program for a 2-year period. Provides that, at the end of that 2-year period, the Commission shall evaluate the pilot program and submit a report to the General Assembly with its findings. Provides that the Commission shall establish qualifications for participation in the pilot program, including that a participant must be honorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces and have completed at least 60 hours of college credit. Repeals the provisions on January 1, 2027. Effective immediately.

Creates the Endow Illinois Tax Credit Act. Provides that the Department of Revenue shall award income tax credits to taxpayers who provide an endowment gift to a permanent endowment fund during the taxable year and receive a certificate of receipt for that gift. Provides that the credit is equal to 25% of the endowment gift. Contains provisions setting forth maximum credit amounts. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act to require an addition modification equal to the amount of any federal deduction claimed for an endowment gift for which a taxpayer receives a credit under the Endow Illinois Tax Credit Act. Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the evidence-based funding provisions of the School Code. Provides that the Minimum Funding Level is equal to $550,000,000 (instead of $350,000,000). Effective July 1, 2023.

Amends the Capital Development Board Act and the Toll Highway Act. Provides that the Capital Development Board and the Illinois Highway Toll Authority may make low-interest loans from the Working Capital Revolving Loan Fund to disadvantaged business enterprises or minority-owned businesses. Establishes a loan selection committee to review applications and select eligible businesses. Provides that the Board and Authority may set eligibility requirements for loans by administrative rule. Provides that loans shall not be used for: (1) the refinancing or payment of existing long-term debt; (2) the payment of non-current taxes; (3) the payment, advance, or loan to a stockholder, officer, director, partner, or member owner of a limited liability company; or (4) the purchase or lease of non-construction motor vehicles or equipment. Provides that loans may be made with interest. Limits the number of loans a business may receive. Provides that the Board and Authority shall give annual reports to the Governor and the General Assembly on the program. Provides that the authority to issue loans expires on June 1, 2028. Amends the State Finance Act. Establishes the Working Capital Revolving Loan Fund. Provides that transfers shall not exceed $20,000,000 a year, for a period of 5 years, from the Road Fund to the Working Capital Revolving Loan Fund as requested by the Commissioner of the Board or the Director of the Authority. Provides that no transfer will occur if the available balance in the Working Capital Revolving Loan Fund is equal to or greater than $40,000,000.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that, for a group policy of accident and health insurance providing coverage for more than 25 employees that provides pregnancy related benefits that is issued, amended, delivered, or renewed in this State after the effective date of the amendatory Act, if a covered individual obtains, from a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches, a recommendation approving the covered individual to seek in vitro fertilization, gamete intrafallopian tube transfer, or zygote intrafallopian tube transfer based on any of the following: the covered individual's medical, sexual, and reproductive history; the covered individual's age; physical findings; or diagnostic testing, then the procedure shall be covered without any other restrictions or requirements.

Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to adopt rules permitting reimbursement under the fee-for-service and managed care medical assistance programs for remote ultrasound procedures and remote fetal nonstress tests, utilizing established Current Procedural Terminology codes, as published by the American Medical Association, for these procedures when the patient is in a residence or other off-site location from the patient's provider and the same standard of care is met as would be present during an in-person visit. Provides that remote ultrasounds and remote fetal nonstress tests are only eligible for reimbursement when the provider uses digital technology that meets certain criteria. Provides which fetal nonstress test requires a place of service modifier for at-home monitoring in order to qualify for reimbursement. Requires the Department to issue guidance to implement the provisions of the amendatory Act.

Provides that the amendatory Act may be referred to as the Kinship in Demand (KIND) Act. Provides that the KIND Act creates the statutory vision and authority for the Department of Children and Family Services to execute a kin-first approach to service delivery and directs the juvenile courts to provide necessary oversight of the Department's obligations to maintain family connections and promote equitable opportunities for youth and families to thrive with relational permanence. Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Contains provisions concerning Department rules on relative, kinship, and licensed foster care; grants to subsidized guardians of hard-to-place children; a requirement on the Department to make reasonable efforts to place a child with a relative; documentation of the Department's reasons for failing to secure a relative placement; foster care maintenance payments for relatives who qualify for certification as a kinship caregiver home; subsidized guardianship support services for children and their guardians; certification and background checks on relative caregivers; annual reports regarding relative and kinship care placements; performance audits; and other matters. Amends the Child Care Act of 1969. Requires the Department to adopt standards for certifying kinship caregiver family homes that are different from licensing standards used for non-relative foster family homes. Contains provisions concerning background screenings of prospective kinship caregivers; a requirement that the Department assist relatives and prospective kinship caregivers with completing the steps required for approval as a kinship caregiver home; orientation activities for prospective kinship caregivers; Guardianship Assistance Program payments and services for relative caregivers; and other matters. Amends the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Makes changes to provisions concerning "best interest" determinations; emergency placement of a minor with a willing relative pending a temporary custody hearing; court assessments on the Department's effort to place a minor with a relative; court ordered family-finding efforts; required notification to a minor's located relatives that the minor has been removed from the custody of the minor's parents; and other matters. Effective immediately.

Creates the Music and Musicians Tax Credit and Jobs Act. Provides that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity may award credits to qualified music companies. Creates the Music Education Scholarship Act. Provides that the Board of Higher Education may award scholarships to applicants who are enrolled in or accepted for admission to an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree program in music education and who agree to meet certain teaching obligations. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates certain income tax credits for theater infrastructure projects. Amends the Live Theater Production Tax Credit Act. Renames the Act as the Live Music and Theater Production Tax Credit Act. Provides that the Act also applies to musical performances.

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Expands the categories of families and individuals eligible for child care assistance to include: early childhood assistants or aides, qualified assistants, early childhood teachers, and school-age workers who work at least 20 hours per week and meet income eligibility and other requirements. Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law or administrative rule to the contrary, beginning in State fiscal year 2025, the specified income threshold for families with a household member who is an early childhood assistant or aide, qualified assistant, early childhood teacher, or school-age worker shall be no less than 300% of the then-current federal poverty level for each family size. Effective July 1, 2024.