Sen. Adriane Johnson

Amends the Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act. Provides that a public officer, employee, board, or representative of a governmental unit may not ban or otherwise prohibit a book from being available for reading or circulation by members of the public in a library, school, or other publicly funded facility. Provides that the provisions do not restrict the ability to limit books in schools or in another publicly funded facility based upon the age and development level of persons who will have access to those books. Limits the concurrent exercise of home rule powers.

Creates the Illinois Farm to Food Bank Program Act. Establishes the Illinois Farm to Food Bank Program within the Department of Human Services to help expand the availability of nutritious, locally grown, raised, or processed foods for Illinois' emergency food system. Provides that the program shall (1) acquire and distribute agricultural products from Illinois agricultural entities or aggregators to Illinois' emergency food system, and (2) provide grants to improve capacity of the emergency food system to allow for the proper transportation, storage, or distribution of agricultural products to underserved areas. Provides that the program shall target fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry, dairy, and eggs produced in Illinois. Provides that foods shall be surplus, seconds, or market-grade quality levels and must be safe for consumption. Provides that the program is subject to appropriation and shall dedicate no less than 75% of available funds to acquisition and distribution of food. Requires the Secretary of the Department of Human Services to engage a not-for-profit entity from Illinois' emergency food system to administer the program. Requires the administering entity to have statewide reach and represent multiple food banks that source and distribute food to Illinois food pantries and soup kitchens under the same authorities and standards as the Emergency Food Assistance Program administered by the Department. Contains provisions concerning the duties of the administering entity. Creates the Farm to Food Bank Advisory Council to provide support to the program through facilitating relationship-building and partnerships between the Illinois agricultural sector and the emergency food system and other matters. Provides that the program may distribute food to those food banks with the infrastructure to accept, store, and distribute foods through the emergency food system and with the capacity to serve significant geographic areas within Illinois. Provides that the program shall distribute capacity-building grants for facility upgrades, equipment, or other investments necessary to support the objectives of the program. Requires the Department of Human Services to adopt rules. Effective immediately.

Creates the Justice40 Oversight Committee Act. Establishes the Justice40 Oversight Committee. Provides that the Justice40 Oversight Committee shall make findings, conclusions, and recommendations regarding environmental justice in this State and uses of federal funds provided to the State for environmental justice. Requires the Justice40 Oversight Committee to submit reports delineating the Oversight Committee's findings, conclusions, and recommendations to the General Assembly by specified dates. Contains requirements for the appointment of voting and nonvoting members of the Oversight Committee. Contains other provisions. Effective immediately.

Amends the University of Illinois Act, the Southern Illinois University Management Act, the Chicago State University Law, the Eastern Illinois University Law, the Governors State University Law, the Illinois State University Law, the Northeastern Illinois University Law, the Northern Illinois University Law, the Western Illinois University Law, and the Public Community College Act. Requires a university or community college to provide all necessary coursework materials for rental, free of charge to any student who meets all of the following qualifications: (1) the student is a resident of the State; (2) the student graduated from an approved high school in the State; (3) the student is enrolled for the upcoming semester or term at the university or community college; and (4) as applicable to a university, the student has not previously earned or received a bachelor's degree or 135 credit hours or equivalent of coursework, or, as applicable to a community college, the student has not previously earned or received an associate's degree or 60 credit hours or equivalent of coursework. Effective immediately.

Creates the Tenants Radon Protection Act. Provides that, before a lease is signed, a landlord shall provide each tenant in a dwelling unit with any records or reports that pertain to radon concentrations within the dwelling unit and that indicate a radon hazard exists and shall furnish each prospective tenant with a prescribed radon hazard disclosure form. Provides that, if a tenant performs a radon test, the tenant shall provide the test results to the landlord within 10 days after receiving them. Provides that nothing in the Act implies an obligation for a landlord or tenant to conduct any radon testing. Provides that a lease may be terminated under specified circumstances involving radon hazards. Preempts home rule powers. Amends the Illinois Radon Awareness Act. Repeals a provision requiring landlords to give certain disclosures to tenants. Effective January 1, 2024.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections if and only if House Bill 1064 of the 102nd General Assembly becomes law. Provides that the amendatory Act applies retroactively. Provides that a petitioner is eligible for parole review regardless of whether the petitioner was sentenced on or after June 1, 2019. Provides that up to 3 (rather than 3) years prior to becoming eligible for parole review, the eligible person may file his or her petition for parole review with the Prisoner Review Board. Provides that within 30 days of receipt of this petition, the Prisoner Review Board shall determine whether the petition is appropriately filed, and if so, shall set a date for a parole review hearing one year from the date the petition is deemed appropriately filed or on the date of eligibility for parole review, whichever is later (rather than 3 years from receipt of the petition). Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. In provisions allowing the filling or refilling of personal containers with bulk food, refers to restaurants and retailers (rather than just retailers). Allows restaurants and retailers to fill or refill a consumer-owned container with ready-made food. Allows clean consumer-owned containers provided or returned to a restaurant or retailer for filling or refilling to be filled or refilled and returned to the same consumer if the consumer-owned container is filled or refilled by either an employee of the restaurant or retailer or the owner of the consumer-owned container. Requires filled or refilled consumer-owned containers to be designed and constructed for reuse in accordance with specified federal requirements. Contains requirements for restaurants and retailers. Directs the Department of Public Health to produce materials for restaurants and retailers on or before January 1, 2024 indicating that consumer-owned containers are not prohibited for use under Illinois law and specifying best practices for food safety requirements for consumer-owned containers. Effective immediately.

Amends the School Boards Article of the School Code. In provisions regarding suspension or expulsion of pupils, provides that, when expelling a student, the board shall notify the parents of the nature of the hearing and the option of retaining legal counsel. Provides that, when the suspension period is over, the pupil may return to school. Provides that for a pupil suspended due to gross disobedience or misconduct on a school bus, a written decision about whether the student can use a school bus shall be made within 15 days of the incident. Provides that a school shall offer written demonstration of remediation efforts excluding out of school suspensions. Provides that schools shall use data to track whether significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity is occurring both in the State and in the district with respect to the incidence, duration, and type of disciplinary removals from placement, including suspensions and expulsions. Provides that, if it is determined that significant disproportionality is occurring, the school shall provide that determination for annual review and, if appropriate, revision of the policies, practices, and procedures used in disciplinary removals to ensure that the policies, practices, and procedures comply with the district's equity requirements. Provides that notice of suspension shall also include other evidence-based alternatives to suspension. provides that when a student is suspended for more than 4 days, that options for automatically placing the student in an e-learning program or distance learning program through written materials if (1) the removal is for more than 5 consecutive school days; or (2) the child has been subjected to a series of removals that constitute a pattern, because the series of removals total more than 10 school days in a school year, because the child's behavior is substantially similar to the child's behavior in previous incidents that resulted in the series of removals, and the effects of additional factors such as the length of each removal, the total amount of time the child has been removed, and the proximity of the removals to one another shall be included.

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Defines terms. Provides that, beginning January 1, 2025, a retail establishment may not sell or distribute in this State a disposable food service container that is composed in whole or in part of polystyrene foam. Exempts specified entities from the prohibition until one year after the amendatory Act's effective date. Effective immediately.

Amends the Real Estate License Act of 2000 and the Real Estate Appraiser Licensing Act of 2002. Provides that a real estate broker, or managing broker, and appraiser shall not discriminate when preparing a broker price opinion or comparative market analysis for residential real estate. Provides that a real estate broker, or managing broker, and appraiser engages in discrimination when the individual considers the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of the owner of the real estate or the residents of the geographic area in which the real estate is located when determining the market value of the real estate. Provides for a private right of action in the circuit court and a civil action initiated by the Illinois Attorney General. Makes corresponding changes.