Creates the Illinois Harvest to Homes Pilot Program Act. Provides that the Department of Agriculture, with meaningful input from stakeholders, shall develop an Illinois Harvest to Homes Pilot Program for a period of 5 years under which eligible entities may receive funding to provide agricultural surplus to communities of need. Creates an advisory council to support the Program. Provides that the Department shall adopt rules to implement the program no later than 90 days after the effective date of the Act. Provides that aspects of the program that are eligible for funding may include: (1) reimbursement to growers for picking, packing, and processing agricultural surplus; (2) transportation to the food banks; (3) reimbursement to food banks for storage and distribution costs; (4) capacity building grants for food banks to invest in facility upgrades for processing agricultural surplus; (5) marketing and promotional activities related to the pilot program; and (6) program administration. Provides for reporting requirements. Effective immediately.
Sponsored bills
Amends the Chicago School District Article of the School Code. With regard to local school council members, provides that an individual is ineligible for election or appointment to a local school council if he or she appears on the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website or the Statewide Sex Offender Database or Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database. Provides that if the general superintendent, upon a check, determines at any time that a local school council member or member-elect appears on the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website or the Statewide Sex Offender Database or Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database, the general superintendent must notify the local school council member or member-elect of such determination and the local school council member or member-elect must be removed from the local school council by the school board, subject to a hearing, convened pursuant to board rule, prior to removal. Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a local school council member must comply with all applicable board rules and policies regarding employees or volunteers if he or she engages in school activities beyond the scope of his or her official duty as a council member. Removes provisions regarding ineligibility for election or appointment of a local school council member based on a criminal conviction.
Amends the Illinois Act on the Aging. Provides that the rates and minimum mandated wage increases for homemaker services shall be, at a minimum, as of January 1, 2019, a rate of $19.96 per hour, for a minimum wage of $12 per hour, and as of July 1, 2019, a rate of $21.64 per hour for a minimum wage of $13 per hour. Provides that rates in future State fiscal years shall be no lower than the rates in effect on July 1, 2019. Provides that in-home service provider agencies shall be required to certify to the Department on Aging that they are in compliance with the mandated wage increase for direct service workers. Provides that fringe benefits, including, but not limited to, any paid time off, payment for training, health insurance, travel, or transportation payment, shall not be reduced in relation to these rate increases. Effective immediately.
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Requires the Illinois Commerce Commission to initiate a process whereby the Commission shall develop a forward-looking plan for strategically increasing transportation electrification in the State, that the process shall be open and transparent, and that the process shall conclude within 270 days of opening. Provides that the plan developed by the Commission shall incentivize transportation electrification through beneficial electrification programs, may include specific directives for public utilities in the State that enable transportation electrification or beneficial electrification, and should specifically address environmental justice interests and provide opportunities for residents and businesses in environmental justice communities to directly benefit from transportation electrification. Effective immediately.
Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Require managed care organizations (MCOs) to ensure (i) that contracted providers shall be paid for any medically necessary service rendered to any of the MCO's enrollees, regardless of inclusion on the MCO's published and publicly available roster of available providers; and (ii) that all contracted providers are contained on an updated roster within 7 days of entering into a contract with the MCO and that such roster be readily accessible by all medical assistance enrollees for purposes of selecting an approved healthcare provider. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to develop a single standard list of all additional clinical information that shall be considered essential information and may be requested from a hospital to adjudicate a claim. Provides that a provider shall not be required to submit additional information, justifying medical necessity, for a service which has previously received a service authorization by the MCO or its agent. Contains provisions concerning a timely payment interest penalty; an expedited provider payment schedule; a single list of standard codes to identify the reason for nonpayment on a claim; payments under the Department's fee-for-service system; a 90-day correction period for providers to correct errors or omissions in a payment claim; service authorization requests; discharge notification and facility placement; and other matters. Defines terms. Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that an insurer may not use a person's ZIP code in underwriting or rating automobile insurance, including the determination of premium rates.
Amends the School Code. Provides that, beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, a school district required to offer a consumer education course may form a partnership with a local financial institution to establish a financial training program for all students in grade 12, regardless of the student's prior academic history; defines "financial institution". Provides that the program must be limited to one hour of financial training per week during the student's final semester before graduation and must be provided by a financial institution at no cost to the school district. Provides that the curriculum for the program must include, but is not limited to, (i) properly investing early, (ii) managing debt, including student loan debt, and (iii) saving for retirement.
Amends the General Provisions and State Employees Articles of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that the alternative retirement annuity under the State Employees Article applies to a conservation police officer subject to the Tier 2 provisions. Provides that a conservation police officer subject to the Tier 2 provisions may convert up to 8 years of service credit established before the effective date of the amendatory Act as a conservation police officer under the State Employees Article into eligible creditable service by filing a written election with the Board under that Article, accompanied by a specified payment. Effective immediately.
Amends the Counties Code. Changes the Rental Housing Support Program State surcharge a county recorder must collect on each real-estate related document from $9 to $18. Makes conforming changes.
Amends the School Code. With regard to the student discipline report, provides that the report must include data on the total number of school days missed by a student due to an out-of-school suspension or expulsion and data on the number of law enforcement officers assigned to schools within each school district and the number of arrests made by law enforcement officers of students on school grounds, in school vehicles, at school activities or school-sanctioned events, or as a result of referrals by school officials. Provides that the report must be disaggregated by whether a student qualifies for services under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the total amount of school days missed by the student, and the incident type that caused the suspension or expulsion. Provides that, in compiling the report, the State Board of Education must use the same disclosure avoidance standards used by the United States Department of Education in its public reporting of data submitted by each school district as part of the Civil Rights Data Collection and must also ensure that cross-tabulation by the various categories of disaggregation is possible. Makes other changes.