Sen. Debbie DeFrancesco Halvorson

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. In the definitions, provides that a facility accepting exclusively general construction or demolition debris and that as of January 1, 2000 is located in a county with a population of 700,000 or more persons is not a pollution control facility under the Act (now, the definition does not have the January 1, 2000 restriction). Makes a similar change regarding waste-storage, waste-treatment, or waste-disposal permits to provide that no permit shall be required for a facility in a county with a population over 700,000 as of January 1, 2000 (now, the January 1, 2000 date is not specified). Effective immediately.

Amends the School Code. Requires the State Board of Education to establish a State goal that all school districts have a wellness policy that is consistent with recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Requires the Department of Public Health and the State Board to form an interagency working group to publish model wellness policies and sample programs. Requires the State Board to establish a pilot project to implement model wellness policies. Creates the School Wellness Policy Taskforce to identify barriers to implementing wellness policies, recommend how to reduce those barriers, recommend statewide school nutrition standards, and evaluate the effectiveness of wellness policies. Effective immediately.

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that when the two Houses adjourn on Thursday, October 27, 2005, they stand adjourned until Wednesday, November 02, 2005 at 12:00 o'clock noon.

Mourns the death of Barbara Johnson.

Amends the Mobile Home Local Services Tax Act. Provides that the owner of each mobile home (now, "inhabited mobile home") shall pay an annual tax to the county treasurer. Effective immediately.

Amends the Volunteer Firefighter Job Protection Act to also provide volunteer emergency workers with job protections. Changes the short title of the Act to the Volunteer Emergency Worker Job Protection Act. Provides that the Act does not apply to municipalities of 3,500 or more. Defines volunteer emergency worker. Makes other changes.

Amends various Acts relating to the governance of public universities in Illinois and amends the Public Community College Act. Requires public institutions of higher education to allow a currently enrolled student who is called to active military service to complete any unfinished courses at a later date at no additional charge, unless course credit has already been given or the student received a full refund upon withdrawing from the course (in which case the student's record shall reflect that the withdrawal is due to active military service). Provides that the student must be given priority over other students in reenrolling in the course or courses. Effective immediately.

Amends the Department of Agriculture Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Department of Agriculture shall establish a grant program to encourage farmers to add additives to anhydrous ammonia for the purpose of acting as a marking agent, leak detector, and theft detector to prevent the use of anhydrous ammonia in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine, and to add additives to anhydrous ammonia that render it inert for the purposes of methamphetamine production. Provides that the Department shall determine the eligibility of applicants for grants under this program. Provides that subject to appropriations made for this purpose by the General Assembly, the Department shall award grants to eligible farmers in accordance with rules adopted by the Department. Effective July 1, 2005.

Amends the School Code. With respect to school districts other than Chicago, provides that early childhood education block grant funds shall be distributed through a grant approval process (instead of on a competitive basis). Makes changes regarding grants for preschool educational and related model research-training programs, model pilot early childhood parental training programs, and pilot programs concerning services to at-risk children and their families (including allowing grants to be provided to other entities besides school districts and providing that grants must be used to supplement, not supplant, funds received from any other source). Effective July 1, 2005.

Amends the Department of Transportation Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that, upon enactment of a federal transportation bill with a dedicated fund available to states for safe routes for schools, the Department of Transportation shall, in cooperation with the State Board of Education and the Department of State Police, establish and administer a Safe Routes to School Construction Program for the construction of bicycle and pedestrian safety and traffic-calming projects, with construction grants being made available to local governmental agencies. Effective immediately.