Sen. Andy Manar

Mourns the death of Doris Mae Drea of Springfield.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides a tax credit to each taxpayer who owns qualified real property located in a county in Illinois that was declared a State disaster area by the Governor due to tornadoes in 2018. 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.

Mourns the death of Lena W. Rust of Bunker Hill.

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 Election Code. Provides that petitions to constitute a new political party in the State and nomination petitions for independent candidates must be signed by a number of qualified voters at least equal to the minimum petition signature requirement for a Statewide office candidate of an established political party (instead of 1% of the number of voters who voted at the next preceding Statewide general election or 25,000 qualified voters, whichever is less). Provides that petitions for form a new political party within any district or political subdivision less than the entire State shall be signed by qualified voters of the district or political subdivision equaling in number not less than the minimum petition signature requirement for the office on the slate with the highest minimum petition signature requirement (instead of 5% of the number of voters who voted at the next preceding regular election in that district or subdivision). Provides that the signature requirement for nomination petitions for independent candidates for public offices other than Statewide offices is the same as the signature requirement for established political parties. Provides that, if the signature requirement for established political party candidates also includes a limit on the number of signatures that may be filed, then that limitation shall also apply to new political party candidates for that office. Effective immediately.

Amends the School Code. Requires the State Board of Education to create the Freshman Success pilot program. Provides that, subject to appropriation, the State Board must award grants to school districts to implement Freshman Success plans; specifies grant eligibility requirements. Provides that, on or before December 1, 2019 and on or before each December 1 thereafter, the State Board shall make grant applications available and issue a list of all school districts eligible to apply. Requires each grant applicant to describe its plan and how the grant funds will be allocated; provides for allowable grant uses. Provides that the State Board must review all submitted applications to determine if an applicant has developed a promising plan to increase on-track freshman rates and has demonstrated the leadership and capacity to implement its plan with the grant assistance. If so, provides that the State Board may award the applicant a grant of up to $100,000 per qualifying high school in the school district. Effective immediately.

Amends the Disaster Relief Act. Provides that as soon as practical after the effective date of this amendatory Act, the State Comptroller shall direct and the State Treasurer shall transfer $250,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Disaster Response and Recovery Fund to be paid to the City of Taylorville for the purpose of providing disaster relief in relation to damage resulting from a tornado occurring in Taylorville on December 1, 2018. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides a tax credit to each taxpayer who owns qualified real property located in a county in Illinois that was declared a State disaster area by the Governor due to tornadoes in 2018. Effective immediately.

Amends the Disaster Relief Act. Provides that as soon as practical after the effective date of this amendatory Act, the State Comptroller shall direct and the State Treasurer shall transfer $250,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Disaster Response and Recovery Fund to be paid to the City of Taylorville for the purpose of providing disaster relief in relation to damage resulting from a tornado occurring in Taylorville on December 1, 2018. Effective immediately.

Mourns the death of Joseph Michael "Joe" Bergen of Brownsville.