Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant

Mourns the death of John Walsh D'Arcy III.

Mourns the death of Glen A. Marcum.

Creates the Human Trafficking Task Force Act. Provides requirements regarding the composition and duties of the task force. Provides that the task force shall provide a report containing specified information to the General Assembly and Governor no later than June 30, 2016. Abolishes the task force and repeals the Act on July 1, 2016. Effective immediately.

Amends various Acts relating to the governance of public universities in Illinois. Requires the governing board of each public university to establish an admissions process in which honorably discharged veterans are permitted to submit an application for admission to the University as a freshman student enrolling in the spring semester if the veteran was on active duty during the fall semester. Allows the university to request that the Department of Veterans' Affairs confirm the status of an applicant as an honorably discharged veteran who was on active duty during the fall semester. Effective immediately.

Amends the Supreme Court Act. Provides that the Supreme Court may establish a pilot program for the filing of petitions for temporary orders of protection by electronic means and for the issuance of such orders by audio-visual means. Provides that the administrative director of the courts shall maintain an up-to-date and publicly available listing of the sites, if any, at which petitions for ex parte temporary orders of protection may be filed, and at which electronic appearances in support of such petitions may be made. Provides that in developing a pilot program, the administrative director shall strive for a program that is regionally diverse and takes into consideration, among other things, the availability of public transportation, population density, and the availability of facilities for conducting the program. Amends the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986. Defines terms and provides substantive and procedural requirements for the pilot program.

Amends the Military Code of Illinois. Provides that all members of the Illinois National Guard shall undergo pre-deployment and post-deployment testing for depleted uranium. Requires the Department of Military Affairs to cover the costs associated with such testing. Amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Act. Requires the Department of Veterans' Affairs to provide assistance to any resident of Illinois who served on active duty for any component of the U.S. Armed Forces, excluding the Illinois National Guard, who requests a pre-deployment or post-deployment test for depleted uranium. Effective June 30, 2017.

Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning appeals by the State.

Creates the Child Bereavement Leave Act and amends the State Finance Act. Provides that an employee may use specified amounts of bereavement leave to grieve the death of the employee's child, attend services in relation to the death of the employee's child, or make arrangements necessitated by the death of the employee's child. Provides for enforcement by the Department of Labor. Provides for civil penalties. Authorizes the Attorney General to collect penalties. Creates the Child Bereavement Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Adds the percentage of Medicaid funded residents as one of the factors the Department of Healthcare and Family Services must considered in grouping nursing facilities for purposes of payment. Provides that a resident of a nursing facility whose application for long term care benefits is awaiting final action shall be included in the calculation as a Medicaid funded resident.

Creates the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act. Sets forth provisions concerning postsecondary career expectations; a competency-based, high school graduation requirements pilot program; transitional mathematics courses; reading and communication transitional competencies; College and Career Pathway Endorsements and State Distinction programs; and administrative rules. Effective immediately.