Sen. Lakesia Collins

Provides that the amendatory Act may be referred to as the Kinship in Demand (KIND) Act. Provides that the KIND Act creates the statutory vision and authority for the Department of Children and Family Services to execute a kin-first approach to service delivery and directs the juvenile courts to provide necessary oversight of the Department's obligations to maintain family connections and promote equitable opportunities for youth and families to thrive with relational permanence. Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Contains provisions concerning Department rules on relative, kinship, and licensed foster care; grants to subsidized guardians of hard-to-place children; a requirement on the Department to make reasonable efforts to place a child with a relative; documentation of the Department's reasons for failing to secure a relative placement; foster care maintenance payments for relatives who qualify for certification as a kinship caregiver home; subsidized guardianship support services for children and their guardians; certification and background checks on relative caregivers; annual reports regarding relative and kinship care placements; performance audits; and other matters. Amends the Child Care Act of 1969. Requires the Department to adopt standards for certifying kinship caregiver family homes that are different from licensing standards used for non-relative foster family homes. Contains provisions concerning background screenings of prospective kinship caregivers; a requirement that the Department assist relatives and prospective kinship caregivers with completing the steps required for approval as a kinship caregiver home; orientation activities for prospective kinship caregivers; Guardianship Assistance Program payments and services for relative caregivers; and other matters. Amends the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Makes changes to provisions concerning "best interest" determinations; emergency placement of a minor with a willing relative pending a temporary custody hearing; court assessments on the Department's effort to place a minor with a relative; court ordered family-finding efforts; required notification to a minor's located relatives that the minor has been removed from the custody of the minor's parents; and other matters. Effective immediately.

Creates the Music and Musicians Tax Credit and Jobs Act. Provides that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity may award credits to qualified music companies. Creates the Music Education Scholarship Act. Provides that the Board of Higher Education may award scholarships to applicants who are enrolled in or accepted for admission to an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree program in music education and who agree to meet certain teaching obligations. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates certain income tax credits for theater infrastructure projects. Amends the Live Theater Production Tax Credit Act. Renames the Act as the Live Music and Theater Production Tax Credit Act. Provides that the Act also applies to musical performances.

Creates the Community Hospice and Palliative Care Professional Loan Repayment Program Act. Provides that, by January 1, 2025, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission shall create and administer the Community Behavioral Health Care Professional Loan Repayment Program. Provides that the Program shall provide loan repayment assistance, subject to appropriation, to eligible hospice and palliative professionals practicing in a hospice program that provides services in the State. Provides that the Commission shall award a grant to each qualified applicant for a maximum of 4 years. Sets forth provisions concerning awarding funds, eligibility, work requirements, and priority of awarding funds. Provides for rulemaking. Provides that the Act is inoperative 10 years after the effective date of the Act. Effective immediately.

Creates the Digital Assets Regulation Act. Provides that the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation shall regulate digital asset business activity in the State. Sets forth provisions concerning: applicability; the powers and duties of the Department; funds; customer protections; custody and protection of customer assets; covered exchanges; compliance; registration; supervision; records; additional procedural provisions; confidentiality; violations; enforcement; rulemaking authority; and severability. Creates the Special Purpose Trust Company Article in the Corporate Fiduciary Act. Sets forth provisions concerning certificates of authority; rulemaking and organization; certificates of authority for foreign corporate fiduciaries; eligibility; fees; and certificates of reciprocity. Makes other changes to various Acts. Effective immediately.

If and only if Senate Bill 3666 of the 103rd General Assembly becomes law, amends the Digital Assets Regulation Act. Provides that an operator shall not accept or dispense more than $1,000 or equivalent monetary value in a day from or to a customer via a digital asset kiosk. Sets forth provisions concerning customer disclosures, reporting physical addresses, and implementation of the provisions. Effective immediately or on the date Senate Bill 3666 of the 103rd General Assembly takes effect, whichever is later.

Mourns the passing of George White.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that, if a taxpayer is awarded a credit by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in connection with a qualifying Illinois data center located in a qualified area or a data center developed by a minority-owned business, a women-owned business, or a business owned a person with a disability, then the taxpayer is entitled to an additional income tax credit in an amount equal to 5% of the taxpayer's investment in qualified tangible personal property used in the construction or operation of that data center. Effective immediately.

Provides that all agency rules establishing procedures for contested cases may include procedures for requesting language assistance. Provides that, in a contested case, all parties shall be afforded an opportunity for an administrative hearing after reasonable notice in the preferred spoken language of the parties, if known by the agency. Provides that notice for the administrative hearings shall include instructions at the top of the notice, written in, at a minimum, English, Spanish, Polish, Gujarati, Urdu, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Tagalog, for assistance in translating the contents of the notice, and a statement written in those languages. Defines "language assistance". Provides that the administrative law judge has the duty to inquire and determine if a participant in the hearing needs language assistance to participate in or understand the hearing. Provides that if an individual for whom English is a second language knows some English, it should not prohibit that individual from being allowed to receive language assistance. Provides that the examination of the individual believed to be in need of language assistance must be done on the record, and the conclusion of the administrative law judge must be stated on the record. Provides that any party or witness has the right to request language assistance to participate in or understand the hearing at any time during the course of the hearing. Creates qualifications for the certification of administrative hearing interpreters.

Appropriates $52,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for financial assistance and administrative costs associated with the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity Act. Appropriates $4,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois Board of Higher Education for financial assistance and for administrative costs associated with implementation of the Act. Appropriates $4,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois Community College Board for financial assistance and for administrative costs associated with implementation of the Act. Effective July 1, 2024.

Amends the Foster Parent Law. Provides that foster parents have a right to receive an initial payment of $480 per child to be made within 24 hours of a permanent placement. Provides that if the final monthly payment for a child amounts to $480 or more, the amount of $480 shall be deducted from the final monthly payment. Provides that if the final monthly payment amounts to less than $480, the final monthly payment shall not be made.