Sen. Chapin Rose

Amends the State Finance Act. Provides that no State funds may be expended for nonessential promotional purposes or advertising or for any other nonessential goods or services. Defines "nonessential" as not critical to the health, welfare, and safety of the citizens of Illinois. The prohibition applies to expenditures by State agencies and also to expenditures by State grant recipients from grant moneys. Provides for the Comptroller to enforce the prohibition, and allows the Comptroller to require State agencies and grant recipients to justify any expenditures that the Comptroller believes may be nonessential. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act, the Election Code, the University of Illinois Act, and the University of Illinois Trustees Act. Provides for a Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois consisting of 7 elected members (now, the Board consists of 9 members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate), 6 members appointed by the University of Illinois Alumni Association, the Governor (as a non-voting member, unless in the case of a tie), and 3 student trustees, with one student trustee as a voting member. Provides that 3 members shall be elected from the First Judicial District and one member shall be elected from each of the 4 other judicial districts. Terminates the term of each appointed member of the Board when all of the new elected members take office. Provides for staggered terms for members initially elected under the amendatory Act and 6-year terms thereafter. Provides that a voting member of the student trustees shall initially be selected by random lot by the student trustees to serve for his or her term. Provides that the voting member of the student trustees shall switch campuses as selected by random lot. Makes related changes. Effective immediately.

Designates November of 2010 as "Illinois Lung Cancer Awareness Month" in the State of Illinois.

Amends the Solicitation for Charity Act. Provides that in all subsequent instances after the first instance where re-registration and late registration are allowed, any re-registration and late registration must require that the new registration materials be filed along with a penalty registration fee of $200 (now, penalty registration fee is required on the first instance). Provides that the court may impose a civil penalty of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 against the organization or trust estate that, for a second or subsequent time, has failed to register or failed to maintain a registration required under this Act (now, may impose a civil penalty for first failure under the Section).

Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that a gas utility must waive or not assess any demand charges on non-residential customers with Rate GDS-5 seasonal gas delivery if the gas is used for agricultural grain drying purposes if, as determined by the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service by November 1 of that contract year, 35% or less of the corn crop in the State has been harvested. Effective immediately.

Directs the Board of Higher Education to establish a foundation to implement the rural campus designation program in this State in correlation with the federal program.

Amends the Nursing Home Care Act and the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. Provides that beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act, there shall be a 2-year moratorium on the enforcement of any new State mandate which would affect facilities or community providers unless such mandate is fully funded through a State appropriation. Effective immediately.

Amends the State Universities Article of the Illinois Pension Code. In provisions concerning the determination of whether a participant's earnings for any academic year used to determine the final rate of earnings exceeds the amount of his or her earnings with the same employer for the previous academic year by more than 6%, requires that the Illinois Community College Board's rules for recommending lists of promotional positions submitted to the Board by community colleges and for reviewing the promotional lists on an annual basis be adopted within 3 months after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Wildlife Code. Requires the Department of Natural Resources to place the following warning on all Deer Hunting Permits: "To lawfully hunt deer in the State of Illinois, a hunter may need to acquire a hunting license as well as this permit.". Requires the Department to place the following warning on all hunting licenses and Sportsmen's Combination Licenses: "To lawfully hunt certain species in the State of Illinois, such as deer, migratory waterfowl, and wild turkey, it may be necessary to acquire an additional permit, stamp, or both."

Amends the School Code. Provides that when calculating the State reimbursement for transportation costs, the State Board of Education may not deduct the number of pupils enrolled in early education programs from the number of pupils eligible for reimbursement if the pupils enrolled in the early education programs are transported at the same time as other eligible pupils.