Sen. Michael W. Frerichs

Amends the Illinois Act on the Aging. Requires the Department on Aging to gather information about the special needs of older rural residents and to evaluate the adequacy and accessibility of existing programs for older rural residents. Creates the Older Rural Adults Task Force to gather information and make recommendations. Sets forth the membership of the Task Force. Provides that the Task Force may hold regional hearings and shall submit a report to the General Assembly no later than January 1, 2009. Provides that the Task Force shall be dissolved upon the submission of the report. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that the Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund shall establish the maximum amount of reinsurance available per residence, commercial building, and living unit for mine subsidence insurance. Provides that, for all policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2008, the reinsured loss per residence, per commercial building, and per living unit shall be the amounts established by the Fund and approved by the Director (now, the reinsured loss shall not exceed $350,000 per residence, $350,000 per commercial building, or $15,000 per living unit).

Amends the Illinois Act on the Aging. Provides that the Department on Aging shall establish a program to ensure the availability of congregate or home-delivered meals in communities with populations of under 5,000 that are not located within large urban counties. Sets forth the requirements for the program. Requires the Department to file a report with the General Assembly and the Illinois Council on Aging by January 1 of each year. Effective immediately.

Amends the Volunteer Emergency Worker Job Protection Act. Provides that the Act does not apply to municipalities with populations of 7,500 or more (now 3,500).

Amends the Personnel Code. Grants a State employee subject to the Code who is a veteran 4 days of leave per year (in addition to any currently available sick leave) to visit a veterans hospital for examination of a military service-connected disability (now, 2 days per year).

Amends the Southern Illinois University Management Act. Provides that the Illinois Ethanol Research Advisory Board shall establish and operate, subject to specific appropriation for the purpose of providing facility operating funds, the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville as a State Biorefining Center of Excellence. Sets forth the purposes and goals of the Center.

Amends the Livestock Management Facilities Act. Provides that solid livestock waste stacking structures shall be sized to store not less than the amount of waste generated during 3 months of facility operation at design capacity (now 6 months).

Amends the Critical Health Problems and Comprehensive Health Education Act. Requires the State Board of Education to establish and administer a matching grant program to pay for half of the cost that a school district incurs in training those teachers and other school personnel who express an interest in becoming qualified to administer emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation or in learning how to use an automated external defibrillator.

Amends the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Provides that reports of suspected child abuse or neglect made to the central register through the State-wide, toll-free telephone number shall be immediately transmitted to the appropriate local law enforcement agency. Provides that all oral reports made by the Department of Children and Family Services to local law enforcement personnel and the office of the State's Attorney of the involved county shall be confirmed in writing within 24 (instead of 48) hours of the oral report. Provides that the Department shall adopt rules expressly allowing law enforcement personnel to investigate reports of suspected child abuse or neglect concurrently with the Department, without regard to whether the Department determines a report to be "indicated" or "unfounded" or deems a report to be "undetermined". Effective immediately.

Amends the State Treasurer Act. Removes the requirement that the State Treasurer adjust each account at least annually to ensure compliance with the requirements of the College Savings Pool. Provides that the Treasurer shall limit the contributions that may be made on behalf of a designated College Savings Pool beneficiary based on the limitations established by the Internal Revenue Service (now, based on an actuarial estimate of what is required to pay tuition, fees, and room and board for 5 undergraduate years at the highest cost eligible educational institution). Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2007, distributions from certain qualified tuition programs under the Internal Revenue Code that are administered by other states are exempt from the requirement that a distribution from an Internal Revenue Code qualified tuition program be included when determining adjusted gross income for purposes of determining base income. Requires taxpayers to add to their base income an amount equal to the amount previously deducted for deposits into a qualified tuition program if the moneys are transferred from a qualified tuition program that is administered by the State to an out-of-state program. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.