Sen. Tom Bennett

Amends the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. Provides that the tax on motor fuel, gasohol, majority blended ethanol fuel, biodiesel, and biodiesel blends shall be suspended if the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index is more than 3% over the previous 12-month period. Provides for certain amounts to be transferred from the General Revenue Fund to the Road Fund if the suspension is in effect. Effective immediately.

Amends the School Code. Allows a school district to utilize a remote learning day instead of an emergency day provided for in the school calendar. Provides that the number of remote learning days used in a school year may not exceed the number of emergency days provided for in the school calendar and the district superintendent must approve a remote learning plan for the district before the district may utilize a remote learning day. Sets forth what the plan must address, the term of approval, and how the plan must be posted. Sets forth district requirements. Allows statutory and regulatory curricular mandates and offerings to be administered via remote learning, allows for electronic communication for instruction and interaction between educators and students, and provides for rulemaking. Makes related changes. Effective July 1, 2021. Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Deletes reference to: 105 ILCS 5/34-18.67 new Adds reference to: 105 ILCS 5/34-18.66a new Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the contents of the bill with the following changes. Requires a school district to pay to its employees who provide educational support services to the district their daily, regular rate of pay and benefits rendered for any remote learning day if the remote learning day precludes them from performing their regularly scheduled duties and they would have reported for work but for the remote learning day. Requires a school district to make full payment that would have otherwise been paid to its contractors who provide educational support services to the district of their daily, regular rate of pay and benefits rendered for any remote learning day if the remote learning day precludes them from performing their regularly scheduled duties and they would have reported for work but for the remote learning day. Provides that the employees who provide the support services covered by such contracts shall be paid their daily bid package rates and benefits as defined by their local operating agreements or collective bargaining agreements. Provides for an exception to paying employees and contractors of a school district who provide educational support services for a remote learning day if the day is rescheduled and the employees or contractors will be paid their daily, regular rate of pay and benefits on the rescheduled day when services are rendered. Changes the effective date from July 1, 2021 to July 1, 2022. Senate Committee Amendment No. 2 Provides that a remote learning day may also be utilized because a school was selected to be a polling place.

Amends the Firearm Concealed Carry Act. Provides that the Illinois State Police shall allow for non-resident firearm concealed carry license applications from any state or territory of the United States (rather than from a state or territory of the United States with laws related to firearm ownership, possession, and carrying, that are substantially similar to the requirements to obtain a license under the Act). Provides that the applicant must meet certain statutory qualifications.

Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. In provisions concerning the renewable portfolio standards, specifies the goals for procurement of renewable energy credits and cost-effective renewable energy resources that shall be included in the long-term renewable resources procurement plan and makes other changes concerning these procurements and provides for the calculation of the cost of equity for the purposes of recovering all reasonable and prudently incurred costs of energy efficiency measures from retail customers. Provides that savings of fuels other than electricity achieved by measures that educate about, incentivize, encourage, or otherwise support the use of electricity to power vehicles shall count towards the applicable annual incremental goal and shall not be included in determining certain limits. Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that an electric utility that serves less than 3,000,000 retail customers but more than 500,000 customers in this State may plan for, construct, install, control, own, manage, or operate photovoltaic electricity production facilities and any energy storage facilities that are planned for, constructed, installed, controlled, owned, managed, or operated in connection with photovoltaic electricity production facilities without obtaining a certificate of public convenience and necessity subject to specified terms and conditions. Provides that a public utility that provided electric service to at least 1,000,000 retail customers in Illinois and gas service to at least 500,000 retail customers in Illinois may elect to recover its natural gas delivery services costs through a performance-based rate. Provides that, beginning in 2022, without obtaining any approvals from the Commission or any other agency, regardless of whether any such approval would otherwise be required, a participating utility that is a combination utility shall pay $1,000,000 per year for 10 years to the energy low-income and support program. Adds provisions authorizing certain utilities to plan for, construct, install, control, own, manage, or operate electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Amends the Prevailing Wage Act to include specified facilities financed in whole or in part with renewable energy resources in the definition of "public works". Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Creates the Illinois Biomanufacturing Act. Provides for the creation of the Illinois Biomanufacturing Institute. Provides for the Board of Directors of the Institute. Provides for the duties of the Institute. Provides for funding of the Institute. Provides Institute reporting requirements. Creates the Biomanufacturing Initiative Task Force. Provides purpose and duties of the Task Force. Provides for Task Force membership. Provides for meetings of the Task Force. Provides for administrative support for the Task Force. Provides Task Force reporting requirements. Creates the Biomanufacturing Equity Investment Fund, the Biomanufacturing Loan Fund, and the Biomanufacturing Grant Fund as special funds in the State treasury for specified purposes concerning investment in and funding of biomanufacturing centers. Amends the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides for tax credits for qualifying biomanufacturing centers. Provides further requirements concerning the issuance of the tax credit. Amends the State Finance Act to provide for specified special funds. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act to provide for the biomanufacturing center tax credit. Defines terms.

Creates the Rebuild Illinois Mental Health Workforce Act. Provides that the purpose of the Act is to preserve and expand access to Medicaid community mental health care in Illinois to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations and avoid the criminalization of mental health conditions. Establishes add-on payments for the following community mental health services to be paid beginning with State Fiscal Year 2023 and continuing for each State fiscal year thereafter: individual therapy services; community support-individual services; case management services; and assertive community treatment services. Requires monthly directed payments to community mental health providers of community support team services or assertive community treatment services. Provides that such directed payments shall be based on the number of Medicaid users, as defined, who receive services from the provider in the base year. Provides that the add-on payments established under the Act shall apply to Medicaid services provided by a contracted managed care organization or entity and services paid for directly by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. Provides that no base Medicaid rate or Medicaid rate add-on payment or any other payment for the provision of Medicaid community mental health services in place on July 1, 2021 shall be diminished or changed to make the reimbursement changes required under the Act. Requires the Department to apply for federal approval to implement the Act. Provides that implementation of the add-on payments is conditioned on the receipt of federal financial participation for such payments. Effective immediately.

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Restores a provision in the Act concerning the regulation of greenhouse gases to its form prior to amendment by P.A. 102-662. Repeals a provision defining "clean energy". Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Police Training Act. Creates within the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board a Recruitment Division. Provides that the Division shall establish a Back the Badge program, which shall establish recruitment plans for law enforcement agencies. Provides that the Division shall determine and prioritize specific characteristics that a law enforcement agency and community desire in their police officers. Provides that the Division shall cooperate with law enforcement agencies to determine a strategy to hire and retain sworn police officers who are diverse and reflective of the community, and the priorities of the law enforcement agencies.

Amends the Redistricting Transparency and Public Participation Act. Creates the Independent Redistricting Commission to adopt and file with the Secretary of State a redistricting plan for Legislative and Representative Districts (rather than requiring the Senate and House of Representatives to each establish a committee, or the Senate and House of Representatives may create by joint resolution a joint committee of both chambers, to consider proposals to redistrict the Legislative Districts or Representative Districts). Provides the commissioner selection process and meeting and voting requirements to adopt a plan. Makes conforming changes in the Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Police Training Act. Defines "retired law enforcement officer qualified under federal law" for purposes of the Act to permit the carrying of a concealed weapon. Amends the Criminal Code of 2012, the Unified Code of Corrections, and the County Jail Act. Permits currently employed and qualified retired State correctional officers and county correctional officers to carry their own firearms off-duty without being in violation of the unlawful use of weapons and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon statutes if they meet certain training requirements. Provides that currently employed and qualified retired State correctional officers and county correctional officers shall carry a photographic identification and a valid annual firearm certificate while carrying their own firearms off-duty. Limited to correctional officers who have custody and control over inmates in an adult correctional facility. Effective immediately.