Sen. James F. Clayborne, Jr.

Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Makes changes concerning veteran grants with regard to who qualifies for assistance, the type of assistance, notification to the postsecondary institution, and administration of the program. Makes changes concerning the Illinois National Guard grant program with regard to who is eligible for a grant and what the grant covers. Effective July 1, 2005.

Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Deletes a provision allowing legally possessed firearms to be returned to a person that completes a sentence for a conviction on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge.

Amends the Department of Agriculture Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Department of Agriculture shall establish a grant program to encourage farmers to add additives to anhydrous ammonia for the purpose of acting as a marking agent, leak detector, and theft detector to prevent the use of anhydrous ammonia in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine, and to add additives to anhydrous ammonia that render it inert for the purposes of methamphetamine production. Provides that the Department shall determine the eligibility of applicants for grants under this program. Provides that subject to appropriations made for this purpose by the General Assembly, the Department shall award grants to eligible farmers in accordance with rules adopted by the Department. Effective July 1, 2005.

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Excludes closed loop heat pump wells using USP food grade propylene glycol and injection wells used to mitigate groundwater contamination from the definition of "potential route". Requires the Environmental Protection Agency to provide in a computer database an Illinois Toxic Chemical Inventory in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency based on toxic chemical release forms filed pursuant to Section 313 of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986. Requires the Agency to publish an annual toxic chemical report before September 1 of each year (now, by April 1). For the purposes of the Clean Air Act Permit Program, in the definition of "major source" that is included in the subsection on applicability, makes a change in the list of stationary source categories for which fugitive emissions are to be considered. Provides that a compliance management system documented by a regulated entity as reflecting the regulated entity's due diligence in preventing, detecting, and correcting violations may serve as a substitute for an environmental audit in connection with self-disclosure of non-compliance. Repeals a Section of the Act relating to environmental audit privileges. Effective Immediately.

Amends the Hospice Licensing Act. Adds a definition of "hospice" and deletes the definition of "full hospice"; also changes the definition of "palliative care". Deletes specific requirements with which full hospices must comply, and instead provides that hospices must comply with the requirements of the Act, including the standards adopted by the Department of Public Health. Deletes certain items that must be included in the Department's standards. Provides that the separate standards currently applicable to volunteer hospices are inoperative after June 30, 2006 and that the new standards to be adopted for all hospice programs do not apply to volunteer hospices until July 1, 2006. Provides that the hospice program must meet the minimum standards for certification under Medicare. Effective July 1, 2005.

Amends the Procurement of Domestic Products Act. Redefines "manufactured in the United States" to include design, processing, packaging, testing, and other processes that add value, quality, or reliability. Permits an exemption from the Act's preference if procurement of the product manufactured outside the United States better serves the public interest by protecting or saving life, property, or the environment (now, if procurement of the domestic product is not in the public interest). Creates an exemption if the procurement is made in conjunction with contracts or offerings of fire suppression, security systems, and certain information services. Creates an exemption if the procurement is for certain medical or health care devices. Conditions penalties for a contractor's violation upon failure to cure a defect after notice, a reasonable opportunity to cure the defect, and establishment of the violation in judicial proceedings. Makes other changes.

Amends the Illinois Pension Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning Chicago municipal employees, officers, and officials.

Amends the Department of Transportation Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that, upon enactment of a federal transportation bill with a dedicated fund available to states for safe routes for schools, the Department of Transportation shall, in cooperation with the State Board of Education and the Department of State Police, establish and administer a Safe Routes to School Construction Program for the construction of bicycle and pedestrian safety and traffic-calming projects, with construction grants being made available to local governmental agencies. Effective immediately.

Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois and the State Finance Act. Creates the Autism Research Fund and provides that, from appropriations from the Fund, the Department of Public Health must make grants to public or private entities in Illinois for the purpose of funding research concerning the disorder of autism. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act to create a tax checkoff for the Fund. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. In provisions requiring an insurer that provides coverage for hospital or medical expenses under a group policy of accident and health insurance or health care plan to provide coverage under the policy for treatment of serious mental illness under the same terms and conditions as coverage for hospital or medical expenses related to other illnesses and diseases (commonly referred to as "mental health parity"), eliminates the December 31, 2005 sunset date that applies to those provisions. Effective immediately.