Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that a consumer reporting agency may not impose a charge on a consumer for placing a freeze, removing a freeze, or temporarily lifting a freeze. Makes corresponding changes. Effective immediately.
Urges the Illinois Office of Tourism to do a feasibility study on linking together the Annbriar Golf Course in Waterloo, Gateway National in Madison, Governors Run in Carlyle, Kokopelli in Marion, Rend Lake Golf Resort in Whittington, Stone Creek Golf Club in Urbana, and Stonewolf Golf Club in Fairview Heights into the Abraham Lincoln Golf Trail.
Mourns the death of Alaysia, Malaysia, and Amanda Peacock of Harrisburg.
Mourns the death of Matthew Clayton Smock of Harrisburg.
Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) to identify and flag all college students who are potentially eligible to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Provides that the factors to be used to determine potential SNAP eligibility shall be prescribed by the Department of Human Services by rule, but at a minimum the Department shall consider income information reported on a college student's Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Requires ISAC to develop a notice available electronically to institutions of higher education that includes, at a minimum, college student SNAP eligibility criteria, the Application for Benefits Eligibility's website address, and the Illinois Hunger Coalition's Hunger Hotline. Requires Illinois institutions of higher education that participate in the Monetary Award Program to provide the notice in writing to all students who are enrolled or accepted for enrollment and are identified by ISAC as potentially SNAP eligible and, if possible, to designate a public benefits liaison or single point person to assist students in taking the necessary steps to obtain public benefits if eligible. Contains provisions concerning: SNAP Employment and Training program requirements; protocols to identify and verify all potential exemptions to an eligibility rule described in a specified federal regulation and to identify and verify a student's participation in educational programs; and other matters. Requires the Department to adopt any rules necessary to implement specified provisions on or before October 1, 2017. Effective immediately.
Creates the Network Adequacy and Transparency Act. Provides that administrators and insurers, prior to going to market, must file with the Department of Insurance for review and approval a description of the services to be offered through a network plan, with certain criteria included in the description. Provides that the network plan shall demonstrate to the Department, prior to approval, a minimum ratio of full-time equivalent providers to plan beneficiaries and maximum travel and distance standards for plan beneficiaries, which shall be established annually by the Department based upon specified sources. Provides that the Department shall conduct quarterly audits of network plans to verify compliance with network adequacy standards. Establishes certain notice requirements. Provides that a network plan shall provide for continuity of care for its beneficiaries under certain circumstances and according to certain requirements. Provides that a network plan shall post electronically a current and accurate provider directory and make available in print, upon request, a provider directory subject to certain specifications. Provides that the Department is granted specific authority to issue a cease and desist order against, fine, or otherwise penalize any insurer or administrator for violations of any provision of the Act. Makes other changes. Effective January 1, 2018.
Creates the Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Task Force Act. Creates the FGD Task Force to study the cost benefits of and make recommendations for the construction of new stacks at coal-fired power plants with flue gas desulfurization scrubber technology and the conversion of existing stacks at coal-fired power plants to flue gas desulfurization scrubber technology for the purpose of safely burning more Illinois-mined coal. Provides for the membership of the Task Force and provides that members shall serve without compensation. Requires the Task Force to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 31, 2017. Requires the Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to provide administrative and other support to the Task Force. Repeals the Act on January 1, 2019. Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a driver of a motor vehicle may, subject to certain requirements, overtake and pass to the left of a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on a portion of a highway designated as a no-passing zone. Provides that provisions concerning driving on the shoulder of a roadway shall not apply to any bicycle and a person operating a bicycle or motorized pedal cycle shall not be required to use the shoulder of a roadway when operating the bicycle or motorized pedal cycle. Provides that the rear of a bicycle may be equipped with a lamp emitting a steady or flashing red light (rather than solely a red light) visible from a distance of 500 feet in addition to or instead of a red reflector (rather than in addition to a red reflector).
Amends the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004. Replaces the experience requirements to qualify for licensure as a private security contractor. Requires that an applicant have a minimum of 5 years' experience with a licensed private security contractor agency or a proprietary security force of 30 or more persons registered with the Department, or with an in-house security unit for a corporation having 100 or more employees, with a military police or related security unit in any of the armed forces of the United States, or with a law enforcement agency of the federal government, a state, or a state political subdivision, which includes a State's Attorney's office, a public defender's office, or the Department of Corrections. Provides that the Board and the Department shall approve such experience and may accept alternative experience working with a private security contractor agency licensed in another state or for a private security contractor agency in a state that does not license such agencies if the experience is substantially equivalent to that gained working for an Illinois-licensed private security contractor agency. Provides that an applicant who has an associate degree or higher in police science or a related field or in business from an accredited college or university shall be given credit for 2 of the 3 years of the required experience, and that an applicant who has completed a non-degree military training program in police science or a related field shall be given credit for one of the 3 years of the required experience if the Board and the Department determine that such training is substantially equivalent to that received in an associate degree program. Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Finance Authority Act. In Sections concerning the fire truck revolving loan program, the fire station revolving loan program, and the ambulance revolving loan program, provides that repayments of loans made under those programs (and interest on those moneys) may be retained by the Authority and used for the purposes for which they are otherwise authorized to be used (currently, deposited into the Fire Truck Revolving Loan Fund, the Fire Station Revolving Loan Fund, and the Ambulance Revolving Loan Fund, as applicable). Provides that a loan for the purchase of an ambulance may not exceed $200,000 (instead of $100,000).
