Sen. Sara Feigenholtz

Amends the Adoption Compensation Prohibition Act and the Adoption Act. Provides that the Act shall not be construed to prevent a prospective adoptive parent from giving gifts or other things of value to a biological parent if the total value does not exceed $200. Provides that a prospective adoptive parent may advance a maximum of $1,000 for reasonable attorney's fees of the biological parent in connection with proceedings under the Act or in connection with proceedings for the adoption of the child. Provides that a prospective adoptive parent may advance a maximum of $1,000 for reasonable birth parent living expenses without prior order of court. Provides that the prospective adoptive parents shall present a final accounting of all those attorney's fees to the court before the entry of a final judgment order for adoption. Provides that if the court finds an accounting by the prospective adoptive parents to be incomplete or deceptive or to contain unauthorized or unreasonable amounts, the court may order a new accounting or the repayment of amounts found to be excessive or unauthorized or make any other appropriate orders. Provides that a prospective adoptive parent may seek reimbursement of reasonable living expenses from a person who receives such payments only if the person who accepts payment of reasonable living expenses before the child's birth knows that the person on whose behalf he or she is accepting payment is not pregnant at the time of the receipt of such payments or the person receives reimbursement for reasonable living expenses simultaneously from more than one prospective adoptive parent without the knowledge of the prospective adoptive parent. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Registered Titles (Torrens) Act. Deletes a provision concerning excess funds in a county indemnity fund that states that the county may transfer and expend excess indemnity fund monies for the benefit of real property owners as the county deems appropriate, if at least 50% of the excess monies are transferred to the lead poisoning prevention fund but the county may not expend excess indemnity fund monies for any purpose other than lead poisoning prevention until it first designs, implements, and starts making loan or grant payments under the lead poisoning prevention program. Provides that this amendatory Act does not preempt, rescind, modify, or revise any local, State, or federal laws or rules governing lead paint mitigation or abatement or lead poisoning prevention. Effective immediately.

Amends the Victims' Economic Security and Safety Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning posting of certain notices.

Creates the Foster Youth Successful Transition to Adulthood Act. Establish a program of transitional discharge from foster care for teenage foster children, enabling former foster youths under the age of 21 who encounter significant hardship upon emancipation to reengage with the Department of Children and Family Services and the Juvenile Court, in order to secure essential supports and services available to foster youth seeking to learn to live independently as adults. Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Provides that an abused, neglected, or dependent minor for whom the court has granted a supplemental petition to reinstate wardship may be placed in the custody of or committed to the Department of Children and Family Services. Provides that the Department of Children and Family Services shall provide or authorize child welfare services, aimed at assisting minors to achieve sustainable self-sufficiency as independent adults, to any minor eligible for the reinstatement of wardship, whether or not such reinstatement is sought or allowed, provided that the minor consents to such services and has not yet attained the age of 21. Amends the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Provides that an abused, neglected, or dependent minor between the ages of 18 and 21 may be placed with the Department of Children and Family Services if (1) the court has granted a supplemental petition to reinstate wardship of the minor, or (2) the Court has adjudicated the minor a ward of the court, permitted the minor to return home under an order of protection, and subsequently made a finding that it is in the minor's best interest to vacate the order of protection and commit the minor to the Department of Children and Family Services for care and service.

Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. With respect to an executive branch State employee who is the subject of an Executive Inspector General's investigation and whose agency head or ultimate jurisdictional authority agrees with the Inspector General as to disciplinary action against the employee, establishes procedures for providing a redacted version of the Inspector General's summary investigation report to the Executive Ethics Commission, to the employee, and to the public, under certain circumstances.

Amends the School Code. With respect to the Early Childhood Education Block Grant, provides that not less than 11% (instead of exactly 11%) of the grant shall be used to fund programs for children ages 0-3. Provides that this percentage shall increase to at least 20% by Fiscal Year 2015, except that if, in a given fiscal year, the amount appropriated for the Early Childhood Education Block Grant is insufficient to increase the percentage of the grant to fund programs for children ages 0-3 without reducing the amount of the grant for existing providers of preschool education programs, then the percentage of the grant to fund programs for children ages 0-3 may be held steady instead of increased. Effective July 1, 2009.

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Redefines the term "compost" to mean compostable material that has, by composting, decomposed to the degree that it will not, when subjected to optimal thermal conditions and optimal levels of oxygen, moisture, and nutrients, reheat significantly due to the action of microorganisms, and that is also suitable (i) for use as a soil conditioner, (ii) for use as a cover material for a municipal solid waste landfill, or (iii) for another use approved by the Agency (now, the humus-like product of the process of composting waste, which may be used as a soil conditioner). Redefines the term "composting" to mean the decomposition of compostable material into compost by a biological process that produces carbon dioxide and water as primary by-products (now, the biological treatment process by which microorganisms decompose the organic fraction of waste, producing compost). Excepts food scrap from the definition of the term "garbage". Exempts certain types of facilities, sites, portions of facilities, and portions of sites from regulation as pollution control facilities. Defines "compostable material" and "food scrap". Effective immediately.

Amends the Older Adult Services Act. In provisions concerning the development of a plan to restructure the State's service delivery system for older adults, provides that the Department on Aging and the Departments of Public Health and Healthcare and Family Services shall develop the plan no later than September 30, 2009. Provides that the plan shall protect the rights of all older Illinoisans to services based on their health circumstances and functioning level, regardless of whether they receive their care in their homes, in a community setting, or in a residential facility. Provides that financing for older adult services shall take into account personal preference but shall not jeopardize the health, safety, or level of care of nursing home residents. Effective immediately.

Amends the Water Use Act of 1983. Provides that a high-capacity well is a well located on a parcel of property where the rate or capacity of water withdrawals of all wells on the property is in excess of 70 gallons per minute or 100,000 gallons during any 24-hour period. Provides that a high-capacity surface water intake is a surface water intake located on a parcel of property where the rate or capacity of water withdrawals is the same as that of a high-capacity well. Requires persons who are interested in developing a high-capacity well to notify the District before constructing the well (now, only when "the withdrawals from the new point can reasonably be expected to" exceed 100,000 gallons on any day). Requires existing and proposed high-capacity wells to register with the District. Provides that the District may recommend that the Department of Agriculture restrict the quantity of water that a person may extract from high-capacity wells (now, under certain circumstances, from other wells). Requires a person or land occupier who is responsible for a high-capacity well, high-capacity intake, or public water supply to participate in the Illinois Water Inventory Program, but exempts high-capacity intakes used for agricultural irrigation and high-capacity wells used for agricultural irrigation from this requirement for 5 years. Effective January 1, 2010.

Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning definitions.