Sen. Sara Feigenholtz

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that the authority having maintenance jurisdiction over publicly owned paved bicycle trails in the State shall erect permanent regulatory or warning signage alerting pedestrians or cyclists of highway crossings, unless the intersection where the trail crosses the highway is controlled by an official traffic control device or sign. Provides that if the authority having maintenance jurisdiction over publicly owned bicycle trails has actual knowledge of an emergency or safety hazard that creates a dangerous condition on a publicly owned paved bicycle trail, the authority shall take reasonable steps to erect temporary signage or other warning markers, including, but not limited to, cones, barricades, or drums, alerting pedestrians or cyclists of the dangerous condition. Makes other changes.

Creates the Music and Musicians Tax Credit and Jobs Act. Provides that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity may award credits to qualified music companies. Creates the Music Education Scholarship Act. Provides that the Board of Higher Education may award scholarships to applicants who are enrolled in or accepted for admission to an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree program in music education and who agree to meet certain teaching obligations. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates certain income tax credits for theater infrastructure projects. Amends the Live Theater Production Tax Credit Act. Renames the Act as the Live Music and Theater Production Tax Credit Act. Provides that the Act also applies to musical performances.

Creates the Community Hospice and Palliative Care Professional Loan Repayment Program Act. Provides that, by January 1, 2025, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission shall create and administer the Community Behavioral Health Care Professional Loan Repayment Program. Provides that the Program shall provide loan repayment assistance, subject to appropriation, to eligible hospice and palliative professionals practicing in a hospice program that provides services in the State. Provides that the Commission shall award a grant to each qualified applicant for a maximum of 4 years. Sets forth provisions concerning awarding funds, eligibility, work requirements, and priority of awarding funds. Provides for rulemaking. Provides that the Act is inoperative 10 years after the effective date of the Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Nursing Education Scholarship Law. Creates the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Provides that all money in the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, by the Department of Public Health to provide scholarships to nurse educators. Provides that each fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2024, the State Comptroller shall transfer $1,500,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund to implement the nurse educator scholarship provisions. Makes a conforming change in the State Finance Act. Amends the Nurse Practice Act. Provides that, for fiscal year 2024 and for each fiscal year thereafter, $6,000,000 (instead of $4,000,000) of the moneys deposited in the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund each year shall be set aside and appropriated to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for nursing scholarships awarded pursuant to the Nursing Education Scholarship Law. Effective immediately.

Appropriates $1,000,000 from the Education Assistance Fund to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for grants to eligible nurse educators to use for payment of their educational loan s pursuant to Public Act 94-1020. Appropriates $1,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Board of Higher Education for nurse educator fellowships to supplement nurse faculty salaries. Appropriates $1,500,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Board of Higher Education for competitive grants for nursing schools to increase the number of graduating nurses. Appropriates $6,000,000 from the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for expenses related to the Nursing Education Scholarship Law. Effective July 1, 2024.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person commits sexual assault by deception if the person commits an act of sexual penetration and the victim submits under the belief that the person committing the act is someone known to the victim other than the accused, and this belief is induced by pretense or concealment by the accused with the intent to induce that belief. Sexual assault by deception is a Class 3 felony.

Amends the Right of Publicity Act. Grants additional enforcement rights and remedies to recording artists. Provides for the liability of any person who materially contributes to, induces, or otherwise facilitates a violation of a specified provision of the Act by another party after having reason to know that the other party is in violation. Defines "artificial intelligence" and "generative artificial intelligence". Changes the definition of "commercial purpose" and "identity".

Amends the State Comptroller Act. Provides an exception for vendors to receive payment by non-electronic means. Provides that outstanding liabilities as of June 30, payable from appropriations which have otherwise expired and interest penalties payable on those liabilities under the State Prompt Payment Act, may be paid out of the expiring appropriations during the 4-month period ending at the close of business on October 31 of each year, without regard to the fiscal year in which the payment is made. Amends the Prompt Payment Act. Removes provisions concerning payments made under the Public Aid Code. Provides that when a State official or agency responsible for administering a contract receives a bill or invoice from a contractor, that State official or agency shall electronically confirm the date on which the bill or invoice was received within 5 business days of receipt and shall transmit any approved amount to the Comptroller within 30 days of receipt. Amends the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act. Provides that a pre-qualification requirement may include consideration of past performance in administering grants if past performance failed to meet performance goals, indicators, and milestones. Amends the Court of Claims Act. Provides that all claims against the State founded upon any contract entered into with the State of Illinois, except that undisputed individual claims below $2,500 resulting from lapsed appropriations do not fall under the jurisdiction of Court of Claims. Provides that state agencies may pay undisputed individual claims below $2,500 resulting from lapsed appropriations from current fiscal year appropriations. Sets forth that the provisions are not intended to prohibit more frequent reporting to assess items such as service needs, gaps, or capacity. Sets forth other provisions concerning grant agreement specifications, separate accounts for State grant funds, expenditures prior to grant execution and reporting requirements.

Amends the Hospital Services Trust Fund Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Increases by 20% hospital reimbursement rates for dates of service on and after January 1, 2024, for specified services, including, but not limited to: inpatient general acute care services; inpatient psychiatric services for safety-net hospitals; general acute care hospitals that are not safety-net hospitals; and outpatient general acute care services. Provides that the rates for the listed services shall be increased, beginning on January 1, 2025 and each January 1 thereafter, based on the annual increase in the national hospital market basket price proxies (DRI) hospital cost index from the midpoint of the calendar year 2 years prior to the current year, to the midpoint of the preceding calendar year. Provides that in no instance shall the adjustment result in a reduction to the rates in place at the time of the required adjustment. Provides that if the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finds that the increases required under the amendatory Act would result in rates of reimbursement which exceed the federal maximum limits applicable to hospital payments, then the payments and assessment tax imposed on hospital providers shall be reduced as provided in the Hospital Provider Funding Article. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to promptly take all actions necessary to ensure the changes authorized in the amendatory Act are in effect for dates of service on and after January 1, 2024. Requires the Department to ensure that all necessary adjustments to the managed care organization capitation base rates necessitated by the adjustments in the amendatory Act are completed, published, and applied 90 days prior to the implementation date of the changes required under the amendatory Act. Provides that, by October 1, 2023, the Department shall by rule implement a methodology effective for dates of service beginning on and after January 1, 2024 to reimburse hospitals for extended stays in a hospital emergency department. Amends the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. Grants the Department emergency rulemaking authority. Effective immediately.

Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. In provisions requiring the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to implement a capitation base rate setting process for payments to managed care organizations (MCOs), removes the following requirements: (i) that any quality incentive or other incentive withholding of any portion of the actuarially certified capitation rates must be budget-neutral; (ii) that the entirety of any aggregate withheld amounts must be returned to the MCOs in proportion to their performance on the relevant performance metric; and (iii) that no amounts shall be returned to the Department if all performance measures are not achieved to the extent allowable by federal law and regulations.