Sen. Mike Simmons-Gessesse

Amends the Department of Innovation and Technology Act. Provides that, on or before January 1, 2026, the Department of Innovation and Technology shall develop and implement a system that allows users accessing a website operated by the State to automatically translate the contents of that website into another language. Provides that the system shall provide automatic translation to at least the 100 most commonly spoken language in the State. Effective immediately.

Amends the Regional Transportation Authority Act. Provides that, by December 31, 2025, the Regional Transportation Authority, the Board of the Commuter Rail Division of the Authority, the Board of the Suburban Bus Division of the Authority, and the Board of the Chicago Transit Authority shall create a program to provide free rides to persons earning under 138% of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' poverty guidelines. Effective July 1, 2025.

Creates the Municipal and Cooperative Electric Utility Planning and Transparency Act. Provides that, by November 1, 2025, and by November 1 every 3 years thereafter, all electric cooperatives with members in the State, municipal power agencies, and municipalities shall file with the Illinois Power Agency an integrated resource plan. Sets forth provisions concerning the plan. Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. Authorizes the Illinois Power Agency to develop capacity procurement plans and conduct competitive procurement processes for the procurement of capacity needed to ensure environmentally sustainable long-term resource adequacy across the State at the lowest cost over time. Amends the Public Utilities Act. Changes the cumulative persisting annual savings goals for electric utilities that serve less than 3,000,000 retail customers but more than 500,000 retail customers for the years of 2025 through 2030. Provides that the cumulative persisting annual savings goals beyond the year 2030 shall increase by 0.9 (rather than 0.6) percentage points per year. Changes the requirements for submitting proposed plans and funding levels to meet savings goals for an electric utility serving more than 500,000 retail customers (rather than serving less than 3,000,000 retail customers but more than 500,000 retail customers). Provides that an electric utility that has a tariff approved within one year of the amendatory Act shall also offer at least one market-based, time-of-use rate for eligible retail customers that choose to take power and energy supply service from the utility. Sets forth provisions regarding the Illinois Commerce Commission's powers and duties related to residential time-of-use pricing. Provides that each capacity procurement event may include the procurement of capacity through a mix of contracts with different terms and different initial delivery dates. Sets forth the requirements of prepared capacity procurement plans. Requires each alternative electric supplier to make payment to an applicable electric utility for capacity, receive transfers of capacity credits, report capacity credits procured on its behalf to the applicable regional transmission organization, and submit the capacity credits to the applicable regional transmission organization under that regional transmission organization's rules and procedures. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Survivor Support And Trafficking Prevention Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Extends eligibility for cash assistance and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to foreign-born victims of trafficking, torture, or other serious crimes who are preparing to file an application for T Nonimmigrant status or other specified nonimmigrant status applications. Removes a provision conditioning such assistance on the availability of funding. Removes a provision excluding from cash assistance and SNAP eligibility foreign-born victims of trafficking, torture, or other serious crimes who are single adults without family members. Removes a provision excluding from SNAP eligibility foreign-born victims of trafficking, torture, or other serious crimes who reside in an institution or other setting that provides the majority of their daily meals. Effective immediately.

Creates the Patient Access to Pharmacy Protection Act. Defines terms. Provides that no person, including a pharmaceutical manufacturer, may deny, restrict, prohibit, condition, or otherwise interfere with, either directly or indirectly, the acquisition of a 340B drug by, or delivery of a 340B drug to, a 340B covered entity or a 340B contract pharmacy authorized to receive 340B drugs on behalf of the 340B covered entity unless such receipt is prohibited by federal law. Provides that no person, including a pharmaceutical manufacturer, may impose any restriction on the ability of a 340B covered entity to contract with or designate a 340B contract pharmacy including restrictions relating to the number, location, ownership, or type of 340B contract pharmacy. Provides that no person, including a pharmaceutical manufacturer, may require or compel a 340B covered entity or 340B contract pharmacy to submit or otherwise provide ingredient cost or pricing data pertinent to 340B drugs unless required by State or federal law; institute requirements in any way relating to how a 340B covered entity manages its inventory of 340B drugs that are not required by a State or federal agency, including requirements relating to the frequency or scope of audits of inventory management systems of a 340B covered entity or a 340B contract pharmacy; or submit data or information that is not required by State or federal law as a condition for a 340B covered entity, its 340B contract pharmacy, or a location otherwise authorized by a 340B covered entity to receive 340B drugs. Sets forth provisions concerning enforcement of this Act; preemption of this Act; and severability of this Act. Effective immediately.

Maddy summarySB 705 makes a technical amendment to the Illinois Banking Act. Specifically, it updates a section related to the short title of the Act.

Amends the Department of Transportation Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Requires the Department of Transportation to create an intercity bus program. Provides that the Department shall plan for and implement intercity bus routes that (i) add missing frequencies to existing passenger rail routes, (ii) begin frequent departures throughout the day in advance of Amtrak service, and (iii) add smaller towns into the network. Requires bus schedules to be coordinated with intercity and commuter trains so that passengers can conveniently connect between buses and trains. Provides that passengers shall be able to purchase a single ticket for journeys combining intercity buses and intercity trains. Provides that bus-only tickets shall be available for purchase from the same ticketing system used by intercity trains. Allows the Department to implement the program by (i) contracting directly with intercity bus carriers through competitive bids, (ii) contracting through Amtrak's Thruway bus program, or (iii) contract directly with a local transit authority within the State.

Amends the School Code. Provides that, subject to appropriation, beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, the State Board of Education shall award grant money in the form of a voucher of $125,000 to a school district that submits a grant application to the State Board to be applied on the total purchase price of an electric school bus to effectively lower the purchase price of the electric school bus to the school district. Sets forth eligibility requirements for a school district to receive a grant. Provides that the State Board of Education shall annually disseminate a request for applications for grants towards the purchase of a electric school bus grant and applications shall be accepted on an annual basis. Provides that if the appropriation for grants under this Section for a given fiscal year is less than the amount required to fund all applications for grants, the State Board of Education shall give priority to school districts designated as Tier 1 or Tier 2 that do not have any electric school buses. Sets forth the application requirements. Allows the State Board of Education to adopt any rules necessary for the implementation of the provisions. Effective immediately.

Creates the Utility Data Access Act. Requires the Illinois Commerce Commission to enact the following procedures: (1) a utility shall retain all consumption data for a period of not less than 2 years; (2) a qualified utility shall retain monthly consumption data used for billing for a period of not less than 15 years; (3) a utility shall honor an account holder's request to transmit the account holder's covered usage data held by the utility to any entity designated by the account holder; (4) a qualified data recipient with respect to a qualified building or qualified property may request that a qualified utility provide aggregated usage data for the qualified building or qualified property; (5) a utility shall deliver requested data on a schedule set by the Commission; and (6) the account holder request process and utility delivery of requested data shall be convenient and secure. Establishes requirements for: the Commission's participation in a stakeholder process; the form and timeline in which covered usage data is provided to the data recipient; entry of data into the benchmarking tool; and the provision of covered usage data to recipients upon account holder authorization. Provides that, except in cases where the utility has not followed processes established by the Act or the utility is grossly negligent, the utility shall be held harmless for third-party misuse of data shared under the Act and no cause of action may be initiated against the utility for such subsequent misuse. Provides that prior to filing for cost recovery, a qualified utility must first demonstrate good faith efforts to secure federal, State, or other relevant funding options. Sets forth provisions regarding funding for the Commission to carry out its responsibilities under the Act and the Commission selecting and engaging outside consultants with experience in benchmarking and utility data access. States findings. Defines terms.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that all group and individual health insurance policies issued, delivered, amended, or renewed in Illinois that provide coverage for medical or surgical conditions shall also provide coverage for crisis services, regardless of any difference in billing codes used for such services. Provides that coverage for crisis services may not be denied or restricted based on the modality or setting of the services; and that crisis services shall be covered whether delivered in person, through telehealth, or in a residential or outpatient setting, to the extent that such services are covered in other settings or modalities under the policy. Makes conforming changes to the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971, the Illinois Municipal Code, the School Code, the Health Maintenance Organization Act, the Telehealth Act, and the Illinois Public Aid Code. Amends the Strengthening and Transforming Behavioral Health Crisis Care in Illinois Act. Renames the Act the Crisis Continuum Sustainability Act. Provides that on or before December 31, 2028, and every 5 years thereafter, the Department of Human Services shall, subject to available funding and in collaboration with relevant stakeholders and State bodies, develop and submit a Statewide Crisis Continuum Strategic Plan to the Office of the Governor and the General Assembly, with the goal of ensuring every Illinoisan has timely access to appropriate and supportive behavioral health response during a behavioral health crisis. Requires the strategic plan to identify statewide goals, key stakeholders, and performance metrics for expanding access to behavioral health crisis continuum services across Illinois; address gaps in service delivery; and other matters.