Sen. Mike Simmons-Gessesse

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Sets forth the General Assembly's intentions. Requires the Environmental Protection Agency to adopt rules to implement the motor vehicle emission standards of the State of California and the advanced clean cars II program. Permits the rules to incorporate by reference the California motor vehicle standards established in the final regulations issued by the California Air Resources Board pursuant to Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations and adopted under the authority of Division 26 of the California Health and Safety Code. Effective immediately.

Recognizes the Black and African-American communities of the 7th Senate District and expresses a deep appreciation and respect for the myriad of Black communities that currently reside in and have lived in the 7th District. Celebrates the history, achievements, culture, activism, and countless other contributions that Black people from a vast and beautiful diaspora have made to the 7th Senate District of Illinois on the far north side of Chicago.

Amends the Equitable Restrooms Act. Provides that any multiple-occupancy restroom must be identified as an all-gender multiple-occupancy restroom and designated for use by any person of any gender. Removes the requirement that any newly constructed multiple-occupancy restroom located adjacent or in proximity to a newly constructed all-gender multiple-occupancy restroom must also be designated as an all-gender multiple-occupancy restroom. Provides that any existing or future places of public accommodation or public buildings are subject to the requirements regarding all-gender multiple-occupancy restrooms. Effective January 1, 2027.

Creates the Low-Income Tenant's Right to Eviction Counsel Act. Provides that a tenant who financially qualifies under the Act has a right to full representation by counsel to be appointed by the court for eviction proceedings or for proceedings terminating a tenancy. Requires the court to appoint an attorney for a covered individual at any show cause hearing or scheduled trial. Requires, subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the county to pay the costs of legal services provided by an attorney appointed under the Act. Requires that the complaint required by the Eviction Article of the Code of Civil Procedure to include this notice on the first page of the complaint in bold 12-point type: "If the defendant's income is not greater than 80% of the median income in this State, the defendant has the right to court-appointed counsel in these proceedings." Provides that after the effective date of the Act, all residential lease agreements and renewal of existing lease agreements shall include a provision stating that tenants with incomes no greater than 80% of the median income in this State have a right to full legal representation during covered proceedings. Provides that the landlord must send the same notice if a landlord and tenant are operating under a lease agreement in force before the effective date of the Act within 30 days following the effective date of the Act. Counsel appointed by the court for the purposes of the Act must have a minimum of 2 years' experience handling eviction defense or training in handling evictions or be supervised by an attorney who meets these minimum qualifications. Effective January 1, 2025.

Creates the Censorship in Correctional Facilities Act. Provides that a law enforcement agency or law enforcement official shall not refuse to approve the use or prohibit the use of books, including, but not limited to, memoirs, autobiographies, and biographies, based upon the depiction in those materials of matters related to the protected characteristics or categories identified in the Illinois Human Rights Act in any correctional facility in the State. Defines terms. Makes corresponding changes in the Illinois Human Rights Act.

Creates the Safe Public Drinking Water Act. Provides that, as soon as practicable after the effective date of the Act, the Department of Public Health shall propose, and the Illinois Pollution Control Board shall adopt, amendments to the Board rules that establish primary drinking water standards in order to implement a State-only maximum contaminant level (MCL) for carcinogens and toxic chemicals that are likely to pose a substantial health hazard to residents of the State. Requires the rules adopted by the Board to establish: (1) a State-only MCL for perfluoroalkyl substances and polyfluoroalkyl substances in public drinking water systems; (2) a State-only MCL for hexavalent chromium in public drinking water systems; (3) a State-only MCL for 1,4 dioxane in public drinking water systems; and (4) a directive for the Department to propose implementing a State-only MCL for any other pollutants in public drinking water systems when 2 or more other states have set limits or issued guidance on a given pollutant. Directs the Department to review: (i) maximum contaminant levels adopted by other states; (ii) studies and scientific evidence reviewed by those states; (iii) material in the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; and (iv) the latest peer-reviewed science and independent or government agency studies. Provides that the Department shall annually review the latest peer-reviewed science and independent or government studies.

Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that the provision of the Post-Conviction Hearing Article of the Code that a prisoner shows cause by identifying an objective factor that impeded his or her ability to raise a specific claim during his or her initial post-conviction proceedings shall bar a claim under the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois Constitution brought in a successive post-conviction petition by any person who was convicted of a felony offense committed when that person was under 18 years of age.

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that no person or organization shall organize a gathering that causes the release of balloons into the air unless the balloons are (1) used by an institution of higher education or a governmental agency, or pursuant to a governmental contract, for bona fide scientific or meteorological purposes, (2) released indoors and remain indoors, or (3) are helium balloons used for the safe operation of a hot air balloon. Provides that persons who violate the amendatory Act's provisions shall be subject to civil penalties in specified amounts and that the release of 50 balloons or fewer at one time is a single offense. Effective January 1, 2024.

Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that a person shall not report to a consumer reporting agency any medical debt incurred by a consumer or any collection action against the consumer to collect medical debt. Provides that a consumer reporting agency shall not make, create, or furnish any consumer report or credit report containing, incorporating, or reflecting any adverse information that the consumer reporting agency knows or should know relates to medical debt incurred by the consumer or a collection action against the consumer to collect medical debt. Provides that no consumer reporting agency shall maintain in the file of a consumer any information relating to medical debt incurred by a consumer or a collection action against the consumer to collect medical debt. Provides that a health care provider shall not furnish or report any medical debt incurred by a consumer or any collection action against the consumer to collect medical debt to a consumer reporting agency. Provides that a health care provider shall include a provision in any contract entered into with a collection agency for the purchase or collection of medical debt that prohibits the reporting of any medical debt to a consumer reporting agency. Provides that a violation of the provisions constitutes an unlawful practice within the meaning of the Act.

Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act. Defines "source of income" as the lawful manner by which an individual supports himself or herself and his or her dependents including, but not limited to, any lawful source of income or rental assistance from any federal, State, local, or nonprofit-administered benefit or subsidy program including, but not limited to, the Housing Choice Voucher program. Provides that, upon the request of a public housing authority, the Department of Human Rights must conduct an investigation into allegations of a violation as prohibited by the Act affecting source of income and housing choice voucher discrimination, and, if the Department finds such a source of income and housing choice voucher discrimination, it shall initiate enforcement action against each violator under specified provisions of the Act.