Sen. Ram Villivalam

Creates the Build Illinois Homes Tax Credit Act. Provides that owners of qualified low-income housing developments are eligible for credits against the taxes imposed by the Illinois Income Tax Act or taxes, penalties, fees, charges, and payments imposed by the Illinois Insurance Code. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act and the Illinois Insurance Code to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Administrative Act. Requires the Department of Human Services to establish reimbursement rates that build toward livable wages for front-line personnel in residential and day programs and service coordination agencies serving persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Provides that for community-based providers serving persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities, subject to federal approval, the rates taking effect for services delivered on or after July 1, 2024 shall be increased sufficiently to: (i) provide a minimum $3.00 per hour wage increase over the wages in effect on June 30, 2024 for front-line personnel; and (ii) provide wages for all other residential non-executive direct care staff, excluding direct support professionals, at the U.S. Department of Labor's average wage as defined, by rule, by the Department. Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that for ID/DD facilities and MC/DD facilities, the rates taking effect for services delivered on or after July 1, 2024, shall be increased sufficiently to: (i) provide a minimum $3.00 per hour wage increase over the wages in effect on June 30, 2024 for front-line personnel; and (ii) provide wages for all other residential non-executive direct care staff, excluding direct support professionals, at the U.S. Department of Labor's average wage as defined, by rule, by the Department. Requires the same increase for front-line personnel employed at community-based providers serving persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Amends the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. Grants the Departments of Human Services and Healthcare and Family Services emergency rulemaking authority. Effective immediately.

Creates the Ensuring Essential Services Act. Provides that the purpose of the Act is to ensure the State meets its obligation to provide certain essential services for individuals with developmental disabilities at consistent quality levels in accordance with its waiver agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, all while allocating scarce taxpayer resources. Provides that any contract entered into between the Department of Human Services and an agency shall include a provision assuring the State of the uninterrupted delivery of the contracted-for services. Provides that such assurance shall provide that the agency has entered into a binding labor peace agreement with any labor organization that is the exclusive representative of the agency's frontline and direct support staff or, where no exclusive representation has been established, that the agency has or will enter into an agreement with any labor organization that seeks to become the agency's frontline and direct support staff's exclusive representative. Provides that the assurance shall become a condition of any contract entered into, renewed, or amended on or after the effective date of the Act. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to, no later than 90 days after the effective date of the Act, apply to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for a waiver or State Plan amendment to allow implementation of the contracting requirements. Requires the Department of Human Services, no later than 60 days after the effective date of the Act, to adopt rules implementing the requirements of the Act. Contains provisions on contract requirements for Department of Human Services' contracts; enforcement of contractual assurances; remedial actions for noncompliance; and other matters. Effective June 1, 2023.

Amends the Illinois State Police Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Illinois State Police shall establish a Uniform Statewide Crime Statistics Task Force within 90 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Provides for the appointment of the members to the Task Force by the Director of the Illinois State Police. Provides that the Task Force shall meet at least monthly to assist the Illinois State Police in the development and implementation of an integrated software system for gathering and publishing crime data from all law enforcement agencies throughout the State. Requires submission, within one year after the effective date of the amendatory Act, of a final report and recommendations to the Director of the Illinois State Police with, at a minimum, the following information: progress on the development of the integrated software system, what the expected cost would be to implement the integrated software system, and what protocols on accessing and updating the information should be implemented. Dissolves the Task Force and repeals the provisions 2 years after the effective date of the amendatory Act.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that, in addition to other elements of the offense, a person commits a hate crime when the person displays or causes to be displayed, on public or private property, a burning cross, a Nazi swastika, a noose, a Confederate flag, or any other known symbol of white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs with the intent to intimidate a person or group of persons or incite violence against a person or group of persons. Includes a severability provision.

Creates the Let America Read Act. Provides that an entity or an entity's staff with oversight over the books, instructional materials, or curriculum used in a public school may not refuse to approve or prohibit the use of books, instructional materials, or a curriculum, including, but not limited to, memoirs, autobiographies, and biographies, based upon the depiction of matters of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, sexual and reproductive health, gender identity, religion, or human rights activism. Provides that these provisions do not restrict an entity with oversight over the books, instructional materials, or curriculum used in a public school from imposing limitations on the access to books, instructional materials, or a curriculum based upon the age and developmental level of the students who will have access. Amends the School Code to set forth a penalty for a school district that violates the Act.

Amends the Illinois Act on the Aging. In a provision requiring the Department on Aging to require an annual audit from all personal assistant and home care aide vendors contracting with the Department, provides that the annual audit shall assure that each audited vendor's procedures are in compliance with the Department's financial reporting guidelines requiring an 80% or higher employee wage and benefits cost split and an administrative cost split of no more than 20% (rather than an administrative and employee wage and benefits cost split as defined in administrative rules). Provides that subject to federal approval, on and after January 1, 2025, rates for homemaker services shall be increased to $32.75 to sustain a minimum wage of $20 per hour for direct service workers. Provides that rates in subsequent State fiscal years shall be no lower than $32.75 upon federal approval. Requires providers of in-home services to be required to certify to the Department that they remain in compliance with the mandated wage increase for direct service workers. Provides that fringe benefits, including, but not limited to, paid time off and payment for training, health insurance, travel, or transportation, shall not be reduced in relation to the rate increases. Provides that subject to federal approval, on and after January 1, 2025, the Department shall pay a rate add-on under the Community Care Program to those in-home service provider agencies that attest and document their direct service workers attend paid, quarterly, in-person training sessions to fulfill the in-service training requirements. Provides that the add-on shall be 1% of the homemaker services rate. Requires the Department to adopt rules.

Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to establish a Certified Nursing Assistant Workforce Pipeline Program to recruit, support, and train individuals to work as certified nursing assistants at nursing facilities, with a focus on facilities in disadvantaged communities, those serving residents of color, and high-Medicaid facilities. Requires the program to be administered by a labor-management organization acting on behalf of a partnership between nursing facilities and a labor organization representing nursing home workers. Provides that the labor-management organization must demonstrate the ability to recruit, support, train, and place individuals in a career in healthcare with a specific focus on addressing the staff shortages at nursing facilities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Provides that the program must utilize a hybrid model of in-person and online instruction for both the lecture and simulation lab component of the nursing assistant curriculum. Requires program training and instruction to meet State and federal education regulations and to provide a pathway for participants to receive certification as nursing assistants. Provides that to ensure financial hardship is not a barrier to successful completion of the program, supportive services may be offered to program participants, including, but not limited to, monetary grants; childcare and transportation stipends; loaned computers, Internet access hotspots, and other digital supports; and academic coaching and counseling. Provides that the program may also provide wage supplements to program graduates. Provides that funds available through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 may be used to fund the program in accordance with the permitted purposes under the American Recovery Plan Act and all related federal guidance. Grants the Department rulemaking authority.

Amends the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act. Provides that the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security shall adopt rules by which not-for-profit grantees may receive a working capital advance of up to 25% of the total award amount, if, during the application process, the grantee demonstrates a need for funds to commence a project. Provides that the remaining funds must be paid through reimbursement after the grantee presents sufficient supporting documentation of expenditures for eligible activities.

Creates the Endow Illinois Tax Credit Act. Provides that the Department of Revenue shall award income tax credits to taxpayers who provide an endowment gift to a permanent endowment fund during the taxable year and receive a certificate of receipt for that gift. Provides that the credit is equal to 25% of the endowment gift. Contains provisions setting forth maximum credit amounts. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act to require an addition modification equal to the amount of any federal deduction claimed for an endowment gift for which a taxpayer receives a credit under the Endow Illinois Tax Credit Act. Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.