Sen. Ram Villivalam

Amends the Department of Transportation Law of the Civil Administration Code of Illinois. Establishes that the Department of Transportation shall make advance payments to its consultants for the preparatory work necessary for the consultant to provide initial personnel, equipment, supplies, and incidentals on its project with the Department. Provides that the amount paid shall be equal to 10% of the total value of the contract between the consultant and the Department. Provides that the advance payment to the consultant is an advance payment of the reported amount of the contract and is not a payment in addition to the amount of the contract; therefore, the amount of the advance payment shall be deducted from the future progress payments or the total contract amount. Effective immediately.

Amends the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program Act and the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Allows dispensing organizations to establish a protocol to dispense cannabis on any real property or parking area under the dispensary's ownership or control, such as transactions at drive-through windows. Requires the protocol to adhere to the requirements for point-of-sale dispensing transactions under the Acts. In the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, removes language prohibiting dispensing organizations from operating drive-through windows. Prohibits dispensing organizations from transporting cannabis to residences or other locations beyond the real property or parking area under the ownership or control of the dispensary where purchasers may be for delivery (rather than from transporting cannabis to residences or other locations where purchasers may be for delivery).

Creates the Safety in Professional Steel Erection Licensure Act. Defines terms. Provides that the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation shall license all steel erectors in the State. Provides that no individual shall perform unlicensed steel erection. Provides that the Department shall adopt rules necessary to carry out and enforce the Act. Provides that individuals or entities performing unlicensed steel erection work in this State shall be fined $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for each subsequent offense. Provides that the Department shall coordinate with the Department of Transportation, when appropriate, for purposes of enforcement and regulation of the Act. Provides that to assist with costs associated with implementation, the Department is authorized to charge a reasonable fee for licensure, not to exceed $125 per license. Creates the Steel Erectors Licensure Fund. Makes corresponding changes in the State Finance Act. Amends the Regulatory Sunset Act. Repeals the Safety in Professional Steel Erection Licensure Act on January 1, 2028. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates an income tax credit for taxpayers who employ qualified employees. Provides that the term "qualified employee" means an individual who (i) is employed by the taxpayer as an engineer and (ii) graduated from an engineering program at an accredited institution of higher learning with a Bachelor's degree or higher within the 5 years immediately preceding the taxable year. Provides that the credit shall be equal to (i) 10% of the compensation paid by the taxpayer during the taxable year to qualified employees who graduated from an engineering program at an accredited institution of higher learning in Illinois or (ii) 5% of the compensation paid by the taxpayer during the taxable year to qualified employees who graduated from an engineering program an accredited institution of higher learning not located in Illinois. Effective immediately.

Amends the Personnel Code. Provides that the Director of Central Management Services may establish a special pay supplement for those positions of employment that require, pursuant to the Department of Central Management Services's official classification specification, that a person employed in that position speak and understand (rather than speak or write) a language other than English. Provides that the certification of language proficiency from an Illinois community college must be that the applicant for the special pay supplement be proficient in speaking and understanding a language other than English (rather than reading, writing, and speaking).

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. In provisions concerning the child care assistance program administered by the Department of Human Services, removes language authorizing the Department to raise parent co-payments. Provides that beginning July 1, 2023, a family eligible for child care services whose income is at or below 140% of the most recent United States Department of Health and Human Services Federal Poverty Guidelines for the applicable family size shall pay a $1 monthly fee as co-payment for child care services. Provides that beginning July 1, 2024, a family eligible for child care services whose income is at or below 185% of the most recent United States Department of Health and Human Services Federal Poverty Guidelines for the applicable family size shall pay a $1 monthly fee as co-payment for child care services. Effective July 1, 2023.

Appropriates $750,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Human Services for grants to the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and the operator of the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline for the purposes of emergency transportation assistance to survivors of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Effective July 1, 2023.

Amends the Vital Records Act. Removes language requiring that the State Registrar of Vital Records establish a new certificate of birth when he receives a declaration stating that a person has undergone treatment for the purpose of gender transition, or that the individual has an intersex condition, and that the sex designation on such person's birth record should therefore be changed. Provides that the State Registrar of Vital Records must establish a new certificate of birth when he receives a statement signed by the person in which the person attests to making the request for the purpose of affirming the person's gender identity or intersex condition and that the sex designation on the person's certificate of birth should therefore be changed. Provides that the fee for a new certificate of birth shall not be required from persons upon release from the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice, but the person is entitled to only one new certificate of birth fee waiver. Provides that the fee for a new certificate of birth shall be waived for specified persons. Provides that fees for a new certificate of birth and for a search of a birth record or a certified copy of a birth record shall be waived for all requests by a person who resides in a shelter for domestic violence. Requires the State Registrar of Vital Records to establish standards and procedures for the waiver of fees. Provides that a person who resides in a shelter for domestic violence must not be charged for verification. Provides that a person who knowingly or purposefully falsifies verification is subject to a penalty of $100. Provides that a person who resides in a shelter for domestic violence shall be provided no more than 4 birth records annually under the provisions. Effective January 1, 2022. House Committee Amendment No. 1 Provides that a person's signed statement to receive a new birth certificate must indicate whether the certificate of birth should be changed to a male, female, or X designation (rather than just changed). State Mandates Fiscal Note (Dept. of Commerce & Economic Opportunity) This bill does not create a State Mandate. Fiscal Note (Dept. of Public Health) HB9 would not pose any fiscal cost aside from standard staff time with the rulemaking, the cost would be negligible. Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Provides that the amendatory Act takes effect July 1, 2023 (rather than January 1, 2022).

Mourns the death of Harry J. Kinowski Jr.

Amends the Arsonist Registration Act, the Sex Offender Registration Act, and the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act. Provides that a person required to register under the Act may change her or his name if the change is due to marriage, religious beliefs, status as a victim of trafficking or gender-related identity as defined by the Illinois Human Rights Act. Requires the person to report the name change within 10 days to the law enforcement agency with whom they last registered. Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Provides further requirements for when name changes may and may not be granted. Provides that a petition for this change shall be a statewide, standardized form approved by the Illinois Supreme Court and include a warning about when a name change may be charged as a felony. Provides when an objection to the name change may be filed. Deletes notice by publication language. House Floor Amendment No. 1 Deletes reference to: 735 ILCS 5/21-103 rep. Adds reference to: 735 ILCS 5/21-103 from Ch. 110, par. 21-103 Deletes a provision concerning objections relating to specificity, timing, filing, and form. Provides that a person who has been convicted of a felony offense in this State or any other state and whose sentence has not been terminated, completed, or discharged is not permitted to file a petition for a name change in the courts of this State unless that person is pardoned for the offense. Adds "name" to two section headings to reflect the duty to report a legal name change. Provides that certain objections shall be served upon the petitioner. Replaces a repeal of a provision concerning notice by publication with a change to the provision providing that the court may issue an order directing that the notice and publication requirement be waived for a change of name involving a person who files with the court a statement verified under oath that the person believes that publishing notice of the name change would be a hardship, including but not limited to, a negative impact on the person's health or safety. Provides that in a case where waiver of the notice and publication requirement is sought, the petition for waiver will be presumed granted and heard at the same hearing as the petition for name change. Provides that the court retains discretion to determine whether a hardship is shown and may order the petitioner to publish thereafter.