HB1768 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB102 13432 HLH 18776 b

102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB1768

Introduced 2/17/2021, by Rep. William Davis

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

20 ILCS 1305/10-25
20 ILCS 3020/805
30 ILCS 105/5k
110 ILCS 49/15
730 ILCS 5/5-4-3a

Amends the Department of Human Services Act. Removes a requirement that the Department of Human Services must report quarterly to the Governor and the General Assembly on certain expenditures under the WIC nutrition program. Amends the Capital Spending Accountability Law. Provides that reports on capital spending are due on or before the forty-fifth day after the end of each quarter (currently, the first day of each quarter). Amends the State Finance Act to eliminate a report on certain transfers. Amends the Higher Education Veterans Service Act to eliminate a requirement that certain survey results must be posted on an Internet website. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections concerning the DNA testing backlog. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning State government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Department of Human Services Act is amended by changing Section 10-25 as follows:

(20 ILCS 1305/10-25)

Sec. 10-25. Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program.

(a) The Department shall participate in the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition program of the federal government to the maximum extent permitted by the federal appropriation and allocation to the State of Illinois. In order to efficiently process electronically issued WIC benefits, the Department may use an account held outside of the state treasury for the deposit and issuance of WIC benefits. The Department shall report quarterly to the Governor and the General Assembly the status of obligations and expenditures of the WIC nutrition program appropriation and make recommendations on actions necessary to expend all available federal funds. Other appropriations and funds from any public or private source in addition to federal funds may be used by the Department for the purpose of maximum participation in the WIC nutrition program.

(b) The Department shall maintain a drug abuse education program for participants in the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program. The program shall include but need not be limited to (1) the provision of information concerning the dangers of drug abuse and (2) the referral of participants who are suspected drug abusers to drug abuse clinics, treatment programs, counselors or other drug abuse treatment providers.

(c) The Department shall cooperate with the Department of Public Health for purposes of the smoking cessation program for participants in the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program maintained by the Department of Public Health under Section 2310-435 of the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law (20 ILCS 2310/2310-435).

(d) The Department may contract with any bank as defined by the Illinois Banking Act to redeem bank drafts issued by the Department under the United States Department of Agriculture Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Any bank with which the Department has entered into a contract to redeem bank drafts may receive, pursuant to an appropriation to the Department, an initial advance and periodic payment of funds for the Women, Infants and Children Program in amounts determined by the Secretary. Notwithstanding any other law, such funds shall be retained in a separate account by the bank. Any interest earned by monies in such account shall accrue to the USDA Women, Infants and Children Fund and shall be used exclusively for the redemption of bank drafts issued by the Department. WIC program food funds received by the bank from the Department shall be used exclusively for the redemption of bank drafts. The bank shall not use such food funds, or interest accrued thereon, for any other purpose including, but not limited to, reimbursement of administrative expenses or payments of administrative fees due the bank pursuant to its contract or contracts with the Department.

Such initial and periodic payments by the Department to the bank shall be effected, pursuant to an appropriation, in an amount needed for the redemption of bank drafts issued by the Department under the United States Department of Agriculture Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children in any initial or succeeding period. The State Comptroller shall, upon presentation by the Secretary of adequate certification of funds needed for redemption of bank drafts, promptly draw a warrant payable to the bank for deposit to the separate account of the bank. Such certification may be in magnetic tape or computer output form, indicating the amount of the total payment made by the bank for the redemption of bank drafts from funds provided to the bank under this Section.

The separate account of the bank established under this Section, any payments to that account, and the use of such account and funds shall be subject to (1) audit by the Department or a private contractor authorized by the Department to conduct audits, including but not limited to such audits as may be required by State law, (2) audit by the federal government or a private contractor authorized by the federal government, and (3) post audit pursuant to the Illinois State Auditing Act.

(e) The Department may include a program of lactation support services as part of the benefits and services provided for pregnant and breast feeding participants in the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program. The program may include payment for breast pumps, breast shields, or any supply deemed essential for the successful maintenance of lactation, as well as lactation specialists who are registered nurses, licensed dietitians, or persons who have successfully completed a lactation management training program.

(f) The Department shall coordinate the operation of the Women, Infants and Children program with the Medicaid program by interagency agreement whereby each program provides information about the services offered by the other to applicants for services.

(Source: P.A. 101-636, eff. 6-10-20.)

Section 10. The Capital Spending Accountability Law is amended by changing Section 805 as follows:

(20 ILCS 3020/805)

Sec. 805. Reports on capital spending. On or before the forty-fifth day after the end first day of each quarterly period in each fiscal year, the Governor's Office of Management and Budget shall provide to the Comptroller, the Treasurer, the President and the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives a report on the status of all capital projects in the State. The report may be provided in both written and electronic format. The report must include all of the following:

(1) A brief description or stated purpose of each capital project where applicable (as referred to in this Section, "project").

(2) The amount and source of funds (whether from bond funds or other revenues) appropriated for each project, organized into categories including roads, mass transit, schools, environment, civic centers and other categories as applicable (as referred to in this Section, "category or categories"), with subtotals for each category.

(3) The date the appropriation bill relating to each project was signed by the Governor, organized into categories.

(4) The date the written release of the Governor for each project was submitted to the Comptroller or is projected to be submitted and, if a release for any project has not been submitted within 6 months after its appropriation became law, an explanation why the project has not yet been released, all organized into categories.

(5) The amount of expenditures to date by the State relating to each project and estimated amount of total State expenditures and proposed schedule of future State expenditures relating to each project, all organized into categories.

(6) A timeline for completion of each project, including the dates, if applicable, of execution by the State of any grant agreement, any required engineering or design work or environmental approvals, and the estimated or actual dates of the start and completion of construction, all organized into categories. Any substantial variances on any project from this reported timeline must be explained in the next quarterly report.

(7) A summary report of the status of all projects, including the amount of undisbursed funds intended to be held or used in the next quarter.

(Source: P.A. 98-692, eff. 7-1-14.)

Section 15. The State Finance Act is amended by changing Section 5k as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5k)

Sec. 5k. Cash flow borrowing and general funds liquidity; FY15.

(a) In order to meet cash flow deficits and to maintain liquidity in the General Revenue Fund and the Health Insurance Reserve Fund, on and after July 1, 2014 and through June 30, 2015, the State Treasurer and the State Comptroller shall make transfers to the General Revenue Fund and the Health Insurance Reserve Fund, as directed by the Governor, out of special funds of the State, to the extent allowed by federal law. No such transfer may reduce the cumulative balance of all of the special funds of the State to an amount less than the total debt service payable during the 12 months immediately following the date of the transfer on any bonded indebtedness of the State and any certificates issued under the Short Term Borrowing Act. At no time shall the outstanding total transfers made from the special funds of the State to the General Revenue Fund and the Health Insurance Reserve Fund under this Section exceed $650,000,000; once the amount of $650,000,000 has been transferred from the special funds of the State to the General Revenue Fund and the Health Insurance Reserve Fund, additional transfers may be made from the special funds of the State to the General Revenue Fund and the Health Insurance Reserve Fund under this Section only to the extent that moneys have first been re-transferred from the General Revenue Fund and the Health Insurance Reserve Fund to those special funds of the State. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, no such transfer may be made from any special fund that is exclusively collected by or appropriated to any other constitutional officer without the written approval of that constitutional officer.

(b) If moneys have been transferred to the General Revenue Fund and the Health Insurance Reserve Fund pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section, this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly shall constitute the continuing authority for and direction to the State Treasurer and State Comptroller to reimburse the funds of origin from the General Revenue Fund by transferring to the funds of origin, at such times and in such amounts as directed by the Governor when necessary to support appropriated expenditures from the funds, an amount equal to that transferred from them plus any interest that would have accrued thereon had the transfer not occurred. When any of the funds from which moneys have been transferred pursuant to subsection (a) have insufficient cash from which the State Comptroller may make expenditures properly supported by appropriations from the fund, then the State Treasurer and State Comptroller shall transfer from the General Revenue Fund to the fund only such amount as is immediately necessary to satisfy outstanding expenditure obligations on a timely basis.

(c) (Blank). On the first day of each quarterly period in each fiscal year, until such time as a report indicates that all moneys borrowed and interest pursuant to this Section have been repaid, the Governor's Office of Management and Budget shall provide to the President and the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, and the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability a report on all transfers made pursuant to this Section in the prior quarterly period. The report must be provided in electronic format. The report must include all of the following:

(1) The date each transfer was made.

(2) The amount of each transfer.

(3) In the case of a transfer from the General Revenue Fund to a fund of origin pursuant to subsection (b) of this Section, the amount of interest being paid to the fund of origin.

(4) The end of day balance of the fund of origin, the General Revenue Fund and the Health Insurance Reserve Fund on the date the transfer was made.

(Source: P.A. 98-682, eff. 6-30-14; 99-523, eff. 6-30-16.)

Section 20. The Higher Education Veterans Service Act is amended by changing Section 15 as follows:

(110 ILCS 49/15)

Sec. 15. Survey; coordinator; best practices report; best efforts.

(a) All public colleges and universities shall, within 60 days after the effective date of this Act, conduct a survey of the services and programs that are provided for veterans, active duty military personnel, and their families, at each of their respective campuses. This survey shall enumerate and fully describe the service or program that is available, the number of veterans or active duty personnel using the service or program, an estimated range for potential use within a 5-year and 10-year period, information on the location of the service or program, and how its administrators may be contacted. The survey shall indicate the manner or manners in which a student veteran may avail himself or herself of the program's services. This survey must be made available to all veterans matriculating at the college or university in the form of an orientation-related guidebook.

Each public college and university shall make the survey available on the homepage of all campus Internet links as soon as practical after the completion of the survey. As soon as possible after the completion of the survey, each public college and university shall provide a copy of its survey to the following:

(1) the Board of Higher Education;

(2) the Department of Veterans' Affairs;

(3) the President and Minority Leader of the Senate and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; and

(4) the Governor.

(b) Each public college and university shall, at its discretion, (i) appoint, within 6 months after the effective date of this Act, an existing employee or (ii) hire a new employee to serve as a Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services on each campus of the college or university that has an onsite, daily, full-time student headcount above 1,000 students.

The Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services shall be an ombudsperson serving the specific needs of student veterans and military personnel and their families and shall serve as an advocate before the administration of the college or university for the needs of student veterans. The college or university shall enable the Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services to communicate directly with the senior executive administration of the college or university periodically. The college or university shall retain unfettered discretion to determine the organizational management structure of its institution.

In addition to any responsibilities the college or university may assign, the Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services shall make its best efforts to create a centralized source for student veterans and military personnel to learn how to receive all benefit programs and services for which they are eligible.

Each college and university campus that is required to have a Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services shall regularly and conspicuously advertise the office location and , phone number of , and Internet access to the Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services, along with a brief summary of the manner in which he or she can assist student veterans. The advertisement shall include, but is not necessarily limited to, the following:

(1) advertisements on each campus' Internet home page; and

(2) any promotional mailings for student application.

The Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services shall facilitate other campus offices with the promotion of programs and services that are available.

(c) Upon receipt of all of the surveys under subsection (a) of this Section, the Board of Higher Education and the Department of Veterans' Affairs shall conduct a joint review of the surveys and post, on any Internet home page they may operate, a link to each survey as posted on the Internet website for the college or university. Upon receipt of all of the surveys, the Office of the Governor, through its military affairs advisors, shall similarly conduct a review of the surveys and post the surveys on its Internet website. Following its review of the surveys, the Office of the Governor shall submit an evaluation report to each college and university offering suggestions and insight on the conduct of student veteran-related policies and programs.

(d) The Board of Higher Education and the Department of Veterans' Affairs may issue a best practices report to highlight those programs and services that are most beneficial to veterans and active duty military personnel. The report shall contain a fiscal needs assessment in conjunction with any program recommendations.

(e) Each college and university campus that is required to have a Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services under subsection (b) of this Section shall make its best efforts to create academic and social programs and services for veterans and active duty military personnel that will provide reasonable opportunities for academic performance and success.

Each public college and university shall make its best efforts to determine how its online educational curricula can be expanded or altered to serve the needs of student veterans and currently-deployed military, including a determination of whether and to what extent the public colleges and universities can share existing technologies to improve the online curricula of peer institutions, provided such efforts are both practically and economically feasible.

(Source: P.A. 96-133, eff. 8-7-09; revised 7-16-19.)

Section 25. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by changing Section 5-4-3a as follows:

(730 ILCS 5/5-4-3a)

Sec. 5-4-3a. DNA testing backlog accountability.

(a) On or before August 1 of each year, the Department of State Police shall report to the Governor and both houses of the General Assembly the following information:

(1) the extent of the backlog of cases awaiting testing or awaiting DNA analysis by that Department, including but not limited to those tests conducted under Section 5-4-3, as of June 30 of the previous fiscal year, with the backlog being defined as all cases awaiting forensic testing whether in the physical custody of the State Police or in the physical custody of local law enforcement, provided that the State Police have written notice of any evidence in the physical custody of local law enforcement prior to June 1 of that year; and

(2) what measures have been and are being taken to reduce that backlog and the estimated costs or expenditures in doing so.

(b) The information reported under this Section shall be made available to the public, at the time it is reported, on the official web site of the Department of State Police.

(c) Beginning January 1, 2016, the Department of State Police shall quarterly report on the status of the processing of forensic biology and DNA evidence submitted to the Department of State Police Laboratory for analysis. The report shall be submitted to the Governor and the General Assembly, and shall be posted on the Department of State Police website. The report shall include the following for each State Police Laboratory location and any laboratory to which the Department of State Police has outsourced evidence for testing:

(1) For forensic biology submissions, report both total assignments case and sexual assault or abuse assignment case (as defined by the Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act) figures for:

(A) The number of cases received in the preceding quarter.

(B) The number of assignments cases completed in the preceding quarter.

(C) The number of assignments cases waiting analysis.

(D) The number of assignments cases sent for outsourcing.

(E) The number of assignments cases waiting analysis that were received within the past 30 days.

(F) The number of assignments cases waiting analysis that were received 31 to 90 days prior.

(G) The number of assignments cases waiting analysis that were received 91 to 180 days prior.

(H) The number of assignments cases waiting analysis that were received 181 to 365 days prior.

(I) The number of assignments cases waiting analysis that were received more than 365 days prior.

(J) (Blank). The number of cases forwarded for DNA analyses.

(2) (Blank). For DNA submissions, report both total case and sexual assault or abuse case (as defined by the Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act) figures for:

(A) The number of cases received in the preceding quarter.

(B) The number of cases completed in the preceding quarter.

(C) The number of cases waiting analysis.

(D) The number of cases sent for outsourcing.

(E) The number of cases waiting analysis that were received within the past 30 days.

(F) The number of cases waiting analysis that were received 31 to 90 days prior.

(G) The number of cases waiting analysis that were received 91 to 180 days prior.

(H) The number of cases waiting analysis that were received 181 to 365 days prior.

(I) The number of cases waiting analysis that were received more than 365 days prior.

(3) For all other categories of testing (e.g., drug chemistry, firearms/toolmark, footwear/tire track, latent prints, toxicology, and trace chemistry analysis):

(A) The number of assignments cases received in the preceding quarter.

(B) The number of assignments cases completed in the preceding quarter.

(C) The number of assignments cases waiting analysis.

(4) For the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), report both total assignment case and sexual assault or abuse assignment case (as defined by the Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act) figures for subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F) of this paragraph (4):

(A) The number of new offender samples received in the preceding quarter.

(B) The number of offender samples uploaded to CODIS in the preceding quarter.

(C) The number of offender samples awaiting analysis.

(D) The number of unknown DNA case profiles uploaded to CODIS in the preceding quarter.

(E) The number of CODIS hits in the preceding quarter.

(F) The number of forensic evidence submissions submitted to confirm a previously reported CODIS hit.

(5) For each category of testing, report the number of trained forensic scientists and the number of forensic scientists in training.

As used in this subsection (c), "completed" means completion of both the analysis of the evidence and the provision of the results to the submitting law enforcement agency.

(d) The provisions of this subsection (d), other than this sentence, are inoperative on and after January 1, 2019 or 2 years after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, whichever is later. In consultation with and subject to the approval of the Chief Procurement Officer, the Department of State Police may obtain contracts for services, commodities, and equipment to assist in the timely completion of forensic biology, DNA, drug chemistry, firearms/toolmark, footwear/tire track, latent prints, toxicology, microscopy, trace chemistry, and Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) analysis. Contracts to support the delivery of timely forensic science services are not subject to the provisions of the Illinois Procurement Code, except for Sections 20-60, 20-65, 20-70, and 20-160 and Article 50 of that Code, provided that the Chief Procurement Officer may, in writing with justification, waive any certification required under Article 50 of the Illinois Procurement Code. For any contracts for services which are currently provided by members of a collective bargaining agreement, the applicable terms of the collective bargaining agreement concerning subcontracting shall be followed.

(Source: P.A. 99-352, eff. 1-1-16; 99-801, eff. 1-1-17.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.