HB3977eng 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB3977 Engrossed LRB093 14762 LRD 40311 b

AN ACT concerning schools.

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

Section 5. The Department of State Police Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by changing Section 2605-325 as follows:

(20 ILCS 2605/2605-325) (was 20 ILCS 2605/55a in part)

Sec. 2605-325. Conviction information for school board or regional superintendent. On request of a school board or regional superintendent of schools, to conduct a fingerprint-based criminal history records check an inquiry pursuant to Section 10-21.9 or 34-18.5 of the School Code to ascertain whether an applicant for employment in a school district has been convicted of any criminal or drug offenses enumerated in Section 10-21.9 or 34-18.5 of the School Code. The Department shall furnish the conviction information to the president of the school board of the school district that has requested the information or, if the information was requested by the regional superintendent, to that regional superintendent.

(Source: P.A. 90-18, eff. 7-1-97; 90-130, eff. 1-1-98; 90-372, eff. 7-1-98; 90-590, eff. 1-1-00; 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 90-793, eff. 8-14-98; 91-239, eff. 1-1-00.)

Section 10. The School Code is amended by changing Sections 2-3.51.5, 10-21.9, 27A-5, and 34-18.5 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/2-3.51.5)

Sec. 2-3.51.5. School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant Program. To improve the level of education and safety of students from kindergarten through grade 12 in school districts. The State Board of Education is authorized to fund a School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant Program.

(1) The program shall provide funding for school safety, textbooks and software, teacher training and curriculum development, school improvements, remediation programs under subsection (a) of Section 2-3.64, school report cards under Section 10-17a, and criminal history records checks background investigations under Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5. A school district or laboratory school as defined in Section 18-8 or 18-8.05 is not required to file an application in order to receive the categorical funding to which it is entitled under this Section. Funds for the School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant Program shall be distributed to school districts and laboratory schools based on the prior year's best 3 months average daily attendance. The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this program.

(2) Distribution of moneys to school districts shall be made in 2 semi-annual installments, one payment on or before October 30, and one payment prior to April 30, of each fiscal year.

(3) Grants under the School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant Program shall be awarded provided there is an appropriation for the program, and funding levels for each district shall be prorated according to the amount of the appropriation.

(Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 91-711, eff. 7-1-00.)

(105 ILCS 5/10-21.9) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9)

Sec. 10-21.9. Criminal history records checks background investigations.

(a) Certified After August 1, 1985, certified and noncertified applicants for employment with a school district, except school bus driver applicants, are required as a condition of employment to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal history records check an investigation to determine if such applicants have been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) of this Section or have been convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of this State. Authorization for the check investigation shall be furnished by the applicant to the school district, except that if the applicant is a substitute teacher seeking employment in more than one school district, a teacher seeking concurrent part-time employment positions with more than one school district (as a reading specialist, special education teacher or otherwise), or an educational support personnel employee seeking employment positions with more than one district, any such district may require the applicant to furnish authorization for the check investigation to the regional superintendent of the educational service region in which are located the school districts in which the applicant is seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee. Upon receipt of this authorization, the school district or the appropriate regional superintendent, as the case may be, shall submit the applicant's name, sex, race, date of birth, and social security number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as prescribed by to the Department of State Police, to on forms prescribed by the Department. The regional superintendent submitting the requisite information to the Department of State Police shall promptly notify the school districts in which the applicant is seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee that the check investigation of the applicant has been requested. The Department of State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based criminal history records check, records of convictions, until expunged, to the president of the school board for the school district that requested the check, or to the regional superintendent who requested the check. Department of State Police shall conduct a search of the Illinois criminal history records database to ascertain if the applicant being considered for employment has been convicted of committing or attempting to commit any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has been convicted of committing or attempting to commit, within 7 years of the application for employment with the school district, any other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of this State. The Department shall charge the school district or the appropriate regional superintendent a fee for conducting such check investigation, which fee shall be deposited in the State Police Services Fund and shall not exceed the cost of the inquiry; and the applicant shall not be charged a fee for such check investigation by the school district or by the regional superintendent. Subject to appropriations for these purposes, the State Superintendent of Education shall reimburse school districts and regional superintendents for fees paid to obtain criminal history records checks under this Section. The regional superintendent may seek reimbursement from the State Board of Education or the appropriate school district or districts for fees paid by the regional superintendent to the Department for the criminal background investigations required by this Section.

(b) If the search of the Illinois criminal history records database indicates that the applicant has been convicted of committing or attempting to commit any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has been convicted of committing or attempting to commit, within 7 years before the application for employment with the school district, any other felony under the laws of this State, the Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint based background check, records of convictions, until expunged, to the president of the school board for the school district which requested the investigation, or to the regional superintendent who requested the investigation. Any information concerning the record of convictions obtained by the president of the school board or the regional superintendent shall be confidential and may only be transmitted to the superintendent of the school district or his designee, the appropriate regional superintendent if the check investigation was requested by the school district, the presidents of the appropriate school boards if the check investigation was requested from the Department of State Police by the regional superintendent, the State Superintendent of Education, the State Teacher Certification Board or any other person necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for employment. A copy of the record of convictions obtained from the Department of State Police shall be provided to the applicant for employment. If a check an investigation of an applicant for employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee in more than one school district was requested by the regional superintendent, and the Department of State Police upon a check investigation ascertains that the applicant has not been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has not been convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of this State and so notifies the regional superintendent, then the regional superintendent shall issue to the applicant a certificate evidencing that as of the date specified by the Department of State Police the applicant has not been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has not been convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of this State. The school board of any school district located in the educational service region served by the regional superintendent who issues such a certificate to an applicant for employment as a substitute teacher in more than one such district may rely on the certificate issued by the regional superintendent to that applicant, or may initiate its own criminal history records check investigation of the applicant through the Department of State Police as provided in subsection (a). Any person who releases any confidential information concerning any criminal convictions of an applicant for employment shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, unless the release of such information is authorized by this Section.

(c) No school board shall knowingly employ a person who has been convicted for committing attempted first degree murder or for committing or attempting to commit first degree murder or a Class X felony or any one or more of the following offenses: (i) those defined in Sections 11-6, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15, 11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 11-19.1, 11-19.2, 11-20, 11-20.1, 11-21, 12-13, 12-14, 12-14.1, 12-15 and 12-16 of the "Criminal Code of 1961"; (ii) those defined in the "Cannabis Control Act" except those defined in Sections 4(a), 4(b) and 5(a) of that Act; (iii) those defined in the "Illinois Controlled Substances Act"; and (iv) any offense committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United States, which if committed or attempted in this State, would have been punishable as one or more of the foregoing offenses. Further, no school board shall knowingly employ a person who has been found to be the perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of any minor under 18 years of age pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.

(d) No school board shall knowingly employ a person for whom a criminal history records check background investigation has not been initiated.

(e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a finding of child abuse by a holder of any certificate issued pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the School Code, the appropriate regional superintendent of schools or the State Superintendent of Education shall initiate the certificate suspension and revocation proceedings authorized by law.

(f) After January 1, 1990 the provisions of this Section shall apply to all employees of persons or firms holding contracts with any school district including, but not limited to, food service workers, school bus drivers and other transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with the pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of criminal history records checks background investigations on employees of persons or firms holding contracts with more than one school district and assigned to more than one school district, the regional superintendent of the educational service region in which the contracting school districts are located may, at the request of any such school district, be responsible for receiving the authorization for a check investigation prepared by each such employee and submitting the same to the Department of State Police. Any information concerning the record of conviction of any such employee obtained by the regional superintendent shall be promptly reported to the president of the appropriate school board or school boards.

(Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04.)

(105 ILCS 5/27A-5)

Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.

(a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian, nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.

(b) A charter school may be established under this Article by creating a new school or by converting an existing public school or attendance center to charter school status.

Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, in all new applications submitted to the State Board or a local school board to establish a charter school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of the charter school shall be limited to one campus. The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing or approved on or before the effective date of this amendatory Act.

(c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by its board of directors or other governing body in the manner provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act.

(d) A charter school shall comply with all applicable health and safety requirements applicable to public schools under the laws of the State of Illinois.

(e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks, instructional materials, and student activities.

(f) A charter school shall be responsible for the management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an outside, independent contractor retained by the charter school.

(g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of this Article and its charter. A charter school is exempt from all other State laws and regulations in the School Code governing public schools and local school board policies, except the following:

(1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of the School Code regarding criminal history records checks background investigations of applicants for employment;

(2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of the School Code regarding discipline of students;

(3) The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act;

(4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of officers, directors, employees, and agents;

(5) The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;

(6) The Illinois School Student Records Act; and

(7) Section 10-17a of the School Code regarding school report cards.

(h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a school district, the governing body of a State college or university or public community college, or any other public or for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a school building and grounds or any other real property or facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service, activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required to perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter. However, a charter school that is established on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly and that operates in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may not contract with a for-profit entity to manage or operate the school during the period that commences on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly and concludes at the end of the 2004-2005 school year. Except as provided in subsection (i) of this Section, a school district may charge a charter school reasonable rent for the use of the district's buildings, grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter school contracts with a school district shall be provided by the district at cost. Any services for which a charter school contracts with a local school board or with the governing body of a State college or university or public community college shall be provided by the public entity at cost.

(i) In no event shall a charter school that is established by converting an existing school or attendance center to charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other costs for the operation and maintenance of school district facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject to negotiation between the charter school and the local school board and shall be set forth in the charter.

(j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or grade level.

(Source: P.A. 93-3, eff. 4-16-03.)

(105 ILCS 5/34-18.5) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-18.5)

Sec. 34-18.5. Criminal history records checks background investigations.

(a) Certified After August 1, 1985, certified and noncertified applicants for employment with the school district are required as a condition of employment to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal history records check an investigation to determine if such applicants have been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) of this Section or have been convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of this State. Authorization for the check investigation shall be furnished by the applicant to the school district, except that if the applicant is a substitute teacher seeking employment in more than one school district, or a teacher seeking concurrent part-time employment positions with more than one school district (as a reading specialist, special education teacher or otherwise), or an educational support personnel employee seeking employment positions with more than one district, any such district may require the applicant to furnish authorization for the check investigation to the regional superintendent of the educational service region in which are located the school districts in which the applicant is seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee. Upon receipt of this authorization, the school district or the appropriate regional superintendent, as the case may be, shall submit the applicant's name, sex, race, date of birth, and social security number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as prescribed by to the Department of State Police, to on forms prescribed by the Department. The regional superintendent submitting the requisite information to the Department of State Police shall promptly notify the school districts in which the applicant is seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee that the check investigation of the applicant has been requested. The Department of State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based criminal history records check, records of convictions, until expunged, to the president of the school board for the school district that requested the check, or to the regional superintendent who requested the check. shall conduct a search of the Illinois Criminal history record information database to ascertain if the applicant being considered for employment has been convicted of committing or attempting to commit any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has been convicted of committing or attempting to commit, within 7 years of the application for employment with the school district, any other felony under the laws of this State. The Department shall charge the school district or the appropriate regional superintendent a fee for conducting such check investigation, which fee shall be deposited in the State Police Services Fund and shall not exceed the cost of the inquiry; and the applicant shall not be charged a fee for such check investigation by the school district or by the regional superintendent. Subject to appropriations for these purposes, the State Superintendent of Education shall reimburse the school district and regional superintendent for fees paid to obtain criminal history records checks under this Section. The regional superintendent may seek reimbursement from the State Board of Education or the appropriate school district or districts for fees paid by the regional superintendent to the Department for the criminal background investigations required by this Section.

(b) If the search of the Illinois criminal history records database indicates that the applicant has been convicted of committing or attempting to commit any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has been convicted of committing or attempting to commit, within 7 years of the application for employment with the school district, any other felony under the laws of this State, the Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint based background check, records of convictions, until expunged, to the president of the board of education for the school district which requested the investigation, or to the regional superintendent who requested the investigation. Any information concerning the record of convictions obtained by the president of the board of education or the regional superintendent shall be confidential and may only be transmitted to the general superintendent of the school district or his designee, the appropriate regional superintendent if the check investigation was requested by the board of education for the school district, the presidents of the appropriate board of education or school boards if the check investigation was requested from the Department of State Police by the regional superintendent, the State Superintendent of Education, the State Teacher Certification Board or any other person necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for employment. A copy of the record of convictions obtained from the Department of State Police shall be provided to the applicant for employment. If a check an investigation of an applicant for employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee in more than one school district was requested by the regional superintendent, and the Department of State Police upon a check investigation ascertains that the applicant has not been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has not been convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of this State and so notifies the regional superintendent, then the regional superintendent shall issue to the applicant a certificate evidencing that as of the date specified by the Department of State Police the applicant has not been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has not been convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of this State. The school board of any school district located in the educational service region served by the regional superintendent who issues such a certificate to an applicant for employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee in more than one such district may rely on the certificate issued by the regional superintendent to that applicant, or may initiate its own criminal history records check investigation of the applicant through the Department of State Police as provided in subsection (a). Any person who releases any confidential information concerning any criminal convictions of an applicant for employment shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, unless the release of such information is authorized by this Section.

(c) The board of education shall not knowingly employ a person who has been convicted for committing attempted first degree murder or for committing or attempting to commit first degree murder or a Class X felony or any one or more of the following offenses: (i) those defined in Sections 11-6, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15, 11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 11-19.1, 11-19.2, 11-20, 11-20.1, 11-21, 12-13, 12-14, 12-14.1, 12-15 and 12-16 of the Criminal Code of 1961; (ii) those defined in the Cannabis Control Act, except those defined in Sections 4(a), 4(b) and 5(a) of that Act; (iii) those defined in the Illinois Controlled Substances Act; and (iv) any offense committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United States, which if committed or attempted in this State, would have been punishable as one or more of the foregoing offenses. Further, the board of education shall not knowingly employ a person who has been found to be the perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of any minor under 18 years of age pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.

(d) The board of education shall not knowingly employ a person for whom a criminal history records check background investigation has not been initiated.

(e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a finding of child abuse by a holder of any certificate issued pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the School Code, the board of education or the State Superintendent of Education shall initiate the certificate suspension and revocation proceedings authorized by law.

(f) After March 19, 1990, the provisions of this Section shall apply to all employees of persons or firms holding contracts with any school district including, but not limited to, food service workers, school bus drivers and other transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with the pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of criminal history records checks background investigations on employees of persons or firms holding contracts with more than one school district and assigned to more than one school district, the regional superintendent of the educational service region in which the contracting school districts are located may, at the request of any such school district, be responsible for receiving the authorization for a check investigation prepared by each such employee and submitting the same to the Department of State Police. Any information concerning the record of conviction of any such employee obtained by the regional superintendent shall be promptly reported to the president of the appropriate school board or school boards.

(Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04.)

Section 15. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by changing Section 2-21 as follows:

(705 ILCS 405/2-21) (from Ch. 37, par. 802-21)

Sec. 2-21. Findings and adjudication.

(1) The court shall state for the record the manner in which the parties received service of process and shall note whether the return or returns of service, postal return receipt or receipts for notice by certified mail, or certificate or certificates of publication have been filed in the court record. The court shall enter any appropriate orders of default against any parent who has been properly served in any manner and fails to appear.

No further service of process as defined in Sections 2-15 and 2-16 is required in any subsequent proceeding for a parent who was properly served in any manner, except as required by Supreme Court Rule 11.

The caseworker shall testify about the diligent search conducted for the parent.

After hearing the evidence the court shall determine whether or not the minor is abused, neglected, or dependent. If it finds that the minor is not such a person, the court shall order the petition dismissed and the minor discharged. The court's determination of whether the minor is abused, neglected, or dependent shall be stated in writing with the factual basis supporting that determination.

If the court finds that the minor is abused, neglected, or dependent, the court shall then determine and put in writing the factual basis supporting that determination, and specify, to the extent possible, the acts or omissions or both of each parent, guardian, or legal custodian that form the basis of the court's findings. That finding shall appear in the order of the court.

If the court finds that the child has been abused, neglected or dependent, the court shall admonish the parents that they must cooperate with the Department of Children and Family Services, comply with the terms of the service plan, and correct the conditions that require the child to be in care, or risk termination of parental rights.

If the court determines that a person has inflicted physical or sexual abuse upon a minor, the court shall report that determination to the Department of State Police, which shall include that information in its report to the President of the school board for a school district that requests a criminal history records check background investigation of that person, or the regional superintendent of schools who requests a check of that person, as required under Section 10-21.9 or 34-18.5 of the School Code.

(2) If, pursuant to subsection (1) of this Section, the court determines and puts in writing the factual basis supporting the determination that the minor is either abused or neglected or dependent, the court shall then set a time not later than 30 days after the entry of the finding for a dispositional hearing (unless an earlier date is required pursuant to Section 2-13.1) to be conducted under Section 2-22 at which hearing the court shall determine whether it is consistent with the health, safety and best interests of the minor and the public that he be made a ward of the court. To assist the court in making this and other determinations at the dispositional hearing, the court may order that an investigation be conducted and a dispositional report be prepared concerning the minor's physical and mental history and condition, family situation and background, economic status, education, occupation, history of delinquency or criminality, personal habits, and any other information that may be helpful to the court. The dispositional hearing may be continued once for a period not to exceed 30 days if the court finds that such continuance is necessary to complete the dispositional report.

(3) The time limits of this Section may be waived only by consent of all parties and approval by the court, as determined to be consistent with the health, safety and best interests of the minor.

(4) For all cases adjudicated prior to July 1, 1991, for which no dispositional hearing has been held prior to that date, a dispositional hearing under Section 2-22 shall be held within 90 days of July 1, 1991.

(5) The court may terminate the parental rights of a parent at the initial dispositional hearing if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) the original or amended petition contains a request for termination of parental rights and appointment of a guardian with power to consent to adoption; and

(ii) the court has found by a preponderance of evidence, introduced or stipulated to at an adjudicatory hearing, that the child comes under the jurisdiction of the court as an abused, neglected, or dependent minor under Section 2-18; and

(iii) the court finds, on the basis of clear and convincing evidence admitted at the adjudicatory hearing that the parent is an unfit person under subdivision D of Section 1 of the Adoption Act; and

(iv) the court determines in accordance with the rules of evidence for dispositional proceedings, that:

(A) it is in the best interest of the minor and public that the child be made a ward of the court;

(A-5) reasonable efforts under subsection (l-1) of Section 5 of the Children and Family Services Act are inappropriate or such efforts were made and were unsuccessful; and

(B) termination of parental rights and appointment of a guardian with power to consent to adoption is in the best interest of the child pursuant to Section 2-29.

(Source: P.A. 89-704, eff. 8-16-97 (changed from 1-1-98 by P.A. 90-443); 90-27, eff. 1-1-98; 90-28, eff. 1-1-98; 90-443, eff. 8-16-97; 90-566, eff. 1-2-98; 90-608, eff. 6-30-98.)

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