SB3085eng 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB3085 Engrossed LRB093 18774 DRH 44506 b

AN ACT in relation to transportation.

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

Section 5. The Toll Highway Act is amended by changing Sections 10, 11, 17, and 27.1 and by adding Sections 8.1, 16.2, and 27.2 as follows:

(605 ILCS 10/8.1 new)

Sec. 8.1. Inspector General.

(a) The Governor must, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an Inspector General for the purpose of providing increased accountability and oversight, detection, deterrence, and prevention of fraud, corruption, waste, inefficiencies, and mismanagement in the Authority. The Inspector General shall serve a 2-year term. If no successor is appointed and qualified upon the expiration of the Inspector General's term, the Office of Inspector General is deemed vacant and the powers and duties under this Section may be exercised only by an appointed and qualified interim Inspector General until a successor Inspector General is appointed and qualified. If the General Assembly is not in session when a vacancy in the Office of Inspector General occurs, the Governor may appoint an interim Inspector General whose term shall expire 2 weeks after the next regularly scheduled session day of the Senate.

(b) The Inspector General shall have the following qualifications:

(1) has not been convicted of any felony under the laws of this State, another state, or the United States;

(2) has earned a baccalaureate degree from an institution of higher education; and

(3) has either (A) 5 or more years of service with a federal, State, or local law enforcement agency, at least 2 years of which have been in a progressive investigatory capacity; (B) 5 or more years of service as a federal, State, or local prosecutor; or (C) 5 or more years of service as a senior manager or executive of a federal, State, or local agency.

(c) The Inspector General may review, coordinate, and recommend methods and procedures to increase the integrity of the Authority. The Inspector General must report directly to the Governor through the Office of the Executive Inspector General for the Governor.

(d) In addition to the authority otherwise provided by this Section, but only when investigating the Authority, its employees, or their actions for fraud, corruption, or mismanagement, the Inspector General is authorized:

(1) To have access to all records, reports, audits, reviews, documents, papers, recommendations, or other materials available that relate to programs and operations with respect to which the Inspector General has responsibilities under this Section.

(2) To make any investigations and reports relating to the administration of the programs and operations of the Authority that are, in the judgment of the Inspector General, necessary or desirable.

(3) To request any information or assistance that may be necessary for carrying out the duties and responsibilities provided by this Section from any local, State, or federal governmental agency or unit thereof.

(4) To issue subpoenas and to compel the attendance of witnesses for purposes of testimony and the production of documents and other items for inspection and copying. If a person has petitioned a court of competent jurisdiction in Cook County, Sangamon County, or any county where the subpoena is sought to be enforced for a protective order or to quash or modify the subpoena, then this Section does not apply during the pendency of the court proceedings concerning the petition. A person duly subpoenaed for testimony, documents, or other items who neglects or refuses to testify or produce documents or other items under the requirements of the subpoena shall be subject to punishment as may be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, unless the testimony, documents, or other items are covered by the attorney-client privilege or any other privilege recognized by State or federal law. Nothing in this Section limits a person's right to protection against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution or Article I, Section 10, of the Constitution of the State of Illinois.

(5) To have direct and prompt access to the Board of Directors of the Authority for any purpose pertaining to the performance of functions and responsibilities under this Section.

(f) The Inspector General may receive and investigate complaints or information from an employee of the Authority concerning the possible existence of an activity constituting a violation of law, rules, or regulations; mismanagement; abuse of authority; or substantial and specific danger to the public health and safety. The Inspector General shall have the discretion to determine the appropriate means of investigation as permitted by law. Any employee who knowingly files a false complaint or files a complaint with reckless disregard for the truth or the falsity of the facts underlying the complaint may be subject to discipline.

The Inspector General may not, after receipt of a complaint or information from an employee, disclose the identity of the employee without the consent of the employee, unless the Inspector General determines that disclosure of the identity is reasonable and necessary for the furtherance of the investigation.

Any employee who has the authority to recommend or approve any personnel action or to direct others to recommend or approve any personnel action may not, with respect to that authority, take or threaten to take any action against any employee as a reprisal for making a complaint or disclosing information to the Inspector General, unless the complaint was made or the information disclosed with the knowledge that it was false or with willful disregard for its truth or falsity.

(g) The Inspector General must adopt rules, in accordance with the provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, establishing minimum requirements for initiating, conducting, and completing investigations. The rules must establish criteria for determining, based upon the nature of the allegation, the appropriate method of investigation, which may include, but is not limited to, site visits, telephone contacts, personal interviews, or requests for written responses. The rules must also clarify how the Office of the Inspector General shall interact with other local, State, and federal law enforcement investigations.

Any employee of the Authority subject to investigation or inquiry by the Inspector General, or any agent or representative of the Inspector General, concerning misconduct that is criminal shall have the right to be notified of the right to remain silent during the investigation or inquiry and the right to be represented in the investigation or inquiry by a representative of a labor organization that is the exclusive collective bargaining representative of employees of the Authority. Any such investigation or inquiry must be conducted in a manner consistent with the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement that applies to the employees of the Authority. Any recommendation for discipline or any action taken against any employee by the Inspector General, or any representative or agent of the Inspector General, must be undertaken in a manner consistent with the rights of the employees as set forth in State and federal law and applicable judicial decisions.

(h) The Inspector General shall provide to the Authority and the General Assembly a summary of reports and investigations made under this Section for the previous fiscal year no later than January 1 of each year. The summaries shall detail the final disposition of the Inspector General's recommendations. The summaries shall not contain any confidential or identifying information concerning the subjects of the reports and investigations. The summaries shall also include detailed, recommended administrative actions and matters for consideration by the General Assembly.

(i) The Office of the Inspector General shall be represented in all legal matters by the Attorney General.

(605 ILCS 10/10) (from Ch. 121, par. 100-10)

Sec. 10. The Authority shall have power:

(a) To pass resolutions, make by-laws, rules and regulations for the management, regulation and control of its affairs, and to fix tolls, and to make, enact and enforce all needful rules and regulations in connection with the construction, operation, management, care, regulation or protection of its property or any toll highways, constructed or reconstructed hereunder.

(a-5) To fix, assess, and collect civil fines for a vehicle's operation on a toll highway without the required toll having been paid. The Authority may establish by rule a system of civil administrative adjudication to adjudicate only alleged instances of a vehicle's operation on a toll highway without the required toll having been paid, as detected by the Authority's video or photo surveillance system. In cases in which the operator of the vehicle is not the registered vehicle owner, the establishment of ownership of the vehicle creates a rebuttable presumption that the vehicle was being operated by an agent of the registered vehicle owner. If the registered vehicle owner liable for a violation under this Section was not the operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation, the owner may maintain an action for indemnification against the operator in the circuit court. Rules establishing a system of civil administrative adjudication must provide for written notice, by first class mail or other means provided by law, to the address of the registered owner of the cited vehicle as recorded with the Secretary of State or to the lessee of the cited vehicle at the last address known to the lessor of the cited vehicle at the time of the lease, of the alleged violation and an opportunity to be heard on the question of the violation and must provide for the establishment of a toll-free telephone number to receive inquiries concerning alleged violations. The notice shall also inform the registered vehicle owner that failure to contest in the manner and time provided shall be deemed an admission of liability and that a final order of liability may be entered on that admission. A duly authorized agent of the Authority may perform or execute the preparation, certification, affirmation, or mailing of the notice. A notice of violation, sworn or affirmed to or certified by a duly authorized agent of the Authority, or a facsimile of the notice, based upon an inspection of photographs, microphotographs, videotape, or other recorded images produced by a video or photo surveillance system, shall be admitted as prima facie evidence of the correctness of the facts contained in the notice or facsimile. Only civil fines, along with the corresponding outstanding toll, and costs may be imposed by administrative adjudication. A fine may be imposed under this paragraph only if a violation is established by a preponderance of the evidence. Judicial review of all final orders of the Authority under this paragraph shall be conducted in the circuit court of the county in which the administrative hearing was held in accordance with the Administrative Review Law.

Any outstanding toll, fine, additional late payment fine, other sanction, or costs imposed, or part of any fine, other sanction, or costs imposed, remaining unpaid after the exhaustion of, or the failure to exhaust, judicial review procedures under the Illinois Administrative Review Law are a debt due and owing the Authority and may be collected in accordance with applicable law. After expiration of the period in which judicial review under the Illinois Administrative Review Law may be sought, unless stayed by a court of competent jurisdiction, a final order of the Authority under this subsection (a-5) may be enforced in the same manner as a judgment entered by a court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Authority may, with the approval of the Attorney General, retain a law firm or law firms with expertise in the collection of government fines and debts for the purpose of collecting fines, costs, and other moneys due under this subsection (a-5).

A system of civil administrative adjudication may also provide for a program of vehicle immobilization, tow, or impoundment for the purpose of facilitating enforcement of any final order or orders of the Authority under this subsection (a-5) that result in a finding or liability for 5 or more violations after expiration of the period in which judicial review under the Illinois Administrative Review Law may be sought. The registered vehicle owner of a vehicle immobilized, towed, or impounded for nonpayment of a final order of the Authority under this subsection (a-5) shall have the right to request a hearing before the Authority's civil administrative adjudicatory system to challenge the validity of the immobilization, tow, or impoundment. This hearing, however, shall not constitute a readjudication of the merits of previously adjudicated notices. Judicial review of all final orders of the Authority under this subsection (a-5) shall be conducted in accordance with the Administrative Review Law.

No commercial entity that is the lessor of a vehicle under a written lease agreement shall be liable for an administrative notice of violation for toll evasion issued under this subsection (a-5) involving that vehicle during the period of the lease if the lessor provides a copy of the leasing agreement to the Authority within 21 days of the issue date on the notice of violation. The leasing agreement also must contain a provision or addendum informing the lessee that the lessee is liable for payment of all tolls and any fines for toll evasion. Each entity must also post a sign at the leasing counter notifying the lessee of that liability. The copy of the leasing agreement provided to the Authority must contain the name, address, and driver's license number of the lessee.

As used in this subsection (a-5), "lessor" includes commercial leasing and rental entities but does not include public passenger vehicle entities.

The Authority shall establish an amnesty program for violations adjudicated under this subsection (a-5). Under the program, any person who has an outstanding notice of violation for toll evasion or final order of a hearing officer for toll evasion dated prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly and who has not been mailed a notice of impending vehicle plate registration or driver's license suspension pursuant to Section 3-704.2 or Section 6-306.7 of the Illinois Vehicle Code and who pays to the Authority the full percentage amounts listed in this paragraph remaining due on the notice of violation or final order of the hearing officer on or before 5:00 p.m., Central Standard Time, of the 60th day after the effective date of this amendatory Act the 93rd General Assembly shall not be required to pay more than the listed percentage of the original fine amount and outstanding toll as listed on the notice of violation or final order of the hearing officer. The payment percentage scale shall be as follows: a person with 25 or fewer violations shall be eligible for amnesty upon payment of 50% of the original fine amount and the outstanding tolls; a person with more than 25 but fewer than 51 violations shall be eligible for amnesty upon payment of 60% of the original fine amount and the outstanding tolls; and a person with 51 or more violations shall be eligible for amnesty upon payment of 75% of the original fine amount and the outstanding tolls. In such a situation, the Executive Director of the Authority or his or her designee is authorized and directed to waive any late fine amount above the applicable percentage of the original fine amount. Partial payment of the amount due shall not be a basis to extend the amnesty payment deadline nor shall it act to relieve the person of liability for payment of the late fine amount. In order to receive amnesty, the full amount of the applicable percentage of the original fine amount and outstanding toll remaining due on the notice of violation or final order of the hearing officer must be paid in full by 5:00 p.m., Central Standard Time, of the 60th day after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly. This amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly has no retroactive effect with regard to payments already tendered to the Authority that were full payments or payments in an amount greater than the applicable percentage, and this Act shall not be the basis for either a refund or a credit. This amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly does not apply to toll evasion citations issued by the Illinois State Police or other authorized law enforcement agencies and for which payment may be due to or through the clerk of the circuit court. The Authority shall adopt rules as necessary to implement the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly. The Authority, by a resolution of the Board of Directors, shall have the discretion to implement similar amnesty programs in the future.

(b) To prescribe rules and regulations applicable to traffic on highways under the jurisdiction of the Authority, concerning:

(1) Types of vehicles permitted to use such highways or parts thereof, and classification of such vehicles;

(2) Designation of the lanes of traffic to be used by the different types of vehicles permitted upon said highways;

(3) Stopping, standing, and parking of vehicles;

(4) Control of traffic by means of police officers or traffic control signals;

(5) Control or prohibition of processions, convoys, and assemblages of vehicles and persons;

(6) Movement of traffic in one direction only on designated portions of said highways;

(7) Control of the access, entrance, and exit of vehicles and persons to and from said highways; and

(8) Preparation, location and installation of all traffic signs; and to prescribe further rules and regulations applicable to such traffic, concerning matters not provided for either in the foregoing enumeration or in the Illinois Vehicle Code. Notice of such rules and regulations shall be posted conspicuously and displayed at appropriate points and at reasonable intervals along said highways, by clearly legible markers or signs, to provide notice of the existence of such rules and regulations to persons traveling on said highways. At each toll station, the Authority shall make available, free of charge, pamphlets containing all of such rules and regulations.

(c) The Authority, in fixing the rate for tolls for the privilege of using the said toll highways, is authorized and directed, in fixing such rates, to base the same upon annual estimates to be made, recorded and filed with the Authority. Said estimates shall include the following: The estimated total amount of the use of the toll highways; the estimated amount of the revenue to be derived therefrom, which said revenue, when added to all other receipts and income, will be sufficient to pay the expense of maintaining and operating said toll highways, including the administrative expenses of the Authority, and to discharge all obligations of the Authority as they become due and payable.

(d) To accept from any municipality or political subdivision any lands, easements or rights in land needed for the operation, construction, relocation or maintenance of any toll highways, with or without payment therefor, and in its discretion to reimburse any such municipality or political subdivision out of its funds for any cost or expense incurred in the acquisition of land, easements or rights in land, in connection with the construction and relocation of the said toll highways, widening, extending roads, streets or avenues in connection therewith, or for the construction of any roads or streets forming extension to and connections with or between any toll highways, or for the cost or expense of widening, grading, surfacing or improving any existing streets or roads or the construction of any streets and roads forming extensions of or connections with any toll highways constructed, relocated, operated, maintained or regulated hereunder by the Authority. Where property owned by a municipality or political subdivision is necessary to the construction of an approved toll highway, if the Authority cannot reach an agreement with such municipality or political subdivision and if the use to which the property is being put in the hands of the municipality or political subdivision is not essential to the existence or the administration of such municipality or political subdivision, the Authority may acquire the property by condemnation.

(Source: P.A. 89-120, eff. 7-7-95.)

(605 ILCS 10/11) (from Ch. 121, par. 100-11)

Sec. 11. The Authority shall have power:

(a) To enter upon lands, waters and premises in the State for the purpose of making surveys, soundings, drillings and examinations as may be necessary, expedient or convenient for the purposes of this Act, and such entry shall not be deemed to be a trespass, nor shall an entry for such purpose be deemed an entry under any condemnation proceedings which may be then pending; provided, however, that the Authority shall make reimbursement for any actual damage resulting to such lands, waters and premises as the result of such activities.

(b) To construct, maintain and operate stations for the collection of tolls or charges upon and along any toll highways.

(c) To provide for the collection of tolls and charges for the privilege of using the said toll highways. Before it adopts an increase in the rates for toll, the Authority shall hold a public hearing at which any person may appear, express opinions, suggestions, or objections, or direct inquiries relating to the proposed increase. Any person may submit a written statement to the Authority at the hearing, whether appearing in person or not. The hearing shall be held in the county in which the proposed increase of the rates is to take place. The Authority shall give notice of the hearing by advertisement on 3 successive days at least 15 days prior to the date of the hearing in a daily newspaper of general circulation within the county within which the hearing is held. The notice shall state the date, time, and place of the hearing, shall contain a description of the proposed increase, and shall specify how interested persons may obtain copies of any reports, resolutions, or certificates describing the basis on which the proposed change, alteration, or modification was calculated. After consideration of any statements filed or oral opinions, suggestions, objections, or inquiries made at the hearing, the Authority may proceed to adopt the proposed increase of the rates for toll. No change or alteration in or modification of the rates for toll shall be effective unless at least 30 days prior to the effective date of such rates notice thereof shall be given to the public by publication in a newspaper of general circulation, and such notice, or notices, thereof shall be posted and publicly displayed at each and every toll station upon or along said toll highways.

(d) To construct, at the Authority's discretion, grade separations at intersections with any railroads, waterways, street railways, streets, thoroughfares, public roads or highways intersected by the said toll highways, and to change and adjust the lines and grades thereof so as to accommodate the same to the design of such grade separation and to construct interchange improvements. The Authority is authorized to provide such grade separations or interchange improvements at its own cost or to enter into contracts or agreements with reference to division of cost therefor with any municipality or political subdivision of the State of Illinois, or with the Federal Government, or any agency thereof, or with any corporation, individual, firm, person or association. Where such structures have been built by the Authority and a local highway agency did not enter into an agreement to the contrary, the Authority shall maintain the entire structure, including the road surface, at the Authority's expense.

(e) To contract with and grant concessions to or lease or license to any person, partnership, firm, association or corporation so desiring the use of any part of any toll highways, excluding the paved portion thereof, but including the right of way adjoining, under, or over said paved portion for the placing of telephone, telegraph, electric, power lines and other utilities, and for the placing of pipe lines, and to enter into operating agreements with or to contract with and grant concessions to or to lease to any person, partnership, firm, association or corporation so desiring the use of any part of the toll highways, excluding the paved portion thereof, but including the right of way adjoining, or over said paved portion for motor fuel service stations and facilities, garages, stores and restaurants, or for any other lawful purpose, and to fix the terms, conditions, rents, rates and charges for such use.

The Authority shall also have power to establish reasonable regulations for the installation, construction, maintenance, repair, renewal, relocation and removal of pipes, mains, conduits, cables, wires, towers, poles and other equipment and appliances (herein called public utilities) of any public utility as defined in the Public Utilities Act along, over or under any toll road project. Whenever the Authority shall determine that it is necessary that any such public utility facilities which now are located in, on, along, over or under any project or projects be relocated or removed entirely from any such project or projects, the public utility owning or operating such facilities shall relocate or remove the same in accordance with the order of the Authority. All costs and expenses of such relocation or removal, including the cost of installing such facilities in a new location or locations, and the cost of any land or lands, or interest in land, or any other rights required to accomplish such relocation or removal shall be ascertained and paid by the Authority as a part of the cost of any such project or projects, and further, there shall be no rent, fee or other charge of any kind imposed upon the public utility owning or operating any facilities ordered relocated on the properties of the said Authority and the said Authority shall grant to the said public utility owning or operating said facilities and its successors and assigns the right to operate the same in the new location or locations for as long a period and upon the same terms and conditions as it had the right to maintain and operate such facilities in their former location or locations.

(f) To enter into an intergovernmental agreement or contract with a unit of local government or other public or private entity for the collection by electronic means of tolls, fees, and revenue.

(Source: P.A. 90-681, eff. 7-31-98.)

(605 ILCS 10/16.2 new)

Sec. 16.2. Financial benefit prohibited.

(a) A director, employee, or agent of the Authority may not receive a financial benefit from a contract let by the Authority during his or her term of service with the Authority and for a period of one year following the termination of his or her term of service as a director of the Authority or as an employee or agent of the Authority.

(b) A member of the immediate family or household of a director, employee, or agent of the Authority may not receive a financial benefit from a contract let by the Authority during the immediate family or household member's term of service with the Authority and for a period of one year following the termination of the immediate family or household member's term of service as a director of the Authority or as an employee or agent of the Authority.

(c) A director, employee, or agent of the Authority may not use material non-public information for personal financial gain nor may he or she disclose that information to any other person for that person's personal financial gain when that information was obtained as a result of his or her directorship, employment, or agency with the Authority.

(d) A member of the immediate family or household of a director, employee, or agent of the Authority may not use material non-public information for personal financial gain nor may he or she disclose that information to any other person for that person's personal financial gain when that information was obtained as a result of his or her immediate family or household member's directorship, employment, or agency with the Authority.

(e) For purposes of this Section, "immediate family or household member" means the spouse, child, parent, brother, sister, grandparent, or grandchild, whether of the whole blood or half blood or by adoption, or a person who shares a common dwelling with a director of the Authority or with an employee or agent of the Authority.

(605 ILCS 10/17) (from Ch. 121, par. 100-17)

Sec. 17. (a) The Authority may from time to time issue bonds for any lawful purpose including, without limitation, the costs of issuance thereof and all such bonds or other obligations of the Authority issued pursuant to this Act shall be and are hereby declared to be negotiable for all purposes notwithstanding their payment from a limited source and without regard to any other law or laws.

(b) The bonds of every issue shall be payable solely out of revenues of the Authority, accumulated reserves or sinking funds, bond proceeds, proceeds of refunding bonds, or investment earnings as the Authority shall specify in a bond resolution.

(c) The bonds may be issued as serial bonds or as term bonds, or the Authority, in its discretion, may issue bonds of both types. The bonds shall be authorized by a bond resolution of the Authority, may be issued in one or more series and shall bear such date or dates, mature at such time or times not exceeding 25 years from their respective date or dates of issue, bear interest at such rate or rates, fixed or variable, without regard to any limit contained in any other statute or law of the State of Illinois, be payable as to principal and interest at such time or times, be in such denominations, be in such form, either coupon or fully registered, carry such registration and conversion privileges, be payable in lawful money of the United States of America at such places, be subject to such terms of redemption and may contain such other terms and provisions, as such bond resolution or resolutions may provide. The bonds shall be executed by the manual or facsimile signatures of the Chairman and the Secretary. In case any of the officers whose signature appears on the bonds or coupons, if any, shall cease to be an officer before the delivery of such bonds, such signature shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes, as if he had remained in office until such delivery. The bonds shall be sold in such manner as the Authority shall determine. The proceeds from the sale of such bonds shall be paid to the Treasurer of the State of Illinois as ex officio custodian. Pending preparation of the definitive bonds, the Authority may issue interim receipts or certificates which shall be exchanged for such definitive bonds.

(d) Any bond resolution, or trust indenture entered into pursuant to a bond resolution, may contain provisions, which shall be a part of the contract with the holders of the bonds to be authorized, as to: (i) pledging or creating a lien upon all or part of the revenues of the Authority or any reserves, sinking funds, bond proceeds or investment earnings; (ii) the setting aside of reserves or sinking funds, and the regulation, investment and disposition thereof; (iii) the use and maintenance requirements for the toll highways; (iv) the purposes to which or the investments in which the proceeds of sale of any series or issue of bonds then or thereafter to be issued may be applied; (v) the issuance of additional bonds, the terms upon which additional bonds may be issued and secured, the purposes for such additional bonds, and the terms upon which additional bonds may rank on a parity with, or be subordinate or superior to other bonds; (vi) the refunding of outstanding bonds; (vii) the procedure, if any, by which the terms of any contract with bondholders may be amended or abrogated, the amount of bonds the holders of which must consent thereto, and the manner in which such consent may be given; (viii) defining the acts or omissions to act which shall constitute a default in the duties of the Authority to holders of its obligations and providing the rights and remedies of such holders in the event of a default; (ix) any other matters relating to the bonds which the Authority deems desirable.

(e) Neither the directors of the Authority nor any person executing the bonds shall be liable personally on the bonds or be subject to any personal liability or accountability by reason of the issuance thereof.

(f) The Authority shall have power out of any funds available therefor to purchase its bonds. The Authority may hold, pledge, cancel or resell such bonds subject to and in accordance with agreements with bondholders.

(g) In the discretion of the Authority any bonds issued under the provisions of this Act may be secured by a trust indenture by and between the Authority and a trustee or trustees, which may be any trust company or bank in the State of Illinois having the powers of a trust company and possessing capital and surplus of not less than $50,000,000. The bond resolution or trust indenture providing for the issuance of bonds so secured shall pledge such revenues of the Authority, sinking funds, bond proceeds, or investment earnings as may be specified therein, may contain such provisions for protecting and enforcing the rights and remedies of the bondholders as may be reasonable and proper and not in violation of law, including particularly such provisions as have hereinabove been specifically authorized to be included in any bond resolution or trust indenture of the Authority, and may restrict the individual right of action by bondholders. In addition to the foregoing, any bond resolution or trust indenture may contain such other provisions as the Authority may deem reasonable and proper for the security of the bondholders, including, but not limited to, the purchase of bond insurance and the arrangement of letters of credit, lines of credit or other credit or liquidity enhancement facilities; provided there shall be no pledge of the toll highway or any part thereof. All expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of any bond resolution or trust indenture may be treated as a part of the cost of the operation of the toll highways.

(h) Bonds issued under the authority of this Act do not, and shall state upon the face of each bond that they do not, represent or constitute a debt of the Authority or of the State of Illinois within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory limitation or a pledge of the faith and credit of the Authority or the State of Illinois, or grant to the owners or holders thereof any right to have the Authority or the General Assembly levy any taxes or appropriate any funds for the payment of the principal thereof or interest thereon. Such bonds shall be payable and shall state that they are payable solely from the revenues and the sources authorized under this Act and pledged for their payment in accordance with the bond resolution or trust indenture.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize the Authority or any department, board, commission or other agency to create an obligation of the State of Illinois within the meaning of the Constitution or Statutes of Illinois.

(i) Any resolution or trust indenture authorizing the issuance of the bonds may include provision for the issuance of additional bonds. All resolutions of the Authority to carry such adopted bond resolutions into effect, to provide for the sale and delivery of the bonds, for letting of contracts for the construction of toll highways and the acquisition of real and personal property deemed by the Authority necessary or convenient for the construction thereof, shall not require the approval of the Governor or of any other department, division, commission, bureau, board or other agency of the State.

(j) Prior to expending or obligating any amounts on deposit in any fund or account established in any bond resolution or trust indenture entered into pursuant to a bond resolution, in excess of the amount required to be held by the Authority in order to satisfy covenants established in any such bond resolution or trust indenture entered into pursuant to a bond resolution, the Authority shall submit to the General Assembly the proposed expenditure or obligation. If the General Assembly fails to adopt a joint resolution disapproving of such expenditure or obligation within the current legislative session, or, if the General Assembly is not in session at the time of submission, during the next legislative session thereafter, the Authority may proceed to expend or obligate such funds substantially in accordance with such proposal.

(Source: P.A. 83-1258.)

(605 ILCS 10/27.1) (from Ch. 121, par. 100-27.1)

Sec. 27.1. Any person who shall use any spurious or counterfeit tickets, coupons or tokens in payment of any toll required to be paid by the Authority under the provisions of this Act, or who shall attempt to use the highway without payment of the tolls prescribed by the Authority, shall be deemed guilty of a petty offense and shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $100 for each such offense. The fine range set forth in this Section for prosecution of toll evasion as a petty offense shall not apply to toll evasion offenses that are adjudicated in the Authority's administration system Each day any toll highway is used by any person in violation of this Act shall constitute a separate offense.

(Source: P.A. 77-2239.)

(605 ILCS 10/27.2 new)

Sec. 27.2. Obstruction of registration plate visibility to electronic image recording.

(a) A person may not operate on a toll highway any motor vehicle that is equipped with tinted plastic or tinted glass registration plate covers or any covers, coating, wrappings, materials, streaking, distorting, holographic, reflective, or other devices that obstruct the visibility or electronic image recording of the plate.

(b) If a State or local law enforcement officer having jurisdiction observes that a cover or other device or material or substance is obstructing the visibility or electronic image recording of the plate, the officer shall issue a Uniform Traffic Citation and shall confiscate the cover or other device that obstructed the visibility or electronic image recording of the plate. If the State or local law enforcement officer having jurisdiction observes that the plate itself has been physically treated with a substance or material that is obstructing the visibility or electronic image recording of the plate, the officer shall issue a Uniform Traffic Citation and shall confiscate the plate. The Secretary of State shall revoke the registration of any plate that has been found by a court or administrative tribunal to have been physically altered with any chemical or reflective substance or coating that obstructs the visibility or electronic image recording of the plate.

(c) A violation of this Section is a petty offense. A fine of $750 shall be imposed if a plate cover obstructs the visibility or electronic image recording of the plate. A fine of $1,000 shall be imposed if a plate has been physically altered with any chemical or reflective substance or coating that obstructs the visibility or electronic image recording of the plate.

(d) The Attorney General may file suit against any individual or entity offering or marketing the sale, including via the Internet, of any product advertised as having the capacity to obstruct the visibility or electronic image recording of a license plate. In addition to injunctive and monetary relief, punitive damages, and attorneys fees, the suit shall also seek a full accounting of the records of all sales to residents of or entities within the State of Illinois.

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