Legislative Update

The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law has been working with Representatives and Senators in the Illinois General Assembly to promote important legislation that affects the lives of low-income people.  An update on some of that legislation follows.

House Bill 615–Amendments to the Juvenile Court Act (Sponsor: Rep. Ken Dunkin). H.B. 615 would protect confidential juvenile court and arrest records of children who are in the Juvenile Court system or are involved in delinquency or abuse and neglect proceedings or both. The Shriver Center initiated this legislation after a troubling appellate court decision erroneously determined that attorneys could legally access confidential juvenile court information by simply issuing a civil subpoena to the local police department or juvenile court. The proposed legislation would restrict this information to only authorized parties under the Juvenile Court Act (i.e., police, probation, and the child’s attorneys) and require everyone else to request the records from a juvenile court judge. Should the information be obtained without a court order, the information may not be used in any civil or criminal proceeding or to deny employment, the holding of public office, or a public benefit. The House Juvenile Justice Committee unanimously passed the bill, which is now on a second reading in the House.

Senate Bill 534–Safe Homes Act (Sponsors: Sen. Kwame Raoul and Rep. Patricia Lindner). S.B. 534 amends and improves the Safe Homes Act that the Shriver Center and Housing Action Illinois helped pass last year. The Safe Homes Act allows, in certain situations, survivors of domestic and sexual violence to end their leases early or request an emergency lock change in order to protect their physical safety and emotional well-being. This year’s proposed amendments would extend the lock-change protection to oral leaseholders and to victims of violence where the perpetrator is a leaseholder. The Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate unanimously passed the bill, which is now in the House Rules Committee.

House Bill 1797–Amendments to the Condominium Conversion Act (Sponsor: Rep. Harry Osterman). H.B. 1797 amends the Condominium Conversion Act to provide tenants (and area nonprofit entities working on their behalf) displaced without the required 120 days notice of condominium conversion with financial and injunctive-relief remedies. The bill is being held on second reading in the House. The parties hope to negotiate a compromise with the bill’s chief opposition, the Illinois Association of Realtors.

House Bill 949–Increasing the TANF Grant (Sponsors: 41 representatives). H.B. 949 requires the state to increase the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash grants by 15 percent starting July 1, 2007. TANF grants have increased only once since 1994 and now are only 28.6 percent of the federal poverty level. The 15 percent increase would move the monthly cash grant for a family of three from $396 to $455. The House Human Services Committee passed the bill unanimously. The bill will be called for a vote on the House floor this week. 

House Bill 1293 and Senate Bill 1391 (identical bills)– Amends the Unified Code of Corrections (Sponsors: 7 Representatives, Sen. Mattie Hunter). H.B. 1293 and S.B. 1391 award 90 days of early release from parole for convicted persons who pass the GED (general educational development) test while on parole. By 82 to 31 the House passed H.B. 1293, now pending in the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed S.B. 1391 unanimously; the bill awaits action by the full Senate.
   
House Bill 1294–Amends the Unified Code of Corrections (Sponsor: Rep. Constance A. Howard and Esther Golar). H.B. 1294 expands both the class of offenders eligible for certificates of relief from disabilities and certificates of good conduct and the effectiveness of certificates of good conduct. The bill expands eligibility to all offenders except persons required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act (current law has much narrower limits). The bill provides that a certificate of good conduct lifts statutory employment and licensure bars automatically imposed by the applicant’s conviction. The House Judiciary Criminal Law Committee passed the bill 7 to 6; the bill awaits action by the full House.

House Bill 1332– Creates the State Employment Application Act  (Sponsor: 18 Representatives). H.B. 1332 attempts to lower barriers to employment by state agencies for persons with nonviolent criminal conviction records. It delays agencies’ access to some applicants’ conviction information until the agencies consider the applicants’ suitability for the job without taking into account nonviolent criminal history. The bill does so by providing that applications for state employment may not contain any questions as to whether the applicant was convicted of or placed on supervision for a nonviolent offense. However, for positions off limits to persons with certain offenses because of federal or state law, the bill, in deference to public safety concerns, allows applications to contain questions about convictions for those disqualifying convictions. The bill allows state agencies to conduct criminal background checks on applicants for employment and to use that information in making employment decisions. And the bill requires applications to contain question as to whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a violent felony. The House State Government Administrative Committee passed the bill unanimously; the bill awaits action by the full House.

House Bill 1831–Amends the Criminal Identification Act relating to expungement  (Sponsor: Rep. Constance A. Howard). H.B. 1831 changes current law regarding sealing and expunging of criminal records by expanding the categories of offenses eligible for expungement or sealing. The House Judiciary Criminal Law Committee passed the bill by a vote of nine in favor, two opposed, and two present. The bill awaits action by the full House.

House Bill 2734–The Drug School Act (Sponsor: 5 Representatives). H.B. 2734 authorizes state-funded drug school programs for nonviolent drug offenders. Favoring rehabilitation over incarceration (which costs $22,607 per person imprisoned), the bill allows the state’s attorneys of all 102 Illinois counties to apply for state funds to operate drug schools modeled after the Cook County state’s attorney drug school program, which has a success rate of over 85 percent. State’s attorneys may allow people charged with crimes to participate in drug school programs in lieu of prosecution and will waive prosecution and discharge the cases of people who complete drug school programs. The House Criminal Judiciary Committee passed the bill unanimously; the bill awaits action by the full House.

House Joint Resolution 8 and Senate Joint Resolution 6– Both House Joint Resolution 8 and Senate Joint Resolution 6 reauthorize the Legislative Taskforce on Employment of Persons with Past Criminal Convictions. House Joint Resolution 107 in the General Assembly’s 2006 session created the task force. The reauthorized task force will hold hearings, examine the employment barriers faced by persons with conviction records, and recommend, to the legislature and the governor, legislative changes to lower the barriers. The House passed both reauthorizing resolutions unanimously, and the Senate will consider them in the coming weeks.

Senate Bill 1237 and House Bill 684–The Hospital Discriminatory Pricing Act (Sponsor: 4 Senators, 12 Representatives). S.B. 1237 and H.B. 684 prohibit hospitals from collecting more than 110 percent of the Medicare reimbursement rate for services to uninsured patients and make violation of the new law a violation of the Consumer Fraud Act. Testimony in support of the bills showed that hospitals routinely charged uninsured patients double, triple, and even more than what they charged patients with insurance. The Senate Public Health Committee passed S.B. 1237 by 6 to 2; the bill awaits action by the full Senate. The House Health Care Availability and Access Committee passed H.B. 684 by a vote of 7 in favor, 4 opposed, and 2 present; the bill awaits action by the full House.

House Bill 1330--The Ensuring Success in School Act (Sponsor:  Rep. Karen Yarbrough and 44 co-sponsors).  HB 1330 promotes the successful school completion among youth who are parents, expectant parents, or victims of domestic or sexual violence.  The House passed the bill with a strong majority a few weeks ago; Sen. Iris Martinez is the chief Senate sponsor and will lead the effort to pass the bill in the Senate.