Opinion ID: 2052605
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Contents of Public Act 89-21

Text: To implement the budget, Public Act 89-21 amended 21 different acts, some extensively and others in minor respects. The amended acts include the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971 (5 ILCS 375/1 et seq. (West 1996)), the Illinois Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq. (West 1996)), the Illinois Act on the Aging (20 ILCS 105/1 et seq. (West 1996)), the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois (20 ILCS 405/64 et seq. (West 1996)), the Children and Family Services Act (20 ILCS 505/1 et seq. (West 1996)), the Disabled Persons Rehabilitation Act (20 ILCS 2405/0.01 et seq. (West 1996)), the State Finance Act (30 ILCS 105/1 et seq. (West 1996)), the State Prompt Payment Act (30 ILCS 540/0.01 et seq. (West 1996)), the Illinois Income Tax Act (35 ILCS 5/101 et seq. (West 1996)), the State Mandates Act (30 ILCS 805/1 et seq. (West 1996)), the School Code (105 ILCS 5/1-1 et seq. (West 1996)), the Nursing Home Care Act (210 ILCS 45/1-101 et seq. (West 1996)), the Child Care Act of 1969 (225 ILCS 10/1 et seq. (West 1996)), the Riverboat Gambling Act (230 ILCS 10/1 et seq. (West 1996)), the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act (5 ILCS 100/1-1 et seq. (West 1996)), the Illinois Public Aid Code (305 ILCS 5/1-1 et seq. (West 1996)), the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act (325 ILCS 5/1 et seq. (West 1996)), the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 (705 ILCS 405/1-1 et seq. (West 1996)), the Adoption Act (750 ILCS 50/0.01 et seq. (West 1996)), the Probate Act of 1975 (755 ILCS 5/1-1 et seq. (West 1996)), and the Unemployment Insurance Act (820 ILCS 405/100 et seq. (West 1996)). Public Act 89-21 also repealed the Tobacco Products Tax Act (1995 Ill. Laws 731) and replaced it with the Tobacco Products Tax Act of 1995 (see 1995 Ill. Laws 726). The new Tobacco Products Tax Act of 1995 changed language in the act and imposes a tax at a different rate than its predecessor. Compare 35 ILCS 143/10-1 et seq. (West 1996) with 35 ILCS 142/1 et seq. (West 1994) (repealed); see also 89th Ill. Gen. Assem., House Proceedings, May 26, 1995, at 102, 114. This new Tobacco Tax Act prompted the instant challenge to Public Act 89-21's constitutionality. A brief description of the substance of the foregoing amendments follows. The Illinois Public Aid Code was amended to abolish the interim assistance program for persons awaiting a determination of their eligibility for federal supplemental security income payments. 1995 Ill. Laws 732-33, 762. The Public Aid Code's provisions relating to Medicaid reimbursements were amended by freezing the reimbursement rates (1995 Ill. Laws 744, 775-77), by allowing the Department of Public Aid to determine criteria for adjustable payments to hospitals (1995 Ill. Laws 743, 779), and by changing the payment of assessments by hospitals and developmentally disabled care providers (1995 Ill. Laws 758-59). The Children and Family Services Act was amended to postpone the requirement that the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) provide family preservation services (1995 Ill. Laws 696), to bar DCFS from assuming responsibility for any minor over the age of 13 who is charged with a criminal offense (1995 Ill. Laws 697), to permit DCFS to set up certain savings accounts (1995 Ill. Laws 699), and to permit DCFS to place a child with a relative, as defined therein (1995 Ill. Laws 701-02). To account for these changes to the Children and Family Services Act, Public Act 89-21 amended several other acts as well. For example, the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 was amended primarily to correspond with the limits placed on DCFS's responsibility for delinquent minors (1995 Ill. Laws 785, 789, 797) and the expansion of DCFS's ability to place children with relatives (1995 Ill. Laws 782-83). The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act was amended to reflect the postponement of family preservation services. 1995 Ill. Laws 781. The Adoption Act was amended to exempt children placed with relatives from the Child Care Act of 1969 (1995 Ill. Laws 800), and the Child Care Act was changed to include relatives licensed as foster parents in the definition of child care facility and to permit relatives who receive children for placement to operate a foster family home (1995 Ill. Laws 721-25). Likewise, changes in other acts appear to have corresponded to the changes in the Medicaid reimbursement scheme in the Public Aid Code. The Tobacco Tax Act was enacted to provide funds for the Long-Term Care Provider Fund.1995 Ill. Laws 728. The State Prompt Payment Act was amended to exempt certain state-paid medical assistance from the definition of goods and services furnished to the State (1995 Ill. Laws 709) and to delete the approval dates for payments to managed health care and long-term care entities under the Public Aid Code (1995 Ill. Laws 710). Also related to the changes to the Public Aid Code were amendments to the Illinois Act on the Aging, the Disabled Persons Rehabilitation Act, the Nursing Home Care Act, and the Probate Act of 1975. These amendments required screening of persons seeking admission to nursing homes to determine their need for services, or assigned responsibility for screening. 1995 Ill. Laws 687, 705-06, 719. These amendments also gave the state the right to seek reimbursement from a person's estate for certain public assistance provided during the person's life. 1995 Ill. Laws 685, 706, 802. Public Act 89-21 made further amendments. It amended the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971 to provide the Department of Central Management Services with information about the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) program, changed the definition of TRS dependent beneficiary, and also made changes relating to eligibility, premiums, interest, contributions, and payment of administrative costs. 1995 Ill. Laws 673-82. The Civil Administrative Code was altered to require certain state automobile liability claims to be paid from the Road Fund. 1995 Ill. Laws 688. The State Finance Act was amended to appoint the Bureau of the Budget as the state representative to the United States Department of the Treasury for purposes of implementing the federal Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990. 1995 Ill. Laws 707-08. In addition, Public Act 89-21 amended the Illinois Income Tax Act to permit the Illinois Board of Education to obtain information to determine income taxes paid from taxpayers in specific school districts. 1995 Ill. Laws 710. The Illinois Pension Code was changed to increase minimum retirement annuities and benefits payable. 1995 Ill. Laws 712-13. The School Code was amended to establish a school technology program and to authorize the Illinois Board of Education to provide resources, including matching grants, for the program. 1995 Ill. Laws 713. The Riverboat Gambling Act was changed to require the periodic transfer of funds into the Education Assistance Fund. 1995 Ill. Laws 726. The Unemployment Insurance Act's requirements for eligibility were amended to clarify that department's authority, as a condition of federal funding. 1995 Ill. Laws 806. Finally, the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act was amended to permit agencies to use emergency rules to implement the changes made by this amendatory Act of 1995 or other budget reduction initiatives for the Fiscal Year 1996. 1995 Ill. Laws 731.