SB1937 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 17252 JAM 43312 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
SB1937

Introduced 1/16/2008, by Sen. Susan Garrett

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the community Services Impact Note Act. Requires that an estimate of the fiscal impact upon the provision of community services to persons with developmental disabilities or mental illness be submitted by the sponsor of a bill in the General Assembly that (i) affects the provision of such services or (ii) amends one of several specified Acts. Provides for the preparation of the note by the Department of Human Services, the preparation of a note at the request of a legislator other than the sponsor, and the adjustment of a note in relation to amendment of the bill. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

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 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Community Services Impact Note Act.

Section 5. Applicability. Every bill, except a bill making a direct appropriation, that (i) affects the provision of community services to persons with developmental disabilities or mental illness or (ii) amends the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code, the Developmental Disability and Mental Disability Services Act, the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Administrative Act, the Community Services Act, the Nursing Home Care Act, the Health Care Worker Background Check Act, the Community-Integrated Living Arrangements Licensure and Certification Act, the Community Living Facilities Licensing Act, the MRSA Screening and Reporting Act, the Early Intervention Services System Act, the Community Mental Health Act, the Specialized Living Centers Act, the Community Support Systems Act, the Children's Mental Health Act of 2003, the Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act, the Autism Spectrum Disorders Reporting Act, the Epilepsy Disease Assistance Act, the Developmental Disability Prevention Act, the Illinois Public Aid Code, the Minimum Wage Law, or the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971 shall have prepared for it prior to second reading in the house of introduction a brief explanatory Statement or note that shall include a reliable estimate of the fiscal impact of its provisions on community services for persons with developmental disabilities and mental illness. These Statements or notes shall be known as "community services impact notes".

Section 10. Preparation. The sponsor of each bill to which Section 5 applies shall present a copy of the bill, with the request for a community services impact note, to the Department of Human Services. The community services impact note shall be prepared by the Department of Human Services and submitted to the sponsor of the bill within 5 calendar days, except that whenever, because of the complexity of the measure, additional time is required for the preparation of the community services impact note, the Department of Human Services may inform the sponsor of the bill, and the sponsor may approve an extension of the time within which the note is to be submitted, not to extend, however, beyond May 15, following the date of the request. The Department of Human Services may seek assistance from other State agencies and statewide trade associations representing providers of community services for persons with developmental disabilities and mental illness. If, in the opinion of the Department of Human Services, there is insufficient information to prepare a reliable estimate of the anticipated impact, a Statement to that effect shall be filed and shall meet the requirements of this Act.

Section 15. Vote on the necessity of community services impact notes. Whenever the sponsor of any bill is of the opinion that no community services impact note is required, any member of either house may request that a note be obtained, and in that case the applicability of this Act shall be decided by the majority of those present and voting in the house of which the sponsor is a member.

Section 20. Requisites and contents. The note shall be factual in nature, as brief and concise as may be, and shall provide a reliable estimate, in dollars, of the impact of the bill on community services for persons with developmental disabilities and mental illness. In addition, the note shall include both the immediate effect and, if determinable or reasonably foreseeable, the long range effect of the measure. If, after careful investigation, it is determined that no dollar estimate is possible, the note shall contain a Statement to that effect, setting forth the reasons why no dollar estimate can be given. A brief summary or work sheet of computations used in arriving at community services impact note figures shall be included.

Section 25. Comment or opinion; technical or mechanical defects. No comment or opinion shall be included in the community services impact note with regard to the merits of the measure for which the community services impact note is prepared; however, technical or mechanical defects may be noted. The work sheet shall include, insofar as practical, a breakdown of the costs upon which the community services impact note is based. It shall also include such other information as is required by rules that may be promulgated by each house of the General Assembly with respect to the preparation of such notes. The community services impact note shall be prepared in quintuplicate, and the original of both the work sheet and the note shall be signed by the Secretary of Human Services, or by a responsible representative designated by the Secretary.

Section 30. Appearance of State officials and employees in support or opposition of measure. The fact that a community services impact note is prepared for any bill shall not preclude or restrict the appearance before any committee of the General Assembly of any official or authorized employee of the Department of Human Services who desires to be heard in support of or in opposition to the measure.

Section 35. Amendments. Whenever an amendment to a bill, whether reported by a committee of either house or proposed upon the floor of either house, substantially affects the figures Stated in the community services impact note attached to the measure at the time of its referral to the committee, there shall be included with the report of the committee a Statement of the effect of the change proposed by the amendment reported if desired by a majority of the committee. In like manner, whenever any measure is amended on the floor of either house in a manner that substantially affects the costs thereof or the revenues to be derived thereunder as Stated in the community services impact note attached to the measure prior to that amendment, a majority of that house may propose that no action shall be taken upon the amendment until the sponsor of the amendment presents to the members a Statement of the fiscal effect of his or her proposed amendment.

Section 40. Confidentiality. The subject matter of a bill submitted to the Secretary of Human Services shall be kept in strict confidence by the Department of Human Services, and no information relating to the bill or community services impact shall be divulged by any official or employee of the Department, except to the bill's sponsor or the sponsor's designee, before the bill's introduction in the General Assembly.

Section 45. Severability. The provisions of this Act are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.

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