Kane County Reporter

Karina Villa introduced SB1470 in the Illinois Senate on Jan. 31, 2025, during the general assembly session 104, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the Domestic Violence Shelters Act. Provides that the Department of Human Services shall be responsible for the provision of a single, easy to use telephone number for public access to information and referral for domestic violence services. Authorizes the Department to identify and enter into a contract with a lead entity to provide governance and oversight, including the ability to design, implement, support, and coordinate a State-wide Domestic Violence Hotline system. Provides that the lead entity must: (i) have the ability to provide statewide, toll-free, 24-hour, 7 day-a-week, multi-lingual, confidential referral services to victims and perpetrators of domestic violence and information to people calling on behalf of a victim, including friends or family of the domestic violence victim and first responders such as the police; (ii) have a record of providing effective, victim-centered referral services to victims of domestic violence for at least 2 years prior to the effective date of the amendatory Act; (iii) be an Illinois 501(c)(3) non-profit agency or organization; (iv) provide the most up-to-date technology to increase access to domestic violence services for the deaf and hard of hearing; and (v) have other specified qualifications. Requires the lead entity to provide periodic programmatic and fiscal reports on activities, accomplishments, and other issues to the Department. Requires the Department to ensure, prior to awarding a contract, that the Domestic Violence Hotline lead entity has the organizational capacity to carry out the terms of the contract."

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Domestic Violence Shelters Act to mandate that the Illinois Department of Human Services establish a single, user-friendly telephone number for statewide access to domestic violence services. It allows the Department to contract with a qualified non-profit lead entity, which must be an Illinois-based 501(c)(3) organization with at least two years of experience in providing victim-centered referral services. The lead entity is tasked with governing and overseeing a statewide, toll-free, 24/7, multi-lingual confidential domestic violence hotline. Additional requirements include having staff trained in domestic violence, providing services for the deaf and hard of hearing, and offering direct referrals to those needing them. The lead entity must supply periodic reports to ensure efficiency and service awareness. The act specifies that the Department must confirm the lead entity's capacity before awarding a contract.

Karina Villa has proposed another 12 bills since the beginning of the 104th session.

Karina Villa is currently serving in the Illinois State Senate, representing the state's 25th Senate District. She replaced previous state senator Jim Oberweis in 2021.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
SB1470	01/31/2025	Amends the Domestic Violence Shelters Act. Provides that the Department of Human Services shall be responsible for the provision of a single, easy to use telephone number for public access to information and referral for domestic violence services. Authorizes the Department to identify and enter into a contract with a lead entity to provide governance and oversight, including the ability to design, implement, support, and coordinate a State-wide Domestic Violence Hotline system. Provides that the lead entity must: (i) have the ability to provide statewide, toll-free, 24-hour, 7 day-a-week, multi-lingual, confidential referral services to victims and perpetrators of domestic violence and information to people calling on behalf of a victim, including friends or family of the domestic violence victim and first responders such as the police; (ii) have a record of providing effective, victim-centered referral services to victims of domestic violence for at least 2 years prior to the effective date of the amendatory Act; (iii) be an Illinois 501(c)(3) non-profit agency or organization; (iv) provide the most up-to-date technology to increase access to domestic violence services for the deaf and hard of hearing; and (v) have other specified qualifications. Requires the lead entity to provide periodic programmatic and fiscal reports on activities, accomplishments, and other issues to the Department. Requires the Department to ensure, prior to awarding a contract, that the Domestic Violence Hotline lead entity has the organizational capacity to carry out the terms of the contract.
SB1265	01/28/2025	Amends the Environmental Barriers Act. Requires the Attorney General to provide, by January 31, 2026 and every January 31 thereafter (rather than by July 31, 2020 and every July 31 thereafter), data on the Attorney General's website about annual enforcement efforts performed under the Act. Effective immediately.
SB1266	01/28/2025	Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that any person may file a petition to vacate a conviction or sentence, regardless of criminal custody status or citizenship or immigration status, as defined in the Illinois TRUST Act, if the person asserts that: (1) the conviction or sentence is legally invalid due to prejudicial error damaging the petitioner's ability to meaningfully understand, defend against, or knowingly accept the actual or potential adverse immigration consequences of a conviction or sentence; or (2) newly discovered evidence of actual innocence exists that requires vacation of the conviction or sentence as a matter of law or in the interests of justice. Provides that such a petition shall be deemed timely filed at any time notwithstanding any other provision of law. Provides that the time limitations for petitions filed in the trial court under the Post-Conviction Hearing Article of the Code do not apply to a petition filed under this provision. Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Provides that a provision granting relief from a final order or judgment entered based on a plea of guilty or nolo contendere and that has potential consequences under federal immigration law applies to orders or judgments entered before, on, or after the effective date of the amendatory Act.
SB1267	01/28/2025	Amends the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that if any annuitant must be considered a participating employee because there was not a separation from service and the participating municipality or participating instrumentality that employs or re-employs that annuitant knowingly fails to notify the Board to suspend the annuity, the Board may review the totality of circumstances regarding the annuitant not having a separation of service and assign proportionate responsibility for reimbursement of the total of any annuity payments made to the annuitant after the date the annuity should have been suspended, as determined by the Board, between the participating municipality or participating instrumentality and the annuitant, less any amount actually repaid by the annuitant. Provides that in no case shall the total amount repaid by the annuitant plus any amount reimbursed by the employer to the Fund be more than the total of all annuity payments made to the annuitant after the date the annuity should have been suspended. Removes language providing that the provisions shall not apply if the annuitant returned to work for the employer for less than 12 months. Adds similar provisions to a provision concerning separation from service and entitlement to a retirement annuity. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement.
SB1268	01/28/2025	Amends the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Increases, except for persons who first retired prior to the effective date of the amendatory Act, the amount of the death benefit from $3,000 to $8,000. Makes conforming changes. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective January 1, 2026.
SB1269	01/28/2025	Amends the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) Article of the Illinois Pension Code. In a provision concerning participation in the Fund by a person who holds an elective office, provides that a person who holds an elective office and has not elected to participate in the Fund with respect to that office shall not be disqualified from receiving service credit for service in that elected office as long as the member participated in a non-elected position with the employer for which the member is now an elected official; the employer has continued to make member contributions for that period of service; and there is no gap in service credit between the 2 positions. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement.
SB1237	01/24/2025	Appropriates $9,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Public Health for continued funding to the Illinois Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. Effective July 1, 2025.
SB1238	01/24/2025	Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Allows the Department of Public Health to develop and publish on its website a nonopioid alternatives pamphlet, with certain requirements. Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Prohibits a health insurance issuer to deny coverage of a nonopioid prescription drug in favor of an opioid prescription drug. Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that coverage shall not be denied for a nonopioid prescription drug in favor of an opioid prescription drug. Requires that nonopioid drugs preferred on a specific list for the treatment or management of pain shall not be disadvantaged or discouraged with respect to coverage relative to any opioid or narcotic drug for the treatment or management of pain. Effective July 1, 2027.
SB1239	01/24/2025	Amends the School Code. Removes language allowing school districts that collect biometric information from students to adopt specified policies. Instead, prohibits a school district from purchasing or otherwise acquiring biometric systems to use on students. Provides that a school district may not do any of the following with respect to students: (1) obtain, retain, possess, access, request, or use biometric systems or biometric information derived from biometric systems; or (2) enter into an agreement with a third party for the purpose of obtaining, retaining, possessing, accessing, or using, by or on behalf of the school district, biometric systems. Provides that, within 30 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act, if a school district is in possession of student biometric information, then the school district shall destroy the biometric information and provide certified documentation of destruction to the State Board of Education. Provides that, within 30 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act, any school district that has contracted with a third party to obtain, collect, or store student biometric information shall require the third party to destroy all biometric information in its possession and confirm in writing the completion of this destruction to the school district. During the 30-day period in which a school district may still have student biometric information in its possession, prohibits the school district from selling, leasing, or otherwise disclosing the biometric information to another person or entity unless: (1) the individual who has legal custody of the student or the student, if he or she has reached the age of 18, consents to the disclosure; or (2) the disclosure is required by court order. Makes other changes.
SB0092	01/17/2025	Amends the Illinois Pesticide Act. Provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall produce ethanol using seeds that have been treated with a pesticide.
SB0119	01/17/2025	Amends the Prenatal Syphilis Act. Provides that every appropriate health care professional (rather than physician or other person) attending in a professional capacity a pregnant woman in Illinois shall test every pregnant person (rather than take or cause to be taken a sample of blood of such woman) at the time of the first examination and shall perform a second test (rather than shall take or cause to be taken a second sample of blood) during the third trimester of pregnancy, between 27 through 32 weeks of gestation. Deletes certain references to serological tests. Provides that reports of births and still births shall be made by appropriate health care professionals (rather than by physicians or other persons).
SB0142	01/17/2025	Amends the Prenatal Syphilis Act. Deletes provisions requiring certain serological tests to be made free of charge by the Department of Public Health or the health departments of municipalities maintaining laboratories for the testing of blood specimens of any woman who resides in the municipality.
SB0055	01/13/2025	Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Establishes reimbursement rates for mental health and substance use disorder treatment services for all group or individual policies of accident and health insurance or managed care plans that are amended, delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2027 or for any contracted third party administering the behavioral health benefits for the insurer. Requires a group or individual policy of accident and health insurance or managed care plan that is amended, delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026 or any contracted third party administering the behavioral health benefits for the insurer to cover certain medically necessary mental health and substance use disorder treatment services. Provides that, if the Department of Insurance determines that an insurer or a contracted third party administering the behavioral health benefits for the insurer has violated a provision concerning mental health and substance use parity, the Department shall by order assess a civil penalty of $1,000 for each violation. Excludes certain health care plans serving Medicaid populations who are enrolled under the Illinois Public Aid Code or under the Children's Health Insurance Program Act from provisions concerning mental health and substance use parity. Requires the Department to review the impact of the proposed mental health and substance abuse mandate on network adequacy for mental health and substance use disorder treatment and access to affordable mental health and substance use care. Permits the Department to examine out-of-network utilization and out-of-pocket costs for insureds for mental health and substance use treatment and services for all plans to compare with in-network utilization. Amends the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971, the Counties Code, the Illinois Municipal Code, and the School Code to require coverage under those provisions. Effective immediately.