Lake County Gazette

Adriane Johnson introduced SB1395 in the Illinois Senate on Jan. 29, 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: "Creates the Equitable Access to Education, Employment, and Training for Incarcerated Individuals with Disabilities Act. Provides that reasonable accommodations for incarcerated individuals with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability shall include a waiver of any requirement that the individual take the Test of Adult Basic Education and receive a passing score, or take and receive a passing score on any other examination or test that the Department may require to determine academic achievement or access to educational programs, work assignments, and vocational programs. Provides that participation in these programs through the Test of Adult Basic Education waiver and other reasonable accommodations shall qualify individuals with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability to earn earned sentence credit, consistent with opportunities provided to other incarcerated individuals. Provides that Department of Corrections staff, including educational personnel, shall receive annual training on: (1) identifying individuals who have an intellectual disability or a developmental disability; (2) providing accommodations and supports to an individual with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability in educational, employment. and vocational settings; and (3) administering appropriate alternative assessments. Provides that staff training programs shall be developed in collaboration with disability advocacy organizations and educational institutions. Provides that the Department shall ensure compliance with federal disability laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act of 1973, through the implementation of the Act. Provides that individuals with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability who are denied access to programs or accommodations under the Act may file a grievance through the Department's established grievance procedures. Effective immediately."

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

In essence, this bill establishes the Equitable Access to Education, Employment, and Training for Incarcerated Individuals with Disabilities Act, mandating reasonable accommodations for those with intellectual or developmental disabilities in correctional settings. It includes waiving the Test of Adult Basic Education requirement and similar exams to allow participation in educational and vocational programs. Participants in these programs can earn sentence credit like their peers. Annual training for Department of Corrections staff is required to identify and support these individuals, and training programs will involve disability advocacy groups and educational institutions. The Department will ensure compliance with federal disability laws, and affected individuals can file grievances if access is denied. The bill is effective immediately.

Adriane Johnson has proposed another 12 bills since the beginning of the 104th session.

Johnson graduated from Colombia College with a BA and again in 2006 from Loyola University Chicago School of Law with an MJ.

Adriane Johnson is currently serving in the Illinois State Senate, representing the state's 30th Senate District. She replaced previous state senator Terry Link in 2020.

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
SB1395	01/29/2025	Creates the Equitable Access to Education, Employment, and Training for Incarcerated Individuals with Disabilities Act. Provides that reasonable accommodations for incarcerated individuals with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability shall include a waiver of any requirement that the individual take the Test of Adult Basic Education and receive a passing score, or take and receive a passing score on any other examination or test that the Department may require to determine academic achievement or access to educational programs, work assignments, and vocational programs. Provides that participation in these programs through the Test of Adult Basic Education waiver and other reasonable accommodations shall qualify individuals with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability to earn earned sentence credit, consistent with opportunities provided to other incarcerated individuals. Provides that Department of Corrections staff, including educational personnel, shall receive annual training on: (1) identifying individuals who have an intellectual disability or a developmental disability; (2) providing accommodations and supports to an individual with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability in educational, employment. and vocational settings; and (3) administering appropriate alternative assessments. Provides that staff training programs shall be developed in collaboration with disability advocacy organizations and educational institutions. Provides that the Department shall ensure compliance with federal disability laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act of 1973, through the implementation of the Act. Provides that individuals with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability who are denied access to programs or accommodations under the Act may file a grievance through the Department's established grievance procedures. Effective immediately.
SB1396	01/29/2025	Amends the Property Tax Code. In provisions allowing for an expanded board of review in emergency cases, removes provisions providing that, in Lake, DuPage, McHenry, or Kane County, the chairman of the county board may appoint qualified residents of counties that are directly adjacent to that chairman's county to serve as additional members of the expanded board of review. Effective immediately.
SB1397	01/29/2025	Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that the Comptroller and Treasurer shall transfer from the Solid Waste Management Fund into a separate account within the Solid Waste Management Fund, $225,000 on October 1, 2026, $234,000 on October 1, 2027, and $243,360 on October 1, 2028, for use in making grants to the Prairie Research Institute of the University of Illinois to cover the costs of implementing a specified provision of the Illinois Solid Waste Management Act. Amends the Illinois Solid Waste Management Act. Provides that the Environmental Protection Agency shall provide grants to incentivize the use of finished compost, liquid digestate, and solid digestate on private and public lands used for commercial farm and specialty farm operations. Provides that the Agency shall partner with the Prairie Research Institute of the University of Illinois to conduct a study of finished compost, liquid digestate, and solid digestate use over fiscal years 2026, 2027, and 2028, with a final report submitted to the General Assembly and Governor by December 1, 2028. Effective immediately.
SB1398	01/29/2025	Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Defines the terms "anaerobic digester", "anaerobic digestion", and "food". Deletes provisions that exempted certain composting facilities from regulation as a pollution control facility. Creates exemptions from the definition of "pollution control facility" for (i) the portion of a site or facility that is used for anaerobic digestion and (ii) the portion of a site or facility that is used to process food scrap at a food scrap processing facility. Provides for moneys that are appropriated from the Solid Waste Management Fund to the Agency in certain years for solid waste management activities to be segregated into a separate account for use by the Prairie Research Institute of the University of Illinois for the costs of implementing the Illinois Solid Waste Management Act. Amends the Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act. Updates requirements for each county waste management plan's recycling program with respect to food scrap collection programs. Amends the Illinois Solid Waste Management Act. Provides that a person that generates more than the applicable regulatory threshold of food and food scrap and that is located within 20 miles, prior to July 1, 2035, or 25 miles, on and after July 1, 2035, of an Agency-permitted composting facility or anaerobic digester that accepts food scrap and that has the permitted capacity to accept food scrap shall, among other things, source separate food and food scrap from other solid waste and either arrange for the transfer of the food or food scrap to a location that manages food and food scrap in a manner consistent with the food and food scrap management hierarchy set forth in the Act or manage the food and food scrap on site in accordance with other applicable State and local laws and rules. Grants the Agency rulemaking powers. Contains other provisions. Effective immediately.
SB1399	01/29/2025	Amends the Park District Code. Provides that no candidate for the office of park commissioner in any General Park District shall be required to file more than 300 petition signatures from qualified voters of the district. Effective immediately.
SB1272	01/28/2025	Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a municipality or unit of local government may erect and maintain a specialized traffic control device at an intersection where an emergency response vehicle enters the roadway or within 1,000 feet from a structure where such vehicles are stored. Allows the specialized traffic control device to be controlled by the emergency response unit or fire station as the emergency response vehicle enters or exits traffic.
SB1358	01/28/2025	Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that a group or individual policy of accident and health insurance or a managed care plan that is amended, delivered, issued, or renewed on or after July 1, 2025 shall provide coverage for the full cost of an annual PET scan for insureds age 35 or older who elect to get a PET scan, regardless of whether the PET scan was ordered by a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches and regardless of whether the insured displays symptoms. Sets forth findings and definitions. Effective immediately.
SB1359	01/28/2025	Appropriates $5,500,000 to the State Board of Education for a grant to YouthBuild Illinois. Effective July 1, 2025.
SB1192	01/24/2025	Amends the Veterinary Medicine and Surgery Practice Act of 2004. In the provision that a veterinarian who, on his or her own initiative or other than at the request of the owner, gives emergency treatment to a sick or injured animal shall not be liable for damages in the absence of gross negligence, includes giving emergency treatment to a dangerous animal, as defined in the Criminal Code of 2012. Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that "dangerous animal", in addition to the other animals listed in the dangerous animals statute, includes a serval, caracal, kangaroo, wallaby, or any hybrid, intergrade, or cross of such an animal. Provides that no person shall have a right of property in, keep, harbor, care for, act as custodian of or maintain in his or her possession any dangerous animal or primate except at or by a: (1) federally licensed facility, (2) veterinary hospital, or (3) permitted hound running area and only for possession of coyotes. Provides that the exemptions listed in the provision do not exempt persons from having to be in compliance with the Wildlife Code or the Endangered Species Act, including, but not limited to, prohibitions on possession of any dangerous animal. Provides that nothing in the provision shall be construed to apply to a motion picture, television, or digital media production company employing or contracting with a dealer or exhibitor licensed under the federal Animal Welfare Act or with a carrier, intermediate handler, or unlicensed exhibitor registered under that Act for the transportation, purchase, exhibition, or use of animals in its motion picture, television, or digital media production. Provides that it is an affirmative defense for a prosecution under this provision if a person had lawful possession of a feline crossbreed between a serval cat and a domesticated cat and the possessor of the animal proves that the possessor possessed the animal before the effective date of the amendatory Act. Defines "federally licensed facility".
SB0246	01/22/2025	Amends the State Treasurer Act. Provides that the State Treasurer may establish and administer a non-profit investment pool and an electronic payment processing program to supplement and enhance investment opportunities and secure electronic payment options otherwise available to not-for-profit corporations in the State. Provides that the Treasurer may receive funds paid into the pool for the purpose of holding and investing those funds. Provides for surety bonds payable to not-for-profit corporations who participate in the pool. Provides that the Treasurer shall adopt rules for the efficient administration of the pool.
SB0247	01/22/2025	Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that the filing fees for specified petitions shall be $250 (rather than $75).
SB0248	01/22/2025	Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that a petitioner for post-conviction relief who was convicted of a felony offense committed when that person was under 21 years of age who seeks leave to file a successive post-conviction petition claiming that his or her sentence violates the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois Constitution does not have to demonstrate cause. Effective immediately.
SB0078	01/17/2025	Amends the Community Mental Health Act. Authorizes any public library district to construct, repair, operate, maintain, and regulate community mental health facilities. Provides that a public library district authorized to levy an annual tax under the Act shall establish a community mental health board whose members are appointed by the president of the public library district's board of trustees.
SB0079	01/17/2025	Appropriates $4,500,000 to the State Board of Education for grants to school districts to contract with organizations that directly provide students and school-based staff with mental telehealth services that are billed to Medicaid and commercial insurance plans. Effective July 1, 2025.
SB0080	01/17/2025	Amends the School Code. In a provision concerning evidence-based funding for student success, allows the Professional Review Panel to study, at the discretion of the chairperson, any proposed legislation by the General Assembly impacting the provision or the distribution of Tier funds through the evidence-based funding formula or the adequacy targets of organizational units funded through the evidence-based funding formula.
SB0130	01/17/2025	Amends the General Provisions Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that the amendatory Act may be referred to as the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act. With regard to the retirement systems established under the General Assembly, State Employees, State Universities, Downstate Teachers, or Judges Article of the Code and the Illinois State Board of Investment, prohibits direct investment of any additional pension assets in the stocks, securities, or other obligations of any fossil fuel company or any subsidiary, affiliate, or parent of a fossil fuel company. Provides that each board of trustees of a pension system shall ensure the pension system does not make further indirect investments unless, upon exercising due diligence, the board of trustees is satisfied that the investment vehicle is unlikely to have more than 2% of its assets invested in fossil fuel companies. Requires pension system trustees to identify the pension system's holdings, whether directly or indirectly invested, including private investments. Requires pension system trustees to identify holdings that are invested in the stocks, securities, equities, fixed income, corporate bonds, prime commercial paper, or other obligations of fossil fuel companies. Requires pension systems to, in accordance with sound investment criteria and consistent with fiduciary obligations, divest any fossil fuel holdings, which must be completed by January 1, 2030. Requires pension systems to adopt an update to their written investment policies if necessary. Requires each pension system to disclose the analytic methods used, if any, in determining the climate-related financial risks posed by its fossil fuel investments (both publicly traded and private investments) and the results of the analysis. Sets forth provisions concerning definitions, de minimis exposure to fossil fuel securities, and annual reporting. Effective immediately.
SB0131	01/17/2025	Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. In the statutes concerning the offenses of criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault, predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, criminal sexual abuse, and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, increases the age of consensual acts of sexual penetration or sexual conduct from 17 years of age to 18 years of age. In those statutes, increases from 17 to 18 years of age for which more enhanced penalties may be imposed for violations of those provisions.