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Gov. Blagojevich has signed into
a law a series of bills that target this extremely addictive and
easily attainable drug that has devastated lives throughout much of
the state, from the rural south to the suburban north.
The methamphetamine production process creates toxic and hazardous
waste that endangers law enforcement personnel, emergency response
teams and the environment. Additionally, methamphetamine
laboratories may contain a variety of highly flammable toxic
chemicals and vapors. House Bills 3504, 3507, 3531, 3532, 3526 and
Senate Bill 562 address these issues by providing instructions for
methamphetamine cleanup and restitution payments, developing new
protocol for laboratory seizures, securing anhydrous ammonia
facilities, and clarifying Illinois statutes for law enforcement.
Specifically,
House Bill 3504 creates the Methamphetamine Law Enforcement Fund
to address the high expenses associated with securing
methamphetamine sites. Under this new law, parties found guilty of
methamphetamine manufacturing will face a $100 fine to assist with
associated cleanup costs.
House Bill 3507 further provides instructions for dispersing
methamphetamine restitution payments equitably. Because local
agencies suffer the brunt of the costs sustained when a
methamphetamine site is secured, restitution payments will first
cover regular and overtime costs incurred by local law enforcement
agencies and private contractors, followed by state agencies, and
finally federal agencies.
House Bill 3531, 3532, and 3526 are products of recommendations
from the Methamphetamine Crisis Task Force, a group of lawmakers
responsible for conducting statewide hearings during the summer and
fall months of 2004 on the escalating problem of the manufacture and
use of methamphetamine throughout the state.
During the hearings it became apparent that communication and
protocol between and among agencies responding to methamphetamine
laboratory seizures had a negative effect on the children present.
House Bill 3531 addresses this concern by requiring the
Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of State
Police, and the State Board of Education to jointly develop a sample
protocol for handling situations where a child may reside at a
residence where a police raid occurs.
Much like its predecessor,
House Bill 3532 establishes one statewide protocol for
methamphetamine laboratory cleanup and determines if housing is
environmentally safe to live in. Essentially, it establishes an
"environmental standard" a site must conform to in order to be
declared safe.
House Bill 3526 attempts to limit accessibility to anhydrous
ammonia, which speeds the production of methamphetamine, by
requiring the Department of Agriculture to establish a program to
improve security at anhydrous ammonia facilities.
The final piece of the package is
Senate Bill 562, which moves methamphetamine-related provisions
into a single law designed to assist judges, law enforcement
authorities, prosecutors and defense attorneys as they deal with a
rapidly increasing number of cases. The law provides law enforcement
with new tools to help keep pace with the rapidly evolving practices
of methamphetamine manufacturing, in order to undermine
methamphetamine producers’ ability to avoid detection, arrest and
prosecution.
These laws should also foster cooperation among those responsible
for the regulation and cleanup of methamphetamine laboratories,
while aiding local law enforcement’s ability to protect community
streets and neighborhoods from the destructive effects of
methamphetamine abuse.
In other news, several military and
veterans bills sponsored by Senate Republicans became official state
law this week. They include:
- House Bill 815 -- Changes qualifications for the Illinois
Veteran Grant to include all individuals in the armed services,
a reserve component of the armed forces or the Illinois National
Guard.
- House Bill 3724 -- Requires public institutions of higher
education to allow a student called to active military service
to complete any unfinished courses at a later date at no
additional charge.
- Senate Bill 1627 -- Provides that an employee who has been
employed by the same employer for 12 months shall be entitled to
up to 30 days of family military leave.
- House Bill 2190 -- Requires health insurers to cover
treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
- House Bill 3472 -- Creates a new scratch-off lottery game
for the benefit of Illinois veterans. Revenue is to be used to
make grants, fund additional services or conduct additional
research projects in the areas of post-traumatic stress
disorder, homelessness, health insurance costs, disability
benefits and long-term care.
- House Bill 4058 -- Updates the list of veterans qualified
for admittance to a veterans home to include modern wars.
This legislation offers common-sense protections and benefits to
help our veterans and active military personnel sort through the
many financial, personal and health-related complications that may
arise as a result of their past or present deployment.
Other bills signed into law the week of Aug. 15-19:
Health, adoption -- House Bill 3628 states that adoption agencies
must be charitable, not-for-profit organizations.
Crime, battery -- House Bill 892 prohibits those convicted of
domestic battery from legally purchasing firearms.
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 Waste disposal -- House Bill 918 prevents local governments from
changing the siting rules after the siting is approved.
Agriculture, Asian carp -- House Bill 1181 states that it is
unlawful to release any aquatic life into the wild without first
securing the permission of the Department of Agriculture.
Labor, mandatory breaks -- House Bill 3485 mandates that hotel
room attendants must receive break time.
Police radar -- Senate Bill 1221 prohibits the use of radar
jamming devices.
Courts -- Senate Bill 1443 permits the county board to raise the
court automation fee from $5 to $15. Senate Bill 1444 permits the
county board to raise the maximum court document fee from a maximum
of $5 to $15.
Minorities -- Senate Bill 2043 requires Central Management
Services to develop and implement an employment plan for Hispanics.
Economic development -- House Bill 0361 provides that the
Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity may, subject to
appropriation, establish, maintain and advertise a program devoted
to encouraging the rapid establishment of businesses and employers
in business parks by developing standards for the development,
location and maintenance of business parks in the state and by
certifying business parks that meet or exceed those standards.
Volunteer workers -- House Bill 594 protects volunteer emergency
workers from termination if they are late or absent from work.
Education, safety -- House Bill 2693 creates the School Safety
Drill Act to establish minimum requirements and standards for public
and private schools to follow when conducting school safety drills
and reviewing school emergency and crisis response plans.
Health, blindness -- House Bill 0395 creates a tax checkoff for
the Blindness Prevention Fund. Requires the Department of Public
Health to make grants to charitable or educational entities in
Illinois for the purpose of funding public education on the
importance of eye care and the prevention of blindness and the
provision of eye care to children, senior citizens and other needy
individuals whose needs are not covered by any other source of
funds.
Health, primary care -- House Bill 3415 requires the Department
of Children and Family Services to file a parent-child visiting plan
when the department has temporary custody.
Mobile home tax -- Senate Bill 485 provides that the owner of
each mobile home must pay an annual tax to the county treasurer.
Business -- Senate Bill 0504 provides that an operating agreement
may establish designated series of members, managers or limited
liability company interests having separate rights, powers or duties
with respect to specified property or obligations of the limited
liability company or profits and losses associated with specified
property or obligations, and to the extent provided in the operating
agreement, any such series may have a separate business purpose or
investment objective.
Crime, burial -- Senate Bill 1210 punishes an unauthorized person
from entering sheds, crematories or employee areas in a cemetery.
DUI -- Senate Bill 1495 requires a sentence of imprisonment for
reckless homicide in a DUI situation unless a judge finds that
extraordinary circumstances exist for giving that person probation.
Mercury -- House Bill 511 phases out vaccines containing mercury
beginning in January 2006, with a total ban to take place in January
2008.
Traffic fines -- House Bill 769 provides that in Cook County the
secretary of state may not remove the notation indicating a driver’s
failure to pay any traffic fine or court cost until receiving notice
of payment.
Disabled parking -- House Bill 1316 increases the fine for the
unauthorized use of parking spaces reserved for disabled people.
Personal contact -- House Bill 1589 requires all state agencies
employing automated telephone answering equipment to answer incoming
telephone calls and to provide during normal working hours the
option of speaking with a live operator.
Immunity -- Senate Bill 251 specifies civil immunity for
landowners when people use their land for hunting, recreational
shooting or any related activity.
AIDS/HIV -- House Bill 2578 requires the Illinois HIV/AIDS Policy
and Research Institute at Chicago State University to conduct a
study to determine whether there is a correlation between
incarceration and HIV infection.
Emergency safety -- Senate Bill 46 provides that stairwell
enclosures in buildings greater than four stories must have no
stairwell door locked at any time or requires stairwell doors that
are locked to be equipped with an electronic lock release system.
Autism -- Senate Bill 1698 requires professionals who diagnose
any individual with an autism spectrum disorder to report the
diagnosis to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
State government -- Senate Bill 1935 requires the Department of
Revenue to prepare an annual report listing all revenue and fee
collections of the department for the prior fiscal year.
[News release from
Illinois
Senate Republicans]
Note: For details on any of the above legislation, copy the bill number
into the search field at
http://www.ilga.gov/. |
