MT. VERNON — A new group of state laws will go into effect Jan. 1, more than 200 of them, according to Sen. John O. Jones.

“Among the more notable measures are bills that would ive citizens greater access to government information through the Internet, encourage the use of alternative energy sources, reduce regulations for home-based food businesses and allow motorcyclists to proceed through red light if the tripping device fails to turn the light green after a reasonable time,” information from Jones states.

Among the new laws highlighted by Jones are “Andrea’s Law,” which adds ways to track those who have been convicted of murder after their release from prison; enhanced penalties for child pornography; tools to help prosecute those who attempt to lure children for sexual purposes; a prohibition against shining a laser light into a cockpit when a plane is taking off or landing; and penalties for selling synthetic cannabinoids that produce a high similar to marijuana.

One of the more controversial laws, which required an override by legislators, is Public Act 97-00627, which allows motorcyclists to proceed through a red light when it fails to trip. According to Jones, the measure was given an amendatory veto by Gov. Pat Quinn, but was overridden by legislators during the fall session, with strong bipartisan support.

Jones also noted citizens will be able to access Hospital Report Cards from the Illinois Department of Health Web site, and access information about income, sales, property and business taxes imposed across the state through the Illinois Department of Revenue Web site.

Other new laws going into effect on Jan. 1 include:

n Surcharge — Establishes a mechanism to collect the 911 surcharge on pre-paid cell phones, thus requiring merchants to collect the surcharge at the point of sale;

• Abuse Coverage — Extends a mandate under the Illinois Insurance Code to the state group health insurance plan, county governments, school districts and cities regarding victims of physical or sexual abuse, to ensure all insurance plans have similar provisions to cover abuse victims;
• Acid Attack — Prohibits the possession and carrying of certain caustic substances regulated under the Federal Caustic Poison Act that are required to bear the warning “causes severe burns," and which are capable of causing serious injury. The legislation is a response to several high-profile acid attacks where the victims were severely disfigured.
• Adult Therapy Requests — Attempts to provide short-term crisis counseling for adults under guardianship to address cases where the guardian is abusive or neglectful. Authorizes any adult to request and receive counseling services or psychotherapy, even if the adult is under guardianship. Establishes that the adult’s guardian will not be informed of counseling or psychotherapy unless the counselor or therapist believes such disclosure is necessary. States that if the counselor or therapist intends to disclose the counseling or psychotherapy, the adult must be informed.
• Aggravated Battery —  States that the assault or battery of a process server or special court appointed process server while in the performance of his or her duties is enhanced to an aggravated assault (Class 4 felony) or an aggravated battery (Class 3 felony).
• Aggravated Intimidation — Establishes that a person has committed aggravated intimidation if they knew their victim was a civilian reporting information about a forcible felony to a law enforcement agency, and the offense was committed for that reason.
• Andrea’s Law — Creates a First Degree Murderer Database for people convicted of first degree murder who have been released from a penal institution or other facility. Places them on the existing Sex Offender Registry or the amended Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registry.
• n Anti-Epileptic Drug Notification — Requires pharmacists to provide written notification to a patient when dispensing a prescription in which they have substituted a generic anti-epileptic for a brand name anti-epileptic drug.
• n Antique Vehicles —  Creates a new expanded-use category of antique vehicles (vehicles more than 25 years old).  While regular antique vehicles are generally limited to driving to and from car shows when using state highways, the expanded-use vehicles have unrestricted use of the highways from April 1 through Oct. 31. The owner must pay appropriate registration and renewal fees and also pay the $45 per year fee for expanded-use antique vehicle registration.
• Background Information Sharing — Requires criminal background information on an employee that has been obtained by a school district within the last year to be shared, upon request, with any other school district.
• Banking and Estate Clean-Up — Makes numerous clean-up changes and clarifications to a current law related to banking and real estate.
• Brand Name Prescriptions — Authorizes HFS to reimburse the dispensing of a 90 day supply of a brand name drug when it is a cost effective, non-narcotic maintenance medication. This bill will also authorize the 90 day supply for brand name drugs.
• Brush Clearing — Allows a township to authorize without a referendum the use of road funds to finance the collection, transport, and disposal of brush and leaves within the unincorporated areas of the township.
• Bus Drivers — States that a non-CDL holder school bus driver will be subject to reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol testing that’s in conformance with federal regulations, except the results of the tests must be reported in a manner approved by the Secretary of State instead of on federal forms. Aligns the drug testing standard with that of the federal government because the state standards were more rigid than the federal standards creating a significant risk of false positive tests.
• Cancer Insurance Coverage — Mandates that routine patient medical care must be provided to patients participating in qualified clinical cancer trials, if the patient’s policy would cover that routine medical care if they were not enrolled in the clinical trial.
• CDL Licensing — Brings Illinois into compliance with a federal law that requires Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) holders who must comply with the physical qualifications requirements of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to provide a current original copy of their medical examiner’s certificates to the State driver’s licensing agency before a CDL is issued, renewed, upgraded or transferred.
• Child Abuse Reporting — Changes legislation to reflect the current criminal penalty for making a false report of child abuse to DCFS, and updates the required posted warning to reflect that a false report is a Class 4 felony violation.
• Child Luring — Requires all child abductors convicted of child luring to undergo a sex offender evaluation prior to sentencing. Increases the penalty to a class 2 felony for a second offense when a person has a prior conviction of a sex offense as defined in the Sex Offender Registration Act or any substantially similar federal, Uniform Code of Military Justice, sister state or foreign government offense. Adds language to make it harder for an offender to claim a lawful intent (of trying to lure a minor) if they do not have express permission of a parent.
• Closed Meetings — Creates an exemption in the Open Meetings Act to allow public bodies to hold closed meetings with auditors or financial committees, if the meeting was called to discuss suspected or potential fraud, or internal control weaknesses.
• Consumer Loan Affiliates — Defines payday loan “affiliates” as any person or entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or shares control with another person or entity. States that a person or entity who has control over another is the person or entity who has an ownership interest of 25 percent or more in the other.
• Co-Pay Scale — Bases child-care copayments for families who receive child care services or public assistance on family size and income, not on the number of children in care or the amount of services used. Also sets a sliding scale for co-payments, reflecting a lower percentage of income for the poorest families, and with a co-payment that gradually increase as family income increases.
• Correctional Facilities — Prohibits any unit of local government or a county sheriff  (formerly only the state) from contracting with a private entity to operate a correctional facility.
• Cottage Food Deregulation — Allows for deregulation at the local level of cottage food operations, so only "State-certified local public health departments" would be permitted to regulate cottage food operation. Cottage food operations are those where a person produces or packages non-potentially hazardous food in a home kitchen.  
• n Damaged Road Cost Recovery — Gives units of local government the same authority that State agencies have to seek recovery for the repair or replacement costs for damaged or destroyed roadway property.
• n Debt Collection — Allows employers to deduct wages without the employee’s consent in order to collect a debt owed to a municipality or to recoup excess money that was paid by a municipality in error.
• Diabetes Education Programs — Includes in diabetes coverage, education programs that allow a patient to maintain A1c levels, so that people can make the appropriate lifestyle and medical choices needed to help control their diabetes. A1c provides an average of blood sugar control over a six to 12 week period, and is used in conjunction with home blood sugar monitoring. Divorce Concessions — Allows people in divorce situations to use life insurance as a security for child support and maintenance obligations.
• Drug Dealers ER Fines — Establishes that people found guilty of manufacturing or delivering drugs that precipitated an emergency response will be liable for the expense of the emergency response, and must also pay additional new fines.
• Emergency Lights — Allows a blue oscillating, rotating, or flashing light to be used when parked or stationary at the scene of a fire, rescue call, ambulance call, or motor vehicle accident.
• Eviction — Allows a landlord to request rent be paid for the period of time pending an eviction, if the eviction has been put on hold by a judge.
• Expelled Students — States that an expelled or suspended student may immediately be transferred to an alternative program unless there is a threat to the safety of students or staff in the alternative program. A pupil must not be denied transfer because of the expulsion.  Additionally, provides that enrollment in a charter Alternative Learning Opportunity school must be available to any pupil who has been expelled or suspended for more than 20 days. Changes the district policy choice to state that the student must complete the entire term of suspension/expulsion in a Regional Safe School or an ALOP before being admitted into the school district.
• Financial Exploitation — Creates stricter laws against financial exploitation of an elderly person or person with a disability, by lowering the property value threshold that constitutes a Class 1 or 2 felony for the offense of financial exploitation.  Provides that payment of restitution is not limited to five years for this offense as it is with other crimes.
• Fire Safety — Allows the fire chief or other officer of a fire protection district to prohibit open burning on an emergency basis when wind, weather, or another factors create a risk of a fire spreading.
• FOID Revocation — Provides that a person convicted of domestic battery is not eligible to obtain or keep a FOID Card. People who have an order of protection issued against them must also surrender their FOID Card for the duration of the order.
• ID Card Religious Objections — Provides for Illinois Identification Cards or Illinois Disabled Person Identification Cards to be issued without photographs if the applicant has a religious objection.
• Internet Threat Penalties — Allows a school board to suspend or expel a student who has made an explicit threat on an Internet Web site against a school employee, student, or any school personnel.
• Open Meetings — Requires all current and future elected and appointed officials in Illinois to take Open Meetings Act training courses administered by the Public Access Counselor in the Attorney General’s office.  Elected school board members are exempted from receiving their training through the AG’s office if they take an alternate course offered by an institution created under Article 23 of the School Code.
• Pseudoephedrine Regulation — Prohibits a person convicted of using methamphetamine, who is currently on parole, mandatory supervised release, probation or conditional discharge, from purchasing, possessing, or having under their control any product containing pseudoephedrine, unless prescribed by a physician.
• Re-opened Case Notification — Requires law enforcement authorities who re-open a closed case to notify the victim or victim's family, unless the State's Attorney determines that disclosure would unreasonably interfere with the investigation.
• Safety Funding — Allows Fire Prevention Fund money to be used to fund the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System.
• Seat Belts — Requires adult passengers in the back seat of a vehicle to wear a seat belt, and also requires those 18 and younger riding in a taxi cab for school-related purposes to wear a seat belt.  
• Uninsured Driving — Requires mandatory maximum fines for a person who has multiple convictions of driving an uninsured motor vehicle.  Requires that a $2,500 fine be imposed, in addition to any jail sentence, for an individual convicted of driving an uninsured vehicle that results in bodily harm to another person, if the defendant has two or more convictions for driving an uninsured vehicle. Requires the same fee for a person who receives a third conviction of uninsured operation of a motor vehicle that leads to bodily injury to another.  Sets the fee at $1,000 for an individual convicted of a third or subsequent violation of uninsured operation of a vehicle that does not result in bodily injury.
• Vehicle Occupancy Restrictions — Bans riding in a trailer, semitrailer, farm wagon or any other vehicle while it is being towed upon a public highway, unless necessary due to an emergency situation.
• Weapons Possession — equires mandatory prison for the unlawful use or possession of a weapon by a convicted felon or DOC inmate on parole or mandatory supervised release.