CBA Record May-June 2020

CBA Legislative News By Juli Vyverberg, Director, CBA Lawyer Referral Service and Legislation Program A s you are aware, the State House and Senate have been working on a very limited schedule this spring and are

therefore, the birth certificate should be changed. This bill eliminates this require- ment and states that in order to change a birth certificate, a statement signed by the person requesting the change attest to the purpose for the change and affirm gender identity or intersex condition. The DRLS voted to support this bill with High Prior- ity and the Legislative Committee voted 6-0-0- to support. HB4006 would prohibit the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority from releasing personally identifiable information, except to a law enforcement agency with a search warrant. The agency must notify a person within five days that their information has been obtained and must provide themwith the name of the law enforcement agency and a copy of the search warrant. amend- ment adds that 1) no subpoenas will be honored without a written judicial order or written consent of person to whom the information pertains; 2) no judicial order will be issued without notice to person to whom the information pertains; 3) prior to written order, court shall hear from both parties; 4) on subpoenas issued by a court or admin agency, a notice shall be included on subpoena. The DRLS voted to support this legislation with High priority and while the Legislative Committee voted 18-0-1 to support that position, it also suggested that the bill be amended to add that notice be provide to both the person whose information is sought and/or his/ her attorney. HB4791 provides jurisdiction to juvenile courts to make findings needed to enable a minor ward of the court to petition for spe- cial immigrant juvenile status. The bill also allows appointment of guardians for such minors between ages 18 and 21. This bill is a clean-up of a bill that enables neglected or abused minor children to be in a position to petition the court for special immigrant juvenile status. The CBA supported the initial legislation last session. The bill is

party.” The DRLS supported this bill with High Priority, however would support this bill with Highest Priority if it were amended by deleting current Section (d) and replacing it with the following: “the confidentiality of these counseling sessions shall be governed by the Mental Health and Developmental Disability Confiden- tiality Act (740 ICLS 110/1 et. seq.), the Health Insurance Portability and Account- ability Act of 1996 (110 Stat. 1930) and its associated regulations, and any other applicable Illinois or federal law.” The Leg- islative Committee voted 4-1-1 to support. HB5581 amends the Illinois Domestic Violence Act and Code of Criminal Procedure by changing the definition of “family and household member” to exclude person in dating or engagement relation- ships. The current law defines “family and household members” as “persons who have, or have had, a dating or engagement relationship” and indicates that “neither a casual acquaintanceship nor ordinary fraternization between 2 individuals in business or social contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating relationship.” This bill deletes the language regarding casual acquaintanceships. The bill also sets out a special category of individuals to be pro- tected from abuse: “present or prior dating or sexual partner.” The DRLS argued courts seem to broadly interpret stalking and other abusive behaviors and thus, there is no apparent reason to change this law. Therefore, the DRLS voted to oppose this bill with High Priority and the Legislative Committee voted 5-0-1 to support this opposition. HB5654 proposes changes to birth cer- tificates. Under current law, one of the circumstances under which a new birth certificate can be issued is when a licensed health care or medical professional who has treated a person states that the person has undergone treatment for gender transi- tion, or has an intersex transition, and that

prioritizing budget and emergency matters. Nevertheless, the Legislative Committee continues to review non-sponsored bills presented by various substantive law com- mittees in preparation for when the Illinois legislative session resumes. As a reminder, non-sponsored legislation are those bills introduced in the State Senate and House by sitting legislators and deemed to be of special interest to the CBA’s constituency and the legal profession in general. Below is a summary of a few of the bills that have been presented to the Legislation Commit- tee by the Domestic Relations Legislative Subcommittee (DRLS) this session. For a full text copy of the bills, go to the Illinois General Assembly website: www.ilga.gov or contact Juli Vyverberg, the Legislative Liaison at the CBA at (312) 554-2062. HB 4747: Last session, PA101-0255 was passed that mandates sealing files in cer- tain Order of Protection cases until after the Respondent has been served with the OP. This bill attempts to correct some of the problems created by that new law by carving out exceptions to mandated sealing, but it does NOT carve out all the exceptions as recommended by Chicago Domestic Violence attorneys. The DRLS supported this bill as it is with High Pri- ority, but would propose amendments to recommend the bill with the Highest Pri- ority and the Legislative Committee voted 6-0-0 to support that position. SB2471 amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act to provide that “step parent” would include a person joined in a civil union to a child’s parent. It would also delete language providing that “all counseling sessions shall be con- fidential and communications in counsel- ing shall not be used in any manner in litigation nor relied upon by any expert appointed by the court or retained by any

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