98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
SB1210

 

Introduced 1/30/2013, by Sen. Ira I. Silverstein

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
775 ILCS 5/1-102  from Ch. 68, par. 1-102
775 ILCS 5/1-103  from Ch. 68, par. 1-103

    Creates the Bill of Rights for the Homeless Act. Sets forth certain rights of homeless persons. Provides that in any civil action alleging a violation of the Act, the court may award appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief, actual damages, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff. Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to make corresponding changes. Defines "housing status" as the status of having or not having a fixed or regular residence, including the status of living on the streets, in a shelter, or in a temporary residence.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT in relation to homeless persons.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Bill
5of Rights for the Homeless Act.
 
6    Section 5. Legislative intent. It is the long-standing
7policy of this State that no person should suffer unnecessarily
8from cold or hunger, be deprived of shelter or the basic rights
9incident to shelter, or be subject to unfair discrimination
10based on his or her homeless status. At the present time, many
11persons have been rendered homeless as a result of economic
12hardship, a severe shortage of safe and affordable housing, and
13a shrinking social safety net. It is the intent of this Act to
14lessen the adverse effects and conditions caused by the lack of
15residence or a home.
 
16    Section 10. Bill of Rights.
17    (a) No person's rights, privileges, or access to public
18services may be denied or abridged solely because he or she is
19homeless. Such a person shall be granted the same rights and
20privileges as any other citizen of this State. A person
21experiencing homelessness has the following rights:
22        (1) the right to use and move freely in public spaces,

 

 

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1    including but not limited to public sidewalks, public
2    parks, public transportation, and public buildings, in the
3    same manner as any other person and without discrimination
4    on the basis of his or her housing status;
5        (2) the right to equal treatment by all State and
6    municipal agencies, without discrimination on the basis of
7    housing status;
8        (3) the right not to face discrimination while seeking
9    or maintaining employment due to his or her lack of
10    permanent mailing address, or his or her mailing address
11    being that of a shelter or social service provider;
12        (4) the right to emergency medical care free from
13    discrimination based on his or her housing status;
14        (5) the right to vote, register to vote, and receive
15    documentation necessary to prove identity for voting
16    without discrimination due to his or her housing status;
17        (6) the right to protection from disclosure of his or
18    her records and information provided to homeless shelters
19    and service providers to State, municipal, and private
20    entities without appropriate legal authority; and the
21    right to confidentiality of personal records and
22    information in accordance with all limitations on
23    disclosure established by the federal Homeless Management
24    Information Systems, the federal Health Insurance
25    Portability and Accountability Act, and the federal
26    Violence Against Women Act; and

 

 

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1        (7) the right to a reasonable expectation of privacy in
2    his or her personal property to the same extent as personal
3    property in a permanent residence.
4    (b) As used in this Act, "housing status" has the same
5meaning as that contained in Section 1-103 of the Illinois
6Human Rights Act.
 
7    Section 15. Damages and attorney's fees. In any civil
8action alleging a violation of this Act, the court may award
9appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief, actual damages,
10and reasonable attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing
11plaintiff.
 
12    Section 90. The Illinois Human Rights Act is amended by
13changing Sections 1-102 and 1-103 as follows:
 
14    (775 ILCS 5/1-102)  (from Ch. 68, par. 1-102)
15    Sec. 1-102. Declaration of Policy. It is the public policy
16of this State:
17    (A) Freedom from Unlawful Discrimination. To secure for all
18individuals within Illinois the freedom from discrimination
19against any individual because of his or her race, color,
20religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, order of
21protection status, marital status, physical or mental
22disability, housing status, military status, sexual
23orientation, or unfavorable discharge from military service in

 

 

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1connection with employment, real estate transactions, access
2to financial credit, and the availability of public
3accommodations.
4    (B) Freedom from Sexual Harassment-Employment and
5Elementary, Secondary, and Higher Education. To prevent sexual
6harassment in employment and sexual harassment in elementary,
7secondary, and higher education.
8    (C) Freedom from Discrimination Based on Citizenship
9Status-Employment. To prevent discrimination based on
10citizenship status in employment.
11    (D) Freedom from Discrimination Based on Familial
12Status-Real Estate Transactions. To prevent discrimination
13based on familial status in real estate transactions.
14    (E) Public Health, Welfare and Safety. To promote the
15public health, welfare and safety by protecting the interest of
16all people in Illinois in maintaining personal dignity, in
17realizing their full productive capacities, and in furthering
18their interests, rights and privileges as citizens of this
19State.
20    (F) Implementation of Constitutional Guarantees. To secure
21and guarantee the rights established by Sections 17, 18 and 19
22of Article I of the Illinois Constitution of 1970.
23    (G) Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action. To establish
24Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action as the policies of
25this State in all of its decisions, programs and activities,
26and to assure that all State departments, boards, commissions

 

 

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1and instrumentalities rigorously take affirmative action to
2provide equality of opportunity and eliminate the effects of
3past discrimination in the internal affairs of State government
4and in their relations with the public.
5    (H) Unfounded Charges. To protect citizens of this State
6against unfounded charges of unlawful discrimination, sexual
7harassment in employment and sexual harassment in elementary,
8secondary, and higher education, and discrimination based on
9citizenship status in employment.
10(Source: P.A. 95-668, eff. 10-10-07; 96-447, eff. 1-1-10;
1196-1319, eff. 7-27-10.)
 
12    (775 ILCS 5/1-103)  (from Ch. 68, par. 1-103)
13    Sec. 1-103. General Definitions. When used in this Act,
14unless the context requires otherwise, the term:
15    (A) Age. "Age" means the chronological age of a person who
16is at least 40 years old, except with regard to any practice
17described in Section 2-102, insofar as that practice concerns
18training or apprenticeship programs. In the case of training or
19apprenticeship programs, for the purposes of Section 2-102,
20"age" means the chronological age of a person who is 18 but not
21yet 40 years old.
22    (B) Aggrieved Party. "Aggrieved party" means a person who
23is alleged or proved to have been injured by a civil rights
24violation or believes he or she will be injured by a civil
25rights violation under Article 3 that is about to occur.

 

 

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1    (C) Charge. "Charge" means an allegation filed with the
2Department by an aggrieved party or initiated by the Department
3under its authority.
4    (D) Civil Rights Violation. "Civil rights violation"
5includes and shall be limited to only those specific acts set
6forth in Sections 2-102, 2-103, 2-105, 3-102, 3-102.1, 3-103,
73-104, 3-104.1, 3-105, 3-105.1, 4-102, 4-103, 5-102, 5A-102,
86-101, and 6-102 of this Act.
9    (E) Commission. "Commission" means the Human Rights
10Commission created by this Act.
11    (F) Complaint. "Complaint" means the formal pleading filed
12by the Department with the Commission following an
13investigation and finding of substantial evidence of a civil
14rights violation.
15    (G) Complainant. "Complainant" means a person including
16the Department who files a charge of civil rights violation
17with the Department or the Commission.
18    (H) Department. "Department" means the Department of Human
19Rights created by this Act.
20    (I) Disability. "Disability" means a determinable physical
21or mental characteristic of a person, including, but not
22limited to, a determinable physical characteristic which
23necessitates the person's use of a guide, hearing or support
24dog, the history of such characteristic, or the perception of
25such characteristic by the person complained against, which may
26result from disease, injury, congenital condition of birth or

 

 

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1functional disorder and which characteristic:
2        (1) For purposes of Article 2 is unrelated to the
3    person's ability to perform the duties of a particular job
4    or position and, pursuant to Section 2-104 of this Act, a
5    person's illegal use of drugs or alcohol is not a
6    disability;
7        (2) For purposes of Article 3, is unrelated to the
8    person's ability to acquire, rent or maintain a housing
9    accommodation;
10        (3) For purposes of Article 4, is unrelated to a
11    person's ability to repay;
12        (4) For purposes of Article 5, is unrelated to a
13    person's ability to utilize and benefit from a place of
14    public accommodation;
15        (5) For purposes of Article 5, also includes any
16    mental, psychological, or developmental disability,
17    including autism spectrum disorders.
18    (I-5) Housing status. "Housing status" means the status of
19having or not having a fixed or regular residence, including
20the status of living on the streets, in a shelter, or in a
21temporary residence.
22    (J) Marital Status. "Marital status" means the legal status
23of being married, single, separated, divorced or widowed.
24    (J-1) Military Status. "Military status" means a person's
25status on active duty in or status as a veteran of the armed
26forces of the United States, status as a current member or

 

 

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1veteran of any reserve component of the armed forces of the
2United States, including the United States Army Reserve, United
3States Marine Corps Reserve, United States Navy Reserve, United
4States Air Force Reserve, and United States Coast Guard
5Reserve, or status as a current member or veteran of the
6Illinois Army National Guard or Illinois Air National Guard.
7    (K) National Origin. "National origin" means the place in
8which a person or one of his or her ancestors was born.
9    (K-5) "Order of protection status" means a person's status
10as being a person protected under an order of protection issued
11pursuant to the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 or an
12order of protection issued by a court of another state.
13    (L) Person. "Person" includes one or more individuals,
14partnerships, associations or organizations, labor
15organizations, labor unions, joint apprenticeship committees,
16or union labor associations, corporations, the State of
17Illinois and its instrumentalities, political subdivisions,
18units of local government, legal representatives, trustees in
19bankruptcy or receivers.
20    (M) Public Contract. "Public contract" includes every
21contract to which the State, any of its political subdivisions
22or any municipal corporation is a party.
23    (N) Religion. "Religion" includes all aspects of religious
24observance and practice, as well as belief, except that with
25respect to employers, for the purposes of Article 2, "religion"
26has the meaning ascribed to it in paragraph (F) of Section

 

 

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12-101.
2    (O) Sex. "Sex" means the status of being male or female.
3    (O-1) Sexual orientation. "Sexual orientation" means
4actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality,
5bisexuality, or gender-related identity, whether or not
6traditionally associated with the person's designated sex at
7birth. "Sexual orientation" does not include a physical or
8sexual attraction to a minor by an adult.
9    (P) Unfavorable Military Discharge. "Unfavorable military
10discharge" includes discharges from the Armed Forces of the
11United States, their Reserve components or any National Guard
12or Naval Militia which are classified as RE-3 or the equivalent
13thereof, but does not include those characterized as RE-4 or
14"Dishonorable".
15    (Q) Unlawful Discrimination. "Unlawful discrimination"
16means discrimination against a person because of his or her
17race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sex,
18marital status, order of protection status, disability,
19housing status, military status, sexual orientation, or
20unfavorable discharge from military service as those terms are
21defined in this Section.
22(Source: P.A. 96-328, eff. 8-11-09; 96-447, eff. 1-1-10;
2397-410, eff. 1-1-12; 97-813, eff. 7-13-12.)