HB 2879

Abstract

Amends the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act. Provides that it is not the purpose of the Act or the policy of the State that the Act be used to combat the spread of any or every new disease. Provides that to the extent the Act is used to combat disease, the State has the burden to show that the disease in question is: (1) a bioweapon associated with domestic insurrection or a foreign agent, power or state; or whether local health departments and infrastructure have been destroyed or rendered incapacitated such that massive loss of life (at least 5% of a given population) is imminent within the next 30 days. Provides that any action or inaction by or on behalf of the State, the Governor, or any executive officer or agency and for which the State, the Governor, or executive officer or agency invokes the Act under the auspices of combatting disease in any generalized way, if under review by a court, shall have certain specified rules of statutory construction applied by the court. Provides that no injunction shall be issued against an individual or entity without the following: (1) the court must make specific findings that an injunction, as applied to the specific individual or entity is in the public interest and for the benefit of the public as a whole; and (2) the State posting a bond to protect the individual or entity from damages. Provides that if harm to the individual or entity involves the free exercise of speech, religion, assembly, education, or the right to earn a living, damages shall in no event be set less than $500 per individual or entity impacted, per occurrence, per day. Provides that the amount shall be indexed to inflation beginning in 2021. Effective immediately.