HB2455 Summary

• Amends the Illinois Works Jobs Program Act to establish a 25-member Illinois Works Review Panel that meets quarterly to evaluate preapprenticeship and apprenticeship programs, with panel appointments required within 30 days and initial meeting within 45 days of the act's effective date

• Adds COVID-19 death presumptions for police officers and firefighters under the Illinois Pension Code: deaths from COVID-19 contracted between March 9, 2020 and December 31, 2020 are rebuttably presumed to be duty-related if not on extended leave, entitling survivors to compensation and death benefits

• Creates rebuttable presumption for COVID-19 workers' compensation claims for first responders and essential workers, with presumption applicable to diagnoses between March 9, 2020 and December 31, 2020, allowing employers to rebut through evidence of proper safety protocols or employee remote work status

• Modifies unemployment insurance provisions to waive the one-week waiting period for benefit years beginning March 8, 2020 through the end of COVID-19 disaster declarations, and prevents COVID-19-related benefit charges to most employers while charging nonprofits and governments 50% of costs

• Adjusts unemployment insurance benefit rates and surcharge percentages for 2022: reduces weekly benefit percentage from 40.6% to 42.4% and decreases employer surcharge from 0.425% to 0.325%