August 19, 2026 · 2,106 words · 17 speakers · 50 segments
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Thank you. Good morning. The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules shall come to order. As a reminder, it is JCAR policy to only allow representatives of state agencies to testify before this committee. If members of the public wish to express their views with respect to a rulemaking, they should submit written comments to the JCAR office at the following address. The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, 700 Stratton Office Building, Springfield, Illinois, 62706. or submit comments via email at jcar at ilga.gov. The committee would also like to remind commenters to submit their public comments on rulemakings in a timely manner and that submitting last-minute comments to the committee is discouraged and may not be considered. We'll now begin with the attendance roll call. Staff, please take the roll.
Senator Bryant
Senator Castro
Senator Cunningham
Senator DeWitt
Senator Harris
Senator Turner
Representative Delgado
Representative Haas
Representative Reich
Representative Spain
Representative Tarver
Representative Vela
Nine members present Quorum established
Thank you We'll move to approval of the minutes
Senator Harris moved seconded by Representative Haas
At the minutes of the July 14th, 2026 committee meeting be approved All those in favor say aye Those opposed say nay In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it and the minutes are approved. We'll begin now with a less common item here at JCAR, which is on the topic of a complaint review. And if we could have representatives from the Prisoner Review Board approach the witness table. On tab 28, we have a complaint regarding the Prisoner Review Board. Earlier this year, the Prisoner Review Board announced via an internal memo several changes to its medical release hearing process, including that attorneys and witnesses would no longer have an option to appear virtually. JCAR received a complaint from a member of the public alleging that the board violated the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act by failing to adopt these changes through rule. The board cooperated with JCAR throughout this complaint investigation process, meeting with our JCAR staff multiple times, involuntarily delaying and then rescinding its policy policy changes before they took effect. The board has further indicated to J-Card that it now intends to update its rules and promulgate rules governing medical release. So we are grateful that we have members of the Prisoner Review Board or staff representing the Prisoner Review Board here today. If you could please introduce yourself for the record.
Yeah. Jim Montgomery, Executive Director of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
Mr. Montgomery, just make sure that the light is on and you might have to get pretty close to it.
Jim Montgomery, Executive Director, Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
Good morning, members. Patricia Jemba. I serve as the General Counsel for the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
Good morning, Melissa Brandenburg, Chief of Staff.
Well, thank you all for being here. We haven't seen the Prisoner Review Board at JCAR in a number of years. In fact, it may have been decades have passed since the last appearance of the board here in front of this committee. First, I want to thank you for your productive meetings with our staff, your willingness to engage and understand that there's probably a number of updates through rulemaking that need to be engaged now with the board. But could you talk first just about your reasoning for this initial policy change regarding medical release hearings?
Sure. First of all, I'd like to begin by thanking the JCAR staff. We're taking the time to work, meet with our staff last month. They provided a very helpful overview of the rulemaking process. While the Prisoner Review Board itself has been around for several decades, our entire leadership team are all relatively new to the agency. so we appreciate their collaboration willingness to assist us through this process and as you said we accept the position that some of the changes to medical release hearings outlined in the april memo have been better served in rulemaking for that reason we did rescind the memo and have paused any changes indefinitely furthermore we're committed to updating the rules including those governing medical release. In terms of our process, we sought to adjust the hearing process for medical release to work towards a consistency with our other PRB hearing processes, such as indeterminate and youthful parole hearings, all of which are held in person at our PRB headquarters here in Springfield. PRB is authorized to conduct its hearings in person and the authority to conduct those hearings in person is outlined in the open parole hearings act which contemplates a physical location for the hearings we may restrict the number of individuals allowed to attend the parole parole or aftercare release you know as outlined in terms of conducting the business and the time and place, that's where the outline of that came from.
So now that this complaint has flagged the need for rulemaking on this topic, and in your discussions with our staff, can you indicate to us next steps, the timeline that we should expect for rules promulgation, and then also probably a complaint like this indicates the need for engagement with stakeholders. And that's one of the things that's really important to our committee that we can often help facilitate to make sure that there stakeholder engagement along the way as the rules process takes place So just talk us through some of those next steps please For sure and thank you for the question So as Director Montgomery mentioned we are new to the
rulemaking process, but have been caught up to speed with the productive conversations that we've had with JCAR staff. So we're very appreciative for that helpful advice and information. So through that, we've learned this could be a very substantive process. As you indicated, the PRB rules have been updated for quite a while, predating our existence in these roles, predating some of our lives. But because of that, it's going to take us a while. It's going to take us a while, but we have been working closely with the legal team at the governor's office and lieutenant governor's office in setting out a plan to move forward. And we hope to call on JCAR staff to help us with that process. In terms of a timeline, we probably intend to work on the organizational rules first, right, to set a strong foundation for PRB, and then move along to some of the more procedural type of rules that would touch, of course, for example, the medical release hearing process.
Thank you for that. Do members of the committee have any further discussion or questions? Okay. Seeing none, thank you for joining us today. That's the extent of our questions now, but look forward to continued cooperation, your work with our staff, and your attentiveness to the rulemaking process that we will engage on now together. Thank you very much. Director, any final comments?
No, thank you. We appreciate, again, the J-Card staff and their time and their team, and look forward to the process ahead.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Staff, please read the motion.
With regard to the May 26-26 complaint review regarding the Prisoner Review Board, J.C.R. recommend that the Prisoner Review Board establish administrative rules as required by Section 515 of the Illinois Administrative Procedures Act and update its existing administrative rules to reflect current board procedures and statutory changes, which, at a minimum, include provisions of Section 10C of the Open Parole Hearings Act, Section 3.314 of the Unified Code of Corrections and Public Act 104.11. Jigar further recommended that the board file rules for publication in the Illinois Register by March 1, 2027. Jigar continues to appreciate the board's cooperation and looks forward to reviewing the board's updated procedures. Thank you.
Senator Bryant moves seconded by Representative Velo that the motion just read be approved. All those in favor say aye. Those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the motion passes. We'll now go back to our regular agenda for a review of agency rulemaking. beginning with the State Board of Elections on Tab 6 regarding constitutional amendments
and statewide questions of public policy. Staff, please read the motion. Jake, with the concurrence of the State Board of Elections, extend the rulemaking titled constitutional amendments and statewide questions of public policy for an additional 45 days.
Senator Turner moves seconded by Representative Delgado that the motion just read be approved. All those in favor say aye. Those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the motion is approved. Now moving to the Department of Health Care and Family Services on Tab 12 regarding the medical assistance program and tab 14 regarding the specialized health care delivery systems.
Staff, please read the motion. Jake, I want the concurrence of the Department of Health Care and Family Services extend the rulemaking titled Medical Assistant Programs and Specialized Health Care Delivery Systems for an additional 45 days. Thank you.
Senator DeWitt moved seconded by Senator Harris that the motion just read be approved All those in favor say aye Those opposed say nay In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it And the motion passes Now moving to tab 17 again with the Department of Health Care and Family Services regarding hospital services On tab 17, staff, please read the motion.
With regard to the Department of Health Care and Family Services rulemaking titled hospital services, JICA recommend the department be more timely in implementing state plan amendments in rule. This rulemaking implements a state plan amendment concerning hospital outpatient adjustment rates that was effective January 1, 2024. Thank you.
Representative Haas, move seconded by Senator Bryant that the motion just read be approved. All those in favor say aye. Those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the motion passes. Now moving to the Department of Public Health on tab 22 regarding mold remediation registration codes and tab 23 regarding community health worker certification program.
Staff, please read the motion. J. Carr with the concurrence of the Department of Public Health and the rulemaking is titled Mold Remediation Registration Code and Community Health Worker Certification Program for an additional 45 days.
Representative Vella moves seconded by Senator Turner that the motion just read be approved. All those in favor say aye. Those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. And the motion passes. Moving now to a final item for us, the certification of no objection. Please note that the agency response found on tab 27 will be postponed. and placed on the agenda for the September J. Carr Committee meeting.
Staff, please read the certification of no objection motion. The committee shall inform the agencies to whose rulemakings the committee has not voted an objection or extension or did not remove from the no objection list, that the committee consider their respective rulemakings at the monthly meeting, and based upon the agreements for modification of the rulemaking made by the agency, no objections will be issued.
Senator Cunningham moved, seconded by Senator DeWitt, that the certification motion just read be approved. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the certification motion passes. The next meeting for JCAR will be held on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 11 a.m. in room C600 of the Bolandic State Office Building in Chicago. And now, with no further business to come before the committee, co-chair Cunningham moves, seconded by Representative Delgado, that this meeting of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules stands adjourned. All those in favor say aye. Those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. and the committee stands adjourned.
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