103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB0214

 

Introduced 1/31/2023, by Sen. Ram Villivalam

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
5 ILCS 345/1  from Ch. 70, par. 91

    Amends the Public Employee Disability Act. Provides that disability benefits under the Act are extended to eligible employees who suffer any illness.


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STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT
MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Public Employee Disability Act is amended
5by changing Sections 1 as follows:
 
6    (5 ILCS 345/1)  (from Ch. 70, par. 91)
7    Sec. 1. Disability benefit.
8    (a) For the purposes of this Section, "eligible employee"
9means any part-time or full-time State correctional officer or
10any other full or part-time employee of the Department of
11Corrections, any full or part-time employee of the Prisoner
12Review Board, any full or part-time employee of the Department
13of Human Services working within a penal institution or a
14State mental health or developmental disabilities facility
15operated by the Department of Human Services, and any
16full-time law enforcement officer or full-time firefighter,
17including a full-time paramedic or a firefighter who performs
18paramedic duties, who is employed by the State of Illinois,
19any unit of local government (including any home rule unit),
20any State supported college or university, or any other public
21entity granted the power to employ persons for such purposes
22by law.
23    (b) Whenever an eligible employee suffers any injury or

 

 

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1illness in the line of duty which causes him to be unable to
2perform his duties, he shall continue to be paid by the
3employing public entity on the same basis as he was paid before
4the injury or illness, with no deduction from his sick leave
5credits, compensatory time for overtime accumulations or
6vacation, or service credits in a public employee pension fund
7during the time he is unable to perform his duties due to the
8result of the injury or illness, but not longer than one year
9in relation to the same injury or illness, except as otherwise
10provided under subsection (b-5). However, no injury to an
11employee of the Department of Corrections or the Prisoner
12Review Board working within a penal institution or an employee
13of the Department of Human Services working within a
14departmental mental health or developmental disabilities
15facility shall qualify the employee for benefits under this
16Section unless the injury is the direct or indirect result of
17violence by inmates of the penal institution or residents of
18the mental health or developmental disabilities facility.
19    (b-5) Upon the occurrence of circumstances, directly or
20indirectly attributable to COVID-19, occurring on or after
21March 9, 2020 and on or before June 30, 2021 (including the
22period between December 31, 2020 and the effective date of
23this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly) which would
24hinder the physical recovery from an injury of an eligible
25employee within the one-year period as required under
26subsection (b), the eligible employee shall be entitled to an

 

 

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1extension of no longer than 60 days by which he or she shall
2continue to be paid by the employing public entity on the same
3basis as he or she was paid before the injury. The employing
4public entity may require proof of the circumstances hindering
5an eligible employee's physical recovery before granting the
6extension provided under this subsection (b-5).
7    (c) At any time during the period for which continuing
8compensation is required by this Act, the employing public
9entity may order at the expense of that entity physical or
10medical examinations of the injured or ill person to determine
11the degree of disability.
12    (d) During this period of disability, the injured or ill
13person shall not be employed in any other manner, with or
14without monetary compensation. Any person who is employed in
15violation of this paragraph forfeits the continuing
16compensation provided by this Act from the time such
17employment begins. Any salary compensation due the injured or
18ill person from workers' compensation or any salary due him
19from any type of insurance which may be carried by the
20employing public entity shall revert to that entity during the
21time for which continuing compensation is paid to him under
22this Act. Any person with a disability receiving compensation
23under the provisions of this Act shall not be entitled to any
24benefits for which he would qualify because of his disability
25under the provisions of the Illinois Pension Code.
26    (e) Any employee of the State of Illinois, as defined in

 

 

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1Section 14-103.05 of the Illinois Pension Code, who becomes
2permanently unable to perform the duties of such employment
3due to an injury or illness received in the active performance
4of his duties as a State employee as a result of a willful act
5of violence by another employee of the State of Illinois, as so
6defined, committed during such other employee's course of
7employment and after January 1, 1988, shall be eligible for
8benefits pursuant to the provisions of this Section. For
9purposes of this Section, permanent disability is defined as a
10diagnosis or prognosis of an inability to return to current
11job duties by a physician licensed to practice medicine in all
12of its branches.
13    (f) The compensation and other benefits provided to
14part-time employees covered by this Section shall be
15calculated based on the percentage of time the part-time
16employee was scheduled to work pursuant to his or her status as
17a part-time employee.
18    (g) Pursuant to paragraphs (h) and (i) of Section 6 of
19Article VII of the Illinois Constitution, this Act
20specifically denies and limits the exercise by home rule units
21of any power which is inconsistent herewith, and all existing
22laws and ordinances which are inconsistent herewith are hereby
23superseded. This Act does not preempt the concurrent exercise
24by home rule units of powers consistent herewith.
25    This Act does not apply to any home rule unit with a
26population of over 1,000,000.

 

 

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1    (h) In those cases where the injury or illness to a State
2employee for which a benefit is payable under this Act was
3caused under circumstances creating a legal liability for
4damages on the part of some person other than the State
5employer, all of the rights and privileges, including the
6right to notice of suit brought against such other person and
7the right to commence or join in such suit, as given the
8employer, together with the conditions or obligations imposed
9under paragraph (b) of Section 5 of the Workers' Compensation
10Act, are also given and granted to the State, to the end that,
11with respect to State employees only, the State may be paid or
12reimbursed for the amount of benefit paid or to be paid by the
13State to the injured or ill employee or his or her personal
14representative out of any judgment, settlement, or payment for
15such injury or illness obtained by such injured or ill
16employee or his or her personal representative from such other
17person by virtue of the injury or illness.
18(Source: P.A. 100-1143, eff. 1-1-19; 101-651, eff. 8-7-20;
19101-653, eff. 2-28-21.)