Public Act 098-1043
 
HB5433 EnrolledLRB098 17437 OMW 54740 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The State Comptroller Act is amended by changing
Section 9.03 as follows:
 
    (15 ILCS 405/9.03)  (from Ch. 15, par. 209.03)
    Sec. 9.03. Direct deposit of State payments.
    (a) The Comptroller, with the approval of the State
Treasurer, may provide by rule or regulation for the direct
deposit of any payment lawfully payable from the State Treasury
and in accordance with federal banking regulations including
but not limited to payments to (i) persons paid from personal
services, (ii) persons receiving benefit payments from the
Comptroller under the State pension systems, (iii) individuals
who receive assistance under Articles III, IV, and VI of the
Illinois Public Aid Code, (iv) providers of services under the
Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Administrative
Act, (v) providers of community-based mental health services,
and (vi) providers of services under programs administered by
the State Board of Education, in the accounts of those persons
or entities maintained at a bank, savings and loan association,
or credit union, where authorized by the payee. The Comptroller
also may deposit public aid payments for individuals who
receive assistance under Articles III, IV, VI, and X of the
Illinois Public Aid Code directly into an electronic benefits
transfer account in a financial institution approved by the
State Treasurer as prescribed by the Illinois Department of
Human Services and in accordance with the rules and regulations
of that Department and the rules and regulations adopted by the
Comptroller and the State Treasurer. The Comptroller, with the
approval of the State Treasurer, may provide by rule for the
electronic direct deposit of payments to public agencies and
any other payee of the State. The electronic direct deposits
may be made to the designated account in those financial
institutions specified in this Section for the direct deposit
of payments. Within 6 months after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1994, the Comptroller shall establish a pilot
program for the electronic direct deposit of payments to local
school districts, municipalities, and units of local
government. The payments may be made without the use of the
voucher-warrant system, provided that documentation of
approval by the Treasurer of each group of payments made by
direct deposit shall be retained by the Comptroller. The form
and method of the Treasurer's approval shall be established by
the rules or regulations adopted by the Comptroller under this
Section.
    (b) Except as provided in subsection (b-5), all State
payments for an employee's payroll or an employee's expense
reimbursement must be made through direct deposit. It is the
responsibility of the paying State agency to ensure compliance
with this mandate. If a State agency pays an employee's payroll
or an employee's expense reimbursement without using direct
deposit, the Comptroller may charge that employee a processing
fee of $2.50 per paper warrant. The processing fee may be
withheld from the employee's payment or reimbursement. The
amount collected from the fee shall be deposited into the
Comptroller's Administrative Fund.
    (b-5) If an employee wants his or her payments deposited
into a secure check account, the employee must submit a direct
deposit form to the paying State agency for his or her payroll
or to the Comptroller for his or her expense reimbursements.
Upon acceptance of the direct deposit form, the Comptroller
shall disburse those funds to the secure check account. For the
purposes of this Section, "secure check account" means an
account established with a financial institution for the
employee that allows the dispensing of the funds in the account
through a third party who dispenses to the employee a paper
check.
    (c) All State payments to a vendor that exceed the
allowable limit of paper warrants in a fiscal year, by the same
agency, must be made through direct deposit. It is the
responsibility of the paying State agency to ensure compliance
with this mandate. If a State agency pays a vendor more times
than the allowable limit in a single fiscal year without using
direct deposit, the Comptroller may charge the vendor a
processing fee of $2.50 per paper warrant. The processing fee
may be withheld from the vendor's payment. The amount collected
from the processing fee shall be deposited into the
Comptroller's Administrative Fund. The Office of the
Comptroller shall define "allowable limit" in the
Comptroller's Statewide Accounting Management System (SAMS)
manual, except that the allowable limit shall not be less than
30 paper warrants. The Office of the Comptroller shall also
provide reasonable notice to all State agencies of the
allowable limit of paper warrants.
    (c-1) All State payments to an entity from a payroll or
retirement voluntary deduction must be made through direct
deposit. If an entity receives a payment from a payroll or
retirement voluntary deduction without using direct deposit,
the Comptroller may charge the entity a processing fee of $2.50
per paper warrant. The processing fee may be withheld from the
entity's payment or billed to the entity at a later date. The
amount collected from the processing fee shall be deposited
into the Comptroller's Administrative Fund. The Comptroller
shall provide reasonable notice to all entities impacted by
this requirement. Any new entities that receive a payroll or
retirement voluntary deduction must sign up for direct deposit
during the application process.
    (c-2) The detail information, such as names, identifiers,
and amounts, associated with a State payment to an entity from
a payroll or retirement voluntary deduction must be retrieved
by the entity from the Comptroller's designated Internet
website or an electronic alternative approved by the
Comptroller. If the entity requires the Comptroller to mail the
detail information, the Comptroller may charge the entity a
processing fee up to $25.00 per mailing. Any processing fee
will be billed to the entity at a later date. The amount
collected from the processing fee shall be deposited into the
Comptroller's Administrative Fund. The Comptroller shall
provide reasonable notice to all entities impacted by this
requirement.
    (d) State employees covered by provisions in collective
bargaining agreements that do not require direct deposit of
paychecks are exempt from this mandate. No later than 60 days
after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th
General Assembly, all State agencies must provide to the Office
of the Comptroller a list of employees that are exempt under
this subsection (d) from the direct deposit mandate. In
addition, a State employee or vendor may file a hardship
petition with the Office of the Comptroller requesting an
exemption from the direct deposit mandate under this Section. A
hardship petition shall be made available for download on the
Comptroller's official Internet website.
    (e) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
the direct deposit of State payments under this Section for an
employee's payroll, an employee's expense reimbursement, or a
State vendor's payment does not authorize the State to
automatically withdraw funds from those accounts.
    (f) For the purposes of this Section, "vendor" means a
non-governmental entity with a taxpayer identification number
issued by the Social Security Administration or Internal
Revenue Service that receives payments through the
Comptroller's commercial system. The term does not include
State agencies.
    (g) The requirements of this Section do not apply to the
legislative or judicial branches of State government.
(Source: P.A. 97-348, eff. 8-12-11; 97-993, eff. 9-16-12;
98-463, eff. 8-16-13.)
 
    Section 10. The Illinois State Collection Act of 1986 is
amended by changing Section 5 as follows:
 
    (30 ILCS 210/5)  (from Ch. 15, par. 155)
    Sec. 5. Rules; payment plans; offsets.
    (a) Until July 1, 2004 for the Department of Public Aid and
July 1, 2005 for Universities and all other State agencies,
State agencies shall adopt rules establishing formal due dates
for amounts owing to the State and for the referral of
seriously past due accounts to private collection agencies,
unless otherwise expressly provided by law or rule, except that
on and after July 1, 2005, the Department of Employment
Security may continue to refer to private collection agencies
past due amounts that are exempt from subsection (g). Such
procedures shall be established in accord with sound business
practices.
    (b) Until July 1, 2004 for the Department of Public Aid and
July 1, 2005 for Universities and all other State agencies,
agencies may enter deferred payment plans for debtors of the
agency and documentation of this fact retained by the agency,
where the deferred payment plan is likely to increase the net
amount collected by the State, except that, on and after July
1, 2005, the Department of Employment Security may continue to
enter deferred payment plans for debts that are exempt from
subsection (g).
    (c) Until July 1, 2004 for the Department of Public Aid and
July 1, 2005 for Universities and all other State agencies,
State agencies may use the Comptroller's Offset System provided
in Section 10.05 of the State Comptroller Act for the
collection of debts owed to the agency, except that, on and
after July 1, 2005, the Department of Employment Security may
continue to use the Comptroller's offset system to collect
amounts that are exempt from subsection (g).
    (c-1) All debts that exceed $250 and are more than 90 days
past due shall be placed in the Comptroller's Offset System,
unless (i) the State agency shall have entered into a deferred
payment plan or demonstrates to the Comptroller's satisfaction
that referral for offset is not cost effective; or (ii) the
State agency is a university that elects to place in the
Comptroller's Offset System only debts that exceed $1,000 and
are more than 90 days past due. All debt, and maintenance of
that debt, that is placed in the Comptroller's Offset System
must be submitted electronically to the office of the
Comptroller. Any exception to this requirement must be approved
in writing by the Comptroller.
    (c-2) Upon processing a deduction to satisfy a debt owed to
a university or a State agency and placed in the Comptroller's
Offset System in accordance with subsection (c-1), the
Comptroller shall give written notice to the person subject to
the offset. The notice shall inform the person that he or she
may make a written protest to the Comptroller within 60 days
after the Comptroller has given notice. The protest shall
include the reason for contesting the deduction and any other
information that will enable the Comptroller to determine the
amount due and payable. If the person subject to the offset has
not made a written protest within 60 days after the Comptroller
has given notice, or if a final disposition is made concerning
the deduction, the Comptroller shall pay the deduction to the
university or the State agency.
    (c-3) For a debt owed to a university or a State agency and
placed in the Comptroller's Offset System in accordance with
subsection (c-1), the Comptroller shall deduct, from a warrant
or other payment, its processing charge and the amount
certified as necessary to satisfy, in whole or in part, the
debt owed to the university or the State agency. The
Comptroller shall deduct a processing charge of up to $15 per
transaction for each offset and such charges shall be deposited
into the Comptroller Debt Recovery Trust Fund.
    (c-4) If a State university withholds moneys from a
university-funded payroll for a debt in accordance with this
Act, the university may also withhold the processing charge
identified in Section 10.05d of the State Comptroller Act and
subsection (c-3) of Section 5 of the Illinois State Collection
Act of 1986. Both amounts must be remitted to the Office of the
Comptroller in a timely manner.
    (d) State agencies shall develop internal procedures
whereby agency initiated payments to its debtors may be offset
without referral to the Comptroller's Offset System.
    (e) State agencies or the Comptroller may remove claims
from the Comptroller's Offset System, where such claims have
been inactive for more than one year.
    (f) State agencies may use the Comptroller's Offset System
to determine if any State agency is attempting to collect debt
from a contractor, bidder, or other proposed contracting party.
    (g) Beginning July 1, 2004 for the Departments of Public
Aid (now Healthcare and Family Services) and Employment
Security and July 1, 2005 for Universities and other State
agencies, State agencies shall refer to the Department of
Revenue Debt Collection Bureau (the Bureau) all debt to the
State, provided that the debt satisfies the requirements for
referral of delinquent debt as established by rule by the
Department of Revenue.
    (h) The Department of Healthcare and Family Services shall
be exempt from the requirements of this Section with regard to
child support debts, the collection of which is governed by the
requirements of Title IV, Part D of the federal Social Security
Act. The Department of Healthcare and Family Services may refer
child support debts to the Bureau, provided that the debt
satisfies the requirements for referral of delinquent debt as
established by rule by the Department of Revenue. The Bureau
shall use all legal means available to collect child support
debt, including those authorizing the Department of Revenue to
collect debt and those authorizing the Department of Healthcare
and Family Services to collect debt. All such referred debt
shall remain an obligation under the Department of Healthcare
and Family Services' Child Support Enforcement Program subject
to the requirements of Title IV, Part D of the federal Social
Security Act, including the continued use of federally mandated
enforcement remedies and techniques by the Department of
Healthcare and Family Services.
    (h-1) The Department of Employment Security is exempt from
subsection (g) with regard to debts to any federal account,
including but not limited to the Unemployment Trust Fund, and
penalties and interest assessed under the Unemployment
Insurance Act. The Department of Employment Security may refer
those debts to the Bureau, provided the debt satisfies the
requirements for referral of delinquent debt as established by
rule by the Department of Revenue. The Bureau shall use all
legal means available to collect the debts, including those
authorizing the Department of Revenue to collect debt and those
authorizing the Department of Employment Security to collect
debt. All referred debt shall remain an obligation to the
account to which it is owed.
    (i) All debt referred to the Bureau for collection shall
remain the property of the referring agency. The Bureau shall
collect debt on behalf of the referring agency using all legal
means available, including those authorizing the Department of
Revenue to collect debt and those authorizing the referring
agency to collect debt.
    (j) No debt secured by an interest in real property granted
by the debtor in exchange for the creation of the debt shall be
referred to the Bureau. The Bureau shall have no obligation to
collect debts secured by an interest in real property.
    (k) Beginning July 1, 2003, each agency shall collect and
provide the Bureau information regarding the nature and details
of its debt in such form and manner as the Department of
Revenue shall require.
    (l) For all debt accruing after July 1, 2003, each agency
shall collect and transmit such debtor identification
information as the Department of Revenue shall require.
(Source: P.A. 97-759, eff. 7-6-12.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 8/25/2014