Public Act 097-0759
 
HB4570 EnrolledLRB097 19030 PJG 64269 b

    AN ACT concerning finance.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. 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 $1,000 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.
    (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. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.