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1 | AN ACT concerning employment.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Line of Duty Compensation Act is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing Section 3 as follows:
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6 | (820 ILCS 315/3)
(from Ch. 48, par. 283)
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7 | Sec. 3. Duty death benefit. | ||||||
8 | (a) If a claim therefor is made within one
year of the date | ||||||
9 | of death of a law enforcement officer, civil
defense worker, | ||||||
10 | civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or
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11 | State employee killed in the line of duty,
or if a claim | ||||||
12 | therefor is made within 2 years of the date of death of an | ||||||
13 | Armed Forces member killed in the line of duty, compensation | ||||||
14 | shall be paid to the person designated by the law
enforcement | ||||||
15 | officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member, | ||||||
16 | paramedic,
fireman, chaplain, State employee, or Armed Forces | ||||||
17 | member. However, if the Armed Forces member was killed in the | ||||||
18 | line of duty before
October 18, 2004, the
claim must be made | ||||||
19 | within one year of October 18, 2004. In addition, if a death | ||||||
20 | occurred after December 31, 2016 and before January 1, 2021, | ||||||
21 | the claim may be made no later than December 31, 2022 | ||||||
22 | notwithstanding any other deadline established under this Act | ||||||
23 | with respect to filing a claim for a duty death benefit.
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1 | (b)
The amount of compensation, except for an Armed Forces | ||||||
2 | member, shall be $10,000 if the death in the
line of duty | ||||||
3 | occurred prior to January 1, 1974; $20,000 if
such death | ||||||
4 | occurred after December 31, 1973 and before July 1, 1983;
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5 | $50,000 if such death occurred on or after July 1, 1983 and | ||||||
6 | before January 1,
1996; $100,000 if the death occurred on or | ||||||
7 | after January 1, 1996 and
before May 18, 2001; $118,000 if the | ||||||
8 | death occurred on or after May
18, 2001 and before July 1, | ||||||
9 | 2002; and $259,038 if the death occurred on or after July 1, | ||||||
10 | 2002 and before January
1, 2003. For an Armed Forces member | ||||||
11 | killed in the line of duty (i) at any time before January 1, | ||||||
12 | 2005, the compensation is $259,038 plus amounts equal to the | ||||||
13 | increases for 2003 and 2004 determined under subsection (c) | ||||||
14 | and (ii) on or after January 1, 2005, the compensation is the | ||||||
15 | amount determined under item (i) plus the applicable increases | ||||||
16 | for 2005 and thereafter determined under subsection (c).
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17 | (c) Except as provided in subsection (b), for deaths | ||||||
18 | occurring on or after January 1, 2003, the death
compensation | ||||||
19 | rate for death in the line of duty occurring in a particular
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20 | calendar year shall be the death compensation rate for death | ||||||
21 | occurring in the
previous calendar year (or in the case of | ||||||
22 | deaths occurring in 2003, the rate
in effect on December 31, | ||||||
23 | 2002) increased by a percentage thereof equal to
the | ||||||
24 | percentage increase, if any, in the index known as the | ||||||
25 | Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers: U.S. city | ||||||
26 | average, unadjusted, for all items,
as published by the United |
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1 | States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, for | ||||||
2 | the 12 months ending with the month of June of that previous
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3 | calendar year.
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4 | (d) If no beneficiary is designated or if no designated | ||||||
5 | beneficiary survives at the death of the law
enforcement | ||||||
6 | officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,
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7 | paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee
killed in the | ||||||
8 | line of
duty, the compensation shall be paid in accordance | ||||||
9 | with a legally binding will left by the law
enforcement | ||||||
10 | officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,
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11 | paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee. If the law
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12 | enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol | ||||||
13 | member,
paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee did | ||||||
14 | not leave a legally binding will, the compensation shall be | ||||||
15 | paid as follows:
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16 | (1) when there is a surviving spouse, the entire sum | ||||||
17 | shall be paid to
the spouse;
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18 | (2) when there is no surviving spouse, but a surviving | ||||||
19 | descendant of the
decedent, the entire sum shall be paid | ||||||
20 | to the decedent's descendants per
stirpes;
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21 | (3) when there is neither a surviving spouse nor a | ||||||
22 | surviving descendant,
the entire sum shall be paid to the | ||||||
23 | parents of the decedent in equal parts,
allowing to the | ||||||
24 | surviving parent, if one is dead, the entire sum; and
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25 | (4) when there is no surviving spouse, descendant or | ||||||
26 | parent of the
decedent, but there are surviving brothers |
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1 | or sisters, or descendants of a
brother or sister, who | ||||||
2 | were receiving their principal support from the
decedent | ||||||
3 | at his death, the entire sum shall be paid, in equal parts, | ||||||
4 | to the
dependent brothers or sisters or dependent | ||||||
5 | descendant of a brother or
sister. Dependency shall be | ||||||
6 | determined by the Court of Claims based upon
the | ||||||
7 | investigation and report of the Attorney General.
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8 | The changes made to this subsection (d) by this amendatory Act | ||||||
9 | of the 94th General Assembly apply to any pending case as long | ||||||
10 | as compensation has not been paid to any party before the | ||||||
11 | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General | ||||||
12 | Assembly.
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13 | (d-1) For purposes of subsection (d), in the case of a | ||||||
14 | person killed in the line of duty who was born out of wedlock | ||||||
15 | and was not an adoptive child at the time of the person's | ||||||
16 | death, a person shall be deemed to be a parent of the person | ||||||
17 | killed in the line of duty only if that person would be an | ||||||
18 | eligible parent, as defined in Section 2-2 of the Probate Act | ||||||
19 | of 1975, of the person killed in the line of duty. This | ||||||
20 | subsection (d-1) applies to any pending claim if compensation | ||||||
21 | was not paid to the claimant of the pending claim before the | ||||||
22 | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General | ||||||
23 | Assembly.
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24 | (d-2) If no beneficiary is designated or if no designated | ||||||
25 | beneficiary survives at the death of the Armed Forces member | ||||||
26 | killed in the line of duty, the compensation shall be paid in |
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1 | entirety according to the designation made on the most recent | ||||||
2 | version of the Armed Forces member's Servicemembers' Group | ||||||
3 | Life Insurance Election and Certificate ("SGLI"). | ||||||
4 | If no SGLI form exists at the time of the Armed Forces | ||||||
5 | member's death, the compensation shall be paid in accordance | ||||||
6 | with a legally binding will left by the Armed Forces member. | ||||||
7 | If no SGLI form exists for the Armed Forces member and the | ||||||
8 | Armed Forces member did not leave a legally binding will, the | ||||||
9 | compensation shall be paid to the persons and in the priority | ||||||
10 | as set forth in paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (d) of | ||||||
11 | this Section. | ||||||
12 | This subsection (d-2) applies to any pending case as long | ||||||
13 | as compensation has not been paid to any party before the | ||||||
14 | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General | ||||||
15 | Assembly.
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16 | (e) If there is no beneficiary designated or if no | ||||||
17 | designated beneficiary survives at the death of the
law | ||||||
18 | enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol | ||||||
19 | member,
paramedic, fireman, chaplain, State employee, or Armed | ||||||
20 | Forces member
killed in the line of duty
and there is no other | ||||||
21 | person or entity to whom compensation is payable under this | ||||||
22 | Section, no compensation shall be payable
under this Act.
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23 | (f) No part of such compensation may be paid to any other | ||||||
24 | person for any
efforts in securing such compensation.
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25 | (g) This amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly | ||||||
26 | applies to claims made on or after October 18, 2004 with |
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1 | respect to an Armed Forces member killed in the line of duty.
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2 | (h) In any case for which benefits have not been paid | ||||||
3 | within 6 months of the claim being filed in accordance with | ||||||
4 | this Section, which is pending as of the effective date of this | ||||||
5 | amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, and in which | ||||||
6 | there are 2 or more beneficiaries, at least one of whom would | ||||||
7 | receive at least a portion of the total benefit regardless of | ||||||
8 | the manner in which the Court of Claims resolves the claim, the | ||||||
9 | Court shall direct the Comptroller to pay the minimum amount | ||||||
10 | of money which the determinate beneficiary would receive | ||||||
11 | together with all interest payment penalties which have | ||||||
12 | accrued on that portion of the award being paid within 30 days | ||||||
13 | of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th | ||||||
14 | General Assembly. For purposes of this subsection (h), | ||||||
15 | "determinate beneficiary" means the beneficiary who would | ||||||
16 | receive any portion of the total benefit claimed regardless of | ||||||
17 | the manner in which the Court of Claims adjudicates the claim. | ||||||
18 | (i) The Court of Claims shall ensure that all individuals | ||||||
19 | who have filed an application to claim the duty death benefit | ||||||
20 | for a deceased member of the Armed Forces pursuant to this | ||||||
21 | Section or for a fireman pursuant to this Section, or their | ||||||
22 | designated representative, shall have access, on a timely | ||||||
23 | basis and in an efficient manner, to all information related | ||||||
24 | to the court's consideration, processing, or adjudication of | ||||||
25 | the claim, including, but not limited to, the following: | ||||||
26 | (1) a reliable estimate of when the Court of Claims |
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1 | will adjudicate the claim, or if the Court cannot estimate | ||||||
2 | when it will adjudicate the claim, a full written | ||||||
3 | explanation of the reasons for this inability; and | ||||||
4 | (2) a reliable estimate, based upon consultation with | ||||||
5 | the Comptroller, of when the benefit will be paid to the | ||||||
6 | claimant. | ||||||
7 | (j) The Court of Claims shall send written notice to all | ||||||
8 | claimants within 2 weeks of the initiation of a claim | ||||||
9 | indicating whether or not the application is complete. For | ||||||
10 | purposes of this subsection (j), an application is complete if | ||||||
11 | a claimant has submitted to the Court of Claims all documents | ||||||
12 | and information the Court requires for adjudicating and paying | ||||||
13 | the benefit amount. For purposes of this subsection (j), a | ||||||
14 | claim for the duty death benefit is initiated when a claimant | ||||||
15 | submits any of the application materials required for | ||||||
16 | adjudicating the claim to the Court of Claims. In the event a | ||||||
17 | claimant's application is incomplete, the Court shall include | ||||||
18 | in its written notice a list of the information or documents | ||||||
19 | which the claimant must submit in order for the application to | ||||||
20 | be complete.
In no case may the Court of Claims deny a claim | ||||||
21 | and subsequently re-adjudicate the same claim for the purpose | ||||||
22 | of evading or reducing the interest penalty payment amount | ||||||
23 | payable to any claimant. | ||||||
24 | (Source: P.A. 95-928, eff. 8-26-08; 96-539, eff. 1-1-10; | ||||||
25 | 96-923, eff. 1-1-11.)
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26 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
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1 | becoming law.
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