SB2744enr 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB2744 Enrolled LRB098 16241 KTG 51300 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 Military Code of Illinois is amended by adding Article XVI-A as follows:

(20 ILCS 1805/Art. XVI-A heading new)

ARTICLE XVI-A. ILLINOIS NATIONAL GUARD

STATE-SPONSORED LIFE INSURANCE PROGRAM

(20 ILCS 1805/91.1 new)

Sec. 91.1. State-sponsored life insurance program.

(a) The General Assembly finds:

(1) It is desirable for members of the Illinois National Guard to have access to low-cost life insurance in addition to the Servicemembers Group Life Insurance program currently offered to all service members.

(2) The U.S. Congress has provided in 37 U.S.C. 707 that the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of the Air Force, as the case may be, may allow a member of the National Guard to make allotments from his or her pay for the payment of premiums under a group life insurance program sponsored by the military department of the state in which such member holds his or her National Guard membership or by the National Guard Association of such state.

(3) The U.S. Secretary of Defense has provided by regulation in Section 3-209 of the Department of Defense Directive 5500.07-R that offering group life insurance programs sponsored by a state military department, to the same extent and similar manner as the offering of the Servicemembers Group Life Insurance program, is not an endorsement of a non-federal entity in violation of said regulation.

It is hereby the policy of the State of Illinois that members of the Illinois National Guard should be provided with the opportunity to purchase the Illinois National Guard State-Sponsored Life Insurance Program products as provided for in this Section and that the members be allowed to make an allotment for the payment of premiums using the U.S. Defense Finance and Accounting Service military pay allotment procedures in force at the time the allotment is requested.

(b) It is hereby established that the National Guard Association of Illinois shall be the designated provider of State-sponsored life insurance products offered through insurers licensed to transact insurance business in Illinois for military members and dependents of the Illinois National Guard. The life insurance products provided by the National Guard Association of Illinois through its membership in the Militia Insurance Trust shall be known as the Illinois National Guard State-Sponsored Life Insurance Program.

(c) The Department of Military Affairs, through the Adjutant General, is hereby designated as the official departmental sponsor of the Illinois National Guard State-Sponsored Life Insurance Program, shall allow, facilitate, and coordinate all efforts to make the Program available to all members of the Illinois National Guard, and shall allow, facilitate, and coordinate requested allotments with the appropriate United States Property and Fiscal Office.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.