Full Text of HB0925 103rd General Assembly
HB0925ham001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit Filed: 3/14/2023
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 925
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 925 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Veteran Service Organizations State Charter Act. | 6 | | Section 5. State charter. A veteran service organization | 7 | | shall be considered state chartered when the organization | 8 | | meets all of the requirements listed in this Act and the | 9 | | organization's application for state charter status has been | 10 | | approved by the Attorney General. | 11 | | Section 15. Granting of state charter status. The Attorney | 12 | | General shall grant state charter status to any organization | 13 | | that has demonstrated that all requirements for obtaining | 14 | | state charter status have been met. |
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| 1 | | Section 20. State charter requirements. To qualify for | 2 | | state charter status, a veteran service organization must: | 3 | | (1) Obtain a legislative endorsement for state charter | 4 | | status from any currently serving member of the General | 5 | | Assembly. Endorsements shall remain valid until there is a | 6 | | revocation of the endorsement or a revocation of the state | 7 | | charter. | 8 | | (2) Possess tax-exempt status from the Internal | 9 | | Revenue Service either under Section 501(c)(3) or Section | 10 | | 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code and have the | 11 | | primary charitable purpose of providing service or | 12 | | assistance to veterans, their spouses, or their | 13 | | dependents. | 14 | | (3) Possess a current certificate of good standing as | 15 | | an Illinois registered not-for-profit organization from | 16 | | the Secretary of State. | 17 | | (4) Obtain and maintain ongoing registration and | 18 | | compliance under the Charitable Trust Act with the | 19 | | Charitable Trust Bureau of the Attorney General's Office | 20 | | or substantiation for an exemption. | 21 | | (5) For organizations with veteran service officers, | 22 | | demonstrate that each veteran service officer possesses a | 23 | | valid U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs accreditation or | 24 | | that such accreditation is pending. | 25 | | (6) Demonstrate completion of Open Meetings Act | 26 | | training in accordance with Section 1.05 of that Act by |
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| 1 | | providing copies of certificates of completion to the | 2 | | Public Access Counselor of the Office of the Attorney | 3 | | General. | 4 | | Section 25. Application for state charter status. A | 5 | | veteran service organization may submit an application for | 6 | | state charter status to the Attorney General. All supporting | 7 | | documentation demonstrating that each of the requirements | 8 | | listed in this Act have been met shall be provided with the | 9 | | application. | 10 | | Section 30. Attestation of compliance. Any application for | 11 | | state charter shall include the following statement, on | 12 | | organizational letterhead and signed by all officers: "All | 13 | | officers for (insert lawful organizational name) do hereby | 14 | | attest that all requirements for a state charter have been | 15 | | met, that there are no past or ongoing enforcement actions or | 16 | | lawsuits against the organization or any of its officers for | 17 | | violations or suspected violations of the Consumer Fraud and | 18 | | Deceptive Business Practices Act, the Military Veterans | 19 | | Assistance Act, or the Open Meetings Act and that we will | 20 | | notify the Attorney General within 30 days if, at any point, | 21 | | the organization no longer meets one or more of the | 22 | | requirements for state charter status." | 23 | | Section 35. Issuance of state charter status. The Attorney |
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| 1 | | General shall issue a letter granting state charter status | 2 | | upon review of any completed application that demonstrates | 3 | | that all requirements for state charter status have been met. | 4 | | Section 40. Denial of state charter. The Attorney General | 5 | | shall deny an application for state charter status to any | 6 | | organization that does not meet all requirements for state | 7 | | charter status in Section 20. Any organization whose state | 8 | | charter application has been denied may resubmit that | 9 | | application once all deficiencies have been corrected. | 10 | | Section 45. Duration of state charter status. State | 11 | | charter status shall be valid for 5 years. A veteran service | 12 | | organization must reapply for state charter status prior to | 13 | | the expiration of its current state charter status. | 14 | | Section 50. Revocation. If the Attorney General is made | 15 | | aware, either through notification as provided in Section 30 | 16 | | or through other information or evidence, that an organization | 17 | | that has been granted state charter status no longer meets one | 18 | | or more of the requirements of Section 20, the Attorney | 19 | | General may revoke the state charter status. Nothing in this | 20 | | Section is intended to take away or limit any powers of the | 21 | | Attorney General under common law or other statutory law, and | 22 | | the Attorney General may, in his or her sole discretion, | 23 | | request that a court revoke state charter status based on |
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| 1 | | other conduct not specifically listed in this Section. | 2 | | Section 55. Publication of state chartered veteran service | 3 | | organizations. The Attorney General shall maintain a publicly | 4 | | accessible list of state chartered organizations. | 5 | | Section 60. Violation. It is a violation of Section 9 of | 6 | | the Military Veterans Assistance Act for any person, group, or | 7 | | entity to assert state charter status where such status has | 8 | | not been granted in accordance with this Act or where such | 9 | | status has been revoked. | 10 | | Section 65. Enforcement. If the Attorney General has | 11 | | reasonable cause to believe that there is or has been a | 12 | | violation of Section 60, then the Attorney General may enforce | 13 | | this Act in accordance with Section 9.1 of the Military | 14 | | Veterans Assistance Act. | 15 | | Section 70. Remedies. A court in its discretion may grant | 16 | | remedies in accordance with Section 9.2 of the Military | 17 | | Veterans Assistance Act.
| 18 | | Section 75. The Military Veterans Assistance Act is | 19 | | amended by changing Sections 9.1 and 9.2 as follows: | 20 | | (330 ILCS 45/9.1) |
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| 1 | | Sec. 9.1. Violations. | 2 | | (a) If the Attorney General has reasonable cause to | 3 | | believe
that there is or has been a violation of Section 8 or 9 | 4 | | or subsection (a), (b), or (c) of Section 10 of this Act or | 5 | | Section 60 of the Service Organizations State Charter Act , | 6 | | then the Attorney General may commence a civil action in the | 7 | | name of the People of the State to enforce the provisions of | 8 | | this Act in any appropriate circuit court. The court, in its | 9 | | discretion, may exercise all powers necessary, including, but | 10 | | not limited to: injunction; mandamus; revocation; forfeiture | 11 | | or suspension of any funding, rights, privileges, | 12 | | responsibilities, or support, as deemed necessary to ensure | 13 | | compliance; and any other action the court may deem | 14 | | appropriate. | 15 | | (b) Prior to initiating a civil action, the Attorney | 16 | | General shall conduct a preliminary investigation to determine | 17 | | whether there is reasonable cause to believe that a violation | 18 | | is being or has been committed and whether the dispute can be | 19 | | resolved without litigation. In conducting this investigation, | 20 | | the Attorney General may: | 21 | | (1) require the individual, group, or entity to file a | 22 | | statement or report in writing under oath or otherwise, as | 23 | | to all information the Attorney General may consider | 24 | | necessary; | 25 | | (2) examine under oath any person alleged to have
| 26 | | participated in or with knowledge of the alleged |
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| 1 | | violation; | 2 | | (3) issue subpoenas or conduct hearings in aid of any | 3 | | investigation; or | 4 | | (4) examine any record, book, document, account, or | 5 | | paper as the Attorney General may consider necessary. | 6 | | (c) Service by the Attorney General of any notice | 7 | | requiring
a person to file a statement or report, or of a | 8 | | subpoena upon any person, shall be made: | 9 | | (1) personally by delivery of a duly executed copy
| 10 | | thereof to the person to be served or, if a person is not a | 11 | | natural person, in the manner provided by the Code of | 12 | | Civil Procedure when a complaint is filed; or | 13 | | (2) by mailing by certified mail a duly executed copy | 14 | | thereof to the person to be served at the person's last | 15 | | known abode or principal place of business within this | 16 | | State. | 17 | | (d) Whenever any person fails to comply with any subpoena | 18 | | issued under this Section or whenever satisfactory copying or | 19 | | reproduction of any material requested in an investigation | 20 | | cannot be done and the person refuses to surrender the | 21 | | material, the Attorney General may file in any appropriate | 22 | | circuit court, and serve upon the person, a petition for a | 23 | | court order for the enforcement of the subpoena or other | 24 | | request. | 25 | | Any person who has received a subpoena issued under | 26 | | subsection (b) may file in the appropriate circuit court, and |
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| 1 | | serve upon the Attorney General, a petition for a court order | 2 | | to modify or set aside the subpoena or other request. The | 3 | | petition must be filed either: (1) within 20 days after the | 4 | | date of service of the subpoena or at any time before the | 5 | | return date specified in the subpoena, whichever date is | 6 | | earlier, or (2) within a longer period as may be prescribed in | 7 | | writing by the Attorney General. | 8 | | The petition shall specify each ground upon which the | 9 | | petitioner relies in seeking relief under this subsection and
| 10 | | may be based upon any failure of the subpoena to comply with | 11 | | the provisions of this Section or upon any constitutional or | 12 | | other legal right or privilege of the petitioner. During the | 13 | | pendency of the petition in the court, the court may stay, as | 14 | | it deems proper, the running of the time allowed for | 15 | | compliance with the subpoena or other request, in whole or in | 16 | | part, except that the petitioner shall comply with any portion | 17 | | of the subpoena or other request not sought to be modified or | 18 | | set aside. | 19 | | (e) In the administration of this Act, the Attorney | 20 | | General may accept an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance with | 21 | | respect to any violation of the Act from any person or entity | 22 | | who has engaged in, is engaging in, or was about to engage in | 23 | | such violation. Evidence of a violation of an Assurance of | 24 | | Voluntary Compliance shall be prima facie evidence of a | 25 | | violation of this Act in any subsequent proceeding brought by | 26 | | the Attorney General against the alleged violator.
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| 1 | | (Source: P.A. 102-1132, eff. 2-10-23.) | 2 | | (330 ILCS 45/9.2) | 3 | | Sec. 9.2. Remedies. | 4 | | (a) Whenever the Attorney General has reason to believe | 5 | | that any person, group, or entity is violating, has violated, | 6 | | or is about to violate Section 8 or 9 or subsection (a), (b), | 7 | | or (c) of Section 10 of this Act or any provision of the | 8 | | Service Organizations State Charter Act , the Attorney General | 9 | | may bring an action in the name of the People of the State | 10 | | against the person, group, or entity to restrain by | 11 | | preliminary or permanent injunction the use of any practice | 12 | | that
violates Section 8 or 9 or subsection (a), (b), or (c) of | 13 | | Section 10 of this Act or any provision of the Service | 14 | | Organizations State Charter Act . In such an action, the court | 15 | | may award restitution to recoup the loss of moneys set aside to | 16 | | provide services to veterans or any other relief that the | 17 | | court deems proper. | 18 | | (b) In addition, the court may assess a civil penalty not | 19 | | to exceed $5,000 for each violation of Section 8 or 9 or | 20 | | subsection (a), (b), or (c) of Section 10 of this Act or for | 21 | | each violation of the Service Organizations State Charter Act . | 22 | | (c) In any action brought under the provisions of Section | 23 | | 8 or 9 or subsection (a), (b), or (c) of Section 10 of this Act | 24 | | or under the Service Organizations State Charter Act , the | 25 | | Attorney General is entitled to recover costs. |
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| 1 | | (d) If a court orders a party to make payments to the | 2 | | Attorney General and the payments are to be used for the | 3 | | operations of the Office of the Attorney General or a party | 4 | | agrees, in an out-of-court settlement, to make payment to the | 5 | | Attorney General for the operations of the Office of the | 6 | | Attorney General, then moneys shall be deposited into the | 7 | | Attorney General Court Ordered and Voluntary Compliance | 8 | | Payment Projects Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used, | 9 | | subject to appropriation, for the performance of any function | 10 | | pertaining to the exercise of the duties of the Attorney | 11 | | General, including, but not limited to, enforcement of any law | 12 | | of this State and conducting public education programs. | 13 | | However, any moneys in the Fund that are required by the court | 14 | | or by an agreement to be used for a particular purpose shall be | 15 | | used for that purpose.
| 16 | | (Source: P.A. 102-1132, eff. 2-10-23.)".
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