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90_HB0573eng
20 ILCS 2805/5 from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 70
Amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Act. Provides
that a resident veteran is exempt from camping and admission
fees of parks of the Department of Natural Resources if
permanently disabled from service connected causes with any
percentage (now 100%) disability.
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1 AN ACT concerning veterans' camping fees.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is
5 amended by changing Section 63a23 as follows:
6 (20 ILCS 805/63a23) (from Ch. 127, par. 63a23)
7 Sec. 63a23. Campsites and housing facilities. To provide
8 facilities for overnight tent and trailer camp sites and to
9 provide suitable housing facilities for student and juvenile
10 overnight camping groups. The Department of Natural
11 Resources may regulate, by administrative order, the fees to
12 be charged for tent and trailer camping units at individual
13 park areas based upon the facilities available. However, for
14 campsites with access to showers or electricity, any Illinois
15 resident who is age 62 or older or has a Class 2 disability
16 as defined in Section 4A of the Illinois Identification Card
17 Act shall be charged only one-half of the camping fee charged
18 to the general public during the period Monday through
19 Thursday of any week and shall be charged the same camping
20 fee as the general public on all other days. For campsites
21 without access to showers or electricity, no camping fee
22 authorized by this Section shall be charged to any resident
23 of Illinois who has a Class 2 disability as defined in
24 Section 4A of the Illinois Identification Card Act. For
25 campsites without access to showers or electricity, no
26 camping fee authorized by this Section shall be charged to
27 any resident of Illinois who is age 62 or older for the use
28 of a camp site unit during the period Monday through Thursday
29 of any week. The No camping fee authorized by this Section
30 shall be waived or discounted for a charged to any resident
31 of Illinois who is a disabled veteran or a former prisoner of
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1 war, as set forth defined in Section 5 of the Department of
2 Veterans' Affairs Act. Nonresidents shall be charged the
3 same fees as are authorized for the general public regardless
4 of age. The Department shall provide by regulation for
5 suitable proof of age, or either a valid driver's license or
6 a "Golden Age Passport" issued by the federal government
7 shall be acceptable as proof of age. The Department shall
8 further provide by regulation that notice of such reduced
9 admission fees be posted in a conspicuous place and manner.
10 Reduced fees authorized in this Section shall not apply
11 to any charge for utility service.
12 (Source: P.A. 88-91; 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)
13 Section 10. The Department of Veterans' Affairs Act is
14 amended by changing Section 5 as follows:
15 (20 ILCS 2805/5) (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 70)
16 Sec. 5. Camping and park fees.
17 (a) Every veteran who is a resident of Illinois and
18 disabled may be eligible for an exemption from or a discount
19 for shall be exempt from all camping and admission fees in
20 parks under the control of the Department of Natural
21 Resources. For the purpose of this subsection (a), A
22 resident disabled veteran is one who is permanently disabled
23 from service connected causes with 100% disability or one who
24 has permanently lost the use of a leg or both legs or an arm
25 or both arms or any combination thereof or any person who is
26 so severely disabled as to be unable to move without the aid
27 of crutches or a wheelchair shall be exempt from the camping
28 and admission fees. Other resident disabled veterans with
29 30% or more disability shall be charged (i) for the Class A
30 and B campsites (campsites with access to showers or
31 electricity) only one-half of the camping fee charged to the
32 general public during the period Monday through Thursday of
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1 any week and shall be charged the same camping fee as the
2 general public on all other days and (ii) for the Class C and
3 D campsites (campsites without access to showers or
4 electricity) no camping fee for any day of the week. The
5 Department shall issue free use permits to those eligible
6 veterans. To establish eligibility, the veteran shall
7 present an award letter or some other identifying disability
8 document, together with proper identification, to any office
9 of the Department. Subject to the approval of the Department
10 of Natural Resources, the Department of Veterans' Affairs
11 shall establish the form or permit identifier to be issued.
12 (b) Every veteran who is a resident of Illinois and a
13 former prisoner of war shall be exempt from all camping and
14 admission fees in parks under the control of the Department
15 of Natural Resources. For the purposes of this subsection
16 (b), a former prisoner of war is a veteran who was taken and
17 held prisoner by a hostile foreign force while participating
18 in an armed conflict as a member of the United States armed
19 forces. Any identification card or other form of
20 identification issued by the Veterans' Administration or
21 other governmental agency which indicates the card-holder's
22 former prisoner of war status shall be sufficient to accord
23 such card-holder the fee-exempt admission or camping
24 privileges under this subsection.
25 (Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)