Public Act 095-0649
 
HB1539 Enrolled LRB095 06260 JAM 26354 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 Illinois Lottery Law is amended by changing
Section 21.6 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 1605/21.6)
    Sec. 21.6. Scratch-off for Illinois veterans.
    (a) The Department shall offer a special instant
scratch-off game for the benefit of Illinois veterans. The game
shall commence on January 1, 2006 or as soon thereafter, at the
discretion of the Director, as is reasonably practical. The
operation of the game shall be governed by this Act and any
rules adopted by the Department. If any provision of this
Section is inconsistent with any other provision of this Act,
then this Section governs.
    (b) The Illinois Veterans Assistance Fund is created as a
special fund in the State treasury. The net revenue from the
Illinois veterans scratch-off game shall be deposited into the
Fund for appropriation by the General Assembly solely to the
Department of Veterans Affairs for making grants, funding
additional services, or conducting additional research
projects relating to each of the following:
        (i) veterans' post traumatic stress disorder;
        (ii) veterans' homelessness;
        (iii) the health insurance costs of veterans;
        (iv) veterans' disability benefits, including but not
    limited to, disability benefits provided by veterans
    service organizations and veterans assistance commissions
    or centers; and
        (v) the long-term care of veterans; provided that,
    beginning with moneys appropriated for fiscal year 2008, no
    more than 20% of such moneys shall be used for health
    insurance costs.
        In order to expend moneys from this special fund,
    beginning with moneys appropriated for fiscal year 2008,
    the Director of Veterans' Affairs shall appoint a 3-member
    funding authorization committee. The Director shall
    designate one of the members as chairperson. The committee
    shall meet on a quarterly basis, at a minimum, and shall
    authorize expenditure of moneys from the special fund by a
    two-thirds vote. Decisions of the committee shall not take
    effect unless and until approved by the Director of
    Veterans' Affairs. Each member of the committee shall serve
    until a replacement is named by the Director of Veterans'
    Affairs. One member of the committee shall be a member of
    the Veterans' Advisory Council.
    Moneys collected from the special instant scratch-off game
shall be used only as a supplemental financial resource and
shall not supplant existing moneys that the Department of
Veterans Affairs may currently expend for the purposes set
forth in items (i) through (v) (i-v).
    Moneys received for the purposes of this Section,
including, without limitation, net revenue from the special
instant scratch-off game and from gifts, grants, and awards
from any public or private entity, must be deposited into the
Fund. Any interest earned on moneys in the Fund must be
deposited into the Fund.
    For purposes of this subsection, "net revenue" means the
total amount for which tickets have been sold less the sum of
the amount paid out in the prizes and the actual administrative
expenses of the Department solely related to the scratch-off
game under this Section.
    (c) During the time that tickets are sold for the Illinois
veterans scratch-off game, the Department shall not
unreasonably diminish the efforts devoted to marketing any
other instant scratch-off lottery game.
    (d) The Department may adopt any rules necessary to
implement and administer the provisions of this Section.
(Source: P.A. 94-585, eff. 8-15-05; revised 9-6-05.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2007.