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(8) The Department of Employment Security.
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(9) Any other interested stakeholder, at the |
discretion of the chair.
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The Committee shall meet at a time and place designated by |
the chair, but in no case shall the Committee meet less often |
than once each month, until it has fulfilled all the |
obligations delineated in this Act. |
All meetings of the Committee are subject to the provisions |
of the Open Meetings Act. |
All proceedings of the Committee and documents produced by |
the Committee are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of |
Information Act. |
The Committee shall draft and submit to the General |
Assembly a model implementation statute and a report outlining |
all the issues raised by the implementation by no later than |
December 31, 2008 or within 90 days after the effective date of |
this Act, whichever is later. |
The Office of the Lieutenant Governor shall provide staff |
and administrative support to the Committee. |
Section 90. The Department of Veterans Affairs Act is |
amended by adding Section 30 as follows: |
(20 ILCS 2805/30 new) |
Sec. 30. Task Force on Servicemember and Veterans |
Education. |
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(a) The Task Force on Servicemember and Veterans Education |
is created. The Task Force shall be chaired by the Lieutenant |
Governor and shall consist of the following members: |
(1) one member appointed by the Governor; |
(2) one member appointed by the President of the |
Senate; |
(3) one member appointed by the Senate Minority Leader; |
(4) one member appointed by the Speaker of the House of |
Representatives; |
(5) one member appointed by the House Minority Leader; |
(6) one member appointed by the Director of Veterans' |
Affairs; and |
(7) one member designated by the Department of Military |
Affairs, appointed by the Adjutant General. |
Vacancies in the Task Force shall be filled by the initial |
appointing authority. Task Force members shall serve without |
compensation, but may be reimbursed from appropriations |
available for that purpose for necessary expenses incurred in |
performing duties associated with the Task Force. |
Within 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory |
Act of the 95th General Assembly, the Task Force must issue a |
report to the General Assembly, including draft legislative |
language and draft administrative rules, designed to do the |
following: |
(1) assist public universities and community colleges |
throughout the State in developing an Internet-based |
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curriculum of higher education courses for credit, |
tailored specifically to the needs of active duty |
servicemembers and veterans of the United States Armed |
Forces, with a particular emphasis on addressing the unique |
needs of servicemembers who are stationed abroad; and |
(2) create on-campus veterans' centers at each public |
university and community college within the State to assist |
veterans in applying for financial aid and other benefits |
that may be available to them; on-campus centers shall be |
staffed by veterans and those intimately familiar with the |
needs and concerns of veterans. |
Section 95. The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by |
changing Section 601 as follows: |
(820 ILCS 405/601) (from Ch. 48, par. 431) |
Sec. 601. Voluntary leaving. |
A. An individual shall be ineligible for
benefits for the |
week in which he has left work voluntarily without good
cause |
attributable to the employing unit and, thereafter, until he |
has become
reemployed and has had earnings equal to or in |
excess of his current weekly
benefit amount in each of four |
calendar weeks which are either for services
in employment, or |
have been or will be reported pursuant to the provisions
of the |
Federal Insurance Contributions Act by each employing unit for |
which
such services are performed and which submits a statement |
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certifying to that fact.
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B. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to an |
individual
who has left work voluntarily:
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1. Because he is deemed physically unable to perform |
his work by a licensed
and practicing physician, or has |
left work voluntarily upon the advice of
a licensed and |
practicing physician that assistance is necessary for the
|
purpose of caring for his spouse, child, or parent who is |
in poor physical
health and such assistance will not allow |
him to perform the usual and customary
duties of his |
employment, and he has notified the employing unit of the
|
reasons for his absence;
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2. To accept other bona fide work and, after such |
acceptance, the individual
is either not unemployed in each |
of 2 weeks, or earns remuneration for such
work equal to at |
least twice his current weekly benefit amount;
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3. In lieu of accepting a transfer to other work |
offered to the individual
by the employing unit under the |
terms of a collective bargaining agreement
or pursuant to |
an established employer plan, program, or policy, if the
|
acceptance of such other work by the individual would |
require the separation
from that work of another individual |
currently performing it;
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4. Solely because of the sexual harassment of the |
individual by another
employee. Sexual harassment means |
(1) unwelcome sexual advances, requests
for sexual favors, |
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sexually motivated physical contact or other conduct
or |
communication which is made a term or condition of the |
employment or
(2) the employee's submission to or rejection |
of such conduct or communication
which is the basis for |
decisions affecting employment, or (3) when such
conduct or |
communication has the purpose or effect of substantially |
interfering
with an individual's work performance or |
creating an intimidating, hostile,
or offensive working |
environment and the employer knows or should know of
the |
existence of the harassment and fails to take timely and |
appropriate
action;
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5. Which he had accepted after separation from other |
work, and the work
which he left voluntarily would be |
deemed unsuitable under the provisions
of Section 603;
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6. (a) Because the individual left work due to |
circumstances resulting
from
the individual being a victim |
of domestic violence as defined in Section 103 of
the |
Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986; and provided, such |
individual has
made reasonable efforts to preserve the |
employment.
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For the purposes of this paragraph 6, the individual |
shall be treated as
being a victim of domestic violence if |
the individual provides the following:
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(i) written notice to the employing unit of the |
reason for the
individual's
voluntarily leaving; and
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(ii) to the Department provides:
|
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(A) an order of protection or other |
documentation of equitable relief
issued by a |
court of competent jurisdiction; or
|
(B) a police report or criminal charges |
documenting the domestic
violence; or
|
(C) medical documentation of the domestic |
violence; or
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(D) evidence of domestic violence from a |
counselor, social worker,
health worker or |
domestic violence shelter worker.
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(b) If the individual does not meet the provisions of |
subparagraph (a), the
individual shall be held to have |
voluntarily terminated employment for the
purpose of |
determining the individual's eligibility for benefits |
pursuant to
subsection A.
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(c) Notwithstanding any other provision to the |
contrary, evidence of
domestic violence experienced by an |
individual, including the individual's
statement and |
corroborating evidence, shall not be disclosed by the |
Department
unless consent for disclosure is given by the |
individual.
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7. Because the individual left employment to accompany |
a spouse who has been reassigned from one military |
assignment to another. The employer's account, however, |
shall not be charged for any benefits paid out to the |
individual who leaves to accompany a spouse reassigned from |