(20 ILCS 1805/22-9)

Sec. 22-9. Power to make grants from the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund. Subject to appropriation, the Department of Military Affairs shall have the power to make grants from the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund, a special fund created in the State treasury, to (i) members of the Illinois National Guard or Illinois residents who are members of the reserves of the armed forces of the United States who have been called to active duty as a result of an emergency declared by the President of the United States or Congress or as defined by administrative rule of the Department; (ii) for the casualty-based grant only: Illinois National Guard members or Illinois residents who are members of the reserves of the armed forces of the United States and who, while deployed in support of operations as provided in item (i) of this Section, sustained an injury as a result of terrorist activity; sustained an injury in combat, or related to combat, as a direct result of hostile action; or sustained an injury going to or returning from a combat mission, provided that the incident leading to the injury was directly related to hostile action; this includes injuries to service members who are wounded mistakenly or accidentally by friendly fire directed at a hostile force or what is thought to be a hostile force; (iii) members of the Illinois National Guard who have been called to State Active Duty for 30 or more consecutive days of duty; and (iv) families of the classes of persons listed in items (i), (ii), and (iii) of this Section. The Department of Military Affairs shall establish eligibility criteria for all grants by rule.

On and after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, the Department must award at least $5,000 to each recipient of a casualty-based grant and must include Illinois residents who are active duty members of the armed forces of the United States in the eligibility for the casualty-based grant in item (ii) of this Section. Each recipient may receive only one casualty-based grant for injuries received during, or arising out of, the same engagement or incident.

Grants awarded from the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund shall not be subject to garnishment, wage levy, forfeiture, or other remedy, unless the denial of that remedy is inconsistent with the requirements of any other State or federal law.

In addition to amounts transferred into the Fund under Section 510 of the Illinois Income Tax Act, the State Treasurer shall accept and deposit into the Fund all gifts, grants, transfers, appropriations, and other amounts from any legal source, public or private, that are designated for deposit into the Fund. To prevent a delay of 30 or more days in the payment of casualty-based grants, the Department may use, for administration of the program, as much as 5% of the appropriations designated for the casualty-based grant program.

(Source: P.A. 98-694, eff. 7-3-14.)