Public Act 100-0392
 
SB0266 EnrolledLRB100 05187 MJP 15197 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 Department of Veterans Affairs Act is 
amended  by changing Sections 2g, 2.01, 2.03, and 2.04 and  by 
adding Section 2.01b as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 2805/2g)
    Sec. 2g. The Illinois Veterans' Homes Fund. The Illinois 
Veterans' Homes Fund is hereby created as a special fund in the 
State treasury. From appropriations to the Department from the 
Fund the Department shall purchase needed equipment and 
supplies to enhance the lives of the residents at and for to 
enhance the operations of veterans' homes in Illinois, 
including capital improvements, building rehabilitation, and 
repairs.

(Source: P.A. 93-776, eff. 7-21-04.)
 



    (20 ILCS 2805/2.01)  (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 67.01)



    Sec. 2.01. Veterans Home admissions.

    (a) Any honorably discharged veteran
is entitled to 
admission to an Illinois
Veterans Home if the applicant meets 
the requirements of this Section.

    (b)

The veteran must:
        (1) have served in the armed forces of the United 
    States at least
1 day in World War II, the Korean
Conflict, 
    the Viet Nam Campaign, or the Persian Gulf Conflict
between 
    the dates recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans 
    Affairs or
between any other present or future dates 
    recognized by the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs as a 
    war period, or have served in a hostile fire
environment 
    and has been awarded a campaign or expeditionary medal

    signifying his or her service,
for purposes of eligibility 
    for domiciliary or
nursing home care;
        (2) have served and been honorably discharged or 
    retired from the armed forces of the United States for a 
    service connected disability or injury, for purposes of 
    eligibility for domiciliary or
nursing home care;
        (3) have served as an enlisted person at least 90 days 
    on active duty in the armed forces of the United States, 
    excluding service on active duty for training purposes 
    only, and entered active duty before September 8, 1980, for 
    purposes of eligibility for domiciliary or
nursing home 
    care;
        (4) have served as an officer at least 90 days on 
    active duty in the armed forces of the United States, 
    excluding service on active duty for training purposes 
    only, and entered active duty before October 17, 1981, for 
    purposes of eligibility for domiciliary or
nursing home 
    care;
        (5) have served on active duty in the armed forces of 
    the United States for 24 months of continuous service or 
    more, excluding active duty for training purposes only, and 
    enlisted after September 7, 1980, for purposes of 
    eligibility for domiciliary or
nursing home care;
        (6) have served as a reservist in the armed forces of 
    the United States or the National Guard and the service 
    included being called to federal active duty, excluding 
    service on active duty for training purposes only, and who 
    completed the term,
for purposes of eligibility for 
    domiciliary or nursing home care;

        (7) have been  discharged for reasons of hardship or 
    released from active duty due to a reduction in the United 
    States armed forces prior to the completion of the required 
    period of service, regardless of the actual time served, 
    for purposes of eligibility for domiciliary or nursing home 
    care; or

        (8) have served in the National Guard or Reserve Forces 
    of the
United States and completed 20 years of satisfactory 
    service, be

otherwise eligible to receive reserve or active 
    duty retirement
benefits, and have been an Illinois 
    resident for at least one year
before applying for 
    admission for purposes of eligibility
for domiciliary care 
    only.

    (c) The veteran must have service accredited to the State 
of Illinois or
have been a resident of this State for one year 
immediately
preceding the date of application.

    (d) For admission to the Illinois Veterans Homes at Anna 
and
Quincy, the veteran must have developed a disability by 
disease, wounds, or otherwise and because
of the disability be 
incapable of earning a living.

    (e) For admission to the Illinois Veterans Homes at 
Chicago, LaSalle, and Manteno,
the veteran must have developed 
a disability by disease, wounds, or otherwise and, for purposes 
of eligibility
for nursing home care, require nursing care 
because of the disability.
    (f) An individual who served during a time of conflict as 
set forth in paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of this Section 
has preference over all other qualifying candidates, for 
purposes of eligibility for domiciliary or
nursing home care at 
any Illinois Veterans Home.


    (g) A veteran or spouse, once admitted to an Illinois 
Veterans Home facility, is considered a resident for 
interfacility purposes. 
(Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15; 99-314, eff. 8-7-15; 
99-642, eff. 7-28-16.)

 
    (20 ILCS 2805/2.01b new)
    Sec. 2.01b. Illinois Veterans Home at Chicago.  The 
Illinois Veterans Home at Chicago is established. The 
Department shall operate and maintain the Illinois Veterans 
Home at Chicago.
 



    (20 ILCS 2805/2.03)  (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 67.03)



    Sec. 2.03. Admissions. Admissions to an Illinois Veterans 
Home are
subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the 
Department of Veterans'
Affairs to govern the admission of 
applicants.

    Each resident of a Home is liable for the payment of sums

representing maintenance charges for care at the Home at a rate 
to
be determined by the Department, based on the resident's 
ability to pay.
However, the charges shall not exceed the 
average annual per
capita cost of maintaining the resident in 
the Home.  The Department,
upon being furnished proof of 
payment, shall in its discretion
make allowances for unusual 
expenses in determining the
ability of the resident to pay 
maintenance charges.


    The basis upon which the payment of maintenance charges 
shall be
calculated by the Department is the average per capita 
cost
for the care of all residents at each Home for the fiscal 
year
immediately preceding the period for which the rate for 
each
Home is being calculated.

    The Department may require residents to pay charges 
monthly,
quarterly, or otherwise as may be most suitably 
arranged for the
individual members.  The amounts received from 
each Home for the
charges shall be transmitted to the Treasurer 
of the State of Illinois
for deposit in each Veterans Home 
Fund, respectively, except that receipts attributable to the 
Illinois Veterans Home at Chicago shall be deposited into the 
Illinois Veterans' Homes Fund.

    The Department may investigate the financial condition of 
residents
of a Home to determine their ability to pay 
maintenance charges and
to establish standards as a basis of 
judgment for such determination.
Such standards shall be 
recomputed periodically to reflect
changes in the cost of 
living and other pertinent factors.

    Refusal to pay the maintenance charges is cause for 
discharge
of a resident from a Home.

    The Department may collect any medical or health benefits

to which a resident may become entitled through tax
supported 
or privately financed systems of insurance, as a
result of his 
or her care or treatment in the facilities provided by the

Department, or because of care or treatment in other facilities

when such care or treatment has been paid for by the 
Department.

    Admission of a resident is not limited or conditioned in 
any manner
by the financial status of the resident or his or 
her ability to pay
maintenance charges.

    The Department may accept and hold on behalf of the State, 
if for the
public interest, a grant, gift, devise, or bequest 
of money or property to
the Department made in trust for the 
maintenance or support of a resident
of an Illinois Veterans 
Home or for any other legitimate purpose.  The Department shall 
cause each gift, grant,
devise, or bequest to be kept as a 
distinct fund and shall invest the same
in the manner provided 
by the laws of this State relating to securities in
which the 
deposit in savings banks may be invested.  However, the

Department may, at its discretion, deposit in a proper trust 
company, bank,
or savings bank, during the continuance of the 
trust, any fund left in
trust for the life of a person and 
shall adopt rules and regulations
governing the deposit, 
transfer, or withdrawal of the fund. The Department
shall, on 
the expiration of any trust as provided in any instrument

creating the trust, dispose of the fund in the manner
provided 
in the instrument.  The Department shall include in its required

reports a statement showing what funds are so held by it and 
the condition
of the funds; provided that monies found on 
residents at the time of their
admission or accruing to them 
during their residence at a Home and monies
deposited with the 
administrators by relatives, guardians, or friends of

residents for the special comfort and pleasure of the resident 
shall
remain in the custody of the administrators who shall act 
as trustees for
disbursement to, on behalf of, or for the 
benefit of the resident.  All
types of retirement and pension 
benefits from private and public sources
may be paid directly 
to the administrator of a Home for deposit to
the resident 
trust fund account.

(Source: P.A. 96-95, eff. 1-1-10; 96-100, eff. 1-1-10.)

 



    (20 ILCS 2805/2.04)  (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 67.04)



    Sec. 2.04. 
There shall be established in the State Treasury 
special funds
known as (i) the LaSalle Veterans Home Fund, (ii) 
the Anna Veterans Home Fund,
(iii) the Manteno Veterans Home 
Fund, and (iv) the Quincy Veterans Home
Fund.
All moneys 
received by an Illinois Veterans Home from Medicare and from

maintenance charges to veterans, spouses, and surviving  
spouses residing at
that Home shall be paid into that Home's 
Fund.  All moneys
received from the
U.S. Department of Veterans 
Affairs for patient care shall be transmitted to
the Treasurer 
of the State for deposit in the Veterans Home Fund for the Home

in which the veteran resides.  Appropriations shall be made from 
a Fund only
for the needs of the Home, including capital 
improvements, building
rehabilitation, and repairs. The 
Illinois Veterans' Homes Fund shall be the Veterans Home Fund 
for the Illinois Veterans Home at Chicago. 

    The administrator of each Veterans Home shall establish a

locally-held
member's benefits fund. The Director may 
authorize the Veterans Home to conduct limited fundraising in 
accordance with applicable laws and regulations for which the 
sole purpose is to benefit the Veterans Home's member's 
benefits fund. Revenues accruing to an Illinois Veterans Home,

including any donations, grants for the operation of the Home, 
profits from
commissary stores, and funds received from any 
individual or other source, including limited fundraising,

shall be  deposited into that Home's benefits fund.  Expenditures 
from the benefits funds
shall
be solely for the special 
comfort, pleasure, and amusement of residents.
Contributors of 
unsolicited private donations may specify the purpose for which

the private donations are to be used.

    Upon request of the Department, the State's Attorney of the 
county in which
a resident or living former resident of an 
Illinois Veterans Home
who is liable under this Act
for payment 
of sums representing maintenance charges resides shall file
an 
action in a court of competent jurisdiction against any such 
person who
fails or refuses to pay such sums. The court may 
order the payment of sums
due to maintenance charges for such 
period or periods of time as the
circumstances require.

    Upon the death of a person who is or has been a resident of 
an
Illinois Veterans Home who is
liable for maintenance charges 
and who is possessed of property, the
Department may present a 
claim for such sum or for the balance due in
case less than the 
rate prescribed under this Act has been paid.  The
claim shall 
be allowed and paid as other lawful claims against the estate.

    The administrator of each Veterans Home shall establish a

locally-held
trust fund to maintain moneys held for residents.  
Whenever the Department
finds it necessary to preserve order,

preserve health, or enforce discipline, the resident shall 
deposit in a
trust account at the Home such monies from any 
source of income as may
be determined necessary, and 
disbursement of these funds to the resident
shall be made only 
by direction of the administrator.

    If a resident of an Illinois Veterans Home has a
dependent 
child, spouse, or parent the administrator may
require that all 
monies
received be deposited in a trust account with dependency 
contributions
being made at the direction of the administrator.  
The balance retained
in the trust account shall be disbursed to 
the resident at the time of
discharge from the Home or to his 
or her heirs or legal representative
at the time of the 
resident's death, subject to Department regulations
or order of 
the court.

    The Director of Central Management Services, with the

consent of the Director of Veterans' Affairs, is authorized
and 
empowered to lease or let any real property held by the 
Department of
Veterans' Affairs for an Illinois Veterans Home 
to entities or
persons upon terms and conditions which are 
considered to be in the best
interest of that Home.  The real 
property must not be needed for any direct
or immediate purpose 
of the Home.  In any leasing or letting, primary
consideration 
shall be given to the use of real property for agricultural

purposes, and all moneys received shall be transmitted to the 
Treasurer of
the State for deposit in the appropriate Veterans 
Home Fund.

(Source: P.A. 99-314, eff. 8-7-15.)

 
    Section 10. The Illinois Library System Act is amended  by 
changing Section 8.6 as follows:
 



    (75 ILCS 10/8.6)



    Sec. 8.6. Illinois Veterans Veteran's Home Libraries. 
The 
State Librarian shall distribute annual grants for initiatives 
of library
development and services within Illinois Veterans 
Veteran's Home libraries located in
Quincy, Manteno, LaSalle, 
Chicago, and Anna upon the approval by the State Librarian of

application from libraries.  Grants made under this Section 
shall be made only
from the Secretary of State Special License 
Plate Fund.  The State Librarian
shall establish the criteria 
for awarding the grants by rule.

(Source: P.A. 89-697, eff. 1-6-97.)

 

    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.