Public Act 102-0855
 
SB3762 EnrolledLRB102 23220 KTG 32384 b


  
    AN ACT concerning veterans.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended  by adding Section 
30-14.2 as follows:
 



    (105 ILCS 5/30-14.2)  (from Ch. 122, par. 30-14.2)



    Sec. 30-14.2. Deceased, Disabled, and MIA/POW Veterans' 
Dependents scholarship scholarships. 

    (a) Any spouse, natural child, legally adopted child under 
the age of 18 at the time of adoption, minor child younger than 
18 who is under a court-ordered guardianship for at least 2 
continuous years prior to application,  or
step-child under 
the age of 18 at the time of marriage of an eligible veteran or 
serviceperson who possesses all necessary
entrance 
requirements shall, upon application and proper proof, be 
awarded
a MIA/POW Scholarship consisting of the equivalent of 
4 calendar years of
full-time enrollment including summer 
terms, to the state supported
Illinois institution of higher 
learning of his choice, subject to the
restrictions listed 
below.

    "Eligible veteran or serviceperson" means any veteran or 
serviceperson, including an Illinois National Guard member who 
is on active duty or is active on a training assignment,
 who 
has been declared by the U.S. Department of Defense or the
U.S. 
Department of Veterans Affairs to be a prisoner of war or , be 
missing
in action, or has have died as the result of a 
service-connected disability or has have become a person with 
a permanent disability from service-connected causes with 100% 
disability and
who (i) at the time of entering service was an 
Illinois resident, or (ii) was an
Illinois resident within 6 
months after entering such service, or (iii) is a resident of 
Illinois at the time of application for the Scholarship and, 
at some point after entering leaving such service, was a 
resident of Illinois for at least 15 consecutive years.

    Full-time enrollment means 12 or more semester hours of 
courses per semester,
or 12 or more quarter hours of courses 
per quarter, or the equivalent thereof
per term.  Scholarships 
utilized by dependents enrolled in less than full-time
study 
shall be computed in the proportion which the number of hours 
so carried
bears to full-time enrollment.

    Scholarships awarded under this Section may be used by a 
spouse or child
without regard to his or her age.  The holder of 
a Scholarship
awarded under this Section shall be subject to 
all examinations and academic
standards, including the 
maintenance of minimum grade levels, that are
applicable 
generally to other enrolled students at the Illinois 
institution of
higher learning where the Scholarship is being 
used.
If the surviving spouse
remarries or if there is a 
divorce between the veteran or serviceperson and
his or her 
spouse while the dependent is pursuing his or her course of

study, Scholarship benefits will be terminated at the end of 
the term for
which he or she is presently enrolled.  Such 
dependents shall also be
entitled, upon proper proof and 
application, to enroll in any extension
course offered by a 
State supported Illinois institution of higher learning

without payment of tuition and approved fees.

    The holder of a MIA/POW Scholarship authorized under this 
Section shall
not be required to pay any tuition or mandatory 
fees while attending a State-controlled university or public 
community college in this State for a period equivalent to 4 
years of enrollment, including summer terms any matriculation 
or application fees, tuition,
activities fees, graduation fees 
or other fees, except multipurpose
building fees or similar 
fees for supplies and materials.

    Any dependent who has been or shall be awarded a MIA/POW 
Scholarship shall
be reimbursed by the appropriate institution 
of higher learning for any
fees which he or she has paid and 
for which exemption is granted under this
Section if 
application for reimbursement is made within 2 months 
following
the end of the school term for which the fees were 
paid.

    (b) In lieu of the benefit provided in subsection (a), any 
spouse,
natural child, legally adopted child, or step-child of 
an eligible veteran
or serviceperson, which spouse or child 
has a physical, mental or
developmental disability, shall be 
entitled to receive, upon application and
proper proof, a 
benefit to be used for the purpose of defraying the cost of
the 
attendance or treatment of such spouse or child at one or more

appropriate therapeutic, rehabilitative or educational 
facilities.  The
application  and proof may be made by the 
parent or legal guardian of the
spouse or child on his or her 
behalf.

    The total benefit provided to any beneficiary under this 
subsection shall
not exceed the cost equivalent of 4 calendar 
years of full-time enrollment,
including summer terms, at the 
University of Illinois.  Whenever
practicable in the opinion of 
the Department of Veterans' Affairs, payment
of benefits under 
this subsection shall be made directly to the facility,
the 
cost of attendance or treatment at which is being defrayed, as 
such
costs accrue.

    (c) The benefits of this Section shall be administered by 
and paid for out
of funds made available to the Illinois 
Department of Veterans' Affairs.
The amounts that become due 
to any state supported Illinois institution of
higher learning 
shall be payable by the Comptroller to such institution on

vouchers approved by the Illinois Department of Veterans' 
Affairs.  The
amounts that become due under subsection (b) of 
this Section shall be
payable by warrant upon vouchers issued 
by the Illinois Department of
Veterans' Affairs and approved 
by the Comptroller.  The Illinois Department
of Veterans' 
Affairs shall determine the eligibility of the persons
who 
make application for the benefits provided for in this 
Section.

(Source: P.A. 100-201, eff. 8-18-17; 101-334, eff. 8-9-19.)

 
    Section 10. The Children of Deceased Veterans Act is 
amended  by changing Sections 0.01, 1, and 2 as follows:
 



    (330 ILCS 105/0.01)  (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 25.9)



    Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the

Deceased, Disabled, and MIA/POW Veterans' Dependents 
Educational Opportunity Grant Act Children of Deceased 
Veterans Act.

(Source: P.A. 86-1324.)

 



    (330 ILCS 105/1)  (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 26)



    Sec. 1. The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs
shall 
provide, insofar as moneys are appropriated for those 
purposes, for
matriculation and tuition fees, board, room 
rent, books and supplies for
the use and benefit of any natural 
child, adopted child, minor child who is under a court-ordered 
guardianship for at least 2 continuous years prior to 
application, or step-child  of an eligible veteran or 
serviceperson, if the child is children, not under 10 and not 
over 18 years of age,
except extension of time may be granted 
for a child to complete high school
but in no event beyond the 
19th birthday, who has who have for 12 months immediately

preceding his or her their application for these benefits had 
his or her their domicile in the
State of Illinois. The child 
must provide proof of compliance with Illinois compulsory 
attendance requirements as provided in Section 26-1 of the 
School Code.
    "Eligible veteran or serviceperson" means any veteran or 
serviceperson, including an Illinois National Guard member, 
who is on active duty or is active on a training assignment, 
who has been declared by the U.S. Department of Defense or the 
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to be a prisoner of war or 
missing in action, or has died as the result of a 
service-connected disability, or has become a person with a 
permanent disability from service-connected causes with 100% 
disability and who (i) at the time of entering service was an 
Illinois resident, or (ii) was an Illinois resident within 6 
months after entering such service, or (iii) is a resident of 
Illinois at the time of application for the grant and, at some 
point after entering such service, was a resident of Illinois 
for at least 15 consecutive years. , of World War I
veterans 
who were killed in action
or who died between April 6, 1917, 
and July 2, 1921, and of World War II
veterans who were killed 
in action or died after December 6, 1941, and on
or before 
December 31, 1946, and of Korean conflict veterans who were 
killed
in action or died between June 27, 1950 and January 31, 
1955, and of Vietnam
conflict veterans who were killed in 
action or died between January 1, 1961
and May 7, 1975, as a 
result of service in the Armed Forces of the United
States or 
from other causes of World War I, World
War II, the Korean 
conflict or the Vietnam conflict,
who died, whether before or 
after the cessation of hostilities, from service-connected

disability, and of any veterans who died during the induction 
periods specified
below or died of a service-connected 
disability incurred during such induction
periods, such 
periods to be those beginning September 16, 1940, and ending

December 6, 1941, and beginning January 1, 1947 and ending 
June 26, 1950
and the period beginning February 1, 1955, and 
ending on the day before
the first day thereafter on which 
individuals (other than individuals liable
for induction by 
reason of prior deferment) are no longer liable for induction

for training and service into the Armed Forces under the 
Universal Military
Training and Service Act, and beginning 
January 1, 1961 and ending May
7, 1975 and of any veterans who 
are persons with a total and permanent disability as a result 
of a service-connected disability (or who died
while a 
disability so evaluated was in existence); which children are 
attending
or may attend a state or private educational 
institution of elementary or high school
grade or a business 
college, vocational training
school, or other educational 
institution in this State where courses of
instruction are 
provided in subjects which would tend to enable such
children 
to engage in any useful trade, occupation or profession. As

used in this Act "service-connected" means, with respect to 
disability
or death, that such disability was incurred or 
aggravated, or that the
death resulted from a disability 
incurred or aggravated, in the
performance of active duty or 
active duty for training in the military
services. Such 
children shall
be admitted to state educational institutions 
free of tuition. No more
than $250.00 may be paid under this 
Act for any one child for any one
school year.

(Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)

 



    (330 ILCS 105/2)  (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 27)



    Sec. 2. 
The amounts that become due to any educational or 
training
institution, or any child under this Act, not in 
excess of the amount
specified in Section 1 of this Act, shall 
be payable to such institution
or school or child or, if such 
child is a minor, to the eligible veteran or serviceperson his 
parent or guardian
on vouchers approved by the Illinois 
Department of Veterans' Affairs. The Illinois Department of 
Veterans' Affairs shall adopt rules on how to render payments 
to eligible minor children of deceased veterans or 
servicepersons. The
Such Department
shall determine the 
eligibility of the children who make application for
the 
benefits provided for in this Act; and satisfy itself of the 
attendance of
such children at any such institution or school 
and of the accuracy and
reasonableness of the charge or 
charges submitted, on account of the
attendance thereat of any 
such children. 

(Source: P.A. 85-1440.)

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