Public Act 096-0923
 		





HB5956 Enrolled
LRB096 20692 RLC 36413 b





  
    AN ACT concerning employment.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 5. The Line of Duty Compensation Act is amended  by 
changing Sections 3 and 4 as follows:
 



    (820 ILCS 315/3)
  (from Ch. 48, par. 283)



    Sec. 3. Duty death benefit. 
    (a) If a claim therefor is made within one
year of the date 
of death of a law enforcement officer, civil
defense worker, 
civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or
State 
employee killed in the line of duty,
or if a claim therefor is 
made within 2 years of the date of death of an Armed Forces 
member killed in the line of duty, compensation shall be paid 
to the person designated by the law
enforcement officer, civil 
defense worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic,
fireman, 
chaplain, State employee, or Armed Forces member. However, if 
the Armed Forces member was killed in the line of duty before

October 18, 2004, the
claim must be made within one year of 
October 18, 2004.

    (b)
The amount of compensation, except for an Armed Forces 
member, shall be $10,000 if the death in the
line of duty 
occurred prior to January 1, 1974; $20,000 if
such death 
occurred after December 31, 1973 and before July 1, 1983;

$50,000 if such death occurred on or after July 1, 1983 and 
before January 1,
1996; $100,000 if the death occurred on or 
after January 1, 1996 and
before May 18, 2001; $118,000 if the 
death occurred on or after May
18, 2001 and before July 1, 
2002; and $259,038 if the death occurred on or after July 1, 
2002 and before January
1, 2003. For an Armed Forces member 
killed in the line of duty (i) at any time before January 1, 
2005, the compensation is $259,038 plus amounts equal to the 
increases for 2003 and 2004 determined under subsection (c) and 
(ii) on or after January 1, 2005, the compensation is the 
amount determined under item (i) plus the applicable increases 
for 2005 and thereafter determined under subsection (c).

    (c) Except as provided in subsection (b), for deaths 
occurring on or after January 1, 2003, the death
compensation 
rate for death in the line of duty occurring in a particular

calendar year shall be the death compensation rate for death 
occurring in the
previous calendar year (or in the case of 
deaths occurring in 2003, the rate
in effect on December 31, 
2002) increased by a percentage thereof equal to
the percentage 
increase, if any, in the index known as the Consumer Price

Index for All Urban Consumers: U.S. city average, unadjusted, 
for all items,
as published by the United States Department of 
Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, for the 12 months ending 
with the month of June of that previous
calendar year.

    (d) If no beneficiary is designated or if no designated 
beneficiary survives at the death of the law
enforcement 
officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,

paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee
killed in the 
line of
duty, the compensation shall be paid in accordance with 
a legally binding will left by the law
enforcement officer, 
civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,
paramedic, 
fireman, chaplain, or State employee. If the law
enforcement 
officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,

paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee did not leave  a 
legally binding will, the compensation shall be paid as 
follows:


        (1) when there is a surviving spouse, the entire sum 
    shall be paid to
the spouse;


        (2) when there is no surviving spouse, but a surviving 
    descendant of the
decedent, the entire sum shall be paid to 
    the decedent's descendants per
stirpes;


        (3) when there is neither a surviving spouse nor a 
    surviving descendant,
the entire sum shall be paid to the 
    parents of the decedent in equal parts,
allowing to the 
    surviving parent, if one is dead, the entire sum; and


        (4) when there is no surviving spouse, descendant or 
    parent of the
decedent, but there are surviving brothers or 
    sisters, or descendants of a
brother or sister, who were 
    receiving their principal support from the
decedent at his 
    death, the entire sum shall be paid, in equal parts, to the

    dependent brothers or sisters or dependent descendant of a 
    brother or
sister.  Dependency shall be determined by the 
    Court of Claims based upon
the investigation and report of 
    the Attorney General.

The changes made to this  subsection (d) by this amendatory Act 
of the 94th General Assembly apply to any pending case as long 
as  compensation has not been paid to any party before the 
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General 
Assembly.

    (d-1) For purposes of subsection (d), in the case  of a 
person killed in the line of duty who was born out of wedlock 
and was not an adoptive child at the time of the person's 
death, a person shall be deemed to be a parent of the person 
killed in the line of duty only if that person would be an 
eligible parent, as defined in Section 2-2 of the Probate Act 
of 1975, of the person killed in the line of duty. This 
subsection (d-1) applies to any pending claim if  compensation 
was not paid to the claimant of the pending claim before the 
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General 
Assembly.

    (d-2) If no beneficiary is designated or if no designated 
beneficiary survives at the death of the Armed Forces member 
killed in the line of duty, the compensation shall be paid in 
entirety according to the designation made on the most recent 
version of the Armed Forces member's Servicemembers' Group Life 
Insurance Election and Certificate ("SGLI").
    If no SGLI form exists at the time of the Armed Forces 
member's death, the compensation shall be paid in accordance 
with a legally binding will left by the Armed Forces member.
    If no SGLI form exists for the Armed Forces member and the 
Armed Forces member did not leave  a legally binding will, the 
compensation shall be paid to the persons and in the  priority 
as set forth in  paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (d) of 
this Section.
    This subsection (d-2) applies to any pending case as long 
as  compensation has not been paid to any party before the 
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General 
Assembly.

    (e) If there is no beneficiary designated or if no 
designated beneficiary survives at the death of the
law 
enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol 
member,
paramedic, fireman, chaplain, State employee, or Armed 
Forces member
killed in the line of duty
and there is no other 
person or entity to whom compensation is payable under this 
Section, no compensation shall be payable
under this Act.

    (f) No part of such compensation may be paid to any other 
person for any
efforts in securing such compensation.

    (g) This amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly 
applies to claims made on or after October 18, 2004 with 
respect to an Armed Forces member killed in the line of duty.

    (h) In any case for which benefits have not been paid 
within 6 months of the claim being filed in accordance with 
this Section, which is pending as of the effective date of this 
amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, and in which there 
are 2 or more beneficiaries, at least one of whom would receive 
at least a portion of the total benefit regardless of the 
manner in which the Court of Claims resolves the claim, the 
Court shall direct the Comptroller to pay the minimum amount of 
money which the determinate beneficiary would receive together 
with all interest payment penalties which have accrued on that 
portion of the award being paid within 30 days of the effective 
date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly.  For 
purposes of this subsection (h), "determinate beneficiary" 
means the beneficiary who would receive any portion of the 
total benefit claimed regardless of the manner in which the 
Court of Claims adjudicates the claim.
    (i)  The Court of Claims shall ensure that all individuals 
who have filed an application to claim the duty death benefit 
for a deceased member of the Armed Forces pursuant to this 
Section or for a fireman pursuant to this Section, or their 
designated representative, shall have access, on a timely basis 
and in an efficient manner, to all information related to the 
court's consideration, processing, or adjudication of the 
claim, including, but not limited to, the following:
        (1) a reliable estimate of when the Court of Claims 
    will adjudicate the claim, or if the Court cannot estimate 
    when it will adjudicate the claim, a full written 
    explanation of the reasons for this inability; and
        (2) a reliable estimate, based upon consultation with 
    the Comptroller, of when the benefit will be paid to the 
    claimant.
    (j)   The Court of Claims shall send written notice to all 
claimants within 2 weeks of the initiation of a claim 
indicating whether or not the application is complete.  For 
purposes of this subsection (j), an application is complete if 
a claimant has submitted to the Court of Claims all documents 
and information the Court requires for adjudicating and paying 
the benefit amount.  For purposes of this subsection (j), a 
claim for the duty death benefit is initiated when a claimant 
submits any of the application materials required for 
adjudicating the claim to the Court of Claims.  In the event a 
claimant's application is incomplete, the Court shall include 
in its written notice a list of the information or documents 
which the claimant must submit in order for the application to 
be complete.


In no case may the Court of Claims deny a claim 
and subsequently re-adjudicate the same claim for the purpose 
of evading or reducing the interest penalty payment amount 
payable to any claimant. 
(Source: P.A. 95-928, eff. 8-26-08; 96-539, eff. 1-1-10.)

 



    (820 ILCS 315/4)
  (from Ch. 48, par. 284)


    Sec. 4. Notwithstanding
Section 3, no compensation is 
payable under this Act
unless a claim therefor is filed, within 
the time specified by that
Section with the Court of Claims on 
an application prescribed and
furnished by the Attorney General 
and setting forth:

        (a) the name, address and title or designation of the 
    position in which
the officer, civil defense worker, civil 
    air patrol member, paramedic,
fireman, chaplain, State 
    employee, or Armed Forces member was
serving at
the time of 
    his death;

        (b) the names and addresses of person or persons 
    designated by the
officer, civil defense worker, civil air 
    patrol member, paramedic, fireman,
chaplain,
 State 
    employee, or Armed Forces member
to receive the 
    compensation and,
if more than one, the percentage or share 
    to be paid to each such person,
or if there has been no

    such designation, the name and address of the personal 
    representative of
the estate of the officer, civil defense 
    worker, civil air patrol member,
paramedic, fireman, 
    chaplain, State employee, or Armed Forces
member;

        (c) a full, factual account of the circumstances 
    resulting in or the
course of events causing the death of 
    the officer, civil defense worker,
civil air patrol member, 
    paramedic, fireman, chaplain, State employee,
or Armed 
    Forces member;
and

        (d) such other information as the Court of Claims 
    reasonably requires.

    When a claim is filed, the Attorney General shall make an 
investigation
for substantiation of matters set forth in such 
an application.  

    For the 2 years immediately following the effective date of 
this amendatory act of the 96th General Assembly, the Court of 
Claims shall direct the Comptroller to pay a 
"Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit" to eligible late 
claimants who file a claim for the benefit.  A claim for a 
Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit must include all the 
application materials and documents required for all other 
claims payable under this Act, except as otherwise provided in 
this Section 4.

For purposes of this Section 4 only, an 
"eligible late claimant" is a person who would have been 
eligible, at any time after September 11, 2001, to apply for 
and receive payment of a claim pursuant to this Act in 
connection with the death of an Armed Forces member killed in 
the line of duty or a fireman killed in the line of duty, but 
did not receive the award payment because:
        (1) the claim was rejected only because the claim was 
    not filed within the time limitation set forth in 
    subsection (a) of Section 3 of this Act; or
        (2) having met all other preconditions for applying for 
    and receiving the award payment, the claimant did not file 
    a claim because the claim would not have been filed within 
    the time limitation set forth in subsection (a) of Section 
    3 of this Act.
For purposes of this Section 4 only, the 
    "Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit" is an amount of 
    money payable to eligible late claimants equal to the 
    amount set forth in Section 3 of this Act payable to 
    claimants seeking payment of awards under Section 3 of this 
    Act for claims made thereunder in the year in which the 
    claim for the Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit is 
    made.

Within 6 months of receiving a complete claim for the 
    Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit, the Court of 
    Claims must direct the Comptroller to pay the benefit 
    amount to the eligible late claimant. 
(Source: P.A. 96-539, eff. 1-1-10.)