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| Public Act 097-1005 | ||||
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AN ACT concerning government.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Voluntary Payroll Deductions Act of 1983 is | ||||
amended by changing Section 3 as follows:
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(5 ILCS 340/3) (from Ch. 15, par. 503)
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Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act unless the context | ||||
otherwise
requires:
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(a) "Employee" means any regular officer or employee who | ||||
receives salary
or wages for personal services rendered to the | ||||
State of Illinois, and
includes an individual hired as an | ||||
employee by contract with that individual.
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(b) "Qualified organization" means an organization | ||||
representing one or
more benefiting agencies, which | ||||
organization is designated by the State
Comptroller as | ||||
qualified to receive payroll deductions under this Act.
An | ||||
organization desiring to be designated as a qualified | ||||
organization shall:
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(1) Submit written or electronic designations on forms | ||||
approved by the State Comptroller
by 500 4,000 or more | ||||
employees or State annuitants, in which such employees
or | ||||
State annuitants indicate that the organization is one for | ||||
which the
employee or State annuitant intends to authorize | ||||
withholding. The forms
shall require the name, last 4 | ||
digits only of the social security number,
and employing | ||
State agency
for
each employee. Upon notification by the | ||
Comptroller that such forms have been
approved, the | ||
organization shall, within 30 days, notify in writing the
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Governor or his or her designee of its intention to obtain | ||
the required
number of designations. Such organization | ||
shall have 12 months from that
date to obtain the necessary
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designations and return to the State Comptroller's office | ||
the completed
designations, which shall
be subject to | ||
verification procedures established by the State | ||
Comptroller;
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(2) Certify that all benefiting agencies are tax exempt | ||
under Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;
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(3) Certify that all benefiting agencies are in | ||
compliance with the
Illinois Human Rights Act;
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(4) Certify that all benefiting agencies are in | ||
compliance with
the Charitable Trust Act and the | ||
Solicitation for Charity Act;
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(5) Certify that all benefiting agencies actively | ||
conduct health or
welfare programs and provide services to | ||
individuals directed at one or
more of the following common | ||
human needs within a community: service,
research, and | ||
education in the health fields; family and child care
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services; protective services for children and adults; | ||
services for
children and adults in foster care; services | ||
related to the management and
maintenance of the home; day | ||
care services for adults; transportation
services; | ||
information, referral and counseling services; services to
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eliminate illiteracy; the preparation and delivery of | ||
meals; adoption
services; emergency shelter care and | ||
relief services; disaster relief services;
safety | ||
services; neighborhood and community organization | ||
services; recreation
services; social adjustment and | ||
rehabilitation services; health support
services; or a | ||
combination of such services designed to meet the special
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needs of specific groups, such as children and youth, the | ||
ill and infirm,
and the physically handicapped; and that | ||
all such benefiting agencies
provide the above described | ||
services to individuals and their families
in the community | ||
and surrounding area in which the organization conducts
its | ||
fund drive, or that such benefiting agencies provide relief | ||
to victims
of natural disasters and other emergencies on a | ||
where and as needed basis;
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(6) Certify that the organization has disclosed the | ||
percentage of
the organization's total collected receipts | ||
from employees or State
annuitants that are distributed to | ||
the benefiting agencies and the
percentage of the | ||
organization's total collected receipts from employees
or | ||
State annuitants that are expended
for fund-raising and | ||
overhead costs. These percentages shall be the same
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percentage figures annually disclosed by the organization | ||
to the Attorney
General. The disclosure shall be made to | ||
all solicited employees and State
annuitants and shall
be | ||
in the form of a factual statement on all petitions and in | ||
the campaign's
brochures for employees and State | ||
annuitants;
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(7) Certify that all benefiting agencies receiving | ||
funds which the
employee or State annuitant has requested | ||
or designated for distribution
to a particular community | ||
and surrounding area use a majority of such funds
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distributed for services in the actual provision of | ||
services in that community
and surrounding area;
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(8) Certify that neither it nor its member | ||
organizations will solicit
State employees for | ||
contributions at their workplace, except pursuant to
this | ||
Act and the rules promulgated thereunder. Each qualified
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organization, and each participating United Fund, is | ||
encouraged
to cooperate with all others and with all State | ||
agencies
and educational institutions so as to simplify | ||
procedures, to resolve
differences and to minimize costs;
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(9) Certify that it will pay its share of the campaign | ||
costs and will
comply with the Code of Campaign Conduct as | ||
approved by the Governor or other
agency as designated by | ||
the Governor; and
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(10) Certify that it maintains a year-round office, the | ||
telephone number,
and person responsible for the | ||
operations of the organization in Illinois.
That | ||
information shall be provided to the State Comptroller at | ||
the time the
organization is seeking participation under | ||
this Act.
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Each qualified organization shall submit to the State | ||
Comptroller between
January 1 and March 1 of each year, a | ||
statement that the organization is in
compliance with all of | ||
the requirements set forth in paragraphs (2) through
(10). The | ||
State Comptroller shall exclude any organization that fails to
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submit the statement from the next solicitation period.
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In order to be designated as a qualified organization, the | ||
organization shall
have existed at least 2 years prior to | ||
submitting the written or electronic designation forms
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required in paragraph (1) and shall certify to the State | ||
Comptroller that such
organization has been providing services | ||
described in paragraph (5) in
Illinois. If the organization | ||
seeking designation represents more than one
benefiting | ||
agency, it need not have existed for 2 years but shall certify | ||
to
the State Comptroller that each of its benefiting agencies | ||
has existed for at
least 2 years prior to submitting the | ||
written or electronic designation forms required in
paragraph | ||
(1) and that each has been providing services described in | ||
paragraph
(5) in Illinois.
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Organizations which have met the requirements of this Act | ||
shall be
permitted to participate in the State and Universities | ||
Combined Appeal as
of January 1st of the year immediately | ||
following their approval by the
Comptroller.
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Where the certifications described in paragraphs (2), (3), | ||
(4),
(5), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (10) above are made by an | ||
organization
representing more than
one benefiting agency they | ||
shall be based upon the knowledge and belief of
such qualified | ||
organization. Any qualified organization shall immediately
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notify the State Comptroller in writing if the qualified | ||
organization
receives information or otherwise believes that a | ||
benefiting agency is no
longer in compliance with the | ||
certification of the qualified organization.
A qualified | ||
organization representing more than one benefiting agency | ||
shall
thereafter withhold and refrain from distributing to such | ||
benefiting agency
those funds received pursuant to this Act | ||
until the benefiting agency is
again in compliance with the | ||
qualified organization's certification. The
qualified | ||
organization shall immediately notify the State Comptroller of
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the benefiting agency's resumed compliance with the | ||
certification, based
upon the qualified organization's | ||
knowledge and belief, and shall pay over
to the benefiting | ||
agency those funds previously withheld.
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In order to qualify, a qualified organization must receive | ||
250 deduction pledges from the immediately preceding | ||
solicitation period as set forth in Section 6. The Comptroller | ||
shall, by February 1st of each year, so notify any
qualified | ||
organization that failed to receive the minimum deduction | ||
requirement. The notification shall give such qualified
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organization until March 1st to provide the Comptroller with | ||
documentation
that the minimum deduction requirement has been | ||
met. On the basis of all the
documentation, the Comptroller | ||
shall, by March 15th of each year, submit to
the Governor or | ||
his or her designee, or such other agency as may be
determined | ||
by the Governor, a list of all organizations which have met the | ||
minimum
payroll deduction requirement. Only those | ||
organizations which have met such
requirements, as well as the | ||
other requirements of this Section, shall be
permitted to | ||
solicit State employees or State annuitants for voluntary
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contributions, and the Comptroller shall discontinue | ||
withholding for any
such organization which fails to meet these | ||
requirements, except qualified organizations that received | ||
deduction pledges during the 2004 solicitation period are | ||
deemed to be qualified for the 2005 solicitation period.
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(c) "United Fund" means the organization conducting the | ||
single, annual,
consolidated effort to secure funds for | ||
distribution to agencies engaged
in charitable and public | ||
health, welfare and services purposes, which is
commonly known | ||
as the United Fund, or the organization which serves in place
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of the United Fund organization in communities where an | ||
organization known
as the United Fund is not organized.
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In order for a United Fund to participate in the State and | ||
Universities
Employees Combined Appeal, it shall comply with | ||
the provisions of paragraph (9)
of subsection (b).
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(d) "State and Universities Employees Combined Appeal",
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otherwise known as "SECA", means the State-directed joint | ||
effort of all of the
qualified organizations, together with the | ||
United Funds, for the solicitation
of voluntary contributions | ||
from State and University employees and State
annuitants.
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(e) "Retirement system" means any or all of the following: | ||
the General
Assembly Retirement System, the State Employees' | ||
Retirement System of Illinois,
the State Universities | ||
Retirement System, the Teachers' Retirement System of
the State | ||
of Illinois, and the Judges Retirement System.
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(f) "State annuitant" means a person receiving an annuity | ||
or disability
benefit under Article 2, 14, 15, 16, or 18 of the | ||
Illinois Pension Code.
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(Source: P.A. 94-537, eff. 8-10-05.)
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