SB3739 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 17275 WGH 62476 b

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
SB3739

Introduced 2/10/2012, by Sen. Sue Rezin

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

820 ILCS 405/1512 new
820 ILCS 405/2100	from Ch. 48, par. 660

Amends the Unemployment Insurance Act. Provides that, for an annual administrative fee not to exceed $5, an employer may pay its quarterly contributions due for wages paid in the first 3 quarters of 2013, 2014, and 2015 in specified equal installments. Contains provisions regarding: collection and deposit of the annual administrative fee; interest; and penalties. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning employment.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by adding Section 1512 and by changing Section 2100 as follows:

(820 ILCS 405/1512 new)

Sec. 1512. Payments for 2013, 2014, and 2015 contributions. For an annual administrative fee not to exceed $5, an employer may pay its quarterly contributions due for wages paid in the first 3 quarters of 2013, 2014, and 2015 in equal installments if those contributions are paid as follows:

1. For contributions due for wages paid in the first quarter of each year, one-fourth of the contributions due must be paid on or before April 30, one-fourth must be paid on or before July 31, one-fourth must be paid on or before October 31, and one-fourth must be paid on or before December 31.

2. In addition to the payments specified in paragraph 1, for contributions due for wages paid in the second quarter of each year, one-third of the contributions due must be paid on or before July 31, one-third must be paid on or before October 31, and one-third must be paid on or before December 31.

3. In addition to the payments specified in paragraphs 1 and 2, for contributions due for wages paid in the third quarter of each year, one-half of the contributions due must be paid on or before October 31, and one-half must be paid on or before December 31.

4. The annual administrative fee assessed for electing to pay under the installment method shall be collected at the time the employer makes the first installment payment each year. The fee shall be segregated from the payment and deposited as provided in Section 2100.

5. Interest does not accrue on any contribution that becomes due for wages paid in the first 3 quarters of each year if the employer pays the contribution in accordance with paragraphs 1 through 4. Interest and fees continue to accrue on prior delinquent contributions and commence accruing on all contributions due for wages paid in the first 3 quarters of each year which are not paid in accordance with paragraphs 1 through 3. Penalties may be assessed in accordance with this Act. The contributions due for wages paid in the fourth quarter of 2013, 2014, and 2015 are not affected by this paragraph and are due and payable in accordance with this Act.

(820 ILCS 405/2100) (from Ch. 48, par. 660)

Sec. 2100. Handling of funds - Bond - Accounts.

A. All contributions and payments in lieu of contributions collected under this Act, including but not limited to fund building receipts and receipts attributable to the surcharge established pursuant to Section 1506.5, together with any interest thereon; all penalties collected pursuant to this Act; any property or securities acquired through the use thereof; all moneys advanced to this State's account in the unemployment trust fund pursuant to the provisions of Title XII of the Social Security Act, as amended; all moneys directed for transfer from the Master Bond Fund or the Title XII Interest Fund to this State's account in the unemployment trust fund; all moneys received from the Federal government as reimbursements pursuant to Section 204 of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970, as amended; all moneys credited to this State's account in the unemployment trust fund pursuant to Section 903 of the Federal Social Security Act, as amended; all administrative fees collected from individuals pursuant to Section 900 or from employing units pursuant to Section 1512 or 2206.1; and all earnings of such property or securities and any interest earned upon any such moneys shall be paid or turned over to and held by the Director, as ex-officio custodian of the clearing account, the unemployment trust fund account and the benefit account, and by the State Treasurer, as ex-officio custodian of the special administrative account, separate and apart from all public moneys or funds of this State, as hereinafter provided. Such moneys shall be administered by the Director exclusively for the purposes of this Act.

No such moneys shall be paid or expended except upon the direction of the Director in accordance with such regulations as he shall prescribe pursuant to the provisions of this Act.

The State Treasurer shall be liable on his general official bond for the faithful performance of his duties in connection with the moneys in the special administrative account provided for under this Act. Such liability on his official bond shall exist in addition to the liability upon any separate bond given by him. All sums recovered for losses sustained by the account shall be deposited in that account.

The Director shall be liable on his general official bond for the faithful performance of his duties in connection with the moneys in the clearing account, the benefit account and unemployment trust fund account provided for under this Act. Such liability on his official bond shall exist in addition to the liability upon any separate bond given by him. All sums recovered for losses sustained by any one of the accounts shall be deposited in the account that sustained such loss.

The Treasurer shall maintain for such moneys a special administrative account. The Director shall maintain for such moneys 3 separate accounts: a clearing account, a benefit account and an unemployment trust fund account. All moneys payable under this Act (except moneys requisitioned from this State's account in the unemployment trust fund and deposited in the benefit account and moneys directed for deposit into the Special Programs Fund provided for under Section 2107), including but not limited to moneys directed for transfer from the Master Bond Fund or the Title XII Interest Fund to this State's account in the unemployment trust fund, upon receipt thereof by the Director, shall be immediately deposited in the clearing account; provided, however, that, except as is otherwise provided in this Section, interest and penalties shall not be deemed a part of the clearing account but shall be transferred immediately upon clearance thereof to the special administrative account; further provided that an amount not to exceed $90,000,000 in payments attributable to the surcharge established pursuant to Section 1506.5, including any interest thereon, shall not be deemed a part of the clearing account but shall be transferred immediately upon clearance thereof to the Title XII Interest Fund.

After clearance thereof, all other moneys in the clearing account shall be immediately deposited by the Director with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America to the credit of the account of this State in the unemployment trust fund, established and maintained pursuant to the Federal Social Security Act, as amended, except fund building receipts, which shall be deposited into the Master Bond Fund. The benefit account shall consist of all moneys requisitioned from this State's account in the unemployment trust fund. The moneys in the benefit account shall be expended in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Director and solely for the payment of benefits, refunds of contributions, interest and penalties under the provisions of the Act, the payment of health insurance in accordance with Section 410 of this Act, and the transfer or payment of funds to any Federal or State agency pursuant to reciprocal arrangements entered into by the Director under the provisions of Section 2700E, except that moneys credited to this State's account in the unemployment trust fund pursuant to Section 903 of the Federal Social Security Act, as amended, shall be used exclusively as provided in subsection B. For purposes of this Section only, to the extent allowed by applicable legal requirements, the payment of benefits includes but is not limited to the payment of principal on any bonds issued pursuant to the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund Financing Act, exclusive of any interest or administrative expenses in connection with the bonds. The Director shall, from time to time, requisition from the unemployment trust fund such amounts, not exceeding the amounts standing to the State's account therein, as he deems necessary solely for the payment of such benefits, refunds, and funds, for a reasonable future period. The Director, as ex-officio custodian of the benefit account, which shall be kept separate and apart from all other public moneys, shall issue payment of such benefits, refunds, health insurance and funds solely from the moneys so received into the benefit account. However, after January 1, 1987, no payment shall be drawn on such benefit account unless at the time of drawing there is sufficient money in the account to make the payment. The Director shall retain in the clearing account an amount of interest and penalties equal to the amount of interest and penalties to be refunded from the benefit account. After clearance thereof, the amount so retained shall be immediately deposited by the Director, as are all other moneys in the clearing account, with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. If, at any time, an insufficient amount of interest and penalties is available for retention in the clearing account, no refund of interest or penalties shall be made from the benefit account until a sufficient amount is available for retention and is so retained, or until the State Treasurer, upon the direction of the Director, transfers to the Director a sufficient amount from the special administrative account, for immediate deposit in the benefit account.

Any balance of moneys requisitioned from the unemployment trust fund which remains unclaimed or unpaid in the benefit account after the expiration of the period for which such sums were requisitioned shall either be deducted from estimates of and may be utilized for authorized expenditures during succeeding periods, or, in the discretion of the Director, shall be redeposited with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the State's account in the unemployment trust fund.

Moneys in the clearing, benefit and special administrative accounts shall not be commingled with other State funds but they shall be deposited as required by law and maintained in separate accounts on the books of a savings and loan association or bank.

No bank or savings and loan association shall receive public funds as permitted by this Section, unless it has complied with the requirements established pursuant to Section 6 of "An Act relating to certain investments of public funds by public agencies", approved July 23, 1943, as now or hereafter amended.

B. Moneys credited to the account of this State in the unemployment trust fund by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States pursuant to Section 903 of the Social Security Act may be requisitioned from this State's account and used as authorized by Section 903. Any interest required to be paid on advances under Title XII of the Social Security Act shall be paid in a timely manner and shall not be paid, directly or indirectly, by an equivalent reduction in contributions or payments in lieu of contributions from amounts in this State's account in the unemployment trust fund. Such moneys may be requisitioned and used for the payment of expenses incurred for the administration of this Act, but only pursuant to a specific appropriation by the General Assembly and only if the expenses are incurred and the moneys are requisitioned after the enactment of an appropriation law which:

1. Specifies the purpose or purposes for which such moneys are appropriated and the amount or amounts appropriated therefor;

2. Limits the period within which such moneys may be obligated to a period ending not more than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the appropriation law; and

3. Limits the amount which may be obligated during any fiscal year to an amount which does not exceed the amount by which (a) the aggregate of the amounts transferred to the account of this State pursuant to Section 903 of the Social Security Act exceeds (b) the aggregate of the amounts used by this State pursuant to this Act and charged against the amounts transferred to the account of this State.

For purposes of paragraph (3) above, amounts obligated for administrative purposes pursuant to an appropriation shall be chargeable against transferred amounts at the exact time the obligation is entered into. The appropriation, obligation, and expenditure or other disposition of money appropriated under this subsection shall be accounted for in accordance with standards established by the United States Secretary of Labor.

Moneys appropriated as provided herein for the payment of expenses of administration shall be requisitioned by the Director as needed for the payment of obligations incurred under such appropriation. Upon requisition, such moneys shall be deposited with the State Treasurer, who shall hold such moneys, as ex-officio custodian thereof, in accordance with the requirements of Section 2103 and, upon the direction of the Director, shall make payments therefrom pursuant to such appropriation. Moneys so deposited shall, until expended, remain a part of the unemployment trust fund and, if any will not be expended, shall be returned promptly to the account of this State in the unemployment trust fund.

C. The Governor is authorized to apply to the United States Secretary of Labor for an advance or advances to this State's account in the unemployment trust fund pursuant to the conditions set forth in Title XII of the Federal Social Security Act, as amended. The amount of any such advance may be repaid from this State's account in the unemployment trust fund.

D. The Director shall annually on or before the first day of March report in writing to the Employment Security Advisory Board concerning the deposits into and expenditures from this State's account in the Unemployment Trust Fund.

(Source: P.A. 97-1, eff. 3-31-11; 97-621, eff. 11-18-11.)

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