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91_HB1959
LRB9104081WHpr
1 AN ACT regarding certain contracts for the delivery of
2 human services.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
6 Human Services Delivery Neutrality Agreement Act.
7 Section 5. Legislative findings and declaration of
8 policy.
9 (a) The purpose of this Act is to set forth a program
10 to better provide human services to needy citizens of the
11 State of Illinois. The State of Illinois contracts with or
12 provides grants to private entities (contractors and
13 grantees) for the purpose of providing residential and day
14 treatment services to the mentally ill and developmentally
15 disabled. The State of Illinois enters into these contracts
16 and provides these grants to best provide the human services
17 necessary for the care and development of its neediest
18 citizens.
19 (b) The General Assembly finds that the needs of its
20 mentally ill and developmentally disabled citizens cannot be
21 met if the services provided to them through contracts or
22 grant agreements between the State of Illinois and
23 contractors and grantees are subject to disruption. The
24 General Assembly further finds that the likelihood of service
25 disruption is enhanced when contention arises between
26 contractors and grantees and labor organizations seeking to
27 represent the employees of those entities. The General
28 Assembly finds that contractors and grantees that seek to
29 influence their employees with respect to the decision of
30 those employees to be or not to be represented by a labor
31 organization, that is contractors and grantees who fail to
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1 remain neutral during periods when labor organizations are
2 seeking to become the representative of their employees, are
3 most likely to be subject to strikes, work stoppages, or work
4 disruptions by their employees. These strikes, work
5 stoppages, or work disruptions have a detrimental effect on
6 the services being provided to Illinois citizens who are
7 mentally ill or developmentally disabled.
8 (c) It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State
9 of Illinois that, to prevent the disruption of residential
10 and day treatment services to its mentally ill and
11 developmentally disabled citizens, the State of Illinois
12 shall require as a condition of any contract or grant that
13 the contractor or grantee remain neutral, as set forth in
14 this Act, when a labor organization seeks to become the
15 representative of their employees with respect to the
16 decision of those employees to be represented or not to be
17 represented by the labor organization.
18 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
19 "Contractor or grantee" means an individual or entity
20 other than the State of Illinois, a State agency, or a
21 political subdivision of the State of Illinois, which has a
22 contractual or other relationship with or has received moneys
23 from the State of Illinois or a State agency to provide
24 residential or day treatment services to mentally ill or
25 developmentally disabled persons, which contract or grant is
26 funded in whole or in part by the State of Illinois, or
27 through the Medicaid program of the State of Illinois.
28 "Contractor" includes a subcontractor and a contractor of a
29 grantee. "Grantee" includes a sub-grantee and a grantee of a
30 contractor.
31 "Employee" means a person employed by a contractor or
32 grantee other than a person employed in a bona fide
33 supervisory or managerial position as defined by applicable
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1 law.
2 "Labor organization" means an organization of any kind in
3 which employees participate and which exists for the purpose,
4 in whole or in part, of representing employees concerning
5 grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, benefits,
6 hours of employment, or working conditions.
7 "Neutrality agreement" means an agreement by a contractor
8 or grantee not to participate in or request or otherwise seek
9 to influence, either in writing or orally, the decision of
10 its employees, or any of them, to be represented or not to
11 be represented by a labor organization. Under a neutrality
12 agreement, a contractor or grantee is prohibited from (i)
13 coercing or intimidating its employees, explicitly or
14 implicitly, in selecting or not selecting representation by a
15 labor organization and (ii) permitting, requesting, or
16 seeking to have any other person participate in or seek to
17 influence the decision of its employees to be represented or
18 not to he represented by a labor organization.
19 Section 15. Policy requirements.
20 (a) All contractors and grantees shall be subject to and
21 shall abide by a neutrality agreement.
22 (b) No contractor or grantee shall receive a contract or
23 grant to provide residential or day treatment services for
24 the mentally ill or developmentally disabled citizens of the
25 State of Illinois unless the contractor or grantee has agreed
26 to a neutrality agreement.
27 (c) Any contract entered into by and between a
28 contractor and the State of Illinois or a State agency to
29 provide residential or day treatment services to the mentally
30 ill or developmentally disabled shall include a neutrality
31 agreement and an agreement by the contractor to comply with
32 the terms of the neutrality agreement.
33 (d) Any grant agreement entered into by and between a
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1 grantee and the State of Illinois or a State agency to
2 provide residential or day treatment services to the mentally
3 ill or developmentally disabled shall include a neutrality
4 agreement and an agreement by the grantee to comply with the
5 terms of the neutrality agreement.
6 (e) Any contractor or grantee entering into a contract
7 with any person or entity to provide any of the services
8 subject to the contract or grant agreement between the
9 contractor or grantee and the State of Illinois or a State
10 agency shall include in the contract or grant agreement a
11 neutrality agreement identical to the neutrality agreement in
12 the contract or grant agreement between the contractor or
13 grantee and the State of Illinois or State agency.
14 Section 20. Enforcement.
15 (a) If a contractor or grantee breaches a neutrality
16 agreement, the State of Illinois may take any action
17 necessary to enforce compliance, including but not limited to
18 a civil action for injunctive relief, declaratory relief,
19 specific performance, or damages or a combination of those
20 remedies.
21 (b) If the State of Illinois brings an enforcement
22 action for violation of this Act, any person or labor
23 organization with a direct interest in compliance with this
24 Act may join in that enforcement action as a real party in
25 interest.
26 (c) If the State of Illinois declines to institute an
27 action for enforcement for violation of this Act, any person
28 or labor organization with a direct interest in compliance
29 with this Act may institute and enforce a civil action on his
30 or her or its own behalf and on behalf of the State of
31 Illinois against the contractor or grantee and seek
32 injunctive relief, declaratory relief, specific performance,
33 or damages or a combination of those remedies.
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1 (d) Remedies for violation of this Act include but are
2 not limited to injunctive and declaratory relief, specific
3 performance, and monetary damages. In view of the difficulty
4 of determining actual damages incurred because of a violation
5 of this Act, liquidated damages shall be awarded at the rate
6 of $1,000 for each violation plus an additional $500 for each
7 day the violation continues without remedy. Damages shall be
8 distributed equally between the State of Illinois and the
9 private plaintiffs, if any.
10 Section 90. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
11 severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
12 Section 99. Effective Date. This Act takes effect upon
13 becoming law.