SB0266 EnrolledLRB100 05187 MJP 15197 b

1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Department of Veterans Affairs Act is
5amended by changing Sections 2g, 2.01, 2.03, and 2.04 and by
6adding Section 2.01b as follows:
 
7    (20 ILCS 2805/2g)
8    Sec. 2g. The Illinois Veterans' Homes Fund. The Illinois
9Veterans' Homes Fund is hereby created as a special fund in the
10State treasury. From appropriations to the Department from the
11Fund the Department shall purchase needed equipment and
12supplies to enhance the lives of the residents at and for to
13enhance the operations of veterans' homes in Illinois,
14including capital improvements, building rehabilitation, and
15repairs.
16(Source: P.A. 93-776, eff. 7-21-04.)
 
17    (20 ILCS 2805/2.01)  (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 67.01)
18    Sec. 2.01. Veterans Home admissions.
19    (a) Any honorably discharged veteran is entitled to
20admission to an Illinois Veterans Home if the applicant meets
21the requirements of this Section.
22    (b) The veteran must:

 

 

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1        (1) have served in the armed forces of the United
2    States at least 1 day in World War II, the Korean Conflict,
3    the Viet Nam Campaign, or the Persian Gulf Conflict between
4    the dates recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans
5    Affairs or between any other present or future dates
6    recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a
7    war period, or have served in a hostile fire environment
8    and has been awarded a campaign or expeditionary medal
9    signifying his or her service, for purposes of eligibility
10    for domiciliary or nursing home care;
11        (2) have served and been honorably discharged or
12    retired from the armed forces of the United States for a
13    service connected disability or injury, for purposes of
14    eligibility for domiciliary or nursing home care;
15        (3) have served as an enlisted person at least 90 days
16    on active duty in the armed forces of the United States,
17    excluding service on active duty for training purposes
18    only, and entered active duty before September 8, 1980, for
19    purposes of eligibility for domiciliary or nursing home
20    care;
21        (4) have served as an officer at least 90 days on
22    active duty in the armed forces of the United States,
23    excluding service on active duty for training purposes
24    only, and entered active duty before October 17, 1981, for
25    purposes of eligibility for domiciliary or nursing home
26    care;

 

 

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1        (5) have served on active duty in the armed forces of
2    the United States for 24 months of continuous service or
3    more, excluding active duty for training purposes only, and
4    enlisted after September 7, 1980, for purposes of
5    eligibility for domiciliary or nursing home care;
6        (6) have served as a reservist in the armed forces of
7    the United States or the National Guard and the service
8    included being called to federal active duty, excluding
9    service on active duty for training purposes only, and who
10    completed the term, for purposes of eligibility for
11    domiciliary or nursing home care;
12        (7) have been discharged for reasons of hardship or
13    released from active duty due to a reduction in the United
14    States armed forces prior to the completion of the required
15    period of service, regardless of the actual time served,
16    for purposes of eligibility for domiciliary or nursing home
17    care; or
18        (8) have served in the National Guard or Reserve Forces
19    of the United States and completed 20 years of satisfactory
20    service, be otherwise eligible to receive reserve or active
21    duty retirement benefits, and have been an Illinois
22    resident for at least one year before applying for
23    admission for purposes of eligibility for domiciliary care
24    only.
25    (c) The veteran must have service accredited to the State
26of Illinois or have been a resident of this State for one year

 

 

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1immediately preceding the date of application.
2    (d) For admission to the Illinois Veterans Homes at Anna
3and Quincy, the veteran must have developed a disability by
4disease, wounds, or otherwise and because of the disability be
5incapable of earning a living.
6    (e) For admission to the Illinois Veterans Homes at
7Chicago, LaSalle, and Manteno, the veteran must have developed
8a disability by disease, wounds, or otherwise and, for purposes
9of eligibility for nursing home care, require nursing care
10because of the disability.
11    (f) An individual who served during a time of conflict as
12set forth in paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of this Section
13has preference over all other qualifying candidates, for
14purposes of eligibility for domiciliary or nursing home care at
15any Illinois Veterans Home.
16    (g) A veteran or spouse, once admitted to an Illinois
17Veterans Home facility, is considered a resident for
18interfacility purposes.
19(Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15; 99-314, eff. 8-7-15;
2099-642, eff. 7-28-16.)
 
21    (20 ILCS 2805/2.01b new)
22    Sec. 2.01b. Illinois Veterans Home at Chicago. The
23Illinois Veterans Home at Chicago is established. The
24Department shall operate and maintain the Illinois Veterans
25Home at Chicago.
 

 

 

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1    (20 ILCS 2805/2.03)  (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 67.03)
2    Sec. 2.03. Admissions. Admissions to an Illinois Veterans
3Home are subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the
4Department of Veterans' Affairs to govern the admission of
5applicants.
6    Each resident of a Home is liable for the payment of sums
7representing maintenance charges for care at the Home at a rate
8to be determined by the Department, based on the resident's
9ability to pay. However, the charges shall not exceed the
10average annual per capita cost of maintaining the resident in
11the Home. The Department, upon being furnished proof of
12payment, shall in its discretion make allowances for unusual
13expenses in determining the ability of the resident to pay
14maintenance charges.
15    The basis upon which the payment of maintenance charges
16shall be calculated by the Department is the average per capita
17cost for the care of all residents at each Home for the fiscal
18year immediately preceding the period for which the rate for
19each Home is being calculated.
20    The Department may require residents to pay charges
21monthly, quarterly, or otherwise as may be most suitably
22arranged for the individual members. The amounts received from
23each Home for the charges shall be transmitted to the Treasurer
24of the State of Illinois for deposit in each Veterans Home
25Fund, respectively, except that receipts attributable to the

 

 

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1Illinois Veterans Home at Chicago shall be deposited into the
2Illinois Veterans' Homes Fund.
3    The Department may investigate the financial condition of
4residents of a Home to determine their ability to pay
5maintenance charges and to establish standards as a basis of
6judgment for such determination. Such standards shall be
7recomputed periodically to reflect changes in the cost of
8living and other pertinent factors.
9    Refusal to pay the maintenance charges is cause for
10discharge of a resident from a Home.
11    The Department may collect any medical or health benefits
12to which a resident may become entitled through tax supported
13or privately financed systems of insurance, as a result of his
14or her care or treatment in the facilities provided by the
15Department, or because of care or treatment in other facilities
16when such care or treatment has been paid for by the
17Department.
18    Admission of a resident is not limited or conditioned in
19any manner by the financial status of the resident or his or
20her ability to pay maintenance charges.
21    The Department may accept and hold on behalf of the State,
22if for the public interest, a grant, gift, devise, or bequest
23of money or property to the Department made in trust for the
24maintenance or support of a resident of an Illinois Veterans
25Home or for any other legitimate purpose. The Department shall
26cause each gift, grant, devise, or bequest to be kept as a

 

 

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1distinct fund and shall invest the same in the manner provided
2by the laws of this State relating to securities in which the
3deposit in savings banks may be invested. However, the
4Department may, at its discretion, deposit in a proper trust
5company, bank, or savings bank, during the continuance of the
6trust, any fund left in trust for the life of a person and
7shall adopt rules and regulations governing the deposit,
8transfer, or withdrawal of the fund. The Department shall, on
9the expiration of any trust as provided in any instrument
10creating the trust, dispose of the fund in the manner provided
11in the instrument. The Department shall include in its required
12reports a statement showing what funds are so held by it and
13the condition of the funds; provided that monies found on
14residents at the time of their admission or accruing to them
15during their residence at a Home and monies deposited with the
16administrators by relatives, guardians, or friends of
17residents for the special comfort and pleasure of the resident
18shall remain in the custody of the administrators who shall act
19as trustees for disbursement to, on behalf of, or for the
20benefit of the resident. All types of retirement and pension
21benefits from private and public sources may be paid directly
22to the administrator of a Home for deposit to the resident
23trust fund account.
24(Source: P.A. 96-95, eff. 1-1-10; 96-100, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
25    (20 ILCS 2805/2.04)  (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 67.04)

 

 

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1    Sec. 2.04. There shall be established in the State Treasury
2special funds known as (i) the LaSalle Veterans Home Fund, (ii)
3the Anna Veterans Home Fund, (iii) the Manteno Veterans Home
4Fund, and (iv) the Quincy Veterans Home Fund. All moneys
5received by an Illinois Veterans Home from Medicare and from
6maintenance charges to veterans, spouses, and surviving
7spouses residing at that Home shall be paid into that Home's
8Fund. All moneys received from the U.S. Department of Veterans
9Affairs for patient care shall be transmitted to the Treasurer
10of the State for deposit in the Veterans Home Fund for the Home
11in which the veteran resides. Appropriations shall be made from
12a Fund only for the needs of the Home, including capital
13improvements, building rehabilitation, and repairs. The
14Illinois Veterans' Homes Fund shall be the Veterans Home Fund
15for the Illinois Veterans Home at Chicago.
16    The administrator of each Veterans Home shall establish a
17locally-held member's benefits fund. The Director may
18authorize the Veterans Home to conduct limited fundraising in
19accordance with applicable laws and regulations for which the
20sole purpose is to benefit the Veterans Home's member's
21benefits fund. Revenues accruing to an Illinois Veterans Home,
22including any donations, grants for the operation of the Home,
23profits from commissary stores, and funds received from any
24individual or other source, including limited fundraising,
25shall be deposited into that Home's benefits fund. Expenditures
26from the benefits funds shall be solely for the special

 

 

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1comfort, pleasure, and amusement of residents. Contributors of
2unsolicited private donations may specify the purpose for which
3the private donations are to be used.
4    Upon request of the Department, the State's Attorney of the
5county in which a resident or living former resident of an
6Illinois Veterans Home who is liable under this Act for payment
7of sums representing maintenance charges resides shall file an
8action in a court of competent jurisdiction against any such
9person who fails or refuses to pay such sums. The court may
10order the payment of sums due to maintenance charges for such
11period or periods of time as the circumstances require.
12    Upon the death of a person who is or has been a resident of
13an Illinois Veterans Home who is liable for maintenance charges
14and who is possessed of property, the Department may present a
15claim for such sum or for the balance due in case less than the
16rate prescribed under this Act has been paid. The claim shall
17be allowed and paid as other lawful claims against the estate.
18    The administrator of each Veterans Home shall establish a
19locally-held trust fund to maintain moneys held for residents.
20Whenever the Department finds it necessary to preserve order,
21preserve health, or enforce discipline, the resident shall
22deposit in a trust account at the Home such monies from any
23source of income as may be determined necessary, and
24disbursement of these funds to the resident shall be made only
25by direction of the administrator.
26    If a resident of an Illinois Veterans Home has a dependent

 

 

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1child, spouse, or parent the administrator may require that all
2monies received be deposited in a trust account with dependency
3contributions being made at the direction of the administrator.
4The balance retained in the trust account shall be disbursed to
5the resident at the time of discharge from the Home or to his
6or her heirs or legal representative at the time of the
7resident's death, subject to Department regulations or order of
8the court.
9    The Director of Central Management Services, with the
10consent of the Director of Veterans' Affairs, is authorized and
11empowered to lease or let any real property held by the
12Department of Veterans' Affairs for an Illinois Veterans Home
13to entities or persons upon terms and conditions which are
14considered to be in the best interest of that Home. The real
15property must not be needed for any direct or immediate purpose
16of the Home. In any leasing or letting, primary consideration
17shall be given to the use of real property for agricultural
18purposes, and all moneys received shall be transmitted to the
19Treasurer of the State for deposit in the appropriate Veterans
20Home Fund.
21(Source: P.A. 99-314, eff. 8-7-15.)
 
22    Section 10. The Illinois Library System Act is amended by
23changing Section 8.6 as follows:
 
24    (75 ILCS 10/8.6)

 

 

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1    Sec. 8.6. Illinois Veterans Veteran's Home Libraries. The
2State Librarian shall distribute annual grants for initiatives
3of library development and services within Illinois Veterans
4Veteran's Home libraries located in Quincy, Manteno, LaSalle,
5Chicago, and Anna upon the approval by the State Librarian of
6application from libraries. Grants made under this Section
7shall be made only from the Secretary of State Special License
8Plate Fund. The State Librarian shall establish the criteria
9for awarding the grants by rule.
10(Source: P.A. 89-697, eff. 1-6-97.)
 
11    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
12becoming law.