093_HB1122

 
                                     LRB093 06616 EFG 06748 b

 1        AN ACT in relation to public employee benefits.

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

 4        Section 5.  The  Illinois  Pension  Code  is  amended  by
 5    changing Section 4-110.1 as follows:

 6        (40 ILCS 5/4-110.1) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-110.1)
 7        Sec.  4-110.1.  Occupational  disease disability pension.
 8    The  General  Assembly  finds  that  service  in   the   fire
 9    department  requires  firefighters  in  times  of  stress and
10    danger  to  perform  unusual  tasks;  that  firefighters  are
11    subject to exposure  to  extreme  heat  or  extreme  cold  in
12    certain  seasons while performing their duties; that they are
13    required to work in the midst of and  are  subject  to  heavy
14    smoke  fumes,  and carcinogenic, poisonous, toxic or chemical
15    gases from fires; and that these conditions exist  and  arise
16    out of or in the course of employment.
17        An  active firefighter with 5 or more years of creditable
18    service who is found, pursuant to Section  4-112,  unable  to
19    perform his or her duties in the fire department by reason of
20    heart  disease,  stroke,  tuberculosis, or any disease of the
21    lungs or respiratory  tract,  resulting  from  service  as  a
22    firefighter,   is   entitled   to   an  occupational  disease
23    disability pension during any period of such  disability  for
24    which he or she has no right to receive salary.  If the heart
25    disease,  stroke,  tuberculosis,  or  disease of the lungs or
26    respiratory tract  develops  or  manifests  itself  during  a
27    period  while  the  firefighter is in the service of the fire
28    department, it shall be rebuttably presumed to have  resulted
29    from service as a firefighter.
30        Any  active firefighter who has completed 5 or more years
31    of service and is unable to perform his or her duties in  the
 
                            -2-      LRB093 06616 EFG 06748 b
 1    fire  department  by  reason  of  a  disabling  cancer, which
 2    develops or  manifests  itself  during  a  period  while  the
 3    firefighter  is  in the service of the fire department, shall
 4    be entitled to receive  an  occupational  disease  disability
 5    benefit  during any period of such disability for which he or
 6    she does not have a right to receive  salary.   In  order  to
 7    receive this occupational disease disability benefit, (i) the
 8    type of cancer involved must be a type which may be caused by
 9    exposure  to heat, radiation or a known carcinogen as defined
10    by the International Agency for Research on Cancer  and  (ii)
11    the  cancer  must  (and is rebuttably presumed to) arise as a
12    result of service as a firefighter.
13        A firefighter who enters the  service  after  August  27,
14    1971  shall  be examined by one or more practicing physicians
15    appointed  by  the  board.  If  the   examination   discloses
16    impairment  of  the heart, lungs or respiratory tract, or the
17    existence  of  any  cancer,  the  firefighter  shall  not  be
18    entitled  to  the  occupational  disease  disability  pension
19    unless and until a subsequent  examination  reveals  no  such
20    impairment or cancer.
21        The  occupational  disease  disability  pension  shall be
22    equal to the greater of (1) 65% of the salary attached to the
23    rank held by the firefighter in the fire service at the  time
24    of his or her removal from the municipality's fire department
25    payroll  or  (2)  the retirement pension that the firefighter
26    would be eligible to receive if he or she  retired  (but  not
27    including  any  automatic  annual increase in that retirement
28    pension).
29        The firefighter is also entitled to a child's  disability
30    benefit  of  $20  a month for each natural or legally adopted
31    unmarried  child  less  than  age  18  dependent   upon   the
32    firefighter   for  support.   The  total  child's  disability
33    benefit when added to  the  occupational  disease  disability
34    pension  shall  not exceed 75% of the firefighter's salary at
 
                            -3-      LRB093 06616 EFG 06748 b
 1    the time of the  grant  of  occupational  disease  disability
 2    pension.
 3        The occupational disease disability pension is payable to
 4    the  firefighter during the period of the disability.  If the
 5    disability ceases before the death of  the  firefighter,  the
 6    disability  pension  payable  under  this  Section shall also
 7    cease and  the  firefighter  thereafter  shall  receive  such
 8    pension  benefits  as  are  provided in accordance with other
 9    provisions of this Article.
10        If a firefighter dies while still disabled and  receiving
11    a  disability  pension  under  this  Section,  the disability
12    pension shall  continue  to  be  paid  to  the  firefighter's
13    survivors  but  shall, from the date of death, become subject
14    to the requirements, including limitations  on  amount,  that
15    are  provided  for pensions to survivors under Section 4-114.
16    A  pension  previously  granted  under  Section  4-114  to  a
17    survivor  of  a  firefighter  who  died  while  receiving   a
18    disability pension under this Section shall be deemed to be a
19    continuation  of  the pension provided under this Section and
20    shall be deemed to be in the nature of worker's  occupational
21    disease  compensation  payments.  The changes to this Section
22    made by this amendatory  Act  of  1995  are  intended  to  be
23    retroactive  and  are not limited to persons in service on or
24    after its effective date.
25        The child's disability benefit  shall  terminate  if  the
26    disability  ceases while the firefighter is alive or when the
27    child or children attain age 18  or  marry,  whichever  event
28    occurs  first,  except  that benefits payable on account of a
29    child under this Section shall not be reduced  or  terminated
30    by reason of the child's attainment of age 18 if he or she is
31    then  dependent  by reason of a physical or mental disability
32    but shall continue to be paid  as  long  as  such  dependency
33    continues.   Individuals over the age of 18 and adjudged as a
34    disabled person pursuant to Article XIa of the Probate Act of
 
                            -4-      LRB093 06616 EFG 06748 b
 1    1975, except for persons receiving benefits under Article III
 2    of the Illinois Public Aid Code, shall be eligible to receive
 3    benefits under this Act.
 4    (Source: P.A. 91-466, eff. 8-6-99.)

 5        Section 90.  The State Mandates Act is amended by  adding
 6    Section 8.27 as follows:

 7        (30 ILCS 805/8.27 new)
 8        Sec.  8.27.  Exempt  mandate.  Notwithstanding Sections 6
 9    and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is  required
10    for  the  implementation  of  any  mandate  created  by  this
11    amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.

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