SB2612sam002 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Don Harmon

Filed: 3/22/2004

09300SB2612sam002 LRB093 20664 RAS 48776 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2612

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2612, AS AMENDED, by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Dog and Cat Overpopulation Control Act.

Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds the following:

(1) Controlling the dog and cat population would have a significant benefit to the public health by aiding in the prevention of dog attacks, reducing the number of dog and cat bite cases involving children, and decreasing the number of automobile accidents caused by stray dogs and cats.

(2) Controlling the dog and cat population will save taxpayer dollars by reducing the number of dogs and cats handled by county and municipal animal control agencies. A similar program was implemented in New Hampshire in 1994 and has significantly reduced the number of dogs and cats euthanized in shelters in that state. Every dollar spent on the New Hampshire neutering program has saved $3.15 in reduced impoundment costs there.

Section 10. Definitions. For purposes of this Act:

"Director" means the Director of Agriculture.

"Department" means the Department of Agriculture.

"Fund" means the Dog and Cat Overpopulation Control Fund established in this Act.

Section 15. Program established. The Department shall establish and implement a Dog and Cat Overpopulation Control Program. The purpose of this program is to reduce the population of unwanted and stray dogs and cats in Illinois by encouraging the owners of dogs and cats to have them permanently sexually sterilized, thereby reducing potential threats to public health and safety. The program shall begin collecting funds on January 1, 2005 and shall begin distributing funds for spaying and neutering operations or chemical sterilizations on January 1, 2006. No dog or cat imported from another state is eligible to be sterilized under this program. Beginning June 30, 2006, the Director must make an annual written report concerning the progress of the program to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Governor.

Section 20. Eligibility.

(a) A resident of this State who has adopted a dog or cat from a licensed Illinois animal shelter shall be eligible to participate in the program if the applicant signs a consent form certifying that he or she is the owner of the dog or cat or is authorized by the owner to present the dog or cat for the procedure. The sterilization shall be performed by a participating veterinarian, and the copayment for the procedure shall be $30.

(b) A resident of the State who owns a dog or cat and who is eligible for the Food Stamp Program, the Medicaid Program, or the Disability Insurance Benefits Program shall also be eligible to participate in the program at a reduced rate if the applicant signs a consent form certifying that he or she is the owner of the dog or cat or is authorized by the owner to present the dog or cat for the procedure. The sterilization shall be performed by a participating veterinarian, and the copayment for the procedure shall be $15.

Section 25. Veterinarian participation. Any veterinarian licensed in this State may participate in the program established under this Act. A veterinarian shall file with the Director an application on which the veterinarian must supply, in addition to any other information requested by the Director, a fee schedule listing the fees charged for dog and cat sterilization, examination, and the pre-surgical immunizations specified in this Act in the normal course of business. The dog or cat sterilization fee may vary with the animal's weight, sex, and species. The Director may, however, disqualify from participation in the program any veterinarian whose fees the Director deems unreasonable.

The Director shall reimburse, to the extent funds are available, participating veterinarians for 80% of the fee, less payment paid by the owner to the veterinarian as provided in this Act, for each dog or cat sterilization procedure administered. To receive this reimbursement, the veterinarian must submit a dog or cat preauthorization sterilization certificate on a form approved by the Director that must be signed by the veterinarian and the owner of the dog or cat. The Director shall notify all participating veterinarians if the program must be suspended for any period due to a lack of revenue and shall also notify all participating veterinarians when the program will resume.

For all dogs and cats sterilized under this Act, the Director shall also reimburse, to the extent funds are available, any licensed veterinarian of this State participating in the program for (i) examination fees and the pre-surgical immunizations of dogs against rabies and other immunizations such as distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, and parvovirus or (ii) examination fees and the pre-surgical immunizations of cats against rabies and other immunizations such as feline panleukopenia, calici, pneumonitis, and rhinotracheitis, as the case may be. Reimbursement for the full cost of pre-surgical immunizations shall be made by the Director to the participating veterinarian upon written certification, signed by the veterinarian and the owner of the dog or cat, that the immunization has been administered. There shall be no additional charges to the owner of a dog or cat sterilized under subsection (b) of Section 20 of this Act for examination fees or pre-surgical immunizations. An owner of a dog or cat sterilized under this Act who has adopted the dog or cat from a licensed animal shelter shall pay the cost of all pre-surgical immunizations and examination fees directly to the participating veterinarian.

Section 30. Rulemaking. The Director shall adopt rules concerning:

(1) the format and content of all forms required under this Act;

(2) proof of eligibility;

(3) the administration of the fund; and

(4) any other matter necessary for the administration of the Dog and Cat Overpopulation Control Program without the approval of the livestock commission.

Section 35. Enforcement; administrative fine. Any person who knowingly falsifies proof of eligibility for or participation in any program under this Act, furnishes any licensed veterinarian with inaccurate information concerning the ownership of a dog or cat submitted for a sterilization procedure, furnishes the Director with false information concerning a dog or cat sterilization fee schedule or a dog or cat sterilization certificate submitted pursuant to this Act, fails to remit to the Department of Agriculture on a quarterly basis the appropriate amount of dog and cat population control fees collected, or violates any provision of this Act may be subject to an administrative fine not to exceed $1,000 for each violation.

Section 40. Dog and Cat Overpopulation Control Fund.

(a) The Dog and Cat Overpopulation Control Fund is hereby established as a special fund in the State Treasury. The moneys generated from the fee collected under subsection (b) of this Section must be kept in the Fund and shall only be used to sterilize dogs and cats in this State pursuant to the program, to promote the sterilization program, and for reasonable administrative costs related to the Fund.

(b) Beginning January 1, 2005, each veterinarian in this State who administers a rabies vaccination on a dog or cat in addition to filling out the rabies inoculation certificate shall collect a $3 dog and cat overpopulation control fee on each vaccinated dog and cat. The veterinarian shall keep for his or her own use $0.50 of the fee. The veterinarian shall remit on a quarterly basis the remainder of the fees to the Department of Agriculture to deposit in the Fund.

(c) The $3 dog and cat overpopulation control fee does not apply to feral cats as defined in the Illinois Animal Control Act.

Section 45. Repeal. If the Director's annual report required under Section 15 in 2011 does not find that 30% fewer cats and dogs were euthanized in Illinois animal shelters in 2011 than in 2005, taking into account any change in the statewide human population during the interim, this Act is automatically repealed on July 1, 2011.

Section 905. The State Finance Act is amended by changing Section 8h and by adding Section 5.625 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.625 new)

Sec. 5.625. The Dog and Cat Overpopulation Control Fund.

(30 ILCS 105/8h)

Sec. 8h. Transfers to General Revenue Fund. Notwithstanding any other State law to the contrary, the Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget may from time to time direct the State Treasurer and Comptroller to transfer a specified sum from any fund held by the State Treasurer to the General Revenue Fund in order to help defray the State's operating costs for the fiscal year. The total transfer under this Section from any fund in any fiscal year shall not exceed the lesser of 8% of the revenues to be deposited into the fund during that year or 25% of the beginning balance in the fund. No transfer may be made from a fund under this Section that would have the effect of reducing the available balance in the fund to an amount less than the amount remaining unexpended and unreserved from the total appropriation from that fund for that fiscal year. This Section does not apply to any funds that are restricted by federal law to a specific use or to any funds in the Motor Fuel Tax Fund or the Hospital Provider Fund. No transfers may be made under this Section from the Dog and Cat Overpopulation Control Fund. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the total transfer under this Section from the Road Fund or the State Construction Account Fund shall not exceed 5% of the revenues to be deposited into the fund during that year.

In determining the available balance in a fund, the Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget may include receipts, transfers into the fund, and other resources anticipated to be available in the fund in that fiscal year.

The State Treasurer and Comptroller shall transfer the amounts designated under this Section as soon as may be practicable after receiving the direction to transfer from the Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget.

(Source: P.A. 93-32, eff. 6-20-03; 93-659, eff. 2-3-04.)

Section 910. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding Section 8.28 as follows:

(30 ILCS 805/8.28 new)

Sec. 8.28. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.

Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.".