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91_SB1855enr SB1855 Enrolled LRB9110972MWgc 1 AN ACT concerning the General Assembly. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The General Assembly Compensation Act is 5 amended by changing Section 4 as follows: 6 (25 ILCS 115/4) (from Ch. 63, par. 15.1) 7 Sec. 4. Office allowance. Beginning July 1, 20011989, 8 each member of the House of Representatives is authorized to 9 approve the expenditure of not more than $61,000$57,000per 10 year and each member of the Senate is authorized to approve 11 the expenditure of not more than $73,000$67,000per year to 12 pay for "personal services", "contractual services", 13 "commodities", "printing", "travel", "operation of automotive 14 equipment", "telecommunications services", as defined in the 15 State Finance Act, and the compensation of one or more 16 legislative assistants authorized pursuant to this Section, 17 in connection with his or her legislative duties and not in 18 connection with any political campaign. On July 1, 2002 and 19 on July 1 of each year thereafter, the amount authorized per 20 year under this Section for each member of the Senate and 21 each member of the House of Representatives shall be 22 increased by a percentage increase equivalent to the lesser 23 of (i) the increase in the designated cost of living index or 24 (ii) 5%. The designated cost of living index is the index 25 known as the "Employment Cost Index, Wages and Salaries, By 26 Occupation and Industry Groups: State and Local Government 27 Workers: Public Administration" as published by the Bureau of 28 Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor for the 29 calendar year immediately preceding the year of the 30 respective July 1st increase date. The increase shall be SB1855 Enrolled -2- LRB9110972MWgc 1 added to the then current amount, and the adjusted amount so 2 determined shall be the annual amount beginning July 1 of the 3 increase year until July 1 of the next year. No increase 4 under this provision shall be less than zero. 5 A member may purchase office equipment if the member 6 certifies to the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the 7 House, as applicable, that the purchase price, whether paid 8 in lump sum or installments, amounts to less than would be 9 charged for renting or leasing the equipment over its 10 anticipated useful life. All such equipment must be 11 purchased through the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of 12 the House, as applicable, for proper identification and 13 verification of purchase. 14 Each member of the General Assembly is authorized to 15 employ one or more legislative assistants, who shall be 16 solely under the direction and control of that member, for 17 the purpose of assisting the member in the performance of his 18 or her official duties. A legislative assistant may be 19 employed pursuant to this Section either under contract or as 20 a State employee, at the discretion of the member. If 21 employed as a State employee, a legislative assistant shall 22 receive employment benefits on the same terms and conditions 23 that apply to other employees of the General Assembly. 24 As used in this Section the term "personal services" 25 shall include contributions of the State under the Federal 26 Insurance Contribution Act and under Article 14 of the 27 Illinois Pension Code. As used in this Section the term 28 "contractual services" shall not include improvements to real 29 property unless those improvements are the obligation of the 30 lessee under the lease agreement. Beginning July 1, 1989, as 31 used in the Section, the term "travel" shall be limited to 32 travel in connection with a member's legislative duties and 33 not in connection with any political campaign. Beginning 34 July 1, 1989, as used in this Section, the term "printing" SB1855 Enrolled -3- LRB9110972MWgc 1 includes congratulatory mailings, including but not limited 2 to greeting or welcome messages, anniversary or birthday 3 cards, and congratulations for prominent achievement cards. 4 As used in this Section, the term "printing" includes fees 5 for non-substantive resolutions charged by the Clerk of the 6 House of Representatives under subsection (c-5) of Section 1 7 of the Legislative Materials Act. Nothing in this Section 8 shall be construed to authorize expenditures for lodging and 9 meals while a member is in attendance at sessions of the 10 General Assembly. 11 Any utility bill for service provided to a member's 12 district office for a period including portions of 2 13 consecutive fiscal years may be paid from funds appropriated 14 for such expenditure in either fiscal year. 15 If a vacancy occurs in the office of Senator or 16 Representative in the General Assembly, any office equipment 17 in the possession of the vacating member shall transfer to 18 the member's successor; if the successor does not want such 19 equipment, it shall be transferred to the Secretary of the 20 Senate or Clerk of the House of Representatives, as the case 21 may be, and if not wanted by other members of the General 22 Assembly then to the Department of Central Management 23 Services for treatment as surplus property under the State 24 Property Control Act. Each member, on or before June 30th of 25 each year, shall conduct an inventory of all equipment 26 purchased pursuant to this Act. Such inventory shall be 27 filed with the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the 28 House, as the case may be. Whenever a vacancy occurs, the 29 Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House, as the 30 case may be, shall conduct an inventory of equipment 31 purchased. 32 In the event that a member leaves office during his or 33 her term, any unexpended or unobligated portion of the 34 allowance granted under this Section shall lapse. The SB1855 Enrolled -4- LRB9110972MWgc 1 vacating member's successor shall be granted an allowance in 2 an amount, rounded to the nearest dollar, computed by 3 dividing the annual allowance by 365 and multiplying the 4 quotient by the number of days remaining in the fiscal year. 5 From any appropriation for the purposes of this Section 6 for a fiscal year which overlaps 2 General Assemblies, no 7 more than 1/2 of the annual allowance per member may be spent 8 or encumbered by any member of either the outgoing or 9 incoming General Assembly, except that any member of the 10 incoming General Assembly who was a member of the outgoing 11 General Assembly may encumber or spend any portion of his 12 annual allowance within the fiscal year. 13 The appropriation for the annual allowances permitted by 14 this Section shall be included in an appropriation to the 15 President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of 16 Representatives for their respective members. The President 17 of the Senate and the Speaker of the House shall voucher for 18 payment individual members' expenditures from their annual 19 office allowances to the State Comptroller, subject to the 20 authority of the Comptroller under Section 9 of the State 21 Comptroller Act. 22 (Source: P.A. 90-569, eff. 1-28-98.) 23 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on 24 July 1, 2001.