102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB1650

 

Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Chapin Rose

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
820 ILCS 315/3  from Ch. 48, par. 283

    Amends the Line of Duty Compensation Act. Provides that a claim for a death benefit for a death occurring after December 31, 2016 and before January 1, 2021 may be filed no later than December 31, 2022. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Line of Duty Compensation Act is amended by
5changing Section 3 as follows:
 
6    (820 ILCS 315/3)   (from Ch. 48, par. 283)
7    Sec. 3. Duty death benefit.
8    (a) If a claim therefor is made within one year of the date
9of death of a law enforcement officer, civil defense worker,
10civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or
11State employee killed in the line of duty, or if a claim
12therefor is made within 2 years of the date of death of an
13Armed Forces member killed in the line of duty, compensation
14shall be paid to the person designated by the law enforcement
15officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,
16paramedic, fireman, chaplain, State employee, or Armed Forces
17member. However, if the Armed Forces member was killed in the
18line of duty before October 18, 2004, the claim must be made
19within one year of October 18, 2004. In addition, if a death
20occurred after December 31, 2016 and before January 1, 2021,
21the claim may be made no later than December 31, 2022
22notwithstanding any other deadline established under this Act
23with respect to filing a claim for a duty death benefit.

 

 

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1    (b) The amount of compensation, except for an Armed Forces
2member, shall be $10,000 if the death in the line of duty
3occurred prior to January 1, 1974; $20,000 if such death
4occurred after December 31, 1973 and before July 1, 1983;
5$50,000 if such death occurred on or after July 1, 1983 and
6before January 1, 1996; $100,000 if the death occurred on or
7after January 1, 1996 and before May 18, 2001; $118,000 if the
8death occurred on or after May 18, 2001 and before July 1,
92002; and $259,038 if the death occurred on or after July 1,
102002 and before January 1, 2003. For an Armed Forces member
11killed in the line of duty (i) at any time before January 1,
122005, the compensation is $259,038 plus amounts equal to the
13increases for 2003 and 2004 determined under subsection (c)
14and (ii) on or after January 1, 2005, the compensation is the
15amount determined under item (i) plus the applicable increases
16for 2005 and thereafter determined under subsection (c).
17    (c) Except as provided in subsection (b), for deaths
18occurring on or after January 1, 2003, the death compensation
19rate for death in the line of duty occurring in a particular
20calendar year shall be the death compensation rate for death
21occurring in the previous calendar year (or in the case of
22deaths occurring in 2003, the rate in effect on December 31,
232002) increased by a percentage thereof equal to the
24percentage increase, if any, in the index known as the
25Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: U.S. city
26average, unadjusted, for all items, as published by the United

 

 

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1States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for
2the 12 months ending with the month of June of that previous
3calendar year.
4    (d) If no beneficiary is designated or if no designated
5beneficiary survives at the death of the law enforcement
6officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,
7paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee killed in the
8line of duty, the compensation shall be paid in accordance
9with a legally binding will left by the law enforcement
10officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,
11paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee. If the law
12enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol
13member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee did
14not leave a legally binding will, the compensation shall be
15paid as follows:
16        (1) when there is a surviving spouse, the entire sum
17    shall be paid to the spouse;
18        (2) when there is no surviving spouse, but a surviving
19    descendant of the decedent, the entire sum shall be paid
20    to the decedent's descendants per stirpes;
21        (3) when there is neither a surviving spouse nor a
22    surviving descendant, the entire sum shall be paid to the
23    parents of the decedent in equal parts, allowing to the
24    surviving parent, if one is dead, the entire sum; and
25        (4) when there is no surviving spouse, descendant or
26    parent of the decedent, but there are surviving brothers

 

 

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1    or sisters, or descendants of a brother or sister, who
2    were receiving their principal support from the decedent
3    at his death, the entire sum shall be paid, in equal parts,
4    to the dependent brothers or sisters or dependent
5    descendant of a brother or sister. Dependency shall be
6    determined by the Court of Claims based upon the
7    investigation and report of the Attorney General.
8The changes made to this subsection (d) by this amendatory Act
9of the 94th General Assembly apply to any pending case as long
10as compensation has not been paid to any party before the
11effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General
12Assembly.
13    (d-1) For purposes of subsection (d), in the case of a
14person killed in the line of duty who was born out of wedlock
15and was not an adoptive child at the time of the person's
16death, a person shall be deemed to be a parent of the person
17killed in the line of duty only if that person would be an
18eligible parent, as defined in Section 2-2 of the Probate Act
19of 1975, of the person killed in the line of duty. This
20subsection (d-1) applies to any pending claim if compensation
21was not paid to the claimant of the pending claim before the
22effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General
23Assembly.
24    (d-2) If no beneficiary is designated or if no designated
25beneficiary survives at the death of the Armed Forces member
26killed in the line of duty, the compensation shall be paid in

 

 

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1entirety according to the designation made on the most recent
2version of the Armed Forces member's Servicemembers' Group
3Life Insurance Election and Certificate ("SGLI").
4    If no SGLI form exists at the time of the Armed Forces
5member's death, the compensation shall be paid in accordance
6with a legally binding will left by the Armed Forces member.
7    If no SGLI form exists for the Armed Forces member and the
8Armed Forces member did not leave a legally binding will, the
9compensation shall be paid to the persons and in the priority
10as set forth in paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (d) of
11this Section.
12    This subsection (d-2) applies to any pending case as long
13as compensation has not been paid to any party before the
14effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General
15Assembly.
16    (e) If there is no beneficiary designated or if no
17designated beneficiary survives at the death of the law
18enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol
19member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain, State employee, or Armed
20Forces member killed in the line of duty and there is no other
21person or entity to whom compensation is payable under this
22Section, no compensation shall be payable under this Act.
23    (f) No part of such compensation may be paid to any other
24person for any efforts in securing such compensation.
25    (g) This amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly
26applies to claims made on or after October 18, 2004 with

 

 

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1respect to an Armed Forces member killed in the line of duty.
2    (h) In any case for which benefits have not been paid
3within 6 months of the claim being filed in accordance with
4this Section, which is pending as of the effective date of this
5amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, and in which
6there are 2 or more beneficiaries, at least one of whom would
7receive at least a portion of the total benefit regardless of
8the manner in which the Court of Claims resolves the claim, the
9Court shall direct the Comptroller to pay the minimum amount
10of money which the determinate beneficiary would receive
11together with all interest payment penalties which have
12accrued on that portion of the award being paid within 30 days
13of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th
14General Assembly. For purposes of this subsection (h),
15"determinate beneficiary" means the beneficiary who would
16receive any portion of the total benefit claimed regardless of
17the manner in which the Court of Claims adjudicates the claim.
18    (i) The Court of Claims shall ensure that all individuals
19who have filed an application to claim the duty death benefit
20for a deceased member of the Armed Forces pursuant to this
21Section or for a fireman pursuant to this Section, or their
22designated representative, shall have access, on a timely
23basis and in an efficient manner, to all information related
24to the court's consideration, processing, or adjudication of
25the claim, including, but not limited to, the following:
26        (1) a reliable estimate of when the Court of Claims

 

 

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1    will adjudicate the claim, or if the Court cannot estimate
2    when it will adjudicate the claim, a full written
3    explanation of the reasons for this inability; and
4        (2) a reliable estimate, based upon consultation with
5    the Comptroller, of when the benefit will be paid to the
6    claimant.
7    (j) The Court of Claims shall send written notice to all
8claimants within 2 weeks of the initiation of a claim
9indicating whether or not the application is complete. For
10purposes of this subsection (j), an application is complete if
11a claimant has submitted to the Court of Claims all documents
12and information the Court requires for adjudicating and paying
13the benefit amount. For purposes of this subsection (j), a
14claim for the duty death benefit is initiated when a claimant
15submits any of the application materials required for
16adjudicating the claim to the Court of Claims. In the event a
17claimant's application is incomplete, the Court shall include
18in its written notice a list of the information or documents
19which the claimant must submit in order for the application to
20be complete. In no case may the Court of Claims deny a claim
21and subsequently re-adjudicate the same claim for the purpose
22of evading or reducing the interest penalty payment amount
23payable to any claimant.
24(Source: P.A. 95-928, eff. 8-26-08; 96-539, eff. 1-1-10;
2596-923, eff. 1-1-11.)
 
26    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon

 

 

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1becoming law.