093_HB3428

 
                                     LRB093 06681 SJM 06815 b

 1        AN ACT concerning taxes.

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

 4        Section 5.  The Illinois Income Tax  Act  is  amended  by
 5    adding Section 213 as follows:

 6        (35 ILCS 5/213 new)
 7        Sec.  213.  Tax  credit  for domestic violence safety and
 8    education programs.
 9        (a)  For taxable years ending on or  after  December  31,
10    2003,  each  taxpayer  who  is  an  employer is entitled to a
11    credit against the tax imposed by subsections (a) and (b)  of
12    Section  201  in  an  amount  equal  to  40%  of the domestic
13    violence safety and education costs paid or incurred  by  the
14    employer during the taxable year. If the amount of the credit
15    exceeds the taxpayer's liability under this Act for the year,
16    then  the  excess  may  not  be carried forward to apply to a
17    succeeding year or carried back to apply  to  a  prior  year.
18    This Section is exempt from the provisions of Section 250.
19        (b)  For  purposes  of  this  Section, "domestic violence
20    safety and education costs" means any cost certified  by  the
21    Illinois Department of Labor as being for the purpose of:
22             (1)  ensuring  the safety of employees from domestic
23        violence;
24             (2)  providing  assistance  to  employees  and   the
25        spouses  and  dependents  of  employees  with  respect to
26        domestic violence;
27             (3)  providing  legal   or   medical   services   to
28        employees  and  the  spouses  and dependents of employees
29        subjected to, or at risk from, domestic violence;
30             (4)  educating employees about the issue of domestic
31        violence; or
 
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 1             (5)  implementing  human   resource   or   personnel
 2        policies  initiated to protect employees from domestic or
 3        sexual violence or to support  employees  who  have  been
 4        victims of domestic violence.
 5        (c)  Costs  that  may  be  certified by the Department of
 6    Labor include, but are not limited to, any of the following:
 7             (1)  the hiring of new security personnel  in  order
 8        to address domestic violence;
 9             (2)  the creation of buddy systems or escort systems
10        for  walking  employees  to  parking  lots,  parked cars,
11        subway  stations,  or  bus  stops  in  order  to  address
12        domestic violence;
13             (3)  the purchase or installation  of  new  security
14        equipment,  including  surveillance  equipment,  lighting
15        fixtures,  cardkey  access  systems,  and  identification
16        systems in order to address domestic or sexual violence;
17             (4)  the  establishment  of  an  employee assistance
18        line or other employee assistance services  in  order  to
19        address  domestic  violence,  for  the  use of individual
20        employees,  including  counseling  or  referral  services
21        undertaken  in   consultation   and   coordination   with
22        national, State, or local domestic violence coalitions or
23        programs;
24             (5)  the  retention  of an attorney to provide legal
25        services to employees seeking restraining orders or other
26        legal recourse from domestic violence;
27             (6)  the   establishment   of    medical    services
28        addressing the medical needs of employees who are victims
29        of domestic violence;
30             (7)  the  retention  of  a  financial  expert  or an
31        accountant to provide financial counseling  to  employees
32        seeking to escape from domestic violence;
33             (8)  the  establishment  of an education program for
34        employees, consisting of seminars  or  training  sessions
 
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 1        about  domestic  violence  undertaken in consultation and
 2        coordination with  national,  State,  or  local  domestic
 3        violence coalitions or programs;
 4             (9)  studies  of  the  cost,  impact,  or  extent of
 5        domestic violence at the employer's place of business  if
 6        the  studies are made available to the public and protect
 7        the identity of employees included in the study;
 8             (10)  the publication of  a  regularly  disseminated
 9        newsletter  or  other  regularly disseminated educational
10        materials about domestic violence;
11             (11)  the implementation of leave policies  for  the
12        purpose of allowing or accommodating the needs of victims
13        of   domestic   violence   to  pursue  counseling,  legal
14        assistance, or safety planning, including leave from work
15        to attend meetings with attorneys,  to  give  evidentiary
16        statements  or  depositions,  and  to  attend hearings or
17        trials in court;
18             (12)  the implementation of flexible  work  policies
19        for the purpose of allowing or accommodating the needs of
20        employees  who  are  victims  of  domestic  violence,  or
21        employees  at risk with respect to those crimes, to avoid
22        assailants;
23             (13)  the implementation of  transfer  policies  for
24        the  purpose  of  allowing  or accommodating the needs of
25        employees subjected to domestic violence to change office
26        locations  within  the  business  in   order   to   avoid
27        assailants  or  to  allow the transfer of an employee who
28        has perpetrated domestic violence in order to protect the
29        victim, including payment of costs for the  transfer  and
30        relocation of an employee to another city, county, state,
31        or  country  for the purpose of maintaining an employee's
32        safety from domestic violence; or
33             (14)  the provision of any of the services described
34        in  paragraphs  (4)  through  (8)  to  the   spouses   or
 
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 1        dependents of employees.

 2        Section  99.  Effective  date.  This  Act takes effect on
 3    July 1, 2003.