Full Text of SB2897 97th General Assembly
SB2897enr 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning business.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Article 1. General Provisions | 5 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 6 | | Benefit Corporation Act. | 7 | | Section 1.05. Application and effect of the Act. | 8 | | (a) This Act shall be applicable to all benefit | 9 | | corporations. | 10 | | (b) The existence of a provision of this Act shall not of | 11 | | itself create an implication that a contrary or different rule | 12 | | of law is applicable to a corporation which is not a benefit | 13 | | corporation. This Act shall not affect a statute or rule of law | 14 | | that is applicable to a business corporation that is not a | 15 | | benefit corporation. | 16 | | (c) The Business Corporation Act of 1983, as heretofore or | 17 | | hereafter amended, shall be applicable to such benefit | 18 | | corporations, including their organization, and they shall | 19 | | enjoy the powers and privileges and be subject to the duties, | 20 | | restrictions, and liabilities of other corporations, except so | 21 | | far as the same may be limited or enlarged by this Act. If any | 22 | | provision of this Act conflicts with the Business Corporation |
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| 1 | | Act of 1983, this Act shall take precedence. | 2 | | (d) A provision of the articles of incorporation or bylaws | 3 | | of a benefit corporation may not relax, be inconsistent with, | 4 | | or supersede a provision of this Act.
| 5 | | Section 1.10. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the | 6 | | context otherwise requires, the words and phrases defined in | 7 | | this Section shall have the meanings set forth herein. | 8 | | "Benefit corporation" means a corporation organized under | 9 | | the Business Corporation Act of 1983:
| 10 | | (1) which has elected to become subject to this Act; | 11 | | and
| 12 | | (2) whose status as a benefit corporation has not been | 13 | | terminated under Section 2.10.
| 14 | | "Benefit director" means either:
| 15 | | (1) the director designated as the benefit director of | 16 | | a benefit corporation under Section 4.05; or
| 17 | | (2) a person with one or more of the powers, duties, or | 18 | | rights of a benefit director to the extent provided in the | 19 | | bylaws pursuant to Section 4.05.
| 20 | | "Benefit enforcement proceeding" means a claim or action | 21 | | for:
| 22 | | (1) the failure of a benefit corporation to pursue or | 23 | | create general public benefit or a specific public benefit | 24 | | set forth in its articles of incorporation; or
| 25 | | (2) a violation of an obligation, duty, or standard of |
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| 1 | | conduct under this Act.
| 2 | | "Benefit officer" means the individual designated as the | 3 | | benefit officer of a benefit corporation under Section 4.15.
| 4 | | "General public benefit" means a material positive impact | 5 | | on society and the environment, taken as a whole, assessed | 6 | | against a third-party standard, from the business and | 7 | | operations of a benefit corporation.
| 8 | | "Independent" means having no material relationship with a | 9 | | benefit corporation or a subsidiary of the benefit corporation. | 10 | | A person serving as benefit director or benefit officer may be | 11 | | considered independent. For the purposes of this definition, a | 12 | | percentage of ownership in an entity shall be calculated as if | 13 | | all outstanding rights to acquire equity interests in the | 14 | | entity have been exercised. A material relationship between a | 15 | | person and a benefit corporation or any of its subsidiaries | 16 | | will be conclusively presumed to exist if:
| 17 | | (1) the person is, or has been within the last 3 years, | 18 | | an employee other than a benefit officer of the benefit | 19 | | corporation or a subsidiary of the benefit corporation;
| 20 | | (2) an immediate family member of the person is, or has | 21 | | been within the last 3 years, an executive officer other | 22 | | than a benefit officer of the benefit corporation or its | 23 | | subsidiaries;
or | 24 | | (3) there is beneficial or record ownership of 5% or | 25 | | more of the outstanding shares of the benefit corporation | 26 | | by:
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| 1 | | (A) the person; or
| 2 | | (B) an entity:
| 3 | | (i) of which the person is a director, an | 4 | | officer, or a manager; or
| 5 | | (ii) in which the person owns beneficially or | 6 | | of record 5% or more of the outstanding equity | 7 | | interests.
| 8 | | "Minimum status vote" means that:
| 9 | | (1) in the case of a corporation, in addition to any | 10 | | other approval or vote required by the Business Corporation | 11 | | Act of 1983, the bylaws, or the articles of incorporation:
| 12 | | (A) the shareholders of every class or series shall | 13 | | be entitled to vote on the corporate action regardless | 14 | | of a limitation stated in the articles of incorporation | 15 | | or bylaws on the voting rights of any class or series; | 16 | | and
| 17 | | (B) the corporate action shall be approved by vote | 18 | | of the outstanding shares of each class or series | 19 | | entitled to vote by at least two-thirds of the votes | 20 | | that all shareholders of the class or series are | 21 | | entitled to cast on the action; and
| 22 | | (2) in the case of an entity organized under the laws | 23 | | of this State that is not a corporation, in addition to any | 24 | | other approval, vote, or consent required by the statutory | 25 | | law, if any, that principally governs the internal affairs | 26 | | of the entity or any provision of the publicly filed record |
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| 1 | | or document required to form the entity, if any, or of any | 2 | | agreement binding on some or all of the holders of equity | 3 | | interests in the entity:
| 4 | | (A) the holders of every class or series of equity | 5 | | interest in the entity that are entitled to receive a | 6 | | distribution of any kind from the entity shall be | 7 | | entitled to vote on or consent to the action regardless | 8 | | of any otherwise applicable limitation on the voting or | 9 | | consent rights of any class or series; and
| 10 | | (B) the action must be approved by a vote or | 11 | | consent of at least two-thirds of such holders.
| 12 | | "Specific public benefit" means:
| 13 | | (1) providing low-income or underserved individuals or | 14 | | communities with beneficial products or services;
| 15 | | (2) promoting economic opportunity for individuals or | 16 | | communities beyond the creation of jobs in the ordinary | 17 | | course of business;
| 18 | | (3) preserving the environment;
| 19 | | (4) improving human health;
| 20 | | (5) promoting the arts, sciences or advancement of | 21 | | knowledge;
| 22 | | (6) increasing the flow of capital to entities with a | 23 | | public benefit purpose; or
| 24 | | (7) the accomplishment of any other particular benefit | 25 | | for society or the environment.
| 26 | | "Subsidiary" of a person means an entity in which the |
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| 1 | | person owns beneficially or of record 50% or more of the | 2 | | outstanding equity interests. For the purposes of this | 3 | | subsection, a percentage of ownership in an entity shall be | 4 | | calculated as if all outstanding rights to acquire equity | 5 | | interests in the entity have been exercised.
| 6 | | "Third-party standard" means a standard for defining, | 7 | | reporting, and assessing overall corporate, social, and | 8 | | environmental performance that:
| 9 | | (1) is a comprehensive assessment of the impact of the | 10 | | business and the business' operations upon the | 11 | | considerations listed in subdivisions (a)(1)(B) through | 12 | | (a)(1)(E) of Section 4.01; | 13 | | (2) is developed by an entity that has no material | 14 | | financial relationship with the benefit corporation or any | 15 | | of its subsidiaries; | 16 | | (3) is developed by an entity that is not materially | 17 | | financed by any of the following organizations and not more | 18 | | than one-third of the members of the governing body of the | 19 | | entity are representatives of:
| 20 | | (A) associations of businesses operating in a | 21 | | specific industry, the performance of whose members is | 22 | | measured by the standard;
| 23 | | (B) businesses from a specific industry or an | 24 | | association of businesses in that industry; or
| 25 | | (C) businesses whose performance is assessed | 26 | | against the standard; and
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| 1 | | (4) is developed by an entity that:
| 2 | | (A) accesses necessary and appropriate expertise | 3 | | to assess overall corporate social and environmental | 4 | | performance; and
| 5 | | (B) uses a balanced multi-stakeholder approach, | 6 | | including a public comment period of at least 30 days | 7 | | to develop the standard; and
| 8 | | (5) makes the following information regarding the | 9 | | standard publicly available:
| 10 | | (A) the factors considered when measuring the | 11 | | overall social and environmental performance of a | 12 | | business and the relative weight, if any, given to each | 13 | | of those factors;
| 14 | | (B) the identity of the directors, officers, any | 15 | | material owners, and the governing body of the entity | 16 | | that developed, and controls revisions to, the | 17 | | standard, and the process by which
revisions to the | 18 | | standard and changes to the membership of the governing | 19 | | body are made; and | 20 | | (C) an accounting of the sources of financial | 21 | | support for the entity, with sufficient detail to | 22 | | disclose any relationships that could reasonably be | 23 | | considered to present a potential conflict of | 24 | | interest.
| 25 | | Article 2. Formation of Benefit Corporations |
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| 1 | | Section 2.01. Formation of benefit corporations. A benefit | 2 | | corporation must be formed in accordance with Article 2 of the | 3 | | Business Corporation Act of 1983. In addition to the formation | 4 | | requirements of that Act, the articles of incorporation of a | 5 | | benefit corporation must state that it is a benefit corporation | 6 | | in accordance with the provisions of this Article. | 7 | | Section 2.05. Election of status. | 8 | | (a) A corporation may become a benefit corporation under | 9 | | this Act by amending its articles of incorporation so that they | 10 | | contain a statement that the corporation is a benefit | 11 | | corporation. In order to be effective, the amendment must be | 12 | | adopted by at least the minimum status vote.
| 13 | | (b) For any entity that is a party to a merger or | 14 | | consolidation or is the exchanging entity in a share exchange, | 15 | | where the surviving, new, or resulting entity in the merger, | 16 | | consolidation, or share exchange is intended to be a benefit | 17 | | corporation, such plan of merger, consolidation, or share | 18 | | exchange must be adopted by at least the minimum status vote in | 19 | | order to be effective.
| 20 | | Section 2.10. Termination of status. | 21 | | (a) A benefit corporation may terminate its status as such | 22 | | and cease to be subject to this Act by amending its articles of | 23 | | incorporation to remove the statement that the corporation is a |
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| 1 | | benefit corporation. In order to be effective, the amendment | 2 | | must be adopted by at least the minimum status vote.
| 3 | | (b) If a plan of merger, conversion, or share exchange | 4 | | would have the effect of terminating the status of a | 5 | | corporation as a benefit corporation, in order to be effective, | 6 | | the plan must be adopted by at least the minimum status vote.
| 7 | | (c) A sale, lease, exchange or other disposition of all or | 8 | | substantially all of the assets of a benefit corporation, | 9 | | unless the transaction is in the usual and ordinary course of | 10 | | business, shall not be effective unless the transaction is | 11 | | adopted by at least the minimum status vote.
| 12 | | Article 3. Corporate Purposes | 13 | | Section 3.01. Corporate purposes. | 14 | | (a) A benefit corporation shall have a purpose of creating | 15 | | general public benefit. This purpose is in addition to its | 16 | | purposes under Section 3.05 of the Business Corporation Act of | 17 | | 1983 and any specific purpose set forth in its articles of | 18 | | incorporation in accordance with subsection (b).
| 19 | | (b) The articles of incorporation of a benefit corporation | 20 | | may identify one or more specific public benefits the creation | 21 | | of which is a purpose of the benefit corporation in addition to | 22 | | its purposes under Section 3.05 of the Business Corporation Act | 23 | | of 1983 and subsection (a). The identification of a specific | 24 | | public benefit under this subsection does not limit the |
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| 1 | | obligation of a benefit corporation under subsection (a).
| 2 | | (c) The creation of general public benefit and specific | 3 | | public benefit under subsections (a) and (b) is in the best | 4 | | interests of the benefit corporation.
| 5 | | (d) A benefit corporation may amend its articles of | 6 | | incorporation to add, change, or remove a specific public | 7 | | benefit. In order to be effective, the amendment must be | 8 | | adopted by at least the minimum status vote.
| 9 | | (e) A professional corporation that is a benefit | 10 | | corporation does not violate Sections 3.4 or 6 of the | 11 | | Professional Service Corporation Act by having the purpose to | 12 | | create general public benefit or a specific public benefit.
| 13 | | Article 4. Accountability | 14 | | Section 4.01. Standard of Conduct for Directors. | 15 | | (a) Without regard to whether the benefit corporation is | 16 | | subject to Section 8.85 of the Business Corporation Act of | 17 | | 1983, in discharging the duties of their respective positions, | 18 | | the board of directors, committees of the board, and individual | 19 | | directors of a benefit corporation in considering the best | 20 | | interests of the benefit corporation:
| 21 | | (1) shall consider the effects of any action upon:
| 22 | | (A) the shareholders of the benefit corporation;
| 23 | | (B) the employees and work force of the benefit | 24 | | corporation, its subsidiaries, and its suppliers;
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| 1 | | (C) the interests of customers as beneficiaries of | 2 | | the general public benefit or specific public benefit | 3 | | purposes of the benefit corporation;
| 4 | | (D) community and societal considerations, | 5 | | including those of each community in which offices or | 6 | | facilities of the benefit corporation, its | 7 | | subsidiaries or its suppliers are located;
| 8 | | (E) the local and global environment;
| 9 | | (F) the short-term and long-term interests of the | 10 | | benefit corporation, including benefits that may | 11 | | accrue to the benefit corporation from its long-term | 12 | | plans and the possibility that these interests may be | 13 | | best served by the continued independence of the | 14 | | benefit corporation; and
| 15 | | (G) the ability of the benefit corporation to | 16 | | accomplish its general public benefit purpose and any | 17 | | specific public benefit purpose; and
| 18 | | (2) may consider:
| 19 | | (A) considerations listed in Section 8.85 of the | 20 | | Business Corporation Act of 1983; and
| 21 | | (B) any other pertinent factors or the interests of | 22 | | any other group that they deem appropriate; but
| 23 | | (3) need not give priority to the interests of a | 24 | | particular person or group referred to in paragraphs (1) or | 25 | | (2) over the interests of another person or group unless | 26 | | the benefit corporation has stated in its articles of |
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| 1 | | incorporation its intention to give priority to certain | 2 | | interests related to its accomplishment of its general | 3 | | public benefit purpose or a specific public benefit purpose | 4 | | identified in its articles of incorporation.
| 5 | | (b) The consideration of interests and factors in the | 6 | | manner required by subsection (a) is in addition to the ability | 7 | | of directors to consider interests and factors as provided in | 8 | | Section 8.85 of the Business Corporation Act of 1983.
| 9 | | (c) A director is not personally liable for monetary | 10 | | damages for:
| 11 | | (1) any action taken as a director if the director | 12 | | performed the duties of office in compliance with Article 8 | 13 | | of the Business Corporation Act of 1983 and this Section; | 14 | | or
| 15 | | (2) a failure of the benefit corporation to pursue or | 16 | | create general public benefit or a specific public benefit.
| 17 | | (d) A director does not have a duty to a person that is a | 18 | | beneficiary of the general public benefit purpose or a specific | 19 | | public benefit purpose of a benefit corporation arising from | 20 | | the status of the person as a beneficiary.
| 21 | | Section 4.05. Benefit director. | 22 | | (a) The board of directors of a benefit corporation shall | 23 | | include a director, who:
| 24 | | (1) is designated as the benefit director; and
| 25 | | (2) has, in addition to the powers, duties, rights, and |
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| 1 | | immunities of the other directors of the benefit | 2 | | corporation, the powers, duties, rights, and immunities | 3 | | provided in this Section.
| 4 | | (b) The benefit director shall be elected, and may be | 5 | | removed, in the manner provided by Article 8 of the Business | 6 | | Corporation Act of 1983 and shall be an individual who is | 7 | | independent, as defined in Section 1.10. The benefit director | 8 | | may serve as the benefit officer at the same time as serving as | 9 | | the benefit director. The articles of incorporation or bylaws | 10 | | of a benefit corporation may prescribe additional | 11 | | qualifications of the benefit director not inconsistent with | 12 | | this Section.
| 13 | | (c) The benefit director shall prepare, and the benefit | 14 | | corporation shall include in the annual benefit report to | 15 | | shareholders required by Section 5.01 of this Act, the opinion | 16 | | of the benefit director on:
| 17 | | (1) whether the benefit corporation acted in | 18 | | accordance with its general public benefit purpose and any | 19 | | specific public benefit purpose in all material respects | 20 | | during the period covered by the report;
and | 21 | | (2) whether the directors and officers complied with | 22 | | subsection (a) of Section 4.01 and subsection (a) of | 23 | | Section 4.10, respectively, and if, in the opinion of the | 24 | | benefit director, the directors and officers did not so | 25 | | comply, a description of the failure to comply.
| 26 | | (d) The acts of an individual in the capacity of a benefit |
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| 1 | | director shall constitute, for all purposes, acts of that | 2 | | individual in the capacity of a director of the benefit | 3 | | corporation.
| 4 | | (e) If the bylaws of a benefit corporation provide that the | 5 | | powers and duties conferred or imposed upon the board of | 6 | | directors shall be exercised or performed by a person or | 7 | | persons other than the directors, in contrast to subsection (a) | 8 | | of Section 8.05 of the Business Corporation Act of 1983, or if | 9 | | the bylaws of a close corporation that is a benefit corporation | 10 | | provide that the business and affairs of the corporation shall | 11 | | be managed by or under the director of the shareholders, then | 12 | | the bylaws of the benefit corporation must provide that the | 13 | | person, persons, or shareholders who perform the duties of a | 14 | | board of directors shall include a person with the powers, | 15 | | duties, rights, and immunities of a benefit director. | 16 | | A person who exercises one or more of the powers, duties, | 17 | | or rights of a benefit director pursuant to this subsection: | 18 | | (i) does not need to be independent of the benefit | 19 | | corporation;
| 20 | | (ii) shall have the immunities of a benefit director;
| 21 | | (iii) may share the powers, duties, and rights of a | 22 | | benefit director with one or more other persons; and
| 23 | | (iv) shall not be subject to the procedures for | 24 | | election or removal of directors in Article 8 of the | 25 | | Business Corporation Act of 1983 unless the person is also | 26 | | a director of the benefit corporation or the bylaws make |
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| 1 | | those procedures applicable.
| 2 | | (f) Regardless of whether the bylaws of a benefit | 3 | | corporation include a provision eliminating or limiting the | 4 | | personal liability of directors authorized by paragraph (3) of | 5 | | subsection (b) of Section 2.10 of the Business Corporation Act | 6 | | of 1983, a benefit director shall not be personally liable for | 7 | | an act or omission in the capacity of a benefit director unless | 8 | | the act or omission constitutes self-dealing, willful | 9 | | misconduct, or a knowing violation of law.
| 10 | | Section 4.10. Standard of conduct for officers. | 11 | | (a) Each officer of a benefit corporation shall consider | 12 | | the interests and factors described in subsection (a) of | 13 | | Section 4.01 in the manner provided in that subsection if:
| 14 | | (1) the officer has discretion to act with respect to a | 15 | | matter; and
| 16 | | (2) it reasonably appears to the officer that the | 17 | | matter may have a material effect on the creation by the | 18 | | benefit corporation of general public benefit or a specific | 19 | | public benefit identified in the articles of incorporation | 20 | | by the benefit corporation.
| 21 | | (b) Exoneration from personal liability. An officer is not | 22 | | personally liable for monetary damages for:
| 23 | | (1) action taken as an officer if the officer performed | 24 | | the duties of the position in compliance with this Section; | 25 | | or
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| 1 | | (2) failure of the benefit corporation to pursue or | 2 | | create general public benefit or specific public benefit.
| 3 | | (c) Limitation on standing. An officer does not have a duty | 4 | | to a person that is a beneficiary of the general public benefit | 5 | | purpose or a specific public benefit purpose of a benefit | 6 | | corporation arising from the status of the person as a | 7 | | beneficiary.
| 8 | | Section 4.15. Benefit officer. | 9 | | (a) A benefit corporation may have an officer designated as | 10 | | the benefit officer.
| 11 | | (b) A benefit officer shall have:
| 12 | | (1) powers and duties relating to the purpose of the | 13 | | benefit corporation to create general public benefit or | 14 | | specific public benefit provided:
| 15 | | (A) by the bylaws of the benefit corporation; or
| 16 | | (B) absent controlling provisions in the bylaws, | 17 | | by resolutions or orders of the board of directors; and
| 18 | | (2) the duty to prepare the benefit report required by | 19 | | Section 5.01 of this Act.
| 20 | | Section 4.20. Right of action; benefit enforcement | 21 | | proceeding. | 22 | | (a) No person may bring an action or assert a claim against | 23 | | a benefit corporation or its directors or officers with respect | 24 | | to failure to pursue or create general public benefit or a |
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| 1 | | specific public benefit set forth in its articles of | 2 | | incorporation or violation of a duty or standard of conduct | 3 | | under this Act except in a benefit enforcement proceeding.
| 4 | | (b) A benefit enforcement proceeding may be commenced or | 5 | | maintained only:
| 6 | | (1) directly by the benefit corporation; or
| 7 | | (2) derivatively by:
| 8 | | (A) a shareholder;
| 9 | | (B) a director;
| 10 | | (C) a person or group of persons that owns | 11 | | beneficially or of record 5% or more of the equity | 12 | | interests in an entity of which the benefit corporation | 13 | | is a subsidiary; or
| 14 | | (D) other persons as specified in the articles of | 15 | | incorporation or bylaws of the benefit corporation.
| 16 | | (c) A benefit corporation shall not be liable for monetary | 17 | | damages under this Act for any failure of the benefit | 18 | | corporation to pursue or create general public benefit or a | 19 | | specific public benefit.
| 20 | | Article 5. Transparency | 21 | | Section 5.01. Annual benefit report. | 22 | | (a) A benefit corporation shall prepare an annual benefit | 23 | | report including all of the following:
| 24 | | (1) A narrative description of:
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| 1 | | (A) the process and rationale for selecting the | 2 | | third party standard used to prepare the benefit | 3 | | report;
| 4 | | (B) the ways in which the benefit corporation | 5 | | pursued general public benefit during the year and the | 6 | | extent to which general public benefit was created;
| 7 | | (C) the ways in which the benefit corporation | 8 | | pursued a specific public benefit that the articles | 9 | | state it is the purpose of the benefit corporation to | 10 | | create and the extent to which that specific public | 11 | | benefit was created; and
| 12 | | (D) any circumstances that have hindered the | 13 | | pursuit by the benefit corporation of its general | 14 | | public benefit purpose and any specific public benefit | 15 | | purpose or the creation by the benefit corporation of | 16 | | general public benefit and any specific public | 17 | | benefit.
| 18 | | (2) An assessment of the overall social and | 19 | | environmental performance of the benefit corporation | 20 | | against a third-party standard:
| 21 | | (A) applied consistently with any application of | 22 | | that standard in prior benefit reports; or
| 23 | | (B) accompanied by an explanation of the reasons | 24 | | for any inconsistent application.
| 25 | | (3) The name of the benefit director and the benefit | 26 | | officer, if any, and the address to which correspondence to |
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| 1 | | each of them may be directed.
| 2 | | (4) The compensation paid by the benefit corporation | 3 | | during the year to each director in the capacity of a | 4 | | director.
| 5 | | (5) The name of each person that owns 5% or more of the | 6 | | outstanding shares of the benefit corporation either:
| 7 | | (A) beneficially, to the extent known to the | 8 | | benefit corporation without independent investigation; | 9 | | or
| 10 | | (B) of record.
| 11 | | (6) The statement of the benefit director required by | 12 | | subsection (c) of Section 4.05.
| 13 | | (7) A statement of any connection between the | 14 | | organization that established the third-party standard, or | 15 | | its directors, officers, or material owners, and the | 16 | | benefit corporation or its directors, officers or material | 17 | | owners, including any financial or governance relationship | 18 | | that might materially affect the credibility of the use of | 19 | | the third-party standard.
| 20 | | (8) If the benefit corporation has dispensed with, or | 21 | | restricted the discretion or powers of, the board of | 22 | | directors, its annual benefit report must describe the | 23 | | persons who exercise the powers, duties, and rights, and | 24 | | have the immunities of the board of directors and the | 25 | | benefit director as required by subsection (e) of Section | 26 | | 4.05.
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| 1 | | (b) The benefit corporation shall send a benefit report | 2 | | annually to each shareholder:
| 3 | | (1) within 120 days following the end of the fiscal | 4 | | year of the benefit corporation; or
| 5 | | (2) at the same time that the benefit corporation | 6 | | delivers any other annual report to its shareholders.
| 7 | | (c) A benefit corporation shall post all of its benefit | 8 | | reports on the public portion of its Internet website, if any, | 9 | | but the compensation paid to directors and financial or | 10 | | proprietary information included in the benefit reports may be | 11 | | omitted from the benefit reports as posted.
| 12 | | (d) If a benefit corporation does not have an Internet | 13 | | website, the benefit corporation shall provide a copy of its | 14 | | most recent benefit report, without charge, to any person that | 15 | | requests a copy.
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