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90_HB1347
New Act
30 ILCS 805/8.21 new
Creates the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act.
Provides that employers of full-time law enforcement officers
and firefighters that are killed or disabled in the line of
duty shall continue health benefits for the officer or
firefighter and the spouses and children thereof. Requires
the State to waive educational costs for the children of
officers and firefighters at State supported educational
institutions. Effective immediately.
LRB9003884JSgc
LRB9003884JSgc
1 AN ACT concerning benefits for certain public safety
2 officers.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 1. Short title. This act may be cited as the
6 Public Safety Employee Benefits Act.
7 Section 5. Declaration of State interest. The General
8 Assembly determines and declares that the provisions of this
9 Act fulfill an important State interest.
10 Section 10. Required health coverage benefits.
11 (a) An employer who employs a full-time law enforcement,
12 correctional or correctional probation officer, or
13 firefighter, who, on or after the effective date of this Act
14 suffers a catastrophic injury or is killed in the line of
15 duty shall pay the entire premium of the employer's health
16 insurance plan for the injured employee, the injured
17 employee's spouse, and for each dependent child of the
18 injured employee until the child reaches the age of majority
19 or until the end of the calendar year in which the child
20 reaches the age of 25 if the child continues to be dependent
21 for support or the child is a full-time or part-time student
22 and is dependent for support. The term "health insurance
23 plan" does not include supplemental benefits that are not
24 part of the basic group health insurance plan. If the injured
25 employee subsequently dies, the employer shall continue to
26 pay the entire health insurance premium for the surviving
27 spouse until remarried and for the dependent children under
28 the conditions established in this Section. However:
29 (1) Health insurance benefits payable from any
30 other source shall reduce benefits payable under this
-2- LRB9003884JSgc
1 Section.
2 (2) It is unlawful for a person to willfully and
3 knowingly make, or cause to be made, or to assist,
4 conspire with, or urge another to make, or cause to be
5 made, any false, fraudulent, or misleading oral or
6 written statement to obtain health insurance coverage as
7 provided under this Section. A violation of this item is
8 a Class A misdemeanor.
9 (3) Upon conviction for a violation described in
10 item (2), a law enforcement, correctional or correctional
11 probation officer, or other beneficiary who receives or
12 seeks to receive health insurance benefits under this
13 Section shall forfeit the right to receive health
14 insurance benefits and shall reimburse the employer for
15 all benefits paid due to the fraud or other prohibited
16 activity. For purposes of this item, "conviction" means
17 a determination of guilt that is the result of a plea or
18 trial, regardless of whether adjudication is withheld.
19 (b) In order for the law enforcement, correctional or
20 correctional probation officer, firefighter, spouse, or
21 dependent children to be eligible for insurance coverage
22 under this Act, the injury or death must have occurred as the
23 result of the officer's response to fresh pursuit, the
24 officer or firefighter's response to what is reasonably
25 believed to be an emergency, an unlawful act perpetrated by
26 another, or during the investigation of a criminal act.
27 Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit health
28 insurance coverage or pension benefits for which the officer,
29 firefighter, spouse, or dependent children may otherwise be
30 eligible.
31 Section 10. Required educational benefits. If a
32 firefighter, law enforcement, or correctional or correctional
33 probation officer is accidentally or unlawfully and
-3- LRB9003884JSgc
1 intentionally killed as specified in subsection (b) of
2 Section 5 on or after July 1, 1980, the State shall waive
3 certain educational expenses which children of the deceased
4 incur while obtaining a vocational-technical certificate or
5 an undergraduate education at a State supported institution.
6 The amount waived by the State shall be an amount equal to
7 the cost of tuition and matriculation and registration fees
8 for a total of 120 credit hours. The child may attend a
9 State vocational-technical school, a public community
10 college, or a State university. The child may attend any or
11 all of the institutions specified in this subsection, on
12 either a full-time or part-time basis. The benefits provided
13 under subsection shall continue to the child until the
14 child's 25th birthday.
15 (1) Upon failure of any child benefited by the
16 provisions of this Section to comply with the ordinary
17 and minimum requirements of the institution attended,
18 both as to discipline and scholarship, the benefits shall
19 be withdrawn as to the child and no further moneys may be
20 expended for the child's benefits so long as the failure
21 or delinquency continues.
22 (2) Only a student in good standing in his or her
23 respective institution may receive the benefits under
24 this Section.
25 (3) A child receiving benefits under this Section
26 must be enrolled according to the customary rules and
27 requirements of the institution attended.
28 Section 20. Home rule. An employer, including a home
29 rule unit, that employs a full-time law enforcement,
30 correctional or correctional probation officer, or
31 firefighter may not provide benefits to persons covered under
32 this Act in a manner inconsistent with the requirements of
33 this Act. This Act is a limitation under subsection (i) of
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1 Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the
2 concurrent exercise of powers and functions exercised by the
3 State.
4 Section 95. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
5 Section 8.21 as follows:
6 (30 ILCS 805/8.21 new)
7 Sec. 8.21. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6
8 and 8 of this Act no reimbursement by the State is required
9 for the implementation of any mandate created by this
10 amendatory Act of 1997.
11 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
12 becoming law.