State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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91_SB1320

 
                                               LRB9109472DJcd

 1        AN  ACT  in relation to Second World War forced labor and
 2    slave labor victims.

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

 5        Section  5.  The State Treasurer Act is amended by adding
 6    Section 15.5 as follows:

 7        (15 ILCS 505/15.5 new)
 8        Sec. 15.5. Victims of Second World War  forced  or  slave
 9    labor; monitoring; reports.
10        (a)  The  State Treasurer and the Illinois State Board of
11    Investment created under Article 22A of the Illinois  Pension
12    Code  shall  jointly  monitor  all  investments  of moneys in
13    pension funds or retirement systems governed  by  Articles  1
14    through  18 of the Illinois Pension Code to determine whether
15    any of those moneys are invested in companies doing  business
16    in  Illinois,  or  affiliates  of  such  companies,  that owe
17    compensation to Second World War forced labor or slave  labor
18    victims  under  Article XXIII of the Code of Civil Procedure.
19    Not later than December 31 of each year, the State  Treasurer
20    and  the  Illinois  State  Board of Investment shall submit a
21    joint report of their findings  and  recommendations  to  the
22    General Assembly.
23        (b)  The State Treasurer shall monitor all investments of
24    State  moneys other than those described in subsection (a) to
25    determine  whether  any  of  those  moneys  are  invested  in
26    companies doing business in Illinois, or affiliates  of  such
27    companies,  that  owe compensation to Second World War forced
28    labor or slave labor victims under Article XXIII of the  Code
29    of Civil Procedure.  Not later than December 31 of each year,
30    the  State  Treasurer  shall  submit  a  report of his or her
31    findings and recommendations to the General Assembly.
 
                            -2-                LRB9109472DJcd
 1        (c)  The reports required under subsections (a)  and  (b)
 2    may  be  combined  into  a  single  report  for  purposes  of
 3    submission to the General Assembly.

 4        Section  10.  The  Illinois  Pension  Code  is amended by
 5    adding Section 22A-117 as follows:

 6        (40 ILCS 5/22A-117 new)
 7        Sec. 22A-117. Victims of Second World War forced or slave
 8    labor; monitoring; reports. The Board and the State Treasurer
 9    shall jointly monitor all investments of  moneys  in  pension
10    funds or retirement systems governed by Articles 1 through 18
11    of  this  Code  to  determine whether any of those moneys are
12    invested  in  companies  doing  business  in   Illinois,   or
13    affiliates of such companies, that owe compensation to Second
14    World  War  forced labor or slave labor victims under Article
15    XXIII of  the  Code  of  Civil  Procedure.   Not  later  than
16    December  31  of each year, the Board and the State Treasurer
17    shall  submit  a  joint  report   of   their   findings   and
18    recommendations to the General Assembly.

19        Section  15.  The  Code  of Civil Procedure is amended by
20    adding Article XXIII as follows:

21        (735 ILCS 5/Art. XXIII heading new)
22               ARTICLE XXIII. VICTIMS OF SECOND WORLD
23                      WAR FORCED OR SLAVE LABOR

24        (735 ILCS 5/23-5 new)
25        Sec.  23-5.  Purpose.  Thousands  of  victims   of   Nazi
26    persecution,  and  the  heirs of victims of Nazi persecution,
27    are residents of the State of  Illinois.   These  victims  of
28    Nazi  persecution  have been deprived of their entitlement to
29    compensation for their labor and for injuries sustained while
 
                            -3-                LRB9109472DJcd
 1    performing that labor as forced or slave laborers before  and
 2    during  the  Second  World  War.  The State of Illinois has a
 3    moral  and  public  policy  interest  in  ensuring  that  its
 4    residents and citizens are given a reasonable opportunity  to
 5    claim  their  entitlement to compensation for forced or slave
 6    labor performed before and during the Second World War.
 7        To the extent that the statute of limitations  applicable
 8    to  claims for compensation is extended by this Article, that
 9    extension of the limitations period is intended to be applied
10    retroactively,  irrespective  of  whether  the  claims   were
11    otherwise  barred  by  any  applicable statute of limitations
12    under any other provision of law prior to the effective  date
13    of this amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly.

14        (735 ILCS 5/23-10 new)
15        Sec. 23-10. Additional public policy. It is the intent of
16    the  General Assembly to enact, in addition to the provisions
17    of this Article, additional public policy in any  other  case
18    of proven patterns of slave labor employed by firms presently
19    doing  business  in  Illinois  that  served  as  the basis of
20    ill-gotten wealth at the expense of victims who are residents
21    of this State.

22        (735 ILCS 5/23-15 new)
23        Sec. 23-15. Cause of action.
24        (a) In this Article:
25        "Compensation" means  the  present  value  of  wages  and
26    benefits  that  individuals should have been paid and damages
27    for  injuries  sustained  in  connection   with   the   labor
28    performed.  Present value shall be calculated on the basis of
29    the  market  value  of  the  services  at  the time they were
30    performed, plus interest from  the  time  the  services  were
31    performed,  compounded  annually  to the date of full payment
32    without  diminution   for   wartime   or   postwar   currency
 
                            -4-                LRB9109472DJcd
 1    devaluation.
 2        "Second  World  War forced labor victim" means any person
 3    who was a member of a civilian population  conquered  by  the
 4    Nazi  regime  or  its  allies  or  sympathizers, or who was a
 5    prisoner-of-war  of  the  Nazi  regime  or  its   allies   or
 6    sympathizers, and who was forced to perform labor without pay
 7    for  any  period  of  time  between 1929 and 1945 by the Nazi
 8    regime or its allies or  sympathizers  or  by  an  enterprise
 9    transacting business in any of the areas occupied by or under
10    control of the Nazi regime or its allies or sympathizers.
11        "Second  World  War  slave labor victim" means any person
12    taken from a concentration camp or ghetto  or  diverted  from
13    transportation  to  a  concentration camp or from a ghetto to
14    perform labor without pay for any period of time between 1929
15    and 1945 by the Nazi regime or its allies or sympathizers  or
16    by  an  enterprise  transacting  business in any of the areas
17    occupied by or under control of the Nazi regime or its allies
18    or sympathizers.
19        (b)  A Second World War forced  labor  victim  or  Second
20    World  War  slave  labor victim, or an heir of a Second World
21    War forced labor victim  or  Second  World  War  slave  labor
22    victim, may bring an action to recover compensation for labor
23    performed as a Second World War forced labor victim or Second
24    World  War slave labor victim.  The plaintiff may recover the
25    compensation  from  any  entity  for  whom  that  labor   was
26    performed,  or  from  any  successor  in  interest of such an
27    entity, regardless of whether that labor  was  performed  for
28    that entity directly or for a subsidiary or affiliate of that
29    entity.
30        (c)  An action under this Section shall be brought in the
31    circuit court, which shall have jurisdiction over the  action
32    until its completion or resolution.

33        (735 ILCS 5/23-20 new)
 
                            -5-                LRB9109472DJcd
 1        Sec.  23-20.  Limitations.  An  action brought under this
 2    Article may not be dismissed for failure to comply  with  the
 3    applicable  statute  of  limitations  under  this Code if the
 4    action is commenced before January 1, 2011.

 5        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
 6    becoming law.

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