Public Act 097-0719
 
HB1084 EnrolledLRB097 06351 PJG 46431 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Governmental Ethics Act is amended
by changing Section 3A-40 as follows:
 
    (5 ILCS 420/3A-40)
    Sec. 3A-40. Appointees with expired terms; temporary and
acting appointees.
    (a) A person who is nominated by the Governor on or after
August 26, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-582) this
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly for any affected
office to which appointment requires the advice and consent of
the Senate, who is appointed pursuant to that advice and
consent, and whose term of office expires on or after August
26, 2011 shall not continue in office longer than 60 calendar
days after the expiration of that term of office. After that
60th day, each such office is considered vacant and shall be
filled only pursuant to the law applicable to making
appointments to that office, subject to the provisions of this
Section.
    A person who has been nominated by the Governor before
August 26, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-582) this
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly for any affected
office to which appointment requires the advice and consent of
the Senate, who has been appointed pursuant to that advice and
consent, and whose term of office has expired before that
effective date shall not continue in office longer than 60
calendar days after the date upon which his or her term of
office has expired that effective date. After that 60 days,
each such office is considered vacant and shall be filled only
pursuant to the law applicable to making appointments to that
office, subject to the provisions of this Section. If the term
of office of a person who is subject to this paragraph expires
more than 60 calendar days prior to the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, then that office
is considered vacant on the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 97th General Assembly, and that vacancy shall be
filled only pursuant to the law applicable to making
appointments to that office. For the purposes of this
subsection (a), "affected office" means (i) an office in which
one receives any form of compensation, including salary or per
diem, but not including expense reimbursement, or (ii)
membership on the board of trustees of a public university.
    (b) A person who is appointed by the Governor on or after
August 26, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-582) this
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly to serve as a
temporary appointee, pursuant to Article V, Section 9(b) of the
Illinois Constitution or any other applicable statute, to any
office to which appointment requires the advice and consent of
the Senate shall not continue in office after the next meeting
of the Senate unless the Governor has filed a message with the
Secretary of the Senate nominating that person to fill that
office on or before that meeting date. After that meeting date,
each such office is considered vacant and shall be filled only
pursuant to the law applicable to making appointments to that
office, subject to the provisions of this Section.
    A person who has been appointed by the Governor before
August 26, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-582) this
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly to serve as a
temporary appointee, pursuant to Article V, Section 9(b) of the
Illinois Constitution or any other applicable statute, to any
office to which appointment requires the advice and consent of
the Senate shall not continue in office after August 26, 2011
that effective date or the next meeting of the Senate after
August 26, 2011 that effective date, as applicable, unless the
Governor has filed a message with the Secretary of the Senate
nominating that person to fill that office on or before the
next meeting of the Senate after that temporary appointment was
made. After that effective date or meeting date, as applicable,
each such office is considered vacant and shall be filled only
pursuant to the law applicable to making appointments to that
office, subject to the provisions of this Section.
    For the purposes of this subsection (b), a meeting of the
Senate does not include a perfunctory session day as designated
by the Senate under its rules.
    (c) A person who is designated by the Governor on or after
August 26, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-582) this
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly to serve as an
acting appointee to any office to which appointment requires
the advice and consent of the Senate shall not continue in
office more than 60 calendar days unless the Governor files a
message with the Secretary of the Senate nominating that person
to fill that office within that 60 days. After that 60 days,
each such office is considered vacant and shall be filled only
pursuant to the law applicable to making appointments to that
office, subject to the provisions of this Section. No person
who has been designated by the Governor to serve as an acting
appointee to any office to which appointment requires the
advice and consent of the Senate shall, except at the Senate's
request, be designated again as an acting appointee for that
office at the same session of that Senate, subject to the
provisions of this Section.
    A person who has been designated by the Governor before
August 26, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-582) this
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly to serve as an
acting appointee to any office to which appointment requires
the advice and consent of the Senate shall not continue in
office longer than 60 calendar days after August 26, 2011 that
effective date unless the Governor has filed a message with the
Secretary of the Senate nominating that person to fill that
office on or before that 60 days. After that 60 days, each such
office is considered vacant and shall be filled only pursuant
to the law applicable to making appointments to that office,
subject to the provisions of this Section. No person who has
been designated by the Governor to serve as an acting appointee
to any office to which appointment requires the advice and
consent of the Senate shall, except at the Senate's request, be
designated again as an acting appointee for that office at the
same session of that Senate, subject to the provisions of this
Section.
    During the term of a General Assembly, the Governor may not
designate a person to serve as an acting appointee to any
office to which appointment requires the advice and consent of
the Senate if that person's nomination to serve as the
appointee for the same office was rejected by the Senate of the
same General Assembly.
    For the purposes of this subsection (c), "acting appointee"
means a person designated by the Governor to serve as an acting
director or acting secretary pursuant to Section 5-605 of the
Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. "Acting appointee" also
means a person designated by the Governor pursuant to any other
statute to serve as an acting holder of any office, to execute
the duties and functions of any office, or both.
    (d) The provisions of this Section apply notwithstanding
any law to the contrary. However, the provisions of this
Section do not apply to appointments made under Article 1A of
the Election Code or to the appointment of any person to serve
as Director of the Illinois Power Agency.
(Source: P.A. 97-582, eff. 8-26-11.)
 
    Section 10. The Workers' Compensation Act is amended by
changing Section 14 as follows:
 
    (820 ILCS 305/14)  (from Ch. 48, par. 138.14)
    Sec. 14. The Commission shall appoint a secretary, an
assistant secretary, and arbitrators and shall employ such
assistants and clerical help as may be necessary. Arbitrators
shall be appointed pursuant to this Section, notwithstanding
any provision of the Personnel Code.
    Each arbitrator appointed after November 22, 1977 shall be
required to demonstrate in writing and in accordance with the
rules and regulations of the Illinois Department of Central
Management Services his or her knowledge of and expertise in
the law of and judicial processes of the Workers' Compensation
Act and the Occupational Diseases Act.
    A formal training program for newly-hired arbitrators
shall be implemented. The training program shall include the
following:
        (a) substantive and procedural aspects of the
    arbitrator position;
        (b) current issues in workers' compensation law and
    practice;
        (c) medical lectures by specialists in areas such as
    orthopedics, ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation
    counseling;
        (d) orientation to each operational unit of the
    Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission;
        (e) observation of experienced arbitrators conducting
    hearings of cases, combined with the opportunity to discuss
    evidence presented and rulings made;
        (f) the use of hypothetical cases requiring the trainee
    to issue judgments as a means to evaluating knowledge and
    writing ability;
        (g) writing skills;
        (h) professional and ethical standards pursuant to
    Section 1.1 of this Act;
        (i) detection of workers' compensation fraud and
    reporting obligations of Commission employees and
    appointees;
        (j) standards of evidence-based medical treatment and
    best practices for measuring and improving quality and
    health care outcomes in the workers' compensation system,
    including but not limited to the use of the American
    Medical Association's "Guides to the Evaluation of
    Permanent Impairment" and the practice of utilization
    review; and
        (k) substantive and procedural aspects of coal
    workers' pneumoconiosis (black lung) cases.
    A formal and ongoing professional development program
including, but not limited to, the above-noted areas shall be
implemented to keep arbitrators informed of recent
developments and issues and to assist them in maintaining and
enhancing their professional competence. Each arbitrator shall
complete 20 hours of training in the above-noted areas during
every 2 years such arbitrator shall remain in office.
    Each arbitrator shall devote full time to his or her duties
and shall serve when assigned as an acting Commissioner when a
Commissioner is unavailable in accordance with the provisions
of Section 13 of this Act. Any arbitrator who is an
attorney-at-law shall not engage in the practice of law, nor
shall any arbitrator hold any other office or position of
profit under the United States or this State or any municipal
corporation or political subdivision of this State.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act to the
contrary, an arbitrator who serves as an acting Commissioner in
accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of this Act shall
continue to serve in the capacity of Commissioner until a
decision is reached in every case heard by that arbitrator
while serving as an acting Commissioner.
    Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the
term of all arbitrators serving on the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, including any
arbitrators on administrative leave, shall terminate at the
close of business on July 1, 2011, but the incumbents shall
continue to exercise all of their duties until they are
reappointed or their successors are appointed.
    On and after the effective date of this amendatory Act of
the 97th General Assembly, arbitrators shall be appointed to
3-year terms by the full Commission, except that initial
appointments made on and after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly shall be made as
follows:
        (1) All appointments shall be made by the Governor with
    the advice and consent of the Senate.
        (2) For their initial appointments, 12 arbitrators
    shall be appointed to terms expiring July 1, 2012; 12
    arbitrators shall be appointed to terms expiring July 1,
    2013; and all additional arbitrators shall be appointed to
    terms expiring July 1, 2014. Thereafter, all arbitrators
    shall be appointed to 3-year terms.
    Upon the expiration of a term, the Chairman shall evaluate
the performance of the arbitrator and may recommend to the
Governor that he or she be reappointed to a second or
subsequent term by the Governor with the advice and consent of
the Senate the full Commission.
    Each arbitrator appointed on or after the effective date of
this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly and who has
not previously served as an arbitrator for the Commission shall
be required to be authorized to practice law in this State by
the Supreme Court, and to maintain this authorization
throughout his or her term of employment.
    All arbitrators shall be subject to the provisions of the
Personnel Code, and the performance of all arbitrators shall be
reviewed by the Chairman on an annual basis. The changes made
to this Section by this amendatory Act of the 97th General
Assembly shall prevail over any conflict with the Personnel
Code. The Chairman shall allow input from the Commissioners in
all such reviews.
    The Commission shall assign no fewer than 3 arbitrators to
each hearing site. The Commission shall establish a procedure
to ensure that the arbitrators assigned to each hearing site
are assigned cases on a random basis. No arbitrator shall hear
cases in any county, other than Cook County, for more than 2
years in each 3-year term.
    The Secretary and each arbitrator shall receive a per annum
salary of $4,000 less than the per annum salary of members of
The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission as provided in
Section 13 of this Act, payable in equal monthly installments.
    The members of the Commission, Arbitrators and other
employees whose duties require them to travel, shall have
reimbursed to them their actual traveling expenses and
disbursements made or incurred by them in the discharge of
their official duties while away from their place of residence
in the performance of their duties.
    The Commission shall provide itself with a seal for the
authentication of its orders, awards and proceedings upon which
shall be inscribed the name of the Commission and the words
"Illinois--Seal".
    The Secretary or Assistant Secretary, under the direction
of the Commission, shall have charge and custody of the seal of
the Commission and also have charge and custody of all records,
files, orders, proceedings, decisions, awards and other
documents on file with the Commission. He shall furnish
certified copies, under the seal of the Commission, of any such
records, files, orders, proceedings, decisions, awards and
other documents on file with the Commission as may be required.
Certified copies so furnished by the Secretary or Assistant
Secretary shall be received in evidence before the Commission
or any Arbitrator thereof, and in all courts, provided that the
original of such certified copy is otherwise competent and
admissible in evidence. The Secretary or Assistant Secretary
shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed from time
to time by the Commission.
(Source: P.A. 97-18, eff. 6-28-11.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.