103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB4160

 

Introduced , by Rep. Norine K. Hammond

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
5 ILCS 375/6.17 new
820 ILCS 315/2  from Ch. 48, par. 282

    Amends the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971. Provides that the participation of a dependent in the program of health benefits shall not be suspended or terminated upon the death of the member from whom the dependent derived health benefits coverage until the dependent begins to receive an annuity as a survivor of an employee or annuitant and receives survivor health benefits. Amends the Line of Duty Compensation Act. In provisions concerning definitions, provides that, in the case of employees of the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice, "killed in the line of duty" means losing one's life after contracting COVID-19 on or after January 1 of 2020 or losing one's life after contracting a disease for which a State or federal emergency is declared during the period of the declaration. Effective immediately.


LRB103 34506 SPS 64340 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4160LRB103 34506 SPS 64340 b

1    AN ACT concerning government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971
5is amended by adding Section 6.17 as follows:
 
6    (5 ILCS 375/6.17 new)
7    Sec. 6.17. Survivor health benefits continuing coverage.
8Notwithstanding any rule or provision of law to the contrary,
9the participation of a dependent in the program of health
10benefits shall not be suspended or terminated upon the death
11of the member from whom the dependent derived health benefits
12coverage under this Act until the dependent begins to receive
13an annuity as a survivor of an employee or annuitant and
14receives survivor health benefits.
 
15    Section 10. The Line of Duty Compensation Act is amended
16by changing Section 2 as follows:
 
17    (820 ILCS 315/2)  (from Ch. 48, par. 282)
18    Sec. 2. As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise
19requires:
20    (a) "Law enforcement officer" or "officer" means any
21person employed by the State or a local governmental entity as

 

 

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1a policeman, peace officer, auxiliary policeman or in some
2like position involving the enforcement of the law and
3protection of the public interest at the risk of that person's
4life. This includes supervisors, wardens, superintendents and
5their assistants, guards and keepers, correctional officers,
6youth supervisors, parole agents, aftercare specialists,
7school teachers and correctional counsellors in all facilities
8of both the Department of Corrections and the Department of
9Juvenile Justice, while within the facilities under the
10control of the Department of Corrections or the Department of
11Juvenile Justice or in the act of transporting inmates or
12wards from one location to another or while performing their
13official duties, and all other Department of Correction or
14Department of Juvenile Justice employees who have daily
15contact with inmates. For the purposes of this Act, "law
16enforcement officer" or "officer" also means a probation
17officer, as defined in Section 9b of the Probation and
18Probation Officers Act.
19    The death of the foregoing employees of the Department of
20Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice in order to
21be included herein must be by the direct or indirect willful
22act of an inmate, ward, work-releasee, parolee, aftercare
23releasee, parole violator, aftercare release violator, person
24under conditional release, or any person sentenced or
25committed, or otherwise subject to confinement in or to the
26Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile

 

 

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1Justice.
2    (b) "Fireman" means any person employed by the State or a
3local governmental entity as, or otherwise serving as, a
4member or officer of a fire department either for the purpose
5of the prevention or control of fire or the underwater
6recovery of drowning victims, including volunteer firemen.
7    (c) "Local governmental entity" includes counties,
8municipalities and municipal corporations.
9    (d) "State" means the State of Illinois and its
10departments, divisions, boards, bureaus, commissions,
11authorities and colleges and universities.
12    (e) "Killed in the line of duty" means losing one's life as
13a result of injury received in the active performance of
14duties as a law enforcement officer, civil defense worker,
15civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, or chaplain if
16the death occurs within one year from the date the injury was
17received and if that injury arose from violence or other
18accidental cause. In the case of a State employee, "killed in
19the line of duty" means losing one's life as a result of injury
20received in the active performance of one's duties as a State
21employee, if the death occurs within one year from the date the
22injury was received and if that injury arose from a willful act
23of violence by another State employee committed during such
24other employee's course of employment and after January 1,
251988. The term excludes death resulting from the willful
26misconduct or intoxication of the officer, civil defense

 

 

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1worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain,
2or State employee. However, the burden of proof of such
3willful misconduct or intoxication of the officer, civil
4defense worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman,
5chaplain, or State employee is on the Attorney General.
6Subject to the conditions set forth in subsection (a) with
7respect to inclusion under this Act of Department of
8Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice employees
9described in that subsection, for the purposes of this Act,
10instances in which a law enforcement officer receives an
11injury in the active performance of duties as a law
12enforcement officer include but are not limited to instances
13when:
14        (1) the injury is received as a result of a wilful act
15    of violence committed other than by the officer and a
16    relationship exists between the commission of such act and
17    the officer's performance of his duties as a law
18    enforcement officer, whether or not the injury is received
19    while the officer is on duty as a law enforcement officer;
20        (2) the injury is received by the officer while the
21    officer is attempting to prevent the commission of a
22    criminal act by another or attempting to apprehend an
23    individual the officer suspects has committed a crime,
24    whether or not the injury is received while the officer is
25    on duty as a law enforcement officer;
26        (3) the injury is received by the officer while the

 

 

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1    officer is travelling to or from his employment as a law
2    enforcement officer or during any meal break, or other
3    break, which takes place during the period in which the
4    officer is on duty as a law enforcement officer.
5    In the case of an Armed Forces member, "killed in the line
6of duty" means losing one's life while on active duty in
7connection with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on
8the United States, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation
9Freedom's Sentinel, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New
10Dawn, or Operation Inherent Resolve.
11    In the case of employees of the Department of Corrections
12or the Department of Juvenile Justice, "killed in the line of
13duty" means losing one's life after contracting COVID-19 on or
14after January 1 of 2020 or losing one's life after contracting
15a disease for which a State or federal emergency is declared
16during the period of the declaration.
17    (f) "Volunteer fireman" means a person having principal
18employment other than as a fireman, but who is carried on the
19rolls of a regularly constituted fire department either for
20the purpose of the prevention or control of fire or the
21underwater recovery of drowning victims, the members of which
22are under the jurisdiction of the corporate authorities of a
23city, village, incorporated town, or fire protection district,
24and includes a volunteer member of a fire department organized
25under the "General Not for Profit Corporation Act", approved
26July 17, 1943, as now or hereafter amended, which is under

 

 

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1contract with any city, village, incorporated town, fire
2protection district, or persons residing therein, for fire
3fighting services. "Volunteer fireman" does not mean an
4individual who volunteers assistance without being regularly
5enrolled as a fireman.
6    (g) "Civil defense worker" means any person employed by
7the State or a local governmental entity as, or otherwise
8serving as, a member of a civil defense work force, including
9volunteer civil defense work forces engaged in serving the
10public interest during periods of disaster, whether natural or
11man-made.
12    (h) "Civil air patrol member" means any person employed by
13the State or a local governmental entity as, or otherwise
14serving as, a member of the organization commonly known as the
15"Civil Air Patrol", including volunteer members of the
16organization commonly known as the "Civil Air Patrol".
17    (i) "Paramedic" means an Emergency Medical
18Technician-Paramedic certified by the Illinois Department of
19Public Health under the Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
20Systems Act, and all other emergency medical personnel
21certified by the Illinois Department of Public Health who are
22members of an organized body or not-for-profit corporation
23under the jurisdiction of a city, village, incorporated town,
24fire protection district or county, that provides emergency
25medical treatment to persons of a defined geographical area.
26    (j) "State employee" means any employee as defined in

 

 

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1Section 14-103.05 of the Illinois Pension Code, as now or
2hereafter amended.
3    (k) "Chaplain" means an individual who:
4        (1) is a chaplain of (i) a fire department or (ii) a
5    police department or other agency consisting of law
6    enforcement officers; and
7        (2) has been designated a chaplain by (i) the fire
8    department, police department, or other agency or an
9    officer or body having jurisdiction over the department or
10    agency or (ii) a labor organization representing the
11    firemen or law enforcement officers.
12    (l) "Armed Forces member" means an Illinois resident who
13is: a member of the Armed Forces of the United States; a member
14of the Illinois National Guard while on active military
15service pursuant to an order of the President of the United
16States; or a member of any reserve component of the Armed
17Forces of the United States while on active military service
18pursuant to an order of the President of the United States.
19(Source: P.A. 102-221, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
20    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
21becoming law.