HB3035eng 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB3035 Engrossed LRB098 08955 JDS 39088 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 Disaster Relief Act is amended by changing Section 3 as follows:

(15 ILCS 30/3) (from Ch. 127, par. 293.3)

Sec. 3. Whenever funds regularly appropriated to the State and local governmental bodies for disaster response and recovery are insufficient to provide services, and when the Governor has declared a disaster by proclamation in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act or any successor Act, the Governor may draw upon the Disaster Response and Recovery Relief Fund in order to provide services or to reimburse local governmental bodies furnishing services. The fund may be used for the payment of emergency employees, for the payment of the Illinois National Guard when called to active duty, for disaster-related expenses of State Agencies and Departments, and for the emergency purchase or renting of equipment and commodities. The fund shall be used for furnishing emergency services and relief to the disaster area as a whole and shall not be used to provide private relief to persons sustaining property damages or personal injury as a result of a disaster.

(Source: P.A. 87-168.)

Section 10. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act is amended by changing Sections 8 and 9 as follows:

(20 ILCS 3305/8) (from Ch. 127, par. 1058)

Sec. 8. Mobile Support Teams.

(a) The Governor or Director may cause to be created Mobile Support Teams to aid and to reinforce the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, and emergency services and disaster agencies in areas stricken by disaster. Each mobile support team shall have a leader, selected by the Director who will be responsible, under the direction and control of the Director, for the organization, administration, and training, and operation of the mobile support team.

(b) Personnel of a mobile support team while on duty pursuant to such a call or while engaged in regularly scheduled training or exercises, whether within or without the State, shall either:

(1) If they are paid employees of the State, have the powers, duties, rights, privileges and immunities and receive the compensation incidental to their employment.

(2) If they are paid employees of a political subdivision or body politic of this State, and whether serving within or without that political subdivision or body politic, have the powers, duties, rights, privileges and immunities, and receive the compensation incidental to their employment.

(3) If they are not employees of the State, political subdivision or body politic, or being such employees, are not normally paid for their services, be entitled to at least one dollar per year compensation from the State.

Personnel of a mobile support team who suffer disease, injury or death arising out of or in the course of emergency duty, shall for the purposes of benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act or Workers' Occupational Diseases Act only, be deemed to be employees of this State. If the person diseased, injured or killed is an employee described in item (3) above, the computation of benefits payable under either of those Acts shall be based on income commensurate with comparable State employees doing the same type of work or income from the person's regular employment, whichever is greater.

All personnel of mobile support teams shall, while on duty under such call, be reimbursed by this State for all actual and necessary travel and subsistence expenses.

(c) The State shall reimburse each political subdivision or body politic from the Disaster Response and Recovery Relief Fund for the compensation paid and the actual and necessary travel, subsistence and maintenance expenses of paid employees of the political subdivision or body politic while serving, outside of its geographical boundaries pursuant to such a call, as members of a mobile support team, and for all payments made for death, disease or injury of those paid employees arising out of and incurred in the course of that duty, and for all losses of or damage to supplies and equipment of the political subdivision or body politic resulting from the operations.

(d) Whenever mobile support teams or units of another state, while the Governor has the emergency powers provided for under Section 7 of this Act, render aid to this State under the orders of the Governor of its home state and upon the request of the Governor of this State, all questions relating to reimbursement by this State to the other state and its citizens in regard to the assistance so rendered shall be determined by the mutual aid agreements or interstate compacts described in subparagraph (5) of paragraph (c) of Section 6 as are existing at the time of the assistance rendered or are entered into thereafter and under Section 303 (d) of the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950.

(e) No personnel of mobile support teams of this State may be ordered by the Governor to operate in any other state unless a request for the same has been made by the Governor or duly authorized representative of the other state.

(Source: P.A. 92-73, eff. 1-1-02.)

(20 ILCS 3305/9) (from Ch. 127, par. 1059)

Sec. 9. Financing.

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature and declared to be the policy of the State that funds to meet disasters shall always be available.

(b) It is the legislative intent that the first recourse shall be to funds regularly appropriated to State and political subdivision departments and agencies. If the Governor finds that the demands placed upon these funds in coping with a particular disaster are unreasonably great, the Governor may make funds available from the Disaster Response and Recovery Relief Fund. If monies available from the Fund are insufficient, and if the Governor finds that other sources of money to cope with the disaster are not available or are insufficient, the Governor shall request the General Assembly to enact legislation as it may deem necessary to transfer and expend monies appropriated for other purposes or borrow, for a term not to exceed 2 years from the United States government or other public or private source. If the General Assembly is not sitting in regular session to enact such legislation for the transfer, expenditure or loan of such monies, and the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House certify that the Senate and House are not in session, the Governor is authorized to carry out those decisions, by depositing transfers or loan proceeds into and making expenditures from the Disaster Response and Recovery Relief Fund, until such time as a quorum of the General Assembly can convene in a regular or extraordinary session. The General Assembly shall, to the extent moneys become available, restore moneys used from other sources under this Section.

(c) Nothing contained in this Section shall be construed to limit the Governor's authority to apply for, administer and expend grants, gifts or payments in aid of disaster mitigation, preparedness, response or recovery.

(Source: P.A. 92-73, eff. 1-1-02; 93-249, eff. 7-22-03.)

Section 15. The Emergency Management Assistance Compact Act is amended by adding Section 10 as follows:

(45 ILCS 151/10 new)

Sec. 10. Reimbursements and expenses. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency as the authorized representative of the State may use the Disaster Response and Recovery Fund to deposit any reimbursements received from a party state and to pay any expenses incurred relating to this Act.

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