Public Act 097-1005
 
HB5480 EnrolledLRB097 20382 JDS 65854 b


  
    AN ACT concerning government.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 5. The Voluntary Payroll Deductions Act of 1983 is 
amended  by changing Section 3 as follows:
 



    (5 ILCS 340/3)  (from Ch. 15, par. 503)



    Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act unless the context 
otherwise
requires:

    (a) "Employee" means any regular officer or employee who 
receives salary
or wages for personal services rendered to the 
State of Illinois, and
includes an individual hired as an 
employee by contract with that individual.

    (b) "Qualified organization" means an organization 
representing one or
more benefiting agencies, which 
organization is designated by the State
Comptroller as 
qualified to receive payroll deductions under this Act.
An 
organization desiring to be designated as a qualified 
organization shall:


        (1) Submit written or electronic designations  on forms 
    approved by the State Comptroller
by 500 4,000 or more 
    employees or State annuitants, in which such employees
or 
    State annuitants indicate that the organization is one for 
    which the
employee or State annuitant intends to authorize 
    withholding.  The forms
shall require the name, last 4 
    digits only of the social security number,
and employing 
    State agency
for
each employee.  Upon notification by the 
    Comptroller that such forms have been
approved, the 
    organization shall, within 30 days, notify in writing the

    Governor or his or her designee of its intention to obtain 
    the required
number of designations.  Such organization 
    shall have 12 months from that
date to obtain the necessary

    designations and return to the State Comptroller's office 
    the completed
designations, which shall
be subject to 
    verification procedures established by the State 
    Comptroller;


        (2) Certify that all benefiting agencies are tax exempt 
    under Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;


        (3) Certify that all benefiting agencies are in 
    compliance with the
Illinois Human Rights Act;


        (4) Certify that all benefiting agencies are in 
    compliance with
the Charitable Trust Act and the 
    Solicitation for Charity Act;


        (5) Certify that all benefiting agencies actively 
    conduct health or
welfare programs and provide services to 
    individuals directed at one or
more of the following common 
    human needs within a community: service,
research, and 
    education in the health fields; family and child care

    services; protective services for children and adults; 
    services for
children and adults in foster care; services 
    related to the management and
maintenance of the home; day 
    care services for adults; transportation
services; 
    information, referral and counseling services; services to

    eliminate illiteracy; the preparation and delivery of 
    meals; adoption
services; emergency shelter care and 
    relief services; disaster relief services;
safety 
    services; neighborhood and community organization 
    services; recreation
services; social adjustment and 
    rehabilitation services; health support
services; or a 
    combination of such services designed to meet the special

    needs of specific groups, such as children and youth, the 
    ill and infirm,
and the physically handicapped; and that 
    all such benefiting agencies
provide the above described 
    services to individuals and their families
in the community 
    and surrounding area in which the organization conducts
its 
    fund drive, or that such benefiting agencies provide relief 
    to victims
of natural disasters and other emergencies on a 
    where and as needed basis;


        (6) Certify that the organization has disclosed the 
    percentage of
the organization's total collected receipts 
    from employees or State
annuitants that are distributed to 
    the benefiting agencies and the
percentage of the 
    organization's total collected receipts from employees
or 
    State annuitants that are expended
for fund-raising and 
    overhead costs.  These percentages shall be the same

    percentage figures annually disclosed by the organization 
    to the Attorney
General.  The disclosure shall be made to 
    all solicited employees and State
annuitants and shall
be 
    in the form of a factual statement on all petitions and in 
    the campaign's
brochures for employees and State 
    annuitants;


        (7) Certify that all benefiting agencies receiving 
    funds which the
employee or State annuitant has requested 
    or designated for distribution
to a particular community 
    and surrounding area use a majority of such funds

    distributed for services in the actual provision of 
    services in that community
and surrounding area;


        (8) Certify that neither it nor its member 
    organizations will solicit
State employees for 
    contributions at their workplace, except pursuant to
this 
    Act and the rules promulgated thereunder.  Each qualified

    organization, and each participating United Fund, is 
    encouraged
to cooperate with all others and with all State 
    agencies
and educational institutions so as to simplify 
    procedures, to resolve
differences and to minimize costs;


        (9) Certify that it will pay its share of the campaign 
    costs and will
comply with the Code of Campaign Conduct as 
    approved by the Governor or other
agency as designated by 
    the Governor; and


        (10) Certify that it maintains a year-round office, the 
    telephone number,
and person responsible for the 
    operations of the organization in Illinois.
That 
    information shall be provided to the State Comptroller at 
    the time the
organization is seeking participation under 
    this Act.

    Each qualified organization shall submit to the State 
Comptroller between
January 1 and March 1 of each year, a 
statement that the organization is in
compliance with all of 
the requirements set forth in paragraphs (2) through
(10).  The 
State Comptroller shall exclude any organization that fails to

submit the statement from the next solicitation period.

    In order to be designated as a qualified organization, the 
organization shall
have existed at least 2 years prior to 
submitting the written or electronic designation forms

required in paragraph (1) and shall certify to the State 
Comptroller that such
organization has been providing services 
described in paragraph (5) in
Illinois.  If the organization 
seeking designation represents more than one
benefiting 
agency, it need not have existed for 2 years but shall certify 
to
the State Comptroller that each of its benefiting agencies 
has existed for at
least 2 years prior to submitting the 
written or electronic designation forms required in
paragraph 
(1) and that each has been providing services described in 
paragraph
(5) in Illinois.

    Organizations which have met the requirements of this Act 
shall be
permitted to participate in the State and Universities 
Combined Appeal as
of January 1st of the year immediately 
following their approval by the
Comptroller.

    Where the certifications described in paragraphs (2), (3), 
(4),
(5), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (10) above are made by an 
organization
representing more than
one benefiting agency they 
shall be based upon the knowledge and belief of
such qualified 
organization.  Any qualified organization shall immediately

notify the State Comptroller in writing if the qualified 
organization
receives information or otherwise believes that a 
benefiting agency is no
longer in compliance with the 
certification of the qualified organization.
A qualified 
organization representing more than one benefiting agency 
shall
thereafter withhold and refrain from distributing to such 
benefiting agency
those funds received pursuant to this Act 
until the benefiting agency is
again in compliance with the 
qualified organization's certification.  The
qualified 
organization shall immediately notify the State Comptroller of

the benefiting agency's resumed compliance with the 
certification, based
upon the qualified organization's 
knowledge and belief, and shall pay over
to the benefiting 
agency those funds previously withheld.

    In order to qualify, a qualified organization must receive 
250 deduction pledges from the immediately preceding 
solicitation period as set forth in Section 6. The Comptroller 
shall, by February 1st of each year, so notify any
qualified 
organization that failed to receive the minimum deduction 
requirement.  The notification shall give such qualified

organization until March 1st to provide the Comptroller with 
documentation
that the minimum deduction requirement has been 
met.  On the basis of all the
documentation, the Comptroller 
shall, by March 15th of each year, submit to
the Governor or 
his or her designee, or such other agency as may be
determined 
by the Governor, a list of all organizations which have met the 
minimum

payroll deduction requirement.  Only those 
organizations which have met such
requirements, as well as the 
other requirements of this Section, shall be
permitted to 
solicit State employees or State annuitants for voluntary

contributions, and the Comptroller shall discontinue 
withholding for any
such organization which fails to meet these 
requirements, except qualified organizations that received 
deduction pledges during the 2004 solicitation period are 
deemed to be qualified for the 2005 solicitation period.

    (c) "United Fund" means the organization conducting the 
single, annual,
consolidated effort to secure funds for 
distribution to agencies engaged
in charitable and public 
health, welfare and services purposes, which is
commonly known 
as the United Fund, or the organization which serves in place

of the United Fund organization in communities where an 
organization known
as the United Fund is not organized.

    In order for a United Fund to participate in the State and 
Universities
Employees Combined Appeal, it shall comply with 
the provisions of paragraph (9)
of subsection (b).

    (d) "State and Universities Employees Combined Appeal",

otherwise known as "SECA", means the State-directed joint 
effort of all of the
qualified organizations, together with the 
United Funds, for the solicitation
of voluntary contributions 
from State and University employees and State
annuitants.

    (e) "Retirement system" means any or all of the following: 
the General
Assembly Retirement System, the State Employees' 
Retirement System of Illinois,
the State Universities 
Retirement System, the Teachers' Retirement System of
the State 
of Illinois, and the Judges Retirement System.

    (f) "State annuitant" means a person receiving an annuity 
or disability
benefit under Article 2, 14, 15, 16, or 18 of the 
Illinois Pension Code.

(Source: P.A. 94-537, eff. 8-10-05.)