SB2986sam001 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins

Filed: 2/7/2022

10200SB2986sam001 LRB102 22322 RLC 35909 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2986

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2986 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title; references to Act.

(a) Short title. This Act may be cited as the Funeral and Burial Assistance Program for Murdered Children Act.

(b) References to Act. This Act may be referred to as the Mychal Moultry, Jr. Funeral and Burial Assistance Act.

Section 5. Purpose; findings.

(a) Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in Illinois.

(b) Parents and guardians who experience the death of a child by gun violence face the painful process of bereavement while also bearing the responsibilities of planning a funeral and paying for funeral and burial expenses, usually through some form of debt.

(c) While the State assists the families of murdered children with funeral and burial expenses, assistance is primarily in the form of a reimbursement to the family after a formal application is submitted. After submission, the application undergoes a lengthy evaluation process by a review committee and a subsequent hearing before an administrative court. The process takes months, even years, before a final decision is rendered, during which time the victim's family can incur an overwhelming amount of debt.

(d) This debt is particularly burdensome for low-income families, who struggle to repay the debt while continuing to provide for the family's basic needs. Many families rely on in-kind donations to support their basic needs while they work to pay off funeral and burial expenses.

(e) It is the intent of this Act to assist the families of children murdered in Illinois with funeral and burial expenses by having the State issue direct payments to funeral establishments and cemetery authorities instead of having the victim's family struggle to pay the cost and wait for reimbursement. Direct payments will enable families to secure burial rights and proper funeral and burial services and merchandise without enduring significant financial hardship and debt.

(f) This Act provides for expedited processing and payment of all disbursement requests for child victim funeral and burial expenses.

Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Burial rights" means rights of internment, inurment, or emtombment.

"Cemetery authority" means any individual or legal entity that owns or controls cemetery lands or property that provides burial rights and burial services and merchandise to a child victim consistent with the Cemetery Oversight Act.

"Child victim" means:

(1) a person under 17 years of age killed in this State by a firearm as a result of a first degree or second degree murder, as defined in Section 9-1 or 9-2, respectively, of the Criminal Code of 2012, perpetrated against him or her;

(2) a person under 17 years of age killed in this State as a result of attempting to assist a person against whom a first degree or second degree murder by a firearm is being perpetrated or attempted, if that attempt of assistance would be expected of a reasonable person under the circumstances;

(3) a person under 17 years of age killed in this State while assisting a law enforcement official apprehend a person who has perpetrated a first degree or second degree murder by a firearm or prevent the perpetration of any such crime; or

(4) a resident of this State under 17 years of age who is a victim of a first degree or second degree murder by a firearm except, if the crime occurred outside this State, the victim's survivors who are residents of this State have the same rights under this Act as if the crime had occurred in this State upon a showing that the state, territory, country, or political subdivision of a country in which the crime occurred does not have a compensation of victims of homicide for which the survivors are eligible.

"Eligible survivor" means the parent or guardian of a child victim, or anyone living in the household of a child victim in a relationship with the victim that is substantially similar to that of a parent, who has a household income of less than 150% of the federal poverty level and qualifies for payment of funeral and burial expenses under this Act.

"Funeral and burial expenses" means expenses that include, but are not limited to, the transport of deceased human remains to a funeral establishment; the preparation of deceased human remains for burial, including cleaning, disinfecting, and embalming; the preparation, direction, and supervision of the burial, cremation, or other disposition of deceased human remains, including furnishing a casket, vault, mausoleum or urn; the administration of funeral arrangements, including providing printed materials, providing transportation of the deceased human remains to the burial site, and furnishing necessary facilities and equipment; and any other service related to the carrying out of funeral or burial services that the State Comptroller may allow, if consistent with the law, up to the total allowable amount of disbursement under Section 45.

"Funeral establishment" means a State-licensed funeral home, funeral chapel, funeral parlor, or other business that provides funeral and burial services to a child victim.

Section 15. Felon as victim or survivor. An eligible survivor's or child victim's criminal history or felony status shall not automatically prevent an award for payment of the child victim's funeral and burial expenses.

Section 20. Additional powers; State Comptroller. In addition to other powers and duties set forth in this Act and other powers exercised by the State Comptroller, the State Comptroller shall conduct a review of disbursement requests submitted by a funeral establishment or cemetery authority, which includes verification of the eligible survivor's household income, verification of the child victim's death certificate and autopsy or pathology report, and a review of the statement of goods and services provided by the funeral establishment or cemetery authority pursuant to the Cemetery Oversight Act. Upon conclusion of the review, the State Comptroller shall provide the funeral establishment or cemetery authority with a payment determination letter. The State Comptroller shall disburse payment to a funeral establishment or cemetery authority from the Illinois Funeral and Burial Assistance Program for Murdered Children Fund.

Section 25. Funding of the Funeral and Burial Assistance Program for Murdered Children.

The Funeral and Burial Assistance Program for Murdered Children shall be funded by grants awarded by the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention to the State Comptroller and placed in the Funeral and Burial Assistance Program for Murdered Children Fund, to be managed by the State Comptroller.

Section 30. Right to disbursement.

(a) With respect to the provision of burial rights and funeral and burial services and merchandise within the applicable scope of practice, a funeral establishment or cemetery authority is entitled to disbursement under this Act if within one year of the occurrence of the crime upon which a disbursement request is made, the funeral establishment or cemetery authority submits the request to the State Comptroller on a form prescribed in accordance with Section 35 as furnished by the State Comptroller.

(b) The State Comptroller may accept a request presented after the period provided in subsection (a) if it determines that the funeral establishment or cemetery authority had a good cause for a delay.

Section 35. Disbursement request requirements. (a) A disbursement request shall include:

(1) the name and address of the eligible survivor and his or her relationship to the child victim;

(2) the date and nature of the crime on which the disbursement request is based;

(3) the nature and extent of the injuries sustained by the child victim, and the names and addresses of those giving any medical and hospitalization treatment to the child victim;

(4) a copy of the child victim's death certificate or of the autopsy or pathology report;

(5) documentation verifying an eligible survivor's household income;

(6) a copy of the invoice detailing funeral and burial expenses, including any applicable taxes, surcharges and fees;

(7) releases authorizing the surrender to the State Comptroller of reports, documents and other information relating to matters specified under this Act and rules adopted in accordance with this Act; and

(8) such other information as the State Comptroller reasonably requires.

(b) The State Comptroller may require that material substantiating the facts stated in the disbursement request be submitted with that request.

(c) A funeral establishment or cemetery authority, on its own volition, may file an amended request or additional substantiating materials to correct inadvertent errors or omissions at any time before the original request has been disposed of by the State Comptroller. In either case, the filing of additional information or of an amended request shall be considered for the purpose of this Act to have been filed at the same time as the original request.

Section 40. Additional materials requested. If a funeral establishment or cemetery authority does not submit all materials substantiating its disbursement request as requested by the State Comptroller, the State Comptroller shall notify the establishment in writing of the specific additional items of information or materials required and that it has 30 days in which to furnish those items to the State Comptroller. No disbursement shall be made for any portion of the request from a funeral establishment or cemetery authority that is not substantiated by the establishment or authority. An establishment or authority may request an extension of time from the State Comptroller prior to the expiration of the 30-day period.

Section 45. Amount of disbursement.

(a) The total amount of disbursement for funeral and burial expenses for a child victim shall be $10,000, to be apportioned between the funeral establishment and cemetery authority by those eligible survivors authorized to direct the disposition of remains pursuant to the Disposition of Remains Act.

(b) Upon submitting a disbursement request to the State Comptroller, and upon the State Comptroller's review of such request verifying that a survivor is an eligible survivor, a funeral establishment and cemetery authority shall each receive disbursement from the State Comptroller in the amount of the total cost of burial rights and funeral services and merchandise provided, up to the allocation amount. The State Comptroller shall process all payment vouchers within 30 days of submission of a complete disbursement request, and shall pay all such vouchers within 30 days of receipt. All disbursement requests that are not paid within 60 days shall thereafter accrue interest at the rate set by the Prompt Payment Act.

(c) Beginning on January 1, 2023, the maximum allowable disbursement amount shall be increased by an amount equal to any increase in the general inflation, as determined by the consumer price index, for each subsequent year of the program.

Section 50. Prohibition against double payment; recordkeeping; payment recapture.

(a) An eligible survivor receiving an award for funeral and burial assistance for a child victim under this Act shall not receive an award for such assistance under the Crime Victims Compensation Act or the Department of Human Services Funeral and Burial Benefits Program, except for an amount in excess of the award received under this Act up to the total cost of funeral and burial expenses.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (a), any individual, eligible survivor, funeral establishment, or cemetery authority under this Act shall not retain a duplicate award for funeral and burial expenses for a child victim from any State agency or agencies. For the purposes of this Section, a duplicate award is one which results in a total award from the State for the cost of funeral and burial expenses for a child victim in excess of that authorized by the State Comptroller. To prevent such duplicate awards, the State Comptroller shall maintain an electronic record of each disbursement to a funeral establishment or cemetery authority and provide access to such records to any State agency providing funeral or burial assistance to Illinois residents.

(c) The State Comptroller is authorized to contract with third-party entities to conduct payment recapture audits to detect and recapture payments made in error or as a result of fraud or abuse. A payment recapture audit shall include the process of identifying improper payments paid to a funeral establishment or cemetery authority or to an eligible survivor whereby accounting specialists examine payment records and uncover duplicate payments, payments for services not rendered, overpayments, payments for unauthorized services, and fictitious vendors. This audit may include the use of professional and specialized auditors on a contingency basis, with compensation tied to the identification of misspent funds.

Section 55. Hospital and law enforcement notification.

(a) Every hospital licensed under the laws of this State shall display prominently in its emergency room posters giving notification of the existence and general provisions of this Act.

The posters may be displayed by physical or electronic means. The posters shall be provided by the State Comptroller.

(b) Any law enforcement agency that investigates an offense committed in this State shall inform the parent or guardian of the child victim concerning the availability of assistance for funeral and burial expenses under this Act and advise such persons that any information concerning this Act may be obtained from the State Comptroller.

Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Section 5.970 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.970 new)

Sec. 5.970. The Funeral and Burial Assistance Program for Murdered Children Fund.

Section 95. The Reimagine Public Safety Act is amended by changing Section 35-20 as follows:

(430 ILCS 69/35-20)

Sec. 35-20. Office of Firearm Violence Prevention.

(a) On or before October 1, 2021, an Office of Firearm Violence Prevention is established within the Illinois Department of Human Services. The Assistant Secretary of Violence Prevention shall report his or her actions to the Secretary of Human Services and the Office of the Governor. The Office shall have the authority to coordinate and integrate all programs and services listed in this Act and other programs and services the Governor establishes by executive order to maximize an integrated approach to reducing Illinois' firearm violence epidemic and ultimately ending this public health crisis.

(b) The Department of Human Services and the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall have grant making, operational, and procurement authority to distribute funds to violence prevention organizations, youth development organizations, high-risk youth intervention organizations, approved technical assistance and training providers, evaluation and assessment organizations, and other entities necessary to execute the functions established in this Act and other programs and services the Governor establishes by executive order for the Department and the Office. The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall also provide grants to the State Comptroller to administer the Funeral and Burial Assistance Program for Murdered Children. The grants shall be deposited into the Funeral and Burial Assistance Program for Murdered Children Fund.

(c) The Assistant Secretary of Firearm Violence Prevention shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Assistant Secretary of Firearm Violence Prevention shall report to the Secretary of Human Services and also report his or her actions to the Office of the Governor.

(d) For Illinois municipalities with a 1,000,000 or more population, the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall determine the 10 most violent neighborhoods. When possible, this shall be determined by measuring the number of per capita fatal and nonfatal firearm-shot victims, excluding self-inflicted incidents, from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2020. These 10 communities shall qualify for grants under this Act and coordination of other State services from the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention. The Office shall, after identifying the top 10 neighborhoods, identify an additional 7 eligible neighborhoods by considering the number of victims in rank order in addition to the per capita rate. If appropriate, and subject to appropriation, the Office shall have the authority to consider adding up to 5 additional eligible neighborhoods or clusters of contiguous neighborhoods utilizing the same data sets so as to maximize the potential impact for firearm violence reduction. For Illinois municipalities with less than 1,000,000 residents and more than 35,000 residents, the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall identify the 10 municipalities or contiguous geographic areas that have the greatest concentrated firearm violence victims. When possible, this shall be determined by measuring the number of fatal and nonfatal firearm-shot victims, excluding self-inflicted incidents, from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2020 divided by the number of residents for each municipality or area. These 10 municipalities or contiguous geographic areas and up to 5 additional municipalities or contiguous geographic areas identified by the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall qualify for grants under this Act and coordination of other State services from the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention. The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall consider factors listed in subsection (a) of Section 35-40 to determine up to 5 additional municipalities or contiguous geographic areas that qualify for grants under this Act. The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention may, subject to appropriation, identify up to 5 additional neighborhoods, municipalities, contiguous geographic areas, or other local government-identified boundary areas to receive funding under this Act after considering additional risk factors that contribute to community firearm violence. The data analysis to identify new eligible neighborhoods and municipalities shall be updated to reflect eligibility based on the most recently available 5 full years of data no more frequently than once every 3 years.

(e) The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall issue a report to the General Assembly no later than January 1 of each year that identifies communities within Illinois municipalities of 1,000,000 or more residents and municipalities with less than 1,000,000 residents and more than 35,000 residents that are experiencing concentrated firearm violence, explaining the investments that are being made to reduce concentrated firearm violence, and making further recommendations on how to end Illinois' firearm violence epidemic.

(Source: P.A. 102-16, eff. 6-17-21; 102-679, eff. 12-10-21.)

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