HB1539eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1539 Engrossed LRB095 06260 JAM 26354 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 Lottery Law is amended by changing Section 21.6 as follows:

(20 ILCS 1605/21.6)

Sec. 21.6. Scratch-off for Illinois veterans.

(a) The Department shall offer a special instant scratch-off game for the benefit of Illinois veterans. The game shall commence on January 1, 2006 or as soon thereafter, at the discretion of the Director, as is reasonably practical. The operation of the game shall be governed by this Act and any rules adopted by the Department. If any provision of this Section is inconsistent with any other provision of this Act, then this Section governs.

(b) The Illinois Veterans Assistance Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. The net revenue from the Illinois veterans scratch-off game shall be deposited into the Fund for appropriation by the General Assembly solely to the Department of Veterans Affairs for making grants, funding additional services, or conducting additional research projects relating to each of the following:

(i) veterans' post traumatic stress disorder;

(ii) veterans' homelessness;

(iii) the health insurance costs of veterans;

(iv) veterans' disability benefits, including but not limited to, disability benefits provided by veterans service organizations and veterans assistance commissions or centers; and

(v) the long-term care of veterans; provided that, beginning with moneys appropriated for fiscal year 2008, no more than 20% of such moneys shall be used for health insurance costs.

In order to expend moneys from this special fund, beginning with moneys appropriated for fiscal year 2008, the Director of Veterans' Affairs shall appoint a 3-member funding authorization committee. The Director shall designate one of the members as chairperson. The committee shall meet on a quarterly basis, at a minimum, and shall authorize expenditure of moneys from the special fund by a two-thirds vote. Decisions of the committee shall not take effect unless and until approved by the Director of Veterans' Affairs. Each member of the committee shall serve until a replacement is named by the Director of Veterans' Affairs. One member of the committee shall be a member of the Veterans' Advisory Council.

Moneys collected from the special instant scratch-off game shall be used only as a supplemental financial resource and shall not supplant existing moneys that the Department of Veterans Affairs may currently expend for the purposes set forth in items (i) through (v) (i-v).

Moneys received for the purposes of this Section, including, without limitation, net revenue from the special instant scratch-off game and from gifts, grants, and awards from any public or private entity, must be deposited into the Fund. Any interest earned on moneys in the Fund must be deposited into the Fund.

For purposes of this subsection, "net revenue" means the total amount for which tickets have been sold less the sum of the amount paid out in the prizes and the actual administrative expenses of the Department solely related to the scratch-off game under this Section.

(c) During the time that tickets are sold for the Illinois veterans scratch-off game, the Department shall not unreasonably diminish the efforts devoted to marketing any other instant scratch-off lottery game.

(d) The Department may adopt any rules necessary to implement and administer the provisions of this Section.

(Source: P.A. 94-585, eff. 8-15-05; revised 9-6-05.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2007.