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| 1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 359
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| 2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 359 by replacing | ||||||
| 3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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| 4 | "Section 5. The Department of Veterans' Affairs Act is | ||||||
| 5 | amended by adding Section 39 as follows: | ||||||
| 6 | (20 ILCS 2805/39 new) | ||||||
| 7 | Sec. 39. Veterans' Accountability Unit. | ||||||
| 8 | (a) The Department shall create a Veterans' Accountability | ||||||
| 9 | Unit which shall receive complaints and recommendations from: | ||||||
| 10 | (i) veterans and other Illinois residents who seek services | ||||||
| 11 | from the Department; (ii) residents of Veterans' Homes, their | ||||||
| 12 | families, and visitors; (iii) vendors and contractors of the | ||||||
| 13 | Department; and (iv) staff of the Department. | ||||||
| 14 | (b) The Governor shall appoint, and the Senate shall | ||||||
| 15 | confirm, the Director of the Veterans' Accountability Unit. | ||||||
| 16 | The Director shall be appointed for a term of 4 years. | ||||||
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| 1 | (c) The Director of the Veterans' Accountability Unit | ||||||
| 2 | shall ensure that the Unit maintains regular office hours and | ||||||
| 3 | establishes both a toll-free helpline and a dedicated | ||||||
| 4 | electronic mail address for the purpose of accepting | ||||||
| 5 | complaints, information, and recommendations. The Director | ||||||
| 6 | shall provide a reasonable means for receiving complaints | ||||||
| 7 | outside of office hours. | ||||||
| 8 | (d) The Veterans' Accountability Unit shall function | ||||||
| 9 | independently of the Department. The salary and benefits of | ||||||
| 10 | the Director of the Veterans' Accountability Unit and any | ||||||
| 11 | other staff of the Unit, as deemed necessary by the Director, | ||||||
| 12 | along with all other expenses of the Unit shall be paid from | ||||||
| 13 | appropriations to the Department. | ||||||
| 14 | (e) The Director and staff of the Veterans' Accountability | ||||||
| 15 | Unit shall have the authority to access the offices or | ||||||
| 16 | facilities of the Department and the Veterans' Homes and shall | ||||||
| 17 | have access to all information, documents, and personnel of | ||||||
| 18 | the Department as needed to perform the duties of the | ||||||
| 19 | Veterans' Accountability Unit. It is the duty of every | ||||||
| 20 | employee of the Department to cooperate with the Veterans' | ||||||
| 21 | Accountability Unit. The Department shall provide the staff of | ||||||
| 22 | the Veterans' Accountability Unit with physical space in each | ||||||
| 23 | Department office and in each Veterans' Home to conduct | ||||||
| 24 | confidential business as needed to perform the work of the | ||||||
| 25 | Veterans' Accountability Unit. | ||||||
| 26 | (f) The Veterans' Accountability Unit shall ensure all | ||||||
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| 1 | complaints, allegations, or incidents of possible misconduct, | ||||||
| 2 | misfeasance, malfeasance, or violations of rules, procedures, | ||||||
| 3 | or laws by any employee, service provider, or contractor of | ||||||
| 4 | the Department are reported to the Office of the Governor's | ||||||
| 5 | Executive Inspector General. | ||||||
| 6 | (g) The Office of the Governor's Executive Inspector | ||||||
| 7 | General shall assess the complaints, allegations, and | ||||||
| 8 | incidents and shall determine whether to (i) investigate, (ii) | ||||||
| 9 | refer to the appropriate agency, (iii) refer to any | ||||||
| 10 | appropriate law enforcement agency, (iv) request a response | ||||||
| 11 | from the Department to the complaint, allegations, or | ||||||
| 12 | incident, or (v) refer to the Veterans' Accountability Unit to | ||||||
| 13 | conduct further inquiry or review if necessary. | ||||||
| 14 | (h) The Director of the Veterans' Accountability Unit may | ||||||
| 15 | recommend changes to the Director of Veterans' Affairs | ||||||
| 16 | concerning Department policies or practices based upon | ||||||
| 17 | information learned or observations made by the Veterans' | ||||||
| 18 | Accountability Unit staff during the course of its duties. The | ||||||
| 19 | Director of the Veterans' Accountability Unit shall meet | ||||||
| 20 | regularly with the Office of the Governor's Executive | ||||||
| 21 | Inspector General to report this information to allow the | ||||||
| 22 | Office to determine whether further investigation is | ||||||
| 23 | necessary. | ||||||
| 24 | (i) The Veterans' Accountability Unit shall create an | ||||||
| 25 | annual report that includes a summary of the complaints | ||||||
| 26 | received and actions taken in response. This report shall not | ||||||
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| 1 | include any referrals to the Office of the Governor's | ||||||
| 2 | Executive Inspector General that result in an investigation. | ||||||
| 3 | The summaries shall not contain any confidential or | ||||||
| 4 | identifying information concerning the subjects or | ||||||
| 5 | complainants of the reports and investigations. | ||||||
| 6 | (j) Nothing in this Section shall limit investigations by | ||||||
| 7 | the Department of Veterans' Affairs that may otherwise be
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| 8 | required by law or that may be necessary in that Department's
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| 9 | capacity as the central administrative authority on matters
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| 10 | concerning services to veterans, their survivors, and
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| 11 | dependents.".
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