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| 1 | AN ACT concerning volunteer emergency responders.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The State Commemorative Dates Act is amended by | ||||||
| 5 | adding Section 126 as follows: | ||||||
| 6 | (5 ILCS 490/126 new) | ||||||
| 7 | Sec. 126. Volunteer Emergency Responder Appreciation Day. | ||||||
| 8 | The third Thursday in May of each year is designated Volunteer | ||||||
| 9 | Emergency Responder Appreciation Day in Illinois. Volunteer | ||||||
| 10 | firefighters, rescue squads, divers, emergency medical | ||||||
| 11 | technicians, and response teams sacrifice their time and lives | ||||||
| 12 | for their communities with little or no compensation. Volunteer | ||||||
| 13 | Emergency Responder Appreciation Day shall be observed | ||||||
| 14 | throughout the State by the citizens of Illinois with civic | ||||||
| 15 | remembrances of the sacrifices made on their behalf by the | ||||||
| 16 | volunteer emergency responders of Illinois, especially the | ||||||
| 17 | ultimate sacrifice given by those individuals who have lost | ||||||
| 18 | their lives in the line of duty. | ||||||
| 19 | Section 10. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act is | ||||||
| 20 | amended by adding Section 17.2 as follows: | ||||||
| 21 | (20 ILCS 3305/17.2 new) | ||||||
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| 1 | Sec. 17.2. Volunteer Emergency Responders. | ||||||
| 2 | (a) The Volunteer Emergency Responder Fund is created as a | ||||||
| 3 | special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Volunteer | ||||||
| 4 | Emergency Responder Fund shall be paid, subject to | ||||||
| 5 | appropriation by the General Assembly and distribution by the | ||||||
| 6 | Illinois Emergency Management Agency, to be used for the | ||||||
| 7 | following purposes: | ||||||
| 8 | (1) to purchase emergency response equipment on behalf | ||||||
| 9 | of a volunteer emergency response provider that | ||||||
| 10 | demonstrates need; and | ||||||
| 11 | (2) to hold an annual appreciation, memorial, and | ||||||
| 12 | commemoration ceremony and other related activities. | ||||||
| 13 | (b) The Illinois Emergency Management Agency shall hold an | ||||||
| 14 | annual meeting for volunteer emergency responders. The meeting | ||||||
| 15 | shall meet the following objectives: | ||||||
| 16 | (1) provide a communication forum where emergency | ||||||
| 17 | responders (both volunteer and professional) can join | ||||||
| 18 | together to discuss issues facing responders throughout | ||||||
| 19 | this State and encourage the formation of a working group | ||||||
| 20 | of volunteer responders; | ||||||
| 21 | (2) provide a forum to discuss the best ways to | ||||||
| 22 | organize, share, and coordinate resources for emergency | ||||||
| 23 | response throughout this State; and | ||||||
| 24 | (3) provide a mechanism through which recommendations | ||||||
| 25 | may be made concerning management and distribution of funds | ||||||
| 26 | in the Volunteer Emergency Responder Fund. | ||||||
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| 1 | The provisions of this subsection (b), other than
this | ||||||
| 2 | sentence, are inoperative after December 31,
2014. | ||||||
| 3 | Section 15. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | ||||||
| 4 | Section 5.811 as follows: | ||||||
| 5 | (30 ILCS 105/5.811 new) | ||||||
| 6 | Sec. 5.811. The Volunteer Emergency Responder Fund. | ||||||
| 7 | Section 20. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by adding | ||||||
| 8 | Section 3-699 as follows: | ||||||
| 9 | (625 ILCS 5/3-699 new) | ||||||
| 10 | Sec. 3-699. Illinois volunteer emergency responder license | ||||||
| 11 | plates. | ||||||
| 12 | (a) The Secretary, upon receipt of an application made in | ||||||
| 13 | the form prescribed by the Secretary, may issue special | ||||||
| 14 | registration plates designated as Illinois volunteer emergency | ||||||
| 15 | responder license plates. The special plates issued under this | ||||||
| 16 | Section shall be affixed only to passenger vehicles of the | ||||||
| 17 | first division and motor vehicles of the second division | ||||||
| 18 | weighing not more than 8,000 pounds. Plates issued under this | ||||||
| 19 | Section shall expire according to the multi-year procedure | ||||||
| 20 | established by Section 3-414.1 of this Code. | ||||||
| 21 | (b) The design and color of the plates is wholly within the | ||||||
| 22 | discretion of the Secretary. The Secretary may allow the plates | ||||||
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| 1 | to be issued as vanity plates or personalized under Section | ||||||
| 2 | 3-405.1 of the Code. The Secretary shall prescribe stickers or | ||||||
| 3 | decals as provided under Section 3-412 of this Code. | ||||||
| 4 | (c) An applicant for the special plate shall be charged a | ||||||
| 5 | $25 fee for original issuance in addition to the appropriate | ||||||
| 6 | registration fee. Of this fee, $10 shall be deposited into the | ||||||
| 7 | Volunteer Emergency Responder Fund and $15 shall be deposited | ||||||
| 8 | into the Secretary of State Special License Plate Fund, to be | ||||||
| 9 | used by the Secretary to help defray administrative processing | ||||||
| 10 | costs. | ||||||
| 11 | For each registration renewal period, a $16 fee, in | ||||||
| 12 | addition to the appropriate registration fee, shall be charged. | ||||||
| 13 | Of this fee, $14 shall be deposited into the Volunteer | ||||||
| 14 | Emergency Responder Fund and $2 shall be deposited into the | ||||||
| 15 | Secretary of State Special License Plate Fund. | ||||||
| 16 | (d) Moneys in the Volunteer Emergency Responder Fund shall | ||||||
| 17 | be distributed in accordance with Section 17.2 of the Illinois | ||||||
| 18 | Emergency Management Agency Act.
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| 19 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
| 20 | becoming law. | ||||||