20 ILCS 405/405-411

(20 ILCS 405/405-411)

Sec. 405-411. Consolidation of workers' compensation functions.

(a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the Director of Central Management Services, working in cooperation with the Director of any other agency, department, board, or commission directly responsible to the Governor, may direct the consolidation, within the Department of Central Management Services, of those workers' compensation functions at that agency, department, board, or commission that are suitable for centralization.

Upon receipt of the written direction to transfer workers' compensation functions to the Department of Central Management Services, the personnel, equipment, and property (both real and personal) directly relating to the transferred functions shall be transferred to the Department of Central Management Services, and the relevant documents, records, and correspondence shall be transferred or copied, as the Director may prescribe.

(b) Upon receiving written direction from the Director of Central Management Services, the Comptroller and Treasurer are authorized to transfer the unexpended balance of any appropriations related to the workers' compensation functions transferred to the Department of Central Management Services and shall make the necessary fund transfers from the General Revenue Fund, any special fund in the State treasury, or any other federal or State trust fund held by the Treasurer to the Workers' Compensation Revolving Fund for use by the Department of Central Management Services in support of workers' compensation functions or any other related costs or expenses of the Department of Central Management Services.

(c) The rights of employees and the State and its agencies under the Personnel Code and applicable collective bargaining agreements or under any pension, retirement, or annuity plan shall not be affected by any transfer under this Section.

(d) The functions transferred to the Department of Central Management Services by this Section shall be vested in and shall be exercised by the Department of Central Management Services. Each act done in the exercise of those functions shall have the same legal effect as if done by the agencies, offices, divisions, departments, bureaus, boards and commissions from which they were transferred.

Every person or other entity shall be subject to the same obligations and duties and any penalties, civil or criminal, arising therefrom, and shall have the same rights arising from the exercise of such rights, powers, and duties as had been exercised by the agencies, offices, divisions, departments, bureaus, boards, and commissions from which they were transferred.

Whenever reports or notices are now required to be made or given or papers or documents furnished or served by any person in regards to the functions transferred to or upon the agencies, offices, divisions, departments, bureaus, boards, and commissions from which the functions were transferred, the same shall be made, given, furnished or served in the same manner to or upon the Department of Central Management Services.

This Section does not affect any act done, ratified, or cancelled or any right occurring or established or any action or proceeding had or commenced in an administrative, civil, or criminal cause regarding the functions transferred, but those proceedings may be continued by the Department of Central Management Services.

This Section does not affect the legality of any rules in the Illinois Administrative Code regarding the functions transferred in this Section that are in force on the effective date of this Section. If necessary, however, the affected agencies shall propose, adopt, or repeal rules, rule amendments, and rule recodifications as appropriate to effectuate this Section.

(e) There is hereby created within the Department of Central Management Services an advisory body to be known as the State Workers' Compensation Program Advisory Board to review, assess, and provide recommendations to improve the State workers' compensation program and to ensure that the State manages the program in the interests of injured workers and taxpayers. The Governor shall appoint one person to the Board, who shall serve as the Chairperson. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Minority Leader of the Senate shall each appoint one person to the Board. Each member initially appointed to the Board shall serve a term ending December 31, 2013, and each Board member appointed thereafter shall serve a 3-year term. A Board member shall continue to serve on the Board until his or her successor is appointed. In addition, the Director of the Department of Central Management Services, the Attorney General, the Director of the Department of Insurance, the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, the Director of the Department of Corrections, the Secretary of the Department of Human Services, the Director of the Department of Revenue, and the Chairman of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, or their designees, shall serve as ex officio, non-voting members of the Board. Members of the Board shall not receive compensation but shall be reimbursed from the Workers' Compensation Revolving Fund for reasonable expenses incurred in the necessary performance of their duties, and the Department of Central Management Services shall provide administrative support to the Board. The Board shall meet at least 3 times per year or more often if the Board deems it necessary or proper. By September 30, 2011, the Board shall issue a written report, to be delivered to the Governor, the Director of the Department of Central Management Services, and the General Assembly, with a recommended set of best practices for the State workers' compensation program. By July 1 of each year thereafter, the Board shall issue a written report, to be delivered to those same persons or entities, with recommendations on how to improve upon such practices.

(f) The Director of Central Management Services shall take all appropriate actions with respect to the State's workers' compensation obligations necessary to transfer administration of those obligations to an independent private vendor as provided by Section 405-105.

(Source: P.A. 97-18, eff. 6-28-11; 97-895, eff. 8-3-12.)