Public Act 102-0549
 
SB2250 EnrolledLRB102 15358 RAM 20718 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 Department of Veterans' Affairs Act is
amended by changing Sections 2.01a and 2.04 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 2805/2.01a)  (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 67.01a)
    Sec. 2.01a. Members benefits fund; personal property. The
Department shall direct the expenditure of all money which has
been or may be received by any officer of an Illinois Veterans
Home including profit on sales from commissary stores. The
money shall be deposited into the members benefits fund and
expenditures from the fund shall be made under the direction
of the Department for the special comfort, pleasure, and
amusement of residents and employees, provided that amounts
expended for comfort, pleasure, and amusement of employees
shall not exceed the amount of profits derived from sales made
to employees by such commissaries, as determined by the
Department. The Department may also make expenditures from the
fund, subject to approval by the Director of Veterans'
Affairs, for recognition and appreciation programs for
volunteers who assist the Veterans Homes. Expenditures from
the fund may not be used to supplement a shortfall in the
ordinary and contingent operating expenses of the Home and
shall be expended only for the special comfort, pleasure, and
amusement of the residents.
    The Department shall prepare a quarterly report on all
locally-held member's benefits funds from each Illinois
Veterans Home. The report shall contain the amount of
donations received for each veterans' home, including monetary
and nonmonetary items, the expenditures and items dispersed,
and the end of quarter balance of the locally-held member's
benefits funds. The Department shall submit the quarterly
report to the General Assembly and to the Governor and publish
the report on its website.
    Money received as interest and income on funds deposited
for residents of an Illinois Veterans Home shall be paid to the
individual accounts of the residents. If home residents choose
to hold savings accounts or other investments outside the
Home, interest or income on the individual savings accounts or
investments of residents shall accrue to the individual
accounts of the residents.
    Any money belonging to residents separated by death,
discharge, or unauthorized absence from an Illinois Veterans
Home, in custody of officers thereof, may, if unclaimed by the
resident or the legal representatives thereof for a period of
2 years, be expended at the direction of the Department for the
purposes and in the manner specified above. Articles of
personal property, with the exception of clothing left in the
custody of officers, shall, if unclaimed for the period of 2
years, be sold and the money disposed of in the same manner.
    Clothing left at a Home by residents at the time of
separation may be used as determined by the Home if unclaimed
by the resident or legal representatives thereof within 30
days after notification.
(Source: P.A. 100-889, eff. 1-1-19.)
 
    (20 ILCS 2805/2.04)  (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 67.04)
    Sec. 2.04. There shall be established in the State
Treasury special funds known as (i) the LaSalle Veterans Home
Fund, (ii) the Anna Veterans Home Fund, (iii) the Manteno
Veterans Home Fund, and (iv) the Quincy Veterans Home Fund.
All moneys received by an Illinois Veterans Home from Medicare
and from maintenance charges to veterans, spouses, and
surviving spouses residing at that Home shall be paid into
that Home's Fund. All moneys received from the U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs for patient care shall be transmitted to
the Treasurer of the State for deposit in the Veterans Home
Fund for the Home in which the veteran resides. Appropriations
shall be made from a Fund only for the needs of the Home,
including capital improvements, building rehabilitation, and
repairs. The Illinois Veterans' Homes Fund shall be the
Veterans Home Fund for the Illinois Veterans Home at Chicago.
    The administrator of each Veterans Home shall establish a
locally-held member's benefits fund. The Director may
authorize the Veterans Home to conduct limited fundraising in
accordance with applicable laws and regulations for which the
sole purpose is to benefit the Veterans Home's member's
benefits fund. Revenues accruing to an Illinois Veterans Home,
including any donations, grants for the operation of the Home,
profits from commissary stores, and funds received from any
individual or other source, including limited fundraising,
shall be deposited into that Home's benefits fund.
Expenditures from the benefits funds shall be solely for the
special comfort, pleasure, and amusement of residents.
Contributors of unsolicited private donations may specify the
purpose for which the private donations are to be used.
    Upon request of the Department, the State's Attorney of
the county in which a resident or living former resident of an
Illinois Veterans Home who is liable under this Act for
payment of sums representing maintenance charges resides shall
file an action in a court of competent jurisdiction against
any such person who fails or refuses to pay such sums. The
court may order the payment of sums due to maintenance charges
for such period or periods of time as the circumstances
require.
    Upon the death of a person who is or has been a resident of
an Illinois Veterans Home who is liable for maintenance
charges and who is possessed of property, the Department may
present a claim for such sum or for the balance due in case
less than the rate prescribed under this Act has been paid. The
claim shall be allowed and paid as other lawful claims against
the estate.
    The administrator of each Veterans Home shall establish a
locally-held trust fund to maintain moneys held for residents.
Whenever the Department finds it necessary to preserve order,
preserve health, or enforce discipline, the resident shall
deposit in a trust account at the Home such monies from any
source of income as may be determined necessary, and
disbursement of these funds to the resident shall be made only
by direction of the administrator.
    If a resident of an Illinois Veterans Home has a dependent
child, spouse, or parent the administrator may require that
all monies received be deposited in a trust account with
dependency contributions being made at the direction of the
administrator. The balance retained in the trust account shall
be disbursed to the resident at the time of discharge from the
Home or to his or her heirs or legal representative at the time
of the resident's death, subject to Department regulations or
order of the court.
    The Director of Central Management Services, with the
consent of the Director of Veterans' Affairs, is authorized
and empowered to lease or let any real property held by the
Department of Veterans' Affairs for an Illinois Veterans Home
to entities or persons upon terms and conditions which are
considered to be in the best interest of that Home. The real
property must not be needed for any direct or immediate
purpose of the Home. In any leasing or letting, primary
consideration shall be given to the use of real property for
agricultural purposes, and all moneys received shall be
transmitted to the Treasurer of the State for deposit in the
appropriate Veterans Home Fund.
    Each administrator of an Illinois Veterans Home who has an
established locally-held member's benefits fund shall prepare
and submit to the Department a monthly report of all donations
received, including donations of a nonmonetary nature. The
report shall include the end of month balance of the
locally-held member's benefits fund.
(Source: P.A. 99-314, eff. 8-7-15; 100-392, eff. 8-25-17.)