Public Act 097-0444
 
HB0466 EnrolledLRB097 03293 PJG 43330 b

    AN ACT concerning finance.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Uncollected State Claims Act is amended by
changing Sections 2 and 2.1 as follows:
 
    (30 ILCS 205/2)  (from Ch. 15, par. 102)
    Sec. 2. (a) When any State agency is unable to collect any
claim or account receivable of $1,000 or more due the agency
after having pursued the procedure prescribed by law or
applicable rules and regulations for the collection thereof or,
if no procedure is so prescribed, then after having undertaken
all reasonable and appropriate procedures available to the
agency to effectuate collection, the State agency shall request
the Attorney General to certify the claim or account receivable
to be uncollectible.
    (b) Each request to the Attorney General asking that a
claim or account receivable of $1,000 or more be declared
uncollectible shall be in a format prescribed by the Attorney
General and shall include at a minimum the following
information: debtor's name, debtor's social security number or
comparable identifying number, debtor's last known address,
nature of the debt, efforts made to collect the debt and the
time period covered by those efforts, the age of the debt, the
age of the debtor and the specific reason the State agency
believes the debt to be uncollectible. Nothing in this
provision should be interpreted as a limitation on the
authority of the Attorney General to require additional
information that he may find to be necessary to evaluate
requests sent him pursuant to this provision.
    (c) Claims or accounts receivable of less than $1,000 may
be certified as uncollectible by the agency when the agency
determines that further collection efforts are not in the best
economic interest of the State. Such determination shall be
made in accordance with rules of the Comptroller.
    (d) If any item of information required by this provision
or any item of additional information required by the Attorney
General is not available, the State agency shall specifically
so state in its request to the Attorney General asking that the
debt be declared uncollectible.
    (e) A State agency participating in a federal student loan
program may remove student loans from its records by assigning
or referring such student loans to the federal government for
collection pursuant to the procedures prescribed by federal
laws and regulations.
    (f) Claims and receivables due from another State agency
may be written off if the agency has pursued all reasonable
means of collection and if the amount (1) is payable from an
appropriation which has lapsed; (2) may not properly be charged
against a current appropriation; and (3) was not originally
payable from federal funds, a trust fund or locally held funds.
Each agency which writes off claims or receivables pursuant to
this subparagraph shall submit a listing of all such write-offs
to the Comptroller within 60 days of taking such action.
    (g) Debts certified as uncollectible may be reopened for
collection by an agency upon the approval of the Attorney
General.
    (h) Agencies shall submit a list of debts certified as
uncollectible to the Comptroller in the form and manner
specified by the Comptroller. The Comptroller shall take
reasonable steps to accept information on agency computer
tapes.
    (i) After compliance with all provisions of this Section,
an agency may delete from its records debts certified as
uncollectible as follows:
        (1) When the debt is less than $1,000, immediately upon
    certification by the agency;
        (2) For debts of $1,000 or more that are less than 5
    years old, when the agency determines pursuant to rules and
    regulations promulgated by the Comptroller that such
    deletion is in the best economic interest of the State;
        (3) For debts of $1,000 or more, when, the debt is more
    than 5 years old or, in the case of a public university,
    more than 8 years old.
    (j) The Attorney General shall report to the General
Assembly by February 1 of each year the following:
        (1) the total number and dollar amount of debts
    referred to him for collection in the preceding calendar
    year;
        (2) the total amount actually collected;
        (3) the number of cases by agency.
    (k) Each State agency shall report in its annual report the
total amount and the number of claims due and payable to the
State. Each agency shall also describe in its annual report the
method used in collecting debts, whether by a private
collection service or by the Attorney General.
    (l) The provisions of Section 2505-250 of the Department of
Revenue Law (20 ILCS 2505/2505-250) take precedence over the
provisions of this Section.
(Source: P.A. 91-239, eff. 1-1-00.)
 
    (30 ILCS 205/2.1)
    Sec. 2.1. Sale of debts certified as uncollectible. After
accounts have been certified by the Attorney General, or the
State agency for accounts of less than $1,000, as uncollectible
pursuant to this Act, the Department of Revenue may sell the
debts to one or more outside private vendors. Sales shall be
conducted under rules adopted by the Department of Revenue
using a request for proposals procedure similar to that
procedure under the Illinois Procurement Code. The outside
private vendors shall remit to the Department of Revenue the
purchase price for debts sold under this Section. The
Department of Revenue shall deposit the money received under
this Section into the General Revenue Fund. The State
Comptroller shall provide the Department of Revenue with any
information that the Department requests for the purpose of
administering this Section. This Section does not apply to any
tax debt owing to the Department of Revenue. This Section does
not apply to (i) debts, in the case of a public university,
when the debt is less than 8 years old; (ii) child support
debts enforced by the Department of Healthcare and Family
Services pursuant to Title IV-D of the federal Social Security
Act and Article X of the Illinois Public Aid Code; and (iii)
debts that are enforced by the Department of Employment
Security and owed to any federal account, including but not
limited to the Unemployment Trust Fund, and penalties and
interest assessed under the Unemployment Insurance Act.
(Source: P.A. 96-1435, eff. 8-16-10.)
 
    Section 10. The Illinois State Collection Act of 1986 is
amended by renumbering and changing Section 9 added by Public
Act 96-1383 and Section 9 added by Public Act 96-1435 as
follows:
 
    (30 ILCS 210/10.1)
    Sec. 10.1 9. Collection agency fees. Except where
prohibited by federal law or regulation, in the case of any
liability referred to a collection agency on or after July 1,
2010, any fee charged to the State by the collection agency (i)
may not exceed 25% for a first placement of the underlying
liability referred to the collection agency unless the
liability is for a tax debt, (ii) is considered an additional
liability owed to the State, (iii) is immediately subject to
all collection procedures applicable to the liability referred
to the collection agency, and (iv) must be separately stated in
any statement or notice of the liability issued by the
collection agency to the debtor. The fee limitations of this
Section do not apply to a second, third, or subsequent
placement or to litigation activities.
(Source: P.A. 96-1383, eff. 1-1-11; revised 9-7-10.)
 
    (30 ILCS 210/10.2)
    Sec. 10.2 9. Deferral and compromise of past due debt.
    (a) In this Section, "past due debt" means any debt owed to
the State that has been outstanding for more than 12 months.
"Past due debt" does not include any debt if any of the actions
required under this Section would violate federal law or
regulation.
    (b) State agencies may enter into a deferred payment plan
for the purpose of satisfying a past due debt. Except for a
deferred payment plan entered into by any Illinois public
university, as defined in Section 10 of the Illinois Prepaid
Tuition Act, or by the Illinois Department of Transportation or
for debts owed to the Illinois Department of Transportation for
deposit into the Road Fund, the The deferred payment plan must
meet the following requirements:
        (1) The term of the deferred payment plan may not
    exceed 2 years.
        (2) The first payment of the deferred payment plan must
    be at least 10% of the total amount due.
        (3) All subsequent monthly payments for the deferred
    payment plan must be assessed as equal monthly principal
    payments, together with interest.
        (4) The deferred payment plan must include interest at
    a rate that is the same as the interest required under the
    State Prompt Payment Act.
        (5) The deferred payment plan must be approved by the
    Secretary or Director of the State agency.
    (c) State agencies may compromise past due debts. Any
action taken by a State agency to compromise a past due debt,
other than an action taken by an Illinois public university, as
defined in Section 10 of the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Act, to
compromise past due debt, must meet the following requirements:
        (1) The amount of the compromised debt shall be no less
    than 80% of the total of the past due debt.
        (2) Once a past due debt has been compromised, the
    debtor must remit to the State agency the total amount of
    the compromised debt. However, the State agency may collect
    the compromised debt through a payment plan not to exceed 6
    months. If the State agency accepts the compromised debt
    through a payment plan, then the compromised debt shall be
    subject to the same rate of interest as required under the
    State Prompt Payment Act.
        (3) Before a State agency accepts a compromised debt,
    the amount of the compromised debt must be approved by the
    Secretary or Director of the agency Department of Revenue.
    (d) State agencies may sell a past due debt to one or more
outside private vendors. Sales shall be conducted under rules
adopted by the Department of Revenue using a request for
proposals procedure similar to that procedure under the
Illinois Procurement Code. The outside private vendors shall
remit to the State agency the purchase price for debts sold
under this subsection.
    (e) The State agency shall deposit all amounts received
under this Section into the General Revenue Fund. For Illinois
public universities, as defined in Section 10 of the Illinois
Prepaid Tuition Act, the requirement of this subsection (e)
applies to amounts received from the sale of past due debt and
does not apply to amounts received under a deferred payment
plan or a compromised debt payment plan.
    (f) This Section does not apply to any tax debt owing to
the Department of Revenue.
    (g) This Section does not apply to child support debts
enforced by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services
pursuant to Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act and
Article X of the Illinois Public Aid Code.
    (h) This Section does not apply to debts that are enforced
by the Department of Employment Security and owed to any
federal account, including but not limited to the Unemployment
Trust Fund, and penalties and interest assessed under the
Unemployment Insurance Act.
(Source: P.A. 96-1435, eff. 8-16-10; revised 9-7-10.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 8/19/2011