Bill Text: IL HB4321 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed


Bill Title: Amends the Downstate Police and Downstate Firefighter Articles of the Illinois Pension Code. Establishes a presumption that a firefighter or police officer who becomes disabled as a result of exposure to and contraction of COVID-19 was injured in the line of duty and is entitled to receive a duty disability benefit under the applicable Article of the Code. Specifies that the changes made by the amendatory Act apply retroactively to March 9, 2020, and any police officer or firefighter who has been previously denied a duty disability benefit that would otherwise be entitled to a duty disability benefit under the amendatory Act shall be entitled to a retroactive duty disability benefit. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-5)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-04-30 - Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Patrick J. Joyce [HB4321 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4321-Engrossed.html



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1 AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by
5changing Sections 3-114.1 and 4-110 as follows:
6 (40 ILCS 5/3-114.1) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 3-114.1)
7 Sec. 3-114.1. Disability pension; line pension - Line of
8duty.
9 (a) If a police officer as the result of sickness,
10accident or injury incurred in or resulting from the
11performance of an act of duty, is found to be physically or
12mentally disabled for service in the police department, so as
13to render necessary his or her suspension or retirement from
14the police service, the police officer shall be entitled to a
15disability retirement pension equal to the greatest of (1) 65%
16of the salary attached to the rank on the police force held by
17the officer at the date of suspension of duty or retirement,
18(2) the retirement pension that the police officer would be
19eligible to receive if he or she retired (but not including any
20automatic annual increase in that retirement pension), or (3)
21the pension provided under subsection (d), if applicable.
22 A police officer shall be considered "on duty" while on
23any assignment approved by the chief of the police department

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1of the municipality he or she serves, whether the assignment
2is within or outside the municipality.
3 (b) If a police officer on disability pension dies while
4still disabled, the disability pension shall continue to be
5paid to his or her survivors in the sequence provided in
6Section 3-112.
7 (c) From and after July 1, 1987, any pension payable under
8this Section shall be at least $400 per month, without regard
9to the fact that the disability or death of the police officer
10occurred prior to that date. If the minimum pension
11established in Section 3-113.1 is greater than the minimum
12provided in this Section, the Section 3-113.1 minimum
13controls.
14 (d) A disabled police officer who (1) is receiving a
15pension under this Section on the effective date of this
16amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly, (2) files with
17the Fund, within 30 days after that effective date and
18annually thereafter while the pension remains payable, a
19written application for the benefits of this subsection,
20including an affidavit stating that the applicant has not
21earned any income from gainful employment during the most
22recently concluded tax year and a copy of his or her most
23recent Illinois income tax return, (3) has service credit in
24the Fund for at least 7 years of active duty, and (4) has been
25receiving the pension under this Section for a period which,
26when added to the officer's total service credit in the Fund,

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1equals at least 20 years, shall be eligible to receive an
2annual noncompounded increase in his or her pension under this
3Section, equal to 3% of the original pension.
4 The Fund may take appropriate steps to verify the
5applicant's disability and earnings status, and for this
6purpose may request from the Department of Revenue a certified
7copy of the applicant's Illinois income tax return for any
8year for which a benefit under this Section is payable or has
9been paid.
10 The annual increase shall accrue on each anniversary of
11the initial pension payment date, for so long as the pension
12remains payable to the disabled police officer and the
13required annual application is made, except that the annual
14increases under this subsection shall cease if the disabled
15police officer earns income from gainful employment. Within 60
16days after accepting an initial application under this
17subsection, the Fund shall pay to the disabled police officer,
18in a lump sum without interest, the amounts resulting from the
19annual increases that have accrued retroactively.
20 This subsection is not limited to persons in active
21service on or after its effective date, but it applies only to
22a pension that is payable under this Section to a disabled
23police officer (rather than a survivor). Upon the death of the
24disabled police officer, the annuity payable under this
25Section to his or her survivors shall include any annual
26increases previously received, but no additional increases

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1shall accrue under this subsection.
2 (e) For the purposes of this Section only, any police
3officer who becomes disabled as a result of exposure to and
4contraction of COVID-19, as evidenced by either a confirmed
5positive laboratory test for COVID-19 or COVID-19 antibodies
6or a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 from a licensed medical
7professional, shall:
8 (1) be rebuttably presumed to have contracted COVID-19
9 while in the performance of an act or acts of duty;
10 (2) be rebuttably presumed to have been injured while
11 in the performance of an act or acts of duty; and
12 (3) be entitled to receive, at the time the disability
13 is allowed in accordance with Section 3-115, a disability
14 retirement pension under this Section during any period of
15 such disability for which the police officer does not have
16 a right to receive salary.
17 The presumption shall apply to any police officer who was
18exposed to and contracted COVID-19 on or after March 9, 2020
19and on or before June 30, 2021; except that the presumption
20shall not apply if the police officer was on a leave of absence
21from his or her employment or otherwise not required to report
22for duty for a period of 14 or more consecutive days
23immediately prior to the date of contraction of COVID-19. For
24the purposes of determining when a police officer contracted
25COVID-19 under this paragraph, the date of contraction is
26either the date that the police officer was diagnosed with

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1COVID-19 or was unable to work due to symptoms that were later
2diagnosed as COVID-19, whichever occurred first.
3 It is the intent of the General Assembly that the change
4made in this subsection (e) by this amendatory Act of the 103rd
5General Assembly shall apply retroactively to March 9, 2020,
6and any police officer who has been previously denied a
7disability retirement pension under this Section who would
8otherwise be entitled to a disability retirement pension under
9this subsection (e) shall be entitled to retroactive benefits
10and a disability retirement pension under this Section.
11(Source: P.A. 91-939, eff. 2-1-01.)
12 (40 ILCS 5/4-110) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-110)
13 Sec. 4-110. Disability pension; line pension - Line of
14duty. If a firefighter, as the result of sickness, accident or
15injury incurred in or resulting from the performance of an act
16of duty or from the cumulative effects of acts of duty, is
17found, pursuant to Section 4-112, to be physically or mentally
18permanently disabled for service in the fire department, so as
19to render necessary his or her being placed on disability
20pension, the firefighter shall be entitled to a disability
21pension equal to the greater of (1) 65% of the monthly salary
22attached to the rank held by him or her in the fire department
23at the date he or she is removed from the municipality's fire
24department payroll or (2) the retirement pension that the
25firefighter would be eligible to receive if he or she retired

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1(but not including any automatic annual increase in that
2retirement pension). A firefighter shall be considered "on
3duty" while on any assignment approved by the chief of the fire
4department, even though away from the municipality he or she
5serves as a firefighter, if the assignment is related to the
6fire protection service of the municipality.
7 Such firefighter shall also be entitled to a child's
8disability benefit of $20 a month on account of each unmarried
9child less than 18 years of age and dependent upon the
10firefighter for support, either the issue of the firefighter
11or legally adopted by him or her. The total amount of child's
12disability benefit payable to the firefighter, when added to
13his or her disability pension, shall not exceed 75% of the
14amount of salary which the firefighter was receiving at the
15date of retirement.
16 Benefits payable on account of a child under this Section
17shall not be reduced or terminated by reason of the child's
18attainment of age 18 if he or she is then dependent by reason
19of a physical or mental disability but shall continue to be
20paid as long as such dependency continues. Individuals over
21the age of 18 and adjudged to be disabled persons pursuant to
22Article XIa of the Probate Act of 1975, except for persons
23receiving benefits under Article III of the Illinois Public
24Aid Code, shall be eligible to receive benefits under this
25Act.
26 If a firefighter dies while still disabled and receiving a

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1disability pension under this Section, the disability pension
2shall continue to be paid to the firefighter's survivors in
3the sequence provided in Section 4-114. A pension previously
4granted under Section 4-114 to a survivor of a firefighter who
5died while receiving a disability pension under this Section
6shall be deemed to be a continuation of the pension provided
7under this Section and shall be deemed to be in the nature of
8worker's compensation payments. The changes to this Section
9made by this amendatory Act of 1995 are intended to be
10retroactive and are not limited to persons in service on or
11after its effective date.
12 For the purposes of this Section only, any firefighter who
13becomes disabled as a result of exposure to and contraction of
14COVID-19, as evidenced by either a confirmed positive
15laboratory test for COVID-19 or COVID-19 antibodies or a
16confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 from a licensed medical
17professional, shall:
18 (1) be rebuttably presumed to have contracted COVID-19
19 while in the performance of an act or acts of duty;
20 (2) be rebuttably presumed to have been injured while
21 in the performance of an act or acts of duty; and
22 (3) be entitled to receive, at the time the disability
23 is allowed in accordance with Section 4-112, a disability
24 pension under this Section during any period of such
25 disability for which the firefighter does not have a right
26 to receive salary.

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1 The presumption shall apply to any firefighter who was
2exposed to and contracted COVID-19 on or after March 9, 2020
3and on or before June 30, 2021; except that the presumption
4shall not apply if the firefighter was on a leave of absence
5from his or her employment or otherwise not required to report
6for duty for a period of 14 or more consecutive days
7immediately prior to the date of contraction of COVID-19. For
8the purposes of determining when a firefighter contracted
9COVID-19 under this paragraph, the date of contraction is
10either the date that the firefighter was diagnosed with
11COVID-19 or was unable to work due to symptoms that were later
12diagnosed as COVID-19, whichever occurred first.
13 It is the intent of the General Assembly that the change
14made by this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly
15shall apply retroactively to March 9, 2020, and any
16firefighter who has been previously denied a disability
17pension under this Section who would otherwise be entitled to
18a disability pension under this Section shall be entitled to
19retroactive benefits and a disability pension under this
20Section.
21(Source: P.A. 93-1090, eff. 3-11-05.)
22 Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
23Section 8.47 as follows:
24 (30 ILCS 805/8.47 new)

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1 Sec. 8.47. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and
28 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for
3the implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory
4Act of the 103rd General Assembly.
5 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
6becoming law.
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