|
| Public Act 102-0855
|
| SB3762 Enrolled | LRB102 23220 KTG 32384 b |
|
|
AN ACT concerning veterans.
|
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
|
represented in the General Assembly:
|
Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section |
30-14.2 as follows:
|
(105 ILCS 5/30-14.2) (from Ch. 122, par. 30-14.2)
|
Sec. 30-14.2. Deceased, Disabled, and MIA/POW Veterans' |
Dependents scholarship scholarships.
|
(a) Any spouse, natural child, legally adopted child under |
the age of 18 at the time of adoption, minor child younger than |
18 who is under a court-ordered guardianship for at least 2 |
continuous years prior to application, or
step-child under |
the age of 18 at the time of marriage of an eligible veteran or |
serviceperson who possesses all necessary
entrance |
requirements shall, upon application and proper proof, be |
awarded
a MIA/POW Scholarship consisting of the equivalent of |
4 calendar years of
full-time enrollment including summer |
terms, to the state supported
Illinois institution of higher |
learning of his choice, subject to the
restrictions listed |
below.
|
"Eligible veteran or serviceperson" means any veteran or |
serviceperson, including an Illinois National Guard member who |
is on active duty or is active on a training assignment,
who |
|
has been declared by the U.S. Department of Defense or the
U.S. |
Department of Veterans Affairs to be a prisoner of war or , be |
missing
in action, or has have died as the result of a |
service-connected disability or has have become a person with |
a permanent disability from service-connected causes with 100% |
disability and
who (i) at the time of entering service was an |
Illinois resident, or (ii) was an
Illinois resident within 6 |
months after entering such service, or (iii) is a resident of |
Illinois at the time of application for the Scholarship and, |
at some point after entering leaving such service, was a |
resident of Illinois for at least 15 consecutive years.
|
Full-time enrollment means 12 or more semester hours of |
courses per semester,
or 12 or more quarter hours of courses |
per quarter, or the equivalent thereof
per term. Scholarships |
utilized by dependents enrolled in less than full-time
study |
shall be computed in the proportion which the number of hours |
so carried
bears to full-time enrollment.
|
Scholarships awarded under this Section may be used by a |
spouse or child
without regard to his or her age. The holder of |
a Scholarship
awarded under this Section shall be subject to |
all examinations and academic
standards, including the |
maintenance of minimum grade levels, that are
applicable |
generally to other enrolled students at the Illinois |
institution of
higher learning where the Scholarship is being |
used.
If the surviving spouse
remarries or if there is a |
divorce between the veteran or serviceperson and
his or her |
|
spouse while the dependent is pursuing his or her course of
|
study, Scholarship benefits will be terminated at the end of |
the term for
which he or she is presently enrolled. Such |
dependents shall also be
entitled, upon proper proof and |
application, to enroll in any extension
course offered by a |
State supported Illinois institution of higher learning
|
without payment of tuition and approved fees.
|
The holder of a MIA/POW Scholarship authorized under this |
Section shall
not be required to pay any tuition or mandatory |
fees while attending a State-controlled university or public |
community college in this State for a period equivalent to 4 |
years of enrollment, including summer terms any matriculation |
or application fees, tuition,
activities fees, graduation fees |
or other fees, except multipurpose
building fees or similar |
fees for supplies and materials.
|
Any dependent who has been or shall be awarded a MIA/POW |
Scholarship shall
be reimbursed by the appropriate institution |
of higher learning for any
fees which he or she has paid and |
for which exemption is granted under this
Section if |
application for reimbursement is made within 2 months |
following
the end of the school term for which the fees were |
paid.
|
(b) In lieu of the benefit provided in subsection (a), any |
spouse,
natural child, legally adopted child, or step-child of |
an eligible veteran
or serviceperson, which spouse or child |
has a physical, mental or
developmental disability, shall be |
|
entitled to receive, upon application and
proper proof, a |
benefit to be used for the purpose of defraying the cost of
the |
attendance or treatment of such spouse or child at one or more
|
appropriate therapeutic, rehabilitative or educational |
facilities. The
application and proof may be made by the |
parent or legal guardian of the
spouse or child on his or her |
behalf.
|
The total benefit provided to any beneficiary under this |
subsection shall
not exceed the cost equivalent of 4 calendar |
years of full-time enrollment,
including summer terms, at the |
University of Illinois. Whenever
practicable in the opinion of |
the Department of Veterans' Affairs, payment
of benefits under |
this subsection shall be made directly to the facility,
the |
cost of attendance or treatment at which is being defrayed, as |
such
costs accrue.
|
(c) The benefits of this Section shall be administered by |
and paid for out
of funds made available to the Illinois |
Department of Veterans' Affairs.
The amounts that become due |
to any state supported Illinois institution of
higher learning |
shall be payable by the Comptroller to such institution on
|
vouchers approved by the Illinois Department of Veterans' |
Affairs. The
amounts that become due under subsection (b) of |
this Section shall be
payable by warrant upon vouchers issued |
by the Illinois Department of
Veterans' Affairs and approved |
by the Comptroller. The Illinois Department
of Veterans' |
Affairs shall determine the eligibility of the persons
who |
|
make application for the benefits provided for in this |
Section.
|
(Source: P.A. 100-201, eff. 8-18-17; 101-334, eff. 8-9-19.)
|
Section 10. The Children of Deceased Veterans Act is |
amended by changing Sections 0.01, 1, and 2 as follows:
|
(330 ILCS 105/0.01) (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 25.9)
|
Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
|
Deceased, Disabled, and MIA/POW Veterans' Dependents |
Educational Opportunity Grant Act Children of Deceased |
Veterans Act.
|
(Source: P.A. 86-1324.)
|
(330 ILCS 105/1) (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 26)
|
Sec. 1. The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs
shall |
provide, insofar as moneys are appropriated for those |
purposes, for
matriculation and tuition fees, board, room |
rent, books and supplies for
the use and benefit of any natural |
child, adopted child, minor child who is under a court-ordered |
guardianship for at least 2 continuous years prior to |
application, or step-child of an eligible veteran or |
serviceperson, if the child is children, not under 10 and not |
over 18 years of age,
except extension of time may be granted |
for a child to complete high school
but in no event beyond the |
19th birthday, who has who have for 12 months immediately
|
|
preceding his or her their application for these benefits had |
his or her their domicile in the
State of Illinois. The child |
must provide proof of compliance with Illinois compulsory |
attendance requirements as provided in Section 26-1 of the |
School Code. |
"Eligible veteran or serviceperson" means any veteran or |
serviceperson, including an Illinois National Guard member, |
who is on active duty or is active on a training assignment, |
who has been declared by the U.S. Department of Defense or the |
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to be a prisoner of war or |
missing in action, or has died as the result of a |
service-connected disability, or has become a person with a |
permanent disability from service-connected causes with 100% |
disability and who (i) at the time of entering service was an |
Illinois resident, or (ii) was an Illinois resident within 6 |
months after entering such service, or (iii) is a resident of |
Illinois at the time of application for the grant and, at some |
point after entering such service, was a resident of Illinois |
for at least 15 consecutive years. , of World War I
veterans |
who were killed in action
or who died between April 6, 1917, |
and July 2, 1921, and of World War II
veterans who were killed |
in action or died after December 6, 1941, and on
or before |
December 31, 1946, and of Korean conflict veterans who were |
killed
in action or died between June 27, 1950 and January 31, |
1955, and of Vietnam
conflict veterans who were killed in |
action or died between January 1, 1961
and May 7, 1975, as a |
|
result of service in the Armed Forces of the United
States or |
from other causes of World War I, World
War II, the Korean |
conflict or the Vietnam conflict,
who died, whether before or |
after the cessation of hostilities, from service-connected
|
disability, and of any veterans who died during the induction |
periods specified
below or died of a service-connected |
disability incurred during such induction
periods, such |
periods to be those beginning September 16, 1940, and ending
|
December 6, 1941, and beginning January 1, 1947 and ending |
June 26, 1950
and the period beginning February 1, 1955, and |
ending on the day before
the first day thereafter on which |
individuals (other than individuals liable
for induction by |
reason of prior deferment) are no longer liable for induction
|
for training and service into the Armed Forces under the |
Universal Military
Training and Service Act, and beginning |
January 1, 1961 and ending May
7, 1975 and of any veterans who |
are persons with a total and permanent disability as a result |
of a service-connected disability (or who died
while a |
disability so evaluated was in existence); which children are |
attending
or may attend a state or private educational |
institution of elementary or high school
grade or a business |
college, vocational training
school, or other educational |
institution in this State where courses of
instruction are |
provided in subjects which would tend to enable such
children |
to engage in any useful trade, occupation or profession. As
|
used in this Act "service-connected" means, with respect to |
|
disability
or death, that such disability was incurred or |
aggravated, or that the
death resulted from a disability |
incurred or aggravated, in the
performance of active duty or |
active duty for training in the military
services. Such |
children shall
be admitted to state educational institutions |
free of tuition. No more
than $250.00 may be paid under this |
Act for any one child for any one
school year.
|
(Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)
|
(330 ILCS 105/2) (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 27)
|
Sec. 2.
The amounts that become due to any educational or |
training
institution, or any child under this Act, not in |
excess of the amount
specified in Section 1 of this Act, shall |
be payable to such institution
or school or child or, if such |
child is a minor, to the eligible veteran or serviceperson his |
parent or guardian
on vouchers approved by the Illinois |
Department of Veterans' Affairs. The Illinois Department of |
Veterans' Affairs shall adopt rules on how to render payments |
to eligible minor children of deceased veterans or |
servicepersons. The
Such Department
shall determine the |
eligibility of the children who make application for
the |
benefits provided for in this Act; and satisfy itself of the |
attendance of
such children at any such institution or school |
and of the accuracy and
reasonableness of the charge or |
charges submitted, on account of the
attendance thereat of any |
such children.
|
