Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins

Filed: 3/18/2022

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1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2985

2 AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2985 by replacing

3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:

4 "Section 1. Short title; references to Act.

5 (a) Short title. This Act may be cited as the Murdered

6 Children Funeral and Burial Assistance Act.

7 (b) References to Act. This Act may be referred to as the

8 Mychal Moultry, Jr. Funeral and Burial Assistance Act.

9 Section 5. Purpose; findings.

10 (a) Gun violence is the leading cause of death for

11 children and teenagers in Illinois.

12 (b) Parents and guardians who experience the death of a

13 child by gun violence face the painful process of bereavement

14 while also bearing the responsibilities of planning a funeral

15 and paying for funeral and burial expenses, usually through

16 some form of debt.

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1 (c) While the State assists the families of murdered

2 children with funeral and burial expenses, assistance is

3 primarily in the form of a reimbursement to the family after a

4 formal application is submitted. After submission, the

5 application undergoes a lengthy evaluation process by a review

6 committee and a subsequent hearing before an administrative

7 court. The process takes months, even years, before a final

8 decision is rendered, during which time the victim's family

9 can incur an overwhelming amount of debt.

10 (d) This debt is particularly burdensome for low-income

11 families, who struggle to repay the debt while continuing to

12 provide for the family's basic needs. Many families rely on

13 in-kind donations to support their basic needs while they work

14 to pay off funeral and burial expenses.

15 (e) It is the intent of this Act to assist the families of

16 children murdered in Illinois with funeral and burial expenses

17 by having the State issue direct payments to funeral

18 establishments and cemetery authorities instead of having the

19 victim's family struggle to pay the cost and wait for

20 reimbursement. Direct payments will enable families to secure

21 burial rights and funeral and burial services and merchandise

22 without enduring significant financial hardship and debt.

23 (f) This Act provides for expedited processing and payment

24 of all disbursement requests for child victim funeral and

25 burial expenses.

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1 Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

2 "Burial rights" means rights of internment, inurnment, or

3 entombment.

4 "Cemetery authority" means any individual or legal entity

5 that owns or controls cemetery lands or property that provides

6 burial rights and burial services and merchandise to a child

7 victim consistent with the Cemetery Oversight Act.

8 "Child victim" means a person under 17 years of age killed

9 in this State by a firearm as a result of first degree murder,

10 second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter of an unborn

11 child, involuntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter

12 of an unborn child.

13 "Department" means the Department of Human Services.

14 "Eligible survivor" means the parent or guardian of a

15 child victim, or anyone living in the household of a child

16 victim in a relationship with the victim that is substantially

17 similar to that of a parent, who has a household income of less

18 than 150% of the federal poverty level, qualifies for payment

19 of funeral and burial expenses under this Act, and has or

20 shares the authority to direct the disposition of the remains

21 of the victim pursuant to the Disposition of Remains Act.

22 "Funeral and burial expenses" means expenses that include,

23 but are not limited to, the transport of deceased human

24 remains to a funeral establishment; the preparation of

25 deceased human remains for burial, including cleaning,

26 disinfecting, and embalming; the preparation, direction, and

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1 supervision of the burial, cremation, or other disposition of

2 deceased human remains, including furnishing a casket, vault,

3 mausoleum, columbarium, or urn; the administration of funeral

4 arrangements, including providing printed materials, providing

5 transportation of the deceased human remains to the burial

6 site, and furnishing necessary facilities and equipment; and

7 any other service related to the carrying out of funeral or

8 burial services that the Department may allow, if consistent

9 with the law, up to the total allowable amount of disbursement

10 under Section 40.

11 "Funeral establishment" means a State-licensed funeral

12 home, funeral chapel, funeral parlor, or other business that

13 provides funeral and burial services to a child victim.

14 Section 15. Felon as victim or survivor.An eligible

15 survivor's or child victim's criminal history or felony status

16 shall not automatically prevent an award for payment of the

17 child victim's funeral and burial expenses.

18 Section 20. Additional powers; Department of Human

19 Services.In addition to other powers and duties set forth in

20 this Act and other powers exercised by the Department, the

21 Department shall conduct a review of disbursement requests

22 submitted by a funeral establishment or cemetery authority,

23 which includes verification of the eligible survivor's

24 household income, verification of the child victim's death

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1 certificate, and a review of the statement of goods and

2 services provided by the funeral establishment or cemetery

3 authority. Upon conclusion of the review, the Department shall

4 provide the funeral establishment or cemetery authority with a

5 payment determination letter. The Department shall disburse

6 payment to a funeral establishment or cemetery authority.

7 Section 25. Right to disbursement.

8 (a) With respect to the provision of burial rights and

9 funeral and burial services and merchandise within the

10 applicable scope of practice, a funeral establishment or

11 cemetery authority is entitled to a disbursement under this

12 Act if within one year of the occurrence of the crime upon

13 which a disbursement request is made, the funeral

14 establishment or cemetery authority submits the request to the

15 Department on a form prescribed in accordance with Section 30

16 as furnished by the Department.

17 (b) The Department may accept a request presented after

18 the period provided in subsection (a) if it determines that

19 the funeral establishment or cemetery authority had a good

20 cause for a delay.

21 Section 30. Disbursement request requirements.

22 (a) A disbursement request shall include:

23 (1) the name and address of the eligible survivor and

24 his or her relationship to the child victim;

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1 (2) the date and nature of the crime on which the

2 disbursement request is based;

3 (3) the nature and extent of the injuries sustained by

4 the child victim, and the names and addresses of those

5 giving any medical and hospitalization treatment to the

6 child victim;

7 (4) a copy of the child victim's death certificate;

8 (5) an affidavit of facts of death;

9 (6) documentation verifying an eligible survivor's

10 household income;

11 (7) a copy of the invoice detailing funeral and burial

12 expenses, including any applicable taxes, surcharges, and

13 fees;

14 (8) releases authorizing the surrender to the

15 Department of reports, documents and other information

16 relating to matters specified under this Act and rules

17 adopted in accordance with this Act; and

18 (9) such other information as the Department

19 reasonably requires.

20 (b) The Department may require that materials

21 substantiating the facts stated in the disbursement request be

22 submitted with that request.

23 (c) A funeral establishment or cemetery authority, on its

24 own volition, may file an amended request or additional

25 substantiating materials to correct inadvertent errors or

26 omissions at any time before the original request has been

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1 disposed of by the Department. In either case, the filing of

2 additional information or of an amended request shall be

3 considered for the purpose of this Act to have been filed at

4 the same time as the original request.

5 Section 35. Additional materials requested.If a funeral

6 establishment or cemetery authority does not submit all

7 materials substantiating its disbursement request as requested

8 by the Department, the Department shall notify the

9 establishment in writing of the specific additional items of

10 information or materials required and that it has 30 days in

11 which to furnish those items to the Department. No

12 disbursement shall be made for any portion of the request from

13 a funeral establishment or cemetery authority that is not

14 substantiated by the establishment or authority. An

15 establishment or authority may request an extension of time

16 from the Department prior to the expiration of the 30-day

17 period.

18 Section 40. Amount of disbursement.

19 (a) The total amount of disbursement for funeral and

20 burial expenses for a child victim shall be no more than

21 $10,000, to be apportioned between the funeral establishment

22 and cemetery authority by those eligible survivors authorized

23 to direct the disposition of remains pursuant to the

24 Disposition of Remains Act.

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1 (b) Upon submitting a disbursement request to the

2 Department, and upon the Department's review of such request

3 verifying that a survivor is an eligible survivor, a funeral

4 establishment and cemetery authority shall each receive

5 disbursement from the Department in the amount of the total

6 cost of burial rights and funeral services and merchandise

7 provided, up to the allocation amount. The Department shall

8 process all payment vouchers within 30 days of submission of a

9 complete disbursement request, and shall pay all such vouchers

10 within 30 days of receipt. All disbursement requests that are

11 not paid within 60 days shall thereafter accrue interest at

12 the rate set by the Prompt Payment Act.

13 (c) Beginning on July 1, 2024, the maximum allowable

14 disbursement amount shall be increased each year by an amount

15 equal to any increase in the general inflation, as determined

16 by the index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the

17 United States Department of Labor that measures the average

18 change in prices of goods and services purchased by all urban

19 consumers, United States city average, all items, 1982-84 =

20 100.

21 Section 45. Prohibition against double payment;

22 recordkeeping; payment recapture.

23 (a) If any funeral and burial expenses are paid under this

24 Act, no award for such assistance shall be granted to any party

25 in relation to funeral and burial expenses for the same child

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1 victim under the Crime Victims Compensation Act or the

2 Department of Human Services Funeral and Burial Benefits

3 Program.

4 (b) No person or entity receiving assistance under this

5 Act shall receive or retain a duplicate award for funeral and

6 burial expenses for a child victim from any State agency or

7 agencies. For the purposes of this Section, a duplicate award

8 is one that results in a total award from the State for the

9 cost of funeral and burial expenses for a child victim in

10 excess of that authorized by the Department. To prevent such

11 duplicate awards, the Department shall maintain an electronic

12 record of each disbursement to a funeral establishment or

13 cemetery authority and provide access to such records to any

14 State agency providing funeral or burial assistance to

15 Illinois residents.

16 (c) The Department is authorized to contract with

17 third-party entities to conduct payment recapture audits to

18 detect and recapture payments made in error or as a result of

19 fraud or abuse. A payment recapture audit shall include the

20 process of identifying improper payments paid to a funeral

21 establishment or cemetery authority or to an eligible survivor

22 whereby accounting specialists examine payment records and

23 uncover duplicate payments, payments for services not

24 rendered, overpayments, payments for unauthorized services,

25 and fictitious vendors. This audit may include the use of

26 professional and specialized auditors on a contingency basis,

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1 with compensation tied to the identification of misspent

2 funds.

3 Section 50. Notice to public of available assistance.

4 (a) The Department shall develop a brochure informing the

5 public of the existence of funeral and burial assistance for

6 the families of murdered children under this Act and make the

7 brochure available on its website.

8 (b) Any law enforcement agency that investigates an

9 offense committed in this State shall inform the parent or

10 guardian of the child victim concerning the availability of

11 assistance for funeral and burial expenses under this Act and

12 advise such persons that any information concerning this Act

13 may be obtained from the Department.

14 Section 900. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by

15 adding Section 12-4.11-5 as follows:

16 (305 ILCS 5/12-4.11-5 new)

17 Sec. 12-4.11-5. Murdered Children Funeral and Burial

18 Assistance Program. The Department of Human Services shall by

19 rule administer the Murdered Children Funeral and Burial

20 Assistance Program. Eligibility for the Murdered Children

21 Funeral and Burial Assistance Program shall be limited to

22 those individuals as described in the Murdered Children

23 Funeral and Burial Assistance Act.

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1 Beginning July 1, 2023, the Department of Human Services

2 shall make eligibility determinations for the Murdered

3 Children Funeral and Burial Assistance Program and, subject to

4 appropriation, shall make disbursements for eligible cases to

5 a funeral establishment or cemetery authority as provided

6 under the Murdered Children Funeral and Burial Assistance Act.

7 Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon

8 becoming law.".