atty general/state stix December 1981

Attorney
General
Opinions

Department of Commerce and Community Affairs

State Stix

State revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 1982 fell $79 million below expenditures, and the average daily available balance in general funds was $224 million lower than in the first quarter of fiscal 1981. . . .In October the general funds end-of-month balance was $112.3 million; the average daily available balance was $111.9 million; and the combined finds end-of-month balance was $244.9 million. . . .The statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October was 8.3 percent. The final seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for the state's major cities in August were: Bloomington-Normal, 5.8 percent; Champaign-Urbana, 5.6 percent; Chicago, 7.9 percent; Davenport-Rock Island-Moline (Illinois sector), 8.9 percent; Decatur, 9.9 percent; Kankakee, 11.6 percent; Peoria, 7.0 percent; Rockford, 9.0 percent; Springfield, 5.9 percent; St. Louis (Illinois sector), 9.6 percent.

A loan commitment issued by the director of the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) under the provisions of the Corporate Loan Act (Ill. Rev. Stat., 1980 Supp., ch. 32, sec. 1401, et seq.) is not considered an outstanding liability unless the governor and the director of the Bureau of the Budget approve the making of the loan.

The General Assembly appropriated $20 million from the Corporate Loan Fund to the DCCA for the purpose of making loans under the act. This appropriation lapsed June 30, 1981 and payment from it will be prohibited except to satisfy outstanding liabilities, meaning undischarged financial obligations required by law to be performed (File No. 81-020).

Veterans' assistance commission members

Members of a county veterans' assistance commission are not eligible to be reimbursed by the state for the mileage they travel to and from their meetings. Section 28a of "An Act to revise the law in relation to counties" (Ill Rev. Stat. 1980 Supp., ch. 34, sec. 506) states that the proceeds of a tax levied to fund a veterans' assistance commission can be spent to pay salaries of employees and officers of the commission. Since most commission members are neither, they are ineligible for reimbursement. The Bogardus Act, which regulates the granting of assistance to indigent war veterans and their families, also authorizes compensation only for officers and employees of a veterans' assistance commission (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 23, sec. 3090). In addition, the state Department of Public Aid, which administers the funds levied for such a commision, is not authorized under the public aid code to pay the travel expenses of commission members (Ill Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 23, sec. 1-1 et seq.) (File No. 81-023).

State Employees' Retirement System

The State Employees' Retirement System has sole power to set the rates and time period for occupational disability benefits to members of the system who become incapacitated to perform their duties before age 65. Under the Illinois Pension Code (Ill. Rev. Stat., 1979, ch. 108½, sec. 14-129), there must be an adjudication by the Industrial Commission or a ruling by the agency responsible for determining the liability of the state under the Workers' Compensation Act before the State Employees' Retirement System can take action on a claim for an occupational death benefit or an occupational disability benefit. The code also provides that payments by the State Employees Retirement System shall be offset by any awards from the Workers' Compensation Act or the Workers' Occupational Disease Act. But the amount of the benefits, the time at which they start and end lie solely in the control of the State Employees' Retirement System (File No. 81-026).

December 1981 | Illinois Issues | 31

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