230 ILCS 5/31.1 — Illinois Code / Chapter 230 / Act 5 / Section 31.1
Section 31.1
Status: in_force

(230 ILCS 5/31.1) (from Ch. 8, par. 37-31.1) Sec. 31.1. (a) Unless subsection (a-5) applies, organization licensees collectively shall contribute annually to charity the sum of $750,000 to non-profit organizations that provide medical and family, counseling, and similar services to persons who reside or work on the backstretch of Illinois racetracks. Unless subsection (a-5) applies, these contributions shall be collected as follows: (i) no later than July 1st of each year the Board shall assess each organization licensee, except those tracks located in Madison County, which tracks shall pay $30,000 annually apiece into the Board charity fund, that amount which equals $690,000 multiplied by the amount of pari-mutuel wagering handled by the organization licensee in the year preceding assessment and divided by the total pari-mutuel wagering handled by all Illinois organization licensees, except those tracks located in Madison and Rock Island counties, in the year preceding assessment; (ii) notice of the assessed contribution shall be mailed to each organization licensee; (iii) within thirty days of its receipt of such notice, each organization licensee shall remit the assessed contribution to the Board. Unless subsection (a-5) applies, if an organization licensee commences operation of gaming at its facility pursuant to an organization gaming license under the Illinois Gambling Act, then the organization licensee shall contribute an additional $83,000 per year beginning in the year subsequent to the first year in which the organization licensee begins receiving funds from gaming pursuant to an organization gaming license. If an organization licensee wilfully fails to so remit the contribution, the Board may revoke its license to conduct horse racing. (a-5) If (1) an organization licensee that did not operate live racing in 2017 is awarded racing dates in 2018 or in any subsequent year and (2) all organization licensees are operating gaming pursuant to an organization gaming license under the Illinois Gambling Act, then subsection (a) does not apply and organization licensees collectively shall contribute annually to charity the sum of $1,000,000 to non-profit organizations that provide medical and family, counseling, and similar services to persons who reside or work on the backstretch of Illinois racetracks. These contributions shall be collected as follows: (i) no later than July 1st of each year the Board shall assess each organization licensee an amount based on the proportionate amount of live racing days in the calendar year for which the Board has awarded to the organization licensee out of the total aggregate number of live racing days awarded; (ii) notice of the assessed contribution shall be mailed to each organization licensee; (iii) within 30 days after its receipt of such notice, each organization licensee shall remit the assessed contribution to the Board. If an organization licensee willfully fails to so remit the contribution, the Board may revoke its license to conduct horse racing. (b) No later than October 1st of each year, any qualified charitable organization seeking an allotment of contributed funds shall submit to the Board an application for those funds, using the Board's approved form. The Board shall distribute all such amounts collected that year to such charitable organization applicants on a schedule determined by the Board, based on the charitable organization's estimated expenditures related to this grant. Any funds not expended by the grantee in a grant year shall be distributed to the charitable organization or charitable organizations selected in the next grant year after the funds are recovered in addition to the amounts specified in subsections (a) and (a-5). (Source: P.A. 104-185, eff. 8-15-25.)