Public Act 097-0721
 
HB1882 EnrolledLRB097 10201 PJG 50396 b


  
    AN ACT concerning State government.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  


 
 
    Section 5. The Department of Commerce and Economic 
Opportunity Law of the
Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is 
amended  by adding Sections 605-456, 605-460, and 605-465 as 
follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 605/605-456 new)
    Sec. 605-456. Survey and report on business incentives.
    (a) The Department shall contact businesses that are 
located in the State or have been identified as having left the 
State.  The Department shall request that the business complete 
a survey, developed by the Department, that includes 
information regarding (i) why the business left, if applicable, 
and the location to which the business relocated and (ii) any 
incentives that are needed to keep and attract the business.
    (b) The Department shall compile the results of the surveys 
and any other relevant information provided to the Department.  
By each July 1, the Department shall report to the General 
Assembly upon its compilation of the previous year's survey 
responses and any of the other relevant information.  The report 
must identify, at a minimum, the most common responses, 
categorized by industry and region, regarding (i) why 
businesses left Illinois, (ii) what incentives would have 
influenced businesses to remain in Illinois, and (iii) to which 
cities and states the businesses have relocated.
    (c) For the purposes of this Section, a business is defined 
as one that is engaged in interstate or intrastate commerce for 
the purpose of manufacturing, processing, assembling, 
warehousing, or distributing products, conducting research and 
development, providing tourism services, or providing services 
in interstate commerce, office industries, or agricultural 
processing, but excluding retail, retail food, health, or 
professional services. 
    (d) The Department shall adopt rules for the implementation 
of this Section. 
 
    (20 ILCS 605/605-460 new)
    Sec. 605-460. Engineering excellence program.
    (a) Coordination between engineering schools and private 
business is an important tool in fostering innovation.  
Universities have eager students, experienced faculty, and 
state-of-the-art research facilities.  Businesses have existing 
markets, production capital, and evolving needs.  The General 
Assembly believes that universities and businesses should 
share resources to allow students to participate in the 
research and development area of innovative design and to allow 
businesses to benefit from the developing skills of these 
students.
    (b) In order to facilitate engineering excellence, the 
Department shall develop a program to achieve the goals set 
forth in subsection (a).  Under this program, the Department 
must:
        (1) Annually contact the State's major public and 
    private universities with engineering schools.
        (2) Request a one-page written summary of the 
    internship, externship, or residency programs operated by 
    the engineering college of each of the contacted 
    universities.
        (3) Identify the manufacturing businesses within 50 
    miles of each university that responded under paragraph (2) 
    that could benefit from assistance in the area of 
    innovative design.
        (4) Send a letter to each manufacturer identified under 
    paragraph (3), informing it of the university's program and 
    advising the business to contact the university if it 
    wishes to participate in the engineering school's program.
    (c) The Department shall adopt rules for the implementation 
of this Section.
 
    (20 ILCS 605/605-465 new)
    Sec. 605-465. Comprehensive website information.
    (a)  The Department's official website must contain a 
comprehensive list of State, local, and federal economic 
benefits available to businesses in each of the State's 
counties and municipalities that the Department includes on its 
website. In order to do so:
        (1) The Department annually must request a summary of 
    available economic benefits from each of the State's 
    counties and municipalities that are linked to the 
    Department's website.
        (2) The information obtained under paragraph (1) must 
    be published on the related web pages of the Department's 
    website.
        (3) The Department's website shall also provide 
    information regarding available federal economic benefits 
    to the extent possible.
    (b) The Department shall adopt rules for the implementation 
of this Section.
  
 
    Section 10. The Corporate Accountability for Tax 
Expenditures Act is amended  by changing Section 25 as follows:
 



    (20 ILCS 715/25)



    Sec. 25. Recapture. 

    (a) All development assistance agreements
shall contain, 
at a
minimum, the following recapture provisions:


        (1) The recipient must (i) make the level of capital 
    investment in the
economic
development project specified 
    in the development assistance agreement; (ii)
create or

    retain, or both, the requisite number of jobs, paying not 
    less than specified
wages for the
created and retained 
    jobs, within and for the duration of the time period

    specified in the
legislation authorizing, or the 
    administrative rules implementing, the
development

    assistance programs and the development assistance 
    agreement.


        (2) If the recipient fails to create or retain the 
    requisite number of
jobs within and
for the time period 
    specified, in the legislation authorizing, or the

    administrative rules
implementing, the development 
    assistance programs and the development
assistance

    agreement, the recipient shall be deemed to no longer 
    qualify for the State
economic
assistance and the 
    applicable recapture provisions shall take effect.


        (3) If the recipient receives State economic 
    assistance in the form of a
High
Impact Business 
    designation pursuant to Section 5.5 of the Illinois 
    Enterprise
Zone Act
and the business receives the benefit 
    of the exemption authorized under Section
5l of the

    Retailers' Occupation Tax Act (for the sale of building 
    materials incorporated
into a High
Impact Business 
    location) and the recipient fails to create or retain the

    requisite number
of jobs, as determined by the legislation 
    authorizing the development
assistance
programs
or the 
    administrative rules implementing such legislation, or 
    both, within the
requisite
period of time, the recipient 
    shall be required to pay to the State the full
amount of 
    the
State tax exemption that it received as a result of the 
    High Impact Business
designation.


        (4) If the recipient receives a grant or loan pursuant 
    to the Large
Business
Development Program, the Business 
    Development Public Infrastructure Program, or
the

    Industrial Training Program and the recipient fails to 
    create or retain the
requisite number
of jobs for the 
    requisite time period, as provided in the legislation

    authorizing the
development assistance programs or the 
    administrative rules implementing such
legislation, or 
    both, or in the development assistance agreement, the 
    recipient
shall be
required to repay to the State a pro 
    rata amount of the grant; that amount
shall
reflect
the 
    percentage of the deficiency between the requisite number 
    of jobs to be
created or
retained by the recipient and the 
    actual number of such jobs in existence as of
the date the

    Department determines the recipient is in breach of the job 
    creation or
retention
covenants contained in the 
    development assistance agreement. If the recipient
of

    development assistance under the Large Business 
    Development Program, the
Business
Development Public 
    Infrastructure Program, or the Industrial Training Program

    ceases
operations at the specific project site, during the 
    5-year period commencing on
the date of
assistance, the 
    recipient shall be required to repay the entire amount of 
    the
grant or to
accelerate repayment of the loan back to 
    the State.


        (5) If the recipient receives a tax credit under the 
    Economic
Development for a
Growing Economy tax credit 
    program, the development assistance agreement must
provide 
    that (i) if the number of new or retained employees falls 
    below the
requisite
number set forth in the development 
    assistance agreement, the allowance of the
credit
shall be 
    automatically suspended until the number of new and 
    retained employees
equals
or exceeds the requisite number 
    in the development assistance agreement; (ii)
if
the

    recipient discontinues operations at the specific project 
    site during the 5-year period after the beginning of the 
    first tax year for which the Department issues a tax credit 
    certificate, the recipient shall
forfeit all
credits taken 
    by the recipient during such 5-year period; and (iii) in 
    the
event
of a
revocation or suspension of the credit, the 
    Department shall contact the
Director
of Revenue to 
    initiate proceedings against the recipient to recover

    wrongfully
exempted Illinois State income taxes and the 
    recipient shall promptly repay to
the
Department of Revenue 
    any wrongfully exempted Illinois State income taxes.
The 
    forfeited amount of credits shall be deemed assessed on the 
    date the
Department
contacts the Department of Revenue and 
    the recipient shall promptly repay to
the
Department of 
    Revenue any wrongfully exempted Illinois State income 
    taxes.

    (b) The Director may elect to waive enforcement of any 
contractual provision
arising out of
the development 
assistance agreement required by this Act based on a finding

that the waiver is
necessary to avert an imminent and 
demonstrable hardship to the
recipient that may
result in such 
recipient's insolvency or discharge of workers.
If a waiver is

granted, the recipient must agree to a contractual 
modification, including
recapture provisions,
to the

development assistance
agreement.
The existence of
any waiver

granted pursuant to this subsection (c), the date of the 
granting of such
waiver, and a brief
summary of the reasons 
supporting the granting of such waiver shall be
disclosed

consistent with
the provisions of Section 25 of this Act.

    (b-5)  The Department shall post, on its website, (i)  the 
identity of each recipient from whom amounts were recaptured 
under this Section on or after the effective date of this 
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, (ii)  the date of 
the recapture,  (iii) a summary of the reasons supporting the 
recapture, and (iv) the amount recaptured from those 
recipients. 
    (c) Beginning June 1, 2004, the Department shall annually 
compile a report
on the
outcomes and effectiveness of recapture 
provisions by program, including but
not limited
to: (i) the 
total number of companies that receive development assistance 
as
defined in
this Act; (ii) the total number of recipients in 
violation of development
agreements with
the Department; (iii) 
the total number of completed recapture efforts; (iv) the
total

number of recapture efforts initiated; and (v) the number of 
waivers granted.
This report
shall be disclosed consistent with 
the provisions of Section 20 of this Act.

    (d) For the purposes of this Act, recapture provisions do 
not include the
Illinois
Department of Transportation Economic 
Development Program, any grants under the
Industrial Training 
Program that are not given as an incentive to a
recipient 
business organization,
or any successor programs as described 
in the term "development assistance" in
Section 5
of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 97-2, eff. 5-6-11.)

 
    Section 15. The Energy Assistance Act is amended  by 
changing Section 6 as follows:
 



    (305 ILCS 20/6)  (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1406)



    Sec. 6. Eligibility, Conditions of Participation, and 
Energy Assistance. 

    (a) Any person who is a resident of the State of Illinois 
and whose
household income is not greater than an amount 
determined annually by the
Department, in consultation with the 
Policy Advisory Council, may
apply for assistance pursuant to 
this Act in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the 
Department. In setting the annual eligibility level, the

Department shall consider the amount of available funding and 
may not set a
limit higher than 150% of the federal nonfarm 
poverty level as established by
the federal Office of 
Management and Budget; except that for the period ending June 
30, 2013, 2012, or until the expenditure of federal resources 
allocated for energy assistance programs by the American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act, whichever occurs first, the 
Department may not establish limits higher than 200% of that 
poverty level or the maximum level provided for by federal 
guidelines.

    (b) Applicants who qualify for assistance pursuant to 
subsection (a) of
this Section shall, subject to appropriation 
from the General Assembly and
subject to availability of funds 
to the Department, receive energy
assistance as provided by 
this Act.  The Department, upon receipt
of monies authorized 
pursuant to this Act for energy assistance, shall commit
funds 
for each qualified applicant in an amount determined by the

Department.  In determining the amounts of assistance to be 
provided to or
on behalf of a qualified applicant, the 
Department shall ensure that the
highest amounts of assistance 
go to households with the greatest energy
costs in relation to 
household income.  The Department shall include
factors such as 
energy costs, household size, household income, and region
of 
the State when determining individual household benefits.  In 
setting
assistance levels, the Department shall attempt to 
provide assistance to
approximately the same number of 
households who participated in the 1991
Residential Energy 
Assistance Partnership Program.  Such assistance levels
shall 
be adjusted annually on the basis of funding
availability and 
energy costs.  In promulgating rules for the
administration of 
this
Section the Department shall assure that a minimum of 1/3 
of funds
available for benefits to eligible households with the 
lowest incomes and that elderly and
disabled households are 
offered a priority application
period.

    (c) If the applicant is not a customer of record of an 
energy provider for
energy services or an applicant for such 
service, such applicant shall
receive a direct energy 
assistance payment in an amount established by the
Department 
for all such applicants under this Act; provided, however, that

such an applicant must have rental expenses for housing greater 
than 30% of
household income.

    (c-1) This subsection shall apply only in cases where: (1) 
the applicant is not a customer of record of an energy provider 
because energy services are provided by the owner of the unit 
as a portion of the rent; (2) the applicant resides in housing 
subsidized or developed with funds provided under the Rental 
Housing Support Program Act or under a similar locally funded 
rent subsidy program, or is the voucher holder who resides in a 
rental unit within the State of Illinois and whose monthly rent 
is subsidized by the tenant-based Housing Choice Voucher 
Program under Section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937; and 
(3) the rental expenses for housing are no more than 30% of 
household income. In such cases, the household may apply for an 
energy assistance payment under this Act and the owner of the 
housing unit shall cooperate with the applicant by providing 
documentation of the energy costs for that unit. Any 
compensation paid to the energy provider who supplied energy 
services to the household shall be paid on behalf of the owner 
of the housing unit providing energy services to the household. 
The Department shall report annually to the General Assembly on 
the number of households receiving energy assistance under this 
subsection and the cost of such assistance. The provisions of 
this subsection (c-1), other than this sentence, are 
inoperative after August 31, 2012. 
    (d) If the applicant is a customer of an energy provider, 
such
applicant shall receive energy assistance in an amount 
established by the
Department for all such applicants under 
this Act, such amount to be paid
by the Department to the 
energy provider supplying winter energy service to
such 
applicant.  Such applicant shall:


        (i) make all reasonable efforts to apply to any other 
    appropriate
source of public energy assistance; and


        (ii) sign a waiver permitting the Department to receive 
    income
information from any public or private agency 
    providing income or energy
assistance and from any 
    employer, whether public or private.

    (e) Any qualified applicant pursuant to this Section may 
receive or have
paid on such applicant's behalf an emergency 
assistance payment to enable
such applicant to obtain access to 
winter energy services.  Any such
payments shall be made in 
accordance with regulations of the Department.

    (f) The Department may, if sufficient funds are available, 
provide
additional benefits to certain qualified applicants:


        (i) for the reduction of past due amounts owed to 
    energy providers;
and


        (ii) to assist the household in responding to 
    excessively high summer
temperatures or energy costs. 
    Households containing elderly members, children,
a person 
    with a disability, or a person with a medical need for 
    conditioned air
shall receive priority for receipt of such 
    benefits.

(Source: P.A. 96-154, eff. 1-1-10; 96-157, eff. 9-1-09; 
96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)

 

    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.