SB2005eng 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB2005 Engrossed LRB103 25516 KTG 51865 b

AN ACT concerning housing.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Housing Authorities Act is amended by adding Section 34 as follows:

(310 ILCS 10/34 new)

Sec. 34. Housing preference for veterans.

(a) As used in this Section:

"Homeless individual" means an individual:

(1) who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence;

(2) with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or campground;

(3) in a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements, including, but not limited to, hotels and motels paid for by a government program for low-income individuals or by charitable organizations, congregate shelters, and transitional housing;

(4) who resides in a shelter or place not meant for human habitation and who is exiting an institution where he or she temporarily resided; and

(5) who:

(A) will imminently lose his or her housing, including housing he or she owns, rents, lives in without paying rent, or is sharing with others, and rooms in hotels or motels not paid for by a governmental program for low-income individuals or by charitable organizations, as evidenced by:

(i) a court order resulting from an eviction action that notifies the individual that he or she must leave within 14 days;

(ii) such individual having a primary nighttime residence that is a room in a hotel or motel and where he or she lacks the resources necessary to reside there for more than 14 days;

(iii) credible indications that the owner or renter of such housing will not allow such individual to stay for more than 14 days; or

(iv) any oral statement from an individual seeking homeless assistance that is found to be credible;

(B) has no subsequent residence identified; and

(C) lacks the resources or support networks needed to obtain other permanent housing.

"Veteran" means an individual who has served as a member of the armed forces of the United States or the Illinois National Guard.

(b) Any housing authority created in accordance with this Act shall develop and implement policies granting housing preferences to veterans who are homeless. Such preferences shall be cumulative with any other preference allowed by such housing authority for which the veteran qualifies. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to supersede any federal law or regulation.