HB3802eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB3802 Engrossed LRB094 11569 NHT 42570 b

AN ACT concerning education.

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

Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is amended by changing Section 20 as follows:

(110 ILCS 947/20)

Sec. 20. Functions of Commission.

(a) The Commission, in accordance with this Act, shall prepare and supervise the issuance of public information concerning its provisions; prescribe the form and regulate the submission of applications for assistance; provide for and conduct, or cause to be conducted, all eligibility determinations of applicants; award the appropriate financial assistance; and, upon request by a member of the General Assembly, nominate or evaluate and recommend for nomination applicants for General Assembly scholarships in accordance with criteria specified by the member under Section 30-9 of the School Code.

(b) The Commission is authorized to participate in any programs for monetary assistance to students and to receive, hold, and disburse all such funds made available by any agency or organization for the purpose or purposes for which they are made available. The Commission is authorized to administer a program of grant assistance as authorized by the Baccalaureate Savings Act. The Commission is authorized to participate in any programs established to improve student financial aid services or the proficiency of persons engaged in student financial aid services and to receive, hold, and disburse all funds made available by any agency or organization for the purpose or purposes for which they are made available subject to the appropriations of the General Assembly.

(c) The Commission is authorized to deny a scholarship or a grant to any person who has defaulted on a guaranteed student loan and who is not maintaining a satisfactory repayment record. If a person has a defaulted guaranteed student loan but is otherwise eligible for assistance pursuant to Section 40, the Commission shall award one term of assistance during which a satisfactory repayment record must be established. If such a repayment record is not established, additional assistance shall be denied until a satisfactory repayment record is established.

(d) The Commission is authorized to participate with federal, state, county, local, and university law enforcement agencies in cooperative efforts to detect and prosecute incidents of fraud in student assistance programs.

(e) The Administrative Review Law shall apply to and govern all proceedings for the judicial review of final administrative decisions of the Commission.

(f) The Commission is authorized to make all necessary and proper rules, not inconsistent with this Act, for the efficient exercise of the foregoing functions.

(g) Unless otherwise provided by statute, the functions of the Commission shall be exercised without regard to any applicant's race, creed, sex, color, national origin, or ancestry.

(h) Notwithstanding any other requirement in a State or federal law, all scholarships administered by the Commission must be decoupled from any federal restriction that denies financial assistance to persons who have been convicted of drug offenses. With respect to any scholarship administered by the Commission, anyone who has been denied financial assistance before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly is entitled to reapply for the scholarship if the denial was due to the federal restriction.

(Source: P.A. 87-997.)

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