Rep. Lisa M. Dugan
Filed: 3/24/2009
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| 1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 796
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| 2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 796, AS AMENDED, by | ||||||
| 3 | replacing the introductory paragraph of Section 10 with the | ||||||
| 4 | following:
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| 5 | "Section 10. The Energy Assistance Act is amended by | ||||||
| 6 | changing Sections 3, 4, 6, 8, and 13 as follows:"; and | ||||||
| 7 | in Section 10, by inserting after the last line of Sec. 4 the | ||||||
| 8 | following:
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| 9 | "(305 ILCS 20/6) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1406)
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| 10 | Sec. 6. Eligibility, Conditions of Participation, and | ||||||
| 11 | Energy Assistance.
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| 12 | (a) Any person who is a resident of the State of Illinois | ||||||
| 13 | and whose
household income is not greater than an amount | ||||||
| 14 | determined annually by the
Department, in consultation with the | ||||||
| 15 | Policy Advisory Council, may
apply for assistance pursuant to | ||||||
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| 1 | this Act in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the | ||||||
| 2 | Department. In setting the annual eligibility level, the
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| 3 | Department shall consider the amount of available funding and | ||||||
| 4 | may not set a
limit higher than 150% of the federal nonfarm | ||||||
| 5 | poverty level as established by
the federal Office of | ||||||
| 6 | Management and Budget; except that for the period ending June | ||||||
| 7 | 30, 2012, or until the expenditure of federal resources | ||||||
| 8 | allocated for energy assistance programs by the American | ||||||
| 9 | Recovery and Reinvestment Act, whichever occurs first, the | ||||||
| 10 | Department may not establish limits higher than 200% of that | ||||||
| 11 | poverty level.
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| 12 | (b) Applicants who qualify for assistance pursuant to | ||||||
| 13 | subsection (a) of
this Section shall, subject to appropriation | ||||||
| 14 | from the General Assembly and
subject to availability of funds | ||||||
| 15 | to the Department, receive energy
assistance as provided by | ||||||
| 16 | this Act. The Department, upon receipt
of monies authorized | ||||||
| 17 | pursuant to this Act for energy assistance, shall commit
funds | ||||||
| 18 | for each qualified applicant in an amount determined by the
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| 19 | Department. In determining the amounts of assistance to be | ||||||
| 20 | provided to or
on behalf of a qualified applicant, the | ||||||
| 21 | Department shall ensure that the
highest amounts of assistance | ||||||
| 22 | go to households with the greatest energy
costs in relation to | ||||||
| 23 | household income. The Department shall include
factors such as | ||||||
| 24 | energy costs, household size, household income, and region
of | ||||||
| 25 | the State when determining individual household benefits. In | ||||||
| 26 | setting
assistance levels, the Department shall attempt to | ||||||
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| 1 | provide assistance to
approximately the same number of | ||||||
| 2 | households who participated in the 1991
Residential Energy | ||||||
| 3 | Assistance Partnership Program. Such assistance levels
shall | ||||||
| 4 | be adjusted annually on the basis of funding
availability and | ||||||
| 5 | energy costs. In promulgating rules for the
administration of | ||||||
| 6 | this
Section the Department shall assure that a minimum of 1/3 | ||||||
| 7 | of funds
available for benefits to eligible households with the | ||||||
| 8 | lowest incomes and that elderly and
disabled households are | ||||||
| 9 | offered a priority application
period.
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| 10 | (c) If the applicant is not a customer of an energy | ||||||
| 11 | provider for winter
energy services or an applicant for such | ||||||
| 12 | service, such applicant shall
receive a direct energy | ||||||
| 13 | assistance payment in an amount established by the
Department | ||||||
| 14 | for all such applicants under this Act; provided, however, that
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| 15 | such an applicant must have rental expenses for housing greater | ||||||
| 16 | than 30% of
household income.
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| 17 | (d) If the applicant is a customer of an energy provider, | ||||||
| 18 | such
applicant shall receive energy assistance in an amount | ||||||
| 19 | established by the
Department for all such applicants under | ||||||
| 20 | this Act, such amount to be paid
by the Department to the | ||||||
| 21 | energy provider supplying winter energy service to
such | ||||||
| 22 | applicant. Such applicant shall:
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| 23 | (i) make all reasonable efforts to apply to any other | ||||||
| 24 | appropriate
source of public energy assistance; and
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| 25 | (ii) sign a waiver permitting the Department to receive | ||||||
| 26 | income
information from any public or private agency | ||||||
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| 1 | providing income or energy
assistance and from any | ||||||
| 2 | employer, whether public or private.
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| 3 | (e) Any qualified applicant pursuant to this Section may | ||||||
| 4 | receive or have
paid on such applicant's behalf an emergency | ||||||
| 5 | assistance payment to enable
such applicant to obtain access to | ||||||
| 6 | winter energy services. Any such
payments shall be made in | ||||||
| 7 | accordance with regulations of the Department.
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| 8 | (f) The Department may, if sufficient funds are available, | ||||||
| 9 | provide
additional benefits to certain qualified applicants:
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| 10 | (i) for the reduction of past due amounts owed to | ||||||
| 11 | energy providers;
and
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| 12 | (ii) to assist the household in responding to | ||||||
| 13 | excessively high summer
temperatures or energy costs. | ||||||
| 14 | Households containing elderly members, children,
a person | ||||||
| 15 | with a disability, or a person with a medical need for | ||||||
| 16 | conditioned air
shall receive priority for receipt of such | ||||||
| 17 | benefits.
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| 18 | (Source: P.A. 91-936, eff. 1-10-01; 92-690, eff. 7-18-02.)".
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