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| 1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||
| 5 | Student Referendum All-American Energy Act. | ||||||
| 6 | Section 5. Definitions. In this Act: | ||||||
| 7 | "Energy-efficiency upgrade" means any improvement, repair,
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| 8 | alteration, or betterment of a building or facility, subject to | ||||||
| 9 | all
applicable building codes, and any equipment, fixture, or | ||||||
| 10 | furnishing
to be added to or used in the building or facility | ||||||
| 11 | that is
designed to reduce energy consumption.
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| 12 | "President" means the President, Chancellor, or other lead | ||||||
| 13 | official of the public institution of higher education. | ||||||
| 14 | "Public institution of higher education" means an | ||||||
| 15 | institution that is included in the definition of "public | ||||||
| 16 | institutions of higher education" under the Board of Higher | ||||||
| 17 | Education Act. | ||||||
| 18 | "Renewable energy resources" means those resources | ||||||
| 19 | included in the definition of "renewable energy resources" | ||||||
| 20 | under Section 6-3 of the Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency | ||||||
| 21 | and Coal Resources Development Law of 1997. In addition, | ||||||
| 22 | "renewable energy resources" includes renewable energy | ||||||
| 23 | certificates issued with respect to renewable energy resources | ||||||
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| 1 | located in this State. However, energy produced by methane | ||||||
| 2 | recovered from landfills in this State may be counted as a | ||||||
| 3 | renewable energy resource for up to, but no more than, 27.5% of | ||||||
| 4 | the amount of the total acquired renewable energy resources. | ||||||
| 5 | Section 10. Student-initiated referendum for an | ||||||
| 6 | All-American Energy Fee. | ||||||
| 7 | (a) The board of trustees of each public institution of | ||||||
| 8 | higher education, in consultation with the institution's | ||||||
| 9 | student government body, shall establish procedures providing | ||||||
| 10 | for a student-initiated referendum for the imposition of fees | ||||||
| 11 | relating to energy-efficiency upgrades or renewable energy | ||||||
| 12 | resources on one or more of the institution's campuses. | ||||||
| 13 | (b) Students at a public institution of higher education | ||||||
| 14 | may, by a majority vote of the students participating in the | ||||||
| 15 | referendum, authorize the imposition of an All-American Energy | ||||||
| 16 | Fee on students. | ||||||
| 17 | (c) The President shall establish reasonable procedures | ||||||
| 18 | for the submission of a referendum for an All-American Energy | ||||||
| 19 | Fee, the scheduling of the referendum, and the collection of | ||||||
| 20 | the fee. | ||||||
| 21 | (d) An All-American Energy Fee referendum petition shall | ||||||
| 22 | clearly identify the amount of the fee per student being | ||||||
| 23 | authorized by the referendum. | ||||||
| 24 | (e) The moneys collected from the imposition of fees
from | ||||||
| 25 | the student-initiated referendum relating to energy-efficiency
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| 1 | upgrades or renewable energy resources must not be dispensed by | ||||||
| 2 | the
board of trustees of the public institution of higher | ||||||
| 3 | education
without prior consultation with the institution's | ||||||
| 4 | student governing body.
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| 5 | Section 15. Report. The Board of Higher Education shall | ||||||
| 6 | report to the Governor and General Assembly no later than 2 | ||||||
| 7 | years following the effective date of this Act. The report | ||||||
| 8 | shall include, at a minimum, (i) identification of each public | ||||||
| 9 | institution of higher education that has approved an | ||||||
| 10 | All-American Energy Fee, (ii) the amount of money raised by the | ||||||
| 11 | fee, per institution, and (iii) a description of the projects | ||||||
| 12 | funded by the fee, per institution.
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