HB4948 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB096 17197 HLH 32537 b

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB4948

Introduced 1/15/2010, by Rep. Robert W. Pritchard

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

20 ILCS 2705/2705-317
30 ILCS 105/5.756 new
35 ILCS 5/507UU new

Amends the Department of Transportation Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Department of Transportation shall establish and administer a Safe Routes to School Non-Infrastructure Program to fund education, encouragement, evaluation, and enforcement strategies to help children enjoy healthy and safe walk, roll, and bike commutes to and from school. Creates the Childhood Obesity Fund. Provides that moneys in the Fund shall be used by the Department of Transportation to make grants to school districts, units of local government, and not-for-profit organizations. Amends the State Finance Act to make conforming changes. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates a tax checkoff for the Childhood Obesity Fund. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning revenue.

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

Section 5. The Department of Transportation Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by changing Section 2705-317 as follows:

(20 ILCS 2705/2705-317)

Sec. 2705-317. Safe Routes to School Construction Program.

(a) Upon enactment of a federal transportation bill with a dedicated fund available to states for safe routes to schools, the Department, in cooperation with the State Board of Education and the Department of State Police, shall establish and administer a Safe Routes to School Construction Program for the construction of bicycle and pedestrian safety and traffic-calming projects using the federal Safe Routes to Schools Program funds.

(b) The Department shall make construction grants available to local governmental agencies under the Safe Routes to School Construction Program based on the results of a statewide competition that requires submission of Safe Routes to School proposals for funding and that rates those proposals on all of the following factors:

(1) Demonstrated needs of the grant applicant.

(2) Potential of the proposal for reducing child injuries and fatalities.

(3) Potential of the proposal for encouraging increased walking and bicycling among students.

(4) Identification of safety hazards.

(5) Identification of current and potential walking and bicycling routes to school.

(6) Consultation and support for projects by school-based associations, local traffic engineers, local elected officials, law enforcement agencies, and school officials.

(7) Proximity to parks and other recreational facilities.

With respect to the use of federal Safe Routes to Schools Program funds, prior to the award of a construction grant or the use of those funds for a Safe Routes to School project encompassing a highway, the Department shall consult with and obtain approval from the Department of State Police and the highway authority with jurisdiction to ensure that the Safe Routes to School proposal is consistent with a statewide pedestrian safety statistical analysis.

(c) On March 30, 2006 and each March 30th thereafter, the Department shall submit a report to the General Assembly listing and describing the projects funded under the Safe Routes to School Construction Program.

(d) The Department shall study the effectiveness of the Safe Routes to School Construction Program, with particular emphasis on the Program's effectiveness in reducing traffic accidents and its contribution to improving safety and reducing the number of child injuries and fatalities in the vicinity of a Safe Routes to School project. The Department shall submit a report to the General Assembly on or before December 31, 2006 regarding the results of the study.

(d-5) The Department shall also establish and administer a Safe Routes to School Non-Infrastructure Program to fund education, encouragement, evaluation, and enforcement strategies to help children enjoy healthy and safe walk, roll, and bike commutes to and from school. Moneys received for the purposes of this subsection (d-5), including, but not limited to, income tax checkoff receipts, gifts, grants, and awards from private foundations, nonprofit organizations, governmental entities, and persons, shall be deposited into the Childhood Obesity Fund, a special fund created in the State treasury. Subject to appropriation, the Department shall use moneys appropriated from the Childhood Obesity Fund, less administrative costs, to make appropriate grants to school districts, units of local government, and not-for-profit organizations. Grant cycles shall be no less frequent than once per year and shall be timed to ensure awards of grants no later than May 1 of each year.

(e) The Department, the State Board of Education, and the Department of State Police may adopt any rules necessary to implement this Section.

(Source: P.A. 94-493, eff. 8-8-05.)

Section 10. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Section 5.756 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.756 new)

Sec. 5.756. The Childhood Obesity Fund.

Section 15. The Illinois Income Tax Act is amended by adding Section 507UU as follows:

(35 ILCS 5/507UU new)

Sec. 507UU. Childhood Obesity Fund checkoff. For taxable years ending on or after December 31, 2010, the Department must print on its standard individual income tax form a provision indicating that if the taxpayer wishes to contribute to the Childhood Obesity Fund, as authorized by this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, he or she may do so by stating the amount of the contribution (not less than $1) on the return and indicating that the contribution will reduce the taxpayer's refund or increase the amount of payment to accompany the return. Failure to remit any amount of increased payment shall reduce the contribution accordingly. This Section does not apply to any amended return.

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