Rep. Sonya M. Harper

Filed: 4/18/2023

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 54

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 54 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Local
5Food Infrastructure Grant Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
7    "Department" means the Department of Agriculture.
8    "Director" means the Director of Agriculture.
9    "Fund" means the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Fund.
10    "Grantee" means the person or entity to which a grant is
11made from the Fund.
12    "Lender" means any federal or State chartered bank,
13federal land bank, production credit association, bank for
14cooperatives, federal or state chartered savings and loan
15association or building and loan association, small business
16investment company, or any other institution qualified within

 

 

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1this State to originate and service loans, including, but not
2limited to, insurance companies, credit unions, and mortgage
3loan companies. "Lender" includes a wholly owned subsidiary of
4a manufacturer, seller or distributor of goods or services
5that makes loans to businesses or individuals, commonly known
6as a "captive finance company".
7    "Liability" includes, but is not limited to, the
8following: accounts payable; notes or other indebtedness owed
9to any source; taxes; rent; amounts owed on real estate
10contracts or real estate mortgages; judgments; accrued
11interest payable; and any other liability.
12    "State" means the State of Illinois.
13    "Underserved Farmer" means farmers or ranchers who are:
14Beginning; Socially Disadvantaged; Veterans; and Limited
15Resource, as defined by the USDA.
16    "Underserved Community" means communities that have
17limited or no access to resources or that are otherwise
18disenfranchised. These groups may include people who are
19socioeconomically disadvantaged; people with limited English
20proficiency; geographically isolated or educationally
21disenfranchised people; people of color as well as those of
22ethnic and national origin minorities; women and children;
23individuals with disabilities and others with access and
24functional needs; and seniors.
25    "Value-added" means the processing, packaging, or
26otherwise enhancing the value of farm and agricultural

 

 

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1products or by-products produced in Illinois.
 
2    Section 10. Legislative findings.
3    (a) The General Assembly finds that in this State the
4following conditions exist:
5        (1) Small fruit, vegetable, and livestock farmers are
6    vital to the health and wealth of Illinois communities,
7    yet Illinois does not currently have infrastructure in
8    place to support local food farmers and feed Illinois
9    communities.
10        (2) An estimated 95% of the food consumed in Illinois
11    is purchased from outside our borders, resulting in the
12    export of billions of food dollars outside our state
13    instead of building local economies.
14        (3) A shift of just 10% toward local food purchasing
15    by Illinois individuals, families, schools, institutions,
16    and state agencies could generate billions in economic
17    growth for our state.
18        (4) In order for Illinois families, businesses,
19    schools, and institutions to shift their purchasing
20    practices, Illinois must invest in supporting critical
21    local food infrastructure needed to scale up production,
22    aggregation, and distribution of local food.
23    (b) The General Assembly determines and declares that
24there exist conditions in the State that require the
25Department to issue grants on behalf of the State for the

 

 

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1development of local food processing, aggregation, and
2distribution.
 
3    Section 15. Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program.
4Subject to appropriation, the Department shall develop and
5administer an annual Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program
6to enhance local food processing, aggregation, and
7distribution within this State.
8        (1) Eligibility. Eligible applicants must currently or
9    plan to store, process, package, aggregate, or distribute
10    farm products raised in Illinois. Eligible applicants
11    include, but are not limited to:
12            (A) Illinois farms with less than 50 employees.
13            (B) Illinois cooperatives with less than 50
14        employees.
15            (C) Illinois processing facilities, food
16        businesses, and food hubs, with less than 50
17        employees.
18            (D) Illinois non-profit organizations.
19            (E) Units of local government in Illinois.
20    Proposals may be submitted by individuals, groups,
21partnerships, or collaborations.
22        (2) Award. Grant awards shall be between $1000 and
23    $150,000.
24        (3) Matching. The recipient of a grant under this
25    Section must provide a percentage for the total project

 

 

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1    costs. 80% of all funded projects will be required to
2    provide a 50% match. The remaining 20% of funded projects
3    shall be categorized as "high need" and shall be required
4    to provide a 0 to 20% match. The recipient's match may be
5    in cash, cash-equivalent investments, or bonds,
6    irrevocable letters of credit, or any combination thereof.
7    Acceptable matching fund sources include, but are not
8    limited to, commercial and private lenders, leasing
9    companies, and grants.
10        (4) Allowable expenses. All grant funding must be used
11    for the purchasing, leasing to own, renting, building, or
12    installation of infrastructure that will increase market
13    access of Illinois communities to Illinois agricultural
14    products. Allowable expenses include, but are not limited
15    to:
16            (A) Equipment used in the production of
17        value-added agricultural products.
18            (B) Milling or pressing equipment.
19            (C) Creamery or milk product processing and
20        packaging equipment.
21            (D) Food hub development or expansion.
22            (E) Cooler walls and refrigeration units.
23            (F) Grading, packing, labeling, packaging, or
24        sorting equipment.
25            (G) Refrigerated trucks.
26            (H) Custom exempt mobile slaughter units and

 

 

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1        livestock processing equipment.
2            (I) Agroforestry processing equipment.
3            (J) Local fish and shrimp processing.
4    Grant funding may not be used for labor, marketing, or
5promotion.
6        (5) Funding source. The Local Food Infrastructure
7    Grant Fund is created as a special fund in the State
8    treasury. Appropriations and moneys from any public or
9    private source may be deposited into the Fund. The Fund
10    shall be used for the purposes of this Act. Repayments of
11    grants made under this Section shall be deposited into the
12    Fund. A maximum of 10% of all funds appropriated through
13    this fund may be awarded to the Department for
14    administrative costs.
 
15    Section 20. Steering Committee. Subject to appropriation,
16the Department shall create an independent Local Food
17Infrastructure Steering Committee to guide the implementation
18and evaluation of the grant. The committee shall be selected
19by the Director. The committee shall include, but is not
20limited to, at least 3 farmers, including one specialty crop
21farmer, one livestock farmer, and one farmer of color, one
22representative from the local food processing industry, one
23representative from a non-profit organization serving farmers
24of color, one representative from a non-profit organization
25serving farmers at large, and one representative from the

 

 

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1Department.
2        (1) The Steering Committee's responsibilities shall
3    include:
4            (A) Determining the grant funding cycle.
5            (B) Determining Application Requirements and terms
6        of the grant agreement.
7            (C) Determining grant criteria and preferences in
8        addition to those specified in this Act.
9            (D) Grant review and selection.
10            (E) Determining project reporting requirements for
11        funded projects.
12            (F) Evaluating program success and adjusting
13        criteria, requirements, preferences, implementation,
14        and all other elements of the grant as needed to ensure
15        the grant program meets its intended purpose, so long
16        as changes are in compliance with this Act.
17        (2) Application requirements. Grant applications must
18    be made on forms provided by the Department and in
19    accordance with procedures established by the Steering
20    Committee. At a minimum, an applicant must be an Illinois
21    resident, as defined by Department rule, and must provide
22    the names, addresses, and occupations of all project
23    owners, the project address, relevant credit and financial
24    information (including, but not limited to, assets and
25    liabilities), and any other information deemed necessary
26    by the Steering Committee for review of the grant

 

 

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1    application.
2            (A) All requests for the waiver of any
3        requirements in this Section must be made in writing
4        to the Department. A grant award is subject to
5        modification or alteration under, but is not limited
6        to, the following conditions:
7                (i) The grant award is subject to any
8            modifications that may be required by changes in
9            State law or regulations. The Department shall
10            notify the recipient in writing of any amendment
11            to the regulations and the effective date of those
12            amendments.
13                (ii) If either the Department or the recipient
14            requests to modify the terms of the grant award,
15            written notice of the proposed modification shall
16            be given to the other party. No modification shall
17            take effect unless agreed to in writing by both
18            the Department and the recipient.
19        (3) Grant review process.
20            (A) Criteria. The Steering Committee, in reviewing
21        the applications, must consider, but is not limited to
22        considering the following criteria:
23                (i) The project has a reasonable assurance of
24            increasing the availability and accessibility of
25            Illinois agricultural products among Illinois
26            communities.

 

 

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1                (ii) There is an adequate and realistic budget
2            projection.
3                (iii) The application meets the eligibility
4            requirements and the project costs are eligible
5            under this Act.
6            (B) Preference. Preference for grants shall be
7        given to, but is not limited to, the following:
8                (i) Proposals that have established favorable
9            community support.
10                (ii) Proposals that have a positive economic
11            impact on the State's local food sector.
12                (iii) Proposals that increase the availability
13            of Illinois agricultural products to underserved
14            communities in Illinois.
15                (iv) Proposals that positively impact
16            underserved farmers in Illinois.
17                (v) Established farmers and food businesses.
18                (vi) Proposals that facilitate long-term
19            economic development in the local food sector.
20            (C) High Need Determination. The Steering
21        Committee shall select all applications for funding,
22        and from this selection shall determine 20% of
23        applications to qualify as high need projects that are
24        eligible for a lower match requirement of 0 to 25%. To
25        qualify as a high need project, the independent
26        Steering Committee shall consider, but is not limited

 

 

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1        to considering the following criteria:
2                (i) Proposals submitted by underserved
3            farmers.
4                (ii) Proposals that will positively impact
5            underserved communities.
6                (iii) Proposals that are submitted by small
7            and very small farms and food businesses.
 
8    Section 25. Report. The Director must file with the
9Governor and General Assembly, and publish publicly on or
10before March 1 of each year a written report detailing the
11impact of the Local Food Infrastructure Grant for the previous
12calendar year. The report must include a complete list of: (1)
13all applications for grants under the Local Food
14Infrastructure Grant Program during the previous calendar
15year; (2) all persons that were awarded the Local Food
16Infrastructure Grant and the nature and amount of their awards
17in the previous calendar year; and (3) the economic impact of
18the grant from the previous calendar year, which may include
19jobs created, local food sales increases, and communities
20served.
 
21    Section 30. Liability. The Director, Local Food
22Infrastructure Steering Committee, any Department employee, or
23any authorized person executing grants is not personally
24liable on the grants and is not subject to any personal

 

 

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1liability or accountability by reason of the issuance of the
2grants.
 
3    Section 35. Default or termination of grant agreement. If
4the recipient of a grant violates any of the terms of the grant
5agreement, the Department shall send a written notice to the
6recipient that he or she is in default and be given the
7opportunity to correct the violations.
8        (1) If the violation is not corrected within 30 days
9    after receipt of the notification, the Director may take,
10    but is not limited to, one or more of the following
11    actions:
12            (A) Declare due and payable the amount of the
13        grant, or any portion of it, and cease additional
14        grant payments not yet made to the recipient.
15            (B) Take any other action considered appropriate
16        to protect the interest of the project.
17        (2) The Department may determine that a recipient has
18    failed to faithfully perform the terms and conditions of
19    the scope of work of the project when:
20            (A) The Department has notified the recipient in
21        writing of the existence of circumstances such a
22        misapplication of grant funds, failure to match
23        Department funds, evidence of fraud and abuse,
24        repeated failure to meet performance timelines or
25        standards, or failure to resolve negotiated points of

 

 

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1        the agreement.
2            (B) The recipient fails to develop and implement a
3        corrective action plan within 30 calendar days of the
4        Department's notice.
5        (3) A grant may be terminated under, but termination
6    is not limited to, any of the following circumstances:
7            (A) In the absence of State funding for a specific
8        year, all grants that year will be terminated in full.
9        In the event of a partial loss of State funding, the
10        Department may make proportionate cuts to all
11        recipients.
12            (B) If the Department determines that the
13        recipient has failed to comply with the terms and
14        conditions of the grant agreement, the Department may
15        terminate the grant in whole, or in part, at any time
16        before the date of completion.
17            (C) The Department may terminate the grant in
18        whole, or in part, when the Department determines that
19        the continuation of the project would not produce
20        beneficial results commensurate with the further
21        expenditures of funds.
22            (D) The recipient may refuse or elect not to
23        complete the grant agreement and terminate the grant.
24        The recipient shall notify the Department within 10
25        days after the date upon which performance ceases. The
26        Department may declare due and payable the amount of

 

 

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1        the grant and may cease additional grant payments not
2        yet made to the grantee.
3        (4) Any moneys collected from the default or
4    termination of a grant shall be placed into the Fund and
5    expended for the purposes of this Act.
 
6    Section 40. Construction. This Act is necessary for the
7welfare of this State and must be liberally construed to
8effect its purposes. The Department may adopt rules that are
9consistent with and necessary for the administration of this
10Act.
 
11    Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
12Section 5.990 as follows:
 
13    (30 ILCS 105/5.990 new)
14    Sec. 5.990. The Local Food Infrastructure Grant Fund.
 
15    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
16becoming law.".