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1 | | AN ACT concerning agriculture. |
2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
3 | | represented in the General Assembly: |
4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Farmer |
5 | | Restoration Program Act. |
6 | | Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act: |
7 | | "Agricultural conservation easement" means a nonpossessory |
8 | | interest of a holder in real property imposing limitations on |
9 | | the use of the property to ensure the land remains available |
10 | | for agricultural purposes. An agricultural conservation |
11 | | easement does not prevent a property owner from constructing, |
12 | | improving, or maintaining a primary residence or housing for |
13 | | farmworkers on the land unless expressly specified in the |
14 | | easement deed. |
15 | | "Costs of acquisition" means out-of-pocket direct costs of |
16 | | activities incurred in connection with the processing, |
17 | | recording, and documentation of an agricultural conservation |
18 | | easement, such as appraisals, land surveys, title |
19 | | verification, and closing. "Costs of acquisition" do not |
20 | | include any costs incurred by a qualified easement holder for |
21 | | staffing, overhead, or operations. |
22 | | "Director" means the Director of Agriculture. |
23 | | "Department" means the Department of Agriculture. |
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1 | | "Eligible individual" means a resident of this State who: |
2 | | (1) was born in this State; |
3 | | (2) is at least 21 years of age; and |
4 | | (3) is a member of a socially disadvantaged group. |
5 | | "Limited resource farmer" means a farmer with direct or |
6 | | indirect gross farm sales not more than the current indexed |
7 | | value in each of the previous 2 years, and who has a total |
8 | | household income at or below the national poverty level for a |
9 | | family of 4, or less than 50% of county median household income |
10 | | in each of the previous 2 years. |
11 | | "New and beginning farmer" means a farmer who has operated |
12 | | a farm or ranch for less than 10 years. |
13 | | "Qualified entity" means an organization: |
14 | | (1) that is a nonprofit corporation under Section |
15 | | 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or an |
16 | | organization which has a fiscal sponsor who is exempt from |
17 | | taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue |
18 | | Code of 1986; and |
19 | | (2) that has a minimum of 3 years of experience |
20 | | providing agricultural services, business assistance, |
21 | | legal assistance, or advocacy services to socially |
22 | | disadvantaged farmers. |
23 | | "Qualified easement holder" means a State agency, federal |
24 | | agency, county, municipality, or nonprofit organization under |
25 | | Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with |
26 | | experience acquiring, whether through purchase, donation, or |
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1 | | transfer, an agricultural or other conservation easement. |
2 | | "Qualified farmland" means land that is in agricultural |
3 | | production or available for agricultural production, including |
4 | | row crops, livestock, nurseries, orchards, or pastures, and |
5 | | incidental land that is associated with an active agricultural |
6 | | operation. |
7 | | "Socially disadvantaged farmer" means a farmer who is a |
8 | | member of a socially disadvantaged group. |
9 | | "Socially disadvantaged group" means a group whose members |
10 | | have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice |
11 | | because of their identity as members of a group without regard |
12 | | to their individual qualities. These groups include all of the |
13 | | following: |
14 | | (1) American Indian or Alaska Native (a person having |
15 | | origins in any of the original peoples of North and South |
16 | | America, including Central America, and who maintains |
17 | | tribal affiliation or community attachment). |
18 | | (2) Asian (a person having origins in any of the |
19 | | original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the |
20 | | Indian subcontinent, including, but not limited to, |
21 | | Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, |
22 | | the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam). |
23 | | (3) Black or African American (a person having origins |
24 | | in any of the black racial groups of Africa). |
25 | | (4) Hispanic or Latino (a person of Cuban, Mexican, |
26 | | Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish |
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1 | | culture or origin, regardless of race). |
2 | | (5) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (a |
3 | | person having origins in any of the original peoples of |
4 | | Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands). |
5 | | "Training" means a program of training approved by the |
6 | | Director that: |
7 | | (1) provides an eligible individual with the basic |
8 | | skills to operate a farm profitably with a primary focus |
9 | | on regenerating the soil, ecosystem, and local community; |
10 | | (2) provides a course of study that is equivalent to |
11 | | no less than 30 academic credit hours of study, which may |
12 | | be provided as direct in-field instruction; |
13 | | (3) focuses on low capital-intensive techniques and |
14 | | technologies; and |
15 | | (4) studies local and regional food systems and the |
16 | | market opportunities those systems present. |
17 | | Section 10. Farmer Restoration Program Fund. |
18 | | (a) The Farmer Restoration Program Fund is created as a |
19 | | special fund in the State treasury. Except as provided in |
20 | | subsection (b), the moneys in the Fund, upon appropriation by |
21 | | the General Assembly, shall be used for the purposes of the |
22 | | program, which include grants for the purchase of agricultural |
23 | | conservation easements, technical assistance grants, technical |
24 | | assistance provided by the Department, and administrative |
25 | | costs incurred by the Department in administering the program. |
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1 | | (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), moneys may be |
2 | | deposited into the Fund from federal grants and gifts and |
3 | | donations that are designated and required by the donor to be |
4 | | used exclusively for the purposes of the program. |
5 | | (c) Not more than 10% of available funds under this Act may |
6 | | be used for technical assistance purposes and administration. |
7 | | Not less than 90% of funds available for grants under this Act |
8 | | shall be expended for the acquisition of agricultural |
9 | | conservation easements. Moneys in the Fund shall also be |
10 | | available for the following purposes: |
11 | | (1) To provide technical assistance grants to |
12 | | qualified entities in support of socially disadvantaged |
13 | | farmers who are seeking access to farmland. As used in |
14 | | this Section, "technical assistance" includes, but is not |
15 | | limited to, organizing, advising, counseling, educating, |
16 | | planning, drafting, translating, interpreting, and |
17 | | consulting with socially disadvantaged farmers for the |
18 | | purpose of preparing them for favorable financing for land |
19 | | acquisition or negotiating leasing arrangements. |
20 | | (2) To provide grants for the purchase of agricultural |
21 | | conservation easements to qualified easement holders. |
22 | | Moneys from the Fund shall be available in each fiscal |
23 | | year to any qualified easement holder having made an |
24 | | application that has been approved by the Department. |
25 | | Award grants may include: |
26 | | (A) payment to qualified easement holders for the |
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1 | | purchase of agricultural conservation easements on |
2 | | qualified farmland; or |
3 | | (B) payment of the costs of acquisition related to |
4 | | the purchase of agricultural conservation easements |
5 | | approved by the program. |
6 | | Section 15. Department responsibilities. Subject to |
7 | | appropriation, the Department shall: |
8 | | (1) adopt a scoring process to be used in evaluating |
9 | | applications for agricultural conservation easement grants |
10 | | that prioritizes applications benefiting: |
11 | | (A) socially disadvantaged farmers; |
12 | | (B) limited resource farmers; |
13 | | (C) eligible individuals with a history of land |
14 | | dispossession; and |
15 | | (D) new and beginning farmers; |
16 | | (2) include, as ranking criteria in the scoring |
17 | | process, projects that: |
18 | | (A) leverage local, federal, or private funding, |
19 | | including a match requirement; |
20 | | (B) support transition of farmland to next |
21 | | generation owner-operators; and |
22 | | (C) support conservation priorities, including |
23 | | protection of habitat, water quality, watershed |
24 | | conservation, climate resilience, and local |
25 | | conservation plans; and |
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1 | | (3) include, as eligibility criteria, projects that: |
2 | | (A) protect farmland that is under threat of |
3 | | conversion; and |
4 | | (B) demonstrate that the parcel proposed for |
5 | | conservation is expected to continue to be used for |
6 | | agricultural production if conserved. |
7 | | Section 20. Farm Conservation Corps. |
8 | | (a) Subject to appropriation and in partnership with the |
9 | | University of Illinois Extension, the Department shall |
10 | | establish the Farm Conservation Corps to provide residents |
11 | | between the ages of 18 and 29 from socially disadvantaged |
12 | | groups the academic, vocational, and social skills necessary |
13 | | to pursue long-term and productive careers in agriculture. |
14 | | (b) The members of the Farm Conservation Corps shall serve |
15 | | as on-farm apprentices, at no cost, to farms that have been |
16 | | protected with an agricultural conservation easement under |
17 | | this Act or with an annual gross farm income of less than |
18 | | $250,000 operated by: |
19 | | (1) socially disadvantaged farmers; or |
20 | | (2) beginning farmers. |
21 | | Section 25. Data collection and reporting. |
22 | | (a) Subject to appropriation, the Director shall make |
23 | | publicly available annual reports describing data on the |
24 | | recipients of the Department programs, including assistance |
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1 | | from farm subsidy programs, and the amounts of the assistance, |
2 | | delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the |
3 | | recipients. |
4 | | (b) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall conduct |
5 | | research on the status of socially disadvantaged farmers, |
6 | | including, but not limited to: |
7 | | (1) the share of land ownership of those socially |
8 | | disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers, |
9 | | delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the |
10 | | landowners; |
11 | | (2) the share of the amount of assistance those |
12 | | socially disadvantaged farmers receive from the Department |
13 | | as compared to all farmers, delineated by the race, |
14 | | ethnicity, and gender of the recipients; |
15 | | (3) the share, status, and receipt of loans by |
16 | | socially disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers, |
17 | | delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the |
18 | | recipients; and |
19 | | (4) an assessment of the reasons for disparities in |
20 | | land ownership, assistance from the Department, and loans |
21 | | for socially disadvantaged farmers compared to all |
22 | | farmers. |
23 | | (c) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall conduct |
24 | | research on the demographics and status of farmworkers, |
25 | | including, but not limited to: |
26 | | (1) the races, ethnicities, ages, localities, wages |
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1 | | and benefits, and working conditions of farmworkers; |
2 | | (2) the economic contributions of farmworkers to the |
3 | | State economy; and |
4 | | (3) the satisfaction of farmworkers with their |
5 | | employment. |
6 | | (d) The Department shall: |
7 | | (1) investigate historical changes in reporting |
8 | | methodology and misreporting of socially disadvantaged |
9 | | farmers in the census of agriculture; |
10 | | (2) develop procedures to ensure that census of |
11 | | agriculture surveys accurately capture the status of |
12 | | socially disadvantaged farmers engaged in urban |
13 | | agriculture; and |
14 | | (3) conduct, concurrently with each census of |
15 | | agriculture, a review to assess: |
16 | | (A) the outreach and methodologies used in |
17 | | conducting the census of agriculture; and |
18 | | (B) how such outreach and methodologies have |
19 | | affected the counting of socially disadvantaged |
20 | | farmers. |
21 | | (e) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall |
22 | | annually conduct and annually make publicly available reports |
23 | | describing in-depth research and analysis of corporate |
24 | | (domestic and foreign) land investment and ownership in this |
25 | | State with specific attention given to the impact of corporate |
26 | | land investment and ownership on: |
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1 | | (1) land consolidation trends in this State and in the |
2 | | United States; |
3 | | (2) challenges and opportunities for new and beginning |
4 | | farmers accessing land for farming; |
5 | | (3) challenges and opportunities for members of |
6 | | socially disadvantaged groups accessing land for farming; |
7 | | and |
8 | | (4) crop selection and production trends. |
9 | | Section 35. Rulemaking. The Department shall adopt rules |
10 | | to carry out the provisions of this Act, including the |
11 | | adoption of rules that establish a process for submitting and |
12 | | processing of applications for grants no later than December |
13 | | 31, 2023. Rules shall align with existing federal and local |
14 | | programs to maximize potential for matching funds. |
15 | | Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding |
16 | | Section 5.990 as follows: |
17 | | (30 ILCS 105/5.990 new) |
18 | | Sec. 5.990. The Farmer Restoration Program Fund. |
19 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
20 | | becoming law. |