HB2341ham001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Kevin Schmidt

Filed: 3/7/2023

10300HB2341ham001 LRB103 26830 HLH 58715 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2341

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2341 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Grant Accountability and Transparency Act is amended by changing Section 65 as follows:

(30 ILCS 708/65)

Sec. 65. Audit requirements.

(a) The standards set forth in Subpart F of 2 CFR 200 and any other standards that apply directly to State or federal agencies shall apply to audits of fiscal years beginning on or after December 26, 2014.

(b) Books and records must be available for review or audit by appropriate officials of the pass-through entity, and the agency, the Auditor General, the Inspector General, appropriate officials of the agency, and the federal Government Accountability Office.

(b-5) If a local government is unable to meet the audit requirements of this Section or the audit requirements set forth in rules adopted under this Act due to circumstances beyond the local government's control, including, but not limited to, a natural disaster in which financial records of the local government are destroyed or alleged employee misconduct involving the destruction or withholding of financial records, the local government may submit a request to the Grant Accountability and Transparency Unit to be exempt from the audit requirements with which it is unable to comply. In its request for an exemption, the local government must provide: (i) all relevant information related to the lack of financial records or the inability of the local government to access those records; (ii) relevant financial records and documents that are available to the local government; (iii) a list of the specific audit requirements from which the local government is seeking an exemption; (iv) information about audits that could be performed with the available financial records and documents; (v) a description of the events that led to the local government not having the financial records and documents available; and (vi) any other information that the Grant Accountability and Transparency Unit finds relevant to the local government's specific situation.

Upon receiving the request from the local government, the Grant Accountability and Transparency Unit shall compile the information related to the request and shall submit the request for an exemption to a 5-member panel established under this subsection. The Governor, the President of the Senate, the Senate Minority Leader, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the House Minority Leader shall each appoint one member to the panel. As soon as possible after the initial members are appointed, those members shall draw lots to determine the length of their terms so that 2 members have 2-year terms, 2 members have 3-year terms, and one member has a 4-year term. Thereafter, all members of the panel shall be appointed for terms of 4 years. The appointing authority may, at any time, make an appointment to fill a vacancy for the unexpired term of a member. Each member of the panel must have auditing or accounting experience. Members of the panel shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for reasonable travel expenses associated with their service on the panel. The Governor's Office of Management and Budget shall provide administrative support to the panel. The panel shall meet, virtually or in-person, to review the request for the exemption and shall make a determination, based on the facts and information available in the request, to deny or approve the local government's request to be exempt from the full audit requirements established under this Act to the extent allowed by the panel. If a majority of the members of the panel who are voting on the issue vote to approve the local government's request, then the request shall be approved. Otherwise, the request shall be denied. The panel may require officials from the local government to testify to their request for exemption. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to exempt the local government from the audit requirements of this Act if financial records and documents are readily available and can be used to complete a required audit or a portion of the audit requirements.

(c) The Governor's Office of Management and Budget, with the advice and technical assistance of the Illinois Single Audit Commission, shall adopt rules for audits of grants from a State or federal pass-through entity that are not subject to the Single Audit Act because the amount of the federal award is less than $750,000 or the subrecipient is an exempt entity and that are reasonably consistent with 2 CFR 200.

(d) This Act does not affect the provisions of the Illinois State Auditing Act and does not address the external audit function of the Auditor General.

(Source: P.A. 98-706, eff. 7-16-14.)

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