HB2184ham001 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Constance A. Howard

Filed: 4/17/2007

09500HB2184ham001 LRB095 01259 NHT 32609 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2184

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2184 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the

Higher Education Equalization Act.

Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to address the disparity in resources afforded to institutions of higher learning in this State whose student populations are predominately minority, by race, and larger institutions of higher learning.

Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Eligible institution" means an institution of higher learning whose student population is more than 50% minority, by race.

"Institution of higher learning" means an institution of higher learning as defined in the Higher Education Student Assistance Act.

Section 15. Student fee. All institutions of higher learning that receive any funds from this State or have students who benefit from State-sponsored scholarships or grants or who have higher education loans backed in any part by the State must impose on each student of the institution of higher learning a fee of $10 for every 2 semesters or 3 quarters of student attendance. The amount of the fee must not be increased without the approval of the General Assembly by the same joint resolution and, in any case, must not exceed $20. A student must not be charged under this Section in an amount that exceeds $100 over the course of his or her undergraduate academic career or $200 over the course of his or her undergraduate and post-graduate academic career combined.

Section 20. Higher Education Equalization Fund. All fees imposed under Section 15 of this Act must be deposited into the Higher Education Equalization Fund. The Higher Education Equalization Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund shall be paid, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly and approval by the Board of Higher Education, as a grant each fiscal year to the committee created under Section 25 of this Act for use by eligible institutions for the purposes set forth in Section 30 of this Act.

Section 25. Committee to administer grant funds.

(a) There is created a committee, comprised of the president of each eligible institution or his or her designee and a liaison from the Board of Higher Education, to administer the grant funds received from the Higher Education Equalization Fund. The committee shall determine its own guidelines for operation. The committee must distribute grant funds to eligible institutions based on the enrollment figures of those eligible institutions, except that the committee may retain up to 10% of the grant amount each fiscal year to be used for administration of the grant funds.

(b) For planning purposes, the committee may roll over funds from a grant in one fiscal year for use in multiple fiscal years, allowing the committee to plan for larger awards to eligible institutions in later years.

Section 30. Use of grant funds. Grant funds received from the Higher Education Equalization Fund must be used by eligible institutions for the purposes of purchasing equipment and other program materials comparable to other institutions of higher learning; however, the first 2 fiscal years of grant funds received from the Higher Education Equalization Fund must be used by eligible institutions to purchase and upgrade equipment for their communication departments and their computer departments. Grant funds may also be used by eligible institutions to pay for capital expansions. Eligible institutions may save grant funds received in a fiscal year over multiple years to pay for larger projects.

Section 35. Exclusion from annual budget. The amount distributed to eligible institutions under Section 25 of this Act is additional to an eligible institution's annual operating budget and shall increase the eligible institution's ability to provide equal programs and services to their students. Grant funds must not be a factor in and must not be considered as any part of an eligible institution's annual operating budget.

Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Section 5.675 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.675 new)

Sec. 5.675. The Higher Education Equalization Fund.

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