97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB5346

 

Introduced 2/8/2012, by Rep. Bill Mitchell

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
305 ILCS 5/4-2  from Ch. 23, par. 4-2

    Amends the Temporary Assistance For Needy Families Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. With certain exceptions, provides that a family, receiving aid under the Temporary Assistance For Needy Families Program, shall not receive any increase in the amount of aid on account of the birth of a child if the birth of the child would increase the number of children receiving aid within the family to 4 or more.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning public aid.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by
5changing Section 4-2 as follows:
 
6    (305 ILCS 5/4-2)  (from Ch. 23, par. 4-2)
7    Sec. 4-2. Amount of aid.
8    (a) The amount and nature of financial aid shall be
9determined in accordance with the grant amounts, rules and
10regulations of the Illinois Department. Due regard shall be
11given to the self-sufficiency requirements of the family and to
12the income, money contributions and other support and resources
13available, from whatever source. However, the amount and nature
14of any financial aid is not affected by the payment of any
15grant under the "Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property
16Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act" or any
17distributions or items of income described under subparagraph
18(X) of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Section 203 of the
19Illinois Income Tax Act. The aid shall be sufficient, when
20added to all other income, money contributions and support to
21provide the family with a grant in the amount established by
22Department regulation.
23    Subject to appropriation, beginning on July 1, 2008, the

 

 

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1Department of Human Services shall increase TANF grant amounts
2in effect on June 30, 2008 by 15%. The Department is authorized
3to administer this increase but may not otherwise adopt any
4rule to implement this increase.
5    (b) The Illinois Department may conduct special projects,
6which may be known as Grant Diversion Projects, under which
7recipients of financial aid under this Article are placed in
8jobs and their grants are diverted to the employer who in turn
9makes payments to the recipients in the form of salary or other
10employment benefits. The Illinois Department shall by rule
11specify the terms and conditions of such Grant Diversion
12Projects. Such projects shall take into consideration and be
13coordinated with the programs administered under the Illinois
14Emergency Employment Development Act.
15    (c) The amount and nature of the financial aid for a child
16requiring care outside his own home shall be determined in
17accordance with the rules and regulations of the Illinois
18Department, with due regard to the needs and requirements of
19the child in the foster home or institution in which he has
20been placed.
21    (d) If the Department establishes grants for family units
22consisting exclusively of a pregnant woman with no dependent
23child or including her husband if living with her, the grant
24amount for such a unit shall be equal to the grant amount for
25an assistance unit consisting of one adult, or 2 persons if the
26husband is included. Other than as herein described, an unborn

 

 

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1child shall not be counted in determining the size of an
2assistance unit or for calculating grants.
3    Payments for basic maintenance requirements of a child or
4children and the relative with whom the child or children are
5living shall be prescribed, by rule, by the Illinois
6Department.
7    Grants under this Article shall not be supplemented by
8General Assistance provided under Article VI.
9    (e) Grants shall be paid to the parent or other person with
10whom the child or children are living, except for such amount
11as is paid in behalf of the child or his parent or other
12relative to other persons or agencies pursuant to this Code or
13the rules and regulations of the Illinois Department.
14    (f) Subject to subsection (f-5), an assistance unit,
15receiving financial aid under this Article or temporarily
16ineligible to receive aid under this Article under a penalty
17imposed by the Illinois Department for failure to comply with
18the eligibility requirements or that voluntarily requests
19termination of financial assistance under this Article and
20becomes subsequently eligible for assistance within 9 months,
21shall not receive any increase in the amount of aid solely on
22account of the birth of a child; except that an increase is not
23prohibited when the birth is (i) of a child of a pregnant woman
24who became eligible for aid under this Article during the
25pregnancy, or (ii) of a child born within 10 months after the
26date of implementation of this subsection, or (iii) of a child

 

 

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1conceived after a family became ineligible for assistance due
2to income or marriage and at least 3 months of ineligibility
3expired before any reapplication for assistance. This
4subsection does not, however, prevent a unit from receiving a
5general increase in the amount of aid that is provided to all
6recipients of aid under this Article.
7    The Illinois Department is authorized to transfer funds,
8and shall use any budgetary savings attributable to not
9increasing the grants due to the births of additional children,
10to supplement existing funding for employment and training
11services for recipients of aid under this Article IV. The
12Illinois Department shall target, to the extent the
13supplemental funding allows, employment and training services
14to the families who do not receive a grant increase after the
15birth of a child. In addition, the Illinois Department shall
16provide, to the extent the supplemental funding allows, such
17families with up to 24 months of transitional child care
18pursuant to Illinois Department rules. All remaining
19supplemental funds shall be used for employment and training
20services or transitional child care support.
21    In making the transfers authorized by this subsection, the
22Illinois Department shall first determine, pursuant to
23regulations adopted by the Illinois Department for this
24purpose, the amount of savings attributable to not increasing
25the grants due to the births of additional children. Transfers
26may be made from General Revenue Fund appropriations for

 

 

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1distributive purposes authorized by Article IV of this Code
2only to General Revenue Fund appropriations for employability
3development services including operating and administrative
4costs and related distributive purposes under Article IXA of
5this Code. The Director, with the approval of the Governor,
6shall certify the amount and affected line item appropriations
7to the State Comptroller.
8    Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit
9the Illinois Department from using funds under this Article IV
10to provide assistance in the form of vouchers that may be used
11to pay for goods and services deemed by the Illinois
12Department, by rule, as suitable for the care of the child such
13as diapers, clothing, school supplies, and cribs.
14    (f-5) Subsection (f) shall not apply to affect the monthly
15assistance amount of any family as a result of the birth of a
16child on or after January 1, 2004. As resources permit after
17January 1, 2004, the Department may cease applying subsection
18(f) to limit assistance to families receiving assistance under
19this Article on January 1, 2004, with respect to children born
20prior to that date. In any event, subsection (f) shall be
21completely inoperative on and after July 1, 2007.
22    (g) (Blank).
23    (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, the
24Illinois Department is authorized to reduce payment levels used
25to determine cash grants under this Article after December 31
26of any fiscal year if the Illinois Department determines that

 

 

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1the caseload upon which the appropriations for the current
2fiscal year are based have increased by more than 5% and the
3appropriation is not sufficient to ensure that cash benefits
4under this Article do not exceed the amounts appropriated for
5those cash benefits. Reductions in payment levels may be
6accomplished by emergency rule under Section 5-45 of the
7Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, except that the
8limitation on the number of emergency rules that may be adopted
9in a 24-month period shall not apply and the provisions of
10Sections 5-115 and 5-125 of the Illinois Administrative
11Procedure Act shall not apply. Increases in payment levels
12shall be accomplished only in accordance with Section 5-40 of
13the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. Before any rule to
14increase payment levels promulgated under this Section shall
15become effective, a joint resolution approving the rule must be
16adopted by a roll call vote by a majority of the members
17elected to each chamber of the General Assembly.
18    (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, a
19family, receiving financial aid under this Article, shall not
20receive any increase in the amount of aid on account of the
21birth of a child if the birth of the child would increase the
22number of children receiving aid within the family to 4 or
23more. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the Department
24from granting financial aid under this Article to a family
25containing 4 or more children if such children were born prior
26to the family's initial application and receipt of aid under

 

 

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1this Article or if, in the case of an unborn child, the
2pregnancy has been determined by medical diagnosis and the
3mother of the unborn child became eligible for aid under this
4Article during the pregnancy.
5(Source: P.A. 95-744, eff. 7-18-08; 95-1055, eff. 4-10-09;
696-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)