HB4397 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB099 15828 NHT 40137 b

99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
HB4397

Introduced , by Rep. Jerry F. Costello, II

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

30 ILCS 705/5	from Ch. 127, par. 2305
105 ILCS 230/5-200

Amends the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act and the School Construction Law. Provides that, notwithstanding the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act's 2-year time limitation on grant fund expenditures, for school energy efficiency grants awarded in 2014, grant funds may be made available for expenditure by a grantee for a period of 4 years from the date the funds were distributed by the State. Provides that any school energy efficiency grant funds not expended or legally obligated by the end of the grant agreement must be returned to the grantor agency within 45 days if the funds are not already on deposit with the grantor agency or the State Treasurer, and such returned funds must be deposited into the fund from which the original grant disbursement to the grantee was made. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act is amended by changing Section 5 as follows:

(30 ILCS 705/5) (from Ch. 127, par. 2305)

Sec. 5. Time Limit on Expenditure of Grant Funds. Subject to the restriction of Section 35 of the State Finance Act "An Act in relation to State finance", approved June 10, 1919, as amended, no grant funds may be made available for expenditure by a grantee for a period longer than 2 years, except where such grant funds are disbursed in reimbursement of costs previously incurred by the grantee and except as otherwise provided in subsection (d) of Section 5-200 of the School Construction Law. Any grant funds not expended or legally obligated by the end of the grant agreement, or during the time limitation to grant fund expenditures set forth in this Section, must be returned to the grantor agency within 45 days, if the funds are not already on deposit with the grantor agency or the State Treasurer. Such returned funds shall be deposited into the fund from which the original grant disbursement to the grantee was made.

(Source: P.A. 83-640.)

Section 10. The School Construction Law is amended by changing Section 5-200 as follows:

(105 ILCS 230/5-200)

Sec. 5-200. School energy efficiency grants.

(a) The State Board of Education is authorized to make grants to school districts and special education cooperatives, without regard to enrollment, for school energy efficiency projects. These grants shall be paid out of moneys appropriated for that purpose from the School Infrastructure Fund. No grant under this Section for one fiscal year shall exceed $250,000, but a school district or special education cooperative may receive grants for more than one project during one fiscal year. A school district or special education cooperative must provide local matching funds in an amount equal to the amount of the grant under this Section. A school district or special education cooperative has no entitlement to a grant under this Section.

(b) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to implement this Section. These rules need not be the same as the rules for school construction project grants or school maintenance project grants. The rules may specify:

(1) the manner of applying for grants;

(2) project eligibility requirements;

(3) restrictions on the use of grant moneys;

(4) the manner in which school districts and special education cooperatives must account for the use of grant moneys; and

(5) any other provision that the State Board determines to be necessary or useful for the administration of this Section.

(c) In each school year in which school energy efficiency project grants are awarded, 20% of the total amount awarded shall be awarded to a school district in a city with a population of more than 500,000, provided that the school district complies with the requirements of this Section and the rules adopted under this Section.

(d) Notwithstanding Section 5 of the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act, for school energy efficiency grants awarded in 2014, grant funds may be made available for expenditure by a grantee for a period of 4 years from the date the funds were distributed by the State. Any grant funds not expended or legally obligated by the end of the grant agreement must be returned to the grantor agency within 45 days if the funds are not already on deposit with the grantor agency or the State Treasurer. Such returned funds must be deposited into the fund from which the original grant disbursement to the grantee was made.

(Source: P.A. 96-37, eff. 7-13-09; 96-1423, eff. 8-3-10; 97-205, eff. 7-28-11.)

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