Full Text of SB0853 94th General Assembly
SB0853eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Illinois Dollars for Scholars Program Act .
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| Section 5. Findings and purpose. The General Assembly | 7 |
| finds
that making higher education opportunities available to | 8 |
| Illinois residents
is of great importance to the social and | 9 |
| economic well-being of this State.
The General Assembly further | 10 |
| finds that some potential students,
because of family and | 11 |
| social circumstances, economic distress of their
community, | 12 |
| and other reasons, do not pursue a higher education. It is
in | 13 |
| the interest of the State to support the development of | 14 |
| scholarship
programs that help these citizens attend a college, | 15 |
| university, or
vocational-technical institute in the State. | 16 |
| The purpose of this Act is to
create an Illinois Dollars for | 17 |
| Scholars Program as a pilot project,
with the intent of | 18 |
| encouraging local communities to develop scholarship
programs | 19 |
| that assist their residents in obtaining a higher education.
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| Section 10. Definitions. In this Act, unless the context | 21 |
| clearly
requires otherwise:
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| "Chapter" means an Illinois Dollars for Scholars chapter | 23 |
| found to be eligible for State funds under Section 25 of this | 24 |
| Act. | 25 |
| "Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance | 26 |
| Commission.
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| "Institution of higher education" means a degree-granting
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| college or university or public vocation-technical institute, | 29 |
| in
this State, that is a member institution of an accrediting | 30 |
| association
recognized by rule of the Commission for the | 31 |
| purposes of this Act.
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| "Program" means the Illinois Dollars for Scholars
Program.
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| Section 15. Creation of Program.
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| (a) The Illinois Dollars for Scholars Program is hereby
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| established. Subject to the availability of funds, the | 5 |
| Commission shall
award a chapter $2,000 upon demonstration to | 6 |
| the Commission that
the chapter has raised $2,000 for | 7 |
| scholarships or the creation of an
endowment for scholarships.
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| (b) Awards made under this Section shall be used for | 9 |
| scholarships
to community residents who qualify as resident | 10 |
| students, as determined
by the Commission, to attend | 11 |
| institutions of higher education.
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| Section 20. Goals.
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| (a) The goal of the Program is the development throughout | 14 |
| the
State of community organizations that raise scholarship | 15 |
| funds for local
residents.
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| (b) In making awards under Section 15 of this Act, the | 17 |
| Commission
shall take into consideration, but not be limited | 18 |
| to, the following
additional goals:
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| (1) increasing higher education participation for | 20 |
| residents of
economically distressed areas and other areas | 21 |
| of the State with low
participation rates and enhancing | 22 |
| community support for
residents of these areas who desire a | 23 |
| higher education;
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| (2) creating scholarship opportunities for students | 25 |
| who do
not meet the criteria for traditional scholarships; | 26 |
| and
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| (3) creating scholarship opportunities for students | 28 |
| who plan
to focus their studies in the humanities and arts.
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| Section 25. Eligibility. To qualify as an Illinois | 30 |
| Scholars for Dollars chapter eligible for State money under | 31 |
| this Act, an organization must
meet the following criteria:
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| (1) have a tax-exempt status under Section 501(c) of | 33 |
| the
Internal Revenue Code, be a publicly supported |
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| organization under
Section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of the | 2 |
| Internal Revenue Code, and not be a
private foundation | 3 |
| under Section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue
Code;
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| (2) be organized after the effective date of this Act | 5 |
| for the
primary purpose of raising and awarding | 6 |
| scholarships to
community residents who qualify as | 7 |
| resident students, as
determined by the Commission, to | 8 |
| attend institutions of higher
education;
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| (3) solicit broad-based community support in its | 10 |
| fundraising
activities and be representative of the | 11 |
| community in its
organization;
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| (4) not be duplicative of other organizations;
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| (5) be organized and operated by volunteers;
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| (6) grant scholarships without regard to age, sex, | 15 |
| marital
status, race, creed, color, religion, national | 16 |
| origin, or the presence
of any mental, sensory, or physical | 17 |
| handicap; and
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| (7) meet other criteria established by the Commission | 19 |
| to
meet the goals of the Program specified in Section 20 of | 20 |
| this Act.
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| Section 30. Chapter limits. The total number of chapters | 22 |
| operating under this Act at any one time shall not exceed 28. | 23 |
| Not more than 7 chapters shall operate at any one time in any | 24 |
| city having a population exceeding 500,000; not more than 7 | 25 |
| chapters shall operate at any one time in the counties of | 26 |
| DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and that portion of Cook | 27 |
| County that is located outside a city having a population | 28 |
| exceeding 500,000; and not more than 14 chapters shall operate | 29 |
| at any one time in the remainder of the State. | 30 |
| For the purposes of implementing this Section, the | 31 |
| Commission shall assign a number to each chapter submission | 32 |
| that it receives under this Act for its review and | 33 |
| certification, based on the chronological order in which the | 34 |
| submission is received. The Commission shall promptly notify | 35 |
| the public when the maximum number of chapters authorized to |
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| operate has been reached. | 2 |
| Section 35. Administration; rules; assistance. The | 3 |
| Commission
shall administer the Program. The Commission shall | 4 |
| adopt rules as
appropriate to implement the Program and shall | 5 |
| solicit assistance from
public and private sources to publicize | 6 |
| the Program. The Commission
may create an advisory committee to | 7 |
| assist in making determinations
under this Act.
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| Section 40. Illinois Dollars for Scholars Fund. The
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| Illinois Dollars for Scholars Fund is created as a special fund | 10 |
| in
the State treasury. All money appropriated for the Program | 11 |
| and all
money otherwise received for this purpose shall be | 12 |
| deposited in this
Fund. All money in this Fund shall be used, | 13 |
| subject to appropriation, by
the Commission for awards and | 14 |
| administration of the Program.
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| Section 45. Gifts; grants; endowments. The Commission may
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| solicit and receive such gifts, grants, and endowments from | 17 |
| public or
private sources as may be made from time to time, in | 18 |
| trust or otherwise,
for the use and benefit of the purposes of | 19 |
| the Program and may expend
the same or any income therefrom | 20 |
| according to the terms of the gifts,
grants, or endowments.
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| Section 50. Report. By December 1, 2006, the Commission | 22 |
| shall
submit a report to the Governor, the House of | 23 |
| Representatives Higher
Education
Committee, and the Senate | 24 |
| Education Committee. The report shall
examine the results and | 25 |
| effectiveness of the Program and shall recommend
whether the | 26 |
| Program should be continued and any modifications to the
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| Program.
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| Section 905. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | 29 |
| Section
5.640 as follows:
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| (30 ILCS 105/5.640 new)
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| Sec. 5.640. The Illinois Dollars for Scholars Fund.
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| Section 990. Repealer. This Act is repealed on June 30, | 3 |
| 2008.
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| Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 5 |
| becoming law. |
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