Full Text of SB1998 98th General Assembly
SB1998sam001 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Wm. Sam McCann Filed: 3/19/2014
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1998
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1998 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 5. The Illinois Finance Authority Act is amended | 5 | | by adding Section 825-120 as follows: | 6 | | (20 ILCS 3501/825-120 new) | 7 | | Sec. 825-120. Propane Purchase Assistance Revolving Loan | 8 | | Program; special fund. | 9 | | (a) In this Section, "propane" means a hydrocarbon whose | 10 | | chemical composition is predominantly
C 3 H 8 , whether recovered | 11 | | from natural gas or crude oil, and includes liquefied
petroleum | 12 | | gases and mixtures thereof. | 13 | | (b) The Illinois Finance Authority shall administer a | 14 | | propane purchase assistance revolving loan program ("the | 15 | | program"). The program shall provide short-term low-interest | 16 | | or zero-interest loans to propane distributors and to small |
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| 1 | | businesses and farmers that use propane. | 2 | | (c) Funds for the loans shall be paid out of the Propane | 3 | | Purchase Assistance Revolving Loan Fund ("the Fund"), a special | 4 | | fund created in the State treasury. The moneys in the Fund | 5 | | shall consist of any moneys transferred or appropriated into | 6 | | the Fund as well as all repayments of loans made under the | 7 | | program. Moneys in the Fund may be used only for loans to | 8 | | propane distributors, small businesses, and farmers for the | 9 | | purchase of propane and for no other purpose. All interest | 10 | | earned on moneys in the Fund must be deposited into the Fund. | 11 | | (d) No later than 5 business days after the effective date | 12 | | of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, the State | 13 | | Comptroller shall direct and the Treasurer shall transfer | 14 | | $20,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund into the Propane | 15 | | Purchase Assistance Revolving Loan Fund. | 16 | | (e) When loan repayments are made that are no longer needed | 17 | | for the purposes of the program, the State Comptroller shall | 18 | | direct and the Treasurer shall transfer those moneys from the | 19 | | Propane Purchase Assistance Revolving Loan Fund into the | 20 | | General Revenue Fund. | 21 | | (f) The Authority, with the assistance of the Department of | 22 | | Commerce and Economic Opportunity, shall adopt rules, | 23 | | including emergency rules adopted in accordance with Section | 24 | | 5-45 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, necessary to | 25 | | implement this Section. |
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| 1 | | Section 10. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | 2 | | Sections 5.855 and 5.856 as follows: | 3 | | (30 ILCS 105/5.855 new) | 4 | | Sec. 5.855. The Propane Purchase Assistance Revolving Loan | 5 | | Fund. | 6 | | (30 ILCS 105/5.856 new) | 7 | | Sec. 5.856. The Temporary Propane Purchase Assistance | 8 | | Fund. | 9 | | Section 15. The Energy Assistance Act is amended by | 10 | | changing Section 6 and by adding Section 7.5 as follows:
| 11 | | (305 ILCS 20/6) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1406)
| 12 | | Sec. 6. Eligibility, Conditions of Participation, and | 13 | | Energy Assistance.
| 14 | | (a) Any person who is a resident of the State of Illinois | 15 | | and whose
household income is not greater than an amount | 16 | | determined annually by the
Department, in consultation with the | 17 | | Policy Advisory Council, may
apply for assistance pursuant to | 18 | | this Act in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the | 19 | | Department. In setting the annual eligibility level, the
| 20 | | Department shall consider the amount of available funding and | 21 | | may not set a
limit higher than 150% of the federal nonfarm | 22 | | poverty level as established by
the federal Office of |
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| 1 | | Management and Budget; except as provided in Section 7.5, and | 2 | | except that for the period ending June 30, 2013, the Department | 3 | | may not establish limits higher than 200% of that poverty level | 4 | | or the maximum level provided for by federal guidelines.
| 5 | | (b) Applicants who qualify for assistance pursuant to | 6 | | subsection (a) of
this Section shall, subject to appropriation | 7 | | from the General Assembly and
subject to availability of funds | 8 | | to the Department, receive energy
assistance as provided by | 9 | | this Act. The Department, upon receipt
of monies authorized | 10 | | pursuant to this Act for energy assistance, shall commit
funds | 11 | | for each qualified applicant in an amount determined by the
| 12 | | Department. In determining the amounts of assistance to be | 13 | | provided to or
on behalf of a qualified applicant, the | 14 | | Department shall ensure that the
highest amounts of assistance | 15 | | go to households with the greatest energy
costs in relation to | 16 | | household income. The Department shall include
factors such as | 17 | | energy costs, household size, household income, and region
of | 18 | | the State when determining individual household benefits. In | 19 | | setting
assistance levels, the Department shall attempt to | 20 | | provide assistance to
approximately the same number of | 21 | | households who participated in the 1991
Residential Energy | 22 | | Assistance Partnership Program. Such assistance levels
shall | 23 | | be adjusted annually on the basis of funding
availability and | 24 | | energy costs. In promulgating rules for the
administration of | 25 | | this
Section the Department shall assure that a minimum of 1/3 | 26 | | of funds
available for benefits to eligible households with the |
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| 1 | | lowest incomes and that elderly and
disabled households are | 2 | | offered a priority application
period.
| 3 | | (c) If the applicant is not a customer of record of an | 4 | | energy provider for
energy services or an applicant for such | 5 | | service, such applicant shall
receive a direct energy | 6 | | assistance payment in an amount established by the
Department | 7 | | for all such applicants under this Act; provided, however, that
| 8 | | such an applicant must have rental expenses for housing greater | 9 | | than 30% of
household income.
| 10 | | (c-1) This subsection shall apply only in cases where: (1) | 11 | | the applicant is not a customer of record of an energy provider | 12 | | because energy services are provided by the owner of the unit | 13 | | as a portion of the rent; (2) the applicant resides in housing | 14 | | subsidized or developed with funds provided under the Rental | 15 | | Housing Support Program Act or under a similar locally funded | 16 | | rent subsidy program, or is the voucher holder who resides in a | 17 | | rental unit within the State of Illinois and whose monthly rent | 18 | | is subsidized by the tenant-based Housing Choice Voucher | 19 | | Program under Section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937; and | 20 | | (3) the rental expenses for housing are no more than 30% of | 21 | | household income. In such cases, the household may apply for an | 22 | | energy assistance payment under this Act and the owner of the | 23 | | housing unit shall cooperate with the applicant by providing | 24 | | documentation of the energy costs for that unit. Any | 25 | | compensation paid to the energy provider who supplied energy | 26 | | services to the household shall be paid on behalf of the owner |
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| 1 | | of the housing unit providing energy services to the household. | 2 | | The Department shall report annually to the General Assembly on | 3 | | the number of households receiving energy assistance under this | 4 | | subsection and the cost of such assistance. The provisions of | 5 | | this subsection (c-1), other than this sentence, are | 6 | | inoperative after August 31, 2012. | 7 | | (d) If the applicant is a customer of an energy provider, | 8 | | such
applicant shall receive energy assistance in an amount | 9 | | established by the
Department for all such applicants under | 10 | | this Act, such amount to be paid
by the Department to the | 11 | | energy provider supplying winter energy service to
such | 12 | | applicant. Such applicant shall:
| 13 | | (i) make all reasonable efforts to apply to any other | 14 | | appropriate
source of public energy assistance; and
| 15 | | (ii) sign a waiver permitting the Department to receive | 16 | | income
information from any public or private agency | 17 | | providing income or energy
assistance and from any | 18 | | employer, whether public or private.
| 19 | | (e) Any qualified applicant pursuant to this Section may | 20 | | receive or have
paid on such applicant's behalf an emergency | 21 | | assistance payment to enable
such applicant to obtain access to | 22 | | winter energy services. Any such
payments shall be made in | 23 | | accordance with regulations of the Department.
| 24 | | (f) The Department may, if sufficient funds are available, | 25 | | provide
additional benefits to certain qualified applicants:
| 26 | | (i) for the reduction of past due amounts owed to |
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| 1 | | energy providers;
and
| 2 | | (ii) to assist the household in responding to | 3 | | excessively high summer
temperatures or energy costs. | 4 | | Households containing elderly members, children,
a person | 5 | | with a disability, or a person with a medical need for | 6 | | conditioned air
shall receive priority for receipt of such | 7 | | benefits.
| 8 | | (Source: P.A. 96-154, eff. 1-1-10; 96-157, eff. 9-1-09; | 9 | | 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10; 97-721, eff. 6-29-12.)
| 10 | | (305 ILCS 20/7.5 new) | 11 | | Sec. 7.5. Temporary Propane Purchase Assistance Program; | 12 | | special fund. | 13 | | (a) In this Section, "propane" means a hydrocarbon whose | 14 | | chemical composition is predominantly
C 3 H 8 , whether recovered | 15 | | from natural gas or crude oil, and includes liquefied
petroleum | 16 | | gases and mixtures thereof. | 17 | | (b) The Department shall establish a temporary propane | 18 | | purchase assistance program ("the program") to ensure the | 19 | | availability and affordability of propane to low-income | 20 | | residents. Under the program, when an energy provider supplies | 21 | | winter energy in the form of propane to a program participant | 22 | | for use in the participant's residence, the State shall | 23 | | compensate the provider pursuant to rules adopted by the | 24 | | Department. The rules shall provide for participation in the | 25 | | program by homeowners, by renters of residential housing, and |
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| 1 | | by persons who are not customers of record of an energy | 2 | | provider. The program shall provide assistance for the purchase | 3 | | of propane supplied by an energy provider on or after December | 4 | | 1, 2013, and before May 15, 2014. The program shall terminate | 5 | | on May 15, 2014. | 6 | | (c) A person who is a resident of this State and whose | 7 | | annual household income is not greater than 186% of the poverty | 8 | | guidelines as updated for 2013 in the Federal Register by the | 9 | | United States Department of Health and Human Services under the | 10 | | authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2) may apply for assistance in the | 11 | | form of compensation to energy providers under the program for | 12 | | propane purchased from an energy provider. Persons eligible to | 13 | | participate in the program may apply at any time during the | 14 | | period beginning December 1, 2013 and ending May 15, 2014 for | 15 | | assistance in purchasing propane supplied by an energy provider | 16 | | for residential use during that period. | 17 | | (d) Assistance under the program, consisting of | 18 | | compensation paid to energy providers as provided in subsection | 19 | | (b), shall be paid out of the Temporary Propane Purchase | 20 | | Assistance Fund ("the Fund"), a special fund created in the | 21 | | State treasury. The moneys in the Fund shall consist of any | 22 | | moneys transferred or appropriated into the Fund. Moneys in the | 23 | | Fund may be used only for compensation to providers of propane | 24 | | under the program and for no other purpose. All interest earned | 25 | | on moneys in the Fund shall be deposited into the Fund. | 26 | | No later than 5 business days after the effective date of |
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| 1 | | this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, the State | 2 | | Comptroller shall direct and the Treasurer shall transfer | 3 | | $10,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund into the Temporary | 4 | | Propane Purchase Assistance Fund. | 5 | | No later than May 31, 2014, the State Comptroller shall | 6 | | direct and the Treasurer shall transfer all moneys remaining in | 7 | | the Temporary Propane Purchase Assistance Fund from that Fund | 8 | | into the General Revenue Fund. | 9 | | (e) The Department shall adopt rules, including emergency | 10 | | rules adopted in accordance with Section 5-45 of the Illinois | 11 | | Administrative Procedure Act, necessary to implement this | 12 | | Section.
| 13 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 14 | | becoming law.".
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