SB1167enr 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
5amended by adding Section 65.105 as follows:
 
6    (110 ILCS 947/65.105 new)
7    Sec. 65.105. Adult vocational community college
8scholarship.
9    (a) The Commission shall, subject to appropriation,
10establish and administer an adult vocational community college
11scholarship program.
12    (b) Beginning with the 2020-2021 academic year, the
13Commission shall, each year, receive and consider applications
14for scholarships under this Section. An applicant is eligible
15for a scholarship under this Section if the Commission finds
16that the applicant meets all of the following qualifications:
17        (1) He or she is over the age of 30.
18        (2) He or she has been unemployed and is actively
19    searching for employment, including being enrolled on the
20    Department of Employment Security's job-search website for
21    at least 6 months prior to the date the application is
22    submitted by the applicant.
23        (3) He or she is enrolled or accepted for enrollment at

 

 

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1    his or her local community college organized under the
2    Public Community College Act.
3        (4) He or she can identify the specific training
4    certificate, credential, or associate degree that he or she
5    is seeking to obtain; the career that the certificate,
6    credential, or degree will help create; and how long it
7    will take the applicant to reach this goal.
8    Applicants may re-apply for the scholarship under this
9Section if they can demonstrate continual progress, in terms of
10grades and attendance, toward the desired certificate,
11credential, or degree.
12    (c) The scholarship shall be sufficient to cover the cost
13of tuition and fees to attend the community college, but in no
14event shall the scholarship exceed $2,000 per scholarship
15recipient per academic year.
16    The total amount of a scholarship awarded by the Commission
17under this Section to an individual in any given fiscal year,
18when added to other financial assistance awarded to that
19individual for that year, shall not exceed the cost of
20attendance at the community college at which the student is
21enrolled.
22    (d) All applications for scholarships to be awarded under
23this Section shall be made to the Commission in a form as set
24forth by the Commission. The form of application and the
25information required to be set forth in the application shall
26be determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall

 

 

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1require eligible applicants to submit with their applications
2such supporting documents as the Commission deems necessary.
3    (e) Subject to a separate appropriation made for such
4purposes, payment of any scholarships awarded under this
5Section shall be determined by the Commission. All scholarship
6funds distributed in accordance with this Section shall be paid
7to the community college on behalf of the recipients.
8Scholarship funds are applicable toward 2 semesters of
9enrollment within an academic year. Up to 2% of the
10appropriation for this scholarship program may be used by the
11Commission for the costs of administering the scholarship
12program. If funds appropriated for the program are insufficient
13to provide grants to each eligible applicant, the Commission
14may prioritize the distribution of grants based on factors that
15include an applicant's financial need, duration of
16unemployment, prior level of educational attainment, or date of
17application.
18    (f) The Commission shall adopt all necessary and proper
19rules not inconsistent with this Section for its effective
20implementation.
 
21    Section 10. The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by
22changing Section 1900 as follows:
 
23    (820 ILCS 405/1900)  (from Ch. 48, par. 640)
24    Sec. 1900. Disclosure of information.

 

 

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1    A. Except as provided in this Section, information obtained
2from any individual or employing unit during the administration
3of this Act shall:
4        1. be confidential,
5        2. not be published or open to public inspection,
6        3. not be used in any court in any pending action or
7    proceeding,
8        4. not be admissible in evidence in any action or
9    proceeding other than one arising out of this Act.
10    B. No finding, determination, decision, ruling or order
11(including any finding of fact, statement or conclusion made
12therein) issued pursuant to this Act shall be admissible or
13used in evidence in any action other than one arising out of
14this Act, nor shall it be binding or conclusive except as
15provided in this Act, nor shall it constitute res judicata,
16regardless of whether the actions were between the same or
17related parties or involved the same facts.
18    C. Any officer or employee of this State, any officer or
19employee of any entity authorized to obtain information
20pursuant to this Section, and any agent of this State or of
21such entity who, except with authority of the Director under
22this Section, shall disclose information shall be guilty of a
23Class B misdemeanor and shall be disqualified from holding any
24appointment or employment by the State.
25    D. An individual or his duly authorized agent may be
26supplied with information from records only to the extent

 

 

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1necessary for the proper presentation of his claim for benefits
2or with his existing or prospective rights to benefits.
3Discretion to disclose this information belongs solely to the
4Director and is not subject to a release or waiver by the
5individual. Notwithstanding any other provision to the
6contrary, an individual or his or her duly authorized agent may
7be supplied with a statement of the amount of benefits paid to
8the individual during the 18 months preceding the date of his
9or her request.
10    E. An employing unit may be furnished with information,
11only if deemed by the Director as necessary to enable it to
12fully discharge its obligations or safeguard its rights under
13the Act. Discretion to disclose this information belongs solely
14to the Director and is not subject to a release or waiver by
15the employing unit.
16    F. The Director may furnish any information that he may
17deem proper to any public officer or public agency of this or
18any other State or of the federal government dealing with:
19        1. the administration of relief,
20        2. public assistance,
21        3. unemployment compensation,
22        4. a system of public employment offices,
23        5. wages and hours of employment, or
24        6. a public works program.
25    The Director may make available to the Illinois Workers'
26Compensation Commission information regarding employers for

 

 

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1the purpose of verifying the insurance coverage required under
2the Workers' Compensation Act and Workers' Occupational
3Diseases Act.
4    G. The Director may disclose information submitted by the
5State or any of its political subdivisions, municipal
6corporations, instrumentalities, or school or community
7college districts, except for information which specifically
8identifies an individual claimant.
9    H. The Director shall disclose only that information
10required to be disclosed under Section 303 of the Social
11Security Act, as amended, including:
12        1. any information required to be given the United
13    States Department of Labor under Section 303(a)(6); and
14        2. the making available upon request to any agency of
15    the United States charged with the administration of public
16    works or assistance through public employment, the name,
17    address, ordinary occupation and employment status of each
18    recipient of unemployment compensation, and a statement of
19    such recipient's right to further compensation under such
20    law as required by Section 303(a)(7); and
21        3. records to make available to the Railroad Retirement
22    Board as required by Section 303(c)(1); and
23        4. information that will assure reasonable cooperation
24    with every agency of the United States charged with the
25    administration of any unemployment compensation law as
26    required by Section 303(c)(2); and

 

 

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1        5. information upon request and on a reimbursable basis
2    to the United States Department of Agriculture and to any
3    State food stamp agency concerning any information
4    required to be furnished by Section 303(d); and
5        6. any wage information upon request and on a
6    reimbursable basis to any State or local child support
7    enforcement agency required by Section 303(e); and
8        7. any information required under the income
9    eligibility and verification system as required by Section
10    303(f); and
11        8. information that might be useful in locating an
12    absent parent or that parent's employer, establishing
13    paternity or establishing, modifying, or enforcing child
14    support orders for the purpose of a child support
15    enforcement program under Title IV of the Social Security
16    Act upon the request of and on a reimbursable basis to the
17    public agency administering the Federal Parent Locator
18    Service as required by Section 303(h); and
19        9. information, upon request, to representatives of
20    any federal, State or local governmental public housing
21    agency with respect to individuals who have signed the
22    appropriate consent form approved by the Secretary of
23    Housing and Urban Development and who are applying for or
24    participating in any housing assistance program
25    administered by the United States Department of Housing and
26    Urban Development as required by Section 303(i).

 

 

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1    I. The Director, upon the request of a public agency of
2Illinois, of the federal government or of any other state
3charged with the investigation or enforcement of Section 10-5
4of the Criminal Code of 2012 (or a similar federal law or
5similar law of another State), may furnish the public agency
6information regarding the individual specified in the request
7as to:
8        1. the current or most recent home address of the
9    individual, and
10        2. the names and addresses of the individual's
11    employers.
12    J. Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere
13with the disclosure of certain records as provided for in
14Section 1706 or with the right to make available to the
15Internal Revenue Service of the United States Department of the
16Treasury, or the Department of Revenue of the State of
17Illinois, information obtained under this Act.
18    K. The Department shall make available to the Illinois
19Student Assistance Commission, upon request, information in
20the possession of the Department that may be necessary or
21useful to the Commission in the collection of defaulted or
22delinquent student loans which the Commission administers.
23    L. The Department shall make available to the State
24Employees' Retirement System, the State Universities
25Retirement System, the Teachers' Retirement System of the State
26of Illinois, and the Department of Central Management Services,

 

 

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1Risk Management Division, upon request, information in the
2possession of the Department that may be necessary or useful to
3the System or the Risk Management Division for the purpose of
4determining whether any recipient of a disability benefit from
5the System or a workers' compensation benefit from the Risk
6Management Division is gainfully employed.
7    M. This Section shall be applicable to the information
8obtained in the administration of the State employment service,
9except that the Director may publish or release general labor
10market information and may furnish information that he may deem
11proper to an individual, public officer or public agency of
12this or any other State or the federal government (in addition
13to those public officers or public agencies specified in this
14Section) as he prescribes by Rule.
15    N. The Director may require such safeguards as he deems
16proper to insure that information disclosed pursuant to this
17Section is used only for the purposes set forth in this
18Section.
19    O. Nothing in this Section prohibits communication with an
20individual or entity through unencrypted e-mail or other
21unencrypted electronic means as long as the communication does
22not contain the individual's or entity's name in combination
23with any one or more of the individual's or entity's social
24security number; driver's license or State identification
25number; credit or debit card number; or any required security
26code, access code, or password that would permit access to

 

 

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1further information pertaining to the individual or entity.
2    P. (Blank).
3    Q. The Director shall make available to an elected federal
4official the name and address of an individual or entity that
5is located within the jurisdiction from which the official was
6elected and that, for the most recently completed calendar
7year, has reported to the Department as paying wages to
8workers, where the information will be used in connection with
9the official duties of the official and the official requests
10the information in writing, specifying the purposes for which
11it will be used. For purposes of this subsection, the use of
12information in connection with the official duties of an
13official does not include use of the information in connection
14with the solicitation of contributions or expenditures, in
15money or in kind, to or on behalf of a candidate for public or
16political office or a political party or with respect to a
17public question, as defined in Section 1-3 of the Election
18Code, or in connection with any commercial solicitation. Any
19elected federal official who, in submitting a request for
20information covered by this subsection, knowingly makes a false
21statement or fails to disclose a material fact, with the intent
22to obtain the information for a purpose not authorized by this
23subsection, shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
24    R. The Director may provide to any State or local child
25support agency, upon request and on a reimbursable basis,
26information that might be useful in locating an absent parent

 

 

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1or that parent's employer, establishing paternity, or
2establishing, modifying, or enforcing child support orders.
3    S. The Department shall make available to a State's
4Attorney of this State or a State's Attorney's investigator,
5upon request, the current address or, if the current address is
6unavailable, current employer information, if available, of a
7victim of a felony or a witness to a felony or a person against
8whom an arrest warrant is outstanding.
9    T. The Director shall make available to the Department of
10State Police, a county sheriff's office, or a municipal police
11department, upon request, any information concerning the
12current address and place of employment or former places of
13employment of a person who is required to register as a sex
14offender under the Sex Offender Registration Act that may be
15useful in enforcing the registration provisions of that Act.
16    U. The Director shall make information available to the
17Department of Healthcare and Family Services and the Department
18of Human Services for the purpose of determining eligibility
19for public benefit programs authorized under the Illinois
20Public Aid Code and related statutes administered by those
21departments, for verifying sources and amounts of income, and
22for other purposes directly connected with the administration
23of those programs.
24    V. The Director shall make information available to the
25State Board of Elections as may be required by an agreement the
26State Board of Elections has entered into with a multi-state

 

 

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1voter registration list maintenance system.
2    W. The Director shall make information available to the
3State Treasurer's office and the Department of Revenue for the
4purpose of facilitating compliance with the Illinois Secure
5Choice Savings Program Act, including employer contact
6information for employers with 25 or more employees and any
7other information the Director deems appropriate that is
8directly related to the administration of this program.
9    X. The Director shall make information available, upon
10request, to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for the
11purpose of determining eligibility for the adult vocational
12community college scholarship program under Section 65.105 of
13the Higher Education Student Assistance Act.
14(Source: P.A. 99-571, eff. 7-15-16; 99-933, eff. 1-27-17;
15100-484, eff. 9-8-17.)