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Full Text of SB1621  101st General Assembly

SB1621ham002 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. André Thapedi

Filed: 5/6/2019

 

 


 

 


 
10100SB1621ham002LRB101 10067 RJF 60332 a

1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1621

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1621 as follows:
 
3on page 1, immediately below line 3, by inserting the
4following:
 
5    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 2020
6Census Grant Program Act.
 
7    Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
8finds that:
9        (1) Section 2 of Article 1 of the United States
10    Constitution requires a non-biased and nonpolitical
11    enumeration of the population of the United States every 10
12    years, which is known as the federal decennial census;
13        (2) the federal decennial census is important because
14    census figures affect congressional representation, State
15    redistricting, federal formula grant allocations, State

 

 

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1    funding to local governments, local programs, and planning
2    activities for the next 10 years;
3        (3) the federal decennial census not only counts
4    population, but also: (i) establishes representation
5    decisions for federal, State, and local governments; (ii)
6    is the basis upon which federal funding is allocated for
7    programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the National
8    School Lunch Program; and (iii) guides business decisions
9    regarding labor pools and investment choices;
10        (4) because federal decennial census data are used in
11    political, business, and social welfare contexts, the
12    accuracy of the count is critical;
13        (5) Congress has underfunded the U.S. Commerce
14    Department's budget to conduct the 2020 Census, causing the
15    Census Bureau to cancel certain preparations that would
16    test the Census Bureau's new digital tools;
17        (6) the Census Bureau plans for 80% of the country to
18    receive communications that urge a response to the census
19    via the Internet;
20        (7) the Census Bureau's reliance on the Internet is
21    worrisome because 21% of rural households do not currently
22    have Internet access at home, putting rural residents at
23    risk of being undercounted;
24        (8) in fiscal year 2015, the 50 states and the District
25    of Columbia received $589,700,000,000 from 16 large
26    federal assistance programs that allocate funds on the

 

 

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1    basis of federal decennial census–derived statistics;
2        (9) according to the George Washington University
3    Institute for Public Policy, in fiscal year 2015, Illinois
4    received $19,738,866,367, or approximately $1,535 per
5    capita, for 16 major federal assistance programs that
6    distribute funds based on federal decennial census-derived
7    statistics;
8        (10) a complete and accurate count of all Illinois
9    residents in the 2020 Census is vital to ensure fair
10    political representation and distribution of funding in
11    Illinois;
12        (11) historically, it has been more difficult to reach
13    and enumerate certain groups as part of the federal
14    decennial census, including, but not limited to, racial and
15    ethnic minorities, persons who do not speak English
16    fluently, lower income persons, homeless persons,
17    undocumented immigrants, young mobile persons, children,
18    persons who are distrustful of the government, and LGBTQ
19    persons;
20        (12) a geographic area is considered hard-to-count if
21    the area's self-response rate in the 2010 decennial census
22    was 73% or less;
23        (13) according to the Census 2020 hard-to-count map
24    application developed by the City University of New York
25    Mapping Service, approximately 16% of Illinoisans are
26    hard-to-count and face a high likelihood of being

 

 

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1    undercounted;
2        (14) there are census tracts in jurisdictions
3    throughout the State where achieving an accurate count of
4    the population is challenging, including the counties of
5    Cook, DeKalb, Pulaski, Kankakee, Peoria, Alexander,
6    Jackson, Coles, Champaign, St. Clair, McDonough,
7    Winnebago, and Lake;
8        (15) the U.S. Government Accountability Office added
9    the 2020 Census to the High Risk list because of concerns
10    about funding and effective operations, increasing
11    concerns about an undercount of the population; and
12        (16) adequate funding is necessary to ensure a complete
13    and accurate count of all people in this State, and it is
14    the intent of the General Assembly that existing
15    governmental outreach and education efforts be used to
16    facilitate a complete count for the 2020 Census.
 
17    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
18    "2020 Census" means the decennial census conducted by the
19United States Census Bureau in the year 2020 to determine the
20number of people living in the United States for purposes of
21apportionment of representatives in the House of
22Representatives.
23    "Grant Panel" means the 2020 Census Grant Program Panel.
 
24    Section 15. 2020 Census Grant Program.

 

 

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1    (a) There is created the 2020 Census Grant Program for the
2purpose of issuing grants to units of local government and
3nonprofit organizations to support the accurate counting of the
4population of the State and its local jurisdictions, and the
5collection of basic demographic and housing information of the
6population of this State for the 2020 Census.
7    (b) There is created the 2020 Census Grant Program Panel.
8The Grant Panel shall consist of the following members:
9        (i) a chair appointed jointly by the President of the
10    Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
11        (ii) two members appointed by the Governor; and
12        (iii) two members appointed jointly by the President of
13    the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
14    (c) The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
15shall provide staff and administrative support for the Grant
16Panel. A member of the Grant Panel shall not receive
17compensation for service as a member of the Grant Panel, but is
18entitled to reimbursement for necessary travel expenses
19incurred by the member.
20    (d) On or before July 1, 2019, a unit of local government
21or nonprofit organization may apply to the Grant Panel for
22funds to support the accurate counting of the population of its
23jurisdiction or the State and the collection of basic
24demographic and housing information of the population of the
25State for the 2020 Census.
26    (e) On or before August 1, 2019, the Grant Panel shall

 

 

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1award funds, in an amount determined by the Grant Panel, to
2units of local government and nonprofit organizations for
3approved applications.
4    (f) The Grant Panel shall notify units of local government
5of the 2020 Census Grant Program. Units of local government
6receiving notice from the Grant Panel under this subsection (f)
7shall notify nonprofit organizations within the jurisdiction
8of the unit of local government of the 2020 Census Grant
9Program.
10    (g) For fiscal year 2020, the Governor shall include in the
11annual State budget for the 2020 Census Grant Program an
12appropriation of $33,000,000.
 
13    Section 20. Program application.
14    (a) Applicants for these grants shall use the grant
15application format prepared and made available by the Grant
16Panel for this purpose. The applications will be available on
17the website of the Department of Commerce and Economic
18Opportunity. Public agencies and private sector entities shall
19be eligible to apply for these grants. Each applicant shall
20describe itself, whether it is a public agency or private
21sector entity. Each private sector entity shall describe
22itself, including its legal status (corporation, joint
23venture, partnership, or not-for-profit) and its mission. All
24private sector entities must be authorized to do business in
25the State of Illinois or, if a not-for-profit entity,

 

 

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1authorized to conduct affairs in Illinois. Applicants shall
2designate that they are applying for a grant to encourage
3census participation in hard to count communities and of hard
4to count persons, and shall designate the amount of grant funds
5being requested. Each application shall include a detailed,
6narrative statement describing the proposed use of the grant
7funds. Each applicant also shall provide:
8        (1) project director name, with contact information;
9        (2) description of ability to administer the Grant;
10        (3) project title;
11        (4) project description;
12        (5) target audience and need;
13        (6) project schedule;
14        (7) methods for evaluating outcome; and
15        (8) proposed budget, details, and explanation of
16    expenses.
17    (b) Grant applicants must demonstrate in their grant
18applications that they have satisfactorily met all
19requirements set forth in this Section, and they possess the
20administrative capacity to perform the program, fiscal and
21reporting functions stipulated in this Section.
22    (c) The Grant Panel may deny a grant application if the
23requirements in this Section are not met, or are inadequately
24met. The Grant Panel shall not discriminate on the basis of
25race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin,
26disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military

 

 

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1status in the awarding of grants.
2    (d) Grant applications not submitted in the required format
3by the deadline date set forth in subsection (d) of Section 15,
4or not completed, shall not be considered for funding by the
5Grant Panel.
6    (e) This shall be a competitive grant application process.
7A grant review committee shall review all grant applications
8and make recommendations to the Grant Panel rewarding grant
9awards. The following requirements shall apply to the grant
10review committee:
11        (1) The grant review committee shall consist of
12    personnel of the Department of Commerce and Economic
13    Opportunity, designated members of the Complete Count
14    Commission, and, at the discretion of the Grant Panel,
15    additional qualified reviewers.
16        (2) Any additional reviewers shall be selected based on
17    their academic qualifications and their vocational and
18    volunteer experience related to the subject matter of the
19    grant.
20        (3) No person shall serve on a grant review committee
21    if that person is an applicant for the grant, is employed
22    by an applicant for the grant, has an ownership interest in
23    or receives income from an applicant for the grant, or is
24    related more closely than the fifth degree of consanguinity
25    (second cousins) to an owner or employee of an applicant
26    for the grant.

 

 

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1        (4) Members of the grant review committee shall
2    independently consider the following criteria, and assign
3    weighted scores up to the total amount of points indicated:
4            (A) Abstract. Does the project overview
5        appropriately communicate the proposed project? (25
6        points)
7            (B) Administrative capacity. Does the applicant
8        have adequate experience and qualifications to
9        accomplish the proposed project? Is the applicant a
10        known and trusted voice in the community to be served?
11        (100 points)
12            (C) Project description. Has the applicant
13        provided a comprehensive description of the project,
14        including details about methods, activities, and
15        services to be provided in light of the legislative
16        findings of Section 5? If the applicant is partnering
17        with any other entity, is that partnership fully
18        explained, and are those entities known and trusted
19        voices in the communities to be served? (200 points)
20            (D) Target audience and need. Has the applicant
21        identified the intended audience and its need for
22        services proposed? With regard to grant applications
23        to encourage participation in the census, and noting
24        that based on the latest census estimates
25        approximately 16% of Illinois' current population
26        lives in hard-to-count neighborhoods, has the

 

 

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1        applicant set forth a plan for identifying and working
2        in these hard-to-count neighborhoods? (500 points)
3            (E) Project schedule. Does the applicant's
4        timeline clearly illustrate appropriate scheduling of
5        proposed actions and activities? (50 points)
6            (F) Evaluation. Is the methodology and strategy
7        that the applicant will use to evaluate the success of
8        the project reasonable? (25 points)
9            (G) Budget. Is the proposed budget reasonable,
10        necessary, appropriate, and adequate to perform the
11        proposed services? (100 points)
12        For purposes of this grant application and review
13    process:
14        "Community provider" means an entity that has the
15    capability to provide services or goods to designated
16    communities as necessary to complete the requirements of
17    the grant.
18        "Census participation" means the act of responding to
19    the census questionnaire by mail, phone, or online.
20    (f) The total sum appropriated for a particular purpose may
21be awarded to a single applicant, or that sum may be divided
22into awards to multiple applicants. If grants are awarded to
23multiple applicants, each selected application shall be funded
24according to the amount of funding available based on the
25comparative demonstrated need, experience executing the
26proposed program or plan, and projected outcomes.

 

 

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1    (g) All grant applicants shall be notified whether or not
2their application has been approved. The decision of the Grant
3Panel regarding the award of grants under this Section is
4final.
5    (h) The Grant Panel shall notify the submitting entity when
6an application is approved. All approved applicants shall enter
7into a grant agreement provided by the Grant Panel before any
8grant funds will be distributed.
 
9    Section 25. Grant reporting requirements.
10    (a) As stipulated by the grant agreement, the following
11reports shall be completed and transmitted to the Department of
12Commerce and Economic Opportunity by each grant recipient:
13        (1) monthly narrative and financial reports showing
14    expenditures made from grant funds by line item;
15        (2) a final financial report showing all expenditures
16    of grant funds and the return of any non-expended grant
17    funds; and
18        (3) a final narrative report evaluating the degree to
19    which the grantee achieved the goals and objectives of the
20    project.
21    (b) The Grant Panel may request additional information and
22data from any grant applicant.
23    (c) Grants awarded under this Section are subject to the
24Grant Accountability and Transparency Act, and the Grant Panel
25shall not consider grant applications submitted by entities

 

 

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1included in the Illinois Debarred and Suspended List maintained
2by the Governor's Office of Management and Budget.
3    (d) Grant recipients shall maintain books and records
4relating to the expenditure of grant funds. Books and records,
5including information stored in computer systems, shall be
6maintained by the grant recipient for a period of 3 years from
7the later of the date of the final grant payment or the
8completion of the projects for which the grant was issued.
9Books and records required to be maintained under this Section
10shall be available for review or audit by the Department of
11Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Attorney General, or the
12Auditor General. Failure to maintain books and records required
13by this Section shall establish a presumption in favor of the
14Grant Panel for the recovery of any grant funds, attorney's
15fees, and costs paid by the Grant Panel or its designee.
16    (e) Grants made under this Section are subject to the
17provisions of the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act. Actions
18brought under that Act may include, but are not limited to, a
19grant recipient's failure to spend funds in accordance with the
20application or approved amendment or the failure to comply with
21reporting procedures stipulated in this Section. If a provision
22of this Section conflicts with a provision of the Illinois
23Grant Funds Recovery Act, then the provision of the Illinois
24Grant Funds Recovery Act controls.
25    (f) Obligations of the Grant Panel to fund this Grant
26Program will cease immediately without penalty or further

 

 

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1payment being required if the funds for the grants are not
2available to the Grant Panel.
 
3    Section 30. Repeal. This Act is repealed on January 1,
42022."; and
 
5on page 1, line 4, by replacing "Section 5." with "Section
6100."; and
 
7on page 6, line 26, by replacing "Section 99." with "Section
8999.".