Full Text of HB0054 103rd General Assembly
HB0054ham001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Sonya M. Harper Filed: 4/18/2023
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 54
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 54 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Local | 5 | | Food Infrastructure Grant Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Definitions. In this Act: | 7 | | "Department" means the Department of Agriculture.
| 8 | | "Director" means the Director of Agriculture.
| 9 | | "Fund" means the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Fund.
| 10 | | "Grantee" means the person or entity to which a grant is
| 11 | | made from the Fund.
| 12 | | "Lender" means any federal or State chartered bank,
| 13 | | federal land bank, production credit association, bank for
| 14 | | cooperatives, federal or state chartered savings and loan
| 15 | | association or building and loan association, small business
| 16 | | investment company, or any other institution qualified within
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| 1 | | this State to originate and service loans, including, but not
| 2 | | limited to, insurance companies, credit unions, and mortgage
| 3 | | loan companies. "Lender" includes a wholly owned subsidiary
of | 4 | | a manufacturer, seller or distributor of goods or services
| 5 | | that makes loans to businesses or individuals, commonly known
| 6 | | as a "captive finance company".
| 7 | | "Liability" includes, but is not limited to, the
| 8 | | following: accounts payable; notes or other indebtedness owed
| 9 | | to any source; taxes; rent; amounts owed on real estate
| 10 | | contracts or real estate mortgages; judgments; accrued
| 11 | | interest payable; and any other liability.
| 12 | | "State" means the State of Illinois.
| 13 | | "Underserved Farmer" means farmers or ranchers who are: | 14 | | Beginning; Socially Disadvantaged; Veterans; and Limited | 15 | | Resource, as defined by the USDA.
| 16 | | "Underserved Community" means communities that have | 17 | | limited or no access to resources or that are otherwise | 18 | | disenfranchised. These groups may include people who are | 19 | | socioeconomically disadvantaged; people with limited English | 20 | | proficiency; geographically isolated or educationally | 21 | | disenfranchised people; people of color as well as those of | 22 | | ethnic and national origin minorities; women and children; | 23 | | individuals with disabilities and others with access and | 24 | | functional needs; and seniors.
| 25 | | "Value-added" means the processing, packaging, or
| 26 | | otherwise enhancing the value of farm and agricultural
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| 1 | | products or by-products produced in Illinois.
| 2 | | Section 10. Legislative findings. | 3 | | (a) The General Assembly finds that in this State the | 4 | | following conditions exist:
| 5 | | (1) Small fruit, vegetable, and livestock farmers are | 6 | | vital to the health and wealth of Illinois communities, | 7 | | yet Illinois does not currently have infrastructure in | 8 | | place to support local food farmers and feed Illinois | 9 | | communities.
| 10 | | (2) An estimated 95% of the food consumed in Illinois | 11 | | is purchased from outside our borders, resulting in the | 12 | | export of billions of food dollars outside our state | 13 | | instead of building local economies.
| 14 | | (3) A shift of just 10% toward local food purchasing | 15 | | by Illinois individuals, families, schools, institutions, | 16 | | and state agencies could generate billions in economic | 17 | | growth for our state.
| 18 | | (4) In order for Illinois families, businesses, | 19 | | schools, and institutions to shift their purchasing | 20 | | practices, Illinois must invest in supporting critical | 21 | | local food infrastructure needed to scale up production, | 22 | | aggregation, and distribution of local food.
| 23 | | (b) The General Assembly determines and declares that | 24 | | there exist conditions in the State that require the | 25 | | Department to issue grants on behalf of the State for the |
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| 1 | | development of local food processing, aggregation, and | 2 | | distribution.
| 3 | | Section 15. Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program. | 4 | | Subject to appropriation, the Department shall develop and | 5 | | administer an annual Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program | 6 | | to enhance local food processing, aggregation, and | 7 | | distribution within this State.
| 8 | | (1) Eligibility. Eligible applicants must currently or | 9 | | plan to store, process, package, aggregate, or distribute | 10 | | farm products raised in Illinois. Eligible applicants | 11 | | include, but are not limited to:
| 12 | | (A) Illinois farms with less than 50 employees.
| 13 | | (B) Illinois cooperatives with less than 50 | 14 | | employees.
| 15 | | (C) Illinois processing facilities, food | 16 | | businesses, and food hubs, with less than 50 | 17 | | employees.
| 18 | | (D) Illinois non-profit organizations.
| 19 | | (E) Units of local government in Illinois.
| 20 | | Proposals may be submitted by individuals, groups, | 21 | | partnerships, or collaborations.
| 22 | | (2) Award. Grant awards shall be between $1000 and | 23 | | $150,000.
| 24 | | (3) Matching. The recipient of a grant under this | 25 | | Section must provide
a percentage for the total project |
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| 1 | | costs. 80% of all funded projects will be required to | 2 | | provide a 50% match. The remaining 20% of funded projects | 3 | | shall be categorized as "high need" and shall be required | 4 | | to provide a 0 to 20% match. The recipient's match may be | 5 | | in cash, cash-equivalent investments, or bonds, | 6 | | irrevocable letters of credit, or any combination thereof. | 7 | | Acceptable matching fund sources include, but are not | 8 | | limited to, commercial and private lenders, leasing | 9 | | companies, and grants.
| 10 | | (4) Allowable expenses. All grant funding must be used | 11 | | for the purchasing, leasing to own, renting, building, or | 12 | | installation of infrastructure that will increase market | 13 | | access of Illinois communities to Illinois agricultural | 14 | | products. Allowable expenses include, but are not limited | 15 | | to:
| 16 | | (A) Equipment used in the production of | 17 | | value-added agricultural products.
| 18 | | (B) Milling or pressing equipment.
| 19 | | (C) Creamery or milk product processing and | 20 | | packaging equipment.
| 21 | | (D) Food hub development or expansion.
| 22 | | (E) Cooler walls and refrigeration units.
| 23 | | (F) Grading, packing, labeling, packaging, or | 24 | | sorting equipment.
| 25 | | (G) Refrigerated trucks.
| 26 | | (H) Custom exempt mobile slaughter units and |
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| 1 | | livestock processing equipment.
| 2 | | (I) Agroforestry processing equipment.
| 3 | | (J) Local fish and shrimp processing.
| 4 | | Grant funding may not be used for labor, marketing, or | 5 | | promotion.
| 6 | | (5) Funding source. The Local Food Infrastructure | 7 | | Grant Fund is created as a special fund in the State | 8 | | treasury. Appropriations and moneys from any public or | 9 | | private source may be deposited into the Fund. The Fund | 10 | | shall be used for the purposes of this Act. Repayments of | 11 | | grants made under this Section shall be deposited into the | 12 | | Fund. A maximum of 10% of all funds appropriated through | 13 | | this fund may be awarded to the Department for | 14 | | administrative costs.
| 15 | | Section 20. Steering Committee. Subject to appropriation, | 16 | | the Department shall create an independent Local Food | 17 | | Infrastructure Steering Committee to guide the implementation | 18 | | and evaluation of the grant. The committee shall be selected | 19 | | by the Director. The committee shall include, but is not | 20 | | limited to, at least 3 farmers, including one specialty crop | 21 | | farmer, one livestock farmer, and one farmer of color, one | 22 | | representative from the local food processing industry, one | 23 | | representative from a non-profit organization serving farmers | 24 | | of color, one representative from a non-profit organization | 25 | | serving farmers at large, and one representative from the |
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| 1 | | Department.
| 2 | | (1) The Steering Committee's responsibilities shall | 3 | | include:
| 4 | | (A) Determining the grant funding cycle.
| 5 | | (B) Determining Application Requirements and terms | 6 | | of the grant agreement.
| 7 | | (C) Determining grant criteria and preferences in | 8 | | addition to those specified in this Act.
| 9 | | (D) Grant review and selection.
| 10 | | (E) Determining project reporting requirements for | 11 | | funded projects.
| 12 | | (F) Evaluating program success and adjusting | 13 | | criteria, requirements, preferences, implementation, | 14 | | and all other elements of the grant as needed to ensure | 15 | | the grant program meets its intended purpose, so long | 16 | | as changes are in compliance with this Act. | 17 | | (2) Application requirements. Grant applications must | 18 | | be made on forms provided by the Department and in | 19 | | accordance with procedures established by the Steering | 20 | | Committee. At a minimum, an applicant must be an Illinois | 21 | | resident, as defined by Department rule, and must provide | 22 | | the names, addresses, and occupations of all project | 23 | | owners, the project address, relevant credit and financial | 24 | | information (including, but not limited to, assets and | 25 | | liabilities), and any other information deemed necessary | 26 | | by the Steering Committee for review of the grant |
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| 1 | | application.
| 2 | | (A) All requests for the waiver of any | 3 | | requirements in this Section must be made in writing | 4 | | to the Department. A grant award is subject to | 5 | | modification or alteration under, but is not limited | 6 | | to, the following conditions:
| 7 | | (i) The grant award is subject to any | 8 | | modifications that may be required by changes in | 9 | | State law or regulations. The Department shall | 10 | | notify the recipient in writing of any amendment | 11 | | to the regulations and the effective date of those | 12 | | amendments.
| 13 | | (ii) If either the Department or the recipient | 14 | | requests to modify the terms of the grant award, | 15 | | written notice of the proposed modification shall | 16 | | be given to the other party. No modification shall | 17 | | take effect unless agreed to in writing by both | 18 | | the Department and the recipient.
| 19 | | (3) Grant review process.
| 20 | | (A) Criteria. The Steering Committee, in reviewing | 21 | | the applications, must consider, but is not limited to | 22 | | considering the following criteria:
| 23 | | (i) The project has a reasonable assurance of | 24 | | increasing the availability and accessibility of | 25 | | Illinois agricultural products among Illinois | 26 | | communities.
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| 1 | | (ii) There is an adequate and realistic budget | 2 | | projection.
| 3 | | (iii) The application meets the eligibility | 4 | | requirements and the project costs are eligible | 5 | | under this Act.
| 6 | | (B) Preference. Preference for grants shall be | 7 | | given to, but is not limited to, the following:
| 8 | | (i) Proposals that have established favorable | 9 | | community support.
| 10 | | (ii) Proposals that have a positive economic | 11 | | impact on the State's local food sector.
| 12 | | (iii) Proposals that increase the availability | 13 | | of Illinois agricultural products to underserved | 14 | | communities in Illinois.
| 15 | | (iv) Proposals that positively impact | 16 | | underserved farmers in Illinois.
| 17 | | (v) Established farmers and food businesses.
| 18 | | (vi) Proposals that facilitate long-term | 19 | | economic development in the local food sector.
| 20 | | (C) High Need Determination. The Steering | 21 | | Committee shall select all applications for funding, | 22 | | and from this selection shall determine 20% of | 23 | | applications to qualify as high need projects that are | 24 | | eligible for a lower match requirement of 0 to 25%. To | 25 | | qualify as a high need project, the independent | 26 | | Steering Committee shall consider, but is not limited |
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| 1 | | to considering the following criteria:
| 2 | | (i) Proposals submitted by underserved | 3 | | farmers.
| 4 | | (ii) Proposals that will positively impact | 5 | | underserved communities.
| 6 | | (iii) Proposals that are submitted by small | 7 | | and very small farms and food businesses.
| 8 | | Section 25. Report. The Director must file with the | 9 | | Governor and General Assembly, and publish publicly on or | 10 | | before March 1 of each year a written report detailing the | 11 | | impact of the Local Food Infrastructure Grant for the previous | 12 | | calendar year. The report must include a complete list of: (1) | 13 | | all applications for grants under the Local Food | 14 | | Infrastructure Grant Program during the previous calendar | 15 | | year; (2) all persons that were awarded the Local Food | 16 | | Infrastructure Grant and the nature and amount of their awards | 17 | | in the previous calendar year; and (3) the economic impact of | 18 | | the grant from the previous calendar year, which may include | 19 | | jobs created, local food sales increases, and communities | 20 | | served. | 21 | | Section 30. Liability. The Director, Local Food | 22 | | Infrastructure Steering Committee, any Department employee, or | 23 | | any authorized person executing grants is not personally | 24 | | liable on the grants and is not subject to any personal |
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| 1 | | liability or accountability by reason of the
issuance of the | 2 | | grants.
| 3 | | Section 35. Default or termination of grant agreement. If | 4 | | the recipient of a grant violates any of the terms of the grant | 5 | | agreement, the Department shall send a written notice to the | 6 | | recipient that he or she is in default and be given the | 7 | | opportunity to correct the violations.
| 8 | | (1) If the violation is not corrected within 30 days | 9 | | after receipt of the notification, the Director may take, | 10 | | but is not limited to, one or more of the following | 11 | | actions:
| 12 | | (A) Declare due and payable the amount of the | 13 | | grant, or any portion of it, and cease additional | 14 | | grant payments not yet made to
the recipient. | 15 | | (B) Take any other action considered appropriate | 16 | | to protect the interest of the project.
| 17 | | (2) The Department may determine that a recipient has | 18 | | failed to faithfully perform the terms and conditions of | 19 | | the scope of work of the project when:
| 20 | | (A) The Department has notified the recipient in | 21 | | writing of the existence of circumstances such a | 22 | | misapplication of grant funds, failure to match | 23 | | Department funds, evidence of fraud and abuse, | 24 | | repeated failure to meet performance timelines or | 25 | | standards, or failure to resolve negotiated points of |
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| 1 | | the agreement.
| 2 | | (B) The recipient fails to develop and implement a | 3 | | corrective action plan within 30 calendar days of the | 4 | | Department's notice.
| 5 | | (3) A grant may be terminated under, but termination | 6 | | is not limited to, any of the following circumstances:
| 7 | | (A) In the absence of State funding for a specific | 8 | | year, all grants that year will be terminated in full. | 9 | | In the event of a partial loss of State funding, the | 10 | | Department may make proportionate cuts to all | 11 | | recipients.
| 12 | | (B) If the Department determines that the | 13 | | recipient has failed to comply with the terms and | 14 | | conditions of the grant agreement, the Department may | 15 | | terminate the grant in whole, or in part, at any time | 16 | | before the date of completion.
| 17 | | (C) The Department may terminate the grant in | 18 | | whole, or in part, when the Department determines that | 19 | | the continuation of the project would not produce | 20 | | beneficial results commensurate with the further | 21 | | expenditures of funds.
| 22 | | (D) The recipient may refuse or elect not to | 23 | | complete the grant agreement and terminate the grant. | 24 | | The recipient shall notify the Department within 10 | 25 | | days after the date upon which performance ceases. The | 26 | | Department may declare due and payable the amount of |
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| 1 | | the grant and may cease additional grant payments not | 2 | | yet made to the grantee.
| 3 | | (4) Any moneys collected from the default or | 4 | | termination of a grant shall be placed into the Fund and | 5 | | expended for the purposes of this Act.
| 6 | | Section 40. Construction. This Act is necessary for the | 7 | | welfare of this State and must be liberally construed to | 8 | | effect its purposes. The Department may adopt rules that are | 9 | | consistent with and necessary for the administration of this | 10 | | Act. | 11 | | Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | 12 | | Section 5.990 as follows: | 13 | | (30 ILCS 105/5.990 new) | 14 | | Sec. 5.990. The Local Food Infrastructure Grant Fund.
| 15 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 16 | | becoming law.".
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