Full Text of HB3556 103rd General Assembly
HB3556sam001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Doris Turner Filed: 4/20/2023
| | 10300HB3556sam001 | | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3556
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3556 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Farmer Equity and Opportunity Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Definitions.
As used in this Act:
| 7 | | "Agricultural conservation easement" means a nonpossessory | 8 | | interest of a holder in real property imposing limitations on | 9 | | the use of the property to ensure the land remains available | 10 | | for agricultural purposes. An agricultural conservation | 11 | | easement does not prevent a property owner from constructing, | 12 | | improving, or maintaining a primary residence or housing for | 13 | | farmworkers on the land unless expressly specified in the | 14 | | easement deed. | 15 | | "Costs of acquisition" means out-of-pocket direct costs of | 16 | | activities incurred in connection with the processing, |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 2 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | recording, and documentation of an agricultural conservation | 2 | | easement, such as appraisals, land surveys, title | 3 | | verification, and closing. "Costs of acquisition" do not | 4 | | include any costs incurred by a qualified easement holder for | 5 | | staffing, overhead, or operations.
| 6 | | "Director" means the Director of Agriculture. | 7 | | "Department" means the Department of Agriculture. | 8 | | "Eligible individual" means a resident of this State who: | 9 | | (1) was born in this State; | 10 | | (2) is at least 21 years of age;
| 11 | | (3) has previously identified as Black or African | 12 | | American; and | 13 | | (4) has at least one parent of African ancestry.
| 14 | | "Limited resource farmer" means a farmer with direct or | 15 | | indirect gross farm sales not more than the current indexed | 16 | | value in each of the previous 2 years, and
who has a total | 17 | | household income at or below the national poverty level for a | 18 | | family of 4, or less than 50% of county median household income | 19 | | in each of the previous 2 years. | 20 | | "New and beginning farmer" means a farmer who has operated | 21 | | a farm or ranch for less than 10 years. | 22 | | "Qualified entity" means an organization:
| 23 | | (1) that is a nonprofit corporation under Section | 24 | | 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or an | 25 | | organization which has a fiscal sponsor who is exempt from | 26 | | taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 3 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | Code of 1986; and
| 2 | | (2) that has a minimum of 3 years of experience | 3 | | providing agricultural services, business assistance, | 4 | | legal assistance, or advocacy services to socially | 5 | | disadvantaged farmers. | 6 | | "Qualified easement holder" means a State agency, federal | 7 | | agency, county, municipality, or nonprofit organization under | 8 | | Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with | 9 | | experience acquiring, whether through purchase, donation, or | 10 | | transfer, an agricultural or other conservation easement. | 11 | | "Qualified farmland" means land that is in agricultural | 12 | | production or available for agricultural production, including | 13 | | row crops, livestock, nurseries, orchards, or pastures, and | 14 | | incidental land that is associated with an active agricultural | 15 | | operation. | 16 | | "Socially disadvantaged farmer" means a farmer who is a | 17 | | member of a socially disadvantaged group. | 18 | | "Socially disadvantaged group" means a group whose members | 19 | | have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice | 20 | | because of their identity as members of a group without regard | 21 | | to their individual qualities. These groups include all of the | 22 | | following: | 23 | | (1) American Indian or Alaska Native (a person having | 24 | | origins in any of the original peoples of North and South | 25 | | America, including Central America, and who maintains | 26 | | tribal affiliation or community attachment). |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 4 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | (2) Asian (a person having origins in any of the | 2 | | original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the | 3 | | Indian subcontinent, including, but not limited to, | 4 | | Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, | 5 | | the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam). | 6 | | (3) Black or African American (a person having origins | 7 | | in any of the black racial groups of Africa). | 8 | | (4) Hispanic or Latino (a person of Cuban, Mexican, | 9 | | Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish | 10 | | culture or origin, regardless of race). | 11 | | (5) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (a | 12 | | person having origins in any of the original peoples of | 13 | | Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands). | 14 | | "Training" means a program of training approved by the | 15 | | Director that: | 16 | | (1) provides an eligible individual with the basic | 17 | | skills to operate a farm profitably with a primary focus | 18 | | on regenerating the soil, ecosystem, and local community; | 19 | | (2) provides a course of study that is equivalent to | 20 | | no less than 30 academic credit hours of study, which may | 21 | | be provided as direct in-field instruction; | 22 | | (3) focuses on low capital-intensive techniques and | 23 | | technologies; and | 24 | | (4) studies local and regional food systems and the | 25 | | market opportunities those systems present. |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 5 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | Section 10. Farmer Equity and Opportunity Fund. | 2 | | (a) The Farmer Equity and Opportunity Fund is created as a | 3 | | special fund in the State treasury.
Except as provided in | 4 | | subsection (b), the moneys in the Fund, upon appropriation by | 5 | | the General Assembly, shall be used for the purposes of the | 6 | | program, which include grants for the purchase of agricultural | 7 | | conservation easements, technical assistance grants, technical | 8 | | assistance provided by the Department, and administrative | 9 | | costs incurred by the Department in administering the program. | 10 | | (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), moneys may be | 11 | | deposited into the Fund from federal grants and gifts and | 12 | | donations that are designated and required by the donor to be | 13 | | used exclusively for the purposes of the program. | 14 | | (c) Not more than 10% of available funds under this Act may | 15 | | be used for technical assistance purposes and administration. | 16 | | Not less than 90% of funds available for grants under this Act | 17 | | shall be expended for the acquisition of agricultural | 18 | | conservation easements. Moneys in the Fund shall also be | 19 | | available for the following purposes: | 20 | | (1) To provide technical assistance grants to | 21 | | qualified entities in support of socially disadvantaged | 22 | | farmers who are seeking access to farmland. As used in | 23 | | this Section, "technical assistance" includes, but is not | 24 | | limited to, organizing, advising, counseling, educating, | 25 | | planning, drafting, translating, interpreting, and | 26 | | consulting with socially disadvantaged farmers for the |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 6 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | purpose of preparing them for favorable financing for land | 2 | | acquisition or negotiating leasing arrangements. | 3 | | (2) To provide grants for the purchase of agricultural | 4 | | conservation easements to qualified easement holders. | 5 | | Moneys from the Fund shall be available in each fiscal | 6 | | year to any qualified easement holder having made an | 7 | | application that has been reviewed by the Department and | 8 | | approved by the Farm Equity and Opportunity Council. Award | 9 | | grants may include: | 10 | | (A) payment to qualified easement holders for the | 11 | | purchase of agricultural conservation easements on | 12 | | qualified farmland; or | 13 | | (B) payment of the costs of acquisition related to | 14 | | the purchase of agricultural conservation easements | 15 | | approved by the program. | 16 | | Section 15. Department responsibilities. Subject to | 17 | | appropriation, the Department shall: | 18 | | (1) Adopt a scoring process to be used in evaluating | 19 | | applications for agricultural conservation easement grants | 20 | | that prioritizes applications benefiting: | 21 | | (A) Socially disadvantaged farmers. | 22 | | (B) Limited resource farmers. | 23 | | (C) Eligible individuals with a history of land | 24 | | dispossession. | 25 | | (D) Veterans. |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 7 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | (E) New and beginning farmers. | 2 | | (2) Include, as ranking criteria in the scoring | 3 | | process, projects that: | 4 | | (A) Leverage local, federal, or private funding, | 5 | | including a match requirement. | 6 | | (B) Support transition of farmland to next | 7 | | generation owner-operators. | 8 | | (C) Support conservation priorities, including | 9 | | protection of habitat, water quality, watershed | 10 | | conservation, climate resilience, and local | 11 | | conservation plans. | 12 | | (3) Include, as eligibility criteria, projects that: | 13 | | (A) Protect farmland that is under threat of | 14 | | conversion. | 15 | | (B) Demonstrate that the parcel proposed for | 16 | | conservation is expected to continue to be used for | 17 | | agricultural production if conserved. | 18 | | Section 20. Farm Conservation Corps. | 19 | | (a) Subject to appropriation and in partnership with the | 20 | | University of Illinois Extension, the Department shall | 21 | | establish the Farm Conservation Corps to provide residents | 22 | | between the ages of 18 and 29 from socially disadvantaged | 23 | | groups the academic, vocational, and social skills necessary | 24 | | to pursue long-term and productive careers in agriculture. | 25 | | (b) The members of the Farm Conservation Corps shall serve |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 8 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | as on-farm apprentices, at no cost, to farms that have been | 2 | | protected with an agricultural conservation easement under | 3 | | this Act or with an annual gross farm income of less than | 4 | | $250,000 operated by:
| 5 | | (1) socially disadvantaged farmers; | 6 | | (2) beginning farmers; or | 7 | | (3) farmers operating certified organic farms. | 8 | | Section 25. Data collection and reporting. | 9 | | (a) Subject to appropriation, the Director shall make | 10 | | publicly available annual reports describing data on the | 11 | | recipients of the Department programs, including assistance | 12 | | from farm subsidy programs, and the amounts of the assistance, | 13 | | delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the | 14 | | recipients. | 15 | | (b) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall conduct | 16 | | research on the status of socially disadvantaged farmers, | 17 | | including, but not limited to: | 18 | | (1) the share of land ownership of those socially | 19 | | disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers, | 20 | | delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the | 21 | | landowners; | 22 | | (2) the share of the amount of assistance those | 23 | | socially disadvantaged farmers receive from the Department | 24 | | as compared to all farmers, delineated by the race, | 25 | | ethnicity, and gender of the recipients; |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 9 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | (3) the share, status, and receipt of loans by | 2 | | socially disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers, | 3 | | delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the | 4 | | recipients; and | 5 | | (4) an assessment of the reasons for disparities in | 6 | | land ownership, assistance from the Department, and loans | 7 | | for socially disadvantaged farmers compared to all | 8 | | farmers. | 9 | | (c) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall conduct | 10 | | research on the demographics and status of farmworkers, | 11 | | including, but not limited to: | 12 | | (1) the races, ethnicities, ages, localities, wages | 13 | | and benefits, and working conditions of farmworkers; | 14 | | (2) the economic contributions of farmworkers to the | 15 | | State economy; and | 16 | | (3) the satisfaction of farmworkers with their | 17 | | employment. | 18 | | (d) The Department shall: | 19 | | (1) investigate historical changes in reporting | 20 | | methodology and misreporting of socially disadvantaged | 21 | | farmers in the census of agriculture; | 22 | | (2) develop procedures to ensure that census of | 23 | | agriculture surveys accurately capture the status of | 24 | | socially disadvantaged farmers engaged in urban | 25 | | agriculture; and | 26 | | (3) conduct, concurrently with each census of |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 10 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | agriculture, a review to assess: | 2 | | (A) the outreach and methodologies used in | 3 | | conducting the census of agriculture; and | 4 | | (B) how such outreach and methodologies have | 5 | | affected the counting of socially disadvantaged | 6 | | farmers. | 7 | | (e) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall | 8 | | annually conduct and annually make publicly available reports | 9 | | describing in-depth research and analysis of corporate | 10 | | (domestic and foreign) land investment and ownership in this | 11 | | State with specific attention given to the impact of corporate | 12 | | land investment and ownership on: | 13 | | (1) land consolidation trends in this State and in the | 14 | | United States; | 15 | | (2) challenges and opportunities for new and beginning | 16 | | farmers accessing land for farming; | 17 | | (3) challenges and opportunities for members of | 18 | | socially disadvantaged groups accessing land for farming; | 19 | | and | 20 | | (4) crop selection and production trends. | 21 | | Section 35. Rulemaking. The Department shall adopt rules | 22 | | to carry out the provisions of this Act, including the | 23 | | adoption of rules that establish a process for submitting and | 24 | | processing of applications for grants no later than December | 25 | | 31, 2023. Rules shall align with existing federal and local |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 11 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | programs to maximize potential for matching funds.
| 2 | | Section 40. Farmer Equity and Opportunity Council. | 3 | | (a) There is hereby established the Farmer Equity and | 4 | | Opportunity Council to advise and assist the Department with | 5 | | administration and implementation of the program utilizing the | 6 | | criteria proposed by the Department and adopted by the | 7 | | Council. | 8 | | (b) The Council shall consist of the following members: | 9 | | (1) the Director of Agriculture or his or her | 10 | | designee; | 11 | | (2) the Director of Natural Resources or his or her | 12 | | designee; and | 13 | | (3) the following members appointed by the Governor: | 14 | | (A) one member who is the designated | 15 | | representative of a qualified entity; | 16 | | (B) one member who is a designated representative | 17 | | of a qualified easement holder; | 18 | | (C) one member who is the designated | 19 | | representative of a statewide agricultural | 20 | | organization; | 21 | | (D) one member who operates a family farm in this | 22 | | State; | 23 | | (E) one member who operates a farm in this State | 24 | | and who qualifies as socially disadvantaged; | 25 | | (F) one member who is the designated |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 12 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | representative of a banking or lending organization | 2 | | and who has experience in agricultural lending to | 3 | | socially disadvantaged, limited resource, veteran, or | 4 | | new and beginning farmers; | 5 | | (G) one member who is a designated representative | 6 | | of an agricultural educational or training program; | 7 | | (H) one member who is the designated | 8 | | representative of a natural resource planning entity; | 9 | | and | 10 | | (I) one member representing local food systems.
| 11 | | (c) Appointed members of the Council shall serve staggered | 12 | | terms of 3 years, with 4 of the members' terms expiring on | 13 | | December 31 of each odd-numbered year. | 14 | | (d) Appointments to and removal from the Council shall be | 15 | | made by the Governor and the Director of Agriculture without | 16 | | regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or | 17 | | national origin of the appointees. | 18 | | (e) The Council shall meet at least quarterly each year | 19 | | for the transaction of its business. Three-fifths of the | 20 | | members of the Council present at any board meeting shall | 21 | | constitute a quorum in order to conduct business; however, in | 22 | | the absence of a quorum, a majority of the members present may | 23 | | adjourn the meeting from time to time until a quorum shall | 24 | | attend. Any Council action or recommendation must be approved | 25 | | by a simple majority of the members of the entire Council then | 26 | | in office, unless otherwise specified in this Act. |
| | | 10300HB3556sam001 | - 13 - | LRB103 30147 RLC 60504 a |
|
| 1 | | (f) The Council shall:
| 2 | | (1) annually review and approve award grants | 3 | | recommended by the Department; | 4 | | (2) review and approve rules to be adopted by | 5 | | Department for administration of the program;
and | 6 | | (3) review outcomes of the program and advise the | 7 | | Department of changes in the program or rules to ensure | 8 | | success of the program in achieving the intent of this | 9 | | Act, including changes informed by the data collection and | 10 | | reporting under Section 25.
| 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 Farmer Equity and Opportunity Fund. | 15 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 16 | | becoming law.".
|
|