Full Text of SB1923 95th General Assembly
SB1923eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Public | 5 |
| Interest Attorney Assistance Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly | 7 |
| finds the following: | 8 |
| (1) Equal access to justice is a basic right that is | 9 |
| fundamental to democracy in this State, and the integrity | 10 |
| of this State and this State's justice system depends on | 11 |
| protecting and enforcing the rights of all people. | 12 |
| (2) Equal access to justice is an integral part of the | 13 |
| general public welfare. | 14 |
| (3) Vulnerable and disadvantaged citizens of this | 15 |
| State are unable to protect or enforce their rights without | 16 |
| legal assistance from public interest attorneys. | 17 |
| (4) Graduating law students and practicing attorneys | 18 |
| are increasingly unable to continue in public interest | 19 |
| attorney positions because of high student loan debt. | 20 |
| (5) Assisting public interest attorneys with loan | 21 |
| forgiveness is a major step toward ensuring quality legal | 22 |
| representation for this State's most vulnerable citizens. | 23 |
| (6) The collection and distribution of funds under this |
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| Act promotes equal access to justice and is in the public | 2 |
| interest. | 3 |
| (7) The use of funds for the purposes prescribed by | 4 |
| this Act is consistent with providing equal access to | 5 |
| justice. | 6 |
| Section 10. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to | 7 |
| encourage qualified individuals to enter into and continue in | 8 |
| employment in this State as assistant State's Attorneys, | 9 |
| assistant Public Defenders, civil legal aid attorneys, | 10 |
| assistant Attorneys General, and assistant public guardians | 11 |
| and to protect and enforce the rights of this State's most | 12 |
| vulnerable citizens. | 13 |
| Section 15. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act: | 14 |
| "Assistant State's Attorney" means a full-time employee of | 15 |
| a State's Attorney in Illinois or the State's Attorneys | 16 |
| Appellate Prosecutor who is continually licensed to practice | 17 |
| law and prosecutes or defends cases on behalf of the State or a | 18 |
| county. | 19 |
| "Assistant Attorney General" means a full-time employee of | 20 |
| the Illinois Attorney General who is continually licensed to | 21 |
| practice law and prosecutes or defends cases on behalf of the | 22 |
| State. | 23 |
| "Assistant Public Defender" means a full-time employee of a | 24 |
| Public Defender in Illinois or the State Appellate Defender who |
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| is continually licensed to practice law and provides legal | 2 |
| representation to indigent persons, as provided by statute. | 3 |
| "Assistant public guardian" means a full-time employee of a | 4 |
| public guardian in Illinois who is continually licensed to | 5 |
| practice law and provides legal representation pursuant to | 6 |
| court appointment. | 7 |
| "Civil legal aid" means free or reduced-cost legal | 8 |
| representation or advice to low-income clients in non-criminal | 9 |
| matters. | 10 |
| "Civil legal aid attorney" means an attorney who is | 11 |
| continually licensed to practice law and is employed full time | 12 |
| as an attorney at a civil legal aid organization in Illinois. | 13 |
| "Civil legal aid organization" means a not-for-profit | 14 |
| corporation in Illinois that (i) is exempt from the payment of | 15 |
| federal income tax pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the | 16 |
| Internal Revenue Code, (ii) is established for the purpose of | 17 |
| providing legal services that include civil legal aid, (iii) | 18 |
| employs 2 or more full-time attorneys who are licensed to | 19 |
| practice law in this State and who directly provide civil legal | 20 |
| aid, and (iv) is in compliance with registration and filing | 21 |
| requirements that are applicable under the Charitable Trust Act | 22 |
| and the Solicitation for Charity Act. | 23 |
| "Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance | 24 |
| Commission. | 25 |
| "Committee" means the advisory committee created under | 26 |
| Section 20 of this Act. |
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| "Eligible debt" means outstanding principal, interest, and | 2 |
| related fees from loans obtained for undergraduate, graduate, | 3 |
| or law school educational expenses made by government or | 4 |
| commercial lending institutions or educational institutions. | 5 |
| "Eligible debt" excludes loans made by a private individual or | 6 |
| family member. | 7 |
| "Program" means the Public Interest Attorney Loan | 8 |
| Repayment Assistance Program. | 9 |
| "Public interest attorney" means an attorney practicing in | 10 |
| Illinois who is an assistant State's Attorney, assistant Public | 11 |
| Defender, civil legal aid attorney, assistant Attorney | 12 |
| General, or assistant public guardian. | 13 |
| "Qualifying employer" means (i) an Illinois State's | 14 |
| Attorney or the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, (ii) an | 15 |
| Illinois Public Defender or the State Appellate Defender, (iii) | 16 |
| an Illinois civil legal aid organization, (iv) the Illinois | 17 |
| Attorney General, or (v) an Illinois public guardian. | 18 |
| Section 20. Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment | 19 |
| Assistance Program. | 20 |
| (a) The Commission shall establish and administer the | 21 |
| Program for the primary purpose of providing loan repayment | 22 |
| assistance to practicing attorneys to encourage them to pursue | 23 |
| careers as public interest attorneys to protect and enforce the | 24 |
| rights of this State's most vulnerable citizens. The Commission | 25 |
| shall create an advisory committee composed of representatives |
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| from organizations with relevant expertise, including one | 2 |
| person from each of the following entities: | 3 |
| (1) The Illinois State's Attorneys Association. | 4 |
| (2) An office of an Illinois Public Defender. | 5 |
| (3) An office of an Illinois public guardian. | 6 |
| (4) The Office of the Illinois Attorney General. | 7 |
| (5) The Illinois Coalition for Equal Justice. | 8 |
| (6) The Chicago Bar Association. | 9 |
| (7) The Illinois State Bar Association. | 10 |
| (8) A public law school in this State. | 11 |
| (b) The Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Assistance | 12 |
| Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. The | 13 |
| Fund shall consist of all moneys remitted to the Commission | 14 |
| under the terms of this Act. All money in the Fund shall be | 15 |
| used, subject to appropriation, by the Commission for the | 16 |
| purposes of this Act. | 17 |
| (c) Subject to the availability of appropriations and | 18 |
| subsections (d) and (e) of this Section, the Commission shall | 19 |
| distribute funds to eligible applicants. | 20 |
| (d) The Commission is authorized to prescribe all rules, | 21 |
| policies, and procedures necessary or convenient for the | 22 |
| administration of the Program and all terms and conditions | 23 |
| applicable to payments made under this Act. This shall be done | 24 |
| with the guidance and assistance of the Committee. | 25 |
| (e) The Commission shall administer the Program, | 26 |
| including, but not limited to, establishing and implementing |
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| the following: | 2 |
| (1) An application process. Subject to the | 3 |
| availability of appropriations, the Commission shall, each | 4 |
| year, consider applications by eligible public interest | 5 |
| attorneys for loan repayment assistance under the Program. | 6 |
| (2) Eligibility requirements. The Commission shall, on | 7 |
| an annual basis, receive and consider applications for loan | 8 |
| repayment assistance under the Program if the Commission | 9 |
| finds that the applicant: | 10 |
| (i) is a citizen or permanent resident of the | 11 |
| United States; | 12 |
| (ii) is a licensed member of the Illinois Bar in | 13 |
| good standing; | 14 |
| (iii) has eligible debt in grace or repayment | 15 |
| status; and | 16 |
| (iv) is employed as a public interest attorney with | 17 |
| a qualifying employer in Illinois. | 18 |
| (3) A maximum amount of loan repayment assistance for | 19 |
| each participant, which shall be $6,000 per year, up to a | 20 |
| maximum of $30,000 during the participant's career. | 21 |
| (4) Prioritization. The Commission shall develop | 22 |
| criteria for prioritization among eligible applicants in | 23 |
| the event that there are insufficient funds available to | 24 |
| make payments to all eligible applicants under this Act. | 25 |
| The prioritization criteria shall include the timeliness | 26 |
| of the application, the applicant's salary level, the |
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| amount of the applicant's eligible debt, the availability | 2 |
| of other loan repayment assistance to the applicant, the | 3 |
| applicant's length of service as a public interest | 4 |
| attorney, and the applicant's prior participation in the | 5 |
| Program. | 6 |
| (f) The distribution of funds available after | 7 |
| administrative costs must be made by the Commission to eligible | 8 |
| public interest attorneys in the following manner: | 9 |
| (1) Loan repayment assistance must be in the form of a | 10 |
| forgivable loan. | 11 |
| (2) To have the loan forgiven, the participant shall | 12 |
| (i) complete a year of employment with a qualifying | 13 |
| employer and (ii) make educational debt payments (interest | 14 |
| or principal or both) that equal at least the amount of | 15 |
| assistance received under the Program during the | 16 |
| assistance year. | 17 |
| (3) Each loan must be documented by means of a | 18 |
| promissory note executed by the borrower in a form provided | 19 |
| by the Commission and shall be forgiven when an eligible | 20 |
| participant meets the requirements set forth by the | 21 |
| Commission.
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| Section 25. Ineligibility and termination of funds; | 23 |
| procedures. | 24 |
| (a) If a participant becomes ineligible during the term of | 25 |
| a loan, he or she must repay the outstanding amount of any loan |
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| received from the Commission. | 2 |
| (b) The Commission may in its discretion forgive the loan | 3 |
| of a participant in whole or in part in certain circumstances | 4 |
| as set forth in its written policies and guidelines. | 5 |
| Section 30. Other powers. The Commission may make, enter | 6 |
| into, and execute contracts, agreements, leases, and other | 7 |
| instruments with any person, including without limitation any | 8 |
| federal, State, or local governmental agency, and may take | 9 |
| other actions that may be necessary or convenient to accomplish | 10 |
| any purpose authorized by this Act. | 11 |
| Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | 12 |
| Section 5.708 as follows: | 13 |
| (30 ILCS 105/5.708 new)
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| Sec. 5.708. The Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment | 15 |
| Assistance Fund.
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