Full Text of SB3158 96th General Assembly
SB3158enr 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning hunger.
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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 | 5 |
| Commission to End Hunger Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Legislative findings. It is the goal of the | 7 |
| State of Illinois that no man, woman, or child should ever be | 8 |
| faced with hunger. | 9 |
| Despite being one of the wealthiest nations and the largest | 10 |
| agricultural producer in the world, the United States is a | 11 |
| country with pervasive hunger and Illinois is not exempt from | 12 |
| this reality. In Illinois, hunger is less a story of starvation | 13 |
| and more one of hunger and access, of individuals and families | 14 |
| simply not having access to enough healthful, nutritious food. | 15 |
| The number of families facing food emergencies is growing. | 16 |
| Requests for emergency food assistance grew by an estimated 30 | 17 |
| percent nationally in 2009 alone. | 18 |
| The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which | 19 |
| defines food security as "access by all people at all times to | 20 |
| enough nutritious food for an active, healthy life," also | 21 |
| estimates that between 2006 and 2008, 11.1 percent of Illinois | 22 |
| households experienced food insecurity. Nearly 1/3 of those | 23 |
| households were considered very food insecure. It is important |
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| to note that the USDA numbers only reflect what was taking | 2 |
| place between 2006 and 2008. Since then, the economy has | 3 |
| significantly weakened, and there are likely many more people | 4 |
| struggling with hunger than what the USDA report states. | 5 |
| When examining hunger in the region, participation levels | 6 |
| in existing nutrition programs are an indicator of the level of | 7 |
| need in the community. However, many nutrition programs are | 8 |
| underutilized by the families and individuals that need them, | 9 |
| so while examining program participation data, it is important | 10 |
| to keep in mind that this likely underrepresents the true need | 11 |
| in the community. It is estimated that only 79 percent of | 12 |
| Illinoisans eligible for SNAP benefits were enrolled as of | 13 |
| 2006. | 14 |
| The School Breakfast Program (School Breakfast) and the | 15 |
| Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), two child-focused | 16 |
| programs, are also underutilized. Illinois currently ranks | 17 |
| 51st amongst all states and the District of Columbia in | 18 |
| enrollment for free and reduced priced school breakfasts. | 19 |
| Illinois earned this bottom ranking because less than 33% of | 20 |
| eligible children (those who receive free and reduced lunch) | 21 |
| are also accessing School Breakfast. According to a report | 22 |
| released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), | 23 |
| increasing School Breakfast participation in Illinois to just | 24 |
| 60% would yield an additional $42,655,714 in federal funds and | 25 |
| would result in 189,668 more children receiving breakfast | 26 |
| everyday. Likewise, increasing the participation rate in the |
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| SFSP to just 40% would result in Illinois receiving over $9.2 | 2 |
| million in additional federal funds and in thousands of | 3 |
| children continuing to have access to breakfast or lunch, or | 4 |
| both, during the summer months. | 5 |
| Opportunities exist in several areas to eliminate barriers | 6 |
| preventing individuals from accessing quality, nutritious food | 7 |
| and achieving food security. Promoting health and wellness | 8 |
| through nutrition education, coordination of services, and | 9 |
| access to nutrition programs is one such opportunity that can | 10 |
| help Illinois residents achieve food security. Establishing a | 11 |
| statewide Commission to End Hunger will guarantee | 12 |
| cross-collaboration among government entities and community | 13 |
| partners and is essential to eliminating these barriers and | 14 |
| ensuring that no man, woman, or child in Illinois should ever | 15 |
| be faced with hunger. | 16 |
| Section 10. Creation of the Commission to End Hunger. | 17 |
| (a) The General Assembly authorizes the Department of Human | 18 |
| Services to create the Commission to End Hunger. | 19 |
| (b) The purpose of the Commission to End Hunger shall be to | 20 |
| develop an action plan every 2 years, review the progress of | 21 |
| this plan, and ensure cross-collaboration among government | 22 |
| entities and community partners toward the goal of ending | 23 |
| hunger in Illinois.
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| (c) Key duties of the Commission shall include the | 25 |
| following: |
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| (1) Identify all funding sources which can be used | 2 |
| toward improving nutrition and ending hunger, for which the | 3 |
| State has administrative control, and develop | 4 |
| recommendations for future funding. | 5 |
| (2) Identify barriers to access and develop | 6 |
| sustainable policies and programs to address those | 7 |
| barriers. | 8 |
| (3) Promote and facilitate public-private | 9 |
| partnerships. | 10 |
| (4) Develop benchmarks and set goals to indicate | 11 |
| success. | 12 |
| (5) Report to the Governor and the General Assembly on | 13 |
| progress.
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| Section 15. Members. The Commission to End Hunger shall be | 15 |
| composed of no more than 21 voting members including 2 members | 16 |
| of the Illinois House of Representatives, one appointed by the | 17 |
| Speaker of the House and one appointed by the House Minority | 18 |
| Leader; 2 members of the Illinois Senate, one appointed by the | 19 |
| Senate President and one appointed by the Senate Minority | 20 |
| Leader; one representative of the Office of the Governor | 21 |
| appointed by the Governor; one representative of the Office of | 22 |
| the Lieutenant Governor appointed by the Lieutenant Governor; | 23 |
| and 15 public members, who shall be appointed by the Governor.
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| The public members shall include 2 representatives of food | 25 |
| banks; 2 representatives from other community food assistance |
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| programs; a representative of a statewide organization focused | 2 |
| on responding to hunger; a representative from an anti-poverty | 3 |
| organization; a representative of an organization that serves | 4 |
| or advocates for children and youth; a representative of an | 5 |
| organization that serves or advocates for older adults; a | 6 |
| representative of an organization that advocates for people who | 7 |
| are homeless; a representative of an organization that serves | 8 |
| or advocates for persons with disabilities; a representative of | 9 |
| an organization that advocates for immigrants; a | 10 |
| representative of a municipal or county government; a | 11 |
| representative of a township government; and 2 at-large | 12 |
| members. The appointed members shall reflect the racial, | 13 |
| gender, and geographic diversity of the State and shall include | 14 |
| representation from regions of the State. | 15 |
| The following officials shall serve as ex-officio members: | 16 |
| the Secretary of Human Services or his or her designee; the | 17 |
| State Superintendent of Education or his or her designee; the | 18 |
| Director of Healthcare and Family Services or his or her | 19 |
| designee; the Director of Children and Family Services or his | 20 |
| or her designee; the Director of Aging or his or her designee; | 21 |
| and the Director of Agriculture or his or her designee. The | 22 |
| African-American Family Commission and the Latino Family | 23 |
| Commission shall each designate a liaison to serve ex-officio | 24 |
| on the Commission.
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| Members shall serve without compensation and are | 26 |
| responsible for the cost of all reasonable and necessary travel |
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| expenses connected to Commission business, as the State of | 2 |
| Illinois will not reimburse Commission members for these costs.
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| Commission members shall be appointed within 60 days after | 4 |
| the effective date of this Act. The Commission shall hold their | 5 |
| initial meetings within 60 days after at least 50% of the | 6 |
| members have been appointed.
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| The representative of the Office of the Governor and a | 8 |
| representative of a food bank shall serve as co-chairs of the | 9 |
| Commission.
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| At the first meeting of the Commission, the members shall | 11 |
| select a 5-person Steering Committee that includes the | 12 |
| co-chairs.
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| The Commission may establish committees that address | 14 |
| specific issues or populations and may appoint individuals with | 15 |
| relevant expertise who are not appointed members of the | 16 |
| Commission to serve on committees as needed. | 17 |
| The Office of the Governor, or a designee of the Governor's | 18 |
| choosing, shall provide guidance to the Commission. Under the | 19 |
| leadership of the Office of the Governor, subject to | 20 |
| appropriation, the Department of Human Services shall also | 21 |
| provide leadership to support the Commission. The Department of | 22 |
| Human Services and the State of Illinois shall not incur any | 23 |
| costs as a result of the creation of the Commission to End | 24 |
| Hunger as the coordination of meetings, report preparation, and | 25 |
| other related duties will be completed by a representative of a | 26 |
| food bank that is serving as a co-chair of the Commission. |
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| Section 20. Meetings and reports. The full Commission shall | 2 |
| meet at least twice annually. The Steering Committee shall meet | 3 |
| at least quarterly. | 4 |
| The Commission shall issue an interim report on its | 5 |
| activities and recommendations to the constitutional officers | 6 |
| and to the General Assembly no later than 12 months from the | 7 |
| date of the first Commission meeting. | 8 |
| A work plan shall be adopted by the Commission not later | 9 |
| than 12 months from the date of the first Commission meeting | 10 |
| and sent to the constitutional officers and to the General | 11 |
| Assembly. Following the adoption of the initial work plan, the | 12 |
| Commission shall continue to meet and issue annual reports | 13 |
| regarding progress on the goal of ending hunger in Illinois and | 14 |
| on the implementation of the work plan.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 16 |
| becoming law.
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