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Public Act 096-0157
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| SB1629 Enrolled |
LRB096 08972 DRJ 21230 b |
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AN ACT concerning public aid.
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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 5. The Energy Assistance Act is amended by changing |
Section 6 as follows:
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(305 ILCS 20/6) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1406)
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Sec. 6. Eligibility, Conditions of Participation, and |
Energy Assistance.
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(a) Any person who is a resident of the State of Illinois |
and whose
household income is not greater than an amount |
determined annually by the
Department, in consultation with the |
Policy Advisory Council, may
apply for assistance pursuant to |
this Act in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the |
Department. In setting the annual eligibility level, the
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Department shall consider the amount of available funding and |
may not set a
limit higher than 150% of the federal nonfarm |
poverty level as established by
the federal Office of |
Management and Budget.
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(b) Applicants who qualify for assistance pursuant to |
subsection (a) of
this Section shall, subject to appropriation |
from the General Assembly and
subject to availability of funds |
to the Department, receive energy
assistance as provided by |
this Act. The Department, upon receipt
of monies authorized |
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pursuant to this Act for energy assistance, shall commit
funds |
for each qualified applicant in an amount determined by the
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Department. In determining the amounts of assistance to be |
provided to or
on behalf of a qualified applicant, the |
Department shall ensure that the
highest amounts of assistance |
go to households with the greatest energy
costs in relation to |
household income. The Department shall include
factors such as |
energy costs, household size, household income, and region
of |
the State when determining individual household benefits. In |
setting
assistance levels, the Department shall attempt to |
provide assistance to
approximately the same number of |
households who participated in the 1991
Residential Energy |
Assistance Partnership Program. Such assistance levels
shall |
be adjusted annually on the basis of funding
availability and |
energy costs. In promulgating rules for the
administration of |
this
Section the Department shall assure that a minimum of 1/3 |
of funds
available for benefits to eligible households with the |
lowest incomes and that elderly and
disabled households are |
offered a priority application
period.
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(c) If the applicant is not a customer of record of an |
energy provider for winter
energy services or an applicant for |
such service, such applicant shall
receive a direct energy |
assistance payment in an amount established by the
Department |
for all such applicants under this Act; provided, however, that
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such an applicant must have rental expenses for housing greater |
than 30% of
household income.
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(c-1) This subsection shall apply only in cases where: (1) |
the applicant is not a customer of record of an energy provider |
because energy services are provided by the owner of the unit |
as a portion of the rent; (2) the applicant resides in housing |
subsidized or developed with funds provided under the Rental |
Housing Support Program Act or under a similar locally funded |
rent subsidy program, or is the voucher holder who resides in a |
rental unit within the State of Illinois and whose monthly rent |
is subsidized by the tenant-based Housing Choice Voucher |
Program under Section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937; and |
(3) the rental expenses for housing are no more than 30% of |
household income. In such cases, the household may apply for an |
energy assistance payment under this Act and the owner of the |
housing unit shall cooperate with the applicant by providing |
documentation of the energy costs for that unit. Any |
compensation paid to the energy provider who supplied energy |
services to the household shall be paid on behalf of the owner |
of the housing unit providing energy services to the household. |
The Department shall report annually to the General Assembly on |
the number of households receiving energy assistance under this |
subsection and the cost of such assistance. The provisions of |
this subsection (c-1), other than this sentence, are |
inoperative after August 31, 2012. |
(d) If the applicant is a customer of an energy provider, |
such
applicant shall receive energy assistance in an amount |
established by the
Department for all such applicants under |
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this Act, such amount to be paid
by the Department to the |
energy provider supplying winter energy service to
such |
applicant. Such applicant shall:
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(i) make all reasonable efforts to apply to any other |
appropriate
source of public energy assistance; and
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(ii) sign a waiver permitting the Department to receive |
income
information from any public or private agency |
providing income or energy
assistance and from any |
employer, whether public or private.
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(e) Any qualified applicant pursuant to this Section may |
receive or have
paid on such applicant's behalf an emergency |
assistance payment to enable
such applicant to obtain access to |
winter energy services. Any such
payments shall be made in |
accordance with regulations of the Department.
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(f) The Department may, if sufficient funds are available, |
provide
additional benefits to certain qualified applicants:
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(i) for the reduction of past due amounts owed to |
energy providers;
and
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(ii) to assist the household in responding to |
excessively high summer
temperatures or energy costs. |
Households containing elderly members, children,
a person |
with a disability, or a person with a medical need for |
conditioned air
shall receive priority for receipt of such |
benefits.
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(Source: P.A. 91-936, eff. 1-10-01; 92-690, eff. 7-18-02.)
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect September |