Full Text of SB2074 95th General Assembly
SB2074sam001 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. Michael W. Frerichs
Filed: 3/3/2008
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2074
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2074 by replacing | 3 |
| everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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| "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Commission on the Eradication of Poverty Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Legislative Findings. It is the policy of this | 7 |
| State to eradicate poverty in Illinois. | 8 |
| Freedom from poverty is a human right. The preamble to the | 9 |
| Constitution of the State of Illinois states that the | 10 |
| elimination of poverty is one of the fundamental goals of our | 11 |
| State government. The Illinois Human Rights Act states that the | 12 |
| public policy of the State of Illinois is "to promote the | 13 |
| public health, welfare and safety by protecting the interest of | 14 |
| all people in Illinois in maintaining personal dignity, in | 15 |
| realizing their full productive capacities, and in furthering | 16 |
| their interests, rights and privileges as citizens of this |
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| State". The State of Illinois is a party to all international | 2 |
| human rights treaties signed and ratified by the United States. | 3 |
| Illinois is one of the wealthiest states in the United | 4 |
| States, yet it has one of the highest rates of poverty and | 5 |
| extreme poverty in the Midwest. The poverty level in 2007 was | 6 |
| $20,620 or less per year for a family of 4 and $10,310 or less | 7 |
| per year for a family of 4 in extreme poverty. In 2006 just | 8 |
| under 1,400,000 people residing in Illinois were living in | 9 |
| poverty and over 687,000 people residing in Illinois were | 10 |
| living in extreme poverty. There are people living in extreme | 11 |
| poverty in every Illinois county. | 12 |
| Full participation in civic life cannot be achieved without | 13 |
| those things that protect and preserve human dignity and make | 14 |
| for a healthy life, including adequate nutrition and housing, | 15 |
| meaningful work, safe communities, health care, and education. | 16 |
| Illinois has no comprehensive plan for the elimination of | 17 |
| extreme poverty. | 18 |
| Section 10. Commission on the Eradication of Poverty. The | 19 |
| Commission on the Eradication of Poverty is created. The | 20 |
| purpose of the Commission is to comprehensively address poverty | 21 |
| in Illinois consistent with international human rights | 22 |
| standards. The initial goal of the Commission is to develop a | 23 |
| poverty eradication strategic plan to reduce extreme poverty in | 24 |
| Illinois by 50% or more by 2015. In developing the overall | 25 |
| strategic plan, and in working toward the goal of reducing |
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| extreme poverty in Illinois by at least 50% by 2015, the | 2 |
| Commission shall address, at a minimum, all of the following: | 3 |
| (1) Access to safe, decent and affordable housing. | 4 |
| (2) Access to adequate food and nutrition. | 5 |
| (3) Access to affordable and quality health care. | 6 |
| (4) Equal access to quality education and training. | 7 |
| (5) Dependable and affordable transportation. | 8 |
| (6) Access to quality and affordable child care. | 9 |
| (7) Opportunities to engage in meaningful and sustainable | 10 |
| work that pays a living wage. | 11 |
| (8) The availability of adequate income supports. | 12 |
| The strategic plan shall include specific policy and fiscal | 13 |
| recommendations and a timeline for each stage of implementation | 14 |
| for every specific recommendation. For each specific | 15 |
| recommendation, the Commission shall identify in measurable | 16 |
| terms the actual or potential impact of each recommendation. | 17 |
| The Commission may review and may make comments and | 18 |
| recommendations on existing or proposed programs, policies, | 19 |
| administrative rules, and statutes that have an impact on | 20 |
| poverty in Illinois and, in particular, people living in | 21 |
| extreme poverty. | 22 |
| Section 15. Members; terms. The Commission on the | 23 |
| Eradication of Poverty shall be composed of no more than 26 | 24 |
| voting members including 2 members of the Illinois House of | 25 |
| Representatives, one appointed by the Speaker of the House and |
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| one appointed by the House Minority Leader; 2 members of the | 2 |
| Illinois Senate, one appointed by the Senate President and one | 3 |
| appointed by the Senate Minority Leader; one representative of | 4 |
| the Office of the Governor appointed by the Governor; one | 5 |
| representative of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor | 6 |
| appointed by the Lieutenant Governor; and 20 public members, 4 | 7 |
| of whom shall be appointed by the Governor, 4 of whom shall be | 8 |
| appointed by the Speaker of the House, 4 of whom shall be | 9 |
| appointed by the House Minority Leader, 4 of whom shall be | 10 |
| appointed by the Senate President, and 4 of whom shall be | 11 |
| appointed by the Senate Minority Leader. It shall be determined | 12 |
| by lot who will appoint which public members of the Commission. | 13 |
| The public members shall include a representative of a | 14 |
| service-based human rights organization; 2 representatives | 15 |
| from anti-poverty organizations, including one that focuses on | 16 |
| rural poverty; 2 individuals who have experienced extreme | 17 |
| poverty; a representative of an organization that advocates for | 18 |
| health care access, affordability and availability; a | 19 |
| representative of an organization that advocates for persons | 20 |
| with mental illness; a representative of an organization that | 21 |
| advocates for children and youth; a representative of an | 22 |
| organization that advocates for quality and equality in | 23 |
| education; a representative of an organization that advocates | 24 |
| for people who are homeless; a representative of a statewide | 25 |
| anti-hunger organization; a person with a disability; a | 26 |
| representative of an organization that advocates for persons |
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| with disabilities; a representative of an organization that | 2 |
| advocates for immigrants; a representative of a statewide | 3 |
| faith-based organization that provides direct social services | 4 |
| in Illinois; a representative of an organization that advocates | 5 |
| for economic security for women; a representative of an | 6 |
| organization that advocates for older adults; a representative | 7 |
| of a labor organization that represents primarily low and | 8 |
| middle-income wage earners; a representative of a municipal or | 9 |
| county government; and a representative of township | 10 |
| government. The appointed members shall reflect the racial, | 11 |
| gender, and geographic diversity of the State and shall include | 12 |
| representation from regions of the State experiencing the | 13 |
| highest rates of extreme poverty. | 14 |
| The following officials shall serve as ex-officio | 15 |
| non-voting members: the Secretary of Human Services or his or | 16 |
| her designee; the Director of Corrections or his or her | 17 |
| designee; the Director of Healthcare and Family Services or his | 18 |
| or her designee; the Director of Human Rights or his or her | 19 |
| designee; the Director of Children and Family Services or his | 20 |
| or her designee; the Director of Commerce and Economic | 21 |
| Opportunity or his or her designee; the State Superintendent of | 22 |
| Education or his or her designee; the Director of Aging or his | 23 |
| or her designee; the Director of Public Health or his or her | 24 |
| designee; and the Director of Employment Security or his or her | 25 |
| designee. The State Workforce Investment Board, the | 26 |
| African-American Family Commission, and the Latino Family |
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| Commission shall each designate a liaison to serve ex-officio | 2 |
| on the Commission.
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| Members shall serve without compensation, but, subject to | 4 |
| the availability of funds, public members may be reimbursed for | 5 |
| reasonable and necessary travel expenses connected to | 6 |
| Commission business. | 7 |
| Commission members shall be appointed within 60 days after | 8 |
| the effective date of this Act. The Commission shall hold its | 9 |
| initial meeting within 30 days after at least 50% of the voting | 10 |
| members have been appointed. | 11 |
| The representative of the Office of the Governor and the | 12 |
| representative of a service-based human rights organization | 13 |
| shall serve as co-chairs of the Commission. | 14 |
| Section 20. Meetings; reports. The Commission shall meet at | 15 |
| least quarterly. In addition, it may hold up to 4 public | 16 |
| hearings to assist in the development of the strategic plan. | 17 |
| The Commission shall also consider written comments for the | 18 |
| purpose of developing the strategic plan. | 19 |
| The Commission shall issue an interim report on its | 20 |
| activities and recommendations to the constitutional officers | 21 |
| and to the General Assembly on or before March 1, 2009. The | 22 |
| strategic plan shall be adopted by the Commission not later | 23 |
| than January 1, 2010 and sent to the constitutional officers | 24 |
| and to the General Assembly. Following the adoption of the | 25 |
| strategic plan, the Commission shall continue to meet and issue |
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| annual reports by March 1st of each year on the implementation | 2 |
| of the strategic plan. | 3 |
| The Commission shall hold at least one public hearing prior | 4 |
| to the issuance of each annual report.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 6 |
| becoming law.".
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