093_HB1599
LRB093 04499 JAM 04552 b
1 AN ACT concerning tourism.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Department of Commerce and Community
5 Affairs Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is
6 amended by changing Section 605-705 as follows:
7 (20 ILCS 605/605-705) (was 20 ILCS 605/46.6a)
8 Sec. 605-705. Grants to local tourism and convention
9 bureaus.
10 (a) To establish a grant program for local tourism and
11 convention bureaus. The Department of Commerce and Community
12 Affairs will develop and implement a program for the use of
13 funds, as authorized under this Act, by local tourism and
14 convention bureaus. For the purposes of this Act, bureaus
15 eligible to receive funds are those local tourism and
16 convention bureaus that are (i) either units of local
17 government or incorporated as not-for-profit organizations;
18 (ii) in legal existence for a minimum of 2 years before July
19 1, 2001; (iii) operating with a paid, full-time staff whose
20 sole purpose is to promote tourism in the designated service
21 area; and (iv) affiliated with one or more municipalities or
22 counties that support the bureau with local hotel-motel
23 taxes. After July 1, 2001, bureaus requesting certification
24 in order to receive funds for the first time must be local
25 tourism and convention bureaus that are (i) either units of
26 local government or incorporated as not-for-profit
27 organizations; (ii) in legal existence for a minimum of 2
28 years before the request for certification; (iii) operating
29 with a paid, full-time staff whose sole purpose is to promote
30 tourism in the designated service area; and (iv) affiliated
31 with multiple municipalities or counties that support the
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1 bureau with local hotel-motel taxes. Each bureau receiving
2 funds under this Act will be certified by the Department as
3 the designated recipient to serve an area of the State.
4 Notwithstanding the criteria set forth in this subsection
5 (a), or any rule adopted under this subsection (a), the
6 Director of the Department may provide for the award of grant
7 funds to one or more entities if in the Department's judgment
8 that action is necessary in order to prevent a loss of
9 funding critical to promoting tourism in a designated
10 geographic area of the State.
11 (b) To distribute grants to local tourism and convention
12 bureaus from appropriations made from the Local Tourism Fund
13 for that purpose. Of the amounts appropriated annually to
14 the Department for expenditure under this Section, one-third
15 of those monies shall be used for grants to convention and
16 tourism bureaus in cities with a population greater than
17 500,000. The remaining two-thirds of the annual
18 appropriation shall be used for grants to convention and
19 tourism bureaus in the remainder of the State, in accordance
20 with a formula based upon the population served. The
21 Department may reserve up to 10% of the total appropriated to
22 conduct audits of grants, to provide incentive funds to those
23 bureaus that will conduct promotional activities designed to
24 further the Department's statewide advertising campaign, to
25 fund special statewide promotional activities, and to fund
26 promotional activities that support an increased use of the
27 State's parks or historic sites.
28 (Source: P.A. 91-239, eff. 1-1-00; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99;
29 92-16, eff. 6-28-01; 92-38, eff. 6-28-01; 92-524, eff.
30 2-8-02.)