093_SB1408
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1 AN ACT concerning transportation.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Interagency Coordinating Committee on Transportation Act.
6 Section 5. Findings; purpose. The General Assembly finds
7 that safe, reliable, and convenient transportation to and
8 from work and related destinations such as child care and
9 education is an extremely important factor in the ability to
10 find and retain employment, particularly in the lower income
11 sectors of the economy. For many people, these transportation
12 needs are not met by existing mass transit. This creates a
13 need for innovative transportation to work strategies that
14 fit within local circumstances. Many localities around
15 Illinois do not have the resources or the expertise to
16 develop and support innovative transportation options.
17 Localities need access to technical assistance both in
18 designing programs and in accessing various sources of State
19 and federal funds. Illinois also leaves substantial federal
20 transportation funds unclaimed because of the failure to put
21 forward projects to use the funds. Thus, Illinois would
22 benefit from an Interagency Coordinating Committee to set
23 priorities and define a vision for improving access to
24 transportation for the transportation disadvantaged.
25 Illinois would also benefit from a unified State process to
26 apply for federal transportation assistance for innovative
27 transportation to work projects and strategies and for
28 supplying the matching funds necessary to access that federal
29 assistance. The purpose of this Act is to establish the
30 Interagency Coordinating Committee on Transportation.
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1 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
2 (1) "Agency" means an official, commission,
3 authority, council, department, committee, division,
4 bureau, board, or any other unit or entity of the State,
5 a municipality, a county, or other local governing body
6 or a private not-for-profit transportation service
7 providing agency.
8 (2) "Committee" means the Illinois Coordinating
9 Committee on Transportation.
10 (3) "Coordination" means the arrangement for the
11 provision of transportation services to the
12 transportation disadvantaged in a manner that is
13 cost-effective, efficient, and reduces fragmentation and
14 duplication of services.
15 (4) "Transportation disadvantaged" means those
16 persons who, because of physical or mental disability,
17 income status, age, location of residence, or other
18 reasons are unable to transport themselves or to purchase
19 affordable transportation and are, therefore, dependent
20 upon others to obtain access to health care, employment,
21 education, shopping, social activities, or other
22 life-sustaining activities.
23 Section 15. Committee. The Illinois Coordinating
24 Committee on Transportation is created and shall consist of
25 the following members:
26 (1) The Governor or his or her designee.
27 (2) The Secretary of Transportation or his or her
28 designee.
29 (3) The Secretary of Human Services (or his or her
30 designee).
31 (4) The Director of Aging or his or her designee.
32 (5) The Director of Public Aid or his or her
33 designee.
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1 (6) The Director of Commerce and Community Affairs
2 or his or her designee.
3 (7) A representative of the Illinois Rural Transit
4 Assistance Center.
5 (8) A person who is a member of a recognized
6 statewide organization representing older residents of
7 Illinois.
8 (9) A representative of centers for independent
9 living.
10 (10) A representative of the Illinois Public
11 Transportation Association.
12 (11) A representative of an existing transportation
13 system that coordinates and provides transit services in
14 a multi-county area for the Department of Transportation,
15 Department of Human Services, Department of Commerce and
16 Community Affairs, or Department on Aging.
17 (12) A representative of a statewide organization
18 of rehabilitation facilities or other providers of
19 services for persons with one or more disabilities.
20 (13) A representative of a community based
21 organization.
22 (14) A representative of the Department of Public
23 Health.
24 (15) A representative of the Rural Partners.
25 (16) The Director of Employment Security or his or
26 her designee.
27 The Governor shall appoint the members of the Committee
28 other than those named in paragraphs (1) through (6) and
29 paragraph (16) of this Section. The Governor or his or her
30 designee shall serve as chairperson of the Committee and
31 shall convene the meetings of the Committee. The Secretary of
32 Transportation and a representative of a community based
33 organization involved in transportation or their designees,
34 shall serve as co-vice-chairpersons and shall be responsible
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1 for staff support for the committee.
2 Section 20. Duties of Committee. The Committee shall
3 encourage the coordination of public and private
4 transportation services, with priority given to services
5 directed toward those populations who are currently not
6 served or who are underserved by existing public transit.
7 The Committee shall seek innovative approaches to providing
8 and funding local transportation services and offer their
9 expertise to communities statewide. Specifically, the
10 Committee shall:
11 (1) Coordinate a State process within federal
12 guidelines to facilitate coordination of community-based
13 transportation programs. This process should include:
14 developing objectives for providing essential
15 transportation services to the transportation
16 disadvantaged; providing technical assistance to
17 communities that are addressing transportation gaps that
18 affect low-income populations; developing a process for
19 requesting federal funds such as the Job Access and
20 Reverse Commute (JARC) Grant program that is based on
21 input from communities statewide; assisting communities
22 in identifying funds from other available sources for
23 projects that are not an eligible use of JARC funds; and
24 developing a plan to identify and recruit potential
25 stakeholders in future community transportation
26 initiatives the committee.
27 (2) Develop goals and objectives to reduce
28 duplication of services and achieve coverage that is as
29 complete as possible.
30 (3) Serve as a clearinghouse for information about
31 funding sources and innovations in serving the
32 transportation disadvantaged.
33 (4) Submit a report, not later than February 1,
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1 2006, to the Governor and the General Assembly that
2 outlines the progress made by the Committee in performing
3 its duties set forth in paragraphs (1) through (4) of
4 this Section and makes recommendations for statutory and
5 regulatory changes to promote coordination.
6 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
7 becoming law.