State Government Administration Committee
Filed: 3/12/2008
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4369
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4369 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||
5 | Commission on the Elimination of Poverty Act. | ||||||
6 | Section 5. Legislative Findings. It is the goal of the | ||||||
7 | State of Illinois that all people be free from poverty. | ||||||
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 and inequality are among the core goals | ||||||
11 | of our State government. The Illinois Human Rights Act states | ||||||
12 | that the public policy of the State of Illinois is "to promote | ||||||
13 | the public health, welfare and safety by protecting the | ||||||
14 | interest of all people in Illinois in maintaining personal | ||||||
15 | dignity, in realizing their full productive capacities, and in | ||||||
16 | furthering their interests, rights and privileges as citizens |
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1 | of this State". The State of Illinois is a party to all | ||||||
2 | international human rights treaties signed and ratified by the | ||||||
3 | United States. | ||||||
4 | Illinois is one of the wealthiest states in the United | ||||||
5 | States, yet it has one of the highest rates of poverty and | ||||||
6 | extreme poverty in the Midwest. The poverty level in 2007 was | ||||||
7 | $20,620 or less per year for a family of 4 and $10,310 or less | ||||||
8 | per year for a family of 4 in extreme poverty. In 2006 just | ||||||
9 | under 1,400,000 people residing in Illinois were living in | ||||||
10 | poverty and over 687,000 people residing in Illinois were | ||||||
11 | living in extreme poverty. There are people living in extreme | ||||||
12 | poverty in every Illinois county. | ||||||
13 | Full participation in civic life cannot be achieved without | ||||||
14 | those things that protect and preserve human dignity and make | ||||||
15 | for a healthy life, including adequate nutrition and housing, | ||||||
16 | meaningful work, safe communities, health care, and education. | ||||||
17 | Illinois has no comprehensive plan for the elimination of | ||||||
18 | extreme poverty. | ||||||
19 | Section 10. Commission on the Elimination of Poverty. The | ||||||
20 | Commission on the Elimination of Poverty is created. The | ||||||
21 | purpose of the Commission is to comprehensively address poverty | ||||||
22 | in Illinois consistent with international human rights | ||||||
23 | standards. The initial goal of the Commission is to develop a | ||||||
24 | poverty elimination strategic plan to reduce extreme poverty in | ||||||
25 | Illinois by 50% or more by 2015. In developing the overall |
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1 | strategic plan, and in working toward the goal of reducing | ||||||
2 | extreme poverty in Illinois by at least 50% by 2015, the | ||||||
3 | Commission shall address, at a minimum, all of the following: | ||||||
4 | (1) Access to safe, decent and affordable housing. | ||||||
5 | (2) Access to adequate food and nutrition. | ||||||
6 | (3) Access to affordable and quality health care. | ||||||
7 | (4) Equal access to quality education and training. | ||||||
8 | (5) Dependable and affordable transportation. | ||||||
9 | (6) Access to quality and affordable child care. | ||||||
10 | (7) Opportunities to engage in meaningful and sustainable | ||||||
11 | work that pays a living wage. | ||||||
12 | (8) The availability of adequate income supports. | ||||||
13 | The strategic plan shall include specific policy and fiscal | ||||||
14 | recommendations and a timeline for each stage of implementation | ||||||
15 | for each recommendation. For each recommendation, the | ||||||
16 | Commission shall identify in measurable terms the actual or | ||||||
17 | potential impact. The Commission may review and may make | ||||||
18 | comments and recommendations on existing or proposed programs, | ||||||
19 | policies, administrative rules, and statutes that have an | ||||||
20 | impact on poverty in Illinois and, in particular, people living | ||||||
21 | in extreme poverty. | ||||||
22 | Section 15. Members; terms. The Commission on the | ||||||
23 | Elimination 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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1 | 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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1 | 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 members: | ||||||
15 | the Secretary of Human Services or his or her designee; the | ||||||
16 | Director of Corrections or his or her designee; the Director of | ||||||
17 | Healthcare and Family Services or his or her designee; the | ||||||
18 | Director of Human Rights or his or her designee; the Director | ||||||
19 | of Children and Family Services or his or her designee; the | ||||||
20 | Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity or his or her | ||||||
21 | designee; the State Superintendent of Education or his or her | ||||||
22 | designee; the Director of Aging or his or her designee; the | ||||||
23 | Director of Public Health or his or her designee; and the | ||||||
24 | Director of Employment Security or his or her designee. The | ||||||
25 | State Workforce Investment Board, the African-American Family | ||||||
26 | Commission, and the Latino Family Commission shall each |
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1 | designate a liaison to serve ex-officio on the Commission.
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2 | Members shall serve without compensation, but, subject to | ||||||
3 | the availability of funds, public members may be reimbursed for | ||||||
4 | reasonable and necessary travel expenses connected to | ||||||
5 | Commission business. | ||||||
6 | Commission members shall be appointed within 60 days after | ||||||
7 | the effective date of this Act. The Commission shall hold its | ||||||
8 | initial meeting within 30 days after at least 50% of the voting | ||||||
9 | members have been appointed. | ||||||
10 | The representative of the Office of the Governor and the | ||||||
11 | representative of a service-based human rights organization | ||||||
12 | shall serve as co-chairs of the Commission. | ||||||
13 | At the first meeting of the Commission, the members shall | ||||||
14 | select a 7-person Steering Committee that includes the | ||||||
15 | co-chairs. | ||||||
16 | The Commission may establish committees that address | ||||||
17 | specific issues or populations and may appoint individuals with | ||||||
18 | relevant expertise who are not appointed members of the | ||||||
19 | Commission to serve on committees as needed. | ||||||
20 | Under the leadership of the Office of the Governor, the | ||||||
21 | Department of Human Services shall provide administrative | ||||||
22 | support to the Commission. | ||||||
23 | Section 20. Meetings; reports. The full Commission shall | ||||||
24 | meet at least annually. The Steering Committee shall meet at | ||||||
25 | least quarterly. In addition, it may hold up to 4 public |
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1 | hearings to assist in the development of the strategic plan. | ||||||
2 | The Commission shall also consider written comments for the | ||||||
3 | purpose of developing the strategic plan. | ||||||
4 | The Commission shall issue an interim report on its | ||||||
5 | activities and recommendations to the constitutional officers | ||||||
6 | and to the General Assembly on or before March 1, 2009. The | ||||||
7 | strategic plan shall be adopted by the Commission not later | ||||||
8 | than January 1, 2010 and sent to the constitutional officers | ||||||
9 | and to the General Assembly. Following the adoption of the | ||||||
10 | strategic plan, the Commission shall continue to meet and issue | ||||||
11 | annual reports by March 1st of each year on the implementation | ||||||
12 | of the strategic plan. | ||||||
13 | The Commission shall hold at least one public hearing prior | ||||||
14 | to the issuance of each annual report.
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15 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
16 | becoming law.".
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