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1 | AN ACT concerning public aid.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | changing Sections 4-2 and 12-4.11 as follows:
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6 | (305 ILCS 5/4-2) (from Ch. 23, par. 4-2)
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7 | Sec. 4-2. Amount of aid.
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8 | (a) The amount and nature of financial aid shall be | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | determined in accordance
with the grant amounts, rules and | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | regulations of the Illinois Department. Due
regard shall be | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | given to the self-sufficiency requirements of the family and to
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12 | the income, money contributions and other support and resources | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | available, from
whatever source. However, the amount and nature | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | of any financial aid is not
affected by the payment of any | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | grant under the "Senior Citizens and Disabled
Persons Property | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act" or any
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17 | distributions or items of income described under subparagraph | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | (X) of paragraph
(2) of subsection (a) of Section 203 of the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | Illinois Income Tax Act. The aid
shall be sufficient, when | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | added to all other income, money contributions and
support to | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | provide the family with a grant in the amount established by
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22 | Department regulation.
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23 | Beginning July 1, 2008, the Department of Human Services |
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1 | shall increase TANF grant amounts in effect on June 30, 2008 by | ||||||
2 | 15%.
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3 | (b) The Illinois Department may conduct special projects, | ||||||
4 | which may be
known as Grant Diversion Projects, under which | ||||||
5 | recipients of financial aid
under this Article are placed in | ||||||
6 | jobs and their grants are diverted to the
employer who in turn | ||||||
7 | makes payments to the recipients in the form of salary
or other | ||||||
8 | employment benefits. The Illinois Department shall by rule | ||||||
9 | specify
the terms and conditions of such Grant Diversion | ||||||
10 | Projects. Such projects
shall take into consideration and be | ||||||
11 | coordinated with the programs
administered under the Illinois | ||||||
12 | Emergency Employment Development Act.
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13 | (c) The amount and nature of the financial aid for a child | ||||||
14 | requiring
care outside his own home shall be determined in | ||||||
15 | accordance with the rules
and regulations of the Illinois | ||||||
16 | Department, with due regard to the needs
and requirements of | ||||||
17 | the child in the foster home or institution in which
he has | ||||||
18 | been placed.
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19 | (d) If the Department establishes grants for family units | ||||||
20 | consisting
exclusively of a pregnant woman with no dependent | ||||||
21 | child or including her
husband if living with her, the grant | ||||||
22 | amount for such a unit
shall be equal to the grant amount for | ||||||
23 | an assistance unit consisting of one
adult, or 2 persons if the | ||||||
24 | husband is included. Other than as herein
described, an unborn | ||||||
25 | child shall not be counted
in determining the size of an | ||||||
26 | assistance unit or for calculating grants.
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1 | Payments for basic maintenance requirements of a child or | ||||||
2 | children
and the relative with whom the child or children are | ||||||
3 | living shall be
prescribed, by rule, by the Illinois | ||||||
4 | Department.
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5 | Grants under this Article shall not be supplemented by | ||||||
6 | General
Assistance provided under Article VI.
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7 | (e) Grants shall be paid to the parent or other person with | ||||||
8 | whom the
child or children are living, except for such amount | ||||||
9 | as is paid in
behalf of the child or his parent or other | ||||||
10 | relative to other persons or
agencies pursuant to this Code or | ||||||
11 | the rules and regulations of the
Illinois Department.
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12 | (f) Subject to subsection (f-5), an assistance unit, | ||||||
13 | receiving
financial
aid under this Article or
temporarily | ||||||
14 | ineligible to receive aid under this Article under a penalty
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15 | imposed by the Illinois Department for failure to comply with | ||||||
16 | the eligibility
requirements or that voluntarily requests | ||||||
17 | termination of financial assistance
under this Article and | ||||||
18 | becomes subsequently eligible for assistance within 9
months, | ||||||
19 | shall not receive any increase in the amount of aid solely on | ||||||
20 | account
of the birth of a child; except that an increase is not | ||||||
21 | prohibited when the
birth is (i) of a child of a pregnant woman
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22 | who became eligible for aid under this Article during the | ||||||
23 | pregnancy,
or (ii) of a child born within 10 months after the | ||||||
24 | date of implementation of
this subsection, or (iii) of a child | ||||||
25 | conceived after a family became
ineligible for assistance due | ||||||
26 | to income or marriage and at least 3 months of
ineligibility |
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1 | expired before any reapplication for assistance. This | ||||||
2 | subsection
does not, however, prevent a unit from receiving a | ||||||
3 | general increase in the
amount of aid that is provided to all | ||||||
4 | recipients of aid under this Article.
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5 | The Illinois Department is authorized to transfer funds, | ||||||
6 | and shall use any
budgetary savings attributable to not | ||||||
7 | increasing the grants due to the births
of additional children, | ||||||
8 | to supplement existing funding for employment and
training | ||||||
9 | services for recipients of aid under this Article IV. The | ||||||
10 | Illinois
Department shall target, to the extent the | ||||||
11 | supplemental funding allows,
employment and training services | ||||||
12 | to the families who do not receive a grant
increase after the | ||||||
13 | birth of a child. In addition, the Illinois Department
shall | ||||||
14 | provide, to the extent the supplemental funding allows, such | ||||||
15 | families
with up to 24 months of transitional child care | ||||||
16 | pursuant to Illinois Department
rules. All remaining | ||||||
17 | supplemental funds shall be used for employment and
training | ||||||
18 | services or transitional child care support.
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19 | In making the transfers authorized by this subsection, the | ||||||
20 | Illinois
Department shall first determine, pursuant to | ||||||
21 | regulations adopted by the
Illinois Department for this | ||||||
22 | purpose, the amount of savings attributable to
not increasing | ||||||
23 | the grants due to the births of additional children. Transfers
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24 | may be made from General Revenue Fund appropriations for | ||||||
25 | distributive purposes
authorized by Article IV of this Code | ||||||
26 | only to General Revenue Fund
appropriations for employability |
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1 | development services including operating
and administrative | ||||||
2 | costs and related distributive purposes under Article
IXA of | ||||||
3 | this Code. The Director, with the approval of the Governor, | ||||||
4 | shall
certify the amount and affected line item appropriations | ||||||
5 | to the State
Comptroller.
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6 | Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit | ||||||
7 | the Illinois
Department from using funds under this Article IV | ||||||
8 | to provide
assistance in the form of vouchers
that may be used | ||||||
9 | to pay for goods and services deemed by the Illinois
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10 | Department, by rule, as suitable for the care of the child such | ||||||
11 | as diapers,
clothing, school supplies, and cribs.
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12 | (f-5) Subsection (f) shall not apply to affect the monthly | ||||||
13 | assistance
amount of
any family as a result of the birth of a | ||||||
14 | child on or after January 1, 2004.
As resources permit after | ||||||
15 | January 1, 2004, the Department may
cease applying subsection | ||||||
16 | (f) to limit assistance to families receiving
assistance under | ||||||
17 | this Article on January 1, 2004, with respect to children
born | ||||||
18 | prior to that date. In any event, subsection (f) shall be | ||||||
19 | completely
inoperative on and after July 1, 2007.
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20 | (g) (Blank).
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21 | (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, the | ||||||
22 | Illinois
Department is authorized to reduce payment levels used | ||||||
23 | to determine cash grants
under this Article after December 31 | ||||||
24 | of any fiscal year if the Illinois
Department determines that | ||||||
25 | the caseload upon which the appropriations for the
current | ||||||
26 | fiscal year are based have increased by more than 5% and the
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1 | appropriation is not sufficient to ensure that
cash benefits | ||||||
2 | under this Article do not exceed the amounts appropriated for
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3 | those cash benefits. Reductions in payment levels may be | ||||||
4 | accomplished by
emergency rule under Section 5-45 of the | ||||||
5 | Illinois Administrative Procedure Act,
except that the | ||||||
6 | limitation on the number of emergency rules that may be adopted
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7 | in a 24-month period shall not apply and the provisions of | ||||||
8 | Sections 5-115 and
5-125 of the Illinois Administrative | ||||||
9 | Procedure Act shall not apply.
Increases in payment levels | ||||||
10 | shall be accomplished only in accordance with
Section 5-40 of | ||||||
11 | the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. Before any rule
to | ||||||
12 | increase payment levels
promulgated under this Section shall | ||||||
13 | become effective, a joint resolution
approving the rule must be | ||||||
14 | adopted by a roll call vote by a majority of the
members | ||||||
15 | elected to each chamber of the General Assembly.
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16 | (Source: P.A. 92-111, eff. 1-1-02; 93-598, eff. 8-26-03.)
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17 | (305 ILCS 5/12-4.11) (from Ch. 23, par. 12-4.11)
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18 | Sec. 12-4.11. Grant amounts. The Department,
with due | ||||||
19 | regard for and subject to budgetary limitations, shall | ||||||
20 | establish
grant amounts for each of the programs, by | ||||||
21 | regulation. The grant amounts may
vary by program, size of | ||||||
22 | assistance unit and geographic area.
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23 | Aid payments shall not be reduced except: (1) for changes | ||||||
24 | in the cost of
items included in the grant amounts, or (2) for | ||||||
25 | changes in the expenses of the
recipient, or (3) for changes in |
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1 | the income or resources available to the
recipient, or (4) for | ||||||
2 | changes in grants resulting from adoption of a
consolidated | ||||||
3 | grant amount.
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4 | Beginning July 1, 2008, the Department of Human Services | ||||||
5 | shall increase TANF grant amounts in effect on June 30, 2008 by | ||||||
6 | 15%.
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7 | In fixing standards to govern payments or reimbursements | ||||||
8 | for funeral
and burial expenses, the Department shall establish | ||||||
9 | a minimum allowable
amount of
not less than
$1,000 for | ||||||
10 | Department payment of funeral services and not less than $500 | ||||||
11 | for
Department payment of burial or cremation services. On | ||||||
12 | January 1, 2006, July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, the Department | ||||||
13 | shall increase the minimum reimbursement amount for funeral and | ||||||
14 | burial expenses under this Section by a percentage equal to the | ||||||
15 | percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban | ||||||
16 | Consumers, if any, during the 12 months immediately preceding | ||||||
17 | that January 1 or July 1. In establishing the minimum
allowable
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18 | amount, the Department shall take into account the services
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19 | essential to a dignified, low-cost (i) funeral and (ii) burial | ||||||
20 | or
cremation, including reasonable
amounts that may be | ||||||
21 | necessary for
burial space and cemetery charges, and any | ||||||
22 | applicable taxes or other
required governmental fees or | ||||||
23 | charges. If no
person has agreed to pay the total cost of the | ||||||
24 | (i) funeral and
(ii) burial or cremation
charges, the | ||||||
25 | Department shall pay the vendor the actual costs of the (i)
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26 | funeral
and
(ii) burial or cremation, or the minimum allowable |
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1 | amount for each service as
established by
the Department, | ||||||
2 | whichever is less, provided that the Department reduces its
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3 | payments by
the amount available from the following sources: | ||||||
4 | the decedent's assets
and
available resources and the | ||||||
5 | anticipated amounts of any death benefits available
to the
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6 | decedent's estate, and amounts paid and arranged to be paid by | ||||||
7 | the
decedent's legally
responsible relatives. A legally | ||||||
8 | responsible relative is expected to pay
(i) funeral and (ii) | ||||||
9 | burial
or cremation expenses unless financially unable to do | ||||||
10 | so.
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11 | Nothing contained in this Section or in any other Section | ||||||
12 | of this
Code shall be construed to prohibit the Illinois | ||||||
13 | Department (1) from
consolidating existing standards on the | ||||||
14 | basis of any standards which are
or were in effect on, or | ||||||
15 | subsequent to July 1, 1969, or (2) from
employing any | ||||||
16 | consolidated standards in determining need for public
aid and | ||||||
17 | the amount of money payment or grant for individual recipients
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18 | or recipient families.
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19 | (Source: P.A. 94-669, eff. 8-23-05.)
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20 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
21 | becoming law.
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