Rep. Laura Fine

Filed: 3/14/2014

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3947

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3947 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
5amended by adding Section 65.90 as follows:
 
6    (110 ILCS 947/65.90 new)
7    Sec. 65.90. Smarter Illinois and Retaining Talent Tuition
8Program.
9    (a) It is the intent of the legislature that the pilot
10program created under this Section continue for at least 5
11years. The Commission shall seek funding for the pilot program
12from private and public sources. The legislature shall
13appropriate money from these sources and from the General
14Revenue Fund in each State fiscal year that the pilot program
15continues in an amount sufficient to operate the pilot program.
16However, money from the Education Assistance Fund must not be

 

 

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1appropriated for the pilot program.
2    (b) In this Section:
3    "Adjusted gross income" means "adjusted gross income" as
4defined in Section 62 of the federal Internal Revenue Code (26
5U.S.C. 62).
6    "Community college" means a public community college
7located in this State.
8    "Participant" means a student selected by the Commission to
9participate in the pilot program.
10    "Pilot program" means the Smarter Illinois and Retaining
11Talent Tuition Program created in this Section.
12    "Public university" means a public university located in
13this State.
14    "Tuition" means the quarter or semester charges imposed to
15attend a community college or public university and all
16mandatory fees required as a condition of enrollment, as
17determined by the Commission.
18    "Weighted average tuition cost of community colleges"
19means the tuition cost arrived at by adding the products of the
20annual tuition cost at each community college and its total
21number of fiscal-year-equated students, then dividing the
22gross total of this cumulation by the total number of
23fiscal-year-equated students attending community colleges.
24    "Weighted average tuition cost of public universities"
25means the tuition cost arrived at by adding the products of the
26annual tuition cost at each public university and its total

 

 

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1number of fiscal-year-equated students, then dividing the
2gross total of this cumulation by the total number of
3fiscal-year-equated students attending public universities.
4    (c) The Commission shall create and implement a tuition
5grant pilot program, to be known as the Smarter Illinois and
6Retaining Talent Tuition Program, that pays certain tuition
7costs of participating community college and public university
8students in exchange for those students' agreement to pay this
9State a certain percentage of their future income. All of the
10following apply to this pilot program:
11        (1) The Commission shall select 100 students who are
12    enrolled in a public university in a science, technology,
13    engineering, or mathematics field of study and 100 students
14    who are enrolled in a community college in a science,
15    technology, engineering, or mathematics field of study to
16    participate in the pilot program.
17        (2) A student enrolled in a community college or public
18    university may submit an application to the Commission to
19    participate in the pilot program if he or she is a resident
20    of this State, as determined by the community college or
21    public university. The Commission shall select the
22    participants in the pilot program from among those
23    applicants. If there are more than 100 applicants to
24    participate in the pilot program as community college
25    students or more than 100 applicants to participate in the
26    pilot program as public university students, the

 

 

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1    Commission shall select the participants from among the
2    applicants using a random selection process.
3        (3) A student is not eligible to participate in the
4    pilot program if the adjusted gross income of the student
5    and his or her immediate family is $250,000 or more.
6        (4) Each participant shall enter into a written
7    agreement that provides that, in exchange for payment on
8    his or her behalf of an amount equal to the weighted
9    average tuition cost to the public university or community
10    college in which he or she is enrolled, he or she agrees to
11    pay the Commission a percentage of his or her future
12    earnings. The participant's payment obligation under this
13    subdivision (4) shall meet the requirements of subsection
14    (d) of this Section.
15        (5) For an academic year, the amount of a grant to a
16    participant shall not exceed the weighted average tuition
17    cost of community colleges if the participant is enrolled
18    in a community college or the weighted average tuition cost
19    of public universities if the participant is enrolled in a
20    public university.
21        (6) The Commission may not award a grant in more than 3
22    consecutive academic years if the participant is enrolled
23    in a community college or 5 consecutive academic years if
24    the participant is enrolled in a public university.
25        (7) After completion of the first full academic year in
26    which he or she participates in the pilot program, a

 

 

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1    participant is ineligible to receive additional grants if
2    he or she fails to maintain a cumulative grade point
3    average of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale or its equivalent at
4    the community college or public university in which he or
5    she is enrolled and that failure continues for more than
6    one term or semester.
7        (8) It is the intent of the legislature that the
8    Commission's administrative costs in connection with the
9    pilot program not exceed 1%.
10    (d) In each calendar year for which a participant in the
11pilot program has a payment obligation described in subdivision
12(4) of subsection (c) of this Section, the participant shall
13pay the Commission an amount equal to 2% of his or her adjusted
14gross income for that year if he or she attended a community
15college or 4% of his or her adjusted gross income for that year
16if he or she attended a public university. The participant's
17payment obligation begins in the first calendar year in which
18he or she obtains employment after he or she graduated from or
19stopped attending the community college or public university in
20which he or she was enrolled and his or her adjusted gross
21income from that employment in that year exceeds the poverty
22guidelines updated periodically in the Federal Register by the
23U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the
24authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2). The payment obligation
25continues for the following consecutive number of years, as
26applicable:

 

 

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1        (1) If tuition payments were made on behalf of the
2    participant by the Commission for one academic year at the
3    community college or public university, 5 years of
4    payments.
5        (2) If tuition payments were made on behalf of the
6    participant by the Commission for 2 academic years at the
7    community college or public university, 10 years of
8    payments.
9        (3) If tuition payments were made on behalf of the
10    participant by the Commission for 3 academic years at the
11    community college or public university, 15 years of
12    payments.
13        (4) If tuition payments were made on behalf of the
14    participant by the Commission for 4 academic years at the
15    public university, 20 years of payments.
16        (5) If tuition payments were made on behalf of the
17    participant by the Commission for 5 academic years at the
18    public university, 25 years of payments.
19    (e) On or before the start of each State fiscal year,
20beginning with the 2016 fiscal year, the Commission shall
21submit to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Financial
22Aid Restructuring Committee established in subsection (f) of
23this Section a report concerning the implementation of the
24pilot program in the preceding State fiscal year. The report
25shall include all of the following for the preceding State
26fiscal year:

 

 

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1        (1) The number of participants who were enrolled in
2    community colleges and, for those participants, the number
3    that continued in the pilot program; the number that
4    dropped out of the pilot program; the number that dropped
5    out of a community college; and the number that graduated
6    from a community college.
7        (2) The number of participants who were enrolled in
8    public universities and, for those participants, the
9    number that continued in the pilot program; the number that
10    dropped out of the pilot program; the number that dropped
11    out of a public university; and the number that graduated
12    from a public university.
13        (3) An analysis of the payments described in
14    subdivision (4) of subsection (c) of this Section that the
15    Commission had received from participants, including, but
16    not limited to, how many payments were made on time, how
17    many payments were late, how much each recipient had
18    received from the Commission under this Section, and how
19    much each participant had repaid to the Commission.
20        (4) The number of participants who had found
21    employment.
22        (5) The number of students who were then unemployed.
23        (6) A general summary of the pilot program, including,
24    but not limited to, how much the Commission had paid on
25    behalf of participants, the total amount repaid to the
26    Commission by participants, and a projection of future

 

 

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1    payments the Commission estimated it would receive from
2    participants.
3    (f) The Financial Aid Restructuring Committee is
4established within the Commission. All of the following apply
5to the committee:
6        (1) The committee shall consist of all of the following
7    members:
8            (A) Five voting members who are residents of this
9        State and are appointed by the Governor, as follows:
10                (i) One individual representing public
11            universities.
12                (ii) One individual representing community
13            colleges.
14                (iii) One individual selected from one or more
15            individuals nominated by the President of the
16            Senate.
17                (iv) One individual selected from one or more
18            individuals nominated by the Speaker of the House
19            of Representatives.
20                (v) One individual representing the public.
21            (B) The Executive Director of the Commission or his
22        or her designee, who is a nonvoting member of the
23        committee and shall serve as chairperson of the
24        committee.
25        (2) The term of office of the appointed members is 2
26    years and until a successor is appointed and has qualified.

 

 

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1    A member may be removed in the manner provided for by law
2    for removal of public officers. A vacancy must be filled
3    for the unexpired term in the same manner as the original
4    appointment.
5        (3) The committee shall conduct its activities in
6    compliance with the Open Meetings Act. The committee shall
7    give public notice of the time, date, and place of meetings
8    of the committee in the manner required by the Open
9    Meetings Act.
10        (4) The committee shall make any writing prepared,
11    owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by the
12    committee in the performance of an official function
13    available to the public in compliance with the Freedom of
14    Information Act.
15        (5) The committee shall analyze the report described in
16    subsection (e) of this Section and, within 6 months after
17    receiving the report, shall make recommendations to the
18    Governor and General Assembly concerning the long-term
19    viability of a financial aid program similar in structure
20    to the pilot program.
 
21    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
222014.".