HB0056eng 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0056 Engrossed LRB103 03572 RJT 48578 b

AN ACT concerning agriculture.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Farmer Restoration Program Act.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Agricultural conservation easement" means a nonpossessory interest of a holder in real property imposing limitations on the use of the property to ensure the land remains available for agricultural purposes. An agricultural conservation easement does not prevent a property owner from constructing, improving, or maintaining a primary residence or housing for farmworkers on the land unless expressly specified in the easement deed.

"Costs of acquisition" means out-of-pocket direct costs of activities incurred in connection with the processing, recording, and documentation of an agricultural conservation easement, such as appraisals, land surveys, title verification, and closing. "Costs of acquisition" do not include any costs incurred by a qualified easement holder for staffing, overhead, or operations.

"Director" means the Director of Agriculture.

"Department" means the Department of Agriculture.

"Eligible individual" means a resident of this State who:

(1) was born in this State;

(2) is at least 21 years of age; and

(3) is a member of a socially disadvantaged group.

"Limited resource farmer" means a farmer with direct or indirect gross farm sales not more than the current indexed value in each of the previous 2 years, and who has a total household income at or below the national poverty level for a family of 4, or less than 50% of county median household income in each of the previous 2 years.

"New and beginning farmer" means a farmer who has operated a farm or ranch for less than 10 years.

"Qualified entity" means an organization:

(1) that is a nonprofit corporation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or an organization which has a fiscal sponsor who is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and

(2) that has a minimum of 3 years of experience providing agricultural services, business assistance, legal assistance, or advocacy services to socially disadvantaged farmers.

"Qualified easement holder" means a State agency, federal agency, county, municipality, or nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with experience acquiring, whether through purchase, donation, or transfer, an agricultural or other conservation easement.

"Qualified farmland" means land that is in agricultural production or available for agricultural production, including row crops, livestock, nurseries, orchards, or pastures, and incidental land that is associated with an active agricultural operation.

"Socially disadvantaged farmer" means a farmer who is a member of a socially disadvantaged group.

"Socially disadvantaged group" means a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities. These groups include all of the following:

(1) American Indian or Alaska Native (a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America, including Central America, and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment).

(2) Asian (a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, but not limited to, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam).

(3) Black or African American (a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa).

(4) Hispanic or Latino (a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race).

(5) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands).

"Training" means a program of training approved by the Director that:

(1) provides an eligible individual with the basic skills to operate a farm profitably with a primary focus on regenerating the soil, ecosystem, and local community;

(2) provides a course of study that is equivalent to no less than 30 academic credit hours of study, which may be provided as direct in-field instruction;

(3) focuses on low capital-intensive techniques and technologies; and

(4) studies local and regional food systems and the market opportunities those systems present.

Section 10. Farmer Restoration Program Fund.

(a) The Farmer Restoration Program Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. Except as provided in subsection (b), the moneys in the Fund, upon appropriation by the General Assembly, shall be used for the purposes of the program, which include grants for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements, technical assistance grants, technical assistance provided by the Department, and administrative costs incurred by the Department in administering the program.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), moneys may be deposited into the Fund from federal grants and gifts and donations that are designated and required by the donor to be used exclusively for the purposes of the program.

(c) Not more than 10% of available funds under this Act may be used for technical assistance purposes and administration. Not less than 90% of funds available for grants under this Act shall be expended for the acquisition of agricultural conservation easements. Moneys in the Fund shall also be available for the following purposes:

(1) To provide technical assistance grants to qualified entities in support of socially disadvantaged farmers who are seeking access to farmland. As used in this Section, "technical assistance" includes, but is not limited to, organizing, advising, counseling, educating, planning, drafting, translating, interpreting, and consulting with socially disadvantaged farmers for the purpose of preparing them for favorable financing for land acquisition or negotiating leasing arrangements.

(2) To provide grants for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements to qualified easement holders. Moneys from the Fund shall be available in each fiscal year to any qualified easement holder having made an application that has been approved by the Department. Award grants may include:

(A) payment to qualified easement holders for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements on qualified farmland; or

(B) payment of the costs of acquisition related to the purchase of agricultural conservation easements approved by the program.

Section 15. Department responsibilities. Subject to appropriation, the Department shall:

(1) adopt a scoring process to be used in evaluating applications for agricultural conservation easement grants that prioritizes applications benefiting:

(A) socially disadvantaged farmers;

(B) limited resource farmers;

(C) eligible individuals with a history of land dispossession; and

(D) new and beginning farmers;

(2) include, as ranking criteria in the scoring process, projects that:

(A) leverage local, federal, or private funding, including a match requirement;

(B) support transition of farmland to next generation owner-operators; and

(C) support conservation priorities, including protection of habitat, water quality, watershed conservation, climate resilience, and local conservation plans; and

(3) include, as eligibility criteria, projects that:

(A) protect farmland that is under threat of conversion; and

(B) demonstrate that the parcel proposed for conservation is expected to continue to be used for agricultural production if conserved.

Section 20. Farm Conservation Corps.

(a) Subject to appropriation and in partnership with the University of Illinois Extension, the Department shall establish the Farm Conservation Corps to provide residents between the ages of 18 and 29 from socially disadvantaged groups the academic, vocational, and social skills necessary to pursue long-term and productive careers in agriculture.

(b) The members of the Farm Conservation Corps shall serve as on-farm apprentices, at no cost, to farms that have been protected with an agricultural conservation easement under this Act or with an annual gross farm income of less than $250,000 operated by:

(1) socially disadvantaged farmers; or

(2) beginning farmers.

Section 25. Data collection and reporting.

(a) Subject to appropriation, the Director shall make publicly available annual reports describing data on the recipients of the Department programs, including assistance from farm subsidy programs, and the amounts of the assistance, delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the recipients.

(b) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall conduct research on the status of socially disadvantaged farmers, including, but not limited to:

(1) the share of land ownership of those socially disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers, delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the landowners;

(2) the share of the amount of assistance those socially disadvantaged farmers receive from the Department as compared to all farmers, delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the recipients;

(3) the share, status, and receipt of loans by socially disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers, delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the recipients; and

(4) an assessment of the reasons for disparities in land ownership, assistance from the Department, and loans for socially disadvantaged farmers compared to all farmers.

(c) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall conduct research on the demographics and status of farmworkers, including, but not limited to:

(1) the races, ethnicities, ages, localities, wages and benefits, and working conditions of farmworkers;

(2) the economic contributions of farmworkers to the State economy; and

(3) the satisfaction of farmworkers with their employment.

(d) The Department shall:

(1) investigate historical changes in reporting methodology and misreporting of socially disadvantaged farmers in the census of agriculture;

(2) develop procedures to ensure that census of agriculture surveys accurately capture the status of socially disadvantaged farmers engaged in urban agriculture; and

(3) conduct, concurrently with each census of agriculture, a review to assess:

(A) the outreach and methodologies used in conducting the census of agriculture; and

(B) how such outreach and methodologies have affected the counting of socially disadvantaged farmers.

(e) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall annually conduct and annually make publicly available reports describing in-depth research and analysis of corporate (domestic and foreign) land investment and ownership in this State with specific attention given to the impact of corporate land investment and ownership on:

(1) land consolidation trends in this State and in the United States;

(2) challenges and opportunities for new and beginning farmers accessing land for farming;

(3) challenges and opportunities for members of socially disadvantaged groups accessing land for farming; and

(4) crop selection and production trends.

Section 35. Rulemaking. The Department shall adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this Act, including the adoption of rules that establish a process for submitting and processing of applications for grants no later than December 31, 2023. Rules shall align with existing federal and local programs to maximize potential for matching funds.

Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Section 5.990 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.990 new)

Sec. 5.990. The Farmer Restoration Program Fund.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.