HB0949eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0949 Engrossed LRB095 07317 DRJ 27456 b

AN ACT concerning public aid.

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

Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by changing Sections 4-2 and 12-4.11 as follows:

(305 ILCS 5/4-2) (from Ch. 23, par. 4-2)

Sec. 4-2. Amount of aid.

(a) The amount and nature of financial aid shall be determined in accordance with the grant amounts, rules and regulations of the Illinois Department. Due regard shall be given to the self-sufficiency requirements of the family and to the income, money contributions and other support and resources available, from whatever source. However, the amount and nature of any financial aid is not affected by the payment of any grant under the "Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act" or any distributions or items of income described under subparagraph (X) of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Section 203 of the Illinois Income Tax Act. The aid shall be sufficient, when added to all other income, money contributions and support to provide the family with a grant in the amount established by Department regulation.

Beginning July 1, 2007, the Department of Human Services shall increase TANF grant amounts in effect on June 30, 2007 by 15%.

(b) The Illinois Department may conduct special projects, which may be known as Grant Diversion Projects, under which recipients of financial aid under this Article are placed in jobs and their grants are diverted to the employer who in turn makes payments to the recipients in the form of salary or other employment benefits. The Illinois Department shall by rule specify the terms and conditions of such Grant Diversion Projects. Such projects shall take into consideration and be coordinated with the programs administered under the Illinois Emergency Employment Development Act.

(c) The amount and nature of the financial aid for a child requiring care outside his own home shall be determined in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Illinois Department, with due regard to the needs and requirements of the child in the foster home or institution in which he has been placed.

(d) If the Department establishes grants for family units consisting exclusively of a pregnant woman with no dependent child or including her husband if living with her, the grant amount for such a unit shall be equal to the grant amount for an assistance unit consisting of one adult, or 2 persons if the husband is included. Other than as herein described, an unborn child shall not be counted in determining the size of an assistance unit or for calculating grants.

Payments for basic maintenance requirements of a child or children and the relative with whom the child or children are living shall be prescribed, by rule, by the Illinois Department.

Grants under this Article shall not be supplemented by General Assistance provided under Article VI.

(e) Grants shall be paid to the parent or other person with whom the child or children are living, except for such amount as is paid in behalf of the child or his parent or other relative to other persons or agencies pursuant to this Code or the rules and regulations of the Illinois Department.

(f) Subject to subsection (f-5), an assistance unit, receiving financial aid under this Article or temporarily ineligible to receive aid under this Article under a penalty imposed by the Illinois Department for failure to comply with the eligibility requirements or that voluntarily requests termination of financial assistance under this Article and becomes subsequently eligible for assistance within 9 months, shall not receive any increase in the amount of aid solely on account of the birth of a child; except that an increase is not prohibited when the birth is (i) of a child of a pregnant woman who became eligible for aid under this Article during the pregnancy, or (ii) of a child born within 10 months after the date of implementation of this subsection, or (iii) of a child conceived after a family became ineligible for assistance due to income or marriage and at least 3 months of ineligibility expired before any reapplication for assistance. This subsection does not, however, prevent a unit from receiving a general increase in the amount of aid that is provided to all recipients of aid under this Article.

The Illinois Department is authorized to transfer funds, and shall use any budgetary savings attributable to not increasing the grants due to the births of additional children, to supplement existing funding for employment and training services for recipients of aid under this Article IV. The Illinois Department shall target, to the extent the supplemental funding allows, employment and training services to the families who do not receive a grant increase after the birth of a child. In addition, the Illinois Department shall provide, to the extent the supplemental funding allows, such families with up to 24 months of transitional child care pursuant to Illinois Department rules. All remaining supplemental funds shall be used for employment and training services or transitional child care support.

In making the transfers authorized by this subsection, the Illinois Department shall first determine, pursuant to regulations adopted by the Illinois Department for this purpose, the amount of savings attributable to not increasing the grants due to the births of additional children. Transfers may be made from General Revenue Fund appropriations for distributive purposes authorized by Article IV of this Code only to General Revenue Fund appropriations for employability development services including operating and administrative costs and related distributive purposes under Article IXA of this Code. The Director, with the approval of the Governor, shall certify the amount and affected line item appropriations to the State Comptroller.

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the Illinois Department from using funds under this Article IV to provide assistance in the form of vouchers that may be used to pay for goods and services deemed by the Illinois Department, by rule, as suitable for the care of the child such as diapers, clothing, school supplies, and cribs.

(f-5) Subsection (f) shall not apply to affect the monthly assistance amount of any family as a result of the birth of a child on or after January 1, 2004. As resources permit after January 1, 2004, the Department may cease applying subsection (f) to limit assistance to families receiving assistance under this Article on January 1, 2004, with respect to children born prior to that date. In any event, subsection (f) shall be completely inoperative on and after July 1, 2007.

(g) (Blank).

(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, the Illinois Department is authorized to reduce payment levels used to determine cash grants under this Article after December 31 of any fiscal year if the Illinois Department determines that the caseload upon which the appropriations for the current fiscal year are based have increased by more than 5% and the appropriation is not sufficient to ensure that cash benefits under this Article do not exceed the amounts appropriated for those cash benefits. Reductions in payment levels may be accomplished by emergency rule under Section 5-45 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, except that the limitation on the number of emergency rules that may be adopted in a 24-month period shall not apply and the provisions of Sections 5-115 and 5-125 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act shall not apply. Increases in payment levels shall be accomplished only in accordance with Section 5-40 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. Before any rule to increase payment levels promulgated under this Section shall become effective, a joint resolution approving the rule must be adopted by a roll call vote by a majority of the members elected to each chamber of the General Assembly.

(Source: P.A. 92-111, eff. 1-1-02; 93-598, eff. 8-26-03.)

(305 ILCS 5/12-4.11) (from Ch. 23, par. 12-4.11)

Sec. 12-4.11. Grant amounts. The Department, with due regard for and subject to budgetary limitations, shall establish grant amounts for each of the programs, by regulation. The grant amounts may vary by program, size of assistance unit and geographic area.

Aid payments shall not be reduced except: (1) for changes in the cost of items included in the grant amounts, or (2) for changes in the expenses of the recipient, or (3) for changes in the income or resources available to the recipient, or (4) for changes in grants resulting from adoption of a consolidated grant amount.

Beginning July 1, 2007, the Department of Human Services shall increase TANF grant amounts in effect on June 30, 2007 by 15%.

In fixing standards to govern payments or reimbursements for funeral and burial expenses, the Department shall establish a minimum allowable amount of not less than $1,000 for Department payment of funeral services and not less than $500 for Department payment of burial or cremation services. On January 1, 2006, July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, the Department shall increase the minimum reimbursement amount for funeral and burial expenses under this Section by a percentage equal to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, if any, during the 12 months immediately preceding that January 1 or July 1. In establishing the minimum allowable amount, the Department shall take into account the services essential to a dignified, low-cost (i) funeral and (ii) burial or cremation, including reasonable amounts that may be necessary for burial space and cemetery charges, and any applicable taxes or other required governmental fees or charges. If no person has agreed to pay the total cost of the (i) funeral and (ii) burial or cremation charges, the Department shall pay the vendor the actual costs of the (i) funeral and (ii) burial or cremation, or the minimum allowable amount for each service as established by the Department, whichever is less, provided that the Department reduces its payments by the amount available from the following sources: the decedent's assets and available resources and the anticipated amounts of any death benefits available to the decedent's estate, and amounts paid and arranged to be paid by the decedent's legally responsible relatives. A legally responsible relative is expected to pay (i) funeral and (ii) burial or cremation expenses unless financially unable to do so.

Nothing contained in this Section or in any other Section of this Code shall be construed to prohibit the Illinois Department (1) from consolidating existing standards on the basis of any standards which are or were in effect on, or subsequent to July 1, 1969, or (2) from employing any consolidated standards in determining need for public aid and the amount of money payment or grant for individual recipients or recipient families.

(Source: P.A. 94-669, eff. 8-23-05.)

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