Full Text of HB4573 95th General Assembly
HB4573 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 HB4573
Introduced , by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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305 ILCS 5/11-15 |
from Ch. 23, par. 11-15 |
305 ILCS 5/11-20.1 |
from Ch. 23, par. 11-20.1 |
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Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that applications for aid shall be filed with any local office of the Department of Human Services (instead of with the county department of public aid). Provides that the date of an application shall be the date it is submitted by the applicant. Provides that an applicant has the right to have his or her case transferred to another local office of the Department of Human Services for his or her convenience, based on stated factors. Provides that in food stamp cases in which an applicant or recipient reports earned income, the applicant's or recipient's employment shall be presumed to be a hardship for purposes of scheduling an in-person meeting with a
representative of the Department of Human Services and an in-person meeting shall be waived.
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A BILL FOR
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HB4573 |
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LRB095 15577 DRJ 41576 b |
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| AN ACT concerning public aid.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by | 5 |
| changing Sections 11-15 and 11-20.1 as follows:
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| (305 ILCS 5/11-15) (from Ch. 23, par. 11-15)
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| Sec. 11-15. Application requirements.
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| (1) An application for financial
aid shall be filed in | 9 |
| writing by the person requesting aid and, in the case
of a | 10 |
| request for family aid, by the head of that family, except as
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| otherwise permitted in paragraph (2). Applications for aid | 12 |
| under Articles
III, IV, and V shall be filed in writing with | 13 |
| any local office of the Department of Human Services the county
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| department of
the county in which the applicant resides in the | 15 |
| manner prescribed by the
Illinois Department. Applications for | 16 |
| aid under Article VI shall be filed
in writing with the local | 17 |
| governmental unit upon forms approved by the
Illinois | 18 |
| Department. The date of the application shall be the date it is | 19 |
| submitted by the applicant.
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| Each applicant shall provide information as to the amount | 21 |
| of
property, real and personal, owned by him or her within the | 22 |
| period of time
preceding
the application as required under | 23 |
| Sections 3-1.3, 4-1.11, and 5-2.1 of this
Code. The
applicant |
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LRB095 15577 DRJ 41576 b |
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| shall also furnish information concerning
all income, money | 2 |
| contributions, and other support from any source, and
the | 3 |
| beneficiary and the amount or cash surrender or loan value of | 4 |
| all
insurance policies held by himself or herself or any member | 5 |
| of his family
for whom aid is requested.
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| (2) An application, in all instances to be in writing, may | 7 |
| be filed
in behalf of a person considered to be in need of | 8 |
| financial aid under
Articles III, IV, V, or VI only if the | 9 |
| person
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| (a) has been adjudged to be under legal disability; or
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| (b) is unable because of minority or physical or mental | 12 |
| disability,
to execute the application; or
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| (c) in the case of need for funeral and burial, died | 14 |
| before an
application was filed and the application is | 15 |
| filed not more than 30 days
after the person's death, | 16 |
| excluding the day on which the death occurred.
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| Applications in behalf of persons specified in (a) and (b) | 18 |
| shall be
filed by the applicant's legal guardian or, if a
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| guardian has not been appointed or the applicant has no legal
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| guardian or the guardian is not available, by a relative or | 21 |
| other
person, acceptable under the rules of the Illinois | 22 |
| Department, who is
able to furnish the required information. | 23 |
| Applications in behalf of
persons specified in (c) shall be | 24 |
| filed by any next of kin of the deceased
who is not under legal | 25 |
| disability or, if there are no such next of kin or
they are | 26 |
| unknown or unavailable, by a person, acceptable under the rules |
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| of
the Illinois Department, who is able to furnish the required | 2 |
| information.
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| (3) The application shall contain a written declaration to | 4 |
| be signed
by the applicant, or in behalf of the applicant by a | 5 |
| person qualified
under paragraph (2), in substantially the | 6 |
| following form, the
parenthetical references being applicable | 7 |
| to an application filed by a
person in behalf of the applicant:
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| "I declare under penalties of perjury that I have examined | 9 |
| this form
and all accompanying statements or documents | 10 |
| pertaining to the income
and resources of myself (the | 11 |
| applicant) or any member of my family (the
applicant's family) | 12 |
| included in this application for aid, or pertaining
to any | 13 |
| other matter having bearing upon my (the applicant's) | 14 |
| eligibility
for aid, and to the best of my knowledge and belief | 15 |
| the information
supplied is true, correct, and complete".
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| (4) If an application for financial aid is filed for a | 17 |
| family, and any
person in that family is under 18 years of age, | 18 |
| the application shall be
accompanied by the following for each | 19 |
| such person under 18 years of age:
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| (i) a copy of the person's birth certificate, or
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| (ii) other reliable proof, as determined by the | 22 |
| Department, of the
person's identity and age.
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| The Illinois Department shall provide information to all | 24 |
| families, orally
by an intake
worker and in writing when the | 25 |
| application is filed, about the availability and
location of | 26 |
| immunization services.
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| (5) Once an applicant is determined eligible for aid, he or | 2 |
| she has the right to request to have the case transferred to | 3 |
| another local office of the Department of Human Services for | 4 |
| his or her convenience based on one of the following factors: | 5 |
| the location of his or her employer; the location of his or her | 6 |
| child care provider; access to reliable transportation; or the | 7 |
| location of a social service provider that he or she sees on a | 8 |
| regular basis. Within 5 business days after the request for | 9 |
| transfer, the Department shall transfer the case, assign a | 10 |
| caseworker, make appropriate entries in the computer system, | 11 |
| and issue a written notice to the recipient that includes the | 12 |
| name of and contact information for the caseworker. The | 13 |
| location of the recipient's case may be reconsidered on the | 14 |
| recipient's request or at the time of redetermination of | 15 |
| eligibility. | 16 |
| (Source: P.A. 92-111, eff. 1-1-02.)
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| (305 ILCS 5/11-20.1) (from Ch. 23, par. 11-20.1)
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| Sec. 11-20.1. Employment; Rights of recipient and | 19 |
| obligations of
Illinois Department when recipients become | 20 |
| employed; Assistance when
a recipient has employment or earned | 21 |
| income or both. | 22 |
| (a) When a recipient reports employment or earned income, | 23 |
| or both, or
the Illinois Department otherwise learns of a | 24 |
| recipient's employment or
earned income, or both, the Illinois | 25 |
| Department shall provide the recipient
with:
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| (1) An explanation of how the earned income will affect | 2 |
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recipient's eligibility for a grant, and whether the | 3 |
| recipient
must engage in additional work
activities to meet | 4 |
| the recipient's monthly work activities requirement and | 5 |
| what
types of activities may be approved for
that purpose, | 6 |
| and whether the employment is sufficient to cause months of
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| continued receipt of a grant not to be
counted against the | 8 |
| recipient's lifetime eligibility limit.
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| (2) An explanation of the Work Pays budgeting process,
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| and an explanation of how the first
month's income on a new | 11 |
| job will be projected, and how the recipient should
report | 12 |
| the new job to avoid the
Department overestimating the | 13 |
| first month's income.
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| (3) An explanation of how the earned income will affect | 15 |
| the
recipient's eligibility for food stamps, whether the | 16 |
| recipient will
continue to receive food stamps, and, if so, | 17 |
| the amount of food stamps.
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| (4) The names and telephone numbers of all caseworkers | 19 |
| to whom the
recipient's case or cases are assigned or will | 20 |
| be transferred, an
explanation of which type of case each | 21 |
| worker will be handling, and the
effective date of the | 22 |
| transfer.
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| (5) An explanation of the recipient's
responsibilities | 24 |
| to report income and household circumstances, the process | 25 |
| by
which quarterly reporting forms are
sent to recipients,
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| where and to whom the reports should be returned, the |
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| deadline by which
reports must be returned, instructions on | 2 |
| how to fill out the reports, an
explanation of what the | 3 |
| recipient should do if he or she does not receive
the form, | 4 |
| advice on how to prove the report was returned by the | 5 |
| recipient
such as by keeping a copy, and an explanation of | 6 |
| the effects of failure to file
reports.
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| (6) If the recipient will continue to receive a grant, | 8 |
| an explanation
of the recipient's new fiscal month and a | 9 |
| statement as to when the
recipient will receive his or her | 10 |
| grant.
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| (7) An explanation of Kidcare, Family Assist, Family | 12 |
| Care, and
the 12 month extension
of medical
assistance that | 13 |
| is available when a grant is cancelled due to earned | 14 |
| income.
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| (8) An explanation of the medical assistance the person | 16 |
| may be
eligible for when the 12 month extension expires and | 17 |
| how to request or
apply for it.
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| (9) An explanation of the availability of
a child care | 19 |
| subsidy to all families below the child care
assistance | 20 |
| program's income limit, how to apply for the benefit | 21 |
| through the
Child Care Resource and Referral or | 22 |
| site-administered child care program or
both, the nature of | 23 |
| the child care program's
sliding scale co-payments, the
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| availability of the 10% earned income disregard in | 25 |
| determining eligibility for
child care assistance and the | 26 |
| amount of
the parent co-payment, the right to use the |
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| subsidy for either licensed or
license exempt legal care, | 2 |
| and the
availability of benefits when the parent is engaged | 3 |
| in an education and
training program.
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| (10) (Blank).
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| (11) (Blank).
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| (11a) (Blank).
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| (12) (Blank).
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| (13) An explanation of the availability of payment for | 9 |
| initial
expenses of employment and how to request or apply | 10 |
| for it.
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| (14) An explanation of the job retention component and
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| how to participate in it, and an explanation of the | 13 |
| recipient's
eligibility to receive supportive
services to | 14 |
| participate in education and training programs while | 15 |
| working.
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| (15) A statement of the types of assistance that will | 17 |
| be provided to
the person automatically or continued and a | 18 |
| statement of the types of
assistance for which the person | 19 |
| must apply or reapply.
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| (16) If the recipient will not continue to receive a | 21 |
| cash grant and
the recipient has assigned his or her right | 22 |
| to child support to the
Illinois Department, an explanation | 23 |
| of the recipient's right to continue to
receive child | 24 |
| support enforcement services, the recipient's right to | 25 |
| have
all current support paid after grant cancellation | 26 |
| forwarded promptly to the
recipient, the procedures by |
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| which child support will be forwarded, and the
procedures | 2 |
| by which the recipient will be informed of the collection | 3 |
| and
distribution of child support.
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| (17) An explanation of the availability of payments if
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| the recipient experiences a decrease in or loss of earned | 6 |
| income
during a calendar quarter as to which the monthly | 7 |
| grant was previously
budgeted based upon the higher income.
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| (18) If the recipient will not continue to receive a | 9 |
| cash grant, an
explanation of the procedures for reapplying | 10 |
| for cash assistance if the
person experiences a decrease in | 11 |
| or loss of earned income.
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| (19) An explanation of the earned income tax credit and | 13 |
| the procedures
by which it may be obtained and the rules | 14 |
| for disregarding it in determining
eligibility for and the | 15 |
| amount of assistance.
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| (20) An explanation of the education and training | 17 |
| opportunities
available to recipients.
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| (b) The information listed in subsection (a) shall be | 19 |
| provided to the
recipient on an individual basis during an | 20 |
| in-person meeting with a
representative of the Illinois | 21 |
| Department. The individual in-person
meeting shall be held at a | 22 |
| time which does not conflict with the
recipient's work schedule | 23 |
| within 30 days of the date the recipient begins
working. If the | 24 |
| recipient informs the Illinois Department that an
in-person | 25 |
| meeting would be inconvenient, the Illinois Department may
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| provide the information during a home visit, by telephone, or |
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| by mail
within 30 days of the date the recipient begins | 2 |
| working, whichever the
client prefers.
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| (c) At the conclusion of the meeting described in | 4 |
| subsection (b), the
Illinois Department shall ensure that all | 5 |
| case transfers and calculations
of benefits necessitated by the | 6 |
| recipient's employment or receipt of earned
income have been | 7 |
| performed, that applications have been made or provided
for all | 8 |
| benefits for which the person must apply or reapply, and that | 9 |
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person has received payment for initial expenses of | 10 |
| employment.
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| (d) In food stamp cases in which an applicant or recipient | 12 |
| reports earned income, the applicant's or recipient's | 13 |
| employment shall be presumed to be a hardship for purposes of | 14 |
| scheduling an in-person meeting with a
representative of the | 15 |
| Illinois Department and an in-person meeting shall be waived. | 16 |
| (Source: P.A. 93-598, eff. 8-26-03.)
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