Full Text of HB0721 100th General Assembly
HB0721 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018 HB0721 Introduced 1/25/2017, by Rep. Melissa Conyears-Ervin SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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305 ILCS 5/9A-11 | from Ch. 23, par. 9A-11 |
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Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law or administrative rule to the contrary, beginning in fiscal year 2018, the specified threshold for working families must be no less than 185% of the then-current federal poverty level for each family size. Effective immediately.
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| | | FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning public aid.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 9A-11 as follows:
| 6 | | (305 ILCS 5/9A-11) (from Ch. 23, par. 9A-11)
| 7 | | Sec. 9A-11. Child Care.
| 8 | | (a) The General Assembly recognizes that families with | 9 | | children need child
care in order to work. Child care is | 10 | | expensive and families with low incomes,
including those who | 11 | | are transitioning from welfare to work, often struggle to
pay | 12 | | the costs of day care. The
General Assembly understands the | 13 | | importance of helping low income working
families become and | 14 | | remain self-sufficient. The General Assembly also believes
| 15 | | that it is the responsibility of families to share in the costs | 16 | | of child care.
It is also the preference of the General | 17 | | Assembly that all working poor
families should be treated | 18 | | equally, regardless of their welfare status.
| 19 | | (b) To the extent resources permit, the Illinois Department | 20 | | shall provide
child care services to parents or other relatives | 21 | | as defined by rule who are
working or participating in | 22 | | employment or Department approved
education or training | 23 | | programs. At a minimum, the Illinois Department shall
cover the |
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| 1 | | following categories of families:
| 2 | | (1) recipients of TANF under Article IV participating | 3 | | in work and training
activities as specified in the | 4 | | personal plan for employment and
self-sufficiency;
| 5 | | (2) families transitioning from TANF to work;
| 6 | | (3) families at risk of becoming recipients of TANF;
| 7 | | (4) families with special needs as defined by rule; and
| 8 | | (5) working families with very low incomes as defined | 9 | | by rule.
| 10 | | The Department shall specify by rule the conditions of | 11 | | eligibility, the
application process, and the types, amounts, | 12 | | and duration of services.
Eligibility for
child care benefits | 13 | | and the amount of child care provided may vary based on
family | 14 | | size, income,
and other factors as specified by rule.
| 15 | | In determining income eligibility for child care benefits, | 16 | | the Department
annually, at the beginning of each fiscal year, | 17 | | shall
establish, by rule, one income threshold for each family | 18 | | size, in relation to
percentage of State median income for a | 19 | | family of that size, that makes
families with incomes below the | 20 | | specified threshold eligible for assistance
and families with | 21 | | incomes above the specified threshold ineligible for
| 22 | | assistance. Through and including fiscal year 2007, the | 23 | | specified threshold must be no less than 50% of the
| 24 | | then-current State median income for each family size. | 25 | | Beginning in fiscal year 2008, the specified threshold must be | 26 | | no less than 185% of the then-current federal poverty level for |
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| 1 | | each family size. Notwithstanding any other provision of law or | 2 | | administrative rule to the contrary, beginning in fiscal year | 3 | | 2018, the specified threshold for working families with very | 4 | | low incomes as defined by rule must be no less than 185% of the | 5 | | then-current federal poverty level for each family size.
| 6 | | In determining eligibility for
assistance, the Department | 7 | | shall not give preference to any category of
recipients
or give | 8 | | preference to individuals based on their receipt of benefits | 9 | | under this
Code.
| 10 | | The Department shall allocate $7,500,000 annually for a | 11 | | test program for
families who are income-eligible for child | 12 | | care assistance, who
are not recipients of TANF under Article | 13 | | IV, and who need child care assistance
to participate in | 14 | | education and training activities. The
Department shall | 15 | | specify by rule the conditions of eligibility for this test
| 16 | | program.
| 17 | | Nothing in this Section shall be
construed as conferring | 18 | | entitlement status to eligible families.
| 19 | | The Illinois
Department is authorized to lower income | 20 | | eligibility ceilings, raise parent
co-payments, create waiting | 21 | | lists, or take such other actions during a fiscal
year as are | 22 | | necessary to ensure that child care benefits paid under this
| 23 | | Article do not exceed the amounts appropriated for those child | 24 | | care benefits.
These changes may be accomplished by emergency | 25 | | rule under Section 5-45 of the
Illinois Administrative | 26 | | Procedure Act, except that the limitation on the number
of |
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| 1 | | emergency rules that may be adopted in a 24-month period shall | 2 | | not apply.
| 3 | | The Illinois Department may contract with other State | 4 | | agencies or child care
organizations for the administration of | 5 | | child care services.
| 6 | | (c) Payment shall be made for child care that otherwise | 7 | | meets the
requirements of this Section and applicable standards | 8 | | of State and local
law and regulation, including any | 9 | | requirements the Illinois Department
promulgates by rule in | 10 | | addition to the licensure
requirements
promulgated by the | 11 | | Department of Children and Family Services and Fire
Prevention | 12 | | and Safety requirements promulgated by the Office of the State
| 13 | | Fire Marshal and is provided in any of the following:
| 14 | | (1) a child care center which is licensed or exempt | 15 | | from licensure
pursuant to Section 2.09 of the Child Care | 16 | | Act of 1969;
| 17 | | (2) a licensed child care home or home exempt from | 18 | | licensing;
| 19 | | (3) a licensed group child care home;
| 20 | | (4) other types of child care, including child care | 21 | | provided
by relatives or persons living in the same home as | 22 | | the child, as determined by
the Illinois Department by | 23 | | rule.
| 24 | | (c-5)
Solely for the purposes of coverage under the | 25 | | Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, child and day care home | 26 | | providers, including licensed and license exempt, |
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| 1 | | participating in the Department's child care assistance | 2 | | program shall be considered to be public employees and the | 3 | | State of Illinois shall be considered to be their employer as | 4 | | of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th | 5 | | General Assembly, but not before. The State shall engage in | 6 | | collective bargaining with an exclusive representative of | 7 | | child and day care home providers participating in the child | 8 | | care assistance program concerning their terms and conditions | 9 | | of employment that are within the State's control. Nothing in | 10 | | this subsection shall be understood to limit the right of | 11 | | families receiving services defined in this Section to select | 12 | | child and day care home providers or supervise them within the | 13 | | limits of this Section. The State shall not be considered to be | 14 | | the employer of child and day care home providers for any | 15 | | purposes not specifically provided in this amendatory Act of | 16 | | the 94th General Assembly, including but not limited to, | 17 | | purposes of vicarious liability in tort and purposes of | 18 | | statutory retirement or health insurance benefits. Child and | 19 | | day care home providers shall not be covered by the State | 20 | | Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971. | 21 | | In according child and day care home providers and their | 22 | | selected representative rights under the Illinois Public Labor | 23 | | Relations Act, the State intends that the State action | 24 | | exemption to application of federal and State antitrust laws be | 25 | | fully available to the extent that their activities are | 26 | | authorized by this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly.
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| 1 | | (d) The Illinois Department shall establish, by rule, a | 2 | | co-payment scale that provides for cost sharing by families | 3 | | that receive
child care services, including parents whose only | 4 | | income is from
assistance under this Code. The co-payment shall | 5 | | be based on family income and family size and may be based on | 6 | | other factors as appropriate. Co-payments may be waived for | 7 | | families whose incomes are at or below the federal poverty | 8 | | level.
| 9 | | (d-5) The Illinois Department, in consultation with its | 10 | | Child Care and Development Advisory Council, shall develop a | 11 | | plan to revise the child care assistance program's co-payment | 12 | | scale. The plan shall be completed no later than February 1, | 13 | | 2008, and shall include: | 14 | | (1) findings as to the percentage of income that the | 15 | | average American family spends on child care and the | 16 | | relative amounts that low-income families and the average | 17 | | American family spend on other necessities of life;
| 18 | | (2) recommendations for revising the child care | 19 | | co-payment scale to assure that families receiving child | 20 | | care services from the Department are paying no more than | 21 | | they can reasonably afford; | 22 | | (3) recommendations for revising the child care | 23 | | co-payment scale to provide at-risk children with complete | 24 | | access to Preschool for All and Head Start; and | 25 | | (4) recommendations for changes in child care program | 26 | | policies that affect the affordability of child care.
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| 1 | | (e) (Blank).
| 2 | | (f) The Illinois Department shall, by rule, set rates to be | 3 | | paid for the
various types of child care. Child care may be | 4 | | provided through one of the
following methods:
| 5 | | (1) arranging the child care through eligible | 6 | | providers by use of
purchase of service contracts or | 7 | | vouchers;
| 8 | | (2) arranging with other agencies and community | 9 | | volunteer groups for
non-reimbursed child care;
| 10 | | (3) (blank); or
| 11 | | (4) adopting such other arrangements as the Department | 12 | | determines
appropriate.
| 13 | | (f-5) (Blank). | 14 | | (g) Families eligible for assistance under this Section | 15 | | shall be given the
following options:
| 16 | | (1) receiving a child care certificate issued by the | 17 | | Department or a
subcontractor of the Department that may be | 18 | | used by the parents as payment for
child care and | 19 | | development services only; or
| 20 | | (2) if space is available, enrolling the child with a | 21 | | child care provider
that has a purchase of service contract | 22 | | with the Department or a subcontractor
of the Department | 23 | | for the provision of child care and development services.
| 24 | | The Department may identify particular priority | 25 | | populations for whom they may
request special | 26 | | consideration by a provider with purchase of service
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| 1 | | contracts, provided that the providers shall be permitted | 2 | | to maintain a balance
of clients in terms of household | 3 | | incomes and families and children with special
needs, as | 4 | | defined by rule.
| 5 | | (Source: P.A. 97-422, eff. 8-16-11.)
| 6 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 7 | | becoming law.
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