Full Text of SB3281 099th General Assembly
SB3281 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016 SB3281 Introduced 2/19/2016, by Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 305 ILCS 20/10 | from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1410 | 305 ILCS 20/13 | |
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Amends the Energy Assistance Act. Provides that the Low Income Energy Assistance Block
Grant Fund and the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance
Fund are subject to continuing appropriation. Effective immediately.
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| | | FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning finance.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Energy Assistance Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Sections 10 and 13 as follows:
| 6 | | (305 ILCS 20/10) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1410)
| 7 | | Sec. 10. Energy Assistance Funds.
| 8 | | (a) The AFDC Energy Assistance Fund is hereby created as a | 9 | | special fund
in the State Treasury.
| 10 | | The AFDC Energy Assistance Fund is authorized to receive | 11 | | whether by
appropriation, transfer, statutory deposit or fund | 12 | | transfer, all amounts
appropriated from State funds to the | 13 | | Department of Human Services (acting as
successor to the | 14 | | Illinois Department of Public Aid
under the Department of Human | 15 | | Services Act) specifically for energy
assistance payments for | 16 | | persons and families
receiving assistance pursuant to Section | 17 | | 4-1 of the Illinois Public Aid
Code and subsection (c) of | 18 | | Section 6 of this Act, and any administrative
expense related | 19 | | thereto.
| 20 | | (b) Subject to appropriation by the General Assembly, the | 21 | | Department is
authorized to expend monies from the AFDC Energy | 22 | | Assistance Fund for the
following purposes:
| 23 | | (1) for energy assistance payments to or on behalf of |
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| 1 | | individuals or
families who receive assistance pursuant to | 2 | | Section 4-1 of The Illinois
Public Aid Code in accordance | 3 | | with the provisions of Section 6 of this Act; and
| 4 | | (2) for the necessary and contingent expenses of the | 5 | | Department
incurred in the administration of that portion | 6 | | of the Act described in
paragraph (1) of this subsection.
| 7 | | (c) The AFDC Energy Assistance Fund shall be inoperative | 8 | | after
September 30, 1991.
| 9 | | (d) The Subject to appropriations made by the General | 10 | | Assembly, the Department
is authorized to expend monies from | 11 | | the Low Income Energy Assistance Block
Grant Fund for the | 12 | | purpose of providing assistance pursuant to Section 6 of
this | 13 | | Act. Absent an enacted appropriation from the Low Income Energy | 14 | | Assistance Block
Grant Fund in any State fiscal year, this | 15 | | subsection shall constitute a continuing appropriation to the | 16 | | Department of all amounts necessary for the purposes set forth | 17 | | in this subsection (d). The continuing appropriation under this | 18 | | subsection (d) shall be no less than the total aggregate | 19 | | appropriations made available from the Low Income Energy | 20 | | Assistance Block
Grant Fund for the immediately preceding State | 21 | | fiscal year. If an appropriation to the Department from the Low | 22 | | Income Energy Assistance Block
Grant Fund is enacted on or | 23 | | after July 1 of any calendar year, then the continuing | 24 | | appropriation shall discontinue for that State fiscal year, and | 25 | | the enacted appropriation shall supersede.
| 26 | | (Source: P.A. 89-507, eff. 7-1-97.)
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| 1 | | (305 ILCS 20/13)
| 2 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on December 31, 2018) | 3 | | Sec. 13. Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund.
| 4 | | (a) The Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance
Fund is | 5 | | hereby created as a special fund in the State
Treasury. The | 6 | | Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund
is authorized | 7 | | to receive moneys from voluntary donations from individuals, | 8 | | foundations, corporations, and other sources, moneys received | 9 | | pursuant to Section 17, and, by statutory deposit, the moneys
| 10 | | collected pursuant to this Section. The Fund is also authorized | 11 | | to receive voluntary donations from individuals, foundations, | 12 | | corporations, and other sources, as well as contributions made | 13 | | in accordance with Section 507MM of the Illinois Income Tax | 14 | | Act. The Subject to appropriation,
the Department shall use
| 15 | | moneys from the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund
| 16 | | for payments to electric or gas public utilities,
municipal | 17 | | electric or gas utilities, and electric cooperatives
on behalf | 18 | | of their customers who are participants in the
program | 19 | | authorized by Sections 4 and 18 of this Act, for the provision | 20 | | of
weatherization services and for
administration of the | 21 | | Supplemental Low-Income Energy
Assistance Fund. The yearly | 22 | | expenditures for weatherization may not exceed 10%
of the | 23 | | amount collected during the year pursuant to this Section. The | 24 | | yearly administrative expenses of the
Supplemental Low-Income | 25 | | Energy Assistance Fund may not exceed
10% of the amount |
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| 1 | | collected during that year
pursuant to this Section, except | 2 | | when unspent funds from the Supplemental Low-Income Energy | 3 | | Assistance Fund are reallocated from a previous year; any | 4 | | unspent balance of the 10% administrative allowance may be | 5 | | utilized for administrative expenses in the year they are | 6 | | reallocated.
| 7 | | (a-5) Absent an enacted appropriation from the | 8 | | Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance
Fund in any State | 9 | | fiscal year, this subsection shall constitute a continuing | 10 | | appropriation to the Department of Commerce and Economic | 11 | | Opportunity of all amounts necessary for the purposes set forth | 12 | | in subsection (a). The continuing appropriation under this | 13 | | subsection (a-5) shall be no less than the total aggregate | 14 | | appropriations made available from the Supplemental Low-Income | 15 | | Energy Assistance
Fund for the immediately preceding State | 16 | | fiscal year. If an appropriation to the Department of Commerce | 17 | | and Economic Opportunity from the Supplemental Low-Income | 18 | | Energy Assistance
Fund is enacted on or after July 1 of any | 19 | | calendar year, then the continuing appropriation shall | 20 | | discontinue for that State fiscal year, and the enacted | 21 | | appropriation shall supersede. | 22 | | (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 16-111
of the | 23 | | Public Utilities Act but subject to subsection (k) of this | 24 | | Section,
each public utility, electric
cooperative, as defined | 25 | | in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier Act,
and municipal | 26 | | utility, as referenced in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities
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| 1 | | Act, that is engaged in the delivery of electricity or the
| 2 | | distribution of natural gas within the State of Illinois
shall, | 3 | | effective January 1, 1998,
assess each of
its customer accounts | 4 | | a monthly Energy Assistance Charge for
the Supplemental | 5 | | Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund.
The delivering public | 6 | | utility, municipal electric or gas utility, or electric
or gas
| 7 | | cooperative for a self-assessing purchaser remains subject to | 8 | | the collection of
the
fee imposed by this Section.
The
monthly | 9 | | charge shall be as follows:
| 10 | | (1) $0.48 per month on each account for
residential | 11 | | electric service;
| 12 | | (2) $0.48 per month on each account for
residential gas | 13 | | service;
| 14 | | (3) $4.80 per month on each account for non-residential | 15 | | electric service
which had less than 10 megawatts
of peak | 16 | | demand during the previous calendar year;
| 17 | | (4) $4.80 per month on each account for non-residential | 18 | | gas service which
had distributed to it less than
4,000,000 | 19 | | therms of gas during the previous calendar year;
| 20 | | (5) $360 per month on each account for non-residential | 21 | | electric service
which had 10 megawatts or greater
of peak | 22 | | demand during the previous calendar year; and
| 23 | | (6) $360 per month on each account for non-residential | 24 | | gas service
which had 4,000,000 or more therms of
gas | 25 | | distributed to it during the previous calendar year. | 26 | | The incremental change to such charges imposed by this |
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| 1 | | amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly shall not (i) be | 2 | | used for any purpose other than to directly assist customers | 3 | | and (ii) be applicable to utilities serving less than 100,000 | 4 | | customers in Illinois on January 1, 2009. | 5 | | In addition, electric and gas utilities have committed, and | 6 | | shall contribute, a one-time payment of $22 million to the | 7 | | Fund, within 10 days after the effective date of the tariffs | 8 | | established pursuant to Sections 16-111.8 and 19-145 of the | 9 | | Public Utilities Act to be used for the Department's cost of | 10 | | implementing the programs described in Section 18 of this | 11 | | amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, the Arrearage | 12 | | Reduction Program described in Section 18, and the programs | 13 | | described in Section 8-105 of the Public Utilities Act. If a | 14 | | utility elects not to file a rider within 90 days after the | 15 | | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General | 16 | | Assembly, then the contribution from such utility shall be made | 17 | | no later than February 1, 2010.
| 18 | | (c) For purposes of this Section:
| 19 | | (1) "residential electric service" means
electric | 20 | | utility service for household purposes delivered to a
| 21 | | dwelling of 2 or fewer units which is billed under a
| 22 | | residential rate, or electric utility service for | 23 | | household
purposes delivered to a dwelling unit or units | 24 | | which is billed
under a residential rate and is registered | 25 | | by a separate meter
for each dwelling unit;
| 26 | | (2) "residential gas service" means gas utility
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| 1 | | service for household purposes distributed to a dwelling of
| 2 | | 2 or fewer units which is billed under a residential rate,
| 3 | | or gas utility service for household purposes distributed | 4 | | to a
dwelling unit or units which is billed under a | 5 | | residential
rate and is registered by a separate meter for | 6 | | each dwelling
unit;
| 7 | | (3) "non-residential electric service" means
electric | 8 | | utility service which is not residential electric
service; | 9 | | and
| 10 | | (4) "non-residential gas service" means gas
utility | 11 | | service which is not residential gas service.
| 12 | | (d) Within 30 days after the effective date of this | 13 | | amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, each public
| 14 | | utility engaged in the delivery of electricity or the
| 15 | | distribution of natural gas shall file with the Illinois
| 16 | | Commerce Commission tariffs incorporating the Energy
| 17 | | Assistance Charge in other charges stated in such tariffs, | 18 | | which shall become effective no later than the beginning of the | 19 | | first billing cycle following such filing.
| 20 | | (e) The Energy Assistance Charge assessed by
electric and | 21 | | gas public utilities shall be considered a charge
for public | 22 | | utility service.
| 23 | | (f) By the 20th day of the month following the month in | 24 | | which the charges
imposed by the Section were collected, each | 25 | | public
utility,
municipal utility, and electric cooperative | 26 | | shall remit to the
Department of Revenue all moneys received as |
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| 1 | | payment of the
Energy Assistance Charge on a return prescribed | 2 | | and furnished by the
Department of Revenue showing such | 3 | | information as the Department of Revenue may
reasonably | 4 | | require; provided, however, that a utility offering an | 5 | | Arrearage Reduction Program pursuant to Section 18 of this Act | 6 | | shall be entitled to net those amounts necessary to fund and | 7 | | recover the costs of such Program as authorized by that Section | 8 | | that is no more than the incremental change in such Energy | 9 | | Assistance Charge authorized by this amendatory Act of the 96th | 10 | | General Assembly. If a customer makes a partial payment, a | 11 | | public
utility, municipal
utility, or electric cooperative may | 12 | | elect either: (i) to apply
such partial payments first to | 13 | | amounts owed to the
utility or cooperative for its services and | 14 | | then to payment
for the Energy Assistance Charge or (ii) to | 15 | | apply such partial payments
on a pro-rata basis between amounts | 16 | | owed to the
utility or cooperative for its services and to | 17 | | payment for the
Energy Assistance Charge.
| 18 | | (g) The Department of Revenue shall deposit into the
| 19 | | Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund all moneys
| 20 | | remitted to it in accordance with subsection (f) of this
| 21 | | Section; provided, however, that the amounts remitted by each | 22 | | utility shall be used to provide assistance to that utility's | 23 | | customers. The utilities shall coordinate with the Department | 24 | | to establish an equitable and practical methodology for | 25 | | implementing this subsection (g) beginning with the 2010 | 26 | | program year.
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| 1 | | (h) On or before December 31, 2002, the Department shall
| 2 | | prepare a report for the General Assembly on the expenditure of | 3 | | funds
appropriated from the Low-Income Energy Assistance Block | 4 | | Grant Fund for the
program authorized under Section 4 of this | 5 | | Act.
| 6 | | (i) The Department of Revenue may establish such
rules as | 7 | | it deems necessary to implement this Section.
| 8 | | (j) The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
may | 9 | | establish such rules as it deems necessary to implement
this | 10 | | Section.
| 11 | | (k) The charges imposed by this Section shall only apply to | 12 | | customers of
municipal electric or gas utilities and electric | 13 | | or gas cooperatives if
the municipal
electric or gas
utility or | 14 | | electric or gas cooperative makes an affirmative decision to
| 15 | | impose the
charge. If a municipal electric or gas utility or an | 16 | | electric
cooperative makes an affirmative decision to impose | 17 | | the charge provided by
this
Section, the municipal electric or | 18 | | gas utility or electric cooperative shall
inform the
Department | 19 | | of Revenue in writing of such decision when it begins to impose | 20 | | the
charge. If a municipal electric or gas utility or electric | 21 | | or gas
cooperative does not
assess
this charge, the Department | 22 | | may not use funds from the Supplemental Low-Income
Energy | 23 | | Assistance Fund to provide benefits to its customers under the | 24 | | program
authorized by Section 4 of this Act.
| 25 | | In its use of federal funds under this Act, the Department | 26 | | may not cause a
disproportionate share of those federal funds |
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| 1 | | to benefit customers of systems
which do not assess the charge | 2 | | provided by this Section.
| 3 | | This Section is repealed effective December 31, 2018
unless
| 4 | | renewed by action of the General Assembly. The General Assembly | 5 | | shall
consider the results of the evaluations described in | 6 | | Section 8 in its
deliberations.
| 7 | | (Source: P.A. 98-429, eff. 8-16-13; 99-457, eff. 1-1-16 .)
| 8 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 9 | | becoming law.
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