Full Text of HB3556 103rd General Assembly
HB3556eng 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning agriculture.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Black | 5 | | Farmer Restoration Program Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Definitions.
As used in this Act:
| 7 | | "Agricultural easement" means a nonpossessory interest of | 8 | | a holder in real property imposing limitations on the use of | 9 | | the property strictly to agricultural purposes. An | 10 | | agricultural easement does not prevent a property owner from | 11 | | constructing, improving, or maintaining a primary residence or | 12 | | housing for farmworkers on the land. | 13 | | "Director" means the Director of Agriculture. | 14 | | "Department" means the Illinois Department of Agriculture. | 15 | | "Eligible individual" means a resident of this State who: | 16 | | (1) was born in this State; | 17 | | (2) is at least 21 years of age;
| 18 | | (3) has previously identified as Black or African | 19 | | American; and | 20 | | (4) has at least one parent of African ancestry.
| 21 | | "Limited resource farmer" means a farmer with direct or | 22 | | indirect gross farm sales not more than the current indexed | 23 | | value in each of the previous 2 years, and
who has a total |
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| 1 | | household income at or below the national poverty level for a | 2 | | family of 4, or less than 50% of county median household income | 3 | | in each of the previous 2 years. | 4 | | "Qualified entity" means an organization:
| 5 | | (1) that has a fiscal sponsor who is exempt from | 6 | | taxation pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal | 7 | | Revenue Code of 1986;
| 8 | | (2) that has a minimum of 3 years of experience | 9 | | providing agricultural services, business assistance, | 10 | | legal assistance, or advocacy services to socially | 11 | | disadvantaged farmers; and | 12 | | (3) in which at least one-half of the members of the | 13 | | organization's board of directors are Black. | 14 | | "Socially disadvantaged farmer" means a farmer who is a | 15 | | member of a socially disadvantaged group. | 16 | | "Socially disadvantaged group" means a group of people | 17 | | whose members have been subject to racial or ethnic prejudice | 18 | | because of their identity as a member of a group without regard | 19 | | to their individual qualities.
| 20 | | "Training" means a program of training approved by the | 21 | | Director that: | 22 | | (1) provides an eligible individual with the basic | 23 | | skills to operate a farm profitably with a primary focus | 24 | | on regenerating the soil, ecosystem, and local community; | 25 | | (2) provides a course of study that is equivalent to | 26 | | no less than 30 academic credit hours of study, which may |
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| 1 | | be provided as direct in-field instruction; | 2 | | (3) focuses on low capital-intensive techniques and | 3 | | technologies; and | 4 | | (4) studies local and regional food systems and the | 5 | | market opportunities those systems present. | 6 | | Section 10. Black Farmer Restoration Program Fund. | 7 | | (a) The Black Farmer Restoration Program Fund is created | 8 | | as a special fund in the State treasury.
Except as provided in | 9 | | subsection (b), the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by | 10 | | the General Assembly, shall be used for the purposes of the | 11 | | program, which include the purchase of agricultural | 12 | | conservation easements, fee title acquisition grants to | 13 | | private landowners, socially disadvantaged farmers, and | 14 | | limited resource farmers, land improvement and planning | 15 | | grants, technical assistance grants, technical assistance | 16 | | provided by the Department, technology transfer activities of | 17 | | the Department, and administrative costs incurred by the | 18 | | Department in administering the program. | 19 | | (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), moneys may be | 20 | | deposited into the fund from federal grants, and gifts and | 21 | | donations that are designated and required by the donor to be | 22 | | used exclusively for the purposes of the program. | 23 | | (c) Not to exceed 10% of all grants made by the Department | 24 | | under this Act may be made for land improvement purposes, | 25 | | technical assistance purposes, and policy planning purposes. |
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| 1 | | Not less than 90% of funds available for grants under this Act | 2 | | shall be expended for the acquisition of interests in land. | 3 | | For purposes of this Act, the expenditures specified in this | 4 | | subsection shall be deemed expenditures for the acquisition of | 5 | | interests in land. Not less than 75% of funds shall be provided | 6 | | to applicants that lease or sell to socially disadvantaged | 7 | | farmers.
Moneys in the fund shall also be available for the | 8 | | following purposes: | 9 | | (1) To provide technical assistance grants to eligible | 10 | | assistance entities in support of socially disadvantaged | 11 | | farmers who are seeking financing for land acquisition or | 12 | | leasing. For purposes of this Section, technical | 13 | | assistance includes, but is not limited to, organizing, | 14 | | advising, counseling, educating, planning, drafting, | 15 | | translating, interpreting, and consulting with socially | 16 | | disadvantaged farmers for the purpose of preparing them | 17 | | for favorable financing for land acquisition or | 18 | | negotiating leasing arrangements. | 19 | |
(2) To provide acquisition assistance grants to | 20 | | eligible assistance entities for the sole purpose of | 21 | | reducing barriers to land access for socially | 22 | | disadvantaged farmers, including, but not limited to, down | 23 | | payment assistance, interest rate assistance, direct costs | 24 | | incidental to acquisition, and infrastructure for land | 25 | | improvement. | 26 | | (3) To provide technical assistance grants to eligible |
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| 1 | | assistance entities in support of socially disadvantaged | 2 | | farmers who are seeking financing for land acquisition or | 3 | | leasing. For purposes of this paragraph (3), technical | 4 | | assistance includes, but is not limited to, organizing, | 5 | | advising, counseling, educating, planning, drafting, | 6 | | translating, interpreting, and consulting with socially | 7 | | disadvantaged farmers for the purpose of preparing them | 8 | | for favorable financing for land acquisition or | 9 | | negotiating leasing arrangements. | 10 | | (4) To provide acquisition assistance grants to | 11 | | eligible assistance entities for the sole purpose of | 12 | | reducing barriers to land access for socially | 13 | | disadvantaged farmers, including, but not limited to, down | 14 | | payment assistance, interest rate assistance, direct costs | 15 | | incidental to acquisition, and infrastructure for land | 16 | | improvement. | 17 | | Section 15. Department and Director responsibilities. | 18 | | (a) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall: | 19 | | (1) purchase, from willing sellers, available | 20 | | agricultural land within this State at a price no greater | 21 | | than fair market value; and | 22 | | (2) convey grants of the purchased land to eligible | 23 | | individuals at no cost to the eligible individual. | 24 | | (b) A land grant to an eligible individual may not exceed | 25 | | one hundred acres. |
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| 1 | | (c) Eligible individuals: | 2 | | (1) An eligible individual seeking a land grant shall | 3 | | submit an application on a form and in a manner approved by | 4 | | the Director that must include a legal description of the | 5 | | eligible agricultural land.
| 6 | | (2) The Director shall give priority to applications | 7 | | to: | 8 | | (A) socially disadvantaged farmers; | 9 | | (B) eligible individuals with a family history of | 10 | | land dispossession; | 11 | | (C) eligible individuals with experience in | 12 | | agriculture, including experience obtained through the | 13 | | provisions of this article; and | 14 | | (D) eligible individuals who are veterans. | 15 | | (3) The Director may grant an application submitted by | 16 | | a qualified entity on behalf of one or more eligible | 17 | | individuals seeking a land grant. An application submitted | 18 | | by a qualified entity for more than one hundred acres must | 19 | | include a proposal for how the land will be subdivided and | 20 | | separately conveyed to multiple eligible individuals. | 21 | | (d) Granted land. | 22 | | (1) The Director shall attach an agricultural easement | 23 | | to the land before it may be conveyed to the eligible | 24 | | individual or qualified entity. | 25 | | (2) The recipient of the land grant may sell the land, | 26 | | but the Department has the right of first refusal to |
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| 1 | | purchase the land at the appraised value of the land to | 2 | | convey to another eligible individual pursuant to the | 3 | | provisions of this article.
| 4 | | Section 20. Farm Conservation Corps. | 5 | | (a) Subject to appropriation and in partnership with the | 6 | | University of Illinois Extension, the Department shall | 7 | | establish the Farm Conservation Corps to provide residents | 8 | | between the ages of 18 and 29 from socially disadvantaged | 9 | | groups the academic, vocational, and social skills necessary | 10 | | to pursue long-term and productive careers in agriculture. | 11 | | (b) The members of the Farm Conservation Corps shall serve | 12 | | as on-farm apprentices, at no cost, to farms with an annual | 13 | | gross farm income of less than $250,000 operated by:
| 14 | | (1) socially disadvantaged farmers; | 15 | | (2) beginning farmers; or | 16 | | (3) farmers operating certified organic farms. | 17 | | Section 25. Data collection and reporting. | 18 | | (a) Generally. Subject to appropriation, the Director | 19 | | shall make publicly available annual reports describing data | 20 | | on the recipients of the Department programs, including | 21 | | assistance from farm subsidy programs, and the amounts of the | 22 | | assistance, delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of | 23 | | the recipients. | 24 | | (b) Research of socially disadvantaged farmers. Subject to |
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| 1 | | appropriation, the Department shall conduct research on the | 2 | | status of socially disadvantaged farmers, including, but not | 3 | | limited to: | 4 | | (1) the share of land ownership of those socially | 5 | | disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers, | 6 | | delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the | 7 | | landowners; | 8 | | (2) the share of the amount of assistance those | 9 | | socially disadvantaged farmers receive from the Department | 10 | | as compared to all farmers, delineated by the race, | 11 | | ethnicity, and gender of the recipients; | 12 | | (3) the share, status, and receipt of loans by | 13 | | socially disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers, | 14 | | delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the | 15 | | recipients; and | 16 | | (4) an assessment of the reasons for disparities in | 17 | | land ownership, assistance from the Department, and loans | 18 | | for socially disadvantaged farmers compared to all | 19 | | farmers. | 20 | | (c) Research of farmworkers. Subject to appropriation, the | 21 | | Department shall conduct research on the demographics and | 22 | | status of farmworkers, including, but not limited to: | 23 | | (1) the races, ethnicities, ages, localities, wages | 24 | | and benefits, and working conditions of farmworkers; | 25 | | (2) the economic contributions of farmworkers to the | 26 | | Illinois economy; and |
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| 1 | | (3) satisfaction of farmworkers with their employment. | 2 | | (d) Census of agriculture. The Department shall: | 3 | | (1) investigate historical changes in reporting | 4 | | methodology and misreporting of socially disadvantaged | 5 | | farmers in the census of agriculture; | 6 | | (2) develop procedures to ensure that census of | 7 | | agriculture surveys accurately capture the status of | 8 | | socially disadvantaged farmers engaged in urban | 9 | | agriculture; and | 10 | | (3) conduct, concurrently with each census of | 11 | | agriculture, a review to assess: | 12 | | (A) the outreach and methodologies used in | 13 | | conducting the census of agriculture; and | 14 | | (B) how such outreach and methodologies have | 15 | | affected the counting of socially disadvantaged | 16 | | farmers. | 17 | | (e) Corporate ownership of farmland. Subject to | 18 | | appropriation, the Department shall annually conduct, and | 19 | | annually make publicly available reports describing, in-depth | 20 | | research and analysis of corporate (domestic and foreign) land | 21 | | investment and ownership in Illinois, with specific attention | 22 | | given to the impact of corporate land investment and ownership | 23 | | on: | 24 | | (1) land consolidation trends in Illinois and in the | 25 | | United States; | 26 | | (2) challenges and opportunities for new and beginning |
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| 1 | | farmers accessing land for farming; | 2 | | (3) challenges and opportunities for members of | 3 | | socially disadvantaged groups accessing land for farming; | 4 | | and | 5 | | (4) crop selection and production trends. | 6 | | Section 35. Rulemaking. The Department shall adopt rules | 7 | | to carry out the provisions of this Act.
| 8 | | Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | 9 | | Section 5.990 as follows: | 10 | | (30 ILCS 105/5.990 new) | 11 | | Sec. 5.990. The Black Farmer Restoration Program Fund. | 12 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 13 | | becoming law. |
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