Full Text of HB0054 103rd General Assembly
HB0054eng 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 Local | 5 | | Food Infrastructure Grant Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Definitions. In this Act: | 7 | | "Department" means the Department of Agriculture.
| 8 | | "Director" means the Director of Agriculture.
| 9 | | "Fund" means the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Fund.
| 10 | | "Grantee" means the person or entity to which a grant is
| 11 | | made from the Fund.
| 12 | | "Lender" means any federal or State chartered bank,
| 13 | | federal land bank, production credit association, bank for
| 14 | | cooperatives, federal or state chartered savings and loan
| 15 | | association or building and loan association, small business
| 16 | | investment company, or any other institution qualified within
| 17 | | this State to originate and service loans, including, but not
| 18 | | limited to, insurance companies, credit unions, and mortgage
| 19 | | loan companies. "Lender" includes a wholly owned subsidiary
of | 20 | | a manufacturer, seller or distributor of goods or services
| 21 | | that makes loans to businesses or individuals, commonly known
| 22 | | as a "captive finance company".
| 23 | | "Liability" includes, but is not limited to, the
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| 1 | | following: accounts payable; notes or other indebtedness owed
| 2 | | to any source; taxes; rent; amounts owed on real estate
| 3 | | contracts or real estate mortgages; judgments; accrued
| 4 | | interest payable; and any other liability.
| 5 | | "State" means the State of Illinois.
| 6 | | "Underserved Farmer" means farmers or ranchers who are: | 7 | | Beginning; Socially Disadvantaged; Veterans; and Limited | 8 | | Resource, as defined by the USDA.
| 9 | | "Underserved Community" means communities that have | 10 | | limited or no access to resources or that are otherwise | 11 | | disenfranchised. These groups may include people who are | 12 | | socioeconomically disadvantaged; people with limited English | 13 | | proficiency; geographically isolated or educationally | 14 | | disenfranchised people; people of color as well as those of | 15 | | ethnic and national origin minorities; women and children; | 16 | | individuals with disabilities and others with access and | 17 | | functional needs; and seniors.
| 18 | | "Value-added" means the processing, packaging, or
| 19 | | otherwise enhancing the value of farm and agricultural
| 20 | | products or by-products produced in Illinois.
| 21 | | Section 10. Legislative findings. | 22 | | (a) The General Assembly finds that in this State the | 23 | | following conditions exist:
| 24 | | (1) Small fruit, vegetable, and livestock farmers are | 25 | | vital to the health and wealth of Illinois communities, |
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| 1 | | yet Illinois does not currently have infrastructure in | 2 | | place to support local food farmers and feed Illinois | 3 | | communities.
| 4 | | (2) An estimated 95% of the food consumed in Illinois | 5 | | is purchased from outside our borders, resulting in the | 6 | | export of billions of food dollars outside our state | 7 | | instead of building local economies.
| 8 | | (3) A shift of just 10% toward local food purchasing | 9 | | by Illinois individuals, families, schools, institutions, | 10 | | and state agencies could generate billions in economic | 11 | | growth for our state.
| 12 | | (4) In order for Illinois families, businesses, | 13 | | schools, and institutions to shift their purchasing | 14 | | practices, Illinois must invest in supporting critical | 15 | | local food infrastructure needed to scale up production, | 16 | | aggregation, and distribution of local food.
| 17 | | (b) The General Assembly determines and declares that | 18 | | there exist conditions in the State that require the | 19 | | Department to issue grants on behalf of the State for the | 20 | | development of local food processing, aggregation, and | 21 | | distribution.
| 22 | | Section 15. Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program. | 23 | | Subject to appropriation, the Department shall develop and | 24 | | administer an annual Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program | 25 | | to enhance local food processing, aggregation, and |
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| 1 | | distribution within this State.
| 2 | | (1) Eligibility. Eligible applicants must currently or | 3 | | plan to store, process, package, aggregate, or distribute | 4 | | farm products raised in Illinois. Eligible applicants | 5 | | include, but are not limited to:
| 6 | | (A) Illinois farms with less than 50 employees.
| 7 | | (B) Illinois cooperatives with less than 50 | 8 | | employees.
| 9 | | (C) Illinois processing facilities, food | 10 | | businesses, and food hubs, with less than 50 | 11 | | employees.
| 12 | | (D) Illinois non-profit organizations.
| 13 | | (E) Units of local government in Illinois.
| 14 | | Proposals may be submitted by individuals, groups, | 15 | | partnerships, or collaborations.
| 16 | | (2) Award. Grant awards shall be between $1000 and | 17 | | $150,000.
| 18 | | (3) Matching. The recipient of a grant under this | 19 | | Section must provide
a percentage for the total project | 20 | | costs. 80% of all funded projects will be required to | 21 | | provide a 50% match. The remaining 20% of funded projects | 22 | | shall be categorized as "high need" and shall be required | 23 | | to provide a 0 to 20% match. The recipient's match may be | 24 | | in cash, cash-equivalent investments, or bonds, | 25 | | irrevocable letters of credit, or any combination thereof. | 26 | | Acceptable matching fund sources include, but are not |
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| 1 | | limited to, commercial and private lenders, leasing | 2 | | companies, and grants.
| 3 | | (4) Allowable expenses. All grant funding must be used | 4 | | for the purchasing, leasing to own, renting, building, or | 5 | | installation of infrastructure that will increase market | 6 | | access of Illinois communities to Illinois agricultural | 7 | | products. Allowable expenses include, but are not limited | 8 | | to:
| 9 | | (A) Equipment used in the production of | 10 | | value-added agricultural products.
| 11 | | (B) Milling or pressing equipment.
| 12 | | (C) Creamery or milk product processing and | 13 | | packaging equipment.
| 14 | | (D) Food hub development or expansion.
| 15 | | (E) Cooler walls and refrigeration units.
| 16 | | (F) Grading, packing, labeling, packaging, or | 17 | | sorting equipment.
| 18 | | (G) Refrigerated trucks.
| 19 | | (H) Custom exempt mobile slaughter units and | 20 | | livestock processing equipment.
| 21 | | (I) Agroforestry processing equipment.
| 22 | | (J) Local fish and shrimp processing.
| 23 | | Grant funding may not be used for labor, marketing, or | 24 | | promotion.
| 25 | | (5) Funding source. The Local Food Infrastructure | 26 | | Grant Fund is created as a special fund in the State |
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| 1 | | treasury. Appropriations and moneys from any public or | 2 | | private source may be deposited into the Fund. The Fund | 3 | | shall be used for the purposes of this Act. Repayments of | 4 | | grants made under this Section shall be deposited into the | 5 | | Fund. A maximum of 10% of all funds appropriated through | 6 | | this fund may be awarded to the Department for | 7 | | administrative costs.
| 8 | | Section 20. Steering Committee. Subject to appropriation, | 9 | | the Department shall create an independent Local Food | 10 | | Infrastructure Steering Committee to guide the implementation | 11 | | and evaluation of the grant. The committee shall be selected | 12 | | by the Director. The committee shall include, but is not | 13 | | limited to, at least 3 farmers, including one specialty crop | 14 | | farmer, one livestock farmer, and one farmer of color, one | 15 | | representative from the local food processing industry, one | 16 | | representative from a non-profit organization serving farmers | 17 | | of color, one representative from a non-profit organization | 18 | | serving farmers at large, and one representative from the | 19 | | Department.
| 20 | | (1) The Steering Committee's responsibilities shall | 21 | | include:
| 22 | | (A) Determining the grant funding cycle.
| 23 | | (B) Determining Application Requirements and terms | 24 | | of the grant agreement.
| 25 | | (C) Determining grant criteria and preferences in |
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| 1 | | addition to those specified in this Act.
| 2 | | (D) Grant review and selection.
| 3 | | (E) Determining project reporting requirements for | 4 | | funded projects.
| 5 | | (F) Evaluating program success and adjusting | 6 | | criteria, requirements, preferences, implementation, | 7 | | and all other elements of the grant as needed to ensure | 8 | | the grant program meets its intended purpose, so long | 9 | | as changes are in compliance with this Act. | 10 | | (2) Application requirements. Grant applications must | 11 | | be made on forms provided by the Department and in | 12 | | accordance with procedures established by the Steering | 13 | | Committee. At a minimum, an applicant must be an Illinois | 14 | | resident, as defined by Department rule, and must provide | 15 | | the names, addresses, and occupations of all project | 16 | | owners, the project address, relevant credit and financial | 17 | | information (including, but not limited to, assets and | 18 | | liabilities), and any other information deemed necessary | 19 | | by the Steering Committee for review of the grant | 20 | | application.
| 21 | | (A) All requests for the waiver of any | 22 | | requirements in this Section must be made in writing | 23 | | to the Department. A grant award is subject to | 24 | | modification or alteration under, but is not limited | 25 | | to, the following conditions:
| 26 | | (i) The grant award is subject to any |
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| 1 | | modifications that may be required by changes in | 2 | | State law or regulations. The Department shall | 3 | | notify the recipient in writing of any amendment | 4 | | to the regulations and the effective date of those | 5 | | amendments.
| 6 | | (ii) If either the Department or the recipient | 7 | | requests to modify the terms of the grant award, | 8 | | written notice of the proposed modification shall | 9 | | be given to the other party. No modification shall | 10 | | take effect unless agreed to in writing by both | 11 | | the Department and the recipient.
| 12 | | (3) Grant review process.
| 13 | | (A) Criteria. The Steering Committee, in reviewing | 14 | | the applications, must consider, but is not limited to | 15 | | considering the following criteria:
| 16 | | (i) The project has a reasonable assurance of | 17 | | increasing the availability and accessibility of | 18 | | Illinois agricultural products among Illinois | 19 | | communities.
| 20 | | (ii) There is an adequate and realistic budget | 21 | | projection.
| 22 | | (iii) The application meets the eligibility | 23 | | requirements and the project costs are eligible | 24 | | under this Act.
| 25 | | (B) Preference. Preference for grants shall be | 26 | | given to, but is not limited to, the following:
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| 1 | | (i) Proposals that have established favorable | 2 | | community support.
| 3 | | (ii) Proposals that have a positive economic | 4 | | impact on the State's local food sector.
| 5 | | (iii) Proposals that increase the availability | 6 | | of Illinois agricultural products to underserved | 7 | | communities in Illinois.
| 8 | | (iv) Proposals that positively impact | 9 | | underserved farmers in Illinois.
| 10 | | (v) Established farmers and food businesses.
| 11 | | (vi) Proposals that facilitate long-term | 12 | | economic development in the local food sector.
| 13 | | (C) High Need Determination. The Steering | 14 | | Committee shall select all applications for funding, | 15 | | and from this selection shall determine 20% of | 16 | | applications to qualify as high need projects that are | 17 | | eligible for a lower match requirement of 0 to 25%. To | 18 | | qualify as a high need project, the independent | 19 | | Steering Committee shall consider, but is not limited | 20 | | to considering the following criteria:
| 21 | | (i) Proposals submitted by underserved | 22 | | farmers.
| 23 | | (ii) Proposals that will positively impact | 24 | | underserved communities.
| 25 | | (iii) Proposals that are submitted by small | 26 | | and very small farms and food businesses.
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| 1 | | Section 25. Report. The Director must file with the | 2 | | Governor and General Assembly, and publish publicly on or | 3 | | before March 1 of each year a written report detailing the | 4 | | impact of the Local Food Infrastructure Grant for the previous | 5 | | calendar year. The report must include a complete list of: (1) | 6 | | all applications for grants under the Local Food | 7 | | Infrastructure Grant Program during the previous calendar | 8 | | year; (2) all persons that were awarded the Local Food | 9 | | Infrastructure Grant and the nature and amount of their awards | 10 | | in the previous calendar year; and (3) the economic impact of | 11 | | the grant from the previous calendar year, which may include | 12 | | jobs created, local food sales increases, and communities | 13 | | served. | 14 | | Section 30. Liability. The Director, Local Food | 15 | | Infrastructure Steering Committee, any Department employee, or | 16 | | any authorized person executing grants is not personally | 17 | | liable on the grants and is not subject to any personal | 18 | | liability or accountability by reason of the
issuance of the | 19 | | grants.
| 20 | | Section 35. Default or termination of grant agreement. If | 21 | | the recipient of a grant violates any of the terms of the grant | 22 | | agreement, the Department shall send a written notice to the | 23 | | recipient that he or she is in default and be given the |
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| 1 | | opportunity to correct the violations.
| 2 | | (1) If the violation is not corrected within 30 days | 3 | | after receipt of the notification, the Director may take, | 4 | | but is not limited to, one or more of the following | 5 | | actions:
| 6 | | (A) Declare due and payable the amount of the | 7 | | grant, or any portion of it, and cease additional | 8 | | grant payments not yet made to
the recipient. | 9 | | (B) Take any other action considered appropriate | 10 | | to protect the interest of the project.
| 11 | | (2) The Department may determine that a recipient has | 12 | | failed to faithfully perform the terms and conditions of | 13 | | the scope of work of the project when:
| 14 | | (A) The Department has notified the recipient in | 15 | | writing of the existence of circumstances such as | 16 | | misapplication of grant funds, failure to match | 17 | | Department funds, evidence of fraud and abuse, | 18 | | repeated failure to meet performance timelines or | 19 | | standards, or failure to resolve negotiated points of | 20 | | the agreement.
| 21 | | (B) The recipient fails to develop and implement a | 22 | | corrective action plan within 30 calendar days of the | 23 | | Department's notice.
| 24 | | (3) A grant may be terminated under, but termination | 25 | | is not limited to, any of the following circumstances:
| 26 | | (A) In the absence of State funding for a specific |
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| 1 | | year, all grants that year will be terminated in full. | 2 | | In the event of a partial loss of State funding, the | 3 | | Department may make proportionate cuts to all | 4 | | recipients.
| 5 | | (B) If the Department determines that the | 6 | | recipient has failed to comply with the terms and | 7 | | conditions of the grant agreement, the Department may | 8 | | terminate the grant in whole, or in part, at any time | 9 | | before the date of completion.
| 10 | | (C) The Department may terminate the grant in | 11 | | whole, or in part, when the Department determines that | 12 | | the continuation of the project would not produce | 13 | | beneficial results commensurate with the further | 14 | | expenditures of funds.
| 15 | | (D) The recipient may refuse or elect not to | 16 | | complete the grant agreement and terminate the grant. | 17 | | The recipient shall notify the Department within 10 | 18 | | days after the date upon which performance ceases. The | 19 | | Department may declare due and payable the amount of | 20 | | the grant and may cease additional grant payments not | 21 | | yet made to the grantee.
| 22 | | (4) Any moneys collected from the default or | 23 | | termination of a grant shall be placed into the Fund and | 24 | | expended for the purposes of this Act.
| 25 | | Section 40. Construction. This Act is necessary for the |
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| 1 | | welfare of this State and must be liberally construed to | 2 | | effect its purposes. The Department may adopt rules that are | 3 | | consistent with and necessary for the administration of this | 4 | | Act. | 5 | | Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | 6 | | Section 5.990 as follows: | 7 | | (30 ILCS 105/5.990 new) | 8 | | Sec. 5.990. The Local Food Infrastructure Grant Fund.
| 9 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 10 | | becoming law.
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