Public Act 90-0454 of the 90th General Assembly
Public Act 90-0454
SB855 Enrolled LRB9001779PTcw
AN ACT concerning business programs.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 3. The Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is
amended by changing Section 46.19a as follows:
(20 ILCS 605/46.19a) (from Ch. 127, par. 46.19a)
(Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 89-507)
Sec. 46.19a. Employment and technology grants.
(1) Grants to provide training in fields affected by
critical demands for certain skills may be made as provided
in this subsection.
(a) The Director of the Department may make grants
to eligible employers or to other eligible entities on
behalf of employers as authorized in paragraph (b) to
provide training for employees in fields for which there
are critical demands for certain skills.
(b) The Director may accept applications for
training grant funds and grant requests from: (i)
entities sponsoring multi-company eligible employee
training projects as defined in paragraph (c), including
business associations, strategic business partnerships,
institutions of secondary or higher education, large
manufacturers for supplier network companies, federal Job
Training Partnership Act administrative entities or grant
recipients, and labor organizations when those projects
will address common training needs identified by
participating companies; and (ii) individual employers
that are undertaking eligible employee training projects
as defined in paragraph (c), including intermediaries and
training agents.
(c) The Director may make grants to eligible
applicants as defined in paragraph (b) for employee
training projects that include, but need not be limited
to, one or more of the following:
(i) training programs in response to new or
changing technology being introduced in the
workplace;
(ii) job-linked training that offers special
skills for career advancement or that is preparatory
for, and leads directly to, jobs with definite
career potential and long-term job security;
(iii) training necessary to implement total
quality management or improvement or both management
and improvement systems within the workplace;
(iv) training related to new machinery or
equipment;
(v) training of employees of companies that
are expanding into new markets or expanding exports
from Illinois;
(vi) basic, remedial, or both basic and
remedial training of employees as a prerequisite for
other vocational or technical skills training or as
a condition for sustained employment;
(vii) self-employment training of the
unemployed and underemployed with comprehensive,
competency-based instructional programs and
services; and
(viii) other training activities, projects, or
both training activities and projects related to the
support, development, or evaluation of job training
programs, activities, and delivery systems,
including training needs assessment and design.
(d) Grants shall be made on the terms and
conditions that the Department shall determine, provided,
however, that no grant made under the provisions of
paragraph (c) of this subsection shall exceed 50% of the
direct costs of all approved training programs provided
by the employer or the employer's training agent or other
entity as defined in paragraph (b). Under this Section,
allowable costs include, but are not limited to:
(i) administrative costs of tracking,
documenting, reporting, and processing training
funds or project costs;
(ii) curriculum development;
(iii) wages and fringe benefits of employees;
(iv) training materials, including scrap
product costs;
(v) trainee travel expenses;
(vi) instructor costs, including wages, fringe
benefits, tuition, and travel expenses;
(vii) rent, purchase, or lease of training
equipment; and
(viii) other usual and customary training
costs.
(e) The Director will shall ensure that a minimum
of one periodic on-site grant monitoring visit is visits
are conducted by the Department either during the course
of the grant period or within 6 months following the end
of the grant period. The Department shall verify that
the grantee's financial management system is structured
to provide for accurate, current, and complete disclosure
of the financial results of the grant program in
accordance with all provisions, terms, and conditions
contained in the grant contract.
(f) The Director may establish and collect a
schedule of charges from subgrantee entities and other
system users under federal job-training programs for
participating in and utilizing the department's automated
job-training program information systems where such
systems and the necessary participation and utilization
is a requirement of the federal job-training programs.
All monies collected pursuant to this paragraph shall be
deposited into the Federal Job-Training Information
Systems Revolving Fund created in subsection (5).
(2) The Department is authorized to establish a program
of grants to universities, community colleges, research
institutions, research consortiums, other not-for-profit
entities, and Illinois businesses for the purpose of
fostering research and development in the high technology and
the service sector leading to the development of new products
and services that can be marketed by Illinois businesses. All
grant awards shall include a contract which may provide for
payment of negotiated royalties to the Department if the
product or service to be developed by the grantee is
subsequently licensed for production.
(a) Grants may be awarded to universities and
research institutions to assist them in making their
faculties and facilities available to Illinois
businesses. Such grants may be used by a university or
research institution for, including but not limited to
the following purposes: (i) to establish or enhance
computerized cataloging of all research labs and
university staff and make such catalogues available to
Illinois businesses; (ii) to market products developed by
the university to Illinois businesses; (iii) to review
publications in order to identify, catalog, and inform
Illinois businesses of new practices in areas such as
robotics, biotechnology; (iv) to build an on-line,
information and technology system that relies on other
computerized networks in the United States; (v) to assist
in securing temporary replacement for faculty who are
granted a leave of absence from their teaching duties for
the purpose of working full-time for an Illinois business
to assist that business with technology transfer.
(b) Grants may be awarded to universities and
research institutions, research consortiums and other
not-for-profit entities for the purpose of identifying
and supporting Illinois businesses engaged in high
technology and service sector enterprises. Such Illinois
businesses identified and funded shall include recipients
of Small Business Innovation Research Program funds under
subsections (e) through (k) of Section 9 of the Small
Business Act. (Title 15 United States Codes, subsections
638(e)-638(k)). Entities receiving grants under this
paragraph (b) shall be known as commercialization centers
and shall engage in one or more of the following
activities:
(i) directing research assistance for new
venture creations;
(ii) general feasibility studies of new
venture ideas;
(iii) furthering the technical and
intellectual skills of the managers and owners of
Illinois small businesses;
(iv) commercialization of technology and
research;
(v) development of prototypes and testing new
products;
(vi) identify and assist in securing
financing;
(vii) marketing assistance; and
(viii) assisting Illinois inventors in finding
Illinois manufacturers to produce and market their
inventions.
A commercialization center may charge a nominal fee
or accept royalty agreements for conducting feasibility
studies and other services.
(c) Grants may be awarded by the Department to
Illinois businesses to fund research and consultation
arrangements between businesses and universities,
community colleges, research institutions, research
consortiums and other not-for-profit entities within this
State.
The Department shall give priority to Illinois small
businesses in awarding grants. Each grant awarded under
this paragraph (c) shall provide funding for up to 50% of
the cost of the research or consultation arrangements,
not to exceed $100,000; provided that the grant recipient
utilizes Illinois not for profit research and academic
institutions to perform the research and development
function for which grant funds were requested.
(d) Grants may be awarded to research consortium
and other qualified applicants, in conjunction with
private sector or federal funding, for other creative
systems that bridge university resources and business,
technological, production and development concerns.
(e) For the purposes of subsection (2), (i)
"Illinois business" means a "small business concern" as
defined in Title 15 United States Code, Section 632,
which primarily conducts its business in Illinois; (ii)
"high technology" means any area of research or
development designed to foster greater knowledge or
understanding in fields such as computer science,
electronics, physics, chemistry or biology for the
purpose of producing designing, developing or improving
prototypes and new processes; (iii) "private sector"
shall have the meaning ascribed to it in Title 29 United
States Code, Section 1503; (iv) "University" means either
a degree granting institution located in Illinois as
defined in Section 2 of the Academic Degree Act, or a
State-supported institution of higher learning
administered by the Board of Trustees of the University
of Illinois, the Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois
University, the Board of Trustees of Chicago State
University, the Board of Trustees of Eastern Illinois
University, the Board of Trustees of Governors State
University, the Board of Trustees of Illinois State
University, the Board of Trustees of Northeastern
Illinois University, the Board of Trustees of Northern
Illinois University, the Board of Trustees of Western
Illinois University, or the Illinois Community College
Board; (v) "venture" means any Illinois business engaged
in research and development to create new products or
services with high growth potential; (vi) Illinois
research institutions refers to not-for-profit entities,
which include federally-funded research laboratories,
that conduct research and development activities for the
purpose of producing, designing, developing, or improving
prototypes and new processes; and (vii) other
not-for-profit entities means non-profit organizations
based in Illinois that are primarily devoted to new
enterprise or product development.
(f) The Department may establish a program of grant
assistance on a matching basis to universities, community
colleges, small business development centers, community
action agencies and other not-for-profit economic
development agencies to encourage new enterprise
development and new business formation and to encourage
enterprises in this State. The Department may provide
grants, which shall be exempt from the provisions of
subsection (3) of this Section, to universities,
community colleges, small business development centers,
community action agencies and other not-for-profit
economic development entities for the purpose of making
loans to small businesses. All grant applications shall
contain information as required by the Department,
including the following: a program operation plan; a
certification and assurance that the small business
applicants have received business development training or
education, have a business and finance plan and have
experience in the proposed business area; and a
description of the support services which the grant
recipient will provide to the small business. No more
than 10% of the grant may be used by the grant recipient
for administrative costs associated with the grant.
Grant recipients may use grant funds under this program
to make loans on terms and conditions favorable to the
small business and shall give priority to those
businesses located in high poverty areas, enterprise
zones, or both.
(3) There is created within the Department, a Technology
Innovation and Commercialization Grants-in-Aid Council which
shall consist of 2 representatives of the Department of
Commerce and Community Affairs appointed by the Department;
one representative of the Illinois Board of Higher Education,
appointed by the Board; one representative of science or
engineering appointed by the Governor; two representatives of
business, appointed by the Governor; one representative of
small business, appointed by the Governor; one representative
of the Department of Agriculture, appointed by the Director
of Agriculture; and one representative of agribusiness,
appointed by the Director of Agriculture. The Director of
Commerce and Community Affairs shall appoint one of the
Department's representatives to serve as chairman of the
Council. The Council members shall receive no compensation
for their services but shall be reimbursed for their expenses
actually incurred by them in the performance of their duties
under this subsection. The Department shall provide staff
services to the Council. The Council shall provide for review
and evaluation of all applications received by the Department
under subsection (2) of this Section and make recommendations
on those projects to be funded. The Council shall also assist
the Department in monitoring the projects and in evaluating
the impact of the program on technological innovation and
business development within the State.
(4) There is hereby created a special fund in the State
Treasury to be known as the Technology Innovation and
Commercialization Fund. The moneys in such Fund may be used,
subject to appropriation, only for making grants pursuant to
subsection (2) of this Section and for the purposes of the
Technology Advancement and Development Act. All royalties
received by the Department shall be deposited in such Fund.
(5) There is hereby created a special fund in the State
treasury to be known as the Federal Job-Training Information
Systems Revolving Fund. The deposit of monies into this fund
shall be limited to the collection of charges pursuant to
paragraph (f) of subsection (1) of this Section. The monies
in the fund may only be used, subject to appropriation by the
General Assembly for the purpose of financing the maintenance
and operation of the automated Federal Job-Training
Information Systems pursuant to paragraph (f) of subsection
(1) of this Section.
(6) When the Department is involved in developing a
federal or State funded training or retraining program for
any employer, the Department will assist and encourage that
employer in making every effort to reemploy individuals
previously employed at the facility. Further, the Department
will provide a list of said employees to said employer for
consideration for reemployment and will report the results of
this effort to the Illinois Job Training Coordinating
Council. This requirement shall be in effect when the
following conditions are met:
(a) the employer is reopening, or is proposing to
reopen, a facility which was last closed during the
preceding 2 years,
(b) a substantial number of the persons who were
employed at the facility before its most recent closure
remain unemployed, and
(c) the product or service produced by, or proposed
to be produced by, the employer at the facility is
substantially similar to the product or service produced
at the facility before its most recent closure.
(7) The Department, in cooperation with the Departments
of Public Aid and Employment Security, may establish a
program to encourage community action agencies to establish
programs that will help unemployed and underemployed single
parents to identify, access, and develop, through such means
as counseling or mentoring, internal and external resources
that will enable those single parents to become emotionally
and financially self-sufficient. The intended primary
beneficiaries of the local programs shall be female heads of
households who are at least 22 but less than 46 years of age
and who are physically able to work but are unemployed or
underemployed. The Department may make grants, subject to
the availability of funding, to communities and local
agencies for the purpose of establishing local programs as
described in this subsection (7). A grant under this
subsection (7) shall be made for a period of one year and may
be renewed if the Department determines that the program is
successful in meeting its objectives. If the Department
determines that implementation of a program has resulted in a
savings of State moneys that otherwise would have been paid
to beneficiaries of the program, the Department, on renewing
a grant, may adjust the grant amount for those demonstrated
savings. For purposes of this subsection, a person is
underemployed if his or her income from employment is less
than 185% of the federal official poverty income guideline.
(Source: P.A. 88-373; 88-456; 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-4,
eff. 1-1-96.)
(Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 89-507)
Sec. 46.19a. Employment and technology grants.
(1) Grants to provide training in fields affected by
critical demands for certain skills may be made as provided
in this subsection.
(a) The Director of the Department may make grants
to eligible employers or to other eligible entities on
behalf of employers as authorized in paragraph (b) to
provide training for employees in fields for which there
are critical demands for certain skills.
(b) The Director may accept applications for
training grant funds and grant requests from: (i)
entities sponsoring multi-company eligible employee
training projects as defined in paragraph (c), including
business associations, strategic business partnerships,
institutions of secondary or higher education, large
manufacturers for supplier network companies, federal Job
Training Partnership Act administrative entities or grant
recipients, and labor organizations when those projects
will address common training needs identified by
participating companies; and (ii) individual employers
that are undertaking eligible employee training projects
as defined in paragraph (c), including intermediaries and
training agents.
(c) The Director may make grants to eligible
applicants as defined in paragraph (b) for employee
training projects that include, but need not be limited
to, one or more of the following:
(i) training programs in response to new or
changing technology being introduced in the
workplace;
(ii) job-linked training that offers special
skills for career advancement or that is preparatory
for, and leads directly to, jobs with definite
career potential and long-term job security;
(iii) training necessary to implement total
quality management or improvement or both management
and improvement systems within the workplace;
(iv) training related to new machinery or
equipment;
(v) training of employees of companies that
are expanding into new markets or expanding exports
from Illinois;
(vi) basic, remedial, or both basic and
remedial training of employees as a prerequisite for
other vocational or technical skills training or as
a condition for sustained employment;
(vii) self-employment training of the
unemployed and underemployed with comprehensive,
competency-based instructional programs and
services; and
(viii) other training activities, projects, or
both training activities and projects related to the
support, development, or evaluation of job training
programs, activities, and delivery systems,
including training needs assessment and design.
(d) Grants shall be made on the terms and
conditions that the Department shall determine, provided,
however, that no grant made under the provisions of
paragraph (c) of this subsection shall exceed 50% of the
direct costs of all approved training programs provided
by the employer or the employer's training agent or other
entity as defined in paragraph (b). Under this Section,
allowable costs include, but are not limited to:
(i) administrative costs of tracking,
documenting, reporting, and processing training
funds or project costs;
(ii) curriculum development;
(iii) wages and fringe benefits of employees;
(iv) training materials, including scrap
product costs;
(v) trainee travel expenses;
(vi) instructor costs, including wages, fringe
benefits, tuition, and travel expenses;
(vii) rent, purchase, or lease of training
equipment; and
(viii) other usual and customary training
costs.
(e) The Director will shall ensure that a minimum
of one periodic on-site grant monitoring visit is visits
are conducted by the Department either during the course
of the grant period or within 6 months following the end
of the grant period. The Department shall verify that
the grantee's financial management system is structured
to provide for accurate, current, and complete disclosure
of the financial results of the grant program in
accordance with all provisions, terms, and conditions
contained in the grant contract.
(f) The Director may establish and collect a
schedule of charges from subgrantee entities and other
system users under federal job-training programs for
participating in and utilizing the department's automated
job-training program information systems where such
systems and the necessary participation and utilization
is a requirement of the federal job-training programs.
All monies collected pursuant to this paragraph shall be
deposited into the Federal Job-Training Information
Systems Revolving Fund created in subsection (5).
(2) The Department is authorized to establish a program
of grants to universities, community colleges, research
institutions, research consortiums, other not-for-profit
entities, and Illinois businesses for the purpose of
fostering research and development in the high technology and
the service sector leading to the development of new products
and services that can be marketed by Illinois businesses. All
grant awards shall include a contract which may provide for
payment of negotiated royalties to the Department if the
product or service to be developed by the grantee is
subsequently licensed for production.
(a) Grants may be awarded to universities and
research institutions to assist them in making their
faculties and facilities available to Illinois
businesses. Such grants may be used by a university or
research institution for, including but not limited to
the following purposes: (i) to establish or enhance
computerized cataloging of all research labs and
university staff and make such catalogues available to
Illinois businesses; (ii) to market products developed by
the university to Illinois businesses; (iii) to review
publications in order to identify, catalog, and inform
Illinois businesses of new practices in areas such as
robotics, biotechnology; (iv) to build an on-line,
information and technology system that relies on other
computerized networks in the United States; (v) to assist
in securing temporary replacement for faculty who are
granted a leave of absence from their teaching duties for
the purpose of working full-time for an Illinois business
to assist that business with technology transfer.
(b) Grants may be awarded to universities and
research institutions, research consortiums and other
not-for-profit entities for the purpose of identifying
and supporting Illinois businesses engaged in high
technology and service sector enterprises. Such Illinois
businesses identified and funded shall include recipients
of Small Business Innovation Research Program funds under
subsections (e) through (k) of Section 9 of the Small
Business Act. (Title 15 United States Codes, subsections
638(e)-638(k)). Entities receiving grants under this
paragraph (b) shall be known as commercialization centers
and shall engage in one or more of the following
activities:
(i) directing research assistance for new
venture creations;
(ii) general feasibility studies of new
venture ideas;
(iii) furthering the technical and
intellectual skills of the managers and owners of
Illinois small businesses;
(iv) commercialization of technology and
research;
(v) development of prototypes and testing new
products;
(vi) identify and assist in securing
financing;
(vii) marketing assistance; and
(viii) assisting Illinois inventors in finding
Illinois manufacturers to produce and market their
inventions.
A commercialization center may charge a nominal fee
or accept royalty agreements for conducting feasibility
studies and other services.
(c) Grants may be awarded by the Department to
Illinois businesses to fund research and consultation
arrangements between businesses and universities,
community colleges, research institutions, research
consortiums and other not-for-profit entities within this
State.
The Department shall give priority to Illinois small
businesses in awarding grants. Each grant awarded under
this paragraph (c) shall provide funding for up to 50% of
the cost of the research or consultation arrangements,
not to exceed $100,000; provided that the grant recipient
utilizes Illinois not for profit research and academic
institutions to perform the research and development
function for which grant funds were requested.
(d) Grants may be awarded to research consortium
and other qualified applicants, in conjunction with
private sector or federal funding, for other creative
systems that bridge university resources and business,
technological, production and development concerns.
(e) For the purposes of subsection (2), (i)
"Illinois business" means a "small business concern" as
defined in Title 15 United States Code, Section 632,
which primarily conducts its business in Illinois; (ii)
"high technology" means any area of research or
development designed to foster greater knowledge or
understanding in fields such as computer science,
electronics, physics, chemistry or biology for the
purpose of producing designing, developing or improving
prototypes and new processes; (iii) "private sector"
shall have the meaning ascribed to it in Title 29 United
States Code, Section 1503; (iv) "University" means either
a degree granting institution located in Illinois as
defined in Section 2 of the Academic Degree Act, or a
State-supported institution of higher learning
administered by the Board of Trustees of the University
of Illinois, the Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois
University, the Board of Trustees of Chicago State
University, the Board of Trustees of Eastern Illinois
University, the Board of Trustees of Governors State
University, the Board of Trustees of Illinois State
University, the Board of Trustees of Northeastern
Illinois University, the Board of Trustees of Northern
Illinois University, the Board of Trustees of Western
Illinois University, or the Illinois Community College
Board; (v) "venture" means any Illinois business engaged
in research and development to create new products or
services with high growth potential; (vi) Illinois
research institutions refers to not-for-profit entities,
which include federally-funded research laboratories,
that conduct research and development activities for the
purpose of producing, designing, developing, or improving
prototypes and new processes; and (vii) other
not-for-profit entities means non-profit organizations
based in Illinois that are primarily devoted to new
enterprise or product development.
(f) The Department may establish a program of grant
assistance on a matching basis to universities, community
colleges, small business development centers, community
action agencies and other not-for-profit economic
development agencies to encourage new enterprise
development and new business formation and to encourage
enterprises in this State. The Department may provide
grants, which shall be exempt from the provisions of
subsection (3) of this Section, to universities,
community colleges, small business development centers,
community action agencies and other not-for-profit
economic development entities for the purpose of making
loans to small businesses. All grant applications shall
contain information as required by the Department,
including the following: a program operation plan; a
certification and assurance that the small business
applicants have received business development training or
education, have a business and finance plan and have
experience in the proposed business area; and a
description of the support services which the grant
recipient will provide to the small business. No more
than 10% of the grant may be used by the grant recipient
for administrative costs associated with the grant.
Grant recipients may use grant funds under this program
to make loans on terms and conditions favorable to the
small business and shall give priority to those
businesses located in high poverty areas, enterprise
zones, or both.
(3) There is created within the Department, a Technology
Innovation and Commercialization Grants-in-Aid Council which
shall consist of 2 representatives of the Department of
Commerce and Community Affairs appointed by the Department;
one representative of the Illinois Board of Higher Education,
appointed by the Board; one representative of science or
engineering appointed by the Governor; two representatives of
business, appointed by the Governor; one representative of
small business, appointed by the Governor; one representative
of the Department of Agriculture, appointed by the Director
of Agriculture; and one representative of agribusiness,
appointed by the Director of Agriculture. The Director of
Commerce and Community Affairs shall appoint one of the
Department's representatives to serve as chairman of the
Council. The Council members shall receive no compensation
for their services but shall be reimbursed for their expenses
actually incurred by them in the performance of their duties
under this subsection. The Department shall provide staff
services to the Council. The Council shall provide for review
and evaluation of all applications received by the Department
under subsection (2) of this Section and make recommendations
on those projects to be funded. The Council shall also assist
the Department in monitoring the projects and in evaluating
the impact of the program on technological innovation and
business development within the State.
(4) There is hereby created a special fund in the State
Treasury to be known as the Technology Innovation and
Commercialization Fund. The moneys in such Fund may be used,
subject to appropriation, only for making grants pursuant to
subsection (2) of this Section and for the purposes of the
Technology Advancement and Development Act. All royalties
received by the Department shall be deposited in such Fund.
(5) There is hereby created a special fund in the State
treasury to be known as the Federal Job-Training Information
Systems Revolving Fund. The deposit of monies into this fund
shall be limited to the collection of charges pursuant to
paragraph (f) of subsection (1) of this Section. The monies
in the fund may only be used, subject to appropriation by the
General Assembly for the purpose of financing the maintenance
and operation of the automated Federal Job-Training
Information Systems pursuant to paragraph (f) of subsection
(1) of this Section.
(6) When the Department is involved in developing a
federal or State funded training or retraining program for
any employer, the Department will assist and encourage that
employer in making every effort to reemploy individuals
previously employed at the facility. Further, the Department
will provide a list of said employees to said employer for
consideration for reemployment and will report the results of
this effort to the Illinois Job Training Coordinating
Council. This requirement shall be in effect when the
following conditions are met:
(a) the employer is reopening, or is proposing to
reopen, a facility which was last closed during the
preceding 2 years,
(b) a substantial number of the persons who were
employed at the facility before its most recent closure
remain unemployed, and
(c) the product or service produced by, or proposed
to be produced by, the employer at the facility is
substantially similar to the product or service produced
at the facility before its most recent closure.
(7) The Department, in cooperation with the Departments
of Human Services and Employment Security, may establish a
program to encourage community action agencies to establish
programs that will help unemployed and underemployed single
parents to identify, access, and develop, through such means
as counseling or mentoring, internal and external resources
that will enable those single parents to become emotionally
and financially self-sufficient. The intended primary
beneficiaries of the local programs shall be female heads of
households who are at least 22 but less than 46 years of age
and who are physically able to work but are unemployed or
underemployed. The Department may make grants, subject to
the availability of funding, to communities and local
agencies for the purpose of establishing local programs as
described in this subsection (7). A grant under this
subsection (7) shall be made for a period of one year and may
be renewed if the Department determines that the program is
successful in meeting its objectives. If the Department
determines that implementation of a program has resulted in a
savings of State moneys that otherwise would have been paid
to beneficiaries of the program, the Department, on renewing
a grant, may adjust the grant amount for those demonstrated
savings. For purposes of this subsection, a person is
underemployed if his or her income from employment is less
than 185% of the federal official poverty income guideline.
(Source: P.A. 88-373; 88-456; 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-4,
eff. 1-1-96; 89-507, eff. 7-1-97.)
Section 5. The Business Assistance and Regulatory Reform
Act is amended by changing Section 15 as follows:
(20 ILCS 608/15)
Sec. 15. Providing Information and Expediting Permit
Reviews.
(a) The office shall provide an information system using
a toll-free business assistance number. The number shall be
advertised throughout the State. If requested, the caller
will be sent a basic business kit, describing the basic
requirements and procedures for doing business in Illinois.
If requested, the caller shall be directed to one or more of
the additional services provided by the office. In addition,
the office shall have branches `ocated throughout the State
to assist persons who prefer not (or who are unable) to use
the call system. All persons providing advice to callers on
behalf of the office and all persons responsible for directly
providing services to persons visiting the office or one of
its branches shall be persons with small business experience
in an administrative or managerial capacity.
(b) (Blank). The office shall develop and implement a
computerized master application procedure to expedite the
identification and processing of permits for business
undertakings, projects and activities.
(1) The application shall be made on a form
prescribed by the office, designed primarily for the
convenience of applicants confronting requirements of
multiple permits from one or more State agencies. The
office shall assist any person requesting assistance in
completing the application.
(2) Upon receipt of a completed master application,
the office shall notify each State agency having a
possible interest in the proposed business activity.
Each agency so notified shall respond within 15 days and
advise the office whether one or more permits under its
jurisdiction may be required for the activity. The
response will also include the fees to be charged. The
requirements of this subdivision (b)(2) shall not apply
if the master application contained false, misleading or
deceptive information, or failed to include pertinent
information, the lack of which could reasonably lead a
State agency to misjudge the applicability of permits
under its jurisdiction, or if new permit requirements or
related standards subsequently became effective for which
a State agency had no discretion in establishing the
effective date. For purposes of this Act, "State agency"
means a department or agency of State government under
the jurisdiction and control of the Office of the
Governor.
(3) After the 15 day notice and response period,
the office shall promptly provide the applicant with the
necessary application forms and related information for
all permits specified by the interested State agencies.
Applications may be directly filed with the agencies or
with the office, together with the requisite fees. The
office may at the request of the applicant conduct a
pre-application conference with representatives of the
interested State agencies and agencies having
responsibilities for business promotion.
(c) Any applicant for permits required for a business
activity may confer with the office to obtain assistance in
the prompt and efficient processing and review of
applications. The office may designate an employee of the
office to act as a permit assistance manager to:
(1) facilitate contacts for the applicant with
responsible agencies;
(2) arrange conferences to clarify the requirements
of interested agencies;
(3) consider with State agencies the feasibility of
consolidating hearings and data required of the
applicant;
(4) assist the applicant in resolution of
outstanding issues identified by State agencies; and
(5) coordinate federal, State and local regulatory
procedures and permit review actions to the extent
possible.
(d) The office shall publish a directory of State
business permits and State programs to assist small
businesses.
(e) The office shall designate "economically distressed
areas", being State enterprise zones that have been
designated enterprise zones under the Illinois Enterprise
Zone Act because of their high unemployment rate, high
poverty rate, or low income. The office shall provide on-site
permit assistance in those areas and may require any
interested State agency to designate an employee who shall
coordinate the handling of permits in that area. Interested
State agencies shall, to the maximum extent feasible,
establish procedures to expedite applications in economically
distressed areas. The office shall attempt to establish
agreements with the local governments having jurisdiction in
these areas, to allow the office to provide assistance to
applicants for permits required by these local governments.
(f) The office shall designate permit assistance
managers to assist in obtaining the prompt and efficient
processing and review of applications for permits required by
businesses performing infrastructure projects. Interested
State agencies shall, to the maximum extent feasible,
establish procedures to expedite applications for
infrastructure projects. Applications for permits for
infrastructure projects shall be approved or disapproved
within 45 days of submission, unless law or regulations
specify a different period. If the interested agency is
unable to act within that period, the agency shall provide a
written notification to the office specifying reasons for its
inability to act and the date by which approval or
disapproval shall be determined. The office may require any
interested State agency to designate an employee who will
coordinate the handling of permits in that area.
(g) In addition to its responsibilities in connection
with permit assistance, the office shall provide general
regulatory information by directing businesses to appropriate
officers in State agencies to supply the information
requested.
(h) The office shall help businesses to locate and apply
to training programs available to train current employees in
particular skills, techniques or areas of knowledge relevant
to the employees' present or anticipated job duties. In
pursuit of this objective, the office shall provide
businesses with pertinent information about training programs
offered by State agencies, units of local government, public
universities and colleges, community colleges, and school
districts in Illinois.
(i) The office shall help businesses to locate and apply
to State programs offering to businesses grants, loans, loan
or bond guarantees, investment partnerships, technology or
productivity consultation, or other forms of business
assistance.
(j) To the extent authorized by federal law, the office
shall assist businesses in ascertaining and complying with
the requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities
Act.
(k) The office shall provide confidential on-site
assistance in identifying problems and solutions in
compliance with requirements of the federal Occupational
Safety and Health Administration and other State and federal
environmental regulations. The office shall work through and
contract with the Hazardous Waste Research and Information
Center to provide confidential on-site consultation audits
that (i) assist regulatory compliance and (ii) identify
pollution prevention opportunities.
(l) The office shall provide information on existing
loan and business assistance programs provided by the State.
(m) Each State agency having jurisdiction to approve or
deny a permit shall have the continuing power heretofore or
hereafter vested in it to make such determinations. The
provisions of this Act shall not lessen or reduce such powers
and shall modify the procedures followed in carrying out such
powers only to the extent provided in this Act.
(n) (1) Each State agency shall fully cooperate with the
office in providing information, documentation, personnel or
facilities requested by the office.
(2) Each State agency having jurisdiction of any permit
to which the master application procedure is applicable shall
designate an employee to act as permit liaison office with
the office in carrying out the provisions of this Act.
(o) (1) The office has authority, but is not required,
to keep and analyze appropriate statistical data regarding
the number of permits issued by State agencies, the amount of
time necessary for the permits to be issued, the cost of
obtaining such permits, the types of projects for which
specific permits are issued, a geographic distribution of
permits, and other pertinent data the office deems
appropriate.
The office shall make such data and any analysis of the
data available to the public.
(2) The office has authority, but is not required, to
conduct or cause to be conducted a thorough review of any
agency's permit requirements and the need by the State to
require such permits. The office shall draw on the review,
on its direct experience, and on its statistical analyses to
prepare recommendations regarding how to:
(i) eliminate unnecessary or antiquated permit
requirements;
(ii) consolidate duplicative or overlapping permit
requirements;
(iii) simplify overly complex or lengthy
application procedures;
(iv) expedite time-consuming agency review and
approval procedures; or
(v) otherwise improve the permitting processes in
the State.
The office shall submit copies of all recommendations
within 5 days of issuance to the affected agency, the
Governor, the General Assembly, and the Joint Committee on
Administrative Rules.
(p) The office has authority to review State forms on
its own initiative or upon the request of another State
agency to ascertain the burden, if any, of complying with
those forms. If the office determines that a form is unduly
burdensome to business, it may recommend to the agency
issuing the form either that the form be eliminated or that
specific changes be made in the form.
(q) Not later than March 1 of each year, beginning March
1, 1995, the office shall submit an annual report of its
activities during the preceding year to the Governor and
General Assembly. The report shall describe the activities
of the office during the preceding year and shall contain
statistical information on the permit assistance activities
of the office.
(Source: P.A. 88-404.)
(20 ILCS 610/Act rep.)
Section 10. The Corridors of Opportunity and Development
Act is repealed.
Section 15. The Energy Conservation and Coal Development
Act is amended by changing Section 8 as follows:
(20 ILCS 1105/8) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7408)
Sec. 8. Illinois Coal Development Board.
(a) There shall be established, within the Department,
the Illinois Coal Development Board, hereinafter in this
Section called the Board. The Board shall be composed of 13
voting members including: the Director of the Department, who
shall be Chairman thereof; the Director of Natural Resources
or that Director's designee; the Director of the Office of
Mines and Minerals within the Department of Natural
Resources; the two co-chairpersons of the Citizens Council on
Energy Resources, created by Public Act 84-15; and 8 persons
appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the
Senate, including representatives of Illinois industries that
are involved in the extraction, utilization or transportation
of Illinois coal, persons representing financial or banking
interests in the State, and persons experienced in
international business and economic development. These
members shall be chosen from persons of recognized ability
and experience in their designated field. The 8 appointed
members shall serve for terms of 4 years, unless otherwise
provided in this subsection. The initial terms of the
original appointees shall expire on July 1, 1985, except that
the Governor shall designate 3 of the original appointees to
serve initial terms that shall expire on July 1, 1983. The
initial term of the member appointed by the Governor to fill
the office created after July 1, 1985 shall expire on July 1,
1989. The initial terms of the members appointed by the
Governor to fill the offices created by this amendatory Act
of 1993 shall expire on July 1, 1995, and July 1, 1997, as
determined by the Governor.
The Board shall meet at least annually or at the call of
the Chairman. At any time the majority of the Board may
petition the Chairman for a meeting of the Board. Seven
members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. Members of
the Board shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary
expenses incurred while performing their duties as members of
the Board from funds appropriated to the Department for such
purpose.
(b) The Board shall have the following powers and
duties:
(1) To develop an annual agenda which may include
but is not limited to research and methodologies
conducted for the purpose of increasing the utilization
of Illinois' coal and other fossil fuel resources, with
emphasis on high sulfur coal, in the following areas:
coal extraction, preparation and characterization; coal
technologies (combustion, gasification, liquefaction, and
related processes); marketing; public awareness and
education, as those terms are used in the Illinois Coal
Technology Development Assistance Act; transportation;
procurement of sites and issuance of permits; and
environmental impacts.
(2) To support and coordinate Illinois coal
research, and to approve projects consistent with the
annual agenda and budget for coal research and the
purposes of this Act. The Board shall review and, if
acceptable, approve the annual budget and operating plan
submitted by the Department for administration of the
Board's projects and funds.
(3) To promote the coordination of available
research information on the production, preparation,
distribution and uses of Illinois coal. The Board shall
advise the existing research institutions within the
State on areas where research may be necessary.
(4) To cooperate to the fullest extent possible
with State and federal agencies and departments,
independent organizations, and other interested groups,
public and private, for the purposes of promoting
Illinois coal resources.
(5) To submit an annual report to the Governor and
the General Assembly outlining the progress and
accomplishments made in the year, providing an accounting
of funds received and disbursed, reviewing the status of
research contracts, and furnishing other relevant
information.
(6) To focus on existing coal research efforts in
carrying out its mission. The Board shall attempt to make
use of existing research facilities in Illinois or other
institutions carrying out research on Illinois coal. As
far as practicable, the Board shall make maximum use of
the research facilities available at the Illinois State
Geological Survey, the Coal Extraction and Utilization
Research Center, the Illinois Coal Development Park and
universities and colleges located within the State of
Illinois. Subject to the approval of the Department, and
in conjunction with its statutory responsibilities, the
Board may create a consortium or center which conducts,
coordinates and supports coal research activities in the
State of Illinois. Programmatic activities of such a
consortium or center shall be subject to approval by the
Board and shall be consistent with the purposes of this
Act. The Board may authorize expenditure of funds in
support of the administrative and programmatic operations
of such a center or consortium consistent with its
statutory authority. Administrative actions undertaken
by or for such a center or consortium shall be subject to
the approval of the Department.
(7) To make a reasonable attempt, before initiating
any research under this Act, to avoid duplication of
effort and expense by coordinating the research efforts
among various agencies, departments, universities or
organizations, as the case may be.
(8) To adopt, amend and repeal rules, regulations
and bylaws governing its organization, the conduct of
business, and the exercise of its powers and duties.
(9) To authorize the expenditure of monies from the
Coal Technology Development Assistance Fund, the Public
Utility Fund and other funds in the State Treasury
appropriated to the Department, consistent with the
purposes of this Act.
(10) To seek, accept, and expend gifts or grants in
any form, from any public agency or from any other
source. Such gifts and grants may be held in trust by
the Department and expended at the direction of the Board
and in the exercise of the Board's powers and performance
of the Board's duties.
(11) To publish, from time to time, the results of
Illinois coal research projects funded through the Board.
(12) To authorize loans from appropriations from
the Build Illinois Bond Purposes Fund, the Build Illinois
Bond Fund and the Illinois Industrial Coal Utilization
Fund.
(13) To authorize expenditures of monies for coal
development projects under the authority of Section 13 of
the General Obligation Bond Act.
(c) The Board shall also have and exercise the following
powers and duties:
(1) To create and maintain thorough, current and
accurate records on all markets for and actual uses of
coal mined in Illinois, and to make such records
available to the public upon request.
(2) To identify all current and anticipated future
technical, economic, institutional, market,
environmental, regulatory and other impediments to the
utilization of Illinois coal.
(3) To monitor and evaluate all proposals and plans
of public utilities related to compliance with the
requirements of Title IV of the federal Clean Air Act
Amendments of 1990, or with any other law which might
affect the use of Illinois coal, for the purposes of (i)
determining the effects of such proposals or plans on the
use of Illinois coal, and (ii) identifying alternative
plans or actions which would maintain or increase the use
of Illinois coal.
(4) To develop strategies and to propose policies
to promote environmentally responsible uses of Illinois
coal for meeting electric power supply requirements and
for other purposes.
(5) To issue a report to the Governor and the
General Assembly by October 1, 1991, and by March 1 of
each year thereafter, describing all findings,
conclusions and recommendations required by and developed
pursuant to this subsection; provided, however, that
interim reports may be issued whenever in the opinion of
the Board there may be a need to do so.
(Source: P.A. 88-391; 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)
Section 20. The Build Illinois Act is amended by
changing Section 8-3 as follows:
(30 ILCS 750/8-3) (from Ch. 127, par. 2708-3)
Sec. 8-3. Powers of the Department. The Department has
the power to:
(a) provide business development public infrastructure
loans or grants from appropriations from the Build Illinois
Bond Fund, the Build Illinois Purposes Fund and the Public
Infrastructure Construction Loan Fund to local governments to
provide or improve a community's public infrastructure so as
to create or retain private sector jobs pursuant to the
provisions of this Article;
(b) provide affordable financing of public
infrastructure loans and grants to, or on behalf of, local
governments, local public entities, medical facilities, and
public health clinics from appropriations from the Public
Infrastructure Construction Loan Fund for the purpose of
assisting with the financing, or application and access to
financing, of a community's public infrastructure necessary
to health, safety, and economic development;
(c) enter into agreements, accept funds or grants, and
engage in cooperation with agencies of the federal
government, or state or local governments to carry out the
purposes of this Article, and to use funds appropriated
pursuant to this Article to participate in federal
infrastructure loan and grant programs upon such terms and
conditions as may be established by the federal government;
(d) establish application, notification, contract, and
other procedures, rules, or regulations deemed necessary and
appropriate to carry out the provisions of this Article;
(e) coordinate assistance under this program with
activities of the Illinois Development Finance Authority in
order to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of State
development programs;
(f) coordinate assistance under the Affordable Financing
of Public Infrastructure Loan and Grant Program with the
activities of the Illinois Development Finance Authority,
Illinois Rural Bond Bank, Illinois Farm Development
Authority, Illinois Housing Development Authority, Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal and State
programs and entities providing financing assistance to
communities for public health, safety, and economic
development infrastructure;.
(f-5) provide staff, administration, and related support
required to manage the programs authorized under this Article
and pay for the staffing, administration, and related support
from the Public Infrastructure Construction Loan Revolving
Fund;
(g) exercise such other powers as are necessary or
incidental to the foregoing.
(Source: P.A. 88-453.)
Section 95. No acceleration or delay. Where this Act
makes changes in a statute that is represented in this Act by
text that is not yet or no longer in effect (for example, a
Section represented by multiple versions), the use of that
text does not accelerate or delay the taking effect of (i)
the changes made by this Act or (ii) provisions derived from
any other Public Act.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.