(70 ILCS 531/2)

Sec. 2. Findings. The General Assembly hereby determines and declares that:

(1) the economic burdens resulting from involuntary unemployment fall in part upon the State in the form of increased need for public assistance, reduced tax revenues, and increased resources devoted to crime prevention and incarceration and that the unemployed worker and his or her family may migrate outside the State to find work and such migration will reduce the tax revenues of local governments and the State of Illinois, thereby endangering their financial ability to support necessary governmental services for their remaining inhabitants;

(2) the State has a responsibility to help create a favorable climate for new and improved job opportunities for all of its citizens, especially in areas with high economic distress, by encouraging the development of commercial and service businesses and industrial and manufacturing plants and creating job opportunities;

(3) the State has a responsibility to increase and improve post-release employment opportunities for ex-offenders and reduce recidivism rates through the combined resources and expertise of providers of workforce development, supportive services, and private enterprises;

(4) a lack of decent housing contributes to urban blight, crime, anti-social behavior, disease, a higher need for public assistance, reduced tax revenues, and the migration of workers and their families away from areas that fail to offer adequate, decent, affordable housing;

(5) decent, affordable housing is a necessary ingredient of life affording each citizen basic human dignity, a sense of self worth, confidence, and a firm foundation upon which to build a family and educate children; and

(6) in order to foster civic and neighborhood pride, citizens require access to educational institutions, recreation, parks and open spaces, entertainment and sports, a reliable transportation network, cultural facilities, and theaters.

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State of Illinois, in the interest of promoting industrial, commercial, residential, jobs, service, transportation, and facilities, thereby reducing the evils attendant upon unemployment, crime, and recidivism and enhancing the public health, safety, morals, happiness, and general welfare of this State specifically by making available through the Illinois Urban Development Authority, funds for industrial projects, commercial projects, transportation projects, and housing projects to a municipality with a municipal poverty rate greater than 3% in excess of the statewide average.

(Source: P.A. 98-384, eff. 8-16-13.)