|
|
|
|
SB1629 Enrolled |
|
LRB096 08972 DRJ 21230 b |
|
|
| 1 |
| AN ACT concerning public aid.
|
| 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 |
| Section 6 as follows:
|
| 6 |
| (305 ILCS 20/6) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1406)
|
| 7 |
| Sec. 6. Eligibility, Conditions of Participation, and |
| 8 |
| Energy Assistance.
|
| 9 |
| (a) Any person who is a resident of the State of Illinois |
| 10 |
| and whose
household income is not greater than an amount |
| 11 |
| determined annually by the
Department, in consultation with the |
| 12 |
| Policy Advisory Council, may
apply for assistance pursuant to |
| 13 |
| this Act in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the |
| 14 |
| Department. In setting the annual eligibility level, the
|
| 15 |
| Department shall consider the amount of available funding and |
| 16 |
| may not set a
limit higher than 150% of the federal nonfarm |
| 17 |
| poverty level as established by
the federal Office of |
| 18 |
| Management and Budget.
|
| 19 |
| (b) Applicants who qualify for assistance pursuant to |
| 20 |
| subsection (a) of
this Section shall, subject to appropriation |
| 21 |
| from the General Assembly and
subject to availability of funds |
| 22 |
| to the Department, receive energy
assistance as provided by |
| 23 |
| this Act. The Department, upon receipt
of monies authorized |
|
|
|
SB1629 Enrolled |
- 2 - |
LRB096 08972 DRJ 21230 b |
|
|
| 1 |
| pursuant to this Act for energy assistance, shall commit
funds |
| 2 |
| for each qualified applicant in an amount determined by the
|
| 3 |
| Department. In determining the amounts of assistance to be |
| 4 |
| provided to or
on behalf of a qualified applicant, the |
| 5 |
| Department shall ensure that the
highest amounts of assistance |
| 6 |
| go to households with the greatest energy
costs in relation to |
| 7 |
| household income. The Department shall include
factors such as |
| 8 |
| energy costs, household size, household income, and region
of |
| 9 |
| the State when determining individual household benefits. In |
| 10 |
| setting
assistance levels, the Department shall attempt to |
| 11 |
| provide assistance to
approximately the same number of |
| 12 |
| households who participated in the 1991
Residential Energy |
| 13 |
| Assistance Partnership Program. Such assistance levels
shall |
| 14 |
| be adjusted annually on the basis of funding
availability and |
| 15 |
| energy costs. In promulgating rules for the
administration of |
| 16 |
| this
Section the Department shall assure that a minimum of 1/3 |
| 17 |
| of funds
available for benefits to eligible households with the |
| 18 |
| lowest incomes and that elderly and
disabled households are |
| 19 |
| offered a priority application
period.
|
| 20 |
| (c) If the applicant is not a customer of record of an |
| 21 |
| energy provider for winter
energy services or an applicant for |
| 22 |
| such service, such applicant shall
receive a direct energy |
| 23 |
| assistance payment in an amount established by the
Department |
| 24 |
| for all such applicants under this Act; provided, however, that
|
| 25 |
| such an applicant must have rental expenses for housing greater |
| 26 |
| than 30% of
household income.
|
|
|
|
SB1629 Enrolled |
- 3 - |
LRB096 08972 DRJ 21230 b |
|
|
| 1 |
| (c-1) This subsection shall apply only in cases where: (1) |
| 2 |
| the applicant is not a customer of record of an energy provider |
| 3 |
| because energy services are provided by the owner of the unit |
| 4 |
| as a portion of the rent; (2) the applicant resides in housing |
| 5 |
| subsidized or developed with funds provided under the Rental |
| 6 |
| Housing Support Program Act or under a similar locally funded |
| 7 |
| rent subsidy program, or is the voucher holder who resides in a |
| 8 |
| rental unit within the State of Illinois and whose monthly rent |
| 9 |
| is subsidized by the tenant-based Housing Choice Voucher |
| 10 |
| Program under Section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937; and |
| 11 |
| (3) the rental expenses for housing are no more than 30% of |
| 12 |
| household income. In such cases, the household may apply for an |
| 13 |
| energy assistance payment under this Act and the owner of the |
| 14 |
| housing unit shall cooperate with the applicant by providing |
| 15 |
| documentation of the energy costs for that unit. Any |
| 16 |
| compensation paid to the energy provider who supplied energy |
| 17 |
| services to the household shall be paid on behalf of the owner |
| 18 |
| of the housing unit providing energy services to the household. |
| 19 |
| The Department shall report annually to the General Assembly on |
| 20 |
| the number of households receiving energy assistance under this |
| 21 |
| subsection and the cost of such assistance. The provisions of |
| 22 |
| this subsection (c-1), other than this sentence, are |
| 23 |
| inoperative after August 31, 2012. |
| 24 |
| (d) If the applicant is a customer of an energy provider, |
| 25 |
| such
applicant shall receive energy assistance in an amount |
| 26 |
| established by the
Department for all such applicants under |
|
|
|
SB1629 Enrolled |
- 4 - |
LRB096 08972 DRJ 21230 b |
|
|
| 1 |
| this Act, such amount to be paid
by the Department to the |
| 2 |
| energy provider supplying winter energy service to
such |
| 3 |
| applicant. Such applicant shall:
|
| 4 |
| (i) make all reasonable efforts to apply to any other |
| 5 |
| appropriate
source of public energy assistance; and
|
| 6 |
| (ii) sign a waiver permitting the Department to receive |
| 7 |
| income
information from any public or private agency |
| 8 |
| providing income or energy
assistance and from any |
| 9 |
| employer, whether public or private.
|
| 10 |
| (e) Any qualified applicant pursuant to this Section may |
| 11 |
| receive or have
paid on such applicant's behalf an emergency |
| 12 |
| assistance payment to enable
such applicant to obtain access to |
| 13 |
| winter energy services. Any such
payments shall be made in |
| 14 |
| accordance with regulations of the Department.
|
| 15 |
| (f) The Department may, if sufficient funds are available, |
| 16 |
| provide
additional benefits to certain qualified applicants:
|
| 17 |
| (i) for the reduction of past due amounts owed to |
| 18 |
| energy providers;
and
|
| 19 |
| (ii) to assist the household in responding to |
| 20 |
| excessively high summer
temperatures or energy costs. |
| 21 |
| Households containing elderly members, children,
a person |
| 22 |
| with a disability, or a person with a medical need for |
| 23 |
| conditioned air
shall receive priority for receipt of such |
| 24 |
| benefits.
|
| 25 |
| (Source: P.A. 91-936, eff. 1-10-01; 92-690, eff. 7-18-02.)
|
| 26 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect September |