HB2623ham001 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Elaine Nekritz

Filed: 3/19/2015

09900HB2623ham001 LRB099 09886 RJF 32928 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2623

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2623 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Safe Routes to School Program Act.

Section 5. Findings and purpose. Childhood obesity has more than tripled over the past 30 years, creating a youth obesity epidemic. Nearly 18 percent of children, and 21 percent of adolescents, are obese, and 31.9 percent are obese or overweight. Obese children are likely to become obese adults; in fact, an obese older teenager has up to an 80 percent chance of becoming an obese adult. Obesity causes, or is closely linked to, numerous serious health conditions including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol, asthma, sleep apnea, gallstones, kidney stones, infertility, and as many as 11 types of cancers, including leukemia, breast, and colon cancer. In addition to harming individual health, obesity also negatively impacts the economy by contributing to higher health care costs, higher transportation costs, and lost labor market productivity. High obesity rates can also impact military readiness.

The purpose of this Act is to improve the public health and safety of children and communities through a reduction in childhood obesity and collision injuries by supporting the successful implementation of Safe Routes to School projects. Safe Routes to School projects aim to improve children's health and reverse the decline in walking and bicycling by funding local projects that support biking and walking to school through education, encouragement, and safer infrastructure, such as new and improved crosswalks, sidewalks, and traffic lights. The need for Safe Routes to School projects is especially strong in low income areas, which typically have the highest obesity rates, inferior pedestrian and biking infrastructure, and higher traffic injury rates for people driving, bicycling, and walking.

Safe Routes to School projects are having a significant impact where implemented. The percentage of students actively traveling to school by walking or biking, as estimated by school administrators, is 60 percent higher overall in schools participating in Safe Routes to School compared with schools that do not participate, and in some schools, the number of students walking or bicycling to school doubled in 3 years. Safe Routes to School projects make it safer and more convenient for everyone to walk and bike to destinations, encouraging a more active and healthier lifestyle that contributes to lower health care costs for the whole community.

Nothing in this Act is intended to prevent local or regional jurisdictions from establishing additional or more rigorous requirements consistent with the purpose of this Act.

Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Demonstrated high need area" means either (1) a school or project area in which at least 50% of the children are eligible to receive free and reduced priced meals under the National School Lunch Program; or (2) a census tract in which the median household income is less than 80% of the statewide average median based on the most current census tract level data from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.

"Department" means the Department of Transportation.

"Safe Routes to School" or "SRTS" means programs and initiatives that aim to increase the number and safety of students walking or bicycling to school through education, encouragement, and infrastructure improvements.

"Safe Routes to School infrastructure projects" means planning or engineering projects, located within 2 miles of a school, that support bicycling and walking to the school, such as sidewalk improvements, traffic calming and speed reduction improvements, pedestrian and bicycle crossing improvements, on-street bicycle facilities, off-street bicycle and pedestrian facilities, secure bicycle parking facilities, and traffic diversion or calming improvements.

"Safe Routes to School non-infrastructure projects" means projects that are designed to encourage children to walk and bicycle to school, including public awareness campaigns and outreach to press and community leaders, traffic education and enforcement in the vicinity of schools, student education sessions on bicycle and pedestrian safety, health, and environment, and funding for training volunteers and managers.

"Safe Routes to School projects" means both Safe Routes to School infrastructure projects and Safe Routes to School non-infrastructure projects.

Section 15. Establishment of Safe Routes to School Fund. There shall be established in the State treasury a Safe Routes to School Fund into which the Department of Transportation shall deposit funds for use by the Safe Routes to School Program and Safe Routes to School projects.

Section 20. Establishment of the Safe Routes to School Program; staffing and technical assistance.

(a) The Department shall establish and administer a Safe Routes to School Program, which will support increasing the safety and convenience of school children walking or biking to school and fund Safe Routes to School projects in local jurisdictions.

(b) The Department shall allocate funds to maintain a full-time position of Safe Routes to School Program Coordinator.

(c) The Safe Routes to School Program shall:

(1) provide outreach, education, and technical and application assistance relating to the Safe Routes to School Program to local jurisdictions and schools; and

(2) ensure the timely award and obligation of funds to Safe Routes to School infrastructure projects and Safe Routes to School non-infrastructure projects.

(d) The Safe Routes to School Program shall develop and periodically revise program guidelines for administration of the Safe Routes to School Program that establish:

(1) a clear application process, including project selection criteria;

(2) schedules and procedures;

(3) performance measures;

(4) student travel data collection procedures;

(5) program evaluation measures and procedures; and

(6) any other matters relevant to administration of the Safe Routes to School Program.

Section 25. Mix of infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects. The SRTS Program shall fund both Safe Routes to School infrastructure projects and Safe Routes to School non-infrastructure projects with no less than 10 percent and no more than 30 percent of funds authorized in the Safe Routes to School Fund reserved for Safe Routes to School non-infrastructure projects each funding cycle.

Section 30. Demonstrated high needs areas.

(a) The Safe Routes to School Program shall develop a plan, with specific goals and benchmarks, which are designed to ensure that demonstrated high need areas receive technical assistance, resources, and funding for Safe Routes to School projects consistent with their need.

(b) The Safe Routes to School Program shall provide demonstrated high need areas with pre-application assistance, including application preparation assistance, planning grants, and engineering consulting services, as needed.

(c) The Safe Routes to School Program shall identify barriers experienced by demonstrated high need areas in implementing Safe Routes to School projects and seek to alleviate those barriers through procedural changes and provision of resources and technical assistance.

Section 35. Non-state funding sources. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit, restrict, or otherwise discourage the allocation of federal or other non-State funds to the Safe Routes to School Program or Safe Routes to School projects.

Section 40. Report to General Assembly. The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Safe Routes to School Program Coordinator, shall submit to the General Assembly, no later than 20 days prior to convening of each annual session of the General Assembly, an annual report of the state and progress of the Safe Routes to School Program, which shall include but not be limited to:

(1) an accounting of all funds appropriated, awarded, and obligated;

(2) a summary of all projects funded;

(3) an estimation of the benefits conferred by the Program;

(4) a progress report on the plan, goals, and benchmarks for demonstrated high need communities required under subsection (a) of Section 30 of this Act; and

(5) any recommendations for legislative changes, including proposals to improve program effectiveness.

Section 100. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Section 5.866 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.866 new)

Sec. 5.866. The Safe Routes to School Fund.".