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91_HB4118
LRB9110629MWgcA
1 AN ACT to amend the Department of Commerce and Community
2 Affairs Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois by
3 adding Section 605-830.
4 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
5 represented in the General Assembly:
6 Section 5. The Department of Commerce and Community
7 Affairs Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is
8 amended by adding Section 605-830 as follows:
9 (20 ILCS 605/605-830 new)
10 Sec. 605-830. Transportation to Work Program.
11 (a) There is created the Transportation to Work program
12 in the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs. The
13 program consists of the Transportation to Work Grants Program
14 and the Car Purchase Loans Program.
15 (b) Transportation to Work Grants Program.
16 (1) The Transportation to Work Grants Program is a
17 program of grants to units of local government for the
18 purpose of fulfilling plans those units of local
19 government have submitted to the Department for provision
20 of transportation assistance to low income workers to
21 allow those workers travel to and from their places of
22 employment.
23 (2) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph,
24 the Department may not make more than one grant in any
25 one county of this State in any fiscal year. In counties
26 with a population of more than 3,000,000 containing a
27 municipality with a population of more than 1,000,000,
28 the municipality with a population of more than 1,000,000
29 and the other parts of the county shall each qualify as a
30 "county" for all purposes of this Section. The
31 Department must adopt, by rule, a system that distributes
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1 the funds proportionately according to each county's
2 share of the statewide number of households that are
3 below 50% of the State median income. The distribution
4 system must also provide that in any year in which a
5 county's proportionate share of the funds appropriated
6 for the program would be below $5,000, that county may
7 not participate in the program and the available funds
8 shall be apportioned among the other counties.
9 (3) The Department shall solicit qualifying plans
10 from units of local government before each fiscal year
11 and shall include in the solicitation an estimate of the
12 expected level of available funds. In counties in which
13 more than one qualifying plan is submitted, the
14 Department must award the grant to the unit of local
15 government with the plan that will provide
16 transportation to work for the most low income workers
17 according to criteria established by the Department by
18 rule. If no unit of local government within a county
19 submits a plan by the deadline for submission of plans
20 announced by the Department, the funds allocated for that
21 county shall be proportionately distributed to increase
22 the grants made in that year to units of local government
23 in other counties. The Department shall make
24 proportional adjustments to the grants if the final
25 appropriation for the fiscal year differs from the
26 announced expected level of funding.
27 (4) The Department shall adopt rules for reports,
28 audits, review of public comments on plans, and
29 administration of the program.
30 (5) In this Section:
31 "Qualifying plan" means a plan that proposes to
32 use grant funds to provide transportation assistance
33 to low income workers. The plan must state the need
34 to be addressed in the specific locality, the plan
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1 for addressing the need, the capacity of the unit of
2 local government to carry out the plan, the numbers
3 of low income workers residing in the locality
4 expected to be served with program funds, the means
5 of determining that the served workers are "low
6 income" as defined in this Section, the methods of
7 administration, and any other information specified
8 by the Department. The plan must take into account
9 public comments and suggestions and contain a
10 description of the process for gathering the
11 comments and suggestions and a summary of the
12 substance of the comments and suggestions submitted
13 in that process. Nothing in this Section prevents a
14 unit of local government from adding additional
15 funds from any source to its program. A qualifying
16 plan must also provide that no more than 10% of the
17 granted funds will be used for administration, and,
18 if funds other than granted funds will be used, it
19 must specify how administration will be paid for.
20 "Low income worker" means an employed person
21 living within, but not necessarily employed within,
22 the locality that has submitted a qualifying plan
23 whose gross income does not exceed 50% of the State
24 median income as annually announced by the
25 Department. The Department must adopt rules that
26 allow units of local government to presume that
27 people are low income workers when those persons
28 prove that they are current recipients of need-based
29 benefits or services as to which the eligibility
30 guidelines are at or below 50% of State median
31 income, including, but not limited to Kidcare, State
32 child care subsidies, food stamps, and school
33 breakfasts or lunches.
34 "Transportation assistance" means any
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1 assistance that helps low income workers travel to
2 and from their places of employment, whether within
3 or outside of the locality submitting a qualifying
4 plan, and other places necessary to their work
5 effort, such as the location where their children
6 are cared for while they are at work. The unit of
7 local government shall specify the specific form of
8 assistance in a qualifying plan. There is no
9 limitation on the type of transportation assistance
10 that may be provided for in a qualifying plan. It
11 may, but need not necessarily, include subsidies for
12 public transportation or automobile mileage,
13 contracts with local taxi companies or public
14 transit companies, contracts for group travel in
15 vans, subsidies for car pooling, or other
16 transportation assistance strategies.
17 Transportation assistance must be available to low
18 income workers who meet the criteria specified in
19 the local plan as resources permit.
20 "Unit of local government" means a county or
21 one of its departments, a municipality or one of its
22 departments, a workforce board, a community college
23 or public university, a regional entity, or any
24 other unit of local government described in State
25 law.
26 (c) Car Purchase Loans Program.
27 (1) The Car Purchase Loans Program provides loans
28 to eligible workers who wish to purchase an automobile
29 that, in the judgment of the Department or contractor, is
30 in good condition and affordable to the worker,
31 considering all payments that will have to be made for
32 the acquisition and normal maintenance.
33 (2) Loans under the Car Purchase Loans Program
34 shall be available, to the extent resources permit, to
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1 any person who qualifies as a "low income worker" under
2 paragraph (5) of subsection (b) and under the criteria
3 set by the Department for approval of loans.
4 (3) The Department shall contract out the
5 administration of the Car Purchase Loans Program to
6 non-profit organizations, to for-profit organizations on
7 a not-for-profit basis, or to units of local government.
8 The Department shall announce a request for proposals for
9 the contracting of the administration of the program.
10 Contracts may include a reasonable amount for
11 administrative expenses, with a maximum the Department
12 shall specify by rule. Legal proceedings for collection
13 on delinquent loans may be performed by the Department or
14 contracted separately.
15 (4) Loans may include an amount for the mechanical
16 inspection of the car being purchased to ascertain
17 whether it is in sufficiently "good condition", either as
18 is or with a reasonable amount of repairs, to be a
19 reliable source of transportation to and from work.
20 Loans may not be more than $2,500. Loans shall be a lien
21 on the title to the automobile. Loans must be made with
22 no more than 2% interest and must be repaid in equal
23 monthly installments over a period of not less than 24
24 months. If any payment is in default for more than 60
25 days, the contractor may pursue any remedies available
26 under law and the contract with the Department, but may
27 also extend additional forbearance on a case by case
28 basis.
29 At the option of the worker, and for a fee of $50 to
30 be added to the balance of the loan, if the worker has
31 payments to make on the automobile to a third party over
32 and above the amount of the loan, the first payment on
33 the loan may be delayed for up to one year from the
34 purchase of the automobile. When payments on the loan
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1 begin, the worker shall receive a credit against the
2 principal of the loan of $25 for each month in which the
3 worker both makes the payment due on the loan and does
4 not receive cash assistance under the TANF program.
5 (5) The Department must adopt rules governing the
6 minimum standards contractors must observe in making and
7 collecting loans. The rules must leave reasonable leeway
8 for case-by-case decision-making by the contractor. The
9 Department must also adopt any other rules necessary for
10 the administration of the program.
11 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
12 becoming law.