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91_HB4587sam001 LRB9112942REmbam01 1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4587 2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend House Bill 4587 by replacing 3 everything after the enacting clause with the following: 4 "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 5 FY2001 Budget Implementation Act relating to education. 6 Section 3. The State Finance Act is amended by changing 7 Section 6z-45 as follows: 8 (30 ILCS 105/6z-45) 9 Sec. 6z-45. The School Infrastructure Fund. 10 (a) The School Infrastructure Fund is created as a 11 special fund in the State Treasury. 12 In addition to any other deposits authorized by law, 13 beginning January 1, 2000, on the first day of each month, or 14 as soon thereafter as may be practical, the State Treasurer 15 and State Comptroller shall transfer the sum of $5,000,000 16 from the General Revenue Fund to the School Infrastructure 17 Fund. 18 (b) Subject to the transfer provisions set forth below, 19 money in the School Infrastructure Fund shall, if and when 20 the State of Illinois incurs any bonded indebtedness for the 21 construction of school improvements under the School -2- LRB9112942REmbam01 1 Construction Law, be set aside and used for the purpose of 2 paying and discharging annually the principal and interest on 3 that bonded indebtedness then due and payable, and for no 4 other purpose. 5 In addition to other transfers to the General Obligation 6 Bond Retirement and Interest Fund made pursuant to Section 15 7 of the General Obligation Bond Act, upon each delivery of 8 bonds issued for construction of school improvements under 9 the School Construction Law, the State Comptroller shall 10 compute and certify to the State Treasurer the total amount 11 of principal of, interest on, and premium, if any, on such 12 bonds during the then current and each succeeding fiscal 13 year. 14 On or before the last day of each month, the State 15 Treasurer and State Comptroller shall transfer from the 16 School Infrastructure Fund to the General Obligation Bond 17 Retirement and Interest Fund an amount sufficient to pay the 18 aggregate of the principal of, interest on, and premium, if 19 any, on the bonds payable on their next payment date, divided 20 by the number of monthly transfers occurring between the last 21 previous payment date (or the delivery date if no payment 22 date has yet occurred) and the next succeeding payment date. 23 (c) The surplus, if any, in the School Infrastructure 24 Fund after the payment of principal and interest on that 25 bonded indebtedness then annually due shall, subject to 26 appropriation, be used as follows: 27 First - to make 3 payments to the School Technology 28 Revolving Loan Fund as follows: 29 Transfer of $30,000,000 in fiscal year 1999; 30 Transfer of $20,000,000 in fiscal year 2000; and 31 Transfer of $10,000,000 in fiscal year 2001. 32 Second - to pay the expenses of the State Board of 33 Education and the Capital Development Board in administering 34 programs under the School Construction Law, the total -3- LRB9112942REmbam01 1 expenses not to exceed $1,200,000$1,000,000in any fiscal 2 year. 3 Third - to pay any amounts due for grants for school 4 construction projects and debt service under the School 5 Construction Law. 6 Fourth - to pay any amounts due for grants for school 7 maintenance projects under the School Construction Law. 8 (Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 90-587, eff. 7-1-98; 9 91-38, eff. 6-15-99.) 10 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing 11 Sections 1D-1 and 2-3.51.5 as follows: 12 (105 ILCS 5/1D-1) 13 Sec. 1D-1. Block grant funding. 14 (a) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year 15 thereafter, the State Board of Education shall award to a 16 school district having a population exceeding 500,000 17 inhabitants a general education block grant and an 18 educational services block grant, determined as provided in 19 this Section, in lieu of distributing to the district 20 separate State funding for the programs described in 21 subsections (b) and (c). The provisions of this Section, 22 however, do not apply to any federal funds that the district 23 is entitled to receive. In accordance with Section 2-3.32, 24 all block grants are subject to an audit. Therefore, block 25 grant receipts and block grant expenditures shall be recorded 26 to the appropriate fund code for the designated block grant. 27 (b) The general education block grant shall include the 28 following programs: REI Initiative, Summer Bridges, Preschool 29 At Risk, K-6 Comprehensive Arts, School Improvement Support, 30 Urban Education, Scientific Literacy, Substance Abuse 31 Prevention, Second Language Planning, Staff Development, 32 Outcomes and Assessment, K-6 Reading Improvement, Truants' -4- LRB9112942REmbam01 1 Optional Education, Hispanic Programs, Agriculture Education, 2 Gifted Education, Parental Education, Prevention Initiative, 3 Report Cards, and Criminal Background Investigations. 4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all amounts paid 5 under the general education block grant from State 6 appropriations to a school district in a city having a 7 population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants shall be 8 appropriated and expended by the board of that district for 9 any of the programs included in the block grant or any of the 10 board's lawful purposes. 11 (c) The educational services block grant shall include 12 the following programs: Bilingual, Regular and Vocational 13 Transportation, State Lunch and Free Breakfast Program, 14 Special Education (Personnel, Extraordinary, Transportation, 15 Orphanage, Private Tuition), Summer School, Educational 16 Service Centers, and Administrator's Academy. This 17 subsection (c) does not relieve the district of its 18 obligation to provide the services required under a program 19 that is included within the educational services block grant. 20 It is the intention of the General Assembly in enacting the 21 provisions of this subsection (c) to relieve the district of 22 the administrative burdens that impede efficiency and 23 accompany single-program funding. The General Assembly 24 encourages the board to pursue mandate waivers pursuant to 25 Section 2-3.25g. 26 (d) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year 27 thereafter, the amount of the district's block grants shall 28 be determined as follows: (i) with respect to each program 29 that is included within each block grant, the district shall 30 receive an amount equal to the same percentage of the current 31 fiscal year appropriation made for that program as the 32 percentage of the appropriation received by the district from 33 the 1995 fiscal year appropriation made for that program, and 34 (ii) the total amount that is due the district under the -5- LRB9112942REmbam01 1 block grant shall be the aggregate of the amounts that the 2 district is entitled to receive for the fiscal year with 3 respect to each program that is included within the block 4 grant that the State Board of Education shall award the 5 district under this Section for that fiscal year. In the 6 case of the Summer Bridges program, the amount of the 7 district's block grant shall be equal to 44% of the amount of 8 the current fiscal year appropriation made for that program. 9 (e) The district is not required to file any application 10 or other claim in order to receive the block grants to which 11 it is entitled under this Section. The State Board of 12 Education shall make payments to the district of amounts due 13 under the district's block grants on a schedule determined by 14 the State Board of Education. 15 (f) A school district to which this Section applies 16 shall report to the State Board of Education on its use of 17 the block grants in such form and detail as the State Board 18 of Education may specify. 19 (g) This paragraph provides for the treatment of block 20 grants under Article 1C for purposes of calculating the 21 amount of block grants for a district under this Section. 22 Those block grants under Article IC are, for this purpose, 23 treated as included in the amount of appropriation for the 24 various programs set forth in paragraph (b) above. The 25 appropriation in each current fiscal year for each block 26 grant under Article 1C shall be treated for these purposes as 27 appropriations for the individual program included in that 28 block grant. The proportion of each block grant so allocated 29 to each such program included in it shall be the proportion 30 which the appropriation for that program was of all 31 appropriations for such purposes now in that block grant, in 32 fiscal 1995. 33 (Source: P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95; 89-698, eff. 1-14-97; 34 90-566, eff. 1-2-98; 90-653, eff. 7-29-98.) -6- LRB9112942REmbam01 1 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.51.5) 2 Sec. 2-3.51.5. School Safety and Educational Improvement 3 Block Grant Program. To improve the level of education and 4 safety of students from kindergarten through grade 12 in 5 school districts. The State Board of Education is authorized 6 to fund a School Safety and Educational Improvement Block 7 Grant Program. 8 (1) The program shall provide funding for school safety, 9 textbooks and software, teacher training and curriculum 10 development, school improvements,andremediation programs 11 under subsection (a) of Section 2-3.64, school report cards 12 under Section 10-17a, and criminal background investigations 13 under Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5. A school district or 14 laboratory school as defined in Section 18-8 or 18-8.05 is 15 not required to file an application in order to receive the 16 categorical funding to which it is entitled under this 17 Section. Funds for the School Safety and Educational 18 Improvement Block Grant Program shall be distributed to 19 school districts and laboratory schools based on the prior 20 year's best 3 months average daily attendance. The State 21 Board of Education shall promulgate rules and regulations 22 necessary for the implementation of this program. 23 (2) Distribution of moneys to school districts shall be 24 made in 2 semi-annual installments, one payment on or before 25 October 30, and one payment prior to April 30, of each fiscal 26 year. 27 (3) Grants under the School Safety and Educational 28 Improvement Block Grant Program shall be awarded provided 29 there is an appropriation for the program, and funding levels 30 for each district shall be prorated according to the amount 31 of the appropriation. 32 (Source: P.A. 89-610, eff. 8-6-96; 90-548, eff. 1-1-98.) 33 Section 10. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act -7- LRB9112942REmbam01 1 is amended by adding Section 65.57 as follows: 2 (110 ILCS 947/65.57 new) 3 Sec. 65.57. Arthur F. Quern Information Technology Grant 4 Program. 5 (a) In order to strengthen the workforce in this State 6 by increasing the supply of skilled information technology 7 workers in this State, the Commission shall, each year and 8 subject to available appropriations, receive and consider 9 applications for grant assistance under this Section to 10 provide need-based grants for retraining in information 11 technology fields, to be named Arthur F. Quern Information 12 Technology Grants, to qualified students pursuing additional 13 certification or a degree in an information technology field 14 at a degree-granting institution. An applicant is eligible 15 for a grant under this Section if the Commission finds that 16 the applicant: 17 (1) is a United States citizen or a permanent 18 resident of the United States; 19 (2) is a resident of this State; 20 (3) has made a timely application to the Commission 21 for an information technology grant; and 22 (4) enrolls or is enrolled in an eligible program 23 of undergraduate information technology related study, as 24 determined by the Board of Higher Education, at a 25 qualified institution of higher learning in this State. 26 (b) Recipients shall be selected from among applicants 27 who qualify pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section based 28 on financial need, as determined by the Commission. 29 Preference may be given to individuals who have received a 30 baccalaureate degree and who seek information technology 31 training or certification. Preference may also be given to 32 previous recipients of assistance under this Section. 33 (c) A recipient must maintain satisfactory academic -8- LRB9112942REmbam01 1 progress, as determined by the institution of higher learning 2 at which he or she is enrolled. 3 (d) The Commission shall receive initial and subsequent 4 State appropriations for distribution to participating 5 institutions on behalf of information technology grant 6 recipients under this Section. The Commission shall also 7 receive appropriate annual State appropriations for program 8 administration under this Section. 9 (e) The Commission shall administer the information 10 technology grant program established by this Section and 11 shall make all necessary and proper rules not inconsistent 12 with this Section for the program's effective implementation. 13 (f) Each information technology grant is an award of up 14 to $2,500, payable to a qualified institution on behalf of 15 the award recipient and applicable towards tuition and fees 16 and other educational costs, as determined by the Commission. 17 A qualified student may be eligible to receive an information 18 technology grant for up to 2 years. 19 (g) The total amount of grant assistance awarded by the 20 Commission under this Section to an individual in any given 21 fiscal year, when added to other financial assistance awarded 22 to that individual for that year, shall not exceed the cost 23 of attendance at the institution of higher learning at which 24 the student is enrolled. If a recipient does not qualify for 25 the maximum $2,500 grant amount during the academic year, the 26 excess award amount shall not be carried forward to the award 27 amount for the following academic year for which the 28 recipient is eligible for a grant award under this Section. 29 (h) All applications for grant assistance to be awarded 30 under this Section shall be made to the Commission in a 31 format set forth by the Commission. The format of the 32 application and the information required to be set forth in 33 the application shall be determined by the Commission. 34 (i) Subject to a separate appropriation made for such -9- LRB9112942REmbam01 1 purposes, payment of a grant awarded under this Section shall 2 be determined by the Commission. All grant funds distributed 3 in accordance with this Section shall be paid to the 4 institution on behalf of the recipients. 5 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on 6 July 1, 2000.".