Bill Amendment: IL HB0056 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: AGRICULTURE-TECH

Status: 2025-01-07 - Session Sine Die [HB0056 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB0056-House_Amendment_001.html

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Rep. Sonya M. Harper

Filed: 4/15/2024

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AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 56
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 56 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Farmer Restoration Program Act.
Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Agricultural conservation easement" means a nonpossessory
interest of a holder in real property imposing limitations on
the use of the property to ensure the land remains available
for agricultural purposes. An agricultural conservation
easement does not prevent a property owner from constructing,
improving, or maintaining a primary residence or housing for
farmworkers on the land unless expressly specified in the
easement deed.
"Costs of acquisition" means out-of-pocket direct costs of
activities incurred in connection with the processing,

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recording, and documentation of an agricultural conservation
easement, such as appraisals, land surveys, title
verification, and closing. "Costs of acquisition" do not
include any costs incurred by a qualified easement holder for
staffing, overhead, or operations.
"Director" means the Director of Agriculture.
"Department" means the Department of Agriculture.
"Eligible individual" means a resident of this State who:
(1) was born in this State;
(2) is at least 21 years of age; and
(3) is a member of a socially disadvantaged group.
"Limited resource farmer" means a farmer with direct or
indirect gross farm sales not more than the current indexed
value in each of the previous 2 years, and who has a total
household income at or below the national poverty level for a
family of 4, or less than 50% of county median household income
in each of the previous 2 years.
"New and beginning farmer" means a farmer who has operated
a farm or ranch for less than 10 years.
"Qualified entity" means an organization:
(1) that is a nonprofit corporation under Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or an
organization which has a fiscal sponsor who is exempt from
taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986; and
(2) that has a minimum of 3 years of experience

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providing agricultural services, business assistance,
legal assistance, or advocacy services to socially
disadvantaged farmers.
"Qualified easement holder" means a State agency, federal
agency, county, municipality, or nonprofit organization under
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with
experience acquiring, whether through purchase, donation, or
transfer, an agricultural or other conservation easement.
"Qualified farmland" means land that is in agricultural
production or available for agricultural production, including
row crops, livestock, nurseries, orchards, or pastures, and
incidental land that is associated with an active agricultural
operation.
"Socially disadvantaged farmer" means a farmer who is a
member of a socially disadvantaged group.
"Socially disadvantaged group" means a group whose members
have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice
because of their identity as members of a group without regard
to their individual qualities. These groups include all of the
following:
(1) American Indian or Alaska Native (a person having
origins in any of the original peoples of North and South
America, including Central America, and who maintains
tribal affiliation or community attachment).
(2) Asian (a person having origins in any of the
original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the

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Indian subcontinent, including, but not limited to,
Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan,
the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam).
(3) Black or African American (a person having origins
in any of the black racial groups of Africa).
(4) Hispanic or Latino (a person of Cuban, Mexican,
Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish
culture or origin, regardless of race).
(5) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (a
person having origins in any of the original peoples of
Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands).
"Training" means a program of training approved by the
Director that:
(1) provides an eligible individual with the basic
skills to operate a farm profitably with a primary focus
on regenerating the soil, ecosystem, and local community;
(2) provides a course of study that is equivalent to
no less than 30 academic credit hours of study, which may
be provided as direct in-field instruction;
(3) focuses on low capital-intensive techniques and
technologies; and
(4) studies local and regional food systems and the
market opportunities those systems present.
Section 10. Farmer Restoration Program Fund.
(a) The Farmer Restoration Program Fund is created as a

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special fund in the State treasury. Except as provided in
subsection (b), the moneys in the Fund, upon appropriation by
the General Assembly, shall be used for the purposes of the
program, which include grants for the purchase of agricultural
conservation easements, technical assistance grants, technical
assistance provided by the Department, and administrative
costs incurred by the Department in administering the program.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), moneys may be
deposited into the Fund from federal grants and gifts and
donations that are designated and required by the donor to be
used exclusively for the purposes of the program.
(c) Not more than 10% of available funds under this Act may
be used for technical assistance purposes and administration.
Not less than 90% of funds available for grants under this Act
shall be expended for the acquisition of agricultural
conservation easements. Moneys in the Fund shall also be
available for the following purposes:
(1) To provide technical assistance grants to
qualified entities in support of socially disadvantaged
farmers who are seeking access to farmland. As used in
this Section, "technical assistance" includes, but is not
limited to, organizing, advising, counseling, educating,
planning, drafting, translating, interpreting, and
consulting with socially disadvantaged farmers for the
purpose of preparing them for favorable financing for land
acquisition or negotiating leasing arrangements.

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(2) To provide grants for the purchase of agricultural
conservation easements to qualified easement holders.
Moneys from the Fund shall be available in each fiscal
year to any qualified easement holder having made an
application that has been approved by the Department.
Award grants may include:
(A) payment to qualified easement holders for the
purchase of agricultural conservation easements on
qualified farmland; or
(B) payment of the costs of acquisition related to
the purchase of agricultural conservation easements
approved by the program.
Section 15. Department responsibilities. Subject to
appropriation, the Department shall:
(1) adopt a scoring process to be used in evaluating
applications for agricultural conservation easement grants
that prioritizes applications benefiting:
(A) socially disadvantaged farmers;
(B) limited resource farmers;
(C) eligible individuals with a history of land
dispossession; and
(D) new and beginning farmers;
(2) include, as ranking criteria in the scoring
process, projects that:
(A) leverage local, federal, or private funding,

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including a match requirement;
(B) support transition of farmland to next
generation owner-operators; and
(C) support conservation priorities, including
protection of habitat, water quality, watershed
conservation, climate resilience, and local
conservation plans; and
(3) include, as eligibility criteria, projects that:
(A) protect farmland that is under threat of
conversion; and
(B) demonstrate that the parcel proposed for
conservation is expected to continue to be used for
agricultural production if conserved.
Section 20. Farm Conservation Corps.
(a) Subject to appropriation and in partnership with the
University of Illinois Extension, the Department shall
establish the Farm Conservation Corps to provide residents
between the ages of 18 and 29 from socially disadvantaged
groups the academic, vocational, and social skills necessary
to pursue long-term and productive careers in agriculture.
(b) The members of the Farm Conservation Corps shall serve
as on-farm apprentices, at no cost, to farms that have been
protected with an agricultural conservation easement under
this Act or with an annual gross farm income of less than
$250,000 operated by:

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(1) socially disadvantaged farmers; or
(2) beginning farmers.
Section 25. Data collection and reporting.
(a) Subject to appropriation, the Director shall make
publicly available annual reports describing data on the
recipients of the Department programs, including assistance
from farm subsidy programs, and the amounts of the assistance,
delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the
recipients.
(b) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall conduct
research on the status of socially disadvantaged farmers,
including, but not limited to:
(1) the share of land ownership of those socially
disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers,
delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the
landowners;
(2) the share of the amount of assistance those
socially disadvantaged farmers receive from the Department
as compared to all farmers, delineated by the race,
ethnicity, and gender of the recipients;
(3) the share, status, and receipt of loans by
socially disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers,
delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the
recipients; and
(4) an assessment of the reasons for disparities in

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land ownership, assistance from the Department, and loans
for socially disadvantaged farmers compared to all
farmers.
(c) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall conduct
research on the demographics and status of farmworkers,
including, but not limited to:
(1) the races, ethnicities, ages, localities, wages
and benefits, and working conditions of farmworkers;
(2) the economic contributions of farmworkers to the
State economy; and
(3) the satisfaction of farmworkers with their
employment.
(d) The Department shall:
(1) investigate historical changes in reporting
methodology and misreporting of socially disadvantaged
farmers in the census of agriculture;
(2) develop procedures to ensure that census of
agriculture surveys accurately capture the status of
socially disadvantaged farmers engaged in urban
agriculture; and
(3) conduct, concurrently with each census of
agriculture, a review to assess:
(A) the outreach and methodologies used in
conducting the census of agriculture; and
(B) how such outreach and methodologies have
affected the counting of socially disadvantaged

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farmers.
(e) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall
annually conduct and annually make publicly available reports
describing in-depth research and analysis of corporate
(domestic and foreign) land investment and ownership in this
State with specific attention given to the impact of corporate
land investment and ownership on:
(1) land consolidation trends in this State and in the
United States;
(2) challenges and opportunities for new and beginning
farmers accessing land for farming;
(3) challenges and opportunities for members of
socially disadvantaged groups accessing land for farming;
and
(4) crop selection and production trends.
Section 35. Rulemaking. The Department shall adopt rules
to carry out the provisions of this Act, including the
adoption of rules that establish a process for submitting and
processing of applications for grants no later than December
31, 2023. Rules shall align with existing federal and local
programs to maximize potential for matching funds.
Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
Section 5.990 as follows:

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(30 ILCS 105/5.990 new)
Sec. 5.990. The Farmer Restoration Program Fund.