Bill Amendment: IL SB1453 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: HIGHER ED-GROW ILLINOIS

Status: 2023-06-26 - Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Pursuant to Senate Rule 3-9(b) / Referred to Assignments [SB1453 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB1453-Senate_Amendment_001.html

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Sen. Javier L. Cervantes

Filed: 3/21/2023

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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1453
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1453 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the the
Illinois Graduate and Retain Our Workforce (iGROW) Act.
Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
Section 5.990 as follows:
(30 ILCS 105/5.990 new)
Sec. 5.990. The Illinois Graduate and Retain Our Workforce
(iGROW) Fund.
Section 10. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
amended by adding Section 65.120 as follows:
(110 ILCS 947/65.120 new)

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Sec. 65.120. iGROW scholarship program.
(a) As used in this Section:
"Eligible applicant" means a student who has graduated
from high school or has received a State of Illinois High
School Diploma, who has maintained a cumulative grade point
average of no less than 2.5 on a 4.0 scale, who is pursuing or
intends to pursue a qualifying degree in a qualified
institution, and who is entitled to apply for assistance under
this Act.
"Full-time" means the number of credit hours the
Commission determines is full-time enrollment for a student
for purposes of the program.
"Minority student" has the same meaning as the term is
defined under Section 50 of the Higher Education Student
Assistance Act (110 ILCS 947).
"Program" means the iGROW program created by this Act.
"Qualifying degree" means an associate or a bachelor's
degree granted by a qualified institution that qualifies an
individual to work in a qualifying job, as determined by the
Commission.
"Qualifying job" means a job selected by the Commission
(i) for which a recipient of an award under this Act is
pursuing a qualifying degree, (ii) for which the recipient has
completed a qualifying degree, or (iii) in which the recipient
is working.
"Qualified student" means a person (i) who is a resident

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of this State; (ii) who, as an eligible applicant, has made a
timely application for an iGROW scholarship under this
Section; (iii) who is enrolled on at least a half-time basis at
a qualified institution; (iv) who is enrolled in a course of
study approved by the Commission, which includes, but is not
limited to (1) computer and information sciences; (2)
information technology; (3) information science; (4) computer
science; (5) computer systems networking and
telecommunications; (6) computer and information systems
security or information assurance; (7) management information
systems; or (8) any other similarly designed college majors as
determined acceptable by the Commission, (v) who maintains a
grade point average of no less than 2.5 on a 4.0 scale; and
(vi) who continues to advance satisfactorily toward the
attainment of a degree.
"Recipient" means an Illinois resident enrolled in a
qualified institution who receives an award under this Act.
(b) Subject to appropriation, and no sooner than the
2024-2025 academic year, there is established the Illinois
Graduate and Retain Our Workforce (iGROW) Scholarship Program
to recruit and train individuals to work in technology jobs
that have a high demand for new employees and offer high wages
by awarding scholarships.
(c) Each iGROW scholarship awarded under this Section
shall be determined by the Commission in an amount up to and
including the full costs of tuition and fees and room and board

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of the qualified institution at which the recipient is
enrolled if the institution is public, or an equivalent rate
established by the Commission for private institutions. The
total amount of iGROW scholarship assistance awarded by the
Commission under this Section to an eligible applicant in any
given fiscal year, when added to other financial assistance
awarded to that individual for that year, shall not exceed the
cost of attendance at the institution at which the student is
enrolled. If the amount of iGROW scholarship to be awarded to a
qualified student exceeds the cost of attendance at the
institution at which the student is enrolled, the iGROW
scholarship shall be reduced by an amount equal to the amount
by which the combined financial assistance available to the
student exceeds the cost of attendance.
(d) The maximum number of academic terms for which a
qualified student can receive iGROW scholarship assistance
shall be 8 semesters or 12 quarters.
(e) All applications for scholarships awarded under this
Section shall be made to the Commission on forms which the
Commission shall provide for eligible applicants. The form of
applications and the information required to be set forth
therein shall be determined by the Commission, and the
Commission shall require eligible applicants to submit with
their applications such supporting documents or
recommendations as the Commission deems necessary.
(f) Subject to appropriation for such purposes, payment of

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any iGROW scholarship awarded under this Section shall be
determined by the Commission. All scholarship funds
distributed in accordance with this subsection shall be paid
to the qualified institution and used only for payment of the
tuition and fees assessed by the institution and the standard
housing and food allowance used for all undergraduate students
by the qualified student in connection with his or her
attendance at a qualified institution. Any iGROW scholarship
awarded under this Section shall be applicable to 2 semesters
or 3 quarters of enrollment annually. The qualified
institution can only request payment for tuition and fees up
to the amount of actual tuition and fee expenses incurred. If a
student withdraws after the expiration of the tuition refund
or withdrawal adjustment period, the student may receive
payment for tuition and fees incurred up to the term award. The
housing and food allowance will be prorated based on the
qualified institution's return of funds policy.
(g) Prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any
academic year, each recipient of a iGROW scholarship awarded
under this Section shall be required by the Commission to sign
an agreement under which the recipient pledges that the
recipient (i) shall work in the State in a qualified job for a
period of not less than one year for each year of scholarship
assistance he or she was awarded under this Section; however,
in no event shall he or she agree to work in the State in a
qualified job for a period of less than two years; (ii) shall

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work with an employer in the State performing work that is
related to the field of study which qualified the candidate
for scholarship assistance under this Act; and (iii) shall,
upon request by the Commission, provide the Commission with
evidence that he or she is fulfilling or has fulfilled the
terms of the agreement provided for in this subsection. If a
recipient of an iGROW scholarship awarded under this Section
fails to fulfill the obligations set forth in this subsection,
the Commission shall require the recipient to repay the amount
of the scholarships received, prorated according to the
fraction of the employment obligation not completed, at a rate
of interest equal to 5%, and, if applicable, reasonable
collection fees. The Commission is authorized to establish
rules relating to its collection activities for repayment of
scholarships under this Section. All repayments collected
under this Section shall be forwarded to the State Comptroller
for deposit into the State's General Revenue Fund. A recipient
of an iGROW scholarship shall not be considered in violation
of the agreement entered into pursuant to this subsection if
the recipient (i) enrolls on a full-time basis as a graduate
student in a course of study related to the technology degree
for which he qualified for the iGROW scholarship at a
qualified institution; (ii) is serving, not in excess of 3
years, as a member of the armed services of the United States;
(iii) is a person with a temporary total disability for a
period of time not to exceed 3 years as established by sworn

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affidavit of a qualified physician; (iv) is seeking and unable
to find full-time employment with a State employer that
satisfies the criteria set forth in this subsection and is
able to provide evidence of that fact; (v) becomes a person
with a permanent total disability as established by sworn
affidavit of a qualified physician; or (viii) meets any other
criteria that the Commission may deem necessary.
(h) Scholarship recipients under this Section who withdraw
from a program of computer science or other related major area
of study but remain enrolled in school to continue their
postsecondary studies in another academic discipline shall not
be required to commence repayment of their iGROW scholarship
so long as they remain enrolled in school on a full-time basis
or if they can document for the Commission special
circumstances that warrant extension of repayment.
(i) If the iGROW scholarship program does not expend at
least 90% of the amount appropriated for the program in a given
fiscal year for 3 consecutive fiscal years on or before
January 1 in each of those fiscal years, then up to 3% of
amount appropriated for the program for each of next 3 fiscal
years shall be allocated to increasing awareness of the
program. The Commission shall make a recommendation to the
General Assembly by February 1 of the year immediately
following the end of that third fiscal year regarding whether
the amount allocated to increasing awareness should continue.
(j) The Commission shall administer the iGROW scholarship

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program established by this Section and shall make all
necessary and proper rules not inconsistent with this Section
for its effective implementation.
(k) The Commission shall establish a methodology for
prioritizing applications from applicants who demonstrate a
financial need or hardship, applications from minority
students, and applications from applicants demonstrating
academic excellence.
(l) Each fiscal year, the Commission may use up to 5% of
money appropriated for the iGROW scholarship program for
administration.
(m) Scholarships may be made under this Section through
the 2029-30 academic year.
(n) The Illinois Graduate and Retain Our Workforce (iGROW)
Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. Moneys
in the fund may come from both public or institutional,
organizational, or other private entities. All money in the
Fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, by the Illinois
Student Assistance Commission to implement and administer the
program pursuant to this Section.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
1, 2024.".