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

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Bill Title: Creates the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Act. Provides that subject to appropriation, the Department of Agriculture shall develop and administer an annual Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program to enhance local food processing, aggregation, and distribution within the State. Establishes eligibility requirements for the grants. Provides that all grant funding must be used for purchasing, leasing to own, renting, building, or installing infrastructure that will increase market access of Illinois communities to Illinois agricultural products. Provides that subject to appropriation, the Department shall create an independent Local Food Infrastructure Steering Committee to guide the implementation and evaluation of the grant. Provides that the committee shall be selected by the Director. Provides that the committee shall include, but is not limited to, at least 3 farmers, including one specialty crop farmer, one livestock farmer, and one farmer of color; one representative from the local food processing industry, one representative from a non-profit organization serving farmers of color, one representative from a non-profit organization serving farmers at large, and one representative from the Department. Provides that the Director must file with the Governor and General Assembly, and publish publicly on or before March 1 of each year, a written report detailing the impact of the Local Food Infrastructure Grant for the previous calendar year. The report must include a complete list of (1) all applications for grants under the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program during the previous calendar year; (2) all persons who were awarded the Local Food Infrastructure Grant and the nature and amount of their awards in the previous calendar year; and (3) the economic impact of the grant from the previous calendar year, which may include jobs created, local food sales increases, and communities served. Amends the State Finance Act to create the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Fund in the State treasury. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-23 - Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Laura Fine [HB0056 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB0056-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning agriculture.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
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,
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.

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"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
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

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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
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

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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
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.

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(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.
(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

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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,
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

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(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:
(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

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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
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

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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
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:

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