Bill Text: IL HB5781 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code, the Higher Education Student Assistance Act, and the Illinois Youth and Young Adult Employment Act of 1986. Provides that after July 1, 2012 persons may not be nominated for General Assembly scholarships and that General Assembly scholarships may not be awarded after that date unless the nomination is made prior to that date. Prevents both second nominations for any lapsed General Assembly scholarship and nominating persons to the unused or unexpired parts of any vacated General Assembly scholarship after July 1, 2012. Beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year, requires the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to receive and consider applications for scholarship assistance from participants in the Young Adult Component of the Illinois Conservation Corps enrolled or accepted for enrollment at a public university or community college in this State. Provides that a total of 100 scholarships shall be awarded each year. Provides that recipients shall be selected from among qualified applicants based upon academic excellence and an intent to study a natural resource or environment-related major field of study. Provides that preference may be given to previous recipients of assistance. Provides that each scholarship shall be in an amount sufficient to pay the tuition and fees of the public university or community college at which the recipient is enrolled. Requires the Commission to administer the scholarship program and make all necessary and proper rules not inconsistent with these provisions for their effective implementation. Provides that an enrollee of the Illinois Conservation Corps program shall not receive payment for work performed (instead of receiving at least the standard minimum wage) if he or she is or was a recipient of a scholarship. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB5781 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB5781-Introduced.html

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97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 HB5781 Introduced 2/16/2012, by Rep. Bill Mitchell SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
See Index
Amends the School Code, the Higher Education Student Assistance Act, and the Illinois Youth and Young Adult Employment Act of 1986. Provides that after July 1, 2012 persons may not be nominated for General Assembly scholarships and that General Assembly scholarships may not be awarded after that date unless the nomination is made prior to that date. Prevents both second nominations for any lapsed General Assembly scholarship and nominating persons to the unused or unexpired parts of any vacated General Assembly scholarship after July 1, 2012. Beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year, requires the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to receive and consider applications for scholarship assistance from participants in the Young Adult Component of the Illinois Conservation Corps enrolled or accepted for enrollment at a public university or community college in this State. Provides that a total of 100 scholarships shall be awarded each year. Provides that recipients shall be selected from among qualified applicants based upon academic excellence and an intent to study a natural resource or environment-related major field of study. Provides that preference may be given to previous recipients of assistance. Provides that each scholarship shall be in an amount sufficient to pay the tuition and fees of the public university or community college at which the recipient is enrolled. Requires the Commission to administer the scholarship program and make all necessary and proper rules not inconsistent with these provisions for their effective implementation. Provides that an enrollee of the Illinois Conservation Corps program shall not receive payment for work performed (instead of receiving at least the standard minimum wage) if he or she is or was a recipient of a scholarship. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
30-9, 30-10, 30-11, and 30-12 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/30-9) (from Ch. 122, par. 30-9)
Sec. 30-9. General Assembly scholarship; conditions of
admission; award by competitive examination.
(a) The provisions of this subsection (a) are subject to
subsection (b). Each member of the General Assembly may
nominate annually 2 persons of school age and otherwise
eligible, from his district; each shall receive a certificate
of scholarship in any State supported university designated by
the member. Any member of the General Assembly in making
nominations under this Section may designate that his nominee
be granted a 4 year scholarship or may instead designate 2 or 4
nominees for that particular scholarship, each to receive a 2
year or a one year scholarship, respectively. The nominee, if a
graduate of a school accredited by the University to which
nominated, shall be admitted to the university on the same
conditions as to educational qualifications as are other
graduates of accredited schools. If the nominee is not a
graduate of a school accredited by the university to which

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nominated, he must, before being entitled to the benefits of
the scholarship, pass an examination given by the
superintendent of schools of the county where he resides at the
time stated in Section 30-7 for the competitive examination.
The president of each university shall prescribe the rules
governing the examination for scholarship to his university.
A member of the General Assembly may award the scholarship
by competitive examination conducted under like rules as
prescribed in Section 30-7 even though one or more of the
applicants are graduates of schools accredited by the
university.
A member of the General Assembly may delegate to the
Illinois Student Assistance Commission the authority to
nominate persons for General Assembly scholarships which that
member would otherwise be entitled to award, or may direct the
Commission to evaluate and make recommendations to the member
concerning candidates for such scholarships. In the event a
member delegates his nominating authority or directs the
Commission to evaluate and make recommendations concerning
candidates for General Assembly scholarships, the member shall
inform the Commission in writing of the criteria which he
wishes the Commission to apply in nominating or recommending
candidates. Those criteria may include some or all of the
criteria provided in Section 25 of the Higher Education Student
Assistance Act. A delegation of authority under this paragraph
may be revoked at any time by the member.

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Failure of a member of the General Assembly to make a
nomination in any year shall not cause that scholarship to
lapse, but the member may make a nomination for such
scholarship at any time thereafter through July 1, 2012; before
the expiration of his term, and the person so nominated shall
be entitled to the same benefits as holders of other
scholarships provided herein. Any such scholarship for which a
member has made no nomination on or before July 1, 2012 prior
to the expiration of the term for which he was elected shall
lapse upon the expiration of that term.
(b) After July 1, 2012 no person may be nominated to
receive any one-year, 2-year, 4-year, or other scholarship or
certificate of scholarship under this Section, nor may any such
scholarship be awarded under this Section after July 1, 2012
unless the person was nominated prior to that date to receive
that scholarship.
(Source: P.A. 93-349, eff. 7-24-03.)
(105 ILCS 5/30-10) (from Ch. 122, par. 30-10)
Sec. 30-10. Filing nominations-Failure to accept or
pass-Second nomination. Nominations that are made , under
Section 30-9 on or before July 1, 2012 and that show , showing
the name and address of the nominee, and the term of the
scholarship, whether 4 years, 2 years or one year, must be
filed with the State Superintendent of Education not later than
the opening day of the semester or term with which the

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scholarship is to become effective. The State Superintendent of
Education shall forthwith notify the president of the
university of such nomination. No valid nomination to any
scholarship may be made under Section 30-9 after July 1, 2012.
If the nominee fails to accept the nomination or, not being
a graduate of a school accredited by the university, fails to
pass the examination for admission, the president of the
university shall at once notify the State Superintendent of
Education. Upon receiving such notification, the State
Superintendent of Education shall notify the nominating
member, who may, on or before, but not after July 1, 2012, name
another person for the scholarship. The second nomination must
be received by the State Superintendent of Education not later
than the middle of the semester or term with which the
scholarship was to have become effective under the original
nomination in order to become effective as of the opening date
of such semester or term otherwise it shall not become
effective until the beginning of the next semester or term
following the making of the second nomination; provided that
the second nomination must be made, if at all, on or before
July 1, 2012 or the scholarship shall be deemed to have lapsed
by operation of law. Upon receiving such notification of a
second nomination on or before July 1, 2012, the State
Superintendent of Education shall notify the president of the
university of such second nomination. If any person nominated
after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1973 to

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receive a General Assembly scholarship changes his residence to
a location outside of the district from which he was nominated,
his nominating member may terminate that scholarship at the
conclusion of the college year in which he is then enrolled,
but after July 1, 2012 no person may be nominated to receive or
otherwise be awarded all or any part of the scholarship that is
unused or unexpired at the time the scholarship is so
terminated. For purposes of this paragraph, a person changes
his residence if he registers to vote in a location outside of
the district from which he was nominated, but does not change
his residence merely by taking off-campus housing or living in
a nonuniversity residence.
(Source: P.A. 93-349, eff. 7-24-03.)
(105 ILCS 5/30-11) (from Ch. 122, par. 30-11)
Sec. 30-11. Failure to use scholarship - Further
nominations. If any nominee under Section 30-9 or 30-10
discontinues his course of instruction or fails to use the
scholarship, leaving 1, 2, 3, or 4 years thereof unused, the
member of the General Assembly may, except as otherwise
provided in this Article, nominate some other person eligible
under this Article from his district who shall be entitled to
the scholarship for the unexpired period thereof; provided that
the nomination for the unexpired period of the scholarship must
be made, if at all, on or before July 1, 2012 or such
nomination shall be invalid, and the scholarship and its

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unexpired period shall be deemed to have lapsed by operation of
law. Such appointment to an unexpired scholarship vacated
before July 1, 1961, may be made only by the member of the
General Assembly who made the original appointment and during
the time he is such a member. If a scholarship is vacated on or
after July 1, 1961, and the member of the General Assembly who
made the original appointment has ceased to be a member, some
eligible person may be nominated in the following manner to
fill the vacancy: If the original appointment was made by a
Senator, such nomination shall be made by the Senator from the
same district; if the original appointment was made by a
Representative, such nomination shall be made by the
Representative from the same district. Every nomination to fill
a vacancy must be made on or before July 1, 2012 and
accompanied either by a release of the original nominee or if
he is dead then an affidavit to that effect by some competent
person. The failure of a nominee to register at the university
within 20 days after the opening of any semester or term shall
be deemed a release by him of the nomination, unless he has
been granted a leave of absence in accordance with Section
30-14 or unless his absence is by reason of his entry into the
military service of the United States. The university shall
immediately upon the expiration of 20 days after the beginning
of the semester or term notify the State Board of Education as
to the status of each scholarship, who shall forthwith notify
the nominating member of any nominee's failure to register or,

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if the nominating member has ceased to be a member of the
General Assembly, shall notify the member or members entitled
to make the nomination to fill the vacancy. All nominations to
unused or unexpired scholarships, if made on or before July 1,
2012, shall be effective as of the opening of the semester or
term of the university during which they are made if they are
filed with the university during the first half of the semester
or term, otherwise they shall not be effective until the
opening of the next following semester or term; provided that
no nomination to an unused or unexpired scholarship is valid if
made after July 1, 2012, and an unused or unexpired scholarship
shall be deemed to have lapsed by operation of law unless the
nomination to that unused or unexpired scholarship is made on
or before July 1, 2012.
(Source: P.A. 93-349, eff. 7-24-03.)
(105 ILCS 5/30-12) (from Ch. 122, par. 30-12)
Sec. 30-12. Failure to begin or discontinuance of course
because of military service.
Any nominee, under Sections 30--9, 30--10, or 30--11, who
fails to begin or discontinues his course of instruction
because of his entry into the military service of the United
States, leaving all or a portion of the scholarship unused,
may, upon completion of such service, use the scholarship or
the unused portion thereof, regardless of whether or not the
member of the General Assembly who nominated him is then a

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member; provided that during the nominee's period of military
service no other person may be nominated by such member to all
or any portion of such unused or unfinished scholarship unless
the nomination is accompanied either by a release of the
original nominee or if he is dead then an affidavit to that
effect by some competent person and unless the nomination is
made on or before July 1, 2012.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)
Section 10. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
amended by adding Section 65.90 as follows:
(110 ILCS 947/65.90 new)
Sec. 65.90. Illinois Conservation Corps scholarships.
(a) Beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year, the
Commission shall, each year, receive and consider applications
for scholarship assistance under this Section. A total of 100
scholarships shall be awarded each year. An applicant is
eligible for a scholarship under this Section if the Commission
finds that the applicant meets all of the following
qualifications:
(1) He or she is a United States citizen or eligible
noncitizen.
(2) He or she is a resident of this State.
(3) He or she is enrolled or accepted for enrollment at
a public university or community college in this State.

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(4) He or she is a participant in the Young Adult
Component of the Illinois Conservation Corps.
(b) Recipients shall be selected from among applicants
qualified pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section based upon
the following criteria, as determined by the Commission:
(1) academic excellence; and
(2) an intent to study a natural resource or
environment-related major field of study.
Preference may be given to previous recipients of assistance
under this Section, provided they continue to maintain
eligibility and maintain satisfactory academic progress as
determined by the public university or community college at
which they enroll.
(c) Each scholarship awarded under this Section shall be in
an amount sufficient to pay the tuition and fees of the public
university or community college at which the recipient is
enrolled.
(d) The total amount of scholarship assistance awarded by
the Commission under this Section to an individual 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 public university or community college at
which the student is enrolled.
(e) A recipient may receive up to 8 semesters scholarship
assistance under this Section.
(f) All applications for scholarship assistance to be

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awarded under this Section shall be made to the Commission in a
form as set forth by the Commission. The form of application
and the information required to be set forth in the application
shall be determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall
require eligible applicants to submit with their applications
such supporting documents as the Commission deems necessary.
(g) Subject to a separate appropriation made for such
purposes, payment of any scholarship awarded under this Section
shall be determined by the Commission. All scholarship funds
distributed in accordance with this Section shall be paid to
the public university or community college on behalf of the
recipients. Scholarship funds are applicable toward 2
semesters of enrollment within an academic year.
(h) The Commission shall administer the scholarship
program established by this Section and shall make all
necessary and proper rules not inconsistent with this Section
for its effective implementation.
Section 15. The Illinois Youth and Young Adult Employment
Act of 1986 is amended by changing Section 7 as follows:
(525 ILCS 50/7) (from Ch. 48, par. 2557)
Sec. 7. Illinois Conservation Corps. With respect to the
Illinois Conservation Corps program:
(a) Enrollment. The Illinois Conservation Corps Youth
Component shall be limited to citizens of this State who at the

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time of enrollment are 16 through 18 years of age inclusive and
who are unemployed. The Illinois Conservation Corps Young Adult
Component shall be limited to citizens of this State who at the
time of enrollment are 18 through 25 years of age inclusive and
who are unemployed.
The Department shall make public notification of the
availability of jobs for eligible youths and young adults in
the Illinois Conservation Corps by the means of newspapers,
electronic media, educational facilities, units of local
government and the Department of Employment Security offices.
The Department shall promulgate reasonable rules
pertaining to application for jobs with the Illinois
Conservation Corps.
Any applicant who knowingly and purposely provides
wrongful information regarding age, employment or educational
records shall be deemed ineligible to participate in the
program. Any applicant who successfully gains employment in the
program and is later proven to have falsified his or her
application shall be dismissed immediately from the program.
(b) Terms of Employment. The enrollment period for any
successful applicant of the Illinois Conservation Corps Youth
Component shall not be longer than 60 working days during the
months of June, July and August. Once enrolled in the program,
each enrollee shall receive at least the standard minimum wage
as set by the State of Illinois, unless the enrollee is or was
a recipient of an Illinois Conservation Corps scholarship under

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Section 65.90 of the Higher Education Student Assistance Act,
in which case the enrollee shall not receive payment for work
performed. An enrollee and shall work normal working hours as
determined by the Department. The enrollees shall not be
classified as employees of the State for purposes of
contributions to the State Employees' Retirement System or any
other public employment retirement system of the State.
(c) Permissible Activities. The Director shall designate
suitable projects in which enrollees of the program shall
participate. No project designated for enrollee participation
shall result in the displacement of individuals currently
employed or positions currently existing, either directly or
under contract with any private contractor, by the Department
through the reduction of overtime or nonovertime hours, wages
or employment benefits.
Projects so designated by the Director shall be for the
purpose of enhancing public lands owned or leased by the
Department. Such projects shall include improving the habitat
of fauna and flora; improving utilization of recreation
facilities by the public; improving water quality; and any
other project deemed by the Department to improve the
environmental, economic and recreational quality of the State
owned or leased lands.
All projects designated for activity by the Director shall
be within a reasonable commuting time for each enrollee. To the
extent possible, the Director shall designate areas where a

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pool of enrollees may work. In no circumstance shall enrollees
be required to spend more than 1 1/2 hours of commuting time to
a project or a designated area; provided, an enrollee, or an
enrollee who is a minor with the express concurrence of his
parent or guardian, may agree to spend more than 1 1/2 hours of
commuting time to a project or a designated area.
(Source: P.A. 84-1430.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
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INDEX
Statutes amended in order of appearance