Bill Text: IL SB1629 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Enrolled
Bill Title: Amends the Energy Assistance Act. Provides that if a participant in the energy assistance program resides in publicly supported housing, the compensation paid under the Act to the energy provider who supplied winter energy to the participant shall be paid on behalf of the owner of that publicly supported housing. Provides that "publicly supported housing" includes housing subsidized or developed with public funds provided under the Rental Housing Support Program Act. Effective immediately.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2009-08-07 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0157 [SB1629 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2009-SB1629-Enrolled.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning public aid.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Energy Assistance Act is amended by changing | ||||||
5 | Section 6 as follows:
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6 | (305 ILCS 20/6) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1406)
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7 | Sec. 6. Eligibility, Conditions of Participation, and | ||||||
8 | Energy Assistance.
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9 | (a) Any person who is a resident of the State of Illinois | ||||||
10 | and whose
household income is not greater than an amount | ||||||
11 | determined annually by the
Department, in consultation with the | ||||||
12 | Policy Advisory Council, may
apply for assistance pursuant to | ||||||
13 | this Act in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the | ||||||
14 | Department. In setting the annual eligibility level, the
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15 | Department shall consider the amount of available funding and | ||||||
16 | may not set a
limit higher than 150% of the federal nonfarm | ||||||
17 | poverty level as established by
the federal Office of | ||||||
18 | Management and Budget.
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19 | (b) Applicants who qualify for assistance pursuant to | ||||||
20 | subsection (a) of
this Section shall, subject to appropriation | ||||||
21 | from the General Assembly and
subject to availability of funds | ||||||
22 | to the Department, receive energy
assistance as provided by | ||||||
23 | this Act. The Department, upon receipt
of monies authorized |
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1 | pursuant to this Act for energy assistance, shall commit
funds | ||||||
2 | for each qualified applicant in an amount determined by the
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3 | Department. In determining the amounts of assistance to be | ||||||
4 | provided to or
on behalf of a qualified applicant, the | ||||||
5 | Department shall ensure that the
highest amounts of assistance | ||||||
6 | go to households with the greatest energy
costs in relation to | ||||||
7 | household income. The Department shall include
factors such as | ||||||
8 | energy costs, household size, household income, and region
of | ||||||
9 | the State when determining individual household benefits. In | ||||||
10 | setting
assistance levels, the Department shall attempt to | ||||||
11 | provide assistance to
approximately the same number of | ||||||
12 | households who participated in the 1991
Residential Energy | ||||||
13 | Assistance Partnership Program. Such assistance levels
shall | ||||||
14 | be adjusted annually on the basis of funding
availability and | ||||||
15 | energy costs. In promulgating rules for the
administration of | ||||||
16 | this
Section the Department shall assure that a minimum of 1/3 | ||||||
17 | of funds
available for benefits to eligible households with the | ||||||
18 | lowest incomes and that elderly and
disabled households are | ||||||
19 | offered a priority application
period.
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20 | (c) If the applicant is not a customer of record of an | ||||||
21 | energy provider for winter
energy services or an applicant for | ||||||
22 | such service, such applicant shall
receive a direct energy | ||||||
23 | assistance payment in an amount established by the
Department | ||||||
24 | for all such applicants under this Act; provided, however, that
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25 | such an applicant must have rental expenses for housing greater | ||||||
26 | than 30% of
household income.
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1 | (c-1) This subsection shall apply only in cases where: (1) | ||||||
2 | the applicant is not a customer of record of an energy provider | ||||||
3 | because energy services are provided by the owner of the unit | ||||||
4 | as a portion of the rent; (2) the applicant resides in housing | ||||||
5 | subsidized or developed with funds provided under the Rental | ||||||
6 | Housing Support Program Act or under a similar locally funded | ||||||
7 | rent subsidy program, or is the voucher holder who resides in a | ||||||
8 | rental unit within the State of Illinois and whose monthly rent | ||||||
9 | is subsidized by the tenant-based Housing Choice Voucher | ||||||
10 | Program under Section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937; and | ||||||
11 | (3) the rental expenses for housing are no more than 30% of | ||||||
12 | household income. In such cases, the household may apply for an | ||||||
13 | energy assistance payment under this Act and the owner of the | ||||||
14 | housing unit shall cooperate with the applicant by providing | ||||||
15 | documentation of the energy costs for that unit. Any | ||||||
16 | compensation paid to the energy provider who supplied energy | ||||||
17 | services to the household shall be paid on behalf of the owner | ||||||
18 | of the housing unit providing energy services to the household. | ||||||
19 | The Department shall report annually to the General Assembly on | ||||||
20 | the number of households receiving energy assistance under this | ||||||
21 | subsection and the cost of such assistance. The provisions of | ||||||
22 | this subsection (c-1), other than this sentence, are | ||||||
23 | inoperative after August 31, 2012. | ||||||
24 | (d) If the applicant is a customer of an energy provider, | ||||||
25 | such
applicant shall receive energy assistance in an amount | ||||||
26 | established by the
Department for all such applicants under |
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1 | this Act, such amount to be paid
by the Department to the | ||||||
2 | energy provider supplying winter energy service to
such | ||||||
3 | applicant. Such applicant shall:
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4 | (i) make all reasonable efforts to apply to any other | ||||||
5 | appropriate
source of public energy assistance; and
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6 | (ii) sign a waiver permitting the Department to receive | ||||||
7 | income
information from any public or private agency | ||||||
8 | providing income or energy
assistance and from any | ||||||
9 | employer, whether public or private.
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10 | (e) Any qualified applicant pursuant to this Section may | ||||||
11 | receive or have
paid on such applicant's behalf an emergency | ||||||
12 | assistance payment to enable
such applicant to obtain access to | ||||||
13 | winter energy services. Any such
payments shall be made in | ||||||
14 | accordance with regulations of the Department.
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15 | (f) The Department may, if sufficient funds are available, | ||||||
16 | provide
additional benefits to certain qualified applicants:
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17 | (i) for the reduction of past due amounts owed to | ||||||
18 | energy providers;
and
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19 | (ii) to assist the household in responding to | ||||||
20 | excessively high summer
temperatures or energy costs. | ||||||
21 | Households containing elderly members, children,
a person | ||||||
22 | with a disability, or a person with a medical need for | ||||||
23 | conditioned air
shall receive priority for receipt of such | ||||||
24 | benefits.
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25 | (Source: P.A. 91-936, eff. 1-10-01; 92-690, eff. 7-18-02.)
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26 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect September |
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1 | 1, 2009.
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