98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB5836

 

Introduced , by Rep. Dwight Kay

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
35 ILCS 5/224 new

    Creates the Business Investment in Higher Education Act and amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Requires the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to establish and administer a program in which businesses in this State provide scholarships to eligible students who agree to practice in professions in areas of this State demonstrating the greatest need. Provides that, prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any academic year from a business, the scholarship recipient shall be required by the business to sign an agreement under which the recipient pledges to practice full-time in a profession agreed upon with the business in an area of this State agreed upon with the business one year for each year he or she is a scholarship recipient. Sets forth provisions concerning the failure of recipient to fulfill the scholarship obligation. Requires the Commission to adopt rules to implement the program. Provides for a tax credit for contributions made to the scholarships.


LRB098 19383 NHT 54539 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5836LRB098 19383 NHT 54539 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Business Investment in Higher Education Act.
 
6    Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to establish
7a program in which businesses in this State provide
8scholarships to college students who agree to practice in
9professions in areas of this State demonstrating the greatest
10need. The program shall encourage college graduates to locate
11in areas where manpower shortages exist and to increase the
12total number of college graduates in this State.
 
13    Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
14    "Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance
15Commission.
16    "Eligible student" means a person who meets all of the
17following qualifications:
18        (1) He or she is a United States citizen or eligible
19    noncitizen and a resident of this State.
20        (2) He or she is enrolled or accepted for enrollment at
21    an institution of higher learning.
22        (3) He or she exhibits financial need, as determined by

 

 

HB5836- 2 -LRB098 19383 NHT 54539 b

1    the Commission.
2        (4) He or she agrees to practice full-time in an
3    agreed-upon profession in an agreed-upon area of this State
4    one year for each year he or she is a scholarship
5    recipient.
6    "Institution of higher learning" means an institution of
7higher learning as defined in the Higher Education Student
8Assistance Act.
 
9    Section 15. Establishment of program.
10    (a) The Commission shall establish and administer a program
11in which businesses in this State provide scholarships to
12eligible students who agree to practice in professions in areas
13of this State demonstrating the greatest need. Each scholarship
14awarded under this Section shall be in an amount sufficient to
15pay the tuition and fees of the institution of higher learning
16at which the recipient is enrolled and shall be paid to the
17institution of higher learning on behalf of the recipient.
18    Prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any academic
19year from a business, the scholarship recipient shall be
20required by the business to sign an agreement under which the
21recipient pledges to practice full-time in a profession agreed
22upon with the business in an area of this State agreed upon
23with the business one year for each year he or she is a
24scholarship recipient and shall, upon request of the business,
25provide the business with evidence that he or she is fulfilling

 

 

HB5836- 3 -LRB098 19383 NHT 54539 b

1or has fulfilled the terms of the agreement.
2    (b) The Commission shall, by rule, adopt criteria for
3applying for and awarding scholarships, including standards of
4financial need, and for the agreement provided for in
5subsection (a) of this Section.
 
6    Section 20. Failure to fulfill scholarship obligation.
7Scholarship recipients who fail to fulfill the obligation
8described in subsection (a) of Section 15 of this Act shall pay
9to the business an amount equal to 3 times the amount of the
10annual scholarship received for each unfulfilled year of the
11obligation, together with interest at 7% per year on that
12amount. However, this obligation to repay does not apply when
13the failure to fulfill the obligation results from
14involuntarily leaving a profession due to a decrease in the
15number of persons employed in that profession in this State or
16from the death or adjudication as incompetent of the
17scholarship recipient. No claim for repayment may be filed
18against the estate of such a decedent or incompetent.
19    Each person applying for a scholarship under this Act shall
20be provided with a copy of this Section at the time he or she
21applies for the benefits of the scholarship.
 
22    Section 90. Rules. The Commission shall adopt all rules
23necessary to implement this Act.
 

 

 

HB5836- 4 -LRB098 19383 NHT 54539 b

1    Section 100. The Illinois Income Tax Act is amended by
2adding Section 224 as follows:
 
3    (35 ILCS 5/224 new)
4    Sec. 224. Business Investment in Higher Education Tax
5Credit.
6    (a) For taxable years ending on or after December 31, 2015,
7a taxpayer shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed
8under subsections (a) and (b) of Section 201 of this Act for
9contributions made during the taxable year to scholarships
10under the Business Investment in Higher Education Act. The
11credit allowed against the tax imposed by subsections (a) and
12(b) of Section 201 of this Act shall be equal to 100% of the
13contribution made during the taxable year to scholarships under
14the Business Investment in Higher Education Act. However, the
15maximum amount that may be credited is $250,000 or 50% of a
16taxpayer's liability for the previous year, whichever is more.
17    (b) For partners, shareholders of Subchapter S
18corporations, and owners of limited liability companies, if the
19liability company is treated as a partnership for purposes of
20federal and State income taxation, there is allowed a credit
21under this Section to be determined in accordance with the
22determination of income and distributive share of income under
23Sections 702 and 704 and Subchapter S of the Internal Revenue
24Code.
25    (c) Any credit under this Section in excess of the tax

 

 

HB5836- 5 -LRB098 19383 NHT 54539 b

1liability for the taxable year may be carried forward. A
2taxpayer may elect to have the unused credit shown on the final
3completed return carried over as a credit against the tax
4liability for the following 5 taxable years or until it has
5been fully used, whichever occurs first; provided that no
6credit earned in a tax year ending prior to December 31, 2020
7may be carried forward to any year ending on or after December
831, 2020.
9    If an unused credit under this Section is carried forward
10to a given year from 2 or more earlier years, that credit
11arising in the earliest year will be applied first against the
12tax liability for the given year. If a tax liability for the
13given year still remains, the credit from the next earliest
14year will then be applied, and so on, until all credits have
15been used or no tax liability for the given year remains. Any
16remaining unused credit or credits then will be carried forward
17to the next following year in which a tax liability is
18incurred, except that no credit may be carried forward to a
19year that is more than 5 years after the year in which the
20expense for which the credit is given was incurred.