SB1498eng 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1498 Engrossed LRB098 08880 HLH 39011 b

AN ACT concerning government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Finance Authority Act is amended by changing Sections 825-95, 825-110, 830-10, and 830-15 as follows:

(20 ILCS 3501/825-95)

Sec. 825-95. Emerald ash borer revolving loan program.

(a) The Illinois Finance Authority may shall administer an emerald ash borer revolving loan program. The program shall provide low-interest or zero-interest loans to units of local government for the replanting of trees on public lands that are within emerald ash borer quarantine areas as established by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The Authority shall make loans based on the recommendation of the Department of Agriculture.

(b) The loan funds, subject to appropriation, must be paid out of the Emerald Ash Borer Revolving Loan Fund, a special fund created in the State treasury. The moneys in the Fund consist of any moneys transferred or appropriated into the Fund as well as all repayments of loans made under this program. Moneys in the Fund may be used only for loans to units of local government for the replanting of trees within emerald ash borer quarantine areas established by the Department of Agriculture and for no other purpose. All interest earned on moneys in the Fund must be deposited into the Fund.

(c) A loan for the replanting of trees on public lands within emerald ash borer quarantine areas established by the Department of Agriculture may not exceed $5,000,000 to any one unit of local government. The repayment period for the loan may not exceed 20 years. The unit of local government shall repay, each year, at least 5% of the principal amount borrowed or the remaining balance of the loan, whichever is less. All repayments of loans must be deposited into the Emerald Ash Borer Revolving Loan Fund.

(d) Any loan under this Section to a unit of local government may not exceed the moneys that the unit of local government expends or dedicates for the reforestation project for which the loan is made.

(e) The Department of Agriculture may enter into agreements with a unit of local government under which the unit of local government is authorized to assist the Department in carrying out its duties in a quarantined area, including inspection and eradication of any dangerous insect or dangerous plant disease, and including the transportation, processing, and disposal of diseased material. The Department is authorized to provide compensation or financial assistance to the unit of local government for its costs.

(f) The Authority, with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Natural Resources, shall adopt rules to administer the program under this Section.

(Source: P.A. 95-588, eff. 9-4-07; 95-876, eff. 8-21-08.)

(20 ILCS 3501/825-110)

Sec. 825-110. Implementation of ARRA provisions regarding qualified energy conservation bonds.

(a) Definitions.

(i) "Affected local government" means any county or municipality within the State if the county or municipality has a population of 100,000 or more, as defined in Section 54D(e)(2)(C) of the Code.

(ii) "Allocation amount" means the $133,846,000 amount of qualified energy conservation bonds authorized under ARRA for the financing of qualifying projects located within the State and the sub-allocation of those amounts among each affected local government.

(iii) "ARRA" means, collectively, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, including, without limitation, Section 54D of the Code; the guidance provided by the Internal Revenue Service applicable to qualified energy conservation bonds; and any legislation subsequently adopted by the United States Congress to extend or expand the economic development bond financing incentives authorized by ARRA.

(iv) "ARRA implementing regulations" means the regulations promulgated by the Authority as further described in subdivision (c)(iv) of this Section to implement the provisions of this Section.

(v) "Code" means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

(vi) "Qualified energy conservation bond" means any qualified energy conservation bond issued pursuant to Section 54D of the Code.

(vii) "Qualified energy conservation bond allocation" means an allocation of authority to issue qualified energy conservation bonds granted pursuant to Section 54D of the Code.

(viii) "Regional authority" means the Central Illinois Economic Development Authority, Eastern Illinois Economic Development Authority, Joliet Arsenal Development Authority, Quad Cities Regional Economic Development Authority, Riverdale Development Authority, Southeastern Illinois Economic Development Authority, Southern Illinois Development Authority, Southwestern Illinois Development Authority, Tri-County River Valley Development Authority, Upper Illinois River Valley Development Authority, Illinois Urban Development Authority, Western Illinois Economic Development Authority, or Will-Kankakee Regional Development Authority.

(ix) "Sub-allocation" means the portion of the allocation amount allocated to each affected local government.

(x) "Waived qualified energy conservation bond allocation" means the amount of the qualified energy conservation bond allocation that an affected local government elects to reallocate to the State pursuant to Section 54D(e)(2)(B) of the Code.

(xi) "Waiver agreement" means an agreement between the Authority and an affected local government providing for the reallocation, in whole or in part, of that affected local government's sub-allocation to the Authority. The waiver agreement may provide for the payment of an affected local government's reasonable fees and costs as determined by the Authority in connection with the affected local government's reallocation of its sub-allocation.

(b) Findings.

It is found and declared that:

(i) it is in the public interest and for the benefit of the State to maximize the use of economic development incentives authorized by ARRA;

(ii) those incentives include the maximum use of the allocation amount for the issuance of qualified energy conservation bonds to promote energy conservation under the applicable provisions of ARRA; and

(iii) those incentives also include the issuance by the Authority of qualified energy conservation bonds for the purposes of financing qualifying projects to be financed with proceeds of qualified energy conservation bonds.

(c) Powers of Authority.

(i) In order to carry out the provisions of ARRA and further the purposes of this Section, the Authority has:

(A) the power to receive from any affected local government its sub-allocation that it voluntarily waives to the Authority, in whole or in part, for allocation by the Authority to a regional authority specifically designated by that affected local government, and the Authority shall reallocate that waived qualified energy conservation bond allocation to the regional authority specifically designated by that affected local government; provided that (1) the affected local government must take official action by resolution or ordinance, as applicable, to waive the sub-allocation to the Authority and specifically designate that its waived qualified energy conservation bond allocation should be reallocated to a regional authority; (2) the regional authority must use the sub-allocation to issue qualified energy conservation bonds on or before August 16, 2010 and, if qualified energy conservation bonds are not issued on or before August 16, 2010, the sub-allocation shall be deemed waived to the Authority for reallocation by the Authority to qualifying projects; and (3) the proceeds of the qualified energy conservation bonds must be used for qualified projects within the jurisdiction of the applicable regional authority;

(B) at the Authority's sole discretion, the power to reallocate any sub-allocation deemed waived to the Authority pursuant to subsection (c)(i)(A)(2) back to the Regional Authority that had the sub-allocation;

(C) the power to enter into waiver agreements with affected local governments to provide for the reallocation, in whole or in part, of their sub-allocations, to receive waived qualified energy conservation bond allocations from those affected local governments, and to use those waived qualified energy conservation bond allocations, in whole or in part, to issue qualified energy conservation bonds of the Authority for qualifying projects or to reallocate those qualified energy conservation bond allocations, in whole or in part, to a county or municipality to issue its own energy conservation bonds for qualifying projects; and

(D) the power to issue qualified energy conservation bonds for any project authorized to be financed with proceeds thereof under the applicable provisions of ARRA.

(ii) In addition to the powers set forth in item (i), the Authority shall be the sole recipient, on behalf of the State, of any waived qualified energy conservation bond allocations. Qualified energy conservation bond allocations can be reallocated to the Authority only by voluntary waiver as provided in this Section.

(iii) In addition to the powers set forth in items (i) and (ii), the Authority has any powers otherwise enjoyed by the Authority in connection with the issuance of its bonds if those powers are not in conflict with any provisions with respect to qualified energy conservation bonds set forth in ARRA.

(iv) The Authority has the power to adopt regulations providing for the implementation of any of the provisions contained in this Section, including the provisions regarding waiver agreements and reallocation of all or any portion of the allocation amount and sub-allocations and the issuance of qualified energy conservation bonds; except that those regulations shall not (1) provide any waiver or reallocation of an affected local government's sub-allocation other than a voluntary waiver as described in subsection (c) or (2) be inconsistent with the provisions of subsection (c)(i). Regulations adopted by the Authority for determining reallocation of all or any portion of a waived qualified energy conservation allocation may include, but are not limited to, (1) the ability of the county or municipality to issue qualified energy conservation bonds by the end of a given calendar year, (2) the amount of jobs that will be retained or created, or both, by the qualifying project to be financed by qualified energy conservation bonds, and (3) the geographical proximity of the qualifying project to be financed by qualified energy conservation bonds to a municipality or county that reallocated its sub-allocation to the Authority.

(d) Established dates for notice.

Any affected local government or regional authority that has issued qualified energy conservation bonds on or before the effective date of this Section must report its issuance of qualified energy conservation bonds to the Authority within 30 days after the effective date of this Section. After the effective date of this Section, any affected local government or any regional authority must report its issuance of qualified energy conservation bonds to the Authority not less than 30 days after those bonds are issued.

(e) Reports to the General Assembly.

Starting 60 days after the effective date of this Section and ending when there is no longer any allocation amount, the Authority shall file a report before the end 15th day of each fiscal year month with the General Assembly detailing its implementation of this Section, including but not limited to the dollar amount of the allocation amount that has been reallocated by the Authority pursuant to this Section, the qualified energy conservation bonds issued in the State as of the date of the report, and descriptions of the qualifying projects financed by those qualified energy conservation bonds.

(Source: P.A. 96-1020, eff. 7-12-10.)

(20 ILCS 3501/830-10)

Sec. 830-10. (a) The Authority may shall establish a Farm Debt Relief Program to help provide eligible Illinois farmers with State assistance in meeting their farming-related debts.

(b) To be eligible for the program, a person must (1) be actively engaged in farming in this State, (2) have farming-related debts in an amount equal to at least 55% of the person's total assets, and (3) demonstrate that he can secure credit from a conventional lender for the 1986 crop year.

(c) An eligible person may apply to the Authority, in such manner as the Authority may specify, for a one-time farm debt relief payment of up to 2% of the person's outstanding farming-related debt. If the Authority determines that the applicant is eligible for a payment under this Section, it may then approve a payment to the applicant. Such payment shall consist of a payment made by the Authority directly to one or more of the applicant's farming-related creditors, to be applied to the reduction of the applicant's farming-related debt. The applicant shall be entitled to select the creditor or creditors to receive the payment, unless the applicant is subject to the jurisdiction of a bankruptcy court, in which case the selection of the court shall control.

(d) Payments shall be made from the Farm Emergency Assistance Fund, which is hereby established as a special fund in the State treasury, from funds appropriated to the Authority for that purpose. No grant may exceed the lesser of (1) 2% of the applicant's outstanding farm-related debt, or (2) $2000. Not more than one grant under this Section may be made to any one person, or to any one household, or to any single farming operation.

(e) Payments to applicants having farming-related debts in an amount equal to at least 55% of the person's total assets, but less than 70%, shall be repaid by the applicant to the Authority for deposit into the Farm Emergency Assistance Fund within five years from the date the payment was made. Repayment shall be made in equal installments during the five-year period with no additional interest charge and may be prepaid in whole or in part at any time. Applicants having farming-related debts in an amount equal to at least 70% of the person's total assets shall not be required to make any repayment. Assets shall include, but not be limited to, the following: cash crops or feed on hand; livestock held for sale; breeding stock; marketable bonds and securities; securities not readily marketable; accounts receivable; notes receivable; cash invested in growing crops; net cash value of life insurance; machinery and equipment; cars and trucks; farm and other real estate including life estates and personal residence; value of beneficial interests in trusts; government payments or grants; and any other assets. Debts shall include, but not be limited to, the following: accounts payable; notes or other indebtedness owed to any source; taxes; rent; amounts owed on real estate contracts or real estate mortgages; judgments; accrued interest payable; and any other liability.

(Source: P.A. 93-205, eff. 1-1-04.)

(20 ILCS 3501/830-15)

Sec. 830-15. Interest-buy-back program.

(a) The Authority may shall establish an interest-buy-back program to subsidize the interest cost on certain loans to Illinois farmers.

(b) To be eligible an applicant must (i) be a resident of Illinois; (ii) be a principal operator of a farm or land; (iii) derive at least 50% of annual gross income from farming; and (iv) have a net worth of at least $10,000. The Authority shall establish minimum and maximum financial requirements, maximum payment amounts, starting and ending dates for the program, and other criteria.

(c) Lenders may apply on behalf of eligible applicants on forms provided by the Authority. Lenders may submit requests for payment on forms provided by the Authority. Lenders and applicants shall be responsible for any fees or charges the Authority may require.

(d) The Authority shall make payments to lenders from available appropriations from the General Revenue Fund.

(Source: P.A. 93-205, eff. 1-1-04.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.