State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

   [ Search ]   [ Legislation ]
[ Home ]   [ Back ]   [ Bottom ]


[ Engrossed ]

91_HB3355

 
                                               LRB9111808STsb

 1        AN ACT to amend the Illinois Public Aid Code by  changing
 2    Section 12-4.11.

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

 5        Section 5.  The Illinois Public Aid Code  is  amended  by
 6    changing Section 12-4.11 as follows:

 7        (305 ILCS 5/12-4.11) (from Ch. 23, par. 12-4.11)
 8        Sec. 12-4.11. Grant amounts; studies.
 9        (a)  The  Department,  with due regard for and subject to
10    budgetary limitations, shall establish grant amounts for each
11    of the programs, by regulation.  The grant amounts  may  vary
12    by program, size of assistance unit and geographic area.
13        Aid payments shall not be reduced except: (1) for changes
14    in  the  cost  of items included in the grant amounts, or (2)
15    for changes in the expenses of  the  recipient,  or  (3)  for
16    changes   in   the  income  or  resources  available  to  the
17    recipient, or  (4)  for  changes  in  grants  resulting  from
18    adoption of a consolidated grant amount.
19        In  fixing standards to govern payments or reimbursements
20    for funeral and burial expenses, the  Department  shall  take
21    into  account the services essential to a dignified, low-cost
22    funeral and burial, including reasonable amounts that may  be
23    necessary  for  burial  space  and  cemetery charges, and any
24    applicable taxes  or  other  required  governmental  fees  or
25    charges.
26        Nothing contained in this Section or in any other Section
27    of  this  Code  shall  be  construed to prohibit the Illinois
28    Department (1) from consolidating existing standards  on  the
29    basis  of  any  standards  which are or were in effect on, or
30    subsequent to  July  1,  1969,  or  (2)  from  employing  any
31    consolidated standards in determining need for public aid and
 
                            -2-                LRB9111808STsb
 1    the   amount   of  money  payment  or  grant  for  individual
 2    recipients or recipient families.
 3        (b)  The Department  shall  contract  with  one  or  more
 4    universities    or    other   established   social   research
 5    organizations for  periodic  studies  of  the  level  of  the
 6    monthly cash assistance provided to families under Article IV
 7    of  this  Code, the impact of that level on the well-being of
 8    those families, and the accomplishment of  the  aims  of  the
 9    program  established  under  Article IV.  Each study shall be
10    included  in  a  report  to  the  Governor  and  the  General
11    Assembly, and that report shall also  be  made  public.   The
12    first  study  shall  be  conducted  in  the year 2000 and the
13    report shall be due on October 1, 2000.   Subsequent  studies
14    shall be conducted every 2 years and reports due on October 1
15    of even numbered years.
16        Each study shall include, at a minimum:
17             (1)  the  maximum grant levels for the family sizes,
18        family compositions, and geographic groupings  in  effect
19        at the time of the study, expressed in dollars and, after
20        including  a  reasonable  average  amount  of food stamps
21        received by recipient families,  as  percentages  of  the
22        then-applicable    federal   poverty   levels   for   the
23        corresponding family sizes;
24             (2)  the levels of the maximum cash grants  for  the
25        family   sizes,   family   compositions,  and  geographic
26        groupings under the Department's  cash  grant  system  if
27        they  had  kept  pace with the Consumer Price Index since
28        1990;
29             (3)  the levels of the maximum cash grants  for  the
30        family   sizes,   family   compositions,  and  geographic
31        groupings under the Department's  cash  grant  system  if
32        they  had  kept  pace with the Consumer Price Index since
33        the previous increase in monthly grant levels;
34             (4)  the impact of the level  of  the  monthly  cash
 
                            -3-                LRB9111808STsb
 1        assistance on:
 2                  (A)  the   ability  of  recipient  families  to
 3             engage in education or training and  move  into  the
 4             work force;
 5                  (B)  the  ability of recipient families to meet
 6             subsistence  needs  for  food,  clothing,   shelter,
 7             utilities, and transportation;
 8             (5)  incidence   among  recipient  families,  and  a
 9        comparison of  that  with  incidence  among  the  general
10        public, of:
11                  (A)  evictions, homelessness, and overcrowding;
12                  (B)   utility shutoffs;
13                  (C)  hunger;
14                  (D)  use of emergency services such as shelters
15             and food pantries;
16                  (E)  transferring  between schools, poor school
17             attendance, and dropping out of school;
18                  (F)  investigations for abuse  or  neglect,  or
19             temporary  or permanent state custody of children in
20             the recipient family by the Illinois  child  welfare
21             system.
22        The Family Self Sufficiency Advisory Council or successor
23    advisory  body  shall  advise  the  Department  on additional
24    criteria to be included in the studies and on  the  form  and
25    additional  content  of  the  reports.  The  Department shall
26    require the study to  be  based  upon  diligent  research  of
27    existing  research,  data, and literature to acquire the best
28    possible  information  regarding  the  study  criteria;   the
29    Department  shall  make  its  own data bases available to the
30    researchers. The Department need not  fund  new  or  original
31    social  science  research  for  the required studies, but the
32    Department  may  pay  for  the  extraction  of  reports  from
33    existing social science data bases if doing so  is  necessary
34    to  produce  the  most  complete  information  for  the study
 
                            -4-                LRB9111808STsb
 1    criteria.
 2    (Source:  P.A.  90-17,  eff.  7-1-97;  90-326,  eff.  8-8-97;
 3    90-372,  eff.  7-1-98;  90-655,  eff.  7-30-98;  91-24,  eff.
 4    7-1-99.)

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

[ Top ]