093_HB2175
LRB093 10449 RCE 10703 b
1 AN ACT relating to school facilities.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community School Facility
6 Improvement Act.
7 Section 5. Creation of program. The Illinois
8 Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community School Facility
9 Improvement Program (hereinafter called the EZ/EC program) is
10 hereby created, to be administered and implemented by the
11 Department of Commerce and Community Affairs and the
12 University of Illinois' Urban School Improvement Program.
13 Section 10. EZ/EC program objectives. The Department of
14 Commerce and Community Affairs and the Urban School
15 Improvement Program at the University of Illinois shall
16 develop and demonstrate mechanisms under which significant
17 federal and private sector resources and investment are (i)
18 accessed to support administration of the EZ/EC program, and
19 (ii) allocated and made available to support the repair,
20 renovation, and improvement of school buildings and
21 facilities located in Illinois communities that have been
22 designated as Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities
23 under aligned federal laws and regulations which recognize
24 the role that training and education play in supporting
25 community economic development.
26 Section 15. Administration of program. The program
27 shall be administered by the Department of Commerce and
28 Community Affairs and the University of Illinois' Urban
29 School Improvement Program in conjunction with schools in
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1 communities located in Chicago, East St. Louis, and
2 Springfield. The program shall be administered to
3 demonstrate effective methods to employ federal Empowerment
4 Zone/Enterprise Community program incentives to leverage
5 private investment in support of improving school buildings
6 and facilities in Illinois Empowerment Zones and Enterprise
7 Communities. The methods shall include (i) utilization of
8 shared savings long-term contracts, (ii) establishment of
9 EZ/EC program investment cooperatives, and (iii) development
10 of an EZ/EC program School Facility Special Private Activity
11 Bond Program.
12 Section 20. Authority to accept and expend funds. In
13 the exercise of their responsibilities under this Act, the
14 Department of Commerce and Community Affairs and the
15 University of Illinois' Urban School Improvement Program may
16 accept and expend gifts, endowments, and federal funds made
17 available for purposes consistent with the administration and
18 implementation of this Act.
19 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
20 becoming a law.