Bill Text: IL HB1368 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Public Interest Attorney Assistance Act. Provides that if a participant in the Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Assistance Program has been an assistant Public Defender for at least 6 years in an office of an Illinois Public Defender, other than the Office of the Cook County Public Defender, and the participant graduated from a law school in this State, then the maximum amount of loan repayment assistance during the participant's career shall be equal to the full tuition cost charged the participant while attending that law school or $30,000, whichever is greater (rather than a maximum of $30,000 for any program participant).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-05-19 - House Committee Amendment No. 1 Rule 19(c) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB1368 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB1368-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB1368 Introduced , by Rep. Dave Vella SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
110 ILCS 916/20
Amends the Public Interest Attorney Assistance Act. Provides that if a participant in the Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Assistance Program has been an assistant Public Defender for at least 6 years in an office of an Illinois Public Defender, other than the Office of the Cook County Public Defender, and the participant graduated from a law school in this State, then the maximum amount of loan repayment assistance during the participant's career shall be equal to the full tuition cost charged the participant while attending that law school or $30,000, whichever is greater (rather than a maximum of $30,000 for any program participant).
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Public Interest Attorney Assistance Act is
amended by changing Section 20 as follows:
(110 ILCS 916/20)
Sec. 20. Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment
Assistance Program.
(a) The Commission shall establish and administer the
Program for the primary purpose of providing loan repayment
assistance to practicing attorneys to encourage them to pursue
careers as public interest attorneys to protect the rights of
this State's most vulnerable citizens or provide quality
enforcement of State law. The Commission shall create an
advisory committee composed of representatives from
organizations with relevant expertise, including one person
from each of the following entities:
(1) The Illinois State's Attorneys Association.
(2) An office of an Illinois Public Defender.
(3) An office of an Illinois public guardian.
(4) The Office of the Illinois Attorney General.
(5) An Illinois metropolitan bar association.
(6) An Illinois statewide bar association.

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(7) A public law school in this State.
(b) The Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Assistance
Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. The
Fund shall consist of all moneys remitted to the Commission
under the terms of this Act. All money in the Fund shall be
used, subject to appropriation, by the Commission for the
purposes of this Act.
(c) Subject to the availability of appropriations and
subsections (d) and (e) of this Section, the Commission shall
distribute funds to eligible applicants.
(d) The Commission is authorized to prescribe all rules,
policies, and procedures necessary or convenient for the
administration of the Program and all terms and conditions
applicable to payments made under this Act. This shall be done
with the guidance and assistance of the Committee.
(e) The Commission shall administer the Program,
including, but not limited to, establishing and implementing
the following:
(1) An application process. Subject to the
availability of appropriations, the Commission shall, each
year, consider applications by eligible public interest
attorneys for loan repayment assistance under the Program.
(2) Eligibility requirements. The Commission shall, on
an annual basis, receive and consider applications for
loan repayment assistance under the Program if the
Commission finds that the applicant:

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(i) is a citizen or permanent resident of the
United States;
(ii) is a licensed member of the Illinois Bar in
good standing;
(iii) has eligible debt in grace or repayment
status; and
(iv) is employed as a public interest attorney
with a qualifying employer in Illinois.
(3) A maximum amount of loan repayment assistance for
each participant, which shall be $6,000 per year, up to a
maximum of $30,000 during the participant's career.
However, if the participant has been an assistant Public
Defender for at least 6 years in an office of an Illinois
Public Defender, other than the Office of the Cook County
Public Defender, and the participant graduated from a law
school in this State, then the maximum amount of loan
repayment assistance during the participant's career shall
be equal to the full tuition cost charged the participant
while attending that law school or $30,000, whichever is
greater.
(4) Prioritization. The Commission shall develop
criteria for prioritization among eligible applicants in
the event that there are insufficient funds available to
make payments to all eligible applicants under this Act.
The prioritization criteria shall include the timeliness
of the application, the applicant's salary level, the

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amount of the applicant's eligible debt, the availability
of other loan repayment assistance to the applicant, the
applicant's length of service as a public interest
attorney, and the applicant's prior participation in the
Program.
(f) The distribution of funds available after
administrative costs must be made by the Commission to
eligible public interest attorneys in the following manner:
(1) Loan repayment assistance must be in the form of a
forgivable loan.
(2) To have the loan forgiven, the participant shall
(i) complete a year of employment with a qualifying
employer and (ii) make educational debt payments (interest
or principal or both) that equal at least the amount of
assistance received under the Program during the
assistance year.
(3) Each loan must be documented by means of a
promissory note executed by the borrower in a form
provided by the Commission and shall be forgiven when an
eligible participant meets the requirements set forth by
the Commission.
(Source: P.A. 96-615, eff. 1-1-10; 96-768, eff. 1-1-10.)