Bill Text: IL SB3281 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the Energy Assistance Act. Provides that the Low Income Energy Assistance Block Grant Fund and the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund are subject to continuing appropriation. Effective immediately.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 20-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-07-31 - Pursuant to Senate Rule 3-9(b) / Referred to Assignments [SB3281 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-SB3281-Introduced.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning finance.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Energy Assistance Act is amended by changing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Sections 10 and 13 as follows:
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6 | (305 ILCS 20/10) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1410)
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7 | Sec. 10. Energy Assistance Funds.
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8 | (a) The AFDC Energy Assistance Fund is hereby created as a | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | special fund
in the State Treasury.
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10 | The AFDC Energy Assistance Fund is authorized to receive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | whether by
appropriation, transfer, statutory deposit or fund | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | transfer, all amounts
appropriated from State funds to the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | Department of Human Services (acting as
successor to the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | Illinois Department of Public Aid
under the Department of Human | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | Services Act) specifically for energy
assistance payments for | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | persons and families
receiving assistance pursuant to Section | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | 4-1 of the Illinois Public Aid
Code and subsection (c) of | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | Section 6 of this Act, and any administrative
expense related | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | thereto.
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20 | (b) Subject to appropriation by the General Assembly, the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | Department is
authorized to expend monies from the AFDC Energy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | Assistance Fund for the
following purposes:
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23 | (1) for energy assistance payments to or on behalf of |
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1 | individuals or
families who receive assistance pursuant to | ||||||
2 | Section 4-1 of The Illinois
Public Aid Code in accordance | ||||||
3 | with the provisions of Section 6 of this Act; and
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4 | (2) for the necessary and contingent expenses of the | ||||||
5 | Department
incurred in the administration of that portion | ||||||
6 | of the Act described in
paragraph (1) of this subsection.
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7 | (c) The AFDC Energy Assistance Fund shall be inoperative | ||||||
8 | after
September 30, 1991.
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9 | (d) The Subject to appropriations made by the General | ||||||
10 | Assembly, the Department
is authorized to expend monies from | ||||||
11 | the Low Income Energy Assistance Block
Grant Fund for the | ||||||
12 | purpose of providing assistance pursuant to Section 6 of
this | ||||||
13 | Act. Absent an enacted appropriation from the Low Income Energy | ||||||
14 | Assistance Block
Grant Fund in any State fiscal year, this | ||||||
15 | subsection shall constitute a continuing appropriation to the | ||||||
16 | Department of all amounts necessary for the purposes set forth | ||||||
17 | in this subsection (d). The continuing appropriation under this | ||||||
18 | subsection (d) shall be no less than the total aggregate | ||||||
19 | appropriations made available from the Low Income Energy | ||||||
20 | Assistance Block
Grant Fund for the immediately preceding State | ||||||
21 | fiscal year. If an appropriation to the Department from the Low | ||||||
22 | Income Energy Assistance Block
Grant Fund is enacted on or | ||||||
23 | after July 1 of any calendar year, then the continuing | ||||||
24 | appropriation shall discontinue for that State fiscal year, and | ||||||
25 | the enacted appropriation shall supersede.
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26 | (Source: P.A. 89-507, eff. 7-1-97.)
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1 | (305 ILCS 20/13)
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2 | (Section scheduled to be repealed on December 31, 2018) | ||||||
3 | Sec. 13. Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund.
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4 | (a) The Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance
Fund is | ||||||
5 | hereby created as a special fund in the State
Treasury. The | ||||||
6 | Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund
is authorized | ||||||
7 | to receive moneys from voluntary donations from individuals, | ||||||
8 | foundations, corporations, and other sources, moneys received | ||||||
9 | pursuant to Section 17, and, by statutory deposit, the moneys
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10 | collected pursuant to this Section. The Fund is also authorized | ||||||
11 | to receive voluntary donations from individuals, foundations, | ||||||
12 | corporations, and other sources, as well as contributions made | ||||||
13 | in accordance with Section 507MM of the Illinois Income Tax | ||||||
14 | Act. The Subject to appropriation,
the Department shall use
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15 | moneys from the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund
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16 | for payments to electric or gas public utilities,
municipal | ||||||
17 | electric or gas utilities, and electric cooperatives
on behalf | ||||||
18 | of their customers who are participants in the
program | ||||||
19 | authorized by Sections 4 and 18 of this Act, for the provision | ||||||
20 | of
weatherization services and for
administration of the | ||||||
21 | Supplemental Low-Income Energy
Assistance Fund. The yearly | ||||||
22 | expenditures for weatherization may not exceed 10%
of the | ||||||
23 | amount collected during the year pursuant to this Section. The | ||||||
24 | yearly administrative expenses of the
Supplemental Low-Income | ||||||
25 | Energy Assistance Fund may not exceed
10% of the amount |
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1 | collected during that year
pursuant to this Section, except | ||||||
2 | when unspent funds from the Supplemental Low-Income Energy | ||||||
3 | Assistance Fund are reallocated from a previous year; any | ||||||
4 | unspent balance of the 10% administrative allowance may be | ||||||
5 | utilized for administrative expenses in the year they are | ||||||
6 | reallocated.
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7 | (a-5) Absent an enacted appropriation from the | ||||||
8 | Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance
Fund in any State | ||||||
9 | fiscal year, this subsection shall constitute a continuing | ||||||
10 | appropriation to the Department of Commerce and Economic | ||||||
11 | Opportunity of all amounts necessary for the purposes set forth | ||||||
12 | in subsection (a). The continuing appropriation under this | ||||||
13 | subsection (a-5) shall be no less than the total aggregate | ||||||
14 | appropriations made available from the Supplemental Low-Income | ||||||
15 | Energy Assistance
Fund for the immediately preceding State | ||||||
16 | fiscal year. If an appropriation to the Department of Commerce | ||||||
17 | and Economic Opportunity from the Supplemental Low-Income | ||||||
18 | Energy Assistance
Fund is enacted on or after July 1 of any | ||||||
19 | calendar year, then the continuing appropriation shall | ||||||
20 | discontinue for that State fiscal year, and the enacted | ||||||
21 | appropriation shall supersede. | ||||||
22 | (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 16-111
of the | ||||||
23 | Public Utilities Act but subject to subsection (k) of this | ||||||
24 | Section,
each public utility, electric
cooperative, as defined | ||||||
25 | in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier Act,
and municipal | ||||||
26 | utility, as referenced in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities
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1 | Act, that is engaged in the delivery of electricity or the
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2 | distribution of natural gas within the State of Illinois
shall, | ||||||
3 | effective January 1, 1998,
assess each of
its customer accounts | ||||||
4 | a monthly Energy Assistance Charge for
the Supplemental | ||||||
5 | Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund.
The delivering public | ||||||
6 | utility, municipal electric or gas utility, or electric
or gas
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7 | cooperative for a self-assessing purchaser remains subject to | ||||||
8 | the collection of
the
fee imposed by this Section.
The
monthly | ||||||
9 | charge shall be as follows:
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10 | (1) $0.48 per month on each account for
residential | ||||||
11 | electric service;
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12 | (2) $0.48 per month on each account for
residential gas | ||||||
13 | service;
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14 | (3) $4.80 per month on each account for non-residential | ||||||
15 | electric service
which had less than 10 megawatts
of peak | ||||||
16 | demand during the previous calendar year;
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17 | (4) $4.80 per month on each account for non-residential | ||||||
18 | gas service which
had distributed to it less than
4,000,000 | ||||||
19 | therms of gas during the previous calendar year;
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20 | (5) $360 per month on each account for non-residential | ||||||
21 | electric service
which had 10 megawatts or greater
of peak | ||||||
22 | demand during the previous calendar year; and
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23 | (6) $360 per month on each account for non-residential | ||||||
24 | gas service
which had 4,000,000 or more therms of
gas | ||||||
25 | distributed to it during the previous calendar year. | ||||||
26 | The incremental change to such charges imposed by this |
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1 | amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly shall not (i) be | ||||||
2 | used for any purpose other than to directly assist customers | ||||||
3 | and (ii) be applicable to utilities serving less than 100,000 | ||||||
4 | customers in Illinois on January 1, 2009. | ||||||
5 | In addition, electric and gas utilities have committed, and | ||||||
6 | shall contribute, a one-time payment of $22 million to the | ||||||
7 | Fund, within 10 days after the effective date of the tariffs | ||||||
8 | established pursuant to Sections 16-111.8 and 19-145 of the | ||||||
9 | Public Utilities Act to be used for the Department's cost of | ||||||
10 | implementing the programs described in Section 18 of this | ||||||
11 | amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, the Arrearage | ||||||
12 | Reduction Program described in Section 18, and the programs | ||||||
13 | described in Section 8-105 of the Public Utilities Act. If a | ||||||
14 | utility elects not to file a rider within 90 days after the | ||||||
15 | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General | ||||||
16 | Assembly, then the contribution from such utility shall be made | ||||||
17 | no later than February 1, 2010.
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18 | (c) For purposes of this Section:
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19 | (1) "residential electric service" means
electric | ||||||
20 | utility service for household purposes delivered to a
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21 | dwelling of 2 or fewer units which is billed under a
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22 | residential rate, or electric utility service for | ||||||
23 | household
purposes delivered to a dwelling unit or units | ||||||
24 | which is billed
under a residential rate and is registered | ||||||
25 | by a separate meter
for each dwelling unit;
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26 | (2) "residential gas service" means gas utility
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1 | service for household purposes distributed to a dwelling of
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2 | 2 or fewer units which is billed under a residential rate,
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3 | or gas utility service for household purposes distributed | ||||||
4 | to a
dwelling unit or units which is billed under a | ||||||
5 | residential
rate and is registered by a separate meter for | ||||||
6 | each dwelling
unit;
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7 | (3) "non-residential electric service" means
electric | ||||||
8 | utility service which is not residential electric
service; | ||||||
9 | and
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10 | (4) "non-residential gas service" means gas
utility | ||||||
11 | service which is not residential gas service.
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12 | (d) Within 30 days after the effective date of this | ||||||
13 | amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, each public
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14 | utility engaged in the delivery of electricity or the
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15 | distribution of natural gas shall file with the Illinois
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16 | Commerce Commission tariffs incorporating the Energy
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17 | Assistance Charge in other charges stated in such tariffs, | ||||||
18 | which shall become effective no later than the beginning of the | ||||||
19 | first billing cycle following such filing.
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20 | (e) The Energy Assistance Charge assessed by
electric and | ||||||
21 | gas public utilities shall be considered a charge
for public | ||||||
22 | utility service.
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23 | (f) By the 20th day of the month following the month in | ||||||
24 | which the charges
imposed by the Section were collected, each | ||||||
25 | public
utility,
municipal utility, and electric cooperative | ||||||
26 | shall remit to the
Department of Revenue all moneys received as |
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1 | payment of the
Energy Assistance Charge on a return prescribed | ||||||
2 | and furnished by the
Department of Revenue showing such | ||||||
3 | information as the Department of Revenue may
reasonably | ||||||
4 | require; provided, however, that a utility offering an | ||||||
5 | Arrearage Reduction Program pursuant to Section 18 of this Act | ||||||
6 | shall be entitled to net those amounts necessary to fund and | ||||||
7 | recover the costs of such Program as authorized by that Section | ||||||
8 | that is no more than the incremental change in such Energy | ||||||
9 | Assistance Charge authorized by this amendatory Act of the 96th | ||||||
10 | General Assembly. If a customer makes a partial payment, a | ||||||
11 | public
utility, municipal
utility, or electric cooperative may | ||||||
12 | elect either: (i) to apply
such partial payments first to | ||||||
13 | amounts owed to the
utility or cooperative for its services and | ||||||
14 | then to payment
for the Energy Assistance Charge or (ii) to | ||||||
15 | apply such partial payments
on a pro-rata basis between amounts | ||||||
16 | owed to the
utility or cooperative for its services and to | ||||||
17 | payment for the
Energy Assistance Charge.
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18 | (g) The Department of Revenue shall deposit into the
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19 | Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund all moneys
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20 | remitted to it in accordance with subsection (f) of this
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21 | Section; provided, however, that the amounts remitted by each | ||||||
22 | utility shall be used to provide assistance to that utility's | ||||||
23 | customers. The utilities shall coordinate with the Department | ||||||
24 | to establish an equitable and practical methodology for | ||||||
25 | implementing this subsection (g) beginning with the 2010 | ||||||
26 | program year.
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1 | (h) On or before December 31, 2002, the Department shall
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2 | prepare a report for the General Assembly on the expenditure of | ||||||
3 | funds
appropriated from the Low-Income Energy Assistance Block | ||||||
4 | Grant Fund for the
program authorized under Section 4 of this | ||||||
5 | Act.
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6 | (i) The Department of Revenue may establish such
rules as | ||||||
7 | it deems necessary to implement this Section.
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8 | (j) The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
may | ||||||
9 | establish such rules as it deems necessary to implement
this | ||||||
10 | Section.
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11 | (k) The charges imposed by this Section shall only apply to | ||||||
12 | customers of
municipal electric or gas utilities and electric | ||||||
13 | or gas cooperatives if
the municipal
electric or gas
utility or | ||||||
14 | electric or gas cooperative makes an affirmative decision to
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15 | impose the
charge. If a municipal electric or gas utility or an | ||||||
16 | electric
cooperative makes an affirmative decision to impose | ||||||
17 | the charge provided by
this
Section, the municipal electric or | ||||||
18 | gas utility or electric cooperative shall
inform the
Department | ||||||
19 | of Revenue in writing of such decision when it begins to impose | ||||||
20 | the
charge. If a municipal electric or gas utility or electric | ||||||
21 | or gas
cooperative does not
assess
this charge, the Department | ||||||
22 | may not use funds from the Supplemental Low-Income
Energy | ||||||
23 | Assistance Fund to provide benefits to its customers under the | ||||||
24 | program
authorized by Section 4 of this Act.
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25 | In its use of federal funds under this Act, the Department | ||||||
26 | may not cause a
disproportionate share of those federal funds |
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1 | to benefit customers of systems
which do not assess the charge | ||||||
2 | provided by this Section.
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3 | This Section is repealed effective December 31, 2018
unless
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4 | renewed by action of the General Assembly. The General Assembly | ||||||
5 | shall
consider the results of the evaluations described in | ||||||
6 | Section 8 in its
deliberations.
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7 | (Source: P.A. 98-429, eff. 8-16-13; 99-457, eff. 1-1-16 .)
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8 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
9 | becoming law.
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