STATEHOUSE INSIDER
ISSUES & INSIGHTS FROM THE LEGAL/LEGISLATIVE SCENE
GREAT NEWS! $18.4 million is available
for the Teen REACH program, a funding source of
the Illinois Department of Human Services that targets
children ages 6 to 17. All park districts should
investigate this opportunity as the 1999 appropriation
has increased substantially and monies will be available
to serve more than 33,000 youth during this grant
cycle.
Specifically, the Teen REACH (Responsibility,
Education, Achievement, Caring and Hope) program
seeks to help youth develop positive expectations for
their future success through structured activities
during out-of-school time. The overall goal is to
increase academic success and reduce many risk-taking
behaviors such as substance abuse, delinquency,
premature sexual activity and involvement in criminal
activities.
Projects must provide core services (academic
assistance; recreation, sports and cultural and artistic
activities; positive adult mentors; life skills education;
and parental involvement) and may provide additional services such as programs for boys and young
men; programs for girls and young women; community services; or employment skills training. Programs
must operate during off-school hours (especially 3:00
p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), as well as during school holidays
and vacations.
The Teen REACH Request for Proposals will not be
sent out by the Department of Human Services unless
specifically requested by your agency. Contact Paul
Pachlhofer, Illinois Department of Human Services,
Office of Family Services, 535 W. Jefferson, Springfield, Illinois 62761, 217/785-4630 or by email at
DHSHP59@dhs.state.il.us.
The Request for Proposals is available as of July 1
via www.state.il.us/agency/dhs. the Department's
Website. You can also
access it through lAPDs
Website in the Legislative Advocacy section,
Legislative Links button
(choose Department of
Human Services),
www.als.uiuc.edu/iapd.
There is a six-week
turnaround for all grant
applications and the
deadline for submission
is 5:00 p.m. on Friday,
August 13, 1999.
IAPD LEGISLATIVE VICTORIES
The activity of this
year's General Assembly
made winners out of
virtually every local
government in Illinois.
The Governor's Illinois
FIRST program,
coupled with individual
legislative initiatives,
will fund important
infrastructure projects
throughout the state
and in many areas
where they are long
overdue. Park districts
and forest preserves will
realize a substantial
influx of new dollars as
a result of the Illinois
FIRST Program.
In addition, the
Open Lands Trust
Initiative—for which
IAPD and IPRA
members worked so
diligently—will realize
$40 million per year for
the next four years. Park
districts and forest
preserves and other
units of local government will share in half
of the total dollars set
aside for open space
acquisition. Adding to
the OSLAD and Bike
Path programs, this new
source of funding will
provide a much needed
influx of capital.
This year was also
noteworthy for the
many pieces of positive
park district and forest
preserve legislation that
passed the Illinois
General Assembly. This
success was a direct
result of your involvement in the legislative
process. The contacts
you made this year with
legislators were critical
to their better understanding of the role that
park districts and forest
preserves play in the
quality of life for all
Illinois citizens.
In Bill Watch you
will find legislation
pending the Governor's
signature that will
benefit your agency.
The Governor has 90
days from the date of
passage to act on
legislation sent to him
by the General
Assembly. You can see
from the date of passage
that many of these bills
will be acted upon by
the Governor in the
near future, and IAPD
will let you know when
they are approved.
Do not hesitate to
contact me at
217.523.4554 or
pmurphy@eosinc.com
or see the IAPD Website
is you have questions
about any of the listed
legislation or other bills
pending the Governor's
signature.
12 / Illinois Parks and Recreation
ISSUES AND INSIGHTS FROM THE LEGAL/LEGISLATIVE SCENE
BILL WATCH
Association Initiatives
Amends Park District
Code; provides that park
districts may lease their
real estate to any
corporation organized in
the state that covenants
to use the property for
public park or recreational purposes or if
such park district obtains
other similar property of
the same size and
suitability. Last Action: 6-11-99 Sent to Governor
HB 841 (A. Moore) - (Peterson)
Amends the Park District
Code; provides that the
issuance of certain bonds
pursuant to referendum
does not limit a park
district's right to issue
non-referendum bonds.
This legislation eliminates
the current penalty in the
Park District Code and
would put pork districts
on a parity with such
authority granted
municipalities and school
districts. 6-9-99 Sent to
Governor
HB 842 (A. Moore) - (Peterson)
Amends Property Tax
Code; provides that
property leased to a park
district for $1 or less per
year and used exclusively
as open space for
recreational purposes is
exempt from taxes, up to
50 acres in the aggregate (now, limit is 20
acres in the aggregate
for each district). 6-16-99
Sent to Governor
HB 843 (A. Moore) - (Fawell)
Amends Park District
Code; provides, at end of
fiscal year, any funds not
pledged for or allocated
to a particular purpose
may be transferred to
and accumulated in a
park district's capital
improvement fund for
park improvements.
(Contains limitations). 6-9-99 Sent to Governor
HB 1151 (Parke) - (Sieben-Jones/W.)
Amends Park District
code; allows a district to
transfer the interest
earned on any of the
moneys of the district to
the fund of the district
that is most in need of the
interest; exempts interest
earmarked for a
designated purpose and
interest earned on funds
used for purposes of the
Pension Code the and
Local Governmental and
Governmental Tort
Immunity Act. 6-9-99
Sent to Governor
SB 1087 (Karpiel) - (Moore, Andrea)
Creates the Open Land
Trust Act; allows the
Dept. of Natural
Resources to develop and
administer an Open Land
Trust Program to acquire
real property for
conservation and
recreation purposes;
provides for grants and
loans to units of local
government and not-for-profit corporations to
acquire property for
purposes of the Act;
other related provisions.
6-3-99 Sent to Governor
Gift Ban
Creates the Local Gift
Ban Act, plus amends
State Gift Ban Act; bans
workers and elected
appointed local government officials and school
district officials from
asking or accepting gifts
from entities having
interests affected by the
actions of such workers
and officials; applies also
to such workers and
officials spouses and
certain family members;
permits designated ethics
officers; recommends
certain disciplinary
actions for violations;
violation is a business
offense subject to a fine
of up to $5,000; preempts home rule;
provides for various
descriptions and
definitions. 5-14-99
Placed on House
Calendar Order of
Concurrence - FAILED
SB 1008 (Dillard) - (Madigan, MJ)
Amends the State Gift
Ban Act by making a
technical change to gift
ban Section. 5-31-99
Referred to House Rules
Committee - FAILED
Metro East District
Creation of the metropolitan park and recreation
district in the Metro East
area. The primary
purpose of the district
would be the development of an extensive
system of interconnecting
trails and linear parks for
hiking, walking and other
recreational uses. The
legislation would
authorize, by county
initiative and voter
approval, the formation of
a metropolitan park
district. The district would
be funded by a 1/10 of
one cent sales tax, which
would generate approximately $4.2 million each
year and would be
allocated as follows: 50%
for the newly established
Metro East Park and
Recreation District and
50% to each participating
county for local park
improvements (a portion of
this amount will be
provided to local park
and recreation entities for
park improvements). 6-4-99 Sent to Governor
Plumbing
Amends the Illinois
Plumbing License Law.
Provides that plumbing
does not include the trade
of installing or maintaining
irrigation systems
connected to properly
installed backflow
prevention devices.
Provides that the
definitions of "plumbing
fixtures" and "plumbing
system" do not include
lawn irrigation systems that
are properly connected to
backflow prevention
devices. Requires irrigation
contractors to register with
the Department of Public
Health. 6-2-99 Sent to
the Governor
Property Rights
Provides that when an
attorney represents a
landowner on a
contingent fee contract on
a complaint for condemnation under this Article
and the plaintiff elects not
to purchase the property
after a verdict is rendered
on the complaint in favor
of the plaintiff, the fee
due the landowner's
attorney shall be the
contingent fee, unless the
court determines that the
fee agreement violates
the Illinois Rules of
Professional Conduct. 5-27-99 Senate Secretary
Desk Order of Concurrence
Tort Immunity
A local public entity shall
not expend any revenue
from taxes levied under
this Act for operations,
maintenance, or new
construction. The annual
report shall also identify
that all expenditures from
the reserve or from
property taxes levied or
extended for tort
immunity purposes are
expended according to
subsection (a) and
Section 9-107. A local
public entity that
maintains a self-insurance
reserve or that levies and
extends a property tax
for tort immunity
purposes must include on
July/August 1999 / 13
STATEHOUSE INSIDER
audit or report of any expenditures made from the property fax levy or self-insurance reserve within the scope of the
annual report or audit report. 5-27-99 Passed Both Houses
NATIONAL FRONT
Several pending legislative and executive proposals would amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act
of 1965, the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act of 1978 and other statutes, and create additional programs. No single existing bill will be enacted unchanged. Rather, it is anticipated that consensus legislation will result from incorporation of certain elements of the several bills and executive proposals.
• H.R. 701/S.25, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act of 1999;
• H.R. 798/S.446, the Permanent Protection for American's Resources 2000 Act;
• H.R. 1118/S.532, the Public Land and Recreation Investment Act of 1999;
• Lands Legacy Initiative and Building Livable Communities for the 21st Century Initiative.
Identified goals for such legislation to incorporate are:
• Predictable Funds:
• Land and Water Conservation Fund: Distribution of Funds:
• Urban Park
• Public Purposes/Eligible Activities:
• National Competition for LWCF State Assistance/Unas:
• Fixed Ceilings:
• Funds for Program Administration:
14 / Illinois Parks and RecreationTeen REACH Funded at $18.4 Million
Land Trust dedicates $160 million for parks and open lands
HB 833 (J. Meyer) - (Dillard)
HB 1464 (Hannig) - (Dillard)
HB 702 (Hoffman) - (Clayborne)
SB 457 (Syverson) - (Hassert)
SB 26 (E. Petka) - (Holbrook)
SB 941 (Klemm) - (Winters)
The Land and Water Conservation Fund and Urban Park and Recreation Resource program must be funded through a
permanent appropriation derived from outer continental shelf energy receipts available to the federal government.
The predictability of fiscal resources is critical to effective recreation resource planning, priority setting and creation of short- and long-term investment strategies. Prior to the president's fiscal year 2000 budget, LWCF state assistance and urban park restoration funds had not been requested by the administration or provided by Congress since fiscal year 1995.
One half of the $900,000,000 presently authorized by the LWCF act should be available to address state and local needs. LWCF assistance should continue to be allocated to the states through a formula which emphasizes relative state population and population density. Certain bills recommend significant change in the current LWCF formula (40
percent equally among all states and 60 percent based on population and other need factors) by which state allocation is determined. Present and future resource conservation arid recreation demand will likely be met by an
allocation formula that is weighed more, not less, on population factors.
Rehabilitation: The Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program should be reauthorized as a separate
title providing $150,000,000 a year. The documented capital investment needs of urban places are substantial and recurring. Inclusion of the urban park program as an element of LWCF actually reduces the LWCF authorization
level. Presently authorized uses should be continued, with the addition of land acquisition when done in conjunction with restoration of an existing site, and site development. Communities of 30,000 population and greater should be eligible for assistance.
Eligibility should continue for the broad array of public investments now allowable through the LWCF state assistance authority, including statewide planning; land conservation through fee simple acquisition and easements, among other
strategies; development of new resource-based facilities; and the restoration of existing public infrastructure.
The legislation should also specifically authorize local public planning for recreation and parks, and federal executive
branch coordination of and aid for applied research to help guide longer-term recreation and park capital investment strategies.
Eighty percent of LWCF state assistance funds should be distributed by formula; twenty percent should be nationally competitive. The lack of a percentage split between formula grants and a national competition limits program flexibility, e.g., the possibility of funding high cost and high priority projects. These opportunities would be further precluded if the federal share of such projects exceeded a state apportionment or cap. Accordingly, the secretary of the Interior should have the authority to waive a state limit on receipt of funds.
All of the proposed bills include a cap on the LWCF and/or urban grant programs. Three of the proposals fix the combined ceiling for the LWCF/UPARR programs at $900 million annually (H.R. 701,S.25,S.532). New legislation rovides;
the opportunity to remove the long-standing $900 million cap altogether.
Legislation should authorize a predictable amount for administration and oversight of grant programs. None of the proposed bills contain a minimum level of funding for program administration, and one (S. 532) has no provision for program administration funding. H.R. 701 provides up to one percent each for federal, state, and urban park program administrative costs. Three bills (S. 25, S. 446, H.R. 798) provide up to two percent but lack guidelines for distribution among the three programs and four bureaus. Concurrently, each bill contains a perpetual use requirement, and thus the need for permanent funding at a level sufficient to maintain necessary staff levels in the grants program to assure resource stewardship regardless of the annual funding level.