HB3556 EngrossedLRB103 30147 RLC 56571 b HB3556 Engrossed LRB103 30147 RLC 56571 b
HB3556 Engrossed LRB103 30147 RLC 56571 b
1 AN ACT concerning agriculture.
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 Black
5 Farmer Restoration Program Act.
6 Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
7 "Agricultural easement" means a nonpossessory interest of
8 a holder in real property imposing limitations on the use of
9 the property strictly to agricultural purposes. An
10 agricultural easement does not prevent a property owner from
11 constructing, improving, or maintaining a primary residence or
12 housing for farmworkers on the land.
13 "Director" means the Director of Agriculture.
14 "Department" means the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
15 "Eligible individual" means a resident of this State who:
16 (1) was born in this State;
17 (2) is at least 21 years of age;
18 (3) has previously identified as Black or African
19 American; and
20 (4) has at least one parent of African ancestry.
21 "Limited resource farmer" means a farmer with direct or
22 indirect gross farm sales not more than the current indexed
23 value in each of the previous 2 years, and who has a total
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1 household income at or below the national poverty level for a
2 family of 4, or less than 50% of county median household income
3 in each of the previous 2 years.
4 "Qualified entity" means an organization:
5 (1) that has a fiscal sponsor who is exempt from
6 taxation pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
7 Revenue Code of 1986;
8 (2) that has a minimum of 3 years of experience
9 providing agricultural services, business assistance,
10 legal assistance, or advocacy services to socially
11 disadvantaged farmers; and
12 (3) in which at least one-half of the members of the
13 organization's board of directors are Black.
14 "Socially disadvantaged farmer" means a farmer who is a
15 member of a socially disadvantaged group.
16 "Socially disadvantaged group" means a group of people
17 whose members have been subject to racial or ethnic prejudice
18 because of their identity as a member of a group without regard
19 to their individual qualities.
20 "Training" means a program of training approved by the
21 Director that:
22 (1) provides an eligible individual with the basic
23 skills to operate a farm profitably with a primary focus
24 on regenerating the soil, ecosystem, and local community;
25 (2) provides a course of study that is equivalent to
26 no less than 30 academic credit hours of study, which may
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1 be provided as direct in-field instruction;
2 (3) focuses on low capital-intensive techniques and
3 technologies; and
4 (4) studies local and regional food systems and the
5 market opportunities those systems present.
6 Section 10. Black Farmer Restoration Program Fund.
7 (a) The Black Farmer Restoration Program Fund is created
8 as a special fund in the State treasury. Except as provided in
9 subsection (b), the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by
10 the General Assembly, shall be used for the purposes of the
11 program, which include the purchase of agricultural
12 conservation easements, fee title acquisition grants to
13 private landowners, socially disadvantaged farmers, and
14 limited resource farmers, land improvement and planning
15 grants, technical assistance grants, technical assistance
16 provided by the Department, technology transfer activities of
17 the Department, and administrative costs incurred by the
18 Department in administering the program.
19 (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), moneys may be
20 deposited into the fund from federal grants, and gifts and
21 donations that are designated and required by the donor to be
22 used exclusively for the purposes of the program.
23 (c) Not to exceed 10% of all grants made by the Department
24 under this Act may be made for land improvement purposes,
25 technical assistance purposes, and policy planning purposes.
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1 Not less than 90% of funds available for grants under this Act
2 shall be expended for the acquisition of interests in land.
3 For purposes of this Act, the expenditures specified in this
4 subsection shall be deemed expenditures for the acquisition of
5 interests in land. Not less than 75% of funds shall be provided
6 to applicants that lease or sell to socially disadvantaged
7 farmers. Moneys in the fund shall also be available for the
8 following purposes:
9 (1) To provide technical assistance grants to eligible
10 assistance entities in support of socially disadvantaged
11 farmers who are seeking financing for land acquisition or
12 leasing. For purposes of this Section, technical
13 assistance includes, but is not limited to, organizing,
14 advising, counseling, educating, planning, drafting,
15 translating, interpreting, and consulting with socially
16 disadvantaged farmers for the purpose of preparing them
17 for favorable financing for land acquisition or
18 negotiating leasing arrangements.
19 (2) To provide acquisition assistance grants to
20 eligible assistance entities for the sole purpose of
21 reducing barriers to land access for socially
22 disadvantaged farmers, including, but not limited to, down
23 payment assistance, interest rate assistance, direct costs
24 incidental to acquisition, and infrastructure for land
25 improvement.
26 (3) To provide technical assistance grants to eligible
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1 assistance entities in support of socially disadvantaged
2 farmers who are seeking financing for land acquisition or
3 leasing. For purposes of this paragraph (3), technical
4 assistance includes, but is not limited to, organizing,
5 advising, counseling, educating, planning, drafting,
6 translating, interpreting, and consulting with socially
7 disadvantaged farmers for the purpose of preparing them
8 for favorable financing for land acquisition or
9 negotiating leasing arrangements.
10 (4) To provide acquisition assistance grants to
11 eligible assistance entities for the sole purpose of
12 reducing barriers to land access for socially
13 disadvantaged farmers, including, but not limited to, down
14 payment assistance, interest rate assistance, direct costs
15 incidental to acquisition, and infrastructure for land
16 improvement.
17 Section 15. Department and Director responsibilities.
18 (a) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall:
19 (1) purchase, from willing sellers, available
20 agricultural land within this State at a price no greater
21 than fair market value; and
22 (2) convey grants of the purchased land to eligible
23 individuals at no cost to the eligible individual.
24 (b) A land grant to an eligible individual may not exceed
25 one hundred acres.
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1 (c) Eligible individuals:
2 (1) An eligible individual seeking a land grant shall
3 submit an application on a form and in a manner approved by
4 the Director that must include a legal description of the
5 eligible agricultural land.
6 (2) The Director shall give priority to applications
7 to:
8 (A) socially disadvantaged farmers;
9 (B) eligible individuals with a family history of
10 land dispossession;
11 (C) eligible individuals with experience in
12 agriculture, including experience obtained through the
13 provisions of this article; and
14 (D) eligible individuals who are veterans.
15 (3) The Director may grant an application submitted by
16 a qualified entity on behalf of one or more eligible
17 individuals seeking a land grant. An application submitted
18 by a qualified entity for more than one hundred acres must
19 include a proposal for how the land will be subdivided and
20 separately conveyed to multiple eligible individuals.
21 (d) Granted land.
22 (1) The Director shall attach an agricultural easement
23 to the land before it may be conveyed to the eligible
24 individual or qualified entity.
25 (2) The recipient of the land grant may sell the land,
26 but the Department has the right of first refusal to
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1 purchase the land at the appraised value of the land to
2 convey to another eligible individual pursuant to the
3 provisions of this article.
4 Section 20. Farm Conservation Corps.
5 (a) Subject to appropriation and in partnership with the
6 University of Illinois Extension, the Department shall
7 establish the Farm Conservation Corps to provide residents
8 between the ages of 18 and 29 from socially disadvantaged
9 groups the academic, vocational, and social skills necessary
10 to pursue long-term and productive careers in agriculture.
11 (b) The members of the Farm Conservation Corps shall serve
12 as on-farm apprentices, at no cost, to farms with an annual
13 gross farm income of less than $250,000 operated by:
14 (1) socially disadvantaged farmers;
15 (2) beginning farmers; or
16 (3) farmers operating certified organic farms.
17 Section 25. Data collection and reporting.
18 (a) Generally. Subject to appropriation, the Director
19 shall make publicly available annual reports describing data
20 on the recipients of the Department programs, including
21 assistance from farm subsidy programs, and the amounts of the
22 assistance, delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of
23 the recipients.
24 (b) Research of socially disadvantaged farmers. Subject to
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1 appropriation, the Department shall conduct research on the
2 status of socially disadvantaged farmers, including, but not
3 limited to:
4 (1) the share of land ownership of those socially
5 disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers,
6 delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the
7 landowners;
8 (2) the share of the amount of assistance those
9 socially disadvantaged farmers receive from the Department
10 as compared to all farmers, delineated by the race,
11 ethnicity, and gender of the recipients;
12 (3) the share, status, and receipt of loans by
13 socially disadvantaged farmers as compared to all farmers,
14 delineated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the
15 recipients; and
16 (4) an assessment of the reasons for disparities in
17 land ownership, assistance from the Department, and loans
18 for socially disadvantaged farmers compared to all
19 farmers.
20 (c) Research of farmworkers. Subject to appropriation, the
21 Department shall conduct research on the demographics and
22 status of farmworkers, including, but not limited to:
23 (1) the races, ethnicities, ages, localities, wages
24 and benefits, and working conditions of farmworkers;
25 (2) the economic contributions of farmworkers to the
26 Illinois economy; and
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1 (3) satisfaction of farmworkers with their employment.
2 (d) Census of agriculture. The Department shall:
3 (1) investigate historical changes in reporting
4 methodology and misreporting of socially disadvantaged
5 farmers in the census of agriculture;
6 (2) develop procedures to ensure that census of
7 agriculture surveys accurately capture the status of
8 socially disadvantaged farmers engaged in urban
9 agriculture; and
10 (3) conduct, concurrently with each census of
11 agriculture, a review to assess:
12 (A) the outreach and methodologies used in
13 conducting the census of agriculture; and
14 (B) how such outreach and methodologies have
15 affected the counting of socially disadvantaged
16 farmers.
17 (e) Corporate ownership of farmland. Subject to
18 appropriation, the Department shall annually conduct, and
19 annually make publicly available reports describing, in-depth
20 research and analysis of corporate (domestic and foreign) land
21 investment and ownership in Illinois, with specific attention
22 given to the impact of corporate land investment and ownership
23 on:
24 (1) land consolidation trends in Illinois and in the
25 United States;
26 (2) challenges and opportunities for new and beginning
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1 farmers accessing land for farming;
2 (3) challenges and opportunities for members of
3 socially disadvantaged groups accessing land for farming;
4 and
5 (4) crop selection and production trends.
6 Section 35. Rulemaking. The Department shall adopt rules
7 to carry out the provisions of this Act.
8 Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
9 Section 5.990 as follows:
10 (30 ILCS 105/5.990 new)
11 Sec. 5.990. The Black Farmer Restoration Program Fund.
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