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| 1 | AN ACT concerning conservation.
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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 Illinois Veteran, Youth, and Young Adult | ||||||
| 5 | Conservation Jobs Act is amended by changing Sections 2, 4, 6, | ||||||
| 6 | and 9 and by adding Section 8.5 as follows:
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| 7 | (525 ILCS 50/2) (from Ch. 48, par. 2552)
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| 8 | Sec. 2. Declaration of Intent. The General Assembly finds | ||||||
| 9 | that the
level of unemployment among veterans, the youths of | ||||||
| 10 | this State, particularly those
age 14 through 18, and young | ||||||
| 11 | adults, age 18 through 25, is unsatisfactory.
This situation is | ||||||
| 12 | not conducive to
the development
of veterans and the youth and | ||||||
| 13 | young adults of Illinois as the future of the State. The
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| 14 | General Assembly further finds
that the availability of | ||||||
| 15 | conservation and recreational programs for veterans, youth, | ||||||
| 16 | and young adults in parks and
recreational facilities and other | ||||||
| 17 | lands operated
by the State, by units of local government, and | ||||||
| 18 | by local
not-for-profit entities is severely limited. The
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| 19 | General Assembly therefore creates the Illinois Veteran, | ||||||
| 20 | Youth, and Young Adult Conservation Jobs Act
to establish (a) | ||||||
| 21 | the Illinois Veteran Conservation Corps and the Illinois Young | ||||||
| 22 | Adult Conservation Corps to
provide year-round employment
for | ||||||
| 23 | veterans and young adults of this State for the purpose
of | ||||||
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| 1 | conservation, rehabilitation, protection and enhancement of | ||||||
| 2 | the State's public land
and (b) the Illinois Veteran Recreation | ||||||
| 3 | Corps, and the Illinois Youth Recreation Corps, and the | ||||||
| 4 | Illinois Young Adult Recreation Corps to provide employment for | ||||||
| 5 | the veterans, and youth, and young adults of this State for the | ||||||
| 6 | purpose of
administering and operating conservation or | ||||||
| 7 | recreational programs operated by units of local government or | ||||||
| 8 | local not-for-profit entities at conservation and open spaces, | ||||||
| 9 | parks, or
recreational facilities or other similar facilities | ||||||
| 10 | or locations.
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| 11 | (Source: P.A. 97-738, eff. 7-5-12.)
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| 12 | (525 ILCS 50/4) (from Ch. 48, par. 2554)
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| 13 | Sec. 4. Definition of Terms. For the purposes of this Act:
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| 14 | (a) "Department" means the Department of Natural | ||||||
| 15 | Resources.
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| 16 | (b) "Director" means the Director of Natural Resources.
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| 17 | (c) "Local sponsor" means any unit of local government or
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| 18 | not-for-profit entity that can make available for a summer | ||||||
| 19 | conservation or recreation program park lands, conservation or | ||||||
| 20 | recreational lands or facilities, equipment, materials,
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| 21 | administration, supervisory personnel, etc.
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| 22 | (d) "Managing supervisor" means an enrollee in the Illinois | ||||||
| 23 | Veteran Recreation Corps, or the Illinois Youth Recreation | ||||||
| 24 | Corps, or the Illinois Young Adult Recreation Corps who is | ||||||
| 25 | selected by the local sponsor to supervise the activities of | ||||||
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| 1 | the veterans, or youth, or young adults employee enrollees | ||||||
| 2 | working on the conservation or recreation project. A managing | ||||||
| 3 | supervisor in the Illinois Youth Recreation Corps may be 19 | ||||||
| 4 | years of age or older. | ||||||
| 5 | (e) "Veteran" means an Illinois resident who has served or | ||||||
| 6 | is currently serving as a member of the United States Armed | ||||||
| 7 | Forces, a member of the Illinois National Guard, or a member of | ||||||
| 8 | a Reserve Component of the United States Armed Forces. | ||||||
| 9 | (Source: P.A. 97-738, eff. 7-5-12; 98-463, eff. 8-16-13.)
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| 10 | (525 ILCS 50/6) (from Ch. 48, par. 2556)
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| 11 | Sec. 6. Funding. Funding for the Illinois Veteran, Youth, | ||||||
| 12 | and Young Adult Conservation Jobs Act
shall be from any State | ||||||
| 13 | or federal funds or grants or other funding so received by the | ||||||
| 14 | Department and
any matching funds required by the Department | ||||||
| 15 | from
local sponsors that choose to participate in the Illinois | ||||||
| 16 | Veteran Recreation Corps, or the
Illinois Youth Recreation | ||||||
| 17 | Corps, or the Illinois Young Adult Recreation Corps programs.
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| 18 | (Source: P.A. 97-738, eff. 7-5-12.)
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| 19 | (525 ILCS 50/8.5 new) | ||||||
| 20 | Sec. 8.5. Illinois Young Adult Recreation Corps. | ||||||
| 21 | (a) Subject to appropriation, the Illinois Young Adult | ||||||
| 22 | Recreation Corps is established for the purpose of making | ||||||
| 23 | grants to local sponsors to provide wages to young adults | ||||||
| 24 | operating and instructing in conservation or recreational | ||||||
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| 1 | programs. The programs shall provide conservation or | ||||||
| 2 | recreational opportunities and shall include, but are not | ||||||
| 3 | limited to, the coordination and teaching of natural resource | ||||||
| 4 | conservation and management, physical activities, or learning | ||||||
| 5 | activities directly related to natural resource conservation | ||||||
| 6 | management or recreation. Persons employed through the | ||||||
| 7 | Illinois Young Adult Recreation Corps shall not perform work in | ||||||
| 8 | State parks. The programs may charge user fees, but the fees | ||||||
| 9 | shall be designed to promote as much community involvement as | ||||||
| 10 | possible, as determined by the Department. | ||||||
| 11 | (b) Local sponsors who can provide necessary facilities, | ||||||
| 12 | materials, and management for conservation or recreational | ||||||
| 13 | activities within the community may apply to the Department for | ||||||
| 14 | a grant under this Act for the purpose of hiring managing | ||||||
| 15 | supervisors, as necessary, and eligible young adults for | ||||||
| 16 | conservation or recreational programs. Applications shall be | ||||||
| 17 | evaluated on the basis of program content, location, need, | ||||||
| 18 | local commitment of resources, and consistency with the | ||||||
| 19 | purposes of this Act. | ||||||
| 20 | (c) The Illinois Young Adult Recreation Corps shall be | ||||||
| 21 | limited to citizens of this State who, at the time of | ||||||
| 22 | enrollment, are unemployed, are 18 through 25 years of age, and | ||||||
| 23 | who have skills that can be used in the conservation or | ||||||
| 24 | recreational program. | ||||||
| 25 | The ratio of young adult employee enrollees to managing | ||||||
| 26 | supervisors shall not be less than 10 to 1 for any local | ||||||
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| 1 | sponsor with a total number of young adult employee enrollees | ||||||
| 2 | of 10 or more. Any local sponsor program with a total number of | ||||||
| 3 | young adult employee enrollees of less than 10 shall be limited | ||||||
| 4 | to one managing supervisor. | ||||||
| 5 | The local sponsors shall make public notification of the | ||||||
| 6 | availability of jobs for eligible young adults in the Illinois | ||||||
| 7 | Young Adult Recreation Corps by the means of newspapers, | ||||||
| 8 | electronic media, educational facilities, units of local | ||||||
| 9 | government, and Department of Employment Security offices. | ||||||
| 10 | Application for employment shall be made directly to the local | ||||||
| 11 | sponsor. | ||||||
| 12 | The Department shall adopt reasonable rules pertaining to | ||||||
| 13 | the administration of the Illinois Young Adult Recreation | ||||||
| 14 | Corps. These rules shall prohibit the use of Illinois Young | ||||||
| 15 | Adult Recreation Corps employees in a manner that displaces or | ||||||
| 16 | replaces regular employees and shall prohibit any activity that | ||||||
| 17 | impairs or is inconsistent with an existing collective | ||||||
| 18 | bargaining agreement or with the collective bargaining rights | ||||||
| 19 | of employees. Illinois Young Adult Recreation Corps employees | ||||||
| 20 | shall not be assigned work within the scope of bargaining unit | ||||||
| 21 | work without the written consent of the exclusive bargaining | ||||||
| 22 | representative. | ||||||
| 23 | (d) The enrollment period for any successful applicant of | ||||||
| 24 | the program shall not be longer than 12 months. Once enrolled | ||||||
| 25 | in the program, each enrollee shall receive a reasonable wage | ||||||
| 26 | as set by the Department and shall work hours as required by | ||||||
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| 1 | the conservation or recreation program as determined by the | ||||||
| 2 | Department, except that an enrollee working as a managing | ||||||
| 3 | supervisor shall receive a higher wage than an enrollee working | ||||||
| 4 | in any other capacity on the conservation or recreation | ||||||
| 5 | program. Enrollees shall be employees of the local sponsor and | ||||||
| 6 | not contractual hires for the purpose of employment taxes, | ||||||
| 7 | except that enrollees shall not be classified as employees of | ||||||
| 8 | this State or the local sponsor for purposes of contributions | ||||||
| 9 | to the State Employees' Retirement System of Illinois or any | ||||||
| 10 | other public employee retirement system.
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| 11 | (525 ILCS 50/9) | ||||||
| 12 | Sec. 9. Illinois Veteran Recreation Corps. With respect to | ||||||
| 13 | the Illinois Veteran Recreation Corps: | ||||||
| 14 | (a) Purpose. The Illinois Veteran Recreation Corps is | ||||||
| 15 | established for the purpose of making grants to local sponsors | ||||||
| 16 | to provide wages to veterans of any age operating and | ||||||
| 17 | instructing in conservation or recreational programs. Such | ||||||
| 18 | programs shall provide conservation or recreational | ||||||
| 19 | opportunities and shall include, but are not limited to, the | ||||||
| 20 | coordination and teaching of natural resource conservation and | ||||||
| 21 | management, physical activities, or learning activities | ||||||
| 22 | directly related to natural resource conservation management | ||||||
| 23 | or recreation. Such programs may charge user fees, but such | ||||||
| 24 | fees shall be designed to promote as much community involvement | ||||||
| 25 | as possible, as determined by the Department. | ||||||
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| 1 | (b) Application. Local sponsors who can provide necessary | ||||||
| 2 | facilities, materials, and management for summer conservation | ||||||
| 3 | or recreational activities within the community and who desire | ||||||
| 4 | a grant under this Act for the purpose of hiring managing | ||||||
| 5 | supervisors as necessary and eligible veterans for such | ||||||
| 6 | conservation or recreational programs may make application to | ||||||
| 7 | the Department. Applications shall be evaluated on the basis of | ||||||
| 8 | program content, location, need, local commitment of | ||||||
| 9 | resources, and consistency with the purposes of this Act. | ||||||
| 10 | (c) Enrollment. The Illinois Veteran Recreation Corps | ||||||
| 11 | shall be limited to citizens of this State who at the time of | ||||||
| 12 | enrollment are veterans of any age and are unemployed and who | ||||||
| 13 | have skills that can be utilized in the summer conservation or | ||||||
| 14 | recreational program. Preference may be given to veterans with | ||||||
| 15 | a disability. | ||||||
| 16 | The ratio of veterans employee enrollees to a managing | ||||||
| 17 | supervisor must not be less than 10 to 1 for any local sponsor | ||||||
| 18 | with a total number of veterans employee enrollees of 10 or | ||||||
| 19 | more. Any local sponsor program with a total number of veteran | ||||||
| 20 | employee enrollees of less than 10 must be limited to one | ||||||
| 21 | managing supervisor. Veterans who are unemployed shall be given | ||||||
| 22 | preference for employment as managing supervisors. | ||||||
| 23 | The local sponsors shall make public notification of the | ||||||
| 24 | availability of jobs for eligible veterans in the Illinois | ||||||
| 25 | Veteran Recreation Corps by the means of newspapers, electronic | ||||||
| 26 | media, educational facilities, units of local government, and | ||||||
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| 1 | Department of Employment Security offices. Application for | ||||||
| 2 | employment shall be made directly to the local sponsor. | ||||||
| 3 | The Department shall adopt reasonable rules pertaining to | ||||||
| 4 | the administration of the Illinois Veteran Recreation Corps. | ||||||
| 5 | (d) Terms of employment. The enrollment period for any | ||||||
| 6 | successful applicant of the program shall not be longer than 12 | ||||||
| 7 | 6 total months. Once enrolled in the program, each enrollee | ||||||
| 8 | shall receive a reasonable wage as set by the Department and | ||||||
| 9 | shall work hours as required by the conservation or recreation | ||||||
| 10 | program but not in excess of a maximum number of hours as | ||||||
| 11 | determined by the Department, except that an enrollee working | ||||||
| 12 | as a managing supervisor shall receive a higher wage than an | ||||||
| 13 | enrollee working in any other capacity on the conservation or | ||||||
| 14 | recreation program. Enrollees shall be employees of the local | ||||||
| 15 | sponsor and not contractual hires for the purpose of employment | ||||||
| 16 | taxes, except that enrollees shall not be classified as | ||||||
| 17 | employees of the State or the local sponsor for purposes of | ||||||
| 18 | contributions to the State Employees' Retirement System of | ||||||
| 19 | Illinois or any other public employee retirement system.
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| 20 | (Source: P.A. 97-738, eff. 7-5-12; 98-463, eff. 8-16-13.)
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| 21 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
| 22 | becoming law.
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