Continuing our countdown of new Illinois environmental laws taking effect on January 1, 2016 is Public Act 99-0457, which ensures the administration of the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund to help poor residents heat their homes.
This new law amends the Energy Assistance Act, 305 ILCS 20/13, which created the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund to receive voluntary donations plus contributions made through income tax forms, for payments to utlities on behalf of poor residents, for the provision of weatherization services, and for administration of the Fund.  The new law provides that the fund will continue to be administered even if funds run low: “[W]hen unspent funds from the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund are reallocated from a previous year; any unspent balance of the 10% administrative allowance may be utilized for administrative expenses in the year they are reallocated.”