HB4922ham001 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Sonya M. Harper

Filed: 3/24/2026

10400HB4922ham001 LRB104 17466 TRT 35792 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4922

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4922 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 3. Findings. The General Assembly finds that:

(1) Beginning in Fiscal Year 2021, the State of Illinois appropriated funds to support socially disadvantaged farmers, recognizing persistent barriers to land access, capital, infrastructure, and market participation.

(2) A portion of those appropriations has remained unexpended across multiple fiscal years, limiting the intended impact of those funds.

(3) Emerging and socially disadvantaged farmers continue to face systemic and structural barriers that constrain agricultural production, business viability, and participation in local and regional food systems. Yet these farmers are often at the front lines of serving communities facing food insecurity, diet-related disease, and economic hardship.

(4) Targeted investment in these farmers will increase food security and rebuild local economies in communities where it is needed most.

(5) Deploying previously unexpended funds through a flexible, accessible grant program administered under this Act will strengthen Illinois' agricultural economy and improve public health outcomes across urban, suburban, and rural communities.

Section 5. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by adding Section 605-1106 as follows:

(20 ILCS 605/605-1106 new)

Sec. 605-1106. Emerging and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Infrastructure and Market Access Grant Program.

(a) In this Section:

"Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"Emerging farmer" means a farmer or aspiring farmer who is a member of or represents one or more of the following groups: women; veterans; persons with disabilities; American Indian or Alaska Native persons; members of communities of color; farmers under 40 years of age; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or asexual (LGBTQIA+) persons; urban farmers; or other emerging farmers as the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity determines are consistent with the purposes of this Section.

"Food desert" has the meaning given in Section 5 of the Grocery Initiative Act.

"Fund" means the Emerging and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Infrastructure and Market Access Grant Fund.

"Heirs' property operator" means a person farming real property held as heirs' property, including land to which title is held by multiple heirs without a formal partition or probate.

"Infrastructure" means facilities, improvements, and systems necessary for agricultural production and market access, including land preparation; on-farm utilities; post-harvest handling; processing; storage; aggregation; and distribution.

"Social disadvantage" means diminished opportunity and disproportionate barriers to entering, operating, sustaining, or expanding a farm business that are reasonably linked to discrimination and not solely attributable to individual business decisions.

"Socially disadvantaged farmer" means an individual farmer or aspiring farmer who has experienced, or whose farming operation has experienced, social disadvantage as a result of systemic or chronic discrimination or bias in access to land, credit, capital, insurance, technical assistance, education, training, markets, or participation in public or private agricultural programs, on the basis of one or more actual or perceived characteristics, including race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, sex, pregnancy or childbirth-related status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, disability, marital or familial status, or immigration or citizenship status.

"Underserved community" means a census tract, municipality, or geographic area in which at least 20% of residents live below the federal poverty guidelines published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or that meets criteria for disproportionate economic hardship, limited access to essential services, or historic disinvestment, including barriers related to income, race or ethnicity, disability, age, language access, or educational attainment.

(b) The Emerging and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Infrastructure and Market Access Grant Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. Subject to appropriation, the Department must use moneys in the Fund to make grants under this Section and to pay necessary administrative costs of the Department. The Department may prioritize using amounts equivalent to prior appropriations for disadvantaged and urban farmers that were not expended in Fiscal Years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. Administrative costs paid from the Fund may not exceed 10% of amounts appropriated to the Fund in a fiscal year.

(c) The Department shall establish the Emerging and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Infrastructure and Market Access Grant Program to provide grants to eligible applicants for:

(1) improving access to local food in communities experiencing food insecurity;

(2) strengthening local and regional food systems;

(3) increasing farm productivity and resilience among emerging and socially disadvantaged farmers; and

(4) ensuring equitable deployment of previously unspent State funds intended to support socially disadvantaged farmers.

(d) The Department shall:

(1) develop an annual plan outlining anticipated needs, goals, potential challenges, technical assistance plans, and material changes from the prior year;

(2) develop a marketing and promotion plan to promote the grant to eligible entities;

(3) distribute grant funding consistent with this Section;

(4) provide technical assistance to program applicants and awardees, including translation and accessibility support; training on application completion and compliance; and assistance with project planning and implementation to ensure projects meet program requirements; and

(5) issue annually to the Governor and the General Assembly and publish on the Department's website a report that details grant awards, expenditures, and program outcomes and includes:

(A) a list of all applications received in the previous calendar year;

(B) a list of all recipients and the nature and amount of each award;

(C) a summary of recipient types as defined by eligibility and preference criteria, reported in aggregate without personally identifying information;

(D) a summary of the geographic distribution of awards by county or region; and

(E) a statement of the economic impact of grants made in the previous calendar year.

(e) Eligible applicants include Illinois-resident farmers, not-for-profit farms based in Illinois, and farmer collectives or cooperatives with fewer than 25 members headquartered in Illinois. Each applicant must have operated a farm for less than 10 years immediately before applying and must meet at least one of the following criteria:

(1) the farm is located within a food desert;

(2) the farm is located within an underserved community;

(3) the farm earns less than $350,000 in gross income annually; or

(4) the farm has less than 5 acres.

In awarding grants, priority shall be given to: (i) socially disadvantaged farmers; (ii) emerging farmers; (iii) heirs' property operators; and (iv) cooperatives or collectives controlled or governed by one or more emerging or socially disadvantaged farmers.

At least 80% of awarded grants must go to priority applicants. Awards to not-for-profit entities may not exceed 50% of total grants awarded. The Department may give additional preference to applicants that have not previously received a State grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity or a federal Value-Added Producer Grant.

(f)(1) Grant awards for micro-infrastructure grants shall be available in amounts ranging from $10,000 to $25,000, and the total allocation for micro-infrastructure grants shall be 30% of available funding.

(2) Grant awards for farm infrastructure and equipment grants shall be available in amounts ranging from $25,000 to $75,000, and the total allocation for farm infrastructure and equipment grants shall be 50% of available funding.

(3) Grant awards for market access and value chain grants shall be available in amounts ranging from $25,000 to $100,000, and the total allocation for market access grants and value chain grants shall be 20% of available funding.

No matching funds are required. Grant awards may be disbursed as advance payments when necessary to ensure participation by limited-resource farmers.

(g) Grant funds may be used for:

(1) capital and infrastructure, including greenhouses, high and low tunnels, hoop houses, cold storage, refrigeration, freezers, wash-pack stations, processing equipment, irrigation systems, fencing, on-farm utilities, soil remediation, land purchase, and land preparation;

(2) equipment and supplies, including tractors, implements, hand tools, harvest and post-harvest equipment, and food safety and quality control equipment;

(3) operations and working capital, including seeds, livestock, feed, fertilizer, soil testing and soil inputs, labor, payroll, payroll taxes, stipends, employee benefits, workforce training, apprenticeships, seasonal staffing, insurance, certifications (including Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), organic, or Certified Naturally Grown), licensing, fuel, utilities, and operating supplies; and

(4) market access and distribution, including vehicles and refrigerated vehicles, aggregation and food hub participation costs, branding, packaging, labeling, market fees, and e-commerce or direct-to-consumer infrastructure.

(h) The Department shall report annually on the implementation of the grant program to the Agriculture Equity Commission. The report shall include, at minimum:

(1) the numbers of grants awarded;

(2) the amount of funds distributed;

(3) the types of projects funded;

(4) the geographic distribution of grants; and

(5) the participation by emerging farmers and socially disadvantaged farmers.

(i) The Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Department employees are not personally liable for actions taken in good faith within the scope of their official duties under this Section.

(j)(1) If a recipient violates the terms of a grant agreement, the Department shall notify the recipient in writing of the default and afford an opportunity to cure.

(2) If the violation is not cured within 30 days after receipt of the notice, the Department may:

(A) declare due and payable the remaining unpaid grant amount and cease further payments; or

(B) take other appropriate action to protect the interests of the program.

(3) The Department may determine that a recipient has failed to perform the scope of work when:

(A) the Department has notified the recipient in writing of misapplication of grant funds, evidence of fraud or abuse, repeated failure to meet performance timelines or standards, or failure to resolve negotiated points of the agreement; and

(B) the recipient fails to develop and implement a corrective action plan within 30 days after the Department's notice.

(4)(A) If there is no appropriation to the Fund for a fiscal year, grants for that year are terminated. If an appropriation is insufficient for a fiscal year, the Department may proportionately reduce awards.

(B) If the Department determines that a recipient has failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the grant agreement, the Department may terminate the grant in whole or in part before the completion date.

(C) If the Department determines that continuing the project would not produce results commensurate with further expenditure, the Department may terminate the grant in whole or in part before the completion date.

(D) If a recipient elects not to complete the grant agreement, the recipient shall notify the Department within 10 days after performance ceases. Upon receipt of the notification, the grant may be declared terminated, and the Department may declare due and payable the remaining unpaid grant amount and cease further payments.

(5) Any money recovered from default or termination shall be deposited into the Fund and used for the purposes of this Section.

(k) The Department shall adopt rules to implement this Section and may allow eligibility verification through self-attestation or other reasonable methods.

Section 10. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Section 5.1038 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.1038 new)

Sec. 5.1038. The Emerging and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Infrastructure and Market Access Grant Fund.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.".