Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a)
No scholarship granting organization shall issue any certificates of
receipt without first being approved by the Department to issue certificates of
receipt.
b)
A
scholarship granting organization shall submit an application for approval to
issue certificates of receipt in the form and manner prescribed by the
Department. Applications for approval to issue CORs must be received
by the Department no later than January 15 preceding the school year for which
the scholarships will be granted. Each application shall be submitted
electronically, shall be signed and verified by a board member, officer,
executive director, or employee with managerial authority of the scholarship
granting organization, or a board member, officer, executive director, or
employee with managerial authority of any entity retained by the scholarship
granting organization to operate the scholarship granting organization, and
shall include:
1) a copy of
the letter issued by the Internal Revenue Service to the scholarship granting
organization demonstrating that the scholarship granting organization
has been granted an exemption from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code;
2)
certification that all qualified contributions and any income derived
from qualified contributions are or will be deposited and held in an account
that is separate from the scholarship granting organization's operating or
other funds until such qualified contributions or income are withdrawn for
use;
3)
certification that the scholarship granting organization will use at
least 95% of its annual revenue from qualified contributions for
scholarships;
4)
certification that the scholarship granting organization will provide
scholarships to eligible students;
5) the region or regions in which it will
grant scholarships;
6)
a
list of the names and home addresses of all members of the governing board of
the SGO;
7)
a list
of the names, home addresses, and social security numbers of the
officers, executive director, and employees with managerial authority of the
scholarship granting organization, and the officers, executive director, and
employees with managerial authority of any entity retained by the scholarship
granting organization to operate the scholarship granting
organization;
8)
certification that, in the last 7 years, no officers, executive director, board
members involved in day-to-day operations of the scholarship granting
organization, or employees with managerial authority of the scholarship
granting organization, or officers, executive director, employees with
managerial authority, and board members involved in day-to-day operations of
any entity retained by the scholarship granting organization to operate the
scholarship granting organization have filed for personal bankruptcy or
corporate bankruptcy in a corporation of which they owned more than 20%. An SGO
that cannot make the certification required by this subsection (b)(8) shall not
be eligible to provide scholarships;
9) certification that the officers, executive
director, board members involved in day-to-day operations of the scholarship
granting organization, and employees with managerial authority of the
scholarship granting organization, or the officers, executive director,
employees with managerial authority, and board members involved in day-to-day
operations of any entity retained by the scholarship granting organization to
operate the scholarship granting organization are not board members or paid
staff members of a participating school, do not own or operate a
qualified school, and do not have a family member who is a board member or a
paid staff member of a participating qualified school;
10) certification that the
scholarship granting organization is and will remain in compliance with the
anti-discrimination provisions of
42
USC 2000d;
11) the primary email address to which
notices and other documents provided for under the Act shall be sent;
12)
a copy of the most recent
financial audit of the scholarship granting organization's accounts and records
conducted by an independent certified public accountant in accordance with
government auditing standards and auditing standards generally accepted in the
United States. For the initial application to be approved to issue
CORs, an SGO registered under Section 2 of the Solicitation for Charity Act who
is subject to the provisions of Section 4(b) of that Act and who files with the
Attorney General a summary financial statement or written report in accordance
with that subsection may satisfy the requirements of this subsection (b)(12) by
submitting to the Department a copy of the most recent summary financial
statement or written report. No application will be approved unless the
requirements of this subsection (b)(12) have been met; and
13) the beginning and ending dates of the
SGO's fiscal and taxable years.
c)
The Department shall review and
either approve or deny each application to issue certificates of receipt
pursuant to the Act. Each SGO that has been approved will be assigned
a unique identifier. Applicants shall be notified of the Department's
determination within 30 business days after the application is
received. [
35
ILCS 40/15 ] If the application is denied, the
Department will notify the SGO of the reason for the denial of the
application.
d) An SGO whose
application to issue CORs is denied by the Department may reapply subject to
the deadlines in this Section.