Ill. Admin. Code tit. 86, § 1000.300 - Scholarship Granting Organization: Approval to Issue Certificates of Receipt

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from the scholarship granting organization's operating or other funds until such qualified contributions or income are withdrawn for use;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.

Notes

Ill. Admin. Code tit. 86, § 1000.300

Adopted at 42 Ill. Reg. 20510, effective 10/31/2018.