Relating to the reduction of unemployment benefits due to disqualification; and prescribing an effective date.

2025 Regular Session

Illinois can award up to $10,000 per affected household as State supplemental disaster grants when federal aid and other sources don’t cover unmet needs after presidentially declar

Chapter 382, (2025 Laws): Effective date September 26, 2025.

Purpose and intent

HB 3024 amends the Disaster Relief Act to authorize the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and the Office of Homeland Security to provide State supplemental grants to individuals and households adversely affected by presidentially declared disasters when federal assistance (under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. §5174) and other available sources do not fully cover disaster-related necessary expenses or serious needs.

Key provisions

Adds new Section 5 (15 ILCS 30/5) to the Disaster Relief Act establishing a State supplemental grant program.

Eligible disasters: those declared by the President of the United States.

Eligible recipients: individuals or households who

have been determined by IEMA and the Office of Homeland Security to have unmet serious needs; and
have suffered losses that are reimbursable under the federal program in excess of the maximum federal grant amount.

Grant amount: may equal the unmet portion of a federally eligible appraised loss (i.e., the difference between the federally eligible appraised loss and the federal grant awarded), not to exceed $10,000 per individual or household.

Rulemaking and procedural requirements: IEMA and the Office of Homeland Security must adopt rules establishing application procedures. Rules must, at minimum:

Conform application procedures to those required under the Robert T. Stafford Act;
Require applicants to exhaust all other available means of relief before receiving State supplemental grants;
Make all application materials available in English and in the language used by the largest non‑English‑speaking population in the disaster area; and
Provide bilingual staff who reflect the demographics of the disaster area to assist applicants.

Who is affected

Primary beneficiaries: disaster-affected Illinois individuals and households with reimbursable losses that exceed federal assistance and who have unmet serious needs.

Administrators: IEMA and the Office of Homeland Security (responsible for eligibility determinations, rulemaking, and program administration).

State finances: potential fiscal exposure limited by the $10,000 per household cap but dependent on disaster scale and appropriation authority.

Procedure and timeline

Introduced in February 2025 by Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid; passed both chambers in June 2025; signed by President of the Senate and Speaker; Governor signed June 24, 2025.

Effective date: September 26, 2025.

Before grants can be issued, IEMA and the Office of Homeland Security must adopt implementing rules consistent with the statute.

Notes / considerations

The statute ties eligibility and procedures closely to federal Stafford Act determinations, which aligns State supplemental assistance with federal disaster assessments.

Fiscal impact will depend on the number of qualifying households and appropriations made by the State; the statutory cap of $10,000 per household limits per‑household liability but not aggregate costs.

Bill