103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3376

 

Introduced 2/7/2024, by Sen. Dan McConchie

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Commission on Disability Access within the Department of Human Services. Describes the composition of the Commission. Directs the Commission to work with other State agencies, including the Office of the Architect of the Capitol and the Department of Human Services, to develop educational materials and information to facilitate compliance with construction-related accessibility standards. Provides that the Commission shall develop and make available on its website educational modules to assist Illinois businesses in understanding their construction-related accessibility obligations. Describes other duties of the Commission. Requires the Commission to report to the General Assembly. Directs the Commission to compile and make publicly available data relating to demand letters and complaints concerning compliance with construction-related accessibility standards. Specifies that the Commission is an advisory body. Requires the Commission to hire staff or contract for services as needed to complete the tasks authorized under the Act. Provides that the Act shall not be implemented and shall not remain operative unless funds are appropriated for that purpose by the General Assembly. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

SB3376LRB103 37003 CES 69546 b

1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Commission on Disability Access Act.
 
6    Section 5. Legislative findings and declarations. The
7General Assembly finds and declares that, despite the fact
8that State law has provided persons with disabilities the
9right to full and equal access to public facilities, and that a
10violation of the right of any person under the Americans with
11Disabilities Act of 1990 has also constituted a violation of
12the Illinois Human Rights Act, persons with disabilities are
13still being denied full and equal access to public facilities
14in many instances. The General Assembly further finds and
15declares that businesses in Illinois have the responsibility
16to provide full and equal access to public facilities as
17required in State and federal laws and regulations. With a
18view to developing recommendations that will enable persons
19with disabilities to exercise their right to full and equal
20access to public facilities, and that will facilitate business
21compliance with the laws and regulations to avoid unnecessary
22litigation, the General Assembly has, by this Act, created the
23Commission on Disability Access within the Department of Human

 

 

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1Services.
 
2    Section 10. Commission on Disability Access;
3establishment; membership; terms; vacancies.
4    (a) The Commission on Disability Access is hereby
5established and shall consist of 11 public members and 6 ex
6officio nonvoting members, appointed on or before January 1,
72025, as follows:
8        (1) 11 public members appointed by the Governor. Of
9    the Governor's appointees, 4 of the appointees shall be
10    from the disability community, and 3 appointees shall be
11    from the business community, including one appointee who
12    represents chambers of commerce throughout the State. The
13    Governor shall request and consider nominations from the
14    business community and the disability community for these
15    appointments.
16        (2) The Architect of the Capitol, or the Architect's
17    designee, as a nonvoting ex officio member.
18        (3) The Attorney General, or the Attorney General's
19    designee, as a nonvoting ex officio member.
20        (4) 2 members of the Senate, appointed by the Senate
21    Committee on Assignments, as nonvoting ex officio members.
22    One member shall be from the majority party, and one
23    member shall be from the minority party.
24        (5) 2 members of the House of Representatives,
25    appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives,

 

 

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1    as nonvoting ex officio members. One member shall be from
2    the majority party, and one member shall be from the
3    minority party.
4    (b) It is the intent of this Section that the Commission
5shall be broadly representative of the ethnic, gender, and
6racial diversity of the population of Illinois. It is further
7the intent of this Section that both of the following apply:
8        (1) The appointees from the disability community shall
9    be persons with a disability relating to, but not limited
10    to, vision, hearing, mobility, breathing, speech,
11    cognitive, cardiac, emotional, developmental, learning,
12    psychological, or immunological disabilities.
13        (2) The Commission recruitment and appointment process
14    shall engage in identifying qualified disability community
15    representatives who should possess elements of one or more
16    of the following qualifications:
17            (A) The representatives shall identify as people
18        with disabilities, activity limitations, or both.
19            (B) The representatives shall have personal
20        experience with disability and disability advocacy and
21        the ability to speak broadly on disability access
22        issues.
23            (C) The representatives shall be knowledgeable
24        about cross-disability access issues, including, but
25        not limited to, hearing, vision, mobility, speech, and
26        cognitive limitations.

 

 

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1            (D) The representatives shall be knowledgeable
2        about a variety of physical, communication, and
3        program access issues.
4            (E) The representatives shall be involved with
5        segments of national, State, or local constituencies
6        of the disability community, such as active
7        involvement in broad-based disability organizations.
8            (F) The representatives shall have in place and
9        use communication networks to facilitate communication
10        with the segments of the disability community they are
11        representing, including, but not limited to, segments
12        of diverse ethnic, cultural, sex, sexual orientation,
13        age, and linguistic communities that are
14        representative of the diverse population of
15        Illinoisans with disabilities.
16    (c) Public members shall be appointed for 3-year terms,
17except that, with respect to the initial appointees, the
18Governor shall appoint 3 members for a one-year term, 4
19members for a 2-year term, and 4 members for a 3-year term. The
20Senate Committee on Assignments and the Speaker of the House
21of Representatives shall each initially appoint one member for
22a 2-year term and one member for a 3-year term. Public members
23may be reappointed for additional terms.
24    (d) Vacancies shall be filled by the appointing authority
25for the unexpired portion of the terms.
26    (e) Beginning January 1, 2025, the Commission on

 

 

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1Disability Access shall reside within and receive
2administrative and other necessary support from the Department
3of Human Services.
 
4    Section 15. Per diem and traveling expenses; chairperson
5and vice chairperson.
6    (a) Public members of the Commission shall receive $100
7per diem while on official business of the Commission, not to
8exceed 12 days per year. Each member of the Commission shall
9also be entitled to receive the member's actual necessary
10traveling expenses while on official business of the
11Commission.
12    (b) The Commission shall select annually from its
13membership a chairperson, who shall be a representative from
14the disability community, and a vice chairperson, who shall be
15a representative from the business community.
 
16    Section 20. Open meeting requirements. Meetings of the
17Commission shall be subject to the Open Meetings Act.
 
18    Section 25. Powers and authority.
19    (a) The Commission shall have the powers and authority
20necessary to carry out the duties imposed upon it by this Act,
21including, but not limited to, the following:
22        (1) to employ any administrative, technical, or other
23    personnel that may be necessary for the performance of its

 

 

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1    powers and duties;
2        (2) to hold hearings, make and sign any agreement, and
3    do or perform any act, including the collection of
4    relevant information, that may be necessary, desirable, or
5    proper to carry out the purposes of this Act;
6        (3) to cooperate with, and secure the cooperation of,
7    any department, division, board, bureau, commission, or
8    other agency of the State to facilitate the proper
9    execution of the Commission's powers and duties under this
10    Act;
11        (4) to appoint advisers or advisory committees from
12    time to time when the Commission determines that the
13    experience or expertise of those advisers or advisory
14    committees is needed for projects of the Commission;
15        (5) to accept any federal funds granted by an act of
16    Congress or by executive order for any purpose of this
17    Act; and
18        (6) to accept any gift, donation, grant, or bequest
19    for any purpose of this Act.
20    (b) The Commission may recommend, develop, prepare, or
21coordinate materials, projects, or other activities, as
22appropriate, relating to any subject within its jurisdiction.
23    (c) The Commission shall provide, within its resources,
24information regarding how to:
25        (1) prevent or minimize problems of compliance by
26    Illinois businesses by providing educational services,

 

 

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1    including outreach efforts, and by preparing and hosting
2    on its website a "Guide to Compliance with State Laws and
3    Regulations Regarding Disability Access Requirements";
4        (2) recommend programs to enable persons with
5    disabilities to obtain full and equal access to public
6    facilities; and
7        (3) provide information, as requested by the General
8    Assembly, on disability access issues and compliance.
 
9    Section 30. Duties of the Commission.
10    (a) A priority of the Commission shall be the development
11and dissemination of educational materials and information to
12promote and facilitate disability access compliance.
13    (b) The Commission shall work with other State agencies,
14including the Office of the Architect of the Capitol and the
15Department of Human Services, to develop educational materials
16and information for use by businesses to understand their
17obligations to provide disability access and to facilitate
18compliance with construction-related accessibility standards,
19including, but not limited to, accessibility standards for
20websites.
21    (c)(1) The Commission shall develop and make available on
22its website, or make available on its website if developed by
23another governmental agency, including Americans with
24Disabilities Act centers, toolkits or educational modules to
25assist an Illinois business to understand its obligations

 

 

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1under the law and to facilitate compliance with respect to the
2top 10 alleged construction-related violations, by type, as
3specified in subsection (a) of Section 40.
4    (2)(A) Upon completion of this requirement, the Commission
5shall develop and make available on its website, or work with
6another agency to develop, other toolkits or educational
7modules that would educate businesses of the accessibility
8requirements, including, but not limited to, accessibility
9standards for websites, and to facilitate compliance with
10those requirements.
11    (B) On or before January 1, 2026, the Commission shall
12develop toolkits or educational modules that focus on
13construction-related accessibility violations in parking lots
14and exterior paths of travel, including a checklist for
15businesses to recognize the most common construction-related
16accessibility violations in those areas.
17    (C) The General Assembly finds and declares, based upon
18reports of the Commission, that construction-related
19accessibility violations in parking lots and in exterior paths
20of travel are consistently in the top 10 alleged
21construction-related accessibility violations, by type, as
22specified in subsection (a) of Section 40.
23    (d) The Commission shall post on its website educational
24materials and information that will assist building owners,
25tenants, building officials, and building inspectors to
26understand the disability accessibility requirements and to

 

 

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1facilitate compliance with disability access laws. The
2Commission shall at least annually review the educational
3materials and information on disability access requirements
4and compliance available on the website of other local, State,
5or federal agencies, including Americans with Disabilities Act
6centers, to augment the educational materials and information
7developed by the Commission.
8    (e) The Commission shall, to the extent feasible,
9coordinate with other State agencies and local building
10departments to ensure that information provided to the public
11on disability access requirements is uniform and complete, and
12make its educational materials and information available to
13those agencies and departments.
 
14    Section 35. Development and dissemination of educational
15materials. On or before July 15, 2025, the Commission shall
16report to the General Assembly, the Chair of the Senate
17Judiciary Committee, and the Chair of the House of
18Representatives Judiciary - Civil Committee, of its activities
19and efforts since the Commission was established to implement
20this Act. Commencing in 2026, the Commission shall report, on
21or before March 31 and annually thereafter, to the General
22Assembly, the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the
23Chair of the House of Representatives Judiciary - Civil
24Committee, on its ongoing efforts to implement this Act.
 

 

 

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1    Section 40. Compilation and posting of data relating to
2demand letters or complaints; annual report. The Commission
3shall compile the following data with respect to any demand
4letter or complaint sent to the Commission and shall post the
5information on its website pursuant to the following:
6        (1) The Commission shall identify the various types of
7    access violations alleged in the demand letters and in the
8    complaints, respectively, and shall tabulate the number of
9    claims alleged for each type of violation in the demand
10    letters and complaints, respectively. For purposes of this
11    subsection, any demand for money letters shall be grouped
12    as demand letters.
13        (2) Periodically, but not less than every 6 months
14    beginning July 31, 2026, the Commission shall post on its
15    website a list, by type, of the 10 most frequent types of
16    accessibility violations alleged in the demand letters and
17    in the complaints, respectively, and the numbers of
18    alleged violations for each listed type of violation for
19    the prior 2 quarters.
20        (3) The Commission shall, on a quarterly basis,
21    identify and tabulate the number of demand letters and
22    complaints received by the Commission. The Commission
23    shall further ascertain whether a complaint was filed in
24    State or federal court and tabulate the number of
25    complaints filed in State or federal court, respectively.
26    This data shall be posted on the Commission's website

 

 

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1    periodically, but not less than every 6 months beginning
2    July 31, 2026.
3        (4) Commencing in 2027, the Commission shall make an
4    annual report to the General Assembly, the Chair of the
5    Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Chair of the House of
6    Representatives Judiciary - Civil Committee by March 31 of
7    each year of the tabulated data for the preceding calendar
8    year as set forth in subsections (a) to (c), inclusive.
9        (5) At least 30 days before requiring a new standard
10    format for the information to be sent to the Commission,
11    the Commission shall post on its website the new standard
12    format and the date on which the Commission shall begin
13    requiring that information to be sent to the Commission in
14    the new standard format.
 
15    Section 45. Advisory status of Commission. With respect to
16its duties, the Commission shall be an advisory body only, and
17there shall be no right or obligation on the part of the State
18to implement the findings of the Commission without further
19legislation that specifically authorizes that the evaluations,
20determinations, and findings of the Commission be implemented.
 
21    Section 50. Staff hiring and contracting for services. The
22Commission shall hire staff or contract for those experts or
23technical and professional services that may be required for
24the completion of any task authorized or study required under

 

 

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1this Act. Staff hired pursuant to this Section shall be hired
2in compliance with all applicable State and federal laws and
3regulations. Contracts awarded pursuant to this Section shall
4be in compliance with the Illinois Procurement Code. The
5Commission is expressly encouraged and authorized to seek the
6technical and legal assistance of other State agencies and
7departments in fulfilling its statutory responsibilities under
8this Act.
 
9    Section 55. Implementation of this Act; funds
10appropriation. This Act shall not be implemented and shall not
11remain operative unless funds are appropriated for that
12purpose by the General Assembly.
 
13    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
14becoming law.