SB2001 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB102 04074 RJF 14090 b

102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB2001

Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Ram Villivalam

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 175/5-120
5 ILCS 175/5-145

Amends the Electronic Commerce Security Act. Provides that every State agency shall accept electronic signatures where a rule of law requires a signature, except when all parties waive the right to use electronic signatures. Provides that if any other statute or rule requires approval by a State agency prior to the use or retention of electronic records or the use of electronic signatures, the provisions of this Act shall control.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Electronic Commerce Security Act is amended by changing Sections 5-120 and 5-145 as follows:

(5 ILCS 175/5-120)

Sec. 5-120. Electronic signatures.

(a) Where a rule of law requires a signature, or provides for certain consequences if a document is not signed, an electronic signature satisfies that rule of law. Every State agency shall accept electronic signatures where a rule of law requires a signature, except when all parties waive the right to use electronic signatures.

(a-5) In the course of exercising any permitting, licensing, or other regulatory function, a municipality may accept, but shall not require, documents with an electronic signature, including, but not limited to, the technical submissions of a design professional with an electronic signature.

(b) An electronic signature may be proved in any manner, including by showing that a procedure existed by which a party must of necessity have executed a symbol or security procedure for the purpose of verifying that an electronic record is that of such party in order to proceed further with a transaction.

(c) The provisions of this Section shall not apply:

(1) when its application would involve a construction of a rule of law that is clearly inconsistent with the manifest intent of the lawmaking body or repugnant to the context of the same rule of law, provided that the mere requirement of a "signature" or that a record be "signed" shall not by itself be sufficient to establish such intent;

(2) to any rule of law governing the creation or execution of a will or trust; and

(3) to any record that serves as a unique and transferable instrument of rights and obligations including, without limitation, negotiable instruments and other instruments of title wherein possession of the instrument is deemed to confer title, unless an electronic version of such record is created, stored, and transferred in a manner that allows for the existence of only one unique, identifiable, and unalterable original with the functional attributes of an equivalent physical instrument, that can be possessed by only one person, and which cannot be copied except in a form that is readily identifiable as a copy.

(Source: P.A. 101-163, eff. 1-1-20.)

(5 ILCS 175/5-145)

Sec. 5-145. Applicability of other statutes or rules. If Notwithstanding any provisions of this Act, if any other statute or rule requires approval by a State agency prior to the use or retention of electronic records or the use of electronic signatures, the provisions of this Act shall control that other statute or rule shall also apply.

(Source: P.A. 90-759, eff. 7-1-99.)