HB5444 EngrossedLRB097 18690 WGH 65640 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 5. The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by
5adding Section 1900.2 as follows:
 
6    (820 ILCS 405/1900.2 new)
7    Sec. 1900.2. Economic Data Task Force.
8    (a) The General Assembly finds that substantial public
9benefit is derived from enhanced access to State data and
10particularly to data generated by the Department and that this
11benefit takes the form both of private sector economic
12development and of opportunities to improve public policy. The
13General Assembly further finds that protecting the
14confidentiality of individuals and companies in Illinois is
15imperative for reasons both ethical and legal. Consequently,
16the General Assembly seeks to understand the potential uses and
17users of such data, as well as its applications for economic
18development and other public purposes, and, in the context of
19those uses, the best ways to make as much data as possible
20available to those constituencies to serve those purposes while
21protecting confidentiality and minimizing cost to the State.
22    (b) The Economic Data Task Force is created within the
23Department. The Task Force shall consist of 11 members. The

 

 

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1following members shall be appointed within 60 days after the
2effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General
3Assembly: one member appointed by the President of the Senate;
4one member appointed by the Senate Minority Leader; one member
5appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; one
6member appointed by the House Minority Leader; one member
7appointed by the Governor; and the Director, who shall serve as
8ex officio chairman and who shall appoint 5 additional members:
9one of whom shall be a representative citizen chosen from the
10employee class, one of whom shall be a representative citizen
11chosen from the employing class, one of whom shall be an
12employee of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics
13(hereinafter referred to as "BLS")(or, if no BLS employee is
14available, a government employee from outside of Illinois with
15appropriate expertise), and 2 of whom shall be academic
16researchers with appropriate expertise. All members shall be
17voting members. Members shall serve without compensation, but
18may be reimbursed for expenses associated with the Task Force.
19The Task Force shall begin to conduct business upon the
20appointment of all members. For purposes of Task Force
21meetings, a quorum is 6 members. If a vacancy occurs on the
22Task Force, a successor member shall be appointed by the
23original appointing authority. Meetings of the Task Force are
24subject to the Open Meetings Act.
25    (c) The Task Force shall analyze the potential benefits and
26the feasibility of expanding public access to data produced and

 

 

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1maintained by the Department including, but not limited to,
2data collected, estimated, and maintained under cooperative
3agreement with the United States Department of Labor or other
4federal agencies. The analysis shall include an analysis of
5potential uses of these data and the public benefit of those
6uses, and a review of current federal and State practices for
7providing public access to the data, as well as potential
8alternate processes by which the public could access data in
9the Department's possession. The Task Force shall hold at least
103 public hearings as part of its analysis. The Task Force may
11establish any committees it deems necessary.
12    (d) All findings, recommendations, public postings, and
13other relevant information pertaining to the Task Force shall
14be posted on the Department's website, subject to the
15confidentiality requirements established under federal and
16State law including, but not limited to, the federal
17Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency
18Act of 2002 and Section 1900. The Department shall provide
19staff and administrative support to the Task Force. The Task
20Force shall report its findings and recommendations to the
21Governor and the General Assembly no later than June 30, 2013,
22and shall be dissolved upon submission of the report. All
23recommendations shall be consistent with confidentiality
24requirements established under federal law including, but not
25limited to, disclosure proofing standards.
26    (e) Each member of the Task Force and each Department

 

 

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1employee must be designated as an agent of BLS pursuant to the
2federal Confidential Information Protection and Statistical
3Efficiency Act of 2002 subject to the civil and criminal
4sanctions for unauthorized disclosure of information protected
5by that Act as a condition of being able to participate in any
6activities of the Task Force and shall also be subject to the
7civil and criminal sanctions established under subsection C of
8Section 1900 for unauthorized disclosure of information
9protected by Section 1900. For purposes of this Section,
10information protected by Section 1900 includes, but is not
11limited to, the statistical formulation of disclosure-proofing
12methods.