Rep. Daniel Biss

Filed: 3/22/2012

 

 


 

 


 
09700HB5444ham002LRB097 18690 JLS 67704 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5444

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5444 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
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

 

 

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1users of such data, as well as its applications for economic
2development and other public purposes, and, in the context of
3those uses, the best ways to make as much data as possible
4available to those constituencies to serve those purposes while
5protecting confidentiality and minimizing cost to the State.
6    (b) The Economic Data Task Force is created within the
7Department. The Task Force shall consist of 11 members. The
8following members shall be appointed within 60 days after the
9effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General
10Assembly: one member appointed by the President of the Senate;
11one member appointed by the Senate Minority Leader; one member
12appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; one
13member appointed by the House Minority Leader; one member
14appointed by the Governor; and the Director, who shall serve as
15ex officio chairman and who shall appoint 5 additional members:
16one of whom shall be a representative citizen chosen from the
17employee class, one of whom shall be a representative citizen
18chosen from the employing class, one of whom shall be an
19employee of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics
20(hereinafter referred to as "BLS")(or, if no BLS employee is
21available, a government employee from outside of Illinois with
22appropriate expertise), and 2 of whom shall be academic
23researchers with appropriate expertise. All members shall be
24voting members. Members shall serve without compensation, but
25may be reimbursed for expenses associated with the Task Force.
26The Task Force shall begin to conduct business upon the

 

 

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1appointment of all members. For purposes of Task Force
2meetings, a quorum is 6 members. If a vacancy occurs on the
3Task Force, a successor member shall be appointed by the
4original appointing authority. Meetings of the Task Force are
5subject to the Open Meetings Act.
6    (c) The Task Force shall analyze the potential benefits and
7the feasibility of expanding public access to data produced and
8maintained by the Department including, but not limited to,
9data collected, estimated, and maintained under cooperative
10agreement with the United States Department of Labor or other
11federal agencies. The analysis shall include an analysis of
12potential uses of these data and the public benefit of those
13uses, and a review of current federal and State practices for
14providing public access to the data, as well as potential
15alternate processes by which the public could access data in
16the Department's possession. The Task Force shall hold at least
173 public hearings as part of its analysis. The Task Force may
18establish any committees it deems necessary.
19    (d) All findings, recommendations, public postings, and
20other relevant information pertaining to the Task Force shall
21be posted on the Department's website, subject to the
22confidentiality requirements established under federal and
23State law including, but not limited to, the federal
24Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency
25Act of 2002 and Section 1900. The Department shall provide
26staff and administrative support to the Task Force. The Task

 

 

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1Force shall report its findings and recommendations to the
2Governor and the General Assembly no later than June 30, 2013,
3and shall be dissolved upon submission of the report. All
4recommendations shall be consistent with confidentiality
5requirements established under federal law including, but not
6limited to, disclosure proofing standards.
7    (e) Each member of the Task Force and each Department
8employee must be designated as an agent of BLS pursuant to the
9federal Confidential Information Protection and Statistical
10Efficiency Act of 2002 subject to the civil and criminal
11sanctions for unauthorized disclosure of information protected
12by that Act as a condition of being able to participate in any
13activities of the Task Force and shall also be subject to the
14civil and criminal sanctions established under subsection C of
15Section 1900 for unauthorized disclosure of information
16protected by Section 1900. For purposes of this Section,
17information protected by Section 1900 includes, but is not
18limited to, the statistical formulation of disclosure-proofing
19methods.".