97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB5675

 

Introduced 2/16/2012, by Rep. Jim Watson

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
820 ILCS 405/1900  from Ch. 48, par. 640

    Amends the Unemployment Insurance Act. Provides that the Department of Employment Security may contract with consumer reporting agencies to provide secure electronic access to information provided to the Department by employing units. Requires the user of the information to obtain a written consent form from the individual to whom the wage report information pertains prior to obtaining the report. Specifies language for the consent form. Restricts the use of the information. Provides for: audit, security, net worth, and liability insurance standards, technological requirements, costs, remedies for non-compliance, dispute resolution, and other matters. Effective immediately.


LRB097 17839 WGH 63059 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5675LRB097 17839 WGH 63059 b

1    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
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
5changing Section 1900 as follows:
 
6    (820 ILCS 405/1900)  (from Ch. 48, par. 640)
7    Sec. 1900. Disclosure of information.
8    A. Except as provided in this Section, information obtained
9from any individual or employing unit during the administration
10of this Act shall:
11        1. be confidential,
12        2. not be published or open to public inspection,
13        3. not be used in any court in any pending action or
14    proceeding,
15        4. not be admissible in evidence in any action or
16    proceeding other than one arising out of this Act.
17    B. No finding, determination, decision, ruling or order
18(including any finding of fact, statement or conclusion made
19therein) issued pursuant to this Act shall be admissible or
20used in evidence in any action other than one arising out of
21this Act, nor shall it be binding or conclusive except as
22provided in this Act, nor shall it constitute res judicata,
23regardless of whether the actions were between the same or

 

 

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1related parties or involved the same facts.
2    C. Any officer or employee of this State, any officer or
3employee of any entity authorized to obtain information
4pursuant to this Section, and any agent of this State or of
5such entity who, except with authority of the Director under
6this Section, shall disclose information shall be guilty of a
7Class B misdemeanor and shall be disqualified from holding any
8appointment or employment by the State.
9    D. An individual or his duly authorized agent may be
10supplied with information from records only to the extent
11necessary for the proper presentation of his claim for benefits
12or with his existing or prospective rights to benefits.
13Discretion to disclose this information belongs solely to the
14Director and is not subject to a release or waiver by the
15individual. Notwithstanding any other provision to the
16contrary, an individual or his or her duly authorized agent may
17be supplied with a statement of the amount of benefits paid to
18the individual during the 18 months preceding the date of his
19or her request.
20    E. An employing unit may be furnished with information,
21only if deemed by the Director as necessary to enable it to
22fully discharge its obligations or safeguard its rights under
23the Act. Discretion to disclose this information belongs solely
24to the Director and is not subject to a release or waiver by
25the employing unit.
26    F. The Director may furnish any information that he may

 

 

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1deem proper to any public officer or public agency of this or
2any other State or of the federal government dealing with:
3        1. the administration of relief,
4        2. public assistance,
5        3. unemployment compensation,
6        4. a system of public employment offices,
7        5. wages and hours of employment, or
8        6. a public works program.
9    The Director may make available to the Illinois Workers'
10Compensation Commission information regarding employers for
11the purpose of verifying the insurance coverage required under
12the Workers' Compensation Act and Workers' Occupational
13Diseases Act.
14    G. The Director may disclose information submitted by the
15State or any of its political subdivisions, municipal
16corporations, instrumentalities, or school or community
17college districts, except for information which specifically
18identifies an individual claimant.
19    H. The Director shall disclose only that information
20required to be disclosed under Section 303 of the Social
21Security Act, as amended, including:
22        1. any information required to be given the United
23    States Department of Labor under Section 303(a)(6); and
24        2. the making available upon request to any agency of
25    the United States charged with the administration of public
26    works or assistance through public employment, the name,

 

 

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1    address, ordinary occupation and employment status of each
2    recipient of unemployment compensation, and a statement of
3    such recipient's right to further compensation under such
4    law as required by Section 303(a)(7); and
5        3. records to make available to the Railroad Retirement
6    Board as required by Section 303(c)(1); and
7        4. information that will assure reasonable cooperation
8    with every agency of the United States charged with the
9    administration of any unemployment compensation law as
10    required by Section 303(c)(2); and
11        5. information upon request and on a reimbursable basis
12    to the United States Department of Agriculture and to any
13    State food stamp agency concerning any information
14    required to be furnished by Section 303(d); and
15        6. any wage information upon request and on a
16    reimbursable basis to any State or local child support
17    enforcement agency required by Section 303(e); and
18        7. any information required under the income
19    eligibility and verification system as required by Section
20    303(f); and
21        8. information that might be useful in locating an
22    absent parent or that parent's employer, establishing
23    paternity or establishing, modifying, or enforcing child
24    support orders for the purpose of a child support
25    enforcement program under Title IV of the Social Security
26    Act upon the request of and on a reimbursable basis to the

 

 

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1    public agency administering the Federal Parent Locator
2    Service as required by Section 303(h); and
3        9. information, upon request, to representatives of
4    any federal, State or local governmental public housing
5    agency with respect to individuals who have signed the
6    appropriate consent form approved by the Secretary of
7    Housing and Urban Development and who are applying for or
8    participating in any housing assistance program
9    administered by the United States Department of Housing and
10    Urban Development as required by Section 303(i).
11    I. The Director, upon the request of a public agency of
12Illinois, of the federal government or of any other state
13charged with the investigation or enforcement of Section 10-5
14of the Criminal Code of 1961 (or a similar federal law or
15similar law of another State), may furnish the public agency
16information regarding the individual specified in the request
17as to:
18        1. the current or most recent home address of the
19    individual, and
20        2. the names and addresses of the individual's
21    employers.
22    J. Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere
23with the disclosure of certain records as provided for in
24Section 1706 or with the right to make available to the
25Internal Revenue Service of the United States Department of the
26Treasury, or the Department of Revenue of the State of

 

 

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1Illinois, information obtained under this Act.
2    K. The Department shall make available to the Illinois
3Student Assistance Commission, upon request, information in
4the possession of the Department that may be necessary or
5useful to the Commission in the collection of defaulted or
6delinquent student loans which the Commission administers.
7    L. The Department shall make available to the State
8Employees' Retirement System, the State Universities
9Retirement System, the Teachers' Retirement System of the State
10of Illinois, and the Department of Central Management Services,
11Risk Management Division, upon request, information in the
12possession of the Department that may be necessary or useful to
13the System or the Risk Management Division for the purpose of
14determining whether any recipient of a disability benefit from
15the System or a workers' compensation benefit from the Risk
16Management Division is gainfully employed.
17    M. This Section shall be applicable to the information
18obtained in the administration of the State employment service,
19except that the Director may publish or release general labor
20market information and may furnish information that he may deem
21proper to an individual, public officer or public agency of
22this or any other State or the federal government (in addition
23to those public officers or public agencies specified in this
24Section) as he prescribes by Rule.
25    N. The Director may require such safeguards as he deems
26proper to insure that information disclosed pursuant to this

 

 

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1Section is used only for the purposes set forth in this
2Section.
3    O. Nothing in this Section prohibits communication with an
4individual or entity through unencrypted e-mail or other
5unencrypted electronic means as long as the communication does
6not contain the individual's or entity's name in combination
7with any one or more of the individual's or entity's social
8security number; driver's license or State identification
9number; account number or credit or debit card number; or any
10required security code, access code, or password that would
11permit access to further information pertaining to the
12individual or entity.
13    P. Within 30 days after the effective date of this
14amendatory Act of 1993 and annually thereafter, the Department
15shall provide to the Department of Financial Institutions a
16list of individuals or entities that, for the most recently
17completed calendar year, report to the Department as paying
18wages to workers. The lists shall be deemed confidential and
19may not be disclosed to any other person.
20    Q. The Director shall make available to an elected federal
21official the name and address of an individual or entity that
22is located within the jurisdiction from which the official was
23elected and that, for the most recently completed calendar
24year, has reported to the Department as paying wages to
25workers, where the information will be used in connection with
26the official duties of the official and the official requests

 

 

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1the information in writing, specifying the purposes for which
2it will be used. For purposes of this subsection, the use of
3information in connection with the official duties of an
4official does not include use of the information in connection
5with the solicitation of contributions or expenditures, in
6money or in kind, to or on behalf of a candidate for public or
7political office or a political party or with respect to a
8public question, as defined in Section 1-3 of the Election
9Code, or in connection with any commercial solicitation. Any
10elected federal official who, in submitting a request for
11information covered by this subsection, knowingly makes a false
12statement or fails to disclose a material fact, with the intent
13to obtain the information for a purpose not authorized by this
14subsection, shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
15    R. The Director may provide to any State or local child
16support agency, upon request and on a reimbursable basis,
17information that might be useful in locating an absent parent
18or that parent's employer, establishing paternity, or
19establishing, modifying, or enforcing child support orders.
20    S. The Department shall make available to a State's
21Attorney of this State or a State's Attorney's investigator,
22upon request, the current address or, if the current address is
23unavailable, current employer information, if available, of a
24victim of a felony or a witness to a felony or a person against
25whom an arrest warrant is outstanding.
26    T. The Director shall make available to the Department of

 

 

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1State Police, a county sheriff's office, or a municipal police
2department, upon request, any information concerning the
3current address and place of employment or former places of
4employment of a person who is required to register as a sex
5offender under the Sex Offender Registration Act that may be
6useful in enforcing the registration provisions of that Act.
7    U. The Department may contract with one or more consumer
8reporting agencies to provide secure electronic access to
9information provided in the quarterly wage report to the
10Department by employing units. The consumer reporting agency
11shall be limited to use of such information to those permitted
12under Section 604 of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15
13U.S.C. 1681b).
14    For the purposes of this Section, "consumer reporting
15agency" has the meaning assigned by Section 603(f) of the Fair
16Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f)). The information is
17subject to the privacy rules of this State and the federal Fair
18Credit Reporting Act in addition to this Section. The consumer
19reporting agency shall require that any user of the information
20shall, prior to obtaining the wage report information, obtain a
21written consent from the individual to whom that wage report
22information pertains. The written consent shall prominently
23contain language specifying the following:
24        (1) the consent to disclose is voluntary and refusal to
25    consent to disclosure of State wage information shall not
26    be the basis for the denial of credit;

 

 

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1        (2) if consent is granted, the information shall be
2    released to specified parties;
3        (3) authorization by the individual is necessary for
4    the release of wage and employment history information;
5        (4) the specific application or transaction for the
6    sole purpose of which release is made;
7        (5) Department files containing wage and employment
8    history information submitted by employers may be
9    accessed; and
10        (6) the identity and address of parties authorized to
11    receive the released information.
12    The consumer reporting agency shall require that the
13information released shall be used only to verify the accuracy
14of the wage or employment information previously provided by an
15individual in connection with a specific transaction to satisfy
16its user's standard underwriting requirements or those imposed
17upon the user, and to satisfy user's obligations, under
18applicable State or federal fair credit reporting laws.
19    The Department shall establish minimum audit, security,
20net worth, and liability insurance standards, standards for the
21amount of data to be made available, technological
22requirements, and any other terms and conditions deemed
23necessary in the discretion of the Department to safeguard the
24confidentiality of the information and to otherwise serve the
25public interest. The Department shall not pay any costs
26associated with the establishment or maintenance of the access

 

 

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1provided for by this subsection U, including but not limited to
2the costs of any audits of the consumer reporting agency or
3users by the Department. The Department may void any contract
4authorized by this subsection U if the contractor is not
5complying with this Section. Except in cases of willful and
6wanton misconduct, the Department is immune from any liability
7in connection with information provided under this subsection
8U, including but not limited to liability with regard to the
9accuracy or use of the information. Any fees received by the
10Department from a consumer reporting agency pursuant to this
11subsection shall be deposited in the Title III Social Security
12and Employment Fund.
13    Any person or entity who willfully fails to comply with any
14requirement imposed under this subsection U with respect to any
15consumer is liable in Illinois State courts to that consumer to
16the same extent as provided for in Section 616 of the federal
17Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681n).
18    A consumer may bring an action in a circuit court to enjoin
19a violation of this Act.
20    Any person who knowingly and willfully obtains information
21pursuant to this subsection U from a consumer reporting agency
22under false pretenses shall be punished to the same extent as
23provided under Section 619 of the federal Fair Credit Reporting
24Act (15 U.S.C. 1681q).
25    If the completeness or accuracy of any item of information
26in a consumer's file at a consumer reporting agency obtained

 

 

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1under this subsection U is disputed, the dispute resolution
2shall be handled according to Section 611 of the federal Fair
3Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i).
4(Source: P.A. 96-420, eff. 8-13-09; 97-621, eff. 11-18-11.)
 
5    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
6becoming law.