SB1756eng 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1756 Engrossed LRB101 09296 JRG 54390 b

AN ACT concerning regulation.

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

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Regulatory Sunrise Review Act.

Section 5. Findings and intent.

(a) It is the General Assembly's intent that no profession or occupation be subject to regulation by the State unless the regulation is necessary to protect the public health, safety, or welfare of the people of this State. If the need for new regulation is identified, the State may adopt the least restrictive form of regulation necessary to protect the public interest.

(b) The General Assembly finds that the regulatory environment in Illinois has grown overly burdensome and has become a strain on both the regulatory authority of the State and the ability of the people of Illinois to enter into and work in various regulated professions. This Act is a means to promote economic growth and decrease barriers to entry into various professions in the State.

(c) This Act establishes a system to investigate and review the necessity of new State regulation over a previously unregulated profession or occupation. The Act further provides for a process to investigate what level of regulation is necessary in order to protect the public health, safety, or welfare.

Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Applicant" means a professional group or organization, an individual, or any other interested party that proposes that a profession or occupation not licensed by the Department before January 1, 2019 be regulated through the licensure process.

"Department" means the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Section 15. Policy. The General Assembly may not act upon legislation that proposes to license and regulate a profession or occupation not licensed by the Department before January 1, 2019 until a report as provided in this Act has been prepared and submitted to the Secretary of State.

Section 20. Resolution; petition for regulation; fee; process of obtaining cost-benefit report.

(a) The General Assembly shall commence the process established by this Act to investigate and review the necessity of new State regulation over a previously unregulated profession or occupation by passage of a resolution.

(b) Upon passage by the General Assembly of the resolution, an applicant that proposes legislation to license and regulate a profession or occupation by the Department for which no Department licensure or regulation exists shall submit a petition for licensure, on forms provided by the Department, and a non-refundable petition fee of $1,000 to the Department within 30 days after introduction of the legislation. The petition for licensure shall request that a report be prepared assessing the need for the proposed new licensure. The petition fee shall be deposited in the General Professions Dedicated Fund and shall be appropriated to the Department for the ordinary and contingent expenses of the Department in the administration of this Act.

(c) Upon receipt of a complete petition and petition fee, the Department shall contract for the preparation of an independent report assessing the need for the proposed new licensure. The report shall be principally authored by a labor market economist with a doctoral degree currently associated with an Illinois post-secondary educational institution or by a person with an advanced quantitative degree and an expertise in cost-benefit analysis currently associated with an Illinois post-secondary educational institution. If the Department is unable to contract with a person meeting the qualifications described in this subsection for the preparation of the independent report, the Department may contract with a person whose qualifications are substantially similar to those described in this subsection. If the Department is unable to enter into a contract for preparation of the independent report for a sum not to exceed $1,000, the Department may utilize existing funds to supplement the $1,000 fee collected.

(d) The report shall address the social and economic costs and benefits of licensure, as well as the impact on the labor market, impact on prices, and the rationale for policy intervention. The report shall use modern cost-benefit methods, including the following:

(1) defining the proposed licensed population, including estimated number of participants, the users of the services in question, and the Illinois economy statewide;

(2) assessing a portfolio of alternatives to licensing, as well as the impact of licensure;

(3) cataloging the potential impacts and selected measurement indicators of licensure;

(4) predicting the quantitative impacts over the life of the proposed license;

(5) monetizing all impacts;

(6) calculating the net present value;

(7) identifying the distribution of costs and benefits; and

(8) performing sensitivity testing.

(e) The report shall also address each of the factors and consider the criteria and standards described in Section 25, and shall make a recommendation regarding licensure or other applicable alternatives.

(f) A preliminary copy of the report shall be submitted to the Department for its review and comment for a period of at least 30 days. Any comments made by the Department shall be included in the report.

(g) The report, including any Department comments, shall be completed within 12 months after the effective date of the Department's contract for the report's creation. The completed report shall be filed with the Secretary of State.

(h) After the report is filed with the Secretary of State and after due consideration by the General Assembly, the bill proposing licensure of the profession or occupation may proceed for consideration by the General Assembly.

(i) Nothing in this Act shall interfere with the General Assembly otherwise considering legislation on any regulatory matter.

Section 25. List of factors; criteria and standards.

(a) The following factors shall be considered in the report submitted with a petition for proposed licensure and regulation by the Department:

(1) whether regulation is necessary or beneficial, including any potential harm or threat to the public if the profession or occupation is not regulated or specific examples of the harm or threat identified, if any;

(2) the extent to which the public will benefit from a method of regulation that permits identification of competent practitioners;

(3) the extent to which practitioners are autonomous, as indicated by:

(A) the degree to which the profession or occupation requires the use of independent judgment and the skill or experience required in making such judgment; and

(B) the degree to which practitioners are supervised;

(4) the efforts that have been made to address any concerns that give rise to the need for regulation, including:

(A) voluntary efforts, if any, by members of the profession or occupation to:

(i) establish a code of ethics;

(ii) help resolve disputes between practitioners and consumers; and

(iii) establish requirements for continuing education;

(B) the existence of any national accreditation or national certification systems for the profession or occupation;

(C) recourse to and the extent of use of existing law; and

(D) any prior attempts to regulate the profession or occupation in Illinois;

(5) whether the following alternatives to licensure would be adequate to protect the public interest:

(A) existing, new, or stronger civil remedies or criminal sanctions;

(B) regulation of the service rather than the individual practitioners;

(C) registration of all practitioners;

(D) market competition and third-party or consumer-created ratings and reviews;

(E) voluntary or mandatory bonding or insurance;

(F) other alternatives;

(6) the benefit to the public if licensure is required, including:

(A) whether regulation will result in reduction or elimination of the harms or threats identified under paragraph (1) of this subsection;

(B) the extent to which the public can be confident that a practitioner is competent;

(C) whether renewal will be based only upon payment of a fee or whether renewal will require completion of continuing education or any other requirements;

(D) the standards for registration or licensure as compared with the standards of other jurisdictions; and

(E) the nature and duration of the educational requirement, if any, including: whether the educational requirement includes a substantial amount of supervised field experience; whether educational programs exist in this State; whether there will be an experience requirement; whether the experience must be acquired under a registered, certified, or licensed practitioner; whether there are alternative routes of entry or methods of satisfying the eligibility requirements and qualifications; whether all applicants will be required to pass an examination; and, if an examination is required, by whom it will be developed and how the costs of development will be met;

(7) the extent to which regulation might harm the public, including:

(A) whether regulation will restrict entry into the profession or occupation, including:

(i) whether the standards are the least restrictive necessary to ensure safe and effective performance; and

(ii) whether persons who are registered or licensed in another jurisdiction that has requirements that are substantially equivalent to those of this State will be eligible for endorsement or some form of reciprocity; and

(B) whether there are similar professions or occupations that should be included or portions of the profession or occupation that should be excluded from regulation;

(8) how the standards of the profession or occupation will be maintained, including:

(A) whether effective quality assurance standards exist in the profession or occupation, such as legal requirements associated with specific programs that define or enforce standards or a code of ethics; and

(B) how the proposed form of regulation will ensure quality, including:

(i) the extent to which a code of ethics, if any, will be adopted; and

(ii) the grounds for suspension, revocation, or refusal to renew registration, certification, or licensure;

(9) how the additional cost that the Department will incur in licensing the profession or occupation will be recouped through licensing application and renewal fees;

(10) a profile of the practitioners in this State, including a list of associations, organizations, and other groups representing the practitioners and including an estimate of the number of practitioners in each group; and

(11) whether the profession or occupation is currently regulated in any other state and what methods of regulation each state utilizes.

(b) A profession or occupation shall be regulated by the State only when the following criteria are met:

(1) it can be demonstrated that the unregulated practice of the profession or occupation can clearly harm or endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the public and the potential for the harm is recognizable and not remote or speculative;

(2) the public can reasonably be expected to benefit from an assurance of initial and continuing professional ability;

(3) the public cannot be effectively protected by other means; and

(4) regulation of the profession does not impose significant new economic hardships on the public, significantly diminish the supply of qualified practitioners, or otherwise create barriers to service that are not consistent with the public welfare or interest.

Section 30. Review by the General Assembly. After evaluating the petition, report, and Department comments and considering governmental and societal costs and benefits, if the General Assembly finds that it is necessary to regulate a profession or occupation, the least restrictive method of regulation may be imposed, consistent with the public interest and this Section. In addition, the items in the following list shall be considered in the following numbered order before making a determination:

(1) If existing common law and statutory civil remedies and criminal sanctions are insufficient to reduce or eliminate existing harm, regulation shall occur through enactment of stronger civil remedies and criminal sanctions.

(2) If there exists a national accreditation or certification system for the profession or occupation that adequately ensures quality and protects the public health, safety, and welfare, regulation by the State shall be restricted to addressing those concerns that are not covered by the national program.

(3) If the threat to the public health, safety, or welfare is insufficiently large to justify licensure, regulation shall be through a system of registration.

(4) If it is apparent that the public cannot be adequately protected by any other means, a system of licensure shall be imposed.

Section 35. Severability. If any part of the application of this Act is held invalid, the remainder of its application to other situations, groups, or persons shall not be affected.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.