093_HB3209
LRB093 09489 AMC 12069 b
1 AN ACT concerning State government.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Small Business Advisory Act.
6 Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
7 "Agency" means the same as in Section 1-20 of the
8 Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
9 "Joint Committee" means the Joint Committee on
10 Administrative Rules.
11 "Small business" means any for profit entity,
12 independently owned and operated, that grosses less than
13 $4,000,000 per year or that has 50 or fewer full-time
14 employees. For the purposes of this Act, a "small business"
15 has its principal office in Illinois.
16 "Department" means the Department of Commerce and
17 Community Affairs.
18 Section 10. Small business advisory web pages site.
19 (a) Within 6 months after the effective date of this
20 Act, each Agency must create and make available on the
21 World Wide Web a small business advisory page.
22 (b) Each agency that (i) has adopted or is preparing to
23 adopt any rule affecting small businesses or (ii) is
24 designated to administer legislation affecting small
25 businesses that has become law must prepare and post on its
26 small business advisory page a plain language explanation of
27 the rule or legislation. The explanation must indicate the
28 effective date of the rule or legislation. The explanation
29 must remain posted for a minimum of 6 months after the
30 effective date of the rule or legislation. Agencies shall
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1 consult with the Department and small businesses in
2 developing uniform web page standards.
3 If a rule has been proposed but not adopted, an
4 explanation of the rule must be posted as soon as possible in
5 order to allow input and comment from affected small
6 businesses. The State agency must, in addition to posting a
7 plain language explanation of the rule, post notice of the
8 time, date, and place of any public hearings, together with
9 the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the agency
10 rulemaking contact; what must be done by members of the
11 public who wish to provide testimony on the rulemaking; and
12 the names and Springfield and district office addresses and
13 telephone numbers of the members of the Joint Committee.
14 (c) When each agency updates its small business advisory
15 web page, it shall notify the Department. The Department,
16 through its First Stop Business Information Center, shall
17 serve as a central clearinghouse notifying the small business
18 community of each agency's rulemakings and changes in
19 requirements. Furthermore, the Department shall seek input
20 from the small business community on the changes and inform
21 the appropriate agency and where applicable, the Joint
22 Committee, of the input.
23 The Department, as a part of its clearinghouse function,
24 shall maintain a central small business advisory web page
25 that shall serve as a coordinated point of access to all
26 agencies' business advisory web pages.
27 Section 15. Advisory opinions and interpretations. Each
28 agency must post plain language versions of all advisory
29 opinions and interpretations of rules and statutes affecting
30 small businesses issued by the agency on its small business
31 advisory web page. No person who acts or fails to act in
32 reasonable reliance in the advisory opinions and
33 interpretations may be held liable in any civil, criminal, or
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1 regulatory action because of that act or failure to act.