093_SB1133eng SB1133 Engrossed LRB093 05053 WGH 05112 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" has the meaning ascribed to that term in Section 8 1-20 of the 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 (i) grosses less than 13 $4,000,000 per year or has 50 or fewer full-time employees 14 and (ii) has its principal office in Illinois. 15 "Department" means the Department of Commerce and 16 Community Affairs. 17 Section 10. Small business advisory web pages. 18 (a) Within 6 months after the effective date of this 19 Act, each Agency must create and make available on the 20 World Wide Web a small business advisory page. 21 (b) Each agency that (i) has adopted or is preparing to 22 adopt any rule affecting small businesses or (ii) is 23 designated to administer legislation affecting small 24 businesses that has become law must prepare and post on its 25 small business advisory page a plain language explanation of 26 the rule or legislation. The explanation must indicate the 27 effective date of the rule or legislation. The explanation 28 must remain posted for a minimum of 6 months after the 29 effective date of the rule or legislation. Agencies shall 30 consult with the Department and small businesses in SB1133 Engrossed -2- LRB093 05053 WGH 05112 b 1 developing uniform web page standards. 2 If a rule has been proposed but not adopted, an 3 explanation of the rule must be posted as soon as possible in 4 order to allow input and comment from affected small 5 businesses. The State agency must, in addition to posting a 6 plain language explanation of the rule, post notice of the 7 time, date, and place of any public hearings, together with 8 the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the agency 9 rulemaking contact; what must be done by members of the 10 public who wish to provide testimony on the rulemaking; and 11 the names and Springfield and district office addresses and 12 telephone numbers of the members of the Joint Committee. 13 (c) When each agency updates its small business advisory 14 web page, it shall notify the Department. The Department, 15 through its First Stop Business Information Center, shall 16 serve as a central clearinghouse notifying the small business 17 community of each agency's rulemakings and changes in 18 requirements. Furthermore, the Department shall seek input 19 from the small business community on the changes and inform 20 the appropriate agency and where applicable, the Joint 21 Committee, of the input. 22 The Department, as a part of its clearinghouse function, 23 shall maintain a central small business advisory web page 24 that shall serve as a coordinated point of access to all 25 agencies' business advisory web pages. 26 Section 15. Advisory opinions and interpretations. Each 27 agency must post plain language versions of all advisory 28 opinions and interpretations of rules and statutes affecting 29 small businesses issued by the agency on its small business 30 advisory web page. No person who acts or fails to act in 31 reasonable reliance in the advisory opinions and 32 interpretations may be held liable in any civil, criminal, or 33 regulatory action because of that act or failure to act.