HB1084eng 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1084 Engrossed LRB097 06351 PJG 46431 b

AN ACT concerning State government.

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 Business Mandate Note Act.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Business mandate" means any State-initiated statutory or executive action that requires a business to establish, expand, or modify its activities in such a way as to necessitate additional costs of doing business, excluding any order issued by a court other than any order enforcing such statutory or executive action.

"Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Section 10. Applicability.

(a) Every bill, except those making a direct appropriation, the purpose or effect of which is to directly increase the cost of doing business in the State shall have prepared for it, before second reading in the house of introduction, a brief explanatory statement or note that shall include a reliable estimate of the anticipated impact.

(b) Every proposed rule of an agency, the purpose or effect of which is to directly increase the cost of doing business in the State shall have prepared for it, before approval by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules pursuant to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, a brief explanatory statement or note that shall include a reliable estimate of the anticipated impact. As used in this Act, "rule" and "agency" have the same meanings as in the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.

(c) These statements or notes shall be known as business mandate notes.

Section 15. Preparation. The sponsor of each bill, or the agency proposing a rule, to which Section 10 applies, shall present a copy of the bill or proposed rule, with the request for a business mandate note, to the Department. The business mandate note shall be prepared by the Department and submitted to the sponsor of the bill or the agency within 5 calendar days, except that whenever, because of the complexity of the measure, additional time is required for the preparation of the business mandate note, the Department may inform the sponsor of the bill or the agency, and the sponsor or agency may approve an extension of the time within which the note is to be submitted, not to extend, however, beyond June 15, following the date of the request. The Department may seek assistance from a statewide organization representing the business community in the preparation of a business mandate note. If, in the opinion of the Department, there is insufficient information to prepare a reliable estimate of the anticipated impact, a statement to that effect can be filed and shall meet the requirements of this Act.

Section 20. Vote on necessity of business mandate note. Whenever the sponsor of a bill is of the opinion that no business mandate note is required, any member of either house may request that a note be obtained, and in that case the applicability of this Act shall be decided by the majority of those present and voting in the house of which the sponsor is a member.

Section 25. Requisites and contents. The note shall be factual in nature, as brief and concise as may be, and shall provide a reliable estimate in dollars and, in addition, it shall include both the immediate effect and, if determinable or reasonably foreseeable, the long range effect of the measure. If, after careful investigation, it is determined that no dollar estimate is possible, the note shall contain a statement to that effect, setting forth the reasons why no dollar estimate can be given. A brief summary or work sheet of computations used in arriving at business mandate note figures shall be included.

Section 30. Comment or opinion; technical or mechanical defects. No comment or opinion shall be included in the business mandate note with regard to the merits of the measure for which the business mandate note is prepared; however, technical or mechanical defects may be noted.

Section 35. Appearance of State officials and employees in support or opposition of measure. The fact that a business mandate note is prepared for a bill or proposed rule shall not preclude or restrict the appearance before a committee of the General Assembly, or before the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, of any official or authorized employee of the Department who desires to be heard in support of or in opposition to the measure.

Section 40. Amendment of bill necessitating statement of fiscal effect of proposed amendment. Whenever a committee of either house reports a bill with an amendment that will substantially affect the figures stated in the business mandate note attached to the measure at the time of its referral to the committee, there shall be included with the report of the committee a statement of the effect of the change proposed by the amendment reported if desired by a majority of the committee. Whenever a bill is amended on the floor of either house to substantially affect the figures as stated in the business mandate note attached to the bill before the amendment, a majority of the members of that house may propose that no action shall be taken on the amendment until the sponsor of the amendment presents to the members a statement of the business impact of the proposed amendment.

Section 45. Collection and maintenance of information concerning business mandates.

(a) The Department shall be responsible for:

(1) Collecting and maintaining information on business mandates, including information required for effective implementation of the provisions of this Act.

(2) Hearing complaints or suggestions from businesses and other affected organizations as to existing or proposed business mandates.

(3) Reporting each year to the Governor and the General Assembly regarding the administration of provisions of this Act and changes proposed to this Act.

The Legislative Research Unit shall conduct public hearings as needed to review the information collected and the recommendations made by the Department under this subsection (a). The Department shall cooperate fully with the Legislative Research Unit, providing any information, supporting documentation, and other assistance required by the Legislative Research Unit to facilitate the conduct of the hearing.

(b) Within 2 years following the effective date of this Act, the Department shall collect and tabulate relevant information as to the nature and scope of each existing business mandate, including but not necessarily limited to (i) the identity of the types of business to which the mandate is directed; (ii) whether or not an identifiable direct cost is necessitated by the mandate and the estimated annual amount; (iii) the extent of State financial participation, if any, in meeting identifiable costs; (iv) the State agency, if any, charged with supervising the implementation of the mandate; and (v) a brief description of the mandate and a citation of its origin in statute or regulation.

(c) The resulting information from subsection (b) shall be published in a catalog available to members of the General Assembly, State and local officials, and interested citizens. As new mandates are enacted they shall be added to the catalog, and each January 31 the Department shall list each new mandate enacted at the preceding session of the General Assembly and the estimated additional identifiable direct costs, if any, imposed upon businesses. A revised version of the catalog shall be published every 2 years beginning with the publication date of the first catalog.

Section 50. Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to conflict with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act (5 ILCS 100/).

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