093_HB0525enr HB0525 Enrolled LRB093 05524 WGH 05615 b 1 AN ACT concerning disclosure of information. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by 5 changing Section 11-9 as follows: 6 (305 ILCS 5/11-9) (from Ch. 23, par. 11-9) 7 Sec. 11-9. Protection of records - Exceptions. For the 8 protection of applicants and recipients, the Illinois 9 Department, the county departments and local governmental 10 units and their respective officers and employees are 11 prohibited, except as hereinafter provided, from disclosing 12 the contents of any records, files, papers and 13 communications, except for purposes directly connected with 14 the administration of public aid under this Code. 15 In any judicial proceeding, except a proceeding directly 16 concerned with the administration of programs provided for in 17 this Code, such records, files, papers and communications, 18 and their contents shall be deemed privileged communications 19 and shall be disclosed only upon the order of the court, 20 where the court finds such to be necessary in the interest of 21 justice. 22 The Illinois Department shall establish and enforce 23 reasonable rules and regulations governing the custody, use 24 and preservation of the records, papers, files, and 25 communications of the Illinois Department, the county 26 departments and local governmental units receiving State or 27 Federal funds or aid. The governing body of other local 28 governmental units shall in like manner establish and enforce 29 rules and regulations governing the same matters. 30 The contents of case files pertaining to recipients under 31 Articles IV, V, and VI shall be made available without HB0525 Enrolled -2- LRB093 05524 WGH 05615 b 1 subpoena or formal notice to the officers of any court, to 2 all law enforcing agencies, and to such other persons or 3 agencies as from time to time may be authorized by any court. 4 In particular, the contents of those case files shall be made 5 available upon request to a law enforcement agency for the 6 purpose of determining the current address of a recipient 7 with respect to whom an arrest warrant is outstanding, and 8 the current address of a recipient who was a victim of a 9 felony or a witness to a felony shall be made available upon 10 request to a State's Attorney of this State or a State's 11 Attorney's investigator. Information shall also be disclosed 12 to the Illinois State Scholarship Commission pursuant to an 13 investigation or audit by the Illinois State Scholarship 14 Commission of a delinquent student loan or monetary award. 15 This Section does not prevent the Illinois Department and 16 local governmental units from reporting to appropriate law 17 enforcement officials the desertion or abandonment by a 18 parent of a child, as a result of which financial aid has 19 been necessitated under Articles IV, V, or VI, or reporting 20 to appropriate law enforcement officials instances in which a 21 mother under age 18 has a child out of wedlock and is an 22 applicant for or recipient of aid under any Article of this 23 Code. The Illinois Department may provide by rule for the 24 county departments and local governmental units to initiate 25 proceedings under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 to have 26 children declared to be neglected when they deem such action 27 necessary to protect the children from immoral influences 28 present in their home or surroundings. 29 This Section does not preclude the full exercise of the 30 powers of the Board of Public Aid Commissioners to inspect 31 records and documents, as provided for all advisory boards 32 pursuant to Section 5-505 of the Departments of State 33 Government Law (20 ILCS 5/5-505). 34 This Section does not preclude exchanges of information HB0525 Enrolled -3- LRB093 05524 WGH 05615 b 1 among the Illinois Department of Public Aid, the Department 2 of Human Services (as successor to the Department of Public 3 Aid), and the Illinois Department of Revenue for the purpose 4 of verifying sources and amounts of income and for other 5 purposes directly connected with the administration of this 6 Code and of the Illinois Income Tax Act. 7 The provisions of this Section and of Section 11-11 as 8 they apply to applicants and recipients of public aid under 9 Article V shall be operative only to the extent that they do 10 not conflict with any Federal law or regulation governing 11 Federal grants to this State for such programs. 12 The Illinois Department of Public Aid and the Department 13 of Human Services (as successor to the Illinois Department of 14 Public Aid) shall enter into an inter-agency agreement with 15 the Department of Children and Family Services to establish a 16 procedure by which employees of the Department of Children 17 and Family Services may have immediate access to records, 18 files, papers, and communications (except medical, alcohol or 19 drug assessment or treatment, mental health, or any other 20 medical records) of the Illinois Department, county 21 departments, and local governmental units receiving State or 22 federal funds or aid, if the Department of Children and 23 Family Services determines the information is necessary to 24 perform its duties under the Abused and Neglected Child 25 Reporting Act, the Child Care Act of 1969, and the Children 26 and Family Services Act. 27 (Source: P.A. 91-239, eff. 1-1-00; 92-111, eff. 1-1-02.) 28 Section 10. The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by 29 changing Section 1900 as follows: 30 (820 ILCS 405/1900) (from Ch. 48, par. 640) 31 Sec. 1900. Disclosure of information. 32 A. Except as provided in this Section, information HB0525 Enrolled -4- LRB093 05524 WGH 05615 b 1 obtained from any individual or employing unit during the 2 administration of this Act shall: 3 1. be confidential, 4 2. not be published or open to public inspection, 5 3. not be used in any court in any pending action 6 or proceeding, 7 4. not be admissible in evidence in any action or 8 proceeding other than one arising out of this Act. 9 B. No finding, determination, decision, ruling or order 10 (including any finding of fact, statement or conclusion made 11 therein) issued pursuant to this Act shall be admissible or 12 used in evidence in any action other than one arising out of 13 this Act, nor shall it be binding or conclusive except as 14 provided in this Act, nor shall it constitute res judicata, 15 regardless of whether the actions were between the same or 16 related parties or involved the same facts. 17 C. Any officer or employee of this State, any officer or 18 employee of any entity authorized to obtain information 19 pursuant to this Section, and any agent of this State or of 20 such entity who, except with authority of the Director under 21 this Section, shall disclose information shall be guilty of a 22 Class B misdemeanor and shall be disqualified from holding 23 any appointment or employment by the State. 24 D. An individual or his duly authorized agent may be 25 supplied with information from records only to the extent 26 necessary for the proper presentation of his claim for 27 benefits or with his existing or prospective rights to 28 benefits. Discretion to disclose this information belongs 29 solely to the Director and is not subject to a release or 30 waiver by the individual. Notwithstanding any other provision 31 to the contrary, an individual or his or her duly authorized 32 agent may be supplied with a statement of the amount of 33 benefits paid to the individual during the 18 months 34 preceding the date of his or her request. HB0525 Enrolled -5- LRB093 05524 WGH 05615 b 1 E. An employing unit may be furnished with information, 2 only if deemed by the Director as necessary to enable it to 3 fully discharge its obligations or safeguard its rights under 4 the Act. Discretion to disclose this information belongs 5 solely to the Director and is not subject to a release or 6 waiver by the employing unit. 7 F. The Director may furnish any information that he may 8 deem proper to any public officer or public agency of this or 9 any other State or of the federal government dealing with: 10 1. the administration of relief, 11 2. public assistance, 12 3. unemployment compensation, 13 4. a system of public employment offices, 14 5. wages and hours of employment, or 15 6. a public works program. 16 The Director may make available to the Illinois 17 Industrial Commission information regarding employers for the 18 purpose of verifying the insurance coverage required under 19 the Workers' Compensation Act and Workers' Occupational 20 Diseases Act. 21 G. The Director may disclose information submitted by 22 the State or any of its political subdivisions, municipal 23 corporations, instrumentalities, or school or community 24 college districts, except for information which specifically 25 identifies an individual claimant. 26 H. The Director shall disclose only that information 27 required to be disclosed under Section 303 of the Social 28 Security Act, as amended, including: 29 1. any information required to be given the United 30 States Department of Labor under Section 303(a)(6); and 31 2. the making available upon request to any agency 32 of the United States charged with the administration of 33 public works or assistance through public employment, the 34 name, address, ordinary occupation and employment status HB0525 Enrolled -6- LRB093 05524 WGH 05615 b 1 of each recipient of unemployment compensation, and a 2 statement of such recipient's right to further 3 compensation under such law as required by Section 4 303(a)(7); and 5 3. records to make available to the Railroad 6 Retirement Board as required by Section 303(c)(1); and 7 4. information that will assure reasonable 8 cooperation with every agency of the United States 9 charged with the administration of any unemployment 10 compensation law as required by Section 303(c)(2); and 11 5. information upon request and on a reimbursable 12 basis to the United States Department of Agriculture and 13 to any 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 20 Section 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 27 the public agency administering the Federal Parent 28 Locator Service as required by Section 303(h); and 29 9. information, upon request, to representatives of 30 any federal, State or local governmental public housing 31 agency with respect to individuals who have signed the 32 appropriate consent form approved by the Secretary of 33 Housing and Urban Development and who are applying for or 34 participating in any housing assistance program HB0525 Enrolled -7- LRB093 05524 WGH 05615 b 1 administered by the United States Department of Housing 2 and Urban Development as required by Section 303(i). 3 I. The Director, upon the request of a public agency of 4 Illinois, of the federal government or of any other state 5 charged with the investigation or enforcement of Section 10-5 6 of the Criminal Code of 1961 (or a similar federal law or 7 similar law of another State), may furnish the public agency 8 information regarding the individual specified in the request 9 as to: 10 1. the current or most recent home address of the 11 individual, and 12 2. the names and addresses of the individual's 13 employers. 14 J. Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere 15 with the disclosure of certain records as provided for in 16 Section 1706 or with the right to make available to the 17 Internal Revenue Service of the United States Department of 18 the Treasury, or the Department of Revenue of the State of 19 Illinois, information obtained under this Act. 20 K. The Department shall make available to the Illinois 21 Student Assistance Commission, upon request, information in 22 the possession of the Department that may be necessary or 23 useful to the Commission in the collection of defaulted or 24 delinquent student loans which the Commission administers. 25 L. The Department shall make available to the State 26 Employees' Retirement System, the State Universities 27 Retirement System, and the Teachers' Retirement System of the 28 State of Illinois, upon request, information in the 29 possession of the Department that may be necessary or useful 30 to the System for the purpose of determining whether any 31 recipient of a disability benefit from the System is 32 gainfully employed. 33 M. This Section shall be applicable to the information 34 obtained in the administration of the State employment HB0525 Enrolled -8- LRB093 05524 WGH 05615 b 1 service, except that the Director may publish or release 2 general labor market information and may furnish information 3 that he may deem proper to an individual, public officer or 4 public agency of this or any other State or the federal 5 government (in addition to those public officers or public 6 agencies specified in this Section) as he prescribes by Rule. 7 N. The Director may require such safeguards as he deems 8 proper to insure that information disclosed pursuant to this 9 Section is used only for the purposes set forth in this 10 Section. 11 O. (Blank). 12 P. Within 30 days after the effective date of this 13 amendatory Act of 1993 and annually thereafter, the 14 Department shall provide to the Department of Financial 15 Institutions a list of individuals or entities that, for the 16 most recently completed calendar year, report to the 17 Department as paying wages to workers. The lists shall be 18 deemed confidential and may not be disclosed to any other 19 person. 20 Q. The Director shall make available to an elected 21 federal official the name and address of an individual or 22 entity that is located within the jurisdiction from which the 23 official was elected and that, for the most recently 24 completed calendar year, has reported to the Department as 25 paying wages to workers, where the information will be used 26 in connection with the official duties of the official and 27 the official requests the information in writing, specifying 28 the purposes for which it will be used. For purposes of this 29 subsection, the use of information in connection with the 30 official duties of an official does not include use of the 31 information in connection with the solicitation of 32 contributions or expenditures, in money or in kind, to or on 33 behalf of a candidate for public or political office or a 34 political party or with respect to a public question, as HB0525 Enrolled -9- LRB093 05524 WGH 05615 b 1 defined in Section 1-3 of the Election Code, or in connection 2 with any commercial solicitation. Any elected federal 3 official who, in submitting a request for information covered 4 by this subsection, knowingly makes a false statement or 5 fails to disclose a material fact, with the intent to obtain 6 the information for a purpose not authorized by this 7 subsection, shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. 8 R. The Director may provide to any State or local child 9 support agency, upon request and on a reimbursable basis, 10 information that might be useful in locating an absent parent 11 or that parent's employer, establishing paternity, or 12 establishing, modifying, or enforcing child support orders. 13 S. The Department shall make available to a State's 14 Attorney of this State or a State's Attorney's investigator, 15 upon request, the current address or, if the current address 16 is unavailable, current employer information, if available, 17 of a victim of a felony or a witness to a felony or a person 18 against whom an arrest warrant is outstanding. 19 (Source: P.A. 90-425, eff. 8-15-97; 90-488, eff. 8-17-97; 20 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 91-342, eff. 1-1-00.) 21 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect 22 January 1, 2004.