Sen. Arthur J. Wilhelmi
Filed: 5/3/2005
 
 

 




 

 		












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AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1589 




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    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1589  by replacing 
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everything after the enacting clause with the following:

 
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    "Section 1. Short title.   This Act may be cited as the 
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Human Voice Contact
Act.



 
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    Section 5. Legislative findings.   The General Assembly 
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finds that:


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        (1)  the people of this State, from time to time, need 
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    contact with State
agencies
because of problems or 
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    concerns;


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        (2)  often when a person calls a State agency that 
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    person needs to talk to
an
individual, and it is not 
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    necessarily convenient or practical for that person
to 
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    leave a message or to
follow an automated menu;


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        (3)  the purpose of State agencies is to serve the 
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    people of this State in
a manner
that is as accessible, 
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    efficient, and responsive as possible;


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        (4)  when a person calls a State agency and receives an 
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    automated operator
or an
automated menu instead of a live 
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    operator, often that person is not able to
adequately 
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    receive
assistance or services; and


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        (5)  the number of people calling a State agency and not 
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    getting the
assistance or
services that they are entitled 
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    to because the State agency does not have a
live operator 
 


 






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    answering
incoming phone calls grows by the day.



 
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    Section 10. Definition.   In this Act, "State agency" means 
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the same as in
Section 1-7 of
the Illinois State Auditing Act.



 
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    Section 15. Automated telephone answering equipment.  A 
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State agency that
uses
automated telephone answering equipment 
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to answer incoming telephone calls
must, during the normal

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business hours of the agency, provide the caller with the

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option of speaking to a
live operator.  This Section does not 
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apply to field offices, telephone lines dedicated as  hot lines 
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for
emergency services, telephone lines dedicated to  providing 
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general information, and  any system that is designed to permit 
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an individual to conduct a complete transaction with the State 
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agency over the telephone solely by pressing one or more touch 
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tone telephone keys in response to automated prompts.

 
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    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 
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1, 2007.".