101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB5516

 

Introduced , by Rep. Anna Moeller

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Regulatory Sunrise Review Act. Establishes a system to investigate and review the necessity of new regulation over a previously unregulated profession or occupation or the expansion of the scope of practice thereof. Provides that applicants may submit to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation an application for sunrise review for legislation to regulate a profession or occupation that at the time of application does not require authorization by any agency of the State to practice or the expansion of the scope of practice thereof. Provides that the Department shall establish the Sunrise Review Unit to consider applications for sunrise review. Specifies actions the Department may take in the course of considering an application for sunrise review. Provides that after evaluating the application, the Department shall submit its final report to the General Assembly. Effective January 1, 2022.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Regulatory Sunrise Review Act.
 
6    Section 5. Declaration of public policy.
7    (a) It is hereby declared that the Department of Financial
8and Professional Regulation is charged with protecting the
9health, safety, and welfare of Illinois residents and that
10creation of a Sunrise Review Unit within the Department of
11Financial and Professional Regulation to conduct comprehensive
12reviews of any proposed legislation to regulate a profession or
13occupation or expansion of scope of practice thereof, is
14necessary to ensure such legislation will best serve the
15public.
16    (b) It is also declared that, if there is a need to protect
17the health, safety, and welfare by way of legislation to
18provide for licensure or title protection of an unregulated
19profession or occupation or an expansion of scope of practice
20thereof, the General Assembly may consider the Sunrise Review
21Unit's recommendations as part of its legislative function.
22Nothing in this Act shall interfere with the General Assembly
23otherwise considering legislation on any regulatory matter.
 

 

 

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1    Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
2    "Address of record" means the designated address recorded
3by the Department in the applicant's sunrise application file
4maintained by the Department.
5    "Applicant" means an applicant requesting a sunrise review
6for legislation to regulate a profession or occupation that, at
7the time of application, does not require authorization by any
8agency of this State to practice, or an expansion of the scope
9of practice thereof.
10    "Department" means the Department of Financial and
11Professional Regulation.
12    "Email address of record" means the designated email
13address recorded by the Department in the applicant's sunrise
14application file maintained by the Department.
15    "License" means the privilege conferred by the Department
16to a person that has fulfilled all the requirements
17prerequisite to any type of licensure under this Act.
18    "Licensee" means a person who holds or claims to hold a
19license. An unlicensed person or entity that holds himself,
20herself, or itself out as a licensee or engages in a licensed
21activity shall be deemed to be a licensee for the purposes of
22investigation or disciplinary action.
23    "Licensing" and "Licensure" means a process by which the
24Department grants to a person who has met certain prerequisite
25qualifications the right to perform prescribed professional or

 

 

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1occupational tasks and to use the title of the profession or
2occupation.
3    "Practitioner" means a person who is actively engaged in a
4specified profession or occupation.
5    "Secretary" means the Secretary of Financial and
6Professional Regulation or a person authorized by the Secretary
7to act in the Secretary's stead.
8    "Sunrise application" means the application for review by
9an applicant for licensure of an unregulated profession,
10occupation, or respective scope thereof.
11    "Sunrise review" means the process as provided in this Act
12by which the Department shall assess the sunrise application.
 
13    Section 15. Address of record; email address of record. All
14applicants shall:
15        (a) provide a valid address and email address to the
16    Department, which shall serve as the address of record and
17    email address of record, respectively, at the time of
18    application for sunrise review; and
19        (b) inform the Department of any change of address of
20    record or email address of record within 14 days after such
21    change either through the Department's website or by
22    otherwise contacting the Department.
 
23    Section 20. Fees. The Department shall establish by rule a
24schedule of fees for the administration and maintenance of this

 

 

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1Act. The fees shall not be refundable.
 
2    Section 25. Returned checks; fines. Any person who delivers
3a check or other payment to the Department that is returned to
4the Department unpaid by the financial institution upon which
5it is drawn shall pay to the Department, in addition to the
6amount already owed to the Department, a fine of $50. The
7Department shall notify the person that payment of fees and
8fines shall be paid to the Department by certified check or
9money order within 30 calendar days of the notification. If,
10after the expiration of 30 days from the date of the
11notification, the person has failed to submit the necessary
12remittance, the Department shall automatically withdraw the
13applicant's sunrise application.
 
14    Section 30. Disposition of funds. All of the fees collected
15as authorized under this Act shall be deposited into the
16General Professions Dedicated Fund. The moneys deposited into
17the General Professions Dedicated Fund may be used for the
18expenses of the Department in the administration of this Act.
19Moneys from the Fund may also be used for direct and allocable
20indirect costs related to the public purposes of the Department
21of Financial and Professional Regulation. Moneys in the Fund
22may be transferred to the Professions Indirect Cost Fund as
23authorized by Section 2105-300 of the Department of
24Professional Regulation Law of the Civil Administration Code of

 

 

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1Illinois.
 
2    Section 35. Establishment of the Sunrise Review Unit within
3the Department. Subject to appropriation, the Department shall
4establish the Sunrise Review Unit to carry out the provisions
5of this Act. Subject to appropriation, the Secretary shall
6appoint 3 members to the Sunrise Review Unit from within the
7Department.
 
8    Section 40. Application for sunrise review.
9    (a) Applications for sunrise review shall be made to the
10Department in writing on forms provided by the Department and
11shall be accompanied by the required nonrefundable fee. All
12applications shall contain information that, in the judgment of
13the Department, will enable the Department to evaluate an
14application for sunrise review.
15    (b) Applicants for sunrise review shall have one year after
16the date of application to complete the application process for
17review by the Department's Sunrise Review Unit. If the process
18has not been completed in one year, the application shall be
19denied, the fee shall be forfeited, and the applicant must
20reapply and meet the requirements in effect at the time of
21reapplication.
22    (c) Multiple applications for the same review made by the
23same applicant shall result in a denial of all applications for
24sunrise review in process by the Department. The fees shall be

 

 

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1forfeited. The applicant shall be prohibited to reapply for
2sunrise review by the Department for one year from the date of
3the last application.
 
4    Section 45. Department procedures for sunrise reviews.
5    (a) Upon receipt of a completed application for sunrise
6review, the Department may, in the course of its review, do the
7following:
8        (1) request the applicant to provide notice to the
9    public, in writing, of its sunrise application and proposed
10    legislation to regulate practitioners of the profession or
11    occupation, or an expansion of scope of practice thereof,
12    any professional organizations or associations that
13    include practitioners of the profession or occupation that
14    is proposed by the applicant to be regulated, and any
15    opposition groups to the proposed legislation; the
16    applicant shall also provide to the Department a copy of
17    the notice and a list of the persons, organizations or
18    associations, or any opposition group to whom the notice
19    was sent;
20        (2) provide notice, when deemed appropriate, and may
21    hold public hearings subject to the Open Meetings Act to
22    gather additional information from members of the public
23    and anyone opposed or in favor of the proposed regulation;
24    and
25        (3) allow any member of the public, practitioners of

 

 

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1    the profession or occupation proposed to be regulated, or
2    opposition group or person to submit any information or
3    documentation to the Sunrise Review Unit for its
4    consideration.
5    (b) In conducting the sunrise review, the Sunrise Review
6Unit shall apply the information provided by the applicant as
7set forth in Section 40 of this Act to determine whether the
8applicant has satisfied the minimum requirements.
9    (c) the Sunrise Review Unit may also consider information
10provided by any member of the public or anyone opposing the
11regulation as part of the sunrise review;
12    (d) The Sunrise Review Unit shall prepare a final report
13that shall contain the following:
14        (1) a summary of proposed legislation to regulate an
15    unregulated profession or occupation, or the expansion of
16    scope of practice thereof, the criteria and standards
17    provided by the applicant, comments or arguments made by
18    the public or opponent groups, and any steps taken to
19    include the public and any opposition group in the sunrise
20    process;
21        (2) an analysis of whether the applicant has met the
22    criteria set forth in Section 50 of this Act; and
23        (3) a recommendation on whether legislation is needed
24    to regulate the profession or occupation, or expansion of
25    the scope of practice thereof, and the type of regulation
26    needed, such as full licensure or title protection.

 

 

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1    (e) The Department has the discretion to decline to conduct
2a sunrise review in certain circumstances, including, but not
3limited to, repeat applications where no new substantive
4information is provided.
 
5    Section 50. Minimum criteria for sunrise review. Prior to
6review as authorized under this Act, an applicant for sunrise
7review shall provide, at minimum, the following criteria in
8this Section:
9        (1) the name or type of profession or occupation or
10    expansion of scope of practice thereof that is requested to
11    be regulated or expanded;
12        (2) the types of harm to the public health, safety, or
13    welfare that will be remedied by legislation to regulate an
14    unregulated profession or occupation or the expansion of
15    the scope of practice thereof;
16        (3) whether and how the public can reasonably expect to
17    benefit from an assurance of initial and continuing
18    professional or occupational competence;
19        (4) whether and how any current protections exist for
20    consumers of the goods and services provided by the
21    unregulated profession or occupation or expansion of scope
22    of practice thereof;
23        (5) the nature of the potential harm or threat to the
24    public health, safety, or welfare, if the profession or
25    occupation or expansion of scope of practice thereof is not

 

 

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1    regulated or expanded;
2        (6) the approximate number of individuals or
3    businesses that would be in favor of legislation to
4    regulate the profession or occupation, or the expansion of
5    the scope of practice thereof, and a list of associations,
6    organization, and other groups available to practitioners
7    of the unregulated profession or occupation;
8        (7) the existence of national accreditations or
9    national certification systems for the profession or
10    occupation;
11        (8) a list and description of State and federal laws
12    that have been enacted to protect the public with respect
13    to the profession or occupation;
14        (9) a copy of any federal legislation mandating
15    regulation;
16        (10) a list of states that regulate the profession or
17    occupation, the type of regulation, copies of other states'
18    laws and available evidence from those states of the
19    effects of regulation on the profession or occupation;
20        (11) a description of any previous efforts in this
21    State to implement legislation to regulate the profession
22    or occupation or an expansion of scope of practice thereof;
23        (12) a description of the extent that the legislation
24    to regulate will place unreasonable barriers to entry of
25    individuals that practice the profession or occupation, or
26    in the expansion of scope of practice thereof;

 

 

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1        (13) a description of how legislation to regulate a
2    profession or occupation, or the expansion of scope of
3    practice thereof, will increase the cost of goods or
4    services provided or affect the availability of goods or
5    services to the public;
6        (14) the cost that will be imposed on practitioners of
7    the profession or occupation, or the expansion of scope of
8    practice thereof, resulting from the regulation;
9        (15) the educational or training programs that exist in
10    this State, the cost of such education or training, and
11    whether all applicants will be required to pass an
12    examination and, if an examination is required, by whom it
13    will be developed and how the costs of development will be
14    met;
15        (16) whether renewal will be based only upon payment of
16    a fee or whether renewal will involve continuing education,
17    reexamination, or other methodologies;
18        (17) the standards for licensure as compared with the
19    standards of other jurisdictions;
20        (18) the form, powers, and composition of a licensing
21    board if needed;
22        (19) any other information the Department requests for
23    its analysis of the proposed legislation; and
24    Additional criteria may be defined by the Department by
25rule.
 

 

 

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1    Section 55. Review by the General Assembly.
2    (a) After evaluating the application for sunrise review,
3the Department shall submit its final report to the General
4Assembly.
5    (b) The General Assembly may consider the Department's
6recommendation.
 
7    Section 60. Confidentiality. All information collected by
8the Department in the course of an examination of an applicant
9shall be maintained for the confidential use of the Department
10and shall not be disclosed. The Department may not disclose the
11information to anyone other than law enforcement officials,
12other regulatory agencies that have an appropriate regulatory
13interest as determined by the Director, or a party presenting a
14lawful subpoena to the Department. Information and documents
15disclosed to a federal, State, county, or local law enforcement
16agency shall not be disclosed by the agency for any purpose to
17any other agency or person.
 
18    Section 65. Severability. This Act is declared to be
19severable, and should any word, phrase, sentence, provision, or
20Section hereof be hereafter declared unconstitutional or
21otherwise invalid, the remainder of this Act shall not thereby
22be affected, but shall remain valid and in full force and
23effect for all intents and purposes.
 

 

 

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1    Section 70. Rulemaking authority. The Department may adopt
2rules for the administration and enforcement of this Act.
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
41, 2022.