Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB1161
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Full Text of HB1161  93rd General Assembly

HB1161eng 93rd General Assembly


093_HB1161eng

 
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 1        AN ACT concerning unemployment.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.  The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended  by
 5    changing Section 1900 as follows:

 6        (820 ILCS 405/1900) (from Ch. 48, par. 640)
 7        Sec. 1900.  Disclosure of information.
 8        A.  Except  as  provided  in  this  Section,  information
 9    obtained  from  any  individual  or employing unit during the
10    administration of this Act shall:
11             1.  be confidential,
12             2.  not be published or open to public inspection,
13             3.  not be used in any court in any  pending  action
14        or proceeding,
15             4.  not  be  admissible in evidence in any action or
16        proceeding other than one arising out of this Act.
17        B.  No finding, determination, decision, ruling or  order
18    (including  any finding of fact, statement or conclusion made
19    therein) issued pursuant to this Act shall be  admissible  or
20    used  in evidence in any action other than one arising out of
21    this Act, nor shall it be binding  or  conclusive  except  as
22    provided  in  this Act, nor shall it constitute res judicata,
23    regardless of whether the actions were between  the  same  or
24    related parties or involved the same facts.
25        C.  Any officer or employee of this State, any officer or
26    employee  of  any  entity  authorized  to  obtain information
27    pursuant to this Section, and any agent of this State  or  of
28    such  entity who, except with authority of the Director under
29    this Section, shall disclose information shall be guilty of a
30    Class B misdemeanor and shall be  disqualified  from  holding
31    any appointment or employment by the State.
 
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 1        D.  An  individual  or  his  duly authorized agent may be
 2    supplied with information from records  only  to  the  extent
 3    necessary  for  the  proper  presentation  of  his  claim for
 4    benefits or  with  his  existing  or  prospective  rights  to
 5    benefits.   Discretion  to  disclose this information belongs
 6    solely to the Director and is not subject  to  a  release  or
 7    waiver by the individual. Notwithstanding any other provision
 8    to  the contrary, an individual or his or her duly authorized
 9    agent may be supplied with  a  statement  of  the  amount  of
10    benefits   paid  to  the  individual  during  the  18  months
11    preceding the date of his or her request.
12        E.  An employing unit may be furnished with  information,
13    only  if  deemed by the Director as necessary to enable it to
14    fully discharge its obligations or safeguard its rights under
15    the Act.  Discretion to  disclose  this  information  belongs
16    solely  to  the  Director  and is not subject to a release or
17    waiver by the employing unit.
18        F.  The Director may furnish any information that he  may
19    deem proper to any public officer or public agency of this or
20    any other State or of the federal government dealing with:
21             1.  the administration of relief,
22             2.  public assistance,
23             3.  unemployment compensation,
24             4.  a system of public employment offices,
25             5.  wages and hours of employment, or
26             6.  a public works program.
27        The   Director   may   make  available  to  the  Illinois
28    Industrial Commission information regarding employers for the
29    purpose of verifying the insurance  coverage  required  under
30    the  Workers'  Compensation  Act  and  Workers'  Occupational
31    Diseases Act.
32        G.  The  Director  may  disclose information submitted by
33    the State or any of  its  political  subdivisions,  municipal
34    corporations,   instrumentalities,  or  school  or  community
 
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 1    college districts, except for information which  specifically
 2    identifies an individual claimant.
 3        H.  The  Director  shall  disclose  only that information
 4    required to be disclosed under  Section  303  of  the  Social
 5    Security Act, as amended, including:
 6             1.  any  information required to be given the United
 7        States Department of Labor under Section 303(a)(6); and
 8             2.  the making available upon request to any  agency
 9        of  the  United States charged with the administration of
10        public works or assistance through public employment, the
11        name, address, ordinary occupation and employment  status
12        of  each  recipient  of  unemployment compensation, and a
13        statement  of   such   recipient's   right   to   further
14        compensation  under  such  law  as  required  by  Section
15        303(a)(7); and
16             3.  records   to  make  available  to  the  Railroad
17        Retirement Board as required by Section 303(c)(1); and
18             4.  information   that   will   assure    reasonable
19        cooperation  with  every  agency  of  the  United  States
20        charged  with  the  administration  of  any  unemployment
21        compensation law as required by Section 303(c)(2); and
22             5.  information  upon  request and on a reimbursable
23        basis to the United States Department of Agriculture  and
24        to any State food stamp agency concerning any information
25        required to be furnished by Section 303(d); and
26             6.  any  wage  information  upon  request  and  on a
27        reimbursable basis to any State or  local  child  support
28        enforcement agency required by Section 303(e); and
29             7.  any   information   required  under  the  income
30        eligibility  and  verification  system  as  required   by
31        Section 303(f); and
32             8.  information  that might be useful in locating an
33        absent parent or  that  parent's  employer,  establishing
34        paternity  or establishing, modifying, or enforcing child
 
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 1        support  orders  for  the  purpose  of  a  child  support
 2        enforcement program under Title IV of the Social Security
 3        Act upon the request of and on a  reimbursable  basis  to
 4        the   public  agency  administering  the  Federal  Parent
 5        Locator Service as required by Section 303(h); and
 6             9.  information, upon request, to representatives of
 7        any federal, State or local governmental  public  housing
 8        agency  with  respect  to individuals who have signed the
 9        appropriate consent form approved  by  the  Secretary  of
10        Housing and Urban Development and who are applying for or
11        participating   in   any   housing   assistance   program
12        administered  by  the United States Department of Housing
13        and Urban Development as required by Section 303(i).
14        I.  The Director, upon the request of a public agency  of
15    Illinois,  of  the  federal  government or of any other state
16    charged with the investigation or enforcement of Section 10-5
17    of the Criminal Code of 1961 (or a  similar  federal  law  or
18    similar  law of another State), may furnish the public agency
19    information regarding the individual specified in the request
20    as to:
21             1.  the current or most recent home address  of  the
22        individual, and
23             2.  the  names  and  addresses  of  the individual's
24        employers.
25        J.  Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to  interfere
26    with  the  disclosure  of  certain records as provided for in
27    Section 1706 or with the  right  to  make  available  to  the
28    Internal  Revenue  Service of the United States Department of
29    the Treasury, or the Department of Revenue of  the  State  of
30    Illinois, information obtained under this Act.
31        K.  The  Department  shall make available to the Illinois
32    Student Assistance Commission, upon request,  information  in
33    the  possession  of  the  Department that may be necessary or
34    useful to the Commission in the collection  of  defaulted  or
 
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 1    delinquent student loans which the Commission administers.
 2        L.  The  Department  shall  make  available  to the State
 3    Employees'  Retirement   System,   the   State   Universities
 4    Retirement System, and the Teachers' Retirement System of the
 5    State   of   Illinois,   upon  request,  information  in  the
 6    possession of the Department that may be necessary or  useful
 7    to  the  System  for  the  purpose of determining whether any
 8    recipient  of  a  disability  benefit  from  the  System   is
 9    gainfully employed.
10        M.  This  Section  shall be applicable to the information
11    obtained  in  the  administration  of  the  State  employment
12    service, except that the  Director  may  publish  or  release
13    general  labor market information and may furnish information
14    that he may deem proper to an individual, public  officer  or
15    public  agency  of  this  or  any  other State or the federal
16    government (in addition to those public  officers  or  public
17    agencies specified in this Section) as he prescribes by Rule.
18        N.  The  Director may require such safeguards as he deems
19    proper to insure that information disclosed pursuant to  this
20    Section  is  used  only  for  the  purposes set forth in this
21    Section.
22        O.  The Department may contract with one or more consumer
23    reporting agencies to provide  secure  electronic  access  to
24    information  provided  in  the  quarterly  wage report to the
25    Department by employing units. The information provided to  a
26    consumer  reporting  agency shall be limited to the amount of
27    wages reported by each employing  unit  (with  the  employing
28    unit's  name  and  address)  for  each of or up to the last 8
29    quarters.  For  the  purposes  of  this  Section,   "consumer
30    reporting  agency" has the meaning assigned by Section 603(f)
31    of the Fair Credit Reporting Act  (15  U.S.C.  681a(f)).  The
32    information is subject to the privacy rules of this State and
33    the  federal  Fair  Credit  Reporting Act in addition to this
34    Section. The consumer reporting agency shall require that any
 
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 1    user of the information shall, prior to  obtaining  the  wage
 2    report   information,  obtain  a  written  consent  from  the
 3    individual to whom that  wage  report  information  pertains.
 4    The   written  consent  shall  prominently  contain  language
 5    specifying the following:
 6             (1) the consent to disclose is voluntary and refusal
 7        to consent to disclosure of State wage information  shall
 8        not be the basis for the denial of credit;
 9             (2)  if consent is granted, the information shall be
10        released to specified parties;
11             (3) authorization by the individual is necessary for
12        the release of wage and employment history information;
13             (4) the specific application or transaction for  the
14        sole purpose of which release is made;
15             (5)  Department files containing wage and employment
16        history  information  submitted  by  employers   may   be
17        accessed; and
18             (6)  (blank)  the  identity  and  address of parties
19        authorized to receive the released information.
20    The  consumer  reporting  agency  shall  require   that   the
21    information  released  shall  be  used  only  to  verify  the
22    accuracy  of  the  wage  or employment information previously
23    provided by an  individual  in  connection  with  a  specific
24    transaction  to  satisfy  its  user's  standard  underwriting
25    requirements  or  those imposed upon the user, and to satisfy
26    user's obligations, under applicable State  or  federal  fair
27    credit reporting laws.
28        The  Department  shall establish minimum audit, security,
29    net worth, and liability insurance  standards,  technological
30    requirements,  and  any  other  terms  and  conditions deemed
31    necessary in the discretion of the  Department  to  safeguard
32    the confidentiality of the information and to otherwise serve
33    the  public  interest. The Department shall not pay any costs
34    associated with  the  establishment  or  maintenance  of  the
 
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 1    access  provided  for by this subsection O, including but not
 2    limited to the costs of any audits of the consumer  reporting
 3    agency  or  users  by the Department. The Department may void
 4    any  contract  authorized  by  this  subsection  O   if   the
 5    contractor  is  not  complying  with  this Section. Except in
 6    cases of willful and wanton  misconduct,  the  Department  is
 7    immune  from  any  liability  in  connection with information
 8    provided under this subsection O, including but  not  limited
 9    to  liability  with  regard  to  the  accuracy  or use of the
10    information. Any fees  received  by  the  Department  from  a
11    consumer  reporting  agency pursuant to this subsection shall
12    be deposited in the Title III Social Security and  Employment
13    Fund.
14        P.  Within  30  days  after  the  effective  date of this
15    amendatory  Act  of  1993  and   annually   thereafter,   the
16    Department  shall  provide  to  the  Department  of Financial
17    Institutions a list of individuals or entities that, for  the
18    most   recently   completed  calendar  year,  report  to  the
19    Department as paying wages to workers.  The  lists  shall  be
20    deemed  confidential  and  may  not be disclosed to any other
21    person.
22        Q.  The Director  shall  make  available  to  an  elected
23    federal  official  the  name  and address of an individual or
24    entity that is located within the jurisdiction from which the
25    official  was  elected  and  that,  for  the  most   recently
26    completed  calendar  year,  has reported to the Department as
27    paying wages to workers, where the information will  be  used
28    in  connection  with  the official duties of the official and
29    the official requests the information in writing,  specifying
30    the  purposes for which it will be used. For purposes of this
31    subsection, the use of information  in  connection  with  the
32    official  duties  of  an official does not include use of the
33    information  in   connection   with   the   solicitation   of
34    contributions  or expenditures, in money or in kind, to or on
 
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 1    behalf of a candidate for public or  political  office  or  a
 2    political  party  or  with  respect  to a public question, as
 3    defined in Section 1-3 of the Election Code, or in connection
 4    with  any  commercial  solicitation.   Any  elected   federal
 5    official who, in submitting a request for information covered
 6    by  this  subsection,  knowingly  makes  a false statement or
 7    fails to disclose a material fact, with the intent to  obtain
 8    the   information  for  a  purpose  not  authorized  by  this
 9    subsection, shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
10        R.  The Director may provide to any State or local  child
11    support  agency,  upon  request  and on a reimbursable basis,
12    information that might be useful in locating an absent parent
13    or  that  parent's  employer,  establishing   paternity,   or
14    establishing, modifying, or enforcing child support orders.
15    (Source:  P.A.  90-425,  eff.  8-15-97; 90-488, eff. 8-17-97;
16    90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 91-342, eff. 1-1-00.)