Full Text of HB0296 95th General Assembly
HB0296ham002 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Consumer Protection Committee
Filed: 3/13/2007
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LRB095 04245 LCT 33031 a |
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| AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 296
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 296, AS AMENDED, by | 3 |
| replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | 4 |
| following:
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| "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 6 |
| Retail Consumer Protection Act. | 7 |
| Section 5. Purpose. The General Assembly finds that there | 8 |
| is a proliferation of computerized pricing systems in retail | 9 |
| stores. The General Assembly further finds that some retail | 10 |
| customers are being overcharged due to inadequate management | 11 |
| oversight, computer errors, and other problems. The General | 12 |
| Assembly further finds that there are insufficient penalties | 13 |
| and remedies available to customers who are victims of | 14 |
| overcharging. | 15 |
| Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: |
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| "Department" means the Department of Agriculture. | 2 |
| "Director" means the Director of Agriculture. | 3 |
| "Person" means both the singular and plural, as the case | 4 |
| demands, and includes individuals, partnerships, corporations, | 5 |
| companies, societies, and associations. | 6 |
| "Retail commerce" means a retail sale of a commodity in a | 7 |
| facility with more than 10,000 square feet, but does
not | 8 |
| include wholesale, business-to-business, or barter and | 9 |
| exchange transactions. | 10 |
| "Overcharging" means the demand for a payment that is in | 11 |
| excess of the lowest advertised or displayed price for that | 12 |
| commodity. | 13 |
| "Payment station" means each location where a person pays | 14 |
| for a retail purchase. | 15 |
| "Sealer" has the same meaning as defined in Section 2 of | 16 |
| the Weights and Measures Act. | 17 |
| Section 15. Business practices against overcharging.
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| (a) All businesses engaged in retail commerce shall have at | 19 |
| least one designated employee who has the responsibility for | 20 |
| ensuring the accuracy of all posted and advertised prices and | 21 |
| for resolving any customer complaints related to the accuracy | 22 |
| of prices. | 23 |
| (b) The person designated in subsection (a) of this Section | 24 |
| shall keep a written record of any customer complaints received | 25 |
| concerning any overcharging or other acts of consumer fraud and |
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| shall make those records available to investigators of the | 2 |
| Department of Agriculture Bureau of Weights and Measures upon | 3 |
| request. | 4 |
| (c) Any person engaged in retail commerce that is alerted | 5 |
| by a customer of an overcharging shall report to the person | 6 |
| designated under subsection (a) of this Section, who shall | 7 |
| investigate the alleged error. If the customer was charged more | 8 |
| than the advertised or posted price, and the value of the item | 9 |
| in question was less than $3, the customer shall be given the | 10 |
| item for free. If the value of the item in question was $3 or | 11 |
| more, the customer shall be sold the item at the correct price | 12 |
| and $3 shall be deducted from the price charged. The person | 13 |
| designated under subsection (a) of this Section shall further | 14 |
| ensure that the correct price is posted and programmed into all | 15 |
| payment systems within a reasonable time. | 16 |
| Section 20. Overcharging oversight.
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| (a) The Department shall maintain a hotline staffed during | 18 |
| normal business hours to receive customer complaints and | 19 |
| compliments about retail overcharging and undercharging. Any | 20 |
| person engaged in retail commerce in the State of Illinois | 21 |
| shall post the Department's hotline phone number on a sticker | 22 |
| or sign at each payment station or shall print the number on | 23 |
| any receipt given to a customer. If the hotline number is | 24 |
| displayed on a sticker or sign, it must be written in at least | 25 |
| 12-point font and be conspicuously posted so that it can be |
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| plainly viewed by a customer at the time of payment. | 2 |
| (b) The Director shall provide an annual written report to | 3 |
| the Attorney General and the Governor describing the activities | 4 |
| of himself or herself and any city sealers to implement this | 5 |
| Act, and any substitute local ordinances. The report shall be | 6 |
| delivered and also posted on the Department's website no later | 7 |
| than July 10 of each year. All persons engaged in retail | 8 |
| commerce within this State and all city sealers shall provide | 9 |
| any necessary records for the compilation of this report. | 10 |
| (c) The Director shall adopt regulations to implement this | 11 |
| Act that shall be based upon commonly accepted national | 12 |
| standards such as those issued by the National Institute of | 13 |
| Standards and Technology. | 14 |
| Section 25. Penalties. In addition to any other remedies | 15 |
| available under the Weights and Measures Act, the Department | 16 |
| may assess penalties for overcharging up to $500 per violation | 17 |
| for the 6th and each subsequent violation within a 12-month | 18 |
| period.
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| Section 30. Local implementation. Cities that have sealers | 20 |
| of weights and measures appointed pursuant to Section 17 of the | 21 |
| Weights and Measures Act may opt by majority vote of the city | 22 |
| council to adopt the provisions of this Act or to substitute | 23 |
| local ordinances for those in this Act.
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| Section 300. The Weights and Measures Act is amended by | 2 |
| changing Section 19 as follows:
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| (225 ILCS 470/19) (from Ch. 147, par. 119)
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| Sec. 19. The sealer of a city, and each of his deputy | 5 |
| sealers when acting
under his instructions and at his | 6 |
| direction, has the same powers and duties
within the city for | 7 |
| which appointed as are conferred upon the director by
Sections | 8 |
| 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 56 of this Act and those powers and | 9 |
| duties conferred under Sections 20 and 30 of the Retail | 10 |
| Consumer Protection Act . With respect to
Section 10, in cities | 11 |
| of less than 200,000 population, the powers and
duties shall be | 12 |
| strictly limited to weighing and measuring devices used in
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| retail trade including, for example, weighing scales of a | 14 |
| nominal capacity
not greater than 400 pounds, retail | 15 |
| liquid-measuring devices, taximeters,
odometers, | 16 |
| fabric-measuring devices and cordage-measuring devices.
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| The city inspector of weights and measures shall keep a | 18 |
| complete record
of all his official acts and shall submit an | 19 |
| annual report to the council
of the city, and an annual report | 20 |
| (on July 1) under oath to the Director of
Agriculture on blanks | 21 |
| furnished by him, and any special reports that the
Director of | 22 |
| Agriculture may request.
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| (Source: Laws 1963, p. 3433.)".
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