Full Text of HB2829 103rd General Assembly
HB2829enr 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning human rights.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Illinois Human Rights Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Sections 8-101 and 8-102 as follows:
| 6 | | (775 ILCS 5/8-101) (from Ch. 68, par. 8-101)
| 7 | | Sec. 8-101. Illinois Human Rights Commission.
| 8 | | (A) Creation; appointments. The Human Rights Commission is | 9 | | created to consist
of 7 members appointed by the Governor with | 10 | | the advice and consent of the
Senate. No more than 4 members | 11 | | shall be of the same political party. The
Governor shall | 12 | | designate one member as chairperson. All appointments shall
be | 13 | | in writing and filed with the Secretary of State as a public | 14 | | record.
| 15 | | (B) Terms. Of the members first appointed, 4 shall be | 16 | | appointed for a
term to expire on the third Monday of January, | 17 | | 2021, and 3 (including the
Chairperson) shall be appointed for | 18 | | a term to expire on the third Monday
of January, 2023.
| 19 | | Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the | 20 | | contrary, the term
of office of each member of the Illinois | 21 | | Human Rights Commission is
abolished on January 19, 2019. | 22 | | Incumbent members holding a position on the Commission that | 23 | | was created by Public Act 84-115 and whose terms, if not for |
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| 1 | | this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, would have | 2 | | expired January 18, 2021 shall continue to exercise all of the | 3 | | powers and be
subject to all of the duties of members of the | 4 | | Commission until June 30, 2019 or until
their respective | 5 | | successors are appointed and qualified, whichever is earlier.
| 6 | | Thereafter, each member shall serve for a term of 4 years
| 7 | | and until the member's his or her successor is appointed and | 8 | | qualified; except that any
member chosen to fill a vacancy | 9 | | occurring otherwise than by expiration of
a term shall be | 10 | | appointed only for the unexpired term of the member whom the | 11 | | member
he or she shall succeed and until the member's his or | 12 | | her successor is appointed and
qualified.
| 13 | | (C) Vacancies. | 14 | | (1) In the case of vacancies on the Commission during
| 15 | | a recess of the Senate, the Governor shall make a | 16 | | temporary appointment
until the next meeting of the Senate | 17 | | when the Governor he or she shall appoint a person
to fill | 18 | | the vacancy. Any person so nominated and confirmed by the | 19 | | Senate
shall hold office for the remainder of the term and | 20 | | until the person's his or her successor
is appointed and | 21 | | qualified.
| 22 | | (2) If the Senate is not in session at the time this | 23 | | Act takes effect,
the Governor shall make temporary | 24 | | appointments to the Commission as in the
case of | 25 | | vacancies.
| 26 | | (3) Vacancies in the Commission shall not impair the |
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| 1 | | right of the remaining
members to exercise all the powers | 2 | | of the Commission. Except when authorized
by this Act to | 3 | | proceed through a 3 member panel, a majority of the | 4 | | members
of the Commission then in office shall constitute | 5 | | a quorum.
| 6 | | (D) Compensation. On and after January 19, 2019, the | 7 | | Chairperson of the Commission shall be compensated
at the rate | 8 | | of $125,000 per year, or as set by the Compensation Review
| 9 | | Board, whichever is greater, during the Chairperson's his or | 10 | | her service as Chairperson,
and each other member shall be | 11 | | compensated at the rate of $119,000 per
year, or as set by the | 12 | | Compensation Review Board, whichever is greater.
In addition, | 13 | | all members of the Commission shall be reimbursed for expenses
| 14 | | actually and necessarily incurred by them
in the performance | 15 | | of their duties.
| 16 | | (E) Notwithstanding the general supervisory authority of | 17 | | the Chairperson, each commissioner, unless appointed to the | 18 | | special temporary panel created under subsection (H), has the | 19 | | authority to hire and supervise a staff attorney. The staff | 20 | | attorney shall report directly to the individual commissioner. | 21 | | (F) A formal training program for newly appointed | 22 | | commissioners shall be implemented. The training program shall | 23 | | include the following: | 24 | | (1) substantive and procedural aspects of the office | 25 | | of commissioner; | 26 | | (2) current issues in employment and housing |
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| 1 | | discrimination and public accommodation law and practice; | 2 | | (3) orientation to each operational unit of the
Human | 3 | | Rights Commission; | 4 | | (4) observation of experienced hearing officers and | 5 | | commissioners conducting hearings of cases, combined with | 6 | | the opportunity to discuss evidence presented and rulings | 7 | | made; | 8 | | (5) the use of hypothetical cases requiring the
newly | 9 | | appointed commissioner to issue judgments as a means of | 10 | | evaluating knowledge and writing ability; | 11 | | (6) writing skills; and | 12 | | (7) professional and ethical standards. | 13 | | A formal and ongoing professional development program | 14 | | including, but not limited to, the above-noted areas shall be | 15 | | implemented to keep commissioners informed of recent | 16 | | developments and issues and to assist them in maintaining and | 17 | | enhancing their professional competence. Each commissioner | 18 | | shall complete 20 hours of training in the above-noted areas | 19 | | during every 2 years the commissioner remains in office. | 20 | | (G) Commissioners must meet one of the following | 21 | | qualifications: | 22 | | (1) licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois; | 23 | | (2) at least 3 years of experience as a hearing | 24 | | officer at the Human Rights Commission; or | 25 | | (3) at least 4 years of professional experience | 26 | | working for or dealing with individuals or corporations |
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| 1 | | affected by this Act or similar laws in other | 2 | | jurisdictions, including, but not limited to, experience | 3 | | with a civil rights advocacy group, a fair housing group, | 4 | | a trade association, a union, a law firm, a legal aid | 5 | | organization, an employer's human resources department, an | 6 | | employment discrimination consulting firm, or a municipal | 7 | | human relations agency. | 8 | | The Governor's appointment message, filed with the | 9 | | Secretary of State and transmitted to the Senate, shall state | 10 | | specifically how the experience of a nominee for commissioner | 11 | | meets the requirement set forth in this subsection. The | 12 | | Chairperson must have public or private sector management and | 13 | | budget experience, as determined by the Governor. | 14 | | Each commissioner shall devote full time to the | 15 | | commissioner's his or her duties and any commissioner who is | 16 | | an attorney shall not engage in the practice of law, nor shall | 17 | | any commissioner hold any other office or position of profit | 18 | | under the United States or this State or any municipal | 19 | | corporation or political subdivision of this State, nor engage | 20 | | in any other business, employment, or vocation. | 21 | | (H) (Blank). Notwithstanding any other provision of this | 22 | | Act, the Governor shall appoint, by and with the consent of the | 23 | | Senate, a special temporary panel of commissioners comprised | 24 | | of 3 members. The members shall hold office until the | 25 | | Commission, in consultation with the Governor, determines that | 26 | | the caseload of requests for review has been reduced |
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| 1 | | sufficiently to allow cases to proceed in a timely manner, or | 2 | | for a term of 18 months from the date of appointment by the | 3 | | Governor, whichever is earlier. Each of the 3 members shall | 4 | | have only such rights and powers of a commissioner necessary | 5 | | to dispose of the cases assigned to the special panel. Each of | 6 | | the 3 members appointed to the special panel shall receive the | 7 | | same salary as other commissioners for the duration of the | 8 | | panel. The panel shall have the authority to hire and | 9 | | supervise a staff attorney who shall report to the panel of | 10 | | commissioners. | 11 | | (Source: P.A. 100-1066, eff. 8-24-18; 101-530, eff. 1-1-20 .)
| 12 | | (775 ILCS 5/8-102) (from Ch. 68, par. 8-102)
| 13 | | Sec. 8-102. Powers and duties. In addition to the other | 14 | | powers
and duties prescribed in this Act, the Commission shall | 15 | | have the following
powers and duties:
| 16 | | (A) Meetings. To meet and function at any place within | 17 | | the State.
| 18 | | (B) Offices. To establish and maintain offices in | 19 | | Springfield and Chicago.
| 20 | | (C) Employees. To select and fix the compensation of | 21 | | such technical
advisors and employees as it may deem | 22 | | necessary pursuant to the provisions
of the Personnel | 23 | | Code.
| 24 | | (D) Hearing Officers. To select and fix the | 25 | | compensation of hearing
officers who shall be attorneys |
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| 1 | | duly licensed to practice law in this State
and full-time | 2 | | employees of the Commission.
| 3 | | A formal and unbiased training program for hearing | 4 | | officers shall be
implemented. The training program shall | 5 | | include the following:
| 6 | | (1) substantive and procedural aspects of the | 7 | | hearing officer position;
| 8 | | (2) current issues in human rights law and | 9 | | practice;
| 10 | | (3) lectures by specialists in substantive areas | 11 | | related to human rights matters;
| 12 | | (4) orientation to each operational unit of the | 13 | | Department and Commission;
| 14 | | (5) observation of experienced hearing officers | 15 | | conducting hearings of
cases, combined with the | 16 | | opportunity to discuss evidence presented and rulings
| 17 | | made;
| 18 | | (6) the use of hypothetical cases requiring the | 19 | | hearing officer to
issue judgments as a means to | 20 | | evaluating knowledge and writing ability;
| 21 | | (7) writing skills;
| 22 | | (8) computer skills, including, but not limited | 23 | | to, word processing and
document management.
| 24 | | A formal, unbiased and ongoing professional | 25 | | development program
including, but not limited to, the | 26 | | above-noted areas shall be implemented
to keep hearing |
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| 1 | | officers informed of recent developments and issues and to
| 2 | | assist them in maintaining and enhancing their | 3 | | professional competence.
| 4 | | (E) Rules and Regulations. To adopt, promulgate, | 5 | | amend, and rescind rules
and regulations not inconsistent | 6 | | with the provisions of this Act pursuant
to the Illinois | 7 | | Administrative Procedure Act.
| 8 | | (F) Compulsory Process. To issue and authorize | 9 | | requests for enforcement
of subpoenas and other compulsory | 10 | | process established by this Act.
| 11 | | (G) Decisions. Through a panel of 3 members designated | 12 | | by the
Chairperson on a random basis, to hear and decide by | 13 | | majority vote complaints filed in conformity with this Act | 14 | | and to approve
proposed settlements. Decisions by | 15 | | commissioners must be based strictly on neutral | 16 | | interpretations of the law and the facts.
| 17 | | (H) Rehearings. To order, by a vote of 3 members, | 18 | | rehearing of its
decisions by the entire Commission in | 19 | | conformity with this Act.
| 20 | | (I) Judicial Enforcement. To authorize requests for | 21 | | judicial enforcement
of its orders in conformity with this | 22 | | Act.
| 23 | | (J) Opinions. To publish each decision within 180 days | 24 | | of the decision to assure a
consistent source of | 25 | | precedent. Published decisions shall be subject to the | 26 | | Personal Information Protection Act.
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| 1 | | (K) Public Grants; Private Gifts. To accept public | 2 | | grants and private
gifts as may be authorized.
| 3 | | (L) Interpreters. To appoint at the expense of the | 4 | | Commission a qualified
sign language interpreter whenever | 5 | | a hearing impaired individual or an individual who lacks | 6 | | proficiency in the English language person is a party or
| 7 | | witness in proceedings before the Commission at a public | 8 | | hearing .
| 9 | | (M) Automated Processing Plan. To prepare an | 10 | | electronic data processing
and telecommunications plan | 11 | | jointly with the Department in accordance with
Section | 12 | | 7-112.
| 13 | | The provisions of Public Act 89-370 amending subsection | 14 | | (G)
of this Section apply to causes of action filed on or after | 15 | | January 1, 1996.
| 16 | | (Source: P.A. 100-1066, eff. 8-24-18; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
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