HB1589enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1589 Enrolled LRB094 09848 RSP 40104 b

AN ACT in relation to State government.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(5) the number of people calling a State agency and not getting the assistance or services that they are entitled to because the State agency does not have a live operator answering incoming phone calls grows by the day.

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

Section 15. Automated telephone answering equipment. A State agency that uses automated telephone answering equipment to answer incoming telephone calls must, during the normal business hours of the agency, provide the caller with the option of speaking to a live operator. This Section does not apply to field offices, telephone lines dedicated as hot lines for emergency services, telephone lines dedicated to providing general information, and any system that is designed to permit an individual to conduct a complete transaction with the State agency over the telephone solely by pressing one or more touch tone telephone keys in response to automated prompts.

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