State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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[ Engrossed ][ House Amendment 001 ]


92_HB4211

 
                                               LRB9212208WHcs

 1        AN ACT concerning disclosure of information.

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

 4        Section 5.  The Illinois Public Aid Code  is  amended  by
 5    changing Section 11-9 as follows:

 6        (305 ILCS 5/11-9) (from Ch. 23, par. 11-9)
 7        Sec.  11-9.  Protection  of records - Exceptions. For the
 8    protection  of  applicants  and  recipients,   the   Illinois
 9    Department,  the  county  departments  and local governmental
10    units  and  their  respective  officers  and  employees   are
11    prohibited,  except  as hereinafter provided, from disclosing
12    the   contents   of   any   records,   files,   papers    and
13    communications,  except  for purposes directly connected with
14    the administration of public aid under this Code.
15        In any judicial proceeding, except a proceeding  directly
16    concerned with the administration of programs provided for in
17    this  Code,  such  records, files, papers and communications,
18    and their contents shall be deemed privileged  communications
19    and  shall  be  disclosed  only  upon the order of the court,
20    where the court finds such to be necessary in the interest of
21    justice.
22        The  Illinois  Department  shall  establish  and  enforce
23    reasonable rules and regulations governing the  custody,  use
24    and   preservation   of   the  records,  papers,  files,  and
25    communications  of  the  Illinois  Department,   the   county
26    departments  and  local governmental units receiving State or
27    Federal funds or aid.  The  governing  body  of  other  local
28    governmental units shall in like manner establish and enforce
29    rules and regulations governing the same matters.
30        The contents of case files pertaining to recipients under
31    Articles  IV,  V,  and  VI  shall  be  made available without
 
                            -2-                LRB9212208WHcs
 1    subpoena or formal notice to the officers of  any  court,  to
 2    all  law  enforcing  agencies,  and  to such other persons or
 3    agencies as from time to time may be authorized by any court.
 4    In particular, the contents of those case files shall be made
 5    available upon request to a law enforcement  agency  for  the
 6    purpose  of  determining  the  current address of a recipient
 7    with respect to whom an arrest warrant  is  outstanding,  and
 8    the contents of those case files shall be made available upon
 9    request  to  a  law  enforcement  agency  for  the purpose of
10    determining the current address of a victim of a crime  or  a
11    witness  to  a  crime. Information shall also be disclosed to
12    the Illinois State  Scholarship  Commission  pursuant  to  an
13    investigation  or  audit  by  the  Illinois State Scholarship
14    Commission of a delinquent student loan or monetary award.
15        This Section does not prevent the Illinois Department and
16    local governmental units from reporting  to  appropriate  law
17    enforcement  officials  the  desertion  or  abandonment  by a
18    parent of a child, as a result of  which  financial  aid  has
19    been  necessitated  under Articles IV, V, or VI, or reporting
20    to appropriate law enforcement officials instances in which a
21    mother under age 18 has a child out  of  wedlock  and  is  an
22    applicant  for  or recipient of aid under any Article of this
23    Code. The Illinois Department may provide  by  rule  for  the
24    county  departments  and local governmental units to initiate
25    proceedings under the Juvenile Court  Act  of  1987  to  have
26    children  declared to be neglected when they deem such action
27    necessary to protect the  children  from  immoral  influences
28    present in their home or surroundings.
29        This  Section  does not preclude the full exercise of the
30    powers of the Board of Public Aid  Commissioners  to  inspect
31    records  and  documents,  as provided for all advisory boards
32    pursuant  to  Section  5-505  of  the  Departments  of  State
33    Government Law (20 ILCS 5/5-505).
34        This Section does not preclude exchanges  of  information
 
                            -3-                LRB9212208WHcs
 1    among  the  Illinois Department of Public Aid, the Department
 2    of Human Services (as successor to the Department  of  Public
 3    Aid),  and the Illinois Department of Revenue for the purpose
 4    of verifying sources and amounts  of  income  and  for  other
 5    purposes  directly  connected with the administration of this
 6    Code and of the Illinois Income Tax Act.
 7        The provisions of this Section and of  Section  11-11  as
 8    they  apply  to applicants and recipients of public aid under
 9    Article V shall be operative only to the extent that they  do
10    not  conflict  with  any  Federal law or regulation governing
11    Federal grants to this State for such programs.
12        The Illinois Department of Public Aid and the  Department
13    of Human Services (as successor to the Illinois Department of
14    Public  Aid)  shall enter into an inter-agency agreement with
15    the Department of Children and Family Services to establish a
16    procedure by which employees of the  Department  of  Children
17    and  Family  Services  may  have immediate access to records,
18    files, papers, and communications (except medical, alcohol or
19    drug assessment or treatment, mental  health,  or  any  other
20    medical   records)   of   the   Illinois  Department,  county
21    departments, and local governmental units receiving State  or
22    federal  funds  or  aid,  if  the  Department of Children and
23    Family Services determines the information  is  necessary  to
24    perform  its  duties  under  the  Abused  and Neglected Child
25    Reporting Act, the Child Care Act of 1969, and  the  Children
26    and Family Services Act.
27    (Source: P.A. 91-239, eff. 1-1-00; 92-111, eff. 1-1-02.)

28        Section 10.  The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by
29    changing Section 1900 as follows:

30        (820 ILCS 405/1900) (from Ch. 48, par. 640)
31        Sec. 1900.  Disclosure of information.
32        A.  Except  as  provided  in  this  Section,  information
 
                            -4-                LRB9212208WHcs
 1    obtained  from  any  individual  or employing unit during the
 2    administration of this Act shall:
 3             1.  be confidential,
 4             2.  not be published or open to public inspection,
 5             3.  not be used in any court in any  pending  action
 6        or proceeding,
 7             4.  not  be  admissible in evidence in any action or
 8        proceeding other than one arising out of this Act.
 9        B.  No finding, determination, decision, ruling or  order
10    (including  any finding of fact, statement or conclusion made
11    therein) issued pursuant to this Act shall be  admissible  or
12    used  in evidence in any action other than one arising out of
13    this Act, nor shall it be binding  or  conclusive  except  as
14    provided  in  this Act, nor shall it constitute res judicata,
15    regardless of whether the actions were between  the  same  or
16    related parties or involved the same facts.
17        C.  Any officer or employee of this State, any officer or
18    employee  of  any  entity  authorized  to  obtain information
19    pursuant to this Section, and any agent of this State  or  of
20    such  entity who, except with authority of the Director under
21    this Section, shall disclose information shall be guilty of a
22    Class B misdemeanor and shall be  disqualified  from  holding
23    any appointment or employment by the State.
24        D.  An  individual  or  his  duly authorized agent may be
25    supplied with information from records  only  to  the  extent
26    necessary  for  the  proper  presentation  of  his  claim for
27    benefits or  with  his  existing  or  prospective  rights  to
28    benefits.   Discretion  to  disclose this information belongs
29    solely to the Director and is not subject  to  a  release  or
30    waiver by the individual. Notwithstanding any other provision
31    to  the contrary, an individual or his or her duly authorized
32    agent may be supplied with  a  statement  of  the  amount  of
33    benefits   paid  to  the  individual  during  the  18  months
34    preceding the date of his or her request.
 
                            -5-                LRB9212208WHcs
 1        E.  An employing unit may be furnished with  information,
 2    only  if  deemed by the Director as necessary to enable it to
 3    fully discharge its obligations or safeguard its rights under
 4    the Act.  Discretion to  disclose  this  information  belongs
 5    solely  to  the  Director  and is not subject to a release or
 6    waiver by the employing unit.
 7        F.  The Director may furnish any information that he  may
 8    deem proper to any public officer or public agency of this or
 9    any other State or of the federal government dealing with:
10             1.  the administration of relief,
11             2.  public assistance,
12             3.  unemployment compensation,
13             4.  a system of public employment offices,
14             5.  wages and hours of employment, or
15             6.  a public works program.
16        The   Director   may   make  available  to  the  Illinois
17    Industrial Commission information regarding employers for the
18    purpose of verifying the insurance  coverage  required  under
19    the  Workers'  Compensation  Act  and  Workers'  Occupational
20    Diseases Act.
21        G.  The  Director  may  disclose information submitted by
22    the State or any of  its  political  subdivisions,  municipal
23    corporations,   instrumentalities,  or  school  or  community
24    college districts, except for information which  specifically
25    identifies an individual claimant.
26        H.  The  Director  shall  disclose  only that information
27    required to be disclosed under  Section  303  of  the  Social
28    Security Act, as amended, including:
29             1.  any  information required to be given the United
30        States Department of Labor under Section 303(a)(6); and
31             2.  the making available upon request to any  agency
32        of  the  United States charged with the administration of
33        public works or assistance through public employment, the
34        name, address, ordinary occupation and employment  status
 
                            -6-                LRB9212208WHcs
 1        of  each  recipient  of  unemployment compensation, and a
 2        statement  of   such   recipient's   right   to   further
 3        compensation  under  such  law  as  required  by  Section
 4        303(a)(7); and
 5             3.  records   to  make  available  to  the  Railroad
 6        Retirement Board as required by Section 303(c)(1); and
 7             4.  information   that   will   assure    reasonable
 8        cooperation  with  every  agency  of  the  United  States
 9        charged  with  the  administration  of  any  unemployment
10        compensation law as required by Section 303(c)(2); and
11             5.  information  upon  request and on a reimbursable
12        basis to the United States Department of Agriculture  and
13        to any State food stamp agency concerning any information
14        required to be furnished by Section 303(d); and
15             6.  any  wage  information  upon  request  and  on a
16        reimbursable basis to any State or  local  child  support
17        enforcement agency required by Section 303(e); and
18             7.  any   information   required  under  the  income
19        eligibility  and  verification  system  as  required   by
20        Section 303(f); and
21             8.  information  that might be useful in locating an
22        absent parent or  that  parent's  employer,  establishing
23        paternity  or establishing, modifying, or enforcing child
24        support  orders  for  the  purpose  of  a  child  support
25        enforcement program under Title IV of the Social Security
26        Act upon the request of and on a  reimbursable  basis  to
27        the   public  agency  administering  the  Federal  Parent
28        Locator Service as required by Section 303(h); and
29             9.  information, upon request, to representatives of
30        any federal, State or local governmental  public  housing
31        agency  with  respect  to individuals who have signed the
32        appropriate consent form approved  by  the  Secretary  of
33        Housing and Urban Development and who are applying for or
34        participating   in   any   housing   assistance   program
 
                            -7-                LRB9212208WHcs
 1        administered  by  the United States Department of Housing
 2        and Urban Development as required by Section 303(i).
 3        I.  The Director, upon the request of a public agency  of
 4    Illinois,  of  the  federal  government or of any other state
 5    charged with the investigation or enforcement of Section 10-5
 6    of the Criminal Code of 1961 (or a  similar  federal  law  or
 7    similar  law of another State), may furnish the public agency
 8    information regarding the individual specified in the request
 9    as to:
10             1.  the current or most recent home address  of  the
11        individual, and
12             2.  the  names  and  addresses  of  the individual's
13        employers.
14        J.  Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to  interfere
15    with  the  disclosure  of  certain records as provided for in
16    Section 1706 or with the  right  to  make  available  to  the
17    Internal  Revenue  Service of the United States Department of
18    the Treasury, or the Department of Revenue of  the  State  of
19    Illinois, information obtained under this Act.
20        K.  The  Department  shall make available to the Illinois
21    Student Assistance Commission, upon request,  information  in
22    the  possession  of  the  Department that may be necessary or
23    useful to the Commission in the collection  of  defaulted  or
24    delinquent student loans which the Commission administers.
25        L.  The  Department  shall  make  available  to the State
26    Employees'  Retirement   System,   the   State   Universities
27    Retirement System, and the Teachers' Retirement System of the
28    State   of   Illinois,   upon  request,  information  in  the
29    possession of the Department that may be necessary or  useful
30    to  the  System  for  the  purpose of determining whether any
31    recipient  of  a  disability  benefit  from  the  System   is
32    gainfully employed.
33        M.  This  Section  shall be applicable to the information
34    obtained  in  the  administration  of  the  State  employment
 
                            -8-                LRB9212208WHcs
 1    service, except that the  Director  may  publish  or  release
 2    general  labor market information and may furnish information
 3    that he may deem proper to an individual, public  officer  or
 4    public  agency  of  this  or  any  other State or the federal
 5    government (in addition to those public  officers  or  public
 6    agencies specified in this Section) as he prescribes by Rule.
 7        N.  The  Director may require such safeguards as he deems
 8    proper to insure that information disclosed pursuant to  this
 9    Section  is  used  only  for  the  purposes set forth in this
10    Section.
11        O.  (Blank).
12        P.  Within 30 days  after  the  effective  date  of  this
13    amendatory   Act   of   1993  and  annually  thereafter,  the
14    Department shall  provide  to  the  Department  of  Financial
15    Institutions  a list of individuals or entities that, for the
16    most  recently  completed  calendar  year,  report   to   the
17    Department  as  paying  wages to workers.  The lists shall be
18    deemed confidential and may not be  disclosed  to  any  other
19    person.
20        Q.  The  Director  shall  make  available  to  an elected
21    federal official the name and address  of  an  individual  or
22    entity that is located within the jurisdiction from which the
23    official   was  elected  and  that,  for  the  most  recently
24    completed calendar year, has reported to  the  Department  as
25    paying  wages  to workers, where the information will be used
26    in connection with the official duties of  the  official  and
27    the  official requests the information in writing, specifying
28    the purposes for which it will be used. For purposes of  this
29    subsection,  the  use  of  information in connection with the
30    official duties of an official does not include  use  of  the
31    information   in   connection   with   the   solicitation  of
32    contributions or expenditures, in money or in kind, to or  on
33    behalf  of  a  candidate  for public or political office or a
34    political party or with respect  to  a  public  question,  as
 
                            -9-                LRB9212208WHcs
 1    defined in Section 1-3 of the Election Code, or in connection
 2    with   any  commercial  solicitation.   Any  elected  federal
 3    official who, in submitting a request for information covered
 4    by this subsection, knowingly  makes  a  false  statement  or
 5    fails  to disclose a material fact, with the intent to obtain
 6    the  information  for  a  purpose  not  authorized  by   this
 7    subsection, shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
 8        R.  The  Director may provide to any State or local child
 9    support agency, upon request and  on  a  reimbursable  basis,
10    information that might be useful in locating an absent parent
11    or   that   parent's  employer,  establishing  paternity,  or
12    establishing, modifying, or enforcing child support orders.
13        S. The Department  shall  make  available  to  a  State's
14    Attorney  of this State or a State's Attorney's investigator,
15    upon request, information in the possession of the Department
16    that may be necessary or useful in locating a crime victim or
17    a witness or a fugitive from justice.
18    (Source: P.A. 90-425, eff.  8-15-97;  90-488,  eff.  8-17-97;
19    90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 91-342, eff. 1-1-00.)

20        Section  99.   Effective  date.   This  Act  takes effect
21    January 1, 2003.

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