Public Act 90-0488 of the 90th General Assembly
Public Act 90-0488
SB763 Enrolled LRB9001075THpk
AN ACT relating to student financial assistance.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act
is amended by adding Section 38 as follows:
(110 ILCS 947/38 new)
Sec. 38. Monetary award program accountability. The
Illinois Student Assistance Commission is directed to assess
the educational persistence of monetary award program
recipients. An assessment under this Section shall include
an analysis of such factors as undergraduate educational
goals, chosen field of study, retention rates, and expected
time to complete a degree. The assessment also shall include
an analysis of the academic success of monetary award program
recipients through a review of measures that are typically
associated with academic success, such as grade point
average, satisfactory academic progress, and credit hours
earned. Each analysis should take into consideration student
class level, dependency types, and the type of higher
education institution at which each monetary award program
recipient is enrolled. The Commission shall report its
findings to the General Assembly and the Board of Higher
Education by February 1, 1999 and at least every 2 years
thereafter.
Section 10. The Real Estate License Act of 1983 is
amended by adding Sections 18.4 and 36.11a as follows:
(225 ILCS 455/18.4 new)
Sec. 18.4. Disciplinary action for educational loan
defaults. The Commissioner of Banks and Real Estate shall
deny a license or renewal authorized by this Article to a
person who has defaulted on an educational loan or
scholarship provided or guaranteed by the Illinois Student
Assistance Commission or any governmental agency of this
State; however, the Commissioner may issue a license or
renewal if the person has established a satisfactory
repayment record as determined by the Illinois Student
Assistance Commission or other appropriate governmental
agency of this State. Additionally, a license issued by the
Commissioner may be suspended or revoked if the Commissioner,
after the opportunity for a hearing under this Article, finds
that the licensee has failed to make satisfactory repayment
to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for a
delinquent or defaulted loan. For the purposes of this
Section, "satisfactory repayment record" shall be defined by
rule.
(225 ILCS 455/36.11a new)
Sec. 36.11a. Disciplinary action for educational loan
defaults. The Commissioner of Banks and Real Estate shall
deny issuance of a certificate, license, or renewal
authorized by this Article to a person who has defaulted on
an educational loan or scholarship provided or guaranteed by
the Illinois Student Assistance Commission or any
governmental agency of this State; however, the Commissioner
may issue a certificate, license, or renewal if the person
has established a satisfactory repayment record as determined
by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission or other
appropriate governmental agency of this State. Additionally,
a certificate or license issued by the Commissioner may be
suspended or revoked if the Commissioner, after the
opportunity for a hearing under this Article, finds that the
certificate holder or licensee has failed to make
satisfactory repayment to the Illinois Student Assistance
Commission for a delinquent or defaulted loan. For the
purposes of this Section, "satisfactory repayment record"
shall be defined by rule.
Section 15. The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by
changing Section 1900 as follows:
(820 ILCS 405/1900) (from Ch. 48, par. 640)
Sec. 1900. Disclosure of information.
A. Except as provided in this Section, information
obtained from any individual or employing unit during the
administration of this Act shall:
1. be confidential,
2. not be published or open to public inspection,
3. not be used in any court in any pending action
or proceeding,
4. not be admissible in evidence in any action or
proceeding other than one arising out of this Act.
B. No finding, determination, decision, ruling or order
(including any finding of fact, statement or conclusion made
therein) issued pursuant to this Act shall be admissible or
used in evidence in any action other than one arising out of
this Act, nor shall it be binding or conclusive except as
provided in this Act, nor shall it constitute res judicata,
regardless of whether the actions were between the same or
related parties or involved the same facts.
C. Any officer or employee of this State who, except
with authority of the Director under this Section, shall
disclose information shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor
and shall be disqualified from holding any appointment or
employment by the State.
D. An individual or his duly authorized agent may be
supplied with information from records only to the extent
necessary for the proper presentation of his claim for
benefits or with his existing or prospective rights to
benefits. Discretion to disclose this information belongs
solely to the Director and is not subject to a release or
waiver by the individual.
E. An employing unit may be furnished with information,
only if deemed by the Director as necessary to enable it to
fully discharge its obligations or safeguard its rights under
the Act. Discretion to disclose this information belongs
solely to the Director and is not subject to a release or
waiver by the employing unit.
F. The Director may furnish any information that he may
deem proper to any public officer or public agency of this or
any other State or of the federal government dealing with:
1. the administration of relief,
2. public assistance,
3. unemployment compensation,
4. a system of public employment offices,
5. wages and hours of employment, or
6. a public works program.
The Director may make available to the Illinois
Industrial Commission information regarding employers for the
purpose of verifying the insurance coverage required under
the Workers' Compensation Act and Workers' Occupational
Diseases Act.
G. The Director may disclose information submitted by
the State or any of its political subdivisions, municipal
corporations, instrumentalities, or school or community
college districts, except for information which specifically
identifies an individual claimant.
H. The Director shall disclose only that information
required to be disclosed under Section 303 of the Social
Security Act, as amended, including:
1. any information required to be given the United
States Department of Labor under Section 303(a)(6); and
2. the making available upon request to any agency
of the United States charged with the administration of
public works or assistance through public employment, the
name, address, ordinary occupation and employment status
of each recipient of unemployment compensation, and a
statement of such recipient's right to further
compensation under such law as required by Section
303(a)(7); and
3. records to make available to the Railroad
Retirement Board as required by Section 303(c)(1); and
4. information that will assure reasonable
cooperation with every agency of the United States
charged with the administration of any unemployment
compensation law as required by Section 303(c)(2); and
5. information upon request and on a reimbursable
basis to the United States Department of Agriculture and
to any State food stamp agency concerning any information
required to be furnished by Section 303(d); and
6. any wage information upon request and on a
reimbursable basis to any State or local child support
enforcement agency required by Section 303(e); and
7. any information required under the income
eligibility and verification system as required by
Section 303(f); and
8. information that might be useful in locating an
absent parent or that parent's employer for the purpose
of a child support enforcement program under Title IV of
the Social Security Act upon the request of the public
agency administering the Federal Parent Locator Service
as required by Section 303(h); and
9. information, upon request, to representatives of
any federal, State or local governmental public housing
agency with respect to individuals who have signed the
appropriate consent form approved by the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development and who are applying for or
participating in any housing assistance program
administered by the United States Department of Housing
and Urban Development as required by Section 303(i).
I. The Director, upon the request of a public agency of
Illinois, of the federal government or of any other state
charged with the investigation or enforcement of Section 10-5
of the Criminal Code of 1961 (or a similar federal law or
similar law of another State), may furnish the public agency
information regarding the individual specified in the request
as to:
1. the current or most recent home address of the
individual, and
2. the names and addresses of the individual's
employers.
J. Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere
with the disclosure of certain records as provided for in
Section 1706 or with the right to make available to the
Internal Revenue Service of the United States Department of
the Treasury, or the Department of Revenue of the State of
Illinois, information obtained under this Act.
K. The Department shall make available to the Illinois
Student Assistance State Scholarship Commission, upon
request, information in the possession of the Department that
it may be necessary or useful to the Commission in the
collection of defaulted or delinquent student loans which the
Commission administers, information limited to the names and
addresses of a borrower's employers.
L. The Department shall make available to the State
Employees' Retirement System, the State Universities
Retirement System, and the Teachers' Retirement System of the
State of Illinois, upon request, information in the
possession of the Department that may be necessary or useful
to the System for the purpose of determining whether any
recipient of a disability benefit from the System is
gainfully employed.
M. This Section shall be applicable to the information
obtained in the administration of the State employment
service, except that the Director may publish or release
general labor market information and may furnish information
that he may deem proper to an individual, public officer or
public agency of this or any other State or the federal
government (in addition to those public officers or public
agencies specified in this Section) as he prescribes by Rule.
N. The Director may require such safeguards as he deems
proper to insure that information disclosed pursuant to this
Section is used only for the purposes set forth in this
Section.
O. (Blank).
P. Within 30 days after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1993 and annually thereafter, the
Department shall provide to the Department of Financial
Institutions a list of individuals or entities that, for the
most recently completed calendar year, report to the
Department as paying wages to workers. The lists shall be
deemed confidential and may not be disclosed to any other
person.
Q. The Director shall make available to an elected
federal official the name and address of an individual or
entity that is located within the jurisdiction from which the
official was elected and that, for the most recently
completed calendar year, has reported to the Department as
paying wages to workers, where the information will be used
in connection with the official duties of the official and
the official requests the information in writing, specifying
the purposes for which it will be used. For purposes of this
subsection, the use of information in connection with the
official duties of an official does not include use of the
information in connection with the solicitation of
contributions or expenditures, in money or in kind, to or on
behalf of a candidate for public or political office or a
political party or with respect to a public question, as
defined in Section 1-3 of the Election Code, or in connection
with any commercial solicitation. Any elected federal
official who, in submitting a request for information covered
by this subsection, knowingly makes a false statement or
fails to disclose a material fact, with the intent to obtain
the information for a purpose not authorized by this
subsection, shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
(Source: P.A. 88-435; 89-446, eff. 2-8-96; 89-493, eff.
1-1-97.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.