Tyler Diers
Director, Legislative Relations
630-400-3439
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January 16, 2019
Good morning Tech Council members! New Year, new state government. Ushering in the tradition of transition, we have many new elected officials to state government of government. Here is a quick rundown on things to keep in mind with the recent change in Illinois government.
First up is Illinois' new Governor, J.B. Pritzker. Sworn in on Monday as Illinois' 43rd Governor, Mr. Pritzker is well-known
among the tech community for his involvement in establishing the tech incubator 1871. It remains unseen what his particular legislative priorities will be for the tech community. The Governor recently sat down with political consultant David Alexrod on his podcast. The two talk tech policy around the 25 minute mark.
Next up is another position that Illinois also swore in a new Attorney General. Former state Senator Kwame Raoul becomes the state's highest legal officer in the state. The attorney general has tremendous sway at the capitol and can advance policy initiatives. Former Attorney General Lisa Madigan was influential in the state's data breach notification law - the law requiring private or governmental entities to notify individuals of security breaches of information involving personally identifiable information. As a Senator, Mr. Raoul introduced legislation that would regulate microphone enabled devices and has also sought to regulate the state's data breach notification law. In his inaugural speech this week, he referenced privacy as a pillar in which his office would focus on.
Governor Pritzker has been busy appointing new agency directors and cabinet positions. While the Department of Innovation and Technology has yet to nominate a new director, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced Erin Guthrie as acting director. DCEO is the code department of the Illinois state government that sponsors statewide economic development.
Erin was a General Manager for Uber's Midwest team, where she focused on marketplace reliability and product innovation, such as uberPOOL and uberWAV (wheelchair accessible vehicles). Prior to Uber, she spent several years as a Digital Strategy consultant at McKinsey. She also spent several years in the tech industry in the Bay Area, working at both Nokia and a mobile startup to grow their businesses through sales and partnerships. She graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Public Policy, and completed her M.B.A. at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Shifting away from Springfield. As many of you may know, Chicago Alderman Ed Burke has resigned from his chairmanship on the powerful Chicago Finance Committee. Now that Ald. Burke has resigned from his chairmanship, it is unknown what will happen to his privacy omnibus that has floated in the Finance Committee the past several years. However, in short, the FBI investigation may slow down many of his initiatives.
NEW LEGISLATION
As with may new General Assembly, there will be new legislation. Below is a list of legislation that may be of interest to Tech Council members. As always, if you have a comments or concerns, let me know. I will roll legislative updates throughout the session.
HB 13 (Flowers) Prescription Data Privacy - Amends the Illinois Insurance Code, the Pharmacy Practice Act, and the Wholesale Drug Distribution Licensing Act. Prohibits the licensure, transference, use, or sale of any records relative to prescription information containing patient-identifiable or prescriber-identifiable data by any licensee or registrant of the Acts for commercial purposes.
HB 211 (Slaughter) Ill. Commerce Commission Report on Electric Vehicles - Amends the Public Utilities Act. Requires the Illinois Commerce Commission to conduct at least one workshop and issue a report concerning whether the development, construction, and installation of new publicly-accessible electric vehicle charging stations would increase utilization of electric vehicles by the citizens of this State.
HB 237 (Crespo) Student Data Privacy Shell Bill - Amends the Student Online Personal Protection Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title.
HB 245 (Zalewski) Mobile Carrying Device - Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Defines "mobile carrying device". Provides that a mobile carrying device may be operated on a sidewalk or crosswalk so long as it is operated in accordance with local ordinances, a personal property owner is actively monitoring its operation and navigation, and it is equipped with a braking system that enables it to perform a controlled stop. Prohibits a personal property owner operating a mobile carrying device from failing to comply with traffic or pedestrian control devices and signals, unreasonably interfering with pedestrians or traffic, transporting hazardous materials, or operating on a street or highway other than in a crosswalk. Provides that a mobile carrying device has the rights and obligations applicable to a pedestrian in the same circumstances, except that it shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians on a sidewalk or crosswalk.
HB 270 (Murphy) Retailers Occupation Tax - Amends the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. Provides that if a purchaser makes payment over the phone, in writing, or via the Internet, and the property is delivered to a location in this State, then the sale shall be sourced to the location where the property is delivered. Provides that the sale shall be deemed to have occurred at the customer's address if the property is delivered and the delivery location is unknown. Amends the Counties Code, the Illinois Municipal Code, the Flood Prevention District Act, the Local Mass Transit District Act, and the Regional Transportation Authority Act. Provides that a unit of local government may require a retailer to collect and remit certain use and occupation taxes if the retailer qualifies as a "retailer maintaining a place of business in this State" under certain provisions of the Use Tax Act.
SEVERAL NEW LAWS GO INTO EFFECT
With the new year, several new pieces of legisaltion went into effect. Understanding many of the below bills are not technology-specific, many members may have to comply.
SB 3285/P.A. 100-1084(Sims/Bristow) this new law creates the Illinois Home Grown Business Opportunity Act. Provides that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall develop an economic plan to assist businesses and municipalities located geographically close to bordering states. The Chamber supported this measure and is working with Sen. Sims to further the discussion to revamp our states economic development tool box.
SB 2999/P.A. 100-1094 (Van Pelt/Conyears-Ervin) amends the Wage Payment and Collection Act to require an employer to reimburse an employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee directly related to services performed for the employer. The expenditure must be within the scope of employment. An employer is not responsible for losses due to an employee's own negligence, losses due to normal wear, or losses due to theft unless the theft was the result of the employer's negligence. If an employer has a written expense reimbursement policy that establishes specifications or guidelines for necessary expenditures, then the employer is not liable for the portion of the expenditure amount that exceeds the specifications or guidelines of the policy. Effective January 1, 2019
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
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