Clark Kaericher | Vice President of Government Affairs | 618-806-1501

My wife has a new social media app that I have never heard of and can’t seem to understand.  This is (almost) 40….  

Scheduling Update  

The House and Senate returned to Springfield this week and were in session Tuesday through Thursday. 

The House and the Senate are both scheduled to be in session Tuesday through Friday next week. Next Friday is a deadline day in each chamber. Friday is the House deadline to move Senate bills out of committee and the Senate deadline to move House bills out of committee. 

Committee Recap 

SB 328 (Glowiak Hilton- Hanson) focusing on automatic contract renewals passed out of House Consumer Protection Committee on a unanimous vote.

HB 3563, DOIT-AI Task Force-Support passed out of Senate State Government 7-0-1 yesterday. This bill provides that the Department of Innovation and Technology shall establish the Generative AI and Natural Language Processing Task Force investigate and provide a report on generative artificial intelligence software and natural language processing software. Sets forth the members to serve on the Task Force. Provides that the Task Force shall hold at least 5 meetings, and specifies the format and the location of those minimum amount of meetings.  

HB 2231, TNC as common carriers, was not heard in Senate Exec. I expect it will be called this week (more below)  

Committee Postings for Next Week

Senate Judiciary meets on Tuesday at 1:30 

HB 2123 DIGITAL FORGERIES ACT 

House Public Utilities Tuesday 2 pm 

SB 1438 ILLINOIS DIG ONCE ACT 

Senate Insurance Tuesday 5:30 pm  

HB 2130 INSURANCE DATA SECURITY LAW 

Senate Financial Institutions Tuesday at 5:30 pm  

HB 3233 Financial Transactions Mandatory Request for Donations. A customer who uses a service of a licensee to send money, money orders, or other evidences of money to a destination in a foreign country shall be offered an option to voluntarily donate a portion of those payments to the Illinois DREAM Fund by rounding the amount of the transaction up to the nearest dollar. Provides that the option to donate to the Illinois DREAM Fund must be presented to the customer before the completion of that transaction.  The Illinois Chamber opposes.  We worry about the proliferation of this mandate to numerous other good causes and there is insufficient time to comply.  

Senate Labor meets Wednesday at 11 am 

HB 1122 FREELANCE WORKER PROTECTION.  The Chamber is neutral as it passed the House.  

HB 3301 UNEMPLOYMENT INS-DIRECTORY. Creates a new mandate for those who hire independent contractors to report their hiring to the state.  The sponsors say this is to enable the collection of delinquent child support.  

Senate Executive Wednesday at 1:30

HB 2231 TNC ACT-COMMON CARRIER. The Illinois Chamber opposes.  I expect this bill to be called and am prepared to testify in opposition.  Our main points of concern are the impact on rideshare availability and the inevitable spike in impaired drivers on the roadway. 

House Labor Wednesday 2 pm  

SB 1782 CHILD LABOR-ONLINE CONTENT 

Chamber Day 2023 a Success  

Thank you to everyone who attended our Chamber Day event this week.  We had the largest turnout in years to hear remarks and questions from all four legislative leaders. We heard some positive news on the potential for BIPA reform. You can read some media coverage on the remarks on BIPA from both the Speaker and Leader Curran at our event HERE 

On a slightly less exciting note, the Speaker’s less than certain answer on whether the House will adjourn on the 19th makes me nervous for my Memorial Day plans.  

Special thanks to our sponsors.  We couldn’t do what we do without your generous support.  

Spring Meeting: Electric Vehicle in Illinois Presentation 

Thank you to those who were able to attend the Spring meeting of our Infrastructure, Energy and Technology Councils last Tuesday. The afternoon session took place after a tremendous Chamber Day gathering that morning.  

State EV Officer, Megha Lakhchaura spoke on the state's EV program and Electric Mobility and Innovation Director, Lisa Clemmons Stott spoke on the State's attraction efforts for this industry. 

Becky Knox - Director, Public Policy, North America for EVBox and Kristol Simms, Vice President of Clean Energy Transition at Ameren Illinois spoke on how their companies are working in this space, and more specifically on charging infrastructure. 

Floor Votes of Note 

No tech bills of interest were heard on 3rd Reading.  

Illinois Broadband Listening Tour

On April 12 and 13, the Illinois Broadband Lab team visited the East Central region of the state, hosting listening sessions at the Champaign County Farm Bureau and Danville Area Community College.

The Listening Tour is designed to gather feedback from residents, community-based organizations, local government officials, and other key stakeholders to inform the state’s Digital Equity Plan and fulfill the state’s broadband and digital equity planning requirements outlined in the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. You can read more about the Connect Illinois Broadband and Digital Equity Planning Initiative in the March 6 edition of the newsletter and visit broadband.uillinois.edu/community-engagement to see an updated schedule.  The Listening Tour for the Connect Illinois Broadband and Digital Equity Planning Initiative continues to roll out across the state.  

Chamber BIPA Panel Discussion- May 23rd  

Sean Darke from Dykema will moderate the virtual panel discussion on “The Good, Bad, and Ugly of BIPA!” As litigation continues to explode in BIPA, Dykema has assembled a panel to discuss the recent changes to BIPA and recent case law that continues to shape BIPA for companies and legislatures across the country. Concerning is that over 1,000 BIPA lawsuits involve every day workplace issues like time tracking and employee verification. Although we see the ugly in BIPA through litigation, this panel will discuss the positives of biometrics that have been lost during this litigation explosion and how companies should not shy away from using this amazing technology. The panel will also discuss the future of biometrics and the much needed BIPA reform. Join Sean Darke and panel members Abad Lopez from Dykema, Doug O’Gordon from Find Biometrics, and Jake Parker from The Security Industry Association as they explore the “Good, Bad, and Ugly of BIPA!” 

Continuing Education Offered: 1.50 HRCI,1.50 SHRM, 1.50 CLE per attendee request prior to event, and 1.50 HR & Management/Supervision Compliance Certificate Credit. HR Certification Institute’s® (www.HRCI.org) official seal confirms that the Illinois Chamber meets the criteria for pre-approved recertification credit(s) for any of HRCI’s eight credentials, including SPHR® and PHR®. 

Register Here  (Note: Registration is free for IL Chamber Tech Council Members) 

Rulemaking 

No new technology rulemaking of interest.  

Articles of Interest  

State lawmakers push to prioritize Illinois businesses   

Business groups ask lawmakers to address Illinois’ biometric privacy law  

Chicago’s mayor-elect to address lawmakers in Springfield Wednesday 

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