Clark Kaericher | Vice President, Government Affairs | 217-522-5512 ext. 296
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October 1, 2021
The Technology Council seeks to aggressively and proactively promote the interests of the Illinois technology community by advocating for public policy that fosters innovation and promotes economic growth. The Council will seek to promote workforce development policies, advocate for world-class technology infrastructure, avoid overregulation on the industry and support innovators access to the capital they need to grow.
Happy October! I’m on an Amtrak returning from a week in Chicago where we had the first Future of Work Meeting (more on this below) and the Chamber’s annual luncheon. Thanks to everyone that attended the luncheon, especially our sponsors.  It was nice to finally get to meet many of you in person. Particular thanks to our friends at Facebook and onShore Security.  
 
First Future of Work Task Force Meeting  

The first Future of Work Task Force meeting was held this week at Olive Harvey College. Thanks to task force member, and City Colleges of Chicago chancellor, Juan Salgado for being a good host.  
 
The committee kicked off with three speakers. The first was keynote speaker Felicia Wong of the Roosevelt Institute (named after the less cool of the two Roosevelt presidents, Franklin).  The second speaker was Shelly Steward of the Aspen Institute. She was followed by Brain Fabes of the University of Chicago.  
 
The theme of all three speakers, and of the worker panel that followed, was the plight of the low-income worker in America. Ms. Wong said post-recession nearly half the jobs created were low wage. She urged a focus on taxes to target so called “wealth hoarding”, anti-trust measures and strengthened labor laws. I’ll keep a close eye on what these exact proposals might emerge as none are the type of job creation measures supported by the Chamber.  Her call to “confront large companies which create market failure” was not a rallying cry for those creating jobs.  
 
Mr. Fabes alleges that the current labor market is broken in that it doesn’t create jobs that allow employees to move into the middle class.  He had a chart showing growth in both low income (less than $32,000 annually) and high income (more than $53,000 annually) but a significant decrease of those in the middle. He also wanted employers to know that employees need more than a paycheck to show up to work.  His statistic that more than 60% of the jobs done in 2018 didn’t exist in 1940 was interesting.  
 
It’s safe to say the first meeting told an important, but skewed story. Worker satisfaction and working conditions are extremely important not just to the employee but equally to employers. I hope that future meetings will hear a different perspective: one of the great lengths employers have gone to protect their employees during a pandemic, of business owners forgoing pay to keep from furloughing employees, and of education benefits in most of corporate America that make the American Dream accessible to those that would otherwise be denied the chance to rise. If your only perspective was what we learned in the panels, you would think we were living a modern-day Charles Dickens novel, but this isn’t another Gilded Age- it is a golden age. In fact, I think if you look around, you’ll find there has never been a better time in history for the American worker. That story is the one that I hope gets told soon.  
 
The Task Force will meet once a month from now until April. In April, the University of Chicago’s Inclusive Economy Lab, the University of Chicago Crown School of Social Work, Policy and Practice and the Metropolitan Planning council will serve as academic partners to help with the group’s report. The next meeting is scheduled for October 25th

I’ll keep you aware of future developments.  
 
Cybersecurity Committee Update 

Last week, the House Cybersecurity, Data Analytics & IT Committee held a subject matter hearing on the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). Acting Director Kristin Richards provided testimony.  

Richards said that the workload for IDES has been 5-10 times greater throughout the pandemic as compared to previous demand. The department has also experienced the unprecedented nationwide onslaught of cyber-attacks and fraud attempts waged against unemployment agencies.  

Jon Coss, Vice President of Risk, Fraud & Compliance at Thomson Reuters also provided testimony. The witness said that the additional demand placed on IDES during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the allocation of federal relief dollars gave opportunity for fraud and abuse. In the past year, fraud come has been effectuated by organized criminal organizations rather than lone actors. There has also been an increase in the use of bots and other technologies to steal credentials and take advantage of data breaches.  

Adam Ford, Chief Information Security Officer at the Department of Innovation and Technology (DOIT) spoke on how IDES is working to verify state residency to reduce fraud and modernize systems. Reduction of fraud is essential for the protection of the state’s agencies, resident’s data, and the unemployment Insurance trust fund.  

Representative Caulkins (R-Decatur) asked how many fraudulent claims had been perpetrated and how many unemployment dollars had been lost by the state during the pandemic. The Director said that at this time the Department does not have an answer for either of these questions. Richards did say the Department is working to produce these numbers.  

Caulkins worried about the burden that will be placed on Illinois employers to refill the UI (Unemployment Insurance) trust fund due to fraudulent claims.  
The hearing lasted two hours as the witnesses took numerous questions from committee members.  
 
Illinois Chamber Signs onto C_TEC Letter to Unite States Senate Commerce Committee 

This week the Illinois Chamber joined twenty other groups in signing onto a letter from the US Chamber’s C_TEC to the Senate Commerce Committee. In the letter we call for a solution to data privacy to come from the United States Congress instead of rulemaking from the Federal Trade Commission.  

We have always maintained that a patchwork of state solutions, currently at three and counting, is unworkable to businesses and consumers.   

You can read the letter here.

October is Cyber Awareness Month in Illinois 

Illinois Governor Pritzker is proclaiming the month of October as Cyber Awareness Month in Illinois to recognize the vital role cybersecurity plays in public safety and the importance of helping Illinoisans to be more aware to avoid cyber-attacks.  

Cybersecurity Awareness Month was originally launched by the National Cyber Security Alliance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in October 2004 as a broad effort to help all Americans stay safer and more secure online. The program was quickly adopted by states and other entities to spread awareness and individualize the message.  

During the month of October, the State of Illinois will conduct an employee outreach campaign to educate staff on ways to strengthen email security. Additionally, resources for staying safe online are available at Stay Safe Online, including the tips below from the National Cybersecurity Alliance. 
 
BIPA Summary 

Tech Council member McGuireWoods has produced a nice summary article of where things stand with BIPA.  In two of the three cases discussed, the IL Chamber filed amicus briefs. Last week we broke down the decision in Tims v. Black Horse Carriers, Inc.  


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