A Brief Examination of Relevant Legislation from the Illinois General Assembly

Deltek’s General Government Services research team has been conducting research on relevant legislation at selected state legislatures, covering, Virginia, California, New York, Texas, and Florida thus far. The team continued this research with a brief examination of some legislation from the most recent session of the Illinois General Assembly.

Introduction

The Illinois General Assembly is a bicameral body composed of the 59 seat Senate and 118 seat House of Representatives. The General Assembly convenes each year on the second Wednesday in January, and was in session in 2018 from January 8 through May 31.

Relevant Legislation

In the 100th General Assembly session, there were 3627 bills introduced in the Senate and 5956 bills in the House of Representatives. Of these, 491 passed in the Senate and 623 were passed in the House.

One relevant bill, now passed into law, addresses contracting opportunities for businesses owned by veteran, minority, women and persons with disabilities. SB 2363 now makes it state policy to promote and encourage the use of these businesses, and the state will utilize such businesses to the greatest extent feasible within the bounds of financial and fiduciary prudence. This could signal new or increased opportunity for these businesses looking to do business with the state in the future.

Some other bills that were passed into new law address some logistical or administrative aspects of conducting business with the state. One of these, HB 3419, prohibits business that are expatriated entity, meaning a foreign incorporated entity which is treated as an inverted domestic corporation, from submitting bids or contracting with the state. Another, SB 0405, now requires any vendor submitting a bid or offer for a state contract to have a sexual harassment policy in place, which will be provided to the state agency upon request.

For companies that work in telecommunications or broadband, HB 5752, which was passed into law, creates the Broadband Advisory Council. The General Assembly finds that a goal of the state is to make available affordable, reliable, and state-of-the-art internet communications through the expansions, extension, and general availability of broadband services and technology. The Broadband Advisory Council will explore ways to expand broadband throughout the state, including in low-income and underserved areas.

One related change that will come about is a result of HB 5611, which creates the Department of Innovation and Technology, replacing the Information Technology Office. With this act, functions, personnel, and property formerly of the Information Technology Office are transferred to the new Department of Innovation and Technology. The act also adds and clarifies to certain areas, including some relevant related to procurement and contracting. In addition, HB 5093 was introduced, but not passed, that seeks to create the Office of the Statewide Chief Information Security Office within the Department of Innovation and Technology.

This brief look at some of the relevant legislation from the Illinois General Assembly shows some changes that might, or will, be coming on the horizon for businesses interested in working with the State. It also appears that with the pieces of legislation dedicated to technology, both those that have and have not been passed, innovation, technology, and information security remain priorities for the state, as they are with most, and will be interesting to monitor what else is in store in the state in the coming years.

Source: Illinois General Assembly