Bill Text: IL HB4719 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act. Provides that participating employers may (rather than shall) designate an open enrollment period during which employees who previously opted out of the Secure Choice Savings Program may enroll in the Program. Provides that an employer shall retain the option at all times to set up a qualified retirement plan (rather than any type of employer-sponsored retirement plan). Removes offering an automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA from a list of qualified retirement plans. Makes conforming changes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-07-19 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 103-0681 [HB4719 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4719-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning employment.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act
is amended by changing Sections 60 and 85 as follows:
(820 ILCS 80/60)
Sec. 60. Program implementation and enrollment. Except as
otherwise provided in Section 93 of this Act, the Program
shall be implemented, and enrollment of employees shall begin
in 2018. The Board shall establish an implementation timeline
under which employers shall enroll their employees in the
Program. The timeline shall include the date by which an
employer must begin enrollment of its employees in the Program
and the date by which enrollment must be complete. The Board
shall adopt the implementation timeline at a public meeting of
the Board and shall publicize the implementation timeline. The
Board shall provide advance notice to employers of their
enrollment date and the amount of time to complete enrollment.
The enrollment deadline for employers with fewer than 25
employees and more than 15 employees shall be no sooner than
September 1, 2022. The enrollment deadline for employers with
at least 5 employees but not more than 15 employees shall be no
sooner than September 1, 2023. The provisions of this Section

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shall be in force after the Board opens the Program for
enrollment.
(a) Each employer shall establish a payroll deposit
retirement savings arrangement to allow each employee to
participate in the Program within the timeline set by the
Board after the Program opens for enrollment.
(b) Employers shall automatically enroll in the Program
each of their employees who has not opted out of participation
in the Program in the manner using the form described in
subsection (c) of Section 55 of this Act and shall provide
payroll deduction retirement savings arrangements for such
employees and deposit, on behalf of such employees, these
funds into the Program. Small employers may, but are not
required to, provide payroll deduction retirement savings
arrangements for each employee who elects to participate in
the Program. Utilization of automatic enrollment by small
employers may be allowed only if it does not create employer
liability under the federal Employee Retirement Income
Security Act.
(c) Enrollees shall have the ability to select a
contribution level into the Fund. This level may be expressed
as a percentage of wages or as a dollar amount up to the
deductible amount for the enrollee's taxable year under
Section 219(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code. Enrollees
may change their contribution level at any time, subject to
rules promulgated by the Board. If an enrollee fails to select

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a contribution level using the form described in subsection
(c) of Section 55 of this Act, then he or she shall contribute
the default contribution rate of his or her wages to the
Program, provided that such contributions shall not cause the
enrollee's total contributions to IRAs for the year to exceed
the deductible amount for the enrollee's taxable year under
Section 219(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(d) Enrollees may select an investment option from the
permitted investment options listed in Section 45 of this Act.
Enrollees may change their investment option at any time,
subject to rules promulgated by the Board. In the event that an
enrollee fails to select an investment option, that enrollee
shall be placed in the investment option selected by the Board
as the default under subsection (c) of Section 45 of this Act.
If the Board has not selected a default investment option
under subsection (c) of Section 45 of this Act, then an
enrollee who fails to select an investment option shall be
placed in the life-cycle fund investment option.
(e) Following initial implementation of the Program
pursuant to this Section, at least once every year,
participating employers may shall designate an open enrollment
period during which employees who previously opted out of the
Program may enroll in the Program.
(f) (Blank). An employee who opts out of the Program who
subsequently wants to participate through the participating
employer's payroll deposit retirement savings arrangement may

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only enroll during the participating employer's designated
open enrollment period or if permitted by the participating
employer at an earlier time.
(g) Employers shall retain the option at all times to set
up a qualified retirement plan, including, but not limited to,
any type of employer-sponsored retirement plan, such as a
defined benefit plan or a 401(k), a Simplified Employee
Pension (SEP) plan, or a Savings Incentive Match Plan for
Employees (SIMPLE) plan, or to offer an automatic enrollment
payroll deduction IRA, instead of facilitating their
employees' having a payroll deposit retirement savings
arrangement to allow employee participation in the Program.
(h) An employee may terminate his or her participation in
the Program at any time in a manner prescribed by the Board.
(i) The Board shall establish and maintain an Internet
website designed to assist employers in identifying private
sector providers of retirement arrangements that can be set up
by the employer rather than allowing employee participation in
the Program under this Act; however, the Board shall only
establish and maintain an Internet website under this
subsection if there is sufficient interest in such an Internet
website by private sector providers and if the private sector
providers furnish the funding necessary to establish and
maintain the Internet website. The Board must provide public
notice of the availability of and the process for inclusion on
the Internet website before it becomes publicly available.

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This Internet website must be available to the public before
the Board opens the Program for enrollment, and the Internet
website address must be included on any Internet website
posting or other materials regarding the Program offered to
the public by the Board.
(Source: P.A. 102-179, eff. 1-1-22.)
(820 ILCS 80/85)
Sec. 85. Penalties.
(a) An employer who fails without reasonable cause to
enroll an employee in the Program within the time prescribed
under Section 60 of this Act shall be subject to a penalty
equal to:
(1) $250 per employee for the first calendar year the
employer is noncompliant; or
(2) $500 per employee for each subsequent calendar
year the employer is noncompliant; noncompliance does not
need to be consecutive to qualify for the $500 penalty.
The Department shall determine total employee count using
the annual average from employer-reported quarterly data.
(b) After determining that an employer is subject to a
penalty under this Section for a calendar year, the Department
shall issue a notice of proposed assessment to such employer,
stating the number of employees for which the penalty is
proposed under item (1) of subsection (a) of this Section or
the number of employees for which the penalty is proposed

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under item (2) of subsection (a) of this Section for such
calendar year, and the total amount of penalties proposed.
Upon the expiration of 120 days after the date on which a
notice of proposed assessment was issued, the penalties
specified therein shall be deemed assessed, unless the
employer had filed a protest with the Department under
subsection (c) of this Section or come into full compliance
with the Program as required under Section 60 of this Act.
If, within 120 days after the date on which it was issued,
a protest of a notice of proposed assessment is filed under
subsection (c) of this Section, the penalties specified
therein shall be deemed assessed upon the date when the
decision of the Department with respect to the protest becomes
final.
(c) A written protest against the proposed assessment
shall be filed with the Department in such form as the
Department may by rule prescribe, setting forth the grounds on
which such protest is based. If such a protest is filed within
120 days after the date the notice of proposed assessment is
issued, the Department shall reconsider the proposed
assessment and shall grant the employer a hearing. As soon as
practicable after such reconsideration and hearing, the
Department shall issue a notice of decision to the employer,
setting forth the Department's findings of fact and the basis
of decision. The decision of the Department shall become
final:

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(1) if no action for review of the decision is
commenced under the Administrative Review Law, on the date
on which the time for commencement of such review has
expired; or
(2) if a timely action for review of the decision is
commenced under the Administrative Review Law, on the date
all proceedings in court for the review of such assessment
have terminated or the time for the taking thereof has
expired without such proceedings being instituted.
(d) As soon as practicable after the penalties specified
in a notice of proposed assessment are deemed assessed, the
Department shall give notice to the employer liable for any
unpaid portion of such assessment, stating the amount due and
demanding payment. If an employer neglects or refuses to pay
the entire liability shown on the notice and demand within 10
days after the notice and demand is issued, the unpaid amount
of the liability shall be a lien in favor of the State of
Illinois upon all property and rights to property, whether
real or personal, belonging to the employer, and the
provisions in the Illinois Income Tax Act regarding liens,
levies and collection actions with regard to assessed and
unpaid liabilities under that Act, including the periods for
taking any action, shall apply.
(e) An employer who has overpaid a penalty assessed under
this Section may file a claim for refund with the Department. A
claim shall be in writing in such form as the Department may by

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rule prescribe and shall state the specific grounds upon which
it is founded. As soon as practicable after a claim for refund
is filed, the Department shall examine it and either issue a
refund or issue a notice of denial. If such a protest is filed,
the Department shall reconsider the denial and grant the
employer a hearing. As soon as practicable after such
reconsideration and hearing, the Department shall issue a
notice of decision to the employer. The notice shall set forth
briefly the Department's findings of fact and the basis of
decision in each case decided in whole or in part adversely to
the employer. A denial of a claim for refund becomes final 120
days after the date of issuance of the notice of the denial
except for such amounts denied as to which the employer has
filed a protest with the Department. If a protest has been
timely filed, the decision of the Department shall become
final:
(1) if no action for review of the decision is
commenced under the Administrative Review Law, on the date
on which the time for commencement of such review has
expired; or
(2) if a timely action for review of the decision is
commenced under the Administrative Review Law, on the date
all proceedings in court for the review of such assessment
have terminated or the time for the taking thereof has
expired without such proceedings being instituted.
(f) No notice of proposed assessment may be issued with

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respect to a calendar year after June 30 of the fourth
subsequent calendar year. No claim for refund may be filed
more than 1 year after the date of payment of the amount to be
refunded.
(g) The provisions of the Administrative Review Law and
the rules adopted pursuant to it shall apply to and govern all
proceedings for the judicial review of final decisions of the
Department in response to a protest filed by the employer
under subsections (c) and (e) of this Section. Final decisions
of the Department shall constitute "administrative decisions"
as defined in Section 3-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The
Department may adopt any rules necessary to carry out its
duties pursuant to this Section.
(h) Whenever notice is required by this Section, it may be
given or issued by mailing it by first-class mail addressed to
the person concerned at his or her last known address or in an
electronic format as determined by the Department.
(i) All books and records and other papers and documents
relevant to the determination of any penalty due under this
Section shall, at all times during business hours of the day,
be subject to inspection by the Department or its duly
authorized agents and employees.
(j) The Department may require employers to report
information relevant to their compliance with this Act on
returns otherwise due from the employers under Section 704A of
the Illinois Income Tax Act and failure to provide the

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requested information on a return shall cause such return to
be treated as unprocessable.
(k) For purposes of any provision of State law allowing
the Department or any other agency of this State to offset an
amount owed to a taxpayer against a tax liability of that
taxpayer or allowing the Department to offset an overpayment
of tax against any liability owed to the State, a penalty
assessed under this Section shall be deemed to be a tax
liability of the employer and any refund due to an employer
shall be deemed to be an overpayment of tax of the employer.
(l) Except as provided in this subsection, all information
received by the Department from returns filed by an employer
or from any investigation conducted under the provisions of
this Act shall be confidential, except for official purposes
within the Department or pursuant to official procedures for
collection of penalties assessed under this Act. Nothing
contained in this subsection shall prevent the Director from
publishing or making available to the public reasonable
statistics concerning the operation of this Act wherein the
contents of returns are grouped into aggregates in such a way
that the specific information of any employer shall not be
disclosed. Nothing contained in this subsection shall prevent
the Director from divulging information to an authorized
representative of the employer or to any person pursuant to a
request or authorization made by the employer or by an
authorized representative of the employer.

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