Bill Text: IL HB5575 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Enrolled

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

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Bill Title: Creates the Comprehensive Licensing Information to Minimize Barriers Task Force Act. Creates the Comprehensive Licensing Information to Minimize Barriers Task Force within the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Adds provisions governing Task Force membership, duties, powers, and compensation. Provides that the Task Force shall meet monthly. Provides that the Task Force shall submit a report to the General Assembly, the Office of Management and Budget, the Department, and the public in the form of a final report by December 1, 2023. Provides that the final report shall identify low-income and middle-income licensed occupations in the State and aggregate the information from those occupations under the occupations' respective regulatory boards overseen by the Department. Repeals the Act on December 1, 2024. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)

Status: (Passed) 2022-06-10 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-1078 [HB5575 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB5575-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning regulation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Comprehensive Licensing Information to Minimize Barriers Task
Force Act.
Section 5. Declaration of public policy.
(a) The State finds that persons from historically and
economically disadvantaged groups have been directly and
indirectly excluded from opportunity and shared prosperity and
that it is in the public policy interest of the State to foster
an environment where all people, particularly those
equity-focused populations subjected to arbitrary barriers,
have the freedom to create their own path to success and
self-actualization.
(b) The State also finds that the freedom and access to
opportunities needed to achieve one's highest potential
through a lawful occupation is critically important to the
well-being of people in the State, and that the right to pursue
a lawful occupation is a fundamental right of all people.
(c) Therefore, it is in the public policy interest of the
State to minimize and remove unnecessary, arbitrary, and
ineffective barriers to employment and economic prosperity

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that disproportionately exclude persons from historically and
economically disadvantaged groups.
(d) The General Assembly finds that occupational licensing
procedures and programs can unintentionally erect costly
barriers to employment for low-income persons, persons who
identify as black, indigenous, and people of color, formerly
convicted or incarcerated persons, women, and other
historically and economically disadvantaged populations.
(e) It is in the public policy interest of the State to
ensure that costly, unnecessary personal qualification
requirements or procedures in current occupational licensing
policies are minimized or removed in order to expand equitable
access to employment opportunities for persons in historically
and economically disadvantaged populations.
Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Department" means the Department of Financial and
Professional Regulation.
"Low-income and middle-income licensed occupations" means
any licensed occupation regulated by the Department where the
average annual income of those employed in the occupation in
this State is equal to or less than the median annual income
for residents of this State as determined by the 2020 United
States Census.
"Task Force" means the Comprehensive Licensing Information
to Minimize Barriers Task Force.

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Section 15. Task Force.
(a) The Comprehensive Licensing Information to Minimize
Barriers Task Force is hereby created within the Department of
Financial and Professional Regulation.
(b) Within 60 days after the effective date of this Act,
the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint the
chairperson of the Task Force and the President of the Senate
shall appoint the vice-chairperson.
(c) Within 90 days after the appointment of the
chairperson and vice-chairperson, the chairperson and
vice-chairperson of the Task Force shall unanimously appoint
the following members of the Task Force:
(1) one representative from a nonprofit organization
that focuses on workforce development;
(2) one representative from a nonprofit organization
that focuses on reintegrating citizens returning from a
period of incarceration;
(3) one member of the public that works in a
low-income or middle-income licensed occupation and holds
an active license in good standing who has faced barriers
to employment through licensure, who may be recommended by
the member described in paragraph (1);
(4) one member of the public that works in a
low-income or middle-income licensed occupation and holds
an active license in good standing who has faced barriers

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to employment through licensure specifically due to a
period of incarceration, who may be recommended by the
member described in paragraph (2);
(5) one member who holds an advanced degree and is an
expert in the field of licensing, workforce development,
or labor economics and is currently either a member of the
faculty at an accredited college or university in this
State or conducting related research through a research
institute affiliated with an accredited college or
university in this State; and
(6) one member who holds an advanced degree and is an
expert in the field of public health and safety regulation
and is currently either a member of the faculty at an
accredited college or university in this State or
conducting related research through a research institute
affiliated with an accredited college or university in
this State.
(d) Within 90 days after the appointment of the
chairperson and vice-chairperson, the following members shall
be appointed to the Task Force:
(1) the Secretary of Financial and Professional
Regulation, or the Secretary's appointed designee;
(2) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
House of Representatives; and
(3) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
Senate.

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(e) Members of the Task Force shall serve without
compensation, but may be reimbursed for necessary expenses
incurred in the performance of their duties from funds
appropriated for that purpose.
(f) The Department shall provide administrative support to
the Task Force.
(g) Within 60 days after the final selection and
appointment of the members of the Task Force, the chairperson
shall convene the first meeting of the Task Force.
(h) Meetings of the Task Force shall be held monthly, with
at least 30 days between the previous meeting and the upcoming
meeting. Meetings shall be posted publicly.
Section 20. Report.
(a) The Task Force shall conduct an analysis of
occupational licensing, including, but not limited to,
processes, procedures, and statutory requirements for
licensure administered by the Department. The findings of this
analysis shall be delivered to the General Assembly, the
Office of Management and Budget, the Department, and the
public in the form of a final report. For the purpose of
ensuring that historically and economically disadvantaged
populations are centered in this analysis, the Task Force
shall identify low-income and middle-income licensed
occupations in this State and aggregate the information from
those occupations under the occupations' respective regulatory

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board overseen by the Department to form the basis of the
report.
(b) The report shall contain, to the extent available,
information collected from sources including, but not limited
to, the Department, department licensure boards, other State
boards, relevant departments, or other bodies of the State,
and supplementary data including, but not limited to, census
statistics, federal reporting, or published research as
follows:
(1) the number of license applications submitted
compared with the number of licenses issued;
(2) data concerning the reason why licenses were
denied or revoked and a ranking of the most common reasons
for denial or revocation;
(3) an analysis of the information required of license
applicants by the Department compared with the information
that the Department is required by statute to verify, to
ascertain if applicants are required to submit superfluous
information;
(4) demographic information for the last 5 years of
(i) active license holders, (ii) license holders who were
disciplined in that period, (iii) license holders whose
licenses were revoked in that period, and (iv) license
applicants who were not issued licenses;
(5) data aggregated from the last 5 years of monthly
enforcement reports, including a ranking of the most

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common reasons for public discipline;
(6) the cost of licensure to the individual,
including, but not limited to, the fees for initial
licensure and renewal, the average cost of training and
testing required for initial licensure, and the average
cost of meeting continuing education requirements for
license renewal;
(7) the locations within this State of each program or
school that provides the required training and testing
needed to obtain or renew a license, and whether the
required training and testing can be fulfilled online;
(8) the languages in which the required training or
testing is offered;
(9) the acceptance rates, graduation rates, and
dropout rates of the training facilities that provide
required training;
(10) the percentage of students at each school that
offers required training who financed the required
training through student loans; and
(11) the average annual salary of those in the
occupation.
(c) The final report shall also contain a general
description of the steps taken by the Task Force to fulfill the
report criteria and shall include in an appendix of the report
any results of the Task Force's analysis in the form of graphs,
charts, or other data visualizations. The Task Force shall

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also exercise due care in the reporting of this information to
protect sensitive information of personal or proprietary value
or information that would risk the security of residents of
this State.
(d) The Task Force shall publish the final report by
December 1, 2023 with recommendations to the General Assembly,
including recommendations for continued required reporting
from the Department to better support the General Assembly in
revoking, modifying, or creating new licensing Acts.
Section 90. Repeal. This Act is repealed December 1, 2024.