Bill Text: IL HB4045 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Defines "settlement agreement" and "severance agreement". Provides that a settlement agreement or severance agreement that is funded in whole or part by public moneys or that releases a claim against a public body shall not require or impose any condition on any party to keep allegations, evidence, settlement amounts, or any other information confidential, except that which is necessary to protect a trade secret, proprietary information, or information that is otherwise exempt from disclosure under the Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-27 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4045 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HB4045-Introduced.html

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99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2015 and 2016 HB4045 Introduced , by Rep. Frances Ann Hurley SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
5 ILCS 140/2 from Ch. 116, par. 202
5 ILCS 140/2.21 new
Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Defines "settlement agreement" and "severance agreement". Provides that a settlement agreement or severance agreement that is funded in whole or part by public moneys or that releases a claim against a public body shall not require or impose any condition on any party to keep allegations, evidence, settlement amounts, or any other information confidential, except that which is necessary to protect a trade secret, proprietary information, or information that is otherwise exempt from disclosure under the Act.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
adding Sections 2 and 2.21 as follows:
(5 ILCS 140/2) (from Ch. 116, par. 202)
Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this Act:
(a) "Public body" means all legislative, executive,
administrative, or advisory bodies of the State, state
universities and colleges, counties, townships, cities,
villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other
municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees, or
commissions of this State, any subsidiary bodies of any of the
foregoing including but not limited to committees and
subcommittees thereof, and a School Finance Authority created
under Article 1E of the School Code. "Public body" does not
include a child death review team or the Illinois Child Death
Review Teams Executive Council established under the Child
Death Review Team Act, or a regional youth advisory board or
the Statewide Youth Advisory Board established under the
Department of Children and Family Services Statewide Youth
Advisory Board Act.
(b) "Person" means any individual, corporation,

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partnership, firm, organization or association, acting
individually or as a group.
(c) "Public records" means all records, reports, forms,
writings, letters, memoranda, books, papers, maps,
photographs, microfilms, cards, tapes, recordings, electronic
data processing records, electronic communications, recorded
information and all other documentary materials pertaining to
the transaction of public business, regardless of physical form
or characteristics, having been prepared by or for, or having
been or being used by, received by, in the possession of, or
under the control of any public body.
(c-5) "Private information" means unique identifiers,
including a person's social security number, driver's license
number, employee identification number, biometric identifiers,
personal financial information, passwords or other access
codes, medical records, home or personal telephone numbers, and
personal email addresses. Private information also includes
home address and personal license plates, except as otherwise
provided by law or when compiled without possibility of
attribution to any person.
(c-10) "Commercial purpose" means the use of any part of a
public record or records, or information derived from public
records, in any form for sale, resale, or solicitation or
advertisement for sales or services. For purposes of this
definition, requests made by news media and non-profit,
scientific, or academic organizations shall not be considered

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to be made for a "commercial purpose" when the principal
purpose of the request is (i) to access and disseminate
information concerning news and current or passing events, (ii)
for articles of opinion or features of interest to the public,
or (iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public
research or education.
(d) "Copying" means the reproduction of any public record
by means of any photographic, electronic, mechanical or other
process, device or means now known or hereafter developed and
available to the public body.
(e) "Head of the public body" means the president, mayor,
chairman, presiding officer, director, superintendent,
manager, supervisor or individual otherwise holding primary
executive and administrative authority for the public body, or
such person's duly authorized designee.
(f) "News media" means a newspaper or other periodical
issued at regular intervals whether in print or electronic
format, a news service whether in print or electronic format, a
radio station, a television station, a television network, a
community antenna television service, or a person or
corporation engaged in making news reels or other motion
picture news for public showing.
(g) "Recurrent requester", as used in Section 3.2 of this
Act, means a person that, in the 12 months immediately
preceding the request, has submitted to the same public body
(i) a minimum of 50 requests for records, (ii) a minimum of 15

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requests for records within a 30-day period, or (iii) a minimum
of 7 requests for records within a 7-day period. For purposes
of this definition, requests made by news media and non-profit,
scientific, or academic organizations shall not be considered
in calculating the number of requests made in the time periods
in this definition when the principal purpose of the requests
is (i) to access and disseminate information concerning news
and current or passing events, (ii) for articles of opinion or
features of interest to the public, or (iii) for the purpose of
academic, scientific, or public research or education.
For the purposes of this subsection (g), "request" means a
written document (or oral request, if the public body chooses
to honor oral requests) that is submitted to a public body via
personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other
means available to the public body and that identifies the
particular public record the requester seeks. One request may
identify multiple records to be inspected or copied.
(h) "Voluminous request" means a request that: (i) includes
more than 5 individual requests for more than 5 different
categories of records or a combination of individual requests
that total requests for more than 5 different categories of
records in a period of 20 business days; or (ii) requires the
compilation of more than 500 letter or legal-sized pages of
public records unless a single requested record exceeds 500
pages. "Single requested record" may include, but is not
limited to, one report, form, e-mail, letter, memorandum, book,

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map, microfilm, tape, or recording.
"Voluminous request" does not include a request made by
news media and non-profit, scientific, or academic
organizations if the principal purpose of the request is: (1)
to access and disseminate information concerning news and
current or passing events; (2) for articles of opinion or
features of interest to the public; or (3) for the purpose of
academic, scientific, or public research or education.
For the purposes of this subsection (h), "request" means a
written document, or oral request, if the public body chooses
to honor oral requests, that is submitted to a public body via
personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other
means available to the public body and that identifies the
particular public record or records the requester seeks. One
request may identify multiple individual records to be
inspected or copied.
(i) "Settlement agreement" means any arrangement for
payment in exchange for the adjudication or release of a civil
claim established by an agreement between some or all of the
parties to the claim.
(j) "Severance agreement" means a mutual agreement between
any public body and its employee for the employee's resignation
in exchange for payment by the public body.
(Source: P.A. 97-579, eff. 8-26-11; 98-806, eff. 1-1-15;
98-1129, eff. 12-3-14; revised 12-19-14.)

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(5 ILCS 140/2.21 new)
Sec. 2.21. Confidential settlement agreements and
confidential severance agreements prohibited.
(a) A settlement agreement that is funded in whole or part
by public moneys or that releases a claim against a public body
shall not require or impose any condition on any party to keep
allegations, evidence, settlement amounts, or any other
information confidential, except that which is necessary to
protect a trade secret, proprietary information, or
information otherwise exempt from disclosure under Section 7 of
this Act.
(b) A severance agreement that is funded in whole or part
by public moneys or that releases a claim against a public body
shall not require or impose any condition on any party to keep
allegations, evidence, settlement amounts, or any other
information confidential, except that which is necessary to
protect a trade secret, proprietary information, or
information otherwise exempt from disclosure under Section 7 of
this Act.