HB2083 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 10539 PJG 50875 b

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB2083

Introduced 2/22/2011, by Rep. Lou Lang

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

20 ILCS 605/605-456 new
20 ILCS 605/605-460 new
20 ILCS 605/605-465 new

Amends the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Requires the Department to conduct a survey of certain businesses that are located in the State or have been identified as having left the State. Provides that the Department shall develop a program to facilitate engineering excellence through coordination between engineering schools and private businesses. Provides that the Department's official website must contain a comprehensive list of economic benefits available to businesses.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning State government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by adding Sections 605-456, 605-460, and 605-465 as follows:

(20 ILCS 605/605-456 new)

Sec. 605-456. Survey and report on business incentives.

(a) The Department shall contact businesses that are located in the State or have been identified as having left the State. The Department shall request that the business complete a survey, developed by the Department, that includes information regarding (i) why the business left, if applicable, and the location to which the business relocated and (ii) any incentives that are needed to keep and attract the business.

(b) The Department shall compile the results of the surveys and any other relevant information provided to the Department. By each July 1, the Department shall report to the General Assembly upon its compilation of the previous year's survey responses and any of the other relevant information. The report must identify, at a minimum, the most common responses, categorized by industry and region, regarding (i) why businesses left Illinois, (ii) what incentives would have influenced businesses to remain in Illinois, and (iii) to which cities and states the businesses have relocated.

(c) For the purposes of this Section, a business is defined as one that is engaged in interstate or intrastate commerce for the purpose of manufacturing, processing, assembling, warehousing, or distributing products, conducting research and development, providing tourism services, or providing services in interstate commerce, office industries, or agricultural processing, but excluding retail, retail food, health, or professional services.

(d) The Department shall adopt rules for the implementation of this Section.

(20 ILCS 605/605-460 new)

Sec. 605-460. Engineering excellence program.

(a) Coordination between engineering schools and private business is an important tool in fostering innovation. Universities have eager students, experienced faculty, and state-of-the-art research facilities. Businesses have existing markets, production capital, and evolving needs. The General Assembly believes that universities and businesses should share resources to allow students to participate in the research and development area of innovative design and to allow businesses to benefit from the developing skills of these students.

(b) In order to facilitate engineering excellence, the Department shall develop a program to achieve the goals set forth in subsection (a). Under this program, the Department must:

(1) Annually contact the State's major public and private universities with engineering schools.

(2) Request a one-page written summary of the internship, externship, or residency programs operated by the engineering college of each of the contacted universities.

(3) Identify the manufacturing businesses within 50 miles of each university that responded under paragraph (2) that could benefit from assistance in the area of innovative design.

(4) Send a letter to each manufacturer identified under paragraph (3), informing it of the university's program and advising the business to contact the university if it wishes to participate in the engineering school's program.

(c) The Department shall adopt rules for the implementation of this Section.

(20 ILCS 605/605-465 new)

Sec. 605-465. Comprehensive website information.

(a) The Department's official website must contain a comprehensive list of State, local, and federal economic benefits available to businesses in each of the State's counties and municipalities that the Department includes on its website. In order to do so:

(1) The Department annually must request a summary of available economic benefits from each of the State's counties and municipalities that are linked to the Department's website.

(2) The information obtained under paragraph (1) must be published on the related web pages of the Department's website.

(3) The Department's website shall also provide information regarding available federal economic benefits to the extent possible.

(b) The Department shall adopt rules for the implementation of this Section.