Public Act 0897 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB0180 Enrolled LRB102 09899 RJF 15217 b

Public Act 102-0897

AN ACT concerning State government.

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 Legislative Accessibility Act.

Section 5. General Assembly accessibility.

(a) The General Assembly shall make efforts to increase the accessibility of the General Assembly for people with disabilities.

(b) The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate shall each appoint an accessibility coordinator who, in consultation with the Architect of the Capitol, shall be responsible for addressing accessibility needs for his or her corresponding house.

(c) The Illinois General Assembly website shall include an email address, web form, or other similar mechanism to request reasonable accommodations to meet the accessibility needs of people with disabilities attending legislative meetings, hearings, floor proceedings, and press conferences at the Capitol Complex.

Section 10. General Assembly Accessibility Task Force.

(a) There is hereby established the General Assembly Accessibility Task Force.

(b) The President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Minority Leader of the Senate, and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives shall each appoint 2 members to the Task Force. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall jointly appoint the chair of the Task Force. Appointees shall include persons who self-identify as having a disability or advocates for such persons. In addition, the following State officials shall serve on the Task Force as ex officio members: (i) the Secretary of State or his or her designee; (ii) the Secretary of the Senate or his or her designee; (iii) the Clerk of the House of Representatives or his or her designee; (iv) the Assistant Secretary of the Senate or his or her designee; and (v) the Assistant Clerk of the House of Representatives or his or her designee.

(c) The Task Force shall convene as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act, and shall hold at least 2 meetings. Members and ex officio members of the Task Force shall serve without compensation. The Architect of the Capitol shall provide administrative and other support to the Task Force.

(d) The Task Force shall examine issues concerning accessibility of the General Assembly to persons with a disability. No later than December 31, 2023, the Task Force shall issue recommendations to the General Assembly on what measures can be taken to increase the accessibility of the General Assembly to persons with a disability.

(e) This Section is repealed on January 1, 2025.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.

Effective Date: 05/24/2022