GOV VETOES GEOLOCATION BILL TO PROTECT IL BIZ
Friday, the Illinois Chamber applauds Governor Rauner’s veto of HB 3449, the Geolocation Privacy Protection Act, which would have placed significant burden on businesses and consumers throughout Illinois.
HB 3449 would have stifled innovation in Illinois’ tech industry, burdened app users, and given Illinois a bad reputation in comparison to other states for enacting more harsh regulations on job creators.
HB 3449 would have required any entity operating in the state that uses geolocation technology to make people agree to long privacy notices, often complicated and cumbersome to the average consumer. Not to mention, an additional layer of regulation on our state’s business community.
This bill was brought about as a disclosure law on the use of geolocation information. However, online companies are already subject to robust privacy oversight by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, who has actively enforced privacy and data security protections for over two decades.
While ensuring the online privacy of Illinois consumers is of the utmost importance, the language in the proposed legislation did not provide additional protections in any way. For this reason, no state has enacted a law similar to HB 3449.
Startups and small businesses play a huge part in Illinois’ economy and would have been directly affected by this legislation.
EDGE CREDIT BECOMES LAW
On Monday, Gov. Rauner approved HB 162, the legislation that reinstates and modifies the EDGE tax credit. This bill contains major improvements including additional support and assistance for distressed communities across the entire state.
Among the key components in the EDGE tax credit overhaul is that incentives will encourage companies to expand or move to underserved areas in the state, and eligibility thresholds will be lowered to allow more small businesses to grow in Illinois. The overhaul also implements a Gov. Rauner transparency measure, requiring all EDGE agreements be posted within 10 days of the project being secured in Illinois.
The Chamber applauds the governor for signing this legislation that is a long overdue restoration of EDGE. Gov. Rauner signing this bill, which passed out of the Legislature with bipartisan support, provides Illinois with a real economic development tool vital for the state’s growth.