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HB 3497

Prohibiting chairmen of state political parties during or up to one year after the termination of their employment as chairmen of those political parties from registering as lobbyists

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Shawn Fluharty

HB 3497 shifts Illinois Regulatory Sunset reviews to two years before termination, adds equity, interstate comparison, and enforcement factors for licensure and outcomes.

To House Judiciary
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Bill Summary · HB 3497

Summary — HB 3497 (2025)

Relating to Illinois’s Regulatory Sunset Act; prescribing an effective date

Main purpose and intent

HB 3497 amends the Regulatory Sunset Act (5 ILCS 80/5 and 5 ILCS 80/6) to change when and how the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) studies regulatory agencies/programs that are scheduled for termination, and to expand and clarify the factors GOMB must consider in those studies. The bill shifts the timing of required reviews away from an annual cadence and adds explicit equity, interstate-comparison, and enforcement-effect considerations to the statutory evaluation factors.

Key provisions and changes

  • Timing of review and reporting
    • Current language requiring an annual study/report is replaced. Under HB 3497, GOMB must study the performance of each regulatory agency/program scheduled for termination “in the calendar year 2 years before” its scheduled termination (instead of annually).
    • The Governor must review GOMB’s report and make recommendations to the General Assembly on termination, modification, or continuation “no later than December 1st of the year preceding the year of termination” (replacing the existing trigger of “each even-numbered year”).
  • Expanded statutory factors for review (amendments to Section 6)
    • Clarifies that reviews must consider full range of practices, including subspecialties and modes of practice developed since the last review.
    • Adds a new factor (1.5): the extent to which the profession/occupation/business/industry regulated is restricted in other U.S. states or territories (interstate comparison).
    • Strengthens the list of evaluation factors already in law (public interest, statutory impediments, enforcement, need for statutory changes, evidence of significant harm).
    • Adds/clarifies assessment of entry qualifications (training hours, curricula, testing, updates for technology/modes of practice).
    • Adds an explicit equity-oriented factor (13) requiring examination of barriers created by personal qualification requirements, including:
    • (A) financial impacts on aspiring licensees (itemized average costs, average incomes, numbers/demographics who start but don’t complete qualifying requirements);
    • (B) challenges faced by historically disadvantaged individuals;
    • (C) barriers for individuals with criminal justice histories;
    • (D) barriers for non–English-primary-language individuals;
    • (E) geographic distribution of training and test sites.
    • Adds factor (14): whether enforcement actions address significant, discernible harms to the public or instead penalize technical noncompliance.

Who is affected

  • Regulatory agencies and programs subject to the Illinois Regulatory Sunset Act (those scheduled for termination under the Act).
  • Regulated professions, occupations, businesses and industries (as reviews will examine scope of practice, entry requirements, enforcement outcomes).
  • Aspiring licensees and historically disadvantaged groups (the new equity-focused factors add statutory attention to barriers to entry).
  • State executive offices (GOMB and the Governor) and the General Assembly (timing and content of recommendations will change).

Procedural/timeline aspects and status

  • Introduced: Feb 18, 2025 (Rep. Suzanne M. Ness; Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Maurice A. West, II).
  • Statutory sections amended: 5 ILCS 80/5 and 5 ILCS 80/6.
  • Legislative actions (selected): public hearing 3/6/2025; work session 4/1/2025; recommendation “Do pass with amendments” 4/7/2025; referred to Ways & Means; read first time and multiple referrals; in committee upon adjournment as of 6/28/2025.
  • Effect: The bill’s title indicates it prescribes an effective date, though the specific effective date language is not shown in the provided text.

Potential impact and considerations

  • Administrative: Reduces the frequency of comprehensive GOMB reviews (from annual to a targeted review two years before termination), potentially lowering recurring workload but concentrating analytic effort before termination decisions.
  • Policy and oversight: The bill may produce more focused and timely recommendations tied to termination schedules and could change which agencies/programs the Governor recommends for termination, modification, or continuation.
  • Equity and access: By statutorily requiring examination of financial, geographic, linguistic, and criminal-record barriers to licensure, the bill increases statutory attention to workforce-entry and equity issues; this could lead to legislative or regulatory reforms to reduce barriers in licensure/training.
  • Enforcement focus: Explicitly directs review to distinguish enforcement that protects against significant harm from enforcement that penalizes technical noncompliance, which may influence agency enforcement practices or statutory revisions.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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