HB 5486

Select Language
  ×
The Illinois General Assembly offers the Google Translate™ service for visitor convenience. In no way should it be considered accurate as to the translation of any content herein.
Visitors of the Illinois General Assembly website are encouraged to use other translation services available on the internet.
The English language version is always the official and authoritative version of this website.
NOTE: To return to the original English language version, select the "Show Original" button on the Google Translate™ menu bar at the top of the window.
  Choose Language
  English
  Afrikaans
  Albanian
  Arabic
  Armenian
  Azerbaijani
  Basque
  Bengali
  Bosnian
  Catalan
  Croatian
  Czech
  Danish
  Dutch
  Esperanto
  Estonian
  Filipino
  Finnish
  French
  Galician
  Georgian
  German
  Greek
  Gujarati
  Haitian Creole
  Hausa
  Hawaiian
  Hebrew
  Hindi
  Hungarian
  Icelandic
  Indonesian
  Interlingua
  Interlingue
  Inuktitut
  Irish
  Italian
  Japanese
  Javanese
  Kannada
  Khmer
  Korean
  Latin
  Latvian
  Lithuanian
  Luxembourgish
  Macedonian
  Malagasy
  Malayalam
  Maltese
  Maori
  Marathi
  Myanmar
  Nepali
  Norwegian
  Odia
  Pashto
  Punjabi
  Romanian
  Russian
  Samoan
  Sango
  Sanskrit
  Sardinian
  Sindhi
  Sinhala
  Slovak
  Slovenian
  Somali
  Southern Sotho
  Spanish
  Sundanese
  Swahili
  Swedish
  Tamil
  Telugu
  Thai
  Tigrinya
  Tonga
  Turkish
  Ukrainian
  Urdu
  Vietnamese
  Welsh
  Xhosa
  Yiddish
  Yoruba
  Zulu
  Powered by Translate
  Close
Illinois General Assembly
Top Navigation Bar
  Translate
  Learn
  Select General Assembly
  Search the 104th General Assembly
  Enter search terms for legislation, members, committees, or schedules.
  ILGA.GOV
Mobile Top Bar
  Search the 104th General Assembly
  Enter keywords to search the Illinois General Assembly website.
Full Text of HB5486
Home
Legislation
Full Text
	HB5486 - 104th General Assembly
		Bill Status
		Full Text
		Votes
		Witness Slips
	Select Menu
	Bill Status
	Full Text
	Votes
	Witness Slips
	Printer Friendly Version
			Introduced
			Engrossed
			House Amendment 001
			House Amendment 002
		Printer Friendly Version
		Introduced
		Engrossed
		House Amendment 001
		House Amendment 002
			 Open PDF
		HB5486 Engrossed		LRB104 17770 TRT 31202 b
1    AN ACT concerning State government.
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Office
5of Genealogical Affairs Study Commission Act.
6    Section 5. Legislative findings and purpose.
7    (a) The General Assembly finds that:
8        (1) Illinois has a documented history of slavery,
9    coerced labor, family separation, racial violence, and
10    State-sanctioned discrimination, including, but not
11    limited to, the enslavement of African Americans at
12    State-operated salt mines, the enforcement of Black Codes,
13    and the long-term exclusion of African American families
14    from full civic participation.
15        (2) These historical practices resulted in the
16    systematic destruction, fragmentation, or non-creation of
17    genealogical records for African American families and
18    other historically displaced populations, impairing their
19    ability to document family identity, lineage, and
20    inheritance.
21        (3) Illinois recognizes genealogical access as a
22    public service and democratic good through its archival,
23    records preservation, and genealogical programs, and it
		HB5486 Engrossed	- 2 -	LRB104 17770 TRT 31202 b
1    recognizes family identity as a legally protected interest
2    for the purposes of adoption, parentage, and child welfare
3    law.
4        (4) Genealogical knowledge serves not only
5    administrative purposes but also reparative, forensic,
6    public health, and psychosocial functions, including
7    identity formation, family reunification, historical
8    accountability, and access to health-related genetic
9    information.
10        (5) The State lacks an integrated framework for
11    delivering genealogical services across restorative,
12    forensic, and administrative domains, particularly where
13    traditional documentation is absent.
14    (b) Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to commission a
15comprehensive study on the establishment of an Office of
16Genealogical Affairs, grounded in Illinois law and public
17service traditions, to determine how the State may equitably
18provide genealogical services that support identity repair,
19historical accountability, and, where applicable,
20administrative determinations.
21    Section 10. Office of Genealogical Affairs Study
22Commission.
23    (a) The Office of Genealogical Affairs Study Commission is
24created. The members of the Commission shall be as follows:
25        (1) 10 public members appointed by the Governor with
		HB5486 Engrossed	- 3 -	LRB104 17770 TRT 31202 b
1    specialties in the following areas or with the following
2    expertise:
3            (A) expertise in anthropology and population
4        genetics genealogy;
5            (B) expertise in biological anthropology;
6            (C) expertise in cultural anthropology;
7            (D) specialty in archival studies;
8            (E) specialty in historical studies;
9            (F) specialty in genealogy;
10            (G) specialty in psycho-social or psycho-mental
11        health; and
12            (H) specialty in data governance, privacy, and
13        security;
14        (2) 2 members that are descendant community leadership
15    representatives appointed by the Governor;
16        (3) one public health professional from a
17    nongovernmental organization or academic institution
18    appointed by the Governor;
19        (4) one member appointed by the President of the
20    Senate;
21        (5) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
22    Senate;
23        (6) one member appointed by the Speaker of the House
24    of Representatives;
25        (7) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
26    House of Representatives; and
		HB5486 Engrossed	- 4 -	LRB104 17770 TRT 31202 b
1        (8) 3 ex officio members:
2            (A) the Secretary of State, as the State
3        Archivist, or the Secretary's designee; and
4            (B) the Director of the Illinois State Archives,
5        or the Director's designee.
6            (C) a Director of the Illinois State Genealogical
7        Society or a Director's designee.
8    (b) Commission members appointed under paragraphs (3)
9through (6) of subsection (a) shall co-chair the Commission.
10    (c) Each Commission member shall serve for a term of 2
11years or until his or her successor is appointed and
12qualified, except in the case of initial appointees who shall
13serve for a period of 2 years after the effective date of this
14Act.
15    (d) Beginning August 2026, the Commission shall meet
16monthly, whether in-person or virtually, or as called by the
17co-chairs of the Commission.
18    Section 15. Duties of the Commission.
19    (a) The Commission shall have the following duties:
20        (1) to examine the feasibility, scope, and structure
21    of a permanent Office of Genealogical Affairs within State
22    government;
23        (2) to examine how an Office of Genealogical Affairs
24    could operationalize reparative genealogical services;
25        (3) to examine how an Office of Genealogical Affairs
		HB5486 Engrossed	- 5 -	LRB104 17770 TRT 31202 b
1    could support forensic and historical accountability
2    efforts; and
3        (4) to examine how an Office of Genealogical Affairs
4    could support administrative genealogical determinations.
5    (b) The Commission may engage with experts with the
6approval of the chairperson or co-chairs and shall receive the
7cooperation of those State agencies it deems appropriate to
8assist the Commission in carrying out its duties.
9    (c) The Commission may consult with the Department of
10Human Services, the Department of Public Health, the Illinois
11State Archives, and the African Descent-Citizens Reparations
12Commission to provide information or related data to support
13the Commission's work.
14    Section 20. Report to the Governor and General Assembly.
15No later than 20 months after the effective date of this Act,
16the Commission shall prepare a report to the Governor and the
17General Assembly, which shall include, but shall not be
18limited to:
19        (1) a recommended statutory placement, governance
20    structure, and staffing model for an Office of
21    Genealogical Affairs;
22        (2) a phased implementation plan prioritizing
23    reparative forensic services;
24        (3) an ethical, legal, and data-governance framework
25    for genealogical and genetic genealogy services;
		HB5486 Engrossed	- 6 -	LRB104 17770 TRT 31202 b
1        (4) a description of the estimated costs, funding
2    mechanisms, and interagency coordination needs; and
3        (5) a description of the options for pilot programs
4    and statewide scaling.
5    Section 25. Construction. Nothing in this Act shall be
6construed to mandate genetic testing, limit access to existing
7genealogical services, or authorize the use of genealogical
8data for surveillance or for law enforcement purposes.
9    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
10becoming law.