| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | AN ACT concerning State government.
| ||||||
| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
| ||||||
| 4 | Section 5. The Department of Commerce and Economic | ||||||
| 5 | Opportunity Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois | ||||||
| 6 | is amended by adding Section 605-1115 as follows:
| ||||||
| 7 | (20 ILCS 605/605-1115 new) | ||||||
| 8 | Sec. 605-1115. Creative Economy Task Force. | ||||||
| 9 | (a) Subject to appropriation, the Creative Economy Task | ||||||
| 10 | Force is created within the Department of Commerce and | ||||||
| 11 | Economic Opportunity to create a strategic plan to develop the | ||||||
| 12 | creative economy in this State. | ||||||
| 13 | (b) The task force shall consist of the following members: | ||||||
| 14 | (1) the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity | ||||||
| 15 | or the Director's designee, who shall serve as chair of | ||||||
| 16 | the task force; | ||||||
| 17 | (2) the Executive Director of the Illinois Arts | ||||||
| 18 | Council or the Executive Director's designee, who shall | ||||||
| 19 | serve as the vice-chair of the task force; | ||||||
| 20 | (3) one member appointed by the Speaker of the House | ||||||
| 21 | of Representatives; | ||||||
| 22 | (4) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the | ||||||
| 23 | House of Representatives; | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | (5) one member appointed by the President of the | ||||||
| 2 | Senate; | ||||||
| 3 | (6) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the | ||||||
| 4 | Senate; | ||||||
| 5 | (7) one member from the banking industry with | ||||||
| 6 | experience in matters involving the federal small business | ||||||
| 7 | administration, appointed by the Governor; | ||||||
| 8 | (8) one member from a certified public accounting firm | ||||||
| 9 | or other company with experience in financial modeling and | ||||||
| 10 | in the creative arts, appointed by the Governor; | ||||||
| 11 | (9) one member recommended by the Illinois State | ||||||
| 12 | Association of Counties, appointed by the Governor; | ||||||
| 13 | (10) one member from an Illinois public institution of | ||||||
| 14 | higher education or nonprofit research institution with | ||||||
| 15 | experience in matters involving cultural arts, appointed | ||||||
| 16 | by the Governor; | ||||||
| 17 | (11) the Director of Labor or the Director's designee; | ||||||
| 18 | and | ||||||
| 19 | (12) five members from this State's arts community, | ||||||
| 20 | appointed by the Governor, including, but not limited to, | ||||||
| 21 | the following sectors: | ||||||
| 22 | (A) film, television, and video production; | ||||||
| 23 | (B) recorded audio and music production; | ||||||
| 24 | (C) animation production; | ||||||
| 25 | (D) video game development; | ||||||
| 26 | (E) live theater, orchestra, ballet, and opera; | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | (F) live music performance; | ||||||
| 2 | (G) visual arts, including sculpture, painting, | ||||||
| 3 | graphic design, and photography; | ||||||
| 4 | (H) production facilities, such as film and | ||||||
| 5 | television studios; | ||||||
| 6 | (I) live music or performing arts venues; and | ||||||
| 7 | (J) arts service organizations. | ||||||
| 8 | (c) No later than July 1, 2026, the task force shall | ||||||
| 9 | collect and analyze data on the current state of the creative | ||||||
| 10 | economy in this State and develop a strategic plan to improve | ||||||
| 11 | this State's creative economy that can be rolled out in | ||||||
| 12 | incremental phases to reach identified economic, social | ||||||
| 13 | justice, and business development goals. The goal of the | ||||||
| 14 | strategic plan shall be to ensure that this State is | ||||||
| 15 | competitive with respect to attracting creative economy | ||||||
| 16 | business, retaining talent within this State, and developing | ||||||
| 17 | marketable content that can be exported for national and | ||||||
| 18 | international consumption and monetization. The strategic plan | ||||||
| 19 | shall address support for the creative community within | ||||||
| 20 | historically marginalized communities, as well as the creative | ||||||
| 21 | economy at large, and take into account the diverse interests, | ||||||
| 22 | strengths, and needs of the people of this State. In | ||||||
| 23 | developing the strategic plan for the creative economy in this | ||||||
| 24 | State, the task force shall: | ||||||
| 25 | (1) identify existing studies of aspects affecting the | ||||||
| 26 | creative economy, including studies relating to tax | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | issues, legislation, finance, population and demographics, | ||||||
| 2 | and employment; | ||||||
| 3 | (2) conduct a comparative analysis with other | ||||||
| 4 | jurisdictions that have successfully developed creative | ||||||
| 5 | economy plans and programs; | ||||||
| 6 | (3) conduct in-depth interviews to identify best | ||||||
| 7 | practices for structuring a strategic plan for this State; | ||||||
| 8 | (4) evaluate existing banking models for financing | ||||||
| 9 | creative economy projects in the private sector and | ||||||
| 10 | develop a financial model to promote investment in this | ||||||
| 11 | State's creative economy; | ||||||
| 12 | (5) evaluate existing federal, State, and local tax | ||||||
| 13 | incentives and make recommendations for improvements to | ||||||
| 14 | support the creative economy; | ||||||
| 15 | (6) identify the role that counties and cities play | ||||||
| 16 | with respect to the strategic plan, and identify specific | ||||||
| 17 | counties and cities that may need or want a stronger | ||||||
| 18 | creative economy; | ||||||
| 19 | (7) identify opportunities for aligning with new | ||||||
| 20 | business models and the integration of new technologies; | ||||||
| 21 | (8) identify the role that State education programs in | ||||||
| 22 | the creative arts play in the creative economy and with | ||||||
| 23 | respect to advancing the strategic plan; | ||||||
| 24 | (9) identify geographic areas with the least amount of | ||||||
| 25 | access or opportunity for a creative economy; | ||||||
| 26 | (10) identify opportunities for earn and learn job | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | training employment for students who have enrolled or | ||||||
| 2 | completed a program in the arts, low-income or unemployed | ||||||
| 3 | creative workers, and others with demonstrated interest in | ||||||
| 4 | creative work in their communities; and | ||||||
| 5 | (11) identify existing initiatives and projects that | ||||||
| 6 | can be used as models for earn and learn opportunities or | ||||||
| 7 | as examples of best practices for earn and learn | ||||||
| 8 | opportunities that can be replicated Statewide or in | ||||||
| 9 | different regions. | ||||||
| 10 | (d) The task force shall submit its findings and | ||||||
| 11 | recommendations to the General Assembly no later than July 1, | ||||||
| 12 | 2026. | ||||||
| 13 | (e) Members of the task force shall serve without | ||||||
| 14 | compensation but may be reimbursed for necessary expenses | ||||||
| 15 | incurred in the performance of their duties. The Department of | ||||||
| 16 | Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall provide administrative | ||||||
| 17 | support to the task force. | ||||||
| 18 | (f) Appropriations for the task force may be used to | ||||||
| 19 | support operational expenses of the Department, including | ||||||
| 20 | entering into a contract with a third-party provider for | ||||||
| 21 | administrative support. | ||||||
| 22 | (g) The Director or the Director's designee may, after | ||||||
| 23 | issuing a request for proposals, designate a third-party | ||||||
| 24 | provider to help facilitate task force meetings, compile | ||||||
| 25 | information, and prepare the strategic plan described in | ||||||
| 26 | subsection (c). A third-party provider contracted by the | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||