lllinois Lawmakers Pass Bill Forming Blockchain Task Force

Stan Higgins (@mpmcsweeney) | Published on June 30, 2017 at 15:00 BST | News, Legal, US & Canada

Lawmakers in the US state of Illinois have passed a bill creating an inter-governmental task force that will study public sector applications of blockchain.

The measure – House Resolution 120 – passed with 98 votes on 28th June, receiving just seven non-votes and two abstentions.

As reported in February, the bill called for participation from agencies such as the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), the Cook County Recorder of Deeds and the Department of Innovation and Technology. Other members will be appointed by Illinois' Secretary of State, as well as leaders from both the state's House and Senate.

Among the specific applications set to be investigated by the task force is the use of the technology for state record-keeping – a use case previously explored in states like Vermont. In that case, though, a group created by local lawmakers ultimately argued against a state-backed blockchain project.

The new Illinois Legislative Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Task Force, as it is called, now has a deadline of 1st January to submit its report to the legislature.

To date, the state has pursed an ambitious blockchain agenda through its Illinois Blockchain Initiative, aimed at envisioning how the tech could be implemented across a range of government services. As part of that investigation, the IDFPR joined the R3 distributed ledger consortium in March.

Illinois officials are also looking to the startup space for ideas. Notably, Saturday, 1st July, marks the first day of the month-long IBI Hack, an educational initiative open to students and recent university graduates.

Lincoln Memorial image via Shutterstock