Prairie State Wire

Gov. Bruce Rauner recently signed an executive order meant to streamline administrative hearings in an effort to improve efficiency and cut down on case backlogs, according to a release from Rauner's office.

Administrative hearings encompass business and citizen interactions with the state’s executive agencies, including wage disputes, professional licensing decisions, permits and other services. The rules governing these hearings are currently established independently by each agency, leading to conflicting and inefficient systems, the press release said.

"Citizens should not struggle to understand -- and learn and relearn and relearn again -- the rules and their rights in administrative hearings," Rauner said of the rules currently governing different hearings. "This parochial approach is not a policy prerogative; it is merely the result of a haphazard system of promulgating new rules without taking a comprehensive look at all the rules already on the books.”

Gov. Bruce Rauner

Rauner has directed agencies to implement the "Model Rules of Administrative Hearings,' which were established by the Bureau of Administrative Hearings, itself created by a 2016 executive order.

The recent order also mandates quarterly reporting on backlogs and workflow from each agency and authorizes the bureau to procure a management solution for all agencies, allowing them to modernize their case management and achieve greater efficiency, according to the release.