PEORIA – State agencies and local government entities will be allowed to use Blockchain technologies to provide certain services under legislation being considered at the Illinois General Assembly.

Assistant Majority Leader Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) is co-sponsoring House Bill 3575 because he believes it could revolutionize the way government services are provided.

“It seems like every month we hear about data breaches that have compromised the personal information of hundreds of thousands of consumers,” Koehler said. “By employing this technology at the local and state level we could protect private data as well as connect state agencies and local governments better than ever.”

Blockchain is an emerging technology that uses sequences of blocks or groups of transactions that are chained together. The chains serve as a record of the transactions that validates the authenticity and integrity of the data.

Under the provisions of HB 3575, state and local governments would be permitted to use Blockchain for smart contracts, storing vital records, evidence in court proceedings and satisfaction of legal written requirements and signature requirements.

Potential uses for the technology at the government level include land title registration, supply chain auditing, file storage, data management, anti-money laundering, identity managements and neighborhood micro-grids.

The measure recently passed out of the Senate Telecommunications Committee and now waits for a full vote in the Senate.