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GREAT LAKES COMMISSION SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING
 The Chamber attended the Great Lakes Commission's (GLC) Semi-Annual Meeting in Washington, DC on March 14-16 as an Illinois Commissioner appointed by Governor Bruce Rauner. Our participation with the GLC is to ensure that the business community of Illinois has a voice in the regional environmental and economic issues of today. The agenda included a presentation and discussion on public-private partnerships and what those could mean for our clean and wastewater systems.
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While the state continues to struggle with its budget crisis, it isn't surprising that a number of ideas get floated to help bridge the gap. The Chamber remains open to listening to some, but immediately rejected a provision originally filed in SB 9: a $750 million jobs tax! Plain and simple, the proposal would increase taxes on an employer as it hires more workers. In a state that sorely lags other states in job growth and just last month reached the same employment Illinois had in 2000, this jobs tax would have been a disaster for Illinois.
2018 will be the State of Illinois' bicentennial year. To organize bicentennial celebrations and educational events across the state, Governor Rauner has created the Bicentennial Commission, a group of 55 distinguished Illinoisans. The Chamber's Foundation, whose mission is to promote public awareness and understanding of issues benefitting the state, is proud to have partnered with the Commission. The Foundation's role is to help manage the Commissions fiscal administration and to make connections with the business community to help fulfill everyone's goal of an outstanding bicentennial year. Please learn more about the
The Illinois Environmental Regulatory Group ("IERG") has been working with the Illinois EPA to finalize permit by rule ("PBR") regulations for several years and was very active in the rulemaking. On March 23, 2017 the Illinois Pollution Control Board issued a Final Order and Opinion which adopted new regulations establishing a permit by rule permitting scheme. PBRs streamline the permitting process for the applicable emission units, enabling facilities to operate without delays. The regulations set forth the general parameters for obtaining a PBR and established a PBR for gas-fired boilers less than or equal to 100 MMBtu/hour. IERG plans to work on behalf of industry to craft regulations allowing for more types of PBRs.
The Chamber hosted Illinois Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director
Joe Klinger
(pictured right) at our quarterly meeting. At IEMA's request, the Chamber is asking all employers to look into participating in two important disaster preparedness programs specifically created to get businesses involved with planning and preparation for disasters. These programs offer unique opportunities for employers to engage with the state's primary disaster response entity.
On March 17 the Executive Director of the International Business Council,
Laura Ortega, participated in an Executive Seminar on trade and investment between the State of Illinois and India. The seminar was organized by the Consulate General of India in Chicago to introduce its new
Consul General Neeta Bushan
(pictured left) to city and state businesses, academia, and community leaders. The IBC is an institutional partner of the Indian Consulate leading a statewide initiative to help Illinois companies become more successful global traders and explore investment and business opportunities in what is now the fastest growing economy in the world.
(Chamber staff pictured left to right)
Rachael Krekel,
Kelli Jessup - Awards Director,
Laurie Silvey - Employer Outreach Director and
Michael Ayers - former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Illinois Chamber and Illinois ESGR Volunteer Coordinator
