The House and the Senate returned to Springfield on Monday, May 20 and were in session through Friday, May 24.

 

Both chambers took off this Saturday, May 25. The House returns the afternoon of Sunday, May 26, and the Senate returns Monday, May 27. Both are scheduled to be in through the end of the month.

 

GRADUATED INCOME TAX UPDATE

SJRCA 1  (Harmon / Martwick) passed out of the House Revenue and Finance Committee 9-6-0 and heads to the floor. This legislation allows for a constitutional amendment authorizing a graduated income tax.  The Chamber continues to oppose.

 

The Chamber is urging members to contact their members of the Illinois House to vote NO on SJRCA 1. You can do so here .  

 

SB 687 (Hutchinson) passed out of the House Revenue Committee on a partisan roll call 9-6-0 Friday and heads to to the floor. The chairman was able to call the bill  through a technical parliamentary procedure even though it wasn't posted on the day's agenda.  The legislation sets a schedule for income tax rates beginning in January  2021 if the constitutional amendment is enacted.  For questions on the hearing contact Keith Staats.  The Chamber will continue to oppose.

DATA CENTERS

This week, the Illinois Chamber, Chicagoland Chamber, organized labor, Dekalb EDC, Digital Realty, and elected officials from both parties joined together in a press conference at the statehouse urging lawmakers and the governor to pass the data center tax incentive before adjourning at the end of the month.  You can watch the press conference  here  by sharing this link

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9zLYVldMvo). Please feel free to share this video on your social media platforms. 

 

CAPITAL UPDATE 

HB 3233 (Sandoval) passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee 18-0-0. The bills is a transportation funding bill backed by Operators 150 and sponsored by Senator Sandoval. An amendment on that bill is expected soon to address some concerns in the bill.

The governor and legislative leaders met Thursday evening for a wide ranging discussion that included capital. The Republican leaders spoke to the press after the meeting and their comments indicate capital discussions are now moving forward as they have in previous years. There are details still to be worked out and the legislature needs to pass a capital plan before May 31 or approval for any plan will require super majority support after the session deadline.

 

It seems the basic structure of a capital plan is coming into place, but the important details have yet to be determined.  The current outline of the plan indicates that it will be based on sustainable, constitutionally-protected revenue and be multi-modal.  The capital working group is expected to meet with the governor Sunday or Monday. 

 

Chamber staff will continue to work with members and stakeholders over the weekend. The Chamber encourages anyone interested in a capital plan to call their legislators and voice their opinion during this crucial time. 

Watch a capital update from Representative Margo McDermed (R-Mokena) here.

ETHANOL / REFINERY BILL

SB 1407 (Hastings) passed the Senate today  38-17-0 and has been referred to House Rules Committee. This legislation would create the Illinois Hazardous Materials Workforce Training Act, requiring the Department of Labor to develop a curriculum of approved advanced safety training for workers at high hazard facilities. It also requires owners and operators to require their construction contractors and subcontractors working on all stationary sources to use a union workforce to perform all onsite work within an apprentice able occupation in the building and construction trades.  The Chamber issued a statement to the media Friday highlighting their opposition to this legislation and calling on the governor to veto it should it reach his desk. 

FLOOR ACTION

SB 24 (Hoffman/Link) passed the House today 77-36-1 and heads to the governor's desk. The legislation would mandate freight train crew sizes. However, the Federal Railroad Association issued yesterday a withdrawal of a Noticed of Proposed Rulemaking that intended to preempt state laws and called for no regulation of the number of people on freight train crews. The NPRM withdrawal is here. The Chamber was opposed.

HB 834 (Moeller/Castro) passed out of the Senate  41-14-0 and heads back to the House for concurrence.  The legislation prohibits employers from masking job applicants previous wage history and benefits in job interviews. The Chamber opposed this bill as it is designed to limit employers' defenses. 

HB 889 (Swanson/Anderson) passed the Senate unanimously and now goes to the governors desk. This bill is an insurance mandate for the coverage of Lyme disease. The Chamber opposed this bill.  

 

SB 1041 (DeWitte) passed out of the House 111-4-0 and heads to the governor's desk. The bill amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, in a county with more than 800,000 inhabitants but fewer than 1,000,000 inhabitants, if a lessee is liable for the payment of property taxes extended against property that is owned by a taxing district, the county treasurer shall promptly notify the taxing district that owns the property if the property taxes are delinquent 60 days after the second installment due date. Provides that the taxing district shall promptly notify the county supervisor of assessments upon the execution of a new lease or the termination of a lease. Provides that the State's Attorney of the county in which the property is located may bring an action against the lessee in the circuit court to recover the full amount of delinquent taxes, interest, penalties, and costs. The Chamber did not slip on this bill during committee but is supportive of the technical correction that it makes.

 

HB 2076 (Villa/Gillespie) was approved for concurrence  by the House Energy and Environment  Committee this morning. The bill bans the use of BPA in paper for all business records, including receipts. The bill received an amendment to limit the ban to the manufacturing and use of thermal paper if it has BPA in the coating, after January 1, 2020. With the amendment, the Chamber moved to from opposed to neutral.

 

HB 2460  (Davis/Martinez) passed the Senate 37-19-0 and moves to the House for concurrence. The initiative of the Treasurer's Office codifies guidelines that a state agency shall implement sustainable investment practices and incorporate those into new and existing investment decisions. A number of amendments have been offered to the bill. The Chamber is opposed.

 

HB 2557 (Andrade/Martinez) passed the Senate unanimously and heads to the House for concurrence. The bill, as amended, cleans up language regarding the regulation of artificial intelligent interviews by employers. With the adoption  of t he Chamber was supportive of its passage. 

 

HB 2764 (Hurley/Koehler) passed the Senate 57-0-0 and will be sent to the governor's desk. The bill allows for the use of less onerous manifesting for transporting non-hazardous waste. The Chamber supported this legislation. 

 

HB 3481 (Gabel/Ellman) passed the Senate 36-17-0 and heads to the governor's desk. The bill repeals the Kyoto Protocol and would allow the state to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, which that statute currently prohibits. The Chamber opposed the bill. 

 

SB 1852 (Curran/Durkin) passed the House today 108-0-1 and heads to the governor's desk. The bill sets forth various requirements for the use of ethylene oxide in Illinois, such as emission restrictions, trapping, and testing. The Chamber was neutral on its passage.

COMMITTEE ACTION

SR 419 (Glowiak) passed the Senate Environment and Conservation Committee 6-1-0 and is expected to come back to committee with an amendment. The resolution, while non-binding, calls for the state to play a role in addressing climate change from a public health perspective.  The Chamber testified on the bill, encouraging the committee to consider that any approach to emission reduction efforts should include all technology types, including renewable generation, low-carbon energies or technologies such as carbon capture, among others.  The resolution, as drafted, promotes only green energy production and disincentivizing reliance on carbon-based fuels. Chairwoman Bush asked the Chamber to provide language to the resolution to include those points, which we did. Senator Glowiak, however, will likely amend the bill by removing the concerning language. The Chamber will move to neutral with that action.