Dear IHLA members,
It feels like just yesterday I was writing you at the beginning of our legislative session. After five furious months of negotiations and conversations, the legislature adjourned on Sunday. Since January, the IHLA team has had hundreds of conversations with lawmakers, which resulted in many of our issues ending in a "best-case scenario" for Illinois hotels.
- Per-Diem Increase: At the end of December, IHLA successfully advocated for an increase in the lodging per-diem for state employees. The $15 increase (for all regions except the City of Chicago) is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2019.
- Tax Collection Allowance: The proposal to eliminate or cap the 2.1% rebate that hotels receive from the state to cover the administrative costs to process the state hotel tax was successfully taken out of the final budget, saving even smaller hotels thousands of dollars each year.
- 1099K Tax Reporting: This legislation, initiated by IHLA, requires gig-economy employees (including short-term rental hosts) to begin reporting their income to the state and paying state income tax. It unanimously passed the Senate and was included in the final budget package. This is another step towards leveling the playing field with short-term rental providers while generating new revenue for the state.
- Tourism Appropriations: The final budget included a 6% increase in financial support for local convention and visitor bureaus throughout the state. This equates to a $1.9 million increase to support sales and marketing initiatives of our local bureaus who drive tourism to Illinois.
- Short-Term Rental Preemption: This bill would have prohibited local jurisdictions from banning or adding certain regulations around Airbnb and other short-term rental providers. IHLA successfully worked with its partners to defeat the passage of this legislation.
- Employee Safety Devices: Legislation requiring safety devices or "panic buttons" to hotel and casino employees was passed as part of a comprehensive sexual harassment prevention package. IHLA was able to successfully work with legislative leaders, their staff and other stakeholders in order to make numerous and important changes to the final legislation, including an effective date of July 1, 2020. IHLA's legislative efforts on this matter allowed the legislation to align with what most of the major brands have already committed to rolling out as part of AHLA's nationwide 5-Star Promise. IHLA will soon release a series of resources to help hotels begin researching vendors and comply with the various components of this new law.
- Human Trafficking Training: A new requirement for hotels to train certain employees on identifying and preventing human trafficking was passed as part of a far-reaching bill to combat human trafficking. Once again, IHLA was able to successfully work with legislators in order to make numerous and important changes to the final legislation, including an exemption if your company already provides such a training. The agreed upon language has already become a standard for other states considering similar proposals. The legislation has an effective date of June 1, 2020. IHLA will soon send a dedicated message with more details about compliance with this new regulation.
- Parking Tax Increase: As a source of funding for building construction projects, a 6% daily and 9% monthly tax will be imposed on garage and lot parking beginning January 1, 2020. IHLA joined other stakeholders to actively oppose this tax increase but it was ultimately included in the final spending package.
- Minimum Wage: Early in the session, the legislature passed a statewide increase in the minimum wage. The first increase of $1/hour will take effect on January 1, 2020 and the rate will continue to increase until 2025 when it hits $15/hour. IHLA joined other business groups to make the case for a tiered, lower minimum wage in areas outside of the Chicagoland region considering the lower cost of living but was ultimately unable to amend the final legislation.
Credit: JD Spura
Additionally, many bills that IHLA engaged on, on your behalf, did not pass during the 2019 legislative session but are likely to return in the fall "veto session" or during the 2020 full session. Some of those issues include:
- Mandated sick-leave
- Mandated family-leave
- Requirements for new plumbing devices/equipment within hotels
- Cook County property tax assessment reform
- McCormick Place expansion
- Data privacy and "microphone" listening devices
As you can see, it was an extremely busy and productive legislative session for IHLA. I hope that you can
join our webinar on Thursday at 10am CT for a deeper dive on each of the issues mentioned above so that we can answer any questions you may have.
I am appreciative of each and every one of you for the support you lent my team and me over the past few months, especially those who reached out to their lawmakers on the various issues. However, as mentioned above, IHLA will need to continue its legislative efforts during the 2019 Fall Veto Session, 2020 Spring Session and beyond. Your investment in IHLA helps us to continue to identify both opportunities and challenges that will impact the hotel community throughout Illinois and represent the industry properly in Springfield and in municipalities statewide.
Best,
Michael Jacobson
President and CEO
Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association
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