This change brings with it a whole new set of challenges for the business community. MHA has received inquiries from numerous Illinois members asking about the new law and its effect on allowable workplace behaviors and policies.

Most likely, it will take multiple court cases lasting any number of years to ultimately determine the final balance between worker's and employer's rights in the workplace with regard to cannabis. However, employers do have rights under the Act to protect themselves and their businesses.

As a general rule, cannabis in the workplace may be treated similar to alcohol in the workplace.

Reasonable suspicion may exist if the employer has a good faith belief that one of their employees manifests specific, articulable symptoms while working which decrease or lessen the employee's performance of the duties or tasks of their job position.

Good faith may consist of symptoms of the employee's speech, physical dexterity, agility, coordination, demeanor, irrational or unusual behavior, or negligence or carelessness in operating equipment or machinery; disregard for the safety of the employee or others, or involvement in any accident that results in serious damage to equipment or property; disruption of a production or manufacturing process; or carelessness that results in any injury to the employee or others.

It is recommended that employers adopt a drug-free workplace policy. By doing so, your store gains protection because the Act specifically provides that it does not create a cause of action against employer's who, pursuant to their workplace drug policy, may subject an employee or applicant to reasonable drug and alcohol testing, reasonable and nondiscriminatory random drug testing, and may discipline, terminate employment, or withdraw a job offer due to the failure of a drug test.

As a direct member benefit, MHA has available a sample  Drug-Free Workplace Policy, written by Attorney Donald Schoemaker with Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, PC. Illinois members are free to use  this sample policy when creating their store's drug-free workplace policy.

For additional information or questions on workplace rules and policies surrounding the Illinois cannabis law, please contact Andrea Ramage at  [email protected] or 800-888-1817 ext. 365 .

The call for a property tax cut by the Senate leader comes despite a recent poll from the Marquette University Law School that showed 55 percent of those surveyed believe it is more important to increase spending on public schools than it is to reduce property taxes, while 41 percent say reducing property taxes is more important. Public opinion surrounding property taxes in the state seems to have flipped in recent years. Since 2013, support for increased school spending peaked in early 2018, while support for cutting property taxes was at its height in early 2013.

School districts increased property taxes by the largest percentage in a decade. In Sun Prairie where I reside, just the school portion of my property tax bill increased more than 16 percent from last year. A report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum looked at data from the state Department of Revenue (DOR) and found that school districts across the state levied $5.21 billion in property taxes for 2019. That's a 4.5 percent increase from the prior year and the largest year-over-year increase since 2009. This represents the first time school district taxes rose by more than 2% since 2015-2016, and it is the highest since a 6% increase in 2009-2010. Much of the steep increase is likely due to state lawmakers increasing revenue limits for school districts in the last two-year state budget. In addition, new data shows growth in levies for counties (2.2%) and technical colleges (3.1%), indicating that the 2019-2020 gross property tax levies in Wisconsin are the highest increase since the last recession. The tax data from the state DOR includes levies reported by counties, technical colleges, and school districts, which together account for approximately two-thirds of all property taxes in the state. The property tax is the largest state and local tax in Wisconsin where local governments (i.e. school districts) rely heavily on it to fund public services such as education, police, and fire protection. Despite the overall steep increase, however, tax bills for individual properties around the state will vary according to local factors and property assessments.

The State Assembly is scheduled to convene on the floor between 4-5 more days this year, while the Senate is scheduled to meet once in January, once in February, and once in March, before lawmakers adjourn and return to their respective districts to campaign for re-election.

It remains uncertain whether cutting property taxes before the session adjourns would get support from legislative Democrats and Governor Evers .