Andrew Cunningham l Executive Director, Infrastructure Council l 217-520-2345

Register Today! Multi-Council Spring Meeting: The Future of EVs in Illinois

Please join us on April 18th for the Spring meeting of our Infrastructure, Energy and Technology Councils. This gathering will feature a discussion of the future of electric vehicles in Illinois with a great lineup of speakers.

Both State EV Officer, Megha Lakhchaura and Electric Mobility and Innovation Director, Lisa Clemmons Stott will address attendees.

Chamber members Ameren and EVBox will also speak on how their companies are working in this space.

Agenda:

2:00pm – Introductions

2:05pm – Presentation by State EV Officer

2:30pm – Presentation by State Electric Mobility and Innovation Director

2:55pm – Ameren

3:10pm – EVBox

3:25pm – Closing by Chamber Directors

Register here.

Session Update

After adjourning for two weeks of Spring Break, the House and Senate will both return to Springfield this Tuesday, April 18th. When they do return, there will be one month of busy action until scheduled adjournment on May 19th.

House Transportation: Regulations, Raods & Bridges is scheduled for Tuesday at 3pm and House Transportation: Vehicles & Safety is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 am. Senate Transportation Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, April 18th at 4 pm. Provided in a section below is a highlight of relevant bills posted for committee this week across all committees.

Of note, April 28th is the deadline for House bills to get out of Senate committees and Senate bills to get out of House committees. View the Senate session calendar for 2023. View the House 2023 calendar.

Bills of Interest Committee Schedule

HB 1105, ICC Approval of Eminent Domain is posted for Senate Energy and Public Utilities on Thursday. This bill provides that property belonging to a public utility that provides water or sewer service and that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission may not be taken or damaged by eminent domain without prior approval of the Illinois Commerce Commission. Provides that the requirement does not apply to property to be acquired by a municipality with 140,000 or more inhabitants or a regional water commission formed under specified provisions of the Illinois Municipal Code or a municipality that is a member of such a regional water commission, only in furtherance of purposes authorized under the specified provisions of the Illinois Municipal Code, and limited solely to interests in real property and not improvements to or assets on the real property belonging to a public utility that provides water or sewer service and that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission.

HB 2278, Environmental Response Project is posted for Senate Judiciary on Tuesday. This bill amends the Uniform Environmental Covenants Act. Removes language providing that "environmental response project" includes a plan or work that is performed for environmental remediation of any site or facility in response to contamination at specified sites or facilities. Provides instead that "environmental response project" includes a plan or work that is performed or conducted to clean up, remediate, eliminate, investigate, minimize, mitigate, or prevent the release or threatened release of contaminants affecting real property in order to protect public health or welfare or the environment. Removes the definition of "State".

HB 2907, Dispute Damages is posted for Senate Judiciary on Tuesday. This bill provides that no award of monetary damages, except for damage done to an employer's property as a result of conduct prohibited by law, shall be granted by any court of this State in any case involving a labor dispute.

HB 3017, Permitting Portal is posted for Senate State Government on Wednesday. Provides that the Office shall implement reforms to improve interagency coordination and encourage expeditious permit issuance. Provides that the Office shall use information technology tools to track project schedules and metrics in order to improve transparency and accountability of the permitting process, reduce uncertainty and delays, and reduce costs and risks to taxpayers. This bill is the Chamber/IERG initiative to create an online permitting portal for large industrial projects in Illinois.

HB 3491, Prevailing Wage/Contractors is posted for Senate Labor on Wednesday. This bill provides that any laborer, worker, or mechanic who is employed by the contractor or by any lower tier sub-contractor and is paid for services in a sum less than the prevailing wage rates for work performed on a project shall have a right of action for whatever difference there may be between the amount so paid and the prevailing rates required to be paid for work performed on the project. 

HB 3510, MWRD Watershed Management Conformance is posted for House Energy & Environment on Tuesday. This bill provides that, no later than one year after the effective date of the amendatory Act, landowners owning more than 5% of land in a municipality within the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District shall be in conformance with the requirements of the District's Watershed Management Ordinance. 

HB 3641, Capital Development/Local Gov is posted for Senate State Government on Wednesday. This bill provides that ordinances of units of local government may not be enforced against construction, reconstruction, improvement, or installation of State facilities. Provides that units of local government cannot require payment of permitting fees or require permit inspections for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, or installation of State facilities.

SB 46, Waterway Ports Commission is posted for House Executive on Wednesday. This bill creates the Illinois Waterway Ports Commission Act. Provides that the Illinois Waterway Ports Commission is created and shall exercise jurisdiction with respect to the duties and powers delegated to it under the Act within the following port districts and counties: the Seneca Regional Port District, the Ottawa Port District, the Illinois Valley Regional Port District, the Heart of Illinois Regional Port District, and the Havana Port District and Fulton, Mason, Tazewell, Peoria, Woodford, Marshall, Putnam, Bureau, LaSalle, and Grundy counties. Provides that the Commission shall (1) coordinate and synchronize common efforts and initiatives in the Commission area to enhance the reporting and benefits of statistical data; (2) make recommendations to the Governor, the General Assembly, Congress, and federal agencies on regional issues that impact multimodal transportation, economic development, environmental sustainability, and climate resiliency of the Commission area; (3) coordinate and synchronize common efforts and initiatives on the larger Illinois Waterway with the Mid-America Port Commission and the Joliet Regional Port District; (4) coordinate and synchronize federal activities associated with the nonfederal sponsorship of the M-55 Illinois-Gulf Marine Highway; and (5) request and assist in requesting funding for the Commission area and the surrounding areas, as the Commission deems necessary. 

SB 76, Nuclear Power is posted for House Public Utilities on Tuesday. This bill deletes language that provides that no construction shall commence on any new nuclear power plant to be located within the State, and no certificate of public convenience and necessity or other authorization shall be issued therefor by the Illinois Commerce Commission, until the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency finds that the United States Government, through its authorized agency, has identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear waste, or until such construction has been specifically approved by a statute enacted by the General Assembly.

SB 1570, Municipal Design Build is posted for House Cities & Villages on Tuesday. This bill creates the Municipal Design-build Contracts Division in the Illinois Municipal Code, which may be cited as the Municipal Design-build Authorization Act. Provides that a municipality may enter into design-build contracts. Includes scope and performance criteria for design-build contracts, a two-phase procedure for selection of contracts, requirements for submission of proposals, procedures for awarding contracts, and requirements of reports and evaluation of contracts. Provides that, if the total overall cost of a project is estimated to be less than $12,000,000, the municipality may combine the two-phase procedure for selection into one phase. In provisions about submission of proposals, provides that, after a response to a request for qualifications or a request for proposal has been submitted, a design-build entity may not replace, remove, or otherwise modify any firm identified as a member of the proposer's team unless authorized to do so by the municipality.

SB 1897, Rock Island Port District is posted for House Executive on Wednesday. This bill creates the Rock Island Regional Port District Act. Establishes the Rock Island Regional Port District within the corporate limits of the City of Rock Island. Provides that territory of adjacent municipalities may be annexed into the Port District. Contains provisions related to the operation of the Port District, rights and powers of the Port District and participating municipalities, lease of property, easements and permits, bonds and tax levies, eminent domain powers, and other provisions. Limits the concurrent exercise of home rule powers.

SB 2192, Procurement Bid Notice is posted for House State Government on Wednesday. This bill provides that if a bidder has failed to be awarded a contract after 4 consecutive bids to provide the same services to a single agency, the applicable chief procurement officer for that agency shall in writing detail why all 4 bids were rejected. Provides that the chief procurement officer shall submit by certified copy to the bidder the reasoning for the rejection of the bid within the same quarter in which the 4th bid was rejected and prior to 15 days before the next Illinois Procurement Bulletin for that type of bid. Provides that the provisions of the introduced bill only apply to the Department of Transportation, the Capital Development Board, and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.

SB 2424, Land Acquisition is posted for House State Government on Wednesday. This bill provides that the definition of "project" includes any land acquisition that is conducted by either the Department of Transportation or Illinois Toll Highway Authority and that requires architectural, engineering, or land surveying services.

CGFA Capital Plan Analysis

Last week, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA) published its FY24 Capital Plan analysis. Provided below are some of the highlights from that analysis.

State statute requires the Office of Management and Budget to prepare an assessment of the State’s capital needs both current and five years forward. This is presented as part of the Governor's Budget. The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, in turn, is statutorily required each year to submit a capital plan analysis based on this information.

• According to the FY 24 Capital Budget, “Nearly $13.9 billion was expended from capital appropriations between fiscal years 2020 and 2022 in support of broadband deployment, economic and community development, education, environmental protection, healthcare, state facilities, and transportation purposes. This includes approximately $8.6 billion of improvements statewide on 4,422 miles of highway, 412 bridges and 621 additional safety improvements through the Illinois Department of Transportation.”
• Over $7.2 billion in federal infrastructure funding has already been announced for Illinois investments in transportation, energy, water infrastructure, broadband and land reclamation.
• The Governor’s FY 2024 capital projects budget proposes $5.0 billion in new appropriations and $41.6 billion in reappropriations. Most of the new appropriations will be pay-as-you go funding, with only approximately $88 million to be bonded.
• Total authorization for General Obligation capital projects is $51.5 billion, with approximately $19.5 billion remaining unissued as of January 31, 2023.
• In February and March of 2023, Moody’s upgraded Illinois’ G.O and Build Illinois bonds to A3 from Baa1, and Standard and Poor’s upgraded Illinois’ General Obligation Bonds to A- from BBB+. This is the third single-level upgrade on Illinois’ General Obligation ratings in less than two years, from both Moody’s and S&P. Moody’s increased the State’s GO and Build Illinois ratings by single levels twice, in the summer of 2021 and in April 2022. S&P’s previous upgrades were in July 2021 and May 2022. In May of 2022, Fitch raised Illinois General Obligation ratings two levels from BBB- to BBB+, and Build Illinois ratings two levels from BBB+ to A, with stable outlooks.
• In FY 2024, the Governor’s Budget estimates the sale of $2.725 billion in bonds. This would consist of $2.225 billion of G.O. capital projects bonds, $300 million of Pension Acceleration Bonds, and $200 million in Build Illinois bonds.

Read the full capital plan analysis here.

Civic Federation: Public Transit in a Post-Covid World

On Thursday, the Civic Federation in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Civic Committee hosted a policy forum titled Public Transit in a Post-Covid World. It was a pleasure to attend the forum which had a range of great speakers and panelists.

Of special note was the panel titled: Solving the Transit Funding Riddle in Northeast Illinois and Beyond. For frequent readers of this newsletter, we've written on this issue many times over the past few months.

Senate Transportation Chair Villivalam was one of the panelists. Senator Villivalam noted that every major transit authority across the country is facing this same financing struggle. He said there is an "absolute appetite" by the General Assembly to help the RTA with the fiscal cliff they are facing. This is in regard to the gap that will arise for the RTA in 2026 after federal funding has been exhausted. Villivalam said that the question is what structural reforms and what services can be provided/promised to constituents to justify the spending by the General Assembly.

Villivalam did add that any transit funding proposal at the state level should use the Rebuild Illinois blueprint. Meaning, the plan should seek bipartisan, bicameral consensus and a lack of strong opposition.

Andrew Ward, Group Credit Officer for US Public Finance - Fitch Ratings said that across the country, 60-75% of transit ridership recovery has occurred or is expected to soon occur. With that being said, we are past the time to expect transit riders to return to pre-pandemic levels in mass. He added that with federal budget constraints and the current political environment that state and local solutions are most likely to address long-term solvency for transit agencies. 

Release: IDOT Invites Applications for $2.5 million in Transit Grants 

The Illinois Department of Transportation announced that applications are now being accepted for a competitive grant program that aims to expand safe, equitable access to public transportation throughout the state. Selected projects will feature transit opportunities while furthering the goals of IDOT’s Illinois Long-Range Transportation Plan.

The grants will fund studies on planning and preliminary engineering issues regarding public multimodal, intermodal and non-motorized transportation. Previously chosen projects focused on topics ranging from bus-on-shoulder travel to transit equity, trails and bikeways, transit system expansion, travel behavior of people with disabilities and transportation for veterans.

The program’s total funding is $2.5 million, with awards averaging $200,000 and requiring a 20% non-federal match. Applicants can request IDOT provide this match, particularly if the study benefits a historically disadvantaged community.

Governmental entities such as counties, metropolitan planning agencies, municipalities, state agencies, public transit agencies and state universities are urged to apply.

Applications must be submitted to IDOT by 5 p.m. on May 24. Awards will be announced this summer.

Rulemaking

There was no rulemaking of note for this Council in the April 14th edition of the Illinois Register.

Register Today - Chamber Day 2023

When: Tuesday, April 18, 2023 from 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM CDT

Where: President Abraham Lincoln A Double Tree by Hilton

701 East Adams Street

Springfield, IL 62701

Register Here

Articles of Interest  

Fast EV Chargers to Nearly Double on U.S. Highways Under Expansion Plan

Ford Investing $1.3 Billion to Turn Ontario Plant into “High-Volume Hub” for EV Production

Midwest CO2 pipelines push ahead as bills fizzle

Johnson names transition team leadership

Government Posing Greater Risk to Corporate Profits, Chamber Study Finds

Port Labor Disputes Raise New Fears Over U.S. Import Disruptions