I spent last weekend at my sister’s wedding in Saratoga Springs. We flew into Albany, and I got to sneak off for a quick tour in New York’s Capitol Building. It’s a gorgeous building but it doesn’t hold a candle to our own Capitol in Springfield. Our building really is splendid, and we are lucky to have it. Too bad we can’t say the same thing about legislative activities inside the building.
Future of Work with the Chicago Sun-Times
Senator DeWitte and Representative Spain penned an op-ed in the Sun-Times critical of both the process and the outcome of the Future of Work Taskforce. I’ve written many paragraphs outlining those issues in prior newsletters, but you can read their full letter HERE.
The editors asked for a meeting to discuss in further detail yesterday morning. I participated in that meeting along with my counterparts at the IMA, Chicagoland Chamber, and IRMA.
I thought the most important takeaway was a response to a question by one of the editors when he asked “what should be done next?” I responded that I felt the report was not representative of the meetings in the slightest. The whole thing felt like if you ever had a class in college where the lectures were all pretty solid and then the exam asked questions not at all discussed in the class. Accordingly, I feel it’d be an injustice to use the report as a basis for legislation.
The biggest threat here is rushed workforce legislation in the Veto or Lame Duck Sessions utilizing this report as a backstop. We have seen this playbook too often recently (think the latest energy bill or the crime package) which poor results. These future of work topics: scheduling, independent contractors, paid leave, deserve thorough and measured consideration.
Illinois Chamber Letter to Secretary Buttigieg
Chamber President/CEO Todd Maisch yesterday penned a letter to US Transportation Secretary Buttigieg requesting support for the St. Louis Regional Freightway. Bi-State Development, and Infra Council Member Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis have a grant application for the expansion of the freight yards in Venice, Illinois.
The St. Louis facility experiences the nation’s second worst bottlebeck, the largest being Chicago. This facility currently inbounds and departs 1,000 rail cars per day with a capacity for 2,500 cars. The grant would increase the capacity of the yard by 60 percent and would create jobs in a historically disadvantaged community with nearly 1/3 of its residents in poverty.
You can read the full letter HERE.
Legislative Schedule Updates
We still do not have any announced dates for the long rumored special session. That session was originally rumored for this month. Now the gossip is September. The expected topics are the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision and guns. That said, any time the legislature is in town business needs to be on our toes. I’ll let you know a date as soon as we have one.
The General Assembly has released the schedule for veto session. Lawmakers will be back in Springfield Tuesday, November 15 -November 17 as well as November 29-December 1.
View and download the veto calendar here.
