GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
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July 2nd, 2021
This Week in Illinois
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Session Update
The House remains adjourned until the call of the Speaker. The Senate also remains adjourned until the call of the Senate President.
Both the House and the Senate released the dates for the Fall 2021 Veto Session. Both Chambers will be in session October 19th-21st and October 26th-28th. At this time there are no additional session dates scheduled.
Illinois Chamber Amicus Brief on BIPA Accepted by the Illinois Supreme Court
The Illinois Chamber filed an amicus brief in support of Roosevelt University as a defendant in a BIPA suit in the Illinois Supreme Court. The brief was accepted by the Supreme Court last Friday. The Chamber's argument is that federal labor law controls when the BIPA suit centers on unionized employees. BIPA claims cannot exist independently of a collective bargaining agreement where a union is the legally authorized representative of the BIPA plaintiff. BIPA claims therefore are completely preempted by the Labor Management Act and courts must dismiss them.
The Chamber thanks our friends at Shook, Hardy & Bacon for authoring the brief. Read the brief in full here.
Legislative Update: Bills Signed into Law
HB 1738, Small Cell Wireless Clerical Changes was signed into law. This bill, as amended, provides for the reenactment of the Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Act and makes findings concerning the earlier reenactment by Public Act 102-9. Effective immediately. This bill did not make any substantive changes, rather it made changes to drafting errors in HB 3743.
SB 1096, Testing was signed into law. This bill provides that a health plan amended, delivered, issued, or renewed on or after the effective date of the amendatory Act shall provide coverage of diagnostic testing for enrollees that is performed by a testing provider in accordance with specified federal and State COVID-19 testing requirements, and that diagnostic testing for enrollees shall be considered medically necessary. Provides that a health plan may inquire as to whether an enrollee is an employee of the long-term care facility but shall not require further evidence or verification of the enrollee's employment status. Provides that the coverage requirements set forth in the provisions shall only apply when specified federal and State testing requirements are in effect. Provides that any failure to provide coverage of diagnostic testing pursuant to the provisions shall be deemed a failure to substantially comply with this Code. Provides that the provisions are repealed on January 1, 2022.
SB 1847: EQUAL PAY CERTIFICATE was signed into law. The Employment Law Council and other business groups working with the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) agreed to amendments that make several important changes to the Equal Pay Act mandate for Illinois employers of 100 or more. Current law requires extensive wage and personnel data to IDOL and certify compliance with federal and Illinois equal pay and discrimination laws. The legislation’s positive changes include 1) delaying the effective date 2) providing privacy protection to individual corporate and employee data and 3) replacing the 1% of gross profit with a definitive penalty. The Chamber supports this bill. For a complete summary of SB 1847, contact Jay Shattuck.
SB 2176, Electronic Form/Signature was signed into law. This bill creates the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. Provides that a contract, record, or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability simply because it is in electronic form or an electronic record was used in its formation. Provides that if a law requires a record to be in writing, an electronic record satisfies the law. Provides that if a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law.
SB 2279 Taxpayer Audit was signed into law. Part of this bill amends various tax acts to provide that upon filing a claim for a credit or for a refund, if the statute of limitations will expire less than 6 months after the date a taxpayer files the claim for credit or refund, that will trigger an automatic 12-month extension of the statute of limitations for assessing additional tax due. The Chamber opposed the provision within the original bill that provided the Department of Revenue an additional year to conduct an audit. We believed this was unnecessary. We believe the Department of Revenue already has sufficient time to conduct audits. The Chamber opposed the original version of the bill, and maintain our opposition, but through negotiation were able to reduce the amount of time from 12 months to 6 months before the statue of limitations expires for when an audit extension is triggered.
SB 2338 Student Athlete Endorsements was signed into law. This bill creates the Student-Athlete Endorsement Rights Act. Sets forth definitions, including "compensation", "student-athlete", and "postsecondary educational institution". Sets forth provisions concerning the conditions in which a student-athlete may and may not earn compensation for the use of the student-athlete's name, image, likeness, or voice while enrolled at a postsecondary education institution. Provides that an institution may impose reasonable limitations on the dates and time that a student-athlete may participate in endorsement, promotional, social media, or other activities related to the license or use of the student-athlete's name, image, likeness, or voice. Provides, among other prohibitions, that no institution, athletic association, conference, or other group or organization with authority over intercollegiate athletic programs shall uphold any contract, rule, or regulation that prevents a student-athlete from earning compensation as result of the use the student-athlete's name, image, likeness, or voice. Provides that a student-athlete's financial aid, awards, and other benefits may not be revoked, reduced, or the terms and conditions altered as a result of the student-athlete receiving compensation. Sets forth other requirements, limitations, and prohibitions on the use of a student-athlete's name, image, likeness, or voice.
IL Chamber Publishes Quarterly Business Leader Magazine
Earlier this week the Illinois Chamber published the quarterly Illinois Business Leader Magazine with the theme of "Open for Business." This issue features a profile on Chamber member DoorDash as a part of the Amazing Members series. The magazine also contains an article on the 2021 legislative session authored by the Chamber Council Directors. The newest issue of Illinois Business Leader Magazine as well as past editions is now available here: https://ilchamber.org/communications/illinois-business-leader-magazine2/.
Save the Date: Illinois Chamber to Host Annual Meeting
On Thursday, September 30th the Illinois Chamber will host its Annual Meeting at the Palmer House in Chicago. The event will take place between 11am-1:30 pm and feature keynote speaker Holly Sullivan, Vice President of Worldwide Economic Development for Amazon. The theme for this year's event is Global Growth Opportunities. Register today!
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If you have questions about the Government Affairs Report, contact Clark Kaericher at ckaericher@ilchamber.org. Do not reply to this email.
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