This Illinois State Association of Counties (ISACo) News and Views e-newsletter provides a Veto Session update, identifies newly-filed bills and amendments that affect or are of interest to counties, conveys leadership changes in the House and Senate, provides an update about the constitutional amendment on workers' rights, alerts counties to an Illinois Finance Authority (IFA) listening session concerning the federal Inflation Reduction Act, spotlights ISACo's partnership with Comcast and invites counties to join ISACo.
Veto Session Update
The House and Senate convened on November 15-16 while cancelling the session day scheduled for November 17. Both chambers adjourned for the week on Wednesday afternoon.
Legislative action was light, with more involved activity likely being deferred until the second week of the Veto Session (November 29-December 1). Several bills and amendments were filed during the week.
Newly-filed bills that would affect or be of interest to counties are available below:
SB 4208 - Police Training; Monitor (Under Review)
SB 4209 - Drug Take-Back Act (Under Review)
SB 4212 - 911 Fund Transfer (Support)
SB 4218 - Law Enforcement Rest Day (Under Review)
SB 4221 - Controlled Substances-Fentanyl (Under Review)
SB 4222 - Governmental Ethics-Lobbying (Under Review)
SB 4228 - Pretrial Release Conditions (Under Review)
SB 4234 - Freedom from Drone Surveillance (Support)
SB 4239 - Election Code-Vote By Mail Notice (Under Review)
HB 5748 - Victim Rights-Notice-Reports
HB 5755 - Local Government - Criminal Justice Council
HB 5756 - McHenry County Township Dissolution (Support)
HB 5757 - County Clerk-Revenue Ordinance (Under Review)
HB 5760 - Municipal/County Cannabis Revenue (Under Review)
HB 5761 - Cook County Street Lighting Poles (Under Review)
HB 5765 - Counties-Competitive Bidding (Under Review)
HB 5768 - Law Enforcement-Rest Day (Under Review)
HB 5775 - Body Cameras-Parent Disclosure (Under Review)
HB 5778 - Election Code-Photograph-Ballot (Under Review)
HB 5790 - Contract Prompt Payment (Under Review)
HB 5804 - Detention-Threat to Community (Under Review)
HB 5807 - Use/Occupation Tax Holiday-No Penalty (Under Review)
HB 5811 - Criminal Procedure-Pretrial Detention (Under Review)
HB 5812 - Crime Victims-Pretrial Release (Under Review)
HB 5820 - FOIA Prevail-No Order Required (Under Review)
HB 5824 - Property Tax-Senior Freeze-CPI (Oppose)
HB 5829 - Motor Fuel-No CPI Increase (Under Review)
HB 5833 - Highway Commissioner-Contracts (Under Review)
HB 5837 - Video Gaming-Funds After $850 Million (Support)
HB 5844 - Public Access-Navigable Waters (Under Review)
A report with amendments of interest to counties is available via this link.
House and Senate Republicans Elect New Leadership
Following a strong showing from Illinois Democrats during the 2022 mid-term elections, both the House and Senate Republican Caucuses opted to elect new leadership.
The House Republicans elected Representative Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) as Minority Leader in the House. Representative McCombie is a former mayor familiar with issues important to local government. Representative McCombie becomes the first woman in Illinois history to be elected to lead a caucus in the House. She replaces former Republican Minority Leader Jim Durkin (Western Springs) who opted not to see another term as Minority Leader.
Representative Tony McCombie
Senate Republicans elected Senator John Curran (R-Downers Grove). Senator Curran is a former member of the DuPage County Board and possesses knowledge and experience with county issues. Senator Curran replaces Senator Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) as Senate Minority Leader.
Senator John Curran
House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch (D-Westchester) and Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) will remain in their leadership roles. ISACo looks forward to working with all four leaders to advance county interests.
Workers' Rights Amendment Projected to Pass
The amendment put before Illinois voters to enshrine the right to bargain collectively within the Illinois Constitution is projected to pass after receiving 53 percent of votes cast in the November 8 election.
Illinois Finance Authority Listening Session on Inflation Reduction Act
The Illinois Finance Authority (IFA) will hold a listening session regarding the Inflation Reduction Act, which amended the Clean Air Act to create a new program through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a first-of-its-kind federal program, will provide competitive grants for clean energy projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An emphasis will be placed on projects that benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities.
The listening session will be held on Thursday, November 17, at 7:00 pm CDT. The session is being held via Zoom. Additional information as well as the participation link is available here.
CORPORATE SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT
This week's corporate partner spotlight highlights ISACo's partnership with Comcast.
Comcast Corporation is a global media and technology company with three primary businesses: Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, and Sky. Comcast Cable is one of the United States’ largest video, high-speed internet, and phone providers to residential customers under the Xfinity brand, and also provides these services to businesses. It also provides wireless and security and automation services to residential customers under the Xfinity brand. NBCUniversal is global and operates news, entertainment, and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks and Resorts. Sky is one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies, connecting customers to a broad range of video content through its pay television services. It also provides communications services, including residential high-speed internet, phone, and wireless services. Sky operates the Sky News broadcast network and sports and entertainment networks produce original content and has exclusive content rights.
With more than 6,000 local employees, Comcast’s Greater Chicago Region (https://chicago.comcast.com) serves customers in central and northern Illinois, including the Chicago area, northwest Indiana, and southwest Michigan.
More information about the services provided by Comcast is available via this link.
Click on this link to learn more about the benefits and opportunities available through ISACo's Corporate Partner Program.
Become an ISACo Member!
Is your county a member of ISACo? If not, why not?
ISACo is a statewide association whose mission is to empower county officials to provide excellent service to their residents.
ISACo member counties are comprised of forward-thinking public servants who recognize that the challenges confronting county governments require new and innovative ideas, collaborative solutions and collective advocacy at the state and federal levels of government.
Members of the association will benefit from education and training opportunities, peer-to-peer networking, shared resources and robust representation before policymakers at various levels of government. ISACo creates and connects county officials to these opportunities and successfully equips them to make counties ideal places to live, work and play.
If your county is interested in discussing membership in ISACo, please contact Executive Director Joe McCoy at (217) 679-3368 or jmccoy@isacoil.org. ISACo member counties are listed here. Thank you for your consideration.