This week's Illinois State Association of Counties (ISACo) News and Views e-newsletter identifies several bills of interest to counties, reports on the enactment into law of a bill concerning Veterans Assistance Commissions (VAC), provides information about state disaster declaration extensions, offers a reminder that the Governor's State of the State/Budget Address is this Wednesday, shares information about two new appointments to the General Assembly, reports on the ISACo-United Counties Council of Illinois (UCCI) dinner event held during the National Association of Counties (NACo) Legislative Conference, highlights ISACo corporate partner Burke Warren and invites counties to join ISACo.
Weekly Bills of Interest
HB 1236 - Publication of Property Tax Rate and Extension (No Position)
HB 1354 - Limitation on Cash or Cash-Equivalent Assets Holdings (Oppose)
HB 1355 - Expiration of Taxing Authority Following Payment of Bond (Oppose)
HB 2039/SB 186 - Local Health Department Access to Public Health Data (Support)
HB 2153/SB 147 - Paint Stewardship Act (Under Review)
SB 103 - Allow Remote Meetings for Public Bodies Under Certain Conditions (Support)
SB 1480 - Requirements for Statement of Economic Interests (Under Review)
***Please visit our bill tracking service for a comprehensive (and growing) list of bills of interest to counties.
Veterans Assistance Commission Trailer Bill Signed into Law
On February 10, Governor JB Pritzker signed HB 2369 into law as P.A. 102-1132. We previously reported on the passage of this legislation in our January 10 News and Views e-newsletter.
P.A. 102-1132 makes further changes to a law enacted on May 6, 2022, that made changes to the relationship between counties and their Veterans Assistance Commissions (VAC).
ISACo prepared an Issue Brief about P.A. 102-1132.
Disaster Proclamations Extended
On February 3, Governor JB Pritzker signed a new Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation that extends the state's COVID-19 disaster declaration through March 4, 2023. As we reported in our February 6 News and Views e-newsletter, Governor Pritkzer announced that the COVID-19 public health emergency will expire on May 11, 2023. This coincides with when the federal public health emergency will end.
The Governor also issued COVID-19 Executive Order (EO) 2023-02. This EO re-issues several previous COVID-19-related EOs.
Per P.A. 101-0640, remote meetings remain a permissible option for local governments if certain criteria are met. Additional information about this authority is available via this link.
On February 3, Governor Pritzker extended the state's disaster proclamation concerning asylum seekers for an additional 30 days.
Governor's State of the State Address This Week
On February 15, Governor JB Pritkzer will deliver his first State of the State/Budget Address since being re-elected to a second term.
In his inaugural address, the Governor championed expanding access to childcare, preschool for all, and free college tuition for working class students. Other spending priorities will be laid out on Wednesday.
ISACo will post his remarks to our website (www.isacoil.org) following the speech.
New Legislators Assume Office
Two new members were sworn into the House of Representatives. Livingston County Board member Jason Bunting was selected to replace Republican Representative Tom Bennett in the 106th House District. Bennett was appointed to fill the vacancy of Republican Senator Jason Barickman, who resigned. Republican Lemont Mayor John Egofske was appointed as the new State Representative for the 82nd District to replace former Republican Minority Leader Jim Durkin, who resigned.
Illinois County Officials Attend NACo Legislative Conference
Almost 60 Illinois county officials and staff are in attendance at NACo's Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. On February 11, they attended a dinner hosted by ISACo and UCCI that was generously sponsored by ISACo corporate partner PMA-IPRIME. Pictures from the event are available via this link.
NACo's Legislative Conference brings together nearly 2,000 elected and appointed county officials to focus on federal policy issues that impact counties and their residents. Conference attendees engage in second-to-none policy sessions, interact with members of the 118th Congress and federal agency officials.
ISACo is pleased to partner with NACo and work with the Illinois Congressional Delegation to strengthen the critical federal, state and local intergovernmental partnership.
Corporate Partner Spotlight
This week's corporate partner spotlight highlights ISACo's partnership with Burke Warren, a full-service law firm with expertise where law, business, and government intersect including:
- Public Finance: Burke Warren acts as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, disclosure counsel, issuer’s counsel, bank counsel, special pension disclosure counsel and borrower’s counsel in public finance transactions for State, County and Municipal governmental units.
- Government Representation: Burke Warren’s broad experience includes general counsel representation, eminent domain litigation, environmental contamination, land use entitlements and development incentives, real estate transactions and employment disputes.
Learn more about Burke Warren and firm partners Ray Fricke, Matt Norton, and Karen Mack by clicking on the links.
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.