This week's Illinois State Association of Counties (ISACo) News and Views e-newsletter provides an update on ISACo-tracked bills signed into law by the Governor, shares information about grant funding available to local governments for sharps disposal and law enforcement officer recruitment and retention, announces the launch of an Energy Transition Navigators Program associated with the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), makes counties aware of proposed amendments to the Illinois Energy Conservation Code, conveys information from the Attorney General's Office regarding opioid settlements, provides a reminder to register for the upcoming National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference in Travis County, Texas, highlights ISACo corporate partner Mahoney, Silverman and Cross, LLC and invites counties to join ISACo.
Governor Bill Actions
Governor JB Pritzker has signed several ISACo-tracked bills into law. The bills are linked to below:
HB 559 (P.A. 103-0001) - Health Care Workforce Reinforcement Act
HB 2800 (P.A. 103-0003) - Quick-Take-Menard and McHenry Counties
SB 250 (P.A. 103-0006) - SFY 2024 State Budget Appropriations
HB 3817 (P.A. 103-0008) - SFY 2024 State Budget Implementation Bill
SB 1963 (P.A. 103-0009) - Revenue Omnibus
HB 217 (P.A. 103-0010) - Eminent Domain-Will County
HB 1067 (P.A. 103-0012) - Superintendent of Public Works
HB 1236 (P.A. 103-0114) - Counties Code-Competitive Bidding
HB 2223 (P.A. 103-0027) - Juvenile Court-Jurisdiction and Venue
HB 2278 (P.A. 103-0028) - Environmental Response Project
HB 2332 (P.A. 103-0029) - Coroner and Medical Examiner Fees
HB 2390 (P.A. 103-0033) - Law Enforcement-Return to Duty
HB 2412 (P.A. 103-0034) - Firearm Incidents in Schools-Local Law Enforcement
HB 3491 (P.A. 103-0048) - Prevailing Wage-Contractors
SB 69 (P.A. 103-0057) - Hospital Licensing-Vaccination
SB 214 (P.A. 103-0063) - Public Employee Disability Act
SB 325 (P.A. 103-0069) - FOIA-Records of Attorney General
SB 686 (P.A. 103-0073) - Coroner Inquest Testimony
SB 855 (P.A. 103-0076) - Residential Facility Safety and Support Act
SB 1066 (P.A. 103-0077) - Property Conveyance-Lake County
SB 1595 (P.A. 103-0095) - Vital Records-Death Certificates
SB 1617 (P.A. 103-0096) - Health Care Credentialing
SB 1653 (P.A. 103-0099) - Highway Code-Underpass Hazard Bar
HB 3902 (P.A. 103-0101) - Drones as First Responders Act
IEPA Household Sharps Grants
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) announced a new funding opportunity to provide grants to units of local government to conduct household sharps collections for residents. Through the grant program, IEPA will reimburse grantees that operate a sharps collection station as defined in Section 3.458 of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act for collection and disposal costs they incur. A Notice of Funding Opportunity has been posted to the Illinois EPA website.
Eligible expenses include costs to obtain collection containers for use by individual residents, collection receptacles to store sharps at the sharps collection station, mobilization fees assessed by a permitted Potentially Infectious Medical Waste (PIMW) transporter to pick-up collected sharps and disposal fees for the collected sharps. Each unit of local government is eligible for the actual costs of sharps collection and disposal, up to $35,000. All required forms and information are available via this link.
Applicants must be pre-qualified through the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) Grantee Portal. Applications will be accepted through 5:00 PM (CST) on July 28, 2023.
Energy Transition Navigators Program
On June 15, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) launched a $6 million Energy Transition Navigators Program as part of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). The program will establish a network of community-based providers across the state offering community education, outreach, and recruitment services to encourage priority populations to participate in CEJA clean energy workforce and contractor development programs. The Energy Transition Navigators will be selected through a competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity process. Additional information is available via this link.
Officer Recruitment and Retention Grant Program
The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) is accepting applications (available via this link) for the Officer Recruitment and Retention Grant Program. The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance to units of local government, public institutions of higher education and qualified non-profit entities for the hiring and retention of law enforcement officers. A total of $10 million is available through the program. The deadline to apply is Monday, June 26, at 11:00 pm CST. Questions may be directed toward ptb.grants@illinois.gov.
Proposed Amendments to the Illinois Energy Conservation Code
The Capital Development Board (CDB) has proposed amendments (available via this link) to the Illinois Energy Conservation Code. The proposed amendments would incorporate the 2021 edition of the International Code Council’s International Energy Conservation Code. These changes include certain Illinois-specific amendments in accordance with the Energy Efficiency Building Act. The proposed amendments will affect businesses constructing, renovating or expanding commercial and residential building structures as well as units of local government that issue building permits. CDB is accepting public comments through Monday, July 17.
Comments may be sent by email to CDB.BuildingCode@illinois.gov. More information about the proposed changes can be found in the June 2, 2023, edition of the Flinn Report (available via this link) issued by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR).
Attorney General's Office Announces Opioid Settlements
On June 9, Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced a bipartisan set of settlements worth $17.3 billion based upon agreements with drug makers Teva and Allergan, and pharmacies CVS and Walgreens. Following successful state sign-on and political subdivision sign-on periods, the companies committed to the deals and will start releasing funds to states later this summer. Illinois will receive approximately $518 million over 15 years.
The settlements will also require Teva’s opioid business to abide by stringent prohibitions that will prevent all opioid marketing and ensure systems are in place to prevent drug misuse. Additionally, Allergan is required to stop selling opioids for the next 10 years. CVS and Walgreens have agreed to monitor, report and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions, which will help ensure a crisis like the opioid addiction epidemic does not happen again. The Attorney General noted an agreement with Walmart is anticipated in the coming weeks.
Additional information is available via this link.
Registration for NACo Annual Conference
The 2023 National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference will be held in Travis County, Texas from July 21-24. Participants from counties of all sizes come together to shape NACo's federal policy agenda, share proven practices and strengthen knowledge networks to help improve residents’ lives and the efficiency of county government. Join other Illinois county officials and staff members in Travis County for learning and relationship building! Registration and information about housing for conference attendees is available via this link.
ISACo and the United Counties Council of Illinois (UCCI) will host a dinner for Illinois attendees on Friday, July 21. The dinner will be sponsored by ISACo corporate partner Nationwide. Please email info@isacoil.org to reserve a seat or for additional information about the event.
CORPORATE SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT
This week's corporate partner spotlight highlights ISACo's partnership with Mahoney, Silverman and Cross, LLC.
The Law Firm of Mahoney, Silverman and Cross, LLC strives to provide superior legal representation with the objective of exceeding their clients’ expectations. Each member of the firm is committed to utilizing critical analysis and innovative approaches to achieve timely resolutions with the best possible results for their clients.
More information about the services provided by Mahoney, Silverman and Cross, LLC 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.