This week's Illinois State Association of Counties (ISACo) News and Views e-newsletter includes a position paper explaining an effort by a coalition of local government groups to amend the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, shares the Illinois Department of Revenue's (IDOR) Local Government Newsletter, highlights the Illinois Department of Transportation's (IDOT) intent to pursue public input for the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, reports a Notice of Designation Opportunity for the State-Designated Cultural Districts program, announces the Illinois Liquor Control Commission's (ILCC) Permanent Rule Regulating Placement and Display of Co-Branded Alcoholic Beverages in Retail Establishments, highlights $21 million in funding for the Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program, announces the Paid Tech Trainee Program to diversify and strengthen the State's IT workforce, reports on two upcoming Illinois House Committees hearings to discuss Election Security and Artificial Intelligence, shares news content ISACO is staying up-to-date on this week, announces upcoming National Association of Counties (NACo) and Public Surplus webinar opportunities, highlights ISACo corporate partner UnitedHealthcare and invites counties to join ISACo.

Paid Leave for All Workers Act

ISACo is partnering with other local government associations to seek an amendment to the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (P.A. 102-1143). The Act is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2024. Our effort will occur during the Veto Session (October 24-27 and November 7-9). We are still awaiting the introduction of the legislation, but the eventual bill will include an exemption for counties, municipalities and townships. The Act already exempts school districts and park districts.

For more information, please view the Coalition position paper via this link.

IDOR Publishes October Local Government Newsletter
 
On October 4, the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) Local Tax Allocation Division (LTAD) issued its October 2023 Local Government Newsletter. The newsletter contains information about IDOR’s State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2024 Personal Property Replacement Tax (PPRT) revenue estimate, information about how to submit certified ordinances to IDOR and rebate sharing agreements.

The newsletter is available via this link.

IDOT Pursuing Input for Statewide Transportation Improvement Program
 
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is pursuing public input in the planning and development of its upcoming SFY 2024-2027 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). IDOT develops a new STIP every three years as required by the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. The program contains all federal and state-funded highway and public transportation projects proposed in Illinois during a four-year period. The program is divided into three categories: highway, transit and intercity rail.
 
Public input and comments may be emailed to IDOT at DOT.STIP@illinois.gov through Wednesday, November 1. More information about STIP can be found on IDOT’s website (available via this link).

State-Designated Cultural Districts Program
 
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) issued a Notice of Designation Opportunity for the State-Designated Cultural Districts program. The purpose of the program is to establish districts throughout Illinois that build on existing cultural identities and promote economic development. DCEO will competitively select 10 geographic areas as State-Designated Cultural Districts. Five districts will be chosen by the end of 2023 and five will be chosen in early 2024. Once selected, DCEO will make a total of $3 million available for districts to apply for funding. The deadline to apply is Monday, October 23, at 5:00 p.m. CST.

Additional information about the program is available via this link and on DCEO’s website via this link.

ILCC Adopts Permanent Rule Regulating Placement and Display of Co-Branded Alcoholic Beverages in Retail Establishments

On September 21, 2023, the Illinois Liquor Control Commission (ILCC) adopted a permanent rule regulating the location of co-branded alcoholic beverages on retail sales floors. The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) issued a Certificate of No Objection on September 12, 2023, permitting the ILCC to adopt the rule by filing with the Secretary of State. The recent rule seeks to prevent confusion between alcoholic beverages and non-alcoholic beverages with similar branding. It also intends to prevent the marketing of such alcoholic beverages to children.

The ILCC’s new permanent rule is in effect as of September 21, 2023.

The press release is available via this link.

Governor JB Pritzker and DCEO launched $21 million in funding for the Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program or "CEJA Contractor Incubator Hubs." The program establishes a network of 13 community-based hubs across the state offering incubator services designed to assist clean energy contractors – especially those from underserved areas – grow their businesses. The organizations that will run CEJA Contractor Incubator Hubs will be selected through a competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) process.

The press release is available via this link.

New Paid Tech Trainee Program to Diversify and Strengthen State's Workforce

On October 12, 2023, Governor JB Pritzker announced that the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) is launching a paid trainee program to build a pipeline of tech talent to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals and diversify the agency's workforce.

Trainees will receive a minimum yearly salary of $54,000 from DoIT while pursuing tracks in one of five high-need concentration areas: cybersecurity, networking, coding and database, end user computing and enterprise infrastructure. Additional tracks will be added as the program grows.

The press release is available via this link.

Illinois House Committees to Discuss Election Security, Artificial Intelligence

The Illinois House Ethics and Elections will hold a hearing on October 18 at 2pm in the Bilandic Building and in Virtual Room 1 to discuss election security.

The House Cybersecurity, Data Analytics and IT Committee will hold a joint hearing with the House Judiciary - Civil Committee on November 2 at 10 am in the Bilandic Building in Chicago (and Virtual Room 1) to discuss emerging issues in artificial intelligence.

What We're Reading 

Less Politics Is Local: States Get Increasingly Aggressive About Pre-Emption (Governing)

Carbon Dioxide Plans Paused (Illinois Times) 

U of I Awarded $5 Million Federal Grant for Railroad Research Center (WCIA)

ISP Releases Illinois Law Enforcement Response to Homelessness Guidebook (ABC Newschannel20)

Illinois Launches $21 Million Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program (Chicago Business Journal)

The Stakes are...High: 5 Takeaways from CMAP's Report on Transforming Transit (Daily Herald)

Upcoming Public Surplus Webinar Dates

Public Surplus will be offering 20-minute webinar sessions to interested individuals to learn more about Public Surplus and its online auction site. Participants will also be guided on how to register, or re-register to create a new account.

Public Surplus is an online auction platform that offers services to local government agencies.  

ISACo has partnered with Public Surplus to provide large discounts for our county members when it comes to doing online auctions, specifically real estate sales.

Through a partnership with ISACo, Illinois counties are eligible to list items with a reduced buyer's premium, which will encourage competitive bidding on surplus items listed. With Public Surplus, buyers are responsible for all service fees, and it costs counties nothing to use the service.

Public Surplus will also provide a 10 percent rebate to ISACo on each sale so that the Association can continue to offer a high level of service at minimal cost to members.

The webinar will take place on the following dates:

• November 3, 2023 at 2pm CST
• November 16, 2023 at 1pm CST
• November 30, 2023 at 10am CST

Stay tuned for available links to the webinars. 

Upcoming NACo Webinars

NACo has announced the following upcoming webinar opportunities. ISACo is a proud partner with NACo and encourages counties to participate in NACo membership and activities. 

How a Cyber Attacker Moves Through a Network

(Tuesday, October 17, 2023, 12:00pm-1:00pm CST)

To understand the crime, you must first understand the criminal. Step beyond cybersecurity protection and into the mind of a hacker. Cybercriminals maneuver in the shadows, access through backdoors, and exploit vulnerabilities to gain network and systems access. Gain eye-opening insight into the approach, tools, and mindset of cybercriminals through redacted, but real-world, hacking examples of how an attacker moves through a network and how to defend against threat outbreaks.
By attending this webinar, participants will:

• Learn how hackers bypass fixes and security patches to exploit systems • Walkthrough real examples of various types of vulnerabilities

• Review key storage recommendations and remediation tactics

Designed for a non-technical audience, a Tyler Technologies expert offers an educational breakdown of redacted real-world cyber attacks with a focused goal of understanding more about hackers, how hacking happens, and knowing key vocabulary to feel confident discussing security and vulnerabilities before, and when, they happen.

Click on this link to register for the webinar.

TechKnow Series: October, November and December Sessions

(Thursday, October 18 - December 13, 2023, 12:00pm-1:00pm CST)

October 18, 2023 | 12:00pm CST - Charting Your AI Growth: A Practical Guide on the Use of Generative AI - What Are All Those Tools

November 20, 2023 | 12:00pm CST - Charting Your AI Growth: Practical Generative AI - An Introduction to Use Cases

December 13, 2023 | 12:00pm CST - Charting Your AI Growth: Practical Generative AI - Steps for Productivity Improvements

The dates above are for the TechKnow Webinar Series following the Tech Xchange Overview where there will be a discussion regarding the developments of Generative AI as a tool, its use cases and the potential in productivity improvements.

Click on this link to register for the webinar.

CORPORATE PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

The mission of UnitedHealthcare is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. UHC dedicates itself to this every day for our members by being there for what matters in moments big and small — from their earliest days, to their working years and through retirement.

Across the United States, UHC offers health benefit plans for all ages, all lifestyles and all kinds of budgets — including member programs for individuals and families, people with health insurance through work, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

They work with more than 1.3 million physicians and care professionals and over 6,700 hospitals and care facilities nationwide. Together, they work to provide more people with access to quality care when and where they need it.

UnitedHealthcare believes that when it comes to your health, everything matters. That’s why they are constantly working to improve the health care experience and make it deliver for the needs of everyone.

They know health care can be complicated, so they work to make it simpler — for patients as well as providers. Streamlining processes and providing answers helps make coverage easier to understand and use.

UHC believes everyone deserves quality health coverage they can afford. So they provide coverage options designed to fit all kinds of budgets, and always look for ways to take costs out of the system to improve affordability and access for all.

They focus on serving the individual, offering access to quality care, personalized solutions and support for every step of the way.

Click here to learn more about UnitedHealthcare.

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