ISACo will frequently highlight legislation of interest to counties. This week's highlighted bills are below. In some cases ISACo has a position. In other cases, ISACo does not have a position or the position has not yet been determined. ISACo positions on legislation are informed by our County Platform and member input.
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) announced that the chamber will not convene during February but will begin work to discuss legislation through virtual committee hearings. Deferring session days until March is intended to allow for additional time to adopt appropriate COVID-19 protocols.
House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch previously announced that the House would convene on February 10 to adopt rules for the chamber but would otherwise not convene in February.
COVID-19 Updates
Regions 4, 8 and 9 Move to Phase 4 Mitigations
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced that Region 4 (Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington), Region 8 (DuPage and Kane) and Region 9 (Lake and McHenry) are moving to Phase 4 (linked here) of the Restore Illinois Plan effective today. Additional information about which tier and phase each region is in can be found at the top of the IDPH website (linked here).
A Phase 4 Guidelines Overview can be found via this link on the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity website.
On February 5, 2021, changes were announced to the Phase 4 mitigations. These changes may not yet be reflected in official IDPH documents:
Restaurants and Bars
- Capacity is determined by arranging tables so that seated patrons are a minimum of six feet away from patrons at other tables (previously tables needed to be spaced 6 feet apart; now the seat backs at one table must be 6 feet from the seat backs at the other table).
- Patrons are to wear face coverings at all times while on the premises, except while eating and drinking.
- Parties seated at the bar should be spaced 6 feet apart.
- Dancing and singing by patrons (karaoke) should not be permitted.
- Patrons are encouraged to remain seated for the duration of service and should refrain from moving around the establishment.
- Establishments are encouraged to convert standing areas usually used to serve bar patrons into a seated area to limit patrons from moving around the premises.
Meetings and Events
- Venue operators and event organizers should discourage standing and congregating in any areas, include bar areas during social events.
- Attendees should wear a face covering when entering the event and should continue to wear face coverings at all times during the event with the exception of when eating and drinking.
- Best practices are encouraged for social events such as weddings, banquets and family gatherings and attendees should remain seated during the duration of the event and common standing areas should be eliminated.
Health and Fitness
- Members should wear face coverings over their nose and mouth at all times when inside the facility and outside when unable to maintain 6 feet social distancing.
Indoor/Outdoor Recreation
- Trampoline parks and indoor playgrounds no longer prohibited
- Employees and customers should wear face coverings over their nose and mouth at all times inside the facility and when outside when within 6-ft. of others (cloth masks preferred).
Information about mitigation and resurgence metrics can be found on the IDPH website (linked here).
The full IDPH news release on Region 4 moving to Phase 4 is available via this link.
The full IDPH news release on Region 8 and 9 moving to Phase 4 is available via this link.
80 New COVID-19 Vaccination Locations Added
The number of COVID-19 vaccination locations across Illinois continues to increase. Eighty new locations have been added to the list of vaccination locations open to the public for a current total of 390 locations. The new sites include 78 additional Walgreens locations for a total of 170 stores across the state as well as two Illinois National Guard-supported locations in Cook and St. Clair counties.
The State of Illinois is partnering with Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco, Kroger, Mariano’s and Walgreens pharmacies to provide COVID-19 vaccinations.
Two additional Illinois National Guard-assisted sites opened at the East Side Health District in St. Clair County and Triton College in Cook County. There are now 12 State-supported COVID-19 vaccination locations.
The full IDPH news release and the list of addresses for the 12 State supported COVID-19 vaccination locations is available via this link.
State Directs Excess Vaccine from Pharmacy Partnership Program to Those Eligible in Phase 1B
In order to increase the limited supply of vaccine to eligible recipients, the State of Illinois is working with Walgreens and CVS pharmacies to temporarily redirect approximately 97,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses that have not yet been used for the federal Pharmacy Partnership Program to providers across the state.
After this transfer, approximately 110,000 doses will still remain available for the federal effort to vaccinate long term care residents; the federal program is administering approximately 36,000 doses per week. IDPH will continue to closely monitor the program and additional doses will be directed to the program if needed or if the rate of vaccination accelerates.
For information on how to make an appointment to receive the vaccine, updates on the state’s plan and eligibility and answers to frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, please visit coronavirus.illinois.gov.
Greene County Lauded for Vaccine Delivery Success
Governor JB Pritzker was complimentary of the job Greene County is doing in administering vaccine doses to eligible residents. The Greene County Health Department filmed a video to help familiarize residents with the process and showcase their efforts.
Executive Orders Reissued
On February 5, Governor JB Pritzker issued Executive Order (EO) 2021-04 (linked here) that reissues most EO's and extends a majority of the provisions through March 6, 2021.
Upcoming NACo Webinars
The National Association of Counties (NACo) has announced the following upcoming webinar opportunities:
Announcing the NACo Managed Cybersecurity Solution
(Begins Wednesday, February 10, 2021, from 12pm-1pm CST)
NACo has formed a partnership with industry leading cybersecurity providers NuHarbor Security, Splunk and Tenable to provide a comprehensive strategy to counties’ Information Security Program. This program maximizes the cost and operational efficiency of leading-edge software solutions, the efficiency of county resource utilization and will uphold the highest cybersecurity standards. Please join for an overview of the program and partnership.
Please follow the link provided in the title to register for this webinar.
Bernalillo County Resource Re-Entry Center: Improving Health and Leveraging Community Partners
(Begins Thursday, February 11, 2021, from 1pm-2pm CST)
The rate of serious mental illness in jails is three to six times higher compared to the general population and nearly 75% of adults with serious mental illnesses in jails also have co-occurring substance use disorders. Learn how supporting justice-involved individuals with programs tailored to address their mental health and other needs helps them successfully transition back into the community.
Join NACo for a first-hand look at the formation, operation and technology used by the award-winning Bernalillo County (NM) Resource Re-entry Center. The Center is the first stop for approximately 50 persons per day who are released from the Metropolitan Detention Center, providing them access to services and support needed to stabilize, stay healthy, regain self-sufficiency and break the cycle of recidivism.
Please follow the link provided in the title to register for this webinar.
NACo High Performance Leadership Academy
As a county leader, you manage several priority-1 decisions, activities and initiatives every day. Perhaps one of the most important is personnel development – working hard to make existing leaders better and emerging leaders ready. As you conduct this work with existing and emerging leaders to make your county stronger, you deserve to have a program that is easily scalable to accommodate your workforce, a program that is non-disruptive to busy schedules and cost effective so that you have an immediate return on investment. NACo offers the NACo High Performance Leadership Academy, a 12-week, online leadership program led by General Colin Powell, to meet this need.
Corporate Partner Spotlight
This week's corporate partner spotlight highlights ISACo's partnership with AT&T.
AT&T Inc. is a modern media company whose mission is to inspire human progress through the power of communication and entertainment.
The company brings together premium video content, a large base of direct-to-consumer relationships, high-speed networks optimized for video and advertising technology to lead the next revolution in technology, media and telecommunications.
AT&T has recorded 35 consecutive years of quarterly dividend growth and is a Fortune 10 company.
More information about the services provided by AT&T is available via this link.
Click on this link to learn more about the benefits and opportunities available through ISACo's Corporate Partner Program.