This week's Illinois State Association of Counties (ISACo) News and Views e-newsletter includes a request for fiscal impact information regarding a proposed elimination of the sales tax on groceries, links to newly tracked bills, shares what ISACo staff is reading to stay informed, provides current CD and Treasury Rates via ISACo corporate partner IPRIME, announces upcoming National Association of Counties (NACo) and Public Surplus webinar opportunities, highlights ISACo corporate partner Comcast and invites counties to join ISACo.

Proposed SFY 2025 State Budget

Governor Pritzker delivered his combined State of the State and State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025 Budget Address on Wednesday, February 21. For additional information, please review the story we published on that day.

One of the policies proposed by the Governor is an elimination of the 1% sales tax on groceries. This provision would result in a loss of county revenue if enacted into law. ISACo is requesting that counties share an estimate of the revenue loss with us so that we can communicate the fiscal impact to the Governor's Office and state legislators. 

Estimates can be shared with Legislative Advocacy and Research Manager Nekya Hall at nhall@isacoil.org. Thank you for your cooperation. 

List of Newly Tracked Bills

The following bills have recently been added to ISACo's tracked bill list. If there is no position listed then the bill is still under review by staff. In some cases, initial ISACo positions may be changed. A complete list of ISACo tracked bills is available via this link.

HB 5010 - Crim Cd-Peace Officer Force (No Position)

HB 5012 - Nursing Facility-Residency (No Position)

HB 5015 - Revenue-Megaprojects (No Position)

HB 5016 - CTA/METRA/PACE-Free Services (No Position)

HB 5019 - Art Therapy Licensing

HB 5025 - Sch Cd-Short Term Substitute

HB 5026 - Property Tax-Natural Preservation (No Position)

HB 5027 - Nursing Homes-Directory (No Position)

HB 5028 - Labor-OSHA-Opioid Guidance (No Position)

HB 5035 - Property Tax-Affordable Housing (No Position)

HB 5036 - Juv Ct-Reunite Child-Family (No Position)

HB 5037 - Firearm Used in Commiss Crime (No Position)

HB 5041 - Family Recovery Plans (No Position)

HB 5042 - PFAS-Product Ban

HB 5049 - Nonpublic Forum Regulation Act

HB 5050 - Loc Gov Reduction & Efficiency

HB 5052 - Local Food-Good Food Program

HB 5053 - Veh Cd-Street Racing/Sideshows (No Position)

HB 5054 - Agriculture Impact Mitigation

HB 5065 - Crim Cd-Safe Storage Firearms (No Position)

HB 5066 - IEMA-Groundwater-Local

HB 5067 - DNR-Lawns to Legumes

HB 5070 - Juv Ct-Speedy Trial-Detention (No Position)

HB 5071 - Work Without Fear Act

HB 5074 - Medical Records-Copy Expense (No Position)

HB 5077 - $CMAP-Various Funding

HB 5078 - Regional Planning Act-CMAP

HB 5083 - Public Benefits-Mental Health (No Position)

HB 5084 - DHS-Pub Aid Eligibility Review (No Position)

HB 5085 - EMS Act Training & Curriculum (No Position)

HB 5086 - Nurse Agencies-Negligence (No Position)

HB 5088 - DCEO-Tourism Grants (No Position)

HB 5089 - Labor Relations-Pd Supervisor (No Position)

HB 5095 - Nursing Home-Discharge (No Position)

HB 5096 - Property Tax-Veterans-Caregivers (No Position)

SB 3072 - Mental Health Transparency (No Position)

SB 3076 - FOIA-List of Public Documents

SB 3077 - Food Infrastructure-Grant (No Position)

SB 3080 - Health Data Privacy Act (No Position)

SB 3083 - Crim Cd-Agg Bat-Health Care Worker (No Position)

SB 3086 - Crim Cd-Critical Infrastructure (No Position)

SB 3090 – County & Juv Detention Centers (No Position)

SB 3091 - IDNR-Land Transfer-Will Co

*An ISACo tracked bill includes bills that directly or tangentially impact county finances and operations, bills that may be of interest to county officials for the performance of their duties and legislation presented "for your information." ISACo positions of "support" or "oppose" are usually reserved for bills that directly or tangentially impact county finances and operations. ISACo also supports member county initiatives that are consistent with ISACo's County Platform. 

What We're Reading

Chicago Commuter Rail Buys First Battery-Powered Train (Governing)

Pritzker Proposes Over $2B in Spending Growth, Backed by Tax Increases for Corporations, Sportsbooks (Capitol News Illinois)

Expert: It Takes Time for Cities and Counties to Shift to an All-Electric Fleet (American City and County)

Budget Reaction: Retailers, Municipalities Critical of Pritzker’s Proposed Tax Changes (Capitol News Illinois)

Current CD and Treasury Rates Provided by IPRIME

The following rates provided by ISACo corporate partner IPRIME are current as of February 12, 2024. Please click on the image below to review the rates. 

 

Upcoming Public Surplus Webinar Date

Public Surplus will be offering a 20-minute webinar session 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 he held on February 26, 2024, at 2:00pm CST. To participate in the webinar, please contact Member Services and Communications Manager Tiffani Homer at thomer@isacoil.org for the link. 

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. 

Get The Most Out of Your NACo Deferred Comp. Program: New Enhancements and Digital Features

(Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 12:00pm-1:00pm CST)

It's time to go digital with your plan's payroll submission processes. Please join NACo to learn more about their digital payroll and plan administration tools, as Nationwide Retirement Solutions moves to a more digital and efficient process that delivers simplicity and extraordinary care.

In this session you'll learn:

- How FastPay makes submitting payroll and census data faster and easier; offering four submission methods, FastPay is designed to save you time and secure participant information

- A new feature, Task Center! Task Center is a digital workflow platform located right on the Plan Sponsor website, streamlining your administrative processes to save you time and drive efficiency; Task Center now offers digital payroll change notices to ensure these notices are delivered to you in a timely manner.

This session is geared towards payroll specialists, HR roles, clerks, and other employee benefit professionals.

Complete this form in advance of the webinar to begin your digital plan administration journey today.

Click on this link to register for the webinar.

Collaborative Governance for Delivery of Successful Human Services

(Thursday, February 29, 2024, 1:00pm-2:00pm CST)

Join NACo’s Technology Xchange initiatives for this collaborative webinar that showcases successful programs in Human Services

The webinar will focus on the use of collaborative governance to improve the outcomes and efficiency of county human service delivery. Collaborative governance provides a structure to support the coordinated delivery of services, bridging the spectrum of health, human and social services, for individuals with intellectual, mental health and/or physical disabilities and children and families involved in the child welfare system. Specific examples will be provided of collaborative governance structures and how those structures have resulted in improved outcomes for individuals and families. Research on the concept will also be discussed.

Audience Key Takeaways

1. Gain a basic understanding of the concept of collaborative governance.

2. Gain a basic understanding of the research supporting the concept of collaborative governance.

3. Understand how the use of cross system data and communication can help to address current barriers in county human services.

4.Learn more about implementation successes in a county delivered human social services system.

Click on this link to register for the webinar.

How Franklin County Ohio Modernized Government Experiences (GX) For Staff and Residents Using Low/No

(Thursday, March 14, 2024, 1:00pm-2:00pm CST)

Join NACo for an eye-opening webinar as they explore Franklin County, Ohio's journey to solving long-standing challenges. Uncover how they've embraced "Rapid Low-Code Application Development" to become faster and more collaborative and pave the way for smarter governance through iterative solutions.

During the webinar, you'll get to hear firsthand from the team that brought Quickbase to Franklin County. They'll share valuable insights on their collaborative approach, staying ahead in tech, effective prioritization strategies, and the exciting prospects ahead.

Plus, we’ll hear from Quickbase expert Jen Bensi to see some of the macro trends that are impacting government agencies around country and how Quickbase can digitize your public sector data and workflows without compromising your transparency, collaboration, and security.

Click on this link to register for the webinar.

CORPORATE PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

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, produces 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.

​Click here to learn more about Comcast.