This week's Illinois State Association of Counties (ISACo) News and Views e-newsletter announces the cancellation of additional legislative session days, provides dates for introduction of new legislation, highlights several bills of interest to counties, reports on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision imposing a stay on the large employer vaccination mandate, offers a reminder and link to the National Association of Counties (NACo) analysis of the release of the final rule for the State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund, shares the local government requirements for sales tax jurisdiction boundary verification, links to information about registration for NACo's 2022 Legislative Conference from February 12-16, announces upcoming NACo webinar opportunities, spotlights ISACo corporate partner Wight & Company and invites counties to join ISACo.

Illinois House and Senate Cancel Session Days for the Week

The Illinois House and Senate have canceled session days this week (January 18-20). The House is scheduled to return to session on January 25 and the Senate on February 1. 

House Calendar - Scheduled Session Days

Senate Calendar - Scheduled Session Days

New Bill Introductions - Spring 2022 

The deadline for introducing new House Bills in the House is January 28, 2022. The deadline for the introduction of new Senate Bills in the Senate is January 21, 2022. ISACo will be reviewing each introduced bill and including those that affect or are of interest to counties in our “Tracked Bills” module. From here, county officials and staff can review relevant bills by bill number, policy category, whether the bill proposes to create an unfunded mandate, preempts local authority or reduces county revenues. ISACo’s positions will be included with those bills for which a position was determined following analysis. The default position will be “under review.”

The “Tracked Bills” module is available on our website and will be linked in each News and Views e-newsletter.

ISACo is highlighting the following bills of interest that have been assigned to various committees.

House Bills 

HB 0005 - Unfunded Mandates Prohibition (Support)

HB 2635 - Off-Duty Correctional Officers Can Carry Firearms (Under Review)

HB 3782 - Chief County Assessment Officer Notification of Taxing Districts (Under Review)

HB 3824 - Property Tax Cap Freeze (Oppose)

HB 4093 - Environmental Justice Act (Under Review)

HB 4169 - Increase LGDF Revenue to Counties and Municipalities (Support)

HB 4295 - EPA Lead Service Lines (Under Review) 

Senate Bill

SB 2977 - Hospital Licensing - Abuse (Under Review) 

Official ISACo positions are based upon our County Platform. The County Platform is developed in consultation with ISACo’s Legislative Committee and approved each year by ISACo’s Board of Directors.

If you have a question about an ISACo position or have information that may call for a revision of an ISACo position, please e-mail infor@isacoil.org. We welcome input from our members and strategic partners.

U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Large Employer Vaccination Mandate 

On Thursday, January 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay (decision available here) that halted the Biden administration’s vaccination-or-testing requirement on the nation’s largest employers, expressing doubt that there exists legal authority for such a broad mandate. The court, however, ruled that a policy requiring vaccinations for most healthcare workers at the facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funds is allowed.  

As reported in our November 8, 2021, Federal Legislative Update, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (USDOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) on November 4, 2021, to require large employers to develop, implement and enforce a COVID-19 vaccination policy or institute a policy to allow employees to choose between vaccination and weekly testing. 

The ETS would apply to employers with 100 employees or more that are subject to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. This includes county governments located in the 26 states with OSHA-approved state plans, which are OSHA-approved workplace safety and health programs operated by individual states or U.S. territories. Illinois is one of these states. 

On December 17, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit dissolved the 5th Circuit’s stay of the Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard. The January 13, 2022, U.S. Supreme Court ruling reinstated the stay. 

Reminder - Final Rule Released for State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund 

On January 6, 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department (Treasury) released the Final Rule for the State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund (Recovery Fund), which was authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act and allocated $65.1 billion in direct, flexible aid to every county in America. The Final Rule will go into effect on April 1, 2022.  

Our partners at NACo have prepared an analysis of the U.S. Treasury’s Final Rule for the ARPA Fiscal Recovery Fund.

Local Government Requirements for Sales Tax Jurisdiction Boundary Verification

The Leveling the Playing Field for Illinois Retail Act, 35 ILCS 185/5-1 et seq. (LPF Act), requires the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) to make available to local taxing jurisdictions the taxing jurisdictions’ boundaries determined by IDOR for their verification.

The LPF Act establishes the taxability of destination-based sales made to Illinois purchasers. The boundary verification process helps to keep the sales tax rates for the addresses within local jurisdictions correct in IDOR’s tax rate database and ultimately benefits local jurisdictions by identifying the correct rates for the addresses and allocation to local governments.

Click on this link to view the full informational bulletin. 

Registration Open for NACo's 2022 Legislative Conference

The 2022 NACo Legislative Conference will be held in Washington, D.C. from February 12-16. The Conference brings together nearly 2,000 elected and appointed county officials to focus on federal policy issues that impact counties and their residents. Attendees have the opportunity to engage in second-to-none policy and educational sessions, interact with federal officials and participate in congressional briefings and meetings.  

Washington, D.C. issued a COVID vaccination mandate for all patrons entering indoor facilities, including conference venues. Per the D.C. requirement, all NACo Legislative Conference attendees must show proof of vaccination to enter meeting spaces, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, gyms and other facilities included in the order. You can learn more at coronavirus.dc.gov/vaxdc.

NACo is making a virtual attendance option possible.

ISACo is currently planning an event for Illinois attendees during the conference. Additional information about this event will be announced at a later date. 

Registration information is available via this link.

Click on this link to register for this event. 

Upcoming NACo Webinars:

Addressing Health Equity: Three GIS Essentials

(Wednesday, January 19, 2022, 12:00-1:00pm CST)

GIS analysis does more than just map data—it tells impactful stories. A geographic information system (GIS) is a system that creates, manages, analyzes and maps all types of data. GIS connects data to geography, your geography—the county where you live. GIS helps users understand patterns, relationships and geographic context by blending health data (where things are) with descriptive information (what things are like there). This session will introduce you to a technology your county probably already uses but likely not in your Healthy Counties activities. We will discuss three essential elements of GIS for Healthy Counties:

• Solving for humans in crisis
• Accessing healthcare and services
• Enabling health equity

Click on this link to register for this event.

NACo's Information Session on U.S. Treasury's Final Rule for the ARPA Fiscal Recovery Fund: Broadband Infrastructure

(Thursday, January 20, 2022, 1:00-2:00pm CST)

On January 6, the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) released the Final Rule for the $65.1 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (Recovery Fund). Under the Final Rule, counties have broad flexibility to invest in critical broadband infrastructure projects to ensure residents have access to affordable broadband as well as new cybersecurity expenses. Join NACo for the second of a series of information sessions where we will walk through key features in Treasury’s Final Rule for the Recovery Fund and how counties can effectively invest these dollars at the local level.

Click on this link to register for this event.

Corporate Sponsor Spotlight 

This week's corporate partner spotlight highlights ISACo's partnership with Wight & Company.

For more than 80 years, Wight & Company has helped clients create exceptional, enduring buildings and spaces that enrich people's lives. Wight also specializes in providing professional services for transportation and infrastructure projects for counties, municipalities, state agencies, and private landowners.

More information about the services by Wight & Company 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!