This Illinois State Association of Counties (ISACo) News and Views e-newsletter reports on Governor Pritzker's State of the State/Budget Address, highlights several introduced bills relevant to counties, offers information about ISACo's bill tracking service, provides links to ISACo's 2022 County Platform and Illinois County Action Program (ICAP), shares an announcement about violence prevention funding, links to information about registration for the National Association of Counties (NACo) 2022 Legislative Conference that begins later this week, announces upcoming NACo webinar opportunities, spotlights ISACo corporate partner 2im Group and invites counties to join ISACo.
Governor Pritzker Delivers State of the State/Budget Address
On Wednesday, February 2, 2022, Governor JB Pritzker delivered his State of the State/Budget Address from the Old State Capitol Building in Springfield. Click here for a summary of the speech and a link to materials published by the Governor's Office with additional details about the Governor's proposed $42.3 billion State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2023 Budget.
Following the Governor's speech, the coalition of associations representing counties and municipalities released a statement calling on the General Assembly and Governor to support an increase in the amount of state income tax dollars provided to local governments through the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF).
ISACo is pleased to be a member of this coalition with our municipal partners. County officials are requested to contact their state legislators and urge that they support HB 4169 and SB 3010.
ISACo's Policy Brief about LGDF is available via this link.
General Assembly Schedule
Both chambers of the General Assembly canceled session last week ahead of the winter storm that blanketed much of the state. Legislators have not met in-person since the first week of January. Committees met remotely last week, although several hearings were cancelled.
Senate President Harmon reiterated last week that he does not intend to extend the February 10 deadline for moving Senate bills out of Senate committees despite the loss of several weeks of session due to COVID and inclement weather.
The Senate is scheduled to return to in-person session on Tuesday, February 8. The House is not scheduled to be in session this week, but will return next week ahead of a February 18 deadline to move House bills out of House committees.
County Legislation Spotlight
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.
HB 3530 - Employee Security Act (Oppose)
HB 4489 - GATA Applicability (Support)
HB 4976 - Public Duty Rule Codification (Support)
SB 3622 - Local Government Compensation Posting (Oppose)
SB 3767 - Timeline for Civil Action Following OMA Violation (Oppose)
SB 3783 - State Funding for Part-Time Detention Officers (Support)
ISACo Bill Tracking Service
ISACo reviews every bill introduced in the House and Senate and tracks the bills that affect or are of interest to counties. Our "tracked bill" feature makes all of these bills available by entering in a bill number or searching through bills by numeric order, policy category, ISACo position or whether the bill would impose a mandate, reduce county revenues and/or preempt county authority. We encourage that you utilize this valuable service to stay on top of introduced legislation.
ISACo Illinois County Action Plan
ISACo's Illinois County Action Plan (ICAP) consists of legislation approved by the Legislative Committee and Board of Directors for introduction. The 2022 ICAP is available via this link. ISACo works to advance these issues as well as continuing to influence legislation introduced within the General Assembly that would affect county government.
Governor Pritzker Announces Violence Prevention Funding
Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) are announcing the first of three Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) for eligible organizations to apply for over $150 million in state funding to further violence prevention efforts. The first round of funding includes more than $50 million for violence prevention services in Chicago including street-based violence interruption work and victim services. Subsequent rounds of funding for statewide youth development and high-risk youth intervention programs will open later this month. Additional information is available via this link.
Eligible organizations include those doing street-based violence interruption work, victim services, trauma related therapy and case management. Interested organizations can view the application online. Applications are due on March 9, 2022, and grants will be awarded in April.
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. Additional information about the virtual option is available upon reviewing the registration information.
Registration information is available via this link.
Upcoming NACo Webinars
NACo has announced the following upcoming webinar opportunities:
Simplify Your Treasury With Data
(Tuesday, February 8, 2022, 1:00-2:00pm CST)
Join us for a 30-minute presentation with CFO Tim Reeves of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. During this presentation, learn how CFO Reeves and his team have generated new revenue and savings through a comprehensive liquidity-management strategy, treasury-service monitoring and bank-fee enhancements, all while leveraging new data and technology to support innovative strategies over several economic cycles. This conversation will cover how liquidity management, in any economic cycle, has allowed Lehigh County to make confident decisions during the most uncertain of times.
Click on this link to register for this event.
The Great Resignation
(Wednesday, February 9, 2022, 12:00-1:00pm CST)
NACo’s Workforce Network presents “The Great Resignation.” We are right in the midst of The Great Resignation, and it is predicted to continue throughout this year as 55% of Americans anticipate looking for a new job (CNBC). This webinar will discuss what we can do as leaders to solve the problem, move from the Great Resignation to the Great Attraction and on to the Great Resolution.
Click on this link to register for this event.
NACo's Information Session Series on U.S. Treasury's Final Rule for the ARPA Fiscal Recovery Fund: Water & Sewer Infrastructure
(Wednesday, February 9, 2022, 2:00-3:00pm 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 for uses that strengthen the public health infrastructure, including workforce support, new eligibilities for capital expenditures, public health data systems and more. Join NACo for the fifth in 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 to enhance their water and sewer infrastructure.
Click on this link to register for this event.
Modernizing The Budget Process: Introducing ClearGov's Budget Cycle Management Suite
(Thursday, February 10, 2022, 1:00-2:00pm CST)
Join your fellow NACo members as we introduce ClearGov, our new strategic partner, who shares our conviction that stronger counties result in a stronger America. Counties across the country want to modernize their budget processes. This means increasing the efficiency of collecting requests, creating budgets, and communicating with internal and external stakeholders. During this webinar, we will introduce ClearGov and their powerful, easy-to-use Budget Cycle Management suite.
Click on this link to register for this event.
Corporate Sponsor Spotlight
This week's corporate partner spotlight highlights ISACo's partnership with 2im Group.
2im Group, LLC is a multi-disciplined civil engineering and environmental services firm, specializing in water resource management. Their experience includes working with transportation agencies and private sector clients. 2im Group, LLC strives to recognize their clients’ priorities to ensure project success!
The project scopes include: Phase I studies, reports, and investigations; Phase II detailed plans, specifications, and engineer’s cost estimates; and Phase III construction engineering services.
2im Group was established in July 2005 and has a combined personnel experience of over 100 years. Major clients include the Illinois Tollway and the Illinois Department of Transportation.
More information about the services provided by 2im Group, 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.