This week's Illinois State Association of Counties (ISACo) News and Views e-newsletter congratulates Will County Board member Denise Winfrey upon her election as President of the National Association of Counties (NACo), announces the extension of the state's disaster declaration, includes information about four new policy working groups established by Illinois House Democrats, links to a press release about an emergency rule filed pertaining to FOID cards, discloses the recipients of the first wave of conditional adult use cannabis dispensary licenses, shares our updated report on Public Acts enacted in 2022 that affect or are of interest to counties, provides information about NACo's High Performance Leadership Academy, spotlights ISACo corporate partner Comcast and invites counties to join ISACo.
Will County's Denise Winfrey Elected NACo President
On Sunday, July 24, 2022, Will County Board Member Denise Winfrey was elected President of the National Association of Counties (NACo) during the 2022 NACo Annual Conference in Adams County, Colorado. President Winfrey is also a member of ISACo’s Board of Directors. She previously served as Vice President and 2nd Vice President of NACo.
The focus on President Winfrey's tenure in office will be the RISE agenda. RISE stands for Resiliency, Inclusion, Solvency and Empowering.
“In the year ahead, we will share examples of county innovation in expanding Resiliency efforts, promoting Inclusion, establishing Solvency through economic mobility opportunities, and counties Empowering our residents by integrating human services with workforce programs to strengthen career pathways for vulnerable residents, like parenting women,” Winfrey said.
“We want to highlight counties on the RISE, particularly those attempting to address women’s equity in each of these areas.”
“The year ahead will include national public awareness campaigns, peer learning exchanges, and conversations on the county role in each of these areas,” she said.
As a result of her election as President, NACo's Board of Directors and Large Urban County Caucus (LUCC) Symposium will be held in Illinois from November 30-December 3.
ISACo congratulates President Winfrey and looks forward to her leadership over the coming year.
Illinois was well-represented at the NACo Annual Conference. Approximately 80 people attended a dinner hosted by ISACo and our friends at the United Counties Council of Illinois (UCCI). The dinner was sponsored by ISACo corporate partner Nationwide.
ISACo congratulates the following individuals who were elected/recognized during NACo's 2022 Annual Conference:
Disaster Declaration Extended
On Friday, July 22, 2022, Governor JB Pritzker signed a new Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation that extends the state's disaster declaration through August 20, 2022. The Governor also issued Executive Order (EO) 2022-17. This EO re-issues several previous EOs.
Per P.A. 101-0640, remote meetings remain a permissible option for local governments if certain criteria are met. Additional information about this authority is available via this link.
Illinois House Democrats Establish Policy Working Groups
On Monday, July 25, the Office of House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch announced the creation of four working groups to address reproductive rights, firearm safety, mental health awareness and resources and combating online extremism. The following statement is attributed to Speaker Welch:
“Illinois has done a lot of important work to ensure we remain an outlier in the Midwest in protecting reproductive health and shielding our citizens from the nationwide scourge of gun violence,” Welch said in a statement. “But after the extremist Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision and the tragedy that took place in Highland Park, it is apparent that we have more work to do. I have created these working groups to take a balanced and research-driven approach to meaningfully reform our laws in Illinois.”
House Democrats were appointed to the working groups. No Republicans have been named and it remains unclear if Republicans will be asked to participate.
The working groups will discuss and formulate legislation for consideration during a special legislative session. A date has yet to be set for the special session.
Emergency Rule Submitted Affecting FOID Cards
On July 18, the Illinois State Police (ISP), under the direction of Governor Pritzker, submitted an emergency rule change to the Illinois Secretary of State's Office implementing broader use of clear and present danger reports that can bar applicants from receiving a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card or revoke a current FOID card. The rule change allows for the use and maintenance of historic clear and present danger information even if the subject was not actively seeking or holding a FOID card at the time a Clear and Present Danger report was made and allows for use of these reports in possible future evaluations.
First Wave of Conditional Adult Use Cannabis Dispensary Licenses Announced
On July 22, Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) issued 149 Conditional Adult Use Dispensing Organization Licenses to applicants selected in three lotteries held last summer. The list of the awardees and locations is available via this link.
State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2022 Adult Use Cannabis Tax Revenue amounted to $445 million, a 50% increase over SFY 2021. Disbursements to local governments increased 77% from SFY 2021 to $146.2 million.
ISACo 2022 Public Acts Report
ISACo has published our Public Acts Report: Legislation of Interest to Counties in 2022. The 24-page report organizes new Public Acts by category and includes a synopsis as well as ISACo's position. The report is available on ISACo's website along with our post-session legislative information.
NACo High Performance Leadership Academy
The NACo High Performance Leadership Academy is an innovative, completely online 12-week program created to equip frontline county government professionals with practical leadership skills to deliver results for counties and communities. (Click here to learn about NACo's Enterprise Cybersecurity Leadership Academy.)
With a robust curriculum developed by the Professional Development Academy in partnership with Fortune 1000 executives, public sector leaders, world-renowned academics and thought leaders, including General Colin Powell and Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, HPLA was designed specifically for the unique challenges and opportunities of serving in county government.
CORPORATE SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT
This week's corporate partner spotlight highlights ISACo's partnership with Comcast.
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 produce 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.
More information about the services provided by Comcast 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.