103rd ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
The Illinois General Assembly stands adjourned until the November Veto Session.
The Senate Transportation Committee began a series of hearings this week to discuss the future of Chicago-area transit. The hearings will explore whether combining the area’s transit agencies (the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, Pace and the Regional Transit Authority) could reduce overhead costs and make them more efficient and how transit relates to the economy, public health, accessibility and climate change.
Additional hearings are scheduled for:
- July 24 at 10 a.m., south suburbs of Cook County.
- Aug. 8 at 10 a.m., counties of DuPage, Will and Kendall.
- Aug. 28 at 10 a.m., Kane and McHenry counties.
- Sept. 18 at 10 a.m., northwest suburbs of Cook County and Lake County.
- Oct. 16 at 10 a.m. in Springfield.
More about this week’s hearing is here.
GOVERNOR’S HIGHLIGHTS:
Medical Debt: The Governor signed two bills regarding medical debt. HB 5290 represents the Governor’s medical debt forgiveness initiative. The new law dedicates approximately $10 million in state funding to purchase outstanding Illinois medical debt which should erase nearly $1 billion of medical debt for Illinois residents. The state will partner with Undue Medical Debt to negotiate the sale of debt portfolios. A similar program is in place in Cook County.
The FY25 medical debt relief investment will be distributed following individual negotiations with hospital systems and other medical debt holders. The program will be administered by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. Illinois residents will not need to apply for this benefit; impacted households will receive notification letters after their debts have been erased.
SB 2933 amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practice Act to prohibit credit agencies from including negative information about medical debt in credit reports.
Health Insurance Reforms: Governor Pritzker also signed HB 5395 which creates the Healthcare Protection Act. The legislation, an initiative of Governor Pritzker, bans step therapy and prior authorization for crisis mental healthcare, addresses “ghost networks”, increases transparency for prior authorization, and imposes rate regulation for large group insurance plans.
The Governor also signed HB 2499 which eliminates Short-Term, Limited-Duration Health Insurance.
Other New Laws: The Governor signed numerous other bills into law over the past two weeks. A list of other new laws is here.
CEJA Climate Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program Grantees: Three regional centers will receive grant funding to provide training through the Climate Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program as part of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. The Climate Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program provides training opportunities in the trades and will expand the clean energy talent pipeline and boost diversity in clean energy trade industries. The 548 Foundation will serve the Chicago metropolitan area (receiving a $4.8 million grant) while HIRE360 will serve the Central (receiving a $4.7 million grant) and Southern Regions (receiving a $3.9 million grant). Read more here.
High School Students Will Now Take ACT Assessment: The Illinois State Board of Education will now require high school students to take the ACT, rather than the SAT, as part of its federally mandated statewide assessments. In years past, the State required students to take the ACT, but switched to the SAT in 2017. Read more here.
Medicaid Waiver Approval: The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved Illinois’ 1115 demonstration waiver. In addition to supporting housing, nutrition, and transition from incarceration and other institutional settings, the waiver includes services to address substance use disorder, employment support for individuals with disabilities, and violence prevention and intervention. Note some of the other items contained in the original waiver request continue to be under review by federal CMS. Watch for HFS to announce further details later this month. The full approval document is available on the CMS website: Illinois Healthcare Transformation | Medicaid.
Brandon Road Interbasin Project: Illinois officially signed the project partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Michigan which will allow the construction of the $1.15 billion Brandon Road Interbasin Project on the Illinois River near Joliet.
Under the agreement, $274 million in federal funding and $114 million in state funding from Illinois and Michigan are to be used for the first of three construction increments. When completed, the project is designed to prevent the potential devastation of the Great Lakes ecosystem by invasive carp accessing the Great Lakes from the Illinois River.
The final agreement includes a $50 million investment from the State of Illinois which should garner hundreds of millions in federal funding. Illinois’ U.S. senators have pledged to continue advocating for full federal funding of the project and other financial concessions to help ease the long-term burden on Illinois taxpayers.
Illinois and Michigan have also entered into a separate agreement to ensure any additional costs are shared and do not fall disproportionately on either state’s taxpayers as the project moves forward. Read more here.
Dairy Cattle Testing Required for Exhibitions: The Illinois Department of Agriculture is instituting an intrastate testing requirement for lactating dairy cattle participating in livestock exhibitions in Illinois to minimize the spread of H5N1 (highly pathogenic avian influenza).
While Illinois currently has no reported cases of H5N1 in dairy cattle, 12 states have confirmed cases. Testing requirements apply to lactating dairy cattle exhibited at county fairs, the Illinois State Fair, the Du Quoin State Fair and any other livestock exhibition held in Illinois. Read more here.
Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB) Tech Hub: The U.S. Economic Development Administration announced that Illinois has secured approximately $51 million in federal funding for the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB) Tech Hub. The funding will be targeted as follows:
• Bioprocessing expansion: The grant will help fund a $40 million expansion of Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory, which will include a 1500-liter fermenter capacity upgrade.
• Production line expansion: Primient and Synonym will receive funding to increase fermentation capacity and ADM will use Phase 2 funding to upgrade their precision fermentation facility.
• iFAB Tech Hub Management: The grant will also support the iFAB Tech Hub’s management.
Read more here.
Mandatory Lead Testing Zones Expanded: The Illinois Department of Public Health expanded the list of lead high-risk ZIP codes for mandatory testing for lead exposure of children who live within those areas. The Department added 148 new zip codes (representing parts of 60 Illinois counties) to the list this year, bringing the total of high-risk ZIP codes to almost 1,200. The new expanded list, which took effect July 1, 2024, is here. Read more here.
OSLAD Grants Open: The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is now accepting applications for the next round of Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grants. The application period closes on September 13 at 5 p.m.
OSLAD is a matching program that provides an advance payment (for development projects only) of 50% of the grant award amount shortly after the grant agreement is executed. The local agency must demonstrate and possess the ability to finance the remaining cost of an approved project before receipt of the remaining grant funds. The program offers state-financed funding assistance to local governmental agencies for the acquisition and/or development of land for public parks and outdoor recreation areas.
A total of $54 million is available for this round of OSLAD grants. Note IDNR will once again provide funding to cover 100% of eligible projects located in economically distressed communities. Prior to applying for a grant, entities must be registered and current in the state’s Grant Accountability and Transparency Act grantee portal. All applications will be accepted online in the Amplifund portal. Read more here.
Illinois Retail Cannabis Sales Reach $1 Billion: Illinois reached $1 billion in cannabis retail sales on July 1, 2024, with $850 million in adult-use cannabis sales and almost $150 million in medical cannabis sales. In total, cannabis sales in FY 2024, which ended June 30, exceeded $2 billion. A monthly breakdown of cannabis sales is here. Read more here.
Cannabis Diversity Study: The Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office published the Disparity and Availability Study for adult use cannabis licenses in Illinois finding that Illinois currently has the most diverse cannabis industry in the nation. The study, as required by the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA), examined 559 adult use cannabis licenses issued by the State to more than 400 businesses during the study period, which spanned from the start of adult use cannabis sales, January 1, 2020, through January 31, 2023. Read more here.
Advisory Council on Financing and Access to Sickle Cell Disease Treatment and Other High-Cost Drugs and Treatment: Executive Order 2024-01 formed the Advisory Council on Financing and Access to Sickle Cell Disease Treatment and Other High-Cost Drugs and Treatment. The Advisory Council began its work in June. The Council will work to study options and make recommendations for developing payment models and financing structures for novel Sickle Cell Disease treatments, as well as other high-cost drugs and therapies that are not readily accessible to those who could benefit from them. More information, including a full list of the Advisory Council’s membership, is here.
IDOT and U of I sign Research Agreement: The Illinois Department of Transportation signed a six-year, $48 million agreement with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Illinois Center for Transportation at The Grainger College of Engineering to continue a longtime joint research program.
Effective July 1, the agreement will explore the latest transportation needs in the state and ensures Illinois stays at the forefront of solving transportation challenges, such as creating safer and more sustainable infrastructure, reducing congestion, achieving more equitable transit systems, preparing for autonomous vehicles and more. At the top of the list of priorities is developing and implementing next-generation mobility technologies, while ensuring a safe, resilient and net-zero emission transportation system by 2050.
US Department of Labor Awards Internship Grants: The U.S. Department of Labor awarded three Illinois organizations nearly $19 million total for apprenticeship training programs through the Apprenticeship Building America Grant Round 2. The Board of Trustees at University of Illinois in Chicago, the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair in Hoffman Estates, and the Illinois Foundation of SkillsUSA VICA in Pekin were all awarded grants.
The program is targeted to expand the use of Registered Apprenticeships across in-demand fields, such as K-12 education, clean energy, IT and cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, supply chain, hospitality, care economy and public-sector occupations. The grant criteria include a focus on ensuring all Americans, including those from historically disadvantaged communities, are included in workforce development opportunities.
OTHER NEWS:
CGFA June Report: Illinois’ new fiscal year began July 1. According to a recent report from the Commission on Forecasting and Government Accountability, the state ended the fiscal year with General Funds total of $52.589 billion. According to the Commission, the total is nearly identical to its most recent forecast of $52.590 billion released in March.
For June, total General Funds receipts fell sharply (as expected) as compared to last June for an overall decline of $1.531 billion. The decline is attributed to a drop in one-time pandemic-related funds. When excluding the aforementioned federal funds, June revenue rose $132 million above last June’s levels for a base increase of 2.8%. Read the full report here. Capitol News offers more here.