103rd ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
The Illinois General Assembly remains adjourned until the November Veto Session.
This week, the House Healthcare Availability and Accessibility Committee held a second subject matter hearing on pharmacy benefit managers. Capitol News covers the hearing here. The Department on Aging press release is here.
GOVERNOR’S HIGHLIGHTS:
New Laws: Governor Pritzker signed several bills into law this week. Read the full list here.
Illinois Receives Pollution Reduction Grant: Illinois is set to receive roughly $430 million in federal funding from the US EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program. The grant will fund projects targeted towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Illinois’ Priority Climate Action Plan builds on the progress of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act and projects outlined in the application apply similar power sector decarbonization strategies to other sectors including transportation, buildings, agriculture, and industry. Read more here.
Quantum Campus: Illinois’ new quantum campus has its first anchor tenant – PsiQuantum. PsiQuantum plans a 300,000-square-foot footprint at the IQMP, with room to grow. The company will work with customers, including Fortune 500 companies, to identify problems and develop fault-tolerant algorithms that will run on the IQMP system to deliver answers to customers. At least 150 new PsiQuantum jobs will be created at the IQMP, including system maintenance engineers, mechanical engineers, cryogenic plant technicians, test and assembly managers, and non-technical roles in finance, sales, supply chain, human resources, and more. Read more here.
Regional Site Readiness Program: The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is allocating $42 million to the Regional Site Readiness Program, which supports communities and landowners in their site readiness planning, assessments, and infrastructure improvements. The goal of this program is to ensure sites are better prepared to attract future investment and new job opportunities in the industrial sector across all 10 of Illinois’ Economic Development Regions. Grantees will be selected through two competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) processes.
Eligible applicants include local governments, economic development organizations, nonprofit organizations, and private landowners. Qualified entities can apply for Planning grants up to $150,000 and Capital Ready grants up to $3 million. Applications will be accepted until October 21, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Read more here.
Low-Income Housing: The Illinois Housing Development Authority Board is awarding $23.8 million in federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits that will finance the creation and preservation of 16 affordable housing developments in 10 counties throughout Illinois. Once completed, the developments will offer 792 affordable units for low- to moderate-income families, seniors, and persons with special needs. Read more here.
Gubernatorial Appointments: Governor Pritzker appointed the following:
· Alex Garza will continue to serve as a Member of the Lottery Control Board.
· Don Villar will continue to serve as a Member of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority.
· Darnell Tingle will serve as a Member of the Energy Workforce Advisory Council.
OTHER NEWS:
ICC Supports FERC Reforms: The Illinois Commerce Commission officially adopted a resolution supporting a set of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reforms intended to improve the nation’s long-term transmission planning. The reforms in FERC Order No. 1920 require transmission providers to develop planning scenarios that fully account for state, federal, and tribal laws that are shaping the resource mix; decarbonization and electrification processes; projected load growth; trends in fuel costs; resource retirements; the interconnection of new resources; and corporate and government policy goals.
In June, Governor JB Pritzker, along with three other governors, sent a letter urging PJM Interconnection, the power grid operator encompassing Northern Illinois, to comply with FERC’s directive and facilitate a robust process for state and stakeholder engagement on transmission planning decisions moving forward.