103rd ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
The Illinois General Assembly stands adjourned for the week, with the House cancelling today’s session. The House will return to session at 3pm on Monday May 13 and is scheduled to be in session through the May 24th adjournment deadline. The Senate reconvenes Tuesday, May 14 for four days.
Two weeks remain in the 2024 spring legislative session, although both chambers have
notified members that session will continue into the very last week of May if the General Assembly has not concluded its work by the May 24 adjournment deadline.
Below are highlights from this week’s session.
HB 303 (Croke/Harmon) would prevent the Chicago Public School Board from closing any schools or making major changes to selective-enrollment programs until a fully elected school board is in place in 2027; the measure passed unanimously out of the Senate Executive Committee and now heads to the full Senate.
A new Department of Early Childhood (consolidating early childhood programs at ISBE, DCFS and DHS into one new agency) is created by SB 1 (Lightford/Canty). It now goes to the Governor’s desk, having been approved by the House 93-18.
All public schools would be required to provide education on the impacts of climate change and solutions for mitigation under HB 4895 (Yang Rohr/Johnson). The full Senate will now consider the measure, which passed 9-4 out of the Senate Education Committee.
The Senate Education Committee also considered – and unanimously approved –
HB 4902 (Faver Dias/Lightford) which requires any vendor or learning partner approved to work with a school in English/language arts to follow the State’s literacy plan. The bill now heads to the Senate Floor.
Limiting the use of predictive analytics in employment decisions and creditworthiness checks is the focus of HB 3773 (Andrade/Cervantes), which was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee 6-3 and will now go before the full Senate. The sponsor indicated that a floor amendment will be forthcoming which should remove opposition.
Having been approved by the House Public Utilities Committee, HFA # 1 to SB 3173 (DeWitte/Moeller) is going before the full House. The amendment restricts a county’s authority to lease or license broadband infrastructure to infrastructure that the county owns.
Keying in on modernizing the Illinois Publicity Act to address the use of artificial intelligence in distributing or transmitting a sound recording or audiovisual work that contains a digital replica of an individual without their knowledge or authorization is the focus of HB 4875 (Gong-Gershowitz/Edly-Allen). TechNet opposed the legislation as drafted, but not its overall concept. It is concerned about potential liability for the developer — and not the user — of the tool. The measure now heads to the full Senate.
HB 4903 (Faver Dias/Johnson) received unanimous approval from the Senate Education Committee; it which would require the Illinois State Board of Education (in consultation with the Illinois Department of Public Health) to compile resources to assess air quality and maintain ventilation systems in schools. ISBE would make these resources available to elementary and secondary schools. The bill now heads to the Senate floor.
Unanimous passage from the House Executive Committee was granted to SB 2849 (Morrison/Rita), which gives regulatory authority on drone usage to park districts and local recreation departments. The full House will now consider the measure. Meanwhile, companion legislation HB 4715 (Rita/Morrison) will be considered by the full Senate after being passed by the Senate Executive Committee 12-1.
On a partisan roll call, the Senate Executive Committee passed HB 5239 (Cassidy/Villanueva) which amends the Reproductive Health Act to protect information for individuals who travel to Illinois for reproductive health services that are legal in Illinois. The full Senate now takes up the bill.
HB 4621 (Slaughter/Sims), which creates the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services under the Judicial branch, passed 10-2 from the Senate Executive Committe and now heads to the full Senate.
SFA # 2 to SB 727 (Simmons) codifies recent federal PFAS rules on maximum PFAS contaminant levels in community water supplies. The Senate Energy and Environment Committee unanimously approved the amendment and it is now pending before the full Senate.
Senator Lightford filed SFA # 1 to SB 776 (Harmon) which creates the Hemp Cannabinoid Products Act to regulate various aspects of hemp products in Illinois – including their distribution, sale, transportation, marketing and labeling. The bill adds new municipal and county taxing authority as well. SFA # 1 is currently in the Senate Assignments Committee.
The role and regulation of pharmacy benefit managers was the topic of a subject matter hearing in the House Healthcare Availability and Accessibility Committee. Capitol News covers the hearing here.
The issue of truck pollution in underserved communities was the topic of a subject matter hearing by Senate Energy and Environment Committee, specific to SFA # 1 to SB 838 (Cervantes). An initiative of the Illinois Environmental Council, the measure establishes in the IEPA the Health and Equity Advisory Council to make recommendations on environmental justice to the Legislature by June 30, 2026 (and annually thereafter). Also required by the bill: that the IEPA conduct truck counting and facility emissions monitoring, and publish a list of warehouses and truck-attracting facilities. The proponents plan to continue to work with stakeholders to address opposition and revisit the legislation in 2025.
2024 Key Dates and Session Deadlines:
May 17: House and Senate Third Reading Deadline for Bills in the Opposite Chamber
May 24: Adjournment
May 25 – 31: Contingent Session Days
BUDGET UPDATE:
Revenues for FY24 are being upwardly revised by $250 million by the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, according to its latest report to the Legislative Budget Oversight Commission. Noting that individual, corporate and sales taxes were “modestly behind forecasted levels,” those lagging performances were balanced out by overperformances in the four areas of federal revenues, transfers in, investment income, and estate tax collections.
Looking ahead to FY25, GOMB has issued modest downward revisions for sources that are economy-driven but is predicting enhanced performances in the realm of investment income given the delay by the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. If the Legislature passes the $1 billion in new revenue being sought by the Governor for the FY25 budget, the report contends, the state’s overall revenue will surpass its February estimates by $295 million. Conversely, should the requested revenues not be approved by the General Assembly, a $700 million deficit would occur in the proposed budget.
Readers will remember that the Governor’s budget proposal assumed various revenue scenarios. Among them is a continuation of the limit on corporate net operating loss deduction — but increasing the allowable loss cap ($526 million). Too, mass transit costs would be transferred from the sales tax to the Road Fund ($175 million). And finally, the budget proposal seeks to cap the retailers’ discount for collecting the sales tax ($101 million). All three of these revenue scenarios can become a reality only with General Assembly approval; read the full report here.
Prompted by the General Assembly’s seeming reluctance to fully approve the Governor’s requested revenues, the Governor’s Office is directing state agencies to be prepared for $800 million in budget shortfalls. Specifically, the agencies are being asked to prioritize cuts in grant programs and other areas of discretionary spending, which have increased in recent years.
The Governor has pledged his signature to a “balanced budget with no increase to the bill payment cycle, no unrealistic revenue forecasts, no skimping on pension contributions, and continued deposits to the State’s Budget Stabilization Fund …” As seen in the full letter here. Pritzker said that any resulting budget would key in on “… honoring the goals of increasing education funding, supporting the State’s social safety net, and investing in economic development to continue to grow our state’s economy”. Capitol News has more here.
GOVERNOR’S HIGHLIGHTS:
Cannabis Social Equity Licenses Awarded: An additional 35 Conditional Adult Use Dispensing Organization Licenses have been awarded to applicants from the Social Equity Lottery; the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation will issue 13 more such licenses soon. Read more here.
Asian Longhorned Tick Identified in Illinois: Illinois is the 20th state to discover the Asian longhorned tick. The tick, considered an invasive species, was found on April 12 during routine active tick surveillance in Morgan County. This tick variety is known to reproduce rapidly and carries a disease that affects cattle. The IDOA, IDPH and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) are monitoring the situation in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture.
Illinois Natural Areas Stewardship Grants Available: Through June 14, grant applications for the Illinois Natural Areas Stewardship program will be taken by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Eligible applicants are 501(c)(3) conservation land trusts that focus on restoration and stewardship of land for conservation purposes. The grant program focuses on funding projects that not only immediately address stewardship activities to natural areas (protected within the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission system) but also expand on the stewardship ability of conservation land trusts through additional staff and equipment. More here.
OTHER NEWS:
Chicago Mayor Visits Springfield: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson visited lawmakers this week to advocate for more funding for the state’s largest city. The requests come as legislators are finalizing next year’s budget with roughly two weeks left in the spring session. The Mayor’s formal requests included: increasing LGDF to 7% (which would net the city between $30-40 million); $60 million to replace lead water lines; $1.26 million for the domestic violence hotline; and changing the definition of “prepaid wireless telecommunications service” — which would increase Chicago’s telecommunications tax revenue by $15 million and the emergency telephone system surcharge revenue by $28 million annually. Earlier in the week the mayor suggested that he would ask legislators for $1 billion in state funding that is “owed” to the “families of Chicago.” Included in that money would be additional teacher pension funds as well as greater state aid under the evidence-based funding formula. Read more here.