GOVERNOR’S HIGLIGHTS:
Clean Energy: On Wednesday, Governor Pritzker signed the comprehensive energy bill, , SB2408 (Harmon/Evans), into law. Read the Governor’s full press release here.
Child Care Assistance: Beginning October 1, 2021, parents who are unemployed and actively seeking employment will be eligible for three months of child care assistance, provided they meet the standard program eligibility requirements. If parents become employed or enroll in an education program before the end of the three-month period and they meet all other program eligibility requirements, their eligibility will continue for 12 months in total.The Pritzker administration is also providing bonuses of up to $1,000 for eligible childcare workers. Bonuses will be paid through the employer between October 2021 and March 2022. More information is here.
COVID-19 Update: On Thursday, health officials reported 4,349 new cases of COVID-19 and 41 deaths. As of Wednesday night, 2,163 individuals were hospitalized in Illinois with COVID-19. Of those 519 were reported to be in the ICU with 275 on ventilators. Illinois 7-day average case positivity is 4.1%.
Governor Pritzker announced that employees working on his 2022 campaign for Governor must be vaccinated. At this time, the Governor’s campaign is the only campaign in Illinois to require vaccinations as a condition of employment.
Gubernatorial Appointments: Governor Pritzker appointed the following:
· Tommy Arbuckle will serve on the Housing Development Authority.·
Kevin Blackburn will serve as a Trustee on the Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees.
2022 Election Update:
Gregg Johnson, retired AFSCME Local 46 President, announced he is running for Representative Mike Halpin’s House seat. Halpin announced he is running for the Illinois Senate. Republican State Senator Neil Anderson defeated Johnson in 2018 by 3 points. Democrat Jeff Deppe also announced his candidacy to replace Representative Mike Halpin. Deppe works as the secretary and treasurer of the Laborer’s Local 309 and is Vice-President of the Rock Island County Democratic Party.
Attorney General Highlights:Attorney General Kwame Raoul is creating an Organized Retail Crime Task Force to combat the increase in organized retail crime. The Task Force is the first large-scale, public-private collaboration of its kind in Illinois and is designed to foster cooperation among retailers, online marketplaces, law enforcement agencies and state’s attorneys dedicated to targeting organized retail crime enterprises. More information is here.
102nd Illinois General Assembly:
The Illinois Senate convened for a one-day session on Monday to approve omnibus clean energy legislation. Both chambers stand adjourned until the call of the House Speaker and Senate President. The General Assembly is scheduled for a six-day October session, but it is possible some of the session days may be canceled.
The motion to reconsider the vote has been removed on omnibus ethics legislation, SB539 (Gillespie/Burke). The bill has been returned to the Governor for certification and will become law.
The House Human Services, Appropriation Human Services, Healthcare Availably and Accessibility and Mental Health Committees will hold a joint hybrid subject matter hearing on September 22, at 10:00 am in the Bilandic Building in Chicago and online at virtual room one to discuss nursing home reform.