GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
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March 11th, 2022
This Week in Illinois
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Session Update
The House and Senate both returned to Springfield for another week of session with the lower chamber coming in on Monday and the upper chamber a day later. On Tuesday, the House passed HR 717 which made adjustments to House Rules on Covid-19 mitigations on the floor and in the gallery. Both chambers had a lighter week of floor action, however a few bills of note did pass.
While originally scheduled for five days of action, the House canceled Friday session. Per HJR 78, The House will return Tuesday, March 15. The Senate will return Tuesday, March 22nd or at the call of the Senate President.
View the Senate Committee schedule for next week here. View the House committee schedule here. Rail report subscribers will continue to get daily updates.
HB 5555:Permitting Reform Passes House, Awaits Senate Action
Late last week, HB 5555 sponsored by Representative Yednock, passed out of the House by a vote of 104-0-0 and now awaits Senate action. Senator Villivalam is carrying the legislation in the Senate. This bill is an Illinois Chamber and Illinois Environmental Regulatory Group (IERG) joint initiative that will instill state permitting improvements. This important piece of legislation has also garnered support within the Labor community.
The legislation provides an optional streamlined permitting process in Illinois for projects exceeding $20 million. Provided below are some additional features of the legislation:
- Agencies must coordinate in creating an agreed timetable for issuance of all required authorizations to ensure permit issuance in 2 years;
- Specify a process for Agencies to later modify their agreed-upon timetable;
- Create an online dashboard for tracking projects' permitting status;
- Agencies must affirmatively acknowledge or disclaim any jurisdiction or authority over a proposed project;
- Include a process to account for project delays for the applicant;
- Allow local governments with permitting programs to be part of the process;
- Allow for Illinois to become more competitive to receive federal grants for infrastructure and economic growth-related projects; and
- Include revisions not directly related to the permitting improvement process that would modernize the existing Office of Business Permits and Regulatory Assistance such as the use of online communication.
Read the full fact sheet here.
We would greatly appreciate your support of this legislation and encourage you to contact your State Senator to urge its swift passage.
Bills of Interest with Floor Action:
HB 1811, Predictive Analytics passed out of the House by a vote of 104-0-0. This bill provides that when using predictive data analytics in determining creditworthiness or in making hiring decisions, the use of predictive data analytics may not include information that correlates with the race or zip code of the applicant for credit or employment. Provides that nothing in the Act shall be construed to prevent the use of predictive data analytics to support the inclusion of diverse candidates in making employment decisions. Provides that a person or entity that relies either partially or fully on predictive data analytics to determine a consumer's creditworthiness may not allow the use of information about the consumer that assigns specific risk factors to the consumer's race or zip code resulting in rejection of credit or other adverse credit-related action to a consumer.
HB 4500, Corporate Acts Amendments passed the House by a vote of 65-38-0. This is an Omnibus bill for business organization acts that makes a number of changes to the Acts that govern different types of corporations in IL.
An explainer on this legislation from the Secretary of State can be found here.
HB 4772, County Design Build passed out of the House by a vote 102-2-1. This bill creates the County Design-Build Authorization Division in the Counties Code. Provides that a county may enter into design-build contracts. Includes scope and performance criteria for design-build contracts, a two-phase procedure for selection of contracts, requirements for submission of proposals, procedures for awarding contracts, and requirements of reports and evaluation of contracts. Provides that, if the total overall cost of a project is estimated to be less than $12,000,000, the county may combine the two-phase procedure for selection into one phase. In provisions relating to the awarding of a design-build contract to the highest overall ranked design-build entity, provides that the county may not (rather than may) request a best and final offer after the receipt of proposals of all qualified design-build entities.
HB 5555, Permitting Improvements passed the House by a vote of 104-0-0. See above for full description of this legislation.
SB 1233, Transportation Study passed out of the Senate by a vote of 48-0-0. This bill creates a task force to study future transportation funding. Provides that the Commission shall report a summary of its activities and produce a final report of its data, findings, and recommendations to the General Assembly by January 31, 2023. The Chamber supports this bill.
SB2535, Opioids passed out of the Senate by a vote of 49-0-0. This bill provides that before dispensing an opioid a pharmacist shall inform patients that opioids are addictive and offer to dispense an opioid antagonist. Deletes language concerning a training program approved by the Department of Human Services for pharmacists to complete before dispensing an opioid. Provides that prescribers who issue a prescription for an opioid shall inform the patient that opioids are addictive and that opioid antagonists are available by prescription or from a pharmacy. Provides that in a hospital or institution licensed under the Hospital Licensing Act, all prescribers of an opioid shall inform the patient that opioids are addictive and that opioid antagonists are available by prescription or from a pharmacy.
SB 2803, UI Trust fund passed out of the Senate by a vote of 33-15-0. This bill appropriates $2,000,000,000 from the State Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency Fund to the Department of Employment Security for payment to the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund for partial repayment of Title XII advances, including prior year cost. This bill is a vehicle/placeholder for further discussion. The agreed bill process on this matter is still ongoing.
SB 2940, Electric Motorcycles passed the Senate by a vote of 47-0-0. This bill amends the Electric Vehicle Act and the Electric Vehicle Rebate Act to delete language providing that "electric vehicle" does not include electric motorcycles. Provides that, beginning July 1, 2022, each person shall be eligible to apply for a $1,500 rebate for the purchase of an electric vehicle that is an electric motorcycle.
SB 3629, Towing passed out of the Senate by a vote of 37-12-0. This bill provides that if a vehicle owner or other legally authorized person in control of a vehicle is under a written agreement permitting a vehicle to be parked on the property, the property owner or other person in lawful possession or control of the property, or his or her authorized agent, must provide personal notice to the vehicle owner or other legally authorized person in control of the vehicle prior to requesting that a commercial vehicle relocator remove the vehicle from the property. Requires the property owner or other person in lawful possession or control of the property, or his or her authorized agent, to make all reasonable efforts to provide the vehicle owner or other legally authorized person in control of a vehicle personal notice prior to removal of the vehicle. Requires that personal notice must be provided at least 3 hours prior to the removal of the vehicle. Provides that a vehicle owner or other legally authorized person in control of a vehicle that is aggrieved by a violation of the notice provisions may commence a civil action in the appropriate circuit court not later than 2 years after the date of the vehicle relocation and may recover from the property owner or other person in possession or control of the property, or his or her authorized agent, damages resulting from the violation, including, but not limited to: towing charges and storage charges accrued in connection with the relocated vehicle; loss of the vehicle; and costs and attorney's fees. Provides that the Tow Notice Act does not create liability for an owner or other person in lawful possession or control of real property, or his or her authorized agent, who moves a vehicle as required to respond to an emergency or for maintenance of the property, if the vehicle is returned to the property upon resolution of the emergency or completion of the maintenance project at the expense of the owner or other person in lawful possession or control of real property, or his or her authorized agent.
SB3796, Toll Highway Authority passed out of the Senate by a vote of 49-0-0. This bill removes language authorizing the chairman to exercise general supervision over all powers, duties, obligations and functions of the Toll Highway Authority. Provides that the directors shall appoint agents or employees as they consider necessary or desirable. Provides that such agents or employees, other than technical or engineering employees, shall be subject to the Personnel Code. Provides that the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint from the State at large an Executive Director to the Toll Highway Authority to serve as the chief executive officer of the Board of Directors. Provides that the Board shall employ and fix the compensation of the Executive Director.
SB 4018, Pharmacies passed out of the Senate by a vote of 49-0-0. This bill provides that the Pharmacy Practice Act is repealed on January 1, 2028 (instead of January 1, 2023). Provides that a registered pharmacy technician may be delegated to perform any task within the practice of pharmacy if specifically trained for that task except for final prescription verification except where a registered certified pharmacy technician verifies a prescription dispensed by another pharmacy technician using technology-assisted medication verification. Removes a provision that provides that additional licensure rules may provide for a reasonable annual fee, not to exceed $20, to fund the cost of recordkeeping. Provides that if a pharmacy temporarily closes for more than 72 hours, it is the duty of the pharmacist in charge and the owner of such pharmacy to report to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation within 72 hours of temporary closure. Provides that the citation the Department may issue to any licensee for any violation of the Act or the rules shall not exceed $3,000 (instead of $1,000). Provides that nothing shall prohibit an individual employee licensed as a pharmacist, pharmacy technician, or student pharmacist (rather than only licensed as a pharmacist) from accessing the employer pharmacy's database from a home (rather than a pharmacist's home) or other remote location or pharmacist's home verification (rather than home verification) for the purpose of performing certain prescription processing functions, provided that the pharmacy establishes controls to protect the privacy and security of confidential records.
View the Chamber's full 102nd GA Key Bills List here.
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President & CEO Maisch Releases New Two Minute Drill
Earlier this week, Illinois Chamber President and CEO Todd Maisch recapped Chamber Day 2022 by thanking all attendees, sponsors, and our key speakers. Maisch also speaks on the passage of HB 5555 and two Chamber op-eds in this week's two minute drill.
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Weekly GAP Call
The Chamber will host a Government Affairs Professionals (GAP) call on Monday, March 14th at 3:00 pm. We will provide you the latest updates on what legislation we are watching this Spring. Call in information is provided below.
Microsoft Teams meeting
Join on your computer or mobile app
Or call in (audio only)
Phone Conference ID: 463 563 254#
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If you have questions about the Government Affairs Report, contact Clark Kaericher at ckaericher@ilchamber.org. Do not reply to this email.
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