GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
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December 17th, 2021
This Week in Illinois
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Illinois Chamber Holds Board Meeting with Special Guest Comptroller Mendoza
On Thursday, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce held its quarterly board meeting in our downtown Chicago office space. The meeting featured special guest and speaker, Comptroller Susana Mendoza. The Chamber thanks Comptroller Mendoza for her participation and insights during the event.
The next board meeting is scheduled in March around the Chamber's legislative day in Springfield. More details about Chamber Day will be coming soon.
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Illinois Counties Ranked Among Top "Judicial Hellholes" in the Nation
The American Tort Reform Foundation has released its annual national "Judicial Hellholes" report for the 2021-2022 program year. The 2021- 2022 Judicial Hellholes report shines its spotlight on eight jurisdictions that have earned reputations as Judicial Hellholes. Some are known for allowing innovative lawsuits to proceed or for welcoming litigation tourism, and in all of them state leadership seems eager to expand civil liability at every given opportunity.
In Illinois, Cook, Madison and St. Clair Counties are collectively ranked in the top five for worst judicial systems for business interests, especially for asbestos litigation and BIPA-related cases. Read the segment on on these Illinois counties here. View and share the full report here.
Political Update: Illinois Gubernatorial Race
This week, reports have emerged about a potential challenger to Governor Pritzker in the upcoming 2022 Gubernatorial race. One candidate mentioned is current Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin. Irvin was elected as Mayor of the State's second largest city in 2017 and had previously served on the City Council for a decade.
These same reports have suggested that, no matter who the candidate is that emerges, they will be well-funded and competitive.
Governor Pritzker announced his intention to run for reelection in July of this year.
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Bills of Interest Signed into Law
HB 3401, Midwife Licensure was signed into law. This bill creates the Licensed Certified Professional Midwife Practice Act. Provides for the licensure of certified professional midwives by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and for certain limitations on the activities of licensed certified professional midwives.
HB 3490, Child Beverages was signed into law. This bill provides that nonfat or 1% dairy milk containing no more than 130 calories per container or serving as offered for sale is a default beverage. Provides that a beverage listed or displayed on a restaurant menu or in-store advertisement for a children's meal shall be one of the default beverages. Provides that an executive officer of a certified local public health department or his or her designee, may charge and collect certain civil penalties.
SB 280, Water Commission was signed into law. This bill creates the Regional Water Commissions Division of the Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that the corporate authorities of several municipalities may create a regional water commission to purchase or construct a waterworks system or a common source of supply of water, or both, and may operate jointly a waterworks system or a common source of supply of water, or both, and improve and extend the same.
SB 1040 Department, Hospital Payments was signed into law. This bill requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to make adjustment payments to a hospital that reopens a previously closed hospital facility within 3 calendar years of the hospital facility's closure, if the previously closed hospital facility qualified for certain inpatient adjustment payments at the time of closure, until utilization data for the new facility is available for the Medicaid inpatient utilization rate calculation.
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OSHA COVID-19 Employer Mandate New Update
In November, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) suspended enforcement of its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on private sector employers. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered OSHA to not enforce the ETS pending judicial review.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was selected to hear a consolidated case challenging the ETS. For those watching the Courts, the Biden Administration asked the 6th Circuit Court to lift the stay on the ETS. A three judge panel from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has been selected to hear the case and is expected to issue a ruling soon. No matter the outcome, the US Supreme Court is expected to issue the final decision.
Our thanks go out to the US Chamber of Commerce who has a team of experts working this extremely important issue. Read the US Chamber's latest updates here.
Frequently asked questions on the COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS are provided by the US Department of Labor here.
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Session Update
The Illinois General Assembly will return to Springfield on January 4, 2022. No other session dates are scheduled for this year.
View the 2022 House calendar here. View the 2022 Senate calendar here.
Our first Government Affairs Professionals (GAP) Call will be held virtually on Monday, January 10th. Check your email for an invitation and call-in link next week. If you do not receive this GAP call information and would like to, please email Andrew at acunningham@ilchamber.org.
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Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund
To help restaurants recover in times of critical need, Chamber member DoorDash has partnered with Hello Alice to create the Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund. Restaurants in Illinois that have been impacted by the recent tornadoes may be eligible to apply for $10,000 relief grants for essential expenses.
Applications are now open. View eligibility criteria and information on how to apply here.
Webinar: Detection is Your Super Power!
On January 27th, the Illinois Chamber will host a security-focused webinar titled "Detection is your super power."
Protecting a network against a hacker used to mean that you had to be on your game 100%, but the hacker only needed to be right once to get in. With Detection, however, the tables are turned, and they’re on your territory. Detection becomes your advantage, as they have to avoid making any mistakes and all you have to do is watch and wait. Join Stel Valavanis, CEO of Onshore Security, to hear more about how Panoptic Cyberdefense gives us the super power to see all and stop bad actors in their tracks.
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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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