September 30, 2022

This Week in Illinois

Governor Announces $450 Million Pay down of UI Debt

The Illinois Chamber Employment Law Council is actively engaged on all unemployment insurance related issues. Provided below is their perspective on this week's news.

On Tuesday morning, Gov. Pritzker held a press conference to announce a $450 million pay down of the state debt to the federal government due to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund deficit. With the Trust Fund cash flow at a positive $1.2 billion, the Governor is taking $450 million of the positive cash flow to pay down the $1.8 billion UI federal debt. The result is that the state saves $10 million in interest that it will owe the feds in 2023. 

Note that this is using employer paid in taxes to lower the debt. Many states used federal ARPA monies to pay off their UI debt. Illinois employers will continue to lose our 0.3% FUTA credit in 2023 which amounts to a $21 per employees making $7,000 in wages.

Using funds in this manner reduces the net year-end balance in the Trust Fund and could have a negative impact on the state experience factor and the fund building surcharge in the future. We are doing additional research to determine the impact of this move on employer taxes.

If you have any thoughts or questions please reach out to Jay Shattuck at jfshattuck@michaelbeststrategies.com or Aaron Harris at adharris@michaelbeststrategies.com

Illinois Chamber Endorses Dan Brady for Secretary of State

On Thursday morning, the Illinois Chamber had the privilege of joining former Governor Jim Edgar, the Illinois Education Association, and many other groups and elected officials in endorsing Dan Brady for Secretary of State. Representative Brady, a near 20-year member of the Illinois House, has been honored with numerous Chamber awards across his career. We are excited for his potential election. 

During the event, Sr. Vice President of Government Affairs, Clark Kaericher had the opportunity to provide remarks. In part, those remarks are provided below:

It's refreshing to stand here today with our friends in labor and I think that’s fitting for Dan Brady in many ways represents a throwback to the days pre-Blagojevich before Illinois went off the rails: to a time of leaders like Big Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar when business and labor worked together, college graduates flocked to Illinois instead of fled and other states looked at us with envy rather than pity. It is the Chamber's hope that Illinois returns to those days and that starts with electing common sense, reform candidates like Dan Brady.  

Illinois Secure Choice Expansion

In accordance with the Secure Choice expansion legislation passed in 2021 (HB 117/PA 102-179), the Illinois Treasurer's office is launching its next wave of the program for employers. Per State law, employers with 5 or more Illinois employees that have been in business for at least 2 years and that don’t offer a tax-qualified retirement plan are required to register for and facilitate Illinois Secure Choice. The legislation staggered the enrollment deadline based on employer size.

Through Illinois Secure Choice, Illinois workers can save for retirement through Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) funded by payroll deductions. The program is facilitated by the State of Illinois and administered by a professional financial services firm. Employers do not pay any fees, make contributions, or have any fiduciary liability – they simply facilitate employee payroll deductions and keep their employee rosters current.

Business owners can learn more about the program and access support resources at ilsecurechoice.com. Businesses with 16 or more Illinois employees must register for or report an exemption from the program by November 1, 2022. The registration/exemption deadline for businesses with 5-15 employees is November 1, 2023, though employers are welcome to join ahead of their applicable deadlines.

If you have any questions, please contact Christine Cheng, Director of Illinois Secure Choice, at ccheng@illinoistreasurer.gov or (312) 515-7566. 

Illinois Chamber's Maisch Conversation with US Chamber President & CEO Clark

Illinois Chamber President and CEO Todd Maisch had the privilege of sitting down with United States Chamber President & CEO Suzanne Clark at the Crain's Business “State of American Business 2022." The event, co-hosted by the US Camber and Crain's, discussed the challenges, disruptions, and opportunities facing businesses and how they are thriving.

Maisch spoke with Clark on numerous subjects including international trade, U.S. inflation and crime. We thank the U.S. Chamber for hosting such a tremendous event.

We will have more about this conversation in the coming weeks.

Chamber Legislative Awards

In the past week, The Illinois Chamber staff has once again had the opportunity to provide more House members with legislative awards from their work in the 102nd General Assembly. 

President & CEO Maisch is pictured her presenting the Champion of Free Enterprise Award to retiring Representative Avery Bourne. Illinois Chamber Sr. Vice President of Government Affairs, Clark Kaericher was able to present the award to Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer.

We are proud of the many accomplishments of these effective legislators. We thank each of both these Representatives for their strong work in the Illinois House and Senate and are always glad to have them stop by our office for a quick conversation.

Legislative ratings and Chamber awards in all categories were first announced in June. View the full 102nd legislative ratings here.

Session Update

As a reminder, the General Assembly has released the schedule for veto session. Lawmakers will be back in Springfield Tuesday, November 15 -November 17 as well as November 29-December 1. 

View and download the veto calendar here.

Looking forward, Legislators have been informed to keep their schedules open between January 4th-10th for potential lame duck session dates. We will let you know when those dates are finalized.

Legislative Update: Bills of Interest

No bills of interest were introduced, passed or signed into law this week.

Register Today: Illinois Chamber 2022 Annual Luncheon

The Illinois Chamber of Commerce has announced its 2022 Annual Meeting which will take place on October 6 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. This year's theme is Future of Energy and Impact on Illinois: Actions by the Federal Reserve.

During the luncheon, we will hear a world class panel discussion on The Future of Energy by Balvy Bhogal-Mitro, Vice President of Strategic and Corporate Planning, CITGO, Chris Raymond, Chief Sustainability Officer, The Boeing Company and Paul Segal, Chief Executive Officer of LS Power.

We are also thrilled to hear remarks from President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Charles Evans.

For more information and registration please visit us here.

View more about the sponsorship levels here.

With questions, please reach out to Kirsten Constant, Business Services Coordinator, Illinois Chamber of Commerce at kconstant@ilchamber.org