NEWS FROM THE FRONT- 5/26/2020
Guidance on Phase 3 Re-Opening
Governor JB Pritzker announced over the weekend that all four regions of Illinois are on track to move into Phase 3 of the COVID-19 re-opening plan. He also released industry specific guidelines for re-opening. Community banks are considered an essential service under the current stay at home order and are under no duty to close lobbies. Many bankers have chosen to do so to protect the health and safety of bank employees and customers. 

This guidance is issued through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. CBAI has confirmed with IDFPR that there will  not  be additional bank specific guidance released. Bankers are directed to look at both the plans for re-opening offices and retail in formulating their operational plans during Phase 3.
Illinois Emergency Management Agency Offers Free Masks to Front Line Workers
From IEMA;  FEMA is providing reusable cloth masks to the essential and critical infrastructure sectors workforce. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) will coordinate the mask distribution to workers that are in need of facial cloth masks as a safeguard during their daily work. 

If you are interested in receiving cloth masks, IEMA will need to know how many you need. Please complete the survey below, and once needs are identified, IEMA will work with you to distribute the masks. Thank you in advance for your assistance and willingness to support this effort. 

PLEASE COMPLETE THE SURVEY BY FRIDAY, MAY 29th 12PM.


More Information, Edie Casella, IEMA; 217.494.7986 or edie.casella@illinois.gov
General Assembly Session Recap
The Illinois General Assembly wrapped up an abbreviated version of the 2020 spring legislative session in the early morning hours Sunday. This is the first time the legislature convened since March. They focused on passing the Fiscal Year 2021 budget and other emergency matters mainly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Meeting in marathon fashion, the General Assembly began session on Wednesday, May 18, and concluded their work in the early morning hours of Sunday, May 24. The week proved chaotic as the General Assembly tried to quickly finish its business while social distancing and following new health guidelines. The House convened at the Bank of Springfield convention center in downtown Springfield while the Senate conducted business in their chamber under strict social distancing rules. Legislators were required to wear face coverings, a limited number of Senators were allowed on the floor at a time, and most staff continued to work remotely.   

The General Assembly approved several omnibus measures including passing a budget for next year. There were several items that proved too difficult to accomplish in the truncated session. Efforts to enact ethics reform, housing assistance, codification of the Governor’s Executive Orders regarding telehealth reimbursement parity, cannabis law changes, and a legislative effort to give the governor additional tools to enforce the Governor’s Executive Orders all stalled this week. There was an attempt to authorize the legislature to meet remotely, but those provisions were stripped from the bill after numerous legislators objected. The Senate did, however, make rules changes to allow the chamber to conduct remote committee hearings and also allow members who cannot be physically present to participate in proceedings. 
The following bills passed and will be sent to the Governor:

Budget:  Crafting next fiscal year’s budget proved extremely challenging given the uncertainty caused by the global pandemic. In presenting the budget, Leader Harris said that the budget is a series of tough choices. Budget makers contemplated a variety of budget scenarios and tools and ultimately decided to develop a budget predicated on what the sponsor characterized as “aggressive cash management authority and utilization of existing federal credit options” allowing the state to borrow to operate. The General Assembly hopes to return in a fall veto session to enact supplemental funding, but the prospect of a resurgence of the novel virus makes that plan uncertain. 

Capital Plan:    SB 264  (Harmon/Harris) enacts the FY 2021 budget, FY 2020 supplemental funding, and pay-as-you-go capital funding. The FY 21 budget appropriates $39.9 billion in General Revenue Funds and $57.8 billion in other state funds for Fiscal Year 2021.  Representative Harris said that FY 2021 funding generally remains flat at FY 20 levels. The budget assumes $36.154 billion in General Revenue Fund (GRF) and other state funds revenue as well as $4.5 billion in federal borrowing. The budget also includes $503.7 million in supplemental General Revenue Funds for FY 2021. SB2099 (Harmon/Zalewski) allows the Governor, with the approval of the Comptroller and Treasurer, to borrow up to $5 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank. The budget package also includes appropriation authorization for Rebuild Illinois capital projects in  HB64  (Hoffman/Harmon). Specifically, the bill funds $104 Billion in pay-as-you go and $20.8 billion in bonded capital projects. The bill leverages $10 billion in federal funds and distributes $3.6 billion to units of local government.

Budget Implementation (BIMP):   HB357  (Harris/Harmon) contains the statutory language necessary to implement programmatic changes to the budget. Bill sponsors stated that LGDF is fully funded. A new business interruption grant is created. The Comptroller’s interfund borrowing authority is expanded to June 30, 2021 and the Governor’s transfer authority is expanded from 2% to 8%. The bill includes rate increases for FQHCs, LIHEAP and SMHRF. The bill also creates a Legislative Budget Oversight Committee so the General Assembly can review the progress on the implementation of the budget.

COVID-19 Employment/Labor Package HB2455 (Hoffman/Holmes) represents an agreement between labor and business on changes to the worker’s compensation and unemployment insurance programs. With respect to worker’s compensation, this bill creates a temporary rebuttable presumption for first responder and front-line workers who contract COVID-19 on the job. Employers can easily rebut the claim by proving that they followed CDC guidelines during the pandemic. This enables Chicago police and firefighters who contract COVID-19 while on the job and die as a result access to death benefits. Changes were made to the Illinois Work Review Panel to require appointments within 30 days and hearing within 45 days.  The bill also ensures Illinois continues to qualify for federal funding by extending unemployment benefits, waiving a one-week unemployment insurance waiting period, and expanding eligibility for unemployment to non-instructional education employees.

SB471   (Lightford/Gordon-Booth) amends the Public Employee Disability Act to create a temporary 60-day extension of paid disability leave if an employee is injured in the line of duty. The bill also enacts labor relations provisions for “racinos.” Finally, the bill increases charges from battery to aggravated battery if the battery occurs when a retailer or retail employee is giving public health directions during a public health emergency. 

HR 848  (Madigan) commends essential workers for their efforts and sacrifice.

Sunset Extensions:  Two sunset extension bills passed this week.  
HB 2174 (Willis/Jones)  grants a one-year extension for various regulatory acts that were set to expire this year. Sunset extensions include the Transportation Network Provider Act, the telecommunications and video sunsets and the 911 sunset. The bill also delays the implementation of the hotel panic button legislation.   SB1857  ( Koehler/Burke) extends for one-year various sunsets and deadlines that were set to expire. Deadline extensions include the sale of the Thompson Center in Chicago, the deadline for the Alzheimer’s research lottery scratch off, the deadline for the Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act and the Cook County Fee Waiver Program.

Omnibus Education:    SB1569  (Rezin/Davis) makes K-12 and higher education related changes in response the pandemic. This bill addresses remote learning days, student teacher requirements, graduation requirements and other education related items. At the higher education level, the bill addresses AIM High and articulation with respect to pass/fail classes. In essence, the bill codifies many of the education emergency rules put into effect in response to the pandemic.
 
Omnibus Election Bill SB1863  (Morrison/Burke) is an omnibus election bill that expands vote by mail for the 2020 General Election due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sponsor indicated the legislation tries to balance public health while allowing for robust voter participation. SB 1863 creates the Conduct of the 2020 General Election Article in the Code. For the 2020 general election, it provides for changes to vote by mail, first time registrants and changes of address for registrants, the public dissemination of information for the 2020 general election, early voting and election day requirements, judges of election, electronic service of objections, additional duties of election authorities and the State Board of Elections. It establishes November 3, 2020 as a State holiday for schools and certain university employees so that they may be used as polling places. It provides that all government offices (with the exception of election authorities) shall be closed unless authorized to be used as a location for election day services or as a polling place. It provides the State Board of Elections with emergency rulemaking authority. Repeals the Article on January 1, 2021.

HB 2238  (Burke/Martinez) is a trailer bill to SB 1863 and makes various changes to how many election judges are needed to determine the validity of certain mail in ballots and adds a provision that lock boxes for drop off ballots must be secured with a lock.
 
Graduated Income Tax:  The General Assembly is required to draft ballot language and arguments for and against constitutional amendment propositions to be placed on the General Election ballot.   SJR1 (Harmon/Madigan) creates the official ballot arguments for and against the graduated income tax constitutional amendment.

Hospital Assessment:   SB 2541 (Steans/Harris) contains the language necessary to renew the hospital assessment program in Illinois to enable the state to capture $3.9 billion in federal funds. This represents an increase of $450 million over previous years. The assessment bill includes a Medicaid physician rate increase and prioritizes funding for the critical access and safety net hospitals. The hospital transformation piece was removed from the bill and will be worked on in the future.  

Governmental Omnibus : SB 2135  (Link/Burke) is an omnibus bill that makes several governmental changes. Codifies provisions of the Governor’s Executive Orders involving open meetings exemptions, Secretary of State deadline extensions, and notaries. Creates the Restore Illinois Collaborative Commission to monitor actions taken by the Governor with regard to the Restore Illinois plan and to keep members of the General Assembly informed of those actions and any need for further legislative action. Directs the Broadband Advisory Council to study the provision of free access to broadband services. Requires the Department of Insurance to appoint a task force on business interruption insurance policies to study the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses and the need for changes to business interruption insurance policies based on those impacts, including recommendations for legislation.

This legislation codifies the Secretary of State’s Illinois Executive Order 2020-14 regarding electronic notary during the COVID-19 pandemic. This provides statutory approval for notary and witness guidelines conducted in accordance with the executive order.

Healthcare Omnibus:    SB 1864  (Link/Harris) is an omnibus healthcare bill that contains the products of the healthcare and Medicaid working groups. SB 1864 creates the Health Care Affordability Act. It requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, in consultation with the Department of Insurance, to oversee a feasibility study to explore options to make health insurance more affordable for Illinois residents. It creates the Kidney Disease Prevention and Education Task Force Act. It also creates the Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic Act. It provides that in order to protect the public's health, to permit expedited treatment of health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to mitigate its impact upon the residents of the state of Illinois, all health insurance issuers regulated by the Department of Insurance shall cover the costs of all telehealth services rendered by in-network providers to deliver any clinically appropriate, medically necessary covered services and treatments. The bill provides that the medical assistance program shall provide coverage for routine care costs that are incurred in the course of an approved clinical trial if the medical assistance program would provide coverage for the same routine care costs not incurred in a clinical trial. It permits the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to take necessary actions to address the COVID-19 public health emergency to the extent such actions are required, approved, or authorized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It permits the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to cover the treatment of COVID-19 to persons who qualify for medical assistance under federal law and regulations and to noncitizens. It contains provisions concerning payment claims for ambulance providers that are unable to obtain a Physician Certification Statement; assessment forms for long-term care facilities; income verification for medical assistance recipients; remote monitoring and support services as a waiver-reimbursable service for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Makes other changes.

TIF Extensions: SB2052  (Stadelman/Welch) extends various Tax Increment Finance Districts (TIF) throughout the state.
  
School Debt Limitations:    SB1937  (Manar/Welch) Extends the debt limitations for various school districts. 

COVID-19 Liquor Response:   HB 2682 (Zalewski/Feigenholtz) allows bars and restaurants to provide cocktail sales to-go. The bill also provides some temporary filing fee relief. The provisions are repealed in one year. 

COVID-19 Local Government Response:    HB 2096 (Willis/Murphy) is an omnibus local government bill. The bill allows a township board to postpone its annual meeting during the period of a Gubernatorial disaster declaration and clarifies that rebates under CARES Act do not count as earned income for the purposes of township assistance. The bill creates the Cards for Kids Act which provides that nonresident fees for the privilege and use of a library shall not be charged to a nonresident in an unincorporated area in Illinois who is a student whose household falls at or below the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Income Eligibility Guidelines. 

Toll Bridge:    SB 531  (Harmon/Willis) Amends the Toll Bridge Act. It provides that a county board may alter and change the rates of toll by entering into an agreement establishing a toll rate schedule for a period not to exceed 99 years. The language was requested by the Will County State’s Attorney in regards to the toll bridge over the Des Plaines River.

Gaming:   SB516  (Cunningham/Rita)   makes various changes to the gaming bill passed last year.  SB 516 extends the time that casino operators have to pay the reconciliation fee from two to six years. The bill also reduces the tax rates for the Chicago casino and makes a technical fix for the Danville casino. Due to the pandemic, it moves the due date for fees for gaming and sports betting license and positions from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021. The bill makes technical fixes to ensure video gaming for both the Illinois State Fairgrounds and the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.

COIVD-19 Property Tax Relief:  SB 685 (Harmon/Zalewski)   makes several changes regarding property taxes. In counties other than Cook, it provides for the permissive waiver of interest and penalties on property taxes. It also delays tax sales and makes changes to scavenger sales. There is no property tax freeze or other property tax reduction in this proposal. 

Sexual Assault: SB557   (Bush/Cassidy) is an initiative of the Cook County State’s Attorney.  In light of the pandemic, the bill temporarily allows federally qualified health centers to perform rape kit examinations at a time when a visit to the emergency room may be difficult, due to the pandemic.

Senate Rule Change:  The Senate adopted a rule change in the early hours of Sunday morning that creates two new standing committees on Government Accountability and Ethics and Pensions. The rule change also allows the Senate President and Minority Leader to establish a process to allow for remote committee hearings, including pubic participation. Finally, the rule change allows members to participate and vote remotely in committee hearings during a pandemic.
Effort to Expand Forbearance, Create Rent and Mortgage Forgiveness Fails to Pass
A group of progressive legislators attempted to move a proposal that would greatly expand mortgage forbearance, create rent and mortgage forgiveness, extend the moratorium on evections, potentially for decades, and seal court records on evictions. The measure was originally introduced as  HB 5574, House Amendment #1  but the sponsors attempted to move the legislation more quickly by slipping the language into a Senate bill under consideration in the House. Following late night discussions between CBAI and the bills House and Senate sponsors the provisions regarding forbearance, rent and mortgage forgiveness were removed and the remaining language was filed as  SB 3066, House Amendment #2 . The remaining language faced intense opposition from realtors and landlord groups and ultimately failed to gain needed support for passage.
Notes from Springfield:
The General Assembly did not take substantial action to contravene the Governor’s Emergency Stay at Home Orders or 5 phase re-opening plan. They did create legislative task forces by industry to advice the executive branch on re-opening.

Some House Republican legislators formed the Illinois Taxpayer Freedom Caucus. The group of 20 legislators will focus on structural and ethical reforms. More information is here .

The General Assembly adjourned until Tuesday, November 17 th  or to the call of the presiding officer. View the Senate Veto Session Calendar  here . View the House Veto Session calendar  here .
On the Federal Side

The Small Business Administration issued two interim final rules on Paycheck Protection Program requirements.
 
One  interim final rule  focuses on loan review procedures and related borrower and lender responsibilities, such as: 
  • SBA reviews of individual PPP loans. 
  • Borrower representations and statements that SBA will review. 
  • What lenders should review. 
  • The timeline for lender decisions on loan forgiveness applications. 
  • What lenders should do if notified that SBA is reviewing a PPP loan. 
  • Lender fees subject to clawback if SBA determines a borrower is ineligible. 
 
The other  interim final rule  provides details on loan forgiveness, including: 
  • The general process to obtain loan forgiveness. 
  • Payroll and nonpayroll costs eligible for loan forgiveness.  
  • Reductions to the Loan Forgiveness Amount based on reduced employees or compensation.  
  • Documentation requirements, including SBA Form 3508. 
Community Bank Paycheck Protection Program Stories
The COVID-19 crisis has placed an enormous strain on individuals, small businesses and communities. Community bankers have stepped-up and responded with patience, diligence, resourcefulness and compassion. The flawed roll-out of the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) challenged community bankers as they worked many long nights and weekends to secure the lifeline that small businesses needed to survive and recover. We asked our members which loan stood out in their mind as the most meaningful. Here are their stories which clearly demonstrate the vital importance of these loans to small businesses. 
Paycheck Protection Program Report (5/23/20)
The Small Business Administration (SBA) released its Paycheck Protection Program (Program) Report (combined for Phase One and Two) through 5/23/20. The highlights included:
  • The approved loan count was 4,426,118 and the gross dollars were $511,231,948,095.
  • 5,511 lenders are participating in the Program.
  • Illinois ranked fifth in approved loans and dollars at 176,819 and $22,075,994,303, respectively.
  • Illinois’ average loan amount was $121,898 compared with the national average of $115,503.
  • The largest percentage of the number of loans (64.3%) was under $50,000 and the largest percentage of the dollar amount of loans (21.9%) was between $350K and $1 million.
Those states ahead of Illinois with the largest total number of loans were California, Texas, Florida and New York.
 
The SBA included data on lender size, and those under $10 billion in assets originated 49% of the approved loans and 44% of the loan dollars.
 
In the category lenders with under $1 billion in assets and non-banks, banks accounted for 82% of the loans and 80% of the loan dollars.
 
Community banks may continue to submit loans to be funded by the remainder of the $250 billion in general funds authorized for the second phase of the PPProgram.
 
For more information, or if you have any questions or comments, please contact Jerry Peck or Megan Peck at 800/736-2224.