|
With our last scheduled session days for the year behind us, and a new legislative calendar setting our course for next spring, I’m grateful to my colleagues for another opportunity to work together and pursue policies on behalf of our constituents and our state. Here’s a brief rundown of some of the issues we covered over these last weeks and where everything landed.
Invest in kids
Possibly the most hotly debated issue of this session, the taxpayer-funded private school scholarship program first introduced under former Governor Rauner as a demand in order to reverse his veto of the Evidence-Based Funding Model that centers equity in education funding statewide will sunset at the end of 2024. It’s important to note that the tax credit remains in place through this calendar year and the scholarships continue to exist at least through this school year, allowing schools and scholarship-granting organizations to plan ahead for the end of the program. Lifting the sunset on the program would have required a super-majority vote in order to take effect immediately, and recent reports showing that the program’s claims of providing opportunity for low-income children of color were not supported by the data, which cut into what support existed for the program. As required under the law creating the program, the Department of Revenue released a report showing that a significant number of schools have no or very few children of color enrolled. As we learned in other states operating similar programs with more robust and transparent data policies, these programs actually don’t create new opportunities and the majority of children were already receiving scholarships at the same private schools when the program began. These programs are little more than an elaborate tax dodge for wealthy donors for whom the regular tax deduction for charitable gifts wasn’t sufficient.
Penalty Enhancement
In last week’s newsletter, I took a deep dive into one policy tucked into an otherwise innocuous omnibus bill addressing various programmatic sunset date extensions, a law passed in 2017 allowing penalty enhancements for 2nd offense gun possession cases. When it was originally passed, it was paired with a program creating a diversion program for first-time gun offenders. It included a sunset date with a promise from the sponsors to follow the data in determining whether either program would be continued. After a one-year extension last year due to Covid’s impact on data collection, the Sentencing Policy Advisory Council issued reports this year on both programs. The diversion program’s success was clear and at the request of the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, the General Assembly made the diversion program permanent earlier this year. Since none of the advocates for the penalty enhancement had made a similar request to extend the penalty enhancement, it was a little surprising to see an attempt to slip it through. Negotiations between the chambers ultimately resulted in the penalty language being stripped from the omnibus bill and passed over to our chamber as a stand-alone bill. That bill was one that Progressive Caucus Chair Will Guzzardi had passed to the Senate earlier in the year that would ban certain pesticides known to harm bees. Chair Guzzardi quickly made clear he had no intention of allowing the penalty enhancement bill to proceed, effectively killing the policy for the year.
Procurement/Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
One of the most frequent constituent service issues we face as an office involves folks attempting to navigate the frustrating landscape of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and their licensing process that can often take months for folks who need their professional license applications or renewals processed. This week, we took an important step forward in finding a long-term solution to this maddening problem. Earlier this year, we provided funding to IDFPR to upgrade their computer systems for the first time in decades, but procurement challenges have impeded the department’s ability to move forward. HB2394 grants the department emergency authority to contract with a vendor to begin upgrading their systems.
Energy Bills
There were two significant bills related to the energy space that we acted on this week. One would lift the state’s moratorium on nuclear plant construction, potentially opening up the opportunity to construct what are referred to as modular nuclear reactors. A bill that passed in regular session was more broadly written and was vetoed by the Governor. Negotiations between stakeholders including environmental groups, organized labor, and energy advocates over the summer resulted in HB2473, with most of the opposition neutralized. I appreciate the work that went into this much-improved version of the bill, but I remain concerned about this untested and potentially disastrous approach and was one of 8 members who voted no. Another bill that drew a veto action was another labor/environmental/energy issue that would have granted Ameren what’s referred to as the Right of First Refusal on any gas line construction. This one was also presented as a new bill with the language the governor objected to removed and passed easily.
Nursing Home Property Tax Shift
Another item that caught many by surprise was a late amendment to HB2507 that was primarily focused on extending property tax relief to disabled veterans and their families that would change the way for-profit nursing homes in Cook County are categorized, taking them out of the commercial category and reducing their property tax burden by taxing them at the residential property rate, effectively shifting that tax difference onto residential homeowners. This week, Rep. Stephanie Kifowit passed a new version of her property tax package without the nursing home language included. She pledged to continue discussions with the nursing home industry in an effort to identify workable solutions to their concerns.
Elected School Board Maps
We’ve again adjourned without landing on a process for implementing Chicago’s elected school board law, with the first elections for the positions slated to be on the November 2024 ballot. Both the House and Senate have landed on a map that largely addresses concerns raised by stakeholders while conforming to the Voting Rights Act requirements. Where the chambers diverge is on how to rectify the current law’s phased-in approach where 10 of the members would be elected and 10 appointed. The Senate has proposed a complete shift from the hybrid model in our current law, electing half the board to a 2-year term and the other half to a full 4-year term, mimicking the Senate’s structure of staggered terms where ⅓ of the body is on the ballot each cycle, with the full body standing for election every 10 years with a new map. The House has proposed maintaining the hybrid rollout. The House version addresses the question of which seats are elected versus appointed by nesting the 20 districts into 10 for the first cycle and mandating that the appointed position be filled by someone living in the opposite half of the district from the elected member which then those appointed members would stand for election in 2026 after which the entire board would be elected.
Karina’s Bill
Inspired by the tragic murder of a woman by her abusive partner, Karina’s Bill (HB676) seeks to clarify our existing red flag law and ensure that law enforcement has the tools they need to get weapons out of the hands of people who have been found to be a danger to themselves or others. In spite of significant advocacy by a coalition of groups representing survivors of gender-based violence, the bill was not brought to a vote in the Senate. This will be a top priority when we return to session in January.
New Calendar
The end of the Veto Session is also when our new legislative schedule is released. The House and Senate calendars are here. Note that the deadline for drafting requests is January 19th, so if you’ve got a pressing “there oughta be a law” idea, let’s talk!
As we approach the next session, we’ve still got some unfinished business from this year that will remain on the to-do list in the second half of the 103rd General Assembly in addition to some new items we’ll start sharing more about as we get closer to January.
Natural Organic Reduction, aka terramation or human composting, remains a priority. Sen. Mike Simmons and I had hoped to move the bill out of the Senate this fall, but the chamber didn’t take up any items that didn’t require action before the end of the calendar year. We’ll regroup during the break, firm up our support and hopefully get this one across the finish line early next year.
Right To Counsel for Youth in Care - This bill is a new addition to my agenda. When my colleague Lakesia Collins moved to the Senate earlier this year, she asked me to take over sponsorship of SB1478. The goal is to ensure that youth in our child welfare system have options to protect their rights and advocate for their needs. Negotiations continue with stakeholders, so watch for updates soon.
Tax credit for New Residents Seeking Access to Care - earlier this year, I introduced HB3368 which would provide a one-time state income tax credit to people moving into Illinois from states restricting access to reproductive and gender-affirming care. We’re working on an updated version of this proposal that will incentivize licensed healthcare providers and teachers to relocate to Illinois as well as provide support to patients and families.
Below is a message to my fellow legislators and advocates as my chalk wall in Springfield has become my task and announcement wall!
Have a great weekend!
| 
