Next session dates: March 11-14, 2008
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This week...
General Assembly Grinds Along
With a self-imposed deadline to pass bills out of committee quickly approaching on March 14, members of the House and Senate spent a majority of time this week in committee hearings. With more than 3,000 bills introduced in the past two months alone, legislators have a wide variety of issues to deal with this year. Legislators will return to Springfield next week before adjourning for a two week Easter recess and return to the Capitol in April.
Cook County Hikes Sales Tax, Passes Budget
With minutes left on the clock, the Cook County Board passed a $3.2 billion budget in the waning hours on February 29 to circumvent a government shutdown. By law, Cook County needed to pass a budget by March 1 or shut down non-essential operations.
The new budget, funded by a 1 percent hike in the sales tax, helped Cook County Board President Todd Stroger close a nearly $234 million budget hole and will allow for the hiring of more than 1,000 new employees. The new budget was approved on a vote of 10-7. Democrat Commissioner Larry Suffredin providing the deciding vote on the sales tax increase when he switched his vote from "no" to "yes" on the tax hike vote that passed on a vote of 9-8. Commissioners are reportedly still considering doubling the monthly parking tax from $20 to $40 to generate additional revenue.
Cook County will now have the dubious distinction of having the highest sales tax of any major city in the United States when the new 10.25 percent rate takes effect on July 1.
While the sales tax increase was smaller than originally requested by Stroger, it again shows that Cook County leaders are more interested in hiking taxes and continuing political patronage than enacting long-term fiscal reforms that will help residents and businesses alike. Employers and the general public should be outraged that elected officials at both the state and local levels continue to propose and pass tax hikes that eliminate jobs and investment in Illinois.
House Schedules Regional Budget Hearings
In an effort to solicit testimony and garner input from impacted citizens, businesses, and other impacted parties, House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-Chicago) has unveiled a list of regional budget hearings including time, date, and location. The IMA always participates in the budget process and will continue to offer our opinion on both the spending and revenue sides of the budget. Hearings are open to the public and testimony is encouraged.
March 10 Decatur, Marion
March 17 Northwest Cook County, Tazewell County
March 18 Champaign, Aurora
March 19 McHenry County, Cicero
March 20 Joliet
March 24 Rock Island, Northern Cook County, Kankakee,
March 25 Southern Cook County, Chicago-South, Rockford
March 26 Chicago-West, Metro East
March 27 Chicago-North, Chicago-Southwest
House Labor Committee to Debate Mandated Sick Leave Bill
Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Chicago) will seek a favorable vote in the House Labor Committee next week in an effort to create a new Healthy Workplace Act that mandates every employer in the state must provide an employee with up to 7 sick days with pay. Under the proposed law (HB 5320), every employer, regardless of size, would have to provide all employees (full and part time) with one hour of sick time for every thirty hours worked up to a maximum of seven days in a 12-month period of time. Employees could use the sick time in hour increments for themselves or the care of their family members and are not required to provide advance notice to employers.
Employers who violate the law and its strict record keeping requirements may be fined by the Department of Labor or be subject to a lawsuit based on this new cause of action.
The IMA strongly opposes this new mandate on employers who already must comply with the Family & Medical Leave Act. It is costly and onerous, particularly for small businesses, and will further impede their growth.
New State Board of Education?
Members of the House Elementary & Secondary Education Committee voted this week to overhaul the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) by terminating all current board members and replacing them with new members. Under the terms of HB 4232 (Lang, D- Skokie), a nomination panel consisting of the Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State would recommend 27 nominees for appointment and the Governor would then select the nine new members of the State Board of Education who would have to be confirmed by the Senate. The new Board would also submit an annual budget directly to the legislature annually free from interference from the Governor's budget office.
This proposal comes only four years after the General Assembly kowtowed to the Governor's desire to reform the State Board of Education and gave him the power to replace 7 of the 9 members. At the time, the Governor referred to ISBE as an "old, Soviet-style bureaucracy" and sought to bring change to the education system.
Instead of positive change, many critics argue that the Governor stacked the State Board with political cronies and replaced veteran State Board employees with political hires. HB 4232 is seen as an attempt to provide more independence for ISBE and move it out of the political arena. The measure will have to pass the full House and Senate and get signed into law by the Governor.
Save the date
Join us in Springfield on May 7, 2008 for Business Day as hundreds of Illinois Manufacturers descend on the state capitol to deliver our pro-growth message to legislators. It's a date that can have significant impact on lawmakers' deliberations. Watch for announcements in the coming days. Call Kim McNamara today for sponsorship information...800-875-4462, ext. 2109.
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