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April 22, 2016
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Today
marked the deadline for moving bills out of their chamber of origin. Of
course, legislation that received a deadline extension remains viable despite
not yet having been passed out of the original chamber. The House and Senate
have adjourned until May 3. Upon returning, the House will begin to consider
Senate bills, and the Senate will begin to consider House bills.
The
budget impasse, now in its tenth month, will soon affect state legislators.
Comptroller Leslie Munger announced that, beginning with their next paycheck,
legislators would find themselves in the same payment line as any other
person or entity owed money by the state. Delayed payments could result in
lawmakers going without pay for two months.
Behind-the-scenes
efforts to resolve the budget impasse are reportedly making at least a
modicum of progress. While progress in discussions does not guarantee
resolution, it’s at least encouraging that discussions are occurring without
impediments.
Bi-Partisan
Plan Approved to Fund Higher Education
Two
competing proposals emerged this week for delivering much-needed cash to each
of Illinois’ public universities as a short-term funding solution. A proposal
put forward by Representative Mike Fortner (R-West Chicago) and Senator Pat
McGuire (D-Joliet) included $558 million for university operations and MAP
grant funding by leveraging revenues available in the Education Assistance
Fund. Additionally, the plan proposed cost savings by relieving universities
of the requirements established within the Procurement Code. The proposal
intended to provide a few months’ worth of higher education funding to serve
as a bridge until tuition payments begin in August.
Another
plan introduced by Representative Rita Mayfield (D-Waukegan) proposed to
provide funding to only a handful of universities with each institution
receiving more money than what was proposed in the Fortner-McGuire plan.
Under the Mayfield plan, $166 million would have been shared among five
universities. No money would have been provided to the other universities, or
to fund MAP grants.
SB
2059 was amended to strike a compromise between the plans and provide
much-needed short-term funding to Illinois’ public universities and community
colleges. Under this plan, universities would share $356 million and
community colleges would share $74 million. Chicago State University would
receive the largest amount at $20 million. Approximately $170 million would
be spent on MAP grant funding.
The
bill appeared on its way to House passage on Thursday evening before being
abruptly pulled from the record with an announcement that a vote would be
deferred until Friday. It later emerged that the hold-up was an effort to
pressure Republicans into adding hundreds of millions in social service
funding. The Senate had already cancelled its Friday session day, but
reversed this decision in order to vote on the temporary funding plan.
SB
2059 was ultimately approved in the House by a vote of 106-2
and in the Senate by a vote of 55-0
on Friday. Social service funding was not included in the bill.
Social
Service Funding Solution Sought
As
with higher education funding, a bipartisan effort is underway to reach an
agreement for a short-term social services funding solution. The plan centers
on using $400 million in available human service funds to provide payments to
social service providers. Another option being floated would involve the
forgiveness of a $454 million inter-fund loan that was part of the FY2015
budget patch approved last spring.
On
Friday, the Senate did approve a bill (SB
2047) that included short-term higher education and social service
funding by a vote of 55-0.
Because it is a Senate bill, the House was unable to vote on the legislation
that same day. Consequently, there remains no short-term funding solution for
social services.
House
Approves Property Tax Freeze Bill Affecting Non-Home Rule Taxing Bodies
HB 696
(Rep. Franks, D-Harvard) would, beginning with the 2015 levy year, apply the
Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) to all non-home rule taxing
districts. Beginning with the 2015 levy year, the extension limitation under
the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law is 0% or the rate of increase
approved by the voters. The bill was amended on the House Floor and approved
by a vote of 71-31-5.
HB 696 will next be considered by the Senate. Senate President Cullerton
(D-Chicago) is the Senate sponsor.
IML staff immediately
began conversing with legislators and the Governor’s Office following House
passage to discern intent and to further convey our opposition. We remain
reasonably assured that the Senate is unlikely to advance the bill in its
current form, but we will keep our members apprised of any developments.
It should be noted that HB 696 differs substantially
from a property tax freeze bill approved by the Senate last year. The Senate
version, SB 318 (Sen. J. Cullerton, D-Chicago/Rep. Currie, D-Chicago) would
impose a temporary two-year property tax freeze on both home rule and
non-home rule taxing bodies, includes exemptions for public safety costs and
bond payments and adds education funding for Chicago, as well as a provision
to reform how schools are funded statewide. That bill has remained in the
House Executive Committee for several months.
The
difference between the bills suggests the House and Senate may have
conflicting ideas about property tax freeze policy. The IML opposes any
legislation that would impose a permanent property tax freeze and that does
not include exemptions for public safety costs and bond payments. Following
House passage, the Governor’s Office expressed opposition to HB 696 because
the property tax freeze would not apply to all taxing bodies, and the bill
does not include the cost-saving reforms sought by the Governor for local
governments.
IDOR
Tax Allocation Error
Earlier
this week we notified our membership that the Illinois Department of Revenue
(IDOR) announced that a misallocation to the Corporate Personal Property
Replacement Tax (CPPRT) Fund caused an error that has resulted in overpayment
of an estimated $168 million to the taxing districts that receive CPPRT
disbursements. Read
more about the overpayment issue here.
Legislation
Advanced During the Third Reading Deadline Week
A
list of IML-tracked bills that advanced out of the House or Senate during the
past week can be viewed here.
We encourage our members to review the bill summaries for a general awareness
of the bills that remain viable and of interest to municipalities.
IML Tracked Bills
A list of bills that
affect or are of interest to municipalities is available on our legislative
website.
These bills are searchable by number or by issue category.
Another great way to
track bills of interest is by downloading our legislative app. If you do not
yet have the app, it is available for iTunes and Android users.
If you have questions
or information about any of our tracked bills, please contact the IML staff
member through the e-mail link available within the digital bill page and
app, or e-mail us at IMLLegislation@iml.org.
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