Illinois Municipal League Statehouse Briefing
Posted July 10, 2017 in Legislative briefs
July 10, 2017
Last week, both the Illinois House and Senate voted to override the Governor’s veto of the state fiscal year 2018 budget package previously approved by the General Assembly, and the budget will now be enacted into law.
The Illinois Municipal League (IML) has been engaged in advocating for local government revenues throughout the spring session and into the special session that began on June 21, 2017, and extended into early July. This engagement included maintaining an active presence at the Capitol on a daily basis in order to talk with the Governor’s staff, legislators and legislative staffers about municipal funding priorities. We appreciate the municipal officials who joined us in communicating with legislators about the importance of protecting local government revenues in the state fiscal year 2018 budget.
Summary of How the State Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Impacts Municipalities
IML has prepared a summary of the key provisions of the new state budget. The budget consists of three bills: Senate Bill 6 is an appropriation bill; Senate Bill 9 is a revenue bill; Senate Bill 42 is the Budget Implementation (BIMP) bill. Our most updated summary of the key provisions of interest to municipalities is available via this link. The document includes links to the individual budget bills.
On Monday, July 3, 2017, Executive Director Brad Cole provided the membership with an update on the content and status of the budget package based upon information that was known at the time. That message is available via this link.
State Shared Revenues Forecast
IML is in the process of updating its State Shared Revenues Forecast, which will highlight the impact of the new state budget on municipalities and will provide a comprehensive review of all shared revenues. The report will be published in the next issue of IML’s Review magazine and will also be distributed in an advance email sent to local officials this week.
Administration Staffing Changes
Within the hour of publishing this Statehouse Briefing, it was reported that Governor Bruce Rauner has fired his Chief of Staff Richard Goldberg and replaced him with Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) President Kristina Rasmussen.
Rasmussen, 34, of Springfield, has been with IPI since 2009. She was elevated to President and COO in 2015. Goldberg, 33, of Skokie, joined Rauner’s staff in January 2015. He became Chief of Staff in January 2016.
More details will likely unfold over the coming days and be shared through various media outlets.
Small Cell Wireless Facilities Update
IML participated in a meeting recently between telecommunications industry representatives and a number of other municipal lobbyists to discuss the Small Cell Wireless Facilities bill, SB 1451 (linked here).
Concerns were raised about the pole attachment rate, municipal control of the right-of-way, the permitted use provisions and future public safety needs. IML has been advocating for better terms on each of those issues throughout the negotiations, and this meeting highlighted many of those same issues from the perspective of the specific communities and regional councils of government who attended. No adjustments to the bill by way of further amendments were presented at the meeting, but it was agreed that additional meetings and continued discussion would occur.
Senator Terry Link (D-Gurnee) was present for a portion of the meeting, as was Representative Fred Crespo (D-Hoffman Estates). Senator Link was open to supporting additional amendments if all parties agreed to the language. The bill remains on postponed consideration in the House of Representatives.
As always, IML staff will continue to monitor any prospective legislative developments and aggressively advocate on behalf of our membership. Should you have any questions, please contact our legislative team at IMLLegislation@iml.org. Thank you.
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ILLINOIS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE
500 East Capitol Avenue | PO Box 5180 | Springfield, Illinois 62705
phone: 217-525-1220 | fax: 217.525.7438
email: IMLLegislation@iml.org | www.iml.org
The IGFOA thanks the IML for its ongoing commitment to providing the IGFOA with timely and relevant information on legislative issues important to the IGFOA membership.