The Senate Energy and Senate Environment Committees both unanimously approved two of the Illinois Chamber’s bills aimed at making the state’s permitting process more efficient and attractive to business investment.

SB 3343 (Clayborne), which was approved by the Senate Energy Committee Wednesday by a vote of 13-0-0, will allow the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to use an expedited process for approving permits and licenses necessary for the construction of energy infrastructure. The bill was amended in committee to continue ongoing discussions with the ICC and the Illinois Farm Bureau.

If SB 3343 becomes law this year, it will have the immediate impact of speeding up the approval process for the construction of a pipeline from Lockport to Patoka, Illinois, bringing at least 1,000 new jobs to the state; a process that is already several years in the making.

The Senate Environmental Committee also unanimously approved SB 3344(Clayborne) on Wednesday to address permitting issues at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). The Chamber’s legislation includes the creation of a new expedited permitting unit within the IEPA, as well a new general permit that is aimed at reducing the workload of the agency and the regulated community. The bill would also allow some projects to be permitted by rule, while going after the massive backlog in water discharge, or NPDES, permits.

The Illinois Chamber’s push to promote job growth and investment through regulatory modernization has received support from members of both caucuses in both chambers and has so far had a warm reception from the governor’s office. The Chamber is optimistic that this issue will be a part of a concerted effort to revive the state’s economic development activities and create new jobs.

Repeal of Singles Sales Factor Stalls in Senate Committee

Due to major opposition from the Illinois Chamber and the business community, a measure that seeks to replace the current single sales factor method of apportioning business income and increase taxes on the business community was stopped from even receiving a vote in the Senate Revenue Committee.

SB 3257 (Sandoval) proposes altering the single sales factor apportionment method where tax liability is based on 100% of sales in the state with a three-factor method based on sales, payroll and property to determine a tax liability. The proposal faced opposition from both Democrat and Republican committee members and ultimately flies in the face of current efforts to promote job growth and investment in Illinois.

The Senate committee deadline was this week, but this issue could still re-emerge in another form during the legislative session.

Summary of Senate/House Committee Action

The Senate’s committee deadline was this week, but some bills have been cleared for deadline extensions and could be heard in Senate committees in the week to come. The House’s deadline is next Friday, which could make for a busy week next week.

Here is a rundown of some of the major committee action that took place on bills of interest to the Chamber.

Use of Credit Scores in Hiring: The House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved legislation this week that would prevent employers from inquiring or using an employee’s or applicant’s credit score in hiring and other employment decisions. HB 4658 (Franks), as introduced, prevented employers from even looking at an employee’s or applicant’s credit score, but the bill was amended in committee to scale that back to pertain only to a credit score. The bill, as amended, also exempts banks and other financial institutions and state law enforcement agencies from the prohibition. The Illinois Chamber opposes HB 4658.

BPA Ban: The House Youth & Family Committee approved HB 6088 (Nekritz) along a bipartisan vote to prohibit the sale or distribution of certain food products and containers for food and beverage that contain bisphenol-A. A similar Senate bill- SB 3750 (Kotowski)- stalled in the Senate Consumer Protection Committee, but has since been re-assigned to the Senate Environment Committee.

Abusive Work Environment: The Senate approved SB 3566 (Delgado) to create a new cause of action for employers that have been found to have an abusive work environment. The bill applies to public employers, but the Chamber opposes the legislation due to the precedent it sets. For the Chamber’s position paper on this issue, please click here.

Prohibit Use of Managed Care in Medicaid: As legislators and the governor push for ways to reform Medicaid and reel in costs, the House Medicaid Reform Committee approved HB 5113 (Flowers) that would prohibit the use of third-party managed care organization in any public assistance program- namely Medicaid. The Chamber opposed this bill, not only due to its impact on current programs and practices, but also for its impact on the ability of the state to implement options in the future that could reduce costs in one of the state’s largest budget busters.

Lift of the Ban on Nuclear Construction: The Senate Energy Committee unanimously approved SB 3388 (Jacobs) to lift the ban on constructing new nuclear facilities in the state. The House has taken up similar legislation in recent years and has been strongly supported by the Illinois Chamber, but the measure also faces sharp opposition from environmental groups.

Elimination of Double Taxation on Cooperatives: The Senate Revenue committee unanimously approved an amended version of SB 1826 (Sullivan) that was pushed by the Illinois Chamber to eliminate an erroneous tax decision that disadvantages cooperatives.

Prevailing Wage for Excavators: The House Labor Committee approved yet another expansion of prevailing wage along bipartisan lines. HB 6112 (Forby) requires prevailing wage for those engaged in the transportation of aggregate or excavated materials or the operation of equipment to haul aggregate or excavated materials to or from the site of building or construction jobs.

Healthcare Coverage Mandates: While the Senate Insurance Committee managed to prevent a number of new healthcare coverage mandates from moving forward (most of those that did move were shelled in committee), the House Health Care Availability & Access Committee approved several new mandates to which the Chamber is opposed, including coverage for cochlear implants (HB 4924), coverage for tobacco use cessation programs (HB 5766), and coverage for maternity needs (HB 6061).

Employer Protections from Provider Overcharges: The Senate Insurance Committee did approve two bills, SB 3378 (Haine) and SB 3188 (Jacobs), that are intended to protect employers from seeing excessive charges when non-participating providers are substituted during routine medical procedures. The bills, which are both supported by the Illinois Chamber, were both shelled before the passed out of committee in order to continue ongoing negotiations between the employer, insurer and provider communities.

NEXT WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Governor to Deliver State Budget Address Wednesday

Governor Quinn is scheduled to officially deliver his plans for the state’s budget on Wednesday, March 10, after launching a new website last week that previewed some of the governor’s thoughts on dealing with the state’s current fiscal problems. The website also allowed the public to post comments and ideas on how the state should tackle its budgetary challenges; a move that has garnered thousands of submissions to date.

Quinn has already outlined approximately $2 billion in budget cuts to education, social services, and public safety and is expected to once again push for a 50% increase in the personal and corporate income tax, despite urging from House and Senate leaders to abandon a push for new taxes.

The Illinois Chamber will provide a full analysis of the governor’s proposed budget following the speech on Wednesday.

Illinois Chamber’s Energy Council to Host Energy Forum

The Illinois Chamber’s Energy Council will be hosting a roundtable discussion with energy, environment, labor and government leaders about what is real and what is fantasy when it comes to keeping and creating jobs in Illinois’ energy sector- and what can be done in Springfield to bring more energy jobs to our state. The forum, co-hosted by Representatives Lou Lang and Bill Mitchell and Senators Dan Kotowski and Kyle McCarter will take place Tuesday, March 23 at the State Capitol in Rm. 114.

The forum will include representatives of all kinds of energy and will be moderated by Terry Martin of the Illinois Channel.

For more information and to RSVP, please e-mail Tom Wolf at twolf@ilchamber.org.

Chamber Videos

Throughout the legislative session, the Illinois Chamber's Vice President of Government Affairs, Todd Maisch, will be interviewing legislators on pertinent issues facing the General Assembly. Also included are special presentations from legislative events.

News Channel 20's Coverage of the Energy Council's IL Energy Smart initiative

Congressman Aaron Schock stops by the Chamber office to discuss the Cap and Trade bill, Healthcare and his small business initiative while on break from session

House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie discusses this week's special session, caucus meetings with the Governor and what's to come with the budget next week.

Senate Majority Leader James Clayborne gives us the latest on Energy to Jobs and the major issues facing the legislature the last few weeks of session.

Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno talks to the Chamber about the budget, capital and leadership from the Senate Republicans' viewpoint.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross gives the House Republicans' viewpoint on the Governor's proposed tax increase and the capital plan as well as the business summit, state management and working with the new Governor.

EXCLUSIVE! Senate President John Cullerton gives us the scoop on everything from the budget, the capital plan and even former Governor Blagojevich's impeachment trial.