November 10, 2017
Veto Session Highlights
Bill Ward, Executive Vice President
Worker Protection Unit in A.G.’s Office (SB193)
The House Labor Committee passed, on a partisan vote, legislation intended to take away administrative and investigative duties from the Illinois Dept. of Labor and reassign those duties to the Illinois Attorney General. House Amendment #1 sponsored by Committee Chair, Jay Hoffman (D-Collinsville) creates the “Worker Protection Unit” within the A.G.’s office to investigate possible criminal and civil penalties deriving from the Employee Classification Act, the Minimum Wage Law, the Wage Payment Act, and more.
HBAI took opposition to the bill in alliance with the Rauner administration, the Dept. of Labor, and several other business associations. The bill is supported by labor unions and the Attorney General’s office.
Senate sponsor of the bill is Senator Kwame Raul (D-Chicago) who has announced he is running for Attorney General in 2018.
Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard) spoke against the amendment as a member of the House Labor Committee. He stated that the intent of SB193 is nothing more than a political power grab for Democrats wanting to take power from the Governor and give it to the Attorney General.
The bill is currently on 2nd Reading in the House and would need to pass both Houses on the last day of Veto Session. Governor Rauner will veto the bill, should House and Senate act quickly enough. Of course, this issue could emerge again in the 2018 Spring Session.
Property Tax Freeze Passes House
The Illinois House has approved legislation to freeze property taxes, but the bill comes with little promise that anyone’s taxes will actually freeze. SB851, sponsored by Rep. Michelle Mussman (D-Schaumburg), freezes the extension on a taxing district, but not the taxes on individual parcels of property. In other words, the budgets are frozen but individual property taxes may move up or down within a tax district.
The bill will freeze taxes for Cook and five collar counties for two years beginning in 2018. The other 96 counties will need to pass a front-door referendum in the 2018 election in order to freeze taxes there.
SB851 is considered weak by legislators wanting individual property tax freezes for their constituents back in their legislative districts. Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) stated it boldly, “It is a political pandering piece of garbage.”
Governor Rauner proposed a permanent freeze early this year and later stated he would consider a 4 year freeze as a compromise. A two year freeze was proposed by Senate Democrats and Republicans earlier in the year, and there have been a total of 17 votes on the matter.
To make the bill more attractive, proponents placed increases in the homestead exemption to $10,000 and $8000 for the Senior Citizen Exemption. The bill passed the House on a 75-32 vote; HBAI was Neutral on its passage. SB851 will need final consideration in the Senate before it can be sent to the Governor.
More to Come
I will make a final report on Veto Session next week and will also give you an update on HBAI’s roll in the federal tax reform package – stay tuned!
