NFIB/Illinois Capitol Roundup
| Welcome to the NFIB/Illinois’ Capitol Roundup. Capitol Roundup is an e-mail newsletter on news being made at the Illinois Statehouse and on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C, as it happens. This e-mail is provided to our activist members who have shown an interest in promoting the voice of small business to state and federal policymakers. Capitol Roundup will appear regularly during legislative sessions. |
NOTE: You may look up any bill
listed here at www.ilga.gov
The House and Senate will reconvene
next Wednesday to take up a temporary budget.
STOP GAP BUDGET MEASURE EXPECTED NEXT WEEK
With Illinois’ 2017 fiscal year
set to begin on July 1, lawmakers are finally reconvening next week to
ostensibly take up a stop gap budget measure to get them through the election.
The General Assembly adjourned on
May 31, leaving Springfield without passing a budget. The House Democrat budget, which the Senate
rejected, was $7.5 billion out of balance. Governor Bruce Rauner and the
Republican leaders attempted to get a stop gap measure passed before
adjournment, but Democrat leaders said there wasn’t enough time.
Since adjournment, both sides
have been working with the Governor’s office to come to an agreement on a
temporary budget that will get them past the November election. An outline of the budget expected to be voted
on includes money for education, social services, operational needs of state government,
MAP grants for colleges and continued funding for current road projects.
However, Governor Rauner warned
this week that while supportive of the stop gap approach he would veto the
measure if Chicago lawmakers added any funds to “bail out” the Chicago public
schools.
Illinois has been operating for
almost an entire year without a budget.
Pressure has been mounting for months as the state has racked up over $8
billion in unpaid bills. While a
temporary 2017 budget will get revenue to those who are currently providing
services for the state as well as state agencies, colleges and infrastructure
it will not solve the state’s ongoing fiscal problems and massive pension
debt. The larger debate about the
Governor’s economic agenda and potential tax hikes would be left to a later
date.
PAID SICK LEAVE PASSES CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL
If you have a business in the
City of Chicago, you will now have to provide your employees five paid sick
days annually.
The new mandate, which goes into
effect July 2017, will impact all employers and includes both full-time and
part-time workers.
Chicago-area state lawmakers have been pushing a statewide paid sick leave
mandate in Springfield as well.
HB 3297 and SB 2147 both require
all employers in Illinois, regardless of size, to provide up to 7 paid sick
days to both full-time and part-time employees.
Both bills are currently stalled in their respective chambers due to
strong opposition from the business community.
NFIB/Illinois members are
adamantly opposed to such mandates as they have proven to be costly and over
burdensome, often resulting in job loss, reduced hours and reduced benefits.
For questions or comments on
small-business issues contained in this edition of Capitol Roundup please
contact Illinois State Director Kim Clarke Maisch in the NFIB/Illinois office
at 217-523-5471, or via e-mail at [email protected]
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Roundup, please reply to this e-mail with the word “REMOVE” in the subject
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