Neither the state House nor Senate is in session because of concerns over the coronavirus, but that hasn’t stopped legislators from filing bills. It’s still early in the 2021 regular session, but there already are several bills we’re watching closely:

• HB62, a measure providing that all Illinois residents would be covered under the Illinois Health Services Program
• HB74, a bill that would require businesses with 50 or more employees to provide six weeks of paid leave to care for children or other family members
• HB353, legislation to immediately increase the hourly wage for essential workers to at least $20 an hour during the COVID-19 emergency

Tax Hike Back in Discussion

During last month’s lame-duck session, NFIB helped defeat Governor Pritzker’s plan to decouple Illinois tax code from federal legislation allowing small businesses to fully deduct losses they have suffered because of the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean the issue has died. There is talk that Pritzker’s plan may return in the regular session. We also hear lawmakers may try to decouple from the federal tax forgiveness on PPP loans to businesses. NFIB continues to oppose any attempts to balance the state budget on the backs of small businesses.

Employer Poster Requirements

Please make sure your workplace has the required posters which can be obtained here.

Illinois Small Business Day

Mark your calendar for April 6, 2021, and plan to attend our first virtual Small Business Day at the Capitol. We can’t all gather in Springfield because of the pandemic, so we’ll meet online. Speakers will include NFIB President Brad Close. We’ll announce other speakers and more details closer to the event.