LLEEGGIISSLLAATTIIVVEE TAKE ACTION! BBUULLLLEETTIINN www..iml..org INTRODUCTION The Illinois House was in session for four days this week and the Illinois Senate for three. Next week the House will be in session from Monday through Friday. The House Third Reading deadline for House Bills is Friday, April 27th. The YOU Senate will be in from Tuesday through Thursday. CAN MAKE We hope to see many of you in Springfield at the Annual IML Lobby Day. A This year it will be held on Wednesday, May 2nd. The Legislative Briefing will be Difference! held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Springfield Hilton Hotel. The Annual Legislative Difference! Reception will be held at the Illinois State Library from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Please come and participate in the Legislative process so that your municipality’s voice is heard in Springfield. HOUSE BILL 1500 – CABLE/VIDEO COMPETITION NO PROGRESS – NO AMENDMENT The House Telecommunication Committee did not meet and no amendment has been prepared or offered for HB 1500. Representative LEGISLATIVE James Brosnahan has assured municipal representatives that we will see BULLETIN 2007-11 an amendment. He has also said that he does not know when or how soon before he offers an amendment in committee it will be available. The Friday, April 20, 2007 amendment is being drafted by AT&T and is being shared with no one. In This Issue: The Illinois Municipal League, Chicago, Naperville, and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus spent Tuesday and Wednesday in the Introduction Capitol working on the bill and raising concerns. Unfortunately, no one HB 1500 – Cable/Video is aware of what HB 1500 will become and what the amendment will do to protect municipal interests such as revenue, right of ways, cus- Gross Receipts Tax tomer standard/protections, buildout provisions and what becomes of the existing franchise with a cable company. Senate Bills House Bills The Illinois Municipal League has prepared documents which are available at www.iml.org. PLEASE GO TO THE SITE AND Status Report SEND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE A MESSAGE ON HB 1500. Reminder – IML Lobby Day SENATE BILL 1 – GOVERNOR’S GROSS RECEIPTS TAX – May 2, 2007 EXPECTED MUNICIPAL REVENUE IMPACT Representatives of the Governor’s Office and the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget met with League staff this week to explain the municipal revenue impacts of the Governor’s proposed 500 East Capitol Avenue P.O. Box 5180 Springfield, IL 62705 Phone: (217) 525-1220 Fax: (217) 525-7438 Legislative Bulletin 2007-11 April 20, 2007 Page 2 Gross Receipts Tax (GRT). While no portion of the increased tax revenue is to be distributed to municipalities, there is an effort being made to ensure that municipalities do not receive less money. First, the 2.5% Corporate Personal Property Replacement Income Tax (CPPRT) will not be eliminated. This means the possible 13% reduction in municipal CPPRT will not occur. Second, an amendment will be added to provide that when the 4.8% Regular Corporate Income Tax (CIT) is abolished and replaced with the GRT the State will ensure that if revenues in fiscal year 2008 (FY 08) are less than FY 07, the State will make up the difference. The municipal payments from the corporate share will occur monthly, but any shortfall will be made up at the end of the fiscal year. When the CIT is eliminated the entire payment would be made in June of that fiscal year. The League estimates about $84 per person in income tax will be received in FY 2007 and will include $71 in Individual Income Tax (IIT) and $13 in CIT. Whatever actually is received in CIT (about $13 per person or $166,400,000 for the 12,800,000 people in the state) will become a hold harmless amount. Any required hold harmless adjustment would be transferred from the 90% State share of income tax to the Local Government Distributive Fund. The League appreciates the efforts of the Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff Jennifer Ricker in contacting us to provide the information shown above. SENATE BILLS Senate Bill 1576 – Collection of Delinquent Taxes from Out-of-State Corporations Senator Noland – Senate Floor SB 1576 would allow the Secretary of State to revoke the ability of a foreign limited liability company to transact business in Illinois if a unit of local government or school district files a Memorandum of Judgment with the Secretary of State declaring the company owes a debt to the local entity. Furthermore, the legislation would allow the Attorney General to restrain the ability of a foreign limited liability company to transact business in Illinois if the company owes a debt to the public entity. IML PROPOSAL. Senate Bill 1553 – No Objective Medical Opinion Required For Fire Fighter Disability Benefits Senator Frerichs – Senate Floor SB 1553 would amend the downstate (non-Chicago) fire pension statute to eliminate the need for a fire pension board to rely upon an objective medical opinion prior to determining that a fire fighter is disabled. Despite the opinion of a competent physician that a fire fighter is not disabled, a union- controlled fire pension board would be allowed to award a duty disability benefit. A fire fighter receiving a duty disability benefit is also eligible for municipally-funded health insurance for life under the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act (PSEBA). SB 1553 will likely result in an increase in duty-disability awards and, consequently, higher health insurance costs for municipal governments. You are strongly urged to contact your State Senator(s) about this bill. Make them aware that this legislation will likely result in higher health insurance costs for municipalities. IML OPPOSES SB 1553. Senate Bill 1429 – Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement Senator Cullerton – Senate Floor The Illinois Municipal League is opposed to “destination sourcing,” one of the basic provisions of the multi-state Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. We remain opposed to adopting that system for sales to Illinois purchasers from Illinois “brick and mortar” retail locations. The current system commonly known as “point of sale” requires that items sold at a store to a purchaser generate local sales tax for the municipality or county where the store is located. Legislative Bulletin 2007-11 April 20, 2007 Page 3 The League does not believe the State should subject its municipalities and counties to the uncertainty in future tax revenue that will come from shifting the incidence of the Illinois Retailer’s Occupation Tax from point of sale to point of delivery. IML OPPOSES SB 1429. Senate Bill 1296 – Code of Civil Procedure – Major Liability for Remaining Parties Senator Cullerton (Representative Saviano) – House Rules Committee Senate Bill 1296 seeks to change Illinois law in a very significant way. The goal of the current law is to provide fairness by allowing a jury to determine which people were really at fault for causing an accident and to require minimally responsible parties to pay only their proportionate share of damages. Senate Bill 1296 will enable the plaintiff to manipulate the defendant’s liability by preventing the jury from considering the fault of parties with whom the plaintiff chose to settle or dismiss. By manipulating the calculation of fault, the plaintiff’s lawyer will be able to pursue deep pocket defendants and require them to pay more than their fair share of liability. Please go to the IML web site at www.iml.org for additional information to contact your State Representative. IML OPPOSES SB 1296. Senate Bill 1252 – Tax Cap Exemption for Police, Fire and IMRF Pension Levies – Senator Clayborne – Senate Floor SB 1252 would create an exemption under property tax caps for those portions of the tax levy attributable to funding downstate police, fire and IMRF pensions. IML PROPOSAL. Senate Bill 662 – Petition Signatures/Consolidated Primary Elections Representative Franks (Senator Link) – House Rules Committee This legislation makes various changes regarding elections. However, two provisions of this legislation will significantly impact municipal elections. Currently, a petition for an advisory referendum requires a minimum number of signatures totaling eight percent of the votes cast for governor. This legislation changes the minimum number of signatures to eleven percent of total number of votes in the last municipal election. The same application would apply for schools, townships and counties. The other provision in this legislation affects whether a primary election is needed. Currently, if there are more than two times the number of persons to be nominated for a municipal office, a primary election is necessary. This legislation raises that number to four. As an example, current law requires that if only 6 persons file for 3 positions on a village board, no primary is held. SB 662 would prohibit a primary unless more than 12 persons file for those 3 positions. The Illinois Municipal League testified against this legislation. IML OPPOSES SB 622. Senate Bill 514 – Truck Weight Limit Permits Representative Franks (Senator Link) – House Rules Committee This legislation changes the weight limit from 56,000 to 60,000 pounds regarding the allowance of issuing overweight permits for the certain large tow-trucks with no triple rear axles. IDOT and local jurisdictions may issue these permits for roads under their jurisdiction. Senate Bill 473 – Notification to School District of Annexation Representative Chapa-LaVia (Senator Wilhelmi) – House Rules Committee When there is a proposed annexation, the municipality shall notify the school district of the proposed annexation ten days prior to any public hearing regarding the annexation. Legislative Bulletin 2007-11 April 20, 2007 Page 4 Senate Bill 126 – Exclusion from the Definition of ‘Pollution Control Facility’ Representative May (Senator Garrett) – House Rules Committee SB 126 adds an exclusion to the definition of ‘Pollution Control Facility.’ Specifically, for a transfer station, if it is exclusively used for landscape waste and that waste is held for no longer than 24 hours, that facility is not defined as a pollution control facility and will not be subjected to local siting review.