Bills Filed

The deadline for filing legislative bills for this session has ended. In the Senate, 1500 new bills were filed and in the House over 5000 new bills were filed. Many of these new bills are shell bills that can be modified later. Speaker Madigan himself, filed 673 shell bills. Some bills of note that will bear watching this session include SB13 which is the 7% Assessment Freeze for Cook County. There is fear that this may be extended to other counties which could severely reduce the ability of schools and other public agencies that depend on property taxes to generate needed dollars. There are several variations of bills that increase state funding for special education services. In general, most Illinois school districts spend $3-4 for every $1 of state reimbursement for special education services.

SB750/HB750 is back again for another run. This bill began life two years ago as a plan to shift the burden for generating revenue from property taxes to income taxes. In this latest version, several subtle changes have been made to add appeal to this concept. In the new bill there are funds for higher education that has been ignored for the last few years, pension debt reduction, increased special education reimbursement and support for the Governor’s Early Childhood programs.

Several bills from various sponsors also increase gambling in Illinois to provide additional funding for roads and mass transit, school construction grants and higher education. The Governor is expected to promote the use of a Gross Receipts Tax that would be applied to goods and services. This concept is expected to be revealed during the Governor’s Budget Message on March 7th.

There are also bills proposed to protect school children on the internet by increasing training for parents, teacher and students and screening access to objectionable materials.

As you can see, there will be plenty of items to watch this year as our Legislature works with the Governor to craft a budget.