Springfield Session Ends
After late night sessions over the Memorial Day weekend, the 2021 General Assembly ended its session (sort of) on Monday, Monday, May 31. The Senate reconvened Tuesday, June 1 at 11:00 and there is talk of the House reconvening at some point in the coming weeks. I will be discussing in detail some results of this legislative session in upcoming articles.
However, below are two key bills in which the NACC advocated in the final days of the session:
Telehealth:
HB 3308 After review by our Business Works Steering Committee, the NACC full Board of Directors voted at their May meeting to join the IL Hospital Association’s efforts to endorse efforts calling for an individual or group policy of accident or health insurance continues to cover telehealth services, e-visits, and virtual check-ins rendered by a health care providers. This is to ensure providers continue to invest in and offer innovative, patient-centered virtual care. Advancements in telehealth addresses health disparities and reduces social, economic, and environmental barriers to care, like transportation, distance, childcare and insurance. This bill passed both House and Senate in the final days of the session.
Energy Omnibus Legislation:
This proposal took several forms in the final days of the session. Like Telehealth, our Business Works Steering Committee reviewed, and the NACC full Board of Directors voted at their May meeting to support the City of Naperville’s effort to ensure any actions in a climate policy reflected fossil fuel and coal plant closures dates extended 2035. This will prevent costly bonds payments that would potentially increase Naperville residents and businesses utility costs upwards of 30%. In addition, our position called for carbon taxes to be managed at the federal rather than at the state level to prevent energy plants in neighboring states from having a competitive edge in supply energy to our businesses. We are pleased by the responsiveness from our legislative delegation for taking time to meeting with city officials to hear our concerns on this issue. At this writing, no former legislative action has been taken on these specific concerns. However, the Senate has extended their session and the House may be reconvening in the coming days. We will keep you posted if additional action is taken.
Federal Advocacy
In other news, the NACC voted at our May 2021 meeting to advocate strongly to protect the 1031 Like Kind Exchange as currently written in our tax code. We have reached out to our congressional delegation to schedule one on one meetings to discuss in detail the detrimental impact of removing or capping the economically vital tax provision. I wrote more on this issue in my Positive Naperville article “Is Capping the 1031 Like Kind Exchange Really Closing Corporate Loopholes”
Employer Guidance on Vaccine Requirements in the Workplace
As our state re-opens with less restrictions for “fully vaccinated” individuals, employers now face dilemmas around vaccine requirements, incentives, etc. in their operations and re-opening decisions. Business Works is offering a virtual program Employer Guidance on Vaccine Requirements in the Workplace on June 15, beginning at 2:00 p.m. with an expert panel to discuss these and other concerns around vaccination in the workplace. This event is free to Chamber Members. You can register at: https://tinyurl.com/NACC-BW-June-Vaccine
As always, please reach out if you have specific policy concerns of your business or need more information.
Reba Morgan Osborne
(630) 544-3387