Our Government Relations team has been hard at work all session long representing our valued members across every industry and sector of the Illinois economy. Whether it has been introducing a pro-growth legislative agenda, meeting with our elected leaders, or testifying in committee, your Government Relations team has kept our members informed and up to date on the goings on at the Capitol.
Historically, the month of May has been the most turbulent of the Spring Session calendar months. Legislators in both chambers are busy ushering individual bills through the legislative process while simultaneously ramping up budget conversations. With the end of Session, there also comes a flurry of major issues coming to a head, last-minute items being considered, and, of course, new or enhanced revenue items popping up. This End of Session, we anticipate further discussions on new revenue proposals, tech regulation—especially on data privacy, AI, and data centers, and potentially new employment law mandates.
Threat of New or Increased Taxation Proposals
This year, the Illinois Revenue Alliance, a coalition which advocates for progressive revenue sources, unveiled their agenda which included four unique proposals (SB 3353, SB 3486, SB 3376, SB 3796). In early May, these bills received a subject matter hearing in the Senate Revenue committee with robust testimony and debate between members and witnesses. Ramiro Hernandez, Vice President of Public Policy & Strategy, for the IL Chamber led our efforts in providing testimony in strong opposition to these efforts. As internal discussions in the House and Senate regarding these potential revenue sources continue, we will continue to express our concerns with these onerous taxation proposals.
The month of May also signifies the final phase of many ongoing conversations which have taken place throughout that Spring Session. Large national debates and movements, which manifest in the State legislature, are often the focus of these extended conversations. While this trend has stayed consistent throughout the years, it is often difficult to predict what product will surface after negotiations. This year, data privacy, AI regulation, and data center water and energy usage regulations have dominated extended conversations and negotiations throughout the General Assembly.
Tech and Data Center Regulations
Whether it be in a member-only working group or in a 10.5-hour subject matter hearing, discussions regarding these topics have received significant private and public attention and consideration. At the beginning of the month, the House Judiciary Civil Committee and the House Consumer Protection Committee held a joint subject matter hearing on several bills which were previously discussed in an internal AI working group (HB 4557, HB 4705, HB 5044, HB 5756). Andrew Cunningham, Senior Director of Government Relations for the IL Chamber, submitted written testimony in opposition to HB 5044. The Senate, on the other hand, heard and advanced several legislative measures (SB 315, SB 316, SB 317, SB 340) that covered several aspects of AI and tech regulations, such as comprehensive data privacy, strenuous requirements for frontier AI models, chatbot regulations, and increased consumer protections laws on new tech tools.
Additionally, the House Energy & Environment Committee held a subject matter hearing on the Power Act (HB 5513), which is an omnibus piece of legislation supported by the environmental community that contains several onerous regulations on the data center industry—ranging from new mandated costs to onerous water and energy use reporting requirements. The IL Chamber submitted testimony in opposition to the legislation expressing the Chamber’s strong opposition to such onerous regulations on an industry that has been a driver for Illinois’ economy.
Employment and Other Industry Regulations
The biggest outstanding item for employers for the remaining weeks of Spring Session are the status of the Agreed Bill Process and the negotiations on the varying workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance bills.
If you have been receiving the Government Relations teams’ updates or participating in our weekly Session call, you are very aware by now that labor announced they would no longer be participating in the long-standing and successful Agreed Bill Process for either Workers’ Comp or Unemployment Insurance. Our Vice President of Government Relations, Jordan Ryan, has been closely monitoring these issues. You are also more than likely aware that the Illinois Chamber, along with the other Joint Employers, has been attempting to push all stakeholders back to the table on the Agreed Bill Process.
While there is still a great deal of time left in Session, and two weeks can be an eternity in May, there is hope that some form of agreement can be reached by EoS, as there have been productive meetings taking place on WC and UI over the last few weeks. Now as to how closely this agreement will resemble the traditional Agreed Bill Process remains to be seen, but the IL Chamber Team will keep you updated as these negotiations progress.
Other items of concern for employers include the advancement of HB 4725 (Hoffman/Aquino), the Attorney General’s Worker Protection Unit bill and the last-minute movement of SB 3777 (Johnson), disparate impact expansion, out of Senate Judiciary.
HB 4725, while in a substantially better place than as introduced due to significant intervention from employers lead by the Illinois Chamber, is primed for passage out of the Senate in the next week and will in all likelihood be signed into law by the Governor upon reaching his desk. This legislation will give the Illinois Attorney General unprecedented and unparalleled powers of enforcement on ALL employment statutes in the state. Though being touted as a tool to root out bad actors, the IL Chamber has serious concerns about the broad discretion and power given to the Office of the AG to use the Worker Protection Unit to investigate any claim, substantiated or otherwise.
SB 3777 would not only create a state analog for disparate impact as currently interpreted by federal statue and, more importantly, case law, but also permit the IL Department of Human Rights and the courts to construe the policy as liberally as possible when considering disparate impact. This effectively creates a brand-new standard for employers and will require that all employment policies and practices be reconsidered, even if they have long been tested against federal standards for disparate impact. The IL Chamber will continue to work against the advancement of this piece of legislation.
While bills in the House on these topics somewhat overlapped with the bills presented in the Senate, there were no pieces of legislation that have been considered by both chambers. With this lack of uniformity present, there are no guideposts as to what the opposite chambers may take up if their counterpart were to pass any substantive measure. It is evident that both the House and Senate have the appetite to act on these issues, but there is no shared roadmap. As Illinois legislative session wraps up in the coming weeks, our team will be working tirelessly to make sure the voices of our valued members are heard.
For more information on how to get involved with the Illinois Chamber or if you have any questions about the work our team is doing, please contact Cheryl Mezydlo, Director of Membership and Business Development for the Chamber at cmezydlo@ilchamber.org.