IVCA Provides Updates for State Legislative Issues – 10/26/22
Illinois Venture Capital Association Illinois Legislative Report
David Stricklin / Stricklin & Associates
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP BILL UPDATE
IVCA Executive Director Maura O’Hara and representatives from Wind Point Partners testified last week on behalf of the industry before the Illinois House Revenue Committee. The committee took input from IVCA on our bill to clarify the definition of an investment partnership. The Illinois Department of Revenue was also at the witness table, as IVCA has been working diligently with IDOR and the legislature to agree on a solution to the definition issue so that Illinois is not an outlier in how it taxes (or doesn’t tax) out-of-state investors. The hearing was productive and we remain hopeful that a bill to resolve most of the outstanding issues will be considered during the November Veto Session.
SPRINGFIELD SCANDAL
AT&T is facing allegations that they made a payoff to former state Rep. Edward Acevedo to curry favor with former House Speaker Madigan. In the wake of yet another Springfield scandal, a push to close the revolving door in politics continues with advocates calling for two years before a former legislator can lobby their former colleagues.
ILLINOIS GOVERNOR’S RACE
The Illinois Governor’s race has been heating up with incumbent JB Pritzker and candidate Darren Bailey making frequent public appearances in the final two-week stretch leading up to the election. A recent poll by FiveThirtyEight, on Oct. 18th, put Pritzker at an average lead of 14.3 percentage points. Pritzker has continued to emphasize that Bailey is too extreme for Illinois while Bailey has recently released his own sponsored poll showing him trailing Pritzker by only two percentage points.
Early voting polling locations and hours have expanded throughout Illinois. Information on early voting for each local election authority can be found on the Illinois State Board of Election website.
PENSIONS & FINANCES
The Chicago Public School Teachers’ Pension & Retirement Fund plans to divest from fossil fuels by the end of 2027. The board intends to encourage fossil fuel companies to move towards paths of renewable energy.
The Teachers Retirement System Board of Trustees has preliminarily approved a 6.04 billion state government contribution for the System in FY2024. This is a 2.5% increase in the state’s $5.89 billion contribution for the current fiscal year. They hope that the increased funding from state contributions and strong investments continues to slow the growth of unfunded liability and improve the funded ratio.
Truth in Accounting’s 13th annual Financial State of the Statesranked Illinois 48th in the country, the same rank as last year. The report notes that Illinois had about $39 billion available to pay nearly $250 billion worth of bills, a shortfall that breaks down to a burden of $49,500 per taxpayer. As a result, the state received an “F” grade for its state finances.