IVCA Provides Updates for State Legislative Issues – 12/7/22
Illinois Venture Capital Association Illinois Legislative Report
David Stricklin / Stricklin & Associates
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
ILLINOIS REPUBLICANS CHANGE LEADERS
In the wake of a disappointing season at the ballot box Illinois Republicans in the General Assembly voted to change their leadership roster. Illinois House Republican Leader Tony McCombie Leader McCombie who will be the first woman to lead a Caucus in the House, takes over for Rep. Jim Durkin. And Senate Republican Leader John Curran Leader Curran takes over for Sen. Dan McConchie. House Democrats improved their margin to 78 seats, and that lead to a changing of the guard in the House. Senate Republicans picked up a seat, leaving Democrats with 39 instead of 40, though members chose to move to Curran.
Almost all the entire House Republican leadership team will be in new positions come 2023, as former leadership members Rep. Dan Brady and Rep. Tom Demmer were defeated for statewide office, and Rep. Tim Butler is resigning from the legislature.
Over in the Senate, veteran Sen. Jason Barickman announced he will soon be leaving the General Assembly, and we expect several other retirements soon. Being in the minority is a challenging to say the least.
Analysis from former State Senator and Former DuPage County Chair Dan Cronin on where Republicans in Illinois need to look for the future:
CRONIN ON REPUBLICAN FUTURE
LEGISLATURE APPROVES RUSSIA SANCTIONS
IVCA watches carefully for often well-intended but problematic legislation which would overly impair the ability of Illinois pension funds to attract investors due to onerous restrictions on making investments. The Illinois General Assembly during Veto Session unanimously approved a bill to address the Russian invasion of Ukraine which also had the support of the State Treasurer’s office and was acceptable to the pension funds:
ILLINOIS SANCTIONS RUSSIA
The bill urges, but does not explicitly require, all state pension funds and retirement systems “to divest their holdings in any companies that are domiciled in Russia or Belarus” while also urging all Illinois municipalities to reconsider any sister-city relationships they may have with cities in Russia.
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUND REPLENISHED
Big ticket items with a bipartisan roll call are rare in Springfield. Legislative leaders and the governor pulled off the unusual putting together a package with the help of business groups and labor representatives:
UNEMPLOYMENT PAYBACKComptroller Susana Mendoza said in a statement that the investment “will save the state $20 million in interest payments and will help the state’s Rainy Day Fund in the long term.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, the debt had ballooned to $4.5 billion where the state had been able to payback partially through American Rescue Plan Act funding.
“This is responsible budgeting that shows what can happen when business and labor leaders come together with legislators and state leaders to work out an agreed plan,” she said, also calling on passage of House Bill 4118 which would require annual payments into the Rainy Day Fund and the Pension Stabilization Fund.
VETO SESSION DOES NOT ADDRESS IVCA BILL
More work to be done on the IVCA bill to clarify current law defining an “investment partnership”. SB 2430 passed the Illinoi Senate unanimously but has been on hold in the House of Representatives. The next opportunity to move the bill, by itself or in a package of other fiscal/tax related measures, will be in the “Lame Duck” session in early January.
VETO SESSION PRODUCES SAFE-T ACT CHANGES
The most litigated issue in the November elections was the efficacy of the SAFE-T act, a criminal justice reform measure approved two years ago and scheduled to take effect January 1. Central to the discussion was under what conditions and charges could someone be held in custody. Reformers have argued the cash bail system is discriminatory while some prosecutors and others contended dangerous people who should be in custody would not be in custody.
The legislature and governor came together to make changes which passed on party line votes however seemed to address most of the concerns from law enforcement and civil liberty advocates:
SAFE-T RELEASE
RED WAVE DIDN’T GET TO SHORE
Interesting and brief reading from one pollster on why voters defied history and a lot of conventional wisdom in the midterm elections. Illinois for example trended even further Blue: