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Chamber@Work | Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

March 30, 2015

City Elections - Please Vote!

The City’s runoff election is on Tuesday, April 7th, and early voting is taking place through April 4. Your vote is very important in determining the future of the City of Chicago. Vote early in the downtown area at the Museum of Broadcast Communications at 360 North State Street. The polls are open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Click here find your polling place
Click here find your early voting location
Click here to register with “grace period” voter registration and ensure your voter registration information is correct

The Chicagoland Chamber encourages you to provide this voting information to your friends, employees, and family.

The runoff election will be held on April 7, 2015. The next City Council meeting is April 15, 2015 at 10 a.m.

Illinois General Assembly Update:

This past week the FY15 budget hole was fixed. The budget hole, totaled at $1.6 billion, has been a lingering problem since the budget was passed last spring. The legislation, originally HB 317 and HB 318, is now Public Act 99-0001 and Public Act 99-0002. The legislation requires 2.25 percent cuts across the board in spending, including education, and sweeps funds from various special funds to plug the $1.6 billion hole for FY15. The Governor has some authority to use $97 million to ease those education cuts in school districts with severe financial hardship.

HB 317 and HB 318 were voted on in the House on Tuesday, March 24th on a 72-45 vote, and 69-48 vote, respectively. The Senate then voted on HB 317 and HB 318 on Thursday, March 26th on a 32-26 vote, and 32-26 vote, respectively. All House and Senate Republicans voted for the fix.

How could this happen so quickly? Every bill that goes through the legislature must be “read” three times in both the House and Senate. The “third reading” happens just before the vote on the floor and any debate that may occur in each respective chamber. The two original bills, HB 317 and HB 318, were both introduced and read on the House floor for the first time on January 27th. They were then read and held on second reading on February 4th, where the bills sat until they were chosen to be the vehicles for the FY15 budget fixes.

The original bills were essentially empty with no real substantive language. These bills are filed every legislative session. In fact, almost half of all of the bills filed this session are so called “shell” bills - empty vessels that go through the legislative process (first/second readings) that can be amended later.

An amendment was drafted with all of the actual language for each bill and filed on Monday, March 23rd. The amendments were then voted out of the House Executive Committee on Tuesday, March 24th and sent to the House floor for a full vote. Immediately thereafter, the bill was sent to the Senate where it was read for the first time. The bill was then read a second time on March 25th and a final vote occurred on Thursday, March 26th with very little debate.

Minimal debate ensued on the floor because all of the legislative leaders had negotiated between themselves and the Governor and discussed the bills with their respective caucuses. With a Republican Governor in office, more of these structured roll calls are likely to occur. Republican legislators will be expected to vote “yes” and have some skin in the game, allowing more vulnerable Democrats to vote “no” on more politically controversial bills.

Election Night Party with Aldertrack and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce:

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce has partnered with Aldertrack and others to host an election night party beginning at 7 p.m. at the Kaiser Tiger (1415 W. Randolph St.). The party is centrally located between both election night parties for the mayoral candidates, so expect a good amount of foot traffic from politicos and staff and excellent networking opportunities.

Watch the election results roll in and don’t miss what is sure to be a great event! The first 100 people to arrive receive a free drink.

Please contact Elise Houren at ehouren@chicagolandchamber.org to RSVP or if you have any questions.

Chamber President & CEO Theresa E. Mintle Visits Springfield:

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Theresa E. Mintle visited Springfield this past week. On Wednesday evening, the Chamber hosted a legislative reception attended by many legislators from both chambers and parties. It was a great opportunity to speak with legislators about the great things happening at the Chamber and discuss some of our priorities this legislative session.

On Thursday, we met with the four legislative leaders to discuss the Chamber, our legislative priorities and how to improve the business climate in Illinois. The meetings were productive and we are grateful for their time and consideration.

Mintle and our Government Relations team with Senate President John Cullerton

Mintle meeting with a bi-partisan group of legislators at our reception

Mintle and team with House GOP Minority Leader Jim Durkin

Cook County Board of Commissioners:

The Chamber Government Relations team will be attending the Cook County Board of Commissioners meeting this Wednesday and will report back on any matters that arise.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any policy questions or concerns.