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June 8, 2011
Illinois Legislative Session Ends May
31st with Passage of Workers' Compensation Reform
Bill
The Illinois General Assembly reached a fevered
pitch before adjourning last Tuesday evening, with passage of a
partial workers' compensation
reform bill, a $33.4 billion budget for the next fiscal year, the
redrawing of Congressional and state legislative districts, and
an expansion of gaming.
WORKERS' COMPENSATION
REFORM
A bill that makes some positive changes to the
state's workers' compensation system was passed in the final
hours of session. Proponents have said that the bill will
save Illinois businesses $500 - $700 million
annually by lowering the fees that must be paid to
medical providers for treating workers. The bill also
reduces the number of weeks that a worker can receive payments
for carpal tunnel syndrome, and includes new guidelines for
arbitrators who hear claims. While these modest reforms are
a much better alternative to another bill that would have
completely abolished the work comp system, sending some 50,000
cases to the courts each year, the reforms in the bill
that passed do not go far enough. For example, there still
is no requirement than an injury actually be caused by
work, allowing employees who injure
themselves at home or at a weekend softball game to make
claims. The RCGA urges the legislature to address this
issue next year to make the workers' compensation system more
fair and more economical for both employers and employees.
BUDGET
The legislature's budget for FY 2012 is more than $2
billion lower than Governor Pat Quinn's proposed spending plan,
but still represents a $2.3 billion increase over last
year's budget. The budget bill passed with
bipartisan support in the House, but only Democrats supported the
bill in the Senate. While the legislature directly funded
the state's $4 billion pension payment for the first time in
several years, lawmakers failed to address another $4 billion in
unpaid bills. Gov. Quinn's proposed borrowing plan
to pay the backlog of state bills was not
successful. This has increased concerns that
Illinois' income tax increase, which was passed as a temporary
measure, will have to become permanent to help the state balance
its budget over the coming years.
Governor Quinn has the power to further reduce
budgetary spending, but he is not allowed to increase funding for
programs. If he vetoes the bill, Senate Republicans will
have more leverage in the budget negotiations because
veto-overrides require a three-fifths majority vote, which the
Senate Democrats do not currently have.
REDISTRICTING
Strong Democratic majorities in the House and
Senate controlled the redrawing of the state's Congressional and
legislative district lines, which is required every ten
years to reflect population changes, and used that power
to develop maps that pit several Republican incumbents against
each other. Republican Congressman John
Shimkus's home in Collinsville was originally drawn into
a district with unfamiliar territory that included Bloomington
and Champaign, but was ultimately redrawn into a district that
more closely mirrors his current area in Southern Illinois.
Many Republicans in the state legislature were not as
fortunate. In the Metro East, Sen. Kyle McCarter
(R-Lebanon) and Sen. Dave Luechtefeld
(R-Okawville) have both been drawn into the
54th senate district, which could result in an
unexpected primary election in 2012 if each decides to seek
re-election.
GAMING
EXPANSION
The legislature also passed a bill that significantly
expands gaming in Illinois, allowing the development of five new
casinos, an expansion of the nine existing riverboat casinos, and
the installation of slot machines at horse-racing tracks.
Proponents estimate that the bill will produce $1.6
billion in the short-term from licensing fees, which
could help pay down the state's outstanding bills, as
well as $500 million annually for continuing revenue
needs. However, Gov. Quinn has called the bill
excessive and is not expected to sign the measure in its current
form. If he amends the bill, the legislature can
approve his changes by a majority vote, or choose to override his
changes and enact the original bill with a super-majority
vote.
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Lambert Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge
Speaks to RCGA Public Policy Council about the Importance of an
"Aerotropolis"
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Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, Director for
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
and
RCGA board member, speaks to the
Public
Policy Council.
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On Friday, June 3rd Rhonda
Hamm-Niebruegge, Director at Lambert-St. Louis International
Airport, spoke to the RCGA's Public Policy Council about
the airport's operations and efforts to attract international
cargo flights. She explained that Lambert only takes in
about $180 million a year in revenue, which is not enough to
sustain an airport of its size. The airport now services
12.5 million passengers a year with about 250 daily
departures, which is roughly half the number
of flights per day as in the 1990s. To help
increase revenue and defray the costs of operating such a large
airport, Rhonda has focused on driving up air cargo activity as a
way to lower landing fees for passenger planes, and thus attract
additional passenger service. While the national
trend for passenger service is expected to remain flat for the
next several years, air cargo is projected to triple over
the next ten years, with international cargo being the fastest
growing portion of this sector. Other cargo hubs,
such as Memphis and Indianapolis, have much lower landing fees
than Lambert because the two airports raise 60% and 40% of their
revenue from cargo, respectively. Lambert, on the other
hand, currently raises only 2% of its revenue from cargo
service. (To view Rhonda's presentation, click on the
image below.)
Rhonda also explained that the importance of
the "Aerotropolis" concept is demonstrated by major
infrastructure development that surrounds hub airports like
Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta. Cargo drives this
development, which is why the Aerotropolis legislation supported
by the RCGA first incents freight forwarders to ship goods
through Lambert airport, and then incents infrastructure
development to support and sustain freight activities. She
noted that China is the United States' biggest trading partner,
and that the Chinese government is committed to increasing the
percentage of its cargo being shipping on Chinese airlines from
25% to 50% in the near term. The airport is
currently negotiating with China Cargo, which is very interested
in the Aerotropolis concept for St. Louis, and Rhonda emphasized
the need for a Special Session to take advantage of the
time-sensitive opportunity to partner with the Chinese to make
Lambert an international cargo hub.
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RCGA Public Policy Council Chair Ted
Powers, Regional Director of Government
Affairs for Anheuser-Busch Companies, and
Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge,
Director of Lambert-St.
Louis International Airport.
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RCGA lobbyist Kim Tuttle provides an
overview
of the recently completed legislation
session in
Missouri.
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RCGA lobbyist Kim Tuttle also briefed the Public
Policy Council on the results of the Missouri legislative session
that ended on May 13th. She noted that
despite large Republican majorities in both chambers, the clock
ran out on negotiations for many key issues, such as the
comprehensive economic development bill and workers' compensation
reform, while others were simply held hostage in the policymaking
process. Issues that were not successful this year
include Aerotropolis, MOSIRA (Missouri Science and Innovation
Reinvestment Act), and four of the "Fix the Six"
priorities, as well as local control of the St. Louis
Police Department and an early site permit for the construction
of a second nuclear plant at Callaway. Two
legislative victories were the passage of employment law reform
and a phase-out of the corporate franchise tax, although
Governor Nixon later vetoed the employment law bill. Both
issues were part of the "Fix the Six" business coalition's
priorities for 2011. An additional important win
for Missouri businesses was enactment of changes in the
unemployment insurance laws that are expected to save employers
up to $124 million a year.
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Upcoming
Events
June
23 - RCGA Public Policy Speaker Series featuring Gov. Jay
Nixon
Missouri Governor Jay
Nixon will speak to the RCGA at a luncheon on
Thursday, June 23rd as part of our
2011 Public Policy Speaker Series. Gov. Nixon will discuss
important issues facing the state, including recovery efforts in
Joplin, job creation, and economic development. The
luncheon will be held in the RCGA's Regional Collaboration Center
(One Metropolitan Square, 13th floor), from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15
p.m. The cost is $30 for RCGA members and $45 for
non-members. Click here for member
registration. Non-members wishing to register
should contact Sherri Bailey at (314) 444-1134.
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