Illinois Legislative News: December 23, 2024
Third Reading Consulting Group
Lame Duck and 2025 General Assembly Session Preview
Following veto session at the end of November, the Illinois House and Senate released their calendar for the 2025 regular session. Both chambers also flagged January 2 through 7 as tentative dates for a lame duck session of the outgoing 103rd General Assembly. House and Senate leadership recently finalized the dates for lame duck session from January 4 through 7, avoiding conflicts with holiday travel.
Lame duck session will bring about the final opportunity to pass legislation before former president and president-elect Donald Trump takes office. Going back to veto session, some Democrat members expressed a desire to pass legislation to mitigate against potential Trump Administration policies or federal funding cuts. However, no action on this front occurred in veto session.
Additionally, members have discussed a potential energy omnibus package, with a focus on battery energy storage systems. Battery storage legislation was considered in the 2024 regular session but did not pass, allowing more time for stakeholders to negotiate in the summer and fall.
Finally, legislation to regulate Delta 8 hemp-derived cannabis products could be considered. Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford introduced the Hemp Consumer Products Act (HB 4293) at the end of May, and it passed through the Senate before stalling in the House. Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently expressed his support for legislation to regulate intoxicating hemp-derived products in lame duck session even though it will continue to face staunch opposition from the many small businesses who produce and sell hemp-derived products.
Following the conclusion of lame duck session, the 104th General Assembly inauguration will occur on January 8. The Senate will welcome 3 new members (1 Democrats and 2 Republicans), while the House will see 7 new members (5 Democrats and 2 Republicans) inaugurated. The partisan makeup of the House and Senate will remain identical to the outgoing 103rd General Assembly. Democrats will maintain supermajorities in both chambers with a 40 to 19 split in the Senate and a 78 to 40 split in the House. Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Chris Welch appear all but certain to hold their leadership positions in the new General Assembly.
2025 session deadlines are approaching quickly with the LRB request deadline coming up on January 24 and the bill introduction deadline on February 7. Central to the 2025 session is the FY 2026 budget process, which will face pressure to address the $700M Chicago area transit funding deficit, among other new spending requests, in a limited revenue growth environment. Gov. Pritzker is scheduled to give his annual state of the state and budget address on February 19. The General Assembly will work to pass a budget before their scheduled adjournment date of May 31.
Illinois’ Population Increasing in 2024 Census Estimates
On December 19, the U.S. Census Bureau released its Vintage 2024 population estimates. The new population figures, which estimate the 2024 population using a baseline from the 2020 Census, show that the overall U.S. population grew by 1% (or 3.3M people) to a total of over 340M from 2023 to 2024. This marks the fastest annual population growth figure for the entire country since 2001 and a complete recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic which saw the country experience record low population growth of 0.2% in 2021. International migration accounted for 84% (or 2.8M people) of the nation’s population growth over the last year, up from 1.7M people in 2022 and 2.3M people in 2023. Increasing birth rates following the pandemic also added 519,000 to the U.S. population in 2024.
For the first time since the 2020 Census Post-Enumeration Survey, the 2024 Census Vintage estimates show that Illinois gained population over the last year. The state grew by an estimated 0.5% or 68,000 residents, the largest numeric increase of any state in the Midwest. International migration was the largest reason for the state’s population growth, with Illinois adding an estimated 112,955 immigrants in 2024, up from only 31,529 in 2023. Increasing birth rates were another factor leading to Illinois’ population gains, with birth outpacing deaths by 11,012 in 2024, up from only 4,866 in 2023.
However, Illinois continued to lose residents to domestic outmigration with an estimated 56,235 residents leaving for other states. This figure is a significant improvement over the 141,656 lost to domestic migration in 2023, showing that state-to-state losses are slowing down. Illinois domestic migration losses in 2024 were the third highest in the country, only behind California (-239,575) and New York (-120,917).
Additionally, the Census Bureau revised their 2023 population estimate to show that Illinois gained 32,826 residents, rather than losing 20,438 as was previously reported. This update is at least in part a correction related to the 2020 Census Post-Enumeration Survey, which found that Illinois’ 2020 Census population figure was significantly undercounted. Even with reported population growth in 2023 and 2024, Illinois’ estimated population of 12,710,158 is 0.87% (or 111,656 residents) lower than it was in the 2020 Census.
City Council Passes 2025 Chicago Budget
On December 16, the Chicago City Council passed a $17.1B 2025 budget by a narrow 27 to 23 vote. Mayor Brandon Johnson received enough votes to pass the budget, after much negotiation, by eliminating the proposed property tax increase in its entirety. Johnson’s initial budget proposal included a $300M property tax increase, which faced strong opposition and was incrementally decreased with each subsequent proposal down to no increase in the final version.
In order to balance the budget without increasing property taxes, the 2025 city budget levies over $180M in new taxes and fees (see below for some of the highlights). Notably, the budget also defers a $40M debt payment from the 2009 loan for the purchase of the former Michael Reese Hospital site.
- Decreases the city’s rideshare surcharge from $1.75 to $1.50 and expands the fee to apply on weekends.
- Increases the streaming service tax from 9% to 10.25%.
- Increases the single-use bag fee from $0.07 to $0.09 and decreases the amount retailers can recoup from $0.02 to $0.01.
- Increases the tax on digital goods, such as software or cloud storage, from 9% to 11%.
- Increases the residential zone parking permit fee for everyone under age 65 from $25 to $30.
- Increases the city sticker replacement fee for everyone under age 65 from $5 to $20.
- Increases the parking garage and valet fee tax from a tiered system of 20% on weekdays and 22% on weekends to 23.25% all the time.
- Increases the pedicab two year-license fee from $5 to $40.
- Increases the wholesale food sellers two-year license fee from $660 to $1,320.
- Increases the fine for violating any of the city’s general licensing provisions for businesses from a range of $200 to $1,000 to a range of $400 to $5,000.
- Increases the public vehicle violation fee (largely applicable to cabs) from a range of $50 to $400 to a range of $75 to $1,000.
- Creates a new $500 fee for utility companies to access public way utilidors.
Important Upcoming Dates – Statewide
January 4-7 – Lame Duck Session
January 8 – Inauguration of the 104th General Assembly
January 24 – LRB Request Deadline
February 7 – Bill Introduction Deadline
February 19 – Governor’s State of the State and Budget Address
March 21 – Initial Chamber Committee Deadline
April 11 – Initial Chamber Third Reading Deadline
May 9 – Opposite Chamber Committee Deadline
May 23 – Opposite Chamber Third Reading Deadline
May 31 – Adjournment