Illinois Legislative News: November 18, 2024
Third Reading Consulting Group
The Illinois General Assembly returned to Springfield for the first week of fall veto session on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both chambers cancelled their scheduled session day on Thursday. Committee and floor action was very limited. The Senate only held three committee hearings, and the House did not hold any.
Wednesday afternoon’s Senate Executive Committee Hearing featured extensive debate on SB 3968. The bill would ban carbon sequestration activity that “overlies, underlies, or passes through a sole-source aquifer,” such as the Mahomet Aquifer in Central Illinois. After hearing from proponents, opponents, and scientific experts, the bill was ultimately held in committee without a vote, at the request of Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) and Senate Executive Committee Chair Cristina Castro (D-Elgin).
Sen. Paul Faraci (D-Champaign) filed SB 3968 on October 11 in response to two leaks at ADM’s carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facility in Decatur. The General Assemblypassed the Safety and Aid for the Environment in Carbon Capture and Sequestration (SAFE CCS) Act (SB 1289) back in May and Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it in into law on July 18. The SAFE CCS Act established a regulatory framework for new CCS projects. It also put a moratorium on new CCS projects until either July 2026 or when the federal government updates safety rules on carbon dioxide pipelines, but it did not establish any specific protections for sole-source aquifers. SB 3986 has bipartisan support from legislators in the Mahomet Aquifer region. Since the bill was not called in committee, legislators and stakeholders have more time negotiate before bringing it back in the second week of veto session, lame duck session, or the 2025 regular session.
Additionally, Rep. Stephanie Kifowit (D-Oswego) and Sen. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) introduced the Fair Retirement and Recruitment Act (HB 5909/SB 3988). The legislation is meant to fix problems with Illinois’ Tier 2 pension system, such as making the Tier 2 retirement age the same as Tier 1, providing Tier 2 pension recipients with the same 3% COLA as Tier 1 recipients, and fixing the looming federal Social Security safe harbor issue for some Tier 2 pension recipients. Cost analysis on the proposal is not available yet, but it would likely increase state pension costs by billions. The pension bills have not been assigned to a substantive committee in either the House or Senate and did not receive any consideration in the first week of veto session. However, on Wednesday, many state employees rallied in Springfield in support of the proposal.
Legislators will return to Springfield for the second week of veto session from November 19 to 21. Expect to see more committee and floor action in the second week. Many of the larger and more controversial measures could be pushed to lame duck session at the beginning January.
Important Upcoming Dates – Statewide
November 19-21 – Veto Session Week 2
January 2025 – Lame Duck Session (Unconfirmed)
January 2025 – 2025 General Assembly Session Begins (Dates TBD)