Government Affairs Roundup
“Your Timely Roundup of Local, State, and Federal Updates”
Chamber members:
We’re going to start today’s roundup off with some good news. Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Tammy Duckworth introduced legislation to rename the U.S. Post Office facility located at 303 E. Mississippi Ave. in Elwood after former Will County Executive Lawrence M. “Larry” Walsh Sr. Larry also served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2005 in addition to a number of other local positions. Larry was a great friend to the chamber and is missed to this day. Congressman Bill Foster introduced a companion bill in the House as well. Certainly legislation that we can get behind in a time when most often the opposite is true.
*Government Affairs Roundup brought to you by CITGO & Silver Cross Hospital*
Short-term government funding bill introduced
Can the House fund the government in the next four days? If lawmakers do not, alarm bells will be loud. The federal government will shutter on Feb. 18 without new funding, and lawmakers are scheduled to be out of Washington beginning next week.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Sunday said that lawmakers will likely have to pass a stopgap spending bill to fund the government by Feb. 18 in bid to give them more time to reach a larger, long-term funding agreement.
“Well, we’ll get something done. It will probably be a short-term CR and it will be this coming week to give us a little more time,” Hoyer told MSNBC’s “Sunday Show,” using the shorthand phrase for a continuing resolution. “Negotiations are very vigorous and I think we’re going to get agreement on the topline and how it will be spent, but it’s not there yet.”
House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) on Monday introduced a short-term bill that would allow the government to remain funded through early March and temporarily stave off a government shutdown.
“Our country needs a government funding agreement to create good-paying jobs, grow opportunity for the middle class, and protect our national security. We are close to reaching a framework government funding agreement, but we will need additional time to complete the legislation in full,” DeLauro said in a statement introducing the continuing resolution.
“This Continuing Resolution – the product of bipartisan, bicameral negotiation – extends funding through March 11 to keep government up and running while Congress completes our important work,” she added.
The legislation comes as top negotiators on Capitol Hill have struggled for months to reach a bipartisan agreement on government funding for fiscal 2022, which began at the start of October. If passed, the legislation would buy more time for negotiators on both sides of the aisle to wrap up spending talks and strike a larger deal to fund the government through the remainder of the fiscal year, which will end in late September.
So far, Congress has passed two continuing resolutions, which allow the government to remain funded at the previous year’s spending levels for the current fiscal year to prevent a shutdown. If the legislation introduced on Monday is passed in the House and Senate, it would mark the third time Congress has had to approve a stopgap bill in the absence of a larger bipartisan agreement on government funding.
Under the last continuing resolution, passed in early December, the government was set to remain funded until Feb. 18 to provide more cushion to lawmakers to strike a deal. But leaders signaled last week that Congress was headed for another continuing resolution as disagreements remain on several issues, including defense and nondefense spending, and legislative riders like the Hyde Amendment, a decades-old amendment barring Medicaid from being used to cover abortions.
Five obstacles lawmakers face in reaching an omnibus deal
Congressional negotiators are working under the wire to secure a bipartisan omnibus spending deal to keep the government funded through the fiscal year with a mid-February deadline around the corner.
It’s likely that Congress will have to approve a third continuing resolutions (CR), which allow the government to remain funded at the previous year’s fiscal levels, to stave off a shutdown, as disagreements remain on a combination of issues. Here are five obstacles Republican and Democratic lawmakers face in securing a deal.
- Timing
Negotiators have been eyeing an omnibus spending package to fund the government through fiscal 2022, which ends in late September. But lawmakers have little legislative time to spare, as the House is set to be out of session after next week.
House Democrats are looking at passing a short-term spending bill as early as next week as leaders continue to have a hard time finalizing a deal on an omnibus before the shutdown deadline.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and others have continued to put pressure on negotiators for an omnibus deal as the deadline approaches. But a growing number of lawmakers think Congress is headed for another continuing resolution this month.
Some appropriators are hopeful top leaders will at least be able to reach a deal that solves the current major outstanding issues holding up the federal funding package in the coming days to ensure a path forward for an omnibus.
“I would still hope that we have agreements on everything by the 18th, and all that’s left to do is finalize and then read the bill,” Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of Republican leadership who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told The Hill earlier this week.
- Top line number
Negotiators say top leaders have still failed to reach a bipartisan agreement on an overall topline figure for an omnibus spending package.
“What’s preventing us from getting a deal is a lack of agreement on top lines,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said this week. “What’s frustrating is that Republicans refused to engaged in any conversation about toplines for most of the end of last year.”
Democrats have blamed Republicans for holding up progress in negotiations, insisting both sides come to an agreement on a topline first for fiscal 2022 spending in talks. At the same, however, Republicans have been pointing the finger at the other side of the aisle, calling on Democrats to drop so-called “poison pill” policies in negotiations and for them to meet their demands for defense spending before trying to reach a deal on a topline number.
“We should have been negotiating on this for a while, but our Democratic friends haven’t wanted to,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), who also serves on the appropriations body, said this week.
- Parity between defense and nondefense
A major sticking point keeping both sides from agreeing on a topline figure is parity between defense and nondefense spending. The months-long stalemate has come as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has pressed for equal levels of growth on defense and nondefense spending in fiscal 2022 talks.
McConnell has warned Republicans will block appropriations legislation in absence of a larger bipartisan spending deal in the 50-50 Senate. But to strike a deal, he has said there would need to be parity in growth in both areas.
Rep. Kay Granger (Texas), the top-ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, signaled in remarks to reporters while leaving a meeting with other top negotiators earlier this week that progress is being made on this front. “We’re still working through some of those issues,” she acknowledged. “But there are fewer issues than there were before.”
- Legislative riders
Negotiators say legislative riders like the Hyde Amendment, a decades-old amendment many Democrats oppose that bars Medicaid from being used to cover abortions, are among non-starters standing in the way of a deal. “There was a lot that was loaded up from the House,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who also serves on her chamber’s appropriations panel, told The Hill on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), top ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, reiterated that the topline deal will come after hashing out an agreement on “principles.” “As I said earlier … that if we reach an agreement on our principles, that the topline will follow,” Shelby told reporters this week.
- Veteran Affairs funding
Shelby acknowledged that funding for Veteran Affairs is also a sticking point in spending conversations. “We’ve had trouble with the VA funding,” Shelby told reporters this week. In recent years, the VA Mission Act has emerged a major hurdle for lawmakers to tackle when hashing out funding for Veteran Affairs during the annual appropriations process.
The act passed in 2018 and was a sweeping bipartisan reform bill that sought to expand veterans’ access to private health care. But costs stemming from Trump-era program have previously served as a source of conflict between both sides of the aisle, according to Roll Call.
“That isn’t something we’ve talked about and we’re going to have to resolve, but we’d like to get into the base funding and go from there,” Shelby said. “When you create programs … it sounds good, it gave veterans a lot of options. But we’ve got to figure out how to pay for it,” he added.
What needs to happen
Lawmakers in both parties say it’s time for Congress’s top four leaders to meet face to face to negotiate a yearlong spending deal – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
Why that’s easier said than done – Generally speaking, the four don’t have the ~best~ working relationships. But negotiators say that’s part of the reason there still isn’t a funding deal. Negotiators on the Appropriations committees have “had to shuttle between the negotiating room and their party leaders to get signoff on major concessions, say senators familiar with the talks.”
House leaders have scheduled a Tuesday vote to extend a temporary government funding measure through March 11, buying time for negotiators to work out a comprehensive fiscal 2022 package after a prolonged deadlock over how much to allocate for military and nondefense spending.
House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.) said that negotiators are “close to reaching a framework government funding agreement, but we will need additional time to complete the legislation in full.”
Economy adds stunning 467K jobs in January despite omicron surge
The U.S gained 467,000 jobs in January despite fears the economy lost jobs amid the omicron-driven surge of COVID-19 cases, the Labor Department reported Friday.
While the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4 percent, January job growth far exceeded the expectations of many economists, who feared the U.S. would lose jobs last month for the first time since December 2020.
Millions of Americans missed work in January after they or a loved one fell ill with COVID-19 as the Labor Department was calculating the monthly jobs report. The unprecedented number of Americans out sick and several alarming declines in private sector economic activity bred fears of a miserable January jobs report.
Six million Americans said they were unable to work in January because their employer lost business due to the pandemic, according to the Labor Department, almost double December’s total of 3.1 million. But the labor market held strong through the peak of the omicron surge in mid-January with widespread jobs gains across industries.
The Labor Department also revised the December employment gain up from an initially reported 199,000 to 510,000, and November’s job gain from 249,000 to 647,000 — painting a much stronger picture of the labor market than expected.
The leisure and hospitality sector led January’s job gains with 151,000 new workers even as consumer activity fell off in many major cities. Restaurants and bars gained 108,000 jobs and hotels gained 23,000. The U.S. added 86,000 jobs in professor and business services, 61,000 jobs in retail trade, 54,000 jobs in transportation, and 29,000 jobs in local government and education.
Workers also saw their wages climb as employers sought to fill millions of job openings from a smaller labor force than before the pandemic. Average hourly earnings rose 23 cents in January and 5.7 percent annually, though the average workweek for employees fell by 0.2 hour.
Court Ruling on Education COVID Mandates
A downstate judge created chaos with a late Friday ruling allowing students and staff from 170 school districts — out of the state’s 859 — to go to class without masks and to forgo Covid-19 testing even if they haven’t been vaccinated.
It means many downstate and suburban Chicago students can opt out of wearing masks, while Chicago Public Schools sticks to Gov. JB Pritzker’s mandate.
The ruling was prompted by a lawsuit filed by attorney Thomas DeVore, who has represented plaintiffs in several cases against the state. “To the extent that the Springfield school district wants to continue forcing these mask and vaccination policies, they’re doing it at their own peril because the judge has said it’s illegal,” Devore told the State Journal Register’s Steven Spearie.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul is filing an appeal against the ruling that throws a temporary wrench into the governor’s efforts to keep Covid-19 tamped down in schools. “We remain committed to defending Gov. Pritzker’s actions to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 and will appeal this flawed decision [today] in the Illinois Appellate Court for the 4th District in Springfield,” Annie Thompson, spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office, said in a statement.
The Illinois Education Association warned the ruling “has the potential to shut our schools down, effectively closing our school buildings and perhaps being potent enough to stop in person learning altogether.” Along with neutering the mask and testing mandates, the ruling allows children and staff who live with someone infected with Covid-19 to enter the schools without masks.
Illinois officials still mum on pandemic unemployment fraud totals
While other states have revealed how much fraud there’s been in their unemployment system since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois officials have yet to reveal such information to taxpayers. But some available data indicates it’s at least $430 million.
Following Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s months long stay-at-home order in the spring of 2020, the state’s unemployment filings skyrocketed. The state borrow money from the federal government to help pay for the required benefits, and $4.5 billion in debt is still owed, costing taxpayers tens of millions in interest.
Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President and CEO Mark Denzler said something has to be done with the debt. “Forty-two states have balanced their [unemployment insurance] trust funds,” Denzler told The Center Square in December. “Illinois has not done so.”
If the debt isn’t addressed, it could lead to increased taxes on employers and decreased benefits for the unemployed. It’s possible the state could use billions in unspent federal tax dollars the state received for COVID-19 relief, but such an effort hasn’t transpired.
State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, said taxpayers still don’t know how much fraud there’s been. “How we cannot track that, in today’s day and age where everything is tracked, all these cards that have gone out that are electronically activated and all that, we should be able to track that stuff and nail these people that are committing this fraud, and prosecute them,” Butler told WMAY.
Oregon reported $24 million in unemployment fraud in 2020. The amount was much greater in Michigan, where the state reported $8.5 billion in suspected fraudulent claims during the pandemic.
In Illinois, state officials haven’t announced fraud totals. The Illinois Department of Employment Security didn’t respond to messages seeking a status of how much fraud there’s been, or when such information will be available.
In early 2021, IDES said they’ve stopped 1.7 million fraudulent claims. In the summer, an Illinois Auditor General report covering the first few weeks of the pandemic showed nearly $155 million in improper payments. “Failure to accurately document PUA eligibility resulted in potentially ineligible claimants receiving benefits totaling $154,906,354,” the audit summary said.
From the third quarter of 2020 through the second quarter of 2021, a spreadsheet from the U.S. Department of Labor shows Illinois’ fraud rate for unemployment payouts was 8.4% of $5.1 billion paid out, an indication of nearly $430 million in fraud during that time period. It’s unclear when that report was published. A spokesperson from USDOL couldn’t immediately be reached.
Butler is frustrated there’s no apparent action at the statehouse to address the issue. “In the General Assembly, we should be in session trying to get a handle on programs that we can [enact] to address this and really we’re doing nothing about it,” Butler said. “I think it does start with the Department of Employment Security coming out and being forthright with the people of Illinois with how much fraud there is and what the program is going to be to try to tackle this situation.”
Comptroller Mendoza urges upgrades in letter to credit-rating firms
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is urging the top three credit rating firms to again bump up her state because of its mounting fiscal improvements that already led to its first upgrades in two decades last year. “I believe Illinois is due to be recognized for our current achievements and plans to further strengthen our financial situation, and I believe these are strong indicators that favor upgrading Illinois’s credit rating,” Mendoza wrote in a letter dated Feb. 4, viewed by Bloomberg News.
Mendoza wrote similar letters advocating for the firms to take the state’s progress into account in April and then pushing for higher ratings in July. Illinois received an upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service in June to Baa2 from Baa3. S&P Global Ratings lifted its score to BBB from BBB- in July amid rebounding revenue and billions in federal aid. And Fitch Ratings raised its outlook on the debt to positive from negative in June but maintained its BBB- rating.
The gains lifted Illinois from the brink of junk, though it still has the lowest rating of any U.S. state. Moody’s and S&P consider Illinois two steps above junk, while Fitch has it one level above junk.
Mendoza’s letter last week touts the recent progress. Illinois has reduced its unpaid bill backlog to below $3 billion; paid back early the full $3.2 billion in emergency loans taken in 2020 from the Federal Reserve’s Municipal Liquidity Facility; and it intends to repay the remaining $719 million in state interfund borrowing by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, Mendoza wrote.
“If this information is not sufficient to lead to a favorable review, Governor Pritzker’s recently announced budget proposal will surely check off any remaining doubts that Illinois is on the right track to fiscal stability,” Mendoza said. “I am hopeful this will be welcome news to you and that your ratings agencies will reward Illinois with yet another credit upgrade.”
The rating firms did not comment specifically on the prospects for upgrades in the days after the governor’s budget address but are taking note of the use of rebounding revenue to rebuild its finances. “Those are positive steps forward,” Matthew Butler, vice president-senior credit officer for Moody’s, said in an interview last week.
S&P analyst Geoffrey Buswick said a budget proposal by itself wouldn’t trigger a credit action and there are still months of budget negotiations ahead of the state. Lawmakers have to approve Pritzker’s spending plan. Meanwhile, Fitch’s positive rating outlook means the state could see an upgrade in one to two years if current trends continued.
“Fitch always appreciates opportunities to hear directly from policymakers to help us understand their thought processes and the factors they are considering as they make fiscal choices,” Fitch analyst Eric Kim said in an emailed statement Monday.
“We are continuously evaluating fiscal and economic developments for the state, including information discussed with the Comptroller’s office and with the administration, and our rating perspective remains the same as outlined when we revised the outlook to positive,” Kim said.
Gov. Pritzker Announces $4 Million in Grant Funding for Projects Along the Historic Route 66
Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced a new $4 million grant program for the development of tourism, education, preservation, and promotion of the 100th Anniversary of Route 66. With more than 300 miles of Route 66 in Illinois from its starting point in Chicago to the Chain of Rocks Bridge, Route 66’s economic and historical impact is woven into the fabric of communities across the state. This grant opportunity – which is open to Illinois’ Certified Conventions and Visitors Bureaus – will help develop or enhance sites along Route 66, while prioritizing projects focused on future transportation and tourism trends such as electric vehicles.
“Route 66 is nearly 100 years old and as we prepare to celebrate its historic centennial, I can’t think of a better way to honor its cultural contribution than preserving and promoting it for generations to come,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Whether recipients improve sites to be accessible for electric vehicles or breathe new life into beloved roadside attractions, this funding opportunity will help support communities along Route 66.”
Route 66 is one of the most famous roads in America, and it serves as an important historical and cultural symbol. Route 66 was designated in 1926 as part of the new numbered highway network and grew to be one of the most well-known and travelled highways. The construction of Route 66 helped make the Western part of the United States accessible to anyone with a car, while generating economic benefits for many communities along the Route.
This funding opportunity supports the development of tourism, education, preservation, and promotion of Route 66, while also preparing it to meet the needs of future travelers. As our transportation sector evolves to include more electric vehicles (EVs), it is critical to embrace future trends and promote the state’s tourism areas as EV destinations in order to unlock all Route 66 has to offer. In support of this, the application prioritizes projects that are focused on promoting future tourism trends, such as electric vehicles.
“For almost 100 years, Route 66 has been where an iconic Illinois road trip begins, today’s announcement gives local tourism bureaus the opportunity to celebrate that history and make investments to cement its legacy well into the future,” said Sylvia I. Garcia, Acting Director of DCEO.
“Route 66 has been a vital job creator for the Joliet area and the entire state for nearly a century, and that is worth celebrating,” said Rep. Larry Walsh (D-Joliet). “As a member of the Route 66 Centennial Commission, I know that our partners at the Convention and Visitor Bureaus will be ready and able to brighten attractions, improve navigation and get the Mother Road in top shape for its 100th birthday.”
Priorities for projects include:
• Projects that are statewide in nature and benefit the entire Illinois portion of Route 66 from Chicago to Chain of Rocks Bridge.
• Projects that develop new or enhance existing attractions that elevate the Route 66 experience in Illinois.
• Projects that support improved navigation for visitors traveling Route 66; and
• Projects that strengthen future tourism trends that include electric vehicles.
Through a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), Certified Conventions and Visitors Bureaus can submit an application until March 7, 2022. To view the NOFO, please visit https://bit.ly/3ojjDFp
For regular updates on funding opportunities and resources available for businesses and communities, please visit the DCEO website and follow us on social media @IllinoisDCEO.
Building Blocks of Success: IDOT announces February dates for DBE program workshops
The Illinois Department of Transportation is hosting free virtual workshops in February as part of its continuing Building Blocks of Success series for firms interested in participating in the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, strengthening their skills and bidding on state construction projects.
The workshop dates and topics are:
Feb. 9, 10 a.m. to noon: Basic Math for Pay Items – 2
Feb. 10, 10 a.m. to noon: Basic Math for Pay Items – 3
Feb. 14, 10 a.m. to noon: Meet the RE, Construction Supervisor and the Bureau Chief of Construction
Feb. 22, 10 a.m. to noon: What Banks Look for: Basic Requirements
Feb. 23, 10 a.m. to noon: Understanding How Banks Make Lending Decisions
Future topics covered include financing, QuickBooks training, estimating and bidding, insurance, management, steps needed to be certified as a DBE firm and more.
Building Blocks of Success will continue through April. Workshop information, including dates and times, is available through Eventbrite at bit.ly/DBEworkshops. Advance registration is required.
Questions can be directed to IDOT’s DBE Resource Center at (312) 939.1100.
As part of Gov. Pritzker’s historic and bipartisan Rebuild Illinois program, IDOT is helping to deliver the largest capital program in state history. IDOT strives to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the implementation of this program, including contracting and workforce participation.
Administered by IDOT, the DBE program provides minorities, women and other eligible small businesses opportunities to participate in highway, transit and airport contracts that are federally and state funded. For more information on becoming a certified DBE and learning more about IDOT resources that are available, visit www.idot.illinois.gov/dbe.
Stay well,
Mike Paone
Executive Vice President
Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry
mpaone@jolietchamber.com
815.727.5371 main
815.727.5373 direct