January 30, 2009

A New Day Begins. . .

Today marks the first day of the new Quinn Administration after the Senate voted unanimously to convict former Governor Blagojevich yesterday.  Former Lt. Governor Pat Quinn was quickly sworn in as the state’s 41st governor following the Senate vote to remove Blagojevich from office and prohibit him from ever holding another public office in Illinois. 

Governor Quinn will not enjoy much, if any, of a “honeymoon” phase as the new administration and the General Assembly attempt to grapple with the mess left by Blagojevich.  The change in leadership, however, already promises a legislative session that will champion collaboration and progression even as the state faces some major challenges. 

When legislators return next week, the House is set to take up legislation that will give Governor Quinn an extra month to prepare a proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2010.  The Governor’s budget address is currently scheduled to take place February 18.  The House Executive Committee is expected to meet on February 4 to take action on an amendment to HB 308 that will move the address date back to March 18.

Incidentally, Governor Quinn will go without a Lt. Governor, as the office will remain vacant until the next election.  This office was also left vacant in 1998 after then Lt. Governor Bob Kustra resigned.  His duties and responsibilities were eventually transferred to Central Management Services for the remainder of the term.

Chamber Mounting Effort to Push for Ethics Compliance Clean-Up

The Chamber is quickly ramping up its effort to push for critical ethics compliance clean-up provisions in the state’s new “Pay to Play” law.  As businesses impacted by P.A. 95-0971 face the first registration deadline on Monday, the Chamber is assembling a growing coalition of businesses and associations to push for changes to the onerous registration requirements that have already caused major headaches for businesses and left a long list of legal gray areas.  For more background on the issue, please click here.

Representative Fritchey will be introducing a vehicle bill for the Chamber’s clean-up provisions in the House.  The Chamber is also working with Senator Harmon to address the issue in the Senate.  In the meantime, the Chamber is coordinating with impacted businesses’ legal and regulatory divisions to finalize language that will address major reporting concerns, such as the broad definitions of “affiliated entities” and “affiliated persons,” including the reporting of minors.

CMS has also crafted an emergency rule that became effective January 28 providing supplemental information regarding registration requirements, including clarification of the definition of “executive employee,” as well as requirements regarding the submission of bids/proposals and contracts.  The rule, which can be viewed here, also provides further guidance as to the timelines for submission of registration certificates and the inclusion of contract certifications

96th General Assembly Committee Lists

Both the House and Senate have released a list of committees for the 96th General Assembly.  The Senate committee list is already available online and can be accessed here while the House committee list and proposed committee schedule can be accessed here.  The House and Senate have not yet finalized the list of committee members or committee chairs and spokespersons, but the Government Affairs Team will pass along this information as soon as it is finalized.

Government Affairs Legislative Preview Webinar Set for February 9

This is just a reminder that the Chamber will host its first legislative preview webinar Monday, February 9 at 2 pm.  Members should receive an e-mail invitation to the webinar next week.