* Stop narrowing the tax base…

A bill in the Senate could help more seniors qualify for a property tax freeze.

With the existing Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Exemption, seniors can take a property tax exemption if their income rests just above $65,000. To help seniors stay within the $65,000 income limit, Senate Bill 1346 would allow seniors to deduct their monthly Medicare expenses, allowing more seniors to take advantage of the property tax exemption.

While the exemption would give seniors a break, the bill may not be all that Illinois residents are hoping for when it comes to the state’s property taxes, said Carol Portman, president of the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois.

“This is not going to reduce the amount of property taxes collected in total, so when you increase an exemption on one property that means you are increasing the taxes on all other properties,” she said.

Portman said this could mean higher taxes for other Illinois residents, which is not something that the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois supports.

* Some freshmen House members might want to read this Chicago Tribune story about Illinois’ first woman state legislator…

Lottie O’Neill was accompanied by more than 1,000 women when she walked down a flag-draped aisle in the legislative chamber and took a seat in the fifth row on the third day of January in 1923. The gallery was packed with suffragists who, like O’Neill’s escorts that day, had come to Springfield to witness a historic event: the swearing-in of Illinois’ first female state legislator. […]

She would, in fact, serve for four decades as a legislator in the Illinois General Assembly. That was a remarkable achievement considering the tough time O’Neill’s colleagues gave her in 1923 after the hoopla ended and the legislature got down to horse-trading as usual.

At the swearing-in, O’Neill gestured toward her supporters and addressed the assembly:

“These women have already told you what I stand for — legislation for humanity,” she said. “And I earnestly request you men to work with me for these people in this legislation. The care of mothers and babies, better teachers and schools, aid for the delinquent girl; improved industrial conditions for women.”

In accord with that program, O’Neill sponsored 13 bills that year, but only three passed. She took that hard.

From the most recent House Bulletin…

Beginning Tuesday, April 2, the Order of Call for House Bills on 3rd Reading will be done alphabetically, based on members’ priorities. Members are advised to submit their priority lists, in the prescribed format, to their respective staffs […]

Through April 12 (3rd Reading Deadline for House Bills), floor amendments for House Bills will only be processed if and when the bill has been designated as a Top 3 priority by the member.

Don’t take it too hard when only three of your bills make it to the Senate - if that.

* Hmm…

On March 26, 2019, Illinois State Representative Luis Arroyo filed an amendment to House Bill 2713, the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Act. The legislation aims to create a financial structure to keep at-risk coal plants online through 2024, while funding a build-out of solar+storage, energy efficiency, and transmission to replace the lost capacity.

Just last year, a study sponsored by NRDC and Sierra Club finds that old coal plants can be retired and safely replaced by solar and other resources. The study was written specifically to counter a push by Vistra Energy to gain subsidies for its old plants.

Vistra Energy and its subsidiaries own 5.5 GW of coal resources within the region noted in the legislation (MISO Zone 4), which represents 40% of the summer capacity within that region. The company is seemingly a (the?) major backer, as noted by their website and press releases supporting the document.

The power company is also a developer of some of the largest solar+storage projects in various markets – for instance, a 300 MW / 1,200 MWh energy storage facility for California, and first Texas’ largest solar facility, then its largest battery – at said solar facility.

That bill, as amended, flew out of the House Public Utilities Committee 18-0 last Thursday.

* Related…

* House approves bill to improve care for youth in DCFS facilities: Specifically, House Bill 3153 requires DCFS to place a locked suggestion box in each group home, shelter and transitional living arrangement that accepts youth in care for placement by DCFS. If enacted into law, DCFS would be required to issue an annual report to the General Assembly outlining the concerns submitted to the boxes and the solutions for each concern.