* Crain’s yesterday…

Just a year after passing major new tax incentives to lure electric vehicle makers here, the Pritzker administration is aiming to sweeten the pot.

Legislation introduced in Springfield today that [quickly passed the Senate 49-5] would both widen and extend to up to 30 years payroll tax credits for those who work here under the existing Reimagining Electric Vehicles in Illinois law, known as the Rev Illinois Act. […]

Mark Denzler, who heads the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and worked on both Rev Illinois and the new plan, said the state has learned something from those losses and by talking to other companies whose plans are not yet final.

“We’ve seen we’ve come up short in some cases, so we’re tweaking,” Denzler said after testifying on behalf of the bill. “It means we’re listening to what we’ve heard from the companies that didn’t choose Illinois, and from companies that are still considering if they want to come here.”

Fact sheet from the Pritzker administration…

HB 5189, SA#3 is an initiative to provide improvements to the Reimagining Electric Vehicles in Illinois (REV Illinois) Act. The changes in this amendment are in direct response to conversations with industry stakeholders as we aggressively recruit companies in the rapidly evolving electric vehicle sector for Illinois investment.

Updates the Definition of “Component Parts Manufacturers” to Reflect Current Market Conditions
20 ILCS 686/10

In response to the reality of market conditions, these changes support existing Illinois manufacturers in the ramping up of their production of EV component parts while giving them flexibility to decrease their more traditional lines as demand decreases.

• Removes the need for a component parts manufacturer under the Act to primarily produce EV component parts
• Removes the “substantially” portion of definition of “retained employee” for component parts manufacturers
• Allows production of any component part of an electric vehicle to be considered eligible for the credit

Supports Existing Illinois Automakers to Transform Their Current Plants to EV
20 ILCS 686/30

• Improves the REV retention credit by increasing the tax credit available against incremental income tax attributable to retained employees at applicant’s project to 75% (from 25%) statewide or 100% (from 50%) for those locating or expanding in an Underserved or Energy Transition Area

Allows for Renewal of REV Agreements
20 ILCS 686/15 & /40

• Enacts a renewal clause that allows for businesses to renew the incentive for one additional term
• Allows the Department to put in parameters (i.e new & retained jobs, capital investment) for renewal

Allows Businesses Flexibility in Determining Which Incentives Work Best for Them
20 ILCS 686/20

• Provides the authority for EDGE recipients who are REV eligible to trade in their EDGE agreement for a REV agreement and receive REV benefits
• Provides that if a manufacturer falls out of compliance with REV because they are no longer producing EVs or component parts, but they are otherwise meeting employment and investment thresholds, then they can receive EDGE benefits without having to restart the process

Note: HB 5189, SA#3 also includes a technical change to ensure 120% wage requirement is met utilizing quality data compensation calculation under REV

* Center Square…

The Predatory Loan Prevention Act instituted a 36% interest rate cap on loans in Illinois, but some lawmakers say pawnbrokers are skirting the law.

A Sangamon County judge issued a preliminary injunction against the cap after pawnbrokers filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Legislation is pending in Springfield that would close the loophole and require Illinois pawnbrokers to charge no more than 36% APR for their loans.

A Woodstock Institute investigation showed that Illinois pawnbrokers were overcharging active-duty service members on loans with interest as much as 240%. Federal law is also supposed to cap those interest rates for service members. […]

Kelly Swisher, president of the Illinois Pawnbrokers Association, said the loans they deal with are usually short term.

“Typically 30 to 60 days, so we are captured under [the Truth in Lending Act], so we have to put down the 240%, but in actuality, it is a very short period of time,” Swisher said.

Woodstock Institute notes that nationally, annual interest rates on pawn loans are as low as 12%, much lower than the proposed 36%.

SJ-R…

Moving to Chicago last year, content creator Jazmine Thompson needed some extra cash to cover rent and expenses. She pawned her laptop computer and three professional cameras, receiving with it two $800 loans.

The interest rate on the loans was about 150% requiring her to pay $8,000 in loan fees over the course of 12 months. Not able to cover those expenses, Thompson decided to stop paying back the interest on her loans and has not regained her property. […]

“I’d like to point out that during COVID, the shutdowns, we were considered an essential business by this government,” Swisher said, who owns a pawn shop in Arlington Heights. “Now, all of a sudden, we are the enemy.”

IPA represents more than 200 pawnbrokers with a variety of specialties throughout the state, including three in Springfield, which makes setting a statewide standard a challenge. Above all, Swisher claims the measure will cause many shops to go out of business.

* Center Square on a bill that has been stuck in House Rules Committee since April…

A measure some at the Illinois statehouse hope to advance would give voting rights to incarcerated individuals serving time in county jails or state or federal prisons.

Senate Bill 828 is sponsored by state Sen. Mike Simmons, D-Chicago, and, if passed, would overturn current law that states anyone serving a sentence in a federal or state prison, county jail, or on work release is ineligible to vote. […]

State Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, claims the legislation was brought forward for the wrong reasons.

“A voter block such as this raises some questions about the unintended consequences of this piece of legislation,” Niemerg said. “Perhaps, they are the intended consequences of this being a Democratic voter drive, so to speak.”

By framing it this way, isn’t he also saying he’s opposed because he’s protecting Republican political interests?

* Politico on the measure to implement the unemployment insurance trust fund agreed bill…

As we mentioned Wednesday, this would be a supplemental budget that might prompt lawmakers to try to tack on additional goodies. But Republicans are saying they won’t be on board unless the measure is strictly focused on paying off unemployment debt. That will be fine with Pritzker. He wants the measure to have bipartisan support and doesn’t need the drama of add-ons.

Yesterday…

Watch for hiccups: The proposal will be part of a supplemental budget, which could become a Christmas tree for lawmakers who want to negotiate items or bills for their own purposes.

This is an agreed bill. There’s no mucking around with agreed bills. And it’s also not an appropriations bill, supplemental or otherwise. We’ll see a supplemental approp next year.

…Adding… There is an approp bill, and the Senate is debating it now. However, there was no mucking around with it.

…Adding… The actual implementation bill passed the House by a wide, bipartisan margin.