It’s just a bill
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* WAND…
Illinois Senate Democrats hope a new piece of legislation will create racism-free schools across the state.
Sen. Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) introduced a bill this spring requiring all Illinois schools to create, implement, and maintain at least one written policy prohibiting discrimination and harassment against students based on race, color, or national origin.
This proposal also bans retaliation against students who submit complaints to school administrators.
“This is a bill that would define racial discrimination, prohibit it in schools, and provide an avenue for some restitution and correction of that behavior,” Murphy explained Tuesday. […]
Senate Bill 90 passed out of the Senate Education Committee on a 11-3 vote. The plan now moves to the Senate floor for further consideration.
* HB4041 was introduced last month and has been referred to Rules. The Chicago Tribune…
Illinois may legalize online sports betting on in-state college teams, with HB4041 currently under deliberation. Right now, you can only bet on teams like Illinois football or Northwestern basketball at in-person sportsbooks. […]
Under the bill, mobile sportsbooks could offer pre-game betting or Tier 1 wagering on the 13 schools that play Division I basketball and the seven FBS schools. Tier 1 betting is considered “determined solely by the final score or final outcome of the sports event and is placed before the sports event has begun,” so things like full game spreads and totals, not props.
Critically, Carroll’s bill does not include any language about player props and there has been much more substantial pushback against that type of betting. Of the nearly 40 states that have legalized sports betting, roughly half include provisions barring collegiate player props as university officials have cited concerns over student safety. […]
That push, however, has not swayed many university officials, including University of Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman. Whitman spoke on behalf of the 13 local schools against the expansion during the Tuesday hearing.
Whitman highlighted that colleges were not getting support from the state to diminish the mental health risks to students and noted a supposed uptick in social media bullying of student athletes in the wake of the 2021 sports betting expansion.
* Riverside-Brookfield Landmark…
The Illinois State Senate has passed, without a single dissenting vote, a bill that would make it more difficult for Lyons Township High School to sell the approximately 70-acre tract of undeveloped land it owns in Willow Springs.
The bill, which passed the state Senate on 55-0 vote on March 31, would limit how a school district can sell land and give other units of local government a right of first refusal.
If a school district wants to sell property under the provisions of the local government transfer act, according to the text of the bill passed by the Senate, it must get at least three appraisals of the land within the current zoning and must first offer the land to the municipality, park district or school district within whose boundaries the property sits at the median price set by the three appraisals.
The bill, which seems to be inspired by LTHS’ attempt to sell the Willow Springs property to an industrial developer, would give the village of Willow Springs a right of first refusal to buy the land at a lower price than what was offered to LTHS when the school put the land up for sale a few months ago.
* State Journal-Register…
Environmentalists rallied at the Capitol on Tuesday, urging lawmakers to pass legislation regulating the carbon capture and sequestration industry in Illinois.
Two bills were discussed during a brief rally held in front of the Lincoln statue, one which advocates support and another, which they claim is more industry-friendly, that they oppose. The bill they back is the Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage Protections Act listed under Senate Bill 2421 and House Bill 3119.
Both pieces of legislation - sponsored by Sen. Laura Fine, D-Glenview and Rep. Ann Williams respectively - have yet to advance out of their chambers, but action could still happen before the May 19 spring session adjournment of the Illinois General Assembly. Lawmakers could tack the existing or modified language through an amendment to a shell bill- a tactic oft-seen near the end of legislative sessions. […]
The other set of bills, House Bill 2202 and Senate Bill 2153, have support from industry groups like Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, Navigator CO2 Ventures and the Illinois Manufacturers Association. Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, and Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago are the bills’ sponsors - neither making it to a full chamber vote so far this session.
* HB3296 passed 68-40 yesterday and now heads to the Senate. From WAND…
State lawmakers hope to raise the annual credit union regulation fee for the first time since 2008.
Credit union operators currently pay $140,000 to be regulated by the state. House Bill 3296 could adjust the fee cap to $210,000 based on the consumer price index.
Sponsors were able to negotiate this change with the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation and the Credit Union League. […]
Croke noted that Illinois has seen what happens when the financial industry isn’t regulated. However, House Republicans said they couldn’t support a fee increase.
* The Daily Northwestern…
In March, the Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill that would remove liability protections for ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft.
Illinois does not currently classify ride-share drivers as “common carriers” like train conductors, airline pilots and taxi drivers. That means if a rider sues a driver, the company will not be held liable for any damages. The proposed legislation would remove this exemption.
State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview), the House sponsor of the bill, said current legislation must be reformed to reflect the modern transportation market. […]
The bill currently awaits a vote in the Illinois Senate, scheduled for Wednesday. […]
The bill passed mostly along party lines, with some Republican state legislators voicing opposition to the bill. According to We Are Central Illinois, State Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) called the legislation “another attack on the free market.” State Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Harrisburg) said on the House floor that increased regulation could drive Lyft and Uber away from Illinois.
- The Truth - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 10:48 am:
The technicalities in the Illinois collegiate sports gambling story seem meaningless to me - people have been able to bet online on Illinois-based college sports for many years.
- northsider (the original) - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 11:13 am:
Ride Share companies got a 10 year break because they were a new industry that the state wanted to help grow.This included special pick up areas at airports, avoidance of background checks, and extraordinarily limited responsibility for injuries to their paying customers.
Now they ARE the industry and don’t need special coddling anymore.
Doesn’t seem right that a passenger’s right to sue for their injuries is different depending on whether they called a cab or an Uber.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 11:26 am:
The Lyons Township bill seems very much like Big Government stepping in to limit what a local government can do with its assets. Seems excessive.
Having said that, appears to be excellent lobbying by the bill’s proponents at 55-0…
- CrowbaitBob - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 11:36 am:
“Environmentalists rallied at the Capitol….”
Does Capitol Fax have a list of special interest groups who can rally in front of the Lincoln statue and get mention in Capitol Fax? Or is it a list of such groups who WON’T be mentioned when they do?
- Donnie Elgin - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 11:56 am:
Credit union operators currently pay $140,000 to be regulated by the state. House Bill 3296 could adjust the fee cap to $210,000
Been using a credit union for banking needs for decades. Before upping the regulation fee – lay down the rationale – list the abuses or failures of Illinois-regulated CUs. The whole point of
CU is to have a low-cost and less feature-rich simple banking option, upping fees will limit this. Also comparing IL to CA is not a comfort Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic were HQ’d in CA with all sorts of regulations, and look what happened. As for compromising with the Industry – that may be true – but there are over 2100 witness slips against it – and yes we all know that without a legal hook, anyone can fill-em out, but this issue is not a sexy one, and CU likely don’t have a ton of high priced lobbyist so I would say most are legit.
- Tim - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 11:57 am:
Uber and Lyft are taxis with an app. Time for them to be treated the same, especially now that their rates are nearly identical.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 12:20 pm:
=The Lyons Township bill seems very much like Big Government stepping in to limit what a local government can do with its assets. Seems excessive.=
This is John (I think) Curran pandering for votes. And yes, it is gross overstep especially since it only places a limitation on schools. The net effect is that schools won’t sell land that some communities may want to get developed.
The other piece of this puzzle is how poorly Lyons Township handled this process. They were secretive (for absolutely no good reason) and violated OMA (per a written decision by the public access counselor). They knew the people that live next to this site don’t want industrial development next door. No communication with feeder schools that also have an interest in what happens or any other governmental unit. So now we all run the risk of punishment.
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 12:31 pm:
- increased regulation could drive Lyft and Uber away from Illinois. -
Yeah, I’m sure they’ll give up the Chicago market over it.
- Captain Obvious - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 12:35 pm:
My question about the Lyons bill is this: What is the overriding government interest that would allow the state to limit property rights in this way? If the bill does not address this issue it likely won’t pass muster in any litigation that arises out of it.
- Donnie Elgin - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 12:54 pm:
“increased regulation could drive Lyft and Uber away from Illinois”
They won’t leave, but it certainly will cost more for a ride.
- TheInvisibleMan - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 1:06 pm:
–State lawmakers hope to raise the annual credit union regulation fee–
@Donnie Elgin - “list the abuses or failures of Illinois-regulated CUs”
There are some terrible credit unions out there. I just closed an account this week at one I’ve had for almost a decade.
Their savings interest rates are now worse than(lower) every local bank, by a huge margin, even on a CD. Their loan interest rates are also now worse than banks, in the other direction(higher). Their ‘ownership share’ saving account implementing a new inactivity fee of $5 was what finally drove me away. Savings accounts aren’t supposed to be active like a checking account, that’s their entire purpose for existing is to be a store of money and not a in/out flow of money. I can now get a better deal at any local bank for a savings account, than at this credit union.
In just under 10 years, this went from being a good credit union, to being worse than an actual bank. To the point that calling themselves a Credit Union is just relying on the name recognition of what a credit union once was, instead of the current status of at least this one that has far worse loans and fees than a bank in every measurable metric. There are now zero products at this Credit Union I can’t get cheaper at any local bank. I question the existing regulations that allows this place to still call themselves a credit union.
Something is very wrong with Credit Union regulations right now even if the pot hasn’t boiled over yet, and I’d keep a close eye on what yours is doing if you like it. Be especially concerned if they ever announce a merger with another credit union.
- cermak_rd - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 2:26 pm:
My understanding of the fee change was just to keep it in line with purchasing capabilities. We really need to change bills with dollar amounts to a dollar amount and an index to use with commonly accepte d economic markers so the actual value of the $$ amount stays the same.
- MisterJayEm - Wednesday, May 3, 23 @ 3:56 pm:
“They won’t leave, but it certainly will cost more for a ride.”
Ending subsidies based on corporations’ legal irresponsibility seems like a good idea to me.
– MrJM