* Thread!…

* This bill was put on hold last year after Republicans demanded it be stalled for a year to win their votes on the budget and other end-of-session legislation…

The Illinois Farm Bureau is joining the Illinois Associated Builders and Contractors in opposing a measure to require prevailing wage for entry-level laborers working in refineries.

Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert said at Tuesday’s Ag Breakfast in Springfield that for agriculture to thrive in Illinois, it needs four things: “Great trade agreements” and exports, growth in the livestock industry, and “a renewable fuel industry that works well.”

“[Ethanol] provides another opportunity for us to market the goods that we so well raise here in this state and that’s corn or soybeans made into biodiesel,” Guebert said.

He urged the room full of farmers to oppose Senate Bill 1407. He said it would limit future markets for corn and soybeans.

“Forty-two percent of Illinois corn goes through an ethanol plant. Twenty percent of the distillers’ grains are fed to livestock in the state of Illinois,” Guebert said.

The builder’s group previously said Senate Bill 1407 will hurt its apprenticeship programs.

One of the co-sponsors of the bill in the Senate, state Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said he wanted to see how negotiations on the bill go in the House.

“I would like to look at the information again on what’s been taking place in the House in terms of negotiations,” Villivalam said.

* Jerry Nowicki at Capitol News Illinois…

A 2013 state law allowing utilities to tack natural gas surcharges onto consumer bills for the purpose of funding infrastructure improvements is under scrutiny at the Capitol.

At a Statehouse news conference Tuesday, lawmakers and consumer advocates called for ending that state law on Jan. 1, 2021, three years earlier than its Dec. 31, 2023, statutory sunset date.

They claim allowing the surcharges “helps major utilities sidestep the regulatory process, automatically raise heating bills, and force many customers into financial crisis to cover billions of dollars in reckless utility spending.”

Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said his Senate Bill 3497 and its companion House Bill 5247 are aimed at starting “a conversation centered on the accountability, the safety, and the affordability of utility bill increases that our families are facing in the state of Illinois.”

* Press release…

State Representatives Mike Marron (R-Fithian), Charlie Meier (R-Okawville), Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis), and Assistant Minority Leader Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) held a press conference in Springfield Wednesday alongside fellow Republican legislators and 2nd Amendment supporters to discuss solutions to end delays in FOID card processing, and discussed their shared 2nd Amendment focused legislative agenda. The lawmakers expressed their concerns that fund sweeps of $28 million from the Illinois State Police fund have led to delays in processing FOID card applications and renewals.

Marron says his office is overwhelmed every week with calls from constituents experiencing long delays for FOID renewals.

“My office receives dozens of constituent calls regarding FOID renewals every month,” Marron said. “There has been a steady increase of approval delays leading to many frustrated citizens unable to speak with a live person when checking on their FOID renewal and approval status. The delays are not due to a lack of funding, but because money that was supposed to be used to provide service to Illinois’ two million FOID cardholders was used for spending in other areas.”

Rep. Charlie Meier says the fund sweeps have led to long delays for gun owners to get their FOID cards renewed.

“The FOID program has been used as a piggy bank to fund other programs,” Meier said. “If the State is going to require the fee, and require the FOID, then we owe it to our citizens to run an efficient and effective program. If we can’t do that, the program should be eliminated.”

Rep. Patrick Windhorst said he is sponsoring a legislative package that would eliminate the FOID altogether (HB 913). Barring its passage, Windhorst says his agenda reduces costs and regulations for law-abiding citizens.

“Illinois is one of only four States that still requires a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card (FOID),” Windhorst said. “Though I believe the FOID card is unconstitutional, that issue will ultimately be decided by the courts. Until the courts decide, there are steps we can take as a legislature to address FOID renewal delays and decrease high costs and burdensome regulations on law-abiding gun owners.”

Windhorst says his legislative package aims to reduce fees, eliminate long waiting periods, and allows for automatic FOID renewal if a concealed carry license is still in effect.

“We are here to say, either void the unconstitutional FOID card, or stop the fund sweeps and pass our legislative package to ease the burden on law-abiding gun owners, reduce costs, and improve renewal times,” Windhorst said.

Multiple House Republican members are sponsoring legislation that would reduce costs and regulations for law-abiding gun owners and protect FOID and CCL funding.

HB 4391 would ban local government units from imposing taxes or fees on firearms and ammunition.
HB 4392 would eliminate the 72-hour waiting period for individuals that have been granted a valid license to carry a concealed handgun under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act.
HB 4393 would lower the fee to obtain a concealed carry license from $150 to $100.
HB 4397 grants exclusive power to the State of Illinois in regard to the regulation of the ownership and possession of firearms and invalidates existing and future local ordinances or resolutions that require local registration, or local reporting of the sale or transfer of a firearm, and bans municipalities from maintaining any kind of firearm registry.
HB 4398 allows any individual that has received a permit to conceal carry a firearm to do so on public transportation.
HB 4447 states that any renewal application shall be accepted by the Illinois State Police if submitted within 180 days before the expiration of the applicant’s FOID card or concealed carry license.
HB 4448 would require the Illinois State Police to automatically renew any concealed carry license holder’s FOID card as long as their conceal carry license is in good standing until the time that the concealed carry license expires.
HB 4450 spells out the process by which any appeal of the denial of a FOID card or concealed carry license must be handled and provides specific guidelines for the State Police in regard to the time it takes to process any such appeal.
HJRCA 40 would amend the Illinois Constitution to place fees collected from FOID and CCL applicants in a ‘lock box’ fund that would be protected from future fund sweeps.

*** UPDATE *** ISP…

Sweeps of the firearms services funds by previous administrations prevented long-term planning and improvements to firearm services for years.

Now that the firearms services fund has been stabilized under the Governor’s bi-partisan budget, the Illinois State Police is implementing a multi-year plan for hiring and technology upgrades to provide the customer service that firearms owners should expect. We currently have 35 positions available.

However, the ISP needs the help of the legislature to streamline and improve the FOID and CCL process and welcomes the chance to work with Rep. Windhorst and others to shorten and standardize appeals, consolidate FOID and CCL functions, and reduce costs.

This is separate and apart from the need for enforcement resources for state, county and local law enforcement.

* Related…

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* Fowler ‘cautiously optimistic’ about Cairo River Port Terminal project