Mid-session Legislative Update: The latest from Illinois, Iowa and D.C.

As February comes to a close, the Chamber is busy advocating for our business community in the Illinois and Iowa legislatures and on the federal level in Washington D.C. Below is our mid-session update. 

Federal

The Chamber remains laser-focused on pro-growth, pro-business tax policy at the federal level, with an emphasis on extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

We currently have a petition available in support of the extension of the 20% Qualified Business Income Deduction for small businesses – impacting more than three-quarters of small businesses across the country.

As we track the conversation, Congress is heavily focused on completing last year’s budget, but sights are already set on budget reconciliation packages to address border security and tax priorities. We believe we have an opportunity to impact the discussion early on with our local legislators and encourage everyone to take part in the above action items.

Last – individuals interested in joining us in Washington D.C. this April are invited to sign up to attend our trip and help elevate the issue with our federal delegation.

Illinois

Illinois is beginning to see legislative action as the bill introduction deadline passed on February 7. The Chamber is tracking priority legislation connected to housing incentives, Brownfield/Grayfield Redevelopment incentives and the Elimination of the Tip Credit, among other things. Governor Pritzker’s budget address on Wednesday, February 19, set the stage for budget targets and appropriations going forward.

Middle-Income Housing Grant Program – Action Alert

The Chamber has engaged in the creation of new housing incentives to help level the playing field for housing development on both sides of the Mississippi River. This legislation would create a valuable program to support the development of new market-rate housing in the Illinois Quad Cities with minimal impact to the State budget by creating a grant program available exclusively to River Edge Redevelopment Zones – a program that East Moline, Moline and Rock Island participate in. The program also broadly aligns with the Gov. Pritzker's ad-hoc committee report on missing-middle housing released earlier this year.

The bill has been introduced and awaits a committee hearing. 

Brownfield/Grayfield Incentives

The need for incentive parity goes beyond housing and includes a need for new, creative incentives to encourage investment in empty commercial spaces and redevelopment of blighted industrial sites with contamination. The legislation we have introduced would create an additional incentive that can be layered onto redevelopment efforts to ensure projects can get over the finish line and blighted neighborhoods become a landing point for new investment.

This bill has been introduced and awaits a committee hearing. 

Elimination of the Tip Credit – Action Alert

Last year, legislators in Illinois made a concerted push to eliminate the state’s tipped wage credit, which allows for businesses with tipped employees to manage costs through lower base wages for tipped employees if, and only if, their tips make up the difference between the existing minimum wage. Studies show that tipped employees regularly make nearly double the state minimum wage. Eliminating the credit could lead to lower wages for existing tipped workers, and will raise costs for consumers and small businesses across the Illinois Quad Cities.

This bill has been introduced in the Illinois House and awaits a hearing.

Iowa

Iowa’s legislative session is in full swing, with major bills on energy, child care and unemployment taxes moving forward in the process. 

Unemployment Insurance Taxes – Action Alert

Legislation to reduce Iowa’s Unemployment Insurance Tax has been introduced in the House and has been assigned a subcommittee. The bill would reduce the base wages eligible to be taxed and simplify the tables used to calculate the amount of tax required to be paid. Overall, we believe this will reduce the unemployment insurance taxes owed, particularly for industries with high unemployment insurance tax burdens.

The subcommittee has yet to meet, but the Chamber supports reducing the tax burden on Iowa businesses, thus keeping money in the communities and businesses where it is earned.

Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact – Action Alert

The Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact is a priority for the Quad Cities Chamber, as we continue to work in Illinois to extend passenger rail from Chicago to the Quad Cities. We believe that Iowa’s membership in the Compact, which does not commit the State to future support for rail, helps to make the case to our Illinois partners that the route is viable and has broad support from the Quad Cities and Iowa.

The bill has been recommended for passage by a House subcommittee and awaits a full committee hearing.