.January 9, 2023
The General Assembly was in session on January 4th-6th – during that time there was considerable committee and floor action in both chambers.
The so-called “Lame Duck Session” will conclude no later than 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 11th.
As IMSCA members likely recall, during the Fall Veto Session, the General Assembly considered and passed several pieces of legislation related to the unemployment trust fund, amendments to the SAFE-T Act, various TIF district extensions, and electric vehicle incentives – all of which have since been approved by Governor Pritzker.
HB4285
The most important issue to the Illinois construction industry that saw “Lame Duck Session” action was a proposal to amend the Illinois procurement code. HB 4285 as amended sought numerous changes to the procurement code. Among the proposed changes was the inclusion to provide that any procurement of construction not exceeding $250,000 may be made without competitive source selection. This triggered opposition from the Illinois construction industry, including IMSCA.
IMSCA issued a Call to Action which resulted in many IMSCA members contacting their legislators, partners in organized labor and filing witness slips. Over 100 opposition witness slips were filed against HB 4285 as amended – many of which were from union contractors, organized labor and minority construction associations. Most importantly, IMSCA’s efforts resulted in an agreement with the proponents of HB 4285 to remove the provision that triggered our opposition.
The details of the agreement reached provided that a forthcoming trailer bill will include language that will restore current law, keeping the “small purchase” threshold at $100,000. Our language was included in SB 1720 House Floor Amendment 3; which was approved by the Illinois House late Friday night (January 6th) and approved by the Illinois Senate yesterday (January 8th). SB 1720 as amended has already been sent to the Governor for approval. It is anticipated that SB 1720 will be signed into law before noon today (January 9th)..
IMSCA anticipates that many bills for the 103rd General Assembly will start being introduced as soon as Wednesday, January 11th. IMSCA’s lobbying team will be closely monitoring new bill introductions and identifying those that are of importance to the Illinois construction industry. Additionally, we will continue to monitor issues that are of particular importance to Illinois subcontractors in the final days of the 102nd General Assembly.
