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Friday, March 29, 2024

Naperville’s Pulse in Springfield – New Year, New Laws

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Happy New Year!

As it does each year, the start of the New Year also ushers in hundreds of new laws in Illinois. This year, more than 200 new laws became effective on January 1, 2018, some good, some not-as-good in my opinion, but I am pleased that several new provisions are now in place that will help with one of my major goals – increasing government transparency and accountability to taxpayers.

Here are a few examples:

Enabling Local Government Consolidation (Public Act 100-107)

This new law lays out detailed consolidation provisions affecting townships, road districts, lighting districts and county authority to dissolve units appointed by the county board. Some provisions include expanding DuPage County’s consolidation program to all counties, authorizing Township and Road District consolidation by referendum. It also permits Home Equity Commissions with at least $4 million in unencumbered funds in its guarantee fund to establish a Tax Reimbursement Program. Some of these changes were inspired by the work of the 2015 Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandates Task Force.

Improving transparency in the cost of unfunded mandates (Public Act 100-242)

A new layer of transparency is now available in Illinois government as it relates to the cost of unfunded mandates on local governments. The new law provides that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s (DCEO) catalog of state mandates shall also include a statewide cost of compliance estimate. Unfunded mandates include any state-initiated action that requires a local unit of government to absorb a new function at their own cost.

Improving election transparency and voter access to referendum information (Public Act 100-298)

This law improves transparency and voter access to ballot referendum information by ensuring that public questions are published for voter review not more than 60 days (currently 40 days) and not less than 10 days (currently 30 days) before the election. Expanding the window for posting ballot questions allows voters more time to learn about the proposals that will be put before them at the ballot box.

State employee salary disclosure (Public Act 100-253)

This Act requires the Comptroller to disclose state employee salaries, in both the annual report and the online Ledger, with the total amount paid to a state employee during the past calendar year. The amount listed will be rounded to the nearest hundred dollars to help protect state workers from being victims of identity theft.

Ban on part-time elected or appointed officials from IMRF (Public Act 100-274)

The new law prohibits part-time officeholders (elected or appointed) from participating in or receiving benefits from the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). The officeholder’s position is deemed to be part-time if it normally requires the performance of duty during less than 1000 hours a year.

We still have a long way to go in terms of transparency and accountability, but these measures are a good start and I am ready to work on additional reforms when we return to Springfield later this month. You can read more about all of the new laws that went into effect January 1 on my website (www.repwehrli.com).

From my family to yours, best wishes for a safe, healthy and prosperous 2018!

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Grant Wehrli
Grant Wehrli
Grant Wehrli is a lifelong Naperville Resident and former Representative in the Illinois House of Representatives and Naperville City Councilman.

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