Will County Gazette

Will County Board Legislative Committee met Nov. 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

I. CALL TO ORDER 

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG 

Mr. Butler led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

III. ROLL CALL 

Chair Julie Berkowicz called the meeting to order at 12:55 PM

Attendee Name	Title	Status	Arrived
Julie Berkowicz	Chair	Present
Meta Mueller	Vice-Chair	Present
Daniel J. Butler	Member	Present
Janet Diaz	Member	Present
Mark Revis	Member	Absent

Present from the State's Attorney's Office: M. Tatroe.

Also Present: K. Fladhammer and T. Cooke.

IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 

The minutes were approved after Old Business.

1. WC Legislative Committee - Regular Meeting - Sep 5, 2023 12:00 PM 

RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]  MOVER: Meta Mueller, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Daniel J. Butler, Member AYES: Berkowicz, Mueller, Butler ABSENT: Revis LEFT MEETING: Diaz

2. WC Legislative Committee - Regular Meeting - Oct 3, 2023 12:00 PM 

RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]  MOVER: Daniel J. Butler, Member SECONDER: Meta Mueller, Vice-Chair AYES: Berkowicz, Mueller, Butler ABSENT: Revis LEFT MEETING: Diaz

V. MISCELLANEOUS LEGISLATIVE REPORTS

1. ISACo Legislative Reports 

(Reports)

VI. OLD BUSINESS 

1. Federal Legislative Update 

(Smith Dawson & Andrews)

Ms. Beal stated that the House has elected a new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson from Louisiana. He was not very well known prior to being elected. He is committed to passing the FY24 Appropriations Bill. The House has moved forward on 9 of their 12 bills and the Senate has moved on 3 of their 12. There is still no middle ground between the House and the Senate. There are 10 days to the deadline of the current Continuing Resolution; we are likely looking at least 1 more CR. The Speaker and close allies are discussing a laddered CR, which is passing 2 different deadlines; that does not have a lot of momentum. That could get a little confusing. Congress will have to act in the next 10 days to avoid a government shutdown. If there was a shutdown, we do not anticipate it to last long enough for the county to be significantly impacted. Regarding HR467, the fentanyl bill, it was passed by the House; the While House is in support of this bill. The bill is in the Senate but there has not been any action. There is also a bill that was introduced on the Senate side, but there is not much movement on that bill either. We will keep monitoring it.

Mrs. Berkowicz asked for updates on HR2948, HR3372, HR2493and SB1818. Ms. Beal answered there is no movement on any of them. The only bills being considered is another CR, a potential Ukraine/Israel/Taiwan aid bill and the actual appropriations bill. We will keep track of those bills to see if they are included in any of the omnibus legislation.

Mrs. Berkowicz asked for an update on the farm bill.

Ms. Beal answered it slowed down over the summer and was almost at a dead halt. Congress will have to do a short-term extension of the current authorization as they work on the upcoming reauthorization. There are no updates to that right now.

Mrs. Berkowicz noted it has come to our attention that Will County has officially been recognized as losing the most farmland in the country, except for Maricopa County, Arizona. That is a big concern, and we want to make sure that is a priority in our legislative agenda.

Ms. Fladhammer asked for Smith Dawson to provide information on any items that are appropriate to include in the federal legislative agenda.

2. State Legislative Update 

(Mac Strategies)

Mr. Murphy and Ms. Schaeffer with Mac Strategies, the new state legislative lobbyist, introduced themselves to the committee and provided some background information.

Ms. Schaeffer stated we will be having regular meetings with your leadership team and providing regular bill tracking reports. We will watch legislative as it is introduced and amended; we know sometimes it can be very short notice. Our goal is to be on top of all the issue areas you are interested in so we can watch those as best we can. We are in the second week of veto session, which will run until this Thursday. In the next few weeks, the session schedule for spring will be released. They will be starting in January, ramping up in the spring and ending mid to end of May. There is a primary election that may impact what the schedule looks like. Early in the session they will introduce legislation; there will be deadlines by which new bills need to be drafted and then filed. We expect to be hit with thousands of new ills. We will do our best to work through those as quickly as we can on your behalf and provide you with an updated report. Knowing that there are still bills that are alive from this year; there are still opportunity for existing bills to move ad we want to be on top of all the issue areas. We are looking forward to hearing feedback from you.

Mr. Butler asked if they could research SB134. Is that a response to something happening now or for future action?

Ms. Schaeffer answered the bill was introduced in January of 2023, was sent back to assignments and has not moved forward. We will provide some background information on it.

Mrs. Berkowicz there are 2 bills I am interested in. The first is HB420, the low carbon delivery act. I would like to know if there is any impact on the county level. Mr. Murphy indicated at this point the bill is restricted to counties over 3 million people. The intention is to have a dialogue in the spring, and we will certainly be there for that. Currently it is set for a pilot program basis for the City of Chicago. We will continue to monitor that; if there is any attempt to expand, we will contact you so we are aware of your position.

Mrs. Berkowicz said the second bill is HB421, local accessory dwelling units. This will over-ride the ability of the county to vote accordingly to represent our constituents here.

Ms. Schaeffer indicated this is the same language that was previously filed in the last General Assembly, which did not move forward. There is no new momentum, but we will keep an eye out.

Mr. Murphy advised the committee there are a number of bills that are moving - or not moving in the veto session. We are prepared to provide a brief update on them if time allows.

Mrs. Berkowicz said yes, please continue with the update.

Mr. Murphy stated the first bill is the paid leave that the Illinois General Assembly approved, which requires paid leave be granted to employees for any reason. Some units of government were excluded, but not municipalities or counties. There has been an effort to see if they could change the law to include those units of government, since many of them already operate with labor agreements. Unfortunately, labor organizations were adamant that the bill not be changed. The next issue is HB4148, the legislative staff unionization bill, which applies very narrowly to employees of the General Assembly. There has not been any desire by the Senate staff to unionize and it currently does not apply to counties, but we will continue to monitor it.

Ms. Schaeffer stated regarding the energy bill, the small modular nuclear reactor bill, SB76; the Governor vetoed this. There is work underway to try to get new language that would satisfy concerns; it does not look like this bill means to override the veto, but they may address it in separate legislation. SB690 is in committee and has to do with the tax levy for community mental health boards. SB696 is also in committee and amends TIFs and includes a TIF in a city in Will County.

Mrs. Berkowicz noted a weekly or bi-weekly report would be very helpful for us to keep track of any bills that concern us here in the county. Thank you for being with us today and for the information you have provided.

Ms. Diaz left at this juncture.

3. Monthly NACo Activity Report 

(Denise Winfrey)

Ms. Winfrey informed the committee that NACo supports a Continuing Resolution; it is in the best interest of all governmental entities. Everyone is in favor of it. NACo is advocating for a straight CR, not the laddered version. The RAC Symposium just ended. We did not have anyone from our rural districts attend; however, there will be information on the website. Coming up on the 27th in Washington DC we are convening the housing initiative and in February the Legislative Conference will take place, also in Washington DC.

Mrs. Berkowicz indicated last year at the Legislative Conference, there was a great focus on the mental health initiative; it was amazing. I am sure they will continue with that at this conference.

Ms. Winfrey noted that is ongoing. I convened the mental health initiative last year; Dr. Burke sits on that for us. There is an overall White House initiative on mental health as well; those things are ongoing.

Mr. Butler commented the NACo experience was a great experience. Many of the subjects that were being offered we have talked about here. After finishing the Leadership course, I recommend for every board member attend it. It is a great course. All around it was a really good experience.

Ms. Winfrey said some counties have agreements with local universities for a certificate program for board members to go through in terms of enhancing their knowledge of county rules, government, finance, in addition to this program. Currently, we do not have that here, but it could be taken up with the University of St. Francis or Lewis University.

VII. OTHER OLD BUSINESS 

VIII. NEW BUSINESS 

1. Request for Animal Control Fee Increase 

(Animal Control - Anna Payton)

Ms. Payton reviewed the attached PowerPoint with the committee. Mrs. Berkowicz asked if you currently have vets that provide services at a discount of pro-bono.

Ms. Payton answered very few do pro-bono, but we have partners that we work with. Even with those, the expense has gone up. These fees are beyond reasonable.

Ms. Mueller informed the committee that people assume that the Will County Human Society is part of our animal control, and it is not. We have no control over them. If we were to implement this, do you have staff to handle the adoption program?

Ms. Payton replied currently we have part-time temporary kennel attendants. In the FY24 budget, they have been converted to part-time animal caretakers; they would be handling daily adoptions and there would be no additional work for the current employees.

Ms. Mueller commented this is a fantastic idea. I would not be opposed to seeing these fees go up a little bit. We definitely need to do something. I’m excited to see everyone working together.

Mrs. Berkowicz suggested pursuing a volunteer program and also working on a foster program. Do you provide rabies licenses?

Ms. Payton answered we issue the rabies tags to the vet hospital who issues them to the owner at the time of vaccination. The vet hospitals purchase them from us. Mrs. Berkowicz questioned if the Human Society purchased them from the county. Ms. Payton replied they do not; if you adopt from them, you are given instructions to purchase your tags from the county you reside in.

Mrs. Berkowicz asked if you are notified.

Ms. Payton answered it depends on the organization; some do and some do not. Mrs. Berkowicz asked what the next step is.

Ms. Fladhammer stated this was moved to the legislative committee because the entire ordinance needs to be reviewed at one time, not just dropping in a sheet of fees; it affects different places in the ordinance. I have discussed with Ms. Renken about having the entire ordinance done and presented as one change. The committee should be giving the State’s Attorney’s office direction regarding the entire revamping of the ordinance. That is what I have understood the procedure to be in the past.

Mrs. Tatroe indicated we do require direction when the committee initiates the ordinance changes. We will not move forward unless the committee votes and gives us that direction. In this case, the request came from the Director indicating there was a need. Ms. Renken sat down to make sure the proposed changes do correlate with what is currently there. If you want to make additional changes, you can; it is not necessary legally to make a comprehensive change. That is just the policy the Chair of the Board and the Chief of Staff desire to have.

Ms. Fladhammer noted it is the desire of the County Board Chair because we are reviewing all of the ordinances. It would not make sense to do it piecemeal.

Additionally, the document provided does not provide a statutory code where it would be provided in the ordinance.

Mrs. Tatroe said if it is your desire to move forward with these fees, we can get that done and bring them back.

Mrs. Berkowicz stated I believe we are all in agreement; you have our support and we would like to get this updated.

Ms. Fladhammer asked is this to update the entire ordinance or just the fees. Mrs. Berkowicz answered let’s do this right and take the time we need to update the ordinance.

Mrs. Tatroe noted that could take longer and you could be euthanizing animals in the meantime.

Mrs. Berkowicz questioned how we avoid that.

Ms. Fladhammer indicated these fees are periodically throughout the current ordinance. Taking them out and putting them into a chart can be done and possibly should be done so you do not have to amend every single section of the ordinance. I do not think you can drop this chart in and leave the other sections throughout the ordinance.

Mrs. Tatroe agreed you could not; you would then have conflicts. We will bring forward the suggested changes.

2. United Counties Council of IL (UCCI) 

(Discussion)

IX. OTHER NEW BUSINESS 

X. PUBLIC COMMENT 

XI. ANNOUNCEMENTS/REPORTS BY CHAIR 

XII. EXECUTIVE SESSION 

XIII. ADJOURNMENT 

1. Motion to adjourn at 2:12 p.m. 

RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]  MOVER: Meta Mueller, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Daniel J. Butler, Member AYES: Berkowicz, Mueller, Butler ABSENT: Revis LEFT MEETING: Diaz

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