New Illinois Laws 2019: Ethics, Transparency, Local Government

Election Code-Gender Neutral Titles (HB 01010) - Makes elected offices gender neutral, ex: committeeperson or chairperson rather than committeeman or chairman.

Sanitary District Act Amendments (HB 01190) - Allows a sanitary district to combine and jointly operate the district's waterworks and sewerage system by ordinance.

Local Government Professional Service (SB 02328) - Allows a political subdivision to waive the public hearing, evaluation procedure and selection procedure for projects expected to cost less than $150,000.

Commission on Human Relations (HB 03648) - Requires the City of Chicago's Commission on Human Relations administrative hearing officers to be licensed attorneys in Illinois, accepting of legal precedent and impartial in cases to come before the commission.

Grant Accountability Transparency (HB 04689) - Makes technical and clarifying changes to Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) in order to conform with federal law.

Uniform Powers of Appointment (HB 04702) - Creates the Uniform Powers of Appointment to codify the existing patchwork of state court cases that constitute the common law rules regarding the powers of appointment.

County Storm Water Management (HB 04748) - Expands the authority for counties to manage the effects of urbanization on storm water management to an additional 10 counties and allows all other counties to gain this authority through referendum.

Cook County Recorder Fee Schedules (HB 04765) - Cook County Board would establish a predictable fee schedule for the recording of standard documents, similar to how the rest of Illinois counties operate.

Local Government Electronic Notification Act (HB 04822) - Creates the Local Government Electronic Notification Act with the purpose of facilitating communication from units of local government or county officers to residents and taxpayers, such as email.

Kaskaskia Commons (HB 05690) - Transfers an 80-acre parcel of farmland located in Morgan County, as well as the money remaining in the Kaskaskia Common Fund, to the Kaskaskia Island Drainage and Levee District.

Continuous Municipalities Division (HB 05777) - Allows for the consolidation of two or more contiguous municipalities into one city or village.

Elected Township Officials/Employees (SB 02299) - Provides that a person elected to any township position cannot be employed by the township in any other capacity other than their elected position.

Removal of Seavey Drainage District (SB 02459) - Allows the Lake County Board to dissolve the Seavey Drainage District by resolution.

Consolidation of Mosquito Abatement Districts (SB 02543) - Allows for the consolidation of mosquito abatement districts.

Fire Protection District Disconnect (SB 02598) - Allows a home rule municipality to disconnect territory from a fire protection district if the municipality provides fire service to at least 80% of the territory.

Local Payout Attestations (SB 02923) - Requires the Township Clerk to attest to all payouts from a township treasury.

Township Board Purchasing Property (SB 02940) - Allows electors of a Township to delegate the power to purchase, sell or lease property to the township board for a period up to 12 months.

Flood Control Commission (SB 03134) - Creates flood control commission to study flooding in collar counties.

Disaster Tax Credit SB 03212 - Trailer bill to the Natural Disaster Income Tax Credit which moves a section regarding local government officials' disclosure ability from the FOIA Act to the Income Tax Act.

Fire Protection Training Act (SB 03304) - Makes multiple changes to the Illinois Fire Protection Training Act regarding reimbursements and standards.

Citation Quotas (SB 03509) - Extends the ban on ticket quotas to Chicago.

Government Severance Pay (SB 03604) - Requires that severance pay from a local government contract does not exceed more than 20 weeks of compensation and prohibits severance pay when the employee has been fired for misconduct.