Only the House was in Session this week. The Senate will return to Springfield next week, when the House will be in recess.
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This week marked the second full week of committee work for the House, but none of the major energy committees were scheduled to meet. The Energy Association was monitoring several bills related to energy in other committees. Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Red Bud) was sponsoring HB 497 which would extend the sunset on a tax exemption for coal mining and other aggregate production. The bill was scheduled to be heard in the House Revenue Committee this week, but has been placed in a subcommittee on Sales and Other Taxes and scheduled for a hearing on March 9th.
The Energy Association is supporting HB 818 (Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Chicago) which would provide tax incentives for data centers in Illinois. Data centers have become a driver of economic growth throughout Illinois. HB 818 was scheduled for a hearing in the Revenue Committee this week, but has been place in a subcommittee on Growth, Reform and Fairness. The bill is now scheduled to be heard on March 9th.
The Senate will return to Springfield next Tuesday and will be in Session through Thursday. The Senate Energy Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday at 11:00 am. The Committee will consider two initiatives. SB 71 (Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park) would put an immediate effective date on the changes to the RPS that were included in the Future Energy Jobs Bill. The RPS changes are currently scheduled to go into law along with the rest of the Future Energy Jobs Bill on June 1st 2017. There is currently strong opposition to making changes to the Future Energy Jobs bill before it goes into effect.
The Senate Energy Committee will also consider SB 1488 (Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Peru) that would repeal the Radioactive Waste Task Force. Originally, the Task Force was created to help with the sitting of a low level radioactive waste site in Illinois. The industry is no longer interested in sitting such a facility and there is no opposition to removing the Task Force.
The Energy Association has scheduled several receptions for the new General Assembly. A reception honoring the Senate Committees will be on March 28th from 5:30 to 7:30pm at Maldaner’s. The reception honoring House Committees had been scheduled for March 21st, but will be rescheduled because of a conflict that has developed with some mandatory legislative meetings. Please RSVP to edrake@elaineg75.sg-host.com, or 217-523-7348.
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