A legislative update was given to Sycamore Rotarians at this week’s meeting by club member and State Representative Jeff Keicher. Keicher raised concerns about state legislation that creates or increases taxes and fees and cited several specific examples.
Saying “transit news in not good,” Keicher said a new transit agency structure in the state was specifically designed to overcome hundreds of millions of dollars in Chicago transit budget deficits. An outcome is increased toll road charges. Keicher explained that the new 20-member Northern Illinois Transit Agency will oversee the CTA, PACE, and METRA services. He noted the agency board automatically favors Chicago because five members represent the City, five are from Cook County, five are appointed by the Governor, and only five come from the remaining five counties in the new Agency’s footprint. Keicher said the Agency’s taxing and fee authority is the reason he will oppose METRA bringing commuter rail to DeKalb noting the City’s bus service to METRA’s nearest stop in Elburn is meeting this service need.
Keicher went through several health care related actions pointing out what he said were measures that will increase costs to taxpayers and those with insurance. He said a new tax on insurance policies is expected to generate $160-$180 million a year but only $25 million is earmarked for health care funding. Keicher said the balance goes into the state general revenue fund with no guarantee it will help health care. He said he was the only dissenting vote in the Illinois House on this issue while Senator Dave Syverson from the local area was the only dissenting vote in the Illinois Senate. In another example, he noted passage of legislation to subsidize certain breath inhaler costs by placing a cap on out-of-pocket payments but with no financial “means” test in place. This means it applies to all applicable prescriptions and puts cost recovery on insurance benefit providers who then recover the cost from policyholders.
Issues related to rising energy prices were also addressed by Keicher. He noted that generation costs set by the multi-state PJM Transmission system are the primary driver for these increased costs and are beyond state control. A combination of increasing power demand with multi-state and federal policies that limit or remove existing generation facilities from the power grid are causing an imbalance that negatively impacts price according to Keicher. He said making it easier to build carbon-free generation in Illinois, including nuclear power plants, is a way to help improve pricing markets. Keicher said big power users, such as data centers, are going to be built somewhere, so it is not in the state’s best interest to prevent their construction based solely on the potential for higher electricity prices.
When asked about the possibility of legislation to retain the Chicago Bears in Illinois, Keicher said he is not directly involved in any negotiations, but thinks there is still a chance some type an agreement will be worked out.