March 31, 2023 State Capitol Report

Both chambers were busy in Springfield, but most of the attention was on the Senate as members faced today’s deadline to pass Senate bills out of the Senate and over to the House. The deadline for the House was last week.

As the State Capitol Report was going to press last week, the House was continuing to finish their business adjourning at 10:30 p.m. We are happy to report that both of the two RENT CONTROL bills for manufactured housing communities (HB 2727 -Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin and HB 3104 – Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, D-Berwyn) remained in the House last Friday evening. This means that both bills missed the House deadline to pass out of the chamber so it is unlikely that these bills will receive further consideration this session. Illinois REALTORS® opposed both of these bills.

It is also worth noting at this juncture that the main RENT CONTROL bills, that would have either directly imposed rent control, or at least would have “Lifted the Ban” by repealing! the Rent Control Pre-emption Act barring local governments from enacting Rent Control did not receive any committee consideration, so those bills remain dormant as well (for now!). This was achieved through our intense education and lobbying campaign by both or direct lobbying and your grass roots efforts! Bravo, REALTORS®!

Legislative Action This Week

Click the bill number to view additional information

Initially, this bill amended the Real Estate License Act to make it illegal for real estate brokers to illegally discriminate when preparing a broker price opinion or comparative market analysis for residential real estate. After numerous negotiating sessions and several amendment drafts, the sponsor agreed to remove real estate brokers from the bills.  We appreciate the sponsor’s willingness to work with our legislative team on this important change.  As passed in the House, the bill now focuses on appraisers only.  This week the bill was sent to the Senate Committee on Assignments.

This bill mandates municipalities to make information regarding service lines containing lead. As introduced, HB 2776 would have amended the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act and required the seller to disclose on the real estate disclosure form any discovered concentration of or unsafe conditions relating to lead paint, lead water pipes, lead plumbing pipes or lead in the soil on the premises (rather than unsafe concentrations of or unsafe conditions relating to lead paint, lead water pipes, lead plumbing pipes or lead in the soil on the premises). The Illinois REALTORS® Legislative team worked with the sponsor to amend the bill to remove all language regarding the real estate disclosure form. House Amendment 1 was adopted at the suggestion of Illinois REALTORS® to contain no language pertaining to the disclosure form. With the amendment, the Illinois REALTORS® moved from Oppose to Neutral on the bill which passed the House last week, and this week was sent to the Senate Committee on Assignments. Sen. Mike Simmons, (D-7th, Chicago) is the Senate sponsor.

This bill codifies the Governor’s COVID Executive Order establishing a Homelessness Task Force with members being selected by the Governor and legislative leaders. Illinois REALTORS® SUPPORTS this legislation.

This bill creates an advisory committee to determine which homes contain windows or doors that cause offensive odors and are eligible for replacement pursuant to the Residential Sound Insulation Program created for municipalities to mitigate aircraft noise.  Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this legislation that passed the House and is on First Reading in the Senate.  At this time, no senate sponsor has been assigned to the bill.

This bill creates the Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Act. Originally as proposed, this legislation would have mandated developers to provide all residential single family and multi-family dwelling parking spaces with a fully wired, very specific circuit electric vehicle charging receptacle for possible future use, which would have increased housing costs significantly at a time when housing costs are at an all-time high and supply is extraordinarily low.  Illinois REALTORS® strongly opposed this legislation.  As reported last week, after four years of negotiations, the proponents accepted our amendment making it clear: 1) that developers will not be required to install wire from an electrical panel through the conduit and 2) that the requirement to install conduit on a condo conversion project shall not be construed to require excavation of any existing surface lot or parking facility in order to retro-fit the parking lot with conduit. With our amendment, SB 40 passed in the Senate and has been sent to the House for consideration.

This bill requires housing authorities to collect data on their rental vacancies and waiting lists and to report this information to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority to include in their report to the Illinois General Assembly annually. Defines “federally assisted housing” to mean any housing units or subsidized housing programs funded in whole or in part by the federal government including all properties owned or finance by a housing authority, or a subsidiary or partnership in which the housing authority is a member.  Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this Senate bill that arrived in the House this week.

After the adoption of Amendment 1, the bill provides that a property owner may not be required to utilize specific technology, including, but not limited to solar shingles rather than traditional solar panels. A HOA may impose reasonable conditions so long as such conditions are not more onerous than the association’s analogous conditions for non-solar projects. The Illinois REALTORS® Legislative Team is monitoring this legislation that passed the Senate this week.

This bill removes language that requires a lessor of residential real property who is restricted from withholding any part of a security deposit from a lessee without furnishing an itemized statement to the lessee to be a lessor of a residential real property containing five or more units. The Legislative Team is monitoring this legislation which passed the Senate this week.

This bill provides that nothing shall prohibit a financial institution from considering immigration status in a real estate transaction in compliance with state or federal law. Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this legislation that passed the Senate this week.

This bill makes changes to the Auction License Act, Home Inspector Act, Real Estate License Act, and Real Estate Appraiser Licensing Act regarding continuing education.  Illinois REALTORS® SUPPORTS this clean-up legislation. HB2207 (Rep. Moylan, D-55th, Des Plaines), an identical bill passed the House last week.

This bill creates the Tenant Radon Protection Act to allow tenants to test for radon and break the lease if radon is found in their rental until. This bill is identical to HB 2217 introduced by Rep. Ann Williams (D-11th, Chicago) which passed the House and remains in the Senate Assignments Committee last week as reported.  We OPPOSE this legislation and continue to work with the both the House and Senate sponsors and American Lung Association to make acceptable changes.  SB 1929 is expected to be held in the Senate.

With Amendment 1, this bill provides that the interest and penalties will be waived by the county collector if the property owner does not receive a property tax bill because the bill was mailed to an incorrect address by no fault of the property owner.  Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this legislation that passed the Senate this week.

In provisions concerning the Historic Residence Assessment Freeze Law, the bill provides that the fair cash value of the property shall be based on the final determination by the assessment officer, board of review, Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB), or court.  After the expiration of the 8-year valuation period, the current fair cash value is less than the adjusted base year valuation, the assessment shall be based on the current fair cash value. Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this bill that is now in the House for consideration.

This bill seeks to institute a statewide building code.  Illinois REALTORS® is monitoring this legislation that passed the Senate this week.

Next Week: At-A-Glance

Neither the House nor the Senate will be in Springfield until Tuesday, April 18, however, legislative hearings have already been scheduled for next week in Chicago. Stay Tuned…

GET READY FOR OUR BIGGEST ADVOCACY EVENT OF THE YEAR!

BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER! Join us Tuesday, April 25 at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield to visit your legislators at the Illinois State Capitol.

This year’s FREE, members-only event includes a keynote address from David Axelrod, national political strategist.

Come in early for the pre-show at 8 a.m. on April 25 to hear business growth expert Jeff Havens.

Cap your day with the first-ever Lobby Day Block Party featuring the Lakeshore Encores.

Thank you for reading the March 31, 2023 State Capitol Report. Click here to read previous reports.