Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed over 275 bills into law recently. Here is what you need to know about changes to taxes, hotel shampoo, light bulbs and virtual health care.
By Joe Tabor | Illinois Policy Institute
llinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker just signed over 275 bills into law on subjects ranging from occupational licensing to taxes to hotel shampoo bottles.
Here’s what you should know about some of the bills signed into law during August.
Taxes
Pritzker signed a bill that would eliminate the grocery tax, two property tax bills that fail to promise real relief and one bill that expands sales taxes to out-of-state business shipping products to Illinois.
House Bill 3144 ends the statewide 1% grocery tax, joining the 37 states that do not impose a tax on groceries. However, municipalities will be able to impose a local grocery tax by ordinance without first asking voters. Some cities are already doing so.
Senate Bill 2936 would allow municipal governments to reduce property taxes for newly remodeled single-family residences up to the value of the alteration.
Senate Bill 3455 commissions the Illinois Department of Revenue to study the entire property tax system in the state, including a comprehensive review of assessments, collections, exemptions and the tax levies themselves.
Neither SB 2936 nor SB 3455 would actually reduce the overall property tax burden. Neither deals with the No. 1 driver of property taxes: overpromised public pensions.
Senate Bill 3362 expands the reach of local retail taxes by requiring businesses outside of Illinois that ship tangible personal property to customers in Illinois to collect the local sales tax in addition to the state tax.
Employment
Pritzker signed two bills addressing jobs programs in the state.
Senate Bill 2907 requires the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to publish a report on all state and federally funded job training and workforce development programs to “identify successful programs, areas for improvement, and potential areas of duplication or overlap in order to optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of State and federally funded job training and workforce development efforts.”
Senate Bill 3155 gives DCEO discretion not to require businesses that failed to maintain the minimum employment numbers from March 2020 to the beginning of 2024 to repay tax credits. This bill is likely meant to allow some latitude to employers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but giving the final decision to DCEO means the department will be picking the winners and losers.
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