FLAG OF ILLINOIS
Process begins to accept public suggestions for possible new Illinois state flag. The Flag of Illinois, which is the State seal on a white background (“field”) with the name “Illinois” under the seal, has been in place since 1970. A key element of the flag, the State seal, was adopted in 1869. This 1869 state seal is an old-fashioned emblem, influenced by the heraldic tradition of European aristocracy, which was adopted after the successful end of America’s Civil War. The seal draws a complicated picture that includes a triumphant eagle with an American shield, the State motto, a rising sun, key dates of Illinois history, and other symbolic images.
A national U.S. movement exists to persuade most or all states with heraldic or State-seal flags to adopt new banners. Many states with old-fashioned flags, such as Minnesota, Mississippi, and Utah, have done so. House Republicans in Illinois universally opposed the legislation to create a new Illinois State Flag but were outnumbered in both chambers of the General Assembly by a Democratic Supermajority. With their legislative action, the General Assembly has asked the Secretary of State’s office to operate and staff the Illinois Flag Commission, a panel that has begun taking in proposals for a new State banner. The deadline for the public to submit a proposed new Illinois flag design is October 18.
The Flag Commission will examine these submissions and create a short list of 10 finalists. These 10 finalists will be posted before January 1, 2025, for public advisory voting. The voting window will open on January 1, and will close in mid-February. It is important to note that the public may also submit their preference to keep the existing Illinois Flag, as is.
After counting and considering the public votes, the Flag Commission has been instructed to make a choice for submission to the 104th Illinois General Assembly. The lawmakers may then pass a law to adopt the new design as the future flag of Illinois.
AGRICULTURE
U.S. Department of Agriculture report indicates that corn, bean crops are heading towards harvest. The hot weather of late August continued to move these crops toward good yields in Illinois. During the week ending September 1, most reporting farmers reported continued adequate moisture, with few flooded fields. Reporting farmers indicated that 71% of Illinois cornfields were in good-to-excellent condition, and 68% of Illinois soybean fields were in good-to-excellent condition.
These numbers indicate that corn and soybean crops are heading towards harvest in Illinois. Pasture conditions were less favorable in the Land of Lincoln, with only 52% of the grass fields in good-to-excellent condition during the September 1 week. During the same week, the conditions in 48% of Illinois pastureland were rated as fair, poor, or very poor. As September 2024 began, Illinois pasturage conditions were negatively affected by an ongoing drought in southern and far southern Illinois, where much of Illinois soil planted to grass is located.
BUDGET
General Assembly monitor reports largely flat State revenues in August 2024. The monthly report tracks State general funds revenues, equivalent to inflows into the State’s overall ‘checking account.’ Money coming into Springfield-based general funds totaled $3,485 million in August 2024, up only $50 million (1.5%) from the $3,435 million in equivalent State revenues enjoyed in the year-earlier period, August 2023. This 1.5% increase concealed a decline in real State income during this 31-day period, as 2023-2024 inflation has caused the prices of goods and services to rise faster than 1.5%.
August 2024 State general funds income was held back by a slight fall in personal income tax receipts, with this key State revenue cash flow dropping $54 million from August 2023 to August 2024. While some other State revenue sources showed slight increases, this key area of relative weakness held back the consolidated bottom-line number for all State revenues.
Most Illinois personal income tax cash flow is funneled to Springfield through automatic deductions from paychecks paid to employed Illinois residents, and this cash flow is heavily dependent on the overall employment picture in Illinois. During a comparable 12-month period starting in July 2023 and ending in July 2024, Illinois unemployment has gone up from 4.4% in July 2023 to 5.2% in July 2024. This increase in Illinois joblessness, of 80 basis points, could be affecting cash flow into the Illinois personal income tax top line.
Moneys paid in income tax go to the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR), which reports their monthly revenue numbers to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA), the nonpartisan budget monitoring arm of the Illinois General Assembly. As the State of Illinois’s independent fiscal watchdog agency, CGFA monitors monthly general funds revenue trends in Springfield.
Springfield will soon sell $1.7 billion in State “general obligation” (GO) debt. The debt issuance will go to market prior to October 1, and will include both taxable and tax-exempt bond securities with interest payable by the State of Illinois and its taxpayers. $600 million of the debt will be new general obligation (GO) debt, and $1.1 billion will roll over existing debt that is falling due.
The State of Illinois rarely pays off old debts instead rolling them over as part of the State’s ever-increasing debt load. Illinois currently operates under an A3 rating from Moody’s, an A- rating from S&P, and an A- rating from Fitch. These ratings are significantly beneath the median for the 50 U.S. states. Illinois has one of the lowest credit ratings of any State-sized public government unit in the U.S., and must pay interest rates accordingly. Springfield’s challenged credit ratings are closely related to the overall revenue and spending patterns of the State, which do not balance each other so the money coming in balances the money going out.
As one example of this, the Fitch rating for Illinois “special obligation” debt is A+, which is two notches above the A- rating imposed on Illinois GO debt by the same credit-rating firm. This means that Illinois “special obligation” bonds are significantly better-quality debts, which bear significantly lower interest rates, than Illinois’ GO debts. Unlike Springfield GO bonds, these special Illinois bonds are sold under debt covenants and conditions that closely restrict and restrain Illinois bureaucrats and spenders. Unlike GO debt, these special obligation bonds require careful cash flow controls to balance the moneys coming in and going out.
JOBS
Progress towards startup of a new Central Illinois school focusing on the building trades. The San Damiano College for the Trades will provide adult-level education aimed at skilled trades career pathways. The College will focus on carpentry, plumbing, and electrical contracting, which will be taught through a Catholic framework that will concentrate on the future of households and families in Illinois. The current scheduled operational startup date is the fall of 2025.
The San Damiano College will be located on a repurposed footprint on the grounds of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis near Springfield, Illinois. The location will continue and step up the Catholic educational heritage of its predecessors, with the goal of enabling the formation of adults with strong, family-oriented values. It will be geared towards young male applicants. Together with hands-on training in the building trades, the new College plans to offer coursework that will be oriented towards the awarding of associate’s degrees to student learners.
LICENSES
House Republicans focus on delays in issuing required State licenses. Led by House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, House Republicans have introduced a comprehensive plan and bill package intended to unsnarl the license-issuance and license-renewal processes operated by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). IDFPR is the Springfield-based State agency that is responsible for issuing most of the licenses used by professionally trained Illinoisans. In recent years, this routine procedure – one depended on by hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents – has become badly dysfunctional. Illinois license applicants mail to the Department the fees required to take out or renew a license, submit required documentation, and then have to wait long periods of time for a license to be issued or renewed.
The Springfield-based IDFPR blames “computer problems” for the delays and snafus. The Department’s licensure paradigm is based on an antique 1990s electronic technological platform that is no longer receiving adequate support from professional solutions providers. In addition, the Department has overlaid many separate security-software add-ons onto their creaking system, which means neither their computers nor the machines’ operators know what is going on any more. The General Assembly has issued bipartisan instructions to the Department to switch out their licensure hardware and software and create a new platform, but the State’s personnel have so far been unable to actually do so. The McCombie plan and legislative package, including legislation sponsored by Rep. Ryan Spain, will speed up the necessary work of procuring new hardware and software and getting it up and running. Illinois doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals have been impacted with special force by IDFPR’s licensure delays.
TOURISM
In a new mandate, Illinois government bans convenience hygiene bottles in hotel guest rooms. The familiar hand-sized bottles have been found throughout Illinois hospitality spaces, especially bathrooms and shower chambers. They contain soap, shampoo, and conditioners, and are meant to ensure that these hygienic products are personal to each guest. However, the new Small Single-Use Plastic Bottle Act will soon forbid these goods from being placed in Illinois hotel rooms. The Act will become fully effective on January 1, 2026, but many hotels will be taking action before that time to remain in compliance by phasing out these toiletries.
The ban on small hospitality toiletry bottles applies to all such bottles that are less than 6 ounces in size and are not intended for re-use. The new law is supposed to reduce demands on Illinois landfill facilities. The toiletry bottles cannot be recycled and, after they are emptied, they are bulky and volumetric. Some Illinois hotels are installing, or have installed, shower brackets to hold larger pump-action bottles to dispense shampoos and conditioners. Many hotels will also continue to distribute small wrapped bars of soap.
All Illinois House Republicans voted “no” against the Small Single-Use Plastic Bottle Act. House Republican opponents pointed out the measure as yet another intrusive mandate imposed by Springfield on the Illinois small businesses. The bill was approved by the House and Senate Democrats as SB 2960, and was signed into law by Gov. Pritzker.