The Illinois General Assembly’s Spring Session is officially underway. Both the Illinois House and Senate have been in session this week, with lawmakers working quickly to file legislation before the Thursday deadline to introduce bills.
The Illinois Senate adjourned for the week on Wednesday and the House on Thursday. Thousands of new bills have been introduced and we are continuing to review the mountain of paperwork that could impact the trucking industry.
Meanwhile, Democrat legislators appear to be giving Governor Pat Quinn an extra month to craft his annual budget address. Quinn was originally scheduled to give the annual budget address on February 17, but asked legislative leaders to move the budget address to sometime in March.
So far, legislation has been introduced this week to repeal the Commercial Distribution Fee, revamp the Employee Classification Act and how it affects truckers, limit local permit fees, require electronic filing of IFTA reports and a proposal to raise the price of single trip fuel permits. Detailed information on these bills will be coming in the following weeks.
While we continue to sort through the thousands of bills being filed, here is a look at some of the legislation that has already surfaced that could impact you and your operation.
LOCAL TRUCK ACCESS FOR LENGTH
As we reported to you last fall, due to a drafting error three paragraphs of the Illinois Vehicle Code that govern truck access for length on local roads were inadvertently deleted last year. Without these three paragraphs in the law, the issue of when trucks that are longer than 55’ can access local roads becomes unclear.
SB 2927, sponsored by Senate Transportation Committee Chairman, Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago), will restore the three exact paragraphs to the Illinois Vehicle Code that gives trucks that are up to 65-ft long access onto local road to points of delivery or for food, fuel, rest, and repair.
SB 2927 is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Transportation Committee on February 16. Please contact your Senator and ask them to SUPPORT SB 2927.
LEGISLATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Want a way to continually communicate with lawmakers about trucking industry issues that are vital to the success of the industry in this state? To see who your Legislators are go to:
http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/SelectSearchType.aspx
For the contact information of your legislator, go to:
http://www.ilga.gov
