TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR THE BOARD MEETING OF JANUARY 17, 2013
COMMITTEE ON STATE LEGISLATION AND RULES
Honorable Kathleen Therese Meany, President and Members of the Board of Commissioners
Title
Recommendations for the State of Illinois 2013 Legislative Program
Body
Dear Commissioners:
I respectfully submit the following legislative initiatives and recommendations to the Board of Commissioners for their consideration and guidance.
Legislative Initiative No. 1
Amend the District's Act 70 ILCS 2605/12 clarifying the use of funds in the District's Reserve Fund.
Section 12 of the District's Act grants the power to levy taxes. One of the tax levies in this Section is for the District's Reserve Claim Fund. It specifies that, for the District's Reserve Claim Fund, a half cent levy may be extended to the equalized assessed valuation of taxable property within the District. It further specifies that those levies may be used for " the payment of claims, awards, losses, judgments or liabilities which might be imposed on such sanitary district under the Workers' Compensation Act or the Workers' Occupational Diseases Act, and any claim in tort, including but not limited to, any claim imposed upon such sanitary district under the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, and for all costs related to the repair or replacement, where the cost thereof exceeds the sum of $10,000, of any property owned by such sanitary district which is damaged by fire, flood, explosion, vandalism or any other peril, natural or man-made."
With limited exception, the District is self insured. The District utilizes its reserve claim fund to make payments in a variety of circumstances authorized by statute, including its payment of Workers' Compensation claims, tort damages, or to repair damaged District property. Although Section 12 of the District's Act currently expressly provides for the establishment of the reserve fund to make the above-referenced payments, this section should be clarified to expressly include payments for other claims for which the District is self insured, such as those involving alleged deprivations of any constitutional or statutory right, as well as, the costs and expenses of litigation when defending claims against the District.
The proposed amendment to Section 12 would expand the language to expressly specify these liabilities and include the costs and expenses of settling and litigating claims. It would also remove the arbitrary limitation of $10,000 for costs related to the repair or replacement of any property owned by such sanitary district which is damaged by fire, flood, explosion, vandalism or any other peril, natural or man-made.
Legislative Initiative No. 2
Amend the District's Act 70 ILCS 2605/11.15 to assure compliance with state and federal law in regards to citizenship of employees working on District contracts.
Section 11.15 of the District Act specifies that, "no person shall be employed upon contracts for work to be done by any such sanitary district unless he is a citizen of the United States or has in good faith declared his intention to become such a citizen. In all cases where an alien after filing his declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States, shall for the space of three months after he could lawfully do so, fail to take out his final papers and obtain his citizenship such failure shall be prima facie evidence that his declaration of intention was not made in good faith."
This requirement in the District's Act was originally enacted in the 1960's and should be amended because it potentially conflicts with state and federal law. The Illinois Human Rights Act, 775 ILCS 5/2-102, prohibits employers from refusing to hire or to act with respect to terms, privileges, or conditions of employment on the basis of citizenship status. Section 2-102 of the Human Rights Act specifically states that "It is a civil rights violationÂ… For any employer to refuse to hire, to segregate, or to act with respect to recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure or terms, privileges or conditions of employment on the basis of unlawful discrimination or citizenship status." Although Section 2-104 of the Human Rights Act provides that nothing in the Human Rights Act shall prohibit an employer from "Making legitimate distinctions based on citizenship status if specifically authorized or required by State or federal law," whether Section 11.15's nearly absolute prohibition against employment of non-citizens on District contracts would be considered a "legitimate distinction" is questionable.
The proposed legislative amendment to Section 2605/11.15 would simplify the Section to read, "No person shall be employed upon contracts for work to be done by any such sanitary district unless he is a citizen of the United States, a U.S. national, a lawfully admitted permanent resident of the United States, or a protected individual as defined by Section 1324b of Title 8 of the United States Code, as now or hereafter amended."
Legislative Initiative No. 3
Amend the District's Act, 70 ILCS 2605/9.6c to replace the definition of "assistance" bonds sold for the Local Government Assistance Program from "revenue" bonds to "alternate" bonds.
In 1998, the District's Act was amended authorizing the establishment of a Local Government Assistance Program wherein the District could loan funds to units of local government for repair and rehabilitation of local sewer systems. Under this amendment, the District is authorized to accept grants, borrow funds, and appropriate lawfully available funds for the purpose of funding the assistance program. If borrowing is utilized to fund the program the District is authorized to finance these loans from "assistance bonds" issued by the District. "Assistance bonds" are defined in Section 9.6c subparagraph (f) as "revenue bonds payable from any lawfully available revenue source."
In a recent meeting, bond counsel advised the District that the more appropriate definition for "assistance bonds" is "alternate bonds payable from any lawfully available revenue source."
The proposed legislative amendment to Section 9.6c, subparagraph (f) corrects this error.
Recommended, David St. Pierre, Executive Director, DSP:KJF:RMH:bh
Respectfully Submitted, Debra Shore, Chairman Committee State Legislation and Rules Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for January 17, 2013