Illinois Municipal League

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Illinois Municipal League
Basic facts
Location:	Springfield, Illinois
Website:	Official website

The Illinois Municipal League is a government sector lobbying association in Illinois. It is a member of the National League of Cities.

The corporate authorities of an Illinois municipality may budget for and pay annual dues and fees in order to join the Illinois Municipal League. This includes:

• Mayor and aldermen (or similar for cities),
• The president and trustees (or similar for villages or incorporated towns), or
• The council (for municipalities under a municipal government).

Government sector lobbying

See also: Illinois government sector lobbying

The Illinois Municipal League was represented by the lobbying firm Vincent R. Williams and Associates for 2008 and 2009. The firm also represents Chicago Transit Authority and Chicago Public Schools. Its members are public entities.

The firm lists on its registration documents that it lobbies to more than 50 state agencies, including:

• Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
• Gaming Board
• General Assembly Members
• Governor's Office
• Healthcare and Family Services
• Department of Human Services
• Illinois Development Finance Authority
• Illinois Educational Facilities Authority
• Illinois Housing Development Authority
• Department of Labor
• Department of Public Health
• Racing Board
• Department of Revenue
• Secretary of State
• State Board of Education
• State/Local Labor Relations Boards
• Toll Highway Authority
• Department of Transportation
• Treasurer
• Department of Veterans Affairs

Opposition to FOIA changes

In 2009, the league came out in opposition to changes to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Senate Bill 189, sponsored by Senator Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) and Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-Chicago), would do the following:

• Narrow and clarify personal privacy exemptions
• Require heightened scrutiny when public bodies seek to use the privacy or preliminary draft exemptions
• Limit copying charges, and
• Require public bodies to produce records electronically.

The bill also proposed to shorten the time that public entities have to respond to a request to five days, fine any entity attempting to violate the act, and require entities to appoint an official responsible for requests.

Throughout the bill's drafting, the IML played an active role in requesting that changes be made to the proposed bill. On May 28, 2009, it testified before the Senate Executive Committee to voice its concerns. On the same day, both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly passed SB 189 and it was signed by Governor Quinn. Although legislators made extensive changes to the initial bill, the IML still saw the adopted changes as overly burdensome and claimed that they would leave organizations more vulnerable to identity theft. Upon signing the bill, Governor Pat Quinn issued a statement recognizing the existence of problems with the new law and encouraging affected parties to work together to address these flaws by the January 1, 2010 implementation date.

Issues

The League makes its positions on bills public and posts them on its website.

Pension policies

The Illinois Municipal League expressed concerns about the state's public pension policies, particularly the ability of the General Assembly to increase municipal employee pension benefits without providing the funds to pay for the increases. In 2009, the Illinois General Assembly passed Senate Bill 364, which imposed reforms on public pension funds, and House Bill 3606, which increased the pension benefits of municipal employees that retired prior to July 1, 1977.

In 2007, the Illinois Municipal League published a study entitled "Fiscal Analysis of the Downstate Police, Fire and IMRF Pension Systems." This study indicated that the financial health of over 600 non-Chicago municipal pension funds was endangered by escalating debt. As a result of this study, the Illinois Municipal League successfully lobbied in support of House Bill 5088 during the 2008 legislative session. The legislation contained several pension reforms, including significant ethics, disclosure, and transparency provisions for the employee-controlled municipal public safety pension funds.

Leadership

As of November 2017, the website for the Illinois Municipal League listed the following individuals as the organization's leadership:

• Brad Cole, Executive director
• Mark W. Eckert, President
• Michael J. Inman, First vice president
• Leon Rockingham Jr, Second vice president

Membership

Membership dues

To be a member of the Illinois Municipal League, Illinois municipalities must pay yearly dues based on population size. As of November 2017, the Illinois Municipal League had the following dues structure.

Population size	Dues
0-999	$150
1,000-1,999	$250
2,000-2,999	$350
3,000-3,999	$450
4,000-4,999	$575
5,000-5,999	$675
6,000-6,999	$775
7,000-7,999	$825
8,000-8,999	$925
9,000-9,999	$1,000
10,000-14,999	$1,250
15,000-19,999	$1,500
20,000-24,999	$1,750
25,000-34,999	$2,000
35,000-49,999	$2,500
50,000-74,999	$3,500
75,000-99,999	$5,000
100,000-149,999	$7,000
150,000-174,999	$8,500
175,000-249,999	$10,000
>250,000	$25,000

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Illinois Municipal League. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Illinois Municipal League - Google News

External links

• Illinois Municipal League official website
• New FOIA finds local supporters, Northwest Herald, March 11, 2009
• Illinois Municipal Code