Possibile Special Session Under Discussion

It has been reported that Illinois Senate Democrats are considering a special session within the next few weeks, most likely during the month of July. Senate Democrat leaders appear intent on limiting the session to a single day to take up a limited number of bills. It is uncertain whether the House would also convene a session day. ISACo will provide an update if and when details emerge. 

Treasury Releases Updates for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Reports

The United States Department of the Treasury (Treasury) released updated reporting guidance for the Project and Expenditure (P&E) Reports and a new template for the Recovery Plan Performance Report (Recovery Plan) ahead of the July 31, 2022, reporting deadline. The new requirements outlined below will impact all counties regardless of population size and award amount.

Key updates to the compliance and reporting guidance outlined by Treasury include:

1. Additional programmatic data for capital expenditures: When using Recovery Funds for capital expenditures projects, counties need to report the type of expenditure based on a list of enumerated uses. Examples of enumerated uses are COVID-19 vaccination sites, job and workforce training centers, and public health data systems. A full list of enumerated uses is available on pages 27 to 28 of the updated guidance.
2. Written justification for capital expenditures: Counties are required to provide a written justification for capital projects of any category that cost at least $10 million and for projects in the “other” (i.e., project not explicitly enumerated by Treasury) category that cost at least $1 million. Previously, counties needed to create a written justification for these projects but were not required to submit them as part of regular reporting.
3. Description of labor requirements for capital expenditures: Counties are required to provide additional labor reporting. For projects that cost at least $10 million, counties will need to report on the strength of the project’s labor standards, including information on the presence of a project labor agreement, community benefits agreement, prevailing wage requirement, or local hiring. This new required information is outlined under Infrastructure Project on pages 30-31 of the updated guidance.
4. Project information for broadband projects: The updated guidance requires counties to provide detailed project information for broadband infrastructure investments. Counties need to report what kind of technology is involved in the project (i.e., fiber optic cables, coaxial cables, etc.), the total miles of fiber deployed over the project, and the total number of funded locations served broken out by both speed of connection and type of location (i.e., residential, business, or community). This new required information is outlined under Broadband Projects on pages 32-33 of the updated guidance.
5. Moving of Recovery Plan Performance Report data into P&E Report: Under the updated guidance, some of the data that was previously only required for the Recovery Plan Performance Report (Recovery Plan) is now required for large counties (i.e., populations above 250,000 and/or above $10 million in awards) on their quarterly P&E Report. For example, large counties investing in housing security programs must now report the number of households receiving eviction prevention services. A full list of changes to programmatic data requirements for large counties is available on page 33 of the compliance and reporting guidance.
6. Updated template for Recovery Plan: The updated guidance also provides a template for the Recovery Plan due for large counties on July 31, 2022, reflecting the expenditure categories and other changes made by the Final Rule.

Please feel welcome to contact ISACo at info@isacoil.org if we can answer any questions.

New CMS Director Appointed

On Monday, June 13, 2022, Governor JB Pritzker announced that Anthony Pascente will succeed Janel L. Forde as the Director of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS). Anthony currently serves as CMS chief of staff.

Forde has served as Director of CMS since Governor Pritzker took office in 2019. During her tenure, she oversaw the agency that coordinates with more than 80 state boards, agencies and commissions, keeping state government at every level running behind-the-scenes.

Additional information is available via this link. 

Registration for NACo Annual Conference