Civic Federation 2021 Legislative Priorities

A large part of the Civic Federation's mission is to effect positive policy changes by working with public officials. To that end, the Federation will actively support legislation to advance the priorities and important financial reforms outlined in this document.

Due to a number of factors, the Civic Federation has reorganized its 2021 Legislative Priorities document relative to past years. Rather than grouping initiatives strictly by topic, high-priority items are listed first (through page 10), followed by those less pressing in the context of the constraints on the first year of the 102nd General Assembly. While all items included in this document remain priorities, the Federation recognizes and is sensitive to the General Assembly’s realistic capacity in 2021 given current political and economic realities.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its financial repercussions will rightfully leave limited bandwidth for members of the Illinois General Assembly to address many issues beyond the health, safety and wellbeing of Illinoisans, along with some of the many fiscal challenges facing the State. Upon completion of the 2020 U.S. Census, lawmakers will redraw congressional and state legislative district lines, another laborious undertaking.

The General Assembly’s first priority should be to authorize remote legislating so that members may carry on the work of representing their constituents uninterrupted and be able to undertake necessary efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic and the State’s fiscal challenges. Following that, the Civic Federation will work with public officials to advance a number of longtime and emerging Federation priorities aimed at stabilizing the State of Illinois into the future.