The 103rd General Assembly adjourned the spring session on May 29th. The following is a roundup of items of interest to the nonprofit sector. Contact [email protected] with questions.

• Status of Forefront’s 2024 Legislative Priorities
• FY25 State Budget
• Other New Laws Impacting the Nonprofit Sector
• Partner Statements on 2024 Budget and Legislative Priorities

Status of Forefront’s 2024 Legislative Priorities

ENACTED: IL Gives Tax Credit Act (SB172 / HB1241)

A long-term priority for the Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations and Forefront, the Illinois Gives Tax Credit (nee “Endow Illinois”), gained traction in early 2022, undergoing heavy negotiations over the ensuing years.

Alec Lopata and Holly Ambuehl with Anthony (Tony) Martinez, CEO of Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation, outside of a House Hearing in Chicago before testifying on the Illinois Gives Act in October 2022. Tony is also a Forefront Board Member and Policy Committee Chair.

Illinois Gives received six subject matter hearings in House and Senate Revenue Committees between 2022-2024, at which hundreds of supportive witness slips were submitted.

On 6/7/24, Illinois Gives became law when Governor Pritzker signed HB4951, the FY25 revenue omnibus bill, which contains its provisions (now Public Act 103-0592, Article 170).

Chief Senate Sponsor Sara Feigenholtz (D-6) with Anne Calder, VP of Development Quad Cities Community Foundation; Andrea Saenz, CEO Chicago Community Trust; and John Stremsterfer, CEO Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln, at a Senate Revenue Committee hearing in March 2023.

Prior to enactment, IL Gives achieved strong bicameral, bipartisan support from 62 total sponsors, including over half of the Illinois Senate and almost a third of the Illinois House.

John Stremsterfer, CEO of Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln; Wegi Stewart, Former Executive Director of the Alliance of IL Community Foundations; Leader Norine Hammond (R-94), Chief House Co-Sponsor; Joshua Gibbs, CEO Galesburg Community Foundation/AICF President, inside the Illinois House Chamber with Holly Ambuehl in May 2023.

As a result, beginning 1/1/25, any Illinois taxpayer, including individuals, corporations, trusts, and estates, may receive a 25% state income tax credit up to $100,000 when they make an eligible donation to a non-DAF permanent endowment at a qualified community foundation in Illinois.

John Stremsterfer, Holly Ambuehl, Joshua Gibb, and Chief House Sponsor Rep. Margaret Croke (D-12) before a Revenue Committee hearing in May 2023.

Read the Illinois Gives Act fact sheet and press release.

Community Foundation leaders from around the state supported the IL Gives Act by testifying at House and Senate Revenue hearings in April 2024. L to R: Alec Lopata and Holly Ambuehl with Mark Roberts; Alex Pleasant, President/CEO of Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation and Forefront Board Member; Amanda Stremsterfer, Executive Director of Alliance of IL Community Foundations; Joshua Gibb, Anne Calder, and John Stremsterfer.

ENACTED: Workforce Development Through Charitable Loan Repayment (SB3273 / HB4736)

When a higher education student receives a traditional scholarship, it is not taxed as income. However, as soon as they graduate, if they receive a “post-graduation scholarship” for the same type of expenses (i.e., tuition and other fees) in the form of loan repayment, such support is taxable as income. With the enactment of the Workforce Development Through Charitable Loan Repayment Act on 6/7/24 via HB4951 (Article 10), eligible workers will no longer pay state income tax on charitable loan repayment in Illinois. The program, which will be overseen by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, will help communities around Illinois lure and retain talent while leveraging private funds to help tackle our student debt problem. Read fact sheet and press release.

Forefront leadership met in Peoria with Mark Roberts, CEO of Community Foundation of Central Illinois (center) and Mayor Rita Ali (center right), along with other staff and board members, in October 2022. Peoria leaders including Mark and Leader Ryan Spain (R-73; not pictured) have long been chief advocates of post-graduation scholarship efforts at the federal and state level, including the Workforce Development Through Charitable Loan Repayment Act. Mark testified in support of SB3273/HB4736 in April 2024.

NOT ENACTED: Small 501c3 Lobbyist Registration Fee Waiver (SB1349 / HB4266)

This bill, which would protect civic engagement and improve compliance with the Lobbyist Registration Act, was supported by a large coalition and received a subject matter hearing for the first time on 4/10/24, with over 170 witness slips. Forefront testified at this hearing with support from Illinois Partners for Human Service and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault. However, the General Assembly did not move an ethics package this spring, which is the likely vehicle for this proposal to become law. Forefront will continue to work on Lobbyist Registration rules and fees until we improve the regulatory conditions for the nonprofit sector. Read fact sheet and learn more about Lobbying Rules in Illinois.

Carrie Ward, CEO IL Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Lauren Wright, Executive Director IL Partners for Human Service, testify in a House Ethics Committee hearing with Holly Ambuehl (not pictured) in support of HB4266 in April 2024.

NOT ENACTED: Community Partner Fair Contracting Act (SB3457 / HB5064)

After conducting related research in 2023, Forefront, in conjunction with the Illinois Health and Human Services Coalition, introduced a sweeping government contracting reform omnibus bill known as the Community Partner Fair Contracting Act. Subsequently, a steering committee led by Forefront engaged in negotiations with state constitutional offices (Governor’s Office, Comptroller, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer) and state grantmaking agencies (Illinois Department of Human Services, Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Illinois Department of Public Health). As a result of these negotiations, the bill was heavily amended. Additionally, just before the end of the spring session, Forefront established a limited agreement with the Governor’s Office to make substantial updates to the Government Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) and prepared a draft bill reflecting this agreement. However, legislative leaders did not provide a hearing or a legislative vehicle to enact the agreed provisions. Forefront will continue fight inertia in government related to government contracting. We remain committed to advocating for the Community Partner Fair Contracting Act and we will continue related negotiations with state officials. In the meantime, read more about Forefront’s efforts to support government contractors in practical ways.

Holly Ambuehl with Chief Sponsors of the Community Partner Fair Contracting Act (CPFCA), Rep. Dagmara Avelar (D-85) and Senator Mike Halpin (D-36), along with Lauren Wright, Executive Director and Cosette Ayele, Director of Advocacy and Workforce Initiatives, both of Illinois Partners for Human Service. Illinois Partners leads the Illinois Health and Human Services Coalition, of which Forefront is a member, and hosted an advocacy event in March 2024 that highlighted the CPFCA and other Coalition priorities.

FY25 State Budget

Senate Bill 251 contains FY25 appropriations; House Bill 4951 is the revenue omnibus; and, House Bill 4959 is the budget implementation plan (BIMP). Forefront’s key budget priorities were fully funded, including the Charitable Trust Grant Program and state-funded Nonprofit Security Grants. The Nonprofit Security Grant Program had a successful first round of grant awards in FY24, thanks to the advocacy of the Safeguard Illinois Communities Coalition, of which Forefront is a member. The FY25 budget builds upon this success; combined with the new FY25 appropriation remaining funding from previous years, we expect another full round of grants to be awarded in FY25 ($19.2 million total; advanced payments permitted). See more in-depth budget analysis from our partners below.

Other New Laws Impacting Nonprofit Sector

While the following bills were not introduced by Forefront, our policy team engaged on them in various ways since they impact the nonprofit sector directly.

ENACTED: Office of Economic Equity and Empowerment (SB859 / formerly HB5606)

Forefront requested and successfully obtained an amendment to the original bill to specifically make not-for-profit organizations that primarily serve minorities, women, veterans, or  persons with a disability eligible for assistance under the newly codified Office of Economic Equity and Empowerment. Forefront will work to educate stakeholders about how to tap the OEEE’s resources in the future. Read Forefront’s testimony.

ENACTED: Nonprofit Board of Directors’ Demographics Reporting Mandate for Grantmaking Nonprofits (SB2930)

Forefront heavily negotiated the provisions in this bill, which was promulgated by Equality Illinois and first introduced under SB1501/HB3139 in early 2023. As originally introduced, SB 1501/HB 3139 would have required every nonprofit (not just grant makers) include in their annual filing with the Secretary of State’s Office information about the aggregated demographics of its directors and officers. It would have also required nonprofits to post the aggregated demographic information on its website. There were no exemptions, ways to opt-out, or decline to disclose information. The bill was later refiled as HB4595/SB2930, which addresses most of our concerns.

In the final version, the requirement to collect aggregated demographic data for boards of directors and officers is only applied to organizations that make grants totaling more than $1,000,000. Senate Amendment 2 also deleted the Secretary of State’s enforcement role, limiting the mandate to a self-report by foundations. Finally, SA2 added an individual decline-to-disclose. Recommendations that we made that were not accepted in final version included 1) excluding donor advised funds from the calculation of the $1M grant threshold; 2) setting a minimum board size to preserve individual safety/privacy for small boards, especially in small towns and 3) raising the $1 million grant threshold up to $10M. Forefront’s Policy Committee advised our policy team on this bill multiple times; Forefront also sought feedback by sending an alert through our policy listserv and in multiple statewide email newsletters. Lacking consensus in the responses we received, we remained neutral on the bill, while simultaneously achieving improvements through negotiations. Read Forefront’s most recent testimony.

As enacted, beginning 1/1/25, SB2930 requires foundations that distribute more that $1 million in grants annually to publish aggregated demographic information about their board of directors on their website every year, and leave each year’s data on the website for three years. Forefront will provide more information in the coming months to stakeholders about how to comply with this new law.

NOT ENACTED: Creation of Nonprofit Investment Pool (SB3157)

The Illinois State Treasurer, Michael Frerichs, proposed creating an investment pool for nonprofit organizations that would be similar to the one his office already operates for local governments. This intent is to provide greater returns, lower fees, and increased liquidity compared to private banking options for small and medium-sized nonprofits. Forefront supported SB3157 in the Senate with testimony and witness slips. It passed the Senate but stalled in the House due to intense partisan disagreement over which nonprofits should be eligible for the program. Forefront supports the underlying concept and applauds the Treasurer and sponsors for looking for ways to offer practical support to nonprofit businesses. We’ll continue to follow this bill and keep stakeholders apprised if the nonprofit investment pool becomes available in the future.

NOT ENACTED: Establishment of Diversity Task Force (HB4566)

Forefront submitted testimony in support of an amendment that would ensure nonprofit sector representation on this new “Diversity and Inclusion in Business Organization and Nonprofit Organization Leadership Task Force.” The bill directs the task force, which will be administered by the Office of the Secretary of State, to identify ways to increase diversity in business organization and nonprofit organization leadership. The bill cleared the House but stalled in the Senate. We’ll continue to follow this bill and keep stakeholders apprised if an opportunity to serve on this Task Force becomes available.

Partner Statements on 2024 Budget and Legislative Priorities

• Advance Illinois
• Aids Foundation Chicago
• Arts Alliance IL
• Children’s Advocates for Change
• Housing Action Illinois
• Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities
• Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
• Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• Illinois Environmental Council
• Illinois Library Association
• Illinois Partners for Human Service
• Latino Policy Forum
• Start Early

Contact [email protected] to add your organization’s statement to this list.