|
One law will require passenger vehicles purchased or leased by
the state to either be a manufactured zero-emission vehicle or
converted into a zero-emission vehicle by 2030. Exceptions will
be made for law enforcement and Illinois Department of
Transportation vehicles.
Taylor Anderson from the Illinois Association of County Board
Members said fortunately, local governments are also excluded
from the measure.
“Let’s make sure that local governments have the infrastructure
and the help they need to get that infrastructure in place
before we start mandating what type of vehicles our local public
bodies have to buy,” said Anderson.
Anderson said counties should eventually benefit from a law that
lifts a moratorium on new nuclear reactors once small modular
reactors, or SMRs, are put into use.
“We’ll need some real thought on how this could impact a county,
how a county might want to zone for this, and what kind of
training and things personnel might need to have in order to
respond to this,” said Anderson.
SMRs, which produce less than 300 megawatts of power, will be
allowed in Illinois beginning in January 2026.
Anderson warns that the state’s budget situation will not be as
easy to deal with as in the past couple years.
“The numbers we’re starting to see for that are far less rosy
than the last year’s budget picture,” said Anderson. “Right now
we’re looking at a pretty significant deficit and so we’re not
anticipating the budgetary process to be as smooth this upcoming
fiscal year as it was for our current fiscal year.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is scheduled to deliver the State of the
State and budget address on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
|
|
