The Conference is pleased to note that two pieces of legislation supported by DMMC were approved during veto session. Senate Bill 3338 extends the candidate petition filing deadline for the 2013 consolidated election period from December 24 until December 26, 2012. As a result of this new law which has been signed into effect by the Governor, local election offices will no longer be required to stay open until 5:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve to accept petitions.

Senate Bill 16 addresses the foreclosure of abandoned properties. Among several provisions, the bill allows for an expedited foreclosure process and the imposition of foreclosure filing fees which will be partially used to fund grants to local governments for the cost of maintaining abandoned properties. The final amendment to Senate Bill 16 accomplishes the goals the Conference was working towards during the previous spring session.        

The lame duck session has been scheduled for January 2-8, immediately preceding the January 9 inauguration of the newly elected members of the 98th General Assembly. A DMMC Springfield Drive Down will be held during this time on January 7-8. The focus will be on public safety pension reform, prevailing wage, and the wireless 9-1-1 surcharge. Please contact Kate Buggy if you are interested in participating. We recommend participants book hotel rooms as soon as possible.       

CMAP released a call for CMAQ projects on December 10, 2012. There is approximately $240 million available for projects that will be programmed for the 2014-2018 fiscal years. All application materials are posted on the CMAP website.Applications will be due January 22, 2013 and should be submitted to Mike Albin before 3:00 pm. Two informational workshops will be held. One will be hosted by the Southwest Conference of Mayors December 17th. Contact Allison Bos

to register. The other will be hosted by the Northwest Municipal Conference of Mayors on December 18th Contact Chris Staron or Mike Walczak to register.

CMAP has recently completed several studies that have been positive towards implementing a congestion pricing system on several Chicago area expressways. These expressways include the I-90 Addams Tollway, the I-290 Eisenhower Expressway, the I-55 Stevenson Expressway, the IL-53 North Extension, the IL-120 Bypass, and the Elgin-O'Hare West Bypass. Each would have at least one tolled express lane, or "managed lane", built in each direction. CMAP believes drivers will view the managed lane as a proposition; they could endure traffic at no cost, or spend several dollars and use the managed lanes to bypass traffic. The goal is to improve traffic flow and decrease congestion by ensuring that at least one free flowing lane is always available. Tolls would be dynamic depending on current traffic conditions. The next steps are to receive commitment from the Illinois Tollway and to formulate an implementation plan. Further information can be found on the CMAP website.