Full transcript:

Introduction: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Illinois REALTORS® Podcast. What happened? Legislators flew into Springfield for a brief lame duck session and, well, Illinois REALTORS® Senior Vice President for Governmental Affairs Greg St. Aubin will provide members a recap of the lame duck session and a glimpse of the legislative initiatives Illinois REALTORS® will discuss with lawmakers in 2021 to help your business and your clients. Plus, exclusive interviews with the new speaker of the Illinois House and Senate president. Now, to introduce Greg, here is the 2021 Illinois REALTORS® President Sue Miller.

Sue Miller: Hello, I am Sue Miller, your Illinois REALTORS® President. This event was formally called the Public Policy Meetings. It was extremely popular and many of you took time out of your schedules to travel through our friendly frigid temperatures, ice and snow to participate. Well, good news. We’ve changed the title to Winter Business Meetings this year for a very good reason. We have expanded to provide you with more insightful and in-depth information that you can use to help your clients, your community and most importantly, your business.

Being consistent with our ROI platform for your Illinois REALTORS® is to offer consistent services and programs to help us be united, strong and resilient in 2021. We will help you to better understand the agendas of the powerful Illinois Legislative Black Caucus in the House, and the very influential Minority GOP Caucus in the Senate. We will explain how that impacts our advocacy goals to help you continue to operate efficiently and successfully.

To that end, we are also going to walk you through our 2021 legislative agenda. That includes protecting every facet of the real estate industry while securing passage of legislation aimed at addressing the state’s growing housing availability crisis. We are also going to outline how diversity, equality and inclusion expand your customer base and increase your revenue. And, we will conclude by answering your questions about new administrative rules, how to continue to operate safely, and all other legal matters.

While I truly do miss seeing you in person, I am so happy that you can sit in the comfort of your home or your office and receive these updates on key business and legislative issues and the outlook for the real estate industry and our businesses in communities for 2021.

Now, the forum on our legislative priorities in 2021. Advocating on behalf of our industry and private property rights is one of our most important missions. This year, we will be seeking passage of our own legislative package to increase the affordability and availability of housing throughout our great state. Greg St. Aubin, Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs for Illinois REALTORS® will outline our agenda. Greg, the floor is now yours. Please let our members know what we’re up to.

Greg St. Aubin: Well, thank you, Sue and hello REALTORS®. Welcome to the 2021 Spring Session Legislative Outlook. We’ve got a lot to talk about for the spring session, but let me very quickly put things in perspective by telling you about a crazy end to the 101st General Assembly, known as the lame duck session. So, after the election in November, you’ve got a period of time where the Old General Assembly meets before we swear in the new one. That period is called the lame duck period.

So, there was a lame duck session, and the legislators came to Springfield, first time they’ve been here since May. They came here for a few days of very intense activity, and we were at the very heart of what was going on. We came into this lame duck session with a legislative proposal that would have ended the eviction moratorium and all of the restrictions by law sooner rather than later. We had a really solid proposal put together. We even had an incentive in there for landlords to sign new leases and keep their tenants in place.

We presented that and to our frustration, our proposal was more or less cast aside and a new proposal was put forward. Well, you would not believe what was in this proposal. It would have not only not brought a swifter end to the moratorium, it would have extended some of the moratoriums provisions. Most importantly, the provision which prohibits landlords from proceeding with evictions, it would have extended it into the spring of 2022.

Well, of course we strongly opposed that. We entered into negotiations and because of the short timeframe, our legislative team – along with your CEO Jeff Baker – were engaged in negotiations virtually around the clock Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday leading up to the close of the lame duck session on Wednesday. So, after all of this negotiation, it turned out we couldn’t come up with an agreement.

Well, it was so important to legislators that the REALTORS® be on board anything that was put forward, we were summoned to the House Speaker Michael Madigan’s office, and he was going to bring the parties together to see if he could have us come to an agreement.

Now, here it is on virtually the day he suspended his bid to continue being House Speaker, and we sat in his office virtually negotiating this for over an hour and a half. Which was just really ironic. And so we thought we had a deal, but the thing just wound up falling apart. And so, would we have preferred a good piece of legislation going forward that would have ended the moratorium sooner? Sure. But we sure are glad that we were able to defeat that proposal that would have carried it into next year. So, that’s one of the issues that will be pushed forward into the spring session and we’ll keep you posted on that.

But speaking of the Speaker, we now have a new speaker, State Representative Chris Welch from Westchester. There was an intense battle for who was going to succeed Speaker Madigan, who by the way, is the longest serving legislative leader in any state or federal body in US history. So, this is a really unprecedented time here in Illinois.

Representative Welch is a good friend of ours. We regularly go to him and I often seek his counsel on strategy on how we’re approaching legislation. He kind of gives us a behind-the-scenes insight as to what’s going on. And he helps us, “Hey, maybe you want to talk to so-and-so,” or, “Maybe you would like to point out this issue more than another.” He’s really a key ally and I know the local REALTORS® have a great relationship with him.

Now you wouldn’t believe it but, he’s just sworn in the other day and he made the time to have a Zoom call with me just to say hello. And we’ve got that for you today, so have a look.

Greg St. Aubin: Well, hello, Mr. Speaker. Congratulations.

House Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch: Thank you so much.

Greg St. Aubin: Thank you for making the time to do this. I am sure you’ve just hardly had a minute to just sit and absorb all of this. How does it feel?

House Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch: It still hasn’t really sunk in yet, Greg? When I went to Springfield last week, I didn’t think I would come home with the title of Speaker of the House of the State of Illinois, let alone be the first African-American in the state’s long history to hold that position. So, it’s taken a while to soak in, my phone is ringing non-stop, text messages, emails. It’s hard to keep up. But you know, it’s a good time to be an Illinoisan and it’s a good time to be in the House of Representatives.

House Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch: It was really an amazing lame duck session for Black Americans, Black Illinoisans and to cap it off with the election of the first Black speaker, it was special.

Greg St. Aubin: Yeah, that is really amazing. Given all of the conversations that have been going on, really, across the country. And one of the major focuses of the lame duck session, as you said, was the Illinois legislative Black Caucus agenda. And for all this to come together, it’s just really amazing to watch. And we are so proud of you. And I think that your colleagues in the House made an excellent choice in making you Speaker and to lead us forward at this critical time.

House Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch: Well, thank you, Greg. I certainly hope not to disappoint. We’re rolling up our sleeves and getting right to work. Looking forward to doing the job.

Greg St. Aubin: As I told you, we’re recording this, and we have some meetings taking place where our most active REALTORS® from throughout the state are going to be tuning in and getting a legislative update and an outlook of some of the things that might be happening as we head into the spring session. Do you have anything, any message you’d like to share for our REALTORS®?

You’ve been a great supporter of ours, and we really appreciate that. And we look forward to working with you. You know our organization and our members, they’re really engaged in their communities and they pride themselves in REALTORS® being a constructive participant in the legislative process. And we pledge to do anything we can to help you as you lead us forward in the House. But is there anything else you’d like to share with our members as we embark on this journey?

House Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch: First of all, I want to, again, thank you for having me on to address your members. I hope everyone is well and staying safe during COVID. I will tell you, I’m looking forward to continuing our relationship now in my new capacity as Speaker of the House.

As a legislator, you tend to look at things in the lens of your district. In this new position, I’m going to have to look at things through the lens of the entire state, what’s good for the entire state. And I couldn’t have a better partner in that than the REALTORS® who bring and set policy that impact every community up and down the state and across the state. So, I look forward to working with all of you. I look forward to seeing you at the Capitol and continuing to help move positive agendas forward.

Greg St. Aubin: Well, we couldn’t be in better hands and we’re really excited to work with you. And please let us know whatever we can do to help you move our great state forward. Thank you again for the time. And hopefully you can get some rest one of these days.

House Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch: Well Greg, I will tell you, my voice… I can tell my voice is starting to change. So I’m going to sleep well this weekend.

Greg St. Aubin: Amen. All right. Take care. We’ll talk soon. Okay?

House Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch: Take care. Have a good one.

Greg St. Aubin: Thanks again.

Greg St. Aubin: And of course, we can’t leave out the Illinois Senate, which is led by State Senator Don Harmon from Oak Park. Senator Harmon leads the Senate with a steady hand, he’s a good friend, and I had an opportunity to have a chat with him as well recently. Take a look.

Greg St. Aubin: Well, good morning, President Harmon. How are you today?

Senate President Don Harmon: Good. Good morning to you. Thanks for arranging this.

Greg St. Aubin: Well and boy, thank you for joining me on a Saturday morning. We’re obviously both in our casual attire after an absolutely grueling week. I don’t know about you, but I’m still feeling the effects of it. Virtually, 24 hours of session the other day, how do you feel?

Senate President Don Harmon: Well, I haven’t pulled an “all nighter” since college that I can recall. A little bit harder than it used to be.

Greg St. Aubin: I remember that.

Senate President Don Harmon: … important work and I’m glad that we got so much done.

Greg St. Aubin: Yes, there was certainly a lot done. I just wanted to offer you on behalf of our members who are viewing, a heartfelt congratulations on being elected Senate President once again. You’re a great leader and we salute you for stepping up to lead our state once again during some very challenging times. How does it feel?

Senate President Don Harmon: It’s a challenge. Two days after I was elected in January of last year, we had the first confirmed case of COVID so, my time in the Senate presidency has been certainly overshadowed by having to navigate a pandemic response. And then of course, the civil unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd in the spring added a whole ‘nother level of complication.

So, we’ve been traveling through rough seas, but I’m really pleased that we were able to come back and not only navigate COVID we hope successfully, but also to really adopt a robust agenda for change and equality.

Greg St. Aubin: You’ve certainly led the Senate with a steady hand, which is exactly what was needed through these times. So here we are, we’re into the 102nd General Assembly now, and we still face those challenges. We’re still under the governor’s declaration and the eviction moratorium. And we tried to deal with that a little bit in the lame duck session, but fell short and we’ll get right back at it.

And the state continues to face a budget deficit and without the passage of the fair tax, the revenue picture is always something that’s going to be at the forefront. Do you have any thoughts on as we enter the 102^nd, what you’re looking at and how things are going to go?

Senate President Don Harmon: Again, there is nothing normal about these times. Having had such a protracted January session before the new General Assembly assembled, it’s a little hard to have a proactive agenda until we unpack all that we did and figure out what still needs to be done.

That being said, I think that the two obvious things are the things you referenced. Finding a way to steer not only the General Assembly, but also the state through what we hope is the last run of the pandemic with the vaccines coming online and the successful . . . what appears to be successful mitigation efforts. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, we believe. So staying steady until we reach that status quo.

Then with the General Assembly, finding a way to return to the Capitol to do our work in a way that is safe and open and transparent. Those are going to be the challenges for the next weeks and months. By the end of May, I hope we will be able to deal honestly and successfully with our immediate budget challenge. We have some tools to do that.

Obviously, we didn’t have the voters approve the Constitutional Amendment, which takes one tool that we’d hoped to have away from us. But at the same time that the changing of the guard in Washington suggests that we might have a more willing partner in DC to help not only Illinois, but every state and municipality with the economic downturn resulting from the pandemic.

Greg St. Aubin: We certainly are going to be a part of those, want to be a part of many of those conversations. And as you know Senator, the REALTORS®, our members, really pride themselves on the organization being a constructive participant in the legislative process, the give and take of negotiations, bringing our expertise to the table.

And, as I mentioned to you, this meeting we’re recording is to kick off a week’s worth of meetings of our most involved members throughout the state. Is there any message you have for our members out there as, again, we enter this next phase here?

Senate President Don Harmon: I do, and we really appreciate your presence at the Capitol. You have a great team on the ground interacting with us. But more importantly, I want to tell you how grateful I am and how impressed I am that in the wake of these challenges, the response of the REALTORS® has been so collaborative and thoughtful and recognizing that the true strength of your businesses is and has never been the price of dirt. It is the value of communities.

So, the open-mindedness and the thoughtfulness with which you have engaged with us on very difficult discussions that might seem counter to what folks would think would be the knee jerk reaction. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that and how much I believe that will benefit you, the organization and your members in the long run to have that kind of partnership with the policymakers in the General Assembly.

Greg St. Aubin: Well said, Senator, and thank you. We look forward to diving into this with a positive attitude and ready to roll up our sleeves and work with you. Now, we also had another “minor” development at the State House this week with the election of a new Speaker of the House for the first time in decades. Which makes you, kind of shortly into your tenure as Senate President, the elder statesman at the Capitol now.

And particularly, with your style you have guided the Senate, in my view, with a very steady hand. Traditionally, the Senate is the more deliberative body where you get the House kind of swaying with the times and reacting a little bit more quickly to the issues of the moment and the Senate is the more deliberative body. How do you see things perhaps changing, and you’re probably still just settling in with it, but with the new Speaker Welch in the House?

Senate President Don Harmon: I’m really looking forward to working with Speaker Welch, I’ve known him for a long time. He represents an adjoining district. But I think it’s an interesting notion that I don’t know that folks have picked up on yet. I have joked with some of my predecessors that I really hope that the Baby Boomers would give the Generation Xers a brief chance to govern before the Millennials take over the world.

Right now, I think all four legislative leaders and the governor are either at the very tail end of the Baby Boom or Generation Xers. So, this is as much a generational change as it is anything else. And I’m hoping that we’re going to have a chance to tackle some of the problems that are facing us right now with a different perspective.

Greg St. Aubin: Well, that’s fantastic. And listen, I’ll let you go. I’ll let you get on with your weekend. Hopefully, you can bank some sleep before taking off once again. And the REALTORS® really appreciate you. We look forward to working with you and thanks again for making the time.

Senate President Don Harmon: Look forward to seeing you all back at the Capitol as soon as times return to something approaching normal.

Greg St. Aubin: All right, take care.

Greg St. Aubin: Now, as we head into the 2021 spring legislative session, of course the state is facing many challenges: the pandemic and its aftermath, we still have a huge backlog of unpaid bills and a very large budget deficit. Amidst that, the legislature will be introducing thousands of new bills. We’ll take a cursory look at every one of those and pull out the ones that affect the real estate industry, you, your profession, homeowners, property taxes.

We wind up with about 150 bills that we actively lobby on throughout the session. We update you on what’s going on with those every week with our State Capitol Report. But, you’re probably familiar with the issues: things that regulate our profession, real estate disclosures, land use and zoning, property taxes, environmental regulation, local governmental powers, rent control, increases in the transfer tax, you name it. And we will be diligent in following those bills and making sure the voice of Illinois REALTORS® is heard at the Illinois Capitol.

We’re also going to be proactive and come with our own legislative proposals so we take the initiative, so we’re not always in a position where we’re reacting to the initiatives of others. The legislature views the REALTORS® as leaders, and they come to us and expect our guidance on where public policy should go regarding real estate issues. And we’ll be ready to provide them that guidance and we’ll keep you posted on it as the session progresses.

So, we’re ready to take on the challenges. We’ve just recently beefed up our Statehouse Legislative team. I’ll still be leading the team, we have now Betsy Mitchell and Jim Clayton on our Statehouse team. And then we’ve got Matt Rentschler who is our legislative legal counsel, who gives us that expertise where we need some input on the legal nuances of something, so that when we’re sitting at the witness table, we are the experts.

But there’s a role for you too. Please, stay tuned. Every week the legislature is in session we do a State Capitol Report. Keep up to date on the issues so that when the time comes and we ask you to get involved, you’ll be informed. And what I’m talking about is a Call for Action. Times during the legislative session, we’ll send out these Calls for Action that will ask you to email your legislators on key proposals. You wouldn’t believe the impact it has when someone from their district voices their opinion on an issue. They listen, so make sure that you respond to those Calls for Action.

So, we’re ready to go. Bring on the spring 2021 legislative session, and we’ll keep you posted on what’s going on. Stay tuned, stay involved, and we’ll talk to you soon. Thank you.

Conclusion: Thank you for listening to this episode of the Illinois REALTORS® Podcast. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, share, and of course go on to iTunes or your podcast app of choice and leave us a rating and a review. If you’d like to know more about us, you can simply go to www.illinoisREALTORS.org.