100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB5518

 

Introduced , by Rep. Theresa Mah

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Transportation Benefit Program Act. Provides that an employer that is situated in Cook County or specified townships and for which an average of 25 or more full-time employees work for compensation shall offer a program that allows a covered employee to elect to exclude from taxable wages and compensation the employee's commuting costs incurred for the purchase of a transit pass to use public transit or for the purchase of qualified parking, up to a maximum level allowed by federal tax law. Provides that a covered employer may comply by participating in a program offered by the Chicago Transit Authority or the Regional Transit Authority. Provides that all transit agencies shall market the existence of the program to their riders. Effective January 1, 2019.


LRB100 18151 JLS 33346 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5518LRB100 18151 JLS 33346 b

1    AN ACT concerning business.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Transportation Benefit Program Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
7    "Covered employee" means any person who performs an average
8of at least 35 hours of work per week for compensation on a
9full-time basis.
10    "Covered employer" means an employer:
11        (i) that is situated in Cook County; Warren Township in
12    Lake County; Grant Township in Lake County; Frankfort
13    Township in Will County; Wheatland Township in Will County;
14    Addison Township; Bloomingdale Township; York Township;
15    Milton Township; Winfield Township; Downers Grove
16    Township; Lisle Township; Naperville Township; Dundee
17    Township; Elgin Township; St. Charles Township; Geneva
18    Township; Batavia Township; Aurora Township; Zion
19    Township; Benton Township; Waukegan Township; Avon
20    Township; Libertyville Township; Shields Township; Vernon
21    Township; West Deerfield Township; Deerfield Township;
22    McHenry Township; Nunda Township; Algonquin Township;
23    DuPage Township; Homer Township; Lockport Township;

 

 

HB5518- 2 -LRB100 18151 JLS 33346 b

1    Plainfield Township; New Lenox Township; Joliet Township;
2    or Troy Township; and
3        (ii) for which an average of 25 or more full-time
4    employees work for compensation in the geographic area
5    specified in item (i).
6    "Employer" means any individual, partnership, association,
7corporation, limited liability company, government, non-profit
8organization, or business trust that directly or indirectly, or
9through an agent or any other person, employs or exercises
10control over wages, hours, or working conditions of an
11employee.
12    "Public transit" means any transportation system within
13the authority and jurisdiction of the Regional Transportation
14Authority.
15    "Qualified parking" means parking provided to an employee
16on or near the business premises of the employer or on or near
17a location from which the employee commutes to work by
18transportation on public transit. "Qualified parking" does not
19include parking on or near property used by the employee for
20residential purposes.
21    "Transit pass" means any pass, token, fare card, voucher,
22or similar item entitling a person to transportation on public
23transit.
24    "Transportation benefit program" means any of the
25following provided by an employer to an employee:
26        (1) Any transit pass.

 

 

HB5518- 3 -LRB100 18151 JLS 33346 b

1        (2) Qualified parking.
2        (3) Cash reimbursement by an employer to an employee
3    for a benefit described in item (1) and (2).
 
4    Section 10. Transportation benefit program. A covered
5employer shall provide a transportation benefit program that
6allows a covered employee to elect to exclude from taxable
7wages and compensation the employee's commuting costs incurred
8for the purchase of a transit pass to use public transit or for
9the purchase of qualified parking, up to the maximum exclusion
10or deduction allowed to an employee by federal tax law. A
11covered employer may comply with this Section by participating
12in a program offered by the Chicago Transit Authority or the
13Regional Transportation Authority.
14    This benefit must be offered to all employees starting on
15the employees' first full pay period after 120 days of
16employment. All transit agencies shall market the existence of
17this program and this Act to their riders in order to inform
18affected employees and their employers.
 
19    Section 15. Application of Act. Nothing in this Act shall
20be deemed to interfere with, impede, or in any way diminish the
21right of employees to bargain collectively with their employers
22through representatives of their own choosing in order to
23establish wages or other conditions of work in excess of the
24applicable minimum standards of the provisions of this Act.

 

 

HB5518- 4 -LRB100 18151 JLS 33346 b

1Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to affect the validity or
2change the terms of bona fide collective bargaining agreements
3in force on the effective date of this Act. After the effective
4date of this Act, requirements of this Act may be waived in a
5bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the
6waiver is set forth explicitly in such agreement in clear and
7unambiguous terms.
 
8    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
91, 2019.