South Cook News

The Illinois General Assembly is working to pass the Climate Union Jobs Act (CUJA) to establish labor standards for energy companies using green energy. 

The bill would provide $50 million each year to install solar energy in Illinois public schools in terms of the specifics. It would also save 28,000 jobs in Illinois by maintaining the state's nuclear fleet. The bill additionally relieves $150 million in taxes for low-income households. 

"As we begin to transition out of the COVID-19 global pandemic, it is essential that we put people back to work and invest in our economy," said Illinois state Sen. Michael Hastings (D-Frankfort) said in a tweet March 30. "Illinois' clean energy future is a sound investment for future generations to come. That is why I support CUJA."

Illinois state Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) is sponsoring the bill along with Hastings, who also came out to support it.

"This legislation puts working families at the center of Illinois' clean energy efforts, where they should be," Rezin said on her website. "By preserving the Dresden nuclear plant, we can keep delivering hundreds of middle-class jobs for families and carbon-free electricity for the state. I look forward to working with my colleagues to make this legislation law."

The bill also received support from nonelected officials such as labor leaders.

"For decades, union men and women have built the infrastructure that powers Illinois' future. We should put them to work again as the state sets out to build a clean energy economy. Passing this ambitious yet achievable legislation, we can lower unemployment, reduce emissions and close income inequality from Chicago to Cairo and Moline to Mahomet," Joe Duffy, executive director of the labor coalition Climate Jobs Illinois, said on Rezin's website. "We look forward to working with Sen. Rezin, her colleagues in the General Assembly and other stakeholders during this session to enact legislation that will help build a cleaner, fairer state."

Additional changes to be made by the bill include a return to traditional rate-making instead of formula rates and mandating that utilities disclose expenses and revenues about renewable energy and carbon tax credits. One of the other aims of the bill is to increase union hiring in the energy sector by $55 million in job training programs. 

It has been noted that the bill would raise rates for some ratepayers and it is also unknown how certain portions of the bill will be funded.