CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the 2026 Legislative Priorities
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DEPARTMENT: City Manager’s Office
SUBMITTED BY: Marcie Schatz, Assistant to the City Manager
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
NA
BACKGROUND:
Legislative Review Process
In order to improve transparency on legislative issues, the City Council approved a Legislative Review Process in January 2025 (attached). This process improved alignment between staff and City Council, increased transparency, and provided a clear process for how the City engages in legislation. Staff plans to utilize the same process in 2026.
Staff presented two City Council agenda items and issued nine Manager’s Memorandums in 2025 to report legislative activity and position statements.
2025 Legislative Activity Summary
The City Council approved the 2025 legislative priorities at the January 21, 2025, meeting. Consistent with previous years, staff focused on forwarding the City’s legislative priorities and focusing on bills that are (in)consistent with a legislative priority or principle and would have a substantive impact on the municipality. Most often, this is a position of opposition against bills that usurp municipal authority.
In 2025, the City submitted over 80 witness slips on 25 bills. As needed, the Mayor also contacted legislators regarding pensions, IDOT funding, and the City’s legislative priorities.
Other 2025 legislative highlights include:
• Mayor Wehrli is the co-chair of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference (DMMC) Legislative Committee. Councilwoman Gibson and City staff also participate.
• Staff from the Legal Department and City Manager’s Office are active members of the DMMC FOIA working group. The efforts of this group focus on record modernization and reducing abuses of the FOIA system, especially related to body cameras, while also maintaining transparency. Successes this year include limiting physical posting of requirements at administrative offices and the ability to verify whether a requester is a person (not computer generated). Discussions also continued with legislators and interest groups (ACLU, Better Government Association) regarding the abuse and monetization of bodycam video for entertainment purposes.
• City staff participated in the successful negotiations of Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act.
• The City Manager continues to play an active role in the Pension Fairness for Illinois Coalition and has a designated seat in the Pension Working Group discussions. This issue will see continued activity and priority in 2026.
• Mayor Wehrli, Councilman Syed, and CMO staff participated in the DMMC Springfield drive down in April, meeting with local and regional representatives.
• City staff across departments monitor and forward legislative opportunities from their respective professional organizations.
DISCUSSION:
Legislative Principles
Staff follows these general principles when drafting Legislative Priorities and evaluating positions on bills that have, or may have, a substantive impact on the City.
1. Oppose unfunded mandates
2. Oppose legislation that usurps existing municipal authority
3. Oppose proposals that erode the municipal tax base
4. Oppose home rule restrictions and exemptions
2026 Legislative Priorities
During the development of the 2026 Legislative Priorities, staff considered several factors including, but not limited to, alignment with Legislative Principles, progress on the 2025 priorities, new legislation passed in 2025, operational challenges, applicable priorities of partner organizations, and opportunities to decrease costs, increase revenues, mitigate risk and increase efficiency. Staff also considered known upcoming legislation.
The following priorities are recommended to City Council for approval.
1. Sustainable public pensions
Protect public pension systems and the taxpayers that fund them. The costs of any proposed changes must be clearly understood and considered. Any changes should be directly linked to solving a documented pension problem.
2. Transit trailer bill
Revise the People Over Parking Act to remove the prohibition of minimum parking requirements. Supermajority votes of the new NITA Board should require some collar county support to ensure regional consensus.
3. Protecting municipal revenues
To ensure local governments can deliver essential services, municipal revenues should be increased, and at a minimum, maintained. The Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) reduces stress on property taxes and supports funding of critical services including public safety, public works, and technology.
4. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and bodycams
Eliminate the ability to use FOIA to monetize bodycam footage for entertainment purposes and capitalize on members of the public at their worst and most vulnerable moments.
5. Erosion of Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) dollars
The number of electric vehicles in Naperville is four times the state and national average. State and local MFT dollars continue to diminish, and replacement revenues are necessary to fund roadway maintenance.
6. Increase the penalty for fleeing and eluding from a police officer
The Naperville Police Department continues to experience high numbers of fleeing and eluding cases which places the officers and the public at risk.
7. Meeting and records modernization
Fulfill any statutorily mandated newspaper publication requirements by providing notice on the City’s website. Modernize records retention processes to improve efficiency, eliminate redundancy, and leverage existing technology.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Legislation dependent.