Chicago, IL – Cook County Commissioner Sean M. Morrison has called a meeting to deliberate on the board vacancy for suburban Metra District #3.  The seven Cook County Commissioners who represent suburban Metra District #3 will hear from prospective candidates who will have submitted resumes for consideration to replace the Hon. Brian Reaves of Lemont who resigned from the Metra Board effective October 14.

The meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 13 at 12:00pm in the Cook County Building, Board Room #569, 118 N. Clark Street, Chicago.  The Commissioners intend to have a replacement selected and in place for the next Metra Board of Directors scheduled for Wednesday, December 14. The selected candidate will serve out the remainder of the District #3 board term which will expire on June 30, 2019. The appointment process is conducted by weighted vote and includes Commissioners Sean Morrison (46.71%), Jeffrey Tobolski (30.67%), Richard Boykin (11.85%), Edward Moody (6.38%), John Daley (4.29%) and Peter Silvestri (0.11%). 

Individuals wishing to be considered must reside in one of the following townships that compose Metra District #3, which are: Berwyn, Cicero, Lemont, Lyons, Orland, Palos, Proviso, Riverside and Stickney.  All candidates wishing to be considered must submit their resume via email to: sean.morrison@cookcountyil.gov by no later than Monday, December 12.

“I’m quite confident through this open process we will come away with a fine candidate to serve on the Metra board and represent suburban District #3 with integrity and professionalism” stated Commissioner Morrison. 

The 11-member Metra Board of Directors is made up of members representing the six-county Chicago metropolitan area, generally meets once a month to discuss various matters such as Capital Oversight, Audit & Finance, Real Estate & Contract Management and Employment Practices.

A Beverage Tax was passed by the Cook County Board on November 10th as a key element to fund the Cook County 2017 Budget.  This new tax would add one penny for every one ounce of a beverage drink which means an additional $2.88 for a 24-pack of beverage drinks.

I appreciate the fact that many Cook County constituents have paid close attention to Cook County’s 2017 Budget Process and specifically this tax proposal as hundreds contacted my office to express their opposition to this tax. 

Contrary to most public headlines that call it just a “soda tax”; that couldn’t be further from the truth. This massive and expansive tax includes a list of nearly 1,000 individual beverages including fruit juices, teas, coffees, energy & sports drinks, enhanced waters, sodas and diet sodas.  This Beverage Tax goes too far by hitting our residents too hard in their pocketbooks, especially Chicago residents, and hurts our local businesses.

I firmly opposed this heavy-handed tax for multiple reasons. First, the tax purposely singles out a specific private sector industry and is too expansive and creates a revenue stream that goes far beyond the means it is intended to serve. Second, there is still too much redundant and unnecessary spending and political clout jobs that could be cut from the 2017 budget before looking at additional taxes to fix budget shortfalls.  Third, this tax will cause further damage to private sector jobs in exchange for protecting government patronage jobs. Fourth, it further places Cook County businesses at a competitive disadvantage against our neighboring counties and the State of Indiana when just a short commute to shop across the border means lost customers and lost revenue for Cook County.

Once again, Cook County government is committing itself to another horrible tax policy which will add more long term damage to our local economy.

Sean M. Morrison
Cook County Commissioner
17th District

On October 5, certain commissioners introduced a Minimum Wage Increase Ordinance for all Cook County businesses with a vote scheduled for October 25.  This quick action leaves local businesses with only a few days to analyze the financial impact and assess their ability to cover this immense and unexpected new cost.

Businesses were not informed of this huge cost increase nor did they have an opportunity to prepare or budget for it. With their yearly budgets already set, they will now be forced to increase their staff salaries by 27% literally overnight and 58% over the next 20 months.  This massive wage increase will undoubtedly create a substantial financial disadvantage for Cook County businesses and will hurt the extensive efforts by suburban municipalities to attract new businesses, create new economic development opportunities and grow jobs.

Recent actions by the Cook County Board to pile on a massive Minimum Wage Hike, an expensive Paid Sick Leave regulation and a costly Beverage Tax all at once will be devastating to our local economy and will no doubt shutter the doors of many businesses along with the loss of numerous jobs for our hardworking residents. All of this excessive government regulation thrown onto small businesses is a formula for economic disaster.

The Illinois State Supreme Court has concluded that local labor conditions in our state should rest with the Illinois General Assembly who are charged with legislating “carefully crafted and balanced economic policies”; not local home rule units of government. And the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has opined that “Cook County lacks the home rule authority to enact such an ordinance.” That’s why I strongly urge any of my board colleagues who want to legislate fiscal policies over private employers to seek office in the Illinois General Assembly which is the appropriate venue to do so. Not the Cook County Board.

Sean M. Morrison
Cook County Commissioner
17th District

Chicago, IL – A proposed ordinance was introduced to the Cook County Board of Commissioners on June 29 that calls for a major regulation establishing mandatory“Employer Paid Sick Leave for Residents of Cook County”.  This ordinance, if passed, will directly impact every single business within Cook County, regardless of size. The proposal is currently in the Finance Committee and will be called for a vote at the next Cook County Board Meeting on Wednesday, October 5.

As Commissioner of the suburban 17th District, Morrison has deep concern about the direct impact it will have on businesses in the 17th District. “As a small business owner myself, I can’t imagine how this government regulation would not place a greater financial burden on businesses.  Moreover, the vast majority of the 17th District borders DuPage and Will counties and I can foresee this ordinance creating a competitive disadvantage for those Cook County businesses in proximity to the county border,” said Commissioner Morrison.

Commissioner Morrison also believes that this competitive disadvantage would also serve to hinder the extensive attempts by suburban communities to attract new businesses, create new economic development opportunities and grow jobs throughout suburban Cook County. For these reasons and several others is why Commissioner Morrison stated his firm opposition to this proposed regulation.

Many questions have been raised about this proposed regulation since its introduction earlier this summer. Is it legal for a local government body to apply a mandatory paid regulation to private companies?  Why have all governmental bodies been excluded from this proposed ordinance?  Does Cook County presume that government takes precedence over private employers? Will the proposed ordinance exempt companies that already offer PTO (Paid Time Off) to its employees? Or, will ‘Paid Sick Leave’ be in addition to existing PTO programs? Will it also apply to union employees working under a Collective Bargaining Agreement? If not, why?

“The meddling by Cook County to mandate the private sector’s pay requirements is a bridge too far. I cannot see how this passes any legal hurdles if challenged in court. This is another example of overreaching authority by the Cook County Board and bad public policy. If passed, it will certainly have further negative impact on our local economy” concluded Commissioner Morrison.