Macon Reporter

State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) voted for a bill that passed 50-0 in the Senate on Feb. 25 that amends the Illinois Municipal Code regarding a fee that’s to be paid to a board described by an Illinois law firm as unnecessary in state government.

Rose expressed unfamiliarity with the foreign fire insurance board set up by the Illinois Municipal Code and for which Senate Bill 1571 amends certain aspects pertaining to it. Rose made comments on Feb. 25 on the Senate floor.

“Where do you find these bills? This is amazing. What even is a foreign fire board? Please tell us what this is as opposed to an in-state fire board,” Rose said.

The bill requires entities from outside of Illinois that sell fire insurance in the state to pay an established foreign fire insurance board “2% of the gross receipts received from fire insurance upon property situated within the municipality or district,” the bill said. Previously, out-of-state entities selling insurance in-state had to pay “a sum not exceeding 2%.”

State Sen. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago), a sponsor of the bill, said the fee is collected and distributed to local fire departments.

“I intend to vote for this bill because this is the most interesting piece of arcane knowledge that I’ve achieved today,” Rose said.

Illinois Senate Bill 1571 was sent to the Illinois House on Feb. 28, and referred to the Rules Committee on March 1, the bill status said.

The Illinois law firm Ottosen, DiNolfo, Hasenbalg & Castaldo, Ltd., said on its website that “A foreign fire insurance board is quite possibly the most superfluous layer of government in the State of Illinois.”

“The statutory purpose of a foreign fire insurance board is to create a seven-member board to adopt rules and procedures to expend the revenues that municipalities and fire protection districts collect from out-of-state insurance companies that issue fire insurance policies in the State of Illinois,” the website said. “Revenues that could otherwise be spent for the general good of the municipality or fire protection district have, when applicable, been placed in the hands of that entity’s Foreign Fire Insurance Board (FFIB) and must be spent ‘for the maintenance, use, and benefit’ of the fire department.”