General Assembly Approaching Adjournment
Bill Ward, Executive Vice President
The Illinois General Assembly is unofficially in “hurry-up” mode as the May 31st session deadline quickly approaches. A budget for FY2019 has not seen the light of day but this may change quickly if the votes are there to pass it.
HBAI has disposed of most of the initiatives that we would place in the “OMG” category but we still have a couple substantive issues that we are keeping an eye on as we go into the last week of session.
The Override of SB193
SB193 transfers many duties of the Illinois Dept. of Labor from their purview to the Illinois Attorney General’s office. HBAI and other business groups oppose this proposal as we see this as political power grab and it would restrict cooperation amongst those being investigated for possible employment infractions.
For example, being investigated by personnel at the Dept. of Labor is never a good thing, but employers will probably cooperate much with them than with an attorney from the A.G.’s office who has subpoena powers.
The IDOL has the capability to increase cooperation with those being investigated through processes that produce negotiated settlements.
Employers meeting with attorneys from the Attorney General’s office would be well-advised to hire legal representation do what is necessary to protect themselves from those who may be much more aggressive and unnecessarily overwhelming.
The House and Senate passed the bill in early March and Governor Rauner stamped a Total Veto on its consideration. The Democratically controlled Senate successfully passed an override motion to the Governor’s Veto and the Democratic House is attempting to do the same. But they will need at least 4 Republican votes to accomplish this.
HBAI sent out a VoterVoice asking legislators to Vote NO on SB193 and we are working to Republicans off the bill. This bill won’t be dead until adjournment is announced.
HBAI to Go Neutral on Recorder’s Bill
HB5201 would have allowed County Recorders to unilaterally lift invalid or expired liens from a property title at the request of the landowner. HBAI, the Illinois State Bar Association and several construction groups opposed the measure in the Senate because we see this as a matter that requires full judicial review.
After much work between the State Bar and HBAI, with the proponents, we have reached an agreement to allow the bill to move forward, but without the provision allowing Recorders to rule a lien “invalid.” A Recorder may still rule a lien to be expired under the new language in HB5201.
This law will also have a three-year sunset date which means proponents will need to return to the state capitol in 2021 to renew these powers.
An HBAI “Tip of the Helmet” goes out to Attorneys Corey Stern and John Cooney for providing exceptional legal guidance on this very complicated issue.
