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The Illinois Quad City
Chamber of Commerce is an activist for an economic
climate where businesses are able to prosper. On
your behalf we work within our region, state, and nation
to advocate policies that are consistent with the
interests of the business community. Of
particular concern to the Illinois Quad City Chamber is legislation dealing with
health
care, and tax structure/state budget. Of ongoing interest to
our business community are labor/employment and tort reform
matters.
The
Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce Board of
Directors has adopted legislative priorities which focus on these four areas
with the intent to take a unified voice, a common agenda, and a strong message
to Springfield. To read more about our Legislative Priorities,
click here.
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To contact any of these Illinois
State Officials, click on the name below for phone number and
address:
U.S. Senate
Senator Dick Durbin
Senator Barack H. Obama
U.S. House
Representative Lane A. Evans
Illinois Senate
Senator Michael Jacobs
Illinois House of Representatives
Representative Mike J. Boland
Representative Pat Verschoore
Illinois State Offices
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
Lt. Governor Pat Quinn
Attorney General Lisa Madigan
Comptroller Daniel W. Hynes
Secretary of State Jesse White
State School Superintendent Randy J. Dunn
Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka |
Healthcare
Consumer
Choice of Benefits
Current
legislation includes SB2145
which provides that insurers may may
offer policies of accident and health insurance
that do not include all state mandated health benefits.
Providing health care insurance consumers with more
options will save money and allow businesses and
individuals the ability to choose insurance plans that
meet their needs
Tax Structure
Leaders
Call for Suspension in Gas Sales Tax
A hot topic in Illinois government is the ever
increasing price of gasoline. In the past month, a special
sesson of the Illinois General Assembly has been requested
several times to discuss lowering and even eliminating the
gas tax.
State
Treasurer and GOP gubernatorial nominee Judy Baar Topinka
recently called on Governor Blagojevih to convene a
special session of the IL General Assembly. Topinka would
like to see the state sales tax lowered when prices are
between $2 and $2.50 a gallon and eliminated when the
prices breaches $2.50.
The Blagojevich campaign said that the state could
not give up this revenue, that a special session would not
be called and the real reason gas prices are high is
because of President Bush's policies in the Mid-East.
Minority
House Leader Tom Cross has also called for a suspension in
the
Illinois
gas sales tax. Illinois
Republicans have been pushing for a special session to
assist individuals and businesses with high gas prices.
"People
are struggling to get to and from work and to get to
school and vacations. We have a responsibility to ease
that burden," Cross said.
The
Blagojevich administration calls the demand a political
ploy, although Blagojevich called on
Washington
to do something similar when prices were just cracking
$2.00. Gov.
George Ryan did temporarily suspend the sales tax in 2000.
Cross indicates that such a suspension would cost
the state about $100 million.
Labor
Illinois
Minimum Wage Increse Could Cripple Small Business
There are currently
two bills under legislation that pertain to a possible
annual minimum wage adjustment. Both HB0411
and SB0037
provide
that the minimum wage for employees who are at least 18
years of age shall be adjusted each year by the Illinois
Department of Labor, using the percentage change in the
consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical
workers during the immediately preceding calendar year.
However,
the
Illinois' minimum
wage is already higher than the federal standard, and the
standard of every other midwestern state. Further
increasing the wage will kill jobs in Illinois, add
greater costs to Illinois employers, and cut off job
opportunities for entry level workers. Because of the wage
being tied to urban prices, this would especially be
devistating to rural communities.
Tort Reform
Group
Calls for Repeal of Malpractice Reform Measures
Last
week marked the beginning of medical malpractice reform
when, one year ago, Gov. Blagojevich signed legislation
that capped medical malpractice awards and placed
increased regulations upon the insurance industry.
The medical industry and business groups, including
the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, view the new statute as
only the first step of the process but others wish to see
a complete overturn of last year's land mark gains.
The
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Center for Justice and
Democracy and USA Action are all in the forefront of the
repeal effort. Rather
than capping awards, these groups would rather see greater
insurance regulation.
"What
we've always maintained is that one of the ways you bring
down rates is that you have aggressive rate
regulation," said William McNary, president of USA
Action.
However, it is clear that opponents are hoping to
find a way to turn back the clock on medical malpractice
reforms. "They're
waiting to find a tragic case, one where it's going to be
very difficult for a jury and for a trial court judge to
award only the capped amount of money," said Ed
Murnane, president of the Illinois Civil Justice League.
While
it may take some time to realize the full effects of the
recent legislation,
Illinois
is already a safer place because of the reforms put in
place. "The
one thing that's important about Med Mal, it's not just
about insurance rates," said Susan Hofer, spokeswoman
for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional
Regulation which overseas the insurance division.
"It's also about our ability to go after bad docs and
prosecute them."
Watch
for the next Legislative Focus to be sent October 3rd. |
