With the spring legislative session entering its final stretch, it’s important that legislators hear from their small business constituents.

Take a few minutes to drop your legislators a note about the following issues.

Unfeasible Workplace Temperature Regulations

Lawmakers are considering implementing costly and unfeasible workplace temperature regulations on Illinois employers. Read more about them here. The legislation would impose unworkable standards on small businesses and expose them to large fines and costly lawsuits.

Contact your legislators and let them know why these proposed mandates are unworkable for your small business!

Unemployment Benefits for Striking Workers

The Illinois General Assembly is considering granting unemployment benefits to striking workers, driving up unemployment insurance costs for small businesses to provide benefits to striking workers involved in labor disputes with large corporations. Read more here.

Contact your legislators to tell them you oppose using unemployment insurance funds to give benefits to striking workers!

Estate/Death Tax Relief

Family-owned small businesses are hit hard by Illinois’ estate/death tax. Illinois is only one of 12 states in the country that tax estates upon the owner’s death. Illinois’ estate/death tax exemption of $4 million hasn’t been updated for over a decade despite soaring property values. Upon the death of the owner, family-owned businesses and farms may lack the liquid assets to pay the death taxes, forcing mourning family members to make the tough choice to take out expensive loans, sell land or equipment, or even sell the business itself to pay Illinois’ death tax.

Contact your legislators and tell them to raise the estate/death tax exemption!

Health-Insurance Mandates that are too Expensive for the State are too Expensive for Small Business

In recent years, legislators have been imposing costly new coverage mandates on small group health insurance plans—the plans utilized by small businesses—while exempting state employee health insurance plans from the same mandates due to concerns that the mandates would cost the state too much money.

Contact your legislators today and tell them that if a health insurance mandate is too expensive for the state, it is too expensive for small businesses!