April Legislative Session Update

April 6, 2023

April Legislative Session Update

The Illinois General Assembly is now on a 2-week Spring Break after the Senate adjourned on Friday early afternoon, and the House adjourned Thursday, March 30. Friday was the deadline in the Senate whereby introduced bills had to pass the Chamber. The House deadline was the previous Friday, March 24. In total, the Senate passed 265 bills over to the House, and the House passed 443 bills to the Senate. Members will be back in their district offices (if not on vacations) for the next two weeks, and both chambers reconvene April 18, when only 5 weeks of scheduled Session remains. As you might imagine, with over 700 bills passing over to the other Chamber, several legislative initiatives regulating businesses and employers were passed, while a handful of others have had the artificial deadlines extended to the end of April. HB 3129, legislation that requires employers to publish pay scales in all job postings, has passed the House by a vote of 60-37-0. The legislation advances to the Senate, where SB 2038, companion legislation, was not considered. SB 1979, legislation that mandates that certain small businesses (Restaurants, Pharmacies, Grocery stores, and Gas Stations) must accept cash, has passed the Senate by a vote of 40-16-0. The legislation specifically exempts large retailers, like Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club and Costco, and Amazon GO. In addition, a business can enable the purchase of prepaid cards with no additional fees. LEAVE HB 2493 provides 10-days of unpaid leave to a worker whose family member is killed as a result of a crime of violence. The legislation passed the House by a vote of 95-16-0. SB 2034 expands the Child Extended Bereavement Act to provide up to 12-weeks of unpaid leave for an employee of a business with 250 employees for if the worker experiences the death of a child via suicide or homicide. It also provides up to 6-weeks of unpaid leave for an employee of a business with between 50-250 employees. The distinction between this proposed law and federal, unpaid FMLA is the absence of an employment period. Federal FMLA requires that a worker be employed for 12 months prior to eligibility for Leave. SB 2034 passed the Senate by a vote of 44-6-0 HB 3516 provides up to 2-weeks of paid leave for worker for the purpose of organ donation. The legislation contains a 50-employee threshold. Currently, an employer with greater than 50 employees is required to provide up to 2 weeks of paid leave for the purpose of blood donation. However, blood donation typically requires approximately an hour of time, per donation. Recovery from organ donation is typically 5-6 weeks. HB 3516 passed the House by a vote of 71-28-2. HB 1122 creates the Freelance Worker Protection Act, and mandates that any person hiring a freelance worker shall provide a contract disclosing terms of the agreement and payment. After several amendments offered by various business interests, the legislation passed the House by a vote of 68-38-0. NFIB has been closely monitoring this legislation. PREVAILING WAGE HB 3491 and SB 2408 provide a Private Right of Action for a worker under the Prevailing Wage Act. HB 3491 passed the House by a vote of 75-36-0. SB 2408 was held on the Senate floor without a vote. This legislation is a contractor harassment proposal. HB 2845 expands prevailing wage to apply to the hauling of biosolids away from wastewater treatment plants. Biosolids are often hauled by farmers for use as fertilizer. HB 2845 passed the House by a vote of 78-32-0. HB 3351 expands prevailing wage to apply to the Solar For All program; which provides state grant funds to low income housing projects for installation of solar panels. HB 3351 passed the House by a vote of 86-26-0. HB 3370 expands prevailing wage to apply to power washing of public works prior to painting. The legislation passed the House 73-34-0 OTHER LEGISLATION PENDING NFIB has been vigorously opposing SB 504 and HB361, creating the Work Without Fear Act, creating a Private Right of Action for any individual (not just the aggrieved individual worker) under the entire Section 820 Employment Code (over 70 different Acts) protecting the rights of undocumented workers. Provides substantial fines, in excess of $10,000, and up to $50,000, per incident, per employee, for the actions of a rogue employee against another worker. While this legislation hasn’t been considered by either Chamber for a full vote, the proponents of the legislation continue to push the issue and ask the business community to negotiate the legislation. HB 1604 provides additional regulations and burdens on Temporary employment agencies, including the ability for a worker to refuse a work assignment if there is a labor dispute, In addition, the legislation provides an equivalent pay requirement if the worker works for more than 5-days at the jobsite. This legislation was intensely debated and negotiated behind the scenes, with the proponents refusing to accept language provided by Staffing Services. Ultimately the legislation wasn’t called for a vote as House members left Springfield as Friday night got later and later. HB 579 creates an Illinois state-based health insurance exchange. The State of Illinois seems to believe earnestly that taking a product that already exists and taxing that product to create a bureaucracy will somehow make that product cheaper for consumers. NFIB has been actively engaged in conversations on this legislation, which is being supported by the Small Business Advisory Council. HB 3131 created the Workplace COVID Safety Act and mandated that any employer with greater than 30 employees shall create a Safety Committee. Proponents admitted during conversations on the legislation that its purpose was to mandate collective bargaining on health and safety issues in every workplace, regardless of the presence of a recognized bargaining unit. HB 3131 was never called for a vote before the full House. Again, the legislature returns from its two-week break on April 18.

Topics:

Uncategorized

State:

Illinois

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