New State Laws 2010

Provided by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce

New Laws in 2010 

New Laws Impacting Employers
The 2009 spring and fall legislative sessions produced a number of big wins for the Illinois Chamber and the business community overall.  Whereas 2008 had been defined by a paralyzing political gridlock that yielded few new laws in 2009 impacting employers, 2009 produced a number of new laws marked by negotiation and compromise with the business community.   Many of these victories are reflected in the list of new laws that went into effect on January 1 or will take effect later in 2010. 

A full list of the issue-specific laws are available on each business issue Council’s webpage; with the full list on the Government Affairs homepage.  If you have any questions on these laws, please contact the Council’s Executive Director or a member of the Chamber’s Government Affairs staff.

Employment Law

HB952/P.A. 96-0186

Public Works Demolition: Amends the Prevailing Wage Act. Provides that the Act applies to the demolition of public works.

HB163/P.A. 96-0437

Prevailing Wage Notice: Amends the Prevailing Wage Act. When a public body covered by the Act has awarded work to a contractor without a public bid; they must provide the contractor with written notice indicating that not less than the prevailing rate of wages shall be paid to all laborers, workers and mechanics performing work on the project.  The same notice must be performed if a contractor hires a subcontractor. 

Healthcare

HB 152/P.A. 96-0766

Organ Transplant Medication: Prohibits an insurance policy or service plan from forcing any formulary change in coverage terms for an immunosuppressant drug if the prescribing physician has issued a “may not substitute” prescription for a patient (other than a patient receiving in-patient care at a licensed hospital). The new law does allow for formulary changes only after certain notification and requirements have been met.

HB237/P.A. 96-0802  

Prompt Payment Penalty: Increases the monthly interest penalty from 1% to 2% on Medicaid bills that remain unpaid beyond 60 days.

Ethics

SB54/P.A. 96-0555

Lobbyists Registration Changes: Increases the lobbyist registration fee from $350 (or $150 for non-profits) to $1,000; requires mandatory ethics training (similar to that required of current state employees); and requires all expenditures (regardless of the value) to be reported on a weekly basis during the legislative session and on a monthly basis during periods when the General Assembly is not in session.

SB51/P.A. 96-0795

Procurement Reform: Makes numerous changes to the state’s procurement processes, including: changes to competitive sealed bidding; State emergency and sole source procurements; State contractor and bidder qualification; disclosure of contract subcontractors and contact with state officials regarding bids or contracts; bond issuance contracts; duties of State grant applicants and recipients; and further establishes new duties and responsibilities for contract compliance monitors, agency internal auditors, chief procurement officers and establishes a new Executive Procurement Officer position.  (P.A. 96-0795, made effective July 1, 2010 by P.A. 96-0793)

Tax Institute

HB 1526 / P.A. 96-834

EDGE Tax Credit:Amends the EDGE Tax Credit to provide that certain taxpayers engaged in automobile manufacturing and related activities may elect to claim the EDGE credit as an offset to the taxpayer's withholding tax liability provided that the taxpayer had an Illinois net loss for the taxable year, employs a minimum of 1,000 employees and has an EDGE credit agreement in effect or applies for the credit within 180 days after the effective date of this Act (12/14/09). 

HB4120/P.A. 96-0755

Vacant Properties: Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that any taxing district may order the county clerk to abate its taxes on any property if a new business first occupies a facility located on the property during the taxable year, and the facility was vacant for a period of at least 24 continuous months prior to being occupied by the business. 

Environment/Energy

HB338/P.A. 96-0140

Renewable Fuels Grant: Amends the Illinois Renewable Fuels Development Program Act. Provides that a grant recipient must be constructing, modifying, altering, or retrofitting a plant that has annual production capacity of no less than 5,000,000 (now, 30,000,000) gallons of renewable fuel per year.

SB1919/P.A. 96-0221

Disposal of Unused Medication: Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that no health care institution, or any employee, staff person, contractor, or other person under the direction or supervision of a health care institution, may discharge, dispose of, flush, pour, or empty any unused medication into a public wastewater collection system or a septic system. Makes a violation a petty offense subject to a $500 fine.

Business Regulation/Infra/Economic Development/Procurement

HB 237/P.A. 96-0802

Prompt Payment-Penalty: Provides that any bill submitted under Article V of the Illinois Public Aid Code approved for payment must be paid or the payment issued to the payee within 30 days (now, 60 days) after receipt of a proper bill or invoice, and, if payment is not issued to the payee within this 30-day period, an interest penalty of 2.0% (now, 1.0%) of any amount approved and unpaid shall be added for each month or fraction thereof after the end of this 30-day period, until final payment is made.  

SB1631/P.A. 96-0631

Anti-Counterfeiting Reform: Makes several pro-business changes to the current, outdated Counterfeit Trademark Act.  Stengthens Illinois’ protections against counterfeit goods to now match federal standards.  This is a Chamber initiative. 

Bills Still Awaiting Action from the Governor:

The General Assembly took final action on the following  bill during the fall veto session that, if signed by the Governor, will take effect in 2010:

HB 3923: Highlights of the Chamber-negotiated health insurance reform bill include:
 

• Requires all state-regulated healthcare plans to establish an internal and an external independent appeals process for denied healthcare services (this provision takes effect July 1, 2010).
• Creates a committee to establish a uniform small employers’ group health status questionnaire and an individual health statement (this provision takes effect January 1, 2010).
• Requires health insurers to semi-annually report certain premium and expense data available for public inspection (this provision takes effect January 1, 2010).  

Full Summary