State Representatives Doug Bennett, Dan Brady, Peter Breen, Jim Durkin, Brad Halbrook, David McSweeney, Allen Skillicorn, Joe Sosnowski, Ryan Spain and Keith Wheeler led the Illinois House with their votes ten bills that would have affected the industry.
State Senators Jason Barickman, Tim Bivins, Bill Brady, Mike Connelly, Tom Rooney, Chapin Rose, Jil Tracy and Stanley Weaver showed the way for manufacturing issues in the other chamber.
"We congratulate all those that reflected knowledge and concern about Illinois' $100 billion annual manufacturing Industry as they voted on issues that would have a huge impact," Dennis LaComb, the Technology & Manufacturing Association's Government Relations Director, said.
LaComb oversaw the accumulation of scores for TMA's 2017 Legislative Scorecard. Jay Shattuck is the group's lobbyist in Springfield.
TMA focused on ten bills:
- HB 2462 – Prohibits employers from inquiring about applicants' wage histories.
- HB 2525 – Places into statute workers comp reform that would lock meployers into court-epanded liability basis for injury causation.
- HB 2771 – Requires employers to provide 40 hours of paid sick leave within a 12-month period.
- HB 3369 – Requires Illinois Stae Board of Education to list high skill manufacturing trade schools on state website.
- SB 6 – Sets into effect an unbalanced FY 2017-2018 State Appropriations budget bill.
- SB 6 – Would override Governor's veto of an unbalanced budget proposal.
- SB 9 – Implements FY 2017-2018 State Revenue budget bill with a 33% income tax hike on businesses, 32% tax hike on personal incomes, with no system reforms.
- SB 9 – Would override Governor's veto of tax hikes.
- SB 81 – Requires minimum wage hike to gradually be $15 per hour in 2020.
- SB 1905 – Creates Collective Bargaining proposal that would restrict local government units from opitons in regulating collective bargaining agreements.
TMA encourages their members to acquaint lawmakers with issues that matter to manufacturers and makes the effort to provide legislative scorecards in order to inform those affected by anti-manufacturing policies.
Overall, TMA was in full agreement with Governor Rauner's vetos and efforts to promote and revitalize manufacturing in Illinois.
The scorecard is available online on TMA's Website HERE.
I hope that they voted against these bills, the text is unclear.
Certainly all of these Madigan measures would be highly unhelpful to the preservation of a vibrant manufacturing base in IL and the Chicago area.
And having been a punch press operator at a, now defunct, stamping plant in Morton Grove, during my college summer vacations – I can totally relate.
But noticeably absent here is mention of those matters that effect the American middle class, and American blue-collar class:
1) Firm criminal prosecution of firms, and their individual managers who do not utilize E-verify, to ensure that their employees are not illegal aliens,
2) Firm criminal prosecution of corporations and their individual managers who abuse the H1-B and short-term “visitor worker” programs to deprive American college grad kids and American workers of jobs they are quite ready to competently perform.
The new conservative/populace alliance, no longer considers itself natural allies of entities such as this TMA and the NMA and the Chamber of Commerce.
Republican and Democrat pols, and these corporate bigshots who mindlessly fund them, – at the expense of American workers and American students, could well soon find themselves, politically, up a creek without a paddle.
This is not a 1968 Nixon GOP.
This is a Donald Trump GOP/conservative Democratic alliance.
The corporate agenda is not necessarily the agenda of the, sadly diminishing, American working middle class.
Clint, Clint … must you always be so negative?
Please note that the TMA Legislative Score Card reports VOTES that were taken in Springfield. Those measures missing were not allowed VOTES in either chamber by the DEMOCRAT leadership that is totally committed to undermining freedom in the workplace.
Don’t undermine your own credibility by refusing to share the whole picture.