December 5, 2008

Chamber Discusses Ethics Compliance with State Board of Elections

The Chamber appeared before the State Board of Elections today at their meeting in Chicago to discuss compliance and implementation issues with the state’s new “Pay to Play” law set to go into effect early next year.  The Board of Elections specifically discussed new proposed draft rules directing individuals and business entities required to register with the Board to submit that information under a paper-based system.  The Board of Elections has been unsure of how to proceed with implementation of the new law because they did not receive additional funding necessary to create an electronic registration database, as called for under the new law.

The Chamber was the only group to appear before the Board this afternoon to outline their concerns regarding the onerous registration requirements.  The Chamber also expressed their concern that the Board’s proposed rules creating a paper-based registration system until funding for an electronic database is secured will place an even greater burden on businesses required to register.  The Board indicated that they share the Chamber’s frustrations and also share concerns that a paper-based system may not be in compliance with the law.

The Board’s only action today in regards to the ethics compliance issues was to direct staff to schedule a public hearing next week (most likely Thursday) to hear testimony on the proposed draft rule as well as to collect comments and ideas on how the Board should proceed with implementation.  The Board will hold another special meeting on this issue next Friday to review the public comments and ideas.  Elections staff has also been directed to seek an opinion from the Attorney General as to whether an interim paper-based system is considered compliant with the provisions of the new law. 

The Chamber is continuing to monitor this issue closely and will provide updates on this issue as the Board moves forward.

Illinois Supreme Court Hands Down Anti-Business Decision in ‘Deep Pockets’ Case

The Illinois Supreme Court handed down a long-anticipated decision last week in a case that bears tremendous consequences for the business community by reversing current law prohibiting defendants deemed less than 25 percent at fault to be held liable.  The “Ready v. United/Goedecke Services, Inc.” decision allows pre-trial settlements to be excluded from the verdict form for the purposes of calculating fault allocation.  This means any defendants remaining at trial could still be held liable for up to 100 percent of the damages, even if they only played a minor role in a plaintiff’s injury.

The controversial decision validates legislation that made its way through the Legislature last year.  SB 1296, sponsored by Senate President-Elect John Cullerton, sought to circumvent the need for the Supreme Court ruling by statutorily changing the proportional formula currently used to determine joint and several liability.  The Chamber and business community as a whole fought the trial lawyer-backed legislation, which only builds on Illinois’ record of having one of the worst legal climates in the nation.

Although the Supreme Court ruling favors the policy change attempted by SB 1296, the issue will most likely resurface in the new General Assembly.  The Chamber and other opponents of SB 1296 backed another bill last year- HB 1894- that would have solidified the current proportional formula that considers pre-trial settlements when assigning awards for damages.  The two dissenting Supreme Court justices cited that bill in their dissention and wrote that the policy determination for joint and several liability was best left to the Legislature to decide.