H.B. 1650 by Reps. William Marovitz (D., Chicago) and Lee Daniels (R., Elmhurst) would authorize pharmacists to substitute lower-priced generic drugs for higher-priced brand name medications. Such substitution is to be based on a list provided by the Department of Public Health. a Such a list would have to be provided within nine months after the bill becomes law, and pharmacists would then be free to make a substitution. It passed the Senate 42-15 and the House 137-18.

Homeowners credit
H.B. 1096 by Reps. Michael Holewinski (D., Chicago) and Michael Madigan (D., Chicago) provides for the regulation of mortgage bankers by the Commissioner of Savings and Loan Associations and the Mortgage Banking Board. It passed the House 120-1 and the Senate 41-8.

S.B. 1102 by Sen. John Merlo (D., Chicago) prohibits discriminatory underwriting of home-owners insurance based on geographic location. Under the bill, this practice, known as "redlining," is added to the definition of unfair and deceptive business acts. It passed the Senate 48-0 and the House 128-0.

H.B. 1579 by Rep. William Marovitz (D., Chicago) amends the Credit Card Act by extending the prohibition against discrimination in the issuance of credit cards to include race, color, religion and national origin. A House amendment deleted the prohibition against age from the original bill. The law already prohibits denial of credit cards because of sex or marital status. Marovitz's bill passed the House 151-0 and the Senate 58-0.

Sen. John Merlo (D., Chicago) and Rep. Arthur Telcser (R., Chicago) successfully sponsored 19 bills which amend the Condominium Property Act to protect unit owners and buyers. The 19 that passed both houses are: S. B. 40, 41, 42, 43,44,45, 46, 47, 48,49,50,51,53,54,56,57, 58, 59 and 60.

License plates H.B. 381 which passed both houses and was sent to the governor June 13 provides for multi-year license plates beginning in 1978 and for annual registration stickers. The bill was cosponsored by Reps. Rolland Tipsword (D.,Taylorville), Ronald Griesheimer (R., Waukegan), James Von Boeckman (D., Pekin) and Gerald Bradley (D., Bloomington). It passed the House 156-4 and the Senate 55-0.

Consumer protection
The legislature seemed more inclined to postpone or defeat the majority of bills which would have helped the consumer. Consumer bills often were killed or tabled before ever reaching the floor for a vote. This occurred to legislation affecting auto repairs, insurance problems and shoppers' complaints about grocery stores' hours and pricing practices.

H.B. 100, a bill desired by Atty. Gen. William Scott to aid his consumer fraud division combat auo repair rip-offs, was stalled in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee in May after it had survived a lengthy amendment stage in the House. The bill would have set standards for repair price information for auto mobile maintenance and repairs and would have provided for authorization of the customer before repairs could be undertaken. It was cosponsored by Reps. Lee Daniels (R., Elmhurst), Arthur Telcser (R., Chicago), Jack Williams (D., Franklin Park), William Marovitz (D., Chicago) and Peggy Smith Martin (D., Chicago). The bill passed the House 93-62 May 10 but did not reach the Senate floor for a vote (see Roll Calls).

No-fault auto insurance did not make any headway this session despite support for the concept from the state Department of Insurance. S.B. 1017 by Sen. Robert Lane (D., South Holland) and S.B. 1113 by Sens. Bradley Glass (R., Northbrook) and Robert Lane remained locked in the Senate Insurance and Licensed

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Activities Committee.

A bill which would have established a state Consumer Advocate was defeated in the House. H.B. 1571 by Rep. William Marovitz (D., Chicago) would have provided for appointment to the office by the governor and confirmation by the Senate. The bill failed in the House on third reading, with a 62-95 vote (see Roll Calls).

Three attempts to establish unit pricing for consumer commodities failed to pass this session. S.B. 31 by Sen. Dawn dark Netsch (D., Chicago) was tabled in the Senate Executive Committee. S.B. 234 by Sen. LeRoy Lemke (D., Chicago) failed on third reading in the Senate May 27, 25-26. The same fate awaited S.B. 498 by Sen. Richard Daley (D., Chicago) which also failed at passage stage in the Senate the same day, 23-26.

The legislature also bypassed the opportunity to help consumers in the Chicago area who faced the possibility of not being able to purchase meat after 6 p.m. Leaving the matter to then acting mayor of Chicago Michael Bilandic and the affected retail merchants and the meat cutters unions, bills addressing the issue were not allowed further debate. S.B. 17 by Sen. Dawn Clark Netsch (D., Chicago) remained in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee which also blocked H.B. 348 by Rep. Daniel O'Brien (D., Chicago). O'Brien's bill had passed the House 153-7, and was voted out of the Senate Committee, 4-2. The vote was reconsidered however and the bill is still in committee. While persons in Chicago can now purchase meat after 6 p.m., the labor contract expires September 24.

Bills which would have provided that mine subsidence insurance be made available to all residents of the state were tied up in the Senate after passing in the House. H.B. 157,158 and 504 by Reps. Monroe Flinn (D., Cahokia) and Celeste Stiehl (R., Belleville) passed the House early in May with wide margins but became the subject of competing Senate sponsors who could not resolve their differences.

Banking Branch banking, an issue fought and defeated almost every year in the past decade by the General Assembly, failed again this session despite an expensive media campaign by the opposing sides. Related topics, bank holding companies and electronic funds transfer, were also tabled or put on the study calendar. These included H.B. 292 by Rep. Michael Brady (D., Chicago), H.B. 492 by Rep. Richard Luft (D., Pekin), H.B. 450 by Rep. Raymond Ewell (D., Chicago), H.B. 494 by Rep. Gerald Bradley (D., Bloomington), H.B. 2184 by Rep. Dave Jones (R., Springfield), S.B. 605 by Sen. Prescott Bloom (R., Peoria) and S.B. 1050 and 1051 by Sen. Philip Rock (D., Chicago). Business - Labor While a compromise over workmen's compensation insurance was worked out during the session after much debate, the legislature failed to bring the state laws on unemployment insurance into conformity with federal rules. The Illinois State Chamber of Commerce warned legislators that this failure could cost Illinois employers more than $700 million in penalties. S.B. 1354 by Sen. David Shapiro (R., Amboy) was killed in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee. S.B. 1019 (P.A. 80-37) by Sen. Robert Lane (D., Chicago) was the final outcome of this session's compromise on workmen's comp. (See August Legislative Action for summary.) H.B. 65 by Rep. Alan Greiman (D., Skokie) was also stalled in the Senate. Greiman's bill would have prohibited mandatory retirement and job discrimination on the basis of age. It passed the House with a large margin, 118-31, but was rejected in the Senate Executive Committee. A motion in the Senate to remove the bill from the table failed, 29-16. Product liability was postponed for consideration with the House Judiciary I subcommittee hearing scheduled in August to hear discussion on several bills. These were H.B. 771 by Rep. Daniel Pierce (D., Highland Park); H.B. 1333 by Reps. Lee Daniels (R., Elmhurst), George Ryan (R., Kankakee) and Gerald Bradley (D., Blooming-ton); H.B. 1498 by Rep. Bernard Epton (R., Chicago) and H.B. 1616 by Rep. Calvin Skinner (R., Crystal Lake).

Sunset
While the legislature early in the session seemed to be moving full steam toward some kind of sunset law, the effort slowed down and none of the proposals reached the governor's desk. Four bills passed in the House but did not pass out of the Senate Executive Committee where they languished along with Senate sunset bills. Those bills included H.B. 185 by Rep. Richard Luft (D., Pekin), H.B. 540 by Rep. Harold Katz (D., Glencoe), H.B. 1702 by Rep. Donald Totten (R., Schaumburg) and H.B. 2231 by Rep. A. C. Bartulis (R., Benld).

H.B. 186 by Rep. Richard Luft (D., Pekin) prohibits the expenditure of federal funds by state agencies except as appropriated by law, thereby increasing the legislature's role in the appropriations process. Opposed by Gov. Thompson and the Bureau of the Budget, the bill was sponsored by the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission. It passed the House 150-0 May 10, and the Senate 51-0 on June 28.

Lobbyist reform
A lobbyist reform bill was bottled up in the Senate Executive Committee in May after passing in the House 132-9. H.B. 1820 by Rep. Michael Holewinski (D., Chicago) would have amended the Lobbyist Registration Act to include any attempt to influence the executive as well as the legislative branch. This change would have expanded the number of persons required to register as lobbyists and would have required additional information through quarterly reports. The committee sent the bill to a study committee without a vote. All other bills seeking reforms in this area never made it out of committee in their originating house.

Abortion
H.B. 333, sponsored by Reps. Harry Leinen-weber (D., Joliet) and Gerald Bradley (D., Bloomington), would eliminate abortions from categories qualifying as medical assistance under the Illinois Department of Public Aid. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled earlier that states needn't pay for abortions when the life of the mother is not endangered. Those abortion payments still allowed under H.B. 333 are those which in a doctor's opinion "are necessary for the preservation of the life of the woman . . . ." The bill passed the Senate 41-12 and the House 121-41 (see Roll Calls).

H.B. 480, by Rep. Donald Deuster (R., Mundelein), provides that a woman under 18 must get parental consent for an abortion. Senate sponsor John Knuppel (D., Virginia) said parents have a right to know if their daughter is planning an abortion. If parents won't consent, the bill allows that a judge may order an abortion anyway after such hearing as the judge deems necessary.

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An earlier law that has been tied up in the courts did not allow court orders to overturn parental refusal of consent. Knuppel admitted that his bill may not be constitutional, but said the recent Supreme Court rulings indicated it is "leaning in this direction." H.B. 480 passed the Senate 40-11, and the House 120-17.

Policy number-raffles
H.B. 41 by Rep. Lewis Caldwell (D., Chicago) was recommitted to the Senate Executive Committee after it failed to receive enough votes for passage in the Senate. The bill would have provided for the organization of businesses to operate policy-numbers games, with 10 per cent of the gross revenues going to state and local governments.

Sen. Charles Chew (D., Chicago), the sponsor, termed policy the "stock market for blacks" and estimated it would produce $10 million a year in revenue. He noted that policy does exist in Illinois and that no agency of government regulates or taxes it. The bill ran into opposition in the Senate
from Gov. Thompson's spokesmen who insisted that the state, not individuals, should own and operate any legal numbers game. The bill failed on a 24-29 vote in the Senate (see Roll Calls).

H.B. 192, which would have legalized and taxed raffles and jar games, also failed to pass the Senate on a 25-28 vote. Sponsored by Rep. Edmund Kornowicz (D., Chicago), the bill would have provided for 10 percent of the proceeds to be paid the state in taxes. According to the bill's fiscal note, it would have raised approximately $2 million in revenue. 

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