Legislative Action Special Section                                                       

Senate President James "Pate" Philip (R-23, Wood Dale) may have started the year hoping for easy success with much pro-business legislation, but the reality of a House of Representatives still dominated by Democrats clouded his dreams to some extent.

The final budget agreement did include tax incentives for businesses to invest in research and development. These will provide sales- and income-tax credits for equipment used in research and development and also to businesses that train and hire students or provide on-site child care.

Other proposals did not fare as well. In his own chamber, Philip was able to garner 31 Republican votes for his top priorities: repealing the Scaffolding Safety Act, limiting compensation paid to victims for defective products and capping awards on medical malpractice. Gov. Edgar had outlined the latter two as priorities in his January State of the State message.

But, not surprisingly, all three measures were defeated along party lines in the Democrat-dominated House Judiciary I Committee. The trio of bills was reborn as an amendment to another Senate proposal — one that would have phased in expanded sales tax exemptions for manufacturing equipment — but was not voted on in that form. These bills are certain to be introduced again in coming sessions, especially since they saw more success this year than similar efforts have seen during the recent past, when Democrats controlled the Senate.

The session was ripe with labor rallies at the Capitol, as locked-out employees of A.E. Staley Manufacturing Co. in Decatur and Central Illinois Public Service Co. showed lawmakers their support for a bill that would allow many of them to collect unemployment benefits. Usually those benefits are not granted in lockouts unless the employer has been cited for unfair labor practices. The measure was not called for a vote.

The "striker replacement" bill pushed in Springfield would have prohibited the hiring of permanent replacements for striking workers. It also would have prohibited the state, local governments and school districts from doing business with employers who hire replacements. The measure passed the House 65-50 but was held in Senate committee.

At the same time, a striker replacement bill was making its way through the federal legislative process. It was approved in May by the U.S. Senate Labor Committee and in mid-June by the U.S. House of Representatives; the full U.S. Senate is not expected to debate the bill until September at the earliest. The measure also would prohibit hiring of permanent replacements for workers striking over economic issues and would keep employers from giving any advantage to a striking worker who returns to work before the strike is over.

A proposal in Illinois to require employers with 50 or more workers to form workplace safety committees also was held in Senate committee, as was a measure that would have mandated prevailing wages on public utility construction projects.

Labor advocates were successful in Illinois on some less visible fronts. Their efforts helped defeat a measure that would have expanded the prison industry program, which labor advocates contend cuts into jobs in the private sector. In addition, a measure that would have forced employees to exhaust an employer's grievance procedure before turning to the judicial system for redress was stalled in House committee, as was a measure that would protect an employer from liability for statements made to another party regarding employment.

A proposal to allow the legislature to put limits on the financial amounts that could be negotiated by public employee unions during collective bargaining was removed from a bill, leaving only a measure that would allow legislative leaders to appoint representatives to observe contract negotiations. This failed in the Senate with four Republican and 24 Democratic votes. *

52/August & September 1993/Illinois Issues