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Rauner whacks labor, DCFS wards, trial lawyers

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Illinois

* The governor got out his veto pen today…

Veto Message for HB 3194
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois House of Representatives,
99th General Assembly:

Today I return House Bill 3194 with specific recommendations for change.

Over the last several years, the State has awarded weatherization grants under the Urban Weatherization Initiative Act and the Energy Assistance Act, supported by federal funds. Because of the federal funding, federal prevailing wage rates applied.

The federal program ended on June 30, 2015, at which point federal prevailing wage requirements no longer apply. The proponents of the bill are concerned that Illinois prevailing wage rates will apply going forward, leading to a marked increase in wage rates, which will significantly reduce the value of the program. Among other changes, House Bill 3194 would require that employees performing weatherization work continue to be paid in accordance with (lower) federal prevailing wage rates rather than (higher) Illinois prevailing wage rates, regardless of whether the State receives federal funding.

This bill demonstrates the problems with the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. There is no classification under the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act for “weatherization worker.” Instead, contractors are required to use general classifications – in particular, carpenters – which results in inflated wage rates. When the U.S. Department of Labor conducted a survey of weatherization wage rates in Illinois in 2009-2010, it found that the prevailing wage for weatherization workers was a fraction of the wage rates applicable to carpenters.

We have an obligation to taxpayers and the beneficiaries of government services to maximize public resources. Every public program can go farther when it is not compelled to subsidize artificially-inflated wages. For that reason, we need broader reform to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act.

I am returning House Bill 3194 to clarify the applicability of federal law. While I agree with the sponsors that Illinois prevailing wage rates should not be required, we should require payment of federal prevailing wage rates only if and when required by federal law – something that can be left to federal law itself and not repeated in Illinois statute.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(e) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 3194, entitled “AN ACT concerning finance”, with the following specific recommendations for change:

On page 2, by replacing lines 13 through 16 with the following: “subdivision thereof. Works financed or funded in whole or in part with grants awarded under this Article shall not be considered public works for purposes of the Prevailing Wage Act.”; and
On page 8, by replacing lines 2 through 8 with the following: “the weatherization program. Works financed or funded in whole or in part with grants awarded under this Article shall not be considered public works for purposes of the Prevailing Wage Act.”.

With these changes, House Bill 3194 will have my approval. I respectfully request your concurrence.
Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR

* And…

Veto Message for HB 3507
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois House of Representatives
99th General Assembly:

Today I veto House Bill 3507 from the 99th General Assembly, which mandates that cases within the Department of Children and Family Services remain open until the ward reaches 21 years of age. This unfunded mandate places a significant financial burden on the Department, particularly because the Department would not be eligible for matching federal funds for all these services.

The Department currently provides numerous services for 18- to 21-year-old persons, including finding safe living arrangements, job placement, and scholarship funding. The federal funding match for these programs is only available for services to persons over the age of 18 if the person is in a work or educational setting or unable to be because of a disability. House Bill 3507 does not satisfy this requirement.

The Department suggested legislative provisions that would address the concerns raised by youth advocates while still maintaining federal funding. The Department’s suggestion would have incentivized youth to develop job and educational skills necessary for independence and self-sufficiency and would have maximized federal funding. Unfortunately those ideas were rejected.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House 3507, “AN ACT concerning State government”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR

* And…

Veto Message for HB 488
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois House of Representatives
99th General Assembly:

Today I veto House Bill 488 from the 99th General Assembly in order to protect Illinois from new legal claims that will clog the court system and drive up litigation costs.

House Bill 488 would shift attorney’s fees to parties that prevail in obtaining an injunction under the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004. Illinois and federal law generally disfavor shifting attorney’s fees; fees should only be awarded to successful plaintiffs in rare and special cases, usually where attorneys identify and advance important legal rights. Attorney’s fees are not appropriate in most cases, and they are not appropriate in this case: fee shifting would not advance public safety.

Public safety and enforcement are properly the responsibility of the State. This bill would effectively shift that responsibility from the State to trial lawyers, who would pursue new and costly litigation for greater potential reward. This will burden the court system and delay other proceedings.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 488, entitled “AN ACT concerning regulation,” with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR

* And…

Veto Message for HB 4113
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois House of Representatives,
99th General Assembly:

Today I return House Bill 4113 with specific recommendations for change.

First, House Bill 4113 exempts printing contracts for the student newspaper at Southern Illinois University’s Carbondale campus from the Illinois Procurement Code for one year, during which time the bill requires those contracts be publicly awarded through an alternative process. Student newspapers are a vital part of vibrant and engaged student populations at all universities. The changes made by this bill – which provide more flexibility to the student newspapers while ensuring a public procurement process – should apply to all public universities and colleges during the one-year trial period.

Second, the bill increases the voting representation of students on the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees. Current law provides the student bodies of both campuses with representation on the Board of Trustees; one of those representatives is a voting member, and the other is a non-voting member. The bill would permit both representatives to be voting members.

Student representatives are valuable additions to the Board of Trustees. But on a board of just nine or ten voting trustees (depending on whether one or both student representatives are voting members), having two student voting members is not necessary or advisable. The Board of Trustees must consider difficult budgetary issues, academic requirements, and student conduct and disciplinary issues. The long-term views of professionals must be given appropriate weight. The current make-up allows for the students’ perspective to be heard without diluting the insight gained from the other trustees’ years of professional experience. As such, I recommend that no change be made to the composition of the Board of Trustees.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(e) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 4113 with the following changes:

On page 1, line 7, by deleting “Southern Illinois”; and
On page 1, by replacing line 11 with “at any public institution of higher education as defined in the Board of Higher Education Act.”; and
On page 1, by replacing lines 12 and 13 with “Notice of each contract entered into by a public institution of higher education that is related to the procurement of printing”; and
On page 1, line 17, by replacing “Southern Illinois University” with “The public institution of higher education”; and
On page 2, by deleting lines 10 through 24; and
By deleting pages 3 through 5; and
On page 6, by deleting lines 1 through 7.

With these changes, House Bill 4113 will have my approval. I respectfully request your concurrence.
Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR

* And…

Veto Message for SB 661
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois Senate,
99th General Assembly:

Today I veto Senate Bill 661 from the 99th General Assembly in order to shield Illinois from significant spending mandates and to protect our State’s health care providers from unnecessary civil liability.

Senate Bill 661 creates the Hepatitis C Screening Act, which stems from the hard work of the Illinois Hepatitis C Task Force. This bill requires health care practitioners, regardless of setting, to offer a hepatitis C screening test to individuals born between 1945 and 1965, unless the health care practitioner reasonably believes that certain conditions are present. The bill also requires all insurers, public and private, to provide coverage for hepatitis C screening and confirmatory testing consistent with reasonable medical standards.
I support the General Assembly’s determination to combat hepatitis C. I further applaud the members of the Illinois Hepatitis C Task Force for their efforts to raise awareness of this very serious problem.

Senate Bill 661, however, imposes significant short-term financial obligations upon the State Medicaid agency and the State health insurance plan at a time when Illinois is facing a fiscal crisis. The bill would help identify Illinoisans afflicted with hepatitis C, but it does not address the important question of how to pay for the expensive treatment necessary to defeat the disease. It is an untenable position to diagnose a disease but not account for funding for the treatment.

The bill further mandates that doctors adhere to the “Testing Recommendations for Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection.” By dictating a specific standard of care to doctors, the bill sets an ill-advised precedent with respect to the State’s health care industry. This bill replaces doctors’ ability to provide patient-centered care with government-mandated medical care. This could expose our doctors to new and costly litigation, which will further increase medical costs.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 661, entitled “AN ACT concerning public health”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR

* And…

Veto Message for SB 1271
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois Senate,
99th General Assembly:

Today I veto Senate Bill 1271 from the 99th General Assembly, which would reduce competitive bidding for park, forest, and conservation district contracts.

Given Illinois’s history of corruption and insider dealing, government transparency is paramount. Competitive bidding ensures that units of local government are getting the best price for services and that taxpayer funds are being used effectively. Consequently, increasing the threshold for competitive bidding from $20,000 to $25,000 is a step in the wrong direction for government transparency and conserving taxpayer dollars.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 1271, “AN ACT concerning local government”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR

* This was a big bill and was opposed by some huge social media companies…

Veto Message for SB 1833
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois Senate,
99th General Assembly:

Today I return Senate Bill 1833, which amends the Personal Information Protection Act, with specific recommendations for change.

The Personal Information Protection Act was enacted in 2005 to protect consumers from the damaging consequences of a data breach. Illinois businesses and non-profit organizations must take their obligations seriously.

Senate Bill 1833 makes significant changes to the Personal Information Protection Act, many of which are intended to protect consumers and update the Act. But unfortunately, the bill goes too far, imposing duplicative and burdensome requirements that are out-of-step with other states. These unnecessary requirements will hurt our economic competitiveness without providing commensurate benefit to Illinois consumers and residents whom the bill is intending to protect.

In particular, the bill would add “consumer marketing information” and “geolocation information” to the types of protected personal information. This is significant departure from the data protection laws of other states. Compared to other types of personal information, the unauthorized release of consumer marketing and geolocation information does not pose the same risk of identity theft that justifies the extraordinary and costly security and notice requirements imposed by the Personal Information Protection Act.

The bill requires that notices be given to the Attorney General within 30 business days after the breach is discovered. While many states do not impose a specific requirement of this type, those that do more often require notice within 45 calendar days (which is approximately the same as 30 business days). To ease the burden of compliance across multiple states, I recommend that the notice be required within 45 calendar days instead of 30 business days.

The bill would also require the operator of any website to post a privacy policy. Because California law already requires this, most large businesses already comply with this requirement. Layering on an Illinois-specific requirement will only increase the cost of compliance without adding value to consumers. Moreover, for those small businesses that are not required to comply with the California law, this is a burdensome and costly mandate, particularly because no other state has imposed a similar requirement.

The changes recommended below would address these and related concerns. While I commend the sponsors for their efforts to protect consumers, Illinois does not need regulation that makes it even more difficult to do business. Illinois is suffering from the consequences of over-regulation. We need to break the cycle of taxation and regulation that has created a hostile economic environment in order to grow our economy, create new jobs, and generate more tax revenue through economic expansion.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(e) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 1833, entitled “AN ACT concerning business”, with the following specific recommendations for change:

On page 2, by deleting lines 2 through 17; and
On page 2, line 21, by replacing “information” with “medical information”; and
On page 3, line 1, by replacing “health” with “such”; and
On page 3, by replacing line 23 with “characteristics used by the owner or licensee to authenticate an”; and
On page 4, by deleting lines 1 through 7; and
On page 4, by replacing lines 23 and 24 with “information concerning an Illinois resident shall”; and
On page 5, by replacing lines 11 and 12 with “information”:”; and
On page 9, line 2, by replacing “30 business days” with “45 days”; and
On page 9, by replacing lines 16 through 26 with “(2) (Blank).”; and
On page 10, by deleting lines 1 through 24; and
On page 11, by replacing lines 3 and 4 with “(a) Any State agency that collects personal information”; and
On page 14, line 19, by replacing “30 business days” with “45 days”; and
On page 16, by replacing lines 10 through 25 with the following:
“(815 ILCS 530/50 new)
Sec. 50. (Blank).”; and
By deleting pages 17 and 18; and
On page 19, by deleting lines 1 through 20.

With these changes, Senate Bill 1833 will have my approval. I respectfully request your concurrence.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 4:24 pm

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