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* Speaker of the House Chris Welch filed HB4148, a first step for staffers that want to unionize…
Creates the Legislative Employee Labor Relations Act. Authorizes legislative employees to bargain collectively through the representatives of their choosing on questions of wages, hours, and other conditions of employment. Specifies that the General Assembly is not required to bargain on specified matters of inherent managerial policy. Establishes the Office of State Legislative Labor Relations. Directs the Office of State Legislative Labor Relations to manage the interests of the General Assembly in collective bargaining with legislative employees. Grants the State Panel of the Illinois Labor Relations Board jurisdiction over collective bargaining matters between employee organizations and the General Assembly of the State of Illinois. Contains additional provisions concerning the following topics: the duty to bargain collectively; fair-share agreements; grievance procedures; election and recognition of labor organizations as exclusive representatives; unfair labor practices; mediation; fact-finding; exhaustion of nonjudicial remedies; strikes during session periods; and multiyear collective bargaining agreements. Specifies that the Open Meetings Act does not apply to collective bargaining negotiations and grievance arbitration proceedings under the Act. Sets forth definitions. Amends the Criminal Code of 2012, the State Lawsuit Immunity Act, and the Workplace Violence Prevention Act to make conforming changes. Effective July 1, 2026.
* Politico…
Welch says the issue is personal as his office employs nearly 200 people. “Legislative employees in the House and Senate have the right to organize and collectively bargain. It’s important that they have equal opportunity,” he said in an interview with POLITICO, ticking off workers in a range of departments that would be affected, from the janitorial crew to the law department.
Illinois Democratic lawmakers have a long history of supporting labor, but their Springfield staffs have never been allowed to form a union because current law prohibits it. That would change if Welch’s legislation is passed by the Democratic-led Senate and signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, who like Welch is a Democrat. […]
Few other legislative houses have unionized, but California is in the process of seeing its legislative staffers go union, and New York is watching, Welch noted.
* HB4145…
Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that a restaurant shall clearly and prominently disclose all fees outside of food costs and taxes that are added to a customer’s bill, including administrative fees, at the beginning of the ordering process. Provides that a restaurant that violates the provisions commits an unlawful practice within the meaning of the Act.
* Rep. Tarver introduced HB4147 on Monday…
Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Provides that if a defendant is found guilty of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, other drug or drugs, or intoxicating compound or compounds, or any combination thereof where the violation has resulted in the death of another, the court shall order the defendant to pay an amount reasonable and necessary for support of any child of the victim. Sets forth factors the court shall consider when determining a reasonable and necessary amount of child support. Allows the Office of the Attorney General to enforce a child support order issued under the provisions. Makes a corresponding change in the Illinois Vehicle Code.
* The bill is very similar to a Texas law. CNN…
A new law in Texas requires convicted drunk drivers to pay child support if they kill a child’s parent or guardian, according to House Bill 393.
The law, which went into effect Friday, says those convicted of intoxication manslaughter must pay restitution. The offender will be expected to make those payments until the child is 18 or until the child graduates from high school, “whichever is later,” the legislation says.
Intoxication manslaughter is defined by state law as a person operating “a motor vehicle in a public place, operates an aircraft, a watercraft, or an amusement ride, or assembles a mobile amusement ride; and is intoxicated and by reason of that intoxication causes the death of another by accident or mistake.”
If someone is unable to pay the restitution because they’re incarcerated, they’re expected to make payments no “later than the first anniversary of the date,” of their release, the law says.
posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 10:51 am
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We now see the Speakers labor plan. Of course, the devil is in the details. Speaking of the devil, the MAGA GOP is going to have a field day trolling the Dems on this bill.
Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 11:09 am
Let’s start the negotiations with demanding a 40 % pay hike and a 4 day work week
Comment by Lucky Pierre Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 11:25 am
=== Let’s start the negotiations===
If you and Rauner had your way in IL, there would be no collective bargaining.
Part of what happens begins… with the right to bargain
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 11:30 am
=Let’s start the negotiations with demanding a 40 % pay hike and a 4 day work week=
You clearly do not know how to negotiate. If 40% and 4 days is your goal…then you start with something higher and fewer days.
No charge for the advice LP, now you can take that new knowledge and use it to negotiate at your place of employment.
Have a great day
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 11:31 am
Except under normal circumstances collective bargaining is adversarial by definition
In Illinois, labor and management frequently sit on the same side of the table because big labor controls Democrats
Comment by Lucky Pierre Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 11:39 am
==Let’s start the negotiations with demanding a 40 % pay hike and a 4 day work week==
Interesting. The auto workers gave up a lot (via collective bargaining) to keep the automakers afloat and now that the automakers are making record profits and their execs and shareholders are benefiting, the auto workers (through collective bargaining) want a slice of that pie. The automakers are concerned that if the unionized workers get that slice the non-unionized workers will want some as well (and may decide that being in a union is the way to go).
To the news & bill: Speaker Welch is moving in the right direction on a path to recognize his employees right to bargain collectively. The workers recognize the power of speaking with a unified voice. I hope this moves forward and sets a positive example for others - both employers and employees.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 11:40 am
=== Except under normal circumstances collective bargaining is adversarial by definition===
Friend, you and Rauner wanted collective bargaining to end, not the concern of who was where, along with prevailing wage being eliminated.
Ok, sounds like a good deal… because after gutting labor… Dems got to vote to raise taxes too.
Your phony thought to “well, look who is negotiating where” holds no water to your actual want… and you lost that battle, that election, and united labor to where this Staff is on their own ask.
This is all that winning I keep hearing about, no?
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 11:57 am
===If someone is unable to pay the restitution because they’re incarcerated, they’re expected to make payments no “later than the first anniversary of the date,” of their release, the law says.==
I have difficulty seeing how this would be enforced in practice.
Comment by Anon E Moose Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 12:01 pm
Friendly advice to Rich: Oswego Willy makes reading the comments on your blog unbearable. I am not the only one who refers to your blog on fewer occasions because of this one commenter.
Comment by phocion Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 12:16 pm
The Texas bill actually sounds pretty good. Cannot believe I’m actually writing this.
Comment by Stormsw7706 Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 12:17 pm
=adversarial=
From your vast experience? Please share how you came to that “well informed” opinion? Of wait…I get it, you are just trolling because public employees should be paid nothing in your “opinion”.
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 12:26 pm
- phocion -
I don’t know why you don’t just skip my comments.
This blog is the blog of record of Illinois politics, Isabel has only raised the blog and reporting to new and greater heights.
However your comment does track, someone asking where I was recently was a bit more jarring.
Be well.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 12:28 pm
HB4147 - yes (banned punctuation)
Next, expand that mandatory child support provision to anyone also convicted of murder. If it applies to drunk drivers (and it should) it should also apply to those who kill another human in cold blood or a fit of rage.
Comment by JB13 Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 12:37 pm
===Let’s start the negotiations with demanding a 40 % pay hike===
I know quite a few staff members that I would still consider underpaid for the value they bring to the table even after a 40% pay hike.
Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 12:41 pm
Re: HB 4147: Why would we want to graft the broken child support system onto the broken criminal legal system? Is there any role for judicial discretion here, or do we think creating mandatory sentences in statute has just been so successful in other contexts that we need to double down on that brilliant concept? Do we expect that people who can’t pay restitution now are magically going to be able to pay if it’s characterized as child support?
Comment by charles in charge Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 1:28 pm
“someone asking where I was recently”
If that was me noticing your absence, it was truly out of concern, and not spite or sarcasm.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 1:31 pm
==In Illinois, labor and management frequently sit on the same side of the table==
Spoken by someone who doesn’t have any clue as to how labor negotiations have actually worked with the state. As someone who is intimately familiar with it I can tell you without question that management and labor sit on two very different sides of the table. But when are you concerned with facts.
Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 1:33 pm
==Let’s start the negotiations with demanding a 40 % pay hike and a 4 day work week==
And the union hating continues.
Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 1:33 pm
- TheInvisibleMan -
I know, and I did/do appreciate that concern. Sincerely.
Still, it’s a rarity, comparatively.
And I did enjoy our back and forth. Hope you are well too.
To the post,
HB4147, yeah I’d like to learn more about it, including the use of it and getting that restitution comparative to ability to pay.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 1:39 pm
Rep. Carroll is on to something with HB4145. Maybe he should also add in something about being specific about where the fees are going (i.e. is this a tip for the server or not. If it isn’t, explicitly say it isn’t.)
Comment by Benniefly2 Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 4:03 pm
HB4147 -
Not sure the IMDMA is the right vehicle for that. Would rather have this tied into the Code of Corrections as a standalone sentencing provision, probably in the restitution section. This appears to require the child or the child’s mother to have a support petition filed in a separate child support case number. That can lead to some complicated jurisdictional questions under UIFSA. That gets solved if the legislature (1) expressly vests IL Courts with jurisdiction to hear support petitions where the conviction occurred in an IL court (2) expressly authorizes Illinois Courts to award support based on the criminal courts findings, and (3) permits the criminal court’s order to be enforceable in other states by UIFSA.
I don’t see the child support case tracking well in these matters.
Comment by Just Another Anon Wednesday, Sep 27, 23 @ 4:11 pm