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June 03, 2005
Illinois Passes Slew of Pro-Labor Legislation
Pre-Schwartzennegger, it was California that was the innovator on new progressive legislation. Now it's Illinois. Check out the highlights from this legislative session (full BNA article below):
Jason Keller, legislative director for the Illinois AFL-CIO, said workers' rights to communicate their grievances during a labor dispute were enhanced under H.B. 1480. The legislation spells out strikers' rights with respect to public rights of way during a job action. "This came up because unions, particularly in the building trades, were finding that municipalities were forcing them off of rights of way," Keller told BNA June 2. "This is common sense legislation that permits picketers to make their views known while taking public safety into account."...This is what progressive policy should look like-- concern for workers in sectors across the economy.Both labor and the business community applauded passage of H.B. 2137, which significantly revises Illinois' workers' compensation system...Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) said he would sign the bill, stressing that it would cut costs to business, increase benefits to injured workers, and curtail fraud...
Keller said organized labor also benefited from the passage of a pair of bills seeking to enhance enforcement of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. H.B. 1370 creates new penalties against contractors and subcontractors violating prevailing wage provisions. A companion bill, H.B. 188, establishes new payroll reporting requirements to assist the state department of labor in prevailing wage investigations...
The Illinois Nurses Association won two victories on behalf of its members that are expected to enhance workplace safety and ease overtime burdens. On May 30, both legislative houses passed H.B. 399, which creates the Health Care Setting Violence Prevention Act...The program will require the facilities to implement violence prevention training and formal violence prevention plans...INA also applauded passage of S.B. 201 May 20. The legislation amends various laws affecting Illinois hospitals in order to prohibit mandatory overtime for nurses. The measure was portrayed as an attempt to improve patient safety. INA and other groups have argued that the risk of medical errors increases significantly when nurses are required to work excessive overtime hours.
DAILY LABOR REPORT, June 3, 2005
ILLINOIS LEGISLATORS PASS PRO-LABOR BILLS, CHANGES IN WORKERS' COMPENSATION SYSTEM
By Michael Bologna
CHICAGO -- The Illinois General Assembly wrapped up its spring legislative session May 31, approving a list of labor-supported measures designed to bolster the rights of strikers, strengthen prevailing wage enforcement, and reform the workers' compensation system.
In addition, the Legislature passed a pair of bills designed to protect the interests of nurses and other health care workers. One bill establishes violence prevention programs for Illinois mental health care facilities and the other limits the degree to which nurses can be required to work overtime.
Jason Keller, legislative director for the Illinois AFL-CIO, said workers' rights to communicate their grievances during a labor dispute were enhanced under H.B. 1480. The legislation spells out strikers' rights with respect to public rights of way during a job action.
"This came up because unions, particularly in the building trades, were finding that municipalities were forcing them off of rights of way," Keller told BNA June 2. "This is common sense legislation that permits picketers to make their views known while taking public safety into account."
H.B. 1480 amends the Illinois Labor Dispute Act to permit workers engaged in job actions to use public rights of way to apprise the public of the existence of a labor dispute. It further permits the erection of temporary signs discussing the dispute, the parking of vehicles on public rights of way, and the erection of tents and other temporary shelters for the health, welfare, and safety of picketers.
The measure, however, bars signage, tents, and shelters that obscure traffic signals or interfere with drivers' views of traffic. The bill also requires that picketers maintain a reasonable walkway for use by pedestrians. H.B. 1480 passed the House May 27 by a vote of 110-6. The measure passed the Senate May 19 by a vote of 40-14.
Both labor and the business community applauded passage of H.B. 2137, which significantly revises Illinois' workers' compensation system. The measure passed the House May 27 with only two negative votes. Keller called the bill organized labor's "crowning achievement during the legislative session."
Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) said he would sign the bill, stressing that it would cut costs to business, increase benefits to injured workers, and curtail fraud.
"By working closely together, we have crafted this agreement that helps set a medical fee schedule to contain costs, increases important workers' benefits, cracks down on fraud, and cuts the time it takes to resolve claims," Blagojevich said in a statement following passage of H.B. 2137. "Everybody wanted to do what is best for Illinois, and these fundamental changes in the workers' compensation system work for everybody. I look forward to signing them into law."
A key feature of H.B. 2137 is cost containment through a medical fee schedule. The bill permits Illinois to join 42 other states in creating such a schedule indexed to the consumer price index. The schedule is expected to save Illinois millions of dollars annually.
At the same time, worker benefits will increase under H.B. 2137. The minimum benefit for workers killed on the job will be boosted to the greater of either $ 500,000 or 25 years of payments. Currently the benefit is $ 400,000 or 20 years of payments. Burial benefits also were increased from $ 4,200 to $ 8,000 for fatally injured workers.
In addition, the measure establishes a workers' compensation fraud investigation unit within the state department of financial and professional regulation's division of insurance. It also creates a new panel within the workers' compensation commission to resolve disputed claims on an expedited basis.
Prevailing Wage Enforcement.
Keller said organized labor also benefited from the passage of a pair of bills seeking to enhance enforcement of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. H.B. 1370 creates new penalties against contractors and subcontractors violating prevailing wage provisions. A companion bill, H.B. 188, establishes new payroll reporting requirements to assist the state department of labor in prevailing wage investigations.
"These bills really help the Department of Labor and bargaining units determine whether the contractor is legitimately paying the prevailing wage," Keller said. "We've heard for a long time that the Department of Labor has had trouble enforcing prevailing wage because it didn't have all the information."
H.B. 1370, which cleared the legislature May 12, raises the penalties against contractors and subcontractors failing to pay the stipulated rates on jobs covered by the Prevailing Wage Act. Violations for second-time or subsequent offenders would be characterized as Class A misdemeanors instead of Class B misdemeanors. In addition, monetary penalties due the state and the affected workers for such offenses would be raised.
H.B. 188, which passed both legislative chambers May 26, would assist in prevailing wage investigations by requiring contractors and subcontractors to submit certified payroll reports monthly to the public bodies directing the projects. The measure also creates penalties for contractors and subcontractors that fail to submit such reports or file false reports.
Lawmakers also brought significant reform to the state's various public employee pension funds by passing S.B. 27. The measure imposes some discipline over the state's $ 43 billion pension liability through system modifications aimed primarily at future retirees and new hires. Although the measure does not cure all of the liability problems affecting public pensions in Illinois, the plan is expected to save the system $ 30 billion over 40 years.
The reforms initiated under S.B. 27 include a 6 percent cap on end-of-career salary increases for teachers and school administrators; standardization of the interest rate granted annually on pensions administered by the State University Retirement System; and the elimination of lump-sum awards for unearned sick leave used historically to boost pensions.
Both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly passed S.B. 27 May 29. Blagojevich signed the measure June 1. It is now known as Public Act 94-04.
"We began this legislative session with a very ambitious agenda. We set out to fundamentally change and reform the way the pension system works. That's what we did today," Blagojevich said in a statement following passage of the bill.
Violence Prevention in Mental Health Facilities.
The Illinois Nurses Association won two victories on behalf of its members that are expected to enhance workplace safety and ease overtime burdens.
On May 30, both legislative houses passed H.B. 399, which creates the Health Care Setting Violence Prevention Act. The measure creates a two-year pilot violence prevention program involving five state mental health treatment facilities. The program will require the facilities to implement violence prevention training and formal violence prevention plans. Following the pilot program, the legislation would require all state mental health facilities to implement violence prevention systems.
"Without H.B. 399, future nurses may have opted for alternate, safer career paths, thus further inflating the current shortage of quality professional nurses," INA executive director Tom Renkes said. "This bill protects not just our nurses today, but the nursing profession as a whole."
Ban on Mandatory Overtime.
INA also applauded passage of S.B. 201 May 20. The legislation amends various laws affecting Illinois hospitals in order to prohibit mandatory overtime for nurses. The measure was portrayed as an attempt to improve patient safety. INA and other groups have argued that the risk of medical errors increases significantly when nurses are required to work excessive overtime hours.
"S.B. 201 is a huge benefit for the Illinois Nurses Association because it not only puts our patients' safety first and foremost, it will also help in retaining and recruiting professional nurses back to the work force," INA government relations chair Mildred Taylor said in a statement.
S.B. 201 prevents hospitals from requiring nurses to work more than four hours beyond their normal work shift, even in emergency scenarios. The bill also protects nurses from disciplinary actions and other adverse employment actions resulting from their refusal to work overtime beyond four hours.
CHICAGO -- The Illinois General Assembly wrapped up its spring legislative session May 31, approving a list of labor-supported measures designed to bolster the rights of strikers, strengthen prevailing wage enforcement, and reform the workers' compensation system.
In addition, the Legislature passed a pair of bills designed to protect the interests of nurses and other health care workers. One bill establishes violence prevention programs for Illinois mental health care facilities and the other limits the degree to which nurses can be required to work overtime.
Jason Keller, legislative director for the Illinois AFL-CIO, said workers' rights to communicate their grievances during a labor dispute were enhanced under H.B. 1480. The legislation spells out strikers' rights with respect to public rights of way during a job action.
"This came up because unions, particularly in the building trades, were finding that municipalities were forcing them off of rights of way," Keller told BNA June 2. "This is common sense legislation that permits picketers to make their views known while taking public safety into account."
H.B. 1480 amends the Illinois Labor Dispute Act to permit workers engaged in job actions to use public rights of way to apprise the public of the existence of a labor dispute. It further permits the erection of temporary signs discussing the dispute, the parking of vehicles on public rights of way, and the erection of tents and other temporary shelters for the health, welfare, and safety of picketers.
The measure, however, bars signage, tents, and shelters that obscure traffic signals or interfere with drivers' views of traffic. The bill also requires that picketers maintain a reasonable walkway for use by pedestrians. H.B. 1480 passed the House May 27 by a vote of 110-6. The measure passed the Senate May 19 by a vote of 40-14.
Both labor and the business community applauded passage of H.B. 2137, which significantly revises Illinois' workers' compensation system. The measure passed the House May 27 with only two negative votes. Keller called the bill organized labor's "crowning achievement during the legislative session."
Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) said he would sign the bill, stressing that it would cut costs to business, increase benefits to injured workers, and curtail fraud.
"By working closely together, we have crafted this agreement that helps set a medical fee schedule to contain costs, increases important workers' benefits, cracks down on fraud, and cuts the time it takes to resolve claims," Blagojevich said in a statement following passage of H.B. 2137. "Everybody wanted to do what is best for Illinois, and these fundamental changes in the workers' compensation system work for everybody. I look forward to signing them into law."
A key feature of H.B. 2137 is cost containment through a medical fee schedule. The bill permits Illinois to join 42 other states in creating such a schedule indexed to the consumer price index. The schedule is expected to save Illinois millions of dollars annually.
At the same time, worker benefits will increase under H.B. 2137. The minimum benefit for workers killed on the job will be boosted to the greater of either $ 500,000 or 25 years of payments. Currently the benefit is $ 400,000 or 20 years of payments. Burial benefits also were increased from $ 4,200 to $ 8,000 for fatally injured workers.
In addition, the measure establishes a workers' compensation fraud investigation unit within the state department of financial and professional regulation's division of insurance. It also creates a new panel within the workers' compensation commission to resolve disputed claims on an expedited basis.
Prevailing Wage Enforcement.
Keller said organized labor also benefited from the passage of a pair of bills seeking to enhance enforcement of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. H.B. 1370 creates new penalties against contractors and subcontractors violating prevailing wage provisions. A companion bill, H.B. 188, establishes new payroll reporting requirements to assist the state department of labor in prevailing wage investigations.
"These bills really help the Department of Labor and bargaining units determine whether the contractor is legitimately paying the prevailing wage," Keller said. "We've heard for a long time that the Department of Labor has had trouble enforcing prevailing wage because it didn't have all the information."
H.B. 1370, which cleared the legislature May 12, raises the penalties against contractors and subcontractors failing to pay the stipulated rates on jobs covered by the Prevailing Wage Act. Violations for second-time or subsequent offenders would be characterized as Class A misdemeanors instead of Class B misdemeanors. In addition, monetary penalties due the state and the affected workers for such offenses would be raised.
H.B. 188, which passed both legislative chambers May 26, would assist in prevailing wage investigations by requiring contractors and subcontractors to submit certified payroll reports monthly to the public bodies directing the projects. The measure also creates penalties for contractors and subcontractors that fail to submit such reports or file false reports.
Lawmakers also brought significant reform to the state's various public employee pension funds by passing S.B. 27. The measure imposes some discipline over the state's $ 43 billion pension liability through system modifications aimed primarily at future retirees and new hires. Although the measure does not cure all of the liability problems affecting public pensions in Illinois, the plan is expected to save the system $ 30 billion over 40 years.
The reforms initiated under S.B. 27 include a 6 percent cap on end-of-career salary increases for teachers and school administrators; standardization of the interest rate granted annually on pensions administered by the State University Retirement System; and the elimination of lump-sum awards for unearned sick leave used historically to boost pensions.
Both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly passed S.B. 27 May 29. Blagojevich signed the measure June 1. It is now known as Public Act 94-04.
"We began this legislative session with a very ambitious agenda. We set out to fundamentally change and reform the way the pension system works. That's what we did today," Blagojevich said in a statement following passage of the bill.
Violence Prevention in Mental Health Facilities.
The Illinois Nurses Association won two victories on behalf of its members that are expected to enhance workplace safety and ease overtime burdens.
On May 30, both legislative houses passed H.B. 399, which creates the Health Care Setting Violence Prevention Act. The measure creates a two-year pilot violence prevention program involving five state mental health treatment facilities. The program will require the facilities to implement violence prevention training and formal violence prevention plans. Following the pilot program, the legislation would require all state mental health facilities to implement violence prevention systems.
"Without H.B. 399, future nurses may have opted for alternate, safer career paths, thus further inflating the current shortage of quality professional nurses," INA executive director Tom Renkes said. "This bill protects not just our nurses today, but the nursing profession as a whole."
Ban on Mandatory Overtime.
INA also applauded passage of S.B. 201 May 20. The legislation amends various laws affecting Illinois hospitals in order to prohibit mandatory overtime for nurses. The measure was portrayed as an attempt to improve patient safety. INA and other groups have argued that the risk of medical errors increases significantly when nurses are required to work excessive overtime hours.
"S.B. 201 is a huge benefit for the Illinois Nurses Association because it not only puts our patients' safety first and foremost, it will also help in retaining and recruiting professional nurses back to the work force," INA government relations chair Mildred Taylor said in a statement.
S.B. 201 prevents hospitals from requiring nurses to work more than four hours beyond their normal work shift, even in emergency scenarios. The bill also protects nurses from disciplinary actions and other adverse employment actions resulting from their refusal to work overtime beyond four hours.
Posted by Nathan at June 3, 2005 07:26 AM
