A weekly wrap-up of legislative events from the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association March 24, 2006 The Week in Review . . . Weather doesn’t dampen Business Day In spite of a nine-day period that saw Mother Nature throwing both multiple tornados and an unusual spring blizzard at Illinois’ capitol city, IMA Business Day went off without a hitch last week. Nearly 150 business leaders converged on the capitol city for a day of policy discussions, face to face meetings with elected officials and camaraderie. National Retail Federation president, Tracey Mullins, keynoted the luncheon bringing the state’s retail and industrial chieftains up to date on events affecting business in Washington, DC. Many attendees took advantage of the informative breakout sessions covering electric deregulation, health care cost management and workforce trends. Primary Election yields a few surprises The 2006 primary election in Illinois resulted in very low voter turnout. According to early figures, turnout barely exceeded 20 percent despite contested primaries for Governor on both the Republican and Democrat tickets. Some voters stayed home because of severe winter weather in central Illinois but generally voter apathy ruled the day. Following are results from the primary. Governor As expected, Democrat incumbent Rod Blagojevich cruised to victory over challenger and former Chicago alderman Edwin Eisendrath with 70 percent of the vote. Despite the large margin of victory, there were 7 downstate counties where Eisendrath outpolled Blagojevich who now moves on to face Judy Baar Topinka in the general election. Next session dates: March 27-April 7 Topinka survived a bitter four-way primary election and took 38 percent of the primary vote to earn the Republican nomination for Governor. Topinka outlasted state senator Bill Brady, businessman Ron Gidwitz, and perennial candidate Jim Oberweis. Constitutional Officers Incumbent Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) will face challenger, Tazewell County States’ Attorney, Stu Umholtz in November. Both were uncontested in their primary bids. Secretary of State Jesse White (D) and state senator Dan Rutherford (R-Pontiac) will square off in the general election after winning uncontested primaries. Comptroller Dan Hynes (D) will be challenged by state senator Carole Pankau (R-Bloomingdale) in the general election. Neither Pankau nor Hynes faced challengers in the primary. In the race for Treasurer, Republican candidate, state senator Christine Radogno (R-LaGrange) was unopposed in the primary. On the Democrat side, Alexi Giannoulias won 60 percent of the vote to easily beat Paul Mangieri, who was the endorsed candidate of the Democrat Party. Giannoulias won over the endorsed candidate largely as a result of an endorsement and advertisement featuring U.S. Senator Barack Obama. On an interesting note, all six Democrat candidates for constitutional office live within a small area in Chicago, an issue that is sure to be highlighted by Republican candidates.
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Congress There were very few hotly contested primary elections as most incumbents faced little or no opposition in the primary. However, there were a few races that drew interest. 6th Congressional: In the race to replace retiring Henry Hyde (R-Addison), Republican state senator Peter Roskam was unopposed. In a very high profile and hotly contested Democrat primary, Iraqi war veteran Tammy Duckworth narrowly defeated Christine Cegelis and Lindy Scott to earn the right to face Roskam. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Rahm Emanuel recruited Duckworth, who lives outside the district. 8th Congressional: In 2004, Democrat Melissa Bean (D-Palatine) upset long-time incumbent Phil Crane to earn a seat in Congress. In 2006, Bean will face an extremely tough challenge by Republican businessman David McSweeney who garnered nearly 43 percent of the vote in a 6-way primary election. This will be one of the most high profile and closely contested elections in the country. 17th Congressional: Republican Andrea Zinga outlasted two opponents to earn the right to meet incumbent Democrat Lane Evans (D-Rock Island) in November. While the district leans strongly Democratic, Congressman Evans is facing a serious health issue that could impact the race. Illinois General Assembly In the November general election, there will be contests for open legislative seats in six House districts and seven Senate districts. In the House, none of these seats are considered competitive and are unlikely to change hands. However, in the Senate, Republicans currently hold six of the seven open seats and at least four of the seats will see serious Democrat challengers. 27th Senate: In the race to replace retiring Senator Wendell Jones, conservative Matt Murphy easily beat Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins to earn the nomination.
31st Senate: The dean of the Senate, Adeline Geo-Karis (R-Zion) was defeated by former protégé Suzanne Simpson in a bitter race. 33rd Senate: In the Democrat primary, anti-gun activist Dan Kotowski handily defeated trial lawyer Jim Morici. Kotowski will now face appointed incumbent Cheryl Axley (R-Des Plaines). 48th Senate: State Representative Randy Hultgren (R-Winfield) easily won the Republican primary for the Roskam senate seat. 6th House: Appointed incumbent Ester Golar (DChicago) is locked in a tight race with Darryl Smith with ballots still uncounted. Golar was appointed after Rep. Patricia Bailey stepped down from office due to residency issues. 7th House: Democrat incumbent Karen Yarbrough (D-Maywood) overwhelmingly defeated Chris Welch in the primary. In addition, Yarbrough handily defeated incumbent Eugene Moore in the race for Proviso Committeeman. 8th House: Challenger La Shawn Ford defeated incumbent Calvin Giles in a close race. 24th House: Democrat Lisa Hernandez defeated incumbent Rep. Michelle Chavez (D-Cicero), a surprise winner in 2004, in the three-way primary in the Cicero and Berwyn area. 48th House: Franco Coladipietro who was backed by many in the powerful DuPage County organization defeated Republican Roger Jenisch, serving his first term. Cook County Board President In a very high profile race, incumbent Democrat Cook County Board President John Stroger narrowly defeated reform-minded challenger Forrest Claypool. Stroger, who recently had a stroke and is hospitalized, won by 21,000 votes. If Stroger is unable to continue his reelection effort due to his health, county Democrat officials will be able to choose a replacement candidate. Republican County Commissioner Tony Peraica will face Stroger in the general election.
In the legislature Both the Illinois House and Senate cancelled their scheduled Wednesday sessions due to the blizzard in Springfield, but went into high gear on Thursday and Friday to meet the deadline to clear substantive bills from committees. At press time the legislature was still in session, so updates on specific bills will be carried in our next report. Trial Lawyers Seek Increased Compensation for Plaintiffs Acting at the behest of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Collinsville) this week introduced a last-minute amendment designed to increase compensation paid to plaintiffs. SB 1911 allows a plaintiff to recover damages for the amount of medical bills billed rather than the amount actually paid to health care providers. In most cases, the payment of claims are reduced for a variety of reasons including preexisting contractual agreements and legallyimposed discounts such as Medicaid. However, in every case, the plaintiff is made whole by the payment of the bills. SB 1911 seeks to overturn wellestablished state law that states tort damages are to compensate the plaintiff for injuries suffered, not to punish defendants or bestow a windfall settlement. Less than 24 hours after the amendment was filed, the House Civil Law Committee passed this amendment on a partisan 8-6 vote. The IMA will continue to fight this measure that will result in increased health care and property and casualty premiums for businesses. Federal Roundup Last week, President Bush signed into law the Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act (H.R. 32). This victory will ensure, for the first time, that government is armed with much-needed tools to dismantle portions of the $500 billion global trade in fake products. Tougher criminal statutes now exist that provide for the forfeiture of counterfeited goods along with the equipment used to make them along the entire manufacturing spectrum. The “import hole” caused when the labeling of products was separated from the manufacture of counterfeit products was addressed so that counterfeiters cannot escape prosecution.
Further, the law now provides for criminal penalties for the export of counterfeit goods which will help U.S. negotiators engaged in trade talks with countries such as China. The IMA applauds Sen. Dick Durbin and Congressman Don Manzullo who co-sponsored this important legislation in their respective chambers. The Week Ahead The Beginning of the End When the House and Senate return next week, they will begin the arduous trek toward their scheduled adjournment date of April 7. Beginning Monday, the legislature is scheduled to be in session every day through the proposed end of session in order to finish crafting the state’s budget for the fiscal year beginning on July 1. The proposed budget, which relies on more than $150 million in new taxes and fees on the employer community, is being designed by Governor Rod Blagojevich, Senate President Emil Jones and Speaker Michael Madigan behind closed doors. Republicans have not been invited to the table to participate in any budget discussions, including the Governor’s proposed $3.2 billion capital plan to rebuild roads, schools and bridges. Most political experts anticipate that that the Democrat majorities will be able to easily pass an operations budget but will not have the supermajority needed to pass the bonding bill. In that event, they will likely pass a budget, adjourn, and attempt to blame Republicans for the lack of new road and school construction. The IMA applauds Sen. Frank Watson, Rep. Tom Cross and members of the Republican caucuses who are opposed to borrowing $3.2 billion for the capital program without identifying a way to pay for the program. The IMA continues to oppose to many of the Governor’s job-killing tax increase proposals including the software tax, continental shelf exclusion, stealth gas tax, and changes to the Net Operating Loss provision. Tax and fee hikes implemented over the past three years are a major reason that employers struggle to compete in the marketplace.
Upcoming IMA Events April 4, 2006 HR Forum Chicago (for Northern, Cook, and Suburban Chicago Counties) Oak Brook IMA Office, Executive Conference Room, 1225 W. 22nd Street, Ste. 140, 8:30–10:30 a.m. Contact: Donna Rogers Phone: (800) 875-4462 Email: drogers@ima-net.org April 5, 2006 Managing Natural Gas Volatility for Illinois Manufacturers ON THE WEB Understanding and managing natural gas price volatility and how IMA Affinity partner, Constellation NewEnergy can help save IMA member companies on their natural gas costs. Join Constellation NewEnergy for this Webinar — call today for details. Contact: Misty Owen Phone: 630.264.6611
April 5, 2006 IMA EVENT: Understanding Illinois & Federal Leaves of Absence Laws Northern Illinois University – Naperville Illinois manufacturers of every size face a variety of challenges when it comes to understanding and implementing a myriad of federal and state leaves of absence laws and regulations. David Ritter of Neal Gerber and Eisenberg, LLP will discuss the latest legal developments and trends in this ever-changing area. Click here to learn more about the seminar and to register online. Contact: Kimberly McNamara Phone: 630.368.5300 Email: kmcnamara@ima-net.org
SPRINGFIELD HIGHLIGHTS is a publication of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association (IMA). C 2006 by the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. All rights reserved.
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