Illinois State Senate
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Recent News About Illinois State Senate
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US Supreme Court: Forced collection of 'fair share' union fees unconstitutional, violates workers' free speech rights
Compelling non-union government workers to pay so-called “fair share fees” to unions they do not wish to join violates the First Amendment speech rights of non-union workers and is unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, finding in favor of an Illinois state worker who had sued to end the fees, also known as agency fees, in Illinois and across the country. -
WILSON ELSER MOSKOWITZ EDELMAN & DICKER: Colorado’s Snow Removal Service Liability Limitation Act Restricts Enforceability of Indemnity Provisions
On May 30, 2018, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed into law Senate Bill 18-062, referred to as the “Snow Removal Service Liability Limitation Act” (the Act), codified at C.R.S. § 13-21-129. -
Proposed blockchain bill could push Illinois to forefront of smart contract use, attorney says
Proposed bipartisan legislation currently before a state House committee that would grant legal recognition to blockchain smart contracts could propel the state ahead of the curve in business transactions that currently remain paper based, a Chicago-based attorney said during a recent interview. -
Fair Maps Amendment not called for vote, deadline passes to place it on November 2018 ballot
Illinois voters will not get a chance to weigh in on the question of whether Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and other legislative leaders in the Democratic-controlled Illinois General Assembly should continue to hold the keys to drawing the state's legislative district maps, after the leaders of the state House and Senate refused to call a vote for a constitutional amendment designed to curtail their influence over the process. -
Converting Values: Condo owners on wrong end of deconversions lament lack of legal protections
Throughout the Chicago area, real estate investors are using condo deconversions to scoop up condo buildings in the city and suburbs to feed the continued strong market demand for rental apartments. But for those caught on the wrong end of the process, proscribed by a state law process some compare to eminent domain, few options are at their disposal other than to fight for the value of their unit in court. -
Cook Sheriff: Backpage, attorneys owe Cook County for 'hoax' suit over sheriff's credit card squeeze
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart wants a federal judge to penalize Backpage.com for its conduct in ongoing litigation between the online classifieds site and the sheriff’s office, particularly in light of a recent plea deal from a top executive related to sex trafficking through the site. -
Trump's NLRB may undo rule giving grad students right to unionize; unions taking different approach
The Trump administration may push back—if it can—an Obama-era National Labor Relations Board decision that gave U.S. college and university graduate student workers the right to organize, which has been embraced by major unions. -
Employer groups ask Rauner to veto Dem-backed bill to transfer enforcement powers from Labor Dept to A/G
A prominent Democratic Illinois state lawmaker, who is now seeking his party's nomination as the state's next attorney general, has lined up behind new legislation intended to give the attorney general new powers to pursue businesses embroiled in wage disputes - new powers that will come at the expense of the state's Labor Department, according to business groups. -
Petition: Change IL conduct rules to let state regulators discipline lawyer/lawmakers like Silverstein accused of harassment
In the wake of a decision by Illinois legal profession regulators to not take action against state Sen. Ira Silverstein, who was accused of sexual harassment and who was found by the Illinois Legislative Inspector General to have engaged in behavior “unbecoming of a legislator,” a Chicago law firm has launched a petition drive, asking the Illinois Supreme Court to change Illinois lawyer conduct rules to specifically allow the state to take action against lawyers, including state lawmakers, accused of sexual harassment. -
Latest 7th Circuit nominees Scudder, St. Eve, seen as well-qualified, experienced by many legal observers
Legal observers have praised President Donald Trump’s two most-recent nominees to the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, singling out their experience and intelligence as well as the White House’s efforts to gain bipartisan support for the nominees. -
'Public should control process:' Anti-gerrymandering amendment filed in Springfield
As Illinois courts have repeatedly slapped aside attempts by Illinois voters to wrest control of drawing new legislative district maps from which ever partisans control the Illinois General Assembly, the coalition behind many of those past efforts to place referenda on the Illinois ballot to change the state constitution are now backing a new amendment to combat partisan gerrymandering, with the fight this time beginning in the state legislature. -
New EEOC sexual harassment guidelines due this year are needed to provide clarity, attorneys say
New federal sexual harassment guidelines coming from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before the end of this year had been planned before a recent spate of media publicity over alleged sexual abuse cases, including some involving celebrities. -
GOP state lawmakers join Supreme Court brief asking to reject challenge to compulsory union fees
A group of nine Republicans currently serving in the Illinois General Assembly, including two rookie state lawmakers, have signed their names to a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to uphold the state’s ability to allow unions to extract fees from government employees who don’t wish to join a union, arguing the country’s founding federalist principles should allow the 50 states to decide such policy questions for themselves. -
Chicago chief federal judge: Local federal courts can maintain full functions til Feb. 8, despite shutdown
Should partisan politicial fighting lead to a shutdown of the federal government, as many expect, Chicago’s chief federal district judge says the courts will remain open – for now. -
Cook Sheriff: Backpage's fraud accusations vs Dart merely deflection from 'damning' sex trafficking ad evidence
Saying the online classifieds site is merely trying to “deflect” a judge’s attention from its “own fraudulent acts,” the Cook County Sheriff’s Office has asked a federal judge to put a quick end to an attempt by Backpage.com to pin the sheriff for allegedly lying about a CCSO staffer’s job status to protect thousands of documents from disclosure under the auspices of a nonexistent attorney-client relationship. -
Illinois employers to face shifting regulatory burdens in 2018
As 2018 looms, employers in Illinois are bracing for another wave of employment and labor regulations on the local, state and federal levels. -
Attorney: New bill banning employment salary inquiries likely in Illinois, despite veto loss
In the wake of a veto of legislation to amend the Illinois Equal Pay Act, lawmakers in the state have been left to sift through the rejected proposal and find a foundation to serve as a model for the next proposal. -
Illinois law requiring taxpayers to pay for abortions faces court challenge; no funding source ID'd, suit says
Anti-abortion groups have filed a lawsuit challenging an Illinois law that clears the way for the public funding of elective abortions beginning on Jan. 1, saying the legislation violates the Illinois state constitution's requirements that lawmakers first identify where the tens of millions of dollars will come from to pay for more than 40,000 abortions per year. -
Sexual harassment accusations continue to roil IL assembly, but very different from private sector cases
As sexual harassment scandals spread in the Illinois General Assembly, some lawmakers are calling for still more action to empower investigators to pull the curtain back on what has been described as a rampant culture of abuse in Springfield. However, unlike private sector employers, state officials don't face a realistic threat of lawsuits over their actions, says a lawyer who specializes in such harassment cases. -
Business groups: IL geolocations privacy bill ups lawsuit risk against 'businesses of all sizes'
Already facing a surge of lawsuits under a state technology privacy law, business groups have expressed relief at Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s decision to veto a new state technology privacy law regulating how and when smartphone apps and the businesses that develop and deploy them must notify users their physical locations are being logged – a law the business groups say will only offer the same trial lawyers another avenue to sue them.