From the Madison County Record
Rep. Dwight Kay, R-Glen Carbon, on Monday introduced a package of legislation he believes will help create more jobs and make Illinois more competitive with its neighboring states.
The so-called “pro-growth jobs” package calls for major reform to the Civil Code of Procedure’s provisions on premises, product and joint and several liability, as well as changes to the state’s workers’ compensation and tax systems and easing regulations on businesses.
Kay discussed the proposals at a news conference Monday in Springfield, where he was joined by House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, fellow members of the House GOP and state business leaders.
“The state needs to create and attract jobs. It is necessary to see growth at three to four percent annually and this pro-growth jobs package will get the job done,” Kay said in a statement. “This will not happen until the state meets its obligations by improving the tax and regulatory climate in order for business to prosper.”
Kay said by phone after Monday’s press conference that while tort reform is “one of the biggest obstacles the state of Illinois faces,” it plays an important role in attracting and retaining businesses.
Certain laws within the state’s Civil Code of Procedure, Kay said, “don’t appeal to businesses because they are just not fair. We wonder why we don’t attract businesses and it’s because our courts in Illinois tend to hold people captive for no good reason.”
Referring to Madison, St. Clair and Cook counties’ reputation as so-called judicial hell holes, Kay said his legislative package includes more than a handful of proposals to reform “a number of the real erroneous public acts out there today that allow lawyers to control the courts.”