By Sarah Zavala, Special to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin It's like "poof" and all of a sudden a major legislative issue can appear out of nowhere. "That's often how this stuff works," said James R. Covington III, director of legislative affairs for the Illinois State Bar Association. And this past legislative session was no exception. Over the last six months, lawmakers tackled controversial issues like the death penalty, civil unions, workers' compensation, redistricting and the budget, all of which were discussed during veto session or in the last few days of the spring session that came to a close May 31. And while all of these major issues were being debated, the ISBA still managed to successfully push their own legislation agenda that dealt with residential property, medical records and DNA testing. Mark D. Hassakis, president of the ISBA, said he wishes there weren't so many bills proposed and passed each year because "it makes it much more complicated to keep up. "It is a more complex society and we need to find ways to keep it simple." Hassakis said throughout the last year the ISBA has kept a watchful eye on many of the major issues being discussed in the General Assembly like civil unions, the death penalty repeal and DNA testing. "We had a lot of big, big bills," Hassakis said. "We have been interested in so many things that we are glad to report favorable results." Covington, as well as other members of the ISBA, were heavily involved in the abolishment of the death penalty. "We have other issues that aren't so much life and death, but are pretty important," Hassakis said. One of the main measures the ISBA pushed and passed this legislative session was House Bill 1153, which would transfer residential property to a beneficiary upon the death of the owner. HB 1153 passed both Houses on the last day of session and now awaits final action from Gov. Patrick J. Quinn. DeKalb lawyer Charles G. Brown was involved in the passing of HB 1153 as an ISBA member. Brown said HB 1153 "is kind of like a will," but for a person's house. He added that the measure also requires there to be two witnesses when completing the necessary documents. "You can now file a document that names the beneficiary of your house," Brown said, adding that it can only be used for residential real-estate. "What makes this particularity helpful is that until the owner's death, the beneficiary has no rights," Brown said. Under HB 1153, the documents are totally revocable and the owner can change the beneficiary at any time. Brown said the bill will provide more tools to attorneys, which will in turn provide better legal service to the people of Illinois. "That's a huge thing," Hassakis said of HB 1153. "We are very proud of what we did to get that through." Another bill the ISBA successfully pushed through the legislature is House Bill 2362, which amends the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act to allow records to be given to a court-appointed psychiatrist to determine a defendant's fitness to stand trial. Keith E. Emmons, an attorney with Meyer, Capel P.C. and an ISBA member, helped draft this measure. Emmons said Covington asked him to take a look at the legislation that was originally drafted by the Champaign County public defender. "I thought it could use a tune up," Emmons said, adding that he was surprised at how quickly the measure passed. Emmons said HB 2362 arose from a specific problem seen by a Champaign County psychiatrist who has the task of deciding whether a person is fit for trial. The psychiatrist, Emmons said, was having trouble getting background records from some of the inmates facing trial. Emmons said Illinois law, in regards to mental health records, is very strict. He said this bill will give attorneys the tools needed to figure out when, or if, a person is fit for trial. Another bill the ISBA supported in the end was Senate Bill 3238, which is also on its way to the governor's desk. Covington said at first, the ISBA did not support the measure that would require the Illinois State Police to collect specimens of blood, saliva or tissue from those arrested on certain felonies. "We have been opposing DNA tests for arrestees for the last six years," Covington said, adding that clean-ups to the bill changed the ISBA's position. While ISBA had a pretty successful year, the group didn't get everything it wanted passed. Covington said he would have liked to have seen Senate Bill 1694 pass. Covington said this measure would have created a procedure to allow family members to get the medical records of deceased members in their family without being forced to open an estate. SB 1694 passed the Senate unanimously, but was held in a House committee. Covington said he hopes to get SB 1694 out of the veto session. Hassakis said when he steps down as president next week, he will continue to oversee the ISBA's legislative agenda for next year. "I intend to be very involved. We have a lot of bills in the juvenile area that we hope to present," Hassakis said. "We are very pleased with the efforts we make and proud of our staff." This article was originally printed in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.