Legislation

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers Public Act 97-1093 (New probate fee), House Bill 5151 (Medical malpractice and tobacco litigation), House Bill 4963 (Marriage equality) and House Bill 30 (Medical marijuana). More information on the bill is available below the video.

New probate fee. Public Act 97-1093 (Silverstein, D-Chicago; Feigenholtz, D-Chicago) creates a $100 fee to open a decedent's estate to fund the State Guardianship and Advocacy Commission. It exempts indigents, the State Guardian, any state agency, local public guardian, and state's attorney. (2) It also allows the court to appoint a limited guardian for a disabled adult who lacks some but not all of the required capacity. If the court finds that the ward is totally without the required capacity, it may appoint a plenary guardian. (3) It adds criteria for the termination of the guardianship or modification of the guardian's duties. Effective January 1, 2013.

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers House Bill 30, which creates a three-year pilot program that would make Illinois the 19th state (along with the District of Columbia) to allow sick or dying people to use small amounts of medical cannabis. It would require a doctor to certify that the patient suffers from a “debilitating medical condition” such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, or hepatitis C and that this limited use would ease that suffering. More information on the bill is available below the video.

Key components of House Bill 30 (Lang, D-Skokie) are as follows:

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers the Mechanics Lien Act, Medical Marijuana and Juvenile homicide offenders. More information on each bill is available below the video.

Mechanics Lien Act. House Bill 3636 (Burke, D-Evergreen Park; Mulroe, D-Chicago) does three things in response to the LaSalle Bank National Association vs. Cypress Creek opinion. (1) Requires that the owner or interested person’s demand for suit to be commenced or answered within 30 days must contain this language in at least 10-point, boldface type: “Failure to respond to this notice within 30 days after receipt, as required by Section 34 of the Mechanics Lien Act, shall result in the forfeiture of the referenced lien.” 

(2) Defines a “lien creditor” as someone who does work or furnishes material under this Act. A lien creditor is preferred over other encumbrances except that previous encumbrances are preferred only to the extent of the value of the land at the time the contract was made for the improvements, and each lien creditor is preferred to the value of all later improvements regardless of whether the lien creditor provided those improvements. 

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers the Health Care Services Lien Act, Personal property exemptions and trusts, Child-support enforcement (Public Act 97-994 and Public Act 97-1029), Sanctions for visitation violations, Domestic violence form, Adoption and Article 9 of the UCC. More information on each bill is available below the video.