April 27, 2018
To the Honorable
Members of
The Illinois Senate
100th General
Assembly:
Today
I veto Senate Bill 193 from the 100th General Assembly, which inappropriately usurps
the authority of the Illinois Department of Labor (the “Department”) by conferring
enforcement authority over many of the statutes it enforces to the Illinois Attorney
General without clear cause or justification.
The
legislation purportedly seeks to combat the State of Illinois’ underground
economy and establish the Worker Protection Task Force, goals that are
admirable and of great importance to this administration and the Department.
However, the way this bill addresses critical issues of workers’ rights is
flawed and lacks consensus in its approach.
The Department already
enforces laws which protect workers from the pitfalls of the underground
economy, including the Prevailing Wage Act, the Employee Classification Act,
the Minimum Wage Law, the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, and the Wage
Payment and Collection Act. This bill would create a new unit in the Office of
the Illinois Attorney General, a separate constitutional office that serves to
represent the Department in court, to unilaterally and simultaneously enforce these
same statutes without so much as consultation with the Department. Instead of
creating a cooperative environment between the Executive Branch and the Attorney
General to determine how best to navigate complex and important cases, this bill
inappropriately creates opportunities for conflict and competition.
Further, while establishment
of a Worker Protection Task Force to study the underground economy is a
laudable goal, failure to appoint Task Force Members representing the Department
and other key stakeholders will render this initiative far less productive than
it could be.
This administration is
committed to fair and effective regulatory and administrative processes to
ensure that workers across Illinois are being paid properly and treated
according to their rights under the law and welcomes opportunities to
participate in collaborative efforts to curb the underground economy.
Therefore,
pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I
hereby return Senate Bill 193, entitled “AN ACT concerning regulation” with the
foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
Sincerely,
Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR