From Legislative Counsel Legislative actions to be taken regarding SB660.  To clarify Illinois law and procedure, once the bill is sent to the Governor's action, he has 60 days to exercise one of three options: Veto; Amendatory Veto or Sign the bill.  As applied to SB660, my understanding from both the Department of Insurance and the Chief Senate Sponsor would be to not do an amendatory veto. We discussed they have put a lot of time into the legislation and want it to move forward.  As such, the bill (by way of default) is "signed" by the Governor due to no action/veto being taken.  Therefore, unlike some other states, inaction does not mean the bill is killed; rather, it becomes law.

Next, SB660 is silent regarding an effective date. This means that the legislation will take effect on January 1, 2011, even though it will be "signed" by July 30, this summer.  Here is where we have the opportunity to run a "trailor bill" during the two week fall veto session 2010 (November 27- December 7).  This was the recommended and preferred method of both the sponsor and the Department of Insurance.  A "trailor bill" can be run through both chambers during the session with a new waiting period (14 or 30 days) and would then also be effective on January 1, 2011.  Our best approach would be to have the Department agree to the new time period, making the bill without opposition and best likely to move through the legislature without a problem.

I have discussed the above strategy with the legislative liaison at the Illinois Department of Insurance and she stated that she would discuss with the Director and that they are open to our suggestions.  If you have any questions, please let don't hesitate to contact me. I will update you once I have further information.

Regards,
Jeannie Romas, AAPIA Lobbyists