Fellow IMSCA members –
We are excited to advise you … the Retainage Bill (SB 3052) was narrowly APPROVED by the House Executive Committee last week! We are now faced with the most significant moment for the most important IMSCA initiative of the last five years – the bill has been sent to the House floor for consideration by the full House of Representatives where a vote could take place as early as Wednesday. Retainage reform has been a priority of the Illinois construction industry for many years. The possibility of passing a law to provide meaningful retainage reform is now a realistic possibility. This is a great accomplishment for all of us in the construction industry – but the real battle will take place over the next three days. The construction industry will win the battle with YOUR help! We will lose the battle without your help.
The Illinois Realtors Association is opposing the construction industry’s quest for needed retainage reform with a well-financed all-out attack on our industry. Its 50,000 members around the state are calling and writing members of the Illinois House to ask for a “No” vote on SB 3052. The Realtor’s head lobbyist told the Executive committee yesterday that the construction industry’s request for help on retainage was “BALONEY.” We are offended by that claim, and you should be too! We must let our House members know retainage reform is important to us. Though we do not have the financial resources of the Realtors, House members really are influenced by calls and emails from their constituents.
What IMSCA needs all of our members to do:
I cannot stress enough how important it is for IMSCA members to contact their House members today to ask for a “yes” vote on this very important bill. We are close to passing SB 3052, but we cannot let the well-financed Realtor lobby defeat us in this crucial battle. Even if you have never contacted your House member before, now is the time to come to the assistance of your industry and, together, we will bring meaningful retainage reform to Illinois!