A legal watchdog group stopped in Rockford today to tout the need for lawsuit reform to help keep jobs in Illinois.
Travis Akin, executive director of Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch, said the organization chose Rockford for its 11 a.m. news conference because of its proximity to Wisconsin. Illinois, he says, risks losing jobs to Wisconsin if the need for lawsuit reform is ignored.
Wisconsin lawmakers passed a package of lawsuit reforms this year designed to make the state more attractive to business. Those laws could lure jobs away from border communities like Rockford, Akin said.
“By passing common sense lawsuit reforms, Wisconsin legislators have made their state more attractive to employers, while in contrast, Illinois lawmakers have made our state more attractive to personal injury lawyers by failing to follow the actions of our neighbors to our north, leaving Illinois’ status as a magnet for lawsuit abuse,” Akin said in a news release. “We should not be surprised to see Rockford businesses heading up (Interstate) 90 to set up shop in a place where they are much less likely to be sued.”
Akin was joined at the press conference by Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, and Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen.
You can read a guest column Akin wrote in February on the subject of lawsuit reform HERE.
At today’s news conference, Akin pointed to House Bill 17, which attempts to prevent “out-of-state” lawsuits from being filed in Illinois, as a good example of needed reform.
Syverson pointed to the need for workers compensation reform to help make the state more business friendly. A bill that would have required workers to prove they were injured on the job failed Thursday in the state Senate.
khaas@rrstar.com
815-987-1410
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