A few weeks ago we announced our legislative initiatives are in full swing. The ASCA has championed state-level legislative change with an initial focus on indemnification language and hold-harmless agreements and making them null and void. For more on that, you can read that article HERE.
In the coming weeks and months, you’ll be seeing more frequent, and likely separate, communications from the ASCA on our legislative activity and progress. However, some of these items are too important not to keep you up to speed on.
For starters, the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association joined our legislative fight. A heartfelt thanks goes to ILCA Executive Director Scott Grams for his support and I look forward to working with him to help Illinois contractors. On a related note, I also am pleased to announce that Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie) co-sponsored HB 4221, The Snow Removal Liability limitations Act. Rep. Lang is the Democratic Majority Leader in the Illinois Assembly. His co-sponsorship greatly increases the likelihood of this bill receiving serious consideration. Your chances are much better anytime a bill receives bi-partisan support.
As we continue to push forward this legislation we require the full voice and support of the Illinois snow contractor community to get involved at the local level.
In addition, the ASCA had great day in New Jersey a few weeks ago. In Trenton, we held one of our half-day educational Snow Academy events was at a hotel a block from the state house. To make the best use of our time we combined this trip with a number of key legislative meetings. Thanks to New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association Executive Director Jody Shilan and the NJLCA board for their participation and support of this event. I especially want to thank Gardener News Publisher Tom Castronovo who was instrumental in gaining an audience with New Jersey elected officials.
We anticipate sharing more news from The Garden State in the near future.
At the Federal level, the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act has passed committee (the vote 19-13) In the U.S. House of Representatives. This means it has been recommended to be presented on the House floor. It is up to the party leadership of the House to decide if they want to introduce the bill. They will, and it will likely go to the floor with a number of tort reform bills. This bill has a strong chance in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The ASCA and its members will be in Washington D.C. on July 20th and 21st meeting with your representatives to make a case for the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act.
To refresh your memory, this bill would make it mandatory for federal judges to impose sanctions on plaintiffs and plaintiff’s attorneys who are found to have filed frivolous lawsuits. This is a strong bill that would impact not only our industry, but many other industries and businesses, as well.
The ASCA’s legislative initiatives have been successful due to the financial and active support of our membership. The ASCA has made progress, but we can move faster. I invite anyone in the snow and ice management industry who supports legislative change, to show your support by joining ASCA. We can get you as involved as you want in the process and the ASCA Action Network. Minimally this ensures you are financially supporting the legislative efforts.
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