If you wonder where Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D-Chicago) would stand in a Wisconsin- or Indiana-esque showdown with the unions, one need look no further than her campaign finance reports, which show massive contributions from labor. So allied are the unions with Madigan, they honored her in Bloomington on Wednesday. As WJBC reported:
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan accepted an award from the state’s Building Trades Council in Bloomington for her previous pro-union legislation. The Reuben G. Soderstrom Prevailing Wage Award is given annually. Madigan says she’s honored and will continue with the same work. She says she’s now working on a bill to enhance penalties for criminal violations of the prevailing wage act. Madigan says under the law, violations would be a class four felony.
“I think the real impact would be, that it would provide for debarment,” Madigan said. “In other words, employers, contractors who are found to have criminally violated the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act will not be allowed to bid on contracts for a period of four years.”
Madigan says it would penalize people evading the law, and create a level playing field for those following the law. The bill also allows state, local and federal law enforcement agencies to get relevant documents from contractors and reduces the notice time contractors have before government inspection of documents.
The story's on WJBC's AM 1230 website.
