My March 25, 2006, post concerned pending legislation in Illinois: Senate Bill 2446: The Employer Meeting and Communication Act (Act). This Act is sponsored by state Senator Gary Forby, a Democrat from south-central Illinois and Chairperson of the Senate’s Labor Committee.

In essence, the Act severely restricts an employer’s ability to communicate with employees in the workplace and awards heavy penalties for convictions. Also, the Act is more restrictive than the federal National Labor Relations Act.

I e-mailed Senator Forby my article and requested his reasons for sponsoring the Act and solicited feedback regarding my post, which is very critical of this bill. Well, I never heard from Senator Forby, and as of June 4, 2006, the Act was re-referred to the Senate’s Rules Committee.

As the Rules Committee is composed of 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans, it’s difficult to say whether it will die or survive the Committee. However, as this law is bad for business, and even bad for employees, hopefully the Senate will let it quietly die.

Because there is absolutely no commentary provided by any Senator, or someone close to Forby, to indicate the rationale behind this bill, I will again send Senator Forby a copy of this post seeking his comments. It would be great to learn why this Act was proposed, especially if there’s a reason other than pandering to labor unions.

If I hear anything from Senator Forby’s office, I will let you know.