Civil justice reform groups say that if Governor J.B. Pritzker signs into law a bill that increases the amount of interest successful personal injury plaintiffs can collect, it could increase the cost of doing business and owning a home or car in Illinois.
House Bill 3360, passed in the 11th hour of last month's veto session, lengthens the pre-judgment interest accrual period to when an alleged wrongdoer has notice of the injury versus when a plaintiff files a lawsuit. Because of the state's statute of limitations law, that could add as much as two years of interest at 9 percent a year owed by defendants.
John Pastuovic, president of the Illinois Civil Justice League, and Tiger Joyce, president of the American Tort Reform Association, urged Pritzker to veto the bill that landed on his desk last week.
In a Feb. 10 op-ed in the Chicago Sun Times, they argue that excessive litigation already costs jobs and imposes "tort taxes" on businesses and individuals. The controversial bill in front of Pritzker raises interest from 5% to 9%, at a time in which mortgage rates are under 3% and the 30-year Treasury rate is 1.25%, they say.
"A 9% interest rate is clearly off-base and bears no relationship to current economic conditions," Pastuovic and Joyce wrote. "One estimate projects interest on the state’s Top 10 verdicts in 2019 would explode from $51 million to nearly $96 million under the proposed law."
The bill was among a few controversial proposals rammed through just before the legislature's lame duck session ended Jan. 13 and just before members elected in November were seated.
It was sponsored by Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Belleville) and Rep. Marcus Evans, Jr. (D-Chicago), and amended in the final hours of veto session by Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park).