Bill Ward is convinced he knows who the real power brokers were behind the push for the enactment of House Bill 2838.
“It’s coming from the trade unions,” the executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Illinois told Prairie State Wire prior to the bill's passing through the Senate on May 31 en route to Judiciary.
House Bill 2838 would amend the state’s Wage Payment and Collection Act to the point of holding general contractors responsible for the wages of their subcontractors’ employees, even if the contractor has already satisfied all the financial terms of their original agreement. According to online trade journal Construction Dive, such payments would also be subject to interest and leave general contractors vulnerable to property seizures for noncompliance to the new law.
Bill Ward, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Illinois
“The Home Builders Association very much opposes this bill because of the unfair situation it creates,” Ward said. “Even if a bill has been paid in full, the worker can come back to the contractor demanding payment based on what the subcontractor has done. In my mind, that can’t be right, but that’s what the language in the new bill stipulates.”
Ward and the Home Builders Association were more than willing to stand up for what they believed, but to no avail.
“We’ve already started fighting against it,” he said. “We recently had a Lobby Day in Springfield where about 75 homebuilders went to the Capital to speak out on the issue and demand answers.”
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