The Illinois Senate is expected to vote very soon on legislation that will give toolmakers special business protections that they need.  As you know, traditional business practice forces toolmakers to ship products to their customers before they have received payment for the work.  Toolmakers also have the burden of storing and maintaining customer's molds —at great expense— even after the equipment has been abandoned or hasn't been run in years.  Because current law is not protective enough for toolmakers in these circumstances, many toolmakers are out hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid debt with little recourse but costly litigation.

A remedy to these problems is close at hand.  House Bill 566, introduced by Rep. Kathleen Ryg (D-Vernon Hills), would amend the Tool and Die Lien Act to allow toolmakers to place a lien on all special tools produced and on all proceeds from the assignment, sale, transfer, exchange, or other disposition of the special tools until the toolmaker is paid in full. 

Your Senator must hear from you that this legislation is important to Illinois businesses and especially your business!  The Illinois House of Representatives has already approved the bill and the bill is now in the Senate.  By contacting your Senator, you can help make sure the bill passes the Senate and is sent to the Governor.  This website tool makes it easy for you to send an e-mail to your legislator. 

Fill out the form to your left and click "send this message."  The system will automatically match your address to the Senator that represents you in the Legislature and send an e-mail from you to the Senator. 

Sample Letter for Campaign

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I write to ask for your support of House Bill 566 introduced by Rep. Kathleen Ryg. HB 566 amends the Tool and Die Lien Act to allow toolmakers to place a lien on all special tools produced and on all proceeds from the assignment, sale, transfer, exchange, or other disposition of the special tools until the toolmaker is paid in full. HB 566 also provides remedies for a toolmaker who is not paid for a special tool and sets out second notice requirements that must be met before a toolmaker may sell a special tool.

As an Illinois toolmaker, the bill will give my company and others needed business protections. Traditional business practice forces toolmakers to ship products for our customers before receiving payment for the work. The current Tool and Die Lien Act doesn't go far enough, and leaves toolmakers out to dry with hundreds of dollars of unpaid debt with little recourse except litigation to recover costs from our customers.

The bill was overwhelmingly passed by the House and is currently in the Senate Rules Committee. The livelihood of my company and its future depends on this bill being passed in its current form. I hope I can count on your vote to move this bill through the Senate. Thank you for your consideration of this very important issue for all toolmakers in Illinois. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
March 14, 2005