Greetings,

The Illinois Senate is expected to vote very soon on legislation that will give molders special business protections that they need.  As you know, traditional business practice forces molders to ship products to their customers before they have received payment for the work. Molders 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 molders in these circumstances, many molders 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-Des Plaines), 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.   

Subject: HB 566 - Tool and Die Lien Act

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

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,

[Your Name]