Trucking industry leader: New law may drive business out of Illinois

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – A trucking industry leader says more businesses may leave Illinois after the signing of Senate Bill 328.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the signing of 267 bills last Friday afternoon, including one which expands Illinois’ jurisdiction for illness and injury claims.

SB 328 was sponsored by Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, and supported by the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. From 2022 to 2025, Harmon received $75,000 in campaign donations from the ITLA’s political-action committee.

Sixteen business groups released a joint statement shortly after the governor signed the new law into effect.

“We are disappointed that Gov. J.B. Pritzker did not take this opportunity to protect the citizens, business community and economy of Illinois by vetoing SB 328. By failing to reject this disastrous proposal, businesses and taxpayers will now be vulnerable to predatory lawsuits that will clog up our legal system and stymie our economic growth,” the statement said.

The groups added that many businesses will avoid moving to Illinois.

“This measure, brought forth by trial lawyers in the final hours of the legislative session, creates a significant and concerning expansion of liability for out-of-state businesses operating in Illinois. Under this law, any company simply registered to do business in Illinois is subject to lawsuits, even when the underlying claims and parties have no connection to the state,” the statement added.

Matthew Hart, executive director of the Illinois Trucking Association, said the new law makes businesses targets for lawsuits.

“Take an industry like ours where most trucking companies who operate, especially in the Midwest and honestly a lot of trucking companies across the country, they do operate at some point in Illinois, and now, every single one of those companies is now exposed, and now every one of them could find themselves the target of another frivolous lawsuit,” Hart told The Center Square.

The American Tort Reform Association labeled Illinois a “Lawsuit Inferno” when the General Assembly passed SB 328 in late May.

Hart said trucking companies were already being sued under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act laws.

“In the trucking industry, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of lawsuits filed against trucking companies for various different things, BIPA being another one,” Hart explained.

Hart said more trucking companies may leave or avoid Illinois.

“We fight every day to keep trucking companies in the state, but laws like this make it harder and harder for those trucking companies to make the decision to stay here and do business here,” Hart said.

Lou Sandoval of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce called Senate Bill 328 “the toxic tort bill.”

Other groups expressing their disappointment included the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Illinois Restaurant Association, Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, Illinois Railroad Association, Illinois Movers and Warehousemen’s Association, and the Illinois Coalition for Legal Reform.

Illinois state Sen. Craig Wilcox, R-Woodstock, said SB 328 would result in higher costs, fewer jobs and fewer opportunities for Illinois families.

“SB 328 cleared the General Assembly in the final hours of the spring legislative session after Democrats used a “gut and replace” tactic to bypass public scrutiny, a move Republican leaders argue violated the Illinois Constitution’s Three Readings Rule,” Wilcox said in an email to constituents Monday.

Senate and House Republicans filed a lawsuit in June to challenge the law’s passage.