GOP lawsuit seeks to end ‘gut-and-replace’ legislation
[June 19, 2025]
By
Peter Hancock
SPRINGFIELD — A group of Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit this week
that seeks to nullify legislation they say would indelibly alter both
the business and legal landscape of Illinois.
Senate Bill 328 would amend a key provision of Illinois civil law by
allowing, in certain kinds of cases, any company authorized to do
business in the state to be sued in Illinois courts, even if the
underlying claims and the parties have no connection to the state.
As written, the bill would apply only in cases filed under the Uniform
Hazardous Substances Act in which the plaintiff claims an injury or
illness resulting from exposure to a toxic substance.
What is unique about the GOP lawsuit, however, is that it doesn’t just
seek to nullify the legislation before Gov. JB Pritzker signs it. It
also asks the court to bar the legislature from using a procedure that
has become common in the General Assembly known as “gut-and-replace.”
This effectively allows lawmakers to sidestep the Illinois
Constitution’s requirement that every bill be read, by title, three
times on three different days in each chamber before it is passed
because amendments are not required to be read on three different days
in each chamber.
That procedure is used frequently for major legislation passed in the
final days of a legislative session, including budget bills.
“Illinois’ reputation as one of the most corrupt states in the nation
and one of the worst states in the nation for business go hand in hand,”
Senate Republican Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said during a
virtual news conference Wednesday. “Allowing legislators to disregard
the Constitution and good government transparency processes to make laws
that are bad for our state is the root cause of both narratives.”
The proposal stems from a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court case, Mallory v.
Norfolk Southern Railway Co., in which the court upheld a Pennsylvania
law that requires out-of-state corporations to agree to allow
Pennsylvania courts to exercise “general personal jurisdiction” over
them, just as those courts exercise over domestic corporations.
“This is legalized litigation tourism,” said Sen. Jason Plummer,
R-Edwardsville. “And it further damages Illinois’ reputation as a state
that’s hostile to businesses and job creators.”
SB 328 began as what’s known in the General Assembly as a “shell bill” —
one that has a title and a bill number but no substantive content. In
this case, the original language called for making a technical change in
one sentence in the Code of Civil Procedure, deleting the word “and” and
replacing it with the word “and.”
Each session, lawmakers in both chambers introduce hundreds of such
bills, most of which are never acted upon. But they are often amended
into substantive legislation later in the session, especially after
deadlines for introducing new bills or passing bills out of committees
have passed.
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Senate President Don Harmon, left, and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris”
Welch are named as defendants in a lawsuit challenging passage of a
bill that would make a significant change in state law regarding
corporate liability. (Capitol News Illinois file photo by Peter
Hancock)
That is what happened with SB 328, which began as a shell bill but was
amended in the Senate to make a technical change to the way court clerks
handle electronically filed documents. It passed out of the Senate on
April 10 by a vote of 56-0 and was sent to the House.
In the House, it was read for the first time on April 11 and was
assigned to a committee, which voted April 30 to recommend it be passed.
It was read a second time on May 13.
On May 30, the next-to-last day of the session, Rep. Jay Hoffman,
D-Swansea, introduced a “gut-and-replace” amendment that removed the
language about electronic court filings and replaced it with the new
language allowing out-of-state corporations to be sued in Illinois
courts over acts that may have occurred elsewhere.
That amendment was never sent to a substantive committee but instead was
debated on the floor of the House where it passed the night of May 31 by
a partisan vote of 77-40. That vote also counted as the third reading of
the bill in the House, meaning the bill number had now been read on
three different days in each chamber. It was then sent back to the
Senate, which voted 37-19 shortly after midnight on June 1 to concur in
the House amendment.
“We have long discussed with our partners, members and constituents
filing suit on this issue, even prior to me being in leadership this
year,” House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, of Savanna, said during
the news conference. “The caucus members brought forward this egregious
example of SB 328, and said let’s move forward.”
The lawsuit was filed in circuit court in Sangamon County. It lists 47
Republican lawmakers as plaintiffs. House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch
and Senate President Don Harmon are named as defendants.
Harmon, D-Oak Park, who sponsored the amended bill in the Senate, did
not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
Separately, the Illinois Freedom Caucus has also filed a lawsuit in
Sangamon County alleging the state’s budget bill did not satisfy the
three readings requirement for similar reasons. A hearing in the case is
scheduled for July 3.
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