Gross receipts tax. Governor Blagojevich's "Tax Fairness" plan contains a gross receipts tax (GRT). It taxes revenue generated by the seller instead of income. The tax will be 1.8% on the total revenue of serviced-based industries. This will include lawyers and law firms. Traditional goods-producing businesses, such as manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and construction, will pay a .5% rate of their total revenue. All businesses with less than $1 million in annual Illinois income will be exempt from the GRT. This will replace the corporate income tax after a phase-out period.

Will Repository. Senate Bill 536 (Raoul, D-Chicago) creates a Will Repository for orphan wills by amending the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. It authorizes an attorney (or an attorney's representative or guardian) who certifies that he or she has been unable to locate a testator after a diligent search may deposit the testator's will with the State Treasurer. Authorizes the Treasurer to charge $25 to file and store a will.

Reduction in returned bond. Senate Bill 1348 (Munoz, D-Chicago) reduces from 90% to 80% the amount of bond returned to a defendant. The additional 10% will go to fund the sheriff's office operations. Expect an amendment from the state's attorneys asking for their percentage as well. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed this bill out to the Senate floor, but the Committee did discuss capping to an amount certain the cut going to the sheriff's office.

Car title inheritance. House Bill 1915 (Hoffman, D-Collinsville) requires that the Secretary of State designate on certificate of title forms a space in which the owner of a vehicle may designate a beneficiary to whom ownership of the vehicle will pass if the owner dies. This is modeled after a Missouri law.

Medical records at trial. Senate Bill 747 (Harmon, D-Chicago) creates a rebuttable presumption in civil actions for bills for services rendered. The amount and reasonableness of the bill may be established by a copy of the bill that shows: (1) the original charges with evidence of payments made to or benefits conferred by redacted collateral sources; and (2) certified under the signature of the secretary, clerk, or other keeper of the bills.

Joint Tenancy Act. House Bill 3598 (Coladipietro, R-Bloomingdale) amends the Joint Tenancy Act to provide that if the beneficial interest in a revocable trust is to be held as tenants by the entirety, the estate created is deemed to be in tenancy by the entirety.

Electronic visitation. House Bill 1978 (Munson, R-Elgin) defines “reasonable visitation” to include electronic communication. Allows the court to grant a reasonable amount of electronic communication at reasonable hours to a parent when the child is not in that parent's physical custody. But electronic communication may not replace or substitute for other visitation the noncustodial parent may receive.

New DUI laws. Senate Bill 300 (Culler-ton, D-Chicago) is a huge change in DUI law but still not in final form. The main thrust of Senate Amendment No. 1 is to do three things. (1) Replaces JDPs with interlock-restricted licenses. (2) Requires interlock devices for all DUI offenders. (3) Creates compliance criteria to keep the ignition interlock on the car until is no longer needed.

Adoption of FRE. House Bill 1896 (Kosel, R-Mokena) amends the Code of Civil Procedure to essentially adopt the Federal Rules of Evidence governing opinion testimony by lay witnesses, expert witnesses, and bases of expert opinion testimony.