Bryant: Molly’s Law Headed to Governor’s Desk

Springfield….An intiative driven by State Representative Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) to change the statute of limitations to sue for wrongful death and to add stiffer financial penalties to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act for non-compliance has passed both the House and Senate and now heads to the Governor for his signature. The package of bills deemed by Bryant as “Molly’s Law” cleared a final hurdle on Tuesday evening.

““Today’s unanimous passage of HB 6083 out of the House is a victory for the Young family and I want to thank Molly Young’s father, Mr. Larry Young, and the entire Justice for Molly movement for their support for this bill and for their efforts to lobby their own elected officials to ensure that this bill passed,” Bryant said. “I worked hard to compromise with those that wanted to make some minor changes to this bill in the Senate, and I am very proud to announce it received unanimous support from my House colleagues this evening.

HB 6083 extends the statute of limitations for wrongful death cases to 5 years, instead of 2 as is the current law. Bryant says this change is important for families that are trying to get their day in court.

Earlier this week, the other piece of Molly’s Law, HB 4715, passed the House and moved to the Governor’s desk. That bill increases the maximum fine for public bodies that refuse to turn over documents under the Freedom of Information Act by order of a court to $10,000 and adds a fine of $1000 per day for every day the public agency is not compliant.

Bryant thanked her legislative colleagues, Molly Young’s family, and members of the Justice for Molly movement. Bryant says she plans to lobby the Governor hard to get his signature on the bills very quickly.

“I want to thank my colleagues in the House, and especially Senate Republican Leader Radogno for her leadership and for sponsoring these measures in the Senate,” Bryant said. “After introducing these bills I received multiple requests to make changes and have been up against the House calendar with regard to today being the last scheduled day of session. The members of Justice for Molly, and the family and friends of Molly Young worked tirelessly to promote this bill’s passage and they deserve much credit. I’ll be speaking with the Governor and his staff about signing these bills as quickly as possible.”