| 4/13/2009 3:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Cheatham bill would protect tool and die makers
Brandi Baldwin
Courier Staff Writer
As the auto industry began to decline, tool makers were not being paid for goods they had shipped and then later sent a bill for. The ripple effect was that tool makers could not pay their employees since they weren't paid by their customers.
One tool maker that state Rep. Dave Cheatham said he knows of laid off 130 people recently because it did not have the money to meet payroll after customers didn't pay their bills.
Cheatham is the sponsor of a bill in the General Assembly that would allow tool and die makers to file liens against their customers who do not pay their bills. Filing a lien and having the court order payment would take less time and cost less in legal fees than filing a lawsuit and having it go through the court system, Cheatham said.
Cheatham said laws like the bill he is sponsoring are already in effect in Michigan and Ohio, and products were able to be sold for less because the company was guaranteed to be paid.
"We're just trying to keep our people competitive with other states," Cheatham said.
Tools made by tool and die companies can cost in the $50,000 range, Cheatham said.
Cheatham said he could sponsor similar bills for other industries in future legislative sessions. The tool and die industry was the first he had heard about having problems collecting from customers, so he wrote a bill to address it, he said.
Cheatham, D-North Vernon, explained his tool and die bill at a Third House forum Saturday where he and state Sen. Jim Lewis, D-Charlestown, answered questions about unemployment, businesses and issues in the General Assembly.
Other topics discussed at the forum included:
• The Madison-Milton bridge and whether a compact would be formed with Kentucky to help speed the process and make sure the project is completed.
The Kentucky legislature adjourned without completing the compact, but Cheatham said members of the Kentucky legislature are discussing having a special session to see the bridge legislation passed. The compact would be involved with all bridges connecting the two states.
One Madison resident expressed concern that Kentucky wouldn't help push the project along since Kentucky state officials are looking to build more bridges in Louisville.
"We've got to get this done. The bridge has to be replaced," Cheatham said. "It's more important. It's all we've got."
• Concerns about unemployment benefits being decreased were discussed.
Lewis said the state has borrowed $655 million from the federal government to fund unemployment benefits because the system was only meant to work with up to 5 percent unemployment. The state is currently at 10 percent unemployment.
Cheatham said when unemployment is fixed, the economic system needs to be changed so the nation won't have to deal with unemployment rates going up so high again.
And the country needs to switch to wind power and solar power so the U.S. doesn't have to depend on oil and other countries, Cheatham said.
"We can have a whole new economy. We can have jobs," Cheatham said. "We need to not be patching things up. We need to fix it."
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