A tax increase is a difficult thing to vote for, but the 19-cent gas tax hike will do good for roads and bridges, said state Rep. Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa).
Recently, Illinois legislators passed Capital Bill, HB62, to fund local infrastructure projects. The bill was sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday but hadn’t been signed as of Wednesday morning.
GRANVILLE — Granville’s mayor was happy to report news this morning.
Yenock said the money for the projects will come from the 19-cent-per-gallon gas tax hike that starts July 1, and that collected money will continue to provide for road and bridge projects.
He anticipates some communities will start to see their funding this summer and said it’s important to help smaller communities with funding like this.
Local projects listed in the capital bill range from upgrading sewer plants to street reconstruction and replacing fire hydrants.
Yednock encourages municipalities and constituents to contact him if they are interested in receiving funding like this in the future. His Springfield office can be contacted at (217) 782-0140 and Ottawa office at (815) 324-5055. His email is StateRepYednock@gmail.com.
Ali Braboy can be reached at (815) 220-6931 and countyreporter@newstrib.com. Follow her on Twitter @NT_PutnamCo.
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SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois General Assembly wrapped up its legislative session May 31, ending it with passage of an impressive amount of legislation that included legalizing sports betting and recreational marijuana, increasing the minimum wage, creating a balanced budget, and advancing a graduated income tax.
Severl local lawmakers — Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna; Rep. Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island; Rep. Dan Swanson, R-Alpha; and Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Andalusia — offered the following assessment of the session. They talked about what they are most proud of, what disappointed them, and their view of the work that is yet to be done.
Sen. Chuck Weaver, R-Peoria, who represents voters in Mercer and Henry counties, did not respond to phone calls and emails requesting comment.
Tony McCombie
McCombie said her biggest accomplishment this year was passage of a law in the House that would would increase penalties for an attack on a Department of Children and Family Services worker.
The bill was introduced in memory of Pam Knight, a DCFS worker who was brutally beaten while trying to take a 2-year-old child into protective custody in Dixon. Knight died from her injuries in February 2018 after being in a coma for months.
The legislation, Senate Bill 2272, failed in the Senate in January despite being co-sponsored by Anderson.
“We will fight for it again next year. I will look for a DCFS advocate in the Senate,” McCombie said.
She said the bill could still be passed during the fall veto session.
In terms of disappointments, McCombie said watching her bill to protect DCFS workers die in the Senate was disheartening.
“Even though it was the best thing in the House, it was the worst thing in the Senate,” she said.
Another defeat was HB1634, failed legislation co-sponsored by McCombie that would have expunged any DUI (driving under the influence) charge that happened 10 or more years ago that caused no property or personal damages.
“It was a case of when you might have been a kid and you had that one mistake you couldn’t get rid of,” McCombie said. “It would have helped people trying to get a commercial driver’s license like a truck driver or school bus driver. It was a criminal justice reform bill that was a missed opportunity. That was a huge disappointment.”
McCombie’s goals for next session include tackling the state’s backlog of unpaid bills, and addressing workers’ compensation reform and pension reform.
“We still have so much work to do that could be easily tackled,” she said. “We’re going to have to work really hard now that all this spending has passed.
“A capital bill is a long time coming, I just don’t know if we can afford a $40 billion bill,” McCombie said. “It’s like having your credit cards maxed out, and you go out and buy a new car. I know everybody was for it, but at whose cost?”
Mike Halpin
Halpin said approving a balanced budget is high on his list of accomplishments this session.
“When it comes to big-picture accomplishments, it would have to be passing a bipartisan budget in each of my three years as a representative,” Halpin said. “When I got to Springfield, the state had gone almost three years without a budget. I’m proud to have been a part of reversing that trend, and getting Illinois back to passing regular budgets, with bipartisan cooperation, which has earned us some level of stability for people and companies looking to do business with the state of Illinois.”
Locally, Halpin said he is most proud of legislation he introduced this year that would permit schools to maintain a supply of glucagon, a rescue medication for students with diabetes.
“The idea was brought to me by a local school nurse, Jennifer Jacobs, who worked tirelessly to help support the legislation as it worked its way through the process,” Halpin said. “It has the ability to save lives.”
In terms of disappointments, Halpin said he was frustrated to see legislators continue to put “insufficient resources into the Property Tax Relief Grant, which is part of the evidence-based K-12 school funding formula.
“This fund is designed to encourage local school districts to tap into state funds in exchange for lowering their local property tax levy,” Halpin said. “High property taxes are the complaint I receive most often, and although the state of Illinois does not receive any money from property taxes, its failure to meet its obligations to schools and municipalities has forced these governments to hike property tax rates.
Halpin said the Property Tax Relief Grant is an investment the state needs to fund in order to lighten the burden on property owners.
“Unfortunately, we have not assigned enough funds to the program to allow all eligible school districts to participate, and some of our local schools have been affected,” he said.
When the next legislative session resumes in the fall, Halpin said, his primary goals will be to pass a budget for the state, address workers’ compensation reform, and make sure the recently passed capital bill includes local road projects.
He said he was pleased with an increase in the minimum wage and the legalization of marijuana and sports betting, saying both have the potential to bring development to the area.
“I supported a capital bill that will bring millions of dollars of investment to our community, including funding for passenger rail from Chicago to the Quad-Cities,” Halpin said. “These are the type of accomplishments that can happen when we have a governor (J.B. Pritzker) that is willing to sit and negotiate with all sides.
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“Many of these accomplishments were done with Republican input and support. This type of cooperation was lacking during the (Bruce) Rauner administration, and I am glad to see that bipartisanship can once again be achieved in Springfield,” Halpin said.
Dan Swanson
Swanson said his biggest accomplishments for the session were three bills he sponsored that passed. They included legislation that allows veterans of the Cold War to purchase special license plates indicating their service.
“Too many times when I’ve talked with elderly veterans, they say, ‘I served, but not in a war,'” Swanson said. “Well, most likely they did serve, and they served in the Cold War between Aug. 15, 1945, and Jan. 1, 1992.”
Swanson also is proud of passing legislation that requires private-pay insurance companies to cover physician care and testing for anyone with Lyme disease. The bill was sponsored by Anderson in the Senate.
Swanson also worked to expand teaching opportunities for substitute teachers.
“I passed legislation which allows substitute teachers to register for the Illinois license and substitute teach at any Illinois public school,” Swanson said.
Swanson said his biggest disappointment with the General Assembly is the glut of legislation that is considered in the last week of the session.
“The hurried rush of legislation at the end of each spring session, with little time to read and analyze what legislators are to be voting on, is no way to run a taxpayer-funded organization,” he said. “There should be enough time to read, review, and solicit public input on the initiatives that are passed in Springfield. Legislative proposals always improve with bipartisan input as well as public input.
“I strongly believe we need to improve this process in the Illinois House,” Swanson said. “I would like to see us move toward two-year budgets, with more time for public input and some requirements that cannot be waived about the time between when major budgetary legislation is filed and when it can be voted on.”
Swanson’s goals for the next session include spending cuts, improvements to public safety, “and a strong focus on bringing jobs and people back to Illinois.
“It’s an uphill battle,” he said.
Neil Anderson
Anderson said approval of a capital bill was a big accomplishment during the legislative session. It will have a huge impact on area communities, he said.
“It includes nearly $125 million for construction and capital improvement projects for Western Illinois University, and $225 million for the Quad-Cities high-speed rail project, as well as many road projects across we’re going to be seeing across the district,” Anderson said.
“I hope people have peace of mind knowing when they fill up their gas tank, that money is going back into the roads,” he said. “Thanks to the lockbox amendment, which I was proud to sponsor, Springfield can’t sweep those funds for other purposes.”
That constitutional amendment, approved by voters in November 2016, prohibits lawmakers from using transportation funds for anything other than their stated purpose.
Anderson also is proud that Senate Bill 1966 — also called “Fix the FOID” bill — didn’t pass. The gun-licensing legislation would have added restrictions on gun owners, including requiring anyone with a FOID (firearm owners identification) card to be fingerprinted.
Anderson called its defeat a “major win for Illinoisans.” He said the bill would have “radically impeded on our Second Amendment rights.
“Not only would it have mandated fingerprinting, it would have increased FOID card fees, cut the time a FOID card is valid in half, and banned private sales and transfers of firearms,” Anderson said. “This measure received a lot of public opposition. I’d say it’s a huge victory that it didn’t pass.”
Anderson said his biggest disappointment during the session was passage of the Reproductive Health Act, which makes abortion a fundamental right for women in the state.
“When we look back years from now on what took place this legislative session, I think people will remember how extreme that measure was,” he said. “Proponents sold it as a move to keep abortions legal if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, but it went a lot further than that. It was a radical move to expand legal abortion.”
Anderson said the gradual minimum wage increase to $15 an hour also was frustrating. He suggested a regional approach instead, allowing different wage levels according to region, which would have addressed the state’s economic diversity.
“Chicago and the Quad-City region are vastly different when it comes to cost of living,” he said. “For our area, this is even harder because businesses here can just hop over into Iowa, where the minimum wage is $7.25.”
Anderson said his goals for the fall session will be to bring in jobs and lower taxes.
“I will continue to advocate for smart policies that grow our economy, bring jobs to Illinois, and ease the burden on taxpayers,” he said. “Illinois still faces a lot of challenges, and it is my hope that we can begin to focus our attention on issues like high property taxes.”
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Legislators made statements about issues ahead of session. Did they follow through?
State Rep. Katie Stuart discusses 2019 session
Illinois State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, discusses her influence during the 2019 spring session. She was involved in the gaming bill, got a teacher minimum wage bill passed, and had some influence over the marijuana legalization bill. By
Illinois State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, discusses her influence during the 2019 spring session. She was involved in the gaming bill, got a teacher minimum wage bill passed, and had some influence over the marijuana legalization bill. By
Schimpf even stood at a news conference with other Southern Illinois lawmakers during the last few days of the 2019 spring session calling on legislators to include Walker’s Bluff in a gaming bill expansion.
But when the long sought after gaming expansion came up for a vote in the Senate on the last day of the 2019 spring session, Schimpf voted “no” on the bill. The bill did include an increase in the cigarette tax beginning in July. It also increases the tax on video gaming terminals to 33 percent in July of this year, if it is signed by Gov. J. B. Pritzker.
“While I support the gaming expansion for Walker’s Bluff and Fairmount Park, this bill was tied to major tax increases with no corresponding cuts in state spending,” Schimpf said in a statement. “The continued growth of state spending and higher taxes are hurting Southern Illinois families and making our state less competitive for job growth. This is why I reluctantly voted no on this legislation.”
In May 2018, Schimpf even expressed disappointment when a gaming expansion bill that allowed for Walker’s Bluff to have a casino and would have allowed slot machines at Fairmount Park failed.
“I’m disappointed the Illinois House has failed again to move forward on a gaming bill that would have spurred economic growth in Southern Illinois,” Schimpf said in a news release at the time. “I supported this legislation in the Illinois Senate for two reasons. First, it would have allowed Walker’s Bluff to bring a casino license to their winery. Second, it would have authorized Fairmount Park to offer electronic gaming at its racetrack.”
As the spring session of the Illinois General Assembly has come to a close, many pieces of legislation were approved by the general assembly. How did legislators vote compared to previous statements?
How did they vote on a gambling expansion?
The gambling expansion was one of several bills to pass during the legislative session’s last week. It is planned to be the funding source for a capital infrastructure bill.
It included support from most of the metro-east contingent, including state Rep. Nathan Reitz, D-Steeleville. Reitz’s father is former state Rep. Dan Reitz, who lobbied for a provision to allow Walker’s Bluff to have a casino, according to state records. The Daily Line reported the father and son said the casino license was part of a larger bill that included sports betting, cigarette tax increase and expansion of casino gaming around the state.
State Rep. LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, in January had not initially committed one way or another on a gaming bill. She wanted to make sure whatever expansion that occurred did not hurt the metro-east and did not hurt East St. Louis, which relies on the Casino Queen for revenue.
Ultimately, the bill included revenue sharing of Fairmount racino dollars between Collinsville, East St. Louis, Alton and other metro-east communities.
“I know the agreement will assist the Casino Queen,” said Greenwood, who voted yes on the gaming expansion. “It’s a percentage of revenue the city as well as the Casino Queen will receive, from the language that’s in the legislation.”
State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville was heavily involved in the gaming bill during the session as the representative of the House Women’s Democratic caucus. She was chosen to be the caucus’ representative because of her involvement with Fairmount Park issues.
“I delved right in, I learned a lot, and I went to many meetings, many times, multiple meetings on the same day, where things changed from minute to minute,” Stuart said. “I’m really excited about what came out of that, it’s kind of telling not every party walked away happy, no party walked away fist pumping like they won everything. So I think it shows you it was a pretty fairly negotiated thing between our brick-and-mortar existing casino and racetracks, plus the entities that want to get involved in the sports betting, the pre-existing Fan Duel and Draft Kings folks.”
The gaming bill was among the several bills Stuart had influence over in the last days of session.
Stuart also was able to get a commitment from marijuana legalization bill sponsor state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, for follow-up legislation to allow other counties around the state to be able tax marijuana at the same rate as other counties.
Stuart sponsored legislation, which passed both chambers and has been sent to the governor, to require high school seniors to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also knows as the FAFSA form, or sign a waiver, in order to graduate.
For the second year in a row, a teacher pay bill, which would set the minimum compensation for teachers at $40,000 a year by 2023-24, was passed by the General Assembly. Stuart, a former math teacher, presented the bill in the House. This legislation was previously vetoed by former Gov. Bruce Rauner, but heads to Pritzker for his consideration.
“I respect teachers, and not because I was one for a long time, but I know the impact that they make every day in our students lives and our future as an entire state. I know there are areas, right here, an area that we think is a well-paying school district, I know teachers personally, (and) it’s not their only job. They work, then tend tables at restaurants over the weekend to be able to afford their bills, they have other businesses like selling Avon and other products, just to make ends meet. I would rather have my kids’ fourth-grade teacher to be able to make lesson plans, versus busing tables. “
Toward the end of the session, Stuart’s name was being mentioned on the House floor by other legislators for her input on key bills.
“I always thought I had a strong voice, but I had opportunities I guess, more opportunities to be vocal and I think my colleagues got to know me and got to know I was not going to back down on my stance to support and protect the metro-east,” Stuart said.
Capital spending and taxing
Most of the area legislators voted for the $45 billion Rebuild Illinois Capital plan, which includes six years of spending to address road, bridge, transit and state building construction work.
In order to pay for the roadwork in the capital package, there would be an increase in the gas tax. It would double from 19 cents to 38 cents per gallon beginning July 1, as well an increase in vehicle registration fees next year.
State Rep. Monica Bristow, D-Godfrey, Reitz, Stuart, and state Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, and state Sens. Rachelle Aud Crowe, D-Glen Carbon, Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, and Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, voted “no” on the legislation that included the motor fuel increase.
Among local legislators, state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, who sponsored the legislation in the House, Greenwood and state Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville, and state Sen. Christopher Belt, D-Cahokia, voted yes on the bill that included the gas tax increase, among other horizontal project revenue sources.
Meier had previously said he would be OK with a minimal increase to the gas tax. He also had previously called for an increase in sticker fees for electric vehicles, which were included in the capital bill funding plan.
State Rep. Charlie Meier Derik Holtmann dholtmann@bnd.com
“We can’t grow our economy and create jobs without adequate infrastructure. The fact of the matter is, quite a few of our roads and bridges are not safe,” Meier said. “We have major potholes on I-255, the Jefferson Barracks Bridge had to close for several days and is in desperate need of repair. We couldn’t sit back and do nothing as our roads and bridges would continue to put our public safety at risk while at the same time place our infrastructure system at a disadvantage.”
However, Crowe, Bristow, Stuart and Reitz, joined Belt, Greenwood, Hoffman and Meier to vote yes on the capital spending bill, which appropriates money for infrastructure projects around the state, including dollars for local projects.
“The capital spending that shows where our investments are, what our priorities are as a state, and those I agreed with,” Stuart said. “The gas tax, I don’t believe it’s going to fairly impact everyone across the state equally. Right where we live, here in the metro-east in Southern Illinois, we’re more spread out. We have public transportation, but not at the level that they do in Chicago and surrounding areas. We have families that don’t have the option, to, ‘Well instead of driving, I’ll start taking the train,’ because there is no train or bus that gets them where they need to go. I just could not see, especially making that large a jump in the gas tax.”
Second Amendment rights
Several metro-east legislators maintained their support for Second Amendment rights.
Reitz, Bristow, Stuart, Meier and co-sponsored legislation that dealt with when FOID card renewals, worked to ensure the World Shooting Complex in Sparta is not impacted by recently passed gun restriction laws, and restructured the validity of concealed carry licenses by stating that licenses may expire five years from the expiration date of the prior license rather than five years from the renewal application date.
The legislation passed both chambers.
“I am grateful to leaders from Southern Illinois who worked to ensure that the World Shooting and Recreational Complex event vendors will not be adversely impacted by gun dealer licensing laws,” Schimpf said. “This legislation will allow the World Shooting Complex to continue to attract top-tier events and help boost the surrounding economy.”
Each representative from the metro-east voted against the Fix the FOID bill, which would have required fingerprinting for people who have FOID cards.
The bill still passed the House, where Democrats have a supermajority, however it did not come up for vote during the spring session in the Senate.
Cigarette taxes
Meier voted against raising the smoking age to 21 saying it would lead to more people going to Missouri to buy cigarettes. Ultimately the capital bill package included an increase the cigarette tax to use forconstruction and maintenance on state buildings. It specifically was in the gaming expansion bill.
Meier said he wished the cigarette tax increase was a stand-alone bill, because he wasn’t for an increase in the cigarette tax. However he ultimately voted for the whole package. He also voted for the budget, which ultimately included pro-business reforms.
That gaming expansion included provisions for new revenue sources at Fairmount Park. It will allow more races and horses at the track, which means “more money we bring back into area,” Meier said.
‘No’ on the appropriations bills
Even though the state’s 2020 fiscal year spending plan, came about after bipartisan discussions among legislative leaders and Pritzker, there was still opposition from several Republicans, including state Rep. Wilhour,Plummer and Schimpf.
“I have serious concerns with the financial condition of the state where we have record revenues and we spend all of the money. We have a backlog of all the bills that’s not going to be paid back completely, we have significant pension issues which aren’t being fully addressed,” Plummer said. “If a family has lot of credit card debt and they hit the lottery, they pay down their credit card debt, they don’t go buy a bunch of new Porsches and ignore the debt. I’m very concerned we’ve been blessed with the significant tax receipts because of the strong economy and we should be using those monies to get our fiscal house in order and not spending it all.”
Joseph Bustos is the state affairs and politics reporter for the Belleville News-Democrat, where he strives to hold elected officials accountable and provide context to decisions they make. He has won multiple awards from the Illinois Press Association for coverage of sales tax referendums.
SPRINGFIELD — Governor J.B. Pritzker and the Democrats who control the General Assembly passed a flurry of major legislation in the closing days of this year’s legislative session.
State Rep. Jehan-Gordon Booth (D-Peoria) said lawmakers were highly productive this year.
“This legislative session was historic. The Illinois General Assembly, in over a hundred years, have never worked on this many groundbreaking issues successfully – in one year,” she said. “This year was absolutely historic. We’ve never had a year this significant, at least in my tenure being in the legislature.”
Some of the major legislation passed includes raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, passing a $45 billion capital bill for infrastructure improvements and offering the voters a chance to amend the Illinois Constitution to shift the state to a graduated income tax.
She says that many of the progressive ideas passed this session are nothing new, but ultimately required needed votes in the legislature and the governor’s signature to become law.
“For years, you’ve had folks talking about the need to put a progressive income tax on the ballot. Let the people choose what they think is the right way to be funding the very functionality of our government. A balanced budget, what a novel idea. Fifteen dollar an hour minimum wage,” she said.
After the 2018 midterms, Democrats now hold supermajorities in both houses of the legislature, and Democrat J.B. Pritzker defeated Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in his bid for re-election to the governor’s office.
Gordon-Booth also spearheaded recreational cannabis legalization. She called Illinois’ proposed legislation the “most equitable” in the nation.
She said she “could not be more proud” of what legislators achieved in the closing days of the session.
Completing his first go-round in Springfield, state Rep. Lance Yednock said he voted many times to reflect the majority of his district, sometimes going against his initial belief or the party line.
One example was his vote in favor of the legalization of recreational marijuana.
"It was a difficult (vote) for me to make, I was back and forth on it," the Ottawa Democrat said in an interview Monday at The Times. "Knocking on doors, I came across many people who were using marijuana anyways."
Yednock said regulating and safeguarding it is better than people buying it from the black market. He said money generated from marijuana revenue will go into community revitalization.
"There’s still a personal responsibility to it," said Yednock, whose district includes La Salle, Bureau, Putnam and Livingston counties. "You can still be tested at work for it, and if you fail that, that’s your problem. Not ours."
When it came to the Reproductive Health Act, which replaces the state’s current law with one backers and detractors agree will be the most liberal reproductive health statute in the nation, he sided with his district.
"In the last five months of taking phone calls and polling, it was 20 to 1 against the Reproductive Health Act," Yednock said of the district.
The representative said he met many people who identified as pro-choice who were not in favor of the bill.
He said he also sided with the district when it came to the proposed FOID overhaul. He believed the bill was too restrictive on law-abiding citizens, such as hunters, but he understood why some lawmakers supported it.
Yednock identifies himself as open-minded. He said he was visited frequently by fellow lawmakers and lobbyists from both sides of the aisle on a number of bills, trying to persuade him one way or the other.
"I’d tell them I’m 50/50 and take the opposite view they had, and make them get me to a ‘yes’ on their view," Yednock said of his approach.
He said that strategy helped him understand the full perspective of what he was voting on.
Yednock said it was easy enough for people to get upset about the doubling of the state’s gas tax to 38 cents per gallon and an increase to driver’s license fees, but he said many of those people also told him the roads and bridges are in bad shape.
The revenue from the gas tax will go to the "horizontal" capital plan for transportation projects. He said many of these projects will benefit the district at the township, city and county levels.
"It’s better than the alternative of raising property taxes to borrow for emergency road repairs," Yednock said.
Passing a balanced budget was the biggest accomplishment of both the House and Senate, according to Yednock.
"Everyone wanted something to be done, and it will benefit business and labor to have consistency," Yednock said. "The chaos of the last four years left a sour taste."
In the budget, lawmakers’ base salaries of $67,836 will rise by more than $1,600 on July 1 once statutory cost of living increases are applied. They also receive per diem reimbursements and some receive added pay ranging from $10,326 to $27,477 per year for committee chairperson and leadership positions.
The state rep said he was unaware of the pay raise for lawmakers put into the budget until the day after he got home from the House’s adjournment, but he said even if he knew of them prior to voting, it was unlikely he would undo all the work that went into the balanced budget.
Yednock voted in support of the gambling expansion bill, which is expected to produce $660 million in its first year due to licensing fees and taxes. It adds six casinos, expands video gambling and allows sports betting. �The money will fund the construction of college and community college buildings.
Again, he said most of his district was in favor of sports gambling, fielding calls from residents who said they wanted to see it pass, and even expand more into tip boards and other sports gambling.
He was happy to see his anti right-to-work zone bill pass, one he said was a big part of his campaign.
He said residents will get the opportunity to vote on the proposed graduated income tax in November. The House approved a rate structure that would lower the tax rate on any individual or joint-filing couple making less than $250,000, while raising the rates on those above that threshold.
He said middle- to lower-class residents pay a higher percentage of income tax than the richest people in the state. He believes the tax will balance that in an effort to fix the state’s structural deficit.
"If it doesn’t pass, we’ll have to look at cuts of 10 to 15 percent across the board," Yednock said.
Yednock was most surprised by the bipartisanship spirit in Springfield. He said he expected it to be a little more polarized, and he didn’t find that to be the case.
Reflecting on the progressive agenda that was passed under the guidance of new Gov. JB Pritzker and a Democratic supermajority, Yednock said Democrats outside of Chicago and the larger cities are sensitive to it.
"We have a middle-of-the-road district, the last three elections have gone different ways," Yednock said. "Will there be a backlash on Democrats downstate? It could, but if things get better, it may just change people’s minds."
State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, and state Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, discuss the recently passed Reproductive Health Act, and the issue of abortion rights.
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State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, discusses why she voted "yes" on legalization of recreational marijuana in Illinois. She said she had concerns about the expungement process and law enforcement issues.
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There’s bipartisan agreement among two freshman lawmakers that the way things are run at the Illinois State Capitol can be chaotic.
It’s been almost a week since lawmakers finished their overtime session. Within 48 hours, lawmakers revealed thousands of pages of legislation to increase taxes, spend tens of billions of dollars and bring major changes to the state’s gambling and marijuana laws.
Freshman state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, said being under the silver dome was a lot like being under a big top.
“It’s like being in a circus, almost,” Caulkins said. “I’m sure there’s a ring leader somewhere, but we don’t see what’s going on.”
Caulkins said it was frustrating to try to determine what issues would be tackled from day to day.
“We don’t know the next act that’s coming into the ring,” Caulkins said. “We don’t know what that’s going to be and it’s frustrating for me, especially coming out of the business world. We try to have a five-year plan.”
Freshman state Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, said he understood the feeling.
“I can see that because I tell people I feel like I’m on ‘Game of Thrones’ running as fast as I can down the castle hallway with the unsullied behind me and the walking dead in front of me knowing that I have to run full force without knowing what I’m going to run into,” West said. “I hear that’s every session.”
But, West said he expects he’ll get a better grasp of how the legislature works.
“When you get one session under your belt, I’m assuming you understand how things roll. You understand that a deadline does not mean a deadline. You understand that anything can come.”
Regardless, West said he’s enjoying his time as a lawmaker.
Several deadlines to move bills out of committee or to move bills from one chamber to another are regularly waived by the legislature throughout the session. Lawmakers even blew through their end-of-session deadline of May 31 to work through June 2 to pass legislation set for the governor’s signature.
With the exception of a few subject matter committee hearings over the summer months, lawmakers aren’t expected back in Springfield until this fall.
That is roughly how many Illinois residents could have their criminal records expunged or sealed once recreational marijuana use is signed into law by the governor, according to Democratic State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth of Peoria.
Gordon-Booth, who represents the 92nd District, has been pushing for legalization for three years.
“The amount of people that I saw having their lives literally turned upside-down because of minor offenses, often minor cannabis offenses. Many folks are locked out of jobs, locked out of housing and financial aid due to their records,” Gordon-Booth told WMBD’s Greg and Dan.
Gordon-Booth said these people are adults, with kids in our public schools, that have been stuck in poverty due to their convictions.
Gordon-Booth says legalized marijuana would provide new opportunities for residents who have been convicted of minor offenses.
“The disparity between African-Americans and non African-Americans that participate in this phase, the numbers are about the same. But, convictions rates are 4-to-5 times (for African-Americans),” Gordon-Booth said.
Gordon-Booth says making recreational marijuana legal in Illinois will not increase use. She says typically the numbers go down, except for one group.
“The only age group that sees a real uptick are those folks between 55 and 70,” Gordon-Booth said.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he will sign the legislation into law.
Working for Illinois Caucus 