Legislative Maps Pass the House
This past week, we saw a lot of activity surrounding the drawing of the new legislative districts. Democrats dropped the first map late afternoon on Friday, May 21st. After promising for months about having an “open and transparent” process, the Democrats chose to hide behind their locked door on the 4th floor of the Stratton Building. They drew the maps in secret and let their members come and choose their voters. What they released was a gerrymandered mess that sought to pit Republicans against each other while allowing current Democrat members the safety of their own district. It made a mockery of the democratic process.
Two nights ago, the Democrats released their final version of the map which was no better than the first. Public hearings were held this week where many of the concerns voiced about the maps came from liberal advocacy groups who themselves found the maps poorly drawn. Democrats pretended to hear concerns and “promised” to adjust the map. The adjustments made were minor and the same concerns were brought forward yesterday. Last night, we took a vote on these maps, I voted NO.
House Votes to Place SJRCA11 on the Ballot
Everyone in the State of Illinois knows we have a pension problem, which I believe has reached crisis level. As such, I introduced HB 1757, which would transition new State employees to a 401k style retirement system. Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 11 entitled the “Workers’ Rights Amendment” just passed the House. As a result, this resolution will be on the ballot next fall. The vagueness of the resolution would prohibit the State Legislature from making any changes to the State’s pension system, even for future employees.
For this reason, I voted NO on this resolution. You may hear this resolution being peddled as an “anti-right to work resolution” and that I am anti-union. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am pro-work. My father was a union member who retired from Menard. My wife is a union school teacher, and I have countless friends and family members that are union members. In Illinois, workers currently have the right to unionize, and they should have that right. This Resolution does not change that right. However, this resolution does specifically prohibit the State Legislature from passing any legislation that would have any effect on public-sector union employees. As such, SJRCA11 is a constitutional overreach, and I urge Illinoisans to vote NO on this resolution next fall.
Bad Bill of the Week
HB156 – This bill was passed out of the House last week and is now residing in the Senate. The language states that all schools must now provide menstrual hygiene products in every bathroom of every school building in grades 4 through 12. Currently, schools have a choice in where and what locations these products are placed. This bill will force schools to provide and pay for these additional products to be placed in locations where they will find no use. Moreover, these products are known to be confiscated by students for use at home, which further increases the cost burden on schools. The real aim of this bill is to imply that boys can menstruate and therefore require these products to be in boys’ bathrooms. This is simply not biologically accurate. I voted NO.
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