Page 23 - October 2019 FOP

Turnover continues in the legislature
With petition passing for the 2020 elec- tions fully underway, so are a few an- nouncements of retirements from the General Assembly.
South suburban Democratic Senator
Toi Hutchinson has announced that she
will leave office shortly. She will become the “cannabis czar” for Governor Pritzker. Senator Hutchinson was one of the architects of the law that passed this year.
Two other Democratic senators from the suburbs have also announced that their seats will be open. Joliet-area Senators Pat McGuire and Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant will not seek re-elec- tion. Senator McGuire is retiring, and Senator Bertino-Tarrant is running to become the next Will County executive. In addi- tion, Chicago Democratic State Representative Art Turner has announced that he will not seek re-election.
With all of the announced retirements so far, there will be at least five new state senators and 10 new state representatives in the next General Assembly as compared with the beginning of this year. And those changes come after a huge influx of new legislators this year.
As you have probably seen, there are also some pending legal issues for a couple of legislators in addition to the legal prob- lems of a few members of the City Council. The U.S. attorney’s office appears to be busy, and it does not seem that the end is near anytime soon.
The legislature will return to session at the end of October.
One of the key issues that may be brought up is the Chica- go casino. You may recall that a few years ago, we were successful in our efforts to put into statute that the rev- enues from any casino in Chicago would go to pay for police and fire pensions. We are actively working with legislators and the mayor’s office on this issue. We will
continue to fight to protect your pensions.
DAVE SULLIVAN
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