Page 26 - July2019 FOP Magazine

Big-ticket items passed by the General Assembly
As you have most likely heard, this ses- sion of the General Assembly was histor- ic. There were many big issues addressed and passed by the legislature, and Gover- nor Pritzker is planning on signing these big-ticket items.
Among the bills that the governor has already signed into law are several that were passed with only Democratic votes in support of them. Those include raising the Illinois minimum
wage to $15 per hour; the Reproductive Health Act, making Illi- nois one of the most progressive states on abortion policy; and the constitutional amendment that would change Illinois’ in- come tax policy to a fair or progressive income Tax. Voters will have the final say on that tax issue with a vote in the November 2020 general election. That question will require a 60 percent “Yes” vote for passage.
Several other big-ticket items received bipartisan support in the House and Senate. Those include the doubling of the gas tax from 19 cents to 38 cents, beginning July 1. The Constitutional amendment that voters passed with 80 percent of the vote pre- viously now protects this funding source. Therefore, the Legis- lature cannot use that money for any other reason than trans- portation funding.
A gaming expansion bill that will fund other construction needs throughout the state also passed with bipartisan sup- port. This includes legalization of sports betting in Illinois and new casinos, including for Chicago, Waukegan, Rockford and others. It is important to note that the change in law that we were successful in obtaining a few years ago that directs all the
revenue from a Chicago casino to fund police and fire pen- sions remains in place. Another issue that received Dem- ocratic and Republican support was the legalization of recreational marijuana, which has been signed into law
by Governor Pritzker.
We were working on dozens of bills impacting police
this year. Virtually all of the bills that we opposed did not pass, and there were more than 60 of those. It keeps us busy, tracking all of these ideas that would have a negative impact on
your efforts.
One bill that did pass was HB 1613, which will continue the
practice of tracking statistics on traffic and pedestrian stops. We were able to include in the bill a task force that will actually ana- lyze the data, which has not been accomplished by an objective group like this before. The Chicago FOP will have a seat on that task force.
We were successful in getting HB 2766 and 2767 passed. These address the issues of mental health needs and suicide prevention for first responders. These important bills bring a light to these sensitive issues.
If you live on the Northwest Side of Chicago, you are prob- ably aware that Senator John Mulroe and Representative Mike McAuliffe have resigned their seats. As of this writing, neither vacancy has been filled but they will be very shortly. We are grateful to these key former legislators for their strong support of police.
The House and Senate are adjourned for the summer, as leg- islators go back to their districts to continue their work on the local level.
DAVE SULLIVAN
26 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JULY 2019