Page 20 - September Issue

LEGISLATIVE NEWS
Reviewing legislation on behalf of police officers
DAVE SULLIVAN
LODGE 7 STATE LEGISLATIVE REPORT
Congratulations to Lodge 7 on your inaugural Magazine.
in a way that makes it much more manageable compared to the first legislative draft. Together, we were able to limit management’s ability to troll camera footage for discipline purposes.
As your lobbyists, we are excited to be asked to participate as regular contributors on legislative mat- ters.
As for other reform items, most problematic issues that would negatively affect police officers were removed or narrowed down to be as limited as possible. Much of the police "reform" bill is a codi- fication of current practices that exists in most police agencies, the Law Enforcement Standards and Training Board and current case law.
As sworn law enforcement officers know all too well, there has been an unprecedented amount of activity related to public policy discussions around policing. In the Illinois Legislature, there were literally dozens of bills introduced to address policing policies. Many of them were driven by incidents in
In addition to police ‘reform’ issues, there has been much talk about public employee pensions. Chicago Lodge 7 and Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 were able to work with the offices of House Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton to secure the passage of SB 777 to address a dedicated funding source for their corresponding pensions. The bill has passed both chambers but Senate President Cullerton has held the bill as nego- tiations continue on the Chicago and Illinois budget issues. Mayor Emmanuel’s office was very involved in these discussions also.
Ferguson, Missouri, New York City and elsewhere. Chicago Lodge 7 and the Illinois State FOP could certainly not support many of them. As of this writing, most of these legislative attempts have been stopped.
Representative Elgie Sims, chair of the House Judiciary-Criminal Committee, and Senator Kwame Raoul, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led many meetings to discuss how these “reforms” would move forward. Their efforts were aided by several sworn offi- cers who are members of the General Assembly, specifically Repre- sentatives John Anthony and John Cabello, as well as Senators Tim Bivins and Tony Munoz. All were very helpful in crafting the final package.
There are many issues that will be part of future discussions in Illi- nois. Together, we will all work on our number one priority: to protect the interests of the police officers who protect all of us every day.
Their combined efforts led to the passage of SB 1304 (now Public Act 99-0352). This law addresses the body camera issue, which the Chicago Police Department already has been using a pilot program,
Lodge 7 Lobbyist Dave Sullivan is president of Raucci & Sullivan Strategies, LLC, and a former Illinois State Senator.
FOP statements on House failure to override common-sense anti-strike legislation veto
STATE FOP LEGISLATIVE REPORT
The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) issued the following statements after the Illinois House of Representatives failed to over- ride Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of Senate Bill 1229. This common- sense legislation would have allowed state employees to continue providing critical state services even if they were unable to reach a collective bargaining agreement with the Rauner Administration:
thing today, and because of this, our veterans’ care, child protection, education, public safety and many more vital state services could be endangered by any contract negotiation impasse. This means that law enforcement officials, like our FOP members, may have to pick up the pieces if vital state services are shut down due to a strike or lockout.”
“We are disappointed that more members of the House did not cast their votes for the good of the people of Illinois today,” said FOP President Chris Southwood. “Police, fire and other public safety offi- cers in Illinois have operated for years under the system at the heart of SB1229, and, as a result, there have been no public safety work stoppages since the system has been in place. This reasonable, com- mon-sense anti-strike legislation would have ensured that the serv- ices state workers provide to millions of Illinoisans every day could continue without interruption, regardless of where the collective bargaining process stands.”
Senate Bill 1229 provided that if a collective bargaining impasse was reached, both sides would have to present reasonable proposals to an independent arbitrator rather than go out on strike or institute a lockout.
FOP Labor Council Executive Director David Wickster said: “Unfortunately, not enough state representatives did the right
The Fraternal Order of Police, founded in 1915, is the largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. The Illinois FOP, chartered in 1963, is the second largest State Lodge, proudly representing more than 32,000 active duty and retired police officers - more than 10 percent of all FOP mem- bers nationwide. Visit www.ilfop.org for more information.
20 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ SEPTEMBER 2015