Page 23 - November 2021

The effects of redistricting
The legislature has now adjourned for 2021. It was an eventful final few session days in late Oc- tober that included redistricting, gaming, health- care right of conscience and abortion, among other issues. While there was much discussion about a trailer bill to the controversial police re- form law that was passed in the middle of the night last January, the trailer bill was not called for a final vote in the House after it had passed the Senate. Negotiations will continue on
these policing issues over the next many months, and the vote could be called in early January. The healthcare right of conscience bill has passed both chambers. As of this writing, the governor has not yet signed it, but it is anticipated that he will.
Redistricting has been a hot issue for the last few months, culminating in the new congressional map being passed on a partisan roll call in October. This new map poten- tially pits first-term Democrat Marie Newman against subur- ban Democrat Sean Casten in a primary next year. In addi- tion, southern Illinois veteran GOP Congressman Mike Bost may face a challenge from fellow Republican Mary Miller, who is in her first term. In Chicago, a second Latino congressional district was drawn, which was part of the reason that Newman
and Casten may end up running against each other. As you may recall, Illinois has lost another congressional seat in the remap process, which is adding to these election dilemmas. In central Illinois, GOP Congressman Adam Kinzinger has an- nounced his retirement from the House, after he was drawn into the same district with fellow Republican Darin LaHood. As you know, Kinzinger has been critical of former President
Trump, which has made him vulnerable in a Republican primary.
On a personal note, I join you in mourning the loss of former Lodge 7 President Dean Angelo. He and I were friends for 30 years, and he was a great public servant. Since the prospect of a Chicago casino is in the news these days, I thought it would be good to make this point about Dean’s tenure as Chicago FOP president: Years ago, Dean instructed me to lobby for the revenue from any future Chicago casino to go to pay police and fire pensions. At the time, many thought this was a fool’s errand, since there was no casino in sight. As Chicago is on the cusp of building that
casino, his vision looks wiser than ever. May he rest in peace.
DAVE SULLIVAN
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2021 23