Page 23 - February 2017

Presenting a strong, unified
voice on police issues
The Illinois Legislature’s 100th General a Senate-driven effort and have not included the House
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Assembly has begun. The Democrats contin- ue to hold a super majority in the Senate although they lost two seats in the No- vember election. In the House, the Democrats hold a 67–51 seat majority.
or the Governor in these efforts. Obviously, if this package passes the Senate, it will go to the House, where the House members and their leadership will be able to have input. It has been an effort with much work
by the Senate.
Regarding legislation that may impact policing
and public safety, we continue to watch many bills and continue to work well with the Illinois FOP. That is an important change we have successfully instituted during the past couple of years. We are working closely with the State FOP team to make sure we have a unified voice to the Legislature on police issues. That is key when working with legislators from all over Illinois. It is imper- ative for them to hear a unified voice from the State and Chicago FOP on these vital issues. There continue to be a variety of suggestions on how police should do their
jobs.
We will continue to be a strong voice in those
discussions. d
As of this writing, Attorney General R Lisa Madigan has filed a motion to ad- dress the issue of State employees’ pay-
ment. There is currently no appropriation for State employees to be paid, so there is a legal argument that, therefore, they should not be paid. This will wind its way though the courts over the next few weeks. There are only a few issues that could be big enough to break the logjam that is Springfield ... State workers not being paid is one of them. This will be one to watch.
In addition, Senate President John Cullerton and Re- publican Leader Christine Radogno and their Caucuses continue to work on a Grand Bargain to attempt to ad- dress the State’s continuing issues. They have made this
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ FEBRUARY 2017 23