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It’s been a busy week again as we prepare to head back to Springfield for the Veto Session. I spent the last couple of days joining with colleagues from around the country who assembled here in Chicago for a National Conference of State Legislatures Criminal Justice Summit where legislators and stakeholders came together to share policies and programs that have proven successful in their jurisdictions. Illinois was featured rather prominently, with three panels dedicated to highlighting the ways our state has taken steps to enhance community safety with data-driven policies.
Given the recent implementation of the end to cash bail in Illinois, there was a lot of interest in hearing how the policy was crafted as well as understanding the implementation strategy and how it has worked so far. Sen. Elgie Sims, one of the Senate architects of the policy, joined with Jennifer Greene of Lifespan, and Cara Smith of the Illinois Office of Statewide Pretrial Services gave a great overview of the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders over a multi-year process to develop what eventually became The Pretrial Fairness Act. Greene shared that it was unusual for a domestic violence service provider to even be asked about a policy like this and conveyed the relationship-building process that ultimately resulted in a policy that will help to make survivors safer than under the old cash bond system while also reducing the risk of further criminalization of survivors. Smith updated us on the implementation, sharing that appeals of detention determinations have not matched the levels opponents predicted would overwhelm the system and that the rollout has been remarkably smooth so far. In a later session, Green was joined by her colleague Amanda Pyron of The Network: Advocating to End Domestic Violence for a deeper dive into the benefits of engaging victim voices in criminal justice policy decisions. Finally, in the last session of the summit, staff and leaders from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority shared the successes of Adult Redeploy Illinois, a program with the mission to safely reduce prison use by building local systems that divert individuals from a prison sentence into more cost-effective programs that promote their reintegration into the community. Since the inception of Adult Redeploy, this fairly simple concept has resulted in over 9,000 people receiving services in the community rather than in prison (Jan 2011-June 2023).
Last week, 48 members of the Illinois General Assembly joined with over 600 legislators from 49 states in signing onto an amicus brief in the case before the US Supreme Court seeking to reverse the decades-long FDA approval of the drug Mifepristone in medication abortions. Illinois had the highest participation of any state, reinforcing our state’s commitment to doing everything we can to protect access to reproductive health care.
I’m excited to break out my witch hat (or maybe some other costume…we’ll see) for our first chance to participate in the Morse Avenue Halloween on 10/30 from 4-7 pm. We’ve started decorating the office, so check out the windows if you’re on the block.
Next week, I'm heading back to Springfield for the first 3 days of Veto Session. We’ll be considering a few items that Governor Pritzker took action on:
— HB2507 was amendatory vetoed by Governor Pritzker, so we will be taking a vote on whether to accept his changes or allow the bill to die. It’s a property tax omnibus bill that does some important and good things like ensuring that homes serving veterans are properly classified to save on property taxes. However, the bill was amended in the Senate to include a change to the status of certain for-profit nursing homes to allow them to be taxed as residential rather than commercial properties. The nursing home industry is pushing hard for the changes to be accepted while several local governments have raised concerns about shifting a property tax burden to residential homeowners on behalf of for-profit entities.
— SB76 was vetoed by the governor. The bill lifted the 25-year moratorium on the construction of new nuclear energy facilities while failing to include regulations for smaller facilities contemplated by the bill sometimes called mini-nukes.
— HB2878 was amendatory vetoed. This is the bill that would allow public-private partnerships on transportation projects with minimal oversight. The goal of the bill was to allow an expansion of I-55 through several environmental justice communities already disproportionately impacted by air pollution from multiple sources, including proximity to the highway which would have exacerbated those problems.
— HB3445 is another bill opposed by the environmental community as it would grant Ameren Energy a monopoly on transmission projects, increasing costs for consumers and businesses and delaying clean energy adoption, particularly in Southern and Central Illinois.
It’s likely that we’ll see some other bills move in the upcoming session. Issues to watch out for include the looming sunset of the Invest in Kids Act that provides voucher-like scholarships to private school students and questions of funding for the ongoing migrant crisis, among others. Keep an eye on our social channels for updates as the session progresses. I shared some thoughts on Invest in Kids this week after the state released data debunking the claims of the program’s benefit to minority students and the proponents released a proposal to address those issues that would likely exacerbate the problem.
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