The Illinois House of Representatives is not in Session this week as members are back working in their districts, attending events, and meeting with constituents. The schedule for the House is very robust for the months of April and May.
Democrats have so far only allowed around 10% of the bills filed by House Republicans to be heard and voted on in Committee. That is a sad fact – House Republicans represent more than 4 million Illinoisans and roughly 33% of districts in the House.
Democrats have stifled the voices of Republican members by squashing their bills, thus disenfranchising the citizens that Representatives like me represent.
House Republicans have introduced comprehensive packages of legislation to address our most pressing problems.
We know that Illinois needs ethics reforms to stamp out corruption, so House Republicans introduced a package of bills that would end the lobbyist revolving door (HB 3115), stop legislators from serving as lobbyists to county and municipal governments (HB 1384), and end the practice of allowing someone charged with public corruption to use their campaign fund to pay for their legal defense (HB 1554). Regular people who are interacting with our justice system for whatever reason do not have a special fund they can use to get themselves out of trouble.
Illinois’ embarrassing history of corruption and the most recent guilty verdict in former Speaker Michael J. Madigan’s bribery and racketeering case has not been enough to get Democrats on board with passing meaningful ethics reforms.
House Republicans have also sponsored a multitude of bills aimed at stopping illegal immigration and ending the Sanctuary State policies that have cost our citizens billions of dollars. Our Stopping Illegal Immigration package includes HB 1317 and HB 1345, legislation that would repeal the TRUST Act that prohibits law enforcement agencies from working with federal authorities to identify and deport criminal illegal immigrants.
HB 1456 would eliminate taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal immigrants. The estimated costs of these benefits have been found to have been woefully underestimated and have cost taxpayers nearly $3 billion during the final three years of the Biden administration. HB 3417 would make the Department of Corrections exempt from the TRUST Act, allowing our partners in the Department of Corrections to work with federal authorities to deport criminals. HB 3241 would allow counties to opt out of the Sanctuary State policies of the state by referendum, returning the decision whether to work with federal authorities to local units of government. None of these bills were allowed a hearing or a vote during Committee deadline week.
The bottom line is this: House Republicans have introduced serious and meaningful proposals that would help address many of our pressing problems. House Democrats have used their power to stifle these bills, along with bills in our Stopping Human Trafficking and Improving Public Safety bill packages. What they have introduced are some entirely unserious and troubling legislation. Here are a few examples:
SJRCA 4 – Implement a progressive income tax. This idea was defeated by Illinois voters during the November 2020 election, with more than 3 million citizens voting NO.
HB 3518 – Legalize sex work (prostitution) and provide sex worker rights.
HB 2 – Allows inmates to vote from prison.
HB 1608 – Creates environmental justice communities.
HB 1146 – Bans plastic bags.
HB 1600 – Single-use plastic ban.
These are just a few examples of the overreach and misplaced priorities that we have seen introduced during this Session. There are others, but we do not have space to list them all here. In sum, House Republicans have worked hard to draw attention to major issues and address them through legislation. House Democrats have shut us down time and again, ignored several major issues facing our state, and doubled down on bad ideas.
I will continue to keep you updated on legislation as a breakneck pace is expected to begin when lawmakers return to Springfield next Monday, April 7. It is my honor and privilege to serve you in Springfield as your 117th District State Representative.
If I can ever be of assistance to you, please reach out to my office in either Harrisburg or West Frankfort at (618) 294-8703 or email me at [email protected]. You can keep up with legislative Session at ILGA.gov and on my website at RepWindhorst.com.
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