Map Lawsuits Coming
In May of this year, the Democrat majority in the Illinois General Assembly passed a series of extremely politicized maps purely intending to control all future elections. The maps contain gerrymandered districts, which contain boundary lines that reward political insiders from the Democrat supermajorities. In addition, the maps were based upon pre-Census statistical guesses about where Illinoisans live and where their addresses are. The use of these guesses arguably violates one-person-one-vote, a principle which any electoral district map must meet. Non-one-person maps must be declared unconstitutional in federal court.
As a result, Republican leaders have joined the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in filing a pair of lawsuits aimed at overturning the partisan maps due to their violation of constitutionally required parameters. Over the coming months, we will pay close attention to how these lawsuits progress.
Scott’s Law Strengthened
In a bipartisan move earlier this year, the General Assembly passed HB3656 which toughens the Vehicle Code concerning the act of approaching a stationary emergency vehicle that is flashing emergency lighting. The legislation states that when a warning light is flashing, the approaching motorist must reduce speed, maintain a safe speed for road conditions, proceed with due caution, be prepared to stop, and leave a safe distance until safely past the stationary emergency vehicle. The new law also creates a 14-member Move Over Early Warning Task Force headed up by the Director of the Illinois State Police. Governor Pritzker signed the bill on Thursday of this week. Please remember to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles on the road!
Police Violence in Chicago
Violence against police has risen over the last few months culminating with the tragic shooting death of Officer Ella French on the night of Saturday, August 7 in Chicago’s West Englewood neighborhood. Surveillance video shows a standard traffic-stop incident escalating into homicide. A second officer was critically injured with a bullet in his brain. Several suspects were charged in federal court in the shooting incident, including the gunman and a person charged with procuring the firearm.
Events like this reinforce the need to support our law enforcement officers. They have a difficult job to do, and as a member of the Illinois General Assembly, I vow to act in the best interest of our officers and the communities they protect.
Fight over Masks Continue
In a rare moment of clarity, Governor Pritzker said last month he believed masking school kids should be a decision left to local school boards. This week, he flip-flopped and is now mandating all Pre-K through 12th-grade students wear masks to begin the school year. The longer this pandemic goes on, the more tyrannical our Governor becomes. It will take all our voices to put an end to it.
If you believe Governor Pritzker should reverse his mask mandate and let local schools decide what’s best for their students, please sign our petition here: https://www.ilhousegop.org/coequal.