The Illinois House of Representatives will be back in session this week, and Friday is the deadline to hear and vote on House bills in committee! Yes, hundreds of bills will be moving through committees. Fortunately, we don’t have to act on all of them, just some of them (see below).
We want to thank those of you who have taken time to take action on these email alerts — it makes a big difference! We hear it from legislators! But, you may ask, didn’t we already file witness slips on some of these bills? Yes, but the bill sponsors didn’t call the bill for a committee vote so we need to file witness slips again! Thankfully, Friday is the deadline for these bills to be heard in committee. That’s why your witness slip is so important!
A famous quote that is attributed to Plato is “silence gives consent.” In other words, failing to speak out against injustice is tantamount to condoning it. This is similar to the quote attributed to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who reminds us that “silence in the face of evil is itself evil… Not to speak is to speak.”
Regarding the physician-assisted suicide bill, SB 3499, it hasn’t been scheduled for a committee hearing yet. Thankfully, opposition to this legislation by State Senator Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) has been mounting. Even the liberal Chicago Tribune published an editorial article saying they would vote no to this legislation.
Stay tuned for updates. And, after filing your witness slips below, please consider e-mailing this alert to your like-minded friends. That will help us in this big week!
Four Bills You Should Support
HB 4332 (Cabello) – This bill increases penalties for someone caught giving or selling firearms while in custody of the Dept. of Corrections.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in support of HB 4332.
HB 4623 (Gong-Gershowitz) – Under this bill, if someone is convicted of obscene depiction of a purported child, that person is ineligible to receive a school bus driver permit. This bill goes after the AI usages in child pornography in which a child appears to be, rather than is, portrayed in a sexual act.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in support of HB 4623.
HB 4889 (Vella) – Increases penalties on those convicted of child pornography.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in support of HB 4889.
HB 5134 (La Ha) — This adds sex trafficking to the definition of the Sex Offender Registration Act.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in support of HB 5134
Six Bills to Oppose
HB 2401 (Ford) – Requires school districts (including charter schools) to include books that are written by diverse authors, including, but not limited to, authors who are African American, women, Native American, LatinX, and Asian. It also says that the reading material must not perpetuate bias against persons based on specified categories.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in opposition to HB 2401.
HB 4133 (Croke) – This mandates public schools’ bullying prevention policies (that contain LGBTQ propaganda) into religious schools. This is against religious freedom as well as free speech.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in opposition to HB 4133.
HB 5239 (Cassidy) – Prohibits the state from cooperating or providing any information to those seeking to impose a civil or criminal liability upon out-of-staters seeking abortion-related services in Illinois. Specifically, this legislation shields from liability anyone in Illinois refusing to cooperate with any out-of-state law enforcement entities or agencies.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in opposition to HB 5239.
HB 5473 (Cassidy) — Makes it legal for minors 12 years and over to make their own family planning decisions unilaterally without parental consent if the family is on Public Aid.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in opposition to HB 5473.
HB 4595 (Gonzalez) — Provides that the Secretary of State shall include data fields on its annual report form that allows a corporation to report the aggregated demographic information of its directors and officers, including race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, veteran status, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Provides that, within 30 days after filing its annual AG990-IL Charitable Organization Annual Report, a corporation that reports grants of $1,000,000 or more to other charitable organizations shall post on its publicly available website the aggregated demographic information of the corporation’s directors and officers, including race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, veteran status, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in opposition to HB 4595.
HB 5548 ACCESSS GENDER CARE (CANTY) Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution Act. Excludes from the definition of “abuse” obtaining, seeking, or facilitating lawful health care for a minor child by a parent (see definition of abuse below). This bill mandates that the court limit parental control over a child’s “gender change”. It even interferes with parents’ rights from other states. An insidious bill.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in opposition to HB 5548.
(“Abuse” means physical abuse, harassment, intimidation of a dependent, interference with personal liberty or willful deprivation but does not include reasonable direction of a minor child by a parent or person in loco parentis.)
