In March of 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor JB Pritzker issued a series of emergency orders. Executive Order 2020-04, issued on March 13, 2020, was the governor’s first time seizing emergency power. Under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, the governor can issue a state of emergency declaring a disaster within the state, giving himself 30 days of emergency power. The governor, in a state of emergency, has complete control over all state institutions and public health. Although the measure intends to streamline governmental response in times of disaster, Governor Pritzker exploited a loophole in the law and reissued the executive order 22 times.

The governor reissued the executive order on October 15th extending his emergency powers until November 13th. At the time of the most recent order, the state had been in a continuous state of emergency for 581 days. As of October 20th, Pritzker has issued 91 executive orders, many of which have no connection to COVID. The legislature is not meeting to address this issue, and our representatives are prevented from fulfilling their duty to their constituency. 

As a result of the restrictions on the Illinois General Assembly, a great deal of state business has been left undone, and the voices of Illinois citizens have gone unheard. State Representatives Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva), Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield), Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville), and Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) held a press conference on Wednesday, October 20th, to discuss the problem and how Republican members of the Illinois House intend to respond. Several representatives have joined together to try to end the governor’s unilateral rule. Rep. Ugaste has authored HB 843, a bill allowing the governor to extend a 30-day declaration of emergency – but only with the written approval of the Illinois General Assembly obtained within five days of the extension. This bill would also allow the General Assembly to adopt a joint resolution declaring the extension void.

Watch the video of their press conference here below:

Currently, the bill is stalled in the Rules Committee, unable to be brought to a vote in the House. The Rules Committee consists of State Representatives Greg Harris (D-13th District), Dan Brady (R-105th District), Tom Demmer (R-90th District), Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-92nd District), and Elizabeth Hernandez (D-24th District). Unless the Rules Committee meets to discuss the bill, it will not go forward. In the previous General Assembly, Rep. Ugaste authored HB 5790, a bill requiring the same approval for extending emergency rule. As the bill never went forward, Rep. Ugaste is resubmitting it to the current 102nd General Assembly as HB 843.

Unilateral rule by Governor Pritzker has created a tyrannical government in our state. The U.S. Constitution and the Illinois Constitution ensure a system of checks and balances intended to prevent dictatorships from forming and allow for the people’s representation. By utilizing a continuous state of emergency, Governor Pritzker has set himself up as a de facto king.

Pritzker has issued numerous orders without a single public debate or hearing. The impact of this tyrannical rule is devastating. Rep. Batinick noted that the broad-spectrum rules of school closures and masking are not always beneficial and may have lasting effects on income gaps and education. He also stated that, although the removal of mandates might not occur even if the legislature were meeting, nevertheless, all rules and orders should be open to a public debate in which experts could testify. Without public debate and complete transparency, the people of Illinois will continue to suffer from governmental overreach.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to let your state lawmakers know that you oppose the continued unilateral rule of Governor Pritzker and the lack of checks and balances in our state government. Please ask them to co-sponsor HB 843. Also, demand that this bill get a hearing in committee so that it can advance to the Illinois House for a vote. 

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How did they vote?

On Wednesday evening, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 72 to 45 to ratify SJRCA 4, a completely unnecessary proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to eradicate sex as a legitimate characteristic on which to base reasonable distinctions.

Click HERE to see how your state representative voted on this legislation, or look at the graphic below.

For more than two hours, state lawmakers debated this issue. The fact that this legislation says nothing about women didn’t dissuade 15 legislators from rising to the microphone to express their support. These advocates included the sponsor, Lou Lang (D-Skokie), Ann Williams (D-Chicago), David Harris (R-Arlington Heights), Steve Andersson (R-Geneva), Stephanie Kifowit (D-Aurora), Laura Fine (D-Glenview), Christine Winger (R-Bloomingdale), Sue Scherer (D-Decatur), Emmanuel Welch (D-Chicago), Carol Ammons (D-Chicago), Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago), Dan Brady (R-Bloomington), and Juliana Stratton (D-Chicago).

It is interesting to note that both State Representatives Christine Winger and Dan Brady prefaced their remarks by claiming to be pro-life, even though it is well known that Planned Parenthood is a strong proponent of this legislation precisely because it will expand abortion “rights” throughout the nation and dismantle vital abortion restrictions—including parental notification (or consent) laws.

On the pro-life/pro-family side, eight state lawmakers rose to speak against the ERA, including Pete Breen (R-Lombard), Allen Skillicorn (R-Crystal Lake), Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton), Mary Flowers (D-Chicago), Tom Morrison (R-Palatine), Terry Bryant (R-Mt. Vernon), and Rita Mayfield (D-Waukegan).

Proponents of the ERA claim that they need one more state to ratify this constitutional amendment for complete victory, even though the deadline for passage expired decades ago and even though five states have voted to rescind their ratification over the years it has been pending. If one more state votes for its passage, the issue will certainly wind up in the courts.

In addition to proponents of the legalized slaughter of human beings in the womb, there is another constituency that is celebrating tonight: people who masquerade as the sex they are not.

Thanks for nothing to the 72 feckless state representatives who demonstrated again why Illinois is such a sorry state.

The official roll call of this vote:

As a result of three videos from the Center for Medical Progress that have exposed the dark, sickening underbelly of Planned Parenthood, 31 Republicans and 1 Democrat have filed a resolution (HR 671) urging “the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Illinois Executive Inspector General, the Illinois Attorney General, and the Illinois Depart of Revenue to investigate Planned Parenthood’s procedures for abortions, obtaining informed consent, and sale of donation of human fetal tissues across the state.”

Moreover, the resolution urges these same government bodies to “investigate which organizations across the state are involved in purchasing or accepting human tissue from Planned Parenthood.”

The chief sponsor of the bill is one of Illinois’ finest and most courageous lawmakers, Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton), who explained to IFI her reasons for pursuing this resolution:

Recent videos reveal the callous way Planned Parenthood treats human life and the women about whom it purports to care. I ask my colleagues in the General Assembly  who are concerned about the rule of law, women’s health, or human decency, to support state investigations into Planned Parenthood in Illinois. Planned Parenthood facilities in Illinois are intentionally unlicensed through a legal loophole, have not been inspected in 15 years, and have put women at risk. In one of the videos from the Center for Medical Progress, Cook County’s Stroger Hospital was suggested as a place to obtain baby parts. Taxpayers need verifiable assurances through the investigative authorities of the state to ensure no federal or state laws are being subverted and especially to ensure that women are not at being put at risk from abortionists who use more invasive surgical procedures in order to increase profits. 

So far, Representative Ives has been joined by the following co-sponsors:

Patricia R. Bellock (R-Westmont), Barbara Wheeler (R-Crystal Lake), Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield), Thomas Morrison (R-Palatine), Margo McDermed (R-Mokena), Terri Bryant (R-Mount Vernon), Keith Wheeler (R-North Aurora), Robert Pritchard (R-Sycamore), David Reis (R-Olney), John Cavaletto (R-Salem), Brian Stewart (R-Freeport), Tom Demmer (R-Rochelle), Reginald Phillips (R-Charleston), Randy Frese (R-Quincy), Donald Moffitt (R-Galesburg), Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove), Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon), Charles Meier (R-Highland), Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford), David Harris (R-Arlington Heights), David McSweeney (R-Cary), Steven Andersson (R-Geneva), Tim Butler (R-Springfield), Dan Brady (R-Normal), Norine Hammond (R-Macomb), John Cabello (R-Loves Park), Ed Sullivan (R-Mundelein), Adam Brown (R-Champaign), C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville), Jerry Costello II (D-Red Bud)*, Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) and Sheri Jesiel (R-Gurnee).

Please take a moment to thank these men and women for their effort to ascertain the truth about the activities of Planned Parenthood, an organization that has long demonstrated its abhorrent lack of ethics through its eager willingness to crush and dismember babies in the womb.

And if you do not see your representative on this list, you know what to do.

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to urge your state representative to sponsor and pass this resolution.

**An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified State Representative Jerry Costello as a Republican. IFI regrets the error.**

Join us at our annual banquet and our two special guests: Prof. Anthony Esolen and Pastor Doug Wilson!   They will offer their witness and wisdom, helping us all become better equipped to shape our culture in God-honoring ways.  Your attendance and support is essential to our success!

Illinois Family Institute
Faith, Family and Freedom Banquet

Friday, September 18 , 2015
The Stongate – Hoffman Estates, IL

Secure your tickets now – click here or call (708) 781-9328.

How did they vote?

Yesterday afternoon in an appalling disregard for children’s mental health, parental rights and religious liberty, the Illinois House voted 68 to 43 to pass HB 217, a bill to ban reparative therapy for children who suffer from unwanted same-sex attraction disorder.  This bill was introduced by LBGTQ activist and State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago). The bill received eight more votes than the sixty needed to pass!

Click HERE to see how your state representative voted on this legislation, or look at the graphic below. (Look up your state representative HERE.)

This is an unmitigated disaster for children and families! It is a shame that not one conservative lawmaker challenged this proposal during floor debate.  Not one lawmaker defended children and free speech from the tyranny of Leftists who demand we act, speak and think according to the dictates of their beliefs. Not one lawmaker reminded their colleagues that by diminishing the right to live out our faith, they are establishing the religion of secularism which the First Amendment decisively prohibits.

While a number of representatives were excused from session that afternoon, it is disappointing to report that seven Republicans sided with this pro-homosexual, anti-parental rights, anti-religious liberty legislation, including:  State Representatives Dan Brady (Normal), Tim Butler (Springfield), Michael McAuliffe (Chicago), Bob Pritchard (Sycamore), Deputy “Leader” David Leitch (Peoria), and Assistant Republican “Leader” Ed Sullivan (Mundelein), who also voted to pass same-sex “marriage” in November 2013. Even Republican Minority “Leader” Jim Durkin (Burr Ridge) voted to further the devastation of families who have members struggling with the issue of unwanted same-sex attraction.

However, a number of Democrats did not support this radical agenda, including State Representatives Kate Cloonen (Kankakee), Jerry Costello (Red Bud), Anthony DeLuca (Chicago Heights), Brandon Phelps (Harrisburg), Larry Walsh Jr. (Joliet) and even Assistant Majority Leader John Bradley (Marion).

IFI is grateful for the moral clarity displayed by these and other members of the Illinois House of Representatives who opposed HB 217.

The bill now moves to the Illinois Senate, the more liberal chamber. Unless an outpouring of prayers, along with many visits and calls are made to senators’ local district offices, this bill will likely become law.

We are seeing an unprecedented attack on Illinois families, parental rights and religious liberty by the people who are repeatedly elected back into their positions of authority. Are you registered to vote? Do you vote?

If people of faith do not step out of their comfort zone and speak loudly and publicly; at the very least with their vote, we are assuredly leaving a legacy of tyranny and evil for our children and grandchildren.

Will you please spread the word to everyone that you know in Illinois to pray, visit, and make calls to their state senator? You can look up their address and phone number HERE.  Also,send them an email. Simply click on the link below to send your email. Note: you must be registered with your name and address to send an email to your specific senator.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send an email or a fax to your state senator. Urge him/her to vote against HB 217.  (If you have already sent an email to your state representative, please now send an email to your state senator.)

Click HERE TO SUPPORT Illinois Family Institute.