End of March Springfield Update

First, we wanted to let you know the good news.  Our lobbyist reports that SB 912 is not going to move forward. This is the proposal that we sent out an alert about earlier this week which would force religious leaders to undergo domestic violence recognition-training within one year of their initial employment and every five years thereafter.  For all intents and purposes, the bill is now dead.

THANK YOU! Your calls and emails made all the difference! The sponsor has agreed to make training discretional (instead of a mandate). We understand a new proposal will be introduced as a resolution.

As for the other bills that are on our radar screen, this is a good opportunity to bring you up up-to-date. If you haven’t yet done so, please urge your state representative to oppose these bill. CLICK HERE to identify all of your elected officials.  Your state representative will be the last one in the list. Click on their name to get his/her phone number. Remember that you pay their salary. They work for you!

HB 40 reinstates taxpayer-funded abortions for medicaid recipients and adds abortion coverage in state employee’s insurance plans. We are optimistic that the sponsor has yet to reach the 60 votes needed to call it for passage. But let’s remain diligent! Please make your phone call to your state rep, if you haven’t yet done so.

HB 3735 creates a censorship zone around abortion clinics. HB 3735 adds the offense of “intimidation” to the list of aggravating factors in the criminal code. “Intimidation” is defined as exposing any person to hatred, contempt or ridicule and would apply to staff and clients.

One can easily foresee abortion clinic staff using such a law to intimidate and silence pro-life counselors and to justify reporting them to the police when no harassment or violent actions have been perpetrated.

The bill is on second reading. Government censorship, or prior restraint, is viewed by the U.S. Supreme Court as “the most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights.”

HB 1785 allows a gender dysphoric person to change their gender and name on their birth certificate with a declaration from a health care worker or mental health professional stating the person has undergone “gender transition treatment.”

Wording in the bill, changed from “sex change” to “change of sex designation,” implicitly implies the science-denying nature of this bill: no one’s sex can change. The government should never be required to participate in science-denying fraud.

SB 316 will legalize marijuana for recreational use for persons 21 and older. This bill is on third reading, which means it could be called at anytime.

Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2014 and is seeing an increase in car fatalities involving marijuana, emergency room visits, poison control center calls. Businesses are seeing a rise in drugged-induced workers. The #1 problem in Colorado schools is marijuana! It’s critical that calls flood into state rep offices!

HB 3235 will decriminalize marijuana, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and oxycodone, between 50%-80% depending on the drug and gram amount! By reducing penalties, Illinois will see more drugs on the streets, in the hands of kids and more drugged drivers on the road. But praise the Lord! Because of many calls, emails, and visits, the bill appears to be in limbo. Thank you for doing your part!

HB 3715 reduces penalties for “enrolled students” for delivering cannabis on school grounds. Yes, you read that right. But, once again, praise the Lord! Because of your calls, emails, and visits, the bill appears to be in limbo. Thank you!

For an updated flier on the bills on IFI’s radar screen, including these, please CLICK HERE.

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