ILACP Priority Bills - 2020
Updated April 27, 2020
Top Legislative Issues
- Bail reform. OPPOSE.
There is not a bill number yet, but we oppose efforts to end cash bail. Where this has been tried, especially in New York, too many people are being released and turning around and committing serious crimes, including hate crimes and violent crimes.
- SB 3739. SUPPORT. Funding for police training.
Funding for law enforcement’s regional Mobile Training Units. This is $5 million in GRF emergency funding in FY20, which is needed for the MTUs, which provide much of the mandated training that police officers need every year. The traditional source of these funds (traffic ticket surcharge) is drying up for a variety of reasons.
- SB 120. SUPPORT. Public Duty Rule.
This would recodify the Public Duty Rule, which the Illinois Supreme Court abolished in 2016. The Public Duty Rule says that a local governmental and its employees owe no duty of care to individual members of the general public to provide governmental services. Re-establishing this is especially important in the COVID-19 era.
- HB 4796 and HB 1616. OPPOSE. Three phone calls.
These would require three phone calls within an hour to somebody in custody. From a law enforcement perspective, this is an impractical requirement. For example, if the person in custody is impaired or unconscious stoned or inebriated. Or if two officers bring in five people at once and have to process all of them. Law enforcement has no issue objection with allowing someone to make a call or two, but to require three calls within an hour is terrible unrealistic policy. There are also criminal sanctions on officers in the bill if they fail to provide the required calls.
- HB 4797. OPPOSE. Retail theft to $2,000.
This would increase the base for felony retail theft to $2,000 from $300. This change would be an incentive for people to steal a lot of merchandise and get away with it. It would also be a disincentive for thieves to be arrested for shoplifting up to $2,000, because they would be let go. For most retailers, there are very few items for sale over $2000. This is dangerous for retailers and for the rest of society, which would have to watch a large increase in retail theft.
- HB 5472. OPPOSE. Local licenses for cannabis clubs.
Allows local licenses for cannabis clubs and temporary events. In the cannabis law of 2019, a provision was removed that would have allowed municipalities to decide where marijuana could be smoked or consumed. It would be bad public policy to allow local clubs and special events with wide-open consumption of marijuana. Also, if the marijuana law is going to be revisited, that should happen in a comprehensive trailer bill and not piecemeal.
Other priority bills
HB 333 Support No probation for juveniles for subsequent offense with firearm
HB 3796 Oppose Increases from 15 to 18 years old requirement for counsel for interrogation
HB 3849 Oppose Allows petition for expungement of sealed records after three years
HB 3923 Support Protection of law enforcement’s personal information from posting on web
HB 3972 Oppose Parole eligibility after 20 years for life sentence; early release options
HB 3974 Oppose Automatic sealing of some criminal records
HB 3979 Oppose Parole eligibility for habitual criminals and 3-time offenders
HB 4080 Support Health insurance after catastrophic injury or line of duty death
HB 4465 Support One-party consent for eavesdropping
HB 4852 Support Allows a 6-month window to move SLEP to Article 3 pension
HB 5268 Support Adds fentanyl analogs to Schedule I of controlled substances list
SB 2273 Oppose Deals with recordings by smart speakers and video doorbells
SB 2482 Oppose Enhances hourly value of community service applied to assessmen
SB 3072 Oppose Requires person to be 21 to be habitual offender or 3-time offender
HJRCA 38 Oppose Weakens constitutionally guaranteed pension benefits
Chief Marc Maton, Legislative Committee Chair
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John Millner, Lobbyist
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Ed Wojcicki, Executive Director
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