The Illinois General Assembly will be in Veto Session from October 28-30 and November 12-14. Below are THREE bills that are likely to be considered during the October session for which LWVIL will need your help in advocating for. 

Please take action before October 28, 2019. 
ACTION NEEDED

Ask your STATE SENATOR and STATE REPRESENTATIVE to support HB203 which would take a step toward ending prison gerrymandering. The bill requires the Secretary of State to prepare redistricting data to reflect the incarcerated persons at their residential address, rather than the address of the facility in which the person is incarcerated. 


LWVIL POSITION

LWVIL believes that congressional districts should be apportioned substantially on population and the standards on which a redistricting plan is based must require substantially equal population.

WHY IT MATTERS

The residences of incarcerated persons should be counted in their home community, not in a community where they cannot vote.

"One person, one vote" is critical for American democracy. Election districts must be comprised of roughly the same number of constituents so that every person receives the same level of representation


#prisongerrymandering
ACTION NEEDED

Ask your STATE SENATOR and STATE REPRESENTATIVE to support HB1615
which ensures that:
  • only defendants that the felony-murder rule was designed to hold accountable are actually charged with and found guilty of murder; 
  • individuals who do not personally inflict an injury during the course of an underlying felony would not be charged with or found guilty of first-degree murder;
  • someone is truly culpable for murder if they are to be given our state's harshest possible punishment.

LWVIL POSITION

LWVIL believes in the individual liberties guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
 
A felony murder conviction carries a minimum sentence of 20 years. This could be considered a violation of t he 8th Amendment which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
 
WHY IT MATTERS  

In Illinois, a person can be charged and convicted of first-degree murder-a conviction that carries a minimum sentence of 20 years and, under certain circumstances, a maximum sentence of natural life, even if they did not actually kill the victim or intend to commit the murder.  Under the felony murder rule, people can be convicted of first-degree murder in scenarios where a death is unintentional or is caused by another person, all in the commission of a different crime defined as a "forcible felony." Read more on the LWVIL Fact Sheet. 

#felonymurder

ACTION NEEDED
 
Ask your STATE SENATOR to support SB1966 which requires:                  
  • fingerprints as part of a Firearm Owner ID (FOID) card application;
  • universal background checks on ALL gun sales;
  • renewals of FOID cards every 5 years - as opposed to every 10 years, as the law stands now.

  LWVIL POSITION 

LWVIL believes  there should be comprehensive licensing procedures, with gun safety education, fingerprinting and photographs, plus a verification of the applicant's qualifications and a permit system that restricts handgun.
 
WHY IT MATTERS  

 SB1966 will close the loopholes in Illinois's FOID card system that allowed the shooter in Aurora (at the Henry Pratt Co. in February 2019) to own the gun which killed five people and injured several others.


#FixtheFOID

You can find the contact information for your state senator and state representative by clicking the button below:
Thank you for your advocacy,

Allyson Haut, President 
Jean Pierce and   Rosemary Heilemann, Issues Co-Chairs 
Mary Klonowski and Janet Kittlaus, Issue Specialists
League of Women Voters of Illinois
332 S. Michigan Avenue, Suite 634, Chicago, IL  60604
Phone: (312) 939-5935  | Email:  [email protected]  | website:  www.lwvil.org
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