ACU FOUNDATION'S RATINGS of ILLINOIS 2019acuratings.conservative.org/wp-content/uploads/... · Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser KT McFarland Jim McLaughlin Priscilla O’Shaughnessy Ron Robinson

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Letter from the Chairman .......................................................2

Selecting the Votes .......................................................................3

2019 Winners & Losers ................................................................4

Illinois Senate Statistics .............................................................5

Illinois Senate Scores .................................................................. 6

Illinois Senate Vote Descriptions .....................................12

Illinois House Statistics ............................................................23

Illinois House Scores ..................................................................24

Illinois House Vote Descriptions ......................................33

The nation’s gold standard to hold nearly 8,000 lawmakers accountable for their voting records.

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ILLINOIS2019

ACU FOUNDATION'S RATINGS ofILLINOIS2019

ACU FOUNDATION'S RATINGS of

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ACU FOUNDATION'S Ratings of Illinois 2019 | CENTER FOR LEGISLATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY

Dear Fellow Conservative,

The American Conservative Union Foundation’s Center for Legislative Accountability is proud to present our Ratings of the Illinois Legislature for 2019. Like our Ratings of Congress, which date back 48 years, ACU Foundation’s Ratings of the States are meant to reflect how elected officials view the role of government in an individual’s life. We begin with our philosophy (conservatism is the political philosophy that sovereignty resides in the person) and then apply the correct purpose of government (its essential role is to defend Life, Liberty and Property).

As a 501(c)(3) educational endeavor, these Ratings serve as a retrospective analysis to explain to voters, the media, scholars and activists how consistently lawmakers apply conservative principles when casting votes. ACU Foundation evaluates over 100,000 bills and ultimately selects around 2,000 bills to produce scorecards for Congress and all 50 states.

Our American Experiment in self-governance depends on our ability as citizens to evaluate whether our elected officials implement policies that help people live happier, healthier, more productive lives. ACU Foundation’s Ratings of the States equips citizens with clear and effective analysis to hold the nation’s 8,000 lawmakers accountable for their votes.

The Left has renewed its commitment to advance socialism in their zeal to fundamentally transform America. With such an important fight ahead, it’s never been more important for our elected officials to understand the proper role of government and for Americans to defend our conservative values and take action to preserve liberty.

Matt Schlapp Chairman American Conservative Union Foundation

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN

TO SEE MORE ACU RATINGS, PLEASE VISIT: conservative.org/ratings

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CENTER FOR LEGISLATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY | ACU FOUNDATION'S Ratings of Illinois 2019

SELECTING THE VOTES

ACU Foundation researched and selected a range of bills before the Illinois legislature that determine a member’s adherence to conservative principles. We selected bills that focus on Ronald Reagan’s philosophy of the “three-legged stool”: 1) fiscal and economic: taxes, budgets, regulation, spending, healthcare, and property; 2) social and cultural: 2nd amendment, religion, life, welfare, and education; and 3) government integrity: voting, individual liberty, privacy, and transparency. This wide range of issues are designed to give citizens an accurate assessment that conveys which of Illinois’s elected leaders best defend the principles of a free society: Life, Liberty and Property.

Matt Schlapp Chairman Charlie Gerow Vice ChairmanCarolyn D. Meadows 2nd Vice ChairBob Beauprez Treasurer

Ron Christie SecretaryEd Yevoli At-LargeDan Schneider Executive Director

ACUExecutive Committee

Jackie ArendsLarry BeasleyKimberly BellissimoMorton C. BlackwellJamie BurkeMuriel ColemanSean FielerSander GerberAlan M. GottliebVan D. Hipp, Jr.Dr. M. Zuhdi JasserKT McFarland

Jim McLaughlinPriscilla O’ShaughnessyRon RobinsonMike RoseTim RyanPeter SamuelsonTerry SchillingMatt SmithChris TurnerBill WaltonThomas Winter

Board Members

ACUFExecutive Committee

Matt Schlapp ChairmanMillie Hallow Vice ChairVan D. Hipp, Jr. TreasurerKimberly Bellissimo Secretary Dan Schneider Executive Director

Board Members

Veronica Birkenstock Gordon ChangJonathan GarthwaiteCharlie GerowNiger InnisAdam LaxaltWilles K. LeeCarolyn D. MeadowsRandy NeugebauerThomas Winter

THE CENTER FOR LEGISLATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY

Fred McGrath, DirectorLuke Schneider, Public Affairs & Policy AnalystFrancis Finnegan, Data Manager

Larry Hart, Senior Policy FellowThomas Bradbury, Policy AnalystAbby Draiss, Policy FellowJonathan Moy, Policy Fellow

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2019 WINNERS & LOSERS

SENATE

n/a

90-100% AWARD FOR CONSERVATIVE EXCELLENCE

HOUSE

HALBROOK, BRAD

MILLER, CHRIS

MORRISON, THOMAS

HOUSE

SKILLICORN, ALLEN

WILHOUR, BLAINE

Republicans in ALL CAPS, Democrats in initial caps, asterisk indicates Independents/Libertarians/other

10% COALITION OF THE RADICAL LEFT≤

80-89% AWARD FOR CONSERVATIVE ACHIEVEMENT

SENATE

PLUMMER, JASON

RIGHTER, DALE

STEWART, BRIAN

TRACY, JIL

WEAVER, CHUCK

WILCOX, CRAIG

HOUSE

BAILEY, DARREN

CAULKINS, DAN

SOSNOWSKI, JOE

SENATE

Lightford, Kimberly

HOUSE

n/a

5


ILLINOIS SENATE STATISTICS

33%OVERALL AVERAGE

CURRAN, JOHN48%

LOWEST REPUBLICAN

73%REPUBLICAN AVERAGE

14%DEMOCRAT AVERAGE

CROWE, RACHELLE AUDE

23%

HIGHEST DEMOCRAT

ILLINOIS SENATE CONSERVATIVE RATINGS

RED = REPUBLICANS BLUE = DEMOCRATS

# OF STATE

SENATORS

2019 ACUF PERCENTAGE

90-100%0-9% 10-19% 30-39% 40-49% 50-59% 60-69% 70-79% 80-89%20-29%0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

6


ILLINOIS SENATE SCORES

ILLINOIS SENATE VOTE DETAILACU Foundation Position N N N Y N N Y N N N N N N N N N N Y N N N N Y N N Y N N Y N N N N N N N N N N N N N

Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

SB 1290

HB

345SB

2068

SB 1379

SB 1167

SB 1287

SB 1474

SB 1510

SB 24

SB 29

SB 145

SJRCA

1SB

471H

B 2233

HB

2691H

B 20

40H

B 2670

HB

834H

B 3481

HB

246H

B 247

HB

313H

B 2215

SB 140

7H

B 3575

SB 534

HB

1637H

B 2134

HB

3394SB

241SB

25SB

687SB

2146SB

1226SB

1791SB

262SB

1939SB

1864SB

1784H

B 390

2SB

667

ANDERSON, NEIL R 36 58% 53% 60% + + + + + - + - + + - + + x + + x - - + + x + - - x - + + + - + + - - x + - x - - -

Aquino, Omar D 2 13% 8% 11% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - x x x

BARICKMAN, JASON R 53 73% 67% 78% + + + + + - + - + + - + + + + + + - x + - + + - + + + + + + - + + - + + + - + + - -

Belt, Christopher D 57 12% n/a 12% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Bennett, Scott D 52 15% 10% 16% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - + - - - x

Bertino-Tarrant, Jennifer

D 49 13% 14% 13% - x x + x - - - - - - x - x - x - + - - - - + x - x - - + - - x x - - - - - - - - x

BRADY, BILL R 44 68% 75% 83% + x + + + - + - + + - + + + + + + - + + + - + - + + + + + x - + + - - + + - - x - x

Bush, Melinda D 31 13% 9% 12% - - - + x - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - x - - - - - - -

Castro, Cristina D 22 11% 10% 11% - - - x - - x - - - - - - - - - - + x - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - x -

+ = Member voted with ACU’s position- = Member voted against ACU’s positionx = Member was absent for vote

† = Legislator did not vote on enough of the selected bills and as a result did not receive a rating for the 2019 session. Two-thirds of the selected bills must be voted on to receive a score.R = Republican D = Democrat I = Independent

• SB 1 Weakening Job Opportunities by Mandating an 82% Increase in the Minimum Wage.

• SB 1290 Forcing Rental Property Owners to Violate Federal Immigration Laws.

• HB 345 Restricting the Individual Liberties of Adults by Raising the Minimum Age to 21 to Purchase Tobacco Products.

• SB 2068 Protecting “Food Freedom” by Prohibiting Localities from Imposing Excessive Regulations.

• SB 1379 Advancing a New Scheme to Drive up Property Taxes by Forcing Owners to Notify Assessors of Income Generated.

• SB 1167 Further Driving up Taxpayer Costs by Socializing College Costs for Individuals over Age 30.

• SB 1287 Creating Greater Efficiency in Education Spending by Allowing School Districts to Share Administrators.

• SB 1474 Infringing the “Right to Work” by Overriding Local Ordinances.

• SB 1510 Enriching Greedy Union Bosses by Significantly Hiking Penalties for Arbitrary Staff Quotas at Nursing Homes.

• SB 24 Driving up Transportation Costs by Mandating Train Crew Size.

• SB 29 Expanding Cronyism by Establishing Tax Carve-Outs and Regulatory Loopholes for “Green Energy Enterprises.”

• SB 145 Disenfranchising Voters by Mandating that Presidential Candidates Disclose their Tax Returns.

• SJRCA 1 Hiking Income Taxes by $3.7 Billion by Abolishing the Flat Tax in Favor of a “Fair Tax.”

• SB 471 Infringing Employee-Employer Contracting Rights by Mandating Paid Sick Leave for All Employees.

• HB 2233 Undermining Civil Justice by Eliminating the Right to “Special Interrogatories.”

• HB 2691 Expanding a “Free” College Scheme to Individuals Residing in the Country Illegally.

• HB 2040 Reducing Government Efficiency through a Ban on the State Contracting for Private Detention Facilities.

• HB 2670 Reducing Occupational Licensing Barriers for Individuals with Criminal Convictions.

• HB 834 Prohibiting Employers from Inquiring about Wage and Salary History.

• HB 3481 Eliminating a Safeguard against Government-Imposed Hikes in Energy Costs.

• HB 246 Coopting Local Schools to Advancing Leftist Social Policies by Imposing a New Statewide Educational Mandate.

• HB 247 Restricting the Ability of Public Schools to Contract with the Most Effective Driver Education Teachers.

• HB 313 Strengthening Transparency of Government Spending.

• HB 2215 Driving up Taxpayer Costs by Forcing Firefighter Training to Include Union Boss Propaganda.

• SB 1407 Mandating Union Employment and “Prevailing Wages” for Construction at Private Chemical Manufacturing Businesses.

• HB 3575 Strengthening the Right to Contract by Providing Legal Recognition of Blockchain Technology.

• SB 534 Increasing Taxpayer Costs by Preventing Individuals from Competing for Government Procurement Contracts.

• HB 1637 Weakening Public Safety by Further Expanding Illinois’ Status as a Sanctuary State.

• HB 2134 Strengthening Privacy Rights by Extending Protections to Historical Location Data.

• HB 3394 Interfering in Private Business Operations by Mandating Diversity Reporting.

• SB 241 Placing Unreasonable Regulations on Consumer Cosmetics.

• SB 25 Eliminating Protections for Unborn Children by Establishing a “Fundamental Right to Abortion.”

• SB 687 Imposing a $3.7 Billion Tax Hike by Raising Income Tax Rates as Much as 61%.

• SB 2146 Expanding Cronyism by Favoring Unions and Special Interests for Opportunities in the New Clean Water Workforce Pipeline Program.

• SB 1226 Restricting School Choice Opportunities by Eliminating the Charter Appeal Process.

• SB 1791 Proliferating Government Dependency by Weakening Work and Training Requirements for Food Stamps.

• SB 262 Advancing an Unbalanced Budget that Hikes Spending by Nearly $2 Billion.

• SB 1939 Adding $1.2 Billion in Motorist Costs by Doubling the Gas Tax and Hiking Vehicle Registration Fees.

• SB 1864 Infringing Individual Liberties and Interfering in Private Business Operations by Banning Vaping in Private Businesses.

• SB 1784 Empowering Union Bosses Following the Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court Decision.

• HB 3902 Reviving a Mechanism of Cronyism by Exempting Aircraft Materials from the State Sales Tax.

• SB 667 Increasing Health Insurance Premiums through Price Controls on Insulin Copayments.

7



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

SB 1290

HB

345SB

2068

SB 1379

SB 1167

SB 1287

SB 1474

SB 1510

SB 24

SB 29

SB 145

SJRCA

1SB

471H

B 2233

HB

2691H

B 20

40H

B 2670

HB

834H

B 3481

HB

246H

B 247

HB

313H

B 2215

SB 140

7H

B 3575

SB 534

HB

1637H

B 2134

HB

3394SB

241SB

25SB

687SB

2146SB

1226SB

1791SB

262SB

1939SB

1864SB

1784H

B 390

2SB

667

Collins, Jacqueline D 16 11% 5% 7% - - - + - - x - - x x - - - - - - x - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - x -

Crowe, Rachelle Aude D 56 23% n/a 23% - x - + - - - - - - - + - x - + x + - x x - + - - + - x + - - x - - - - - + - - - -

Cullerton, John D 6 15% 4% 14% x - - + x - + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cullerton, Thomas D 23 18% 14% 15% - - - + - - + - - - - - - x - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - + - - - - - x - - -

Cunningham, Bill D 18 15% 8% 13% - - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - -

CURRAN, JOHN R 41 48% 32% 40% + - + + - - + - + + - x + x + x x - - x x x + - x + x + + x - + + - - x + - - - - -

DEWITTE, DON R 33 73% n/a 73% + + + + + - + - + + - x + + + + + - + + + + + + + + + + + + - + + - - - + - + - - x

Ellman, Laura D 21 10% n/a 10% - - - + - - - - - x - - - - - - - x - - - - + x - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Fine, Laura D 9 15% 8% 7% - - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - x + - x - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FOWLER, DALE R 59 69% 64% 65% + + + + + - + - + + - + + x + + + - + + + + + - + + + + + + - + + - - x + - x - - -

Gillespie, Ann D 27 12% n/a 12% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -













































8



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

SB 1290

HB

345SB

2068

SB 1379

SB 1167

SB 1287

SB 1474

SB 1510

SB 24

SB 29

SB 145

SJRCA

1SB

471H

B 2233

HB

2691H

B 20

40H

B 2670

HB

834H

B 3481

HB

246H

B 247

HB

313H

B 2215

SB 140

7H

B 3575

SB 534

HB

1637H

B 2134

HB

3394SB

241SB

25SB

687SB

2146SB

1226SB

1791SB

262SB

1939SB

1864SB

1784H

B 390

2SB

667

Glowiak-Hilton, Suzanne

D 24 16% n/a 16% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - x x - + - - - - + - - + - - + x - - x - - - - + - - - -

Harmon, Don D 39 12% 5% 13% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harris, Napoleon D 15 14% n/a 13% - x - + - x x x x x - - - - x - - + x - x x x x x + - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - -

Hastings, Michael D 19 16% 9% 10% - - - + x - + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - x x x

Holmes, Linda D 42 19% 13% 15% - - + + - - + - - - - - - x - - - + - x - - + - x + x - + x - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hunter, Mattie D 3 13% 8% 8% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - x - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hutchinson, Toi D 40 16% 11% 8% - - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - x + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - x x x

Jones, Emil D 14 15% 5% 9% - - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + x - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Joyce, Patrick D 40 n/a† n/a n/a x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x - + -

Koehler, David D 46 13% 9% 12% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - x -

Landek, Steven D 12 15% n/a 29% - x - + - - x - - - - + - x x x x x - - - - + - - + - x + - - - - - - - - - - - - -













































9



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

SB 1290

HB

345SB

2068

SB 1379

SB 1167

SB 1287

SB 1474

SB 1510

SB 24

SB 29

SB 145

SJRCA

1SB

471H

B 2233

HB

2691H

B 20

40H

B 2670

HB

834H

B 3481

HB

246H

B 247

HB

313H

B 2215

SB 140

7H

B 3575

SB 534

HB

1637H

B 2134

HB

3394SB

241SB

25SB

687SB

2146SB

1226SB

1791SB

262SB

1939SB

1864SB

1784H

B 390

2SB

667

Lightford, Kimberly D 4 10% 5% 8% - - - x - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Link, Terry D 30 14% 8% 11% - - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Manar, Andy D 48 18% 19% 14% - + - + - - x - - - - - - - - - x + - x - - + - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - -

Martinez, Iris D 20 13% 16% 9% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - x - - - - - - -

Martwick, Robert D 10 n/a† 8% 10% x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x - - - -

McCLURE, STEVE R 50 73% n/a 73% + + + + + - + - + + - + + + + + x - + + + + + + + + + + + + - + + - - + + - + - - -

McCONCHIE, DAN R 26 79% n/a 85% + + + + x - + x + + - + + + + x + - + + + + + + + + + + + + - + + - + + + - + + - -

Mcguire, Pat D 43 12% 9% 14% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Morrison, Julie D 29 11% 8% 10% - x - x - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - x -

Mulroe, John D 10 14% 8% 13% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - x x x x

Muñoz, Antonio D 1 16% 4% 12% - - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - x + - - - - - x - - x - - x x

Murphy, Laura D 28 13% 9% 10% - - - + - - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - x -













































10



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

SB 1290

HB

345SB

2068

SB 1379

SB 1167

SB 1287

SB 1474

SB 1510

SB 24

SB 29

SB 145

SJRCA

1SB

471H

B 2233

HB

2691H

B 20

40H

B 2670

HB

834H

B 3481

HB

246H

B 247

HB

313H

B 2215

SB 140

7H

B 3575

SB 534

HB

1637H

B 2134

HB

3394SB

241SB

25SB

687SB

2146SB

1226SB

1791SB

262SB

1939SB

1864SB

1784H

B 390

2SB

667

OBERWEIS, JIM R 25 76% 71% 88% + + x x + - + - + + - + + + + + + - x + + + + + + + + + + + - + + - + - + x + + - -

Peters, Robert D 13 14% n/a 14% - - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

PLUMMER, JASON R 54 85% n/a 85% + + + + + - + x + + - + + + + + + - + + + + + - + + + + + + - + + x + + + + + + - x

REZIN, SUE R 38 53% 52% 79% + x - + + - + - + + - + + x + + x - - x + - + - + + + + + - - + + - - - + - - - - -

RIGHTER, DALE R 55 80% 81% 87% + + + x + - + x + + - + + + x x + - + + + + + - + + + + + + - + + - + + + + x x - x

ROSE, CHAPIN R 51 73% 71% 78% + + x + + - + - + + - + + + + + + - + + + + + - + x + + + + - + + - - + + - + + - -

Sandoval, Martin D 11 14% 5% 9% - - - x - - + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - x + - - x - - - - - - x x x x

SCHIMPF, PAUL R 58 76% 68% 71% + + + + + - + - + + - + + + + + + - + + + - + + + + + + + + - + + - - + + + + - - +

Sims, Elgie D 17 15% 0% 11% - - - + - - + - - x - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Stadelman, Steve D 34 15% 5% 12% - - - + - - + - - - - x - x - x x x - - x x + - - + - x + x - - - - - - - - - - - -

Steans, Heather D 7 15% 8% 12% - x - + - - + - - x - - - - - - - + - - - - + - x + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

STEWART, BRIAN R 45 81% 79% 82% + + + + x - + x + + - + + + x x + - + + + + + - + + + + + + - + + - + + + + x + - x













































11



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

SB 1290

HB

345SB

2068

SB 1379

SB 1167

SB 1287

SB 1474

SB 1510

SB 24

SB 29

SB 145

SJRCA

1SB

471H

B 2233

HB

2691H

B 20

40H

B 2670

HB

834H

B 3481

HB

246H

B 247

HB

313H

B 2215

SB 140

7H

B 3575

SB 534

HB

1637H

B 2134

HB

3394SB

241SB

25SB

687SB

2146SB

1226SB

1791SB

262SB

1939SB

1864SB

1784H

B 390

2SB

667

SYVERSON, DAVE R 35 78% 77% 87% + x + + + - + - + + - + + + + + x - + + + + + x + + + + + + - + + - x + + - + + - x

TRACY, JIL R 47 82% 75% 83% + + x + + - + x + + - + + + + + + - + + + + + x + + + + + + - + + - + + + - + + - x

Van Pelt, Patricia D 5 16% 13% 7% - - - + x - + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - x - - - - - x x

Villivalam, Ram D 8 12% n/a 12% - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

WEAVER, CHUCK R 37 81% 78% 84% + + + + + - + x + + - + + + + + + - + + + + + x + x + + + + - + + - + + + + x - - x

WILCOX, CRAIG R 32 84% n/a 84% x + + + + - x x + + - + + + + x + x + + + + + + + + + + + + - + + - + + + + + + - -













































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1. SB 1 Weakening Job Opportunities by Mandating an 82% Increase in the Minimum Wage. This bill weakens job opportunities for inexperienced workers by driving up the minimum wage by 82% and partially shifting the cost of the new mandate onto taxpayers. Under the bill, the state’s $8.25 adult minimum wage is increased annually until it reaches $15 per hour by 2025. Additionally, minors working more than 650 hours annually are now subject to the adult minimum wage. For minors who work fewer than 650 hours annually, the minimum wage is increased from $7.75 to $13 per hour. Furthermore, the bill harms taxpayers by providing employers with 50 or fewer employees with tax credits up to 25% of the difference between wages previously paid and the new minimum wage rate. Finally, the bill imposes new $1,500 penalties for employers whose payroll records do not satisfy government and forces courts to award “treble damages” (i.e., triple the amount of actual/compensatory damages) to individuals who claim their employer did not comply with the new minimum wage mandates. ACU opposes these artificial wages that hurt those who need employment experience, such as students and inexperienced workers, and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill February 7, 2019 by a vote of 39-18 and the bill was signed into law.

2. SB 1290 Forcing Rental Property Owners to Violate Federal Immigration Laws. This bill forces rental property owners to violate federal immigration laws by prohibiting them from reporting to any person or government authority the illegal immigrant status of any tenant or basing lease contracting decisions “solely or in part” on illegal immigrant status. Additionally, the bill permits illegal immigrants to bring civil suits against landlords allegedly in violation of the bill and may be awarded damages, a $2,000 civil penalty payable to the plaintiff, “reasonable attorney’s fees” and other equitable relief granted by a court. Furthermore, the bill declares that illegal immigrant status is “irrelevant to any issue of liability or remedy in a civil action.” ACUF’s Center for 21st Century Property Rights is a leading voice on this issue and works to protect the rights of property owners and tenants. ACU recognizes that this bill is clearly violative of federal law which has since 1917 prohibited “concealing, harboring, or shielding from detection” an illegal immigrant. ACU supports assisting the federal government in its constitutional role to enforce our nation’s immigration laws, opposes forcing landlords to break the law and subjecting property owners to lawsuit abuse and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on March 7, 2019 by a vote of 34-16 and the bill was signed into law.

3. HB 345 Restricting the Individual Liberties of Adults by Raising the Minimum Age to 21 to Purchase Tobacco Products. This bill violates the individual liberties of adults ages 18 to 20 by raising the age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 and including nicotine products such as e-cigarettes like Juul in the prohibition. While the bill repeals the offense of possession of tobacco products for all ages, the bill further exposes Illinois businesses to harsh penalties, including tobacco license suspension or cancellation and costly fines for failing to comply with the ban. Additionally, the bill prohibits nicotine products from being sold in vending machines anywhere someone under 21 may be present and prohibits businesses from offering nearly any tobacco samples, even to adults over 21. ACU recognizes Illinoisans have already voluntarily reduced their reliance on smoking, evidenced by the state holding the third-lowest rate of adult smoking in the Midwest, according to the United Health Foundation. ACU further recognizes that this measure is ill-conceived given that consumers in Illinois have already responded to the cigarette “sin tax” by purchasing tobacco products across state lines. ACU believes the usage of nicotine products is a personal liberty issue and that those who are old enough to fight for our country are old enough to purchase nicotine products and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill March 14, 2019 by a vote of 39-16 and the bill was signed into law.

4. SB 2068 Protecting “Food Freedom” by Prohibiting Localities from Imposing Excessive Regulations. This bill strengthens individual liberties and “food freedom” by eliminating a loophole that local governments have exploited to regulate food prepared and served in private homes. Under existing law, neither the state Department of Public Health nor the health departments of local governments are permitted to regulate food prepared and served in private residential structures that are closed to the public and located within a municipality with fewer than one million people. This bill closes a loophole by clarifying that a “public health district” is also prohibited from imposing regulations. ACU supports strengthening individual liberties and “food freedom” by protecting families from government overreach in their private homes and kitchens and supported this bill. The Senate passed the bill on March 27, 2019 by a vote of 53-0 and the bill was signed into law.

ILLINOIS SENATE VOTE DESCRIPTIONS

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5. SB 1379 Advancing a New Scheme to Drive up Property Taxes by Forcing Owners to Notify Assessors of Income Generated. This bill is designed to advance a new scheme to further hike property taxes by forcing owners of “income-producing property” to submit annual income and business expense data to county assessors. Under the bill, property owners would be forced to submit such data if their property is not exclusively owner-occupied, has been valued at $100,000 or greater or is a residential property with seven or more dwellings. Additionally, this reporting mandate would also apply to owners of senior and adult care facilities, hotels and motels, parking garages and lots and self-storage facilities. Under the bill, the reporting mandate pertains to property owners in Cook County and any other county which opts in by a mere resolution of the county board—rather than a vote of county residents. Finally, the bill would impose penalties up to $100,000 per property for a failure to report. ACU recognizes that the Cook County Assessor has already attempted to increase the total assessment of commercial properties by 77% and that this measure is a thinly-veiled scheme to hammer property owners. ACUF’s Center for 21st Century Property Rights is a leading voice on this issue and works to protect property owners from losing their property through excessive taxation. ACU supports a property assessment system which is free from political influence and most accurately assesses the fair market value of property. ACU opposes this scheme which will be used to further shake down property owners for more cash to fund out-of-control government spending and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on April 4, 2019 by a vote of 36-16. (The bill failed to advance in the House.)

6. SB 1167 Further Driving up Taxpayer Costs by Socializing College Costs for Individuals over Age 30. This bill further drives up taxpayer costs by creating a new “free” community college scheme for individuals over age 30. Under the bill, annual subsidies up to $2,000 per student are awarded to individuals who have supposedly been searching for a job for at least six months. Additionally, the bill allows applicants to reapply every year if they demonstrate progress toward certificates, credentials or associate degrees in areas of study preferred by government. Furthermore, the bill contains no fiscally responsible measures to contain the costs of the program which is only limited by the amount of taxpayer dollars the General Assembly appropriates in each annual budget. ACU recognizes that this bill is designed to enrich public community college administrators and the select companies and industries favored by government. ACU opposes cronyism, opposes further socializing higher education costs, and believes “free” college schemes represent one of the largest wealth transfers from lower-income individuals to wealthy individuals and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on April 10, 2019 by a vote of 58-0 and the bill was signed into law.

7. SB 1287 Creating Greater Efficiency in Education Spending by Allowing School Districts to Share Administrators. This bill would allow local school districts to share administrators, resulting in funding that was wasted on bureaucracy being redirected to improving classrooms and providing property tax relief. Under the bill, school districts would be permitted to enter into joint agreements (either by resolution of the boards or referendum of the People) to increase efficiency in education by allowing a single administrator to serve multiple participating school districts. The bill would apply to superintendents and nearly all other administrators such as school business officials and athletic directors, but not principals and assistant principals. The bill would require school districts to equally divide the cost savings between classroom needs and property tax relief for residents within the school district. ACU supports improving educational outcomes and reducing tax burdens by eliminating wasteful and unnecessary school bureaucratic positions which only serve to enrich the greedy union bosses of the Illinois Association of School Business Officials which fought against this measure and supported this bill. The Senate passed the bill on April 10, 2019 by a vote of 34-4. (The bill failed to advance in the House.)

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8. SB 1474 Infringing the “Right to Work” by Overriding Local Ordinances. This bill infringes the “right to work” without joining a labor union or paying dues by overriding local ordinances that protect worker freedoms. Specifically, the bill prohibits localities from creating or enforcing any ordinance, regulation or rule that “prohibits, restricts, tends to restrict or regulates” collective bargaining agreements. As a result, workers may be forced to join a union and pay dues as a condition of employment. The bill also establishes a new cause of action, thus permitting union bosses to sue local governments which attempt to establish ordinances that protect worker freedoms. ACU supports the “right to work” without joining a union or paying dues, opposes statewide mandates that prohibit localities from protecting individual liberties and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on April 10, 2019 by a vote of 51-0 and the bill was signed into law.

9. SB 1510 Enriching Greedy Union Bosses by Significantly Hiking Penalties for Arbitrary Staff Quotas at Nursing Homes. This bill is designed to enrich the greedy union bosses of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) by significantly hiking requirements and penalties for violations of staffing quotas at nursing homes. Under the bill, nursing home facilities which deviate from existing arbitrary state-mandated staff hours mandates by as little as two and a half minutes would be subject to the bill’s penalties which are based on employee payroll data. Additionally, the bill would permit the state Department of Public Health the conduct investigations for compliance on at least a quarterly basis and would force facilities allegedly in noncompliance to post at every public entryway and registration desk a notice that the facility did not meet the staff hours mandate. While the bill also contains provisions intended to strengthen informed consent regarding surrogate decision-makers, the bill as a whole would significantly harm the ability of these facilities to meet the needs of residents. ACU supports efforts to improve quality of care by permitting both public and private health care facilities to develop staffing plans according to the the needs of patients and residents rather than automatically deferring to the greed of insatiable union bosses and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on April 10, 2019 by a vote of 39-19. (The bill failed to advance in the House.)

10. SB 24 Driving up Transportation Costs by Mandating Train Crew Size. This bill unnecessarily drives up transportation costs by mandating that every freight train operating in the state must have a crew of at least two individuals. While the bill makes an exception for trains operating in the railyard, the bill as a whole enriches greedy union bosses at the expense of consumers. ACU opposes this mandate, especially in a time of automation, which drives up the cost of business and creates different rules for trains operating across state lines and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill April 11, 2019 by a vote of 35-19 and the bill was signed into law.

11. SB 29 Expanding Cronyism by Establishing Tax Carve-Outs and Regulatory Loopholes for “Green Energy Enterprises.” This bill would expand cronyism and shift tax burdens to individuals and businesses not favored by government by creating the Illinois Energy Transition Zone Act to create carve-outs in the tax code for energy producers favored by government. Under the bill, municipalities would be permitted to apply to the Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to create “energy transition zones” where a coal energy plant, coal mine, or nuclear energy plant was retired from service in the last 10 years. If approved by DCEO, “green energy enterprises” producing solar, wind, water, geothermal, bioenergy or hydrogen energy would be eligible for significantly lucrative income tax credits and exemptions from a litany of state and local regulations. ACU supports all sources of energy, does not believe government should favor one source of energy over another, opposes politicized energy agendas that favor special interests and shift tax burdens to other taxpayers not favored by government and drive up energy costs for consumers and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill April 11, 2019 by a vote of 58-0. (The bill failed to advance in the House.)

12. SB 145 Disenfranchising Voters by Mandating that Presidential Candidates Disclose their Tax Returns. This bill is designed to obstruct our democratic process and disenfranchise voters by forcing candidates for president and vice president to disclose their personal income tax returns in order to appear on the ballot in Illinois. Under the bill, a candidate who does not disclose at least the past five years of their personal income tax returns is prevented from appearing on the election ballot. ACU opposes efforts to disenfranchise voters, rejects the elitist notion that Illinois voters are incapable of assessing candidates for office without information ordained from the legislature’s mandates and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill April 11, 2019 by a vote of 36-19. (The bill failed to advance in the House.)

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13. SJRCA 1 Hiking Income Taxes by $3.7 Billion by Abolishing the Flat Tax in Favor of a “Fair Tax.” This proposed constitutional amendment would hike income taxes by an estimated $3.7 billion by abolishing in the state constitution the flat income tax structure in favor of Governor Pritzker’s “fair tax” structure. Under the resolution, the governor’s “fair tax” scheme will be submitted to Illinois voters on the November 2020 ballot. If ratified to the constitution, the state’s 4.95% personal income tax rate and 7% corporate income tax rate would be abolished and the General Assembly would be empowered to impose a progressive tax rate structure, as proposed with the passage of SB 687. As a result, Illinois taxpayers would face tax rate increases as much as 61% greater than previous rates. ACU recognizes that wanton fiscal mismanagement has earned Illinois the lowest credit rating of any state in the country and that the governor admitted that even with this $3.7 billion tax hike that the state will face a $6 billion budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year. ACU supports fostering economic growth by establishing a tax code with the lowest possible rates for everyone, believes the state should significantly slash its unnecessary and wasteful spending to balance its budget rather than impose massive tax increases on working families and opposed this resolution. The Senate passed the resolution on May 1, 2019 by a vote of 40-19. (The People will decide whether to ratify this amendment in the November 2020 election.)

14. SB 471 Infringing Employee-Employer Contracting Rights by Mandating Paid Sick Leave for All Employees. This bill would infringe contracting rights and reduce job opportunities by mandating that every employer in the state provide 40 hours of paid sick leave to all employees. Under the bill, the paid sick leave would accrue at a rate of one hour per 40 hours worked and would be required to be given to all employees, including part-time, and could be used for a wide array of purposes ranging from doctor’s appointments to attending any criminal or civil court hearing of the worker or their family. Additionally, employers would be prohibited from considering the use of paid sick leave in employment decisions such as promotions or from offsetting the cost of this mandate by altering working hours, reducing vacation time or through other practices. Furthermore, the state Department of Labor would be directed to penalize employers up to $2,500 per violation (based on a mere preponderance of evidence) and workers would be permitted to bring civil suit against their employers for alleged violations and could be awarded compensatory damages with interest at the prevailing rate, punitive damages, reasonable attorney’s fees, reasonable expert witness fees, other such equitable relief and other costs of the action to be payed by the employer. Finally, the bill fails to preempt local paid leave mandates and would therefore subject employers to compliance with four separate paid leave mandates in some cases. ACU believes employers and employees should be free to negotiate their own benefits, and opposes this infringement of the right to contract, which may limit the ability of employees to receive other benefits or job perks, and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 1, 2019 by a vote of 34-15. (The bill failed to advance in the 2019 session.)

15. HB 2233 Undermining Civil Justice by Eliminating the Right to “Special Interrogatories.” This bill undermines civil justice by eliminating the right of all parties to a civil action to require juries to answer “special interrogatories” (i.e., questions parties may ask jurors to test their knowledge of facts of the case and relevant law). Under previous law, special interrogatories were an important part of civil procedure which promoted fairness in rulings by ensuring jurors understood the instructions given by the judge to guide their deliberations on the case. Under this bill, it is now the sole discretion of the court to decide whether to grant a special interrogatory request of a party. ACU recognizes this measure diminishes the power of jurors and hands the power to determine fault in personal injury cases to elected judges whose election is heavily influenced by well-funded trial lawyers. ACU opposes this measure designed to enrich trial lawyers while increasing business costs which are passed onto consumers and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 8, 2019 by a vote of 37-17 and the bill was signed into law.

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16. HB 2691 Expanding a “Free” College Scheme to Individuals Residing in the Country Illegally. This bill further socializes higher education costs by expanding a “free” college scheme to include individuals who reside in the country illegally. Under the bill, the state’s existing “free” college subsidies are also offered to individuals who reside in the country illegally. As a result, up to $9 million in taxpayer funds are redirected away from students who are U.S. citizens and instead used to provide illegal immigrants with scholarships, grants, awards, room and board funding, tuition waivers, and other benefits so they may attend any institution of higher education in Illinois. ACU supports assisting the federal government in its constitutional role to enforce our nation’s immigration laws, opposes the use of taxpayer resources to benefit those who entered the country illegally and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 8, 2019 by a vote of 35-15 and the bill was signed into law.

17. HB 2040 Reducing Government Efficiency through a Ban on the State Contracting for Private Detention Facilities. This bill prevents the private sector from helping to improve efficiency within the correctional system by banning all private entities from contracting with the state to operate detention facilities or provide core services. While the state already bans private prisons, this bill is designed to block construction of a proposed detention center for illegal immigrants. ACUF’s Nolan Center for Justice is a leading voice on this issue and works to reduce taxpayer costs and improve inmate rehabilitation and safety, regardless of whether facilities are publicly or privately managed. ACU believes this measure violates our “Seven Principles of Privatization,” opposes this effort which expands government bureaucracy and inefficiency, supports assisting the federal government in its constitutional role to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 16, 2019 by a vote of 34-14 and the bill was signed into law.

18. HB 2670 Reducing Occupational Licensing Barriers for Individuals with Criminal Convictions. This bill reduces employment barriers for individuals with criminal convictions by making slight improvements to the state’s occupational licensing regimes. Under the bill, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation is required to give greater consideration to “mitigating factors,” or the extenuating circumstances of an individual’s criminal conviction, before denying an individual a license, certification or registration due to their conviction. Specifically, the bill clarifies that mitigating factors are not limited to those mentioned specifically by statute, but may include facts occurring “from the point of arrest or indictment” such as the amount of time that has passed since the conviction. ACUF’s Nolan Center for Justice is a national leader in criminal justice reform and works to cut crime, reduce taxpayer costs, protect victims, define the proper scope of government, and responsibly reduce incarceration rates. ACU opposes the proliferation of licensing requirements which are primarily designed to restrict competition, supports efforts to lower recidivism by reducing barriers to the workforce and supported this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 21, 2019 by a vote of 36-18 and the bill was signed into law.

19. HB 834 Prohibiting Employers from Inquiring about Wage and Salary History. This bill makes numerous changes to the state’s employment laws which violate the rights of employees and employers to freely contract and subjects employers to lawsuit abuse. Under the bill, employers are prohibited from seeking the salary history of current or prospective employees or requiring employees to keep their wages confidential. Additionally, the bill further increases the risk of lawsuit abuse by permitting individuals to bring civil suit for a difference in wages compared to a coworker with “substantially similar” skills and responsibilities (previously “equal,” a higher standard). Furthermore, the bill permits courts to penalize employers up to $5,000 and award claimants special damages up to $10,000, compensatory damages, injunctive relief, court costs and attorney’s fees. ACU supports the right of employers and employees to freely contract and believes salary history is a legitimate line of inquiry, particularly since it is required for a federal government position, and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 22, 2019 by a vote of 41-14 and the bill was signed into law.

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20. HB 3481 Eliminating a Safeguard against Government-Imposed Hikes in Energy Costs. This bill eliminates a crucial safeguard against rising consumer energy prices as a result of a politicized environmental agenda. Specifically, the bill repeals the state’s Kyoto Protocol Act of 1998 which expressly prohibited Illinois from imposing reductions in carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions unless the Kyoto Protocol Treaty is ratified by the U.S. Senate, thereby requiring the U.S. and all participating nations to reduce emissions to specified levels. ACU recognizes, as noted by the Illinois General Assembly in 1998, that the Kyoto Treaty and similar schemes in the states are designed to harm businesses and individuals not favored by central planners such as the United Nations and would “result in the loss of more than 900,000 jobs in the U.S., sharply increased energy prices, reduced family incomes and wages, severe losses of output in energy-intensive industries such as aluminum, steel, rubber, chemicals and utilities.” ACU supports all sources of energy, does not believe government should favor one source of energy over another, opposes politicized energy agendas that favor special interests and drive up energy costs for consumers and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 22, 2019 by a vote of 36-17 and the bill was signed into law.

21. HB 246 Coopting Local Schools to Advancing Leftist Social Policies by Imposing a New Statewide Educational Mandate. This bill is another attempt by the radical Left to use schools to promote their view of social policy when instead schools should be focusing on academics. Under the bill, local schools are forced to only utilize textbooks that the state Board of Education has approved and must detail the “roles and contributions” of LGBT individuals. No student in the state may graduate eighth grade unless they demonstrate “comprehensive knowledge” in this new area of study. ACU believes in equal rights under the law for all, that everyone—regardless of their background—should be treated with respect. ACU opposes this measure which is not designed to enhance student educational outcomes but rather advance a politicized view of social policies while weakening local control over educational curriculum. ACU instead believes it is the role of parents, not government, to educate their children on sensitive issues such as gender dysphoria and identity and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 23, 2019 by a vote of 37-17 and the bill was signed into law.

22. HB 247 Restricting the Ability of Public Schools to Contract with the Most Effective Driver Education Teachers. This bill imposes unnecessary restrictions that reduce the ability of local schools to have their students educated by the most talented and effective driver education teachers. Specifically, the bill mandates that if a school contracts with a third-party company to teach driver education, that the teachers meet the state’s stringent educator and endorsement requirements. ACU recognizes this measure is solely designed to enrich the greedy union bosses of the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and the Illinois Education Association (IEA), both of which lobbied heavily on the bill to protect themselves from competition from the private sector. ACU supports the ability of local schools to hire the most qualified teachers, opposes this attack on the private sector on behalf of the IFT and IEA and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 23, 2019 by a vote of 41-14 and the bill was signed into law.

23. HB 313 Strengthening Transparency of Government Spending. This bill strengthens transparency of government spending by requiring the state’s comptroller to publish more specific fiscal information rather than vague summary information. Under previous law, the comptroller was required to publish “an online repository of the state’s financial transactions” which led to some transparency regarding spending by agency and the purpose of expenditures. This bill creates the Open Illinois Checkbook and specifies that the comptroller is required to publish expenditure amounts and dates, the vendor to which each expenditure was made, the agency making each expenditure, the salaries of each employee, and, to the extent possible, graphical data. ACU recognizes Illinois has the worst credit rating of any state in the country, has not balanced their budget since 2001, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. ACU supports improving government transparency and expanding public access to government records, especially for a state that ranks lowest in the nation for confidence in state government, and supported this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 23, 2019 by a vote of 58-0 and the bill was signed into law.

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24. HB 2215 Driving up Taxpayer Costs by Forcing Firefighter Training to Include Union Boss Propaganda. This bill drives up taxpayer costs and imposes yet another unfunded mandate on localities by forcing all full-time firefighters in the state to sit through union boss propaganda sessions as part of lifesaving training. Specifically, the bill requires the Office of the Illinois to post on its website a “history of the fire service labor movement” and forces all firefighters in the state to complete the training online or allow in-person pitches from union agents. ACU opposes driving up taxpayer costs and delaying core safety training for firefighters in order to enrich the greedy union bosses of the Associated Firefighters of Illinois and the Illinois Firefighter’s Association and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 23, 2019 by a vote of 46-6 and the bill was signed into law.

25. SB 1407 Mandating Union Employment and “Prevailing Wages” for Construction at Private Chemical Manufacturing Businesses. This bill is designed to enrich greedy union bosses by forcing chemical manufacturing operations, ethanol plants and refineries to hire almost exclusively unionized “journeymen” and pay “prevailing wages” for any construction or maintenance work in their facilities. Under the bill, at least 80% of the workforce of these operations would be forced to comprise individuals who have received training certificates from government-favored providers (i.e., community colleges). Additionally, workers who provide construction or maintenance work at these facilities would be required to be paid the “prevailing wage,” a Depression-era policy championed by union bosses which forces employers to pay wages above the market rate. Furthermore, any operation which violates these provisions would be subject to $10,000 penalties per working shift. ACU has long opposed prevailing wage mandates which needlessly drive up costs, especially opposes this mandate on private businesses which drives up the cost of chemical goods and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on May 23, 2019 by a vote of 38-17. (The bill failed to advance in the House.)

26. HB 3575 Strengthening the Right to Contract by Providing Legal Recognition of Blockchain Technology. This bill, known as the Blockchain Technology Act, strengthens the right to contract by ensuring that agreements made using systems commonly known as “blockchain” technology are recognized as valid agreements under state law. Specifically, the bill provides legal recognition to “smart contracts” (i.e., electronic records verified by blockchain), electronic records and signatures and ensures that they may not be denied legal effect or admission as evidence in a legal proceeding solely due to the use of blockchain. Additionally, the bill prohibits localities from imposing taxes or fees for the use of blockchain and also prohibits localities from establishing licensing, certificate or permitting regimes to control blockchain use. Furthermore, the bill prohibits the use of blockchain technology to give notice of public utility service cancellation, eviction, cancellation of health insurance or benefits or recall of a product. ACU supports efforts to strengthen the right to contract by expanding the use of blockchain’s countless applications, especially its use in facilitating the exchange of alternative currencies such as Bitcoin, and supported this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 29, 2019 by a vote of 55-0 and the bill was signed into law.

27. SB 534 Increasing Taxpayer Costs by Preventing Individuals from Competing for Government Procurement Contracts. This bill needlessly drives up taxpayer costs by discriminating against individuals and businesses who would want to compete for procurement contracts and establishing a new mechanism of cronyism known as the Bureau on Apprenticeship Programs. Firstly, the bureau is directed to utilize taxpayer funds to promote construction project opportunities exclusively to government-favored groups. Secondly, a state mandate that requires government projects to source at least 20% of their goods and services from certain minority groups is now expanded to dictate the exact percentages that must be awarded to each group, including owners who are racial minorities, women and people with disabilities. As a result, taxpayer construction costs will further rise as the pool of applicants eligible to bid on projects is even further reduced. ACU believes in equal rights under the law for all, believes it is the duty of government to ensure all law are applied equally, opposes driving up taxpayer costs by awarding projects based on sexual or racial discrimination and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on May 29, 2019 by a vote of 40-17 and the bill was signed into law.

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28. HB 1637 Weakening Public Safety by Further Expanding Illinois’ Status as a Sanctuary State. This bill weakens public safety and encourages foreign nationals to violate federal immigration laws by further expanding Illinois’ status as a “sanctuary state.” Under the state’s TRUST Act of 2017, law enforcement agencies are already prohibited from detaining individuals based on illegal immigration status or granting detainer requests to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) in order to transfer illegal immigrants from state or local custody into federal custody. Under this bill, those provisions are further expanded to now prohibit law enforcement agencies from entering into or remaining in agreements with ICE under its 287(g) program. This program involves communication between ICE and state agencies in order to report illegal immigrants with criminal charges or convictions and remove them from the community. ACU opposes weakening public safety by prohibiting law enforcement agencies from cooperating with the federal government as it carries out its constitutional role to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 30, 2019 by a vote of 35-19 and the bill was signed into law.

29. HB 2134 Strengthening Privacy Rights by Extending Protections to Historical Location Data. This bill strengthens the right to privacy as protected under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by expanding existing protections of cell-site location information (CSLI) to now include historical location data. Under previous law, law enforcement agencies were prohibited from accessing current and future CSLI unless they obtained a warrant under probable cause and other requirements were met. This bill expands those requirements to require warrants under probable cause for historical CSLI, thereby strengthening protections against warrantless data collection and surveillance of law-abiding citizens by government. ACU supports strengthening privacy rights as protected under the Fourth Amendment and supported this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 30, 2019 by a vote of 59-0 and the bill was signed into law.

30. HB 3394 Interfering in Private Business Operations by Mandating Diversity Reporting. This bill would outrageously expand the power of state government in order to send a chilling effect to companies striving to find officers for their boards. Under the bill, publicly-traded companies that are based in Illinois are forced to report the racial, ethnic and gender composition of their boards of directors and executive officers. Furthermore, the secretary of state is required to publish aggregate data and the University of Illinois System is directed to establish a rating system to impose further pressure on businesses. ACU recognizes that the bill originally would have forced companies to abide by government-mandated quotas based on race, ethnicity and gender but that the bill was reduced to a reporting mandate. ACU further recognizes this reporting bill is designed to impose government control over private hiring decisions and ultimately radicalize private companies by shaming, and eventually forcing, private companies to create quotas for appointing board members based on factors other than merit. ACU believes in equal rights under the law for all, vehemently opposes discrimination and believes those who discriminate will face repercussions in the marketplace. ACU opposes this measure which is designed to harass companies and foster discrimination based on race and sex and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 30, 2019 by a vote of 38-16 and the bill was signed into law.

31. SB 241 Placing Unreasonable Regulations on Consumer Cosmetics. This bill overreaches into the private sector by imposing an overly broad ban on the sale or importation into the state of any cosmetic item or product which was tested on an animal after January 1, 2020. While ACU firmly opposes mistreatment of animals and believes those who abuse animals should face repercussions, we oppose this unreasonable ban which rejects legitimate ethical analysis regarding human lives and health and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 30, 2019 by a vote of 59-0 and the bill was signed into law.

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32. SB 25 Eliminating Protections for Unborn Children by Establishing a “Fundamental Right to Abortion.” This bill imposes significant risk on the lives of unborn children by establishing a “fundamental right” to take the life of an unborn child through abortion and repealing nearly all existing legal protections, including those under the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975. Specifically, the bill declares that unborn children do not have independent rights under the law and prohibits any government action that would “deny, restrict, interfere with or discriminate against” the “fundamental right” to an abortion. Additionally, the bill makes it significantly easier for abortion providers to argue for abortion by weakening the definition of “fetal vitality” and permitting abortion if the “emotional, psychological, and familial health and age" of the mother are at risk (previously “life or health of the mother”). Furthermore, the bill permits nonphysicians to perform abortion, eliminates required medical care for abortion survivors and removes safety inspections for most abortion facilities. Finally, the bill also forces all health insurance policies offered in the state to cover abortion and eliminates restrictions on “kickbacks” or referral fees awarded to organizations that refer young adults and mothers to abortion providers. ACU believes abortion is a human tragedy, supports restrictions to end the practice and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill May 31, 2019 by a vote of 34-20 and the bill was signed into law.

33. SB 687 Imposing a $3.7 Billion Tax Hike by Raising Income Tax Rates as Much as 61%. This bill, in conjunction with the constitutional amendment SJRCA 1, would impose an estimated $3.7 billion tax increase by abolishing the flat tax and ratcheting up personal and corporate income tax rates as much as 61%. Specifically, the constitutional amendment would abolish the flat tax rates of 4.95% for personal income and 7% for corporate income and permit the General Assembly to impose a progressive tax rate structure. If voters ratify the amendment to the state constitution, SB 687 would impose the progressive rate structure and drive up tax collections by an estimated $3.7 billion. ACU recognizes that wanton fiscal mismanagement has earned Illinois the lowest credit rating of any state in the country and that the governor admitted that even with this $3.7 billion tax hike that the state will face a $6 billion budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year. ACU supports fostering economic growth by establishing a tax code with the lowest possible rates for everyone, believes the state should significantly slash its unnecessary and wasteful spending to balance its budget rather than impose massive tax increases on working families and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on May 31, 2019 by a vote of 37-20.

34. SB 2146 Expanding Cronyism by Favoring Unions and Special Interests for Opportunities in the New Clean Water Workforce Pipeline Program. This bill is a new mechanism to channel taxpayer funds to unions and other special interests through the newly created Clean Water Workforce Pipeline Program. The bill has carve-outs to award grants and other financial assistance to special interests such as union organizations, community action agencies and others. Additionally, the bill fosters governmental discrimination based on race and sex by directing the program’s training funds to prioritize “residents of environmental justice communities, women and transgender persons” rather than offering the training to everyone regardless of race, sex or geographic location. ACU opposes cronyism, believes the state should improve water quality by ensuring taxpayer funds are dedicated to actually fixing water quality problems through a truly open and competitive bidding process rather than creating this mechanism to direct scarce taxpayer resources to special interests and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on May 31, 2019 by a vote of 58-0 and the bill was signed into law.

35. SB 1226 Restricting School Choice Opportunities by Eliminating the Charter Appeal Process. This bill restricts school choice opportunities for students and their families by abolishing the Illinois State Charter School Commission (SCSC). Under previous law, when charter schools faced baseless rejections from local school districts to establish a school, the charters could appeal the decision to SCSC. Additionally, SCSC oversaw each of the 119 charter schools and enforced standards regarding financial stability and academic achievement. Under this bill, the SCSC is abolished and its duties are transferred to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). As a result, approval for renewing or establishing charters is now held hostage by local school districts and teachers unions which hold significant financial interests in stopping students from exercising their choice in education. Furthermore, the bill also empowers the ISBE to collect a 3% tax on charter school revenue, thereby further expanding the resources of an agency known to support an approach to education that is openly hostile to school choice. ACU supports improving educational outcomes by responsibly expanding school choice, opposes further empowering special interests such as the Illinois Federation of Teachers to restrict school choice and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on May 31, 2019 by a vote of 45-9 and the bill was signed into law.

21


36. SB 1791 Proliferating Government Dependency by Weakening Work and Training Requirements for Food Stamps. This bill exacerbates the cycle of intergenerational poverty by weakening work and job training programs under the state’s Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) also known as “food stamps.” Under previous law, individuals who received temporary assistance under SNAP were required to participate in programs that equip them to enter the workforce and become more independent. Under this bill, those programs are no longer required in order to receive SNAP benefits unless the state Department of Health and Human Services proves that the county where the recipient resides can provide training for 100% of the registered unemployed workers over age 16. ACU supports efforts to help people live healthier, happier, more productive lives, supports efforts to reduce intergenerational poverty by encouraging individuals to become self-sufficient and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on May 31, 2019 by a vote of 43-13 and the bill was signed into law.

37. SB 262 Advancing an Unbalanced Budget that Hikes Spending by Nearly $2 Billion. This operating budget bill increases spending to $40.27 billion in FY 2020, a nearly $2 billion increase in spending compared to FY 2019 and at a level that is $1.3 billion more than the state is expected to raise in revenue (i.e., a budget shortfall). The 1,600-page bill includes countless provisions which irresponsibly increase spending, including: $410 million in “backpay” for unionized state workers plus $185 million in pay raise guarantees, an additional $184 million in subsidized education costs, $22 million annually in “pension spiking” schemes, $20,600 annually for in-district spending and pay increases for all 177 lawmakers. ACU recognizes that the General Assembly failed to adopt a formal revenue estimate before committing taxpayers to this massive spending increase and that lawmakers had a mere 12 hours to read this behemoth piece of legislation. ACU further recognizes that lawmakers are counting on the doubling of the gas tax (No. 38 in this guide) and scores other tax increases to pay for this bloated budget. ACU opposes reckless spending increases which harm the ability of the state to borrow and impose immense pressure to raise taxes, as evidenced by Gov. Pritzker’s $3.7 billion “fair tax” increase (No. 13 in this guide), and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill June 1, 2019 by a vote of 40-19 and the bill was signed into law.

38. SB 1939 Adding $1.2 Billion in Motorist Costs by Doubling the Gas Tax and Hiking Vehicle Registration Fees. This bill adds $1.2 billion to motorist costs by doubling the state gas tax to 38 cents per gallon and imposing significant increases in vehicle registration fees. Under the bill, the state gas tax is doubled from 19 cents to 38 cents per gallon and localities are permitted to increase their own local gas taxes—in some cases an increase matching the state’s 100% hike. Additionally, the bill imposes a $50 registration fee increase for the vast majority of passenger vehicles and a $100 increase for buses, trailers and other oversized vehicles. Notably, these increases represent an 88% hike compared to 2009 levels. While ACU generally supports user fees to fund transportation, we recognize that this massive tax increase is designed to allow government to even further expand programs that misuse and waste taxpayer funds and avoid crucial reforms such as repealing the Depression-era “prevailing wage” which studies show unnecessarily increases the cost of construction projects up to 25%. ACU believes the state should abide by its constitutional requirement to balance the budget rather than reflexively raise taxes in response to gross mismanagement of spending and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill on June 2, 2019 by a vote of 48-9 and the bill was signed into law.

39. SB 1864 Infringing Individual Liberties and Interfering in Private Business Operations by Banning Vaping in Private Businesses. This bill would infringe the individual liberties of adults and interfere in private business operations by adding e-cigarettes and vaping products such as Juul to the Smoke Free Illinois Act. Under the bill, it would be illegal statewide for any person to use e-cigarettes inside most buildings and vehicles used by the general public or used as a place of employment. ACU opposes this overly-broad ban and believes that both tobacco and e-cigarettes are a personal liberty issue and that government regulations on products are only appropriate when their use substantially impacts others and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill October 29, 2019 by a vote of 41-11. (The bill failed to advance in the House.)

22


40. SB 1784 Empowering Union Bosses Following the Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court Decision. This bill radically expands the power of union bosses and is designed to subvert the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME by prohibiting public-sector workers from reclaiming dues which were unconstitutionally collected and making it nearly impossible to revoke union membership or cease paying dues. In the landmark Supreme Court Janus decision, the court found that state laws which force nonunion public-sector employees to pay union dues violate the First Amendment’s protection of freedoms of speech and association. Under this bill, those freedoms are infringed through a litany of new provisions designed to stop workers from exercising their rights. Specifically, the bill declares that workers have “no standing” to reclaim the dues which were deducted from workers’ paychecks without their consent prior to Janus, even under pending litigation. Additionally, the bill designates unions as the only entity which may process requests to revoke membership or stop paying dues (previously included public employers). Furthermore, government workers may only make such requests in a 10-day window out of the entire year. And, among dozens of other worker-restrictive provisions, the bill subjects employees to harassment at work and home by forcing them to take (at minimum) monthly meetings with union agents and disclosing to unions their personal contact information, including cellphones and personal email addresses, while prohibiting disclosure to any other entity, including those whose mission is to notify workers of their right to work without joining a union. ACU supports the founders’ belief in the First Amendment, supports the right to work without being forced to join a union or pay dues, opposes enriching greedy union bosses by radically expanding their power to harass workers and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill November 13, 2019 by a vote of 45-9 and the bill was signed into law.

41. HB 3902 Reviving a Mechanism of Cronyism by Exempting Aircraft Materials from the State Sales Tax. This bill reimposes a mechanism of cronyism which expired in 2014 by reinstating Illinois’ sales tax exemption for materials used in aircraft maintenance and repair. Under the bill, the expired tax exemption is reinstated until 2024 and businesses which failed to pay sales taxes on these materials are no longer required to satisfy sales tax obligations for materials acquired when the exemption was not in effect. ACU supports a tax code that is broadly applied with the lowest possible rates for everyone. ACU opposes this cronyism and interference in the marketplace which provides select industries and companies with tax breaks and competitive advantages while shifting $50 million in tax burdens to other taxpayers not favored by government and opposed this bill. The Senate voted to override the governor’s veto on November 14, 2019 by a vote of 48-1.

42. SB 667 Increasing Health Insurance Premiums through Price Controls on Insulin Copayments. This bill drives up health insurance premiums for everyone through a new price control on insulin drug insurance copayments. Specifically, the bill prohibits health insurers from charging more than a $100 copayment for a one-month supply of insulin. ACU recognizes that price controls only drive up scarcity, in this case, discouraging the distribution of this life-saving drug in Illinois. ACU further recognizes the rise in insulin costs is largely due to the enormous investments manufacturers have made in creating new and improved formulations. ACU opposes price controls which threaten future innovation, lead to drug shortage and violate property rights and opposed this bill. The Senate passed the bill November 14, 2019 by a vote of 43-1 and the bill was signed into law.

23


ILLINOIS HOUSE STATISTICS

38%OVERALL AVERAGE

WELTER, DAVID53%

LOWEST REPUBLICAN

73%REPUBLICAN AVERAGE

18%DEMOCRAT AVERAGE

BRISTOW, MONICA

45%

HIGHEST DEMOCRATS

ILLINOIS HOUSE CONSERVATIVE RATINGS

RED = REPUBLICANS BLUE = DEMOCRATS

# OF STATE REPS

2019 ACUF PERCENTAGE

90-100%0-9% 10-19% 30-39% 40-49% 50-59% 60-69% 70-79% 80-89%20-29%0

10

20

30

40

50

60

24


ILLINOIS HOUSE SCORES

ILLINOIS HOUSE VOTE DETAILACU Foundation Position N N N Y N N Y N N Y Y N N N N Y Y N N N N N Y N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N Y N

Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

HB

246H

B 345

HB

313H

B 3481

HB

2685H

B 3575

HB

2838SB

1474H

B 2134

HB

2783H

B 357

HB

2040

HB

471H

B 2233

HB

2425H

B 2670

HB

2691SB

24SB

241SB

1226SB

1791SB

2068

SB 2146

SB 1290

HB

1637SJR

CA 1

SB 1167

SB 25

SB 534

HB

247H

B 834

SB 1966

HB

2215SB

687SB

262SB

1939H

B 3394

SB 1784

HB

3902

HB

3904

SB 667

Ammons, Carol D 103 14% 8% 9% - x - + - - x - - + x - - - - x + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - x x - - + -

Andrade, Jaime D 40 15% 4% 15% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x x -

Arroyo, Luis D 3 18% 10% 17% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x x x x

BAILEY, DARREN R 109 88% n/a 88% + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - + - - +

BATINICK, MARK R 97 74% 84% 80% + + - + + + x + - + + + + + + + - + + x + - + + x + + - + + + - + + + + + - - - + -

BENNETT, THOMAS R 106 n/a† 88% 90% + x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x + x - - + - + + + - + + + + + - + + - x - - - -

BOURNE, AVERY R 95 79% 86% 82% + + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + + + + + + - + - + + + - + + + + + - + + - - + - - +

BRADY, DAN R 105 62% 83% 81% + + + + + + + + - + + x - + + + - + + - - - x x + + + - + + + - + - + - - - + - - -

Bristow, Monica D 111 45% 42% 44% + + - + + - + - - + + - + - - + - + - + - - + - + + - - + - - - + - + - + - - - + -

BRYANT, TERRI R 115 56% 77% 69% + + + + + + + + - + + + - + + + - + - + - - + - x + + - + + - - + - + - - - - - - -

Buckner, Kambium D 26 14% n/a 14% - x - + - x x - - x + - - - - - + - x - - - + - x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Burke, Kelly D 36 17% 5% 27% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - x - - - - - - - - - - - + -








• HB 2685 Placing $600 Million in Taxpayer Funds at Risk by Refinancing Student Loans at Subsidized Rates.


• HB 2838 Holding General Contractors Liable for Subcontractors’ Noncompliance with Labor Mandates.



• HB 2783 Expanding Responsible Hunting by Allowing Rifle Deer Hunting.

• HB 357 Driving up Taxpayer Costs by Expanding Protectionist Procurement Mandates.


• HB 471 Reducing Health Care Insurance Options through Price Controls on Premiums.


• HB 2425 Strengthening Property Rights by Removing Duplicative Regulations under the Endangered Species Act.

















• SB 1966 Infringing Second Amendment Rights by Outlawing Private Firearm Transfers.








• HB 3904 Allowing College Athletes to Profit from their Own Name, Image and Likeness by Weakening Government-Granted Monopoly Powers.


25



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

HB

246H

B 345

HB

313H

B 3481

HB

2685H

B 3575

HB

2838SB

1474H

B 2134

HB

2783H

B 357

HB

2040

HB

471H

B 2233

HB

2425H

B 2670

HB

2691SB

24SB

241SB

1226SB

1791SB

2068

SB 2146

SB 1290

HB

1637SJR

CA 1

SB 1167

SB 25

SB 534

HB

247H

B 834

SB 1966

HB

2215SB

687SB

262SB

1939H

B 3394

SB 1784

HB

3902

HB

3904

SB 667

BUTLER, TIM R 87 69% 76% 77% + + - + + + + + - + + + - + + + - + + + + - + - + + + - + + + + + - + + - - - - + -

CABELLO, JOHN R 68 74% 80% 82% + + + + + x x + - + + + + + + + + + - - + + + - x + + - + + + + + - + + + - - - + -

Carroll, Jonathan D 57 23% 15% 19% - - - + - - + + - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - x - - - - + - - x - - + -

Cassidy, Kelly D 14 13% 8% 10% - - - + - x x - - + x - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

CAULKINS, DAN R 101 88% n/a 88% + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - + + + - + - - +

Chapa Lavia, Linda D 83 n/a† 8% 19% - x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

CHESNEY, ANDREW R 89 79% n/a 79% + + + + + + + x x + + x + + + + - + + - + + + + + + + - + + + + + - + + + - + - - -

Connor, John D 85 19% 12% 15% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Conroy, Deborah D 46 12% 8% 16% - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - + - - - - - x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Conyears-Ervin, Melissa

D 10 n/a† 8% 12% - - - + - x x x - + + - - - - - + - x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Costa Howard, Terra D 48 19% n/a 19% + - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - + - - - + -

Costello, Jerry D 116 n/a† 46% 54% + + - + + - + - - + x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Crespo, Fred D 44 19% 12% 28% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

D'Amico, John D 15 18% 8% 17% - - - + - x x - - + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -













































26



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

HB

246H

B 345

HB

313H

B 3481

HB

2685H

B 3575

HB

2838SB

1474H

B 2134

HB

2783H

B 357

HB

2040

HB

471H

B 2233

HB

2425H

B 2670

HB

2691SB

24SB

241SB

1226SB

1791SB

2068

SB 2146

SB 1290

HB

1637SJR

CA 1

SB 1167

SB 25

SB 534

HB

247H

B 834

SB 1966

HB

2215SB

687SB

262SB

1939H

B 3394

SB 1784

HB

3902

HB

3904

SB 667

DAVIDSMEYER, C.D. R 100 77% 88% 80% + + + + + + + + x + + + + + + + - + + + - - + + + + + + + + + + + - + - x x - - - -

Davis, William D 30 20% 8% 16% - x - + - - + - - + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Deluca, Anthony D 80 18% 20% 17% - x + + - x x - - + + - - x - x + - x x - - + - x - - - - - - - x - - - - - - - - -

DEMMER, TOM R 90 68% 84% 85% + + - + x + + + - + + + - + + + + + + - + - + - + + + - + + + - + - + - - - + - + +

Didech, Daniel D 59 14% n/a 14% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

DURKIN, JIM R 82 62% 74% 80% + + - + + + + + - + + + - + + + + + + - + - + - - + + - + + + - + - + - - - + - - -

Edly-Allen, Mary D 51 17% n/a 17% + - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - + -

Evans, Marcus D 33 17% 9% 10% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Feigenholtz, Sara D 12 15% 8% 13% - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - x - - - - - - x x - - + -

Flowers, Mary D 31 13% 8% 17% - x - + - - - - - + x - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Ford, La Shawn D 8 15% 8% 11% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - x - x x - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

FRESE, RANDY R 94 78% 81% 87% + + + + + + + x x + + + + + x + x + + + + - + - + + + - + x + + + - + + - - + - - +

Gabel, Robyn D 18 12% 6% 13% - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x -

Gong-Gershowitz, Jennifer

D 17 17% n/a 17% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - x -













































27



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

HB

246H

B 345

HB

313H

B 3481

HB

2685H

B 3575

HB

2838SB

1474H

B 2134

HB

2783H

B 357

HB

2040

HB

471H

B 2233

HB

2425H

B 2670

HB

2691SB

24SB

241SB

1226SB

1791SB

2068

SB 2146

SB 1290

HB

1637SJR

CA 1

SB 1167

SB 25

SB 534

HB

247H

B 834

SB 1966

HB

2215SB

687SB

262SB

1939H

B 3394

SB 1784

HB

3902

HB

3904

SB 667

Gordon-Booth, Jehan D 92 15% 8% 18% - - - x - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

GRANT, AMY R 42 68% n/a 68% + + - + + x x + - + + + + + + + + + + - + - x - x + + - + + + - + - + + + - + - - -

Greenwood, Latoya D 114 19% 8% 14% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - + -

Guzzardi, Will D 39 17% 8% 12% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

HALBROOK, BRAD R 102 93% 92% 96% + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + x + - - +

Halpin, Michael D 72 29% 31% 30% - - + + - - + - - + + - - - - + + + - - - - + - - + - - - - - - + - - - - - - - + -

HAMMOND, NORINE R 93 62% 72% 78% + + + + + x x + - + + + - + + + - + + + - - + - x + + - + + - x + - + - + - - x - -

Harper, Sonya D 6 17% 8% 12% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Harris, Greg D 13 17% 8% 13% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - x + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Hernandez, Barbara D 83 17% n/a 17% x - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Hernandez, Elizabeth D 24 15% 14% 17% x - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Hoffman, Jay D 113 26% 12% 18% - - - + + - + - - + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - + - - - - - - - + -

Hurley, Frances Ann D 35 20% 8% 17% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + + - - - - + - - - - - x - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Jones, Thaddeus D 29 18% 12% 15% - x - + - - x - - + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - x - - - - - - - - - - - + -













































28



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

HB

246H

B 345

HB

313H

B 3481

HB

2685H

B 3575

HB

2838SB

1474H

B 2134

HB

2783H

B 357

HB

2040

HB

471H

B 2233

HB

2425H

B 2670

HB

2691SB

24SB

241SB

1226SB

1791SB

2068

SB 2146

SB 1290

HB

1637SJR

CA 1

SB 1167

SB 25

SB 534

HB

247H

B 834

SB 1966

HB

2215SB

687SB

262SB

1939H

B 3394

SB 1784

HB

3902

HB

3904

SB 667

Kalish, Yehiel D 16 18% n/a 18% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - x + - - - - - + - - - - - x - - - - - - - - - - - + -

KEICHER, JEFF R 70 59% n/a 59% + + - + x x x + - + + + - + + + - + + x - - + - + + + - + + + x + - + - - - - - + -

Kifowit, Stephanie D 84 28% 17% 20% x - + + - - + - - + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - x - - - - - - - + - + - - - - - + -

Lapointe, Lindsey D 19 n/a† n/a n/a x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x - - + -

Lilly, Camille D 78 13% 8% 10% - - - + - - + x - x x - - - - - + x - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Madigan, Michael D 22 13% 5% 20% - - - + - x x - - + x x - - x + x - - x x - x - - - - - - x - - - - - - x - - - + -

Mah, Theresa D 2 17% 8% 12% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Manley, Natalie D 98 14% 15% 22% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

MARRON, MIKE R 104 64% n/a 64% + + + + + + + + - + + + - + + + - + x + - - + - x + + - + + - - + - + + - - - - + x

Martwick, Robert D 19 14% 8% 10% - - - + x - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x x x x

Mason, Joyce D 61 21% n/a 21% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - x x x - - + - - - + x

Mayfield, Rita D 60 18% 12% 13% - x - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - x - - - x - - - + -

MAZZOCHI, DEANNE R 47 n/a† n/a n/a x + x + x + - + x + + + + + - + - + x x x x x x x + + - + + + + x x x + - x - - + x

MCAULIFFE, MICHAEL R 20 72% 58% 61% + + - + + + + + - + + + - + + + + + - - + - + - + + + - + + + x + x + + - - x x x x

McCOMBIE, TONY R 71 63% 72% 71% + + + + + + + + - + + + - + + + - + + + - - + - - + + x + + - - + - + + + - - - - -













































29



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

HB

246H

B 345

HB

313H

B 3481

HB

2685H

B 3575

HB

2838SB

1474H

B 2134

HB

2783H

B 357

HB

2040

HB

471H

B 2233

HB

2425H

B 2670

HB

2691SB

24SB

241SB

1226SB

1791SB

2068

SB 2146

SB 1290

HB

1637SJR

CA 1

SB 1167

SB 25

SB 534

HB

247H

B 834

SB 1966

HB

2215SB

687SB

262SB

1939H

B 3394

SB 1784

HB

3902

HB

3904

SB 667

MCDERMED, MARGO R 37 68% 80% 80% + + - + + + + + - + + + - + + + + - + - + - + - + + + - + + + x + - + + - - + - - +

MCSWEENEY, DAVID R 52 71% 77% 88% + + - + + + + + - + + + + - - + - + + - + + + + + + + - + - - + + - + + + - + - + +

MEIER, CHARLES R 108 64% 83% 81% + + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + - + + + - - + - + + + - + + - + + - + - - - - - - -

Meyers-Martin, Debbie

D 38 18% n/a 18% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - x + - x x x - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

MILLER, CHRIS R 110 93% n/a 93% + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + x + - - +

Moeller, Anna D 43 16% 12% 11% - - - + - - + - - + - x x x - x + - - - x - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Morgan, Bob D 58 21% n/a 21% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - + - - - - + - - - - - + -

MORRISON, THOMAS R 54 92% 96% 95% + + x + + + + + x + + + + + x + x x + - + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + + + x + - + +

Moylan, Martin D 55 12% 15% 22% - - - + - - x - - + + - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

MURPHY, MIKE R 99 74% n/a 74% + + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + - + + + + - + - + + + - + + + + + - + - - - + - + -

Mussman, Michelle D 56 12% 12% 25% - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Ortiz, Aaron D 1 15% n/a 15% - - - + - - + - - x + - - - - x + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Pappas, Diane D 45 14% n/a 14% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - + -













































30



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

HB

246H

B 345

HB

313H

B 3481

HB

2685H

B 3575

HB

2838SB

1474H

B 2134

HB

2783H

B 357

HB

2040

HB

471H

B 2233

HB

2425H

B 2670

HB

2691SB

24SB

241SB

1226SB

1791SB

2068

SB 2146

SB 1290

HB

1637SJR

CA 1

SB 1167

SB 25

SB 534

HB

247H

B 834

SB 1966

HB

2215SB

687SB

262SB

1939H

B 3394

SB 1784

HB

3902

HB

3904

SB 667

PARKHURST, LINDSAY

R 79 70% 77% 74% + x - + + x x + x + + + + + + + - + + x + - + - + + + - + + + - + - + + + - - - + -

Ramirez, Delia D 4 17% n/a 17% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

REICK, STEVEN R 63 78% 88% 84% + x + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - + + + + - + - + + + - + + + x + - + + - - - - + +

Reitz, Nathan D 116 n/a† n/a n/a x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x - - - - + - + + - - + - - - + - + - + - - - + -

Rita, Robert D 28 21% 12% 16% - x - + - - + x x + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Robinson, Lamont D 5 17% n/a 17% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Scherer, Sue D 96 34% 30% 43% - + - + + - + - - + + - - - - + - + - - - - + - - + - - + + - - + - - - - - - - + x

SEVERIN, DAVE R 117 56% 77% 68% + x x + + + x + - + + + - + + + - + + + - - + - + + + - + + - - + - + - - - - - - -

SKILLICORN, ALLEN R 66 95% 96% 92% + + + + + + x + + + x x x + + + + + + - + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + x + - + +

Slaughter, Justin D 27 17% 8% 14% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Smith, Nicholas D 34 19% 8% 13% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

SOMMER, KEITH R 88 78% 83% 86% + + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + - + + + + - + x + + + - + + + - + - + + + x + - - -

SOSNOWSKI, JOE R 69 81% 95% 92% + + + + x x x + + + + + + + + + - + + + + - + - + + + - + + + + + - + + - x + x x -

SPAIN, RYAN R 73 65% 83% 78% + + - + + + + + - + + + - + x + x + + - + - + - + + + - + + + - + - + + - - + - - -













































31



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

HB

246H

B 345

HB

313H

B 3481

HB

2685H

B 3575

HB

2838SB

1474H

B 2134

HB

2783H

B 357

HB

2040

HB

471H

B 2233

HB

2425H

B 2670

HB

2691SB

24SB

241SB

1226SB

1791SB

2068

SB 2146

SB 1290

HB

1637SJR

CA 1

SB 1167

SB 25

SB 534

HB

247H

B 834

SB 1966

HB

2215SB

687SB

262SB

1939H

B 3394

SB 1784

HB

3902

HB

3904

SB 667

Stava-Murray, Anne D 81 13% n/a 13% - - - + - - x - - + - x - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

STEPHENS, BRAD R 20 n/a† n/a n/a x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x - - x -

Stuart, Katie D 112 29% 19% 28% - - - + + - + - - + + - + - - - - + - - - - - - + + - - - - - - + - - - + - - - + -

SWANSON, DANIEL R 74 69% 81% 79% + + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + + + - + - - + - + + + - + + + - + - + + + - - - - -

Tarver, Curtis D 25 21% n/a 21% - x - + - - + - - + + - - - - x + - - - x - + - x - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - + -

Thapedi, Andre D 32 22% 12% 12% - - - + x - + - - + + x - - - + + - - - - - + - - x x x - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Turner, Arthur D 9 19% 8% 12% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

UGASTE, DAN R 65 73% n/a 73% + + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + - + + + + - + - x + + - + + + - + - + + + - + - - -

UNES, MICHAEL R 91 76% 85% 82% + + + + + + + + x + + + x + + + - + + + - - + - x + + - + + x - + - x + + x x x x -

Villa, Karina D 49 12% n/a 12% - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Villanueva, Celina D 21 17% n/a 17% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Walker, Mark D 53 12% n/a 12% - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - x - - - - - - - - - - + -

Walsh, Lawrence D 86 23% 15% 27% - x - + - - + - - + + - - - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - x - - - - - + -

WEBER, TOM R 64 73% n/a 73% + + + + + + + + - + + x x + + + - + + + + - + - + + + - + + + - + - + + + - + - - -













































32



Party Dist.2019

%2018

%LIFETIME

AVG

SB 1

HB

246H

B 345

HB

313H

B 3481

HB

2685H

B 3575

HB

2838SB

1474H

B 2134

HB

2783H

B 357

HB

2040

HB

471H

B 2233

HB

2425H

B 2670

HB

2691SB

24SB

241SB

1226SB

1791SB

2068

SB 2146

SB 1290

HB

1637SJR

CA 1

SB 1167

SB 25

SB 534

HB

247H

B 834

SB 1966

HB

2215SB

687SB

262SB

1939H

B 3394

SB 1784

HB

3902

HB

3904

SB 667

WEHRLI, GRANT R 41 61% 72% 78% + x - + x x x + - + + + - + + x - + + - + - + - - + + - + + + - + x + + + - - - + -

Welch, Chris D 7 17% 8% 9% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

WELTER, DAVID R 75 53% 64% 66% + + x x + x x + - + + - x - - + + + - - - - + - x + + - + + + - + - + + - - - - + -

West, Maurice D 67 15% n/a 15% - - - + - - + - - x + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Wheeler, Keith R 50 69% 88% 86% + x + + + x + + - + + + - + + + - + + - + - + - + + + - + + + - + - + + x - + - + -

WILHOUR, BLAINE R 107 90% n/a 90% + + + + + x x + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - + + + - + - - +

Williams, Ann D 11 14% 8% 11% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Williams, Jawaharial D 10 n/a† n/a n/a x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Willis, Kathleen D 77 14% 12% 16% - - - + - - + - - + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

WINDHORST, PATRICK

R 118 64% n/a 64% + + + + + + + + - + + + - + + + - + - + - - + - + + + - + + - - + - + + + - - - + -

Yednock, Lance D 76 38% n/a 38% - + + + + - + - - + + - + - - + - + - - - - + - + + - - + - - - + - - - - - - - + -

Yingling, Sam D 62 10% 8% 23% - - - + - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - x x x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -

Zalewski, Michael D 23 15% 9% 16% - - - + - x x x - + + - - - - - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -













































33


1. SB 1 Weakening Job Opportunities by Mandating an 82% Increase in the Minimum Wage. This bill weakens job opportunities for inexperienced workers by driving up the minimum wage by 82% and partially shifting the cost of the new mandate onto taxpayers. Under the bill, the state’s $8.25 adult minimum wage is increased annually until it reaches $15 per hour by 2025. Additionally, minors working more than 650 hours annually are now subject to the adult minimum wage. For minors who work fewer than 650 hours annually, the minimum wage is increased from $7.75 to $13 per hour. Furthermore, the bill harms taxpayers by providing employers with 50 or fewer employees with tax credits up to 25% of the difference between wages previously paid and the new minimum wage rate. Finally, the bill imposes new $1,500 penalties for employers whose payroll records do not satisfy government and forces courts to award “treble damages” (i.e., triple the amount of actual/compensatory damages) to individuals who claim their employer did not comply with the new minimum wage mandates. ACU opposes these artificial wages that hurt those who need employment experience, such as students and inexperienced workers, and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill February 14, 2019 by a vote of 69-47 and the bill was signed into law.

2. HB 246 Coopting Local Schools to Advancing Leftist Social Policies by Imposing a New Statewide Educational Mandate. This bill is another attempt by the radical Left to use schools to promote their view of social policy when should instead schools be focusing on academics. Under the bill, local schools are forced to only utilize textbooks that the state Board of Education has approved and must detail the “roles and contributions” of LGBT individuals. No student in the state may graduate eighth grade unless they demonstrate “comprehensive knowledge” in this new area of study. ACU believes in equal rights under the law for all, that everyone—regardless of their background—should be treated with respect. ACU opposes this measure which is not designed to enhance student educational outcomes but rather advance a politicized view of social policies while weakening local control over educational curriculum. ACU instead believes it is the role of parents, not government, to educate their children on sensitive issues such as gender dysphoria and identity and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill March 13, 2019 by a vote of 60-42 and the bill was signed into law.

3. HB 345 Restricting the Individual Liberties of Adults by Raising the Minimum Age to 21 to Purchase Tobacco Products. This bill violates the individual liberties of adults ages 18 to 20 by raising the age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 and including nicotine products such as e-cigarettes like Juul in the prohibition. While the bill repeals the offense of possession of tobacco products for all ages, the bill further exposes Illinois businesses to harsh penalties, including tobacco license suspension or cancellation and costly fines for failing to comply with the ban. Additionally, the bill prohibits nicotine products from being sold in vending machines anywhere someone under 21 may be present and prohibits businesses from offering nearly any tobacco samples, even to adults over 21. ACU recognizes Illinoisans have already voluntarily reduced their reliance on smoking, evidenced by the state holding the third-lowest rate of adult smoking in the Midwest, according to the United Health Foundation. ACU further recognizes that this measure is ill-conceived given that consumers in Illinois have already responded to the cigarette “sin tax” by purchasing tobacco products across state lines. ACU believes the usage of nicotine products is a personal liberty issue and that those who are old enough to fight for our country are old enough to purchase nicotine products and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill March 14, 2019 by a vote of 82-31 and the bill was signed into law.

4. HB 313 Strengthening Transparency of Government Spending. This bill strengthens transparency of government spending by requiring the state’s comptroller to publish more specific fiscal information rather than vague summary information. Under previous law, the comptroller was required to publish “an online repository of the state’s financial transactions” which led to some transparency regarding spending by agency and the purpose of expenditures. This bill creates the Open Illinois Checkbook and specifies that the comptroller is required to publish expenditure amounts and dates, the vendor to which each expenditure was made, the agency making each expenditure, the salaries of each employee, and, to the extent possible, graphical data. ACU recognizes Illinois has the worst credit rating of any state in the country, has not balanced their budget since 2001, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. ACU supports improving government transparency and expanding public access to government records, especially for a state that ranks lowest in the nation for confidence in state government, and supported this bill. The House passed the bill March 20, 2019 by a vote of 115-0 and the bill was signed into law.

ILLINOIS HOUSE VOTE DESCRIPTIONS

34


5. HB 3481 Eliminating a Safeguard against Government-Imposed Hikes in Energy Costs. This bill eliminates a crucial safeguard against rising consumer energy prices as a result of a politicized environmental agenda. Specifically, the bill repeals the state’s Kyoto Protocol Act of 1998 which expressly prohibited Illinois from imposing reductions in carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions unless the Kyoto Protocol Treaty is ratified by the U.S. Senate, thereby requiring the U.S. and all participating nations to reduce emissions to specified levels. ACU recognizes, as noted by the Illinois General Assembly in 1998, that the Kyoto Treaty and similar schemes in the states are designed to harm businesses and individuals not favored by central planners such as the United Nations and would “result in the loss of more than 900,000 jobs in the U.S., sharply increased energy prices, reduced family incomes and wages, severe losses of output in energy-intensive industries such as aluminum, steel, rubber, chemicals and utilities.” ACU supports all sources of energy, does not believe government should favor one source of energy over another, opposes politicized energy agendas that favor special interests and drive up energy costs for consumers and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill March 28, 2019 by a vote of 66-44 and the bill was signed into law.

6. HB 2685 Placing $600 Million in Taxpayer Funds at Risk by Refinancing Student Loans at Subsidized Rates. This bill would place $600 million in scarce taxpayer resources at significant risk by allowing the Illinois State Treasurer to refinance student loans through taxpayer-subsidized rates. Specifically, the bill would permit the state treasurer to loan 5% of the funds in the State Investment Portfolio (roughly $600 million) to refinance student loans. ACU opposes creating massive and risky new government programs in a state already on the verge of an economic breakdown, believes higher education institutions should reduce exorbitant costs by eliminating useless administrative positions and lavish facilities rather than imposes further taxpayer burdens and saddling students with enormous debt and opposed the bill. The House passed the bill March 29, 2019 by a vote of 67-33. (The bill failed to advance in the Senate.)

7. HB 3575 Strengthening the Right to Contract by Providing Legal Recognition of Blockchain Technology. This bill, known as the Blockchain Technology Act, strengthens the right to contract by ensuring that agreements made using systems commonly known as “blockchain” technology are recognized as valid agreements under state law. Specifically, the bill provides legal recognition to “smart contracts” (i.e., electronic records verified by blockchain), electronic records and signatures and ensures that they may not be denied legal effect or admission as evidence in a legal proceeding solely due to the use of blockchain. Additionally, the bill prohibits localities from imposing taxes or fees for the use of blockchain and also prohibits localities from establishing licensing, certificate or permitting regimes to control blockchain use. Furthermore, the bill prohibits the use of blockchain technology to give notice of public utility service cancellation, eviction, cancellation of health insurance or benefits or recall of a product. ACU supports efforts to strengthen the right to contract by expanding the use of blockchain’s countless applications, especially its use in facilitating the exchange of alternative currencies such as Bitcoin, and supported this bill. The House passed the bill March 29, 2019 by a vote of 92-2 and the bill was signed into law.

8. HB 2838 Holding General Contractors Liable for Subcontractors’ Noncompliance with Labor Mandates. This bill would increase construction costs by exposing general contractors (GCs) to significant new risk. Under the bill, GCs would be liable for a subcontractor’s noncompliance with any provision under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act. As a result, GCs who pay subcontractors in full would be required to “double pay” if the subcontractor fails to pay its own employees. The GC would also be liable for any interest or attorney’s fees an employee incurs while seeking damages against a subcontractor. ACU recognizes this measure pushed by a multitude of carpenters unions and AFL-CIO would result in GCs facing enormous new insurance, bonding and labor costs, ultimately driving up construction costs, and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill April 3, 2019 by a vote of 70-41. (The bill failed to advance in the Senate.)

35


9. SB 1474 Infringing the “Right to Work” by Overriding Local Ordinances. This bill infringes the “right to work” without joining a labor union or paying dues by overriding local ordinances that protect worker freedoms. Specifically, the bill prohibits localities from creating or enforcing any ordinance, regulation or rule that “prohibits, restricts, tends to restrict or regulates” collective bargaining agreements. As a result, workers may be forced to join a union and pay dues as a condition of employment. The bill also establishes a new cause of action, thus permitting union bosses to sue local governments which attempt to establish ordinances that protect worker freedoms. ACU supports the “right to work” without joining a union or paying dues, opposes statewide mandates that prohibit localities from protecting individual liberties and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill on April 3, 2019 by a vote of 101-8 and the bill was signed into law.

10. HB 2134 Strengthening Privacy Rights by Extending Protections to Historical Location Data. This bill strengthens the right to privacy as protected under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by expanding existing protections of cell-site location information (CSLI) to now include historical location data. Under previous law, law enforcement agencies were prohibited from accessing current and future CSLI unless they obtained a warrant under probable cause and other requirements were met. This bill expands those requirements to require warrants under probable cause for historical CSLI, thereby strengthening protections against warrantless data collection and surveillance of law-abiding citizens by government. ACU supports strengthening privacy rights as protected under the Fourth Amendment and supported this bill. The House passed the bill April 4, 2019 by a vote of 113-0 and the bill was signed into law.

11. HB 2783 Expanding Responsible Hunting by Allowing Rifle Deer Hunting. This bill would expand responsible hunting opportunities by allowing individuals to use rifles when taking deer in season. Under the bill, individuals would no longer be prohibited from using rifles and would be permitted to lawfully use a variety of cartridges which are ethical for hunting. ACU reforms that foster responsible wildlife management and supported this bill. The House passed the bill April 9, 2019 by a vote of 100-10. (The bill failed to advance in the Senate.)

12. HB 357 Driving up Taxpayer Costs by Expanding Protectionist Procurement Mandates. This bill would further drive up taxpayer costs by expanding the state’s existing mandates regarding with which vendors government may contract for goods. Under current law, taxpayers bear unnecessary additional costs due to a mandate that government agencies must give preference to and buy products manufactured in the U.S., unless the cost of domestic goods exceeds the price of international goods “by an unreasonable amount,” among other exceptions. This bill would further drive up taxpayer costs by mandating that purchasing agencies give primary preference to goods manufactured in Illinois, unless the price of Illinois goods exceeds out-of-state goods by 12% or more. Furthermore, the bill would require agencies to now apply for a waiver to the chief procurement officer in order to forego the “buy Illinoisan” and “buy American” mandates and purchase more affordable goods. ACU opposes unnecessary mandates that drive up taxpayer costs and enrich businesses and individuals favored by government and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill April 10, 2019 by a vote of 70-38. (These provisions were removed in the Senate and the bill was signed into law.)

13. HB 2040 Reducing Government Efficiency through a Ban on the State Contracting for Private Detention Facilities. This bill prevents the private sector from helping to improve efficiency within the correctional system by banning all private entities from contracting with the state to operate detention facilities or provide core services. While the state already bans private prisons, this bill is designed to block construction of a proposed detention center for illegal immigrants. ACUF’s Nolan Center for Justice is a leading voice on this issue and works to reduce taxpayer costs and improve inmate rehabilitation and safety, regardless of whether facilities are publicly or privately managed. ACU believes this measure violates our “Seven Principles of Privatization,” opposes this effort which expands government bureaucracy and inefficiency, supports assisting the federal government in its constitutional role to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill April 10, 2019 by a vote of 85-26 and the bill was signed into law.

36


14. HB 471 Reducing Health Care Insurance Options through Price Controls on Premiums. This bill would reduce health care insurance options by empowering the director of the Department of Insurance to control the premium rates of all individual and small group accident insurance policies regulated under Obamacare. Under the bill, the director would be permitted to reject any insurance premium he or she interprets to be “unreasonable.” ACU has long opposed Obamacare and its mandates which have sent health care costs skyrocketing and did not allow Americans to “keep their doctor,” opposes further restricting insurance options through price controls and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill April 11, 2019 by a vote of 73-41. (The bill failed to advance in the Senate.)

15. HB 2233 Undermining Civil Justice by Eliminating the Right to “Special Interrogatories.” This bill undermines civil justice by eliminating the right of all parties to a civil action to require juries to answer “special interrogatories” (i.e., questions parties may ask jurors to test their knowledge of facts of the case and relevant law). Under previous law, special interrogatories were an important part of civil procedure which promoted fairness in rulings by ensuring jurors understood the instructions given by the judge to guide their deliberations on the case. Under this bill, it is now the sole discretion of the court to decide whether to grant a special interrogatory request of a party. ACU recognizes this measure diminishes the power of jurors and hands the power to determine fault in personal injury cases to elected judges whose election is heavily influenced by well-funded trial lawyers. ACU opposes this measure designed to enrich trial lawyers while increasing business costs which are passed onto consumers and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill April 11, 2019 by a vote of 74-37 and the bill was signed into law.

16. HB 2425 Strengthening Property Rights by Removing Duplicative Regulations under the Endangered Species Act. This bill would slightly strengthen property rights by amending the state’s Endangered Species Act to no longer require property owners to obtain a state permit (which is in addition to a federal permit) when they may disturb an endangered species. Specifically, the bill would declare a state permit for an “incidental taking” (i.e., unintentional harming an endangered species or its habitat) is no longer required as long as the property owner complies with the permitting requirements and regulations under federal law. ACUF’s Center for 21st Century Property Rights is a leading voice on this issue and works to reform both state and federal versions of the Endangered Species Act which have been weaponized by leftist environmental groups and have resulted in the infringement of property rights of millions of Americans. ACU supports reducing unnecessary regulations to strengthen property rights and expand development and supported this bill. The House passed the bill April 11, 2019 by a vote of 60-47. (The bill failed to advance in the Senate.)

17. HB 2670 Reducing Occupational Licensing Barriers for Individuals with Criminal Convictions. This bill reduces employment barriers for individuals with criminal convictions by making slight improvements to the state’s occupational licensing regimes. Under the bill, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation is required to give greater consideration to “mitigating factors,” or the extenuating circumstances of an individual’s criminal conviction, before denying an individual a license, certification or registration due to their conviction. Specifically, the bill clarifies that mitigating factors are not limited to those mentioned specifically by statute, but may include facts occurring “from the point of arrest or indictment” such as the amount of time that has passed since the conviction. ACUF’s Nolan Center for Justice is a national leader in criminal justice reform and works to cut crime, reduce taxpayer costs, protect victims, define the proper scope of government, and responsibly reduce incarceration rates. ACU opposes the proliferation of licensing requirements which are primarily designed to restrict competition, supports efforts to lower recidivism by reducing barriers to the workforce and supported this bill. The House passed the bill April 11, 2019 by a vote of 69-42 and the bill was signed into law.

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18. HB 2691 Expanding a “Free” College Scheme to Individuals Residing in the Country Illegally. This bill further socializes higher education costs by expanding a “free” college scheme to include individuals who reside in the country illegally. Under the bill, the state’s existing “free” college subsidies are also offered to individuals who reside in the country illegally. As a result, up to $9 million in taxpayer funds are redirected away from students who are U.S. citizens and instead used to provide illegal immigrants with scholarships, grants, awards, room and board funding, tuition waivers, and other benefits so they may attend any institution of higher education in Illinois. ACU supports assisting the federal government in its constitutional role to enforce our nation’s immigration laws, opposes the use of taxpayer resources to benefit those who entered the country illegally and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill April 11, 2019 by a vote of 66-47 and the bill was signed into law.

19. SB 24 Driving up Transportation Costs by Mandating Train Crew Size. This bill unnecessarily drives up transportation costs by mandating that every freight train operating in the state must have a crew of at least two individuals. While the bill makes an exception for trains operating in the railyard, the bill as a whole enriches greedy union bosses at the expense of consumers. ACU opposes this mandate, especially in a time of automation, which drives up the cost of business and creates different rules for trains operating across state lines and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill May 21, 2019 by a vote of 77-36 and the bill was signed into law.

20. SB 241 Placing Unreasonable Regulations on Consumer Cosmetics. This bill overreaches into the private sector by imposing an overly broad ban on the sale or importation into the state of any cosmetic item or product which was tested on an animal after January 1, 2020. While ACU firmly opposes mistreatment of animals and believes those who abuse animals should face repercussions, we oppose this unreasonable ban which rejects legitimate ethical analysis regarding human lives and health and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill May 21, 2019 by a vote of 85-25 and the bill was signed into law.

21. SB 1226 Restricting School Choice Opportunities by Eliminating the Charter Appeal Process. This bill restricts school choice opportunities for students and their families by abolishing the Illinois State Charter School Commission (SCSC). Under previous law, when charter schools faced baseless rejections from local school districts to establish a school, the charters could appeal the decision to SCSC. Additionally, SCSC oversaw each of the 119 charter schools and enforced standards regarding financial stability and academic achievement. Under this bill, the SCSC is abolished and its duties are transferred to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). As a result, approval for renewing or establishing charters is now held hostage by local school districts and teachers unions which hold significant financial interests in stopping students from exercising their choice in education. Furthermore, the bill also empowers the ISBE to collect a 3% tax on charter school revenue, thereby further expanding the resources of an agency known to support an approach to education that is openly hostile to school choice. ACU supports improving educational outcomes by responsibly expanding school choice, opposes further empowering special interests such as the Illinois Federation of Teachers to restrict school choice and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill on May 21, 2019 by a vote of 84-29 and the bill was signed into law.

22. SB 1791 Proliferating Government Dependency by Weakening Work and Training Requirements for Food Stamps. This bill exacerbates the cycle of intergenerational poverty by weakening work and job training programs under the state’s Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) also known as “food stamps.” Under previous law, individuals who received temporary assistance under SNAP were required to participate in programs that equip them to enter the workforce and become more independent. Under this bill, those programs are no longer required in order to receive SNAP benefits unless the state Department of Health and Human Services proves that the county where the recipient resides can provide training for 100% of the registered unemployed workers over age 16. ACU supports efforts to help people live healthier, happier, more productive lives, supports efforts to reduce intergenerational poverty by encouraging individuals to become self-sufficient and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill on May 23, 2019 by a vote of 106-10 and the bill was signed into law.

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23. SB 2068 Protecting “Food Freedom” by Prohibiting Localities from Imposing Excessive Regulations. This bill strengthens individual liberties and “food freedom” by eliminating a loophole that local governments have exploited to regulate food prepared and served in private homes. Under existing law, neither the state Department of Public Health nor the health departments of local governments are permitted to regulate food prepared and served in private residential structures that are closed to the public and located within a municipality with fewer than one million people. This bill closes a loophole by clarifying that a “public health district” is also prohibited from imposing regulations. ACU supports strengthening individual liberties and “food freedom” by protecting families from government overreach in their private homes and kitchens and supported this bill. The House passed the bill on May 23, 2019 by a vote of 104-6 and the bill was signed into law.

24. SB 2146 Expanding Cronyism by Favoring Unions and Special Interests for Opportunities in the New Clean Water Workforce Pipeline Program. This bill is a new mechanism to channel taxpayer funds to unions and other special interests through the newly created Clean Water Workforce Pipeline Program. The bill has carve-outs to award grants and other financial assistance to special interests such as union organizations, community action agencies and others. Additionally, the bill fosters governmental discrimination based on race and sex by directing the program’s training funds to prioritize “residents of environmental justice communities, women and transgender persons” rather than offering the training to everyone regardless of race, sex or geographic location. ACU opposes cronyism, believes the state should improve water quality by ensuring taxpayer funds are dedicated to actually fixing water quality problems through a truly open and competitive bidding process rather than creating this mechanism to direct scarce taxpayer resources to special interests and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill on May 23, 2019 by a vote of 103-11 and the bill was signed into law.

25. SB 1290 Forcing Rental Property Owners to Violate Federal Immigration Laws. This bill forces rental property owners to violate federal immigration laws by prohibiting them from reporting to any person or government authority the illegal immigrant status of any tenant or basing lease contracting decisions “solely or in part” on illegal immigrant status. Additionally, the bill permits illegal immigrants to bring civil suits against landlords allegedly in violation of the bill and may be awarded damages, a $2,000 civil penalty payable to the plaintiff, “reasonable attorney’s fees” and other equitable relief granted by a court. Furthermore, the bill declares that illegal immigrant status is “irrelevant to any issue of liability or remedy in a civil action.” ACUF’s Center for 21st Century Property Rights is a leading voice on this issue and works to protect the rights of property owners and tenants. ACU recognizes that this bill is clearly violative of federal law which has since 1917 prohibited “concealing, harboring, or shielding from detection” an illegal immigrant. ACU supports assisting the federal government in its constitutional role to enforce our nation’s immigration laws, opposes forcing landlords to break the law and subjecting property owners to lawsuit abuse and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill on May 26, 2019 by a vote of 67-35 and the bill was signed into law.

26. HB 1637 Weakening Public Safety by Further Expanding Illinois’ Status as a Sanctuary State. This bill weakens public safety and encourages foreign nationals to violate federal immigration laws by further expanding Illinois’ status as a “sanctuary state.” Under the state’s TRUST Act of 2017, law enforcement agencies are already prohibited from detaining individuals based on illegal immigration status or granting detainer requests to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) in order to transfer illegal immigrants from state or local custody into federal custody. Under this bill, those provisions are further expanded to now prohibit law enforcement agencies from entering into or remaining in agreements with ICE under its 287(g) program. This program involves communication between ICE and state agencies in order to report illegal immigrants with criminal charges or convictions and remove them from the community. ACU opposes weakening public safety by prohibiting law enforcement agencies from cooperating with the federal government as it carries out its constitutional role to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill May 27, 2019 by a vote of 67-50 and the bill was signed into law.

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27. SJRCA 1 Hiking Income Taxes by $3.7 Billion by Abolishing the Flat Tax in Favor of a “Fair Tax.” This proposed constitutional amendment would hike income taxes by an estimated $3.7 billion by abolishing in the state constitution the flat income tax structure in favor of Governor Pritzker’s “fair tax” structure. Under the resolution, the governor’s “fair tax” scheme will be submitted to Illinois voters on the November 2020 ballot. If ratified to the constitution, the state’s 4.95% personal income tax rate and 7% corporate income tax rate would be abolished and the General Assembly would be empowered to impose a progressive tax rate structure, as proposed with the passage of SB 687. As a result, Illinois taxpayers would face tax rate increases as much as 61% greater than previous rates. ACU recognizes that wanton fiscal mismanagement has earned Illinois the lowest credit rating of any state in the country and that the governor admitted that even with this $3.7 billion tax hike that the state will face a $6 billion budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year. ACU supports fostering economic growth by establishing a tax code with the lowest possible rates for everyone, believes the state should significantly slash its unnecessary and wasteful spending to balance its budget rather than impose massive tax increases on working families and opposed this resolution. The House passed the resolution on May 27, 2019 by a vote of 73-44. (The People will decide whether to ratify this amendment in the November 2020 election.)

28. SB 1167 Further Driving up Taxpayer Costs by Socializing College Costs for Individuals over Age 30. This bill further drives up taxpayer costs by creating a new “free” community college scheme for individuals over age 30. Under the bill, annual subsidies up to $2,000 per student are awarded to individuals who have supposedly been searching for a job for at least six months. Additionally, the bill allows applicants to reapply every year if they demonstrate progress toward certificates, credentials or associate degrees in areas of study preferred by government. Furthermore, the bill contains no fiscally responsible measures to contain the costs of the program which is only limited by the amount of taxpayer dollars the General Assembly appropriates in each annual budget. ACU recognizes that this bill is designed to enrich public community college administrators and the select companies and industries favored by government. ACU opposes cronyism, opposes further socializing higher education costs, and believes “free” college schemes represent one of the largest wealth transfers from lower-income individuals to wealthy individuals and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill on May 27, 2019 by a vote of 109-7 and the bill was signed into law.

29. SB 25 Eliminating Protections for Unborn Children by Establishing a “Fundamental Right to Abortion.” This bill imposes significant risk on the lives of unborn children by establishing a “fundamental right” to take the life of an unborn child through abortion and repealing nearly all existing legal protections, including those under the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975. Specifically, the bill declares that unborn children do not have independent rights under the law and prohibits any government action that would “deny, restrict, interfere with or discriminate against” the “fundamental right” to an abortion. Additionally, the bill makes it significantly easier for abortion providers to argue for abortion by weakening the definition of “fetal vitality” and permitting abortion if the “emotional, psychological, and familial health and age" of the mother are at risk (previously “life or health of the mother”). Furthermore, the bill permits nonphysicians to perform abortion, eliminates required medical care for abortion survivors and removes safety inspections for most abortion facilities. Finally, the bill also forces all health insurance policies offered in the state to cover abortion and eliminates restrictions on “kickbacks” or referral fees awarded to organizations that refer young adults and mothers to abortion providers. ACU believes abortion is a human tragedy, supports restrictions to end the practice and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill May 28, 2019 by a vote of 64-50 and the bill was signed into law.

30. SB 534 Increasing Taxpayer Costs by Preventing Individuals from Competing for Government Procurement Contracts. This bill needlessly drives up taxpayer costs by discriminating against individuals and businesses who would want to compete for procurement contracts and establishing a new mechanism of cronyism known as the Bureau on Apprenticeship Programs. Firstly, the bureau is directed to utilize taxpayer funds to promote construction project opportunities exclusively to government-favored groups. Secondly, a state mandate that requires government projects to source at least 20% of their goods and services from certain minority groups is now expanded to dictate the exact percentages that must be awarded to each group, including owners who are racial minorities, women and people with disabilities. As a result, taxpayer construction costs will further rise as the pool of applicants eligible to bid on projects is even further reduced. ACU believes in equal rights under the law for all, believes it is the duty of government to ensure all law are applied equally, opposes driving up taxpayer costs by awarding projects based on sexual or racial discrimination and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill on May 28, 2019 by a vote of 68-45 and the bill was signed into law.

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31. HB 247 Restricting the Ability of Public Schools to Contract with the Most Effective Driver Education Teachers. This bill imposes unnecessary restrictions that reduce the ability of local schools to have their students educated by the most talented and effective driver education teachers. Specifically, the bill mandates that if a school contracts with a third-party company to teach driver education, that the teachers meet the state’s stringent educator and endorsement requirements. ACU recognizes this measure is solely designed to enrich the greedy union bosses of the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and the Illinois Education Association (IEA), both of which lobbied heavily on the bill to protect themselves from competition from the private sector. ACU supports the ability of local schools to hire the most qualified teachers, opposes this attack on the private sector on behalf of the IFT and IEA and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill May 29, 2019 by a vote of 82-35 and the bill was signed into law.

32. HB 834 Prohibiting Employers from Inquiring about Wage and Salary History. This bill makes numerous changes to the state’s employment laws which violate the rights of employees and employers to freely contract and subjects employers to lawsuit abuse. Under the bill, employers are prohibited from seeking the salary history of current or prospective employees or requiring employees to keep their wages confidential. Additionally, the bill further increases the risk of lawsuit abuse by permitting individuals to bring civil suit for a difference in wages compared to a coworker with “substantially similar” skills and responsibilities (previously “equal,” a higher standard). Furthermore, the bill permits courts to penalize employers up to $5,000 and award claimants special damages up to $10,000, compensatory damages, injunctive relief, court costs and attorney’s fees. ACU supports the right of employers and employees to freely contract and believes salary history is a legitimate line of inquiry, particularly since it is required for a federal government position, and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill May 29, 2019 by a vote of 93-19 and the bill was signed into law.

33. SB 1966 Infringing Second Amendment Rights by Outlawing Private Firearm Transfers. This bill would infringe Second Amendment rights through a series of provisions designed to obstruct the ability of citizens to own firearms, including an outright ban on private firearm transfers. Under existing law, all individuals are required to obtain firearm owner identification cards (FOID) in order to possess a firearm which entails numerous background checks. Under this bill, individuals would be prohibited from selling or transferring any firearm unless it is conducted through a federal firearms licensee (FFL) which requires even more background checks, fees and delays as well as new fingerprinting mandates. Additionally, the bill would make it much more costly and burdensome for firearm owners to obtain or renew FOID cards by slashing the duration of FOID cards by five years (previously 10 years), doubling application fees and mandating fingerprinting. ACU recognizes that countless studies have found no correlation between imposing universal background checks and reducing unlawful usage of firearms. These sorts of legislative barriers do nothing to stop criminals from engaging in additional criminal behaviors; they just make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens who are not committing crimes to exercise their constitutional rights. ACU supports the founders’ belief in the Second Amendment, opposes this political attack intended to prevent law-abiding citizens from accessing firearms and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill on May 29, 2019 by a vote of 62-52. (The bill failed to advance in the Senate.)

34. HB 2215 Driving up Taxpayer Costs by Forcing Firefighter Training to Include Union Boss Propaganda. This bill drives up taxpayer costs and imposes yet another unfunded mandate on localities by forcing all full-time firefighters in the state to sit through union boss propaganda sessions as part of lifesaving training. Specifically, the bill requires the Office of the Illinois to post on its website a “history of the fire service labor movement” and forces all firefighters in the state to complete the training online or allow in-person pitches from union agents. ACU opposes driving up taxpayer costs and delaying core safety training for firefighters in order to enrich the greedy union bosses of the Associated Firefighters of Illinois and the Illinois Firefighter’s Association and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill May 29, 2019 by a vote of 108-6 and the bill was signed into law.

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35. SB 687 Imposing a $3.7 Billion Tax Hike by Raising Income Tax Rates as Much as 61%. This bill, in conjunction with the constitutional amendment SJRCA 1, would impose an estimated $3.7 billion tax increase by abolishing the flat tax and ratcheting up personal and corporate income tax rates as much as 61%. Specifically, the constitutional amendment would abolish the flat tax rates of 4.95% for personal income and 7% for corporate income and permit the General Assembly to impose a progressive tax rate structure. If voters ratify the amendment to the state constitution, SB 687 would impose the progressive rate structure and drive up tax collections by an estimated $3.7 billion. ACU recognizes that wanton fiscal mismanagement has earned Illinois the lowest credit rating of any state in the country and that the governor admitted that even with this $3.7 billion tax hike that the state will face a $6 billion budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year. ACU supports fostering economic growth by establishing a tax code with the lowest possible rates for everyone, believes the state should significantly slash its unnecessary and wasteful spending to balance its budget rather than impose massive tax increases on working families and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill on May 30, 2019 by a vote of 67-48.

36. SB 262 Advancing an Unbalanced Budget that Hikes Spending by Nearly $2 Billion. This operating budget bill increases spending to $40.27 billion in FY 2020, a nearly $2 billion increase in spending compared to FY 2019 and at a level that is $1.3 billion more than the state is expected to raise in revenue (i.e., a budget shortfall). The 1,600-page bill includes countless provisions which irresponsibly increase spending, including: $410 million in “backpay” for unionized state workers plus $185 million in pay raise guarantees, an additional $184 million in subsidized education costs, $22 million annually in “pension spiking” schemes, $20,600 annually for in-district spending and pay increases for all 177 lawmakers. ACU recognizes that the General Assembly failed to adopt a formal revenue estimate before committing taxpayers to this massive spending increase and that lawmakers had a mere 12 hours to read this behemoth piece of legislation. ACU further recognizes that lawmakers are counting on the doubling of the gas tax (No. 37 in this guide) and scores other tax increases to pay for this bloated budget. ACU opposes reckless spending increases which harm the ability of the state to borrow and impose immense pressure to raise taxes, as evidenced by Gov. Pritzker’s $3.7 billion “fair tax” increase (No. 35 in this guide), and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill May 31, 2019 by a vote of 83-35 and the bill was signed into law.

37. SB 1939 Adding $1.2 Billion in Motorist Costs by Doubling the Gas Tax and Hiking Vehicle Registration Fees. This bill adds $1.2 billion to motorist costs by doubling the state gas tax to 38 cents per gallon and imposing significant increases in vehicle registration fees. Under the bill, the state gas tax is doubled from 19 cents to 38 cents per gallon and localities are permitted to increase their own local gas taxes—in some cases an increase matching the state’s 100% hike. Additionally, the bill imposes a $50 registration fee increase for the vast majority of passenger vehicles and a $100 increase for buses, trailers and other oversized vehicles. Notably, these increases represent an 88% hike compared to 2009 levels. While ACU generally supports user fees to fund transportation, we recognize that this massive tax increase is designed to allow government to even further expand programs that misuse and waste taxpayer funds and avoid crucial reforms such as repealing the Depression-era “prevailing wage” which studies show unnecessarily increases the cost of construction projects up to 25%. ACU believes the state should abide by its constitutional requirement to balance the budget rather than reflexively raise taxes in response to gross mismanagement of spending and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill on June 1, 2019 by a vote of 83-29 and the bill was signed into law.

38. HB 3394 Interfering in Private Business Operations by Mandating Diversity Reporting. This bill would outrageously expand the power of state government in order to send a chilling effect to companies striving to find officers for their boards. Under the bill, publicly-traded companies that are based in Illinois are forced to report the racial, ethnic and gender composition of their boards of directors and executive officers. Furthermore, the secretary of state is required to publish aggregate data and the University of Illinois System is directed to establish a rating system to impose further pressure on businesses. ACU recognizes that the bill originally would have forced companies to abide by government-mandated quotas based on race, ethnicity and gender but that the bill was reduced to a reporting mandate. ACU further recognizes this reporting bill is designed to impose government control over private hiring decisions and ultimately radicalize private companies by shaming, and eventually forcing, private companies to create quotas for appointing board members based on factors other than merit. ACU believes in equal rights under the law for all, vehemently opposes discrimination and believes those who discriminate will face repercussions in the marketplace. ACU opposes this measure which is designed to harass companies and foster discrimination based on race and sex and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill June 1, 2019 by a vote of 105-0 and the bill was signed into law.

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39. SB 1784 Empowering Union Bosses Following the Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court Decision. This bill radically expands the power of union bosses and is designed to subvert the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME by prohibiting public-sector workers from reclaiming dues which were unconstitutionally collected and making it nearly impossible to revoke union membership or cease paying dues. In the landmark Supreme Court Janus decision, the court found that state laws which force nonunion public-sector employees to pay union dues violate the First Amendment’s protection of freedoms of speech and association. Under this bill, those freedoms are infringed through a litany of new provisions designed to stop workers from exercising their rights. Specifically, the bill declares that workers have “no standing” to reclaim the dues which were deducted from workers’ paychecks without their consent prior to Janus, even under pending litigation. Additionally, the bill designates unions as the only entity which may process requests to revoke membership or stop paying dues (previously included public employers). Furthermore, government workers may only make such requests in a 10-day window out of the entire year. And, among dozens of other worker-restrictive provisions, the bill subjects employees to harassment at work and home by forcing them to take (at minimum) monthly meetings with union agents and disclosing to unions their personal contact information, including cellphones and personal email addresses, while prohibiting disclosure to any other entity, including those whose mission is to notify workers of their right to work without joining a union. ACU supports the founders’ belief in the First Amendment, supports the right to work without being forced to join a union or pay dues, opposes enriching greedy union bosses by radically expanding their power to harass workers and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill October 29, 2019 by a vote of 93-23 and was signed into law.

40. HB 3902 Reviving a Mechanism of Cronyism by Exempting Aircraft Materials from the State Sales Tax. This bill reimposes a mechanism of cronyism which expired in 2014 by reinstating Illinois’ sales tax exemption for materials used in aircraft maintenance and repair. Under the bill, the expired tax exemption is reinstated until 2024 and businesses which failed to pay sales taxes on these materials are no longer required to satisfy sales tax obligations for materials acquired when the exemption was not in effect. ACU supports a tax code that is broadly applied with the lowest possible rates for everyone. ACU opposes this cronyism and interference in the marketplace which provides select industries and companies with tax breaks and competitive advantages while shifting $50 million in tax burdens to other taxpayers not favored by government and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill on October 30, 2019 by a vote of 113-0 and the bill became law.

41. HB 3904 Allowing College Athletes to Profit from their Own Name, Image and Likeness by Weakening Government-Granted Monopoly Powers. The NCAA exploits athletes, engages in anticompetitive practices and prevents athletes from engaging in other commercial activities available to every other person in America. This reprehensible behavior particularly harms African-Americans who participate in college athletics at higher rates than others. That is why ACU considers the NCAA to be a criminal enterprise and why this legislation would be a good first step toward protecting the rights of college athletes. Specifically, the bill would permit student athletes within the NCAA and other athletic associations to receive compensation if their name, image or likeness (i.e., NIL rights) are used in commercials, videogames, apparel, and other uses as long as the deals do not conflict with team contracts. ACU recognizes that the NCAA has effectively become a quasi-government agency whose members are the highest paid government employees in the country who use their governmental power to harm private citizens. ACU supports the ability of athletes to receive compensation for their name, image and likeness and supported this bill. The House passed the bill October 30, 2019 by a vote of 86-25. (The bill failed to advance in the Senate.)

42. SB 667 Increasing Health Insurance Premiums through Price Controls on Insulin Copayments. This bill drives up health insurance premiums for everyone through a new price control on insulin drug insurance copayments. Specifically, the bill prohibits health insurers from charging more than a $100 copayment for a one-month supply of insulin. ACU recognizes that price controls only drive up scarcity, in this case, discouraging the distribution of this life-saving drug in Illinois. ACU further recognizes the rise in insulin costs is largely due to the enormous investments manufacturers have made in creating new and improved formulations. ACU opposes price controls which threaten future innovation, lead to drug shortage and violate property rights and opposed this bill. The House passed the bill November 13, 2019 by a vote of 100-13 and was signed into law.

Documents

ACU FOUNDATION'S RATINGS of ILLINOIS 2019acuratings.conservative.org/wp-content/uploads/... · Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser KT McFarland Jim McLaughlin Priscilla O’Shaughnessy Ron Robinson