THE ILLINOIZE: Hoffman & McConchie on end of session...Was retail crime bill "watered down?"...State Rifle Association may sue over "ghost guns" bill
April 12, 2022
Good morning.
A state lawmaker passed me on the interstate Saturday afternoon, so I immediately called the lawmaker to do some heckling.
“I’m in a daze,” the lawmaker told me. “I don’t stay up past 9.”
So, really, everyone was running on fumes after the marathon sessions Friday night where the Senate was in until 3:30am and the House adjourned after 6:00am. I was pretty lame and went to bed early (is 3:00am early) and caught up in the morning. There were lawmakers catnapping on the House floor and I know more than a couple of lawmakers caught some z’s on the couch in their offices.
We’ll spend a lot of time this morning breaking down some of the things that did and didn’t happen at the end of session and what happens next. After that, we’re likely to turn our sights to the June 28 primary.
That said, we need your help. We want to travel around the state talking to candidates and voters and finding out what both Republican and Democrat voters are thinking about leading up to the primary.
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Let’s get to it.
HOFFMAN AND McCONCHIE ON END OF SESSION
After an intense week in Springfield last week, both Assistant House Majority Leader Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea) and Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) took time yesterday to sit down with me over Zoom to discuss the state budget, crime, pensions, and the politics driving the 2022 election.
Hoffman defended the $46.5 billion spending plan.
“First of all, the drivers in our spending increase are, number one, giving money back to Illinoisans in the form of tax cuts or tax credits,” Hoffman said. “A lot of the items in this budget are one time items and we were cognizant of that so that when we face next year’s budget, that we’ll be able to take a look at some of [those] things.”
He also said a $1 billion deposit into the state’s “rainy day fund” is a one-time expense that will preserve state resources in the event of another economic downturn.
But McConchie says Democrats are growing spending at too high of a rate. He says even with one time spending, pressures will build next year as most estimates show the state bringing in less money in the FY2023 budget.
“One of the things they clearly did was expanded our year over year spending that’s going forward,” said McConchie. “The biggest concern that I have is how much these election year gimmicks that they did in regard to tax relief is simply not going to help to stem the exodus from the state.”
But Hoffman criticized Republicans for calling for tax cuts and protecting business, but continuing to vote against Democratic plans to send taxpayers back their money.
“I find it ironic that the other side of the aisle has voted against historic amounts of tax breaks for individuals as well as against taking pressure off of the unemployment insurance fund when we put $2.7 billion dollars into the fund,” Hoffman said.
You can read our full story here. You can watch our conversations with Hoffman and McConchie here:
WAS RETAIL CRIME BILL “WATERED DOWN” IN SENATE?
I’ve been told by more than a handful of folks that Senate President Don Harmon told Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs) multiple times last week to change her bill strengthening penalties for organized retail theft crimes, essentially watering down the bill.
From Glowiak Hilton’s press release after the bill was eventually passed late Friday night:
Glowiak Hilton’s initiative defines organized retail crime as a criminal charge and gives prosecutors additional resources to charge crime ringleaders. Specifically, the measure codifies ORC as the theft of retail merchandise with the intent to sell.
Under the proposal, prosecutors would have new opportunities to bring charges against offenders regardless of where the crimes takes place. For example, if the conspiracy, theft and selling occurred in different jurisdictions, each jurisdiction would have the ability to prosecute the entire crime. The Illinois attorney general would also have the ability to prosecute via a statewide grand jury.
I’m told the intention was to have stronger penalties for those participating in the retail thefts, but the Senate Democrats received pushback from progressive members and from the ACLU.
A spokesman for Harmon did not respond to a request for comment late Monday. We weren’t able to reach Glowiak Hilton, but in her release Friday night, she said the bill targets organized offenses with intent to resell merchandise and not petty shoplifters.
“The measure targets individuals stealing for profit, not anyone engaging in petty shoplifting,” Glowiak Hilton said. “Deterring retail crime starts with supporting law enforcement, holding criminals responsible and making it tougher to resell stolen goods.”
Rob Karr, the President & CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA), called the bill a “win” for retailers.
“Some were seeking higher penalties and other things, but we were seeking to plug the gaps in the existing laws and the existing system,” Karr said. “It goes after the masterminds of these criminal rings in a way that doesn’t exist today. It makes it a lot harder for these crime rings to avoid prosecution by allowing any state’s attorney in any county where a portion of the crime occurred to bring charges for the whole crime.”
Karr says the bill was not “watered down.”
“I think there were some legitimate concerns raised that we were willing to address,” Karr said. “But we don’t believe they weakened the goal of the legislation.”
Governor JB Pritzker is expected to sign the bill into law.
STATE RIFLE ASSOCIATION CONSIDERING SUIT OVER “GHOST GUN” BAN
A ban on “ghost guns,” homemade or home-built firearms without a serial number hasn’t even gotten to Governor JB Pritzker’s desk after the legislature passed it Friday night. But the likely law is soon to be challenged in court.
Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson says the organization is considering challenging the bill, which Governor Pritzker is expected to sign, in court.
“Do you think criminals are going to go in and serialize their ghost guns? I don’t think so,” said Pearson. “It’s a ruse just to push gun control on law abiding citizens. It’s not going to do anything to impact criminals. They don’t care.”
The legislation requires all guns, including 3D printed guns, to have a serial numbers. Guns without a serial number would be required to have one added or face criminal penalties. Numerous handguns and semi-automatic rifles can be built at home with aftermarket parts that don’t include a traditional serial number. Ghost gun owners would have six months to have the weapons serialized.
Pearson says a ban on ghost guns is only going to impact hobbyists or home builders who follow the law and won’t impact criminals using unserialized guns to commit crimes already.
But Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, one of the top proponents of the ban, says it will impact crime.
“The rapid proliferation of these weapons is alarming and they are intentionally being used by individuals who want to thwart investigations – a clear threat to public safety,” Dart said in a statement. “We must close this legal loophole to give us the tools to try to stop the flow of these weapons.”
Sen. Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago) sponsored the legislation in the Senate last week. She praised the Biden administration for plans for a similar ghost gun ban and said Illinois should enact its legislation immediately.
“Although I’m proud to see this threatening issue be taken to the national stage, Illinois must act quickly to enact my legislation to ban the production and distribution of ghost guns.” Collins said in a statement. “We cannot allow fatal gun violence to continue to run rampant in our communities. HB 4383 tackles these issues at their source.”
Pearson says existing laws should be prosecuted before making new laws aimed at limiting law abiding gun owners.
“The fact is that [prosecutors] aren’t punishing the criminals and they don’t intend to punish the criminals,” Pearson said. “We’ve supported gun trafficking [laws]. We don’t want those things here either. If you’re not going to punish the people who commit these crimes, then why do we have all these stupid laws?”
SCHEDULE UPDATE
Tomorrow, we’ll have a subscriber-only newsletter where I’ll tell you who may be surprising you in GOP polling for Governor.
We’ll have a Free for All Thursday and it is my intention, at least as of now, not to publish a subscriber e-mail on Friday. We have some family coming into town for Easter weekend and I don’t know how glued to your email you’ll be on Good Friday anyway. Of course, if something big happens, we’ll change that plan.
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Have a great day.