* This bill was signed into law without any fanfare whatsoever…

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed legislation that will remove the statutes of limitation for sexual abuse crimes.

Rauner signed the measure Friday.

Sponsor state Sen. Michael Hastings of Frankfort says the legislation puts in place “best practices for dealing with sexual assault cases statewide and puts a system in place that will encourage survivors to come forward and receive justice when they are ready.”

Statutes of limitation restrict the time when authorities can charge someone after a crime occurs.

* It’s kinda weird that Rauner wouldn’t try to do a press pop on this. After all, the chief proponent was Scott Cross, the brother of the former Illinois House Republican Leader who was raped as a boy by former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert. This story has national importance, but he didn’t even mention it during his Fox News Channel interview and there was nothing out of the governor’s office except this mention in a long list of bill actions taken Friday…

Bill No.: SB 0189
An Act Concerning Criminal Law
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately

* And lest you think that the governor didn’t want to step on his SB1 message, he sent out this press release during yesterday’s floor debate…

Gov. Bruce Rauner today announced that the Hand of Fate Brewing Company of Petersburg Illinois won the Illinois Bicentennial Craft Beer Competition at the Illinois State Fair.

Hand of Fate will create the recipe and brew the Official Illinois Bicentennial Craft Beer, which will be available across the state during the Bicentennial Celebration in 2018.

* So, what could it be? Sen. Hastings, who is mentioned above, is one the public faces of the anti-Rauner “Do Your Job, Inc.” but he was just a co-sponsor, and not even a hyphenated co-sponsor.

It’s no secret that the governor has no love for Attorney General Lisa Madigan (and that feeling most definitely goes both ways), and AG Madigan has been leading this statute change from the beginning, so perhaps that is a more accurate answer? From her press release…

Attorney General Lisa Madigan today announced Illinois has now eliminated the statutes of limitations for felony criminal sexual assault and sexual abuse crimes against children. Senate Bill 189, initiated by Madigan, was passed by the General Assembly unanimously and signed into law by the governor Friday.

Sponsored by Sen. Scott Bennett and Rep. Michelle Mussman, the legislation eliminates Illinois’ criminal statutes of limitations for all felony child sexual abuse and child sexual assault crimes that can allow predators to go unpunished. The law, effective immediately, applies to future felony child sex crime cases as well as current criminal cases in which the previous statute of limitations has not expired.

“Sex crimes against children are a horribly tragic violation of trust that can take a lifetime to recover from,” Madigan said. “This new law will ensure that survivors are provided with the time they need to heal and seek justice.”

Prior the new law, Illinois’ statutes required that the most egregious sexual offenses against children must be reported and prosecuted within 20 years of the survivor turning 18 years old. Two exceptions existed for cases in which the crimes were committed on or after Jan. 1, 2014 and either corroborating physical evidence exists or a mandated reporter failed to report the abuse. The then-law restricting a survivor’s ability to come forward prevented former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert from being prosecuted for allegations of abuse against minors while he was an Illinois high school coach decades ago. Scott Cross, a survivor of Hastert’s abuse, joined Attorney General Madigan in advocating for today’s change in the law, recounting his experience before lawmakers and urging them to pass Senate Bill 189.

“Dennis Hastert used his authority and position as a role model to violate the trust of the youth in his care - in the most unimaginable way possible. And despite the lives ruined and decades of pain and suffering the survivors continue to deal with, he will never be held accountable,” Scott Cross said. “I am thankful that Illinois law will now allow survivors of these horrific crimes to come forward in their own time, and get justice – no matter how overdue.”

As more child survivors of abuse and sexual assault have come forward to describe the difficult process that they have endured in reporting, states across the country have eliminated statutes of limitations for these crimes. Nationwide, 36 other states and the federal government have removed criminal statutes of limitations for some or all sexual offenses against children.