It’s just a bill
Monday, May 7, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* SJ-R…
The death of Pamela Knight, an Illinois Department of Child and Family Services caseworker who was attacked and beaten while attempting to take a child into protective custody, was a high-profile example of what many say is a reality: Caseworkers’ jobs can put them in dangerous situations.
The Illinois General Assembly was quick to unanimously pass a resolution praising Knight and expressing condolences to her family and friends.
But bills that would give DCFS case workers like Knight the same protected status as police officers and firefighters harmed while performing official duties have stalled in a House committee. And though a similar Senate bill has shown new signs of life, it, too, faces a difficult climb to passage. […]
The bill was introduced in January but lingered for months in a Senate subcommittee, often a place where legislation goes to die. But last week, the bill was revived and cleared committee with no opposition.
Even if it clears the Senate, there’s still a problem with the House. So, we’ll see.
* Other bills and whatnot…
* Illinois’ dilemma: Billions in capital needs, but prospects dim for funding plan: Sturino said that since 2012, 31 states have increased revenues to support transportation programs. As of now, Illinois is tied with Louisiana as states that have gone the longest without increasing gasoline taxes.
* Legionnaires’ outbreaks prompt bills to mandate faster notifications: Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Aurora, said that testimony prompted her to sponsor one of these notification bills, House Bill 4278, criticizing the method used by the facility which she described as was “simply word of mouth.”
* Illinois Senate views marijuana as opioid alternative: The Senate voted 44-6 Thursday to allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana as an alternative to opioids . Those addicted to opioids would also be eligible to apply for a medical card to use marijuana.
* Alcohol, Pain Medication, Sleep Aids Used Less In Legal Cannabis States: According to the report, recreational cannabis consumers use 27% less pain medication, 22% fewer sleep aids, 21% less alcoholic spirits, and 20% less beer than people in non-legal states.
* Letter: Illinois lawmakers can stop TrumpCare from harming Illinoisans with preexisting conditions
* Editorial: Illinois legislators snub voters on fair maps again: Like Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who is seeking re-election, Pritzker has vowed to veto any gerrymandered maps if he wins. But will he? It is up to all of us to require not only that he keep that pledge, but even prior to the election, he show real leadership in the push for a fair map referendum. He did not provide that leadership this spring.
* Statehouse Insider: Sorry, no amendments this year
* Two legislative research staffs to merge: The Legislative Research Unit, which does research for the General Assembly and puts out a range of publications, is apparently going to merge into another group that serves lawmakers: the Commission on Government Forecasting & Accountability. LRU and COGFA are among legislative support services controlled by the General Assembly. “I think all the leaders are for it,” said STEVE BROWN, spokesman for House Speaker MICHAEL MADIGAN, D-Chicago, of combining the two services. “From time to time, you review operations, and there’s a decision you can consolidate these entities and maintain these services.”
* Illinois counties declare ’sanctuary’ status for gun owners: At least five counties recently passed resolutions declaring themselves sanctuary counties for gun owners — a reference to so-called sanctuary cities such as Chicago that don’t cooperate with aspects of federal immigration enforcement.
* Progress is being made on Cairo’s port project, but $1 million still stands in the way of substantial development
- m - Monday, May 7, 18 @ 2:55 pm:
I think the way the House handled the DCFS bill (and the others) was the opposite of statesmanship. But at the same time, while I know we expect lawmakers to pass a bill to “do something” whenever a tragedy occurs, would the bill actually help the situation? I doubt the people who would harm DCFS workers are informed of the various protected statuses that exist.
I’ve never been 100% on the same status for police and fire as well. In war, if an enemy soldier kills a civilian, that’s a war crime. If the enemy soldier kills a soldier, that’s well, just how war works. But with criminals we’ve created the opposite situation.
All the deaths are tragedies, but is the life of the officer more valuable than the life of a civilian. Is the grief felt by the officer’s family worse than the grief of the civilian’s family?
We should all be thankful that there are people willing to do these jobs and put their lives on the line, and I don’t want to diminish that. But I don’t know that penalty enhancements are making anyone safer.
- PJ - Monday, May 7, 18 @ 3:04 pm:
I don’t think anyone could make a rational argument for this being effective public policy. Show me the person who stops to google whether they’ll be charged merely with assault or one felony class up before they beat someone. And no, I don’t agree with doing it for police or firefighters either. Crimes are crimes. It’s pretty weird and unnecessary to tier victims based on how much we value their profession.
- anon2 - Monday, May 7, 18 @ 3:07 pm:
Previous research has not concluded that legal cannabis inevitably reduces drinking. A 2015 Rand Corporation study about cannabis legalization concluded the evidence was mixed about whether cannabis and alcohol were substitutes or complemented each other. A 2016 University of Washington literature review concluded the relationship was complex between alcohol use and changing cannabis policy. Alcohol tax revenues have remained fairly stable in Colorado and Washington since retail cannabis stores opened. www.rand.org/blog/2018/02/how-will-cannabis-legalization-affect-alcohol-consumption.html
- NeverPoliticallyCorrect - Monday, May 7, 18 @ 3:08 pm:
These reports demonstrate yet again the almost complete uselessness of the General Assembly. They either can’t pass bills or they pass the least important bills. They certainly won’t pass any bill that holds them accountable or leads to a more equitable re-districting. The leaders of this state (let’s be honest-that’s the Democrats) can yelp all the time about equal rights but do everything in the power to avoid actually creating an elected G.A. that is based on equal voting rights.
- Streamwood Retiree - Monday, May 7, 18 @ 3:10 pm:
Sanctuary cities, Sanctuary counties = anarchy at best, accomplices at worst.
I hope Hanover becomes a sanctuary township and blocks my tax bills. Except Streamwood would become a sanctuary village, but maybe my development can become a sanctuary development. Oh, well. I can always tell the Court that I run a Sanctuary household.
- m - Monday, May 7, 18 @ 3:19 pm:
=Show me the person who stops to google whether they’ll be charged merely with assault or one felony class up before they beat someone.=
Agree.
And even if they did, or even if people were just more educated on these laws, would the outcomes be better? Imagine a bank robber trying to escape the crime scene, maybe he has to shoot a person to clear a path to escape. The penalty enhancements would seem to show that the government prefers the robber would shoot a civilian. Is that a better outcome?
- Anonymous - Monday, May 7, 18 @ 7:08 pm:
The sanctuary county thing is kinda interesting.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 8, 18 @ 12:59 am:
“…bills that would give DCFS case workers like Knight the same protected status as police officers and firefighters harmed while performing official duties have stalled in a House committee.”
America is degenerating into a backwards neo-feudalism that far exceeds anything ever seen even in the middle ages under the Inquisition. These types of bills blatantly prove that the equal justice under law that once made America the greatest country in the history of mankind is totally gone.
First enhanced penalties for daring to touch a cop, then DCFS workers, then garbage men. They are all jobs, period. The people who perform these government jobs are just people, not gods or Pharaohs.
How about some equality for this concept? In Whiteside county where this Pamela Knight worked, how about charging deputy Jeffrey Wunderlich with a crime for killing motorcyclist Bill Damhoff from Morrison? That’s okay, Damhoff was just a taxpayer, plenty more where he came from. How about identifying by name the Rock Falls cop who shot and killed Nate Edwards, in the back? So many brave heroes out there in police work that need to be “protected” from accountability.