* Bernie…

DILLON CLARK of Litchfield, the Democratic candidate running against state REP. AVERY BOURNE, R-Raymond, in the 95th House District, is accusing Bourne of a conflict of interest.

But Bourne says she and her opponent agree on the issue Clark is raising, and she says the “mistruths and false attacks” involved show Clark is “more concerned about playing politics than advancing good public policy.”

Clark issued a statement this week saying that Bourne “chose to not vote on any iteration of HB 3479, even though she belatedly was put on as a co-sponsor of this bill which, if passed, would help the small town pharmacies here in our district.”

House Bill 3479 is designed to protect small pharmacies from deep cuts in reimbursements they get for filling Medicaid prescriptions.

Clark claimed that ELLEN WOEHRMANN works for the House Republican Organization, and Bourne has deferred decisions to her. Woehrmann’s husband, ERIK WOEHRMANN, is a lobbyist for CVS, which opposes the bill.

* Response from Rep. Bourne…

This is an issue where Dillon Clark and I actually agree, but his mistruths and false attacks prove he is more concerned about playing politics than advancing good public policy that helps independent pharmacies. I’ve been working on this issue with pharmacists in our district since I took office in 2015. I’m glad there’s bipartisan support in the General Assembly to help level the playing field for independent pharmacies. I was proud to sign on as a co-sponsor of this legislation on April 23rd after working with the Democratic sponsor of the bill. I look forward to continuing to support this bill when it comes back to the House on concurrence.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be in session Thursday evening or Friday due to preparations for my wedding.

Ellen is an employee for the House Republican caucus and drafts press releases at my direction. She does not formally work for my office and does not advise me on any legislative matters, whatsoever.

As it turns out, I was on the floor when that bill was debated. It came up unexpectedly. Even the proponents were surprised when it passed.

Bourne was given an excused absence starting at 4:30 that afternoon to attend to her wedding preparation. The bill wasn’t voted on until almost two hours later. Again, the floor vote came as a surprise to just about everyone. Bourne signed on as a co-sponsor before the bill had its first full committee hearing, which came the day before the unexpected floor vote (the bill was far from finished, to say the least - even one of the co-sponsors, Rep. Bill Mitchell, said it shouldn’t be advanced).

* Bourne added…

I am only going to get married once. There are times in life where you wish you could be in two places at one time. Thursday, April 26th was one of those times. But, as I promised my now husband during wedding preparations, our marriage and our family will always come first. Fortunately, I will get the opportunity to vote on this bill again. When that day comes, I will be there to vote yes.

Looks like a non-issue.

* Other bills…

* Lawmakers look to ease student access to medical CBD oil in school: A state senate panel on Tuesday put its stamp of approval on a plan that would allow nurses or other school employees to administer CBD, or cannabidiol oil, a non-intoxicating extract of marijuana used to treat various conditions. The oil is often used to control seizures, but because it comes from marijuana, there has been resistance to allowing it to be administered in schools.

* Jim Dey: Ohio shows Illinois how it’s done with fair maps: Indeed, Illinois’ long practice of allowing members of the majority party to draw their own state House and Senate districts doesn’t just break the election process, it demolishes it.

* Are 16-year-olds smart enough to vote? Vote16 Illinois thinks so: Illinois state rep Kelly Cassidy supports letting 16-year-olds vote and is working with Vote16 Illinois on strategies to get the voting age lowered. “We trust kids at 16 alone behind the wheel of a 2,000-pound vehicle on the road,” said John Pearl, Cassidy’s chief of staff. “I mean, at some point you have to realize that 18 is extremely arbitrary. . . . It’s not like when you turn 18 you automatically have a serious increase in understanding of political knowledge.” In Illinois, giving 16-year-olds the right to vote would require a change to the Illinois Constitution, which was amended in 1988 to lower the minimum voting age to 18.

* I’m asking you, as a mother who lost her daughter, to take guns from unstable people: The Firearms Protection Order Act provides a stopgap solution to that problem and it can be implemented before the subject of the order injures or kills himself or someone else with his guns. This order is issued only if a judge is convinced that the person clearly poses a threat to himself or to others. The bill also establishes a pathway for the person to have his gun ownership right restored before the order expires on its own. I believe this bill could help save many lives because far, far more common than mass shootings are suicides. More than 60 percent of gun deaths are intentionally self-inflicted. Moreover, suicides are preventable — and one of the most effective ways of preventing them is to ensure that people demonstrating the signs that they are at a risk for suicide is to restrict their access to firearms.