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New rules (Updated)

Wednesday, Nov 13, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I told subscribers about this earlier today

Security has been beefed up here at the state Capitol. The Secretary of State’s Office has added more police officers to statehouse grounds, and visitors who aren’t government employees will need to go through a metal-detection screening. The office said it just wants to make sure visitors know that “safety and security are a priority.” The changes were in the works before last week’s election.

I’m not quite seeing the relative threat posed by reporters and lobbyists compared to, say, a random state employee who doesn’t even work in the building.

Your thoughts?

…Adding… ILCA…

Dear Secretary Giannoulias,

We at the Illinois Legislative Correspondents Association appreciate your efforts to keep the Capitol Complex safe. But we were disappointed that the changes to Capitol security instituted today were made without any advance warning to our organization.

It is thus unclear to us, at this time, how the new policy came about, whether it will be permanent, and whether the needs of the press corps were considered.

Several members of our organization, including photographers and videographers, carry heavy equipment and must frequently and quickly enter and exit the building for rallies on the grounds and other job necessities.

We’d appreciate if you’d consider those needs in formulating future policy decisions, as the number of credentialed reporters are far fewer than the lobbyists who carry similar credentials, and many reporters office daily from the Capitol similarly to state employees.

If the rules rolled out today are temporary, we would further appreciate if you’d consult with our organization about to best meet the needs of the press corps while also ensuring everyone’s safety as permanent rules are finalized.

Again, we recognize changes to protocol are likely necessary to better secure the building. But we think there are better ways to do so than the process we’ve experienced thus far in the veto session.

And we stand ready to work with you to better the process in the new session.

Sincerely,

Members of the ILCA board

Dave Dahl, President
Brenden Moore, Secretary
Jeremy Gorner, Treasurer
Jerry Nowicki
Mike Miletich

       

32 Comments »
  1. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:03 am:

    I agree Rich. Ever since they installed screening at the Stratton and the Capitol I’ve always thought they should screen everyone, including state employees. Frankly I think it’s just as likely that a state employee could pose a threat just as much as an outsider.


  2. - Chicago Democrat - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:08 am:

    Agree strongly. EVERYONE should be screened, and lobbyists never should have been able to just walk in. After all, that’s basically saying anyone who would pay $300 to register as a lobbyist can buy a pass to get in without going through security.


  3. - TheInvisibleMan - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:11 am:

    Not good enough.

    Budd Dwyer was an elected state official at the time of his incident.

    No half measures.


  4. - NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:14 am:

    I seem to remember a time (shortly after security guard Bill Wozniak was killed in the Capitol Sept. 20, 2004) where for a time everyone was screened heading into work, at least in the Howlett Building. And the temperature checks for everyone, including state employees, during the peak of the pandemic.

    So nothing wrong with screening everyone, even state employees, before entering statehouse grounds. Especially after the threats made to the complex last spring and one of the legislators’ cars vandalized last Memorial Day weekend as session was concluding.


  5. - charles in charge - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:16 am:

    ==EVERYONE should be screened, and lobbyists never should have been able to just walk in. After all, that’s basically saying anyone who would pay $300 to register as a lobbyist can buy a pass to get in without going through security.==

    I don’t disagree, but perhaps they should devise a system where lobbyists and other regular visitors to the Capitol can obtain credentials after submitting to a background check, as opposed to requiring everyone to go through security each time they enter.


  6. - Sangamo Girl - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:16 am:

    As a capitol complex denizen, my biggest fear is not a threat from an outsider but rather some sort of domestic or personal dispute that erupts between folks who didn’t go through a magnetometer because they have a badge.


  7. - John Amdor - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:20 am:

    Everyone deserves and desires a safe Capitol complex for electeds, staff, lobbyists, and visitors. As efforts to improve conditions continue, I hope there’s a process that involves all those stakeholders to ensure security procedures don’t impede the ability for lobbyists to do our jobs or for visiting constituents to interact with their elected representatives.


  8. - Just Me 2 - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:23 am:

    I worked at an airport for a while. There were four different levels of clearance and something similar could work at the Capitol Complex.

    1. Swipe pass, scan fingerprint, make eye contact with guard to ensure your face is the one on the screen that pops up, walk through effortlessly. (Required a Homeland Security background check and random people got pulled to walk through the detector.)
    2. Swipe pass, walk through metal detector and remove phone/keys, but keep shoes on and skipping past the traveling public. (Run of your criminal history but not the extensive Homeland one.)
    3. Traveling public TSA-pre-check.
    4. Everyone else.

    Employees of the Complex can have an extensive background check as part of their job, and members of the public can pay a fee for the same level of check to get the walk-through privilege.


  9. - Nope. - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:24 am:

    State employees have to 1) actually be an employee, and 2) go through a background check before they’re hired. Do reporters have any sort of background check at the capital or is it just I’m a reporter give me my ID?


  10. - Checkers - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:25 am:

    Everyone should be screened. The minor inconvenience is worth it. Yeah, that means I’ll likely take fewer strolls outside between the Capitol and Stratton buildings on nice days, but it will mean a safer environment for everyone. I’ve always found it unnerving how easily a determined person could bring weapons into the Statehouse by acquiring a lobbyist badge.


  11. - Ex Journo - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:27 am:

    I agree that everyone should have to go through screening for the safety of everyone on the complex, but I hope they can work something out for TV reporters with lots of gear.


  12. - LakeShoreDec - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:27 am:

    1. It would be nice if SoS/Capitol Police would share this information directly through the eLobbyist network instead of having to read about it in the press. (No offense.)

    2. During the spring lockdown, it was unclear to most people what to do and how to secure interior doors, whether we (as lobbyists) are able to hide in ante rooms or behind the dais in committee rooms. It also became clear that many committee rooms (especially in Stratton) do not lock from the inside, leaving many people vulnerable. Begs the question of having staff, members, and lobbyists undergo the same lockdown drills our kids do…


  13. - Who else - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:27 am:

    I would like to be required to go through a metal detector just like everyone else. At a minimum I’d like to be required to use the ID badge to scan in. The fact that I am not, and that I know others who have badges of various sorts are not, poses a big security risk in my mind. Making ID badges that look like the ID badges issued is just not that difficult. There are so many people with unfettered access and we have no idea who is in the building at any given time. There is no reason to be concerned about constituents being able to interact with their elected officials– they’re the only ones who have to go through any screening. There’s no reason lobbyists should be able to walk right by lines of constituents because they have the magical badge. If anything, across the board enforcement is a level playing field.


  14. - Walter - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:30 am:

    Screen everyone; and ban guards from playing on their phones all day. They put on a good show when lawmakers are here, but any other day this place is anything but secure.


  15. - Two Left Feet - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:30 am:

    Screen everyone unless they have a separately issued pass from the Secretary of State’s Office. The application requires some swore statements that deny prior violent criminal convictions, empowers a criminal check, agreement on behavior and discretion to grant/deny. And there is a need for other measures like moving the screening to outside the building. Similar procedures are done with the courts.


  16. - MelonUsk - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:31 am:

    You could flash a credit card and get by security playing on their phone, if they even lift their head. They’ve done this before. They beef up for a few days then it’s relaxed again. All employees should be required to show ID or pass through detectors, not just during session. They get too lax on letting the people they see everyday slip in with no visible ID. All it takes is one disgruntled employee who was fired yesterday (no longer has a badge) to slip in because see them everyday.


  17. - Lakefront - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:31 am:

    While trying to avoid elitism, if these security measures continue there should be a separate screening area for staff, reporters and lobbyists. That way business isn’t significantly delayed during the busiest days of session.

    I agree with Rich - if statehouse reporters and lobbyists have to go through security so should the random employee who works on a different complex like IEPA.


  18. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:34 am:

    ==go through a background check before they’re hired==

    Not all agencies do background checks of all of the employees they hire.


  19. - Just A Thought - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:52 am:

    They should screen everyone but have different points of entry for the general public and legislators/state employees/lobbyists. People with work to do should not have to wait in the same lines as those who are there to tour the building or express their constitutional right to petition their government.


  20. - avenue street - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:53 am:

    if this applies to lobbyists, it should apply to all. if not, its not really about security.


  21. - America - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 10:56 am:

    Background checks don’t equal safe and secure. Make everyone go through. If you want to have a different level for state employees, fine, but at least make it some form of security.


  22. - Give Us Barabbas - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 11:17 am:

    Badge scanners will not pick up on the state of mind of someone who has snapped and decided to do the unthinkable. That could be anyone. So you run everyone through the mags, consistently, and wand anyone that trips it. Separate entry for legislators and press, and the tv guys need to open their bags for inspection. Security is consistent and universal, or it’s useless theater. There’s no in between


  23. - John Parker - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 11:19 am:

    Having just gone through security at the Daley Center:

    Judges and county employees have a badge that opens a gate for them so they can bypass security. The badge has an internal tag that it reads to open the gate and the system puts a big picture of the badgeholder up on a screen which a deputy may or may not be watching.

    Attorneys can get the badge which allows them to go through the gate and bypass security by filling out a form, showing an ARDC card, and paying $20.

    Everybody else goes through metal detectors.

    On random days the sheriffs will make everybody go through the metal detectors.


  24. - 4 eyes - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 12:36 pm:

    The problem is not that the SOS made this change, the problem is there has been no communication or collaboration with the actual people who are impacted by these changes. Should the capitol be more secure? Absolutely! Does requiring everyone who isn’t one of the tens of thousands of state employees to go through a metal detector do that? No. I think the simple (but pricey) fixes are this:

    1. Require all lobbyists who wish to have a badge that grants access to the capitol without further security screenings to submit to a criminal background check. I would even support raising our registration fees to pay for that background check if it is too burdensome on SOS police. If red flags are raised, that individual is not permitted to enter the capitol without further security screenings.

    2. Create 1 dedicated entrance at each major building on the capitol complex that is reserved for persons with badges (lobbyists, reporters, and state employees that actually work at the capitol complex) and those with accessibility needs. At those entrances, put in security gates like the ones you see in office buildings in downtown Chicago that require you to swipe a badge to gain entry. There should also be at least 2 officers at that entrance monitoring that those swiping the badges are actually meant to be there.

    These changes would address the security concerns raised by many but will not eliminate all threats simply because there is no way to eliminate all security threats in the 21st century.


  25. - Jack Sherman - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 12:40 pm:

    If our legislature was composed of honest people of good character there would be no need for any more security than a uniformed tour guide at the information desk.


  26. - Huh? - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 12:53 pm:

    “If we had elected a president who was honest and of good character there would be no need for any more security than a uniformed tour guide at the information desk.”

    Fixed it for ya.


  27. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 12:57 pm:

    Can they have one entrance for employees and lobbyists and a separate entrance for visitors? Everybody can go through metal detectors if that’s how it’s got to be, but people who enter/exit frequently for business should have a less cumbersome way to do so.

    You know when you’re at the airport and you can tell certain people haven’t flown before? You don’t want to be in line behind them. This is like that.


  28. - Give Us Barabbas - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 12:59 pm:

    Again, a security badge does not guarantee the individual isn’t trying to smuggle in a weapon or bomb. It’s not a magic device that guarantees the bearer has good intentions. Badges without a metal detector are delusional wishful thinking.


  29. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 1:00 pm:

    === so should the random employee who works on a different complex like IEPA. ===

    As should the secretary of state himself.


  30. - LakeShoreDec - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 2:08 pm:

    Apparently lobbyist, media, vendors, etc. also can’t come in through the tunnel to Stratton from the garage, even with a paid parking pass and pin to enter. SMH


  31. - Unionman - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 4:00 pm:

    We should only screen the legislators. That’s who we really need to be concerned with.


  32. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Nov 13, 24 @ 4:09 pm:

    Not really understanding some of the hysteria here. Their argument is essentially we understand but it shouldn’t apply to us because we’re the press. So. What.


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