* HB5011 from Rep. Patrick Sheehan…

HB 5011 is bipartisan legislation aimed at eliminating “indirect” or “de-facto” quotas put on local law enforcement officers. Indirect quotas lead to perpetual traffic stops which frustrate the public. By disallowing evaluation of a police officer based on the number of police officer’s points of contact, State Representative Patrick Sheehan (R-Homer Glen) and proponents aim to further codify the legislative intent of previous, common-sense, legislation to ban ticket quotas.

“Law enforcement officers should be there to protect and serve the public, not to serve as revenue sources for local politicians,” said Sheehan, who also serves as a southwest suburban police officer. “I am working to shore up bipartisan support for disallowing this outdated tool. House Bill 5011 helps to reduce distrust, by discouraging forced contacts and preventing retaliation by command staff.”

With numbers of mental health incidents too high for law enforcement officers already, Rep. Sheehan urges policymakers examine the various ways policies are further taxing the well-being of officers, who are often asked to work overtime and extra shifts due to law enforcement shortages in Illinois. HB 5011 is scheduled to be heard in the House Police & Fire Committee on Friday March 20 at 8:00am in Capitol Room 118.

* ACT Now Illinois…

Legislation (HB5362 and HB5363) supporting the expansion of Full-Service Community Schools in Illinois will be heard in the Illinois House Education Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, March 18th. The legislation would provide state funding and an established framework for expanding Community School partnerships.

The hearing and legislation come as the federal government abruptly cancelled multi-year FSCS grants mid-school year with only weeks’ notice. ACT Now has been actively challenging the termination of these grants in federal court and recently secured a ruling to restore the funding through the end of June.

While the court order restored funding temporarily, there is no indication what will happen after June, underscoring the urgent need for sustained state investment.

* A press release from an “informal group of concerned Illinois technologists”…

The Illinois Legislature should reject the Children’s Social Media Safety Act (HB5511 & SB3977) as it fails to protect children and poses significant danger to the privacy and security of the residents of Illinois as well as making it impossible for all but the largest tech companies to operate in Illinois.

What does this bill do?

The bill requires software developers, including operating system manufacturers like Apple and Microsoft, to verify your age or be considered illegal software. It would require app makers to conduct age verifications for any websites, discussion forums, or any website that allows comments to verify your age. The bill would require developers who offer “addictive feeds” to offer versions of their services without said addictive functionality to minors and makes it illegal to monetize them.

Why is this bill a problem?

First, age gates often do not work as research has shown that they are simple to bypass. Worse, they require invasive date collection that puts users at risk of data breaches. Additionally, companies can use age verification to track and monetize personal data even further. This bill would centralize the power to govern identity with Google, Apple, and Microsoft and provide the Federal Government ways to access residents’ entire usage history and close to everything they do on their computer. This bill is a gift to Trump’s Department of Homeland Security and ICE who already use digital ad tracking to target and locate people.

It creates an expensive and unnecessary burden on software developers. The bill doesn’t specify how the applications will verify ages, but simply puts the requirement in. It also doesn’t specify the security requirements for handing the personally identifiable information that would be necessary to verify ages. Securing scans of drivers licenses and birth certificates require significant cybersecurity measures to do so safely. The most likely outcome would be that a company with lax security will leak scans of sensitive documents to potential bad actors.

The implementation of this bill would make Illinois less safe. This burden is high enough that when similar laws were passed in other states, companies simply opted not to do business in Illinois. It doesn’t consider free open source software and software built by independent developers. This bill makes open source operating systems such as Linux illegal in Illinois without burdensome age gate requirements. This bill stifles competition by raising the barrier to entry for small startups as they’ll be forced to adopt these services and technologies, and hand over some forms of identity management to the big tech companies.

If Illinois wants to protect children, the Illinois legislature should consider data privacy reforms to protect the security of kids and adults alike.

* Capitol News Illinois…

[S]tate lawmakers are taking aim at Chicago’s tax — and trying to prevent other municipalities from setting their own local sports betting taxes.

Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex, filed Senate Bill 2760 in January, which seeks to penalize Chicago by taking the total amount the city gained from its sports wagering fee and deducting it from Chicago’s share of the Local Government Distributive Fund, one of the largest sources of state funding for cities and counties. That amount would then be redistributed to other municipalities following the fund’s allocation formula.

Joyce said in an interview that he, along with other members of the General Assembly, was open to sitting down with Chicago officials to discuss the bill.

He also filed Senate Bill 2800, a bill identical to Didech’s House version (HB4171)that denies home rule units the authority to regulate or tax sports wagering.

* Rep. Thaddeus Jones…

State Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, introduced legislation aimed at keeping teens and their surrounding communities safe from large, disruptive and unlawful gatherings that have recently gained popularity on social media.

“When tragedy strikes, it is up to us to take action to protect our families and communities,” Jones said. “This measure is going to help ensure social media platforms bear the burden of preventing their services from being used as tools to enable dangerous activities. Holding companies accountable for monitoring unlawful activity is nothing new, and when we are called to protect our communities as legislators, we will respond.”

Jones introduced House Bill 5561 with two specific goals in mind: keeping teens safe and holding social media platforms accountable. This legislation takes aim at the increasingly popular “teen takeovers,” a social media trend that continues to grow in popularity and danger. The events often include large groups of teenagers who converge in public centers and streets to disrupt a community event, traffic and pedestrians. Some takeovers have resulted have in serious injury or death for participants and bystanders alike. For example, 14-year-old Armani Floyd was shot and killed during a teen takeover that occurred in the Chicago Loop near the Chicago Theatre last November. Eight other teens were also wounded during the incident.

Jones’ bill makes it a Class A misdemeanor to organize or promote such an event that poses clear risks to young people and the broader community. The bill also requires social media platforms to make an effort to restrict shared content that promotes such events, and states that anyone hurt by an unlawful and large youth gathering can take civil action against a social media platform that allowed for the promotion of the event.

HB 5561 has not been assigned to committee and Rep. Jones is the bill’s only sponsor.

* Center Square…

Illinois Senate Bill 3838, dubbed the Broadband Deployment Act, would streamline how internet service providers secure access to land along roadways, a change supporters say is needed to meet federal deadlines and avoid losing the funding. Opponents warn the shift would weaken longstanding protections for property owners.

Instead of typical protections, the bill requires only that property owners are notified at least 14 days before work is to be done on the private property.

The Illinois Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and a representative for 12 internet service providers spoke as proponents of the bill, arguing that the bill provides protections and remedies for landowners. […]

The Illinois Farm Bureau’s representative, Chris Davis, spoke in opposition to the bill on the grounds that it would undermine property rights across the state, passing along an up-front burden of seeking restitution only after any damages may have been done.