The rest of the story
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Subscribers were given much more detail about this story on Monday. Politico…
There’s some infighting among Democrats about state Rep. Anne Stava’s legislation on neural data privacy that she says was blocked in retaliation for her supporting a bill to repeal Illinois’ anti-BDS law. But lawmakers who voted against her measure say the bill simply wasn’t ready, pointing to legal and enforcement concerns raised during committee testimony. “No one knew what it was about,” one lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told us.
Stava has reposted former Democratic congressional candidate Dylan Blaha’s Instagram post claiming that Stava was “punished” for calling for the repeal of Illinois’ “anti-BDS” (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) law, passed in 2015, prohibits state public pension funds from investing in companies that participate in the politically motivated economic boycott of Israel. It was the first such legislation passed in the United States.
Blaha actually interviewed Stava and posted it on Substack…
Rep. Stava’s support of HB 2723 did not come without retribution, however. Unfortunately, many Illinois Democrats in the State House and State Senate still pledge their love for Israel every chance they get. They support Israel’s genocide in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and illegal wars on Iran and Lebanon.
“I know you were one of the 22 State Representatives who signed onto HB 2723,” I said to Rep. Stava during our interview. “That [anti-BDS] bill passed unanimously under a Republican Governor. Just to see how far we’ve come is crazy.” She nodded in agreement and said, “absolutely.”
Later in the interview, she dropped a bombshell on me. She told me one of her bills will hopefully pass in the future, but it failed in committee this year. “It was because I was on the anti-BDS bill. That was my punishment.”
“So, the Chair was [Rep. Jennifer] Gong-Gershowitz. She let me hear the bill. Staff was whispering in my ear. ‘You don’t have the votes.’ And I was like, well I want to know which of my colleagues are going to vote on it or not, and I called it and it failed. [Rep.] Lillian Jimenez is a good soul. That’s all I can say for them, my colleagues.”
Video of the hearing does not appear to show any staff members whispering in Rep. Stava’s ear. And several legislators said during the hearing that her language to criminalize violations needed to be changed to civil penalties, similar to the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act.
Stava also justified calling the vote that day by telling the committee, “if people want to vote against their constituents’ privacy” then that was on them.
For the most part, Democratic legislators have tried not to go public about internal disagreements on the anti-BDS bill, but there are definitely fissures. Kinda curious to see what happens next.
- JB13 - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 12:54 pm:
– No one knew what it was about –
But, as you know, *that* hasn’t mattered for a while in Springfield — provided, of course, that the bill has the right sponsors
- Rahm's Parking Meter - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 12:55 pm:
Okay, I am close enough to the organized Jewish community to say this - Rep. Stava has been hostile to some groups in one on one meetings and also she is just dead wrong. In a meeting I was in two weeks ago, her bill was not mentioned and retribution against her has NEVER even come across our minds.
- Juvenal - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 12:56 pm:
“Whispering in my ear” is a figure of speech, I think, and not necessarily meant literally.
That said, in the immortal words of Stephen Stills:
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away
There is a lot of fear and paranoia going around, no need to name names but if Rep. Stava seems irrational to some or many, I would say she is not alone.
My sympathies to all who are living in fear right now, and those who support them and experiencing secondary trauma. Its not meant to excuse their tweets or facebook posts or podcasts; but I do not have friends or family in harm’s way in Jerusalem, Gaza or Lebanon, and grace is a luxury that those who are directly or indirectly impacted cannot always afford.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 12:57 pm:
===that the bill has the right sponsors ===
lol
That’s Shia’s version of the story based on one anonymous quote. Our story quoted legislators who knew what was in the bill and wanted it changed.
So, maybe take a breath and consider the sourcing.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 1:00 pm:
===is a figure of speech, I think===
lol
Sure, Jan.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 1:26 pm:
I barely trust the General Assembly with the intellectual puzzle of data centers let alone Middle East geopolitics.
- Leslie K - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 1:30 pm:
==She told me one of her bills will hopefully pass in the future, but it failed in committee this year.==
How did she narrow it down on that information? /s
- Capitol Lady - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 1:41 pm:
No dog in this particular fight, but you can see the staffer (presumably) tell Stava she doesn’t have the votes around the 17:09 mark of Rich’s video. Stava still decided to Stava.
- Someone you should know - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 1:48 pm:
Stava is going to stava ;$
- Someone you should know - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 1:51 pm:
Wow, that’s really funny capital lady. I think we posted this at the same time and great minds think alike.
- gemstone - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 2:20 pm:
HDEM caucus in a nutshell…
- Think Again - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 3:36 pm:
=I would like a roll call vote=
It is actually refreshing to see a bit of chaos from the Supermajority, rather than the usual leadership-guided and scripted committee hearings.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 3:41 pm:
===It is actually refreshing ===
Yeah. OK. Go with that.
- Frida's Boss - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 4:04 pm:
Stava is not a serious legislator. She is someone who won by accident and, after 6 years in office, has upended her personal life, accused colleagues of assault and bullying, shows up unprepared (among other things), and has no business saying that BDS is why her bad bill didn’t pass. Her bill didn’t pass because it was a bad bill, she was given ways to change it and still called it for a vote.
Why was it even heard? She obviously didn’t have the votes needed to get out of committee.
- Screwtape - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 4:17 pm:
I don’t know why she would make such a claim without having proof. I hope she has some, and I hope we see it. Sooner rather than later, otherwise this is merely public grumbling over an imagined slight.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 4:55 pm:
===Why was it even heard?===
As a courtesy. She had a witness lined up.
- About Time - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 6:20 pm:
I just hope Blaha sticks with citizen journalism and doesn’t decide to run for office again.
- Excitable Boy - Tuesday, Jul 14, 26 @ 6:46 pm:
- She is someone who won by accident -
3 times?