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It’s just a bill

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Illinois

* Press release…

Seventeen leading civil rights organizations in Illinois are urging Gov. Bruce Rauner, in a letter sent to him on Tuesday, to sign legislation that would ban employment discrimination in all workplaces.

The measure, House Bill 4572, which passed the General Assembly with bipartisan support in May and is currently on the governor’s desk, would make the Illinois Human Rights Act’s workplace non-discrimination protections apply to all businesses in the state.

The letter is signed by organizations that advocate for and work to protect the civil rights of millions of Illinoisans, including women, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Muslim-Americans, immigrants and refugees, Latinos, Jewish people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people.

The signatories include the ACLU of Illinois, ADL, African-American Lesbian Professionals Having A Say (ALPHAS), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago, Association of Latinos/as Motivating Action (ALMA), CAIR-Chicago, Chicago National Organization for Women, Citizen Action/Illinois, Equality Illinois, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, Illinois National Organization for Women, Latino Policy Forum, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Pride Action Tank, and Women Employed.

The organizations wrote to the governor: “At a time when anti-equality forces seek to establish licenses to discriminate and civil rights laws are under attack in state legislatures and courts across the country, signing HB 4572 would send the powerful and unmistakable message that Illinois is best and strongest when state law protects all people from discrimination. Your approval on this bill would be consistent with our state’s bipartisan values of fairness, justice, and the freedom to be who you are without burden or discrimination.”

Read the full letter here.

Currently, the Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national ancestry, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity, among other protected classes. However, those protections only apply to employers with 15 or more employees. That means, for thousands of workers, workplace discrimination is completely legal. This is inconsistent with Illinois values of fairness and justice.

HB 4572 would modernize the Human Rights Act and protect all workers from employment discrimination. The legislation also synchronizes the Illinois Human Rights Act with non-discrimination ordinances in Cook County and Chicago that already apply to employers with one or more employees.

The governor has until August 13 to act on HB 4572 or it becomes law without his signature or veto.

* Other bills…

* Rauner signs law giving state authority over drone regulations, wipes out local regulations

* Capitol Connection: Illinois Innocence Project backs jailhouse informant reform

* Lawmakers, advocates urge Governor to approve Women and Girls legislation

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 7, 18 @ 2:36 pm

Comments

The size of a business shouldn’t determine whether or not you are allowed to discriminate. This isn’t some overly burdensome regulation. It’s common sense.

Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Aug 7, 18 @ 2:38 pm
House Bill 4572: Amendment No. 1: “Provides that “employer” does not include any place of worship…”

Veto.

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Aug 7, 18 @ 2:42 pm
Can he still discriminate against union members? If so, he’d be happy to sign it

Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Tuesday, Aug 7, 18 @ 2:47 pm
===Veto.

Are you suggesting the Catholic Church should have to hire women as Priests?

Comment by Archpundit Tuesday, Aug 7, 18 @ 2:50 pm
Didn’t the Gov’s business employ no black people because no qualified people applied???

I say he vetoes. His golfing buddies would never let him live it down.

Comment by Anonimity Tuesday, Aug 7, 18 @ 3:32 pm
Arch, so far today CZ has it in for the Catholic Church and the State Pension Funds; he must be from IPI.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Aug 7, 18 @ 3:59 pm
==he must be from IPI.

LOL–I was wondering what the objection is–it’s a standard 1st Amendment exclusion that would be introduced by the courts if the text doesn’t include it.

Comment by Archpundit Tuesday, Aug 7, 18 @ 4:21 pm