VETO SESSION CONCLUDED
In just 48 hours, the Democrat majority rammed through nearly $11 BILLION in new spending, piling even more costs onto struggling families.
ENERGY: Democrats’ “Green New Giveaway” an $8 Billion Hit to Ratepayers
Their so-called energy bill does NOT generate a single watt of new power. It gives unelected bureaucrats power to raise your bills, kills local control, and pours billions into unproven tech, all while promising “lower costs” years down the road. This isn’t an energy plan.
House Republicans support a comprehensive, all-of-the-above energy approach that can meet demand, is reliable, and doesn’t cost consumers an arm and a leg.
While there is some good in this bill, such as the repeal of the nuclear construction ban, it’s crammed between handouts for special interests and rate hikes for consumers.
This proposal makes it less likely that job creators will locate their business in Illinois. Small businesses this past summer saw their electricity rates double and triple from last summer.
BATTERY STORAGE. Battery storage is not as safe as Democrats like to say; just ask first responders. If a lithium battery catches on fire, or if a battery storage warehouse catches on fire, the price tag and effort to put that fire out are huge.
Are communities trained and ready to handle emergencies when it comes to the massive, uncontrollable battery fires we have seen from battery storage warehouses? They are gambling that this new and unproven technology will work well enough to be subsidized with ratepayer dollars.
We should encourage innovation, but not at the expense of Illinois families. Battery storage may be needed for renewable energy supply, but not at this scale and not at this cost. Other states have battery storage that is privately funded.
PROPERTY RIGHTS. SB 25 further takes away local control for renewable project siting. It also reduces the permit fees that counties may charge for renewable projects. It does not allow local counties to zone battery projects.
TRANSIT: Democrats Pass a $2.5 Billion Mass Transit Bailout
Senate Bill 25 is another example of flawed green energy fantasies that Illinois ratepayers are already all too familiar with. This isn’t an energy bill; it’s an environmental giveaway that gives power to unelected bureaucrats to raise energy rates in the future.
- A $220 million problem “solved” with $2.5 billion in new taxes and tolls:
- $1B in toll hikes (45¢ more per car; 30% more for trucks)
- $478M in new RTA sales taxes
- Automatic toll hikes tied to inflation
- Over $1B swept from downstate road & bridge funds
Downstate families will pay for a system we don’t use, while our infrastructure gets shortchanged.
House Republicans Fought Back
- We stood for affordability, reliability, and accountability:
- All-of-the-above energy
- Transit reform before more funding
- Protecting downstate priorities
- Real ethics reform
Democrats chose politics over prudence. Illinois families deserve better and together, we’ll keep fighting for a more affordable, accountable Illinois.
IMMIGRATION
Illinois lawmakers approve ban on civil immigration arrests in state courthouses
After weeks of verbally condemning the aggressive federal immigration crackdown in the Chicago region, Illinois lawmakers approved legislation banning civil immigration arrests in and around state courthouses early Friday morning.
House Bill 1312, among other provisions, would also allow Illinois residents to sue immigration agents who violate their constitutional right to due process and protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
It heads to Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk after clearing the Illinois Senate 40-18 and the Illinois House 75-32 in the waning hours of their annual fall veto session. […]
The bill also allows Illinois residents to sue immigration agents for violating their constitutional rights. They would be able to collect punitive damages, which can be increased if the agents are wearing a mask, concealing their identity, failing to wear a body camera or using a vehicle with a non-Illinois or obscured license plate.
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, warned that it would have unintended consequences on state and local law enforcement. Law enforcement groups like the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and the Illinois Sheriff’s Association cited similar concerns.
“This bill goes too far,” Windhorst said. “It is too broad and there will be grave consequences to our state if it is adopted.”
Read more from Capitol News Illinois.
As Illinois Democrats passed yet another pro-illegal immigration bill at the end of veto session, State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer brought receipts showing how the Democrats own this immigration crisis. From the TRUST Act which made Illinois a sanctuary state to Biden’s open border policy, Democrats are to blame for the surge in illegal immigration and the resulting immigration enforcement actions.
JOBS
Electric vehicle maker Rivian announces layoffs
Rivian, with production facilities in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, announced that more than 600 workers will be let go. The firm, which specializes in electric-powered light trucks such as the R1T pickup and R1S SUV, has posted sales figures that have reflected an overall downturn in the e-vehicle industry. In addition, Rivian has never made an operating profit and has been kept alive by infusions of venture capital.
In its announcement, Rivian stated its intent to concentrate its layoffs among salaried personnel. This would hold their vehicle plant in Normal, Illinois harmless for now. No notice has gone out to Normal workers pursuant to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining (WARN) Act, which is a required step when manufacturing layoffs are set to take place. While Rivian’s principal production facility is in Normal, the company’s headquarters and of its many salaried workers are based in Irvine, California.
REDISTRICTING
House GOP pushback helps stop Democrats’ congressional gerrymandering scheme
In 2021, Illinois Democrats enacted, and Governor Pritzker signed, a map that Illinois voters would have to use throughout the 2020s to elect members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Called “the worst gerrymander in the U.S.”, the map divided Illinois’ population into 17 congressional districts, 14 of which were designed to elect Democrats. Republican voters were either scattered throughout the Democrat districts, or “packed” into three Downstate Illinois districts that were designed to be overwhelmingly Republican.
Even though he already had 14 of the 17 Illinois congressional seats, U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wanted more. Jeffries met with Illinois Democratic leaders this week to lobby for a mid-decade redistricting that would add another Democrat district.
House Republicans pushed back hard in opposition to the Democrats’ latest gerrymandering scheme. Partly because of this rapid response, the proposed new congressional map did not move forward.
Speaking at a press conference at the beginning of the final week of the fall veto session, Deputy Republican Leader Ryan Spain decried Democrats for their latest push to further disenfranchise Illinois voters by pursuing even more gerrymandered Congressional districts to elect more Democrats to Congress. This is despite Illinois already having Congressional districts rated F by the non-partisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project.
I continue to reiterate my opposition to partisan gerrymandering:
“Let’s be clear: Republicans don’t oppose redistricting; we oppose rigging the system. Illinoisans deserve a fair, transparent process where voters choose their politicians not the other way around.
“If Governor Pritzker truly believes in defending democracy, he should prove it. Start with an independent redistricting commission. Until then, any lecture he gives on “reform” is just political theater, well-scripted, but still fiction.”
TAXES
Democrats Decouple from OBBB Tax Relief, Hurting Illinois’ Economy
Decoupling Illinois’ tax code from the federal tax code also passed the Illinois General Assembly in the early morning hours on Halloween.
During House debate late Thursday evening, state Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, said decoupling Illinois from the federal tax code equals a tax increase for Illinois businesses.
“We’re putting our businesses at a competitive disadvantage again, by decoupling, while every other state that is still coupled to the federal tax law is going to see a savings for their business because the federal taxes have been lowered with us raising them again, which is essentially a tax increase,” Ugaste said. […]
State government spending has increased $16 billion, or 43%, since Pritzker took office in 2019.
The decoupling bill was approved by the Illinois Senate at 2:00 a.m. Friday.
Read more from The Center Square.
I released the following statement in response:
“Decoupling from the federal tax code is nothing more than a backdoor tax hike on Illinois job creators. At a time when we should be working to grow our economy and attract investment, Democrats chose to make it harder to do business in Illinois.”
UPCOMING EVENTS
I am hosting two upcoming events – check it out!
