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Home » Lobbying » 2006 Spring Session Recap
2006 Spring Session Recap The ACLU of Illinois supported Senate Bill 2368 requiring traffic stop data, in addition to the race of the driver, to include data regarding: (a) whether a search leads to the discovery of contraband, (b) the duration of the stop, and (c) whether a search contemporaneous to the stop was requested and if so, whether consent was given or denied. SB2368 also includes a means of consultation between law enforcement and community groups via an Oversight Board. We participated on the Governor’s Task Force on Racial Profiling and worked with all parties in the drafting of the legislation after having aired the issue in subject matter hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary committees during veto session, 2005. The Governor signed the bill into law on July 3rd, 2006. We urged the Governor to sign legislation that will aid survivors of sexual assault, ensuring that they receive basic medical care. House Bill 5300, an initiative of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, amends the Sexual Assault Survivors Emergency Treatment Act (SASETA) requiring the Department of Public Health to submit a report to the General Assembly on the hospitals that provide treatment for sexual assault victims. This reporting is an incentive for hospitals to comply with existing law requiring care for victims including pregnancy tests, STD and HIV tests, emergency contraceptive services, and HIV prophylaxis. HB 5300 also raises the fine the Department can impose if a hospital is not in compliance with the law. We also supported Senate Bill 2267, creating a grant program, administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services which school districts can voluntarily access to work with a broad range of community-based organizations to provide comprehensive sex education in their schools. The bill passed the Senate Health and Human Services committee, but was not called for a vote on the Senate floor. A corrective measure that allows judges to determine whether, and for what duration, youth must register as sex offenders, and that removes from law a requirement that all kids convicted of sex offenses, at any age, must register as adults upon turning age 17, passed both chambers. Current law requires youth as young as age 12 to register for life for certain offenses. This session’s successful passage of HB 2067, led by the Juvenile Justice Initiative, included as supporters the Illinois PTA and the Child Care Association of Illinois. We will join others in an effort to override the Governor’s veto of the bill, issued on July 3rd, 2006. We successfully opposed two bills that remain in the Senate Rules committee: legislation calling for DNA testing of arrestees (HB4607) and unconstitutional disenfranchisement of sex offenders (HB 4311). Legislation we opposed that permits pharmacies and pharmacists to refuse to fill valid prescriptions for emergency contraception, (HB 4346) passed committee but was not called on the House floor for a vote. |
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