Illinois Senate Republicans have introduced a package of legislation specifically designed to empower the law enforcement community today.

The “Fund the Police” Act legislation includes criminal justice changes that would help keep violent offenders off of the streets while providing the law enforcement community with additional resources. Among other bills introduced in the package, the “Fund the Police Act” would provide a major infusion of resources to criminal justice and mental health programs, via a $100 million state appropriation.

50^th District State Senator Steve McClure says local law enforcement officials need more funds to assist in investigations: “First of all, to enhance evidence gathering, you have to have enough law enforcement in each of these communities to collect evidence and to stop crime and to fight crime. We have, ever since the January Criminal Law bill that was passed at 4:30 in the morning that nobody, including the sponsor of the bill had read…ever since its passing, we have seen a record number of people and police officers go to different states, a record number of sheriffs say they aren’t going to run again, and some police forces have disbanded in local communities. You cannot gather evidence if you don’t have enough people working the streets to gather evidence. That’s a major issue right now and that’s causing a lot of crime, because we don’t have enough law enforcement in these areas.”

The bill was introduced by Senator Chapin Rose of Champaign because of recent downstate gun violence. The legislation also includes multiple measures to reduce the trafficking of illegal guns, keep violent gun offenders off of the street, increase penalties for criminals who assault law enforcement officers, and help protect communities and schools.

McClure says the legislation takes aim at the recently passed crime bill passed during the Spring session by Democrats that eliminates pre-trial detention and the cash bail system for certain offenses: “Chapin talked about how difficult it is to prosecute cases, particularly gun cases, gang cases because witnesses fear for their lives in many cases. At 4:30 in the morning in January, in the Capitol, the Senate voted to no longer allow people to be held on pre-trial detention for committing the offense of witness intimidation. We are seeing near-record gang violence, near-record shootings and the most difficult cases to prosecute are shootings cases. Do you know why? Because they don’t want to testify. In this building, at almost the height of that, these people voted…my colleagues in the Senate voted to not allow for detainment of people in pre-trial for the offense of witness intimidation. That is insane and this has to end.”

Senate Republicans were joined by the widow of Champaign Police Officer Chris Oberheim in promoting the legislation. Oberheim was shot and killed while responding to a domestic dispute at an apartment complex in Champaign back in May. Amber Oberheim says that police need more resources to assist them, especially in mental health and de-escalation training, as well as more officers to prevent further violence in the state. Rose says that the bills have been filed with enough time for the General Assembly to act during the current veto session.

A local representative is calling for a committee hearing on a bill in the General Assembly that would end unilateral rules through the excessive use of executive orders.

93^rd District Representative Norine Hammond says Democrats are unwilling to even talk about the bill in committee at all: “Many of our colleagues, unfortunately, are not willing to take a stand politically. I think that is what’s holding it back. As you all know, there is a super-majority in the House and the Senate. Somebody’s got to…somebody with some stature has to stand up and says ‘This is what we are going to do, and we’re going to meet, and we’re going to talk about it.”

Hammond says that General Assembly Democrats have abdicated their responsibility to their constituents when it comes to making decisions for the state: “Governor Pritzker has issued and extended disaster declarations since the beginnings of this pandemic with little to no input from legislators. The governor has issued a total of 91 executive orders. This represents the condensed version of those 91 executive orders: since 2020-2021, everything from the initial stay-at-home order to regional mitigations, and masks, and vaccine mandates. The Democratic majority in the General Assembly has abdicated the responsibility to serve as a co-equal branch of our government and has ceded that authority to Governor Pritzker again and again.”

The bill in question, House Bill 843, was filed earlier this year, and although it has near unanimous support from the House Republican caucus, it has yet to earn a committee hearing. The Republicans at the press conference held yesterday at the Capitol say they believe that beyond thirty days, the legislature must be involved to approve further emergency orders.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has issued a natural disaster designation for 12 Illinois counties today. The USDA reviewed the Loss Assessment Reports and determined there were sufficient production losses to warrant a Secretarial natural disaster designation due to excessive moisture and flash flooding this Spring.

The disaster designation includes farmers in Calhoun, Cass, Edgar, Jefferson, Jersey, McLean, Macoupin, Monroe, Morgan, Moultrie, St. Clair, and Sangamon. It will also include the contiguous counties, which will encompass the entire WLDS/WEAI listening area.

A Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the USDA Farm Service Agency to provide emergency loans to producers recovering from natural disasters. Producers should contact their local USDA Service Center to ask questions or file a Notice of Loss.

A local Congressman is not having any of a recent Biden Administration proposal to surveil American bank accounts and online transactions.

18^th District Congressman Darin LaHood joined Republican colleagues on the House Ways & Means Committee in sending a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen expressing privacy concerns of IRS oversight of total debits and credits equal at least to $600 including deposited paychecks or money transferred from finance apps like Cash App or PayPal —banks would have to report those figures to the IRS.

The Treasury is proposing that financial institutions to annually report the total amount of money that went in and out of bank, loan and investment accounts if those accounts hold a value of at least $600, or if the total is at least $600 in a year. The proposal is due to the IRS showing a tax gap of $166 billion per year between the tax owed by businesses (not counting large corporations) and the tax actually paid. The document says requiring comprehensive reporting on money flowing in and out of accounts “will enhance the effectiveness of IRS enforcement measures and encourage voluntary compliance.”

Republicans feel that this engenders a dangerous empowerment to the IRS to oversee any person’s finances with a job in the country. LaHood and his colleagues also pressed Secretary Yellen to address a number of unanswered questions clarifying that the IRS will not seek transactional-level data on personal and business bank accounts.

LaHood is also a cosponsor of a bill that would prohibit the Biden Administration’s plans to turn local banks into chapters of the IRS. He is also a cosponsor of the Tax Gap Reform and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Enforcement Act, which allows for a better understanding of the tax gap, provides smarter enforcement, ensures the IRS uses all of the resources at its disposal, and addresses the expertise gap at the IRS.

A human rights organization is claiming that Jacksonville Correctional Facility is not following proper COVID-19 protocols.

The Journal Courier reports that the Criminal Advocacy Program has received anonymous complaints that basic Covid precautions, like social distancing, aren’t being followed at the prison. A representative of the group is saying that prisoners are being housed in the dormitory-style setting with new inmates and inmates that have recently tested positive for COVID-19.

Illinois Department of Corrections Public Information Officer Lindsay Hess told the Journal Courier that there are five staff and 29 prisoners who have tested positive, but the facility hasn’t reported any new cases since Thursday. 90 people are currently under quarantine, according to Hess. The most recent COVID update from the Morgan County Health Department lists 22 cases under outbreak status at the prison.

This is the second outbreak at the prison, with the first happening in August of last year that involved 459 prisoners and 42 staff members by the time it ended.

Prisoners have been vaccinated against the virus. There is not a current percentage listed of staff at the prison who have been vaccinated. AFSCME is still working on negotiations about Governor J.B. Pritzker’s vaccine mandate. Other contractual staff at the prison have reached agreements and will soon have to have their first dose of vaccine by October 26^th.

Hess told the Journal Courier that the prison has implemented its Incident Command Center and is using FEMA’s National Incident Command System model to stem the tide of the current outbreak.

A former Morgan County Road District clerk accused of taking more than $100,000 in taxpayer money for personal use may soon have a plea deal reached in her case.

63 year old Pamela S. Redd of Alexander appeared in Morgan County Court and asked for a continuance in her case so she can continue to save up funds.

Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll explains that a resolution may soon be reached: “Back in December of 2020, Ms. Redd was charged with a count of theft and two counts of official misconduct. Those cases are still pending. An offer has been made and a counter offer has been made. However, the parties have not reached a formal resolution to the matter at this point. Ms. Redd, I believe, has been attempting to save up some money to help pay restitution that would be owed as a result of any resolution to this matter.”

According to charging documents in the case, Redd, in her role as Clerk of Road District #8, allegedly by means of deception, took over $100,000 between 2015 and November 2020 through unauthorized purchases through the Road District’s checking account. Redd formally resigned from her post as the road district clerk on November 9^th and was replaced by Marcia Cox in action taken by the Morgan County Commissioners.

If a plea is not reached and the case heads to trial, Redd faces 2-5 years in jail for the official misconduct charges and 4 to 15 years in prison and a fine up to $25,000 plus restitution for the felony theft charges. Redd is currently free on bond. Her case is next due in court for status on January 18^th.

Morgan County will have brand new voting machines for their next election. The Morgan County Commissioners approved a nearly $400,000 upgrade to the county’s voting systems last month. Morgan County Clerk Jill Waggener says the old system was over 20 years old and was beginning to show its age within the last few years with mechanical issues. She says the old system was still secure, but due to wear and tear, she felt it was time to update the entire voting system.

The new Texas-manufactured system made by Hart InterCivic, is the first of its kind to be purchased in the state. Waggener says the new system will be easy to use for both voters and election judges at the next election: “The machines are more compact. I believe they will be easy to navigate. We will start training my staff in my office probably within the next month so that we have several months to get accustomed to it. Then, in March or April, we will probably have 6 to 8 weeks of training for my election judges. We will have the company that I purchased the equipment from to come in and train my technical staff members that I use on election days, and then, they will also come back and do at least one or two trainings with the election judges.”

Waggoner doesn’t believe much will change for the process of voting in person on election days: “I do know that every voter will receive a paper ballot, even if you use the touchscreen there will now be a paper ballot printed. It just won’t be on the tape. Then, that will be put into a very small, compact ballot box. This is just a very compact system compared to what people are used to.”

The next election for the State of Illinois will be the General Primary in June 2022.

A Jacksonville man accused of sexual assault of a child is heading back to the Department of Human Services.

36 year old Larry D. Johnson of Jacksonville was found unfit to stand trial for the second time after an evaluation by Dr. Terry Killian last month. Johnson is facing four counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child stemming from incidents in 2018 with two separate victims.

Public Defender Tom Piper had earlier asserted that Johnson was unfit to stand trial after a mental health examination in January 2020. Johnson was returned to fitness in September 2020.

Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll says that the trial process starts all over once again. Noll says that Piper asserts that his client’s mental fitness has deteriorated since being returned to the Morgan County Jail: “An evaluation was done by two separate psychiatrists recently indicating that the defendant is unfit to stand trial. Today, the parties stipulated to those reports and the judge remanded him back down to receive treatment from the Department of Human Services with the goal of restoring him to fitness.”

If Johnson is returned to fitness and stands trial, he could face a mandatory life sentence in prison. A status has been set on a report of Johnson’s fitness for December 7th.