Senate passes Sen. Brady's hate crimes commission legislation         

[May 11, 2007]  SPRINGFIELD -- The governor's appointments to the state's Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes would need legislative approval, under legislation sponsored by state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, and passed by a unanimous vote of the Senate on Wednesday.

The 44th District senator is working on the issue with state Sen. Ira Silverstein, D-Chicago.

Senate Bill 1047 requires Senate approval of the 21 members appointed by the governor to the Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes.

"Many of the governor's appointments to other state boards and commissions require Senate approval," Brady said. "Given the important matters that the Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes considers, its members should be scrutinized to avoid the kind of controversy the commission generated last year."

The Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes caught the public eye when, in March 2006, gubernatorial appointee Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad invited several commission members to a speech by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. When several members expressed their outrage at some of Farrakhan's controversial remarks, Gov. Rod Blagojevich voiced his support of Sister Muhammad. As a result, a number of members resigned from the commission.

Senate Bill 1047 now moves to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

[Text from news release sent on behalf of Sen. Bill Brady and received from Illinois Senate Republican staff]