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Committee would not advance "Jessica's Law"
A week after a Florida jury found a convicted sex offender guilty
of murdering 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, Democratic members of the
Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee refused March 13 to advance
legislation, based on "Jessica's Law," to protect children from
sexual predators.
I am sponsoring the legislation,
Senate Bill 288, to keep the worst predators off the streets and
away from children. It's disappointing that Democratic lawmakers
would not move my legislation out of the committee to the full
Senate for a vote.
Two years ago, 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford of Florida was raped
and murdered by a convicted sex offender. Florida lawmakers passed
Jessica's Law in 2005, and a number of other states have passed
tougher laws targeting sexual predators who prey on children. On
March 7, convicted sex offender John Couey was found guilty of
kidnapping, raping and murdering Jessica.
Some of the provisions of Jessica's Law are already found in
Illinois law, but this legislation would add stronger sentencing and
monitoring guidelines.
Senate Bill 288 would mandate that offenders found guilty of
predatory sexual assault of a child are incarcerated and off the
streets for a minimum of 30 years. It would remove good-time credit
for most sex offenders unless they successfully complete sex
offender counseling under the supervision and control of the
Department of Corrections. It would require global positioning
system monitoring for sexually violent offenders in order to track
some of the state's worst offenders. It would make criminal sexual
assault a Class X felony if the rapist has previously been convicted
of any sex offense. Currently, it is a Class X felony only if the
offender had been previously convicted of criminal sexual assault.
More than 20 states have enacted provisions of Jessica's Law.
Lawmakers work together to advance ethics reforms
With the media reporting that Gov. Rod Blagojevich has
increasingly restricted public information about his administration,
lawmakers from both parties banded together last week to promote a
series of ethics reform proposals -- many of which I am sponsoring.
Senate Bill 1305 restricts all state employees and their spouses
from state contracts in certain situations, requires quicker
disclosure of certain officials' economic interests, and includes
contracting reforms initially proposed by Senate Republicans in
2005.
Senate Bill 157 brings sunshine into the executive inspector
general's office. Currently, the office releases relatively few
details about the investigations it conducts. Under the legislation,
the inspector general's office is forced to share its reports with
the bipartisan Executive Ethics Commission and to allow reports to
be made public under certain circumstances.
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Passed by the Senate Executive Committee last week, these reforms
are a first step in the long process of making state government more
open. Still awaiting a hearing are numerous measures that would
further increase public oversight and confidence in state
government.
Senate Bill 36 requires greater disclosure of gifts given to
politicians' spouses and family members, while
Senate Bill 106 compels donations of $1,000 or more to be
reported to election authorities within two business days.
Senate Bill 111 makes the state's online campaign donation
database searchable according to employer and occupation of the
contributor.
Senate Bill 742 prohibits former lawmakers and state employees
from influencing government business for one year after they leave
the public sector.
Senate Bill 114 bans the images and names of state officials on
any signs or structures on Illinois toll highways.
Senate Bill 87 includes additional contracting reforms, which
would give the state comptroller and treasurer the right to void
illegal contracts, require greater disclosure of lobbyists and
government agents, and restrict "no bid" sole-source contracts.
Jobs statistics show danger of governor's tax hikes
Job statistics released last week underscore the danger of the
governor's proposed $6 billion tax hike on businesses' gross
receipts.
Figures compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor show that
Illinois ranks 44th nationally in job creation. Under Blagojevich,
Illinois has posted a 2.1 percent job growth rate, far below the
national average of 5.2 percent and lower than neighboring states.
Experts warn that the governor's tax hike, the largest in state
history, will further weaken Illinois' struggling economy and raise
costs to consumers.
Applications available for women legislators' scholarship
Women seeking to earn a college degree are urged to submit an
application for the Conference of Women Legislators 2007-2008
Scholarship Award Program.
Applications for the one-year, $2,500 scholarship are due April
13.
Applications are available at
www.cowlil.com.
Applicants are required to enroll in an accredited college or
university for a minimum of seven credit hours. In addition to
academic achievement, the scholarship committee will also consider
volunteer or paid community service work that benefited women in
transition.
Interested parties must complete an official application, write a
short essay on their personal background and goals, and provide
recommendations and official transcripts from their last two years
at an educational institution or an academic program.
For more information, contact Deborah Murphy at 217-725-4911.
[Text from file received from
Sen. Bill Brady] |
