At the end of a long day of meetings within the Illinois House, State Rep. Greg Harris decided not to bring Senate Bill 1716 or House Bill 2234 to the floor on Sunday, for one crucial reason: the economy.
“We are still engaged in the financial disaster that is currently gripping Illinois. This is not a time to put the bill on the house floor,” said Harris via telephone May 31. “This is not unique to Illinois, as states like California are in similar financial crises, so right now, we just want to make sure that people aren’t going to be out on the street.”
“This bill will be a high-profile and controversial vote,” Harris continued. “It’s only been around a couple of months, and it definitely has been gathering steam recently. But right now, we’re voting on measures to provide services for senior citizens and other financial things. This is a terrible time to bring it up both strategically and politically. Were we not embroiled in these financial affairs, this would be a different story.”
One of the bills Harris is attempting to pass is House Bill 3923, a health-insurance reform bill that will give consumers appeal rights, transparency into insurance rates and profits, and other protections that will be available for the first time in Illinois. Also being voted on was House Bill 7, which calls for campaign-finance reform in the wake of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s resignation in November.
Midnight on May 31 was the deadline for bringing the civil-union bill before the House and, although Harris did not bring it up, he wants all of those people keeping an eye on the bill to remain optimistic.
“The human-rights bill in Illinois [which barred discrimination against LGBT individuals in the workplace] took 30 years to pass,” Harris said. “The fact that this civil-rights bill is now ready to be read to the Senate some 18 months after it was initially conceived is remarkable. It seems like a long time because people feel impatient, but this has moved at a rapid pace, thanks to lobbyists and legislators across the state.”
Harris added that people should be optimistic because many legislators have come around to support the measure in the last several months.
“I think when we began about two years ago, some legislators thought this issue wasn’t important to their districts. They now see that they are wrong. This is an issue that cuts across the state,” said Harris.
The General Assembly could be reconvening as early as next week to further discuss the economy and other issues, but Harris does not want to put a timeline or a definite date on the civil-union bill. He does want everyone to remain positive and see how much they’ve accomplished thus far.
“I have never seen such an outpouring of heartfelt conviction among my colleagues. It’s an incredible testament to the people in this community that shows that they are in it for the long haul,” said Harris. bill on hold