Lawmakers react to Governor Pritzker’s line in the sand for Trump administration
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — The day after the election, Governor JB Pritzker gave a clear message to President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration.
“To anyone who intends to come, take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior,” Pritzker said. “You come for my people. You come through me.”
Whether it be reproductive rights, immigration protections or many of the other differences between the two, Pritzker made it clear he intends for Illinois to push back. He formed a coalition of Democratic Governors with Colorado Governor Jared Polis called Governors Safeguarding Democracy.
Illinois State Capitol Complex security fortified with new rules
Trump recently signaled that he does not plan to back away from promises of mass deportations from the campaign trail. He responded to a post on Truth Social saying that he intends to use military assets to conduct these deportations by simply saying “TRUE”.
Pritzker questioned the legality of those measures.
“The idea of calling out, you know, the army into the domestic confines of the United States is seems uncalled for and may, in fact, be unconstitutional and illegal,” Pritzker said. “He does not have the ability to call out the National Guard inside the confines of the United States. The governors do.”
Illinois is one of several “Sanctuary States” in the country. The state also has a policy that stops from local law enforcement from working with ICE. That on its own is expected to put the state at odds with the White House.
Republican leadership in the statehouse questioned how Pritzker’s steps post-election would be good for Illinois. Senate Republican Leader John Curran doesn’t view this as protecting Illinoisans. Instead, he sees it as political posturing.
“Explain to me how that’s good for Illinois,” Curran (R-Lemont) said. “I mean, it may be good for his future presidential aspirations. It may be good for running in the Democratic primary for president in 2028. It’s not good for Illinois. There’s no good that comes from that.”
The Governor’s Democratic allies have been more supportive of this fight.
“My job is to protect the folks who have the least protection available,” Pritzker said.
House Democratic Kelly Cassidy led the charge for the Reproductive Health Act, which codified Roe V. Wade protections into Illinois law ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court Decision that overturned it. She said it was a priority going forward to ensure Illinois is protected from potential changes at the federal level.
IL Senator works to improve speech therapy coverage
“There is still some work to do. And in particular, I expect there will be ongoing work because as they pivot to new approaches, we’re going to have to as well,” Cassidy (D-Chicago) said. “But, you know, we’ve got our shield law that is protections for patients and providers of reproductive health care, as well as gender affirming care that it’s a it’s a pretty good shield, but it does not protect health data. Privacy doesn’t address health data privacy. So we want to make sure we get that in place there. There are some federal laws that we are anticipating might be repealed that we’re going to want to make sure that we’re addressing as well.”
None of those protections were filed during the two-week veto session lawmakers returned to Springfield for this month. Instead, they punted to a lame-duck session scheduled for January.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
#Lawmakers #react #Governor #Pritzkers #line #sand #Trump #administration