Chicago Sun Times image.

Oh my!  What a three-ring circus in the Illinois General Assembly.  Here’s the latest*:  Kathleen Willis didn’t call her SB1966 today in the Illinois House because she didn’t have the 60 votes necessary to pass it. 

Yes, Kathleen Willis is now in the leadership of the Illinois House, albeit in a minor position.  Yes, Kathleen Willis almost certainly assured House Speaker Michael Madigan that she had the votes to pass this bill way back when this whole fetid saga began.  However, with each passing day, the pro-gun lobbyists erode her support base, angering her greatly.

At the same time, this isn’t the first time she’s assured Madigan’s people that she had the votes to pass gun control and then failed.  In fact, she’s cementing her reputation even among her fellow Democrats of her willingness to twist the truth to serve her interests.  (Indeed, people who live in flyover country call that lying.)

She might have had the votes at one time, especially if she assumed the Black Caucus would be onboard.  However, for law-abiding constituents of the Black Caucus, getting treated like criminals just to exercise a Constitutional right didn’t go over well with them.  And then there’s the whole issue of pricing the exercise of a fundamental constitutional right outside of their reach.

So, what has crazy cat woman done?  Well, she got Accurate Biometrics to support her initial bill.  Surprisingly, Jan Starr from Accurate Biometrics filed a witness slip supporting Willis’ Amendment #2 which set the fingerprint pricing at $30.  Given that is likely below the cost of LiveScan providers including Accurate Biometrics, their continuing support suggests there’s a sweetheart deal somewhere.

Willis and crew have also hired convicted criminal Donne Trotter to lobby on behalf of her bill, especially with the Black Caucus.  Trotter worked himself into a sweetheart plea deal for bringing a .25 caliber pistol loaded with six rounds past a TSA airport checkpoint.

And then there’s the FBI investigation of a $2,000 “bribe” involving Trotter.  And the investigation of the security firm he allegedly worked for which allowed him to carry a gun without a carry license (at the time of his arrest at the airport).

From DNAInfo:

And a separate state probe has been launched to determine if the Southeast Side security firm has acted as a “front” to procure firearm control cards for people who are not employed as armed guards, according a source close to the investigation.

Yes, this guy with a very checkered background (we’ll stop short of calling him a fringe criminal) is out there lobbying legislators to support more gun control for their inner-city constituents.

Yes, fears of constituent anger trump pressure from House leadership for Democrats.

On the positive side, House Republicans continue to stand firmly opposed to Willis’ gun control schemes.

So there you have it.  Willis needs more votes and she has about 72 hours to get them.  Otherwise her FOID bill is dead.  Because if she can’t get 60 votes now, she won’t be getting 71 votes after May 31st when bills require a 3/5ths majority to pass.

Meanwhile, over the Illinois Senate, Willis has other issues.  Senate President John Cullerton is less than excited to bring Willis’ bill up because he has some downstate senators who may face tough races in 2020.  And this bill won’t help their chances.

For instance, Peoria’s Sen. David Koehler has pulled his name off as a co-sponsor.

Keep watching this space for more on this bill.  Willis really wants this and she’s promising people the moon for their votes.  The only problem for her is that even her own caucus knows her reputation of lying to people’s faces and they don’t trust her.

* courtesy of Rich Pearson at the Illinois State Rifle Association and John Weber at the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action.  And a couple of state reps who shall remain nameless.

23 thoughts on “ILLINOIS LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Willis’ fails to whip votes for SB1966…”
  1. If that photo is accurate can you imagine what it must smell like in that house?

    1. DOWNSTATE HAS ONLY 3 WAYS TO GET THE REPRESENTATION WE DESERVE:
      1 THE ELECTION FOR GOVERNOR HAS TO BE THE SAME AS FOR POTUS
      ELECTORAL COLLEGE
      2 POLITICIANS MUST HAVE TERM LIMITS. THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE TO 1 AND 2 IS 3
      3 DOWNSTATE MUST SECEDE FROM
      THE STATE OF COOK COUNTY

  2. democrats are users. They have used blacks for years and things are changing. blacks are not the dumb as dirt as they were at one time (except for Don Lemmon)

  3. This is not the land of Abraham Lincoln, it’s the land of Adolf Hitler, springfield should be ashamed of itself for trying to impose laws like this on the people of Illinois,this would have done nothing to keep people safe,just put more of a burden on law abiding citizens.

    1. Willis = NAZI = TYRANT

      2nd Amendment stated “Shall Not Be Infringed” PERIOD.

      FOID is UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

      No Guns = Tyrant Government so do not let them take your gun away!

    2. DOWNSTATE HAS ONLY 3 WAYS TO GET THE REPRESENTATION WE DESERVE:
      1 THE ELECTION FOR GOVERNOR HAS TO BE THE SAME AS FOR POTUS
      ELECTORAL COLLEGE
      2 POLITICIANS MUST HAVE TERM LIMITS. THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE TO 1 AND 2 IS 3
      3 DOWNSTATE MUST SECEDE FROM
      THE STATE OF COOK COUNTY

  4. She is nothing if not persistent. Remember, she kept at it and after several defeats, we are now about to enjoy “Gun Dealer Licensing”.

  5. The village of Addison may have an ordinance that limits the number of pets that a person can keep. Most of those limit the number to 3 pets at any one time.
    Just saying

  6. The sow got the bill passed and now it goes to the Senate. contact your Senator NOW.

  7. It passed the house and is now before the senate. I think John Boch is out of state and he has not had time to respond to this news. This law is a real snake pit.

    AFAIK, the senate will pass it and we are in deep doodoo. This is aimed squarely at the law abiding gun owners of Illinois,and would not have prevented the Aurora shooting. The requirement to do all transfers through a dealer is going to be a real problem. The new dealer licensing law limits dealers to charging $10 for a transfer, which is deliberately less than their cost. So no dealers will do transfers anymore, so you will not be able to sell or give a gun to anybody. If you do surrender your guns, who will you “temporarily” surrender them to? Until I see otherwise, I assume even transferring them to your spouse requires a $10 each transfer fee. I doubt you can force a dealer to do the transfer, you would have to sue the dealer, but meanwhile surrender your guns to ISP.

    Our only hope is the courts now and you know what that costs.

    This is the perfect vehicle to steadily take our guns away legally and without having the state of Illinois pay us for them. If ISP is slow at renewing your FOID, you will have to surrender your guns, and try to get them back.

    This is brilliantly fiendish snake pit. Goodbye Second Amendment.

  8. Licenses and Liberty

    This is our second amendment right to bear arms.
    NO STATE shall convert a liberty into a license and charge a fee
    Therefore. If the state converts a right (liberty) into a privilege. The Citizen can ignore the lincses and fee and ingage
    The right (liberty) with impunity…..
    LOOK IT UP!!

    1. 100% correct !!! And when the get rid of the FOID card lawsuit gets to court the FEE is probably what will end the FOID. A court could rule that the state can keep the FOID going but the fee is unconstitutional so if Illinois wants to continue the program they can but must hand out the cards for free. Illinois is dead broke so they could NEVER be able to do that and FOID will be ended.

  9. The FOID bull**** is being challenged in court already and these commies go and make it even more unconstitutional !!!! When this gets to court it’s going to be VERY tough for the state to defend this garbage and get a court to NOT find it way over the top. The Sow and her fellow Madigan stooges may have very well made this mess a sure to fail case for themselves.

    Hopefully it dies in the Senate and the only hope for that is enough Dimwitocrat Senators down state figure out they will get voted out next election if they vote for this. Remember downstate is loaded with 2A sanctuary counties and voters. Just like CCL we do win in the end once the courts get done. If it passes it’ll be great ammo for our upcoming case.

  10. At one time Chicago voted republican. The Polish and Irish settlers that made Chicago a get American city have now been replaced by the 3rd world and cultural Marxist that will vote for any old doorknob whore willing to give them a free ride.

    I remember when Illinois was a nice place to live, raise a family, start a business. Those days are gone in Illinois because of the filth running the state.

    I don’t know the outcome of this bill but our future will only be decided when enough people have had enough and put a stop to the tyranny.

    Playing games with our freedom, our lives and the just cause of liberty is the act of a despot.

  11. DOWNSTATE HAS ONLY 3 WAYS TO GET THE REPRESENTATION WE DESERVE:
    1 THE ELECTION FOR GOVERNOR HAS TO BE THE SAME AS FOR POTUS
    ELECTORAL COLLEGE
    2 POLITICIANS MUST HAVE TERM LIMITS. THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE TO 1 AND 2 IS 3
    3 DOWNSTATE MUST SECEDE FROM
    THE STATE OF COOK COUNTY

  12. And though the tyrants may deny us
    We shall break their hearts of stone
    Hear it ring on the air
    It’s the voice of my country so fair
    Oh can’t you feel, oh can’t you see
    The true will set them free

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