This week, a White County Judge has ruled the FOID card unconstitutional. 

In his ruling, Judge T. Scott Webb stated, “A citizen in the State of Illinois is not born with a Second Amendment right. Nor does that right insure when a citizen turns 18 or 21 years of age. It is a façade. They only gain that right if they pay a $10 fee, complete the proper application, and submit a photograph. If the right to bear arms and self-defense are truly core rights, there should be no burden on the citizenry to enjoy those rights, especially within the confines and privacy of their own homes. Accordingly, if a person does something themselves from being able to exercise that right, like being convicted of a felony or demonstrating mental illness, then and only then may the right be stripped from them.”

This decision is a monumental one as the Illinois Supreme Court will be considering this case in the near future. Only four states have FOID card requirements. Hopefully, Illinois will soon no longer be one of those four states. Stay tuned.

This week’s newsletter highlights the first stop of my upcoming listening tour, a link to a Facebook Live event with the Illinois State Rifle Association; and a measure requiring a performance audit of the Illinois Department of Employment Security advances. 

As always if you have any questions, feel free to email me or call my office at 217-774-1306.

Sincerely,

Brad Halbrook                                                                                                                                                                                    

Listening Tour

I am doing a series of listening events beginning on May 3 in Atwood. If you are around on May 3, please stop by Village Hall and say “hello.” 

When: 4:00 to 5:30pm Monday, May 3

Where: Village Board Room, Atwood Village Hall, 110 W. Central St. 

I look forward to seeing you!  

FOID card discussion on Facebook

This week, I sat down with Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson to discuss the latest on the FOID card renewal fiasco in Illinois and other issues. 

If you missed the even, log onto: https://fb.watch/5b5fsWI108/ and check it out. It was an informative discussion. 

House Committee approves performance audit of IDES

My office is inundated with phone calls from people frustrated with the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

This week, the House State Government Administration Committee unanimously approved a measure, House Joint Resolution 17, to require the Auditor General to conduct a performance audit of the Illinois Department of Employment Security and to issue a report.

CBS 2 in Chicago recently did a story on a man, Jeremiah Loveless, who lost everything while waiting for IDES to call him back. He just wanted to update his information so he could start receiving benefits. The call back never came, and he lost everything. 

We need to get to the bottom of what is going on at IDES and this legislation will accomplish that goal. The backlog of phone calls needed to be returned is appalling and completely unacceptable. 

House Joint Resolution 17 moves to the House floor for a vote.

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