The Illinois House voted 65-46 on Tuesday in favor of a bill to give driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, after advocates argued that the legislation could make the roads safer and prevent people from driving without insurance.
The bill will now go to the desk of Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who plans to sign it. The state Senate already approved the measure, also with bipartisan support.
“I want to commend members of the Illinois House for their bipartisan passage of legislation that will help ensure every Illinois motorist is properly licensed and empower more immigrants to become stronger contributors to our economy," Quinn said in a statement after the vote. "Not only will Senate Bill 957 save lives, it will save Illinois motorists $46 million a year in insurance premiums by making sure every driver is properly insured."
Illinois lawmakers abruptly adjourned a lame-duck legislative session Tuesday without agreement on how to fix the nation's most dire pension crisis, declining even to vote on the governor's last-ditch effort to let an independent commission sort out the $96 billion mess.
The push to solve the crisis by Gov. Pat Quinn's deadline of Wednesday, when a new Legislature is sworn in, crumbled swiftly during the day. Democratic sponsors of a reform bill failed to amass the votes necessary amid stiff union resistance and legislative leadership unwilling to chance a roll-call vote.
Illinois' Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Tuesday asked the entire 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a lawsuit challenging the state's ban on concealed carry in an effort to salvage the only law in the nation that makes the practice entirely illegal. Last month, a three-judge panel struck down the Illinois ban as unconstitutional and gave lawmakers 180 days to write a law legalizing it. But Madigan is asking that all 10 judges on the court rehear the case, saying the previous decision "goes beyond what the U.S. Supreme Court has held" and conflicts with decisions by two other federal appellate courts.
The judges suggested in a 2-1 decision that legalizing concealed carry is long overdue. Judge Richard Posner, who wrote the majority opinion, said that there was nothing to suggest that criminal activity in Illinois was different enough from that in other states to justify taking a different approach to concealed carry.
A driver is lucky to be alive after his car was hit by a Metra train Monday afternoon at the Northwest Highway railroad crossing near Arthur/Davis in Arlington Heights. According to Arlington Heights Police Sargeant Jerry Lehnert, as the train was coming westbound, it stuck the front bumper of the car. The driver, who has not been identified, was parked so close to the crossing that the gates actually came down on the roof of the vehicle at the time of the incident.
at its business, according to local media reports. In light of the fatal shooting in Newtown, Conn., owners Mark Battaglia and Kevin Slota decided to eliminate all of the games that involved shooting and killing humans.
along with his boyhood friend, Joe Mailander, for best Children’s album, according to the Lake Forest College News.
Performing as the Okee Dokee Brothers, Lansing and Mailander received their nomination for the album Can You Canoe.
We elected them. Well maybe noy you and I but the majority which is what worries me about the country we live in.
Insurance is on the vehicle, not the driver. No matter who is driving. That info is supposed to be updated with every plate renewal & upon purchase of new plates. If the State doesn't police the system it already has in place, this will just add another layer of bureaucracy to it. By having newly licensed drivers, who still don't add or update the information. Making them no more legal, or creating any safer of an environment. The State STILL gives the renewals when left blank or containing erroneous info, because they want/need the revenue. Never following up on the most obvious of omissions. They then rely on the insurers, to be the safety net if something goes wrong. Washing their hands of responsibility. Insurance companies will become wise to this, & to protect their own interests wipe away the supposed effectiveness of this new legislation, by adding a clause that they do not cover anyone the Federal Government deems a criminal. This is all just a massive paper shuffle that will raise everyone's rates. It makes the State look like they addressed a problem, when in reality they exacerbated an existing one. A better step would have been requiring the DMV & Currency Exchanges, where all questionable title & plate work takes place, to verify ALL information is valid before issuing them. And not give citizens legal or illegal, fresh 12 month time frames to drive around uninsured.
DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THIS LAW AS WRITTEN WILL NOT BE CHANGED? TO HAVE CAR INSURANCE YOU HAVE TO BE INSURING A AUTO
The point is that, despite continuing to drive in Illinois, many of them won't get licenses or insurance, because they don't do things legally.
If they lived in the US for 10+ years and are still undocumented they should be either put in jail or deported
PERHAPS THATS WHY THE DEMS PUSHED THIS THROUGH
Particularly at currency exchanges. (I insisted it be done on any car I've sold) Also in "title only" scenarios, when the plates are presumed purchased later. The assumption is the DMV will get it then. Go to a different currency exchange, and it gets overlooked again. All scenarios lead to a potential 12 month period where an uninsured car has legal plates. The assumption is the database between the ins. industry and the DMV is closely monitored. It is not. If an incomplete registration sneaks in under the radar, it is not pursued. Without seeing the full wording of the above legislation, there is no knowing how the State intends to force insurance carriers to sell policies to people who don't yet have DL #s or even cars. When I last renewed my own plates at the DMV, the clerk separated & tossed the portion I'd pre-written my insurance info on, and printed out a new one left blank. Then separated & tossed out that portion again. Which means the only record of my insurer, is from years ago. Or whatever my insurer provided them. If the shared database is so up to date & reliable, the DMV wouldn't be asking for such info every time. It's a false safeguard.
And employers should be fined $100,000 per day per illegal employee - no exceptions. Once there's NO opportunities, no FREE stuff, and NO work for illegal immigrants - you'll see LEGAL immigration on the rise. And for those who believe this is harsh, what I propose is already in place in several other countries around the World - including some popular points of origin for illegal immigration to the USA. Why should we be any different?