SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Illinois Senate Republican lawmakers are introducing a series of bills related to crime-fighting, including some that one area lawmaker says are one that are personal for her.
Legislation sponsored by State Senator Sally Turner (R-Beason), whose district extends into Tazewell County, is focusing on the use of fentanyl.
“This would create a Class One felony which could come with a fine of $100,000 for anyone using an electronic communication device in the furtherance of controlled substance trafficking involving a substance containing any amount of fentanyl,” said Turner.
Turner says the legislation focuses not on the victims of abuse, but on those using what she calls “deceptive practices” to push the drugs.
“When it comes to the ongoing fentanyl epidemic, it is possible, and our duty, to present solutions to both protect and aide its victims, while also holding its perpetrators and exploiters accountable for their crimes,” said Turner.
Another measure approved in the House and has yet to be voted on in the Senate expands availability of fentanyl test strips.
Other crime-related measures pushed by GOP State Senators, including Win Stoller of the Peoria area, address the ability to enhance charges for people arrested on Domestic Battery charges if the victim is 60 years of age or older. Another enhances penalties for Aggravated DUI, if an accident kills one person and permanently disables or disfigures another victim.
The bills, discussed Monday at a State Capitol News conference:
SB73: A person selling or dispensing any drug containing fentanyl would be subject to a Class X felony, with a nine to 40 year potential prison sentence.
HB3203: Expands availability of fentanyl testing strips.
SB1086: In cases where fentanyl causes or contributes to a death, the coroner would have to report the death as “fentanyl poisoning,” instead of a fentanyl “overdose.”
SB1974: Enhance minimum penalty to Aggravated Domestic Battery when the victim is 60 or older.
SB1976: “…provides law enforcement with a greater ability to go after domestic offenders who knowingly place any family member of their household in fear they are about to be seriously harmed. It also ensures that defendants released from custody ahead of a trial will be ordered to refrain from contacting their victims or entering their residences for a minimum of 72 hours.”
SB1405: Allows for a “blended sentencing provision” when one person is killed, and inflicts great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement to one or more people, in a drunk driving crash.
SB1968: Creates a felony offense for someone to make threats against childcare institutions and daycare facilities, or aganst someone in such facilities, similar to legislation already in place for schools.
(Source: Sen. Win Stoller’s Office)
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