Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA)

Are you familiar with the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA)? PICA bans the manufacture and sale of assault weapons in Illinois and requires current owners of existing semi-automatic rifles to register their weapons by January 1, 2024. 

PICA serves as a vital shield to safeguard our most vulnerable: our children, families, and communities, from the specter of gun violence. PICA protects lives — without violating our 2nd Amendment rights – as was affirmed when the Illinois Supreme Court upheld this law.

The gun lobby is trying to weaken the rules for implementation concerning persons who own assault or semi-automatic weapons. The Illinois State Police (ISP) have held three public hearings to collect comments on the implementation and enforcement of this law.

The preliminary rules are in place, but you still can add your comments or concerns. For more information on PICA, including a list of banned weapons and FAQs, go to https://www.isp.illinois.gov/Home/AssaultWeapons. 

Karina’s Bill

October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month which focused attention on domestic or intimate partner violence. This violence is a pervasive social and public health crisis that predominantly impacts women and children. When a gun is available to the domestic abuser, a woman is five times more likely to be killed.

One recent example in Illinois is Karina Gonzalez, who was killed two weeks after being granted an order of protection. She and her 15-year-old daughter, Daniella, were shot and killed in their home by Karina’s abusive husband. Karina’s Bill, SB 2633, requires firearm removal within 48 hours when domestic violence survivors are granted an emergency order of protection. This bill was passed by the Illinois House and proposed in the veto session this November, but was not brought up for a vote. Watch for this bill in the next Illinois legislative session in January and advocate for its passage.

Bipartisan Safer Communities Act

On the federal level, the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (P.L. 117-159) is the most significant piece of gun safety legislation passed by Congress in nearly 30 years. This law gives states additional funding to ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of those a court has determined to be a danger to themselves or others. This law also takes important steps to prevent domestic violence abusers from purchasing guns, and it cracks down on illicit straw purchases and gun trafficking. Further, it makes significant investments in community violence intervention initiatives and school- and community-based mental health services to help reduce the threat of violence across our country.

United States v. Rahimi

A U.S. Supreme Court case is pending regarding domestic abuse victim protection rights. The majority of Americans, 82% according to a 2023 poll, agree that domestic abusers shouldn’t have guns, but a lower court ruled that they have a constitutional right to arm themselves. #SCOTUS began consideration of United States v. Rahimi on November 7th with oral arguments.

The case centers on an incident involving Zackey Rahimi, a Texas man who physically assaulted his girlfriend in a parking lot in 2019 and later told her that he would shoot her if she reported the incident. She petitioned a Texas state court to grant a domestic violence restraining order; the order was granted and included a provision barring Rahimi from possessing a firearm while it was in effect.

Rahimi later threatened a different woman with a gun and was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. In a two-month period following that incident, he shot off guns in public on five separate occasions, including shooting an AR-15 assault rifle into the home of someone who had once bought drugs from him and shooting into the air at a fast food restaurant when a friend’s credit card was declined. When police searched Rahimi’s house, they found multiple firearms and rounds of ammunition, and Rahimi was charged with violating the ban on possessing firearms.

Myth: Guns Make You Safer

Fact: Access to unsecured firearms contributes to gun violence among children and teens. Each year, nearly 350 children under the age of 18 unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else. That’s roughly one unintentional shooting per day, and 70% of these incidents take place inside a home. More than 700 children die by gun suicide each year, most often using guns belonging to a family member. Unsecured firearms also fuel gun theft and violence outside the home.

Fact: We are all safer when guns are stored unloaded, locked, and separate from ammunition. One study found that households that locked both firearms and ammunition were associated with a 78% lower risk of self-inflicted firearm injuries and an 85% lower risk of unintentional firearm injuries among children, compared to those that locked neither. 

Fact: Despite the risks to safety, the majority of gun owners do not practice secure gun storage.  Every day, 120 Americans are killed with guns and more than 200 are shot and wounded. 

There are a lot of widespread myths and conflicting information about guns, gun violence, and gun safety in America. To set the record straight, you can help dispel some of the most prominent myths about gun violence.

What You Can Do: 

• Be informed about current gun safety legislation, and voice your support.

• Educate the people in your life about these important issues by sharing information to counter gun myths with your friends and family.

• Use the Moms Demand Action Be Smart for Kids guidelines for secure storage of guns to save children’s lives. SMART is a reminder of safety tips for parents. For example, “A” reminds us to ask about the presence of unsecured firearms in other homes. To keep children safe, we now need to ask about more than allergies and alcohol when our children visit other homes.

The world and society are no longer confined to the binary; we are free to think creatively, passionately, and no longer constrained to antiquated ideas about gender. Instead society accepts people for who they are and can exist in non-binary, genderless, transgender, or genderfluid ways. Whether we are in the 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersexual, Asexual, and more) community or an ally it is our responsibility to use proper gender identity terms to show respect and acceptance. 

To be an ally and demonstrate that courtesy to our fellow humans, understanding the correct terms to use is a vital step forward. Included are a few definitions from NPR journalist Laurel Wamsley to clarify the sometimes confusing gender landscape.  

• Sex = biological status, typically assigned at birth on the basis of internal/external anatomy, generally categorized as male, female, or intersex.

• Gender = defined by social construct of norms, behaviors and roles that varies within societies and overtime, often categorized as male, female, or nonbinary.

• Gender Identity = internal sense of self and gender, which is not outwardly visible, does not always align with the sex assigned at birth. 

• Gender Expression = external expression of gender, through behavior, clothing, or other characteristics.  

• Cisgender or Cis = an adjective that is used when a person’s gender identity aligns with the sex assigned at birth.

• Transgender or Trans = an adjective that is used when a person’s gender identity differs from the sex assigned at birth.

• Nonbinary = a term that can be used to describe oneself if their gender identity doesn’t fit into the category of male or female. There is a wide range of terms that can be used such as; genderqueer, genderfluid, gender-expansive (might also be associated with the gender binary), and more.

• Agender = an adjective for a person who does not identity as any gender

• Gender Dysphoria = the psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and gender identity.

• Sexual Orientation = the physical, romantic and/or emotional attraction to members of the same and/or other genders, including lesbian, gay, bi, pan, and straight orientations. This is completely separate from gender identity and is not based on specific sexual experiences or romantic relationships.

• Intersex = general term to describe people with reproductive anatomy, chromosomes, or hormones that don’t fit the binary of male and female. This is based on biology not gender identity.

Actions to take:

• When meeting someone new, don’t assume their pronouns, instead lead by sharing yours and/or asking theirs.
• Try to leave grammar at the door and show acceptance by using They/Them pronouns
• Normalize sharing pronouns in social settings by sharing yours and writing them on name tags, email signatures, etc.
• Never assume someone else’s gender identity
• Never ask someone what kind of reproductive organs they have
• If there are gender neutral bathrooms consider using them instead of a gendered option
• Look for future announcements from the IACT team with calls for action to support legislative efforts at the Local, State, and National level to help the 2SLGBTQIA+ community 
• Be prepared to act, to stand up in support of those most vulnerable 

Additional Reading Materials: 

A Guide To Gender Identity Terms (article)

Pronoun Guide (article)

Sex Assigned at Birth and Gender Identity: What Is The Difference? (Video)

What Does it Mean to be Genderfluid? (Video)

A quick & easy guide to they/them pronouns by Archie Bongiovanni, Tristan Jimerson (Short Graphic Novel)

A quick & easy guide to queer & trans identities by Mady G and J.R. Zuckerberg (Short Graphic Novel)

Extensive resource list and links from Youth Outlook (website)

It is hard to believe, unfathomable actually, that gender equality under the law still eludes us in the United States. This is why we need a constitutional amendment, the 28th Amendment, that makes gender equality the law of the land in the U.S., and one that can not be easily taken away, as we have seen across many states in the past several years. 

AAUW National states it best:

The progress our country has made on gender equality through the courts and patchwork legislation can be reversed. Sex discrimination does not have the same legal protection as other constitutional classes, such as race, religion, or nationality. This constitutional double standard means that hard-won legislative and court victories against sex discrimination are not permanent—and can be rolled back or difficult to enforce.

The lack of constitutional equality reaches every aspect of women’s lives. The ERA would clarify, once and for all, that sex discrimination in employment and wages, reproductive rights, insurance, Social Security, education, and more is a violation of constitutional rights. Importantly, the ERA would also provide new opportunities to seek legal recourse when an individual faces sex discrimination and would place the burden of proof on those who discriminate instead of those fighting for equality. (“Where We Stand: Equal Rights Amendment – AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881”)

Our approach now, given that 38 states have ratified the ERA [Equal Rights Amendment]t as of early 2020, is to force the Archivist of the United States to publish the amendment via a lawsuit by the states of Illinois, Nevada, and Virginia; a joint resolution, passed with bipartisan support in the House in 2021, to force the Archivist  to publish the Amendment and to remove the 1982 date that was originally assigned to state support; and a new resolution, nicknamed the “start over amendment” which states largely the same points as the original ERA. 

The ERA Coalition, of which AAUW is a member, stated in April, 2023 after the Senate did not vote for cloture on the bipartisan resolution to affirm the ERA:

A bipartisan majority of Senators are now on record in favor of affirming the Equal Rights Amendment as valid and removing the time limit, reflecting the will of the vast majority of the American public. But still, a minority of Senators are hiding behind the Senate’s archaic rules instead of saying what they really mean: they’re against equality. Let’s be clear, the Equal Rights Amendment didn’t fall short, democracy did.

Opponents are hiding behind a procedural excuse because they know that if the ERA resolution came to the floor, equality would win. (“ERA Coalition Statement on the Senate Failing to Advance Bipartisan Resolution to Affirm the Equal Rights Amendment and Remove the Time Limit”)

We need your continued support!  

• Please contact your congresspeople to support HJ Res. 82 ERA Now by clicking here. 
• Sign the latest petition from the ERA Coalition here.
• Follow the ERA Coalition to stay up to date and advocate on all future petitions here.

Works Cited

“ERA Coalition Statement on the Senate Failing to Advance Bipartisan Resolution to Affirm the Equal Rights Amendment and Remove the Time Limit.” ERA Coalition Blog, 27 April 2023, https://eracoalition.blog/2023/04/27/era-coalition-statement-on-the-senate-failing-to-advance-bipartisan-resolution-to-affirm-the-equal-rights-amendment-and-remove-the-time-limit/. Accessed 17 September 2023.

“Where We Stand: Equal Rights Amendment – AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881.” AAUW, https://www.aauw.org/resources/policy/position-era/. Accessed 17 September 2023.

We Made a Difference!!

Illinois Legislative Successes

Thank you everyone who responded to a call to action, sent an email, filed a witness slip or met individually with a legislator. The Illinois General Assembly adjourned with some great legislative successes for the issues we care about: 

Abortion Access, Reproductive Health, Gender Affirming Care, and Bodily Autonomy

• Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act amends the Consumer Protection and Deceptive Practices Act to prohibit limited services pregnancy centers (more commonly known as crisis pregnancy centers) from engaging in deceptive or fraudulent practices. (SB1909)
• Protecting Patient License Plate Data provides that law enforcement shall not sell or share automatic license plate reader data to any state for the purpose of investigating or enforcing a law that denies or interferes with a person’s right to choose or obtain reproductive health care services or any lawful health care services, or for an investigation of a person based on the person’s immigration status.   (HB3326)
• Cultural Competency Continuing Education for Illinois Medical Providers requires cultural competency continuing education for health care providers to provide them with the tools and information they need to effectively and affirmingly serve communities of color, people with disabilities, people of diverse faiths, undocumented individuals, LGBTQ+ people, people living with HIV, intersex people, and other communities that have been marginalized in the health care system.  (HB2450)
• Public Higher Education Act requires each public institution of higher education, including community colleges, to make emergency contraception available through at least one wellness kiosk located on each campus under its jurisdiction. (SB1907)
• “Trailer Bill” for the previously passed Patient and Provider Protection Act makes corrections and clarifies that state-regulated health insurance must cover medications used off-label for abortion. (SB1344)
• Preventative Health Care amendments to current Code requires state-regulated health insurance to cover certain preventive health care services without a copay or deductible spend down, including immunizations, mammograms, and other services listed in the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force. In addition, it clarifies that for any preventive service designated for “men” or “women”, a company shall not deny or limit the coverage required or a claim based solely on the individual’s recorded sex or actual or perceived gender identity, or for the reason that the individual is gender nonconforming, intersex, transgender, or has undergone or is in the process of undergoing gender transition. 
• Wholesale Drug License Amendments provides legal protections for providers of and patients seeking reproductive and sexual health care, including abortion and gender-affirming care. It requires state-regulated health plans to cover abortion medications, PEP, and PrEP with no copay or deductible spend down, and creates a program for training health professionals in providing abortion care. 

Gun Violence Prevention

• Firearms Industry Responsibility Act holds gun manufacturers accountable and makes it illegal to knowingly create, maintain or contribute to a condition in Illinois that endangers the safety or health of the public by failing to establish reasonable safeguards. (HB 218)
• Amendment to the Illinois State Police Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois clarifies that the Illinois State Police should annually report the number of FRO (Firearm Restraining Order) petitions that have been filed into the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) and should also be reported on the ISP Website. (HB 2412)
• First Time Weapon Offender Program sunset date of January 2024 is repealed, thus extending the successful diversion program for offenders for first time nonviolent weapon possession offenses. (SB 424, SA1)

Protecting Democracy and Promoting Equity and Inclusivity

• Affirm Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Resolution affirms the Equal Rights Amendment as our 28th Amendment to the US Constitution and asks that action be taken for the ERA’s official publication. (HJR 0020)
• Racism-Free Schools Act provides that each school district must create, implement, and maintain an age-appropriate policy on race-related harassment and discrimination. (SB 90)
• Bans on Book Banning requires library boards to adopt written policies opposing book banning in order to be eligible for state library grants (HB 2789)
• Repeal of Marriage Prohibitions would repeal archaic and discriminatory language from 1915 that prohibits Illinois from issuing a marriage license to an out-of-state couple if their home state would not legally allow their marriage. While currently unenforced, these provisions could have ramifications should national marriage equality fall, and marriage bans become enforceable again in anti-LGBTQ+ states. (HB 1591)
• Equitable Restrooms – All Gender leaves the decision to adopt a gender-neutral multiple-occupancy restroom up to business and building owners as they determine how best to serve their communities and customers. For those businesses that adopt the restrooms, the bill establishes basic requirements to ensure safety, privacy, and inclusion. (HB 1286)
•  Driver’s License Bill amends the Illinois Identification Card Act and the Illinois Vehicle Code to give immigrants access to regular IL drivers licenses instead of temporary licenses that flag their immigration status. (HB 3882)
•  The Civil Liability for Doxing Act provides victims of doxing with a legal recourse while raising awareness about this harmful behavior. (Doxing is the broadcasting of private or identifying information about an individual, group or organization with the intent the information be used against the target for an unlawful purpose and the person whose information is published suffers harm.)  (HB 2954)
• Amendments to the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act strengthen requirements for affordable housing plans, both the content and timelines for implementation. (SB 1476)

Budget 

Lawmakers approved a $50.4 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1. It contains several new initiatives including investments in pre-K through 12th grade education, child welfare, combating poverty and homelessness, and increasing state spending on higher education. 

There was NO language to extend the Invest in Kids voucher program or remove its sunset clause in any budget bills.  However, this remains controversial and additional efforts to extend will likely continue.

Work in Progress

• Medical and Family Leave Insurance Act was not passed in this session. However, it moved farther than it has in past legislative sessions. Efforts will continue during the veto override session or in the next legislative session.

Call for Engagement

If you are not already involved, please consider adding your voice to our advocacy effort by sending an email, making a phone call, filling out a witness slip or meeting with a legislator. For only a few minutes of your time, you can have an impact. If you are interested in joining our “Witness Slip Warriors” or for more information, please contact Susan Marshall, I-Act Chair, at susanm414@gmail.com 

This posting is compiled from information gathered by the National Council of Jewish Women, League of Women Voters Naperville, Illinois National Organization of Women and the Illinois American Association of University Women.

According to The Bill of Rights Institute, the phrase to describe religious freedom, “separation of church and state” is not found in either the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. It comes from an 1802 letter by President Thomas Jefferson. As president, he allowed the War, Treasury, and Capitol buildings to be used for religious services, yet he described the First Amendment as creating “a wall of separation between church and state.” In the twentieth century, this phrase became a type of “test” for whether or not legislation violated the First Amendment. 

In 2017, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Invest in Kids Act. Under this program, Illinois residents and businesses can receive a tax credit (public funds) for donations made to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) that supply scholarship dollars to eligible students to attend private schools. The law was designed to give low-income families more educational options (opt out of public schools) and to encourage private donations to support non-public education. The program was initially intended to last for five years and to sunset after the 2022-2023 school year, with a maximum of $75 million in tax credits available each year.

The Illinois Invest in Kids Act has been controversial, as the tax credits based on donations are funneling government dollars into private institutions. Those government funds are diverted away from public schools and may help wealthier families who can afford private education. The law lacks accountability measures and feels like an egregious violation of the separation of church and state, as many of the private schools that receive dollars from the program are religiously affiliated. Illinois needs to address the criticisms about the proper use of public funds in education. 

Advocates of the Illinois voucher program argue that it provides families with more educational options and promotes competition among schools, which can lead to improved outcomes for these select students. They also contend that it supports the constitutional right to freedom of choice in education, allowing families to select schools that align with their values and beliefs.  

Opponents of the program, including AAUW, argue that it diverts funding from already underfunded public schools, worsening existing inequalities. They also point out that the program often benefits families who can already afford private schools, while leaving low-income families and students in rural areas without access to quality education.

A further complication to this discussion is the recent Supreme Court decision, Carson v. Makin, as the decision requires states to fund religious activity as part of an educational aid program. The ruling undermines the longstanding practice of prohibiting public funds from financing religious instruction and indoctrination. This may set a dangerous precedent for Illinois by requiring it to fund religious activity as part of an educational aid program. Ultimately, the decision undermines the principle of avoiding compulsory taxpayer support for religion.

AAUW argues that Illinois should follow their originally stated timeline and sunset the Invest in Kids Act. Thomas Jefferson had it right when he argued for the separation. While the program may provide some families with more choices, if continued it will worsen existing inequalities and violate constitutional principles. 

Education and free thought should be accessible to all. We should be supporting our public schools and upholding the values set forth by the Founding Fathers.