Have Democrats forgotten the people in the middle?

In the wake of Donald Trump’s national victory and his
losing margin dropping to 11 points in Illinois from 17 in two prior races,
state legislative Democrats here have different views on how their party should
proceed.

Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Lake Forest, told my associate
Isabel Miller last week that Illinois Democrats have “forgotten about the
people in the middle.”

“I think we have done a lot of really good, progressive
things,” Sen. Morrison said. “But sometimes I think we have the tendency
to not think about the people in the middle.”

Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, told Isabel that stepping
back from progressive social issues is not on the table.

“There’s compromise, and then there’s erasing the
existence of people,” Rep. Cassidy said.

The leaders at the top, however, have been talking about
“Trump-proofing” Illinois since election day.

So, Isabel and I spent last week watching House Bill
5164’s progress in the Senate.

Commonly called the “name-change bill,” the legislation
would cap the cost of name changes in the state, halve the state residency
requirement to three months and allow certain people to ask that their name
change be exempt from public disclosure. The bill passed the House 67-39
in April, but was never assigned to a Senate committee.

Why did it stall out in the Senate? Well, the bill
includes several justifications for keeping the records out of the public eye,
including that the person seeking the name change is transgender, has survived
domestic or intimate partner abuse, or gender-based violence or human
trafficking or conversion therapy, or is a refugee, or has been granted special
immigrant status or asylum, etc.

The measure is supported by Equality Illinois, the
Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Illinois Coalition Against
Sexual Assault, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, among others.

Newspapers like the Chicago Tribune originally
filed in opposition, as did the Illinois Press Association. Newspapers
make money off public notices, of course, but they also stand on general
principals of public disclosure with things like this, and they claimed that
the legislation would get rid of the publishing requirement for everyone, not
just these folks.

Somehow, despite all the hot buttons, the bill managed to
mostly escape the outrage machine throughout the spring, summer and fall.

A large number of people, including at least some
Democrats, believe that the party’s stance on transgender rights and
immigration hurt them this year.

Other Democrats, including Gov. JB Pritzker, have
strongly insisted that the party cannot now back away from supporting
vulnerable populations simply because of partisan political
considerations.

The bill was scheduled for its first Senate committee
vote on Nov. 21. As Isabel reported at the time, the far-right Illinois
Family Institute sent a blast e-mail to its followers ahead of the hearing
claiming the legislation would “make it almost impossible to find illegal
immigrants with a criminal history and/or those who have committed crimes while
on American soil, for the purpose of deportation.”

The group also claimed that those who benefit from the
legislation include, “Those who have committed rapes and murders who don’t want
law enforcement to find them: A man who is pretending to be a woman and a woman
who is pretending to be a man.”

Some Democrats waved off the claims as fearmongering
falsehoods and the bill passed the Senate Executive Committee on a partisan
roll call, with nine Democrats voting for it and four Republicans opposed.

But when it came time for the full Senate to vote on the
bill and send it to the governor, the chamber decided to set it aside.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ram Villivalam, claimed that he
had the votes to pass the bill, regardless of Republican opposition and
increasing pressure exerted by the IFI. He said some technical process
issues were raised during the hearing and the decision was made to fix those
before proceeding.

“It’s just making sure that on the administrative side,
on the implementation side that each of the different entities that are
involved are able to communicate with one another about these petitions,” Sen.
Villivalam said.

Whatever the case, there was no “Trump-proofing” vote
during veto session. That’ll have to wait until at least early January
when the General Assembly returns for its lame duck session.

By then, the governor’s office hopes to have at least some
additional bills for the legislature to work on.

This article appears in Winter Guide 2024.