Many of you may recall this post from last November where I described receiving a phone call that set off a whole new chain of events, stirring up emotions that, while hardly nonexistent, tend to live somewhere buried in my subconsciousness.
Today my least favorite Governor in America (sorry, can't avoid my natural snarkiness) signed HB 3533 into law.
For those of you just joining this literary adventure, HB 3533 is an amendment to the Illinois Vehicle Code. Prior to today if someone with multiple DUI convictions (or someone that killed another person while driving drunk) wanted to apply for a new drivers license they were required to install a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID) in their car for one year. HB 3533 changes that to 5 years with a BAIID.
I know. It's not perfect. But the reality is, if we had pushed for something like lifetime revocation with no chance at ever getting a license, people would just drive without one.
That's no good.
For anyone.
By making this compromise, we felt the odds of people complying with the new law would be much greater.
I ("we" really, but since I'm the only one writing this... you get the idea) have so many people to thank for making this happen.
It started with the kids. When I told them what happened back in November, the general consensus was "what can we do about this?" I told them to write letters (well, emails actually) to (sue me, I'm old and the words are interchangeable to me) their elected officials telling them why the law needed to change and to ask for their help.
And then, I didn't write anyone.
Well, not for a few days anyway.
When the Oldest One called to tell me she got an encouraging response from one of her emails (better?) I thought I should practice what I was preaching. I wrote to Barb Wheeler and Pam Althoff, my State Rep. and State Senator. I'd met both while on union business in Springfield over the last few years. In fact, I ran against Barb last year, my first foray into politics. But that's a story for another day. Maybe.
A couple days later I got a reply from Barb asking me if I could meet her for coffee to discuss what we wanted to try and do.
So we did. At the local Pacific northwest based, coffee beverage based, super-mega-global conglomerate (sponsorship opportunities still available btw) along with a friend of Barb's that specializes in defending people that have received DUI's.
I gave her the condensed version of our story since the Blond Child was killed and then told her about the phone call that described the drunk's latest run-in with the law. From that point on, Barb was all in. The next step was a meeting in Springfield, with Barb, Ron Sandack (81st Dist. Rep and former Mayor of the town I work in) my friend Nancy from AAIM and a couple of legislative aides. We met in Springfield and talked about what we could do to effect change. From there, based on the suggestions at our meeting, the legislative aides crafted the language that, ultimately became law.
Let me digress here for a minute. I think it's safe to say that Barb Wheeler and I are about as diametrically opposed politically as any two people can be. She's a pretty conservative Republican and I'm a pretty liberal Democrat.
We don't see eye-to-eye on much.
But we couldn't have gotten this bill into law without her.
More "Thank You's" to follow...
The bill went before the House Committee on Transportation: Vehicles and Safety on March 17th, a day that I was, coincidentally, in Springfield for my union Legislative Conference. I mentioned, in passing, to a couple of my friends, that I had to duck out briefly in the morning to testify before the committee on behalf of the bill. The Boy Child (also in town for the LC) and I sat in the committee room waiting for the meeting to start. At least 10 of my fellow firefighters from around the state walked in to the room as a show of support.
I was completely unprepared for that.
But, I managed to maintain some sense of composure and got through my testimony in about 5 minutes. One of the things Barb tried to stress to me was to be brief.
Obviously she doesn't know me well.
The committee passed the bill unanimously, by a vote of 9-0-0. More importantly, to me anyway, was that we picked up three more cosponsors, including the Chair of the committee. This brought the number up to six; three R's and three D's and that was also something that was important to me. By the time the bill came up for it's third reading in the House, on April 16th, we had added five more sponsors and again, they came from both sides of the aisle. When the vote went down I was stunned to find out it was unanimous again, by a count of 105-0-13. The 13 represented absent members that did not vote.
From here the bill went over to the Senate where Pam Althoff was it's sponsor. It had already picked up a cosponsor before reaching the Senate and ultimately would add two more. Pam asked me if I could come down to Springfield to testify before the Senate Committee on Criminal Law. Of course, I did. And on May 12th I sat before them and, just like in the house, I gave them a five minute version of what this proposed language meant to me and to my family.
It passed out of committee 11-0-1. On May 25th the bill went before the full Senate for it's third reading and as I watched the vote online I was once again pleasantly surprised to see it was a unanimous vote; 55-0-4.
Our bill would become law.
It would, at this point, become law whether the Governor signed it or not. He could veto it, of course, but with only unanimous votes, I felt confident that even if he did, for whatever reason, there would be enough votes to overturn said veto. So we waited. Even though I didn't think it would get vetoed, I knew it wasn't a done deal until it became law either through his signature or by waiting 60 days after he received the bill.
And I actually thought that was how it would go down at that point. With all the acrimony in Springfield, I didn't think this would take a high priority so I thought it would just pass through quietly.
It was sent to the Governor on June 23rd and yesterday, I got a phone call from Barb. She told me she had just gotten off the phone with the Governor's office and that he would be signing HB 3533 into law today at the Thompson Center in Chicago.
I couldn't make it in, I'm on shift at the firehouse, and the Boy Child is too. But the girls and 3/4ths of the grandkids went to witness the bill being signed. It would have been nice to be there, but with no time to find a trade, I had no choice. I'm ok with it, I didn't need to be there. And I'm glad the Heir to the Throne, Boy Genius and the Reigning Princess were able to go. I'm a big believer in civics lessons and today was a chance for them to see, and hopefully learn, something that not every kid has a chance to be a part of.
Of course, ultimately, it's a pretty rotten reason this happened, but...
So, I think that's it. Except of course for the Thanks. I usually try and avoid this, because I'm so afraid I'll forget someone. But here goes.
Thanks so much to Rep. Barb Wheeler and Sen. Pam Althoff, our original sponsors. And a huge Thank You to their staffs, the people that did, without question, the bulk of the work required to pass this law. Reps. Ron Sandack and John Anthony, the first two cosponsors in the House. Reps. John D'Amico, Natalie Manley and Kathy Willis, the cosponsors from the first committee and to Reps. Terri Bryant, Anthony DeLuca, Jack Franks, Martin Moylan, Carol Sente and Sens. Martin Sandoval, Julie Morrison and Iris Martinez for signing on as cosponsors. Thanks to the members of the AFFI Legislative Committee; Eddy Crews, Richard Martin and Chuck Sullivan and President Pat Devaney for your guidance, suggestions and connections. Thanks to AAIM and especially to Nancy Easum for your expertise in writing bills. Thanks to the many friends and family members for their support and encouragement every step along the way. Thanks to my kids. Without you none of this would have happened. Each and every one of you made a commitment to try and prevent another family from having to go through what we've gone through. And today, I think we've made a big step in that direction.
And finally, thank you to the Blonde Child and her Mother. We miss you each and every day. You have been the motivator behind everything we've done to try and prevent the pain of loss that we've felt from happening to other families.
I hope I didn't forget anyone...
Peace
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