By Blake Haas
BLOOMINGTON – As Gov. Pritzker signed a sweeping criminal justice reform bill on Tuesday, one state lawmaker says some areas of the legislation “concern him greatly.”
State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Normal) told WJBC’s Scott Miller, House Bill 3653 has some positives, but some areas need improvement, which could come in the form of amendments.
“We tried to the best of our ability to get to stakeholders back to the table and have some discussions before this bill moved forward in the veto session. In the way, it moved forward, and the process was very concerning to me.”
According to Rep. Brady, the bill, which abolishes cash bail, still needs work.
“There’s more work to be done on the bill. I’m concerned not only from the public safety side of things but the position it puts officers in. Now, being able to have anonymous complaints. Complaints are fine, but let’s stand behind those complaints if you are going to make them. The other areas of no cash bail and other areas of dealing with the different areas with the use of force and what officers can do when responding.
“I think we’re going to find ourselves creating amendments to the bill, and that’s why I hope we could have sat back down at the table with many of the stakeholders and have discussions before it became law.”
LISTEN: State Rep. Dan Brady spoke with WJBC’s Scott Miller.
State Rep Dan Brady on Madigan, more vaccines and Gov's criminal justice reform bill https://t.co/uceboYTBeD
— WJBC AM-1230 (@WJBC) February 24, 2021
Before signing the bill, House Leader Jim Durkin offered Gov. Pritzker an invitation to sit down and go through the bill line-by-line, but Rep. Brady said the meeting didn’t quite produce what they had hoped.
The 766-page bill passed on a last-minute vote during the lame-duck session.
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
