SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois House on Tuesday approved legislation aimed at protecting public officials from threats and harassment by allowing them to shield certain information — like home addresses — from public disclosure while sanctioning the use of campaign funds for personal security services.
The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, would allow state lawmakers, constitutional officers, state’s attorneys, public defenders, county clerks and other elections officials to request that government agencies, businesses and individuals redact or refrain from posting their personal information on public websites.
It would also allow a public official to use their campaign fund to pay for personal security and security upgrades to their home, including security systems, cameras, walls, fences and other physical improvements.
The proposal passed the House with an overwhelmingly bipartisan roll call and is expected to receive a vote in the Illinois Senate later this week. It is modeled after a 2012 state law enacted to protect judges and their families from harassment and doxing.
It comes amid a startling rise in violence and threats aimed at public officials.
In April, part of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Mansion was set on fire as the state’s chief executive and his family slept inside. Two months later, two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses were shot in their homes in a targeted attack. Two of them, Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed.
And last month, a prominent right-wing blogger filmed outside Gov. JB Pritzker’s Chicago home and invited his followers to “take action” following the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.
There are even more threats that don’t make headlines, lawmakers say.
“So unfortunately, in the political environment that's coming from all angles and all sides, we need to think a lot more about our personal security and protection — and that of our family as well,” Stuart said.
If enacted, an elected official will be able to submit a written request to the Secretary of State’s office indicating the specific personal information they wish to protect and the state agencies, businesses and individuals it should be sent to. They can also send the request to those entities personally. Once received, the entity or person would have five business days to redact the requested information from public view.
The bill makes it a Class 3 felony if an individual knowingly posts redacted information and it becomes the proximate cause of physical injury or death of the public official or a family member. A Class 3 felony can carry a prison sentence of five to 10 years.
The bill would also allow an elected official to use an office or work address for their driver’s license and to redact their home address from their nominating papers once the period for filing objections is over.
Larger elections bill stalls
Meanwhile, a broader elections bill that, among other things, would have mandated election authorities allow curbside voting for disabled people and required universities to provide on-campus early voting and Election Day polling locations stalled for a second time.
The measure didn’t move earlier this year due to pushback among House Democrats over a provision that would have allowed Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, to get out of a potential $10 million fine for accepting millions of dollars over campaign contribution limits during the 2024 election.
The provision was struck from the bill and Harmon appears likely to get out of the fine anyway due to a deadlocked verdict from the Illinois State Board of Elections.
But the bill was put on pause again this week due to concern over language that would loosen fundraising restrictions on state legislators and statewide elected officials running for federal office.
State lawmakers presently can't hold fundraisers on legislative session days or the day immediately prior. Under the proposed language, this would not apply for a federal fundraising event if it’s held outside of Sangamon County.
The change, which would take effect immediately, would directly benefit a half-dozen state lawmakers running for Congress along with Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who is running for retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat. The primary election is March 17.
“Changing the rules for folks in the middle of a race, I think, is not a great idea — not a good look for us,” state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, said before voting against the measure in a committee hearing.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, told Capitol News Illinois he was unsure if he would bring a tweaked version of the legislation back for consideration before lawmakers wrap up their fall session.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
This article first appeared on Capitol News Illinois and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
