SPRINGFIELD….As week two of the 2022 Veto Session kicks off in Springfield, State Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) is repeating his call for a full repeal of the so-called SAFE-T Act. Law enforcement officials and States Attorneys from across the State of Illinois say the SAFE-T Act will put dangerous criminals back on our streets and make Illinois overall a less safe place to live.
“I have reached out to all of the States Attorneys from my district to gather their thoughts on his bad legislation,” said Niemerg. “From what we can ascertain at this point, only three of the 102 states attorneys in Illinois have been given the opportunity to provide input on correcting the problems with this 700-page legislation that was passed by the slimmest possible margin in the 2021 Lame Duck Session of the previous General Assembly.”
Niemerg has joined his fellow House Republicans calling for a repeal of the law for months, but supermajority Democrats that control the General Assembly have indicated they are only open to minor technical changes to the law.
“People are scared that the jail doors are going to become revolving doors after January 1, 2023, and rightly so. The end of cash bail has been an absolute disaster in other states, and Illinois will be no different,” Niemerg said. “Apparently there is a trailer bill that is in the works that contains some minor changes. Will it be enough? Probably not. We still have time to repeal this monster and go back to work to craft thoughtful, responsible, and workable criminal justice legislation. I’m willing to do the hard work to negotiate on behalf of the people I serve. I’m looking for willing partners from the other side of the aisle to do the right thing.”
The 2022 Veto Session is scheduled to wrap up business on Thursday, December 1st.
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