Macon Reporter

State Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) said the attempt by Democrats to quell the concern of Illinois citizens over the much-maligned SAFE-T Act fell flat. 

A trailer bill to the SAFE-T Act passed 38-17 in the Senate and 71-40 in the House. No Republican voted for the changes. 

“Is it no wonder that we are dealing with now a fourth trailer bill to correct problems from legislation passed in the dark of the night?” Caulkins said. “These changes do nothing to improve the overall effect of the Democrat pro-criminal bill – one of the worst bills in the country. Illinoisans’ personal safety is still at risk. Democrats won’t be happy until every criminal is released on the streets. Now, we can only hope the lawsuit filed by 60 state’s attorneys in Illinois is successful in finding the SAFE-T Act unconstitutional. And then to further insult law-abiding citizens of Illinois, the Democrats introduced a bill to let felons vote while still in jail.”

The SAFE-T Act was a flashpoint in the 2022 campaign, the Will County Gazette reported.

Thousands of inmates who are currently being held in jails around the state while they await trial on serious crimes would be released as a result of the bill on Jan. 1. 

If the SAFE-T Act is implemented as intended, those charged with the most heinous crimes—such as robbery, kidnapping, arson, second-degree murder, intimidation, aggravated battery, aggravated DUI, aggravated flight, drug-related homicide and threatening a public official—may be freed.

Of the 102 state's attorneys, 60 have filed lawsuits to stop the legislation from taking effect in its current form and 100 are in favor of amending or repealing the law altogether, the Madison-St. Clair Record reported.

New Senate Minority Leader John Curran said one of his goals is to roll back parts of the SAFE-T Act. 

“So the Democrats decided to go it alone on this issue two years ago,” Curran said, WSIU reported. “And they placated the extremes of their base. And what they got was an extreme product that has caused nothing but divisiveness in this state over the last two years on the issues of balancing civil liberties and public safety.”