But
it seems the General Assembly won’t be able to say it didn’t do anything of
note during these final few days of the 97th legislative session.
FOR
THE ILLINOIS House of Representatives gave a 65-46 vote on the issue of
permitting people without valid visas to obtain a driver’s license from the
Secretary of State’s office.
Backers
of the bill say that allowing people to get a driver’s license will also get
them to comply with the requirements of having auto insurance – which means
safer conditions on the road for all motorists.
While
some people who have their hang-ups about immigration policy want to claim this
wrongly interferes with federal law – even though regulating motorists is a
state issue.
I
couldn’t help but be amused to learn that state Rep. Randy Ramey, R-Carol
Stream – the step-son of one-time outspoken Senate President James “Pate”
Philip – said he’s already getting criticism of being a “hater” and a “racist”
because of his “no” vote on this measure.
FOR
I SUSPECT Pate would have done whatever he could have to thwart this measure
from ever coming up for a vote. Some things about Springfield just never
change.
Now
the measure, which got its final vote in the Illinois Senate last month, goes
to Gov. Pat Quinn – who couldn’t wait to release the statement saying how happy
he will be to sign this measure into law.
“I
want to commend members of the Illinois House for their bipartisan passage of
legislation that will help ensure every Illinois motorist is properly licensed
and empower more immigrants to become stronger contributors to our economy,”
the governor said, in a prepared statement.
At
least the legislators will be able to say they accomplished something on
Tuesday.
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