Urgent Abortion ACTION Alert

Written by David E. Smith

Yesterday afternoon, the Illinois House Democrat Caucus met for 2-3 hours to discuss, among other things, the grotesquely misnamed “Reproductive Health Act.” If passed into law, this legislation would dramatically expand abortion–including Medicaid abortions–and usurp parental rights. We expect that the original proposal will be amended and a new (shell) bill number assigned.

Personal PAC, Planned Parenthood of Illinois, the ACLU of Illinois, along with State Representatives Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) and Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) are pushing hard to revive this deadly measure before they adjourn for the summer on May 31st.… Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: Election Post-Mortem (Part 2)

Written by David E. Smith

Another election has come and gone. A number of states saw a noticeable political shake-up. For pro-life/pro-family conservatives in Illinois, things went from bad to worse.

As promised last week, Monte Larrick and I are once again joined by Richard Hartian, Chairman of Illinois Family Action, for this episode of Spotlight.

Moving on from the post-mortem of What went wrong? to a discussion of Where do we go from here? – Hartian, Smith, and Larrick consider what Illinois might look like under a Democrat-controlled statehouse led by J.B.… Continue Reading

An Update on the Republican State Central Committee Party Leadership Vote

Written by John Biver and David E. Smith

Illinois Family Action wants to provide an update regarding the upcoming leadership vote tomorrow of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee (SCC).

The Illinois GOP SCC is the state party’s governing board, with one member chosen from each congressional district. Those elections took place last month at county party conventions across the state. Tomorrow, the SCC will meet to elect a party chairman for a four-year term.

The reason this committee and the party chairman is important is that the quality of messaging, candidate recruitment, and support are dependent on the quality of the party leaders.… Continue Reading

GOP Candidates for Attorney General: Gary Grasso and Erika Harold

Written by John Biver and Dave Smith

In a previous article, we covered the crowded Democratic Party primary for Illinois Attorney General, so now we turn to the two-way race for Republicans.

As with the Democrats, the Republicans are talking a lot about using the office to combat corruption — something the 4-term incumbent Lisa Madigan has been roundly criticized for failing to do. As noted previously, the fact that her father is Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan is often seen as the reason for that seeming lack of effort.… Continue Reading

IFA’s Governor’s Race Comparisons Piece

Written by John Biver

The 2018 Republican primary for Illinois governor is unique when you consider the ideological differences between the candidates and the dramatic difference in the size of their bank accounts.

Bruce Rauner is a social policy Leftist, Jeannie Ives is a pro-family conservative. Bruce Rauner has tens of millions of his own money to spend on his campaign. Jeannie Ives must raise every dollar she can to compete.

During the founding era of our country, the flow of information was obviously all word of mouth — neighbors talking to neighbors, friends to friends.… Continue Reading

Mrs. Ives Heads to Springfield

… Continue Reading

The Crowded (and Contentious) Democratic Party Race for Attorney General

Written by John Biver

There are more Democratic Party candidates for attorney general (8) than there are for governor (6). Speaker Michael Madigan’s daughter, Lisa Madigan, retiring after the end of her fourth term, has held the office since first being elected in 2002.

The candidates are State Rep. Scott Drury, Sharon Fairley, Aaron Goldstein, Renato Mariotti, State Sen. Kwame Raoul, Nancy Rotering, Jesse Ruiz, and former governor Pat Quinn.… Continue Reading

BONUS: HB 40 Backlash (Illinois Family Spotlight #062)

As most of you know, HB 40 was signed into law by Governor Bruce Rauner last week. Pro-life voters are deeply disturbed by the governor’s change of heart.

Joining Monte Larrick to talk about this ominous legislation is State Representative Peter Breen (R-Lombard), an Illinois House GOP floor leader and a pro-life leader in his own right.  Rep. Breen has been one of the most outspoken Republicans against HB 40.

Discussed in this bonus podcast: the implications of the bill, what we can do to mitigate its effects, the governors inability to outmaneuver House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), and the question many Illinois conservatives are asking: should Governor Rauner be challenged in the March 2018 Primary Election?… Continue Reading

School Funding Bill Compromise: ‘CPS Got Bailed Out and We Made Promises We Can’t Keep’

Written by John Biver

Earlier this month, the Illinois General Assembly approved a school funding bill compromise that Governor Bruce Rauner supports. The Illinois News Network reports:

“For far too long, too many low-income students in our state have been trapped in underfunded, failing schools,” Rauner said in a statement. “The system needed to change. We have changed it. We have put aside our differences and put our kids first. It’s a historic day for Illinois.”

Illinois Republicans Set National Record for Losing Elections

Written by John Biver

The Illinois News Network reported some big news about a new national “political power” record that was set this week:

Illinois’ longest serving House speaker is now the United State’s longest serving statehouse speaker.

The title was held for years by a South Carolina politician from the 1970s, but the title now goes to Chicago Democrat Michael Madigan.

Madigan has been speaker of the Illinois House every year since 1983, except for two years in the 1990s when Republicans were in the majority.