Rockford Sun

In a Dec. 1 news release, Sen. Dave Syverson spoke out on the bill that made changes to the SAFE-T Act.

“State’s attorneys and law enforcement personnel from across Illinois have talked for months about how their work – and the ultimate safety of their communities – will be threatened when some provisions of the state’s controversial overhaul of its criminal justice system take effect next year,” Syverson said. “Making a bad bill ‘less bad’ is certainly not the complete answer. The SAFE-T Act should have been repealed and lawmakers focused more on protecting the innocent public as opposed to expanding rights of criminals. The minor fixes or improvements in House Bill 1095 do not address the large underlying problems and concerns with the SAFE-T Act.”

Senator Syverson has never been a fan of the SAFE-T Act. He spoke out against it early last month as well as his statement on Dec. 1. “Fifty-eight lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the SAFE-T Act were officially combined into one comprehensive suit during the week, while yet another report ranks Illinois toward the bottom of the list of tax-friendly states,” he wrote on Facebook.

On December 1, Syverson had more to say in the statement published on his website:

“I am proud to stand with our local law enforcement, and on the side of protecting our families. We need to be very clear that voting for this fix means you are supporting the underlying bill,” Syverson said. “It is like painting over a rotting wall. The changes might make it look better at first but eventually, the end result of the SAFE-T Act is that Illinois families will be less safe in their own communities.”

According to WIFR, Syverson did not vote on House Bill 1095, and he was not alone. The proposal passed out of the Senate on a 38-17 vote. Senators Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake), Michael Hastings (D-Frankfurt), Emil Jones III (D-Chicago), and Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley) did not vote on the proposal.