From: James Yorton Subject: ACTION ALERT: Illinois Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 09:23:27 -0500 (CDT) [ submitted by Tim Pierce ] ** PLEASE FORWARD ** ** Expires: April 25 ** author: Tim Pierce SB 1773 is the Illinois "anti-recognition" bill. It would prevent legitimate same-sex marriages performed outside the state from being recognized in Illinois. SUMMARY: SB 1773 has been accelerated, and has suddenly been scheduled for Executive Committee hearing on Wednesday, April 24. Call Republican members of the Executive Committee and tell them that this mean-spirited bill has no place in Illinois. Non-residents of Illinois, please see the bottom of this message for instructions. Following the strong showing in opposition of SB 1773 by gay lobbyists on April 17, Illinois Republicans have changed their tactics. SB 1773 is now being rushed through the House as quickly as possible. On April 18, immediately after the "No on SB 1773" lobby day, the bill was passed out of Rules Committee and is scheduled for hearing before the Executive Committee on Wednesday, April 24 at 9 a.m. We need immediate action to demonstrate strong and continuing opposition to this hateful bill. Last week Governor Jim Edgar and Speaker Lee Daniels received 10,000 petitions in opposition of SB 1773, and the House of Representatives was deluged with more than a hundred activists from around the state demanding that the bill be stopped. In response, twenty House Republicans sent a letter to Speaker Daniels asking him to hold the bill. Moderate Republicans see this bill as ultimately harmful to their party, and the religious-political extremists behind this legislation in the first place are increasing the pressure. WE CANNOT LET THEM WIN. WE MUST KEEP UP OUR MOMENTUM. Illinois citizens: please call the following Republican members of the Executive Committee. Points to raise: * This bill is mean-spirited and divisive. It does not support the values of Illinois citizens, and has no place in Illinois law. * The Illinois Christian Coalition "Religious Rights Watch" newsletter reports that Senator Fitzgerald introduced this bill "at the request" of the Christian Coalition. Ask whether you are being represented in the legislature by your democratically elected representative, or by religious-political extremists with an anti-gay agenda. Republicans on the Executive Committee: Name Telephone District Phone ----------------- -------------- -------------- Ron Stephens: (217) 782-8060 (618) 632-0373 (chair) Verna Clayton: (217) 782-1664 (847) 520-3555 (vice-chair) Robert Biggins: (217) 782-6578 (708) 941-1278 Jack Kubik: (217) 782-5821 (708) 442-0149 Carole Pankau: (217) 782-8158 (708) 582-0390 Dan Rutherford: (217) 782-7776 (815) 842-3632 Kay Wojcik: (217) 782-0827 (708) 529-0461 (Note: Kay Wojcik's district telephone number may actually be in the new 847 area code.) It is better to call Springfield offices (area code 217), but if the line is busy or money is short, call the district phone instead. The following Democratic representatives also serve on the Executive Committee. These would also be good to contact, especially if you live in one of their districts, but it is much more critical right now to focus on the Republican committee members. Miguel Santiago (217) 782-0480 (312) 486-9779 Jay Hoffman (217) 782-0515 (618) 345-2176 Rod Blagojevich (217) 782-5971 (312) 772-0362 Constance Howard (217) 782-6476 (312) 783-8800 NON-RESIDENTS OF ILLINOIS: please do not call at this point. We still hope to be able to stop the bill before it goes to the floor for a full vote before the house, and input from outside the state would make that more difficult. HOWEVER, if you are itching for action, please feel free to prepare a short letter for Governor Jim Edgar, and have it ready to go at a moment's notice. If the bill gets through the house, we will need to pull out all the stops in order to prevent it from being signed. The main point to focus on is that the bill is simply a mean-spirited piece of legislation that is not really about public policy, and is a cheap political move that will ultimately be harmful to the Republican party. --- _____________________________________________________________________________ * ACTION-ALERT is a moderated mailing list. * * To subscribe to ACTION-ALERT, send mail to: majordomo@vector.casti.com * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: subscribe action-alert * * To unsubscribe to ACTION-ALERT, send mail to: majordomo@vector.casti.com * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: unsubscribe action-alert * * Words in the Subject: line are NOT processed! * _____________________________________________________________________________