Lou Lang Urges Pat Quinn to Sign Election of Governor-Lt. Governor on Same Ticket Bill

(Springfield, IL) — April 29, 2010. The Illinois Senate yesterday approved 56-0 legislation to require candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run as a team during a primary election.

The measure, House Bill 5820, comes on the heels of the 2010 primary which witnessed the election of the disgraced Scott Lee Cohen in the Democratic primary and the inexperienced 27-year old Jason Plummer in the Republican primary.

The bill’s chief sponsor, House Deputy Majority Leader Lou Lang (D-Skokie) said, “This bill should once and for all end the election of odd-ball, dubious candidates by the established parties because the gubernatorial candidates will need to screen the background of their running mates.”

In addition to Lang, House sponsors included State Representatives: Art Turner (D), Paul Froehlich (D), Cynthia Soto (D), Karen Yarbrough (D),  Daniel Beiser (D) and  Barbara Flynn Currie (D).

Turner was a candidate for Lt. Governor and took second place behind Cohen.

The legislation now heads to Governor Pat Quinn.

“I strongly encourage the Governor to sign this bill,” said Lang.

Lou Lang Blasts Illinois House Republicans for Blocking Crime Victim Rights Measure

(Springfield, IL) — April 16, 2010. Despite Republican sponsorship of the legislative measure to enshrine Illinois crime victim rights into the Illinois Constitution, the bulk of Illinois House Republicans on Wednesday voted against a constitutional amendment, causing the plan to fail and drawing a harsh rebuke from the plan’s Democratic sponsor.

“The vote against this amendment was Republican politics at its most petty,” said House Deputy Majority Leader Lou Lang (D-Skokie) who has championed House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 19 for the last two years.

During the floor debate, Lang trained his fire on State Rep. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) who echoed GOP claims that Lang’s amendment was part of a Democratic plot to stuff the November ballot–which is limited to only 3 constitutional amendments–with Democratic-only amendments.

“You think that two years ago I decided to spend two years of my life working on this amendment just so you could vote no on it because you think there’s some conspiracy is really kind of insulting,” said Lang, according to Chicago Public Radio which covered the political fireworks.

“… Representative Lang, sir, two weeks ago we passed a bill that does exactly what you want to do,” retorted Rose.

Lang argued that a constitutional amendment ensures that enforcement is reinforcement.

“A constitutional amendment gives teeth to the victim rights protections,” said Lang. “Tragically, the Republicans placed grubby politics above crime victims.”

Lang intends to bring the measure back for another vote.

Rep. Lou Lang Pushes Illinois Medical Marijuana Bill; Chicago Reader Runs Front Page Story

(Chicago, IL) — April 9, 2010. House Deputy Majority Lou Lang‘s effort to bring Illinois medical marijuana legislation across the finish line this year drew front page attention from the Chicago Reader this week.

The Reader‘s Claire Thompson writes:

Now the bill, HB2514, has to pass the house, where it’s sponsored by Skokie Democrat Lou Lang. Lang, who also sponsored the first gay-rights bill to make it out of that chamber, has supported past proposals to permit the use of medical marijuana in Illinois—all of which have failed. But he didn’t sign on as a sponsor until last year, when the medical-marijuana lobby asked him to. Now, he says, “I’m locked at the hip with this bill.”

Lang says he’s talked about it with each of the other 117 representatives. “Ninety-two of them have looked me in the eye and said, ‘This is a great bill. I hope you pass it.'” he says. “But only 52 have said they’ll vote for it. They come up with all kinds of excuses. When you have elected officials who choose to vote against their own conscience for political reasons, that’s a recipe for bad politics.”

Read the rest of Thompson’s story on the Illinois medical marijuana bill saga here …

Rep. Lou Lang Brings Illinois Jobs Task Force to Decatur for Hearing

(Decatur, IL) — April 2, 2010. House Deputy Majority Leader Lou Lang (D-Skokie) and chair of the House Jobs Task Force brought the panel to Decatur on Wednesday for a public hearing to generate local job creation and retention ideas.

Decatur Herald & Review reporter Chris Luvardi wrote:

Small-business owner Otto Klemm would like to see smaller government, less regulation and a tax cut.

Klemm is the owner of C&K Custom Signs, which he said is a three-person business dependent on the general economy in the Decatur market. During a state jobs task force meeting Wednesday, Klemm took issue with some of the things small businesses are forced to do by the government.

“We have to pay the unemployment tax,” Klemm said. “How am I going to lay myself off and still have a business? We should be exempt.”

Klemm was one of those whom state Reps. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, and Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, heard from during the meeting in the Decatur City Council chambers. Flider and Mitchell were joined by colleagues Lou Lang, D-Skokie, and Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana.

Lang, chairman of the bipartisan task force set up by House Speaker Michael Madigan, told those sharing their ideas to be specific. The task force was created because jobs are a major issue in the state, with the Decatur area January unemployment figure hitting 14.4 percent.

For the rest of Luvardi’s report, read it here …

Based on the Decatur hearing and others across the state, Lang expects to introduce a jobs package of legislation to the Illinois General Assembly this year.