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* The Senate’s consent calendar sure comes in handy…
The Illinois Senate passed 142 bills today, including @SenEdlyAllen's bill that would allow victims of digital forgeries, better known as “deepfakes,” to sue perpetrators and collect damages. The Senate is done for the week. They'll be back at 5 p.m. Monday. #twill pic.twitter.com/X8NgViuhbU
— Brenden Moore (@brendenmoore13) May 11, 2023
* Patrick Keck…
Legislation granting victims of digital forgeries, commonly known as deepfakes, to take legal action against perpetrators who create and share inauthentic media is now one step closer to becoming law.
House Bill 2123 from Sen. Mary Edly-Allen, D-Libertyville, passed in the Senate unanimously on Thursday. The bill, previously led by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, will return to the House for a concurrence vote where it is expected to pass. […]
The scene on the Senate floor, several Republicans thanking Edly-Allen for the bill, was vastly different from several committee hearings on the matter earlier in session.
Prior coverage:Digital forgeries bills advance out of House, Senate committees
Members of the minority party had expressed First Amendment concerns for when the technology was used for parodies or for political ads. Democrats and supporters of the bill answered by saying the bill only applies to bad actors, meaning those forms of speech would not be impacted. […]
Like the Digital Forgeries Act, HB 3563 is also heading back to the House for concurrence and tasks the Department of Innovation and Technology to build an AI task force. The Generative AI and Natural Language Processing Task Force would be created to investigate the potentials for the technology through the bill.
* WCBU…
Peoria environmental advocates and community leaders are advocating for the passage of legislation expanding regulations on the construction of carbon dioxide transport pipelines.
At a press conference Thursday, Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance member Joyce Harant said House Bill 3119 and Senate Bill 2421 include protections for the communities proposed carbon dioxide pipelines would pass through. […]
Measures included in the bills would place liability for pipeline accidents on the development companies, establish financial benefits for the communities near pipelines and prohibit the use of forced acquisition or eminent domain in pipeline construction.
The company Wolf Carbon Solutions is currently in talks with BioUrja about a potential trunkline that would transport captured carbon dioxide from the BioUrja ethanol plant in South Peoria to a sequestration site in Decatur.
If you are an Uber or Lyft customer, you have probably received an email recently urging you to press your lawmakers to oppose House Bill 2231. The rideshare companies say the legislation is a “disguised safety bill” and will cause dramatically increased fares.
These misleading tactics are an attempt to trick passengers into lobbying against a bill that would protect them. The fact is that House Bill 2231 is not a disguised safety bill but rather a legitimate effort to ensure the safety of rides-hail passengers. That Uber and Lyft are trying to deceive their passengers into believing that this legislation is solely about increasing fares is deeply concerning. It is clear that their primary concern is their bottom line, not the safety of their customers. This type of behavior is unacceptable and must be called out.
It is worth noting that other cities and states have implemented increased safety standards, and the rideshare companies seem to be operating without issue. Furthermore, safety improvements like driver training, enhanced background checks, and in-app emergency features can be effective and cheaply employed.
* Green Power Alliance…
Core partners of the Campaign to End Energy Poverty held a press conference to discuss the energy unaffordability crisis plaguing the state. New data issued from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), the agency that oversees the state’s energy assistance programs, reveals the depth of the problem. Five pending utility rate increase requests and utility record profits will only exacerbate the situation.
To bring attention to this crisis, the Green Power Alliance, the lobbying affiliate of Blacks in Green, the National Consumer Law Center, and other advocacy organizations called on the utilities to come to the negotiating table and work to achieve passage of the People’s Utility Rate Relief (PURR) Act - HB2172, and SB1842, a separate bill that would increase available energy assistance dollars to begin to meet the immense need throughout the state.
The PURR Act - HB 2172 – will protect the interests of Illinois consumers and keep families safe by minimizing disconnections of essential utility services for medically vulnerable populations and requiring the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to specifically assess the impacts of utility revenue collection practices by zip code. The Bill is the product of the Campaign to End Energy Poverty, sponsored by the Green Power Alliance, the lobbying arm of Blacks in Green (BIG™), and the National Consumer Law Center, with input and support from consumers and advocates from throughout the state.
“We’ve been inviting decision-makers to come to the table and work out a morally-correct bill by May 19 for months now,” said Naomi Davis, founder and CEO of Blacks in Green. “In the meantime, the data keeps rolling in, painting the painful reality of the severity of the affordability crisis that affects millions of Illinois customers struggling to pay for heat and light.”
* WAND…
Illinois school buses could soon have extended stop arms to help kids stay safe thanks to a plan passed out of the House and Senate.
Senate Bill 2340 will allow school buses to have two stop arms with flashing lights to partially obstruct roads when students get on or off the bus.
Most people know that it is illegal for cars to drive around buses when they are stopped to drop off kids. However, sponsors say too many people ignore the stop sign.
“Unfortunately, too many cars and too many vehicles do blow past those stop signs,” said Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-Naperville). “This bill allows those buses to have these flashing extended arms to help remind cars that they need to stop.”
* Effingham Radio…
State Senator Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) is seeking to protect gun owners across Illinois, who recently made legal firearm purchases, from facing unjust criminal prosecution in the future. […]
“First, the Attorney General and the Governor’s Administration refused to issue any guidance, or even to encourage people to be cautious, while the injunction was in effect,” said Plummer. “Now, the Governor is telling people to commit perjury by lying on a form about the date in which they purchased the firearm?”
To rectify the issue and to prevent law-abiding citizens from being turned into criminals, Sen. Plummer filed legislation, Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1073, which updates the affidavit requirements to include firearms purchased during a period in which a court issued an injunction on the law. This would allow individuals who purchased “banned firearms” during this recent injunction or any future ones, to be able to legally keep and possess them.
“This isn’t about how you feel about guns,” said Plummer. “This legislation protects people who were simply trying to follow the law, it’s that simple. This is the right thing to do. If the Governor and the Attorney General say they really aren’t trying to entrap lawful people, they will support this bill.”
posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, May 12, 23 @ 10:48 am
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School buses should have a dash camera and cameras on the arms that extend off the bus and take pictures of those that go around a stop bus and ticket the car
Comment by DuPage Saint Friday, May 12, 23 @ 11:39 am
“To rectify the issue and to prevent law-abiding citizens from being turned into criminals”
Nobody forced anyone to lie on a form and perjure themselves.
These supposed constitutional experts who impulsively rushed out to buy firearms because of a temporary court action, sure don’t seem to understand the law very well.
I don’t see any Amicus Curiae briefs filed by Plummer in the case where the judge made the interesting temporary ruling based on the reasoning that both buying a firearm and not buying a firearm are unconstitutional - at the same time.
Playing games with the law often leads to bad outcomes. Let it be a lesson to those legal experts who acted impulsively, that they are in fact not legal experts.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Friday, May 12, 23 @ 12:18 pm
Invisible,
Based on your comments, not sure you fully understand the issues here…
No one wants to lie on the form, which is why the amendment is being filed.
People were following the law by purchasing when the injunction was in place. It wasn’t done illegally at a time the law was being enforced
The ISP approved sales during the injunction, so then to declare them illegal so the transfer could not be completed is also part of the issue.
You may not like Plummer or downstate GOP, but his concerns are valid for people who were acting within the confines of the law at the time.
Comment by CJA Friday, May 12, 23 @ 2:25 pm
@DuPage Saint - The original bill had language about other motorists calling in to police if they witnessed someone going around a stopped bus. They removed that language in an amendment. But they added language if you hit the stopped bus or a kid your license is suspended for 3-months.
I agree, it would seem cameras would be easy. But given all the digital privacy issues going around, this law is more of the low hanging fruit solution (longer stop arms and higher fines).
Comment by From DaZoo Friday, May 12, 23 @ 2:29 pm