A couple of Quad Cities lawmakers split their votes on a new criminal justice reform bill in Illinois.
Michelle O'Neill has more.
State Representative Mike Halpin, a Democrat from Rock Island, says the package improves transparency and includes reasonable reforms. But Halpin also says he fought successfully to exclude a proposal to remove qualified immunity. That's the initial presumption that an officer responded appropriately.
Tony McCombie, a Republican from Savanna, says the 700-page criminal justice overhaul was compiled in the middle of the night and passed along partisan lines, 60-50. Halpin and McCombie are both incumbents who held onto their seats in the November election.
Illinois State Senator Neil Anderson, a Republican from Andalusia, agrees with McCombie that Democrats rushed the bill through the General Assembly. He calls it the "most radical legislation we have ever seen." And that it will, "make it extremely challenging for our law enforcement to do their job.”
