By Illinois Radio Netwrok
SPRINGFIELD– It’s been a busy month for Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and his pen.
From July 13 to Aug. 14, the governor signed 293 laws.
Some go into effect immediately, others will have to wait for January. But all are new laws.
Illinois lawmakers, like state Rep. Avery Bourne, acknowledge that nearly 300 new laws in nearly 30 days is a lot. But, not all of them are bad law, she said.
“That is a lot of new laws, and I hear from a lot of constituents that say ‘Can’t you take some off the books?’ ” Bourne said. “Two of mine signed this week actually do that. One combines a hunting and trapping license for youths into one. Another one that I had takes a livestock advisory board, and instead of meeting multiple times a year, has them meet just once a year.”
State Rep. Tim Butler said one reason Illinois has so many laws is because lawmakers can introduce as many pieces of legislation as they want.
“I think one of the issues with the way we run the General Assembly is that members can introduce an unlimited number of bills. There are states where lawmakers are limited in how many bills they can introduce,” Butler said. “I think in Illinois, that leads to more laws.”
And more are likely to come, the governor has lots more bills on his desk to act on.
