Peoria Standard

The SAFE-T Act, set to take effect Jan. 1, will do little to make citizens safer and they’ll have to pay more in taxes, Illinois Republicans asserted during a media event this week.

The Telegraph reported on a press conference that took place in Edwardsville on Monday, where Illinois Republicans discussed the SAFE-T Act, saying it won’t make citizens safe and it will result in higher property taxes. 

“The dangerous SAFE-T Act legislation continues to become one of the worst pieces of legislation to come out of Springfield,” Desi Anderson said. Anderson is a Republican candidate for State Senate IL-46. “Not only will the SAFE-T Act increase crime, but it will increase taxes in counties across the state.”

ABC7 has reported that it will cost DuPage County $63 million to implement the SAFE-T Act over a five-year period. 

“That means residents in areas such as Woodford County will have to pay even more of their hard-earned money in taxes to the government while simultaneously receiving less protection from crime in their area,” Anderson continued. “Supporters of the bill, like my opponent Sen. Dave Koehler, do not care how many criminals are released back into our communities as long as your tax dollars keep flowing in. I call on the General Assembly to repeal this law and stop it from going into effect so our families and children can be protected.”

The provision that would abolish cash bail has been a key point of contention. In lieu of cash bail, the bill calls for following a system where the ‘burden of proof’ for pretrial detention falls to the state. 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said the bill, as a whole, will bring equitable change to Illinois’ justice system.

Besides the cost to DuPage County, other localities will face cost burdens. 

One unfunded reform is the body camera requirement for all law enforcement agencies by 2025, whether or not funding is made available, a police group said. 

Madison County Treasurer Chris Slusser said it will erase the work his county has done to cut property tax rates. He said Madison County has lowered property taxes and is seeing record returns on county investments, between $4 million and $6 million annually to make up the difference. Madison County Circuit Clerk Thomas McRae has predicted that the SAFE-T Act will cause an increase of $1 million to $2 million in personnel costs. 

The Center Square reported the Kane County Board is discussing its first property tax hike in a decade, claiming they need it to fill a $3 million deficit created by unfunded mandated reforms in the SAFE-T Act. 

The SAFE-T Act is not just a divisive issue among political candidates. It also has little legal support, with 100 of the 102 state attorneys opposing it. Some have even filed suit to block it, according to Just the News. 

The opposition has been so vociferous that Pritzker said during a recent campaign stop that if ‘making changes to the language’ helps people to understand the bill and keeps the state safe he would be open to it, Center Square reported. 

Anderson owns a small business with her husband, Nick, and is the mother of a 1-year-old. On her website, she says she was abandoned as a baby in the Eastern Bloc of communist Europe in Bulgaria and graduated from Indiana University with a double major. Anderson’s goal is to be a unifying voice in elected office and fight back against the political corruption that has taken hold in Illinois.