Illinois has, arguably, one of the most liberal state legislatures in the nation, according to the American Conservative Union Foundation’s most recent annual ratings of state legislatures. The state’s legislature moved five points in the wrong direction this past year, becoming even more liberal. 

The American Conservative Union Foundation conducts an annual, in-depth analysis to rate all 8,000 lawmakers in America, revealing their positions on a wide variety of issues directly affecting our communities and families.

Even with this liberal trend in the state, several legislators stood out as stalwart conservatives, fighting the radical agenda in Springfield. ACUF identified 10 conservatives in the state Senate and four in the House.This past year, residents in Illinois were let down by the state legislature, which routinely forfeited individual liberty and local governance to the sweeping progressive agenda. The legislature caved to the Chicago Teachers’ Union, by allowing the unions to dictate all aspects of the school schedule, including the length of the school day and the duration of the school year.

The legislature also undermined election integrity by allowing unsolicited mail-in ballot applications to be mailed out statewide, as well as allowing 16-year-olds to serve as election judges.The financial woes of Illinois are well-known and an embarrassment to the state, but the legislature worsened that situation, ratcheting up another $5 billion in debt by borrowing from the Federal Reserve and other agencies.

On the public safety front, the legislature waged an all-out attack on police officers and public safety by prohibiting police from arresting or removing trespassers, and exposing officers to unreasonable criminal liability.

It is no wonder that residents continue to leave Illinois in droves. ACUF applauds the conservatives in the state legislature for taking a bold stand for commonsense policies in the midst of the frenzy to pass radical progressive policies. Conservatives’ voices are needed now, more than ever before, in Springfield. 

Check out the press release below with more details and please take action!

It only takes three minutes to let your legislators know that their score from the American Conservative Union Foundation is important to you, and you expect them to support more conservative policies.

CPAC and ACUF Release Illinois State Ratings

Lawmaker Scorecard Highlights Top Conservatives

Alexandria, VA— The American Conservative Union Foundation (ACUF) launched a new platform to hold lawmakers accountable to conservative principles for the 50th Anniversary of ACU’s Ratings Program. The ACUF, host of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) will deploy the platform to its activist base, where tools such as the lawmaker comparison function highlights to voters which conservative champions to rally behind. 

View the Scorecard of Illinois State Lawmakers Here

Sen. Craig Wilcox (94%) will be presented with ACUF’s Award for Conservative Excellence for earning a score above 90%.

The following lawmakers will be presented with ACUF’s Award for Conservative Achievement for earning scores 80% and above: Sen. Sue Rezin (85%), Sen. Steve McClure (83%), Sen. Jason Plummer (83%), Sen. Jason Brickman (81%), Rep. Thomas Morrison (81%), Sen. Dan McConchie (81%), Sen. Jil Tracy (80%), Sen. Dale Flower (80%) and Rep. Jeff Keicher (80%).

“Our new ACU Ratings website offers an accessible and dynamic way for voters across the country to discover whether their lawmakers use their power to advance conservative principles,” said ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp. “Over our 50-year history, we’ve compiled 15,000 lawmakers in our database and scored them across 186 different policy areas. For the first time, voters have access to a huge breadth of information that offers a distinct impression of the way lawmakers view the role of government in a person’s life.”

ACUF’s Ratings of Congress and Ratings of the States are initiatives of ACUF’s Center for Legislative Accountability (CLA). These ratings are designed to reflect how over 8,000 elected officials across the nation view the role of government while illustrating the differences between chambers of the legislature and revealing lawmakers’ positions across 186 policy areas that directly affect citizens.

ACU Foundation reviewed each piece of legislation voted on in both chambers of the legislature to produce average scores of each chamber as well as individual scores for each sitting member.

Click Here to view the 2020 Ratings of Illinois online and Click Here to view the PDF version.

For questions or media inquiries regarding ACUF’s Ratings of the States, email Luke Schneider at lschneider@conservative.org

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