A bill to ease Illinois ballot access, HB 2620, is pending. Although it has not advanced yet, on March 25 it was amended to include an unrelated provision relating to the organization of qualified political parties. The author of HB 2620 is Representative William Black, a Republican. The amendment was authored by Representative Lou Lang, a Democrat. It seems likely that Representative Lang would not have bothered to place her amendment into HB 2620, unless there is some reason to believe that it will eventually pass.
That’s effectively a poison pill provision. Lang’s amendment is a targeted slap at the Illinois Republican Party and would guarantee that the bill would not get mainstream Republican support. I’ve seen the same provision snuck in to another otherwise unrelated bill.
Is there anything that one can do to fight for this bill if one does not live in Illinois (translation: is there any organization to which to donate?)