St. Sen Sue Rezin was one of 39 representatives to vote no on a bill that stops libraries from banning books. The bill changes the Illinois Library System Act so grant funding could be taken away if a library bans a book. Rezin says this bill doesn’t seem to be about book bans, but an omission of books that might not support the views of groups like Planned Parenthood that support the bill. She says the bill takes the power away from locally elected officials who can decide what’s best for their libraries.
She also says she’s concerned about some of the sponsors of the bill.
St. Sen. Win Stoller says he’s more confident in a local board members’ ability to choose what books belong in our libraries than Chicago legislators who don’t live within our towns. The other Republican state representatives including St. Sen. Tom Bennett and St. Reps. Fritts, Davis, Tipsword, and Bunting all voted no. Democrat St. Rep. Lance Yednock voted yes.