St. Rep. Niemerg Urges Governor to Veto Current Police Reform Proposal

State Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) opposes the legislation passed in the last General Assembly just before he was sworn in as the new Representative for the 109th District. House Bill 3653 awaits the governor’s action.

“I urge the governor to veto House Bill 3653 as it is written and bring all stakeholders together to craft real criminal justice reform and police accountability legislation that will truly make our communities safer,” said Niemerg. “Reforms need to occur to be able to expel bad actors from law enforcement, but this bill is not reform. “

(ST. REP. ADAM NIEMERG)

Rep. Niemerg is working with his colleagues to bring the southern Illinois and rural perspective to these law enforcement issues. Niemerg says one size does not fit all. He said many laws are passed in Illinois that make an exception for Chicago and the big urban areas of the state and said that philosophy needs to be applied both ways on issues like this and issues like the mandated minimum wage.

“Public safety is the number one obligation of government and this legislation negatively impacts the work of law enforcement to does not advance public safety in our state,” added Rep. Niemerg. “I am asking everyone to sign the petition to urge Gov. Pritzker to veto this bill in its current form so we can work with law enforcement and others to craft the reforms that we need without hurting the good men and women of law enforcement and hurting public safety.”