Conservative Counterpoint

These votes show Obama’s “six years in the Illinois Senate—before coming to Washington, D.C., as a U.S. senator.”

ABORTION

NO SB 230 (1997) To prohibit partial-birth abortion unless necessary to save the life of a mother and makes performance of the procedure a Class 4 felony for the physician.

NO HB 709 (2000) To prohibit state funding of abortion and induced miscarriages except when necessary to save the life of the mother. Excludes premature births from funding except to produce a viable child when necessary to save the life of a mother. Would permit funding in cases of rape or incest when payment is authorized under federal law.

NO SB 1661 (2002) A part of the Born Alive Infant Protection Package. Would create a cause of action of a child is born alive after an abortion and the child is then neglected through failure to provide medial care after birth.

CRIME

NO SB 381 (1997) To require prisoners to pay court costs for frivolous lawsuits against the state.

NO SB 485 (1999) To give no offer of “good time” for sex offenders sentenced to the County Jail. *Obama was the only vote against this measure

UNIONS

YES HB 3396 (2003) To make unionization easier by not requiring a secret ballot to organize if 50% of the eligible workers publicly sign a card of support for unionization.

YES SB 230 (2003) Entitles a teacher who is elected as an officer of the state or national teacher’s union to be granted a leave of absence for up to six years, or the period of time the teacher is serving.

YES SB 1070 (2003) Allows college graduate assistants who teach college courses be eligible to join a union.

CHILD PROTECTION

PRESENT SB 609 (2001) To restrict the location of buildings with “adult” uses (meaning pornographic video stores, strip clubs, etc.) within 1,000 feet of any public or private elementary or secondary school, public park, place or worship, preschool, day-care facility, mobile park or residential area.

NO HB 1812 (1999) To require school boards to install software on public computers accessible to minors to block sexually explicit material.

TAXES

NO SB 1075 (1999) To create an income tax credit for all full-time K-12 pupils in an amount equal to 25% of qualified education expenses up to a maximum of $500 per family.

YES SB 1725 (2003) To restore the Illinois Estate Tax.

YES SB 1733 (2003) To impose a Gas Use Tax on the purchase of natural gas from outside the state of Illinois for use or consumption in Illinois. Forces the delivering supplier to pay 2.4 cents per therm of gas, or the customer can elect to become a “self-assessing” purchaser and pay 5% of the purchase price or 2.4 cents per therm.

ELECTIONS

YES SB 1415 (2003) To create public funding for supreme court races.

GAY RIGHTS

NOT VOTING HB 581 (2003) Allows domestic partners to be allowed to assume the rights of a spouse or survivor with regards to pension benefits under the Chicago Teacher’s pension system.

NO SB 228 (1997) Changes the “Illinois Equal Opportunity Act of 1997″ to stipulate, notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any unit of government or school district that gives benefits to same-sex couples under any criteria must give equal benefits to heterosexual couples.

DRUGS

YES SB 880 (2003) To allow the purchase of 10 hypodermic needles from a pharmacy without a prescription.

PRESENT HB 2000 (4659) To establish a zero-tolerance drug-testing policy for Department of Corrections Employees

BUSINESS

NO SB 777 (1999) To end the unemployment insurance fund building tax.

NO SB 879 (1999) To end the minimum contribution tax rate for the unemployment system.

NO SB 795 (2001) To reduce employers’ minimum contribution insurance rate.

YES SB 796 (2003) To increase the Illinois minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.50 per hour.

by Amanda Carpenter Posted by the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute