(post as it originally appeared remains below this section)

4/20/10 *UPDATE*
Despite being listed on the Illinois HB 5428 status page as having been

Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading April 15, 2010

the State Senate did not get to the second reading of the bill until today.

Today’s update to the page notes it went through second reading and is scheduled for the third (or final) reading tomorrow.

At that point the Senate is able to go to its final vote on the bill. If no amendments are added, it could arrive at the Governor’s desk anytime thereafter.

4/20/2010 Senate Second Reading

4/20/2010 Senate Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading April 21, 2010

There is still no fiscal note attached to the bill despite its proposed year-long national publicity campaign and huge “OBC-Access Public Information Campaign Oversight Committee” stacked with industry agencies and adoption lawyers.

Obviously, my arguments with the bill go much deeper than mere finances, but in this case, the as of yet undisclosed finances relating to this bill are very important to note.

At a time when Illinois is undergoing the ordeal of state budget cuts for basic services, the notion of voting through this kind of unnecessary and unwanted publicity campaign for a program that is currently failing Illinois’ adoptees complete with a yet undisclosed pricetag is nothing short of insane.

PLEASE keep the calls, letters, faxes, and e-mails coming. Continue to urge the Senators to VOTE NO on HB 5428!

And keep your eye on this hashtag on twitter ILHB5428 to find the latest details.

If we don’t work to kill it now, it could bring harm to Illinois adoptees for the rest of their lives.

The Illinois state senate goes back in session tomorrow. If you have not already contacted them this could be your last chance before the third (and final) reading and then it moves on to the full Senate vote.

If you have already contacted them, try a follow up contact to remind them just how important defeating this legislation is.

Either way, ask the State Senators to VOTE NO on HB 5428.

The bill’s status page has yet to be updated, but again, don’t wait for it to be updated before you act.

ILOpen’s list of email addresses and web based contact forms for the Senators can be found here.

You should be able to reach all but one member (see below) digitally between this contact page for the Democratic Members- http://www.senatedem.ilga.gov/index.php/contact-us (Clicking any Senator’s name will connect you to their contact form)

and this page for the Republican Members- http://www.senategop.state.il.us/ which requires a little more instruction, (this is my addition):

Go to the “Meet your Senator” tab near the top, then go to each individual Republican member’s page and click on the “Contact Us” tab. Finally, click on the member’s name to reach the form.

Senator Bill Brady’s can be found here- http://www.brady.senategop.net/tax-relief/contact

Senator Dan Rutherford- danrutherford@danrutherford.com

Senator Dave Syverson- www.senatordavesyverson.com (click on the Contact tab)

If you’re working off the ILOpen list, for the Four  ILOpen did not come up with contact information for:

NO WEB CONTACT INFO OR EMAIL ADDRESS FOUND:
Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D – 16th District)
Senator John O. Jones (R-54th District)
Senator Iris Y. Martinez (D-20th District)
Senator John J. Millner (R-28th District)

try these-

Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D – 16th District) – http://www.senatedem.ilga.gov/index.php/contact-us/12-sen-contact/4-senator-jacqueline-y-collins

Senator John O. Jones (R-54th District) – fax and phone only

Senator Iris Y. Martinez (D-20th District) – http://www.senatedem.ilga.gov/index.php/contact-us/12-sen-contact/25-senator-iris-y-martinez

Senator John J. Millner (R-28th District) – http://www.johnmillner.com/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=1&Itemid=3

The IL legislature’s fax and phone list for Senate members can be found here.

What I’ve written on IL HB 5428 can be found on its tag.

Rather than rehash my objections, many of which can be found on the link above, I’d prefer to point readers at a list of others working against the bill I compiled earlier:

Please bear in mind, I’m pointing at the writings of those working on the bill, but I have to reiterate, per my links policy, just because I link a page, that should not be taken as an endorsement nor my personal agreement with everything on that page.

By way of some additional resources pertaining to the bill, see:

• Illinois Open and the Illinois Open blog
• BastardGrannyAnnie’s blog ( Be sure to see her vital backgrounder history in Illinois,  Black Market, 1945 Illinois Adoption Act & Sealed Records)
• Mary Lynn Fuller’s Rights of Adoptees blog is also carrying a great deal of coverage.
• Bastardette of course has a lot of history written about this bill and Sara Feigenholtz, the bill’s main sponsor, and her confidential intermediary pal Melisha Mitchell as well as some history concerning the previously attempted train wreck of a bill, IL HB 4623, that ran along many of the same themes as this year’s legislation.

I’ve also blogged about HB 4623 and Illinois’ Confidential Intermediary program previously, see Legislation- IL HB 4623 and IL’s Kafka-esque Confidential Intermediary Hell and Prospect of open records makes IL Catholic Conference fearful of potential lawsuits.

As well as

Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization (Keep an eye on the Bastard Nation ACTION ALERT blog for updates)

Green Ribbons Campaign for Open Records sponsoring its Adoption Reform Illinois Coalition (link takes readers to the IL specific page)

Do not assume that just because the bill is in Illinois it won’t affect other states’ OBC access laws in years to come. Unfortunately in this case, what starts in one state doesn’t have to stay in one state. There are precedent setting aspects to this Illinois bill that could easily come around to haunt other states soon enough.

Don’t push it off until tomorrow, tomorrow could genuinely be too late.

Ask the Illinois Senators to vote NO.

Kill the bill.

Bastard Nation Letter to the Illinois Senate: Vote NO on HB 5428

Below is Bastard Nation’s edited-down-from-testimony letter to the Illinois Senate asking members to VOTE NO. Please contact Senators and tell them to stop this travesty. Go to the BN Action Alert for more information, including contact information.

(follow the link above to see the full letter)

As things will no doubt be moving quickly once the third reading is scheduled there may not be a lot of time to get the word out.

Each morning you can check the Illinois State Senate’s daily calendar for HB 5428 here.

The Senate will be streaming live video and audio when it’s in session here.

Finally, obviously you can check the various blogs I’ve listed above for updates, but you may also want to check a few blogger’s twitters as well.

My twitter (also see upper left hand corner of my page for a link) often has more up to date details than the blog.

Bastardette’s tweets are another place you’re likely to find updates.

Finally 73adoptee’s tweets can be added to the list of tweets to watch in relation to this bill.

A number of us are trying to utilize the #ILHB5428 (for Illinois House Bill 5428) hashtag to pull all our and others’ tweets on the bill together in one place.