On Nov. 3, your ballot will ask:
“Should the State of Illinois repeal laws that ban state investment in businesses that boycott the State of Israel?”
Here’s why many others and I have worked so hard to make that happen. In 2015, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a law making Illinois the first state to require its pensions to divest from companies that boycott Israel. A state board maintains a list of those companies, and Illinois pension systems are prohibited from investing. Rauner called the law “an important first step” and hoped other states would “move quickly to follow our lead.”
They did: 37 other states have since adopted similar measures. No state has yet repealed one. Illinois HB 2723 and SB 2462 would change that. Nearly 40 legislators have signed on as sponsors, advocates submitted over 15,000 witness slips for a House hearing, and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who voted for the original law as a state senator, now supports repeal. Yet neither bill has come up for a vote in nearly two years.
When local advocates met with Oak Park’s four powerful legislators early this year, more than one acknowledged that the law was bad policy and should be repealed. They encouraged us to educate the public and raise the issue’s visibility.
That’s why this question is on our ballot. Advisory referenda let voters speak. After an April township meeting rejected a general question of the right to boycott Israel, more than 3,500 Oak Parkers signed petitions to ensure every voter could weigh in on a targeted issue: repealing the 2015 law. Voters in DuPage, Peoria, Normal, Urbana, and other communities will have similar questions on their ballots.
This isn’t a vote on the Middle East. It’s a vote on whether Illinois should use public pension funds to penalize companies for participating in boycotts, a peaceful form of protest.
Illinois led the way into these laws. We can lead the way out. Vote Yes on Nov. 3.
Jesse Bauer
Oak Park