Thread by @MeganEDoherty

Illinois had a chance to advance the nation's first right-to-mask legislation last week. But the Committee Chair wouldn't call it. Here's what happened, and what you can do right now 🧵

While the original version of HB3853: The Protective Medical Equipment Freedom Act did not have the votes to move forward out of Committee, we worked incredibly hard to draft amendments with stakeholders to get the necessary votes to call the bill.

After not hearing back from Committee Chair Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz for several weeks, she informed us it was too late for amendments, even tho the amendments were requested by members of her own Committee.

Why? We don't know.

What we do know is these amendments were approved by biz & law enforcement groups—a DIFFICULT feat. We know that in just a few days, over 2700 proponent witness slips were filed—an avalanche of witness slips that is significant for a committee vote, proving overwhelming support.

We know that members of our coalition, as well as the primary sponsor of HB3853, spent weeks trying to discuss the bill with Rep. Gong-Gershowitz, in advance of last week’s scheduled hearing dates, with no response.

Although it feels we have been ignored and railroaded, we want to be clear we’re not done. This bill is not dead. We wish we could tell you her motivations, but we know what our motivations are.

We’re now asking you to make sure Rep. Gong-Gershowitz knows how you feel about this. Make sure she knows that this bill is important to you and should have been given an opportunity to move forward with our proposed amendments.

Make sure she knows that not only is the entire disability population of Illinois watching her, but so is the entire disability population of the United States of America.

Use this email address: [e-mail]

Don't know what to write? Here are some starting points:

-Our bill had amendments ready, why wouldn’t you let us file them and move the bill forward?

-Our bill had no opposition after the amendments, why wouldn’t you give it a chance?

-I mask because ______, why are you making me wait to have the right to protect myself when we had amendments ready?

-Disabled people across Illinois need this to be safe, why don’t you care about us?

Please make this your own. Get personal. Be explicit about any discrimination, harassment, or retaliation that you have been subjected to as a result of wearing a medical mask or respirator. Make sure she understands what’s at stake with HB3853.

If you are her constituent, make sure you tell her. We are also particularly looking for people who live in IL’s 9th Congressional District.

If you are, make sure she knows you live there. Check if you live in the 9th Congressional District here: govtrack.us/congress/membe…

Hearing a robust outcry from folks who live in the 9th Congressional District would provide significant pressure. If you know anyone who lives in the 9th Congressional District, please forward them this request. Please boost on your socials as much as you can.

Don't live in Illinois? Say something about how while you may not live in IL, HB3853 has the potential to create a domino effect, which would help your own state pass something similar. In sort: she’s stopping a larger national movement around public health and disability rights.

Finally, the palate cleanser: THANK our bill's primary sponsor, Rep. Huynh! He stepped up right away & has worked tirelessly—sometimes until 1 AM—to make our position as strong as possible. None of this is on him. And we want to make sure he knows how much we appreciate him.

So after you’ve told Rep. Gong-Gershowitz what you think of what she did, please take a moment to thank Rep. Huynh for his incredible support of, and advocacy for, disabled people in Illinois:

[e-mail].

And stay tuned, because this is far from over. We’re going to need your continued support to make sure this landmark bill becomes first-in-the-nation law.

[Easily shareable published Google Doc of all this: ]docs.google.com/document/u/2/d…

HB3853 legislation website here:

pmefa.org