August 14,
2009
To the
Honorable Members of the
Illinois House of Representatives
96th
General Assembly
I hereby
return House Bill 557 with my specific recommendation for change. I thank the
sponsors for their hard work on this legislation.
This bill
makes interference with a public institution of education accompanied by a
threat of personal injury or property damage a Class 3 felony. While it is
important to convey the message that false threats at schools are serious
crimes, punishing such threats as Class 3 felonies is too severe. Therefore, I
am proposing to define threats of this nature as Class 4 felonies. This will
make the punishment identical to that authorized for similar crimes punished as
class 3 felonies, such as making false threat against public agencies and
officials (720 ILCS 5/26-1 (2), (4)), or making a bomb threat that endangers
human life (720 ILCS 5/26-1(3)).
Therefore,
pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I
hereby return House Bill 557, entitled “AN ACT concerning Criminal Law”, with
the following specific recommendation for change:
on page 3,
line 23, by replacing “3” with “4”; and
on page 3,
line 24, be replacing “2 years” with “1 year”; and
on page 4,
line 1, by replacing “10 years” with “6 years”; and
on page 4,
line 1, by deleting “and may be prosecuted for”; and
on page 4, by
deleting line 2.
With this change, House Bill 557 will have my approval. I
respectfully request your concurrence.
Sincerely,
PAT QUINN
Governor