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ILLINOIS - State Representative Amy Elik helped pass several bipartisan bills in 2023, and she has plans to do more in 2024.
Elik is a Republican who represents the 111th District in Illinois with a homebase in Alton. From Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) cards to sexual misconduct in schools, Elik has multiple bills in the works that she hopes to pass this year after she returns to Springfield on Jan. 16, 2024.
“I’m really proud, especially of the bills that I passed in 2023. I have a whole host of additional bills for 2024 that I’m working on,” Elik said. “I know that I'm looking forward to going back. I’m excited to work on the bills and things that I’ve been working on these last few months sort of behind the scenes…Honestly, my bills come from constituents that bring issues to me and I go, ‘Well, that’s not right. We can fix that.’”
Elik is currently working on a bill that aims to lower the cost of changing the address on FOID cards and Concealed Carry Licenses (CCL). To change the address on your FOID card, you must pay a $5 fee with the Illinois State Police. It costs an additional $75 to change the address on your CCL. Elik’s proposed bill would lower this fee.
“That’s ridiculous, first of all,” Elik said. “What’s even more ridiculous is it’s all the same card now. So if you have your FOID and CCL, you’re going to get one card but you’re going to pay $80. So if you think of a couple that moves their residence, that’s $160 to change an address. That is a very simple thing and I think that’s highway robbery, and I’m working on that. Not sure where we’ll go on that, because the people that control Illinois want gun owners to pay out the nose for everything, so I don’t know where we’re going to go on that.”
In the meantime, Elik is also working on a bill that addresses unclaimed property for people who have trusts. She said she wants to make sure the trusts “keep the record,” and she has been working with “great local attorneys that advise people on that kind of thing” to make this bill possible.
Elik is especially passionate about a bill that will outlaw sexual relations between students and school employees even if the student is 18. It is currently legal for school employees to have sexual relations with students if they are 18. Elik hopes to “criminalize it in some way” via this bill so that staff members will face legal consequences in addition to professional pushback.
“I think we can all agree a teacher or a staff member at a school should not be having sex with a student even if they’re 18,” Elik said. “And right now, people might be surprised to know that’s not illegal. It’s unethical, and they will lose their job because of professional standards, but it’s not illegal…If you criminalize it in some way, in any way, that allows the police to do an investigation instead of the school doing an investigation, so that helps the police be able to get involved in a case like that.”
Elik has been working closely with Faith Colson, a sexual abuse survivor for whom “Faith’s Law” was named. The 102nd General Assembly, of which Elik was a member, passed Faith’s Law in two parts to more clearly define sexual abuse in K-12 schools. The law also changed the process that a school must follow when sexual misconduct is suspected or reported.
Elik aims to address “clean-up language” that will officially criminalize sex between teachers/staff members and students even when the student is 18. She noted that she has been working with many advocates like Colson to make this possible. More information will be provided soon.
Ultimately, Elik said she is excited for the second year of her two-year term with the 103rd General Assembly. Her office will begin monthly traveling office hours throughout the 111th district beginning in February. You can learn more at Elik’s official website at RepElik.com.
“I’m just looking forward to what the year holds in Springfield and in the district,” she added.”
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