Youth heroin task force plan headed to Gov. Quinn’s desk
SPRINGFIELD — A suburban lawmaker’s proposal to create a task force to investigate the youth heroin epidemic in the suburbs and the rest of the state is headed to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk.
State Rep. Sam Yingling, a Round Lake Beach Democrat who wrote the proposal, said the intention of the task force is to educate a group of legislators on the issue so they can recommend further state action.
The Illinois House approved by a 92-25 vote Wednesday.
The task force will include eight Democrats and six Republicans, something GOP lawmakers criticized.
“When you make this a partisan issue, you devalue the issue,” Ed Sullivan, a Mundelein Republican, said.
Yingling said he could later change the task force to give both parties equal representation, but the House approved it as-is.
“Fighting over how many Democrats or how many Republicans are on the committee is completely irrelevant, because it completely overlooks the point because we have a serious problem that needs to be addressed,” Yingling said.