State House hopefuls Katz Muhl, Behr differ on immigration and SAFE-T Act but align on gun control

Democratic state Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl and Republican Daniel Behr differ on immigration policy and the effectiveness of the state’s recent criminal justice reform law — but they both want more gun control.

Katz Muhl and Behr are running for the largely North suburban 57th state House District. Both live in Northbrook.

The candidates spoke with the Daily Herald for about an hour Wednesday in a joint, online interview and in questionnaires about these issues and others. A video of the interview can be found at dailyherald.com.

Katz Muhl is a lawyer and former school board member who was appointed to the state House earlier this year after Jonathan Carroll resigned.

Behr, a transportation and economic development consultant in the rail industry, has never before sought elected office. GOP leaders named him the nominee for the seat after no one ran in the primary. Behr and other Republican candidates successfully sued Illinois officials over a new law forbidding political parties from slating candidates after primary elections.

Immigration

In the interview and in a Daily Herald questionnaire, Behr criticized the 2017 state law that limited the ability of state and local law enforcement agencies to participate in federal immigration enforcement efforts. The law prohibits police from arresting someone solely because of a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, for example. and from detaining people solely because of immigration status.

Prior to that law’s passage, Behr said, the flow to Illinois of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally was “only a trickle,” Behr said. “Now we’re a destination,” he said.

Such immigrants are taking away resources from Americans, Behr said. He cited housing and educational services as examples.

In his questionnaire, Behr said repealing the law and ending Illinois’ reputation as a sanctuary state “would be a good start” to solving the migrant crisis here.

Katz Muhl said the government has “a moral obligation” to take care of people’s basic needs, such as housing, health care and education. Illinois should help “our new neighbors” while improving health care and housing services for all Illinoisans, she said in her questionnaire.

Crime

The candidates also shared differing opinions on the 2021 criminal justice reform legislation — dubbed the SAFE-T Act — that abolished cash bail, created new rules for when police can use force, expanded the use of body-worn cameras and implemented other changes.

Katz Muhl said she’s spoken with police officers and other first responders about the law’s effectiveness. She lauded the rules for body cameras, saying they protect officers and civilians, and the elimination of cash bail. Moving forward, she’d like to see the state focus on trying to rehabilitate criminals who are young adults through social work, job training and other alternatives to incarceration.

“I am committed to working with our law enforcement, prosecutors, public defenders, and advocates to continue refining criminal justice laws,” Katz Muhl said in her questionnaire.

Behr said lawmakers’ objectives for the reforms were noble and rational, but he criticized some of the byproducts of the law. He said some offenders who aren’t jailed while awaiting trial don’t show up for their court appearances, and argued ankle monitors don’t always keep defendants at home and out of trouble.

Behr said he believes some prosecutors won’t push cases now deemed less serious, which tells criminals “there are no consequences to their action.” For those and other reasons, Behr said he opposes the law in its current form.

Gun control

Behr and Katz Muhl found common ground when it came to guns. Both support the state’s ban on the sale or manufacture of assault-style weapons, which has been upheld by the courts. Both also called for more restrictions on gun ownership.

Katz Muhl, a gun control activist before joining the General Assembly, said she was inspired to take up the cause after a gunman opened fire with semiautomatic weapons in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub in 2016, killing 49 people and wounding dozens more. With the assault weapons ban in place, the General Assembly now must pass legislation requiring judges to order the confiscation of guns from people who have emergency restraining orders against them, she said. The proposal is called Karina’s Bill after a Chicago woman who with her teen daughter was fatally shot in a suspected case of domestic violence.

Katz Muhl also said Illinois should shorten the time frames for reporting lost or stolen firearms, and she suggested penalties for gun owners who carelessly lose weapons.

Behr agreed with the intent of the assault weapons ban and said he supports Illinois’ other gun control measures, especially a law that allows authorities to temporarily remove firearms from people considered potentially dangerous.

Behr said he’d favor more stringent penalties for gun traffickers, people who remove serial numbers from firearms, people who use guns during crimes and people who possess automatic weapons.

“I don’t support machine guns at all,” he said. “This is common sense. Why do you need a machine gun?”

In his questionnaire, Behr also called for thorough background checks for gun buyers, more government funding for mental health care and earlier intervention for people who might be violent.

The 57th District covers all or parts of Glenview, Northbrook, Northfield, Wilmette, Winnetka, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Glencoe, Mount Prospect, Prospect Heights and Wheeling. The last day to vote is Nov. 5.