Illinois 2021 budget: More proof NO MORE MONEY is needed (and neither is SB1966)

On 2/14/20, Director of the Illinois State Police Brandon Kelly came out in support of SB1966 (which would require fingerprints to obtain a FOID card and also raise the fees in order to get one). Reasons for support were:

"It’s not easy, but you have to have the people to go out there and [say] ‘hey there sir, you lost your FOID, you were just charged with a felony,' " Kelly said.

Meaning, according to his statement, they need money for manpower to hunt down people who lose a piece of plastic lol. Also during the same press conference:

Kelly also called for lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 1966, which would double FOID card fees people pay to apply for the card. It would also require applicants to submit fingerprints.

Well, Kelly is full of crap. On 2/19/20, Governor Pritzker delivered his budget address for 2021. in it, it has the money that was used (and unused) for the State Police Firearms Services Fund from 2019-2020. Of a total $44,000,00 available in 2019 and 2020, less than $21,000,000 of the funds were used (or are expected to be used in 2020). The same amount for the previous years is set aside for 2021:

As mentioned many many times before, Mom-At-Arms brought these budget issues (and fund sweeps) to light on 12/2/19, which resulted in the Illinois State Rifle Association releasing their research/findings, which has now resulted in a federal level awsuit against the Illinois State Police.

The state police had/has PLENTY of money available to do the job (hell, they don’t even use half of it and end up using it for other programs). Saying that SB1966 needs to be passed is pure political pandering to the Governor and his anti-gun allies for the sole purpose of harassing and shaking down legal gun owners. Regarding the fingerprint requirement, take a look at what that’s all about and who’s lobbying for it here.