Kane County Reporter

Rep. Keith R. Wheeler (R-North Aurora) said that he cannot allow HB 3447 to become law.

"Protecting our kids from the threat of fentanyl and the drug dealers who target them should be a bipartisan priority. Sadly, right now it’s mostly Republicans who are sounding the alarm for this crisis, while Illinois Democrats continue to stand on their soft-on-crime record," Wheeler said on Sept. 22. "We cannot allow House Bill 3447 to become law and reduce the penalty from a felony to a Class A misdemeanor. I call on members of the state Senate to reject this bill and urge Gov. Pritzker to veto any bill like this that reaches his desk.”

As a countermeasure, House Bill 5808 was introduced on Sept. 21 by Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Westmont). Reps. Chris Bos (R-Lake Zurich), Wheeler, Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield), Martin McLaughlin (R-Lake Barrington), Dan Ugaste (R-St. Charles), Steven Reick (R-Woodstock), Seth Lewis (R-Bartlett), Bradley Stephens (R-Chicago) and Jackie Haas (R-Kankakee) are all co-sponsors of the legislation.

House Bill 5805 amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act and "provides that if a controlled substance analog is at least 5 times as potent as the controlled substance of which it is an analog, then the weight of the controlled substance analog for purposes of the Act shall be deemed to be the weight of the controlled substance analog multiplied by the increase in potency."

Wheeler was first elected to the Illinois House in 2014. His legislative experience includes serving on the Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, & IT and Executive committees. Wheeler resides in Oswego.