State Senator Dan Duffy (R-Barrington) has been a vocal opponent of red light cameras for a while. Now he's stepped up his opposition to proposing a ban on red light camera right turn tickets statewide, and has been successful in getting two Democratic Senators to sign on -- State Senator Kwame Raoul, who represents Barack Obama's old legislative district and Chicago's Martin Sandoval.
Duffy is also joined by six other Republican co-sponsors: Chris Lauzen, Thomas Johnson, Wm. Sam McCann, Matt Murphy, Shane Cultra and today, Suzi Schmidt.
The red light camera opponents will be opposed by RedSpeed Illinois, a Lombard-based company that manufactures speed cameras, and which has effectively influenced legislators to allow red light cameras in more and more jurisdictions over the past several years. Illinois Review featured several stories on RedSpeed's lobbying activities in 2009.
Senate Bill 26 has been assigned to the Senate Transportation Committee, and is not scheduled yet to be heard. Committee members that will need to pass SB 26 before going to the Senate floor for a vote are:
| Chairman Martin A. Sandoval | D | |
| Vice-Chairperson : | Toi W. Hutchinson | D |
| Member: | Emil Jones, III | D |
| Member: | David Koehler | D |
| Member: | Edward D. Maloney | D |
| Member: | John M. Sullivan | D |
| Member: | A. J. Wilhelmi | D |
| Minority Spokesperson : | Larry K. Bomke | R |
| Member: | Wm. Sam McCann | R |
| Member: | John J. Millner | R |
| Member: | Dale E. Risinger |
Senator Millner has been a proponent of red light cameras in the past, and was a recipient of RedSpeed campaign donations. Senator Risinger is resigning effective February 28, and it is yet unknown if his replacement, Darin LaHood will be for or against red light cameras.
