On Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a law that limits lawsuits against the constitution of Illinois to Cook and Sangamon counties.

After two high-profile lawsuits — challenging Illinois’ semi-automatic firearm ban and no-cash-bail law — were filed in Kankakee County, and Macon County.

Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said that his bill would stop “venue shopping”, which is the practice of bringing lawsuits against the state to local courts. However it would not allow cases to be brought to overturn state laws.

Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, told The Center Square the law would favor the state in these cases because Cook and Sangamon Counties are heavily Democrat.

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Plummer stated, “It’s time to start showing respect to the citizens of Illinois.” Plummer said, “Stop limiting their right, stop taking away their rights. And frankly, when you do take away their rights, give them at least the decency to let their concerns in a local courts be heard.”

Harmon stated that “They will all end up at the Supreme Court of Illinois.” The court is located in Sangamon County, and Cook County.

Jay Hoffman (D Swansea) said, “One lawyer charged people $200 to add their names as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.” He was referring to several COVID-19 suits brought by Attorney Thomas DeVore for small businesses that had been shut down by executive orders of the governor. DeVore is based in Bond County and was also the lead attorney for the challenge to the semi-automatic weapon ban in Effingham County.

Rep. Patrick Windhorst, (R-Metropolis), shared Plummer’s sentiments. “You know where I live, it’s closer to the Tennessee state capital than Illinois. I’m also almost as close as Chicago, Illinois to Atlanta, Georgia,” he added. “It’s not fair for the people of these communities to be told that if this body passes a law that is unconstitutional, they will have to travel long distances and incur expenses to challenge it.

The law is effective immediately.