The Illinois House has blocked Governor Bruce Rauner’s attempt to merge the parts of state government that deal with discrimination complaints.
In Illinois, discrimination is investigated by the Department of Human Rights. Then, the cases are judged by the independent Human Rights Commission.
Earlier this year, Governor Bruce Rauner issued an executive order to combine the functions. The Republican says the two-step process is inefficient.
But Democrats, like Sen. Heather Steans of Chicago, say the people deciding the cases should not be under the authority of those doing the investigations.
“That’s sort of like having the court system be monitored by the cops."
House Democrats blocked the order last week on a party-line vote.
Democrats say they’re willing to work with Rauner to address the commission's backlog of cases, which has kept some people waiting years for a resolution.
