DuPage County committee refines 2026 state legislative program, postpones formal vote

A DuPage County board committee on Monday reviewed and revised a draft 2026 state legislative program, debating immigration enforcement language, adding a gun-safety priority and asking staff to circulate a revised version before taking a final vote.

The committee introduced resolution LEP-R-0001-26 to adopt the county's 2026 state legislative program and members proposed several additions and wording changes. Speaker 6 urged the committee to add economic-development and public-safety priorities and to press the state over Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) funding. "I was just hoping we could add that as a priority because I know it's a priority for the county," Speaker 6 said about economic development and later cited the LGDF change in 2023 from 6.16 to 6.47.

The meeting's most contested discussion centered on proposed language urging the federal government to stop certain Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. Speaker 5 proposed the draft wording: "The county urges the federal administration to cease ICE operations in our communities stemming from racial and ethnic profiling of law abiding residents without judicial warrant." Several members asked staff to narrow the language and add exceptions for criminal-judicial warrants; Speaker 6 said the current phrasing could prevent ICE from detaining violent offenders. "I can't support it the way it's written because I fully believe that we need the federal government to be able to continue their operations, particularly as it pertains to criminals in DuPage County," Speaker 6 said.

Members reached interim agreement to refine the immigration language and to circulate specific edits. Chair (Speaker 1) asked members to send suggested wording to staff member Kate; Speaker 3 said they could circulate standard LGDF language and other template items for members to review.

The committee also voted to add a public-safety bullet titled "Keeping our communities safe," including gun-safety measures such as storage provisions, public-awareness campaigns and enforcement provisions. Speaker 4 moved the amendment and it passed in a voice vote.

Members questioned how some health-care priorities will function if federal subsidies to the Affordable Care Act remain unresolved; Speaker 2 asked specifically about access to mental-health and substance-abuse treatment without subsidy support, and staff said they had asked the health department for input because the county bills Medicaid heavily for services.

With several substantive edits still in progress, Speaker 1 moved to postpone consideration of the amended resolution until next Tuesday so staff can circulate a revised draft. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The committee adjourned without final adoption of the 2026 state legislative program.