I have just been informed that the State Fire Marshal has withdrawn his proposed mandatory fire sprinkler mandate from consideration. This week I joined Senate President John Cullerton and other elected officials in asking that these rules be withdrawn.
This is a direct result of the thousands and thousands of angry and concerned letters, emails and phone calls that I, along with other JCAR members and the Fire Marshal’s Office received in opposition to the proposal, as well as the hundreds of opponents who attended recent Town Hall Meetings.
While all people want homes, businesses and houses of worship that are safe from fire, there were so many questions regarding the legality of these proposed rules, their pre-emption of home rule laws and conflicting views on their effectiveness from different fire safety professionals, I believe withdrawal was the proper action.
To all of you who organized and spoke out, thank you for voicing your opinions. For those of you planning to attend the Fire Marshal’s public hearing next week in Springfield….that meeting has now been cancelled.