SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- llinois fuel retailers argued in a lawsuit filed Thursday that a requirement to post signs alerting consumers about a six-month freeze in the state motor-fuel tax unconstitutionally compels them to promote Gov. J.B. Pritzker's reelection campaign.
At issue is a sign retailers must post on each fuel pump beginning July 1 as a result of the General Assembly and Pritzker freezing the motor fuel tax from its scheduled automatic inflation adjustment of about 2.2 cents per gallon. Originally proposed for a year, the law ends the freeze after six months.
Failure to post carries a $500 daily fine, violating state and federal speech protections, the lawsuit say, which cover"both the right to speak freely and the right to refrain from speaking." The law requires"plaintiffs and other retailers to choose between making a political statement they do not wish to make to their customers or the general public on behalf of the State of Illinois, or facing criminal penalties," the suit says.
I'm old enough to remember when TFG held up congress-approved stimulus checks so his obnoxious signature could be on them.