SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Democratic lawmakers are renewing their push for the Illinois Investment Policy Board to stop restricting state funding for companies boycotting Israel. The Coalition for Human Rights says the current state law is dangerous for people protesting the war in Gaza.

The Illinois Investment Policy Board can restrict public funds to any company if it believes the group is boycotting Israel. However, a growing number of lawmakers and advocates argue the law requires Illinois' pension fund to stop investing in companies standing up for Palestinian rights.

"The moment that they boycott Israel, they are required to divest from that company," said Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid (D-Berwyn). "That is a stain on our state's history. That was wrong 10 years ago and it's wrong now."

Rashid filed the Illinois Human Rights Advocacy Protection Act last February, but the bill has been blocked from receiving a committee hearing. A companion bill in the Senate has faced the same issue, but advocates are committed to getting the plan passed in 2026.

"Support is growing and deepening within a wider and wider swath of the Jewish community for overturning the repressive Illinois legislation passed in the Rauner administration that penalizes companies for using the powerful and nonviolent means of boycott," said Jewish Voice for Peace member Rebekah Levin.

The fight is personal for USMC veteran and Freedom Flotilla participant Jessica Clotfelter, who was detained and assaulted by IDF officers.

"We were stripped naked on four separate occasions, our bodies put on display, laughed at, mocked and dehumanized," Clotfelter said. "This wasn't just in front of Israeli female officers. This was in front of the males too. I can assure you, whatever I endured pales in comparison to what our siblings in Palestine have endured for 80 years."

Lawmakers could address the legislation when they return to the Capitol next month.

Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) is one of 20 co-sponsors for this bill in the House. There are 14 co-sponsors for the Senate version of the plan. 

"We cannot be neutral. We cannot remain silent because what is happening in Gaza is happening all over the world," Ammons said. "We are watching the suffering of people all over the world as a result of policies of the United States." 

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