SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois House on Wednesday passed a measure meant to encourage public high schools across the state to connect their students to organizations that will help them register to vote when they turn 18.

Dubbed the Jesse Jackson Sr. Young Voter Empowerment Law, the bill “requires a school district” to provide voter registration opportunities for high schoolers, but there’s no penalty for districts that don’t comply — essentially making the policy optional.

Still, it was brought forward by nearly 50 Democratic sponsors, including House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside, at a time when politics and elections have become especially polarized across the country, and is intended to make it easier for a new generation of prospective voters to be added to the rolls.

The bill, which passed by a 77-24 vote and now goes to the Senate for consideration, was inspired by Jackson, the civil rights leader who died Feb. 17 at 84. On the House floor, the legislation’s main sponsor uttered a variation of a famous Jackson line about young people and voting: “Senior high school graduation must be seen as a passage rite into adulthood. On that graduation day or night, we must put a diploma in one hand, symbolizing knowledge and wisdom, and put a voter registration card in that other hand, symbolizing power and responsibility,” state Democratic Rep. Kimberly Du Buclet said.

“It’s not about Democrats. It’s not about Republicans. It’s about our youth and making sure that they understand their place and the importance of voting in their lives and their futures,” Du Buclet, of Chicago’s South Side, said during the floor debate.

Meanwhile, some Republicans who opposed the bill raised concerns, including that there wouldn’t be parental involvement in guiding their high schooler’s decision to register to vote and that the decision could be influenced by “radical, activist teachers.”

“A lot of families find that voter registration with their now-of-age voter is a very personal choice and an opportunity to perform that function together,” said state Rep. Regan Deering of Decatur.

“When I asked about coming on site to my local public school to provide (a) voter registration opportunity, I requested that parent notification be included to the school district so that parents were aware, foreseeing that, although these students may be 17 or even 18 and considered an adult, they may have that opportunity without conversation with their parent,” she said.

However, state Rep. Will Davis, a Democrat from Homewood who voted for the bill, criticized Republican lawmakers who didn’t support a measure that would allow “younger people to get more engaged” in the democratic process.

“I cannot believe that you constantly talk about how bad our kids are. How they’re not doing anything. That they’re not being educated. But when efforts like this are creating the opportunity for them to engage in one of the most fundamental things, and that is the electoral process, we hear, don’t do it. Let them learn from somebody else,” Davis said. “I can’t tell you how many times when I’m in high schools young people are always talking about voting.”

Later in the afternoon, the House, by a 72-35 vote, passed a measure prohibiting federal immigration detention centers from being built within 1,500 feet of schools, parks, homes and other community spaces — a direct response to the clashes that erupted in Chicago and the suburbs last year during President Donald Trump’s administration’s mass deportation efforts.

The bill was personally championed by Welch after the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Broadview, which sits in his legislative district, became the scene of repeated confrontations between federal officers and protesters during Trump’s mass deportation missions known as Operation Midway Blitz. Welch has said the legislation would not apply to the Broadview facility, however, even though the suburb’s mayor has said it sits as close as 600 feet from some residences.

“This bill is rooted in something very simple: Our communities deserve to be safe, respected and protected,” Welch said Wednesday on the House floor. “This bill is not about politics. It’s about people. It’s about the little kid at daycare who should not grow up around chaos. It’s about the family in their home who should not feel like they are living next to a crisis zone.”

But state Rep. Patrick Windhorst, the House Republican floor leader, said the bill was an example of Democratic lawmakers, who control the state House and Senate, “continually picking fights with the federal government” and blaming the Trump administration for many issues that have arisen in Illinois.

“The result of this effort to not work together with the federal government to resolve the issues, particularly related to immigration and enforcement of our laws, has resulted in huge problems in our state,” said Windhorst, of Metropolis. The bill’s legality has also been questioned.

The immigration detention center bill must now be approved by the Senate for concurrence before moving to the governor’s desk.

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