Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Wednesday, Oct 28, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* The Sun-Times earlier this week…

Amtrak’s new maintenance facility in Bridgeport will undergo a federal environmental review after community pushback over the project initially being allowed to move forward without one, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. […]

It comes after months of public outcry from local residents who worry the new facility could pose health hazards and generate smells and sounds that could tank property values. An initial review from the FRA determined the project would have a minimal noise, air quality and groundwater impact on the surrounding community.

Also behind neighbors’ ire: The move comes hand-in-hand with potential future White Sox owner Justin Ishbia’s companies helping to finance Amtrak’s move while purchasing the existing rail facility, which it wants to develop as a site for a proposed new stadium for the South Side team.

In a joint statement Monday, Ishbia’s company, Canal Edge, and Amtrak said they welcomed the “opportunity for additional review, dialogue and feedback.”

* Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago), Senate Democrats’ point person on stadium legislation, discussed the Bridgeport opposition and his own experience dealing with railroads on the Sox in the Basement podcast…

I have sympathy for the people in Bridgeport and Armour Square because, as you point out, they’re facing a potential double whammy: losing the White Sox, who have played in the area for their entire history, 125 years, and then having what has been a dormant rail yard started back up with a rail maintenance facility.

So I understand why they’re pushing back against that. I also have sympathy for [Ald. Nicole Lee] and the other elected officials there because I know from experience as a local elected official how difficult it is to deal with railroads. […]

When I first became a legislator, that line was owned by the Canadian National Railway. They sold it to CSX. CSX told us at the time they were maybe running two or three trains a day. They said, “Yeah, we’re going to increase the trains, but we’re not going to run them during rush hour, and we’re going to put a cap on it, and they’ll mostly run at night.”

And we said, “well, what about 95th Street, a major ambulance thoroughfare to Christ Hospital?” At that time, Christ Hospital was the only trauma center on the South Side. If you got in a car accident or got shot south of like 47th Street, you were in an ambulance on 95th Street going to Christ Hospital.

So we’re like, “You can’t block this intersection.” “Don’t worry, we won’t. If we block the intersection because of a stopped train, we’ll break the train after 10 minutes.”

Never did any of that stuff. We went crazy. I was introducing bills in Springfield. [Mayor Jim Sexton] was introducing ordinances here in the Village of Evergreen Park. Matt O’Shea, the alderman of the 19th Ward, was doing the same. Meaningless. They’re all unconstitutional, as you said. Only the federal government can regulate railroads. We have almost no say whatsoever.

I had this conversation with Ald. Nicole Lee, and I told her, like, ‘I feel bad for you. I get what you’re doing, and you have to do this, and should do this, but you don’t have a lot of cards to play. In fact, you might not have any.’

The one benefit Bridgeport has that we didn’t have here is they are not dealing with one of the big freight carriers. They are dealing with Amtrak. Amtrak is a publicly facing rail company. They want to sell tickets to ordinary people, where, you know, CSX, their customers are big corporations. […]

There’s the old cliché: You can’t fight city hall. You can fight city hall. You can’t fight the railroads. That’s my lesson learned being an elected official here, and Bridgeport’s finding that out now.

Again, they have a fighting chance because it’s Amtrak. It’s not one of the freight carriers, so I think that they might be able to extract some sort of concessions out of them. But it will be difficult.

3 Comments

It’s just a bill

Wednesday, Oct 28, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* NBC Chicago…

Illinois lawmakers are pushing for greater accountability in how colleges and universities address sexual assault on campus.

State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, a Democrat from Arlington Heights, is the House sponsor of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act, which would give the Illinois Attorney General’s Office more power to compel colleges to publicly disclose incidents of campus sexual violence. […]

“The new bill will give more teeth to the Attorney General’s office to make sure the school has more policies in place and are turning over their reporting,” Canty told NBC Chicago.

The bill would require colleges to address digital sexual harassment, including revenge porn. The legislation would also give victims the ability to attend campus proceedings with both legal and mental health support and allow survivors to take legal action against a school if they believe it didn’t adequately address their case. […]

The bill passed the Illinois Senate with a bipartisan majority in the spring and is expected to be considered in next month’s fall veto session.

* Attorney General Kwame Raoul…

HB 4990 protects survivors from retaliation, strengthens victim support services and creates enforcement tools to hold institutions accountable when they fail victims. I thank @RepMBC, Sen. Guzman and advocates for working with our office to enhance protection for survivors.

— Illinois Attorney General (@ILAttyGeneral) October 26, 2026

* Press release…

Today, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA) announced support for HB5828 (EDGE Essentials) – new legislation that would create a streamlined package of tax incentives for independently owned grocery stores and pharmacies, helping small businesses invest in their operations, retain and hire workers, and continue serving communities across Illinois.

Independent grocers and pharmacies play an essential role in Illinois communities, providing access to fresh food, prescription medications and other everyday necessities while supporting local jobs and economic activity. In communities with limited access to grocery stores or pharmacies, these businesses can be particularly important to residents who might otherwise need to travel significant distances to meet basic needs.

EDGE Essentials is designed to ease the strain of opening or maintaining an independent store during a time of increasing costs. This program would provide access to several tax benefits through a simple application process. The benefits would include enhanced incentives for businesses located in designated food or pharmacy deserts, where maintaining access to essential goods and services can be especially challenging. […]

Under the program, eligible businesses would need to be independently owned, with no more than four stores, and plan to make a qualifying capital investment of at least $500,000. Grocery stores with more than 15 employees would be required to make a capital investment of at least $1 million. Participating grocers would also be required to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits.

EDGE Essentials would establish two primary benefits for these businesses including:

- Payroll withholding credits: Businesses located in food or pharmacy deserts could receive a credit of up to 100% of payroll withholding for new employees and 50% for retained employees. Businesses outside designated deserts could receive credits of up to 75% for new employees and 25% for retained employees.
- Enterprise Zone High Impact Business benefits: Eligible businesses would be automatically enrolled in the Enterprise Zone High Impact Business Program, providing access to applicable tax benefits, including a sales tax exemption on qualifying building materials.

* Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments executive director Marlon Chamberlain…

Time served in prison should be just that: time served. Once men and women have completed their sentences, they’ve paid their debt to society, as the saying goes. But for too many people, their sentence stretches far beyond the amount of time set by a judge. Their record stands in the way of jobs, stable housing, education and opportunities for decades to come. […]

After successfully helping the passage of the Clean Slate Act into law, automating the sealing of eligible records, the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments is now working to ensure that this law is being implemented properly and funded accordingly. Clean Slate, once funded, will standardize and streamline the process of sealing records eligible for expungement, opening doors that were previously closed to the formerly incarcerated population.

Building on that success, we are pushing legislation to create a Permanent Punishment Review Task Force. This task force will study Illinois’ permanent punishment laws, identify factors for modifying or eliminating them, evaluate models for periodic review and recommend changes to the General Assembly. The House passed legislation that allows the creation of the task force — House Bill 5091 — in the spring. Now, we need to get it across the finish line when the Senate returns for veto session in November.

The Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments is also working to pass the Home for Good legislation through the Senate. This legislation aims to create a comprehensive statewide strategy to improve housing and support services for people returning from prison. Access to affordable housing is another key component to ensuring a smooth reentry back into society. Not only is stable housing vital to help ensure people can meet the conditions of their release, it also provides the security needed to maintain a job, pursue education and address physical and mental health issues. We also know that increasing access to housing reduces recidivism, which helps advance public safety while also saving taxpayers money.

* WAND…

A south suburban House Democrat has filed a plan to help provide financial relief to communities hardest hit by storms this summer. The bill calls for Illinois to use money from the rainy day fund to lift up counties still recovering.

Rep. Anthony DeLuca (D-Chicago Heights) said he started to talk with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency about potential funding opportunities before the Trump administration denied disaster relief for Illinois. They started to draft language for a state relief plan in anticipation of FEMA’s rejection.

“We had complete devastation like we hadn’t seen, and it came repeatedly,” DeLuca said. “There were two storms in a row and three storms within five weeks.” […]

His plan would allow IEMA to create emergency rules for a grant program with money from the budget stabilization fund. Local governments in Alexander, Champaign, Cook, DuPage, Ford, Fulton, Kane, Lake, LaSalle, Marshall, McLean, Pulaski, Tazewell, Vermilion, and Will counties would be eligible for relief funds.

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Mystery Texas political mailers linked to downstate printing company

Wednesday, Oct 28, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* CNN…

The blue and pink pamphlets began arriving in mailboxes across Texas around Saturday, October 17, just two days before early voting began on October 19. They were addressed to the student at each household.
“TEXAS TRANS & LGBTQ+ STUDENT RESOURCE GUIDE” was in bold on the front with intertwined hands underneath. […]

But the Transgender Education Network of Texas, the nonprofit whose name is plastered throughout the brochure, forcefully denied it created or mailed the pamphlets. […]

Critics have argued it was a move to trigger conservative voters and drive them to the polls in a tight election. In historically red Texas, a state President Donald Trump won three times by double digits, Republican turnout is critical due to unusually competitive races at the top of the ticket.

Inside were photographs from the TENT’s events and merchandise, including the nonprofit’s logo and “Trans Texas” branding. The return address was a Houston address nearly identical to TENT’s own address. Just one digit was removed.

* CBS…

The Transgender Education Network of Texas, or TENT, has filed a petition asking a Travis County judge to allow them to take oral depositions or written questions before a lawsuit is officially filed. According to the petition, the author of the mailer “co-opted TENT’s name, materials (including photographs), branding and website without TENT’s knowledge or consent, violating state law.” […]

According to the USPS, the permit is held by Three Z Printing, located in Teutopolis, Illinois, whose website proclaims, “We help you look good on paper.” The I-Team contacted the company; as of late Friday afternoon, we had not heard back.

It is not clear what role, if any, Three Z Printing had beyond the use of its permit; owning the permit does not mean the company printed the flyers, just that it allowed the use of its permit so the sender could qualify for discounted postage.

* More from ABC Austin…

Joaquin Gonzalez, an attorney for TENT, said the organization has sought records from Three Z Printing to determine who hired the company to handle the mailers and may bring the company into the legal proceedings.

Matt Zerrusen has supported President Trump and conservative causes over the years, social media posts show. A 2019 X.com post by Doug Deason, a prominent GOP donor from Dallas, shows him and Matt Zerrusen headed to an event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. […]

The petition asks the judge to authorize depositions of representatives of both companies as early as Thursday and Friday.

TENT says the information is needed to determine whether it can pursue claims involving impersonation, defamation or other alleged wrongdoing.

The Zerrusens aren’t major Illinois GOP donors. According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, Matt has never contributed to a state campaign, and his father, William, has just one contribution on record: $150 to then-Rep. Chuck Hartke (D-Teutopolis) in 1996.

* Texas Observer reporter Steven Monacelli…

Thread ?: the fraudulent transgender mailers have a connection back to Dallas, Texas, where a local Republican megadonor used a similar playbook years ago when he funded a fake BLM group to send letters to wealthy white parents that were designed to discredit the BLM movement.

— steven monacelli (@stevanzetti) October 24, 2026

3 Comments

Isabel’s morning briefing

Wednesday, Oct 28, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Cindy Bailey, GOP candidate’s wife, pushes back on claims in Pritzker ads. Capitol News Illinois…

From Politico:

* Gov. JB Pritzker has no public events scheduled today.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Bloomberg | Feds offer Constellation $5 billion in financing to spur nuke development: The Trump administration is offering as much as $5 billion in financing to Constellation Energy Corp. to upgrade and modernize the nuclear operator’s fleet of reactors in Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The projects backed by the conditional loan commitment are expected to add nearly 1.1 gigawatts of electricity and help strengthen the grid and lower costs, according to the Energy Department. Constellation shares surged on the news.

* Crain’s | Chicago home prices rising at twice the rate of inflation: City home prices were up 8.3%, more than two times the rate of inflation. That’s according to monthly data released last week by Illinois Realtors, a statewide industry group. One of the few products whose prices are rising faster is Halloween candy. What the two have in common is that buyers are still in the market for both Halloween candy and Chicago-area homes.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Aurora Beacon-News | Race for 65th District seat in Illinois House features Rivard, Ugaste: If elected, Rivard said he wants to focus on improving representation for the district, acquiring more resources through things such as grants and helping local municipalities by making sure mandates from Springfield are funded. “I want to bring actual representation to the district, a seat at the table for everybody in the community,” he said. “I’ll be at the table. I’ll be at negotiations and I won’t be grandstanding or introducing bills after session is over. I’ll be at the table talking to the stakeholders, the community and legislators.”

* Sun-Times | Pritzker’s PAC is spending to back Dems in heated Kansas, Mississippi Senate races: The latest investments include a $1 million ad buy in the Mississippi U.S. Senate race, where Democrat Scott Colom, a district attorney, faces Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, who blocked Colom’s nomination to be a federal judge during the Biden administration. In a sign the race is competitive, Trump on Monday held a rally in Corinth, Mississippi, to support Hyde-Smith. Polls conducted in August and October by Democratic pollsters showed Colom with a slight lead in a state that has the largest proportion of Black voters in the country.

* CBS Chicago | In second attempt to unseat Gov. JB Pritzker, Republican Darren Bailey is changing tactics: Asked if it’s a tough time to run as a Republican for statewide office during President Trump’s second term, Bailey said, “it has its adversities.” “But President Trump still has time to show fruit of some of the decisions that he’s made,” Bailey said. “The clock’s ticking.”

* Tribune | Illinois’ 7th Congressional District: Progressive La Shawn Ford poised to succeed Danny Davis: “By nature and by life, I’m a progressive,” Ford said. “I’ve had to fight for progressive ideas, and acceptance and change, for the existence of Black people and the unrepresented and unheard populations my whole life, even before I was elected.” Koppie, who has made opposing abortion the center of his campaigns since the 1990s, has called hosting campaign events “futile” and has raised little money. The two candidates have not appeared together in a debate or forum and have no plans for one.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Mayor Johnson steps up political attacks on billionaire businessman Michael Sacks: Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday accused billionaire businessman Michael Sacks of leading a “nasty coalition of billionaires” who are using their wealth to elect school board members who would close more Chicago Public Schools. Johnson never mentioned Sacks by name. But it was clear he was talking about Sacks, who has helped bankroll a political action committee known as Common Ground Collective that has raised more than $5 million to elect Jessica Biggs as school board president and other school board members who would not be beholden to the Chicago Teachers Union.

* Block Club | Work Finally Begins On DuSable Park, Nearly 40 Years After Land Was Set Aside For It: The $15 million project is moving forward with help from the development firm Related Midwest, which is currently building 400 N. Lake Shore Drive, a residential skyscraper project at the former Chicago spire site. The project is being paid for with $5 million in Open Space Impact Fees and $10 million from Related Midwest.

* Crain’s | O’Hare’s massive restaurant and retail shake-up nears decision time: Chicago Aviation Commissioner Mike McMurray says selection of the winners of long-awaited contracts to operate restaurant, bar and retail concessions at O’Hare International Airport’s domestic terminals is imminent. McMurray expects to receive recommendations of the winners from a team of consultants “any day” and the department will begin negotiating contracts. Within 30 to 45 days, he hopes to submit contracts to the City Council for approval.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Fritz Kaegi defends record as Cook County assessor, calls for more reform in last budget hearing: In particular, Kaegi on Tuesday said it’s “not adversarial” for him to to directly defend his property assessments at the county Board of Review. Hynes has said his relationship with the board — a quasi-judicial, three-member board that hears appeals to the assessor’s valuations — would be less adversarial than Kaegi’s. Kaegi has regularly butted heads with board members over their appeals, which often overturned his valuations of big business buildings.

* Sun-Times | East Aurora District 131 board member facing federal charges over fraud, kickback scheme: Annette Johnson — then-president of the District 131 Board and current board member serving on the district’s finance and personnel committee — faces four wire fraud charges in connection with the alleged plot that ran over the course of two years, according to prosecutors. Johnson is set to remain on the board through April 2029, according to the district’s website.

* Daily Southtown | Seven to run for Harvey mayor; candidates also file in Dolton, Lynwood and Riverdale: Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark died in January, midway through his second term. The City Council appointed 1st Ward Ald. Shirley Drewenski to serve out the term, but announced Oct. 2 she would not seek election. Instead, Drewenski endorsed former Ald. Marshun Tolbert, one of the two candidates who ran against Clark in 2023. Other candidates are 2nd Ward Ald. Colby Chapman, Anthony McCaskill, Nicole Gooden, Angelette Taylor, Lonnie Harrison Jr. and Terry Brown.

* Daily Herald | Demonstrators protesting fatal police shooting force Mundelein to cancel board meeting: The protest came less than a week after Lake County prosecutors announced no charges would be filed in the death of 37-year-old Mary Alice Love, who was killed by Mundelein police at her home May 11 during a mental health crisis. The Love family responded by filing a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Mundelein and police Sgt. Christopher Brigano, who reportedly fired the deadly shots. […] Village Administrator Eric Guenther tried to address the crowd and restore order from his seat at the dais, but his voice was drowned out by protesters’ chants and noise. With the crowd refusing to relent, Guenther stood and announced the meeting was canceled.

* Daily Herald | Why DuPage County Board member wants to be mayor of Downers Grove again: Downers Grove limits mayors to two consecutive terms, which prevented current Mayor Robert Barnett from seeking reelection. If reelected to the county board, Krajewski said he would resign his District 3 seat if he is elected mayor in the spring. “I think there’s more opportunity to get things done in Downers Grove,” Krajewski said. […] When asked why voters should still support his bid for county board, Krajewski said he would serve six months of the two-year term, adding there is still work he could do to help support animal services and other county programs.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Board approves letter supporting protections for Mahomet Aquifer: According to Patrick Brown, Village Administrator, the resolution authorizes the Village President — Jason S. Tompkins — to send letters to Senator Chapin Rose and Representative Chris Miller supporting legislative efforts that safeguard the aquifer, promote responsible water use, and help ensure that decisions are made to preserve the resource for future generations. Brown said it also urges the legislature to resolve this issue during the fall veto session.

* WGLT | Decades of McLean County court records moving to new system in December: The case management system used by the McLean County jail, courts, state’s attorney’s office and public defender’s office will shut down in December after collecting county records for almost three decades. Trial court administrator William Scanlon said at the quarterly Criminal Justice Coordinating Council [CJCC] meeting that all of that data, including 28 years of booking photos and documents, is being loaded into a new system set to go live Dec. 7.

*** National ***

* AP | Disinformation videos, likely from Russia, are exploiting real people to malign Senate candidates: One of the targets is Sherrod Brown, who is running against Republican Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio. The video, which appears to include some AI manipulation, depicts a newscast and includes pictures of Haya Akbik, who interned for Brown several years ago, and other former staff members. It was appalling to Akbik, who told The Associated Press that any claims attributed to her in the clip are “completely made up.” “It’s my name, it’s my reputation, making this allegation, and it’s just completely false,” she said. “And it harms the senator, someone else, in the process. So, it’s just messed up.”

* NYT | Trump Administration Backs Down on an Opioid Ban After Kratom Industry Lobbying: Mr. Kennedy announced Oct. 9 that his department had “followed the science” and decided to allow some levels of the compound. The policy U-turn came after a number of kratom companies discovered the substance in products marketed as “natural” in recent months. The manager of a large kratom distribution company, faced with evidence of the compound in products at the center of several wrongful death lawsuits against him, mounted a concerted lobbying push.

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Good morning!

Wednesday, Oct 28, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Louie Zong…

* What’s going on?

2 Comments

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