Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2019

Tuesday, Jun 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Illinois State Fair on Monday announced it has added a free concert to its Grandstand lineup. It’ll be another two weeks before we know for sure who is performing, however.

The concert will happen on Thursday, Aug. 8, after the Twilight Parade, a night when the Grandstand is normally dark.

Fair officials did not reveal the name of the performer(s) — other than to say it is a “big-name act that everyone will recognize” — and instead set up a contest for people to guess the artist in an effort to win backstage passes to meet the performer.

Hope it isn’t Confederate Railroad. Just sayin…

* The Question: Your guesses?

72 Comments

Cannabis roundup

Tuesday, Jun 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tribune…

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed into law a bill that will legalize marijuana in Illinois next year, marking a momentous shift in how the state treats drug use.

The bill will allow the licensed growth, sales, possession and consumption of cannabis for adults 21 and older.

The signing ceremony, attended by several lawmakers, officeholders and marijuana supporters, took place at the Sankofa Cultural Arts & Business Center in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood.

Pritzker called the legislation a “sea change” for Illinois, saying that the war on drugs has destroyed families and disproportionately affected minorities.

“Illinoisans have had enough,” he said. “… The time for change has long since passed.”

A press release and fact sheet are here.

* CBS News…

“Studies have shown time and time again that black and white people tend to use cannabis at the same rates, but black people are far more likely to be arrested for possession,” [Pritzker] said. “Criminalization offers nothing but pain, disruption, and injustice. The legislators and activists standing with me today have heard you.”

In addition to providing criminal-record scrubbing for past low-level offenders, the law gives preference to would-be marijuana vendors in areas of high poverty and records of large numbers of convictions. And portions of tax proceeds must be reinvested in impoverished communities.

* CBS 2…

In addition to standard state and local taxes, the state would impose a 10% tax on all marijuana products with up to 35% THC, the chemical that gets marijuana users high. Marijuana products with THC concentrations of more than 35% would be taxed at 25%. Cannabis-infused products like edibles would be taxed at 20%.

Counties can add up to 3.75% for unincoprated areas and municipalities can add special taxes up to 3%.

The legislation also will effectively wipe clean previous small-time marijuana convictions.

The governor also will pardon all misdemeanor marijuana convictions involving less than 30 grams. Prosecutors or convicts could seek court orders to pardon and expunge records of convictions involving up to 500 grams.

* Sun-Times…

“Change is hard, but an essential tenet of good governance is recognizing the need to change the laws that have failed,” Pritzker said before signing the bill at the Sankofa Cultural Arts and Business Center on the West Side. “In the past 50 years, the war on cannabis has destroyed families, filled prisons with nonviolent offenders and disproportionately disrupted black and brown communities.” […]

New conflict of interest provisions were also added, which ban lawmakers and their family members, as well as state employees, from being able to get a cannabis business license for two years. New changes also included strengthening language to ensure employers can maintain a zero tolerance drug policy.

Designed to address concerns about impaired driving, the bill also includes the addition of a DUI Task Force led by Illinois State Police to examine best practices. That includes examining emergency technology and roadside testing.

* Capitol News Illinois…

The equity measures direct 25 percent of legalization revenues to a newly-established Restore, Reinvest and Renew Grant Program to “address the impact of economic disinvestment, violence, and the historical overuse of the criminal justice system,” according to a press release.

Legalization is expected to generate $57 million in the upcoming fiscal year and as much as $500 million a year when the industry is fully mature.

55 Comments

Open thread

Tuesday, Jun 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’m heading to a bill-signing, so you’re on your own for a while. Please keep it Illinois-centric and be nice to each other. I’m not quite sure when I’ll be back, so keep an eye on our live coverage post for updates.

51 Comments

Time to rethink legislative replacement process?

Tuesday, Jun 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We’ve had a spate of legislative retirements, so this is worth a look…

According to Ballotpedia, Illinois is one of just four states — along with Indiana, North Dakota and Colorado — in which party officials fill legislative vacancies. In seven other states, county boards fill those jobs. In 10 states, it’s the governor’s responsibility to make an appointment. And in three states, a hybrid system is used.

One state, Ohio, allows a vote by the legislative chamber to make appointments. But a full 25 states hold special elections when a vacancy occurs.

In Connecticut, the governor must call for a special election within 10 days of a vacancy occurring and the balloting must take place within the next 46 days. If a vacancy occurs with fewer than 125 days before the next general election, then the special election coincides with that general election.

In Cook County, ward and township committeemen fill legislative vacancies. Outside Cook, party chairs play that role.

Thoughts?

43 Comments

6,700 more students will receive MAP grants

Tuesday, Jun 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Dusty Rhodes…

Low-income college students in Illinois got some good news [yesterday]. The state’s Monetary Award Program — which provides MAP grants to help pay for tuition — will be able to give more grants with more money, thanks to the largest appropriation in the fund’s history.

Lynne Baker, with the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, says the agency approved a new formula that will boost grants by an average of $220 and cover at least 6,700 more students.

For the past few years, while the state suffered through a budget impasse, her job has entailed delivering a steady stream of bad news to students, community colleges and universities schools that depend on MAP funds. But the new state budget includes $451.3 million for MAP. […]

To figure out exactly how to apportion the pie, ISAC gets advice from the Illinois Association of Financial Aid Administrators. The final formula was approved Monday. The average grant for a community college student will be $1,048 (an increase of $23); the average award for a student attending a public four-year university will be $4,394 (an increase of $375); and the average award for a student attending a private non-profit university will be $4,527 (an increase of $393). The maximum award will increase from $4,968 to $5,340.

33 Comments

“Our worst fears have been realized”

Tuesday, Jun 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I just have no words…

Just two weeks ago, two teenagers were left with no choice but to sleep on the floor of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services office building in the South Loop.

That’s according to a letter written by the Cook County Public Guardian to a federal judge overseeing a consent decree.

“Our worst fears have been realized,” wrote public guardian Charles Golbert. “DCFS has to resort to forcing children to sleep on the hard cold floors of its offices because it doesn’t even have an adequate number of shelter beds.”

In an interview with WGN, Golbert said: “It’s a violation of the children’s civil rights. It’s a violation of their rights under a federal consent decree that governs DCFS and it’s a violation of basic human dignity for the children.”

Golbert said the kids were 16 and 17 years old. After spending the night on the floor, he said one of them ran away from DCFS and, at last word, had not been found.

This may not be an isolated incident.

50 Comments

Home health care workers receive back pay approved in 2017

Tuesday, Jun 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Press release…

Illinois’ home health care workers will finally get their back pay this week.

“These frontline workers enrich the lives of Illinois’ elderly and save taxpayers money by keeping them in their homes instead of costlier nursing homes,” Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza said. “They have long since earned the raise they won years ago.”

Back in 2017 the Illinois General Assembly approved a 48-cent-an-hour raise for some 49,053 workers who have visited Illinois’ elderly, providing home health care.

Former Gov. Bruce Rauner illegally refused to pay it, even as courts ordered him to follow the law. That pushed some of those elderly Illinoisans into nursing homes at far higher costs to taxpayers. The new administration had to comb through Rauner-era records to determine how much was owed to each worker.

“Despite former Gov. Rauner’s resistance, I safeguarded these back wages in a special account since April, 2018, for home health care workers who were entitled to the 48-cent-an-hour raise promised to them,” Mendoza said. “Given that these funds were safeguarded, my office is able to process these payments immediately without any further delay to hard-working current and former workers.”

These payments are separate from some $300 million in backpay for employees of other departments who were due raises former Gov. Rauner refused to pay. The Illinois Office of Comptroller is working with the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and state agencies on the process for those back wages owed to state employees in other departments. Once those vouchers arrive, my office will begin processing such payments.

The $30.7 million in back wages for the home health care workers will be released this week to the Department of Human Services with an issuance date of Friday, June 28, 2019.

…Adding… Hannah Meisel has some different numbers today…

The state budget for the 2018 fiscal year included 48-cent per hour raises for roughly 28,000 personal assistants employed under the Department of Human Services’ Home Services Program, who provide services to individuals with severe disabilities so they can remain in their own homes. The total cost of the wage raise was estimated at $12.7 million annually.

But Rauner’s administration refused to pay the raises, arguing that they were improper as they are usually part of collectively bargained-for contracts with public sector unions. Those personal assistants are represented by SEIU Healthcare Illinois. The union filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of its members, who earned $13 per hour before the 48-cent per hour raise.

After a months-long legal battle, a Cook County judge sided with SEIU in early 2018. Rauner appealed, but as part of the appeal, his administration started setting aside money for the raises in an escrow account, which has netted $32 million, according to the comptroller’s website. A First District Appellate Court panel affirmed the judge’s ruling earlier this year.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s office announced in March that the personal assistants would begin to receive the 48-cent per hour raise in their paychecks starting in April. The administration also began paying out raises provided for in the budget for the 2019 fiscal year to 14,000 child care workers represented by SEIU.

The back pay owed to the personal assistants will be going out to more than the 28,000 workers the raise had initially affected, as turnover in those jobs is high.

6 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)