* Cook County Record…
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and some of his allies are arguing they were exercising free speech when they allegedly ran two Hispanic “sham candidates” to lure votes from a Hispanic primary challenger to Madigan, who is now suing Madigan and others on grounds such alleged tactics were unlawful.
Jason Gonzales filed suit in August 2016 in Chicago federal court alleging Madigan and some of his supporters engaged in underhanded methods to ensure a lopsided win for the Speaker in the 2016 Democratic Primary. The alleged unethical acts included slating two Hispanic candidates for no reason other than to split the Hispanic vote Gonzales has argued he could have received. The candidates were Joe Barbosa and Grasiela Rodriguez, who are also being sued by Gonzales. […]
Gonzales is arguing defendants should not be permitted to use the First Amendment as a defense. Defendants countered by filing arguments on why they should be allowed.
* From the Madigan filing…
(C)omplaints about campaign strategies, even “dirty tricks” that successfully undermine candidacies, are not actionable in federal court. See, e.g., Jones, 892 F.3d at 939 (referendum pushed by candidate’s opponents to disqualify him from running for mayor was “a political dirty trick,” but the “right response” would have been a “political,” “campaign[] against the … referendum” and prevail “at the ballot box rather than the courthouse”). As the Jones court stated, “[a]ny effort by the judiciary to stop one politician from proposing and advocating steps that injure another politician would do more to violate the First Amendment … than to vindicate the Equal Protection Clause.” […]
(T)here is no intent requirement to run for office under Illinois law. […]
In fact, the state could not impose an intent requirement on any candidate for their purpose in running for office. For example, states cannot force candidates to swear loyalty oaths disclaiming certain beliefs to access the ballot. See, e.g., Communist Party of Ind. v. Whitcomb, 414 U.S. 441, 442‐43, 449‐50 (1974) (striking down requirement that political candidates swear that they do not advocate for the overthrow of government by force or violence); Socialist Workers Party v. Hill, 483 F.2d 554, 556‐57 (5th Cir. 1973) (candidates could not be forced to swear “obeisance and homage” to current form of government to access ballot). If the state cannot require Barbosa and Rodriguez to swear loyalty to the United States to run for office, the state certainly cannot require Barbosa and Rodriguez to swear they are not running to make it harder for Plaintiff to win a primary.
And if the First Amendment protects candidates who run with the intent of altering our form of government, then certainly it protects Barbosa and Rodriguez for running with whatever intent they had, including the alleged intent to take votes away from Plaintiff.
45 Comments  
|
* GateHouse Media…
Illinois legislators in June voted to double a state tax on gasoline to 38 cents from 19 cents per gallon. The increase took effect July 1, and gas station owner Pravin Patel immediately noticed a dip in sales.
Patel operates a Mobil gas station in South Beloit, located about the length of football field away from the Illinois-Wisconsin border. He said he’s making about $2,000 less per day on gas sales than in previous months, based on credit card transactions alone. He’s heard similar stories from other gas station owners near the border, he added.
“I’ve lost a lot of business and I’ve lost two employees because I can’t afford them anymore” Patel said. “Because the tax went up, business went down.”
Patel suggested that legislators should consider a buffer zone of sorts to protect gas station owners on the border. If the additional tax was waived within a mile or two of the border, customers might return to Illinois, he said.
A buffer zone sounds interesting, but what do you do about the gas stations just outside the buffer zone? Create another buffer zone? And then what do you do about those gas stations outside the second buffer zone?
* Look, there will be some pain with this gas tax increase. No doubt. But we can’t create a time machine to go back and fix this state’s infrastructure problems. The fixes can only be done in the here and now and in the future. And the problems were ignored and/or neglected for so long that a bigtime solution was necessary.
The problems some gas stations, corporate or otherwise, are having shouldn’t take precedence over fixing what we’ve collectively broken. The best thing to do is to try not to get so far behind ever again.
…Adding… From comments…
The location of a business is a well known valuation factor. The potential for tax hikes or tax cuts impacting a business will be taken into account for evaluating the value of an “on the border” business and, in theory, also for the business’ property tax assessments. Unfortunately, “risk” is also a well known business factor.
50 Comments
|
Question of the day
Thursday, Jul 11, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune has a story today about municipalities hiring collection agencies to track down people with unpaid tickets and fines. It’s a cash cow for the locals, which don’t have to spend a dime to collect the fines. It makes money for the collection agencies, which keep a large chunk of what they collect. But some of these fines are ancient. For instance…
Seth Jumps, who lives in Jackson County, near Carbondale, got a call about six months ago from the same number over and over for several weeks. He finally decided to answer. The caller was a collection agent working for Jackson County.
The agency told Jumps he had two unpaid tickets: a $150 ticket from 2012 for fishing without a license, and a $125 ticket from 2002 for screeching tires. He said the agency didn’t provide him with copies of the tickets, or any other paperwork.
Jumps said he was certain he paid those tickets. He renews his fishing license each year and believes he wouldn’t be able to if he had an unpaid violation. And this was the first time in 16 years that he heard from the county about possible outstanding tickets, he said.
“It was 16 years ago. I have no track record or anything,” Jumps said. “Who’s going to keep a receipt?”
Goodman, from NIU, said someone may be tempted to pay a ticket, rather than fight it, if they don’t have records. He raised concerns about collection agencies choosing whom to pursue.
* The Question: Should the state place some sort of time limit on these private debt collections? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
picture polls
…Adding… Text from Rep. Stephanie Kifowit…
Hi Rich, I tried to address this issue last session but couldn’t get the bill called on the floor. It’s an issue because banks only keep records for 7 years so it’s impossible for a person to contest a violation from that long ago.
Her bill is here.
If you check the witness slips, the Illinois Municipal League, the City of Chicago and Cook County were opposed, which explains the brick.
32 Comments
|
Let’s get a move-on, people
Thursday, Jul 11, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the state’s new gaming law…
In addition, within 10 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly, the [Illinois Gaming Board], with consent and at the expense of the City of Chicago, shall select and retain the services of a nationally recognized casino gaming feasibility consultant. Within 45 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly, the consultant shall prepare and deliver to the Board a study concerning the feasibility of, and the ability to finance, a casino in the City of Chicago. The feasibility study shall be delivered to the Mayor of the City of Chicago, the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Ninety days after receipt of the feasibility study, the Board shall make a determination, based on the results of the feasibility study, whether to recommend to the General Assembly that the terms of the license under paragraph (1) of this subsection (e-5) should be modified. The Board may begin accepting applications for the owners license under paragraph (1) of this subsection (e-5) upon the determination to issue such an owners license.
The law’s effective date is July 1, so the first deadline was yesterday. The deadline wasn’t met.
* Center Square…
Illinois’ new gambling expansion is barely two weeks old, but the state is already behind schedule. […]
The state should have named a firm to study a Chicago casino this week. That hasn’t happened. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said it will, eventually.
“Nothing is going to happen until licenses are issued. And that is going to happen in due course,” Pritzker told reporters in Chicago on Wednesday. “We obviously need to start with the Gaming Board, we need to make sure that the study is underway for the city of Chicago. But remember, that’s just one component of the gaming bill.”
The study requires a firm to figure out the best way to move forward with a Chicago casino and to suggest where the casino will be built.
“There are CMS requirements for the state. You have to go out and bid it out and so. And that’s all happening right now,” Pritzker said.
The governor also has not named new Gaming Board members. He said that will happen soon.
“We’ll be making announcements about the members and the chair of the Gaming Board as soon as we can,” Pritzker said.
…Adding… Amanda Vinicky…
“The IGB (Illinois Gaming Board) is bound by the procurement code and the law. We are working through the process to fulfill this mandate,” a gaming board spokesman said.
The Illinois Gaming Board put out a bid. It’s unclear at this point how many – if any – firms responded. The bid requires potential vendors to provide proof of having completed reports for feasibility studies in other metropolitan areas, to disclose any relationships with entities licensed by the state gaming board, and to disclose “all communications of any kind with agents, representatives, consultants, employees or officials of the City of Chicago, the Illinois Gaming Board, the State of Illinois” having anything to do with a Chicago casino. […]
The delay could hamstring whichever vendor may win the contract.
The bid requires the study to be completed in just about a month – by Aug. 12.
3 Comments
|
Confederate opinions
Thursday, Jul 11, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Sun-Times editorial board says the Confederate flag is “about the South’s historic defense of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, white citizens’ councils, the Ku Klux Klan, American fascism, white supremacy, white nationalism and everyday off-the-rack bigotry.” But…
The Illinois Department of Agriculture, working with its new local fair manager, Josh Gross, announced the entire lineup for the Du Quoin State Fair weeks ago — on June 17. It scheduled Confederate Railroad to play on a Tuesday, Aug. 27.
The time to take a pass on a band like Confederate Railroad was back then. It would have been entirely reasonable for state officials to decline to book the band just because of the art on the band’s album cover, which includes a small Confederate flag.
We wish they had.
But for Pritzker to reach down from his heights now, after all the contracts have been signed, and cancel the booking for this one band strikes us as excessive government involvement in matters of free expression.
The way these things usually work is the artist signs the final contract on the day of the show after negotiating terms with the fair and coming to an arrangement. So, technically, not all contracts had been signed.
But the governor’s people are pointing out that if the governor believes a lower-level person in his/her administration has made a big mistake, then shouldn’t the governor step in and change it? Regardless of what you may think of the decision, it’s Pritzker’s administration. So, if someone in his administration really messes up, he’s held responsible. Governors own.
* Daily Herald editorial…
Support for the band has swelled amid appearances of an elitist double standard, while the serious issues underlying the debate go unacknowledged.
Thus has a legitimate swipe at racism been transformed into a false narrative of “fascism” — all flowing from matters ostensibly defined as simple entertainment. If nothing else, we hope that’s a lesson schedulers keep in mind for future events that will bear the imprint of the state of Illinois.
* The Du Quoin Call’s editor…
Needless to say, social media was flooded this past weekend with statements from Southern Illinoisans berating the state’s decision. Some have even threatened to boycott this year’s Du Quoin State Fair. Such talk is a big-time overreaction.
What exactly would that accomplish?
A boycott might give some a personal sense of satisfaction, but what it would really accomplish is that it would hurt the vendors and all those hardworking lower-income employees who help make the fair a success each and every year. It would hurt the Southern Illinois economy plain and simple.
…Adding… Bernie…
[Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield] described Monday’s meeting as “a good discussion” and said the administration’s reason for canceling the Du Quoin event was “they have a policy that they don’t allow anything with the Confederate flag or Nazi swastikas to be displayed.” He says he agrees with the concept, but he wondered if there is actually a written policy. He also wondered how far that policy goes when it comes to vendors at fairs — or even items sold in the gift shop at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield.
In a visit to that gift shop Tuesday, Butler said, there were items — including card games on the themes of Civil War generals and armaments — with pictures of American and Confederate flags on the packaging.
CHRIS WILLS, spokesman for the museum, said the shop doesn’t sell items that would prominently feature the flag, like hats or T-shirts.
That has to be the weakest argument on this topic I’ve yet seen. C’mon, Tim.
57 Comments
|
Today’s quotable
Thursday, Jul 11, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Newsweek…
Marijuana policy experts predicted that this year would be a “real game-changer” in terms of cannabis reform at both the state and federal level. But halfway through 2019, the movement has had less progress than hoped.
“The reality is that public policy change rarely works that way. Slow and steady tends to be how change like this happens,” John Hudak, deputy director at the Brookings Center for Effective Public Management, told Newsweek.
“There are of course watershed moments, but those are rare. 2019 has not been a watershed moment,” Hudak added. […]
Other states where marijuana policy reform was expected to pass easily this year, like New York and New Jersey, were not successful despite being backed by a majority of state leaders. Hudak said these failures show “that simply wanting a law to pass and simply having public support for that law is no guarantee that a legislature will move.” [Emphasis added.]
15 Comments
|
* On the same morning as Western Illinois University’s scheduled board of trustees’ meeting today, Gov. Pritzker withdrew two of his recent appointments.
Nick Padgett, the managing director of Chicago’s Frontaura Capital, was seen as a potentially lucrative contact with high-dollar donors was appointed to WIU’s board in late March. So was Jackie Thompson, who started at Western working a clerical job and worked her way up to Vice President for Administrative Service before she retired in 2011. Neither had yet been confirmed by the Senate.
I’ve asked the governor’s office for an explanation, but haven’t yet heard back.
* It’s likely the withdrawals had something to do with this story from late May…
Former Western Illinois University Trustee Lyneir Cole is accusing several of the newly-appointed board members of a “plot to fire” WIU President Jack Thomas.
Cole’s accusation is based on a series of email exchanges among trustees, retired faculty and others sent between April 25 and May 10, 2019.
The main series of emails took place primarily between Larry Balsamo and Jackie Thompson. Balsamo is a retired history professor and former department chair who is also listed as a member of the WIU Foundation Board on the WIU website, although his current status was not confirmed as of this writing. Thompson is one of the newly-appointed trustees and the former president of the WIU Foundation Board. She resigned from the foundation board when she became a trustee.
The content of the emails between Balsamo and Thompson revolves around discussions with other trustees and unnamed parties.
“Jackie, it was good to meet with you again, seemed like old times,” Balsamo wrote in an April 27 email. “I know that you are facing some really demanding challenges in your new position, but if things are going to get better here that will likely have to be instigated by you and your board colleagues. Two things, I will write to Eric this weekend to open a dialogue, and Jack just has to go.“
While not explicitly stated, “Eric” may refer to Erik Dolieslager, a trustee who was appointed to the WIU board in March this year. A later email by Balsamo to Thompson refers to a phone conversation Balsamo had with Trustee Nick Padgett in which Padgett told Balsamo that “Jack was really (dug) in as president…and some board members wanted to move on Jack, some did not really have a position and were on the fence, and some we need some work. He liked the idea of us approaching Aguilar.“
Also in the email between Balsamo and Thompson are comments referencing concerns about perceived racism. Balsamo wrote on May 7, “I am picking up some disturbing () about the Jack situation and so is at least one other member of the group. My fear is that the Jack predicament cannot easily be separated from race. (My) guess is that right three members of the board, the two African Americans and Aguilar will be at least skeptical about any immediate move on Jack and they may be supported by some in the governor’s office and certainly some in the legislature…. I know certainly that some of the opposition to Jack is racist, but even if he were purple he has been a near total failure here.“
He later wrote on May 9, “Race hangs over this whole situation, but I have the feeling that if Jack were white or even Asian he would have been gone some time ago.“
Cole made the accusation in a May 23, 2019 email which he sent to members of the current board of trustees and Thomas with the subject heading, “The plot of WIU board members.” Attached was a document with images of the emailed conversations and commentary by Cole. He forwarded the email later that day to Jesse Ruiz, Deputy Governor, and then again to media outlets shortly before 1 p.m. on May 26.
This administration micro-manages its appointees more than any I’ve ever seen.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Jordan Abudayyeh…
The administration determined it was in the best interest of the WIU community to go a different direction, and we wish both of them well. We expect to name additional appointees shortly.
*** UPDATE 2 *** I’m told by the governor’s office that both trustee appointees were likely not going to be confirmed by the Senate. They apparently didn’t handle the process well.
*** UPDATE 3 *** The board meeting was canceled…
The turmoil at Western Illinois University continues.
On Wednesday night, two members of the university’s eight-person Board of Trustees were quietly removed.
Then, on Thursday morning, the board canceled two days of regularly scheduled meetings in Moline.
The reason was low attendance: only three members showed up, preventing a quorum from being met. The quorum for a board meeting is five. […]
Several Macomb faculty and residents had driven roughly 80 miles to attend the scheduled meeting, at the WIU-Quad Cities campus, only to learn of its cancellation. One WIU-Macomb staff member had heard that one trustee was said to be sick and another had a family emergency.
* Related…
* House Republicans troubled by Pritzker’s revocation of his own board appointments
82 Comments
|
An attempt to save a dying industry
Thursday, Jul 11, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bruce Rushton…
Locally, the amount bet [on horse racing] last year at Capitol Teletrack in Springfield, one of two dozen off-track betting sites in Illinois, was less than half what was wagered at a Lucy’s Place gambling parlor with five video machines a few blocks away on Wabash Avenue. Racing at the state fair also has declined. In 2018, a quarter-million dollars was wagered during four days of harness racing at the fair. In 1995, $1.3 million was bet on 82 races run over six days.
Downward trends are statewide and national. Since 1990, when more than $1.25 billion was wagered on horses in Illinois, the amount bet on horses, or handle in racing’s parlance, has fallen to $573.5 million, including bets placed outside the state by gamblers who can watch races across the land via simulcast broadcasts. In 2018, just 11 percent of money wagered in Illinois on horses ran their races in the Land of Lincoln. The state is down to three tracks, two fewer than in 2015, when a pair of Chicago-area harness tracks shut down. That same year, an East Moline track that last held a live race in 1993 gave up after years of simulcasts, ending resurrection hopes.
“The horse racing industry in this state is about to fall and crumble and deteriorate and go away – that’s just how drastic it is,” state Department of Agriculture Director John Sullivan told state senators during a budget hearing last spring.
It’s an industry worth saving, Sullivan argued. Since 2000, the number of state-issued licenses for occupations ranging from grooms to owners has shrunk from 11,000 to 4,000, but still, Sullivan testified, horse racing generates $1 billion a year in economic activity, considering grooms, blacksmiths, feed stores, veterinarians and scores of other jobs.
“The jobs generated by this industry, they’re very real,” Sullivan told legislators. “Anything you can do to help them would be appreciated.”
Legislators and Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivered with an expansion of gambling that includes sports betting at tracks and the potential for racecourses to become full-fledged casinos. There’s a provision for a new standardbred track, despite closures in recent years. Fairmount Park in Collinsville could have as many as 900 video gambling machines and seats at blackjack tables and other table games. Arlington and Hawthorne Racecourse, both in the Chicago area, could each have as many as 1,200 spots for gamblers to make bets on machines, cards or other table games. By comparison, no existing casino has 1,100 video gambling terminals, according to the most recent report from the Illinois Gaming Board, and 317 table games operate in the state’s 10 casinos, most of which are operating fewer gambling machines than authorized. Video gambling has not previously been allowed at tracks, where millions of dollars in wagers are accepted on nothing but horse races.
27 Comments
|
Wordslinger’s daughter says thanks
Thursday, Jul 11, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Emma Oxnevad’s GoFundMe page…
I want to an extend a huge, huge, huge thank you to everyone who so graciously donated to this campaign. When I first set this up, I felt a little silly setting my goal at $10k; I figured that people would be generous, but I never could have imagined something of this magnitude. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your kindness and generosity during this time of hardship for myself and my family. It would have absolutely warmed my dad’s heart to see how you all came through for me, and I am forever in your debt.
Y’all did a good thing.
15 Comments
|
|
Comments Off
|
|
Comments Off
|
|
Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
|
   
|
Hosted by MCS
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax
Advertise Here
Mobile Version
Contact Rich Miller
|
