* Seventh US Circuit Court of Appeals…
A provision of the Illinois Election Code limits how much money entities can contribute to political campaigns. But in some races, Illinois lifts these limits, allowing certain entities to make unlimited campaign contributions and coordinate unlimited spending with candidates. Illinois Liberty PAC, an independent expenditure committee, is not one of these entities; indeed, Illinois bans all independent expenditure committees from making campaign contributions and from coordinating spending with candidates.
Plaintiffs Dan Proft and the Illinois Liberty PAC do not attack the entire contribution and coordination ban enforced against independent expenditure committees. Rather, they seek to overturn the ban only when unlimited contributions and unlimited coordinated expenditures are allowed for others. Otherwise, plaintiffs claim, Illinois’s ban violates the First Amendment rights of free speech and free association and the Fourteenth Amendment right of equal protection.
Whether a constitutional violation exists here depends on if the contribution and coordination ban is closely drawn to prevent corruption or the appearance of corruption.
Because striking down the ban would increase the risk of corruption and circumvent other election code sections that work to prevent political corruption, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of this suit and denial of plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction.
* More specifically, this is what Proft wanted to do…
Although the Illinois Election Code bars independent expenditure committees from contributing to or coordinating with candidates, Proft, through Illinois Liberty PAC, wants to make unlimited contributions directly to political candidates and coordinate with those candidates in races where the code lifts contribution caps for other entities and individuals. To do so, plaintiffs filed a complaint against the Illinois Attorney General and the members of the Illinois State Board of Elections to obtain declaratory and injunctive relief permitting such contributions and coordinated spending. Plaintiffs argue that by excluding independent expenditure committees from making these contributions and coordinated expenditures, Illinois has violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and free association and their Fourteenth Amendment rights under the Equal Protection Clause.
* Conclusion…
If Proft wishes to make contributions to candidates or coordinate with candidates, he may reorganize Illinois Liberty PAC as a political action committee. And if Proft wishes to contribute to candidates, coordinate with candidates, and make independent expenditures, he may instead form a political action committee while continuing to manage Illinois Liberty PAC.
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Oppo dump!
Monday, Dec 16, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From May 17th…
NBC 5 has learned of a move by Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot to reverse decades of tradition by revamping the mayor’s Chicago Police bodyguard unit, adding representatives from federal agencies and other law enforcement agencies.
At issue, the mayor-elect’s intention to build a new protective detail, reportedly headed by former U.S. Marshal Jim Smith. The unit would include former federal marshals and members of other departments outside Chicago.
“I am not in favor of taking away our jobs and replacing them with someone,” FOP President Kevin Graham told NBC 5. “For as long as we have had a bodyguard detail for the mayor, Chicago police officers have been committed to making sure the mayor and those around him or her are safe.”
* May 28th…
A defiant and emotional Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday she plans to stick with retired deputy U.S. marshal James Smith as commander of her bodyguard detail no matter how vehemently the Fraternal Order of Police opposes the idea.
During a luncheon address to the City Club of Chicago, Lightfoot said she can’t understand why there has been “a lot of ink spilled” about her selection of Smith when his background and experience make him supremely qualified for the job.
“I find it interesting that a guy who has protected Supreme Court justices, high-ranking federal judges and has a record of accomplishment and service as a former U.S. marshal is somebody who is the object of fascination,” the mayor said.
This “controversy” has always made me curious. I mean, he’s a former fed. So what? Is the coppers union really that insular and insecure? Wait. Don’t answer that. I think I know the answer.
* And now this…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is calling for answers from ComEd over the federal investigation into its lobbying activities at the same time the wife of the mayor’s security chief is working as a lobbyist for the utility.
Margaret Houlihan Smith in October added ComEd to her lobbying clients, and listed dozens of city departments she might lobby on the utility’s behalf, including the mayor’s office, according to city records.
Heaven forbid!
Margaret left United as an in-house lobbyist and began doing contract work this year. She was hired by ComEd’s new regime just before a ComEd lobbying contract with the firm co-owned by Chicago Ald. Gil Villegas was terminated. Also terminated within days were contracts for former Rep. John Bradley, the City Club’s Jay Doherty and Speaker Madigan’s former Issues Staff Director Will Cousineau. In other words, she was brought in because the company needed somebody not connected to the recent troubles, but who still knows her way around the Statehouse.
Much (not all) of the chaff at that company has already been shown the door. They need new people they can count on to not get them in trouble. Margaret is the first step forward. And she’s a good step. She’s smart, honest and amazingly capable.
And what’s Lightfoot supposed to do, anyway? Fire her security chief? Ridic.
* This is how the Tribune story ends…
Shortly after Lightfoot took office in May, Houlihan Smith declined to comment on the steps she and her husband planned to take to keep his security work for the mayor and her lobbying at City Hall separate.
Smith is often seen around City Council chambers, both when he’s accompanying the mayor as part of her security detail and during council committee meetings when Lightfoot isn’t on hand.
The couple also is sometimes seen together with politicians at City Hall. Earlier this fall, Houlihan Smith was seen introducing her husband to Northwest Side Ald. Jim Gardiner, 45th, in the hallway outside chambers. Gardiner said he vaguely remembered the introduction, but didn’t think there was anything unusual about it.
Get out the pitchforks!
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* Press release…
December 16, 2019
As the legislative sponsors of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (”CRTA”) and the Medical Cannabis Program Act (“MCPA”) we are closely monitoring the beginning of adult-use cannabis sales on January 1, 2020.
Medical cannabis patients and caregivers have increasingly raised concerns to us and to the media about product shortages, and alleged product & price manipulations. We have relayed this information to the Pritzker Administration and have confidence that they take these matters as seriously as we do.
Each state that has implemented an adult-use cannabis program has had issues related to supply shortages. As legislators, we crafted the CRTA and the MCPA to have specific language to prioritize patient access - something no other state has done. We know there will still be challenges, but are committed to putting patients first as the adult-use program begins.
There should be no doubt that medical cannabis patients will be prioritized once CRTA becomes effective in January. CRTA provides medical cannabis patients priority sales in the event of any product shortages, and also guarantees medical cannabis dispensaries shall continue to provide the same variety and quantity of product as they did on July 1, 2019.
The State of Illinois has much to be proud of in passing the social equity-centered CRTA, but success will require vigilance from the legislature and the Pritzker Administration to ensure the law’s goals are met.
We will continue to closely monitor this situation, and urge all of our constituents to stay in touch with us regarding their experiences and challenges as Illinois embarks on cannabis legalization. Patients and caregivers should continue to stay in contact with us with ideas and suggestions to make it easier for them to access their medicine.
If you have any other questions, we would be happy to provide further information.
Sincerely,
Sen. Laura Fine
Sen. Heather Steans
Rep. Kelly Cassidy
Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth
Rep. Bob Morgan
Rep. Cellina Villanueva
Rep. David Welter
* Besides the worrisome stories about shortages and price hikes for medical patients, there are also a lot of gripes about supply for adult use consumers. This piece puts it into some perspective…
Canada and California, two larger markets, suffered poor launches due to a lack of infrastructure. In the case of California, the state tried to implement the program without an established regulated medical cannabis market. This is a challenge for Michigan as well. In Canada, a robust medical program was 100% mail-order, and the transition to retail stores was stymied by a lack of them. Even to this day, a full year after legalization, only Alberta among major provinces is anywhere close to having enough dispensaries to serve demand. Illinois will have more dispensaries open on day one than Ontario, which is larger in population, has more than a year after legalization.
* CBS 2 has been one of the outlets ginning this up…
In fewer than three weeks, recreational sale of marijuana becomes legal in Illinois.
But before a single bud has been sold- there is already a shortage, and medical patients are feeling the impact.
Marijuana patients this fall helped us document a disturbing trend well in advance of legal recreational sales–a shortage in supply at the state’s medical dispensaries.
Not mentioned in the story is that the state had a very limited medical cannabis law until this year, when the governor signed a law that greatly expanded the program to cover, well, just about anything. That bill wasn’t passed until after the adult use bill was approved by both chambers and it kinda flew under the radar.
* This is a much better story that relies on facts, not conspiracy theories…
There are 94,373 residents with medical cards, as of Dec. 4, 2019, up from 49,366 on Dec. 11, 2018, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The biggest spike came in August, after Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law to add chronic pain as a qualifying condition for a medical card. The launch of the opioid alternative program also increased numbers this year.
Some have speculated supply is being hoarded so it’s available for the recreational market. That’s not the case, Ballegeer said.
Marijuana cultivators are “working off the original space they had set up for their cultivation. They’re producing everything they can as fast as they can,” she said. “We order from the cultivators just like the patients do. There’s no holding back for recreational, because there’s no benefit to us or the cultivators for holding back.”
Dispensaries must keep a 30-day inventory for their patients, said Pam Althoff, executive director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois. As demand grows, the inventory must, too.
That has led to a “crunch,” as has several weeks passing between when the legislation was signed on June 25 and when the first recreational grow licenses were issued.
“If you do the math, it takes cannabis minimally 12 weeks, sometimes 16, depending on the plant and the strain to produce a crop. We’re bumping up against that Jan. 1 deadline,” Althoff said. “This is an initial, and hopefully short-lived, shortage. I think over the past several weeks the industry, as well as the State of Illinois, our regulators, truly understand this will be somewhat of a soft opening. But then give us a few more months, we anticipate the availability of product will significantly improve.”
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Question of the day: Golden Horseshoe Awards
Monday, Dec 16, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The 2019 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Democratic Illinois State Senator goes to Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake)…
She works tirelessly to advance issues that matter to her constituents. She also passed sweeping reform to employment laws and was able to get more done on sexual harassment than anyone thought was possible. She made the RHA happen, which really looked like a dead end at times. She is a fighter. All of this while representing a somewhat purple district.
* The 2019 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Republican Illinois State Senator goes to Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington)…
Jason Barickman has now twice pushed back against the social conservative trend in his party to land on the right side of history, first with marriage equality and this year on the cannabis bill. His role in ensuring that the cannabis bill addressed concerns from more conservative perspectives can’t be overstated.
Once again, I could’ve picked almost anybody from your nominations because they were so strong. Good job by commenters and great job by the nominees.
* On to today’s categories…
* Lifetime service award - House
* Lifetime service award - Senate
As always, explain your nomination or it won’t count and do your utmost to nominate in both categories, please.
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Yeah? What about it?
Monday, Dec 16, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A buddy of mine told me that he sold his wine shop a while back partly because of heavy competition from gas stations. I have never stopped to think that this is somehow out of the ordinary. I mean, we even have some drive-thru liquor stores here, so booze at gas stations isn’t that big of a dealio to me…
Wolfe lives in Nashville, the home of the Dukes of Hazzard museum. Now, that’s weird.
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* Remington Research Group poll taken in the 15th Congressional District December 10-11 for Republican congressional candidate Mary Miller, (no relation) who’s running in a crowded primary to replace retiring GOP US Rep. John Shimkus. The poll of 810 likely 2020 GOP primary voters has a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent. These are all interactive voice response calls…
Q1: What is your opinion of Donald Trump?
Q2: What is your opinion of J.B. Pritzker?
Q3: What is your opinion of John Shimkus?
Q7: Possible candidates in the 2020 Republican Primary Election for United States Congress are Mary Miller, Darren Duncan, Kerry Wolff, Charles Ellington, Kent Gray, and Kimberly Wade. If the election were held today, for whom would you vote?
Mary Miller: 16%
Darren Duncan: 7%
Kerry Wolff: 7%
Charles Ellington: 3%
Kent Gray: 3%
Kimberly Wade: 1%
Undecided: 63%
* Meanwhile, the leadership PAC for the House Freedom Caucus has endorsed Miller, which should be a big help in that primary. The House Freedom Fund has also endorsed Jeanne Ives.
Miller is the spouse of Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland), a member of the Eastern Bloc. I met her once and she has some chops. We’ll see what she can do at this level, though.
* Darren Duncan may also be one to watch…
Conservative Vermilion County Treasurer Darren Duncan, a seventh-generation farmer from Rossville and advocate for reduced spending and common-sense government is formally launching his campaign for the GOP nomination for the 15th Congressional District in the March 2020 primary.
Duncan, 48, made his formal announcement in a campaign video released this morning and in a speech to Vermilion County Republicans in Danville. […]
Duncan said he wants to help President Trump pass a conservative agenda through Congress that benefits rural areas and small communities throughout Illinois.
“I fully support President Trump’s USMCA trade deal with Canada and Mexico that will boost access to American farm and manufactured goods to our neighboring countries,” said Duncan, “and I stand with President Trump in his efforts to stop bad actors on the world stage taking advantage of our current trade system.”
Kerry Wolff is vice president of the Altamont School Board and has been in the solar power industry for the past few years.
Kent Gray is a goner.
* Kimberly Wade could be an interesting candidate if she survives the challenge to her petitions by Eastern Bloc Rep. Brad Halbrook. She filed on the last possible day.
Wade founded the Kids Shouldn’t Have Cancer Foundation and her work has often been featured by US Rep. Rodney Davis.
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Hyperloops are the new monorails
Monday, Dec 16, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Cleveland Plain Dealer…
A high-speed hyperloop line that could zoom passengers through a vacuum tube from Cleveland to Chicago and Pittsburgh could cost from $24.7 billion to $29.8 billion to build, depending on variations in the route and stops along the way.
But the profits and economic benefits would justify the expense and attract the substantial private investment needed to make it happen.
Those statements are among the key assertions of an 18-month, $1.3 million feasibility analysis scheduled for release Monday by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency and Los Angeles-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies.
The report, led by TEMS, a consulting firm based in Frederick, Maryland, constitutes what the authors believe is the most extensive hyperloop feasibility analysis released publicly to date, anywhere, said NOACA Executive Director Grace Gallucci, who discussed some of the report’s core findings ahead of Monday.
A hyperloop system would consist of large-scale vacuum tubes with magnetic-levitation tracks that would carry capsules with 28 to 40 passengers at speeds of up to 760 mph.
First envisioned by entrepreneur Elon Musk as a high-speed alternative to other modes of transportation, hyperloop has yet to be proven safe for human travel. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, or HTT, is testing capsules on a track in Toulouse, France.
* From January of 2017…
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) may be a step behind its rival Hyperloop One but is making its own plans to go global — starting with an announcement today HTT has signed an agreement to explore connecting a hyperloop system from Slovakia to the Czech Republic.
That plan failed.
And nobody has yet achieved anything approaching that claimed 760 mph speed.
In other words, beware of promises from booster groups.
* Tribune…
The current study does not address where the stations would be, land acquisition or the cost of fares, though Gallucci said the goal is to make them affordable. She said stations, which could be downtown or at airports, would link to public transit.
* Duncan Black…
My whole life I’ve seen reasonable transportation projects derailed by insane ones
[Headline explained here.]
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* This is a very useful fact check of Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) by the BGA…
“They wanted lower taxes paid to the state [by the Chicago casino owner] and higher taxes paid to the city,” state Sen. Dave Syverson of Rockford told WCIA’s Mark Maxwell in a sit-down at the capitol, which aired Dec. 8. “The amount of taxes would be the same, but Chicago wanted to keep more of it.” […]
Speaking about a proposal to change the tax structure for a future Chicago casino, Syverson said the plan would lower taxes paid by the casino to the state and increase the taxes it pays to the city so that the overall amount would be the same but Chicago would “keep more of it.”
That doesn’t entirely square with the language of the bill. As he said, it would have reduced tax revenue for the state — but it also would have lowered taxes paid to the city.
Syverson conceded that last point in response to our inquiry.
We rate his claim Half True.
Syverson repeatedly bad-mouthed that Chicago casino bill during the veto session and, as this fact-check shows, he used inaccurate arguments to do so. It’s not all that surprising since Rockford locked in its casino last spring and any competition, even from a city 90 miles away, would be unwelcome.
But it’s just one more thing to add to Syverson’s curiously strong all-out push to convince local leaders to approve the Hard Rock Casino’s proposal.
*** UPDATE *** Rockford is a small city, so these sorts of ties are to be expected. The Hard Rock’s plan would’ve probably won out anyway, so Syverson should’ve just stayed in the background, especially considering these trying federal times. His heavy public support means he’s very easily tied to the winning bidder and these ties look horrible…
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McClain attempted to boot Caprara
Monday, Dec 16, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tina Sfondeles FOIA’d all the administration’s correspondence with Speaker Madigan’s former consigliere Mike McClain. The story is an accurate reflection of events and emotions that have been kept strictly off the record until now and is therefore a must-read…
Two weeks before Anne Caprara stepped into one of the highest profile political roles of her life, she got a call from Gov. J.B. Pritzker with some uncomfortable news.
Pritzker sounded upset, according to a high-level source close to the governor. He said people were “trashing” Caprara to several others, including reporters, in an attempt to squash her appointment as Pritzker’s chief of staff.
Before running Pritzker’s gubernatorial campaign, the Philadelphia native ran Hillary Clinton’s 2016 super PAC and also served as chief of staff to two U.S. congresswomen.
But Caprara wasn’t good enough to serve as the governor’s chief of staff, and she wasn’t from Illinois — a huge no-no, perhaps because she wasn’t beholden to the old boys network of Illinois politics, people were told.
The governor told Caprara he wouldn’t stand for it — and he called it sexist.
So Caprara got the job. And she later learned the effort to trash her was being led by Mike McClain, a Springfield insider and confidant to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.
Go read the whole thing.
Caprara guided Pritzker to a 20-point primary win and a 16-point general election win. He loves her and respects her to no end. The folks who were trying to stop her from being chief were the same people (all allied with MJM) who trashed her during the primary and the general. They completely failed to read the room.
* Also, this was pretty funny…
Again, go read the whole thing.
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Republican Lawrence Oliver of Dorsey has filed to run against Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville, in the March primary.
Oliver has not yet reported raising any money, but his main issue appears to be Bourne’s vote for the 19 cents per gallon gas tax hike to fund infrastructure projects during the past spring legislative session.
Dorsey’s primary challenge is not really news. He has slim to no chance of even getting close to the popular Republican incumbent.
What is different, and therefore newsworthy, is that Bourne would have surely faced a far more viable and well-funded opponent in the recent past if she’d sided — as she did this year — with the majority Democratic Party to double the state’s Motor Fuel Tax.
For the past few election cycles, pressure from powerful and/or well-funded groups and individuals would’ve scared any Republican incumbent away from such votes.
But former Gov. Bruce Rauner and his vindictive checking account have faded into the sunset. The multi-million-dollar money pipeline from wealthy Republican activist Richard Uihlein to Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC has been shut off. And, except for the $2 million he gave Bill Daley to run for mayor of Chicago earlier this year, Illinois’ richest resident Ken Griffin has been mostly quiet.
Those three men contributed over $200 million to campaigns since late 2013. That’s a whole lot of cash to put the fear into anyone who crosses them. And it’s why almost all of the Republicans who voted for the 2017 tax hike and the override of Rauner’s veto decided not to run again, lest they be primaried to death. But those rich folks are mainly on the sidelines today.
As a result, neither the House nor Senate Republican caucuses are experiencing any major backlash over the fact that large numbers of their members voted to raise taxes.
Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, voted for the gas tax hike and is running unopposed for state Senate. Springfield Republican Reps. Tim Butler and Mike Murphy were two more “Yes” votes who are unopposed for reelection. Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, has a general election opponent, but no GOP opposition. The same goes for Reps. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst, Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, and others in the House as well as the Senate.
There was much grinding of teeth from the usual suspects when those tax hikes passed both chambers by wide bipartisan margins, but no “natural” groundswell of anti-tax opposition developed against Republicans who voted to fund the massive infrastructure plan to the point of people actually running against them. And the small number of people who did run aren’t exactly burning up the fundraising circuit.
Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, voted to increase taxes to fund infrastructure programs this year, so it could be an issue in his primary. But it’s not going to be much of a primary if his opponent, David Paul Blumenshine, R-Normal, doesn’t start raising money. Blumenshine reported bringing in $350 during the third quarter, loaning $1,100 to his campaign committee, spending about $4,500 on unitemized expenditures and ending the quarter in the hole by about $2,900. Democrat Chemberly Cummings has also filed to run.
President Trump won this district by only 1.25 percentage points in 2016, so it’s possible this college-town race could eventually be in play, even though Brady has consistently won by large amounts.
Rep. Dave Severin, R-Benton, is facing off against Tim Arview, R-West Frankfort. Severin voted for the tax hikes to fund the state’s new infrastructure program, including doubling the Motor Fuel Tax, and Arview has taken him to task for it. Arview told a local paper that he ran partly because of Severin’s tax votes and also because God had spoken to him.
Arview is an independent insurance agent. Like many of the other gas tax opponents, he has not yet reported any campaign contributions. In fact, he hasn’t filed any campaign finance paperwork at all as this is written. President Trump won the district by 43 points so no Democrats have filed.
The races where you are seeing sharp disagreement over the tax hikes are mainly in general election contests. For instance, Travis Breeden, R-Utica, has already repeatedly criticized freshman Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, for his “Yes” vote to increase the Motor Fuel Tax. Then again, Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, voted for the tax hikes and is so far running unopposed for the first time ever.
What we’ve discovered is that when ultra-rich, anti-tax activists sit on the sidelines after a tax increase, few if any viable Republican protest candidates emerge on their own.
Makes you wonder.
Your thoughts?
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