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A fitting rejoinder
Monday, Jan 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As subscribers know, all three of the Illinois Family Institute’s Statehouse lobbyists resigned in March after the group’s political wing published this and doubled-down when criticised…
* So, some House Democrats decided on a joint reply to the latest IFI candidate questionnaire…
Dear Illinois Family Institute,
Please accept this as our response to your candidate survey.
Yours Truly,
Representative Jonathan Carroll (Pronouns he/him/his)
Representative Kelly Cassidy (Pronouns she/hers)
Representative Daniel Didech (Pronouns he/him/his)
Representative Kelly Cassidy (Pronouns she/hers)
Representative Sara Feigenholtz (Pronouns she/she/moi)
Representative Ann Williams (Pronouns she/hers)
Representative Will Guzzardi (Pronouns he/him/his)
Representative Bob Morgan (Pronouns he/him/his)
Representative Sam Yingling (Pronouns he/him/his)
Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (Pronouns she/hers)
Representative Aaron Ortiz (Pronouns he/him/his)
Representative Delia Ramirez (Pronouns she/her/hers)
Representative Anna Moeller (Pronouns she/her)
Representative Maurice West II (Pronouns he/him/his)
Representative Lamont Robinson
Representative Emanuel “Chris” Welch
Representative Robyn Gabel
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Question of the day
Monday, Jan 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I already posted my Crain’s column. Here’s another little bit of it…
It’s a new year and a new decade, so here are my New Year’s resolution suggestions for our state’s leaders. […]
Senate president: Nobody knows yet who will replace retiring Senate President John Cullerton, but those are some big shoes to fill. That caucus is far more diverse than it looked under Cullerton’s leadership, but he kept his members united, and he did it without intimidation. His successor will bring his or her own style to office, but whoever it is should remember that this is like buying a successful restaurant: Make improvements where needed, but don’t radically alter the menu right away. […]
Business interests: Business was steamrolled by the governor’s minimum wage bill last year, partly because the groups didn’t begin to work it early enough. The governor brags more about his pro-business accomplishments than almost anything else, so use that to your advantage and engage early and in good faith. The Democratic reality is what it is, at least for a few more years. You can either shout at the wind or get in there and win some concessions for business owners.
* The Question: Your own New Year’s resolution suggestions for our state’s leaders?
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Unsolicited advice
Monday, Jan 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz…
An unusual effort to pare Illinois’ much-hated property tax system appears to be dissolving amid partisan bickering, with the GOP leaders of both the House and Senate complaining that their members have been cut out of decisions made by the Legislature’s Property Tax Relief Tax Force.
Unless resolved, the dispute will complicate—and potentially kill—any serious effort to reduce property taxes as voters prepare to decide in November on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan to impose a graduated income tax.
In separate statements, House GOP Leader Jim Durkin and Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady both asserted that preliminary findings of the task force were not properly approved by the full panel and, as Brady put it, amount to “some members . . . circulating their thoughts.”
“Failure to follow proper process with task force consideration and debate of recommendations, along with a lack of many House GOP reform ideas, resulted in the House GOP co-chairs declining to endorse the draft final report,” Durkin wrote in an email yesterday to his members. “The final product was not properly considered or debated by the full task force.”
I really hate process arguments, but this task force has been a freak show since Day One. Just produce both a majority and a minority report and be done with it already.
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* Dave McKinney at WBEZ…
A 16-month state study finds no new evidence to authenticate a disputed, multi-million dollar stovepipe hat purportedly owned by Abraham Lincoln that has been displayed at his presidential museum in Springfield.
The report released Monday by Illinois State Historian Samuel Wheeler found the hat did not appear to be in Lincoln’s hat size. The study also found the hat was sold in the 1950s to a downstate antique shop for just $1, and its apocryphal Lincoln connection wasn’t even known to descendants of its original owners.
While Wheeler concluded more study on the hat is warranted, his findings pour an even heavier dose of skepticism on a hat purchased by a private foundation from West Coast collector Louise Taper for display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The hat was once appraised at $6.5 million.
“I believe the past can be instructive, if we take the time to examine it and resolve never to repeat the same mistakes,” Wheeler wrote in the 54-page report obtained exclusively by WBEZ.
In the report, Wheeler focused on a history of double-dealing, conflicts of interest and a neglect of basic due-diligence in studying the hat’s provenance before its purchase. He also slammed a “weaponization” of the hat during years of friction between the museum and the not-for-profit that acquired it on behalf of the museum, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.
The full report is here. Lots more there.
* Letter to the editor from Ray McCaskey and Nick Kalm, the chairman and vice chairman of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation…
We read with disappointment the Jan. 1 editorial, “Another Illinois fiasco: The hat that wasn’t Lincoln’s.”
Unfortunately, as with the NPR segment the editorial board cited, it chose to cherry-pick certain conclusions about the state historian’s report and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation’s acquisition of the hat to bash a group of volunteers who are passionately committed to preserving Lincoln’s legacy.
Most important, the historian, whose report was commissioned by the state, not the foundation, as the editorial erroneously cited, very specifically said he had not concluded the hat wasn’t Lincoln’s, so the editorial’s headline and conclusions are inappropriate and misleading.
State Historian Samuel Wheeler did uncover some additional information supporting the provenance of the hat while criticizing others that had been previously cited by the state and the foundation. Lastly, he said more research was needed to further solidify the hat’s provenance, steps the foundation fully supports.
In addition, the editorial omits other salient facts Tribune readers deserve, including the fact that the foundation was faced with a difficult choice in 2007: Either incur substantial indebtedness, which has since been substantially paid down, to support the state’s request that we urgently acquire the hat and entire Taper collection (there was no a la carte option) or allow what was arguably the world’s largest collection of Lincolnania to be auctioned off and disappear from the public domain forever. Faced with the same choice, we believe most people would have done the same thing.
From the museum’s dot points…
Wheeler recommended additional research including:
• Having multiple experts on men’s headwear examine the hat to see if its material and construction are from Lincoln’s era.
• Carefully measuring the hat size to see if it matches other Lincoln hats.
• Searching additional archives that might shed light on William Waller’s work during the Civil War.
Wheeler measured the hat himself, so, yeah, it would be prudent to have an expert do that instead of an untrained historian. And there is this from Wheeler’s report…
From a historical standpoint, the stovepipe hat’s provenance hinges entirely on family lore. My research indicates the family lore is plausible, but I was not able to verify the claims in the time I had to conduct this research. There are, however, several repositories that may hold answers, including the National Archives, and should be consulted.
If you read his report, it looks like he was put on an overly strict deadline by Deputy Governor Jesse Ruiz.
* And this is from Wheeler’s conclusion…
In response to the provenance issues that were raised in 2012, ALPLM did not respond like a responsible museum. Instead of conducting an honest inquiry and perhaps seizing on the opportunity to educate the public about provenance-related issues, ALPLM assumed an overly defensive position. The 2013 document, “Lincoln Stovepipe Hat: The Facts,” contains untruths and appears to have been issued solely to combat critics.
Exactly right. So, the museum folks need to tone down their whining. The ALPLM brought this on itself with lies.
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Mayor puts foot down on Lipinski move
Monday, Jan 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Not good for the incumbent…
* Sun-Times…
Lightfoot did provide a clue that she was at least leaning toward Newman. She posted her tweet over a Jan. 2 tweet from Daily Kos, a progressive outlet supporting Newman that seeks contributions to her campaign: “Democrat” Dan Lipinski just co-signed this legal brief asking the Supreme Court to revisit Roe v. Wade “and, if appropriate, overrule” it … Donate to his progressive challenger, Marie Newman.”
Whether Lightfoot – a progressive who supports abortion rights – will do more than send a tweet to defeat Lipinski is not known. Lightfoot political director Dave Mellet told the Sun-Times on Sunday, “The mayor is still making decisions in the 2020 primary, but she felt compelled to speak out and defend the rights of women.”
The Lipinski campaign declined to comment on Lightfoot’s remarks.
* CBS 2…
Lipinski is facing progressive Democratic challenger Marie Newman in the primary.
Planned Parenthood Illinois Action denounced Lipinksi for signing onto the amicus brief.
“This case could decide the future of abortion access in this country and we will not not silently stand by and let Congressman Lipinski pledge his support for taking away Illinois woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion,” Brigid Leahy, Senior Director of Public Policy for Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, said in a news release. “We’ve seen 26 abortion bans pass in 2019, and we’re already seeing people having to cross state lines or wait long times just to access basic health care. If the Supreme Court overturns or severely restricts access to abortion, it could pave the way for states to effectively ban abortion for over 25 million people of reproductive age.”
…Adding… March for Life Chicago…
U.S. Congressmen Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and Darin LaHood (R-IL) are not standing by silently while Governor Pritzker turns Illinois into America’s new “abortion capitol.” The staunchly pro-life federal legislators are crossing partisan lines to speak out against extreme abortion policies. Both U.S. Representatives will speak at Chicago’s Daley Plaza when they take the stage at the January 11 March For Life Chicago 2020.
The Honorable Dan Lipinski, eight-term Democratic congressman from Illinois’ 3rd District, is a long-time defender of Illinois’ women and children and a staunch pro-life advocate.
“Every January, I am proud to brave the cold and join the March for Life Chicago,” shared Lipinski. “As a member of Congress, I work to protect the most vulnerable, and no one is more vulnerable than the child in the womb and that child’s mother. When I speak at the Chicago rally, I am always inspired by all the young people – especially young women – who march because they understand that being pro-life is being pro-woman, and we must all do our part to support both women and their babies. I look forward to once again joining the growing crowd standing for life in Chicago.”
The Honorable Darin LaHood, Republican in the 18th District, has also regularly and resolutely defended his pro-life stance. He has been an active advocate in Congress for protecting life and preserving the rights of the unborn.
Lipinski, elected to Congress in 2004 representing portions of Chicago and its southwest suburbs, firmly adheres to the scientific DNA evidence that life begins at conception. He has fought to protect unborn children and their mothers, and has consistently been a champion of life issues. He co-sponsored the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, the Patients First Act, and the Protect Life Act. Opposing both legalized abortion and stem cell research, Lipinski was the only House Democrat from Illinois to vote against Obamacare.
LaHood also co-sponsored the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, along with the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, and the Life at Conception Act. Representing the Peoria, Springfield, Jacksonville, and Bloomington regions of central Illinois, LaHood has decisively defended his pro-life stance and his commitment to preserve the rights of the unborn.
The March For Life Chicago 2020 starts at 1 p.m. (Central), January 11, at Chicago’s Daley Plaza, and will also feature abortion survivor Claire Culwell, Chicago Bears’ Vice President Pat McCaskey, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod President Dr. Rev. Matthew Harrison, Loyola University Medical Center’s Dr. Karen Deighan, Pro-Life Action League Executive Director Eric Scheidler, and weDignify Student Leader Alex Lehan. Additional details are available at MarchForLifeChicago.org.
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Corruption roundup
Monday, Jan 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Effective February 6, the Illinois Office of Comptroller will no longer assist municipalities in collection efforts for fines for red-light camera tickets, a system that is both unfair to low-income Illinoisans and the subject of a federal corruption probe.
“My office is taking decisive action in response to unethical arrangements that have come to light regarding the red-light camera industry,” Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza said. “As a matter of public policy, this system is clearly broken. I am exercising the moral authority to prevent state resources being used to assist a shady process that victimizes taxpayers.”
News reports show these tickets fall hardest and disproportionately on minority and low-income drivers. The $100 red-light ticket camera fines can double if they initially go unpaid, and then almost triple, with vendors and private collection agencies in some cases able to keep a portion of the funds the state collects on behalf of municipalities. Loss of a driver’s license can mean loss of a job for some people who can’t afford to keep up with these fines and late fees.
The Chicago Sun-Times quoted one government official who simultaneously acted as a consultant to a red-light company - helping get them contracts with certain towns - saying he gets a cut of the money paid on every such ticket issued in those towns. Several more arrangements like this one have been revealed in other reports.
“This kind of arrangement stinks — it’s plain rotten,” Mendoza said. “It exploits taxpayers and especially those who struggle to pay the fines imposed, often the working poor and communities of color. We can’t continue the practice of municipal employees directly pocketing cash from contracts they arrange.”
Starting in 2012, the General Assembly allowed municipalities and other local governments to use the Comptroller’s offset system to help collect debts, such as court fines, administrative judgments, traffic tickets, etc., generally through withholding of state income tax refunds or other state payments. Historically that offset system has been used to help collect child support, overpayment of benefits, and other types of debt.
In recent years, a growing percentage of these collections have involved red-light camera ticket violations, mainly from Chicago suburbs. The State does not collect for the City of Chicago’s red-light or speeding camera tickets because of controversy over the use of those cameras as well as the reliability of ticket and motorist data provided by the City as part of the administrative process necessary to validate the debts themselves.
An ABC7/Sun-Times story also found most red-light tickets do NOT go to motorists who run through intersections during red lights. They go to motorists failing to come to a complete stop while making right turns on red where such turns are allowed. Many states outside of Illinois ban the use of these red-light cameras entirely.
That means low-income drivers who really count on their state income tax refund can see it nearly vanish if a fine for a relatively minor traffic offence such as failing to come to a complete stop during a right-turn-on-red, triples to nearly $300.
Municipalities are free to hire private debt collectors to go after motorists who have not paid the fines. But Comptroller Mendoza urges all municipalities to take a second look at any contracts with red-light camera companies and determine if those contracts were procured properly in light of recent news reports and criminal investigations concerning the red-light camera industry and its relationship with government officials.
“I think it’s critical that the state’s collection mechanisms should not be hijacked by political insiders to profit from an enforcement system whose integrity is now being seriously questioned,” Mendoza said.
* Sun-Times…
In 2017, the Chicago Tribune reported on controversial efforts by SafeSpeed to install red-light cameras in Oakbrook Terrace — efforts opposed by state bureaucrats but supported by state Sen. Martin Sandoval, whose campaign fund SafeSpeed donated to heavily.
On Sept. 24, Sandoval’s home and offices were searched by the feds, and SafeSpeed was listed on a search warrant.
The feds also seized $60,000 from the home of Oakbrook Terrace’s mayor last fall, according to a federal record that does not explain the origins or significance of the cash.
* More Sun-Times…
Federal agents seized more than $51,000 in cash from a safe found inside Cook County Commissioner Jeffrey Tobolski’s house last year, according to a just-obtained federal document that indicates authorities are interested in yet another suburban mayor: Oakbrook Terrace’s Tony Ragucci.
Agents seized a whopping $60,000 in cash from Ragucci’s west suburban home late last year, the document shows, though it does not indicate whether he’s being eyed as part of the same political corruption investigation that’s been rocking local governments. […]
The federal document also reveals that $9,720 in cash was seized from Sandoval’s Chicago house. His home and state offices were raided Sept. 24, and he announced in November he was resigning effective New Year’s Day.
On Sept. 26, federal agents descended on the homes or offices of several suburban officials, including Tobolski, whose county chief of staff, Patrick Doherty, was a sales consultant for SafeSpeed.
* Related…
* Tom Cullerton’s lawyer wants details about ex-Teamsters boss John Coli, calling it vital to his defense: Cullerton landed a job as an organizer for Teamsters Joint Council 25 after his former employer, Hostess Brands, shut down in 2012, Collins wrote. Coli told prosecutors he arranged for Cullerton to get the organizer job that year, “but did not believe the employment was legitimate,” according to the defense attorney. Collins also wrote that media and other public sources indicate “Coli has been involved in numerous instances of improper behavior, including lying to federal officials.” He asked prosecutors for FBI reports or other paperwork documenting interviews with Coli, as well as “correspondence with counsel for Mr. Coli” to learn of benefits Coli received from his cooperation agreement, he said.
* Amid sweeping federal investigation, panel begins work to overhaul Illinois ethics, lobbying laws: “In regard to the recent federal cases, I think it’s just important to remember that those things for which some elected officials have been indicted are already crimes,” said House Majority Leader Greg Harris of Chicago, a co-chairman of the commission. “However, other circumstances in those investigations have revealed other situations not currently addressed in law where we have an opportunity to clarify what is right and what’s wrong, what is permissible and what’s prohibited,” Harris said.
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The Eastern Bloc strikes again, and again
Monday, Jan 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Dewitt Daily News…
Lawmakers that proposing repealing the green energy bill of 2016 are playing political games according to a central Illinois lawmaker.
The 2016 legislation essentially saved the Clinton Nuclear Power Station from closure for ten years but late last month, a pair of northern Illinois lawmakers put forth legislation that would repeal parts of the legislation. State Representative Dan Caulkins calls these political games.
According to Caulkins, these two lawmakers proposing this legislation are not very popular in their respective districts and so he believes this is a political maneuver to gain favor with their voters.
Caulkins’ message to anyone who might support this legislation is that they are going to receive serious pushback. He explains they have a social media campaign calling out the representatives pushing this legislation.
So, lemme get this straight. An Eastern Bloc member who co-sponsored legislation to kick Chicago out of Illinois is criticizing two suburban Republicans (Reps. Mark Batinick and Tom Morrison) for sponsoring a bill to take away a massive ratepayer subsidy of a Chicago-based company that’s currently under federal investigation. And he even claims to be running a Facebook ad targeting Batinick.
I dare say that if Rep. Caulkins didn’t have a nuke plant in or near his district he’d be co-sponsoring Batinick’s anti-subsidy bill.
* During the break, I posted some false propaganda shared by Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), another Eastern Bloc member…
Please be aware of the consequences of recreational marijuana, one of which will be the surrender of your FOID card.
Um, no.
Rep. Bailey is at it again…
I find it interesting that Illinois’ number two elected official can smoke pot, but a state employee cannot. Also of…
Posted by Darren Bailey for State Senate 55th District on Monday, January 6, 2020
1) A large number of state employees aren’t banned from using cannabis.
2) The Department of Agriculture’s emergency rules do, indeed, set THC limits…
Each cannabis-infused product intended for consumption must be individually packaged, must include the total milligram content of THC and CBD, and may not include more than a total of 100 milligrams of THC per package. A package may contain multiple servings of 10 milligrams of THC, and indicated by scoring, wrapping, or by other indicators designating individual serving sizes.
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* NBC 5…
Illinois’ population shrunk by more than any other state from 2010 to 2019, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Since the beginning of the decade, Illinois has lost 159,751 residents which equals 1.2% of its population. Only one other state, West Virginia, had a higher percentage of population loss at 3.3%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In 2019, Illinois’ population shrunk by more than 51,000 residents - the largest drop out of any state from 2018 to 2019, data revealed. […]
Nationwide, the U.S. population from the middle of 2018 to the middle of 2019 grew by almost a half percent, or about 1.5 million people, according to the data.
* Tribune…
In examining population trends in Illinois over the past year, the Tribune found that a decrease in the number of people moving to Illinois from other states and countries has exacerbated the impact of declining birthrates and increasing numbers of people moving out of the state.
The data released Monday shows that the state’s well-known problems with domestic migration losses (losing residents to other states) were slightly mitigated by positive net international migration. Arrivals to Illinois from other countries outnumbered international departures, causing Illinois to gain about 1.5 people per 1,000 residents. But domestically, more people left Illinois for another state than the reverse, causing a loss of about 8.3 people per 1,000. That rate was the fourth worst for any state in 2019, behind New York, Hawaii and Alaska.
When the domestic and international migration rates are combined, the flow of people into and out of Illinois caused a net migration loss of about 6.8 people per 1,000 residents in the past year.
The new numbers offer only net migration estimates and do not allow comparisons between how many people left Illinois and how many moved in. But in September, the Tribune reported that Illinois ranked worse nationally on attracting new residents from other countries and states than on losing residents to other states.
* Illinois Policy Institute…
If Illinois had simply kept pace with the average state population growth since the start of the Great Recession in 2007, when Illinois’ labor force was at its peak, the state’s population would be 1.14 million residents, or 9%, larger than it is today. This increase in population would yield an economy that is at least an estimated $78 billion larger than today, equivalent to the entire state economy of Delaware.
Counter-points from Jake…
* Also…
Illinois illustrates what is likely to be a dramatic shift of political power away from rural regions and toward the big metro areas. Of the state’s 102 counties, 93 lost population in the last decade. The only substantial gainers are counties in the Chicago suburbs, as residents leave the big city for cheaper real estate and safer streets.
When Illinois loses one of its 18 House districts, legislators are likely to eliminate one of the six districts that represents a downstate area — five of which are held by Republicans.
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First wave of cannabis pardons begins
Monday, Jan 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Motley Fool…
An important, and very humane, aspect of the new Illinois law is its expungement clause. People with nonviolent cannabis-related offenses on their criminal records can have them basically erased following an official review.
* Tribune…
On the day before recreational cannabis becomes legal in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced he was pardoning more than 11,000 people who had been convicted of low-level marijuana crimes.
“When Illinois’ first adult use cannabis shops open their doors tomorrow, we must all remember that the purpose of this legislation is not to immediately make cannabis widely available or to maximize product on the shelves, that’s not the main purpose, that will come with time,” Pritzker said to a crowd at Trinity United Church of Christ on the Far South Side. “But instead the defining purpose of legalization is to maximize equity for generations to come.”
Pritzker, who has touted the social equity elements of the recreational pot law he signed this summer, was joined Tuesday by state, county and local leaders including Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who has already begun the process of clearing the records of those with low-level marijuana convictions in her jurisdiction.
The 11,017 people pardoned by Pritzker will receive notification about their cases, all of which are from outside Cook County, by mail. The pardon means convictions involving less than 30 grams of marijuana will be automatically expunged.
* Sun-Times…
Illinoisans who have been arrested but not convicted will have their records automatically expunged by the Illinois State Police. However, the more complicated process for expunging convictions includes multiple state agencies and requires the governor to approve any pardons.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul will now file petitions to expunge the offenses pardoned by Pritzker, which must then be approved by a judge. After that, state police and local law enforcement can expunge the records.
The first round of automatic expungements, which includes records dating back to 2013, will be cleared by January 1, 2021. Records from as far back as 2000 will then be expunged by 2023, and offenses from before 2000 will be cleared by 2025.
For Pritzker, Tuesday’s action begins the process of making good on a core campaign promise to center the legalization push around criminal and social justice issues.
* WGEM…
For convictions up to 30 grams not associated with a violent offense, there are 116,000 records eligible for expungement through the Governor’s pardon process. In Cook County, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has already begun to address stand-alone conviction records, with an initial wave of 1,000 convictions expunged earlier this month.
Of these 116,000 records, 43,500 records solely involve cannabis offenses and 72,500 include another non-violent offense. Only cannabis convictions will be expunged. […]
Individuals, civil legal aid organizations acting on their behalf and state’s attorneys can file motions to vacate for cannabis offenses up to 500 grams. Approximately 34,000 records are eligible for expungement under this process. Cannabis sales tax revenue will generate funding for programs to help individuals expunge these records.
* Fox News…
Pritzker’s office said 92 of the state’s 102 counties are represented among the pardons announced Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Pritzker — who unseated moderate Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018 — defended the new law in remarks reported by the Chicago Tribune.
“Our goal is not to immediately deliver as much access to recreational cannabis as possible as quickly as possible,” he said during a ceremony in which he signed a document that adjusted parts of the bill — originally passed in June.
“We want black and brown people, we want people who’ve been left out and left behind, to have a real opportunity to not only benefit from this new industry but to create new millionaires in the black community, in the Latino community, all across this state,” he said, heralding his hope that the new law will diversify the legal cannabis industry.
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* Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line…
Illinois brought in $3 billion more in state tax revenue in the 2019 fiscal year as compared with the previous year, according to a new report from the Illinois Department of Revenue. […]
The majority of that boost was due to revenue gains in Illinois’ individual and corporate income taxes — both of which were hiked a few days into the 2018 fiscal year to end the state’s two-year budget impasse in July 2017 — and sales tax collection.
Sales and use taxes were up $700 million in the 2019 fiscal year, according to IDOR’s annual report. In anticipation of a U.S. Supreme Court decision about the collection of online sales taxes in 2018, the General Assembly included language in its budget implementation bill for the 2019 fiscal year budget, and expected $150 million more in revenues. Another tweak affecting online sales taxes was approved by the General Assembly in May.
Revenues from the state’s individual income tax were up $1.6 billion in the 2019 fiscal year — a total of $21.9 billion last year, according to IDOR. At the same time, income tax revenues increased $1.1 billion from $4.7 billion in 2018.
The report is here.
* Related…
* Want to get around Illinois new vehicle trade-in tax in 2020? Buy a pickup
* Illinoisans pay more in cell phone taxes than residents anywhere else in U.S.
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* This was my last syndicated newspaper column before the holiday break. Subscribers were given some updated numbers and other news today…
State Sen. Steve Landek of Bridgeview and other Senate Democrats have been meeting since the 2018 session as part of a loosely affiliated group that calls itself the “X Caucus.” They apparently didn’t know what to call themselves, so “X” filled in the blank.
The X Caucus is comprised of some of the more conservative Senate Democrats. Some are not 100 percent pro-choice, some are hesitant or even unwilling to vote for tax increases, and most think the party has veered a bit too far to the left.
It’s possible the group could have enough votes to team up with a current Senate president candidate and elect the successor to retiring Senate President John Cullerton, or prevent an election until their demands are met. There are a whole lot of officially undecided Senate Democrats still out there, even though the three top candidates for Senate president, Kimberly Lightford, Don Harmon and Elgie Sims, have been working members.
But there’s also a long time to go until senators vote to elect their new president near the end of January, so that loosely affiliated caucus could be picked apart by the time the voting starts. We’ll see.
It should also be pointed out that Landek is very close to House Speaker Michael Madigan. The other members of that caucus are, for the most part, not Madigan-haters, either. Just saying, but Madigan has never seen an Illinois political situation he didn’t want to influence.
Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, began expressing interest in becoming the next Senate president not long after Cullerton announced his pending retirement in mid-November.
Sims’ name hasn’t been mentioned very often lately in news accounts, but he’s still campaigning. It’s possible that at least some members of a loosely aligned group of a half dozen or so independent-minded, younger liberal senators may wind up backing him.
Six votes is far from the number required to win the election, of course. It will take 30 votes when all is said and done. But combine that with the “X Caucus” votes and it might be enough to slow down or even stop the process. Whether the caucus’ two wings can learn to fly together is a whole other story.
Sims has only been a senator since January of 2018, but he was on Senate staff for a decade, rising to the top of the appropriations staff before serving in the House for almost six years. He’s a budget expert and knows the process back and forth. Even so, convincing senators who have “paid their dues” for many years to support somebody who basically just got there for Senate president will be a big ask, no matter how talented Sims may be (and he most certainly is talented).
Meanwhile, some members with primaries and general elections are likely becoming antsy as the president election process enters its second month this week and their own reelections draw near. One way of calming those nerves is to demonstrate fundraising abilities. Sims, however, has reported no contributions in the past month.
Sen. Lightford, D-Maywood, held five fundraisers in the month following Cullerton’s retirement announcement and reported $649,000 in contributions last week. About $215,000 of that was from the personal campaign funds of herself and Sens. Andy Manar and Heather Steans (plus a contribution out of Steans’ own pocket), her top supporters. She’ll report another $36,000 in contributions under the immediate reporting threshold next month, I’m told.
About 80 percent of the money she and her team raised was for the Senate Democratic Leadership Fund, which is designed to support Senate Democratic campaigns. The rest is for her personal fund.
Lightford’s haul is less than the $755,000 that Assistant Majority Leader Don Harmon has reported raising in the same time period. But that total is inflated because it includes a $100,000 loan from Harmon to his personal campaign committee (Harmon has not created a leadership committee). Harmon also nearly emptied out three party committees he controls to the tune of $285,000. Harmon reported 44 individual contributions (including the personal loan), which is just a fifth of Lightford’s donor base of 213. He’s supposed to be reporting more money soon.
The biggest outside contribution Harmon received was $100,000 from a journeyman plumber’s union. Lightford raised a bit of money from the Illinois Education Association for her personal fund. Otherwise, unions appear to be taking a wait and see approach.
One knock on Lightford has been that she doesn’t have a history of raising big money, so doubts naturally arose about whether she could do it. But she and her team have proved otherwise during this first month.
* Related…
* Raising sons who became daughters is a shared story for Kim Lightford, Heather Steans: When some hear about Zariah, they offer misplaced sympathy, Lightford said. They say, ‘“Oh, I’m so sorry, are you OK?’” She replies, “Don’t feel sorry for me, and don’t say you’ll pray for me. I don’t need you to pray for me because my baby is transgender. I need you to either learn all about it, or just go on.”
* Who will lead IL Senate?
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Some suggested resolutions for the new year
Monday, Jan 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My Crain’s Chicago Business column…
It’s a new year and a new decade, so here are my New Year’s resolution suggestions for our state’s leaders.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker: Please, no more pension gimmicks that you’ll only end up distancing yourself from. Last year, you proposed skimping on the state’s pension contributions, only to drop the idea when unexpected revenues appeared in the spring. Yes, pension payments eat up a huge portion of the state’s budget, but if, as you often say, pensions are a promise, then you have to put state money where your mouth is to make sure pensioners are paid.
You ended the 2019 spring legislative session by passing several strong bipartisan bills, including a massive transportation and infrastructure program. Keep that up. This state regularly elects Democrats from the Chicago area, but there are plenty of suburban and downstate Republicans here, too, and you’re governor of all the people. Yes, elections have consequences and even with all the bills you passed last year you still have a few unfulfilled progressive campaign promises, but at least listen to input from all who are willing to come to the table.
House Speaker Michael Madigan: You got out of the new governor’s way and actually helped him at times last year. You did the same with Rod Blagojevich in 2003, but you picked a huge fight with him in 2004 that produced a long and nasty overtime session. Don’t do that again. The feds are actively snooping around you and your organization. What you need now are friends, not enemies. Make peace, stay low and forget about patronage requests for a while. Legislation, not transactions.
Read the rest before commenting, please. Thanks.
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