* Sen. Mattie Hunter has introduced a bill to ban almost all red-light cameras in the state, including for home-rule units. Here’s Neal Earley at the Sun-Times…
“It’s clear that the red-light camera program has been sustained and expanded by corruption,” state Sen. Mattie Hunter Hunter said in a statement. “Traffic laws should be driven by safety, not bribery, shakedowns or the need to boost revenue.” […]
A spokesman for SafeSpeed said the Legislature should reform the red-light camera program, not end it.
“The legislature’s response to the news of Martin Sandoval’s corruption should not be to terminate red-light camera programs, which have been proven to save lives and increase public safety,” said Dennis Culloton, a spokesman for SafeSpeed. “Instead, SafeSpeed fully supports legislation that would reform the industry and ensure the highest levels of ethics by officials and businesses.” […]
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that we need a full review of the red-light camera program in Illinois,” Harmon said in a statement. “I plan to talk to my colleagues to see how to best address this issue.”
If SafeSpeed wants to survive, it needs to work with credible reformers and get behind some real changes, like prohibiting people who work for state and local governments from its sales team.
As I suggested to subscribers several days ago, if everyone marketing red-light cameras to local governments were required to register as lobbyists, then they couldn’t, by law, be paid on commission, and we’d have the added benefit of knowing exactly who they all are.
IDOT’s policy has always stated cameras “should be installed only where a safety problem … has been documented.”
But IDOT says the word “should” gives it wiggle room.
“It does not say ’shall’ or ‘will’ be installed only where a safety problem has been documented, but ’should,’” IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell said in an email.
Agency officials said approvals are done on a case-by-case basis and that crashes are just one factor. IDOT policies allow a permit if a mayor and police chief write letters stating there is a “perceived safety problem due to red light running,” even if there were few crashes there.
Truly reform or you may find yourself out of business.
* You can click the pics to see the full mailers, but two of Rush Darwish’s pieces in the 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary have contained this reference to candidate Marie Newman…
I gotta say, this made me uncomfortable, particularly since the hit was coupled with a slam on Rahm Emanuel, who is Jewish.
* So, I asked the Darwish campaign why the pro-Israel thing was worthy of inclusion. The response…
From our Baseline Survey, conducted late October 2019
If your next Representative in Congress could only have one of the following traits, which is more important to you?
29% A Congressperson who is being supported by Pro-Israel PACs and whose foreign policy reflects this support.
71% A Congressperson whose foreign policy will reflect the views of his or her constituents, keeping in mind that the 3rd District has the largest Palestinian-American community in the United States.
From our Tracking Survey, conducted January 15- 20, 2020:
Marie Newman claims to be progressive, but political insiders like the former head of Rahm Emanuel’s SuperPAC are raising big money for her. J Street PAC members have also raised nearly $100,000 for Newman. That’s why the majority of Marie Newman’s donors are wealthy elites from outside the 3rd District.
More likely to vote for Dan Lipinski: 24%
More likely to vote for Marie Newman: 12%
More likely to vote for Rush Darwish: 33%
Doesn’t impact my view: 31%
I reached out three different ways to the Newman campaign and haven’t yet heard back.
* Will Stephens had retiring Rep. Dave McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) on his WXAN Radio show today. Here’s McSweeney…
Will, thanks for having me on. Always an adventure in the state of Illinois. We have a new scandal that’s breaking in the capital. There was a cover-up about member misconduct. That’s not Jack Franks, it’s actually an issue that I’ve been focused on since last May. There was a buried report by the Legislative Inspector General about wrongdoing. The Ethics Commission that’s made up of other members buried the report. I’ve been calling on Jim Durkin to tell us what he knows about it. The chairman of the commission is on his leadership team and we have way too many scandals in this state. We need to fight corruption and we need to start with the General Assembly.
As everyone knows, McSweeney and Franks worked together on several bills. McSweeney, like most everyone else, didn’t know what was going on when the investigation was announced. Instead of focusing on Franks, though, he went after Durkin. And he went even further in a statement to me this week…
It’s time for Jim Durkin to come clean about improper activity that he is aware of. Specifically, I call on Jim Durkin to release all personnel files on John Anthony, Ron Sandack and Nick Sauer. We must be the party of transparency.
I asked this question here many times over the last few months, and that is: Of what benefit is Mike Madigan as Speaker of the Illinois House? Of what benefit does he provide Illinois Democratic elected officials at this point? Now that there is so much scandal swirling around and it seems as if the federal authorities are moving ever closer to him, day by day, how much longer can he hold on to that position? And what benefit is it to Democrats for him to hold on to that position?
What we need to do as a party is stand for something so that we can actually take control of the Statehouse. That’s what I have been focused on, a message of lower taxes, less spending, real reform. Instead, we have leadership of Jim Durkin, who supported doubling the gas tax, was part of a cover-up now with legislator misconduct, has been there for 25 years. And we have Bill Brady in the Senate who actually makes money as a quote unquote consultant for video poker interests.
So to answer your question, I’m focused on getting the Republican Party to pick up seats, but we need to change our leadership on top. And that’s what I’ve been fighting for, for a long time. We need to stand for something. That’s what I have been fighting for, again, lower taxes, less spending, real reform. That’s what we need. And I have the specific plan around that, cutting the tax rates and reducing the property tax levies and reforming Medicaid and public employee pensions. So to answer your question specifically, the way things could change is if the Republican Party stands for something, we change leaders, and we take control of the House, that’s what I’m focused on.
Stephens: Yeah, I understand that and you’ve been clear about your positions, but this is just a conundrum that a person that thinks about Illinois and politics from time to time doesn’t quite understand, I guess.
McSweeney: Well, let me let me try to explain from my view. Jim Durkin just presided over losing seven seats, complete incompetence. Anybody else would be fired for that situation. And that just strengthens the power of the Democrats.
So until we turn that around, nothing’s going to change, meaning we change our leadership in Springfield and we focus on picking up seats. That’s the power. … But what we need to do is we need to pick up 60 seats, that’s the math. And in order to pick up 60 seats, we need to stand for something as a party and that’s what I’m focused on.
Stephens: Can the Illinois Republican Party stand for something as long as you know… I guess what the question I’m trying to ask, is the leadership currently, can it be reformed? Or does it have to be replaced in your opinion?
McSweeney: Well, it’s a joke. The only guy who makes any sense is Richard Porter, the Republican National Committeeman. [ILGOP Chairman] Schneider is a joke. Durkin and Brady are clowns who’ve been around forever.
McSweeney is retiring from the House to prepare a possible 2022 bid for US Senate.
* I asked the House GOP for a statement. Here’s Eleni Demertzis…
We wish Rep. McSweeney well on his upcoming retirement.
Rebuild Illinois is about more than just roads, bridges and universities; it’s about jobs: middle class careers with wages and benefits, the kind of jobs that help you raise a family. And together, we did more to make these jobs more inclusive and diverse, by investing in the Illinois Works program to recruit new construction apprentices and set strong goals for our public works projects to include diverse employees.
With me today is Reggie Marizetts Junior, a first-year apprentice with Laborers’ Local 165 in Peoria. Reggie fell in love with hands-on work early in his life, and it’s his apprenticeship where he is learning all the skills to succeed not just now, but for decades to come. Reggie intends to become a full-time journeyman and later to pursue his lifelong dream: opening a father-son construction company with his dad. Reggie, please stand so we can cheer for your hard work and your bright future.
Over the next six years, in addition to our expansion of apprenticeships, Rebuild Illinois will transform our infrastructure – even as we create a lot more opportunities for Reggie and thousands of young people just like him, with steady work that will help make sure that our economy works for everyone.
Pritzker toured the IUOE 659 Apprenticeship and Training Center today, where Reggie Marizetts is receiving training.
We have the most highly talented and dedicated workers in the entire nation. It’s why companies, people want to move to Illinois. We train people well here, and they do great work. And they’re dedicated to what they do. And so here we are in the epicenter of it, here in the center of the state of Illinois. This is where it all happens. This is what makes this state the greatest state in the United States.
His optimism can sometimes grate, but give him credit for consistency.
* The Question: What do you think makes Illinois better than other states?
* Illinois Republican National Committeeman Richard Porter is always dreaming up new ideas. Here’s his latest via Brett Rowland at The Center Square…
His solution? A quick GM-style bankruptcy that would replace “Old Illinois” with “New Illinois,” with help from the federal government. […]
Porter argues that Illinois can’t afford to dig out through a series of small, incremental changes as its debts continue to grow and its population continues to decline and home values fall. Those things will only exacerbate the state’s financial problems and push more people to move out.
Illinois’ government, he said, has essentially stopped serving the people. Rather, lawmakers continue to search for more revenue to repay its creditors. And it’s not just the state. Porter pointed to Chicago’s debt and population losses. He also singled out municipalities such as Harvey and North Chicago that have had to cut services as they struggle to pay for promised pensions.
Porter proposed state lawmakers come up with a plan to create a New Illinois, with a new constitution, to buy the assets of Old Illinois. During this process, he said other changes would be needed for the state to be successful once it emerges from bankruptcy. He suggested consolidating the state’s more than 7,000 units of government – by far the most of any state in the nation – down to about 1,000.
“Rather than grinding through all these problems – who wants to do that? Do you want to spend 80 years grinding through 400 different, separate municipal bankruptcies?” he said.
Porter’s plan calls for the federal government to guarantee the debt that New Illinois would take on to buy the assets of Old Illinois. It’s another long shot, but not without precedent. He pointed to Brady bonds that were used in Mexico and other countries.
And the federal government would have some motivation to act because Illinois isn’t alone, Porter said.
“We’re not the only state – we’re sort of at the leading edge, but Connecticut’s right there and New Jersey’s right there,” he said.
Porter’s proposal calls for some federal help paying off the state’s accumulated pension debt. However, he said that pensioners wouldn’t get 100 cents on the dollar. Rather, he suggested some kind of cap or maximum – he tossed out $80,000 annually per pensioner as a limit.
In a state with a median household income of about $63,575, taxpayers can’t afford to pay huge pensions to former school superintendents who retired before they turned 60. Porter singled out former New Trier Superintendent Henry Bangser’s annual pension payout of more than $300,000. WTTW reported in 2017 that Bangser retired at age 57 and had already collected nearly $3 million in retirement benefits.
“Is the purpose of government to collect taxes to pay people who have the status of government workers so they can stop working in their 50s and live the rest of their lives in comfort? Is that the purpose of government?” he said “… If the average person is making $65,000, I’m not going to pay someone $90,000 or $100,000 or $120,000 or $350,000 a year not to work for 40 years. That’s called feudalism. That’s not a republican form of government.”
Illinois lawmakers have voted to override a veto by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that protects a tax exemption on aircraft parts.
A 54-1 Senate vote Wednesday followed a unanimous House vote a day earlier. The override forgives $50 million in past-due taxes from private jet manufacturers and extends them to 2024.
Lawmakers approved the tax break in 2010. It expired in 2014 but regulators took no notice and repair outfits did not collect the tax from jet owners.
The tax exemption applies to the sale of “materials, parts, equipment, components, and furnishings incorporated into or upon an aircraft as part of the modification, refurbishment, completion, replacement, repair, or maintenance of the aircraft.”
“This exemption was designed to create jobs and bring industry to the state of Illinois by putting Illinois on a level playing field with other tax-exempt states, and it worked,” Sen. Rachelle Crowe, a Glen Carbon Democrat, said on the Senate floor.
She noted there are 14 plants in 10 communities in Illinois that manufactured aircraft parts. Those factories employ an estimated 3,700 workers. […]
“The governor still believes giving private aircraft companies tens of millions of dollars in past due tax forgiveness is not the right fiscal decision for our state as we face billions in debt associated with unpaid bills, a multibillion-dollar structural deficit, and critical needs in schools and public safety services,” [Pritzker’s press secretary Jordan Abudayyeh] said. “He looks forward to working with the General Assembly to move forward and build on the progress that’s been made to put the state on firm fiscal footing and support and create good jobs throughout the state.”
“In my district alone, over 500 jobs were created because of this exemption,” said state Sen. Rachelle Crowe, the Alton Democrat who sponsored the bill. “More than 500 families are supported in highly-skilled, well-paying jobs with a median income of over $82,000.”
Crowe said the exemption was an industry norm and doing away with it would not only be a shock to the companies that perform such work, but could also push those customers to other states. […]
The governor has vetoed eight bills. House Bill 3902 is the only bill lawmakers have voted to override.
The sales tax exemption will last until Dec. 31, 2024.
“The point of this legislation is simple: to keep good-paying jobs in our area,” said state Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria. “Without this tax exemption there is no question that aviation companies would have to take a long look at doing business elsewhere.”
Byerly Aviation operates out of space at the Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport and offers aircraft maintenance, charters and aircraft sales.
“This is not about the very privileged people that happen to own private aircraft,” said Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign. “This is about the hardworking men and women who have special skills and have created markets for new jobs across Illinois.”
West Star Aviation in East Alton is one such firm, providing maintenance and repair services for private aircraft. West Star Aviation CEO Jim Rankin had said the legislation “greatly helps our more than 500 employees” and would allow the firm to remain in Illinois. […]
Ronda Sauget, executive director and CEO of the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois which had lobbied heavily for the bill, said Tuesday’s vote was very good news.
“The House had such a positive vote on the aviation legislation,” she said. In addition to West Star Aviation, Sauget said the bill will affect a number of companies at St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia including Gulfstream, which has a large workforce there. In all, about 1,200 to 1,500 jobs will be affected, she said.
“There are extremely high-paying, manufacturing kinds of jobs,” she said. “We want to maintain this manufacturing sector.”
The Pan-African flag—also known as the UNIA flag, Afro-American flag, Black Liberation flag, and various other names—is a tri-color flag consisting of three equal horizontal bands of (from top down) red, black and green. The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) formally adopted it on August 13, 1920 in Article 39 of the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World, during its month-long convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Variations of the flag can and have been used in various countries and territories in the Americas to represent Garveyist ideologies.
* Twitter…
For the first time in state history, a Pan-African flag is flying above the Illinois State Capitol.
The Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees is expected to act on a recommendation to freeze student tuition and fees at its February 13 meeting. According to Board Chairman Phil Gilbert, he and Vice Chairman Ed Hightower have been in discussion with SIU Edwardsville Chancellor Randy Pembrook, SIU Carbondale Chancellor John M. Dunn and incoming SIU System President Dan Mahony regarding the importance of holding down costs of tuition and fees for students who are considering an institution in the SIU System for 2020.
“Governor Pritzker’s priority for funding higher education is making this decision easier. The SIU System is committed to affordable tuition and fees for Illinois students. The recommendation to the full SIU Board of Trustees will include a tuition freeze for all undergraduate and graduate programs, including those in the system’s four professional schools of dental, law, medicine and pharmacy,” said Chairman Gilbert.
“We appreciate and support Governor Pritzker’s priority of reversing the downward trend in higher education enrollment and stabilizing the trend of Illinois students leaving the state for other education opportunities,” said Vice Chairman Ed Hightower.
Mahony, whose appointment as system president begins March 1, said both institutions are focused on recruitment and affordability. “I am pleased to see so many positive steps occurring on both the Carbondale and Edwardsville campuses toward enrollment and making college affordable for our students and their families,” he said.
At the board’s December meeting, both campuses reported a potential for more students this fall. SIU Carbondale is reporting applications for first-time freshmen are up more than 27 percent over last year and the number of admitted students is up 21 percent. SIU Edwardsville freshmen applications are up 21 percent and admittance is up 20 percent.
In the last two decades, in-state tuition and fees have increased about 150% at SIUC, a rise reflected around the country as government divestment from higher education places greater financial burden on students.
SIUC raised tuition 3.9% in 2017, another 2% in 2018, then held steady in 2019.
Tuition and fees for an underclassman were $14,904 this year, plus about $10,000 more for room and board for students choosing to live on campus.
However, about 87% of incoming students received financial aid cutting into that sticker price.
SIUC aid packages met an average of 61 percent of students’ demonstrated financial need and averaged over $15,000, during the 2017-2018 school year, significantly outpacing other regional competitors, university data shows.
You can compare SIU tuition and fees to other public universities in Illinois by clicking here.
That would mean shoving Illinois to the front of the line in early February and intensifying the campaign frenzy here, which registers just a hair above dull. Illinois’ primary election is unfashionably late — this year it’s March 17 — and the state’s population losses have translated into dwindling influence nationally. A U.S. House delegation that once had 27 members will, after this year’s census, surely fall to 17.
We had 27 seats in… 1943. The country as a whole has changed a lot since then. California had 23 seats in 1943 and now it has 53.
Iowa, by the way, had 9 seats in 1943. It now has 4.
But, you know, any excuse to talk about the ILLINOIS EXODUS is a good excuse to those fine folks.
Presidential candidates are not mingling with voters at rural elementary schools or Naperville pancake houses because Illinois isn’t considered a competitive hotbed, not in primary season and not for Electoral College votes in the general election.
Please scroll up to the very top of this page. /s
* The editorial board then argues that a solidly Democratic state like Illinois wouldn’t make a good first choice. Um…
A spokesman for the Illinois Republican Party says the party supports the idea of making Illinois the first in the nation primary, something that Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker called for earlier this week
The downside of Illinois corruption, the recent voter registration “glitches” and etc. are also discussed. Those are all valid points, but it almost seems like they copied sections from other editorials and plopped them into this one without stopping to think if it actually made sense.
* And then they focus on the “diversity” argument…
Democrats could have coalesced around Sen. Kamala Harris, who’s of Jamaican and Indian descent. They could have elevated Cory Booker, New Jersey’s first African American senator. They could have boosted Julian Castro of Texas, once the youngest member of Obama’s Cabinet, who is of Mexican descent. They could have rallied around Hawaii’s Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu member of Congress. They could have activated the grassroots for Andrew Yang, whose parents emigrated from Taiwan.
Long before Monday, the candidates who contributed the most diversity to the Democratic field either quit the race or fell behind. Why? Because they didn’t attract the support of rank and file Democrats.
What?
Iowa Democrats turned thumbs down on candidates of color before the candidates could get to more diverse states. And that’s the precise argument Pritzker is making.
State Representative Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) has filed legislation aimed at keeping Illinois students in state for college. The bill, HB4088, would create the Rewarding Excellence with Higher Education Guaranteed Admissions Act and grant admission to any state university for any student that scores in the top 10% on either the ACT or SAT.
Representative Batinick filed this legislation after hearing about too many students in his own community who received high test scores, yet were denied admission to Illinois’ own universities. “We have great schools here, and we should be creating better opportunities for our best students so they can stay in Illinois,” Rep. Batinick said. “The future lies in our younger population. If we are going to help turn our state around, we need to take a closer look at our admissions to our state schools.”
According to the Board of Higher Education, 48.4% of Illinois graduates who enroll in four-year institution go to school out of state—a number that has nearly doubled since 2002.
“Too many of our brightest students are leaving for better opportunities in other states,” Batinick continued. “When students leave Illinois, a large percentage of them do not return. Our most precious resource is our educated youth and we must reverse this trend.”
HB4088 is currently in the Rules Committee in the House of Representatives awaiting further consideration.
* Press release…
Serious animal abusers who kill a pet could soon face more serious charges and punishment, due to legislation filed by State Senator Steve McClure (R-Springfield).
“Illinois law treats a criminal who abuses and kills someone’s pet the same as someone who commits a second retail theft,” said McClure. “If someone walks into a public bar and slaps another person without their permission, it is the same level of crime as when someone takes another’s pet, violently tortures it for hours, and then kills it,” said McClure.
Under current law, aggravated abuse of a companion animal or pet is a Class 4 felony. Senator McClure’s legislation, SB2995, would make the offense a more serious Class 2 felony if the abuse leads to the death of the pet. A second or subsequent offense would be an even more serious Class 1 felony. The legislation would not include cases of self-defense or instances where a pet is euthanized.
“When I was an assistant state’s attorney, I prosecuted several terrible animal abuse cases. Many serial killers start off by torturing and then killing defenseless pets,” said Senator McClure. “We need to take the abuse and killing of pets seriously to not only protect them, but also to protect the public from people who may commit more horrific offenses on people in the future.”
Senator McClure noted the large number of recent cases of animal cruelty, abuse, and neglect as signs that more action needs to be taken. “This legislation should put animal abusers on notice. If you murder a pet, you will be punished,” said Senator McClure. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this bipartisan legislation into law.”
* Press release…
Several Democratic members of the newly formed Senate Special Committee on Public Safety met in Chicago today to unveil their public safety priorities for this year’s legislative session.
State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago), who will chair the committee, spoke of his past legislative accomplishments and how they motivate him to continue that fight.
“I’ve dedicated my adult life toward the fight to reimagine and to win real safety and justice, and last year I passed several laws with this goal in mind, including one to abolish private detention centers,” Peters said. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to personally head up the Special Committee on Public Safety, and I am confident that the committee will lead to a society that is fair, equitable, just and, most importantly, safe.”
State Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago), who was appointed to the Senate earlier this month, also spoke at the press conference and talked of the disproportionate targeting of communities of color and the school-to-prison pipeline.
“Right now we have a criminal justice system that lacks justice,” Villanueva said. “In our current system, working class people of color are subject to harsher sentencing, higher bail and increased surveillance by law enforcement. With these oppressive structures in place, true justice cannot exist. We must fundamentally change the way Illinois deals with criminal justice issues and ensure that these systemic inequities are corrected.”
Also present was State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago), who discussed inequity based on income and class discrepancies and the prevalence of recidivism for former inmates.
“Too much of our system is focused on knocking people down rather than building them up,” Villivalam said. “Our current criminal justice isn’t equitable; it punishes people for being poor.”
State Senator Laura Fine (D-Glenview) focused on the need to treat inmates with dignity in order to guarantee safety and justice.
“The problems in our criminal justice system harm not only those who are incarcerated, but also their families and communities,” Fine said. “The first step toward fixing those problems is changing the way we work with incarcerated individuals—we must focus on reforms that protect fundamental human rights and dignity both during and after their time in prison so they can lead successful personal and family lives after incarceration.”
The Senate Special Committee on Public Safety will be tasked with hearing a number of measures, including one to put a stop to cash bail.
Citizens of two shrinking metro-east municipalities will be asked on the March 17 primary ballot if they should be merged.
The boards of both the city of Centreville and village of Alorton each approved a referendum that, if approved, would join the municipalities in an aldermanic style of government. The city, according to the referendum, would be called Alcentra.
The proposed merger raises the obvious question of why residents of Alorton and Centreville would want to give up the independent status of their communities, a question the two mayors promise to address at a town hall meeting at the Charlie Coleman Center in Alorton next Tuesday evening.
In a letter to their residents, Alorton Mayor Jo Ann Reed and Centreville Mayor Marius Jackson endorsed the proposal, saying the merger would lead to better roads and sewers, better housing, better jobs, better government, and lower taxes.
No intelligent resident of either town would believe such obvious lies, and it’s despicable that leaders who ask for your trust betray it with such utter nonsense. Both Alorton and Centreville have been hemorrhaging citizens for years, Alorton’s population declining 20 percent over the last decade (currently less than 2,000) and Centreville’s by 12 percent (now roughly 5,000).
Merging the two towns might mean one less mayor to pay for and the consolidation of duplicate city services, but it’s highly unlikely that the annual budget for Alcentra is going to be less than the current budgets of Alorton and Centreville combined. Nor is it likely that the improvements promised are going to be delivered by a hybrid of two towns that don’t currently keep their promises.
The problem for Alorton and Centreville is not their size. It’s their maladministration. Incompetent and corrupt leadership and an entrenched Democrat Party machine are what are destroying both communities, and many others throughout Illinois.
We the voters have to reclaim our hometowns, and our state.
* From the prepared remarks delivered at today’s Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform hearing in Springfield. Emphasis added by me…
My name is Julie Porter. I am an attorney at Salvatore Prescott Porter & Porter. From November 2017 through February 28, 2019, I served as the Acting Legislative Inspector General for Illinois. I entered the office with optimism, intending to serve the public by conducting independent, thorough investigations into alleged wrongdoing by state legislators, and—should I conclude that wrongdoing occurred— by reporting my findings to the public. That is not what happened, though. Although I completed dozens of investigations without incident, in some significant matters, when I did find wrongdoing and sought to publish it, state legislators charged with serving on the Legislative Ethics Commission blocked me.
Specifically, the Legislative Ethics Commission refused to publish one of my founded summary reports. There was also a second founded summary report that I requested to be published before my term ended. My successor chose not to press publication with the Legislative Ethics Commission; it was obvious, I suspect, that the Legislative Ethics Commission would bury it, just like it buried my other report on a similar topic. I wrote about these events in an Op-Ed that was published in the Chicago Tribune in April 2019, after leaving my role as Acting Legislative Inspector General.
Since then, there has been an additional shocking development. Both the Legislative Inspector General and the Legislative Ethics Commission are required to publish quarterly reports, identifying certain statistics regarding new and pending matters. The reports are mostly just numbers, but a careful observer will note that my final report to the Illinois General Assembly, dated February 28, 2019, disclosed that since the date of my previous report, one action had been filed with the Legislative Ethics Commission and was pending before the Legislative Ethics Commission. That was unusual. It was the first time in my tenure that I had requested, pursuant to the Illinois State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, 5 ILCS 430/25-50, that the Attorney General file a formal complaint before the Legislative Ethics Commission (the only type of matter that could be “pending” before the Legislative Ethics Commission).
What happened to that matter? I cannot tell you, both because I left office while it was still pending, and because of my confidentiality obligations under 5 ILCS 430/25-90. What I can point out to you, though, based on public reports, is that although that matter remained pending throughout the second and third quarters of 2019, the Legislative Inspector General’s third quarter 2019 report, dated October 15, 2019, indicated that the matter was no longer pending before the Legislative Ethics Commission. The Legislative Ethics Commission’s report for the same period, also dated October 15, 2019, states that the Commission “did not agree to publish” another founded summary report, which I can only conclude—based on this public information—was the formal complaint that I had caused the Attorney General to bring before the Commission.
Because I am bound to confidentiality, I cannot share with you what this investigation was or detail for you the many hours spent to get to the bottom of what I concluded was serious wrongdoing, warranting a founded summary report and even a formal complaint brought by the Attorney General. But my report and the Attorney General’s complaint should not be secret. They remain so only because the Legislative Ethics Commission squashed them so that the public could not see what the supposedly independent Inspector General determined to be wrongdoing by a sitting legislator.
The Illinois State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, 5 ILCS 430/1, is the statute that governs both the Legislative Inspector General and the Legislative Ethics Commission. The statute has fundamental flaws that undermine any true effort to have an independent watchdog with real authority to investigate and expose misconduct.
Although there are many places that the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act could and should be tweaked, I wish to highlight one key deficiency: the Legislative Inspector General cannot be independent, and having a Legislative Inspector General is a waste of resources, if a Legislative Ethics Commission staffed by legislators—all appointed by the House and Senate leaders—presides over her investigations and has the power to kill them. That is precisely the system we have now in Illinois: the fox is guarding the henhouse. And the problems are not just hypothetical; over the past year, the Legislative Ethics Commission has used its authority under this statute to undermine the Legislative Inspector General’s work in critical ways.
To address this core defect, I recommend at least the following changes to the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act:
(1) If there is going to be a Legislative Ethics Commission, it should not be staffed by legislators appointed by the House and Senate leaders. 5 ILCS 430/25-5 should be amended to require a more diverse body, including or exclusively non-legislators, that is not beholden to legislative leadership.
(2) Section 5 ILCS 430/25-50(f) should be deleted. The Legislative Ethics Commission should not have the power unilaterally to rule on the “sufficiency” of a complaint advanced by the Legislative Inspective General, reviewed by the Attorney General, and filed by the Attorney General. The term “sufficiency” is not defined, and the statute identifies no factors relevant to judging sufficiency. As written, the Legislative Ethics Commission could find a complaint insufficient simply because they regard it as politically embarrassing. There is also no process for the Attorney General or the Legislative Inspector General to appeal an arbitrary or unsound judgment by the Legislative Ethics Commission, making this provision all the more problematic.
(3) Section 5 ILCS 430/25-52 should be amended so that the power to publish a founded summary report lies solely with the Legislative Inspector General—not with the Legislative Ethics Commission. The Legislative Ethics Commission has shown that it cannot be trusted to publish founded summary reports. Because the Commission’s deliberations are confidential, and I am bound by that confidentiality, I cannot reveal the reasons for my deep concerns about the way the Commission is wielding this power. All I can say is that allowing the Commission the power to hide a Legislative Inspector General’s findings of misconduct from public view, when the Legislative Inspector General is urging that such findings be public, renders the Legislative Inspector General position almost entirely pointless.
I am not aware of any other Inspector General in Illinois who is required to jump through the hoops and be subject to the control that Illinois legislators have bestowed upon the Legislative Ethics Commission. All one needs to do is pick up a newspaper to see how important it is to have a truly independent and empowered Legislative Inspector General in Illinois. I call upon this Joint Commission to take this issue seriously and begin the process of bringing true independence to the LIG role.
Thank you for considering my perspective on this matter.
The forces that are driving the municipal-bond market rally are especially strong in Illinois.
Over the next 30 days, agencies in the state will pay off about $1.3 billion of debt, more than eight times as much as is currently scheduled to be sold, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While that gap may narrow as more bond offerings are announced, nowhere except Texas currently faces as large a mismatch between supply and demand. That’s a positive sign for Illinois debt, which this year has already outperformed every other U.S. state tracked by Bloomberg as rock-bottom interest rates cause investors to snap up higher-yielding bonds. […]
The broader rally has cut municipal-debt yields to the lowest in more than six decades, fueling interest in bonds with higher payouts. That has helped fuel the outperformance for Illinois, whose rating three years ago was at risk of being cut to junk because of the government’s large debt to employee pension funds and the gridlock the former Republican governor encountered in the Democrat-controlled legislature.
The end to the political divide since Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker took office last year has also contributed to the state’s outsize gains. The difference between the yields on Illinois’s 10-year bonds and those with the highest credit ratings — a key measure of the perceived risk — has narrowed to a little over one percentage point, the smallest since at least 2013 and down from more than three percentage points in 2017 at the height of a long-running impasse over the budget, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The yield-penalty on Illinois bonds is still the highest of the 20 states tracked by Bloomberg.
Market conditions are driving most of this, but the state wouldn’t be able to take full advantage of those market conditions if we still had a Tribune-endorsed government stalemate.
Greg Kot, the nationally renowned authority on popular music for the Chicago Tribune, is leaving the newspaper after 40 years — including the last 30 as music critic.
Kot, 62, is the highest-profile personality so far to announce his departure from the Tribune under a voluntary buyout plan offered to employees of Tribune Publishing newspapers. His last day will be Friday.
“It’s bittersweet,” Kot told me Wednesday. “I received a lot of latitude from the Trib to define my job and cover the music beat the way I wanted to, and I considered it a privilege. It was an honor. And I wanted to do that job 100 percent to the best of my ability at all times. […]
Along with former Sun-Times rock critic Jim DeRogatis, Kot also will continue to co-host “Sound Opinions,” the nationally syndicated rock ‘n’ roll talk show produced by Chicago Public Media WBEZ 91.5-FM. “Sound Opinions” airs at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
* Anders Lindall is the AFSCME Council 31 spokesperson, but he was also a music writer for the Sun-Times…
Greg Kot’s departure says a lot about the state of the Tribune, the newspaper business, our economy. But in the days since I heard he was leaving, I’ve been thinking a lot about all his writing has meant, personally, to me.
As a high school student and a nutty music fan, there were a handful of people who made me want to be a writer. There was Lester Bangs and Hunter Thompson, but they were both wild, crazy, and in Lester’s case, dead. Around that time, though, I remember reading a piece about a live performance by Bob Mould and Sugar that was so vivid, so evocative, you could tell exactly how the music sounded, and more importantly, how that sound made you FEEL. That piece was by Greg Kot. He was working, writing, right then, for the Chicago Tribune. I realized this was a thing you could actually DO.
It wasn’t long after that I sent a letter to the editor of the City Pages, the Minneapolis underground weekly, taking issue with an album review. They gave me an internship.
Within a few years I wound up here in Chicago, and was lucky enough to be taken in as a research assistant by Jim DeRogatis. Soon I was contributing to the Sun-Times, even covering the same shows as Kot. I was a kid, fortunate to be his aspiring peer. He was, and has ever remained, unfailingly friendly, generous and kind. While Jim became a priceless mentor and dear friend, of the twosome, it was always Greg whose critical voice and measured manner more closely matched my own. I absolutely tried to do myself what he’d done in that Sugar piece–make the reader understand how the music sounded, and how that sound made you feel.
I’ve read Greg’s writing on music, in the Trib and his deeply researched books, religiously for 25 years. I’m gonna miss those columns and live reviews. I’m gonna miss running into him on the street after a show, or in the heat of the ballfield at the Pitchfork Festival. I hope it means we all get a lot more radio shows and books.
Thanks, Mr. Kot, for everything. Here’s to your next chapter.
In addition to the departure of music critic Greg Kot reported here Wednesday, the list of Chicago Tribune employees leaving under the company’s voluntary buyout offer includes: editorial writer Andrea Hanis, criminal justice editor Matt O’Connor, higher education reporter Dawn Rhodes, and Design and Production Studio directors Liz Fitzgerald and Jordan Dziura. Previously reported were buyouts for sports editor Tim Bannon and senior arts and entertainment editor Carmél Carrillo. “I grew up living for the arrival of the nice thick Sunday Tribune every week, and it was a thrill to work here. It’s a room where it feels like everyone is either a legend or a legend-in-the-making, whether the public knows their names or not,” said Hanis, whose last day is Friday.
Dawn Rhodes is the goods. Sorry to see her leave. She said goodbye on Twitter…
Thanks to all of you who have trusted me to tell your stories and trusted me to bring you stories. Thanks for reading. Thank you to everyone who supported me and helped me become the journalist and writer I am.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said Wednesday he put his employees on notice over problems with the state’s automatic voter registration program after it was revealed that more than 570 people who said they weren’t U.S. citizens were improperly registered to vote.
One of those 570 people actually voted, officials said at a hearing Wednesday in Springfield.
In his first public comments on the issue Wednesday at the state capitol, White apologized and said his office had corrected the issue.
“I’m angry at what happened,” he said. “I’ve put my staff on notice. Zero tolerance will be the order of the day with the Secretary of State’s office going forward.”
Election officials confirmed during the hearing that one non-citizen voted in Downstate Champaign County in the 2018 general election. But they believe nine of the 16 self-identified non-citizens found to have cast ballots are actually U.S. citizens because they appear to have been legitimately registered to vote before the snafu, said Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the state electoral board.
“That means they already had signed a legal document attesting to their citizenship when they registered previously, which is the legal requirement for voting,” Dietrich told the Sun-Times later in an email. “That attestation stands despite their checking of the noncitizen box.”
The citizenship status of the other six who went on to vote despite checking the non-citizen box was still in doubt, Dietrich said.
White, who sat quietly as officials from his office answered most of the questions from the lawmakers, apologized, saying “the entire staff has been put on notice.”
Working with the State Board of Elections, Secretary of State Jesse White’s office determined that the individual who voted in Champaign County used an immigration document as a form of identification when applying for a driver’s license, office spokesman Henry Haupt said.
There were no elections decided by a single vote in Champaign County in the last general election, and that voter’s registration has been canceled, officials said.
Election officials have not yet been able to account for six other voters, including two in Chicago, three in suburban Cook County and one in DuPage County.
They can’t just contact them in person? They have their home addresses, after all.
In a letter last week addressed to White and Sandvoss, members of the Just Democracy Coalition said it was close to filing suit if violations of the automatic voter registration law were not fixed. White has until Feb. 17 to respond.
The coalition said it has repeatedly offered help to White’s office, but has been rebuffed and ignored. White on Wednesday said he had not heard from them.
“Tell them to give me a call,” White said. “Just tell them to call me personally.”
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights spokesperson Timna Axel told The Daily Line her organization was frustrated by both White’s office and the potential “chilling effect” the debacle could have on civic participation from those who have in the past had less access to the ballot box.
“Is there a phone number we can call to get us to a table with the Secretary of State to solve these incredible issues?” Axel asked. “If so, we would love to have it…this isn’t the first time we’ve raised any of these issues. We’ve had to send multiple legal notices. All we’re seeing is a car accident pile-up.”
Illinois per-capita recreational pot sales topped every state but one in its debut month, according to an analysis this week.
The state logged $39.2 million of adult-use recreational marijuana sales in January, or $3.07 in sales per resident, according to New Frontier Data, a cannabis research company. Those are the second-highest sales per capita during the first full month of legalization among eight other states where adults can buy pot for recreational use. Nevada was the highest at $8.88 per capita in July 2017, a figure bolstered by tourism, according to Kacey Morrissey, New Frontier’s director of industry analytics.
Illinois’s performance is “typical for first month’s sales,” Beau Whitney, executive vice president and senior economist at New Frontier, said in an email. “Illinois is fairly strong out of the gate.” […]
About a quarter of the state’s take will go toward community reinvestment partly to reverse some of the challenges from past drug policy, according to Hutchinson. Collections may also help chip away at Illinois’s $6.2 billion of unpaid bills and $137 billion of pension debt. Tax collections on legal pot are forecast to jump from $34 million in 2020 to $375.5 million in 2024, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue.
While legal cannabis is off to a good start in some ways, it’s too early to declare success for a couple reasons.
First, the state needs to disperse the money so it will go where it can do the most good. That sounds easy enough, but do you remember when Illinois rolled out the lottery in 1974? It was supposed to produce a bonanza in school funding. Nearly 50 years later, funding public schools remains an area where the state misses the mark.
And newspapers wonder why they’re losing relevance.
Thursday, Feb 6, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
After years of lies, corruption, and abuses of power, all but one of Trump’s Republican enablers voted to acquit him of all charges after a sham impeachment trial. Now Donald Trump will stop at nothing to keep our country divided.
To turn the page, we need a leader with a proven record of working across the aisle and who will begin working on day one to reunite this country and restore accountability to the White House.
We need a leader who won’t refuse to shake the hand of the 3rd highest ranking official - and highest ranking woman - in the United States.
Most of all we need a nominee who can build the strongest and broadest possible coalition and truly take the fight to Trump now, and through November. That leader is Mike Bloomberg.
Read Mike’s reaction to the impeachment trial here.
* The power of Mike Madigan, rising local property taxes, state gas tax increase, graduated income tax. You’d think this person was running for the Illinois House and not the US House…
Then again, all that probably polls pretty darned well with his target audience.
Governor JB Pritzker released the following statement after the United States Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump on the impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
“Today we saw Republicans in the United States Senate thwart the intentions of the framers of our Constitution and capitulate to this corrupt and untruthful President. The Republican Party now has confirmed it is captive to a political ideology denies the truth and refuses to hear the witnesses that legal and moral precedent demand – and that the vast majority of Americans hoped to hear from.
“Here is the undeniable truth: President Trump used our tax dollars to help his reelection campaign by refusing to give an ally needed aid until they helped his political operation.
“As governor of the nation’s fifth-largest economy, I’m going to continue to make Illinois a firewall against Donald Trump’s assaults on our democracy and hold him accountable on behalf of all the working families he has harmed.
“Illinois will always stand on the side of all the brave individuals across this nation who are fighting to hold the United States of America to its own ideals of liberty and justice for all.”
Take some deep, cleansing breaths before commenting, please.
Today, Marie Newman, Democratic candidate for Congress in Illinois’ 3rd District, announced her first television ad with a spot called “Learned” in her primary race against 15-year incumbent Dan Lipinski.
The ad tells the story of Marie’s roots in the district and the values she learned from her community that led her to become a successful small business owner and community activist (script is below). It also highlights some key differences with Dan Lipinski and echoes Marie’s belief that it’s time for a real Democrat to represent this district. The ad is part of an over half million dollar buy the Newman campaign has reserved.
Momentum continues to grow for the Newman campaign, with endorsements from the Illinois Federation of Teachers this week and 8 local elected officials and 4 key independent political organizations.
Meet Marie Newman. Born at Little Company of Mary, baptized at St. Barnabas, raised in Beverly and Palos. This community shaped Marie’s belief in hard work and equality. Marie scrubbed floors to pay for college and went without health insurance when she couldn’t afford it. But Marie became a successful small business owner and community leader. Now Marie is running for Congress to do what Dan Lipinski won’t: raise wages for working people and ensure health care is a right for everyone.
…Adding… On a side note in that district…
Illinois State Republican Leadership Endorses IL-3 Congressional Candidate Mike Fricilone Over Nazi Arthur Jones
“We have a fantastic candidate for Congress in Mike Fricilone. I am proud to join countless other Republicans in endorsing him for Congress.” – Republican Senate Leader Bill Brady
CHICAGO – IL-3 GOP Congressional Candidate Mike Fricilone today was endorsed by both Republican Leaders of the Illinois State Senate and State House. His opponent is American Nazi Party leader Arthur Jones.
Republican Senate Leader Bill Brady
“We have a fantastic candidate for Congress in Mike Fricilone. I am proud to join countless other Republicans in endorsing him for Congress. Mike has been a leader on the Will County Board in passing budgets that both cut taxes and improved services. Republican voters must know that the party in our state stands with Mike and not his fake Republican opponent who has been a Nazi leader and denies the Holocaust.”
Republican House Leader Jim Durkin
“Today I am proud to announce my endorsement of Mike Fricilone for Congress. Mike has fresh and bold ideas for our community, state and nation. He is a proud, forward-thinking conservative. Under his watch as Finance Chairman in Will County, they cut taxes, reduced waste and built a new public safety center, new courthouse and new county health center, all without raising taxes. Mike’s opponent Arthur Jones has also filed as a Republican, but he is only running to spread his Nazi message of Holocaust denial which our party condemns in the strongest possible terms.”
Will County Board Member Mike Fricilone
“Our party needs a nominee who can show the public what real Republican values are. We must show the voters there is a real Republican choice and that I am that candidate. I am so honored to have the endorsement of both Leader Brady and Leader Durkin. Together we will build a party that fights for lower taxes, cuts wasteful spending, and brings fresh, bold ideas that move our nation forward.”
About Mike Fricilone: Mike Fricilone is a Will County Board Member and the Republican Leader of the Will County Board. Fricilone, is running for Congress to bring bold and fresh ideas to Washington to move our community forward. Mike is an active sports coach in our community, a 30-year member of St Bernard’s Parish, President and a charter member of the Lockport High School Charitable Foundation, and has spent the last 6 years on the board of directors of the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center.
* This is an important step. From a press release…
Governor JB Pritzker announced today that the state releasing $50 million in funding for the first round of matching grants of Connect Illinois, the state’s $420 million statewide broadband expansion.
“We’re beginning to deliver on an ambitious 4- year plan to deliver broadband to homes, businesses and community institutions like hospitals and libraries in every corner of the state,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I want to be clear: This isn’t about a person’s ability to check Facebook. This is about a small business owner having the tools she needs to reach new customers. This is about an elderly couple’s ability to get access to medical experts anywhere in the nation even if they live in a rural community. This is about giving children the ability to research their homework assignments online. In short, this is about the right of all our communities to access health care, education, and economic opportunity.”
Applicants are required to provide at least 50% of non-state funding, effectively doubling the size of the nation’s largest state competitive grant program to expand high-speed internet.
Applicants are anticipated to include internet service providers, rural cooperatives, nonprofits and local governments. Grant responses for the initial $50 million round of funding can be submitted through Friday, April 3, 2020. Up to $5 million per project will be available during the first round, and subsequent rounds will follow over the course of the next several years. The Notice of Funding Opportunity is available online at: https://www2.illinois.gov/dceo/AboutDCEO/GATA/Pages/2366-1333.aspx.
Connect Illinois is centered around three main outcomes: education, telehealth and economic development. It aims to provide universal access to basic broadband for homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions by 2024.
The Rebuild Illinois capital plan dedicated $420 million toward broadband expansion — $400 million for the grant program and $20 million to strengthen the Illinois Century Network. The matching requirements in the grant program will leverage state funds to attract at least an additional $400 million from internet service providers.
“Fast, reliable internet isn’t a luxury anymore, it’s a necessity,” Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago). “Broadband access is critical for everyone, from students to small business owners, and it’s vital that we continue to invest in its availability in all corners of our state. We’ve done a lot of great work on this issue so far, and I look forward to continuing to work with Governor Pritzker and my colleagues in the legislature to expand this critical resource.”
“I am honored to represent rural and downstate Illinois as a member of the Broadband Advisory Council. Funding for new and improved infrastructure will give more residents access to high-speed Internet, provide better e-learning opportunities for schools, and boost telehealth programs in areas that do not have easy access to specialized medical facilities and doctors,” said Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy). “We are providing resources to give our communities, our farmers and our local businesses access to the technology they need to compete in today’s economy.”
“I am proud to stand today with the Governor and the other members of the Broadband Advisory Council as we move from design to execution in expanding broadband Internet access statewide to reach Illinois communities still left behind by the broadband revolution, bringing additional resources for education, economic growth, healthcare, and other areas benefiting from Internet resources,” said Rep. John Connor (D- Romeoville). “Using the Broadband Council’s comprehensive plans presented today, Illinois begins to bridge the digital divide that separates city from country to strengthen Illinois through more expansive broadband Internet access statewide.”
“Internet access has profound impacts on opportunities in education, jobs, health care and nearly every other aspect of daily life,” said Assistant House Minority Leader Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego). “Expanding broadband access to every corner of Illinois, particularly rural communities, is vital to move Illinois’ economy forward. I applaud the Governor for making this critical investment that will lift up students, families and job creators. Together we will build broadband infrastructure across Illinois that is second to none.”
“Investing in a secure technology infrastructure, such as the Illinois Century Network (ICN), brings the world to the fingertips of teachers and students,” said Mary Reynolds, Group CIO for Education at the Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT). “Illinois students will have equitable access to digital learning opportunities as a result of broadband expansion through Connect Illinois.”
“What makes Connect Illinois sing is its historic investment in infrastructure coupled with meaningful community engagement in broadband planning and capacity building,” said Adrianne Benton Furniss, Executive Director, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. “Community leaders of all stripes should play an important role because they are closest to local needs and have earned peoples’ confidence and trust. Their voice in the creation of local broadband access, adoption, digital inclusion, and utilization strategies will help to ensure the success of Governor Pritzker’s long-term economic development plans for the state of Illinois.”
“Broadband access is a critical component of modern agriculture, but far too many Illinoisans are missing out,” said Richard Guebert, Jr., President of the Illinois Farm Bureau. “Not only can broadband access improve the economic well-being of farmers, but it can also help revitalize rural Illinois and boost our economy.”
“The Partnership for a Connected Illinois looks forward to partnering with the Office of Broadband to leverage this broadband investment to increase access to services delivered via telehealth, and therefore, improve equity and health outcomes for patients in need,” said Nancy Kaszak, Director of the Illinois Telehealth Initiative at the Partnership for a Connected Illinois. “I applaud Governor Pritzker for his leadership on this issue. This historic investment into broadband will allow Illinois to become a leader on telehealth. This opens the door for to healthcare in rural and underserved communities, particularly for opioid addiction recovery and behavioral health care for children around the state.”
“Broadband connects people, stimulates entrepreneurship, and helps close the skills gap in rural and disadvantaged communities,” said Bill McBride, executive director of the National Governors Association. “Our research and work with governors’ offices on broadband shows that investments in this critical infrastructure pay social and economic dividends for years to come. We applaud Governor Pritzker for his leadership in bringing high-speed, affordable broadband access to the people of Illinois.”
“The Connect Illinois Broadband Strategic Plan rightly recognizes that ubiquitous broadband usage is a necessary part of delivering Illinois’ future progress in agriculture, energy, health care, information, manufacturing, and transportation,” said Jonathan Sallet, Former General Counsel, Federal Communications Commission. “That’s why it’s so important that the Illinois broadband plan seeks progress on deployment, plus digital skills and equity.”
“Broadband grants will help extend quality, high-speed service to hard-to-reach areas of the state,” said Josh Shallenberger, CEO of the Shelby Electric Cooperative. “Like rural electrification a century before, Connect Illinois will drive progress throughout meaningful partnership.”
Rural electrification is not a bad analogy. Illinois has to do things like this to get ahead of other states because it can’t or won’t do other things that make us less competitive. So, more like this, please.
* Gov. Pritzker earlier today while speaking with reporters…
I want to be clear with everybody. This state is a diverse state in so many ways, in ways that Iowa and New Hampshire are not. Our state is more representative of the United States of the, you know, rural, suburban, urban environments of the entire country, of the technology industry and the farming industry, the agriculture industry.
We represent every aspect of the United States in Illinois. And I think it is appropriate for us to put ourselves forward as the first in the nation. If you can win in a state like Illinois, with so many different regions, so many different types of people from all over the state. If you can win in a state like this, then you’re worthy of being the nominee of your party.
We’ve discussed it twice already, but let’s put it to a vote since he continues making this a thing.
* The Question: Do you agree with the governor that Illinois should host the first in the nation primary? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
The Illinois House Transportation: Vehicles and Safety Committee today advanced legislation State Representative David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) is sponsoring to ban red light cameras in non-home rule communities in Illinois. House Bill 322 would prohibit non-home rule units of government from enacting or enforcing red light camera ordinances. McSweeney passed the same bill in the House in 2015 and it was killed by former Senator Martin Sandoval.
Rep. McSweeney has long been a proponent of banning red light cameras. He believes that red light cameras are more about revenue than public safety. He said the bribery charges against former State Senator Martin Sandoval provide even more evidence of the need to ban red light cameras.
“These cameras are nothing more than a get rich scheme for the companies that install the cameras and the politicians who profit from protecting the companies behind this scam,” McSweeney said. “It is time to end this corruption once and for all.”
More than $1 billion in fines have been collected from red light cameras and multiple people have been indicted for crimes connected to the red light camera industry.
“It is time to end this madness,” McSweeney said. “These cameras are not about making communities safer. They are about producing more revenue for local governments and padding the pockets of political insiders. It is another example of the culture of corruption in Illinois. My legislation is big step forward in fighting Illinois corruption.”
The committee approved the measure by a vote of 11-0. House Bill 322 now advances to the House floor for further consideration.
Looks like it may have some wings. We shall see.
* This bill may not sprout wings, however. HB4484 is sponsored by Republican Rep. Deanne Mazzochi of suburban Elmhurst…
Creates the End Aldermanic Privilege Law in the Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that, in the City of Chicago, a property owner, or a developer or contractor having the written permission of the property owner, shall not have any approvals under the Zoning Division denied because of an aldermanic hold, objection, extra-judicial or extra-legal request, or for any law or ordinance enacted or adopted after the date on which the property owner, developer, or contractor: (1) participated in a concept meeting for construction with representatives from the City of Chicago regarding the subject property; (2) filed a building permit application with the City of Chicago for the subject property; (3) presented a proposed development plan to a city council for the subject property; (4) substantially invested resources in the preparation of building plans, concept drawings, or securing building contracts for a preceding period of one year for the subject property; or (5) otherwise gave sufficient notice of an intent to develop to the pertinent regulatory authorities for the subject property. Allows suit against the State or the City of Chicago that seeks to enforce or impose a more restrictive law, regulation, ordinance, or resolution against the property owner, developer, or contractor and allows for a $5,000 civil penalty and other damages if the property owner’s, developer’s, or contractor’s claim is successful. Limits home rule powers.
* Press release…
More than 100 hospital workers and community health advocates joined Illinois lawmakers Wednesday morning at the Capitol to show support for new legislation HB 4533 and SB 3010 that would fix the broken Medicaid Assessment funding formulas to make them equitable for community hospitals.
In introducing the legislation, Senator Omar Aquino and Rep. Chris Welch, the bill’s chief sponsors, raised concerns that urban and rural communities with the lowest levels of life expectancy have far more limited access to healthcare services and good paying jobs.
“Despite a distance of just nine miles, residents of two Chicago neighborhoods – Englewood and Streeterville – experience a 30-year difference in life expectancy,” said Representative Chris Welch. “The African-American community has been denied equitable resources for healthcare. As representatives of the community, we cannot stand by and let this inequity persist. We demand fair funding now.”
Hospital workers from around the state joined the lawmakers to show their support, holding signs that read “Fair Funding for Community Hospitals” and “We Are Worth More.”
“We want to stop the suffering in our neighborhoods and in the hospitals where we work—the suffering caused by unfair funding,” said Wellington Thomas, an ER tech at Loretto Hospital. “Community hospitals are closing because they don’t have the funding they need. I can tell you that the difference between a four-minute ride to a hospital and an eight-minute ride can be the difference between life and death.”
“It is my job to take care of patients and make sure they recover,” said Kim Smith, a patient care tech at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “But sadly, Northwestern doesn’t always seem to put patients’ care first, saving the money it gets from property tax exemptions for managements’ paychecks instead of putting it back in community care. I know this isn’t how we should treat the patients who come to us in times of need, and that’s why we’re calling on the state legislature to adopt this new bill as soon as possible.”
Workers said they hoped to draw attention to the process through which hospitals in Illinois are allocated federal Medicaid dollars meant to compensate them for treating low-income and under or uninsured patients. The new legislation would make a $1 billion investment in payments specifically to hospitals dependent on Medicaid, private hospitals in high-need communities, and rural critical access hospitals.
Specifically, the bill would establish a changed Fair Provider Tax, reversing the current problem of small and community hospitals being taxed at a higher rate than wealthy, high volume medical facilities, call for a Larger and More Effective Transformation Fund allowing hospitals serving high-need populations to better serve their communities, provide for Well-Targeted Payments to ensure funding goes where it is most needed and allow for Transitioning of Supplemental Payments when Federal regulations phase out payments to reduce impact on smaller community hospitals.
“Currently the laws in Illinois benefit the big and rich hospitals at the expense of the community and safety net hospitals,” said Kathrine Jones of South Austin Community Coalition. “It’s the safety net hospitals that provide care to those most in need but get the least support. I’m happy to be speaking out today with all others throughout Chicago who are fighting to end this offensive system.”
Wednesday, Feb 5, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
To highlight the needs of people with kidney disease, organizations from across our state have banded together to create the Illinois Kidney Care Alliance (IKCA), a coalition of health advocates and professionals, community and patient groups, and providers and businesses. The coalition will focus on raising awareness of the needs of people who suffer from End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), a condition also known as kidney failure. The stark fact is that people whose kidneys no longer function properly have only two options for survival: dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Currently, more than 650,000 Americans suffer from kidney failure, including over 30,000 in Illinois. Of these, about 70 percent are on life-sustaining dialysis, while the rest are able to survive with a functioning kidney transplant. The incidence rate of ESRD is expected to rise in the U.S. over the next decade – and is higher among African-Americans, Latinos and people of color than among whites.
Kidney disease in its early stages often has no symptoms and therefore remains undetected until it has reached an advanced stage. For this reason, some call it a “silent disease.”
Wednesday, Feb 5, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Last night, we heard more of Trump’s campaign of lies and deceit. We also saw the Democratic Party fall apart in Iowa.
Democratic voters want someone with the courage, the chops, and the track record to go toe-to-toe with Donald Trump. They want someone who can build on our blue wave, someone who can expand the map, and bring new voters into the fold. The results in Iowa tell us that there is only one candidate who can do that - Mike Bloomberg.
While other presidential hopefuls focus their energy and investments on taking each other down. Mike is taking the fight to Trump everyday, picking up endorsements and drawing huge crowds in Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Denver.
Talk is cheap. We need a leader who will fight back against Trump’s lies. We need a leader who will get it done.
Check out Mike’s first gubernatorial endorsement from Rhode Island’s Gina Raimondo, Farm Aid’s John Mellencamp, and read more about his reaction to Trump’s State of the Union lies here, here and here.
As corruption scandals worm through the establishment Democratic Party, Gov. J.B. Pritzker finds himself with new and unexpected leverage. He can push for meaningful ethics reform in Illinois government by removing the barricades his own party’s leaders erected in the past. Those Democrats are wounded. He is not.
So will he lead on real reform?
“Restoring the public’s trust is of paramount importance,” Pritzker said during last week’s State of the State address while his two chamber leaders — House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President Don Harmon — stood at the dais behind him. “Let’s not let the well-connected and well-protected work the system while the interests of ordinary citizens are forgotten. There is too much that needs to be accomplished to lift up all the people of Illinois.”
That effort starts with drawing a fair map of legislative districts after this year’s federal census. It could happen through constitutional change. […]
Pritzker said as a candidate for governor he supported amending the Illinois Constitution to take the process out of the hands of lawmakers: “We should amend the constitution to create an independent commission to draw legislative maps.” More recently, he said he would not sign into law an unfair map.
But that’s not as strong a position as his call for an amendment. It gives him wiggle room to backtrack. Who defines “unfair”?
* OK, let’s start with the end of the above excerpt and work our way up. Before the 2018 primary, I asked all candidates this specific question…
Will you pledge as governor to veto any state legislative redistricting map proposal that is in any way drafted or created by legislators, political party leaders and/or their staffs or allies? The exception, of course, would be the final official draft by LRB.
Yes, I will pledge to veto. We should amend the constitution to create an independent commission to draw legislative maps, but in the meantime, I would urge Democrats and Republicans to agree to an independent commission to handle creating a new legislative map. That designated body should reflect the gender, racial, and geographic diversity of the state and look to preserve the Voting Rights Act decisions to ensure racial and language minorities are fully represented in the electoral process.
* To the editorial’s main point, does Pritzker now have the “leverage” to get this done? The editorial board cheered Rauner’s “leverage” for two solid years of budget impasse. Can Pritzker pass this with the bully pulpit alone, or will he have to do something more drastic? And if he does take drastic action, will the ends justify the means? What happens to the rest of the governor’s agenda if he goes all-in?
These and more questions should be pondered before rushing off to yet another potentially ruinous legislative war.
The Tribune roundly mocked the concept of “doable” agendas back in 2015 and we saw how that ended. Doable doesn’t mean nothing, it means bending the curve beyond where it’s been. Fiery populist thinking got us into a big mess during three straight administrations.
* All that being said, reformers are absolutely right to do their jobs and push the governor on this point. He has been awfully mum and the deadline to get this on the ballot is approaching. Pritzker should absolutely take some legit heat. I mean, the guy helped fund remap reform efforts for years. Put your agenda where your money was, governor.
Pritzker said during the campaign that the state should amend the constitution to enact redistricting reform. He’s actually been pretty good at keeping his campaign promises. But this one stands out as almost completely unaddressed.
I think the trick here is to not over-learn the mistakes of the populist past, while still maintaining an even-enough keel.
* McLaughlin & Associates does a lot of polling for a lot of GOP candidates and entities, but keep in mind that this is a quickie two-day poll of 300 likely Republican primary voters with a +/- 5.6 percent margin of error. Even so, this lead is way outside even that high MoE…
Survey Summary: The Republican Primary Election – Jim Oberweis has an overwhelming lead.
The results of our recently completed survey in Illinois’ 14th Congressional District show that with only 6 weeks to go and even with more candidates in the race, Jim Oberweis maintains a 30 point lead over his closest competitor. Jim Oberweis is in a very strong position to win the Republican Primary election for U.S. Congress. Almost half of voters polled, 46%, say they would vote for Oberweis, while only 16% say they would vote for Sue Rezin, followed by 6% for Catalina Lauf, then just 2% for both Jim Martel and Ted Gradel.
If the Republican primary election for U.S. Congress was held today, for whom would you vote?
The majority of Republican primary voters in Illinois 14 are favorable to Jim Oberweis, 55%, with only 20% unfavorable. Sue Rezin, who lives outside the district and has said that she will not move into the district, is still widely unknown among Republican primary voters with, 59%, who have never heard of her, only 19% are favorable towards her, 5% are unfavorable, and 17% have no opinion. This explains why State Senator Rezin’s first campaign mail has been an attack on Jim Oberweis.
The vast majority of Republican primary voters in Illinois 14 have never heard of the other three candidates in the race, Catalina Lauf, Jim Marter and Ted Gradel. 72% have never heard of Catalina Lauf, 74% have never heard of Jim Marter, and 77% have never heard of Ted Gradel.
Now, I am going to read you a list of names. Will you please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each person? If you have no opinion or have never heard of each person, just say so.
In contrast to Senator Rezin’s attack on Jim Oberweis for losing past elections to Senator Durbin, Republican Primary voters are actually more likely to vote for Jim Oberweis because he ran against liberal Democratic Senator Dick Durbin.
Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for Jim Oberweis if you knew that in his race for U.S. Senate, he defeated Liberal Democrat Dick Durbin in each county in your congressional district and came the closest of any Republican to beating Dick Durbin?
Conclusions:
With only 6 weeks to go, Jim Oberweis is the clear frontrunner in the Republican Primary in Illinois Congressional District 14 with the highest and most favorable name recognition of any Republican candidate in the district. His opponents have a long way to go in a mere 6 weeks in a very expensive media market. Jim Oberweis is clearly the best Republican to unseat Pelosi Democrat Lauren Underwood and win back an important Congressional seat for the Republicans.
Methodology: Republican Primary
This poll of 300 likely Republican Primary election voters in Illinois Congressional District 14, was conducted from January 28th and January 29th, 2019. All interviews were conducted via telephone by professional interviewers. Interview selection was random within predetermined election units. 41% of interviews were completed on cell- phones. These samples were then combined and structured to correlate with actual voter turnout in a Republican Primary election. This poll of 300 likely Republican Primary election voters in Illinois Congressional District 14, has an accuracy of +/- 5.6% at a 95% confidence interval.
This is the first time Oberweis has polled against Lauf, who has found momentum as the “Anti-AOC” candidate on Fox News and conservative podcasts. Her campaign was not impressed with Oberweis’ poll.
“We’re not sure why someone who’s been running for office for decades and loaned his campaign millions of dollars would push a poll showing him below 50%, but we don’t try to understand the tactics of career politicians,” Lauf’s campaign team said in a statement. “We’re seeing overwhelming enthusiasm on the ground behind Catalina’s candidacy.
“She is not only the only candidate who will stand with President Trump and the only candidate who can beat liberal Lauren Underwood, but the much needed new energy and new face for the Republican Party.” […]
“What is ludicrous is that Oberweis and his pollster contrived a question seeking to laud Oberweis for having lost to Dick Durbin,” said a written statement from the [Rezin] campaign. “What is the point? Oberweis lost that race. He has lost elections for this congressional seat twice already. “If a candidate is supposed to get credit for a previous failed campaign then, by all means, Jim Oberweis is the undisputed king of Illinois politics.”
…Adding… Rezin campaign…
Jim Oberweis and his discredited pollster can maintain their self-delusion all they want but reality will once again hit them in the head on March 17 when Oberweis loses yet another election–just like all six of Oberweis’ previous elections for Congress, US Senate and Governor.
We note, the Republican U.S. House Majority Leader lost his primary election in 2014 because Oberweis’ pollster was wrong by an astounding 45 points.
What is ludicrous is that Oberweis and his pollster contrived a question seeking to laud Oberweis for having lost to Dick Durbin. What is the point? Oberweis LOST that race. In fact, he has lost elections for this congressional seat TWICE already.
When a candidate goes out of his way to make one of his numerous election losses into a reason why he is supposedly sure to win this primary, it is evidence of him living in a parallel universe and making the same delusional mistakes that led to his losses in his previous six elections for Congress, US Senate and Governor.
Now that voters are fully tuning into this election, Sue Rezin is excited about engaging primary voters over the next six weeks and to the result on Election Day–just like all of her previous election victories—all five of them.
* Greg Hinz wrote a piece yesterday calling for Illinois to be the first primary state, or at least near the front of the line...
Now that the Iowa Democratic Party has joined and maybe even replaced the hanging-chad folks in the political hall of infamy, the moment has arrived for Illinois politicians to do something they should have long ago.
That’s to put Illinois first, or as close to first as they can get us.
It’s time to quit deferring to corn country, rocky New Hampshire and casinoed Nevada. Time to do what it takes to place this diverse state exactly where it needs to be: at the front of the presidential nomination process, somewhere it will have clout—not stuck somewhere in the meaningless middle. And think of all that sweet tourism money that flows in every four years as journos and campaign staffs and pollsters and bandwagon-jumpers eat, sleep, drink and door-knock their way through the Hawkeye state. Wouldn’t it be better if they did all that eating, sleeping, drinking and door-knocking in the Land of Lincoln instead?
I firmly believe that the nominating process should reflect the country’s diversity, and there’s no better state to do that than Illinois. Illinois has all the best features of America, with its urban, suburban and rural regions, tremendous demographic diversity and the variety of manufacturing, service and agriculture jobs throughout the state. With all due respect to Iowa . . . Democratic nominees should start out showing they can win in a state that is more like the rest of the nation. I look forward to working with other elected officials and the party to change the calendar so that Illinois’ primary comes first in the nominating process in the 2024 presidential election.
* As Tina Sfondeles and Lynn Sweet report, Mayor Lightfoot likes the idea…
Lighfoot — in Washington on Tuesday for the State of the Union address — said whether Illinois should become the first primary state is a “worthwhile question to pursue.”
“The dynamics of the Democratic electorate and the dynamics of the people who are going to run for president have forever been changed,” Lightfoot told the Sun-Times. “And I think we have to think, give serious consideration to starting with a state that’s diverse.”
Pritzker’s chief of staff Anne Caprara to the Sun-Times…
“We feel that we have a really strong case to make about Illinois. That it is geographically, ethnically and economically very diverse. We sit in the Midwest in the middle of a lot of states that are important to the presidential election calendar. That if you come to this state, you’re going to have to campaign in urban areas and rural areas, and all different types of communities,” Caprara said. “And that’s really a great proving ground for a presidential election.”
Pritzker would have to be willing to back moving up the Illinois primary ahead of mid-March. Illinois in 2008 moved up the primary date in order to help then U.S. Sen. Barack Obama clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. This year, Illinois’ primary is on March 17, along with Arizona, Florida and Ohio.
That 2008 February primary was murderously cold. And some of Speaker Madigan’s members ended up having closer than expected primaries because the post-holiday election season was so short and turnout for Obama was so high.
Illinois state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said Illinois should be first instead.
“So put the complicated caucus system behind us,” Manar said. “Let’s find a state that’s more representative of the country as a whole and Illinois I think on all accounts is that state.”
Illinois’ population is culturally diverse and the state features not just major metropolitan areas but also rural areas.
State Rep. Dave Severin, R-Benton, said moving Illinois up in the national process may be worth looking at.
“That might be something to consider,” Severin said. “But I tell you what else is encouraging to me is the state of Illinois finally is not the worst debacle in the United States. Iowa just took over.”
Heh.
* We have an up-and-coming commenter named Candy DoGood and these are CD’s thoughts yesterday…
Illinois hosting the first in the nation primary would be an admirable goal.
In order to meet this goal, Illinois can demonstrate its maturity and ability as a state party to host the first in the nation primary by instituting broad reforms to make their actual party apparatus more inclusive and the leadership reflective of the active members of the party rather than being made up of mostly elected officials.
Some major issues to address:
When was the last time the Democratic Party of Illinois had a convention?
When was the last time the Democratic Party of Illinois created a concise platform?
What does the Democratic Party of Illinois plan to do or what reforms do they plan to enact to address that the chair of their party is also the House Speaker and is at the center of an organization which may have aided in retaliation against victims of sexual harassment and hostile work environments?
Are they (both parties really) prepared to address the expectation that caucus staff are required to “volunteer” or work on campaigns for a salary generally below market in order to retain their positions as caucus staff?
Are they prepared to lobby the governor to make changes so that precinct committee people, county parties, district apparatuses, and the State Central Committee are more inclusive and provide better access for people of lower incomes, mobility issues, or situations that make it difficult for them to be able to run on a ballot or fund raise to run for a party position?
I think it’d be great for the State of Illinois to shoot to be first in the nation, but we’ve got a lot of work to do before that happens.
We’re literally in the middle of a situation where the GOP super minority is fractured with ultra-right wing separatists and the Democratic Party’s dealing with State Senators wearing a wire to inform on other State Senators because of a broad sweeping federal investigation which still hasn’t ended yet and is long over due.
First in the nation isn’t the kind of microscope I would be inviting if I were a shot caller in either major party organization.
The Iowa Democratic Party messed up a reporting system by relying on an app. Okay. Well they (the IDP and the Iowa GOP both) also have a caucus every two years where precincts meet, select delegates to county conventions and submit platform planks, the county convention turns out a county platform and selects delegates to the District and State conventions which also turns out platforms and selects delegates to the national convention and or the DNC members.
Say what you will about caucuses being undemocratic, but Iowans rebuild their parties every two years and reaffirm their leadership every two years and produce platforms every two years.
And their party leaders aren’t known for whining about not receiving enough political graft or getting their people hired and Iowa’s hiring/firing scandals don’t involve decades long consent decrees that are willfully defied by folks that don’t get that this stuff is illegal.
I’m being hard on the Democrats because the Democrats are pushing this at the moment, but there’s the Illinois GOP literally just sold itself to a billionaire a few cycles ago and abandoned every principle they had to do so while also, somehow, letting a Nazi get on the ballot.
