* Oh, man…
Let’s just hope that ratio doesn’t hold up for the 31 who have pending test results. But hope, as they say, is not a plan.
* Meanwhile…
The Illinois Department of Corrections also is reporting two confirmed cases of COVID-19 among residents of the North Lawndale Adult Transition Center, a state-funded facility that provides housing and support for people recently released from prison.
“The facility has been placed on lockdown and all workplaces of the incarcerated individuals are being notified,” Department of Corrections spokeswoman Lindsey Hess said in an email.
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Everyone has their own priorities
Wednesday, Mar 25, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Green Party…
Dear Governor Pritzker, President Harmon, Speaker Madigan, and Director Sandvoss,
For months, the Green Party has been preparing for the start of the petitioning period applicable to “new” political parties, which begins on March 24, 2020, and ends on June 22, 2020. The Illinois Green Party has held its nominating convention and has nominated Green Party candidates for the 2020 Illinois statewide ballot. (Under the Election Code, the Green Party was not eligible to participate in the state’s Primary Election this year for statewide offices.)
The Green Party has successfully completed Illinois statewide petition drives in the recent past (including 2012 and 2016), and we are confident that, without the recent turn of events involving COVID-19, we would have successfully completed the petition drive this year as well.
According to current state law, a new political party must file 25,000 valid petition signatures to get ballot access for this year’s Illinois statewide General Election ballot. Experience teaches us (and other electoral candidates) that it is wise to gather twice the number of required signatures, in order to account for problems with voter registrations. Given past response rates, this would translate into well over half a million public contacts.
However, because of the COVID-19 outbreak and the Governor’s responsive Executive Orders, as well as the national state of emergency, local restrictions, and related health-care protocols regarding social distancing, the Green Party’s ability to obtain the necessary signatures here in Illinois this year has been essentially nullified. We acknowledge that the actions taken to limit gatherings and ensure social distancing are appropriate for containing and controlling the virus, but they also make it literally impossible for the candidates of minority political parties, as well as independent candidates, to be placed on the general election ballot.
Current circumstances make petitioning extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, for the party and its candidates, as well as make it risky, health-wise, for the petitioners and the potential signers.
Any efforts at gathering enough signatures for the statewide ballot depend on face-to-face contact with as many potential petition signers as possible, and large crowds—now banned by law—normally provide the primary source for signers. Even where registered voters may be found in smaller gatherings, or may be passing by on a sidewalk, current health-care protocols advising that a distance of at least six feet be maintained between unfamiliar persons make petitioning all but impossible.
Moreover, few people remaining in the security of their homes are likely to open their doors to petitioners in this environment, let alone agree to have a close conversation and handle a clipboard and pen being handed to them by a stranger. Likewise, most prospective petitioners, including the many volunteers who have assisted us in the past, are understandably going to be reluctant to handle a clipboard and pen that has passed through the hands, and within close proximity of the nose and mouth, of large numbers of unknown persons.
Accordingly, we respectfully request that the Governor, General Assembly, and the Board of Elections take account of these radically changed circumstances and take immediate emergency action to honor the right of our political party and its candidates for President, Vice President, and U.S. Senate to appear on the general election ballot.
We ask that the petition signature requirement for the statewide ballot be waived or suspended for the current election cycle for the Illinois Green Party’s statewide candidates. We understand that the Libertarian Party of Illinois may be making a similar request and we would be supportive of that party being granted a waiver as well.
We would also ask for similar relief for Green Party candidates planning to petition to attain ballot status in county-level races in Jackson County, Illinois.
* Rick Pearson…
The Green Party has asked Gov. J.B. Pritzker, legislative leaders and state elected officials to “waive or suspend” the current petition signature requirements.
However, there are no provisions that would allow an administrative suspension of the signature rules. Instead, it would require a change in state law, and lawmakers in both parties have shown little interest in relaxing ballot access rules in Illinois amid the uncertainty over when the General Assembly can reconvene in Springfield.
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* Gov. Pritzker…
In addition to those measures, today I am proud to announce an important new measure to support our residents and most small businesses, and to soften the immediate economic impact of this moment. Illinois will delay our tax filing deadline from April 15 to July 15, aligning our tax day with the federal government’s and giving our millions of taxpayers three additional months to file their individual returns refunds will continue to be distributed in a timely fashion.
Remember I’m using Otter for transcription so typos are inevitable.
* More assistance…
By Friday, our small businesses will be eligible for a share of $90 million in state emergency assistance through three new programs.
First, all of our small businesses outside of Chicago, that’s businesses with fewer than 50 employees, and under $3 million in 2019 revenue in every industry are eligible for our new $60 million dollar Illinois small business emergency loan fund, allowing up to $50,000 loans with five year low interest. Repayment terms require loan payments won’t begin for six months, offering crucial time for business owners to begin recovering from the economic impact of COBID 19. DCEO, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, in partnership with our Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has established a loan loss reserve of $20 million to back up the financing provided by our state charter banks. I want to thank the Illinois Bankers Association and the community bankers Alliance for their partnership in launching this program […]
Our second Small Business program also focuses on our suburban and downstate communities, specifically on areas with low to moderate income populations. We’re launching a $20 million downstate small business stabilization program, which will provide emergency grants of up to $25,000. These are grants of $25,000 to small businesses that are being served by Office of Community Development.
And lastly, our hospitality businesses have experienced some of the most significant hardships during this crisis. To help address the significant challenges of our bars and restaurants in small hotel companies, DCEO retooled existing funds to offer support to our state’s hospitality industry through this crisis. Our new hospitality emergency grant program will offer $14 million to help hotels bars and restaurants support their payroll and rent, as well as job training and technology for operations like pickup and delivery, which for now have become central to many restaurants staying open.
* More…
I’ve asked each of those federal institutions to offer all borrowers multi-month forbearance, to reduce the strains of this period and offer millions of Americans financial relief. They’ve offered this not only to Illinoisans now, but to qualified mortgage holders nationwide, please contact your mortgage servicer or Fannie Mae directly for more information. On a similar note we’ve sent letters to the three national credit bureaus, asking them not to punish people’s credit ratings for the instabilities of our time.
* Comptroller Mendoza is caring for an ill mother and couldn’t be at the event, but she put out this release…
Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza issued the following statement regarding today’s announcement that Illinois will extend the deadline for state income tax filing:
“While extending the state’s tax filing deadline to July 15, 2020, creates some needed relief for taxpayers, it also results in a significant delay in revenue for the state in the short term. Traditionally, April is the state’s best revenue month. The receipts that come in from Illinois taxpayers in April allow us to address bills from low-revenue-producing months such as February.
“In addition to the short-term revenue delay, given the COVID-19 crisis and necessary emergency response, we, like the rest of the country, can anticipate a future loss in revenue from lower payroll and sales tax receipts this fiscal year. It is too early to measure the financial impact.
“Postponing the state tax filing deadline will be a challenge to the state and our office’s cash-management duties, but it is a responsibility we are prepared to meet. Over the last three years, the Illinois Office of Comptroller has proven itself to be well-experienced in managing fiscal crises, and we are prepared for the demanding times ahead.
“We will continue to make critical payments for debt service, state payrolls, K-12 schools, our social and human service providers, and required pension payments. We will prioritize state payments to our hospitals, doctors and everyday heroes on the front lines fighting COVID-19.
“I appreciate Governor Pritzker’s incredible leadership through this ordeal. It’s been an honor to work with him and Treasurer Frerichs, and we will continue to work together, utilizing every budget and statutory tool available to us to get Illinois through this crisis, this budget year and into the next.”
* The governor went on to praise the Senate’s stimulus bill and then said…
Finally, I just want to say that I know that there are people all across our state that are making real sacrifices by adhering to our stay at home order, which is in its fourth day. And I know that, for those of you able to remain home. It feels like you’ve been there forever.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of you, the sacrifices that you are saving lives. Truly. I’ve also said a lot about the amazing work that our doctors and nurses and our first responders are doing, taking a risk every day going to work, to protect us. But I also want to recognize our grocery store workers our custodians and our Metro and Pace and CTA workers. The factory workers who are producing essential medical equipment and the food on the grocery shelves and the warehouse workers and truck drivers who make sure that our goods get to their destination. They are some of the unsung heroes in this fight. Those who do the work behind the scenes to keep this state safely moving forward.
* IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike…
Right now, we know of the counties [where the virus was found], but we know that the number of counties will grow as well. Continue to stay home and continue to practice social distancing. Protect yourself, protect your loved ones and protect your entire community by following the same instructions you’ve been hearing every day. Wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap. Cover your coughs. Please stay home. Clean frequently touched services. Together, we are protecting all of Illinois and decreasing the number of fatalities from this extraordinary event.
* Treasurer Michael Frerichs…
Our state investment portfolio is about $14 billion, about the same amount it was late last year when news of the virus began emerging. The amount is the same because state law prohibits investing any portion of the $14 billion state portfolio in the stock market. […]
The State Treasurer’s Office has launched a bridge loan program to help them push through these uncertain times. We have made 250 million dollars available to banks and credit unions across our state, and it historically low interest rate of almost zero. We agreed to deposit a quarter of a billion dollars from the state’s portfolio and increments of one or $5 million with financial institutions across the state. In turn, they have agreed to turn around and use the money to help small businesses and nonprofits, pay rent purchase supplies, and to make payroll. Our goal is simple. We understand businesses slowed. We do not want businesses to close forever. We want them to be able to make payroll and pay their own bills is easier to ramp up a business that is struggling than a business that has shuttered.
On a smaller scale, last week my team issued emergency rules for our unclaimed property division. We raised the ceiling for our Fast Track program from $500 to $2,000. As a result, we’ve been able to push out nearly $3 million in additional unclaimed property to more than 3000 people across our state in just the last week.
Finally, we have rolled over $200 million in investment notes or loans [to help] the state comptroller pay medical bills. My office can invest up to $2 billion in the state of Illinois bill backlog at a reduced market based rate, as opposed to nine or 12% late payment interest rate penalty. During this time of need, this authority not only saves money, it gets more cash out the door to our healthcare providers. We are continuing our discussions with the Comptroller and the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget about ways to support the state’s cash flow using legal tools we already have.
* President of the Hotel Lodging Association Michael Jacobson…
The damage is worse than the impacts of 911 and the 2008 recession combined. Unfortunately, with that level of decline, there’s a human impact when it comes to the 10s of thousands of layoffs that we’ve seen in our industry in just the past several days. We expect that number to hit more than 120,000 total layoffs in the coming weeks. Small businesses that operate our hotels are hurting and deciding every day whether or not to close their hotels altogether. Our employees are hurting and hoping that they can just keep their job.
That is why we commend the governor for announcing this new fund dedicated to providing grants to small hotel owners in an effort to retain as many staff as possible. These relief funds will provide critical resources to hoteliers to avoid as many layoffs as possible at their property.
* OK, on to questions for the governor. Will program spending have to be put off because of the tax filing delay…
The answer is nothing that is a vital service or critical service for people across the state will be put off. In fact they’ve been significantly enhanced I would say across the board. Making sure that we’re providing more resources for those who are homeless, making sure that we’re providing food for people who are you know kids in particular but families where the kids aren’t able to go to school now and so they need meals during the day and frankly, some of them are getting breakfast and lunch at schools who are providing meals across the state and funding for that. So there’s a lot that’s going on and I would say nobody should be suffering from a lack of service.
Director Ezike said the state checks PPE to make sure it’s still usable after a question about how other states are reporting the federal government is delivering expired PPE equipment.
* People are still having trouble accessing IDES’ online unemployment system. The governor said earlier this week that the problem was fixed and it’s obviously not. The governor said the reporter was 100 percent right…
As I’ve said this is an unprecedented number of people who are applying same time, and our DoIT, our department of innovation, technology, our state CIO, have been on this every day they’re trying very hard to expand availability they are expanding the availability. But it is true that we remain overloaded. People are going to have to be patient at least for now. Over the course of this week those changes are coming online. I can’t guarantee that it’s going to be easy for everybody who gets there, especially if people show up all at the same time during work hours for example. But you can go online, any time of day or night. And so I would suggest to people that perhaps finding off hours to go online to make that filing will be much easier for you and easier on the system. So, you know, hang with us here we’re going to make changes that are making it better. But it is true, it’s not working the way that I want it to either.
* Do we know how much Illinois and local governments in the state will get from the congressional stimulus bill…
We don’t yet know. I mean let me add to everybody that that bill hasn’t actually passed. There was a negotiation, there’s an agreement. We believe that it will pass the Senate and the House and get signed by the president but we don’t exactly know. The bill is being read and evaluated by really everybody around the country, but particularly by our federal director and our federal representatives to determine what we might get in the state. A lot of this is population based I should say. And so, you know, Illinois being the sixth populous state in the United States and allows us to get a larger percentage than many other states.
* How are all of you holding up in this? Yesterday it sounded like the situation was wearing on some of you…
Not sure which of us they’re talking about, um, we’re all holding up just fine thank you for whoever gave that question. Who cares about everybody who’s standing here and also my staff who are working long hours. We all are, but my staff especially. I’m so grateful to them because really they’re getting here early in the morning, they’re here late late at night, they’re solving problems for people all across the state and giving of themselves in ways that I don’t think anybody imagined that they would need to when they went into public service. So I’m grateful to them and everybody seems to be doing just fine. We’re also making sure that they’re healthy, giving them, you know room to stay at home. For many of them, but we’ve got some core staff we’re here just all the time. Those who are at home I might end are working non stop, nevertheless, so I’m grateful to them as well.
* Director Ezike…
It is, it is hard. I’m a doctor, I’m a mother and I just buried my father last month. And so when I think about people who can’t do what I did for my father last month I feel it very real as to what people are going through in the sacrifices that they’re making I think for, for all of us.
* Pritzker…
I’ll just add that for all of us I think I have a friend who I spoke with today who’s whose wife and children, all have fevers.
All are experiencing some symptoms they’re staying at home. They’re on their way I hope to recovery. But, as you can imagine my friend’s concern for his family was great. So, you know, all of us, I think, are aware of how serious this situation is and are touched by somebody, somebody at work, somebody at home, somebody in your life, no doubt, you know, that has contracted this or is affected by it. So I appreciate the concern by whoever asked that question.
* There’s been a fair amount of back and forth with the White House over PPE. Are you concerned that President Trump will play politics and not send shipments to Illinois…
I would hope not. I really would hope not, I, you know, I’m talking I’m working with the professionals at the Army Corps of Engineers. I spoke with the Secretary of the Army yesterday, the Secretary of Defense. So many people are working hard to help us address the challenges that we have as a result of COVID 19. And so, you know, my expectation is that people in the federal government level one to do the right thing.
So, we’re continuing to protect the people of the state of Illinois and I’m going to do whatever it takes, frankly, to get that job done. And sometimes, when I have to be critical in order to get something done I’m going to be doing that. You’ll hear me do that, but I am not somebody who normally, you know, likes to, take on a confrontation if I don’t need to. But I will, and especially on something this serious.
* Is it possible to get PPE from China now?…
There is a big challenge. I mean you know it’s the relationship between President Trump and the Chinese government has not been good.
And so there’s actually been over the course of this process, over the last few weeks there are challenges getting things out of China.
And as you know, that’s where a lot of PPE is manufactured, so yeah we’re overcoming those challenges wherever we need to and acquiring PPE really from anywhere that we can. T\here are manufacturers here in the United States and as you heard me the other day, there are manufacturers here in the state of Illinois that we’re acquiring from so you know it’s it’s coming in, it’s not as fast as I would like. I’d rather the federal government had taken this over and doing it to themselves for everybody, but you know we’re getting the job done.
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* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 330 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including three deaths; a Kane County man in his 90s, a Cook County man in his 60s, and a Will County woman in her 50s.
Douglas, Marshall, and Morgan counties are now reporting cases. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,865 cases in 35 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to 99 years.
Two correctional officers and one man incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center have tested positive as well as a contractual worker at Sheridan Correctional Center. The two Stateville correctional officers are recovering at home and the individual who is incarcerated is isolated and recovering in the hospital. Those who have been identified as being potentially exposed are being quarantined and the facility is on a 14-day lockdown.
After consulting with IDPH, the Department of Corrections determined staff and men incarcerated at the Sheridan facility were at low to medium risk for potential exposure. The facility also was placed on a 14-day lockdown.
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COVID-19 roundup
Wednesday, Mar 25, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We probably test too much anyway…
All standardized tests for Illinois students are likely to be canceled this spring as state education officials work toward securing a waiver from the federal government and seek an exemption from state law requirements.
The Illinois State Board of Education earlier this week submitted a statewide waiver application to the U.S. Department of Education to waive all federally required assessments, summative designations and reporting on accountability metrics on the Illinois Report Card for the 2019-20 school year.
* Tribune…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot threatened to shut down the city’s parks and lakefront if the city’s residents don’t obey Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order.
“If we have to because you are not educating yourself into compliance, and if you are not abiding by these very clear but necessary stay-at-home orders, we will be forced to shut down our parks and entire lakefront if people continue to flout these social distancing” rules, a visibly frustrated Lightfoot said. […]
Police will begin ticketing people who do not obey the state’s stay at home order, Chicago interim police Superintendent Charlie Beck said. […]
“Beginning today, one warning,” Beck said. “After that, you will be cited.”
* Press release…
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is pleased with the recent decision by the federal government to extend the federal REAL ID deadline beyond Oct. 1, 2020.
White sent a letter on March 18 calling on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to push back the Oct. 1, 2020, federal REAL ID deadline. White joined the National Governors Association, other states, government leaders and the travel industry, urging DHS to extend the enforcement date on REAL ID due to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the general public and driver’s license and ID card-issuing agencies nationwide.
DHS has not yet established the new federal deadline. Current Illinois driver’s licenses or ID cards (DL/ID) will continue to be accepted at airports, military bases and secure federal facilities until a new deadline is set by the federal government.
“The decision to extend the enforcement date of REAL ID is the proper and necessary action during this time of uncertainty and crisis,” said White. “The guiding principle of my decision making will, and must, continue to focus on the health and safety of all Illinoisans. This move by the federal government embraces this philosophy and I commend them for it.”
White stressed he will continue to monitor the situation involving DHS and REAL ID and is eager to learn of the new enforcement date set by DHS. U.S. President Donald Trump publicly announced on March 23 that the REAL ID deadline will be extended beyond Oct. 1, 2020.
A new deadline might be nice. Or just kill the whole silly program.
* Danny Ecker at Crain’s…
Two major events that were expected to draw about 100,000 visitors to McCormick Place in May will no longer be held at the convention center, adding to the harsh immediate economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology said in a statement today it will hold its upcoming annual meeting virtually instead of at the Near South Side venue, where it was scheduled for May 29 through June 2. Separately, the upcoming National Restaurant Association Show slated for May 16-19 at McCormick Place has also been canceled.
The events are two of the biggest of the year at McCormick Place, which has already lost more than 20 trade shows, meetings and conventions to the concerns surrounding the outbreak. Those would have accounted for more than 250,000 hotel room nights.
* David Roeder…
City and state officials are considering whether to shelter homeless people in McCormick Place to help control the coronavirus pandemic, a spokeswoman for the convention complex said Tuesday.
“We’ve been having lots of conversations with the governor’s office and the city in terms of how our campus might be used during this crisis. Nothing has been confirmed,” said Cynthia McCafferty, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which runs McCormick Place.
The city’s home for major conventions has been idled by the coronavirus and Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order that most people in Illinois stay at home. With 2.6 million square feet in four buildings, plus a 10,000-seat arena for college basketball, McCormick Place could be suited to host people not infected by the coronavirus but in danger of contracting and spreading it.
Its space also could be used for people sickened in the pandemic and needing care, but that would require expensive preparations and equipment that may be scarce. New York is using its Javits Center convention facility in Manhattan as a field hospital.
* From the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice and numerous other groups…
A key role of the Illinois Supreme Court is to issue orders and promulgate rules that make the local courts fairer, more effective, and efficient. At this time of public health emergency, it is incumbent upon the Illinois Supreme Court to protect litigants, defendants, court personnel, and members of the community who come in contact with our justice system in any way.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents an unprecedented threat to public safety. In accordance with the many state and local shelter-in-place orders and the CDC’s recommendations, the criminal courts, in particular, have a critical responsibility to permit people under their jurisdiction to stay home and to properly care for their families and communities. The novel coronavirus is an unparalleled threat to people taken into custody. Jailed people are simply unable to perform the “social distancing” measures that federal, state, and local officials have stressed are essential to slow the rate of infection. Police officers, corrections officers, and individuals newly admitted to custody threaten widespread contagion. Individuals exposed to COVID-19 who are taken to Illinois jails and prisons put the thousands of people already detained and working there at great risk.
We urge the Illinois Supreme Court to work with the Chief Judges, sheriffs, prosecutors, and public defenders from across the state to develop uniform COVID-19 protocols that are in line with the mandates of federal, state, and local public officials. As Illinois lawyers, advocates, and community members, we trust our Supreme Court to take the necessary actions to protect the health and wellbeing of the people. The remainder of this letter outlines the supervisory orders we feel are appropriate to ensure swift and equitable health protections for people in the state’s jails and prisons. We urge the Illinois Supreme Court to ensure that these protocols are implemented equitably for all people in custody in Illinois.
* Good idea…
Jewel-Osco stores have started installing plexiglass sneeze guards as a preventive measure against the coronavirus.
The guards will be installed at all cashier registers, service desks, pharmacy counters and Starbucks terminals.
In addition, the Itasca-based grocery chain is placing floor tape near produce departments, checkout lanes, pharmacy and customer service desks to remind shoppers to practice social distancing.
* I’m the world’s worst golfer, but lots of people love it, so here…
Mahomet’s Lake of the Woods is open for golf — with a few twists.
There are no carts to ride, no tee times to book, no flags to pull from greens and no rakes to smooth out the bunkers.
And the clubhouse is closed, so golfers need to call ahead (217-586-2183) to check in and pay online or over the phone. […]
After initially being told they couldn’t operate during the COVID-19 pandemic, state golf courses were given the all-clear, so long as they adhered to social distancing requirements and put in place the aforementioned restrictions.
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Please, don’t be a Covidiot
Wednesday, Mar 25, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Times like these bring out the best in some people and the worst in others…
30-year-old [Ro Nguyen] had just watched a movie at a Streeterville cinema with a friend on March 12 and was strolling down East Grand Avenue around 8 p.m., the two of them marveling at the deserted streets.
As they headed toward the Red Line station, Nguyen said a man walking nearby saw them and yelled out, “F— China!”
Then the man spat on Nguyen, he said. The saliva splattered on his jacket. […]
Asian American organizations last week launched the #WashTheHate campaign on social media, highlighting stories of coronavirus-related racism. The Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and Chinese for Affirmative Action groups also started collecting reports of incidents of hostility against Asians.
Go read the whole thing.
* The Sun-Times ran that goofy Politifact piece we discussed yesterday, but gave it a proper headline…
Fact-check: Postponing primary not in Pritzker’s power
* More from the Sun-Times…
A 52-year-old Niles man allegedly charged at police officers during a DUI arrest and coughed on them while yelling, “Now you have the corona!” police said.
Grzegorz T. Kuprowski faces a felony count each of driving under the influence and battery of an officer, according to a statement from Niles police Sgt. Tony Scipione. […]
During a DUI test, Kuprowski became upset with the officers and started coughing on them, saying “get away” and that he had “corona bacteria,” Scipione said.
Dude is such a Covidiot that he doesn’t know the difference between a virus and bacteria.
* Ugh…
City Hall reports that the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection has fielded 190 price gouging complaints this month, up from only two complaints during the same period last year.
Not surprisingly, most are for household or health items such as toilet paper, tissues and hand sanitizer. Some are related to food and drink, presumably bottled water. BACP evaluates each complaint based on relevant factors, such as prices prior to the Illinois Disaster Declaration and prices at nearby stores, and will impose fines of up to $10,000 per offense.
Earlier this week, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said price gouging complaints had also ballooned statewide in March.
* Press release…
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is calling on the country’s top online marketplaces to crack down on price gouging amidst the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Raoul joined a bipartisan group of 33 attorneys general, led by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro along with co-leading Attorneys General Hector Balderas (NM), William Tong (CT), and T.J. Donovan (VT), in sending a letter today urging the companies — Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, Facebook and Walmart — to quickly implement preventative measures on their platforms to ensure that consumers don’t get taken advantage of during this public health crisis.
“We believe you have an ethical obligation and patriotic duty to help your fellow citizens in this time of need by doing everything in your power to stop price gouging in real-time,” the letter reads, in part.
The letter follows an analysis by U.S. PIRG Education Fund which revealed that existing monitoring on Amazon’s platform was not preventing significant price hikes. In particular, the price of most of the hand sanitizers and masks rose at least 50 percent higher than the 90-day average. Since then, more than 267,000 Americans have signed PIRG’s petition calling on Amazon to protect consumers from price gouging.
The analysis is here.
* Anyone can sue anybody for anything, but if this nurse’s claims are true it’s totally unacceptable behavior by Northwestern…
A former nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital filed a lawsuit alleging she was fired after warning coworkers that masks the hospital provided did not adequately protect staff against COVID-19.
Lauri Mazurkiewicz filed the suit Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, naming the hospital and several employees as defendants, the lawsuit states.
According to the suit, the hospital began accepting and treating patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in March, allegedly exposing Mazurkiewicz and others to the virus.
Instead of distributing N95 masks, which are effective at preventing the wearer from contracting the virus, the hospital allegedly provided staff with “less-effective” masks, the lawsuit claims. The hospital allegedly also prevented its employees from wearing N95 masks.
* Tribune…
Chicagoans were ordered to stay at home starting last weekend and, according to a company grading social distancing, the city’s getting an A.
Both Cook County and the state of Illinois have high marks as of Tuesday on the “Social Distancing Scoreboard,” an interactive project based on GPS location data collected by the company Unacast that roughly measures whether or not people are heeding the advice of officials to “flatten the curve” of the spread of the coronavirus.
The scores were determined by the change in average distance traveled compared with before the coronavirus outbreak. If residents are staying put aside from the occasional trip to the grocery store or pharmacy, the dip in travel would be apparent in the data.
A more than 40% decrease leads to an A, with grades dropping from there. Anything less than a 10% decrease — or an increase — ends in an F.
Counties scoring an “F” included Effingham, Cumberland, Bond, Union, Johnson, Pulaski, Jefferson and Clark. Grundy scored a “D.” Here’s the map…
…Adding… And if you need further convincing…
More here.
…Adding… Hey, I have an idea. Let’s endanger most of our loyal customers…
* Related…
* CDC doctor: Rural areas shouldn’t let guard down as big cities bear brunt of COVID-19
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Mar 25, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I stocked up on a lot of things, got a bunch of important stuff taken care of, but I didn’t get a haircut and neither did Oscar. Oops…
With barbershops and salons closed throughout the state, some Illinoisans are wondering what they can do with their hair until the governor’s stay-at-home order expires on April 7. Salons and tattoo shops are among the nonessential businesses that have been closed in Illinois to slow the spread COVID-19. Both expect pent up demand when they’re allowed to open back up.
* Dentists will also be booked solid when this thing finally ends…
To Our Ruggless Dental Patient Family, We wanted to provide you with a quick update on the status of our practice. Governor Pritzker has extended the “stay at home” order until April 7th. Following that announcement, the Illinois State Dental Society (ISDS) also released a recommendation for dental offices to avoid all elective dental care until April 7th. Here at Ruggless dental, we prioritize the safety of our patients, staff, and the community, and are going to continue to follow the recommendations set forth by the ISDS. If you have an appointment scheduled with us between now and April 8th, we will be contacting you to reschedule. As a reminder, we still remain available for any dental emergencies. If you are experiencing dental pain or a dental emergency please do not hesitate to call our office! We have staff available to answer phones and offer assistance.
* The Question: Now that we’re a few days into this, what would you have done differently?
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As if we don’t have enough to worry about
Wednesday, Mar 25, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ted Cox at One Illinois…
As the nation struggles to get a handle on the new coronavirus pandemic, it threatens to complicate another familiar, almost annual public scourge: spring flooding.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its spring flood projections last week, declaring 23 states at risk of moderate to severe flooding, including Illinois. The NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center forecast “above-average temperatures across the country this spring, as well as above-average precipitation in the central and eastern United States.”
The federal agency went into detail, explaining that “ongoing rainfall, highly saturated soil and an enhanced likelihood for above-normal precipitation this spring contribute to the increased chances for flooding across the central and southeastern United States. A risk of minor flooding exists across one-third of the country. […]
But at major risk of flooding is the northwest corner of the state, which saw extensive flooding last spring, as in Savanna, where they fought for weeks to keep the Mississippi from filling the town.
The idea of all-hands-on-deck sandbagging is all but unthinkable in the midst of the current COVID-19 outbreak, with its demands for social distancing to stem the spread of the disease, but towns and cities along the Mississippi might have to find ways to adapt.
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* This summary of the US Senate’s stimulus proposal was prepared by Illinois’ DC office…
• Extended UI program increases the maximum unemployment benefit by $600 per week and ensures that laid-off workers, on average, will receive their full pay for four months instead of 3 months.
• $100 billion in a Marshall Plan for the Health Care System.
• $150 billion for state and local Coronavirus Relief fund.
• $10 billion for SBA emergency grants of up to $10,000 to provide immediate relief for small business operating costs.
• $17 billion for SBA to cover 6 months of payments for small businesses with existing SBA loans.
• $30 billion in emergency education funding and $25 billion in emergency transit funding.
• $30 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as private nonprofits providing critical and essential services.
• More than $10 billion for the Indian Health Services, and other tribal programs.
• Prohibits businesses controlled by the President, Vice President, Members of Congress, and heads of Executive Departments from receiving loans or investments from Treasury programs.
• Makes rent, mortgage and utility costs eligible for SBA loan forgiveness.
• Bans stock buybacks for the term of the government assistance plus 1 year on any company receiving a government loan from the bill.
• Establishes robust worker protections attached to all federal loans for businesses.
• Creates real-time public reporting of Treasury transactions under the Act, including terms of loans, investments or other assistance to corporations.
• Creates a Treasury Department Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery to provide oversight of Treasury loans and a Pandemic Response Accountability Committee to protect taxpayer dollars.
• Adds a retention tax credit for employers to encourage businesses to keep workers on payroll during the crisis.
• Provides income tax exclusion for individuals who are receiving student loan repayment assistance from their employer.
• No bailout for big oil.
• Eliminated “secret bailout” provision that would have allowed bailouts to corporations to be concealed for 6 months.
• Prohibits airlines from stock buybacks and CEO bonuses.
The Financial Times reported that the state and local money is a loan, but I’m told it’s actually a grant. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s letter to his members outlining the package is here. NPR also has a roundup here. The House has yet to sign off on the package.
* Illinois obviously needs the dough. From Hannah Meisel…
The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability on Tuesday released a three-year budget forecast for the state, which the office acknowledged was now largely moot due to the still-unraveling impacts of the Coronavirus on the state economy.
COGFA estimated that the impact of the virus, also known as Covid-19, on Illinois would be even more damaging than the Great Recession, and predicted Illinois would likely also drop into a recession — just as the outlook for the state’s economy was becoming stronger. Standard & Poor’s earlier this month already declared a global recession. […]
But on Tuesday, COGFA predicted Illinois would experience a “peak-trough decline” in revenues of 20 percent — a reduction of more than $8 billion, though COGFA estimated that drop-off would likely be experienced “over multiple fiscal years.” […]
“If governments’ revenue performance also deteriorates – a rising risk stemming from the economic fallout of the coronavirus – pension affordability ratios will worsen significantly for some because of the combination of cost hikes and revenue stagnation or decline,” according to Moody’s.
Moody’s also said that governments’ capacity to “smooth” pension costs — a tool often used during and after the Great Recession — is much more limited now than a decade ago, as “significantly deferring costs to make up for 2020 investment losses would carry potentially severe long-term pension funding consequences for some governments.”
* From that COGFA report…
The accumulation of a bill backlog is a threat to the State of Illinois due to the high cost of either having to borrow from the financial community at higher rates or through incurring late-payment interest penalties. The backlog of bills had grown to a high of approximately $16.7 billion during the fall of 2017. As of March 12, 2020, the Comptroller reported a General Funds backlog of $7.6 billion, which is down from $8.8 billion from a similar time last year
The backlog is now at $8.07 billion.
* Meanwhile, from the New York Times…
The crisis has brought state policymaking to a standstill regardless of partisan control. Any legislative proposal with a price tag appears endangered.
In Idaho, Republicans shelved plans for broad property tax relief, saying they lacked time with the virus looming. In Missouri, also held by Republicans, the clock could run out on efforts to pass a bill to create a statewide database for doctors and pharmacists to track opioid purchases, leaving at least one Missouri Republican wondering aloud about additional opioid overdose deaths that may not be prevented now.
In Connecticut, controlled by Democrats, a long, fierce battle to create a public health option for those who cannot afford private insurance appears likely to fail, after lawmakers adjourned until at least March 30.
In Minnesota, the only state in the nation where the legislature is split between the political parties, Democrats had an eye on paid family and medical leave; Republicans hoped to exempt social security income from state income tax. Now everyone is recalculating. […]
And in state after state, lawmakers say they suddenly have little money to address anything but the unfolding medical and economic crises. In some places, the annual budget-writing process, which depends on projected tax collections, has been sent into chaos.
* And here’s a letter signed by every member of the Senate Republican caucus…
Governor Pritzker,
We want to commend you and your staff for your hard work during these difficult and unprecedented times. Like you, we agree that containing the COVID-19 virus and helping those in need is a top priority.
As Illinois residents continue to follow the best health practices recommended to help contain this virus, we believe it is important to give relief to those dealing with the economic repercussions facing our state. The Federal government recently moved to delay the Federal tax filing deadline, which we believe should be emulated in Illinois. This delay will help residents maintain the recommended social-distancing practices while also providing some liquidity to those who need it most.
Therefore, we are asking you to extend the state’s income tax filing deadline and couple it with the new Federal deadline of July 15. This simple act would make a big difference in the lives of residents throughout Illinois.
I totally forgot to tell subscribers this morning that the governor’s budget office informed some legislators yesterday that they think they can extend the income tax filing deadline if they have to, but they were hoping for a block grant from the federal government to ease the pain. So, stay tuned.
* Related…
* Illinois’ D.C. delegation unifies around call for federal government to pick up National Guard costs: In a letter spearheaded by Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos of Moline, the delegation asked Defense Secretary Mark Esper to issue more authorizations of National Guard under what’s known as Title 32, which provides for upfront federal funding for the Guard’s work. Guard units activated in New York, California and Washington have received the Title 32 funding designation.
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* From an email to House Democrats…
Good morning, members –
Please be advised that the session days scheduled for next week will be cancelled. Regarding the committee deadline for House bills, which was previously extended to April 3, that deadline will be extended to April 24. The 3rd reading deadline for House bills will be extended to May 8, which will now be a scheduled session day. Note that these and other deadlines will be reviewed and extended as needed moving forward.
As I indicated in previous communications, the session schedule is “in flux,” and members should be prepared to return to Springfield to address urgent matters, including during the weeks of April 5 and April 12 (the legislative spring break).
Furthermore, we are planning to have another conference call for House Democratic caucus members on Monday, March 30 at 9:30 a.m. Discussions on budget-making and the hospital assessment program are ongoing this week – members should anticipate receiving a status update on these matters during the Monday call.
Finally, the Office has been working on a Google Drive folder that contains all the various pieces of information that’s been shared by the Governor’s Office and others. The intent is to make it easier for you to navigate all the quickly changing information on various topics. We will continue to update that folder with new information on a daily basis – you will find that each file is dated, so you can quickly see how recent the information is. You can view that folder and its contents through this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16CgavsCW6YqWLMB2G_-RXOm0GCrgXSmQ?usp=sharing
I would encourage you to share this link with your district office staff.
Take care and be well,
Jessica
Jessica Basham, Chief of Staff
Office of the Speaker
Illinois House of Representatives
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon has canceled the Illinois Senate’s scheduled session days for next week. The 59-member Senate was scheduled to be at the Capitol on March 31 and April 1 and 2.
Harmon informed Senate Democrats on a caucus conference call Wednesday, part of an ongoing effort to keep members and staff informed during the COVID-19 public health emergency. He said senators and staff continue to examine legislative and procedural priorities so that when the legislative session resumes, the Senate is prepared to act efficiently and effectively.
“We are going to have to figure out what is critical and what is time-sensitive,” Harmon said.
After next week, the Senate was not scheduled to be back at the Capitol until April 21. The Senate President asked members to keep their calendars clear for possible return dates.
Faced with a growing pandemic, Senate President Harmon first called off session days earlier this month to comply with public health recommendations to protect senators, staff and the general public that comes to the Capitol.
“For now, we are taking it day by day and urging everyone heed the advice of health care professionals by practicing social distancing, regularly washing hands and avoiding all unneeded travel,” Harmon said.
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Feds remind states about unemployment gag order
Wednesday, Mar 25, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz…
Under what amounts to a gag order from Washington, state officials have abruptly stopped releasing daily figures on how many Illinois workers are filing for unemployment insurance amid the COVID-19 epidemic.
Instead, as per orders, they’ll give the totals as part of a single national release only weekly on Thursdays, a step some data-security hawks may like but that also arguably makes it easier for President Donald Trump to continue to assert that he has the epidemic under control.
Through last Thursday, March 19, the Illinois Department of Employment Security was releasing the figures day to day upon media request, with the numbers soaring to a total of 64,000 over a three-day period ending then, nearly 10 times the level from the same period a year earlier. […]
Continues [federal] Statistical Policy Directive No. 4, “Employees having sworn to observe the limitations imposed on the dissemination of information face a class E felony charge and imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or a fine of not more than $250,000.00, or both, if the information is willfully disseminated in violation of the limitations.”
That federal directive was issued in 2008. More here.
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* From the governor’s press conference…
In February, we were among the first states to bring our own state laboratories online, providing us with critical early capacity. At the time we were able to run around 50 tests per day. Today we could do nearly 2000 tests per day from all sources with our state labs now running 600 tests per day in all three locations, Chicago, Springfield, and Carbondale. A lot of work has gone into building up our testing capacity and there’s still a lot more work to be done. On Sunday and Monday we began drive through testing at for state and federal facilities. The Illinois National Guard opened our first entirely state-run drive-through testing facility in northwest Chicago. The Harwood heights community based testing site. This site is designed especially to collect specimens from our healthcare workers and first responders and at current capacity. They can collect 250 specimens per day. Senior members of the US Department of Health and Human Services were out to survey that site this last weekend and they called our setup a national model that they hope to replicate in other states. […]
Over the last few days federal HHS has also set up sites in Bolingbroke North Lake and Joliet with private partners Walgreens and Walmart. These sites can run close to 100 tests per day as is and up to 250 each with expanded staffing here in Illinois. Our residents also have access to four commercial labs and 15 hospital labs that in total average about 1500 tests per day on top of our state lab output. That’s of course on top of the 600 per day that we run at our state labs. IDPH is working with some hospitals to stand up their own new labs, providing positive specimens to hospitals for validation, so they can come online faster. As we speak labs at places like North Shore hospital and Southern Illinois University are expanding their capacity with additional equipment and supplies, with an expected additional capacity of 2805 daily tests in two weeks. That will bring our in state testing to more than 4300 per day.
Now, even with this rapid expansion, we still need 10s of thousands more tests to get an accurate picture of our state, that’s within our reach. Though standing up additional hospital lab sites will be required and mobile testing sites will be required across the state. And we’re doing that with a continued consistent delivery of necessary supplies such as reagent and viral transport media we can get this job done.
Of course, nationally and here in Illinois, we are beyond the moment where testing alone can be our primary weapon against this virus. We can’t just test, we have to treat. It’s true that the vast majority of people will recover from COVID 19 on their own without hospitalization, and without a specific therapy.
One aspect of that is our healthcare workforce, those on the frontlines fighting COVID 19 every day. And I’m very proud to say that since my call to action this weekend for those qualified to join the fight. We have had hundreds of nurses and doctors and other health care workers reach out to us and let us know that they are interested in helping the application went live yesterday and in just 24 hours, we’ve already received 180 applications from individuals ready and willing to rejoin the healthcare workforce.
…Adding… From a press release…
Hospitals across the state are meeting the current need, and the state is building additional capacity to treat patients that may need care in the future.
As of March 23, data reported to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) showed 12,588 non-ICU beds, 1,106 ICU beds and 1,595 ventilators available in hospitals across the state. The current capacity of the state’s health care system as of is shown in the table below.
* Impact of stay at home order…
I want to take a moment now to provide you with a fuller picture of what we could be dealing with in the near future. As I’ve said, You deserve honesty and transparency on the gravity of our situation, and the reasoning behind the aggressive measures, like the stay at home order that I’ve put in place in our worst case scenario projections. That is without the stay at home order, in one week we would need over 2500 more non ICU beds and 800 ICU beds, than we have in existence in the entire state today. Further still in two weeks, we would need over 28,000, additional non ICU beds and over 9400 additional ICU beds. That’s untenable.
Again, I’m using Otter for transcription, so expect typos.
* Triage tents and closed hospitals…
IEMA has deployed 49 triage tents, 40 outside of Cook County to set up triage units outside of hospitals to safely and efficiently evaluate potential COVID 19 patients. In total, 66 of our over 200 hospitals statewide have set up triage tents with IEMA, or on their own. IEMA is currently working with 26 additional hospitals to set up triage centers, and my team and I will make sure that each and every one of those hospitals, has what they need to get a triage center going. […]
IDPH, IEMA, the Illinois National Guard and the US Army Corps of Engineers are in the process of investigating closed hospitals that could temporarily reopen to support our COVID 19 response. In a worst case scenario surge the state would turn existing hospitals into almost entirely COVID 19 response hospitals, moving non COVID patients to other hospitals including these re-outfitted locations.
* Ventilators…
The number one difference between a standard bed, and a COVID equipped bed is a ventilator. Right now in Illinois we have about 2200 ventilators all across the state of which 1600 are currently available. I n the worst case scenario projections that I discussed earlier, we would need over 4100 more ventilators to outfit our ICU beds within two weeks. Again, that’s a projection based on no protective interventions. My team and I are pursuing every option to increase our state’s supply of ventilators including working with scientists and experts in Illinois and beyond to pursue innovative new equipment options.
* White House…
Yesterday I spoke with President Trump to walk him through Illinois’ immediate needs, millions of N 95 masks, and hundreds of ventilators just in the near term. President Trump promised assistance and yesterday afternoon. The White House notified us that we will be receiving 300 more ventilators and 300,095 masks from FEMA in the coming days. On that call I also urged the president to invoke the defense production act. I know I sound like a broken record, but if I have to stand here every single day until I’m blue in the face and advocate that the federal government fully utilize this act, then I will.
This is the reality, there is a finite supply of critical resources available around the world right now. There is an enormous supply of governors and countries trying to get those resources. We need the full might of the federal government to obtain and allocate things like ventilators and PPE. I know there are businesses out there right now working on turning production toward these critical needs and I’ve been vocal about how grateful I am to the manufacturing community for the most part, which is stepping up to try and help, but there is no way that these companies can ramp up fast enough to get us everything that we need in the time that we need it
* Reopen the country?…
Finally, there has been some talk over the last 24 hours by some about who this nation might be willing to sacrifice to COBID 19, for the sake of our economic interests. Well, in case there’s any doubt in your minds, I’m not willing to sacrifice anyone.
There is no life in this state that is more or less precious than any other no person more or less worthy of saving. I want grandparents around to help raise their grandchildren. I want people to spend years after this is over, celebrating birthdays and wedding anniversaries and healthy retirements. I want Illinois to continue to be enriched by its young and old residents alike. Our economic strength comes from our diversity in this state, and the hard won experiences of our citizens without that we are nothing with it. There is nothing that we cannot overcome.
* It’s now the IDPH director’s turn…
In terms of the data that we’ve collected, 54% of our confirmed cases are white, 33% are black, 5% are categorized as Asian, we have 11% of Latino or Hispanic ethnicity.
In terms of severity of illness, our data shows that 16% of COVID cases have resulted in hospitalization, 4% have resulted in ICU admission. Of the lives lost, we see that 92% of those lives lost are in those older than 60.
* The National Guard’s Adjutant General again tried to counter rumors…
The National Guard has been the subject of recent rumors that we were performing some type of policing action to enforce a quarantine. Well let me repeat again today that the Illinois National Guard is not bringing weapons, and not enforcing quarantines. What we are doing is bringing approximately 115 personnel of the medical profession, as the governor spoke of earlier, to support things like drive through testing.
He continued by outlining the rest of the things the Guard is doing. It’s a lot.
* Now on to questions for the governor. First responders, healthcare workers are exhausted. Any potential to help relieve them?…
Healthcare workers are being overworked there’s no doubt about it. They’re doing heroic amazing work every day. And they do deserve a break as best we can give them. They’re so dedicated, they’re dedicated in non-crisis times I must say, and now they’re working, you know even harder. So as you know we expanded the eligibility to work in the healthcare field to people who had recently retired, we can give them back their licenses. Nearly immediately and those who may have left the profession for some other profession, we need them back we’re encouraging them to come back and we’ve seen hundreds already talking to us about coming back filling out forms and so on.
And so in that way we’re trying to fill up the need for more health care workers so we can alleviate some of the work on the front lines. We’re also, at the edges at the borders of the state, we’re allowing people who may work as healthcare workers in other states but may live in Illinois, or they may live on the other side of the border, and may be willing to work in Illinois, we want to make sure they get licensed in Illinois and so reciprocity, for those folks. We want to be able to move healthcare workers to where they’re most needed so we’re doing our best to try to alleviate the congestion let’s say that that is weighing upon the healthcare industry the healthcare workforce today and we’ll keep looking for ways to do that.
* Asked about President Trump’s stated desire to get the economy going again by April…
My concern with the President’s remarks is I don’t think he’s listening to the science. I think that he is, you know, operating, he’s looking at the stock market, which I know he’s essentially judges himself by, and making decisions in that way. Look, I understand that. What’s happening now is very, very difficult for families all across this nation.
Everybody is suffering financially from this and some more than others, and so this is something that weighs on all of us. And I think about how we can support people across the state of Illinois. We’ve done many things like expanding unemployment benefits and providing meals for kids and making sure that we’re looking at shelter for those who are homeless. There’s a, there’s an awful lot and of course we stopped evictions in the state and we stopped, we put a moratorium on on shut offs of utilities and so on, we’re doing many other things like that to protect people from the economic downturn that seems to be upon us.
But I think the President is not taking into account the true damage that this will do to our country. If we see truly millions of people die, and that’s what I think would happen that’s what the scientists and the doctors tell us what will happen. And you heard me say a little bit earlier, if you don’t have these restrictions on the damage that would be done that the lives that would be lost the overriding of our healthcare system would lead to real devastation so I’m very very concerned about what the President is saying.
* Will he be extending the stay at home order beyond April 7…
Again, I’m trying to follow the science here and I am concerned that we may have to extend that deadline.
You know we have to start to see some movement in the numbers in the right direction or at least a shaping of the curve that looks like we’re hitting you know a good spot in that curve.
* Budget adjustments?…
Well that is an excellent question I mean there’s no doubt that any estimates that were made even two months ago would be, you know, not useful. At this point I don’t think anybody expected where we would be today.
So we are working with our budget experts, with our Office of Management budget, with my deputy governor for budget and economy and our entire team to try to figure out what direction, what’s the steepness of the downturn in revenues and of course there are expenditures that we’re needing to make to save people’s lives to protect people across the state. We’re going to do what we need to do there’s no question about that. But yes, of course behind that we’ve got to look at our budget situation and do whatever we need to do to address it and then you know we’ve got to also consult with the General Assembly on what we will do for next year’s budget.
* Would he spend part of his own personal fortune to acquire PPE…
Well I’ve reached out to an awful lot of people in the business community that I know, to help them, to get them to help us acquire PPE from around the world. Many of them have offered their resources. I, of course, have been charitable as you know over the years and intend to be in this situation as well. And so we’ll be doing, I’m gonna be doing everything that I can. I’m certainly working more morning noon and night and I’ll put my resources to bear on it too.
-30-
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250 new cases, 4 new deaths
Tuesday, Mar 24, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 250 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including four deaths; a Chicago resident in his 50s, two Cook County residents both in their 60s, and a DuPage County resident in her 90s.
Grundy County is now reporting a case. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,535 cases in 32 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to 99 years. Cases by county can be found on the IDPH website, as well as a list of local health departments who will have the most up-to-date information.
* Graph…
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* Associated Press…
Even as private labs have been cleared by government regulators to process tens of thousands of additional tests in the last two weeks, experts warn that the nation is still falling well short of enough testing capacity to keep ahead of the highly contagious virus. And it can often take a week just to get results back.
Trump last week rated his administration’s response to the crisis as a perfect 10. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the CDC’s system wasn’t designed to test for and track a widespread outbreak, which he characterized as “a failing.”
In interviews with the AP, two federal health officials with direct knowledge of the situation said CDC experts don’t know why many of the agency’s test kits failed to reliably detect the virus. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about what went wrong.
J. Stephen Morrison, a health policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, called the testing issues a “debacle,” contributing to what he described as a confused and delayed federal response to the crisis.
It took six days to get test results back for US Sen. Rand Paul. And he may have passed the virus to who knows how many people during that time period.
* And it was even longer for this Illinoisan. From the Park Ridge-Niles School District…
District 64 has received notice from a parent at Roosevelt Elementary School that they tested positively for COVID-19 by health care providers on Saturday, March 21. This parent was reported to have demonstrated symptoms in early March, was tested on March 11, and just received the results this past Saturday. This parent has been hospitalized and is receiving care.
That’s ten days.
* Why testing plays such an important role…
At the peak, medical workers identified 909 new cases in a single day, Feb. 29, and the country of 50 million people appeared on the verge of being overwhelmed. But less than a week later, the number of new cases halved. Within four days, it halved again — and again the next day.
On Sunday, South Korea reported only 64 new cases, the fewest in nearly a month, even as infections in other countries continue to soar by the thousands daily, devastating health care systems and economies. Italy records several hundred deaths daily; South Korea has not had more than eight in a day. […]
South Korea is one of only two countries with large outbreaks, alongside China, to flatten the curve of new infections. And it has done so without China’s draconian restrictions on speech and movement, or economically damaging lockdowns like those in Europe and the United States.
As global deaths from the virus surge past 15,000, officials and experts worldwide are scrutinizing South Korea for lessons. And those lessons, while hardly easy, appear relatively straightforward and affordable: swift action, widespread testing and contact tracing, and critical support from citizens.
* As of today, Illinois has tested 9,868 people. And as of today, only two types of people can be tested by IDPH labs…
Residential congregate living with clusters (2 or more) of possible* or confirmed COVID-19 cases in a vulnerable population
Persons (may include residents or staff) who are part of a cluster of 2 or more possible or confirmed cases in a residential congregate setting that serves more vulnerable populations such as an assisted living facility, group home, homeless shelter, or correctional settings.
OR
Hospitalized patients with unexplained pneumonia
Be sure to expeditiously test patients from a residential congregate setting that serves vulnerable populations such as an assisted living facility, group home, homeless shelter, or correctional settings.
*Possible COVID-19 case: A possible case of COVID-19 is defined as a person with COVID-19-like illness for whom testing was not performed.
COVID-19-like Illness is described as new onset of subjective or measured (≥100.4°F or 38.0°C) fever OR cough OR shortness of breath OR sore throat that cannot be attributed to an underlying or previously recognized condition.
Patients who do not meet any of the above criteria for COVID-19 testing by IDPH laboratories should be managed as clinically indicated and providers may determine to proceed with testing at a commercial or hospital laboratory.
That is, if they can find any tests from those labs.
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Nitpickers gonna nitpick
Tuesday, Mar 24, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Politifact’s latest…
Following Ohio’s 11th-hour move [to postpone its presidential primary], Pritzker responded to criticism from Chicago’s city election board over why he did not act to postpone in-person voting in Illinois.
At an Election Day news conference, Pritzker said the city’s board had asked him a week before “to do something that is unquestionably not within my legal authority.”
“They wanted me unilaterally to cancel in-person voting on March 17, convert Illinois to an all-vote-by-mail state, and extend vote by mail to May 12,” Pritzker continued. “They could not even begin to explain the legal basis for their request.”
It’s impossible to say what would have happened had Pritzker’s administration forced a delay like Ohio’s, so calling it “unquestionable” is a bit of an exaggeration. But experts told us the governor’s on firm legal footing to claim he cannot — on his own — interfere with the democratic process. […]
Experts told us Pritzker’s administration may have been able to try something similar, potentially forcing the Illinois General Assembly to sort out a new date, as Ohio’s is now doing. But the experts warned that doing so could have set a troubling precedent for future elections.
“You can say that even though the motivations here (in Ohio’s case) were completely pure and even though the decision here was completely reasonable, this is a dynamic that is not particularly healthy to have a situation where a person who is elected himself is deciding not to hold elections,” said Nadav Shoked, a local government expert at Northwestern University’s law school. […]
When we asked his office why the governor’s administration had not tried to close polls like Ohio’s did, spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh responded in an email that “breaking the law and then hoping the Supreme Court agrees with you isn’t how this administration prefers governing.” […]
“The Election Code is silent on the issue of canceling or postponing an election,” spokesman Matt Dietrich told us in an email. “It would require the General Assembly amending the Election Code to give us (or some other official or entity) such authority.”
Dietrich said the same goes for mandating election authorities send mail-in ballots to voters.
Experts said it stands to reason that state lawmakers must take action in order to alter how elections are conducted.
“Who represents the people of the state? It’s the state legislature,” said Jaime Dominguez, an urban politics expert at Northwestern University. “Voters are indirectly involved through their representative in the legislature.” […]
Pritzker said it was “unquestionably” not within his “legal authority” to postpone Illinois’ primary election by changing the date or shifting the election to vote-by-mail.
While there are too many hypotheticals to be certain Pritzker’s administration could not have delayed the election in any way, experts told us the governor spoke correctly in describing the limits of his powers under state law.
We rate his claim Mostly True.
“Mostly True” is defined as “The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.”
He said it was not within his legal authority. That checked out with everyone Politifact consulted. But then Politifact moved the goalpost to a hypothetical unilateral constitutional revision by a governor and rated it “mostly true.”
Unreal.
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* Last week…
Many of the early votes cast in Champaign County for the primary election may have been counted the night before Election Day, in violation of state law.
The first summary report of election returns — posted shortly after the polls closed Tuesday by Democratic Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons — appears to have been created at 10:19 p.m. Monday, according to the timestamp on the report.
State law mandates that early ballots can’t be counted until after the polls close on Election Day, and they are to be counted in the presence of both political parties, according to Republican county Recorder Mark Shelden, who once served as clerk.
“I cannot emphasize enough how out of line this is,” Shelden said. “Literally, in the dark of night, they’re counting votes with no Republicans present and uploading them into the system.”
* Ammons refused comment, but posted this on Facebook…
On the evening of Monday, March 16th the tabulators used to record and secure ballots at 10 early voting sites around the county were closed. A Democratic and Republican judge executed this process, jointly handled the ballots, and both signed off on the corresponding written results. The results are housed on a military-grade encrypted thumb drive and on a printed report from the tabulator, those and the ballots themselves are securely transported back to the Election Services Building, again, with Democratic and Republican judges together. These materials are received and checked by Democratic and Republican staff people, together, then secured in a locked box.
This process was in place before I became Clerk and remains the most secure option for recording early voting ballots while opening the same locations for Election Day.
* Not so, says former county clerk Gordy Hulten…
“What he’s saying is ‘We generated results and the judges handled them,’ which is a no-no, and not the procedure he inherited,” Hulten said.
In addition to the fact that it’s the law, Hulten said, observing the statute on timing of generating results matters “because voters who haven’t yet voted could be discouraged by the early release of results,” he said. “It’s important because candidates who know results prior to the close of polls can potentially use that information to their advantage.” […]
“Mr. Ammons’ Facebook post indicates that his election judges printed and returned tabulator tapes with results to him on Monday evening, before the close of voting on Tuesday night,” Hulten said. “The screen capture of the results shown to me indicate that his office read the USB memory sticks and generated aggregated results reports, also on Monday evening, before the close of voting on Tuesday night.”
In his instructions to election judges about closing early voting for the November 2018 election, Hulten said there isn’t a mention of judges printing, signing or returning a results tape when closing, “because under our procedures, no results tape was generated.”
*** UPDATE *** Ammons was harshly rebuked this week by the Illinois State Board of Elections…
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COVID-19 roundup
Tuesday, Mar 24, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Peter Hancock at Capitol News Illinois…
The Illinois General Assembly on Monday began its second week of shutdown due to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, and officials said it is still uncertain when, or under what circumstances, the session will resume. […]
“For now, we continue to weigh legislative and procedural priorities so that when we return to session we can be effective and efficient while also protecting public health and safety,” Harmon’s spokesman, John Patterson, said in an email. […]
[Danny Chun, a spokesman for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association] said one of the options he has heard discussed would be to call the General Assembly back into session for a single day – possibly even half a day – just to pass a budget and a few other essential bills.
Patterson did not confirm or deny such a plan, saying in an email, “lots of options are being explored and discussed.”
* Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line…
While tens of thousands of Illinoisans have applied for unemployment benefits in recent weeks as the effects of the Coronavirus ripple through the state’s economy, a large chunk of workers will be left behind unless the federal government acts.
Workers who are considered independent contractors — like ride-hailing drivers and food couriers — are not eligible for unemployment benefits, since they firms that pay them do not paying into the state’s fund for unemployed workers through payroll taxes.
Eighteen percent of Illinois’ workforce are part of the so-called gig economy, according to ADP Research Institute, which published its newest report on the gig economy last month. Illinois is tied for third place among states with the largest segments of work carried out by gig workers, according to the report.
These workers – sometimes called “1099 workers” after the tax form they file – also include freelancers, hairstylists, estheticians, nannies and substitute teachers.
Illinois is tied with Texas for the third-highest percentage of gig workers in the country.
* Pantagraph…
Rivian has shut down all its facilities because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a post on the company’s Facebook page.
The action was taken “to keep our teams safe and slow the spread of COVID-19,” the post said.
All employees will be paid during the shutdown.
* Sun-Times…
Illinois education officials have applied for a federal waiver to cancel all standardized testing in the state and suspend school ratings and assessments.
The request comes days after U.S. Sec. of Education Betsy DeVos said the Dept. of Education would approve any state applications for waivers as coronavirus-related closures upend school years across the country.
The Illinois State Board of Education said that, if its application is approved, any school that was identified last year as struggling and in need of extra support would continue to receive that support next year.
* The Sun-Times is now running a COVID-19 blog. Some headlines…
Lightfoot, suburban mayors raise red flags about releasing jail detainees over COVID-19
How to apply for unemployment benefits if you are out of work during Illinois’ COVID-19 shutdown
US, Europe account for 85% of new COVID-19 infections, deaths
Rebates on CTA passes, subsidies for Pace and Divvy rides offered to help residents cope with coronavirus crisis
* From the Tribune’s blog…
How much did you pay for hand sanitizer? Illinois consumers file 700 coronavirus price gouging complaints.
Buying online is no shortcut to getting items hard to find on shelves. ‘They’re not going to have any more success getting toilet paper than you are.’
Mundelein mayor announces COVID-19 diagnosis
2 staff members at Lovell Federal Health Care Center test positive for COVID-19
Illinois settles into stay-at-home as neighboring states take patchwork of approaches
* SJ-R…
Sheriff: No immediate plans to release inmates from jail
Coronavirus stayed on surfaces for up to 17 days on Diamond Princess cruise, CDC says
COVID-19 symptoms can be all or nothing: ‘This virus just has the whole kit and caboodle’
Ford partners with 3M, GE to make respirators, ventilators and face shields
‘Bigger than the Olympic Games’: Athletes react to postponement of Tokyo 2020
* Daily Herald…
Statewide doctors group concerned about workload, but suburban hospitals say staffing levels are strong
In unprecedented move for local town, Elk Grove issues $2.8 million coronavirus relief package
* Lorraine Swanson at the Patch…
The shuttered MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island, could begin receiving quarantined coronavirus patients as early as this Thursday after the City of Chicago struck an agreement with the current operators to reopen the hospital.
MetroSouth stopped receiving patients in September 2019. Last week, Quorum Health announced that it had completed a sale of the hospital property to Lockwood Development Partners, a real estate development company with offices in Chicago. The rapid rise of coronavirus cases in Illinois, which as of Monday numbered 1,285 and 12 deaths, prompted some legislators to call for MetroSouth to be reopened to treat COVID-19 patients.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (Illinois 1st District) and state Rep. Bob Rita (28th District) asked Gov. JB Pritizker to take steps to immediately get the Blue Island facility back in operation. The equipment in the former MetroSouth emergency room was transferred to Lockwood, according to a news release from the City of Blue Island.
The reopened facility will provide 200 additional beds for the isolation and quarantine of people who have been exposed to or tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. The city also plans to rent 2,000 rooms in downtown Chicago for people who’ve tested positive or been exposed to someone with the virus.
* Speaking of Blue Island…
The Blue Island Police Department has reported back to work as of 6 a.m. today, following a temporary closure of the department on March 22, 2020. The closure was in response to an employee who tested positive for COVID-19. The department has been thoroughly cleaned and personnel not in direct contact with the affected employee have returned to work.
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Change Is Often Fast Amid National Crisis
Tuesday, Mar 24, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Credit unions are member-owned non-profit organizations that exist to serve their members and staff. Designed to put consumers in the drivers’ seat of their financial institution, credit unions address the needs of members in a very unique, personal way. During times of national crisis, the community-centric work of credit unions, through countless hours of hard work, is invaluable to the members and communities we serve.
The credit union industry has adapted to the needs of its members and staff through numerous times of national crisis – and the current COVID-19 crisis is no different. Credit unions across Illinois are acting swiftly to accommodate the unique needs of their members while also putting preventative measures in place to help curb the spread of COVID-19. When the federal government made recommendations to limit crowds, credit unions like Community Plus Federal Credit Union quickly acted to cancel their annual meeting and shift it to a digital format. When recommendations were released to encourage social distancing, many credit unions like Alliant Credit Union, shifted to drive-up only service, while still offering unique solutions and individual appointments to serve the needs of their members.
The transition to life at home has proven to be a challenge for many Illinoisans, but credit unions have showed up in force to help alleviate financial worries during this trying time. Additionally, credit unions are communicating digitally with their members to ensure that members are up-to-date on the credit union response to COVID-19. Access Credit Union, among more than twenty others state-wide, have enacted immediate improvements to their email communication efforts to make important information immediately accessible to members. Multiple credit unions across the state continue to utilize social media to keep members informed and stay connected. The credit union industry will continue to honor the “People Helping People” philosophy as we navigate these unchartered waters together. Rest assured that even in these trying times, your credit union remains a trusted partner in ensuring your financial well-being. To ensure the security of your funds, all state and federally chartered credit unions maintain deposit insurance covering at least $250,000 per depositor, per account category – even in uncertain economic times. To learn more about the credit union difference, and to find a credit union near you, please visit asmarterchoice.org today.
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* Republican US Sen. Tom Cotton on the Senate floor yesterday…
Go right through that door and ask Chuck Schumer what he’s demanding in secret behind closed doors. Oh, and don’t forget all of their cities, and all their states. Dick Durbin represents one of the most bankrupt states in America and the most bankrupt city, Chicago, in America behind those closed doors. They are demanding straight cash bailouts for states and cities that have been fiscally irresponsible for years.
And they come down here and accuse us of bailouts? We are willing to help those cities and states. They are overwhelmed by this pandemic. Yet we simply say they have to repay the money on the back end. That’s not what the Democrats are asking for behind those closed doors over there. They want straight cash payments.
Despite all this, everybody keeps saying they’re close to an agreement on a stimulus bill. We’ll see.
…Adding… Heh…
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* ProPublica Illinois…
With schools, day care centers and preschools around Illinois shut down as part of statewide efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, calls to the Department of Children and Family Services’ abuse and neglect hotline have dropped dramatically over the past week.
But child welfare experts and others don’t believe this decline reflects a decrease in abuse; on the contrary, many fear that children are now at a greater risk of being hurt as families, many facing additional stress over work and health issues, hunker down in isolation.
Because children aren’t in school or child care, the teachers, social workers and counselors most likely to spot signs of abuse and who are required by state law to report those allegations, can’t.
“Unfortunately, we know there aren’t changes in the number of children being abused or neglected,” DCFS spokesman Jassen Strokosch said.
During the week of March 9, before Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order to close all schools, DCFS received 6,672 reports of abuse and neglect via the statewide hotline — 91% by phone and 9% through an online reporting system.
Pritzker’s school shutdown order went into effect the following Tuesday, March 17, and as parents began to lose their jobs or were ordered to work from home, the number of hotline reports plummeted by 45% to 3,675 that week, the DCFS figures show. […]
Research shows that the risk of child abuse rises in times of economic stress, said Char Rivette, executive director of the nonprofit Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center. And reports of abuse and neglect typically drop during the summer when children are at home or when other events keep children away from school, such as the Chicago Public Schools teachers’ strike late last year, Rivette said. But the unprecedented nature of the current crisis has left workers particularly uneasy. […]
DCFS’ Strokosch said the agency needs family members and neighbors now more than ever to report their suspicions to the hotline.
“Do not assume that someone else will report it,” he said. “You might be the only person seeing it.”
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The ventilator situation
Tuesday, Mar 24, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sean Hammond…
[IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike] said Illinois’ coronavirus statistics have looked common to what the global hospitalization rates have been.
“Approximately 15-20% of people who contract the virus end up with some hospitalization,” Ezike said. “About 5% end up in ICU care.”
And about half of those will require a ventilator.
* NY Times a couple of days ago…
Ventilators are mechanical breathing machines that are the crucial lifesaving tool when a patient’s lungs fill with fluid, making it very difficult for the lungs to oxygenate blood. In one of the first large-scale studies of the characteristics of the coronavirus in Wuhan, 5 percent of patients required the intensive care unit and 2.3 percent required a ventilator. Now imagine 2.3 percent of the perhaps millions of Americans who are expected to become infected with Covid-19 over the next three months. There simply will not be enough of these machines, especially in major cities. (Hospitals in the country have some 160,000 total; New York has 6,000 at most.)
* Today…
This is Illinois’ future if we don’t get this virus under control and the feds don’t get their collective act together.
* Back to Illinois…
“The truth is that I was on the phone yesterday talking to companies and here’s what I ran into: in one case we’re competing for ventilators with FEMA and the federal government. So Illinois is bidding for ventilators against the federal government. In another case, we were bidding against foreign countries and other states,” Pritzker told Savannah Guthrie.
“And so what’s happening too, not just on ventilators but on all the PPE that we need, prices are being ratcheted up and we’re competing against each other on what should be a national crisis where we should be coming together and the federal government should be leading, helping us,” he continued.
The White House yesterday promised to send Illinois 300 ventilators. That’s just not gonna be enough.
* Also, this claim by the mayor is undoubtedly true at this very moment. I do not think it will be true once cases start to spike…
Lightfoot also said the city is OK right now with hospitals, bed counts and ventilators.
“So far, we’re fine,” Lightfoot said.
It’s not gonna stay that way if we don’t successfully flatten the curve.
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Everybody has their own priorities
Tuesday, Mar 24, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Article IX of the Illinois Constitution…
SECTION 1. STATE REVENUE POWER
The General Assembly has the exclusive power to raise revenue by law except as limited or otherwise provided in this Constitution. The power of taxation shall not be surrendered, suspended, or contracted away. [Emphasis added.]
* So, I’m not yet sure how the governor gets around that language to satisfy the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board…
At a time when almost everything in our daily lives has become unexpectedly complicated, Illinois should not keep its income tax deadline set at April 15 now that the federal government has moved back its deadline by 90 days.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday that the federal government will move the tax deadline to July 15 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That puts the ball in Illinois’ court to find a way to do the same.
Editorials
We urge the state to move quickly to resolve this. It’s clearly doable.
Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have already changed their deadlines to conform with the federal date. Even before the federal government acted, Maryland had moved its deadline for some business filings to June 1, and California had bumped its tax day back to June 15.
On Sunday, Pritzker said his administration is “working hard to figure out how” to push back the filing date but also needs to figure out how to deal with the changes in its cash flow. Other states, he pointed out, are in the same fix.
Thoughts?
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* I’ve chided Gov. Pritzker twice for the tone he’s used with President Trump. It’s not that I felt the governor was being counter-productive. It’s that two of our last three governors would regularly fly into public rages and I hated that. I also believed, and still do, that he needed to continue being Gov. Chillax during these frightening times. The facts are obviously on his side, so I wanted him to stick to the facts.
There are those, including within the Pritzker administration, who believe that President Trump respects those who challenge him. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but the POTUS did say this last night…
* Tina Sfondeles…
After a string of national TV appearances in which Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker criticized President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic — and a couple of Twitter tirades — the White House on Monday has vowed to send Illinois 300 ventilators and 250,000 masks.
According to the governor’s office, that assurance came from a White House aide on Monday afternoon after Pritzker and Trump spoke directly on the phone at about noon. It also came some 24 hours after Pritzker complained “the only way to get the president of the United States to pay attention is to go on national television and make noise about it.”
So, maybe it did work. But the state needs far more than what’s been promised…
And the White House has made a whole lot of promises it hasn’t kept during the past several weeks.
Maybe our Republican delegation can finally stand up and say something?
…Adding… Also, this. All day this…
…Adding… I wonder how he feels now that the president has vowed to help Illinois?…
Cook County Republican Chairman Sean Morrison lashed out Monday at Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot, accusing them of putting politics before constituents with their “volley of combative and sarcastic tweets” aimed at President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.
“Finger-pointing and name calling by Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot solves absolutely nothing except for trying to score some cheap political points,” Morrison said in a statement. “We need steady, effective and focused leadership and they’re not providing it.”
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Open thread
Tuesday, Mar 24, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Discuss whatever you want except for anything even remotely related to COVID-19. Let’s keep this a happy post.
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