Former Sen. McCann seeks another trial delay
Tuesday, Jul 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Alton Telegraph…
Former state senator and one-time gubernatorial hopeful Sam McCann is seeking a delay of at least four months in his trial on federal charges of money laundering, tax evasion and misuse of campaign funds.
In a motion filed July 6 in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Assistant Federal Public Defender Rosana E. Brown said the complexity of the charges and the volume of information turned over in the discovery process requires her to “seek a contract for discovery review software capable of organizing the voluminous discovery.” The motion said the software is necessary “to review essential discovery with the defendant once it is organized and made searchable into a manageable software program, to conduct investigation, and consult with the defendant therefrom, and to either negotiate with the government or prepare for jury trial.”
The motion said more than 64,000 pages of material has been presented in the case.
Brown was appointed to represent McCann after his Feb. 23 indictment. McCann, who is free on bond, told the court at the time that he is unemployed, $53,000 in debt, and has about $500 in his checking account.
He’s already had one delay, but the prosecution is not thrilled with this new request. Click here to read about it.
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* I explained this in detail to subscribers earlier today, but here’s Politico…
Another FEC advisory opinion is issued on Kelly as Dem Party Chair: The opinion is out before the Federal Election Commission meets Thursday. At issue is to what extent Rep. Robin Kelly can continue to lead the Illinois Democratic Party given FEC rules don’t allow a federal officeholder to raise local funds.
The latest advisory calls for a “special committee” to be formed “without review or approval by Congresswoman Kelly and Congresswoman Kelly has no role in the appointment of any member of the special committee.”
The proposed advisory opinion is here. Kelly had initially suggested that she be allowed to appoint a minority of the special committee’s members, which will have sole authority over raising and spending all money that isn’t federally regulated. But the FEC is moving away from that idea.
So, the state party chair can’t be directly involved in any state and local campaigns. Brilliant.
* Back in May, some remap reformers criticized Democrats for not asking the Illinois Supreme Court to somehow set aside the constitutional timeline to craft a new map. Well, some Michiganders tried that avenue and lost…
The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday denied a petition to grant relief to the state’s redistricting panel, who expects to adopt new congressional and legislative maps months later than allowed by the constitution.
The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in April asked the state Supreme Court to extend the existing Nov. 21, 2021 deadline to redraw districts in the state, as census data required for redistricting has been significantly delayed amid the pandemic.
* Press release issued yesterday morning…
Secretary of State candidate Pat Dowell is announcing the members of the Finance Committee for her campaign for Secretary of State. “I am honored that these community and business leaders have committed to help our campaign,” said Dowell. “While I just joined this race only a short time ago, I am humbled by the support and generosity of so many. I look forward to more events around the state including the suburbs, southland and the city.”
Dowel entered the race recently and her fundraising during second quarter outpaced others in the race. This committee will build on this fundraising progress achieved in the second quarter with $375,000 raised and $440,000 cash on hand.
* Back to Politico…
Congressman Adam Kinzinger has raised a whopping $1.3 million in the second quarter of the year, according to a source close to his campaign. Broken down, that’s $800,000 for his re-election campaign and $500,000 for his leadership PAC.
In the past six months, Kinzinger has raised $3.6 million, nearly all from individuals, and more than $700,000 from within Illinois.
* WVIK…
Tim Arview from West Frankfort ran unsuccessfully last year in the Republican primary for state representative.
“I’ve always been interested in politics, always voted, always followed the issues, but never felt like that was something that I would want to do or feel like I need to do. But just the way things are going now, and through prayer and consideration, we decided it was the time to do it.”
He doesn’t want to challenge any fellow Republicans again, which eliminates running for state house or senate or even Congress in southern Illinois, so the only Democrat left for him to run against is Senator Duckworth.
Arview is pro-life and pro-gun rights, and thinks Duckworth has not done enough to help veterans, despite being a veteran herself.
“Ran unsuccessfully” is a pretty huge understatement. Dude got 14.4 percent against Rep. Dave Severin in the 2020 primary.
*** UPDATE *** Oops. Forgot to post this media advisory…
Judge Elizabeth Rochford to Announce Candidacy for Illinois’ 2nd Supreme Court District
WHAT: The Hon. Elizabeth M. Rochford, a sitting judge in Lake County’s 19th Judicial District, is announcing her candidacy for the newly redrawn Supreme Court seat that encompasses the counties of DeKalb, Kendall, Kane, Lake and McHenry. Judge Rochford has been an associate judge in Lake County since her appointment in 2012, hearing civil and criminal matters, with a significant focus in family law. She is currently sitting in probate court.
Judge Rochford is a former assistant state’s attorney and solo practitioner. She has served on the Illinois Judges Association (IJA) Board of Directors since 2015 and is currently Secretary, in addition to chairing literacy and access to justice initiatives.
Judge Rochford also served on the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) Board of Governors, and as Secretary and past President of the Lake County Bar Association (LCBA). She remains active in both organizations. Her recent distinctions include the 2020 ISBA Carole K. Bellows Woman of Influence Award, the Lake County Women’s Association (LCWA) 2019 Woman of Significance Award, and the LCBA’s 2019 Access to Justice Award.
* Related…
* With remap of Chicago wards pending, Latino aldermen aim to protect, and expand, their City Council footprint
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Jul 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Remember Judge Mike McHaney?…
Point by point, the judge in downstate Clay County on Friday ticked off the many ways he found Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order had devolved into “insanity” and become “completely devoid of anything approaching common sense.”
Clay County Judge Michael McHaney complained that recently legalized pot shops had been deemed essential over generations-old family businesses. People had been led to believe they could avoid COVID-19 at Walmart but not at church.
His opinions were way outside the legal realm, as noted by Judge Raylene Grischow…
Judge McHaney said the Governor has no constitutional authority as Governor under the cited provisions of the IEMAA to restrict a citizen’s movement or activities and to forcibly close businesses because any such authority was restricted to the Department of Health. This Court has previously held that the State’s police powers authorize measures to be implemented to protect its citizens when confronted with contagious diseases and other threats to public health and safety. Again, this Court reiterates that the state’s police powers are outlined in both the state and federal constitution and supports the Governor’s actions in combating this pandemic. Without such authority the state would be paralyzed to act when needed. The Illinois constitution provides the Governor with supreme executive authority.
Well, McHaney is now running for the appellate court.
* And check out his Facebook page…
Patriot Up America! 🇺🇸 If there has ever been a time, the time is NOW! 🇺🇸
Posted by Mike McHaney on Tuesday, July 13, 2021
* The Question: Caption?
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* Fox 32…
When it comes to back-to-school this fall, Governor J.B. Pritzker has said the state of Illinois will follow CDC guidance.
That means vaccinated students and teachers are not required to wear masks. However, those who are not vaccinated do need to wear a mask in the classroom. The mandates are not sitting well with a lot of schools and parents.
* Unlike every other local reporter I’ve seen cover this topic in recent days, WCIA’s Mark Maxwell is the only one who actually asked someone in authority for a response…
Some Republican state lawmakers who have resisted most of the state’s Coronavirus restrictions are pushing back against the public health recommendations for unvaccinated people to wear a mask indoors.
“They feel like their kids are going to be discriminated against because they’re not vaccinated,” state representative Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) said. […]
“He’s literally asking for a policy that is already in place and has been since Friday,” Pritzker spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh said in an email.
The Governor’s office said while schools are “supposed to follow the CDC guidance,” “school boards run their school districts,” and the new recommendations are “not a mask mandate.”
Pick up the phone, for crying out loud.
* Rep. Caulkins, by the way, has some very strange ideas…
In his letter to Pritzker, Caulkins cited a study that measured how much carbon dioxide is caught in a face covering. The author suggested the elevated carbon dioxide levels near the nose and mouth could carry unspecified “adverse effects,” though other medical experts who reviewed the study found its measurement devices, methods, and analysis severely lacking. For example, the study measured the air trapped inside the mask, not the other air around it, only measured for a fraction of the time it takes to inhale, and did not measure actual blood-oxygen levels.
“The buildup of carbon monoxide (sic) has been detected in children’s masks which can lead to serious health issues,” Caulkins wrote, mistaking the air we exhale with a toxic flammable gas.
Other medical experts who reviewed the study said that even if children were breathing in that higher rate of carbon dioxide, the “elevated levels” cited in the study were so low, they were “not dangerous.”
“I don’t think the CDC is out here trying to torture children and wear a mask,” Abudayyeh said in a phone call.
Sheesh.
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* Tribune…
Estimates suggest 10% to 30% of people who get COVID-19 will develop long COVID-19, according to Dr. Jerry Krishnan, University of Illinois Chicago associate vice chancellor for population health sciences and professor of medicine and public health.
“The CDC estimates that about 33 million Americans tested positive for COVID-19, which means 3 to 10 million Americans likely have or have had long COVID,” Krishnan said. […]
In December, Congress provided $1.15 billion in funding over four years to the National Institutes of Health to support research into the prolonged health consequences of long COVID-19. The initiative called RECOVER, or Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery, is designed to learn whether differences in long COVID-19 risk are due to different virus variants, host response (ability to fight the virus infection and to heal after the infection is cleared) and the social determinants of health.
UIC has been selected to lead an Illinois-based team for the U.S. RECOVER consortium. Krishnan is a part of the team spearheading the efforts to bring health centers, community-based organizations and faith-based organizations in Chicago, Peoria, Rockford and Urbana together to form a network of state resources for a directory that can be available to people with long COVID-19.
* Daily Herald…
Long-haulers can develop an array of neurological and physiological symptoms after their recovery from the virus that doctors are just now beginning to piece together. But getting treatment often has been difficult for some because of that spectrum of problems.
“I want to go to a place where they all know me and what I’m dealing with,” Atwell said. “It needs to not be so disjointed.”
Edward-Elmhurst Health is one of several suburban health care systems that are creating one-stop clinics for long-haul COVID-19 patients. […]
Northwestern Medicine in Chicago opened one of the region’s first long-hauler clinics in the area in January and is now treating more than 1,500 patients in several suburban locations in its network, including Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Delnor Hospital in Geneva and Lake Forest Hospital.
* Related…
* Long Covid: rogue antibody discovery raises hope of blood test: “It’s hard to escape a prediction that 100,000 new infections a day equates to 10,000 to 20,000 long Covid cases a day, especially in young people. That’s a lot of damage to a lot of lives. And it’s hard to see that we’d have the healthcare provision to deal with it on that scale,” said Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial. “All of us working on this could not be more alarmed.”
* New Long-Haul COVID Clinics Treat Mysterious and Ongoing Symptoms - Coordinating care among different specialties could help patients with many problems and no proved therapies
* Long COVID life lessons on symptoms, treatment, and recovery
* Utah long-hauler clinic seeing ‘COVID toes,’ brittle teeth, ringing in ears
* Meet 3 Black Women Fighting for Long COVID Recognition
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* CNBC…
To rank America’s Top States for Business in 2021, CNBC scored all 50 states on 85 metrics in 10 broad categories of competitiveness. Each category is weighted based on how frequently states use them as a selling point in economic development marketing materials. That way, our study ranks the states based on the attributes they use to sell themselves. We developed our criteria and metrics in consultation with a diverse array of business and policy experts, and the states. Our study is not an opinion survey. We use data from a variety of sources to measure the states’ performance. Under our methodology, states can earn a maximum of 2,500 points. The states with the most are America’s Top States for Business.
* There’s some really good (and surprising) news and some not so good (and unsurprising) news in here. But the state’s overall ranking has really shot up…
* The above link was sent to me from someone in the governor’s office who offered up this accompanying commentary…
So let me get this straight: A Democratic governor led Illinois to two credit upgrades and helped vault us from bottom half to top third of states to do business in?
Just wanna make sure I got that right.
Your own thoughts?
…Adding… Related…
* Pritzker announces $8 mil. expansion of Apprenticeship Illinois program
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Do better
Tuesday, Jul 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WIFR TV…
New legislation in Illinois could require sex education be taught in schools but not just for those in middle school but for those in Kindergarten as well.
The Harlem school district held their monthly meeting and allowed people in the community to speak about their concerns. Several people arrived at the meeting, some said they were there to talk about the legislation that could change the curriculum for their students.
If signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the law would require sex education to start in Kindergarten, teaching students about safe or non-safe touch. It would also cover how to respect someones boundaries.
Pamela Harding has worked in the Harlem school district for over 20 years. She says very young children have innocent minds and can be easily confused when learning about things like sex.
“For them to be trying to educate our elementary school children, and start formulating their mind about transgenders and the sex promiscuity and all the various issues these are the things that we need to sit down and talk,” Harding said.
WIFR must be getting its bill analysis from Facebook or from Ms. Harding. The bill does not require that the lessons start in kindergarten…
A school district may provide age and developmentally appropriate consent education in kindergarten through the 12th grade.
Also, the mandate only applies to personal health and sex health education classes. If a school doesn’t offer the class to some or all of its students, the mandate doesn’t apply. So, if it chooses to teach that course to kindergarten kids, then it would have to follow the state mandates. And, of course, there’s nothing in the bill about teaching little kids about “transgenders and the sex promiscuity.” Not to mention that parents are allowed to opt their kids out…
No student shall be required to take or participate in any class or course in comprehensive personal health and safety and comprehensive sexual health education.
Also, if you’re gonna run a story that insults transgender people, maybe reach out to someone else for rebuttal?
* Dispatch-Argus…
Thoms said he wasn’t happy with House Bill 3653, the Police and Criminal Justice Reform Bill, passed by lawmakers in January and signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in February.
The sweeping reform bill calls for the elimination of cash bail by 2023 and prevents police officers from reviewing their own body camera footage prior to writing reports, among other measures.
Except a trailer bill has since been approved. From an analysis of that trailer bill by the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, which supported the revisions…
(a) Allows an officer to review his or her body camera video before writing an initial report except in certain specified circumstances, including when an officer has been involved in or a witness to an officer-involved shooting, use of deadly force incidents,or use of force incidents resulting in great bodily harm, or if an officer is ordered to write a report in response to a misconduct investigation. (b) In those limited cases where the exceptions apply, after writing an initial report, an officer, subject to a supervisor’s approval, may write a supplemental report after reviewing his or her video.
Google makes things so much easier for reporters these days. But you gotta use it to reap its benefits.
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* DeWitt Daily News yesterday…
The State of Illinois released guidance for school districts this fall in Illinois but a local State Representative is calling on the Governor to allow local districts to make their own decisions.
Sigh.
* WMAY yesterday…
District 186 says it is still reviewing the latest guidance from the CDC to determine the safest way to welcome all students back to classrooms for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Superintendent Jennifer Gill says the guidelines give local districts some latitude to adapt the policies based upon local facility limitations and other factors. Masks may be required for all unvaccinated students, including all students under age 12 who are not yet eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine… but Gill says she’s still looking for more clarification about whether that’s a mandate or just a recommendation.
* CBS 2…
Late last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced updated guidelines for schools to reopen safely — unvaccinated teachers and students will need to continue masking up, while those who are vaccinated can go without.
But as CBS 2’s Charlie De Mar reported Monday night, a growing chorus of administrators and parents are calling on the state to leave the choice up to them.
Not one of those reporters bothered to seek out a quote from anyone in state government to respond.
* So, I asked the governor’s office about this and was told the Illinois State Board of Education sent this to schools on Saturday…
Clarifying Mask Guidance
The Illinois Department of Public Health has fully adopted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated guidance for schools released on July 9. View the guidance and the press release.
Q: Is masking required in schools?
A: The CDC guidance that Illinois has fully adopted for all K-12 public and nonpublic schools states: “Masks should be worn indoors by all individuals (age 2 and older) who are not fully vaccinated. Consistent and correct mask use by people who are not fully vaccinated is especially important indoors and in crowded settings, when physical distancing cannot be maintained.
“The CDC continues to recommend masking and physical distancing as key prevention strategies. However, if school administrators decide to remove any of the prevention strategies for their school based on local conditions, they should remove them one at a time and monitor closely (with adequate testing through the school and/or community) for any increases in COVID-19 cases. Schools should communicate their strategies and any changes in plans to teachers, staff, and families, and directly to older students, using accessible materials and communication channels, in a language and at a literacy level that teachers, staff, students, and families understand.
“Schools should work with local public health officials to determine the prevention strategies needed in their area by monitoring levels of community transmission (i.e., low, moderate, substantial, or high) and local vaccine coverage, and use of screening testing to detect cases in K-12 schools … A school in a community with substantial or high transmission, with a low teacher, staff, or student vaccination rate, and without a screening testing program should continue to require masks for people who are not fully vaccinated.”
The local districts, in other words, can make their own decisions. It’s pretty broad guidance, not a mandate. “It’s up to local control,” a Pritzker spokesperson told me. And if the schools don’t follow the guidance? “There’s nothing much we can do,” was the response.
The question comes down to liability, however. If schools don’t follow the guidance and something bad happens, then the schools could be opened up to lawsuits. It’s the chance you take and there’s not anything that Illinois can do about the CDC.
* But this myth about how kids can’t get sick is being busted wide open in Mississippi right now…
With a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant in Mississippi, health officials are encouraging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a tweet on Tuesday, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said there are 12 children in the ICU due to the Delta variant. Ten of them are on life support.
According to Dobbs, a majority of the COVID-19 cases in Mississippi are the Delta variant. He said a “vast majority” of the cases, hospitalizations and deaths are of people who have not been vaccinated.
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Because… Chicago!
Tuesday, Jul 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Mark Maxwell’s WCIA interview of US Sen. Dick Durbin…
Durbin suggested that “too many guns” and “gangs coming down from Chicago and other big cities” were behind a recent uptick in violence against law enforcement officers.
I asked for evidence of this Chicago gangs shooting Downstate police thing last night. I haven’t yet heard back.
* Related…
* Ingraham rips ‘anti-Democrats’ like ‘fossil’ Durbin calling for ‘Angle’ to go
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* Sun-Times…
The FBI has been investigating a Cook County Board of Review employee who allegedly used his position to lower property assessments in exchange for thousands of dollars in cash bribes, according to a federal court affidavit obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
That employee also said the money would be split with others in the office, insisting that, “I’m just the middle guy” and that certain colleagues had factored the cash into vacation plans as the recent Fourth of July holiday approached, according to the 45-page document.
The federal probe dates to at least January 2019 and involves an unnamed individual who was secretly cooperating with the feds and is separately under criminal investigation, according to the affidavit. The Sun-Times is not naming the Board of Review employee at the center of the probe because records show he has not been criminally charged. He could not be reached Monday for comment.
The revelation of alleged corruption could deal another blow to public confidence in Cook County’s property tax system, just as tax bills are supposed to be hitting mailboxes. The bills already might be delayed because of “major errors” the Sun-Times exposed in a $250 million-a-year program that offers a tax break to certain seniors.
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* Dean Olsen at the SJ-R has a comprehensive story on the $210 million renovation plan for the Statehouse’s west wing. You should read it all, but here’s an interesting little excerpt…
Also scheduled for removal is the north side drive next to the building. The drive features more than 100 parking spaces that put lawmakers and others with those spaces only a few steps away from the entrance doors.
The curved drive has been part of the Capitol grounds ever since the building was constructed over a 20-year period that ended in 1888. But modern-day concerns about car bombs, events such as the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and terrorist attacks on government facilities nationwide fueled plans to eliminate the drive, according to Eleni Demertzis, spokeswoman for Illinois House Republicans.
“Especially given everything that’s happening across the country, this is a huge issue I think that needs to be addressed as soon as possible,” she said.
The Capitol architect’s office is looking at ways to “memorialize” the north drive through paving or landscaping “to mimic it,” Aggertt said.
That drive made it really easy to drop people off and pick them up. Also, I’m now wondering what will happen to the parking spots of us lesser mortals.
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Way to go, Kankakee /s
Tuesday, Jul 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Kankakee County’s public health department wasn’t great during COVID, but they were sure Johnny on the spot when a little Black girl opened up a lemonade stand. And now there’s a new state law because of it…
Illinois’ children are finally safe to sell lemonade without fear of government overreach.
Hayli’s Law was signed into law July 9 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker after unanimously passing the Illinois House and Senate. Hayli’s law ensures children under 16 can run a lemonade stand without a permit or license.
In 2017, Hayli Martenez started her Haylibug Lemonade stand to raise money for her college fund with the help of her mom, Iva. In a violent neighborhood where people are reluctant to go out, Hayli brought together her Kankakee, Illinois, neighbors as she happily sold 50-cent cups of lemonade.
“It was kind of scary [at first] because we liked to stay in the house. We didn’t like to come outside because of all the stuff happening around here,” Hayli said previously. “As we kept doing it, I got to see everybody smile when they tasted my lemonade. It was just … wow. They were lining up to get my lemonade.”
Shortly after being profiled in the Kankakee Daily Journal, city and county health department officials paid the 11-year-old a visit and told her to shut down the stand or face fines. They cited the lack of water and sewer service to the Martenez’s home – the result of a billing dispute – even though bottled water for the lemonade was purchased at the grocery store.
* Related…
* Illinois law loosens school team uniform rules
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* Tribune…
Illinoisans may have hoped for a soft summer landing from the pandemic, but federal and state data show COVID-19 infections are again climbing in some parts of the state.
Blame it on a crisis in neighboring Missouri, on nastier virus variants and lower vaccination rates, or — most likely — some combination of these factors.
But after a monthslong decline in cases from fall and spring peaks, the rate of new daily cases is up in the west-central and southern regions of Illinois, as well as the Metro East region near St. Louis.
Case rates remain relatively low, but there’s concern more of Illinois could follow suit, especially in areas lagging on vaccinations.
* Sun-Times…
The state reported 2,945 new cases over the past week, compared to 2,120 the previous week. That’s a 39% increase in average daily cases, from 303 per day to 420 — even during a week that saw a dramatic testing drop due to the Fourth of July holiday.
The jump has been even more pronounced in regions bordering Missouri, which has one of America’s lowest vaccination rates and has emerged as the nation’s current epicenter of the pandemic.
Ryder said that’s likely a key reason the Southern 7 saw a “startling” jump in its positivity rate last week, tripling to 4.4%. “A lot of people have family in southern Missouri. They work there. They shop there. They’re mixing around there a lot,” he said.
The Metro East region near St. Louis has jumped from 3.2% on June 25 to 6.1% — on a clear trajectory for the 8% threshold that could prompt Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office to intervene with “mitigations” such as restaurant capacity limits that have been lifted since the state fully reopened last month.
That region includes two of the eight counties — all outside the Chicago area — that are now considered by state officials to be at a COVID-19 warning level due to metrics moving in the wrong direction. Until Friday, it had been at least a month since any of Illinois’ 102 counties had been slapped with the warning label.
* Warning levels in orange…
Get vaxed and this goes away.
* Related…
* Springfield resident wins $100,000 in COVID-19 vaccine lottery
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US News: Pritzker “not currently vulnerable”
Tuesday, Jul 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* US News & World Report…
Below, we’ll provide a look at the remaining 24 states, which we consider “not currently vulnerable.” Obviously, we are still early in the election cycle, so states could shift higher or lower in our vulnerability ratings as time goes on. […]
We have been handicapping the gubernatorial races every cycle since 2006. Our analysis is based on reporting with dozens of political observers in the states as well as a look at historical, demographic, and polling data. We’ve included the gubernatorial races below in alphabetical order. […]
Illinois: Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D)
Pritzker, a deep-pocketed heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, has had what observers consider a generally successful term in this increasingly blue state. He received good marks for his handling of the pandemic and has enacted budgets that have kept the state’s fiscal situation more stable than it has been in recent years. He’s also kept his progressive flank happy by enacting a minimum wage hike to $15; a law that would continue allowing abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade; a law to strengthen guardianship protections for immigrant children; and a marijuana legalization measure. This means that Pritzker has little to worry about from a primary, especially since any challenger would need to raise a ton of money to compete against him.
Meanwhile, a few Republicans have announced or expressed interest in the race, but they are largely aligned with Trump and back socially conservative policies, both of which amount to non-starters in Illinois these days. Any center-right Republican hoping to make it a race against Pritzker would not only need to self-fund and win a Trump-era GOP primary but would also face the daunting prospect, if elected, of working with a Democratic supermajority in the legislature. All in all, Pritzker should be able to secure a second term if he wants it.
I don’t agree that a Republican nominee will have to self-fund if Ken Griffin jumps in all the way. I suppose we’ll see.
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Our sorry state
Tuesday, Jul 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ben Bradley at WGN…
Little has changed following a WGN Investigates’ report in 2019 that highlighted children being forced to sleep in offices because the Department of Child and Family Services does not have enough space.
Following multiple reports, the first which aired in June 2019, the governor and other officials called the conditions “unacceptable.”
Two years later, WGN Investigates has obtained new pictures that shows all that’s changed is the addition of a blow-up mattress. […]
In the last six months of 2019, 54 children in DCFS care spent the night in a state office. In all of 2020, the number ballooned to 129. It has continued to happen at a similar pace this year; 52 children have had to spend at least one night in the office of DCFS or more often, a private agency.
* The DCFS response…
“Keeping children in offices is unacceptable unless no other options are available. Finding an immediate placement for a child was more challenging during the height of the pandemic, as caregivers were hesitant to accept youth due to health and safety concerns.”
* And here’s another story you should read today…
* First came the sewage, then the hunger strike - After a plumbing flood at the aging Logan Correctional Center, three women organized one of the first successful hunger strikes in an Illinois women’s prison in years.
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Fitch owes us one
Tuesday, Jul 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
As I write this, two of the three national credit rating agencies have upgraded the State of Illinois’ rating in a week’s time. And the only remaining holdout owes us one. Bigtime.
As you know, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded its Illinois rating by a notch in late June, and S&P Global Ratings followed suit on July 8. Fitch Ratings is the only one left.
Back in April of 2020, when the pandemic was gripping the world, Fitch downgraded Illinois’ credit rating — the only credit downgrade Illinois has received since Bruce Rauner’s days as governor.
Just a month before, Moody’s and S&P, which had both lowered the state’s credit rating in June of 2017 (just before members of both parties in the General Assembly overrode Rauner’s tax hike veto), revised their outlooks on Illinois from “stable” to “negative,” but didn’t actually lower the state’s rating. Fitch’s previous ratings downgrade came in February of 2017.
“We are concerned with how the state is going to fare through what is clearly a significant economic dislocation,” a Fitch executive told Reuters in April of 2020.
At the time, the Illinois legislature was unable and unwilling to meet. The governor’s office was projecting a $7.3 billion hole in the FY 2020 and FY 2021 budgets and had undertaken a $1.3 billion cash flow borrowing program. Fitch also worried that the temporary measures Illinois was taking to deal with its budget shortfall would be difficult to unwind after the pandemic passed.
Almost nobody thought that Fitch was wrong about the future back then, even though the action seemed a bit too severe. A divided Congress and a Republican president’s open hostility to certain large-state Democratic governors who were also having budget problems made for a very bad situation.
Fiscal and political factors
But then the federal government began the first of what turned out to be several economic and state and local government fiscal stimulus measures. Then there was a change in the U.S. Senate’s majority and the election of a Democratic president. Some very prudent Illinois budget moves, of both increasing annual revenues and keeping spending flat, all led to Illinois eventually emerging from FY21 with a budget surplus.
Indeed, state revenues for the just-concluded fiscal year (which ended June 30) finished $1.9 billion higher than the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget projected when the budget-makers were doing their business in May. The total was also $1.2 billion higher than projected in May by the legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.
COGFA reported last week that, excluding borrowing, state receipts finished the fiscal year a “stunning $6.792 billion” above the previous fiscal year, which had included the long months of stay-at-home orders in response to the worldwide pandemic. Of that, net income tax receipts were up $5.6 billion. And only $1.3 billion of that was attributed to the shift of the income tax filing deadline from April 15 of last year (which was in Fiscal Year 2020) to July 15 of last year (Fiscal Year 2021).
State sales tax receipts grew $1.1 billion due to “strong consumer spending reflecting stimulus payments, improving job picture, and improved consumer confidence,” COGFA reported, and federal receipts were up $1.19 billion from Fiscal Year 2020. Tax revenue sharing with local governments grew by $442 million due to higher personal and corporate income tax receipts.
But this stark number stood out to me in the COGFA report: Revenues from the state’s inheritance tax grew by 59%, or $167 million, during Fiscal Year 2021. More than 23,000 Illinoisans have died so far during the pandemic. Notably, last month’s inheritance tax receipts were 14% below the same timeframe during the previous fiscal year as the pandemic’s impact has now tapered off. May’s inheritance tax receipts were down 7% and April’s were off by 37.5%. This year’s March receipts, however, were up 414% from March 2020, when the pandemic was just beginning.
As we’ve already discussed, the enormous amount of federal money pumped into the economy last year and this year contributed to the strong gains in income and sales tax receipts, here and everywhere else. The country’s mostly successful vaccination program also certainly helped, as many workers felt safe enough to return to their jobs.
But the hard truth is the state never came close to missing a bond or pension payment during the pandemic (or since the 19th Century, for that matter). Fitch’s prediction, while perhaps accurate during a time of great international crisis, proved to be false.
Mistakes can always be corrected. This one should be, too. Fitch owes us one.
* The Bond Buyer’s Illinois correspondent…
Yep.
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*** LIVE COVERAGE ***
Tuesday, Jul 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Today’s post is sponsored by the Association Of Illinois Electric Cooperatives. Follow along with ScribbleLive…
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