…Adding… I was looking for some coverage of yesterday’s presser and finally found some. Taylor Vidmar…

Wives of fallen police officers gathered at the Illinois State Capitol on Wednesday to advocate for increased police funding and crackdowns on crime.

The group asked lawmakers to pass Senate Bills 4152-4158, some of which would increase criminal penalties for certain crimes. Senate Bill 4155 would create the “Fund the Police Act” and increase funding to police departments.

All seven bills were read once and referred to the Senate Assignments Committee, where they’ve remained since. The bills are unlikely to be revived after failing to pass the Senate before the chamber’s Feb. 25 third reading deadline, but Amber Oberheim said she won’t stop until action is taken.

“Enough is enough,” said Oberheim, the widow of Champaign police officer Chris Oberheim.

“We urged you to do something to ensure the safety of the residents of Illinois who elected you to make those important decisions,” she said, directing her comments at senators who have failed to support the legislation. “You did not. We are here again today to hold you accountable.”

WAND…

Senate Bills 4152, 4153, 4154, 4155, 4156, 4157 and 4158 haven’t seen much movement since they were introduced in early February by Republicans. The bills would primarily focus on funding police, specifically for hiring, retention, body cameras and community outreach. State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), sponsor of the bills, introduced the women and let them take the podium.

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, nine Illinois officers died in the line of duty. Of those nine, five died by gunfire and three by felonious assault. Widows of U of I Police Lieutenant Aaron Landers, Champaign officer Chris Oberheim, Pontoon Beach officer Tyler Timmins, and Bradley Sergeant Marlene Rittmanic shared their concern for police safety in the state and their push for legislators to do more. […]

Dee Landers, widow of Lt. Aaron Landers, shared she is also a daughter and daughter-in-law of police officers. She shared she won’t be silent and will continue to push for support to protect law enforcement officers in the state.

“It is time we stand in support,” she said. “It’s high time that our legislators are accountable for protecting them.”

* Illinois Restaurant Association…

Today, Sam Toia, President & CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, testified before the Illinois Senate Tourism and Hospitality Committee on the state of the industry. Mr. Toia, who represents the largest private sector industry in the state, renewed the urgency to support restaurants after the federal government did not include the replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund in the latest government spending package this week.

Below is his statement:

“The restaurant community was dealt a blow this week when we learned that the door has all but shut for the federal government to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. More than 110,000 restaurants jobs in Illinois are currently at risk without additional aid. We are calling on the state of Illinois to provide $125 million in grants to struggling restaurants to hire and retain team members and invest back in their businesses despite rising costs and mounting debts.”

The hotels want $250 million and now the IRA wants $125 million.

Meanwhile, the state is running a multi-billion-dollar deficit in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The Senate passed an approp bill today to pay off $2 billion of the debt with federal aid, but it’s mainly a placeholder bill while agreed-bill negotiations continue. Something has to pass by the end of this month, which is why the Senate is taking the unusual move of sending a potential approp vehicle to the House a month before the end of session.

Also, Mr. Toia still has not registered as a lobbyist.

* Press release excerpt…

With gasoline prices at the pump topping well over $4 per gallon and expected to continue to climb with projections of over $5 per gallon, State Senators Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley) and Donald DeWitte (R-St. Charles) say Illinois legislators must act immediately to provide relief to consumers.

The legislators joined stakeholders during a press conference at the Capitol on Thursday to call on the General Assembly and the Pritzker Administration to immediately cap the state’s sales tax on motor fuel at 18 cents per gallon, which is what consumers were paying last fall before prices started to climb dramatically. […]

Under the Senators’ proposal, Illinois consumers could expect to save nearly $1 billion over the next fiscal year, or 16 cents per gallon, assuming gas prices are at $5.50 per gallon. Additionally, the measure would continue to provide adequate funding for Illinois’ infrastructure projects.

Legislators, reporters and everyone else should click here for a quick primer on energy price economics.

…Adding… Mike Sturino…

Hi Rich,

I caught the mention on your blog about legislators proposing to lower the MFT. On the topic of the impact of gas taxes on prices at the pump, I wanted to bring this report to your attention. As you will note from this exhaustive study, gas taxes have little to do with gas prices and when legislators reduce the MFT, only a fraction is passed on to consumers.

Mike Sturino
President & CEO
Illinois Road & Transportation Builders Association

Click here.

…Adding… Senate Republicans…

We aren’t touching MFT, and we have never proposed to lower MFT. Our plan caps the sales tax on gas at 18 cents.

* Press release…

Leaders from the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association (HACIA), the Black Contractors Owners Executives (BCOE), and the Federation of Women Contractors (FWC) are at the state capitol today urging legislators to protect minority and women-owned firms and oppose House Bill 5412.

“HB 5412 will make construction more expensive for everyone and locks out future entrepreneurs from the construction industry. Punishing good companies for a few bad apples is a bad idea,” said Jacqueline Gomez, HACIA’s executive director. “This bill will only create additional obstacles for small, minority and women-owned businesses. The State of Illinois should be reinforcing its diversity and equity bridge - not tearing it down.”

HB 5412 shifts the responsibility for paying wage theft claims from subcontractors who engage in the practice to the primary contractor. A coalition led by HACIA opposes this legislation because of the harm it will inflict on up-and-coming construction firms in Illinois and the employees who become victims of wage theft. By stripping Illinois law of a major disincentive for bad actors, this bill shifts liability for wage theft and encourages bad businesses to continue stealing from their employees because they know that someone else will be held accountable.

More workers will be impacted because there are no repercussions on the bad actor. Meanwhile, contractors operating with integrity will be on the hook. Making all contractors responsible for stolen wages – even if they already compensated the fraudulent subcontractor to pay their employees - will force additional workers to file claims with the Illinois Dept. of Labor. These claims already have a history of taking more than a year to settle, which forces claimants to make do without pay rightfully owed to them. More incidents of wage theft mean more claims from working families – a contradiction to the bill’s intent. […]

“On behalf of BCOE, I am extremely disappointed that special interest groups continue to take priority among our legislators instead of what benefits or protects the people of the State of Illinois,” said Angela Drexel, BCOE’s vice president. “There is better legislation, such as HB 5088, that address the wage theft concern and mitigates adverse impacts to minority contractors. We are disappointed the House decided instead to move forward with HB 5412.”

House Bill 5412 has already passed the Illinois House of Representatives. If the bill is allowed to proceed, a vote in the Illinois State Senate may come within the next couple of weeks. The coalition is calling on members and supporters to contact their state senator to voice their opposition to House Bill 5412 so wage thieves are held accountable.

HB5412 is sponsored in the Senate by Senate President Don Harmon. Looks like it’s fast-tracked.

* Sen. Rezin…

Nearing the end of the legislative session, Illinois Senate Deputy Minority Leader Sue Rezin (R – Morris) renewed her call today to pass a series of legislative bills she introduced last year in response to the deadly COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home. The legislation would address Governor Pritzker’s failure to implement critical recommendations from the Illinois Auditor General’s Performance Audit of the Legionnaire’s Disease outbreak at the Quincy Veterans’ Home, a report the Governor received three years ago this month.

The 2019 audit called for a timely response for on-site assistance by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), improved communications between IDPH and Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) personnel, and the implementation of all CDC recommendations following a confirmed outbreak (Audit Report Pages IX and X). The Tetra Tech report received two months after the performance audit identified similar issues across our veterans’ homes. Yet, the Pritzker Administration ignored both reports which led to fatal consequences at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home in November 2020 when thirty-six veterans died, making it the deadliest outbreak at a state-run facility in Illinois history.

Last year, an IDPH contractor admitted the agency’s delayed on-site arrival hurt efforts in controlling the spread of COVID-19, which was later reiterated by the Department of Human Services’ Inspector General when he stated, “If these (Quincy) recommendations had been in place at the time of the outbreak, the outcome would have been better.” Deputy Governor Sol Flores’ testimony also provided conflicting accounts of who was responsible for IDPH waiting nearly two weeks from the outbreak’s start to get on-site, even though she claimed to be coordinating the multi-agency response.

“How many reports must land on Governor Pritzker’s desk before he takes the safety of our veterans seriously,” stated Senator Rezin. “It took the Pritzker Administration 11-days to arrive on-site in LaSalle, and it could still take the same number of days today. The Governor’s lax approach toward improving the state’s outbreak response time and care for our veterans is not the type of leadership he pledged as a candidate.”

Two of Senator Rezin’s bills address how Illinois prepares for and responds to outbreaks, while the third one strengthens the powers of the Inspector General when conducting state investigations.

• Senate Bill 3170: Sets a timetable for when IDPH should conduct an on-site visit after being notified of an outbreak.
• Senate Bill 1471: Requires facilities licensed and operated by the State to conduct outbreak preparedness drills.
• Senate Bill 1445: Provides the Inspector General subpoena powers to ensure cooperation with state investigations after former Pritzker political appointee and IDVA Director Linda Chapa LaVia refused to cooperate with the Inspector General’s investigation at IDVA.

“While IDVA Acting Director Terry Prince has been addressing the internal problems existing within the agency, we cannot ignore the fact the state’s mismanagement of the outbreak spanned across multiple state agencies to the Governor’s Office,” continued Senator Rezin. “Therefore, we must put these policies and procedures into state law, ensuring a proper response is undertaken, no matter the people in charge. I am asking Governor Pritzker to publicly support these bills and call for their passage before the end of the session. Doing so will honor the obligation we have to our veterans and their families by solidifying into law the state’s responsibility to show up when veterans need them the most.”

Under HR 62, the Illinois Auditor General is currently conducting a performance audit of the State’s response to the management of the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home.

Urging mitigation compliance by veterans’ home workers would be helpful as well. Just sayin’.

* More…

* New bill would replace and relocate the MLK statue outside the Capitol