A viral snowstorm of misinformation online. Political ads disguised as newspapers. Darren Bailey and his allies incessantly spreading myths and obvious falsehoods.
There is no “Purge Law” in Illinois. The law allows judges to keep violent defendants behind bars. Convicted criminals currently in jail will not be released.
Did you know Darren Bailey runs a school? And they use quite the curriculum.
Lessons like:
Women in the workforce have been harmful to America.
Evolution isn’t real.
Dinosaurs and humans were definitely on Earth at the same time.
Gay people have no more claims to special rights than child molesters or rapists.
The majority of slave holders treated their slaves well.
Class dismissed. Darren Bailey is too extreme for Illinois.
* The Question: Your ratings for each ad? Don’t forget to explain.
Republicans elsewhere who, with Mr. Trump’s endorsement, won primaries against the wishes of their local political establishments are facing similar disparities in TV advertising in the final weeks of the midterm campaigns. Along with Mr. Mastriano in Pennsylvania, Trump-backed candidates for governor in five other states — Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and Michigan — have combined to air zero television advertisements since winning their primaries.
Trump-backed candidates are very likely to win GOP primaries given the sway the former President still holds over the party faithful. But those candidates oftentimes appear ill-equipped to run the sort of professional (and well-funded) operation that is required to persuade voters in a general election. […]
Of course, Trump could help solve this problem – or at least mitigate it. He is sitting on more than $90 million in his Save America PAC, all of which could be spent on ads to bolster the underfunded candidacies of the likes of Mastriano and Dixon. To date, he has not done so, though his allies formed a new super PAC last week aimed at supporting his endorsed candidates.
“Public safety is on the ballot this November. This election is about more than the usual policy differences; it’s about what kind of state we want to be on January 1st when the Democrats’ no-cash-bail provision is slated to go into effect,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. “Beyond merely being ‘soft-on-crime’, Illinois Democrats are fast becoming the party of ‘crime’. 15 Democratic legislators and Chicago Alderman have been indicted, convicted, or plead guilty to criminal misconduct since Pritzker became governor. Some of these same legislators helped pass the [un]-SAFE-T act in the dead of night. We must send corrupt Democrats packing and repeal the Democrat’s no-cash bail law on November 8th, before it’s too late.”
Steve Cochran: You’re running for Congress in the Sixth. And the incumbent, your opponent, has not spoken out about something that’s very important to Illinois residents the you have. I’m talking about the SAFE-T Act. There are lots of things that have been said on the far right. There are some reactions on the far left, but it’s hard to argue with 100 state’s attorneys who all say the same thing, this is a bad law. So what do you say to potential voters about how you could, if not repeal it prior to going into play, at least fix it?
You’d think a bigtime radio host who’s been doing this politics thing forever would know the difference between a state and a federal law. Sheesh, man. C’mon.
Well, so you’re right about my opponent. And that’s because at the national level, he voted on a law that was very similar to this, to impose it federally, that would have done many of these things nationwide. It didn’t pass. But so we have a very different, very different opinion. This law, as you mentioned, it’s very dangerous, as all states attorney’s have said, and we have to do something to to repeal it, or at least make significant changes. And the changes are so significant. And this is what happens when you pass a 760-page bill in the middle of the night with 40 minutes for people to review it. You get extremely bad laws like this that are very, very one sided and frankly, quite dangerous. You talk to our police officers, you talk to our police department, that we’re not exactly sure how we’ll handle it. We do have some workarounds, like we have entered a new partnership with the ATF to deal with, two of our officers are now part time special agents, and they will be able to take anything that’s weapons related. So a lot of violent crimes we can take straight to the USA and go federal which will allow those people to be kept behind bars on bail.
Unless, of course, they bail out of jail.
…Adding… Pekau’s campaign just purchased $39,000 in cable TV ads.
* CD8 press release…
Yesterday, we saw the impact of the anti-police rhetoric Raja Krishnamoorthi’s allies in Washington DC continue to promote. An active shooter training turned into a live shooter situation putting the lives of officers and civilians at risk when the offender turned his weapon on police.
Chris Dargis released the following statement:
“Raja Krishnamoorthi has hid behind one local grant to bolster his ‘law and order’ credentials but has stood idly by as his allies in Congress decry our law enforcement, leading to violence like we saw yesterday in Chicago. This is hardly an isolated incident, and while Democrats like Raja continue to defame law enforcement, chaos on our streets will continue.”
Blaming a suburban congressman for some whacked-out nutjob trying to break in to a Chicago police station is a bit much, but, whatevs. Politics.
* CD13…
Today, Nikki Budzinski, candidate for Congress in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District, called out her Republican opponent, Regan Deering, for her silence on Republicans’ recent policy agenda, “Commitment to America,” which doubled down on extreme Republicans’ recent promise to implement a nationwide abortion ban. The plan was even praised by the radical anti-choice organization, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which is supporting Regan and advocating for a national abortion ban if Republicans win back Congress this November.
Deering said that she was “thrilled” when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June and supports allowing states to outlaw abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest, or danger to the life of the woman.
Nikki Budzinski made the following statement: “Regan supports allowing states to ban abortion without exceptions, and now she is standing by and saying nothing while extreme Republicans work to implement a national abortion ban. It’s clear Regan will be a rubber stamp for national Republicans. She is drastically out of step with voters in this district on choice and many other issues. I’ll always stand up for a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions without interference from the government.”
Awake Illinois founder Shannon Adcock announced her bid for the Indian Prairie District 204 School board this week.
The announcement comes two days after her organization and the parents rights group she chairs, Mothers for Liberty, hosted a school board candidate training program in Des Plaines — an event that drew protesters opposed to the organizations’ positions on several issues, including diversity curriculum. […]
After losing in 2021, Adcock launched Awake Illinois to push against school and library COVID-19 mitigations and then went after schools for equity and inclusion training. […]
Cassie Creswell, director of Illinois Families for Public Schools, said plans are underway to host candidate training sessions for people who support equity and inclusion.
They’d better start cranking up.
* New ad by MKO…
Justice Mary Kay O’Brien, candidate for Illinois Supreme Court, Third District, released a second commercial today. The ad highlights the pro-choice organizations that support Justice O’Brien’s candidacy and the extremist groups that support opponent Mike Burke, who want to ban all abortion for Illinois women.
The new ad is entitled “Clear Choice.”
TRANSCRIPT: Now that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade -
In Illinois, extreme groups are trying to take away women’s freedom to choose
And THIS State Supreme Court race will decide who controls our Court.
Mike Burke says he agreed with the decision to overturn Roe.
He’s supported by the extreme groups that want to ban all abortion for Illinois women.
Justice Mary Kay O’Brien is supported by pro-choice groups, and in the past fought to protect a woman’s freedom.
Illinois has a clear choice, Mary Kay O’Brien. A Justice for All.
* Democratic nominee for Macon County judge voted in Republican primary: “At this point, the ballot is set,” said Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections. “That candidate could have been challenged in the primary, was not, won the primary (and) went on to be certified. So I’m unaware of any process at this point where they could file any sort of objection to it.”
* Kane County Democratic Women to host forum on abortion rights: The panelists will be Ameri Klafeta, director of the Women’s and Reproductive Rights Project for the Illinois American Civil Liberties Union; State Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin; and Rianne Hawkins, director of Advocacy and Campaigns for Illinois Planned Parenthood.
* Candidates draw distinctions in state 32nd Senate District and 64th House District races: Wilcox said he considers himself a right-to-life legislator and candidate, though he does not see the Illinois General Assembly changing the law here. He believes it will remain legal. He said there is a lot of support for the law as it was decided in 1973, but people pushed for more including in Illinois. “Had abortion remained safe, legal and relatively rare, Roe v. Wade would likely not have been overturned,” Wilcox said.
The actual transfer of assets, however, has hit some roadblocks, one of which was a lawsuit filed shortly after the permanent investment fund boards began their work.
In February 2021, the boards of 16 municipal police pension funds and two firefighters pension funds, along with some participants from each fund, filed a lawsuit in Kane County Circuit Court against Mr. Pritzker, the consolidated police and fire pension fund boards and others, alleging the legislation consolidating the pension funds’ assets was unconstitutional.
The lawsuit said the law violated the state’s pension protection clause, the contracts clause and the takings clause of the Illinois Constitution by terminating “plaintiffs’ authority to exclusively manage and control their investment expenditures and income,” according to the original court filing.
Daniel F. Konicek of Konicek & Dillon PC, attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a phone interview the judge will rule May 20 on the constitutionality of the investment funds.
* The Kane County judge ruled in favor of consolidation. However, the local pension systems which filed the lawsuit appealed the decision. Jake Griffin on the delay’s cost…
[Bill Atwood, executive director of the new statewide Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund] said the firefighters’ pension agency has paid nearly $140,000 to its own lawyers since the suit was filed in February 2021. Those costs are covered by the pension system, which is funded by employee contributions, investment income and municipal tax dollars. […]
Firefighters began the consolidation despite the lingering lawsuit. Only four of the 292 local firefighter pension plans have yet to transfer funds to the consolidated system; two are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
But barely 60% of the 357 local police pension funds are consolidated so far, according to Richard White, executive director of the Illinois Police Officers’ Pension Investment Fund. Most of the fund transfers took place after the judge’s ruling in May. […]
“We anticipate a reduction of $34 million a year alone on investment fees,” Atwood said. “The bottom line is it’s much cheaper to manage a single $7.5 billion portfolio than 296 funds that add up to $7.5 billion.”
Experts say the savings ultimately will require less local property tax revenue to fund pensions and reduce pension debt. The longer the local pension systems hold out from consolidating, the longer it will take to reap those benefits.
A 2019 law championed by Pritzker seeks to combine more than 600 local public safety pension funds into two funds — one for firefighters and another for police. Pritzker argues that doing so would increase the funds’ returns and contribute to fixing the problem of low funding levels that has weighed on budgets and dampened credit ratings. However, his plans are being delayed by a pending circuit court lawsuit and mistrust about shifting local funds to a state entity, particularly among the police pension plans. […]
The stakes are high for Illinois, the U.S. state with the lowest rating despite upgrades from S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s bumped up the state’s rating in June and again on Thursday to Baa1, citing its “capacity to rebuild financial reserves and increase payments towards unfunded liabilities.”
While the state’s $130 billion unfunded pension liability weighs on its rating and finances, the same problem plagues towns and cities across Illinois. The collective unfunded liability of local public safety pension plans through the end of fiscal 2020 was $13.3 billion, according to state data compiled by the Illinois Municipal League.
The state isn’t obligated to find solutions for the local plans, but underfunded pensions weigh on budgets and soak up revenue that could be used for other services. It can also lead to higher property taxes and erode credit outlooks. And, if its municipal governments struggle, the state’s economic rebound that already lags the national average could fall further behind.
* From Paddock Publications’ announcement last week that it was dropping the printing and distribution contract with the Proft papers…
Paddock Publications has made the decision to cancel commercial printing jobs with LGIS. As an independent newspaper publisher, we want no part of the flame-throwing accusations taking place between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and LGIS. Many critics cannot or refuse to differentiate between a commercial printing operation, for which the parent company Paddock Publications has many customers, and the Daily Herald’s editorial mission to be unbiased and fair.
On Thursday morning came a public news release from Pritzker’s campaign manager, Michael Ollen, excoriating Paddock for the print job. No one from Pritzker’s office had contacted the company regarding its concerns and instead sent out a news release announcing it would withdraw from an upcoming online forum with his Republican opponent, Darren Bailey, because of the printing issue.
The Daily Herald arranged for the forum on behalf of the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors group, which represents dozens of newspapers around the state. The joint forum was created to provide a variety of papers access to the candidates.
Senior company leaders sought an audience with Pritzker Thursday afternoon, but he was unavailable. Instead, campaign manager Ollen agreed to meet. Senior management outlined Paddock’s position on the printing, but Ollen would not commit on the governor’s behalf to participate in the forum.
Withdrawing from the forum would be a grave disservice to voters.
* The Chicago Tribune’s chief political reporter Rick Pearson was on John Williams’ WGN Radio show yesterday and had this to say…
Pearson: When Paddock Publications said that Pritzker’s non-participation would be a ‘grave disservice to the voters,’ you perhaps could argue the same thing that by printing these political mailings filled with vast amounts of misinformation and distortion does a great disservice to the voters.
Williams: I suppose so, but the newspaper could also argue that that was not the newspaper’s decision, that was this company that could be on Mars for that matter. Granted, they have co-owners but they are not co-deciders, that company made a decision. The newspaper makes a decision. What do you think of that?
Pearson: The company owns the newspaper. [Cross-talk] I mean, the printing plant is the Daily Herald Printing Center. It’s not Paddock Publications Printing Center. […]
Williams: So you think that Paddock Publications made the right decision to no longer print, ostensibly, Darren Bailey’s campaign literature?
Pearson: The mere fact that these are fake newspapers is a disservice to journalism. That’s just the bottom line. They’re nothing more than political mailers that are fake as newspapers. To try to use and distinguish and give them the credibility of legitimate newspapers. It’s phony. And to assist in the phoniness of this is beyond the pale.
To help ensure the State of Illinois achieves the goals of the SAFE-T Act, State Senator Scott Bennett filed legislation to clarify language and improve how officials can enforce the law.
“As a former prosecutor, I understand the importance of presuming innocence for individuals before being proven guilty, supporting police and keeping violent criminals out of our neighborhoods,” said Bennett (D-Champaign). “Senate Bill 4228 is an effort to improve consistency in the SAFE-T Act and allow law enforcement officials to continue to effectively perform their duties and protect our communities.”
The intent of the law aims to do away with cash bail in an effort to end systemic racism in the criminal justice system. Senate Bill 4228 updates many provisions in the SAFE-T Act by clarifying language to address concerns raised by local law enforcement officials.
Sen. Bennett’s legislation states pretrial release will apply to individuals arrested on or after Jan. 1, 2023. The measure also permits judges to deny pretrial release for any alleged crime if the person arrested poses a threat to the safety of any person or the community.
Sen. Bennett is going to continue to work with all stakeholders, advocates, and his colleagues in hopes of a resolution on these issues during the fall Veto Session.
The following is a statement from the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice (INPJ) responding to the Safe-T Act trailer bill introduced yesterday to modify the Pretrial Fairness provisions of the law. INPJ is a coalition of 42 organizations whose advocacy and policy work helped shape the Pretrial Fairness Act, a piece of the Safe-T Act:
“The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice strongly opposes SB4228, the Safe-T Act trailer bill introduced yesterday to modify the Pretrial Fairness provisions of the law. If passed, this bill would cause the number of people jailed while awaiting trial to skyrocket and exacerbate racial disparities in Illinois’ jails.
“The Pretrial Fairness Act was passed after the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor galvanized millions of people to demand action to address the racism that permeates the criminal legal system. The changes being proposed are in complete opposition to the spirit of those calls for racial justice and criminal legal system reform.
“The Pretrial Fairness Act was designed to ensure that everyone has access to the presumption of innocence, and the changes included in SB4228 would deny all Illinoisians that right. If passed, these measures would create a pretrial system that is far worse than the one in place today.
“It is absolutely essential that any changes to the Pretrial Fairness Act be made in the same spirit in which it was written. Using this historic legislation as a vehicle for incarcerating more Black and brown people would be a slap in the face to the communities that have suffered under the injustices of the money bond system for decades.”
Creates a presumption of detention for people charged with crimes that would require them to serve life in prison if convicted. The Illinois Constitution requires that the state have the burden to prove that an individual should be detained. The individual cannot be given the burden to prove they deserve release. […]
Removes the Pretrial Fairness Act’s provisions requiring tickets instead of arrests for very minor, non-violent crimes, allowing police to arrest in nearly every circumstance.
* Meanwhile, DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin has a reputation for being a voice of moderation on this topic…
With so many questions about bond provisions in Illinois’ SAFE-T Act, we invited DuPage County state’s attorney Bob Berlin to the studio to outline his concerns as well as changes he would support. Here’s our conversation on @WGNNews https://t.co/IX7wJwzldJ
* SAFE-T Act takes center stage at candidate debate: [Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex] voted against the bill. “The bill has a lot of good merits [including use of body cams] and it also has some real problems,” Joyce said, noting that he has having conversations with sheriff’s offices and state’s attorneys’ offices to continue understanding what’s needed in the bill before it’s to be signed on Jan. 1.
* SAFE-T slander: Misinformation surrounds Illinois’ new criminal justice reform law
* Here’s what a Republican-led ‘Contract with Illinois’ would look like: 1) Make Illinois a safer and better place to live. This starts with an immediate repeal of the “SAFE-T Act,” which ends the practice of “cash bail” and removes an important roadblock preventing hardened criminals from simply reoffending without much consequence. In other areas, such as funding for mental health professionals, we can work to make sure our local police departments have the resources they need to keep our communities safe.
As retired military, the words ‘duty and honor’ mean everything to me. Those values mean nothing to Governor Pritzker, who tried to get me fired from my job as a nurse. People like me and you need to STAND UP to J.B. Pritzker’s mafia politics.
* Streetsblog Chicago co-editor John Greenfield notes that Miles previously said she couldn’t prove that Pritzker was the one who beefed about her allegedly violating the federal Hatch Act, and her attorney concurred…
Yep. Miles says in this ad "[Pritzker] tried to get me fired." But she previously told Patch, "I can't prove [Pritzker tried to get me fired.]" (1/2)https://t.co/iLDBEBC94Dpic.twitter.com/GoajEbwdUX
Well, that’s not good. Sure appears actionable, unless they’ve uncovered some new evidence which they haven’t yet shared.
* I was watching Fox 32 Sunday evening and saw Proft’s Beverly Miles ad. I asked the Pritzker campaign about it, and the campaign’s legal team apparently reached out and gave the station until the end of business today to pull the ad off the air.
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released her first campaign ad for her re-election to the U.S. Senate this November. In the ad titled “Sacrificing,” Duckworth highlights her work in holding big corporations accountable for their price gouging that hurts working families. Earlier this year, Duckworth introduced her Gas Price Gouging Prevention Act, which would stop big oil companies from excessively price gouging in times of crisis.
In 2022 amid Vladimir Putin’s war of choice in Ukraine, Big Oil companies blamed soaring gas prices on the conflict, but netted record profits to line the pockets of CEOs and shareholders while working families felt the burden the most.
In contrast, Duckworth highlights her and her family’s military service and their sacrifice as a way of life. Her father was a Vietnam Veteran and her family has served in uniform during every period of conflict in our nation’s history, dating back to before the Revolution. Duckworth is an Iraq War Veteran and Purple Heart recipient who served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years before retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2014.
But today, Illinoisans are back to work, the driving force behind our growing economy whose GDP is larger than it was pre pandemic. For 20 consecutive weeks, Illinois has had historically low unemployment claims, outperforming expectations. Our unemployment system is back on track and the balance of the unemployment trust fund continues to experience strong and steady growth.
Thanks to Illinois’ economic recovery, the Illinois Department of Employment Security has advised me that the UI trust fund balance is sufficient enough to pay down another $450 million of its pandemic-related debt. This payment will reduce the remaining balance of our loan by 25% and reduce interest costs by an estimated $10 million over the course of the next year.
This announcement comes just months after the General Assembly and I directed $2.7 billion of federal ARPA dollars toward the loan, cutting the original $4.5 billion loan down to $1.8 billion.
Today’s action is another major step toward eliminating pandemic-related UI debt, which we intend to complete by the end of this calendar year. And we will. I will work closely with the General Assembly to continue supporting the agreed bill process between labor and business to conclude negotiations.
Please pardon any transcription errors.
…Adding… Press release excerpt…
“Paying down this debt continues to strengthen our fiscal security, adding to the benefits the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is seeing from historic low unemployment,” state Senator Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) said. “The fund now has a $1.2 billion surplus due to fewer claims, making it very practical to pay back the borrowed funds. It’s another great step in our state’s record of continuous financial improvements of the past few years”
Illinois has remained below the previously recorded low of just more than 70,000 continued claims for twenty consecutive weeks, unprecedented since the beginning of the series in January 1987. Since the start of this year, Illinois has gained nearly 120,000 jobs throughout the state, with the most significant increases seen in the hotels and food services, manufacturing, healthcare and social assistance, construction, and transportation and warehousing industries.
Federal funds borrowed under Title XII were necessary to supplement the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund and provide economic relief to unemployed workers throughout the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic. A plan to pay off the remaining balance on the loan will need to be developed through the agreed bill process.
…Adding… The talking points didn’t completely bite the dust, but yeah…
Another big step in fiscal responsibility for our Illinois government. Another GOP talking point hits the dust. https://t.co/CwF2RhzzDf
On September 27, Governor JB Pritzker held a press conference to tout the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s (IDES) use of $450 million from Illinois businesses’ tax dollars to pay down the remaining $1.8 billion borrowed under Title XII of the Social Security Act. Senate Deputy Minority Leader Sue Rezin (R-Morris) and State Senator Win Stoller (R-Germantown Hills), who were the Senate Republicans’ chief Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund negotiators, released the following statements in reaction to the announcement:
“While it is always good for the state of Illinois to make down payments on its outstanding debt, today’s announcement comes on the verge of the largest tax increase on businesses in Illinois history and does little to nothing to prevent it,” said Sen. Rezin. “No matter how the Governor and his allies try to spin this, Illinois is one of only five states to still owe money on its UI Trust Fund loan. This $450 million already paid by Illinois businesses will have no impact on future taxes that they will be forced to pay if we don’t completely repay our loan. We should have and could have filled this hole with the unexpected money we received from the federal government. Instead, the Majority Party waited for that money to be depleted on other proposals and programs, including personal pork projects.”
The state of Illinois received $8.1 billion from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, which was designed to be used for COVID-19 relief and help with economic recovery. The federal government approved ARPA funds to be used on items like the UI Trust Fund, which prompted 31 states used their APRA dollars to eliminate their deficits and replenish their Trust Fund balance.
“It is disingenuous and a disservice for the Governor and Democratic lawmakers to be patting themselves on the back for today’s payment when they know that the burden of paying the remaining debt of $1.3 billion will be placed on struggling Illinois businesses,” said Sen. Stoller. “Illinois businesses did not create the lockdowns or give out billions of dollars of unemployment benefits to fraudsters that helped create our state’s nearly $5 billion UI Trust Fund debt. Now, Democratic lawmakers expect businesses to fix a problem of their own creation, which they could’ve easily fixed with the billions of dollars that the federal government provided them.”
If remaining UI Trust Fund debt isn’t repaid by Nov. 10, Illinois employers will lose Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) credit in 2023. The FUTA tax credit loss will be 0.3 percent of the first $7k of wages per employee or a maximum of $21 per employee. Consequently, for each employee earning $12,960 in 2023 a minimum rate taxed employer, the UI tax per employee will increase from $93.96 to $173.28 and for each employee earning $12, 960 in 2023 a maximum rate taxed employer, the UI per employee will increase from $988.20 to $1,326.72. The General Assembly is not expected to return to Springfield until the fall Veto Session on Nov. 15.
