* Background is here if you need it. The governor was asked today about Stellantis’ decision to idle its Belvidere plant and the future of electric vehicle manufacturing in Illinois…

We’re aggressively talking to every EV manufacturer that we can talk to, and that’s most of them in the country and outside the country. And, as you know, the Jeep Cherokee is what was being built, is being built now at this plant, factory and although they intend to idle that factory, it’s in part because Jeep Cherokee has come down as a priority for Stellantis in terms of their sales.

And so they’re looking for repurposing, what are they going to do on that spot. So we’ve been working with them for quite some time to try to make sure that they have an opportunity to put back to work the people who are at the current Jeep Cherokee plant.

Fortunately, they have enough land there. EVs are not, it’s not something you can take an existing footprint of an [internal combustion vehicle] manufacturing plant and just convert it. That doesn’t happen for EV. EV is a much larger enterprise. Typically they’re co-locating and that’s something that Stellantis is especially focused on for batteries and other components. So they need a lot of land. Fortunately, Belvedere, there’s a lot of land and they own most of that surrounding land. So I think we’re in a good position to help them get to what is the next phase of manufacturing in Belvedere

Please pardon all transcription errors.

* Interesting stuff…

A chart of gender and race/ethnicity of members in the 103rd GA by chamber and caucus. pic.twitter.com/j2OXMPczR9

— John Amdor (@JohnAmdor) December 15, 2022

* Rep. Delia Ramirez has resigned her House seat now that she’s about to be sworn in as a US Rep. Lilian Jimenez won that district in November, so you gotta figure that she’ll be appointed early. As expected, Rep. Tim Butler submitted his resignation yesterday. Click here to read it.

* AFSCME Council 31 heads back to the negotiating table for a new contract for its 35,000 state employees. Some stated priorities…

“With this revenue, there are a lot of competing interests who want to be prioritized for funding,” said Council 31 Director of Research and Employee Benefits Martha Merrill. “Just because the state is in a more stable position doesn’t mean that it wants to spend more money on employees. We’re still going to have to demand what we deserve like we do at every bargaining table.”

There’s another reason that the state’s finances are exceeding expectations: the staffing crisis. With so many vacant positions in state government, the state’s payroll is smaller than it has budgeted for. […]

One key issue in bargaining will be safety and staffing levels at state agencies, particularly at 24/7 facilities. Staffing levels at state agencies have nosedived since the beginning of the pandemic, and staff assaults and injuries are on the rise everywhere. There are almost 7,000 funded vacancies across all departments of state government.

* Constituent email…

This week House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch joined Biden administration policy experts to discuss and collaborate on legislative priorities for the upcoming legislative session. Items for discussion included reproductive health, common-sense gun reform, paid family leave, and lifting up America’s working families.

“I truly enjoyed this thoughtful and insightful conversation with President Biden’s policy experts,” said Speaker Welch. “An overwhelming majority of Americans support these policy initiatives and, as Democrats, we need to ensure that we are better aligned on these issues so that we can deliver for people across this country.”

Speaker Welch met with Julie Chavez Rodriguez, senior advisor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Morgan Mohr, senior advisor for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

In addition to the policy discussion, Speaker Welch also attended Vice President Kamala Harris’ Holiday Reception at her residence. Speaker Welch was able to network and continue strengthening relationships with leaders from states across the country.

* Politico…

Secretary of State-elect Alexi Giannoulias is naming campaign manager Hanah Jubeh and political strategist Scott Burnham, as deputy secretaries of state in his new administration.

* Press release…

The Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union 130 UA has endorsed Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot for reelection. The Mayor has worked closely with the Plumbers Local 130 throughout her time in office, and also received their endorsement for her 2019 campaign.

“We at the Plumbers Local 130 consider Mayor Lori Lightfoot to be a dedicated ally to plumbers and technical engineers as well as for trade workers across our city,” said Jim Coyne, Business Manager of the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union 130 UA. “Since she was elected in 2019, even throughout a global pandemic, the Mayor has supported us with the resources our members need to feel respected at each worksite and to thrive on the job. Mayor Lightfoot has never wavered on her recognition and protection for working Chicagoans, so we are proud to back her in her bid for reelection as we all stand to benefit from four more years of the Lightfoot administration.”

* In other words, they are prone to taking reckless risks…

New study finds that people who refused to get the COVID vaccine are at substantially higher risk of traffic crashes compared to vaccinated drivers.https://t.co/Mr9gYVpnGQ pic.twitter.com/tfAEFb5nwM

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) December 14, 2022

* Isabel’s roundup…

* ProPublica | Medical Care and Politics Go Hand in Hand at a Chicago Safety Net Hospital: Under the leadership of CEO Tim Egan, Chicago’s Roseland Community Hospital has awarded business to his friends and acquaintances, employees have donated to his political funds and he has appeared in a campaign ad for the state’s comptroller.

* Sun-Times | Truck makers Rivian, Lion call on Pritzker to move faster on phaseout of gas and diesel-fuel engines: Rivian, with almost 6,000 employees in Normal, and Lion Electric, which is beginning to build electric school buses in Joliet, along with 14 other businesses connected to electric vehicles and clean energy sent a letter urging Pritzker to set specific targets for eliminating polluting trucks, buses and other large vehicles. Pritzker has touted electric vehicles as a major economic opportunity for Illinois, and last year signed into law new tax credits and other incentives to bring more manufacturing to the state promising “thousands of jobs.”

* Courier and Press | Here’s how much Illinois made selling weed to Indiana, out-of-state residents: In October alone, Illinois made more than $40 million – $40,662,494 – off out-of-state sales to Hoosiers and other nearby residents.

* Chalkbeat | Illinois education budget might boost career, early childhood programs – but recession worries loom: School districts must decide how to spend emergency COVID funds by a federally-imposed fall 2024 deadline. After federal funds run out, some districts may be scrambling to pay for programs created during the pandemic and increased staffing. However, according to a newly published spending dashboard, districts still have more than half of the pandemic relief money to spend.

* Press Release | ISBE launches ESSER Spending Dashboard for funding transparency : he Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has launched a new spending dashboard to provide the public with an easy-to-use tool showing how Illinois is using federal pandemic relief funds. The state received nearly $8 billion through three rounds of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding to support students’ recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

* Sun-Times | ComEd to spend $40 million on plan to rid homes of natural gas: ComEd is moving from a pilot project to a larger plan to “decarbonize” thousands of homes, making them energy efficient and more environmentally friendly.

* Sun-Times | CTA, Pace to issue shared passes next year: “We’re thrilled to partner with the CTA on these changes which will open more doors to employment, education, and essential services throughout our region,” said Pace Executive Director Melinda Metzger.

* Sun-Times | Metra to rebuild 3 Electric Line stations on South Side: The stations at 79th, 87th and 103rd streets will be rebuilt from the ground up starting next summer and will be made handicap accessible, the transit agency announced Wednesday.

* Wall Street Journal | Why You Might Be Having Trouble Buying Children’s Flu and Cold Medicine: U.S. households are stepping up spending on cough and cold medicines and children’s pain relievers amid a rise in reports of respiratory infections, leading to sporadic shortages of some drugs online and at stores.

* Washington Post | Why a ‘tripledemic’ is keeping many of us sick for weeks at a time: As we approach year four of the coronavirus pandemic, Lane and other doctors agree the overlapping viral surges and how they are playing out are unusual and concerning: Patients with back-to-back respiratory illnesses. Simultaneous infection with three or more viruses. Otherwise healthy people suffering for weeks, rather than days, with simple colds.

* WSIU | Formerly incarcerated students in Illinois continue remote learning to finish their degrees: The pandemic forced prison programs around the country to adapt to remote learning. In Illinois, it also paved a path for college students leaving prison.

* WGEM | Dr. Ezike testifies before special COVID-19 congressional subcommittee: The Congressional Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis submitted its final report Wednesday to help prepare for and prevent the next public health emergency. A familiar public figure from Illinois also testified during the subcommittee’s final hearing Wednesday afternoon. Former IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike was asked to provide her perspective on how to best address the ongoing pandemic. Ezike said COVID-19 has highlighted the need for public health departments to focus more attention on health equity. She noted that thousands of people hospitalized for COVID-19 complications in Illinois suffered from underlying chronic conditions.

* Time | Here’s what we know about Sam Bankman-Fried’s political donations : A number of lawmakers from both parties are facing growing pressure to give up their campaign contributions from Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives in light of allegations that he stole customer funds. The campaign of Beto O’Rourke, a Democratic candidate for Texas governor this year, said it returned a $1 million SBF donation four days before Election Day, according to The Texas Tribune. Other lawmakers donated the money to charity, including Reps. Chuy Garcia, Democrat of Illinois, and Kevin Hern, Republican of Oklahoma.

* Washington Post | Lawmakers grapple with sheer size of FTX’s missing billions: Lawmakers on Wednesday attempted to grapple with the stunning collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX a day after federal prosecutors laid out a case of brazen financial crimes allegedly perpetrated by its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, who is being held by authorities in the Bahamas.

* The Hill | Democrats press Amazon on ‘failure to improve safety’ of tornado-struck warehouse : Three Democrats on Thursday asked Amazon to detail how it plans to keep workers safe as it rebuilds a warehouse in Illinois that was struck by a tornado and collapsed last year. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), in a letter shared exclusively with The Hill, pressed Amazon CEO Andy Jassy to explain the “rationale” for Amazon’s “reported failure to improve structural safety” at the facility despite six workers dying at the site during last year’s tornado and subsequent collapse.

* Washington Post | Want to save the planet? Saving whales could help, scientists say.: Many nature-based solutions to fighting climate change have focused on the ability of trees and wetlands to capture and store atmospheric carbon dioxide. But in a paper published Thursday in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, a group of biologists explores the idea that whales can influence the amount of carbon in the air and in the ocean, potentially contributing to the overall reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

* Washington Post | Elon Musk’s role at Tesla questioned as Twitter occupies his attention: Some Tesla investors are concerned that Musk is focusing too much on the social media company and becoming more polarizing.