* SJ-R…

Ameren Illinois, one of the state’s largest electric and gas delivery companies, has filed plans for electric and gas rate increases.

The Illinois Commerce Commission will review the requests for a $160.4 million gas rate hike over a year and a four-year $435.6 million electric increase.

The reasons for the requests are multi-fold, Ameren communications director Tucker Kennedy said Thursday. It partially stems from a requirement in the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, a green energy package that puts the state on track to be 100% carbon-free with its energy sources by 2050.

That phrase “partially stems from” stuck out to me. How partial? I asked Citizens Utility Board Executive Director David Kolata for some insight…

Both ComEd and Ameren are going to be saying CEJA requires grid upgrades to integrate renewables and upgrade the grid for electrification of transportation and heat. Over time, that’s true.

But two things on that. First, we have quite a bit of time for that. This doesn’t need to be done all at once, and in fact it shouldn’t be. Given the current pace of electrification and renewable new build there wouldn’t be any issue until the mid 2030s.

But second, and more importantly, the big driver of the rate increase is the excessive profit rate (RoE) they are requesting. So, yeah, there need to be grid upgrades over time…but that isn’t an excuse for a blank check and certainly not an excuse for an RoE of well over 10 percent.

* The AP poses as a babe in the legislative woods…

For all the fanfare and the legal rigmarole of Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons, it might come as a surprise to learn the legislation was titled “Insurance Code-Public Adjusters.”

To thousands of gun owners and merchants who filed lawsuits over it, the title exemplifies the way legislators cut corners last month to enact the legislation prompted by the deadly Independence Day parade shooting in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. […]

“It no longer addressed the issue of insurance adjusters and their contracts, as its new subject was now modifying completely different laws,” alleges a lawsuit led by Rep. Dan Caulkins, a Republican from Decatur, 182 miles (293 kilometers) south of Chicago. As a new bill, it warranted three new House readings, Caulkins argued.

Even the 5th District appeals court didn’t fall for that nonsense.

* Center Square on the same topic…

There are other issues state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, is hoping to get addressed in his litigation, and that’s how legislation at the Illinois statehouse seems to circumvent procedural rules.

Caulkins and others argue passage of the state’s gun ban violated the single-subject rule, didn’t properly have three readings and didn’t give the public due process considerations. Courts have either said those arguments don’t have merit, or do have merit but are not being considered at the moment.

“Nobody’s had the guts to hear that. This is a problem,” Caulkins said. “We have the constitution, this is the process we should be going through. It gets violated, not just in this case, but in the SAFE-T Act and the budget. “It goes on and on and on.”

Caulkins said the courts have to address this at some point so the public gets an entire airing of legislation with three public readings, for example.

“This is how it’s supposed to be done,” Caulkins said. “But because of the tyranny of the majority, they just in the dead of night will lay a bill on the desk and then an hour later we have to vote on it and the people of Illinois get no say.”

It was addressed last week, Representative.

* This was in Isabel’s “It’s just a bill” post, but let’s look at it again…

State Sen. John Curran, R-Lemont, wants to codify the decision of Illinois voters when it comes to a progressive income tax.

“The people have spoken, and they could not have been more clear that they do not want a progressive income tax,” Curran said after introducing a resolution that calls on lawmakers to reject any progressive income tax proposal placed before the chamber.

From comments…

Curran is proposing a legally meaningless resolution, not a bill. It “codifies” nothing, nada, bupkis.

* Injustice Watch…

Illinois’ top law enforcement officer is investigating whether the Chicago Police Department violated state law when it denied hundreds of undocumented immigrants a chance to apply for a special visa for crime victims in the past two years.

In a six-page letter to CPD’s top lawyer, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul demanded all data and documents related to the more than 800 denials acknowledged by CPD. He also urged the department to “develop a plan to contact all individuals who received denials” and allow them to reapply.

Raoul said the inquiry was sparked by a December investigation by Injustice Watch, which revealed how CPD routinely denied certifications to victims of qualifying crimes, such as domestic battery and assault. Those victims are eligible for legal status through a U visa, which provides a path to citizenship for those who cooperate in law enforcement investigations. […]

“Determinations as to whether the victim suffered substantial physical or mental abuse or whether the victim is ultimately eligible … are the exclusive responsibility of federal immigration officials and are not permissible grounds for local law enforcement to deny a certification request in Illinois,” Raoul wrote.

Raoul warned the “improper denials” may “result in legal action” from his office as they could potentially violate the Voices Immigrant Communities Empowering Act, known as the VOICES act, a state law setting rules and procedures for law enforcement agencies statewide on how to adjudicate U visa certification requests.

* From Rolling Stone’s interview of US Rep. Delia Ramirez…

Last week, a coalition of nine states asked the government to end DACA protections for Dreamers. Your husband is a DACA recipient. What has it been like for you both to live with the stress and uncertainty as this program remains in legal limbo?

It’s been emotional. Being a congresswoman, I have privileges that my friends and people in my district don’t have access to, and even with that, we are in the midst of a process for his DACA renewal that’s taking too darn long. I’m hearing calls from constituents who are saying, “I submitted my DACA renewal four months ago, and I still have no response. I lost my job because my work authorization expired.” It becomes paralyzing for people. It’s so draining. And it’s unacceptable because neither party has delivered a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.

Two years ago, my husband said to me, right before the election, “Why go through the adjustment status process? That takes so long, it’s so expensive. Let’s just wait until Democrats take the White House because I am convinced that if they do, there will be an executive action that will create a pathway to citizenship for those of us who have lived here almost all our lives.” How do I look into his eyes and tell him, “Oh, honey, I don’t think it’s gonna be that easy”? You know what I did instead? I said, “Okay,” and then I heard about it for about a month, how my party isn’t delivering. So it’s really personal. That is, in part, why I’m here. We need people like me who live these experiences every single day. That is why it is so important that a Democrat like me deliver a response to the Democratic president, affirming the experiences that everyday people are living right now.

Ramirez is delivering the progressive response to President Biden’s State of the Union address tonight.

* Chicago Tribune endorsement in the 13th Ward…

Paul Bruton has a tough task ahead of him. He faces incumbent Ald. Marty Quinn, who’s been on the City Council since 2011 and is a longtime ally of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, now facing trial on corruption charges. The 13th Ward is Madigan turf, and Bruton acknowledges that when he goes door to door, many residents “aren’t bothered at all” by the charges against Madigan, and Quinn’s strong connections to the one-time Illinois Democratic Party kingmaker. Others, however, tell Bruton that Madigan’s allies in the ward “have to go,” he tells us.

Bruton says he has been a stay-at-home dad since 2018. His previous work experience includes a four-year stint as an analyst at the Chicago inspector general’s office, which provides the crucial function of ferreting out waste, mismanagement and inefficiency in city government. It’s hard to imagine a better lead-up to becoming an alderman.

Bruton says one of the biggest challenges for this Southwest Side ward is the body blow that the pandemic delivered to the 13th’s small businesses. “I will study what types of businesses our ward is lacking, and actively recruit and work with local entrepreneurs to fill those gaps,” Bruton tells us.

Quinn doesn’t try to hide his Madigan alliance. “I’m not going to rewrite history,” he tells us. “We’ve done some good things.” He cites his oversight of nearly $300 million invested in 13th Ward schools, including the Southwest Side’s first selective enrollment school. He adds, “I personally shovel snow and my staff removes graffiti and cleans up shuttered buildings so quickly, they rarely can be found in the ward.”

That’s admirable, but Quinn’s long-standing ties to Madigan are a bridge too far for us, and they should be for 13th Ward voters. Bruton is endorsed.

* Press release…

UNITE HERE Local 1 endorsed Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot for reelection on Tuesday. UNITE HERE Local 1 represents more than 15,000 members who work in hospitality across hotels, airports, restaurants, school cafeterias, stadiums, convention centers, and casinos.

“Mayor Lightfoot has led Chicago with equity and inclusion at the forefront as she has advocated for long-overlooked communities to have a seat at the table,” said Karen Kent, President of UNITE HERE Local 1. “She guided this city through difficult and unprecedented times with tough yet fair leadership that made sure no one was left behind — especially our workers. When the pandemic put our livelihoods in jeopardy, Mayor Lightfoot ensured that our members had the resources they needed to make ends meet, and the protections and protocols to return to work safely. As a union made up of predominantly women, immigrants and people of color, Mayor Lightfoot has gained our confidence in her leadership, and we are eager to endorse her for four more years in office.”

* Politico says this is an ad, but it’s so far just a YouTube video…

Megan Mathias, a challenger in the 45th Ward aldermanic race, is out with an attack ad against incumbent Ald. Jim Gardiner.

I’m told she’s trying to raise the cash to put the YouTube video on streaming services. The video is here.

Also, a Comcast representative tells me that 60 percent of TV viewing in Chicago today is cable television and only 40 percent is broadcast.

* New Trier Township Republican Committeeperson…

Posted by Julie Cho on Tuesday, February 7, 2023

* Check out the hat…

Thank you for all the kind birthday wishes yesterday! I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love I received. ❤️ Feeling truly blessed. pic.twitter.com/ars5pu2BpY

— Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (@RepChrisWelch) February 7, 2023

* Isabel’s afternoon roundup…

* Fox Chicago | Illinois officials call for more resources for Black communities on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day: State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) joined the Black Leadership Advocacy Coalition for Healthcare Equity to encourage greater state investments in programs targeted towards Black-led community based HIV/AIDS service providers. The advocacy group said that less than $1 million of the Illinois Department of Public Health’s HIV/AIDS budget is going towards Black-led community-based service providers.

* WGLT | Illinois agencies prepare to help uninsured as Medicaid pandemic protections end: Illinois and other states have begun sending redetermination letters to recipients informing them if their coverage will continue. Sergio Obregon, special assistant to the director at the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, said this will happen over a couple of months. Not everyone who is ineligible will lose coverage immediately.

* Sun-Times | $100 million South Shore film studio a step toward making Chicago ‘Hollywood of the Midwest,’ officials say: The 222,000-square foot Regal Mile Studios is projected to open next year on a 7-acre parcel at South Chicago Avenue, Stony Island and 77th Street. The studio will have five soundstages, a gym, cafeteria and recreation space.

* Effingham Radio | Illinois hiring 40 new conservation specialists to help farmers with smart conservation practices: Brochures, phone calls and videos are helpful, but Buck said having experts who visit farms, providing technical assistance and answering questions, takes the process to the next level.

* Daily-Journal | State Senator Joyce awarded Railroader of the Year: “Senator Patrick Joyce is a true champion of the freight railroad system in Illinois,” said Tim Butler, president of the Illinois Railroad Association, in a news release. “He understands the importance of what our historic rail system means not just to Illinois, but our nation, our continent and our entire world.

* NBC Chicago | Sandra Bland Was Right: Before she died, Bland had posted several videos to YouTube, mostly full of cheer and encouragement. She started each video with “Good morning, my beautiful kings and queens!” But she also used her videos to talk about what she saw as clear racial profiling by some local police.

* CNBC | Wholesale egg prices have ‘collapsed.’ Why consumers may soon see relief: Prices fell to $2.61 per dozen eggs on Monday — a 52% decrease from the peak around $5.43 on Dec. 19 and a 47% decrease from the beginning of 2023, according to Urner Barry, a market research firm that specializes in the wholesale food industry. Its Midwest Large White Egg price benchmark is a widely cited barometer in the egg industry.

* Herald & Review | Decatur receives, matches $400,000 state grant for low-income home repairs: Eligible uses for the grant funds are forgivable mortgage loans for households making below 80% of the area’s median income and several kinds of repairs for those making 50% or less of the area median income. According to the city, about 220 residents have requested a roof replacement.

* CNN | The fungal threat to human health is growing in a warmer, wetter, sicker world: The number of serious fungal infections has increased partly because of the growing number of immune-suppressed people, studies show. “What’s changing is that more people that are exposed have those high risk factors. We have aging populations, and we were using a lot of chemicals in the environment which are forcing fungi to adapt, and our clinical antifungals are being degraded by antimicrobial resistance,” Fisher said.

* Sun-Times | Vallas gives away campaign contribution from ex-cop in Laquan McDonald case: Speaking outside an event hosted for him by the police union — which has endorsed him in the Feb. 28 election — Vallas said he was unaware of the $5,000 contribution to his campaign from ex-Chicago Police employee Richard E. Hagen until WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times reported on it last week.

* Block Club | Longtime Lightfoot Ally Ald. Pat Dowell Endorses Brandon Johnson For Mayor: Lightfoot defended Dowell later that year after a Tribune report revealed a developer had sought $20,000 in taxpayer reimbursements for donations to the alderwoman’s campaign. But now, Dowell is throwing her support behind Johnson, a longtime Chicago Teachers Union organizer and former teacher from the West Side. Dowell praised Johnson’s leadership style, saying in a statement Johnson’s “willingness to sit at the table with other leaders to find beneficial solutions” is the type of mayor Chicago needs.

* WBEZ | Five takeaways about voter turnout in Chicago ahead of this month’s municipal election: A WBEZ analysis of data from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners shows that fewer than four out of every 10 registered voters have cast ballots in all but one of the last five February municipal elections. The only exception was in 2011 when turnout reached 42%, the city’s first municipal election after longtime mayor Richard M. Daley decided not to seek reelection.

* Sun-Times | Despite troubling rise in suicides, CPD falling short on getting help for officers, inspector general finds: In a little-publicized report released by the city’s inspector general at the end of last year, weeks before the Chicago Police Department saw another cluster of suicides that brought the total for 2022 to seven. More than a dozen Chicago police officers have died by suicide since 2018.

* Block Club | Homelessness Crisis At O’Hare Shows More City Support Is Needed On NW Side And Beyond, Advocates Say: There were 3,875 people experiencing homelessness during the 2022 survey, the majority of them Black, data shows. This year’s numbers are still being analyzed and won’t be released for a few months, said Joe Dutra, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Family Support Services.

* Voting Bike Party | A bicyclist guide to Chicago voting: These people make the city’s laws and help determine the future of biking in your neighborhoods and across the entire city.

* WaPo | For long covid fatigue, a strategy called ‘pacing’ helps, but at a cost: Experts say the extreme fatigue experienced by many long covid patients has a name: myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), a condition previously known as chronic fatigue syndrome. Researchers estimate that about half of people with long covid have developed ME/CFS.

* AFP | Harmful pollution boosting superbug ’silent pandemic’: Containing and cleaning up environmental pollution, especially in waterways, is crucial to controlling increasingly bullet-proof superbugs which could kill tens of millions by mid-century, a new UN report said Tuesday.

* NYT | The People Onscreen Are Fake. The Disinformation Is Real.: “This is the first time we’ve seen this in the wild,” said Jack Stubbs, the vice president of intelligence at Graphika, a research firm that studies disinformation. Graphika discovered the pro-China campaign, which appeared intended to promote the interests of the Chinese Communist Party and undercut the United States for English-speaking viewers.

* Daily Herald | Who’s going to the State of the Union? Illinois lawmakers reveal their guests: A Midway International Airport worker. A doctor who assists women with abortions. The head of a service for homeless individuals. All three are among guests invited by members of Illinois’ congressional delegation to attend President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address tonight.

* University of British Columbia | Traffic pollution impairs brain function: The peer-reviewed findings, published in the journal Environmental Health, show that just two hours of exposure to diesel exhaust causes a decrease in the brain’s functional connectivity – a measure of how different areas of the brain interact and communicate with each other. The study provides the first evidence in humans, from a controlled experiment, of altered brain network connectivity induced by air pollution.

* Pen America | These 176 books were banned in Duval County, Florida: The removed titles were part of the Essential Voices Classroom Libraries Collection, purchased by the district in 2021. This collection “features characters representing a variety of ethnicities, religious affiliations, and gender identities,” and includes children’s picture books such as Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o, Dim Sum for Everyone! by Grace Lin, and Berenstain Bears and the Big Question by Stan and Jan Berenstain.