* I’ll have more on this for subscribers tomorrow. But, wow…

ILL COGFA met this AM to present new rev estimates…
raised GF to $51.9B which is $545M above Gov's FEB estimate….COGFA raised from $51.3 Nov guess by $575M ($5.5B above 2023 Enacted Budget)…Gov's office Nov estimate was $50.1B & they raised by $1.2B to $51.36B last month.

— yvette.shields@arizent.com (@Yvette_BB) March 7, 2023

* This Casten release was sent out Saturday and I told subscribers about his statement on Monday. A truncated version appeared in another publication today…

Today, U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) released the following statement regarding the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association event to support Illinois sheriffs who refuse to enforce the state’s assault weapons ban. The meeting featured former Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack, who served on the board of the Oath Keepers, a far-right organization whose leaders have been convicted of violently opposing the US government.

“Public safety is a two-way street,” said Rep. Sean Casten. “It depends on law enforcement to enforce the law, but also depends on public confidence that those laws will be enforced without prejudice, and not subject to the whims of a particular officer. When a sheriff refuses to implement the laws of Illinois in their community, they make future mass shootings more likely. They compromise the safety not only of civilians but also of the police officers who may end up in the line of fire.

“To invite a known Oath Keeper – an organization that took a leading role in attempting to overthrow the United States government during the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol – to discuss strategies for how to best ignore the laws of Illinois not only shows a complete disregard for American democracy, but also actively endangers the communities the sheriffs are sworn to protect.

“The Illinois General Assembly passed a law to ban the sale of the assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that made the Parkland, Dekalb, and Highland Park shootings so deadly. That is the law in the state of Illinois, and no one should have to guess whether that law will or will not be enforced based on the county they are in. The actions of any sheriff refusing to enforce the law are unacceptable and we must hold them accountable.”

Subscribers know more.

* Media advisory…

The Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus will host a press conference responding to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ proposed rule change that would increase naturalization fees.

Caucus members will detail their response to the proposed rule change, as well as share state efforts to decrease barriers to naturalization, including legal services and naturalization scholarships.

What: Press Conference Responding to USCIS’ Proposed Naturalization Fee Increases
When: March 8 at 11 a.m.
Who: Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus
Where: State Capitol Blue Room (Room 010)

* Media advisory about an Awake Illinois counter-event…

When: Saturday, March 11, 2023, 2:45 p.m.

What: Press Conference

Who: Coalition of parents from multiple school districts, Illinois Families for Public Schools, Library Defense Collaborative, FLAG and other advocacy orgs

Where: In front of Fox Valley Kickers Club (1015 Harvey Road, Oswego, Illinois), scheduled location of a free champagne-and-dinner campaign event, “Toast the Vote,” sponsored by Awake Illinois to promote local extremist school board candidates and featuring speakers Mario Presents, the California-based Chapter Director for national anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Gays Against Groomers, and Stephanie Trussell; former Lieutenant Governor Candidate

Speakers: Jennifer Stamp, Parent, District 308 (Oswego) and Co-Founder of Parents for Progress.
Dan Hemmer, FLAG Parent - Chicagoland Area
Shannon Limjuco, Parent, District 200 (Wheaton)
Tara Donnelly, Member, Library Defense Collaborative
Cassie Creswell, Director, Illinois Families for Public Schools.
Jim McGrath, Community Leader, District 220 (Barrington)
Leslie Cummings, Parent, District 200 (Wheaton)
Leslie, Weyhrich, Parent Group Member, High School District 203 (New Trier)

Why: Local school board elections will be held throughout Illinois on April 4, 2023, and parents and community leaders from across Chicago suburbs are calling out the outside interference in local elections from multi-million dollar national far-right dark-money groups, including Americans for Prosperity, the Heritage Foundation, the Leadership Institute, Parents Defending Education and Moms for Liberty. Partnering with local astroturf parent group Awake Illinois, these national groups are providing resources for slates of extremist candidates in multiple districts to advance an anti-equality, anti-public education agenda–pushing book bans, dismantling programs for social-emotional learning and diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and opposing up-to-date, accurate curricula for US history and sex ed.

* Two very good ideas that I’d also like to see implemented…

I again respectfully renew my call for a change in state law requiring any candidate blowing contribution caps to show a deposited & cleared check proving it. Yeah he’s probably got it but I got great doubts that many self funding candidate “loans” ever happened. https://t.co/NR31DZtHfC

— Chicago Bars (@chicagobars) March 2, 2023

Maybe once a candidate “loans” themselves >$100k to blow the caps it should also all have to be reclassified as a donation instead of a loan.

— The People’s Fabric (@peoplesfabric) March 3, 2023

* Isabel’s roundup…

* Crain’s | NASCAR may force Taste of Chicago from its longtime Grant Park home: Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, said he learned last night from officials associated with Navy Pier that Mayor Lori Lightfoot has proposed moving the Taste to Polk Bros Park near Navy Pier and holding the annual food event the weekend ahead of the Fourth of July — the same weekend as two NASCAR races in and around Grant Park on July 1 and July 2. Reilly said the dueling events would create a “traffic disaster.”

* Manufacturer News | John Deere to Open Parts Distribution Center in Illinois: “To help accommodate ongoing growth in our Aftermarket & Customer Support business, we are expanding our warehousing, packaging and logistics operations,” John Deere said in a statement to NWI Times. “The new distribution center in Mattoon will improve our ability to receive material directly from suppliers and enable us to ship outbound directly to dealers.”

* Crain’s | Chicago Women in Trades receives grant to expand representation in skilled trades: Chicago Women in Trades is one of seven recipients of grants from Carhartt’s “For the Love of Labor” initiative, a biannual program that awards grants to nonprofit organizations for skilled trades. The latest round of grants from the Michigan-based, family-owned worker brand, totaling $225,000, is dedicated to placing women in skilled positions to diversify representation in the trade industry.

* Illinois Newsroom | Illinois mayoral election series: Carbondale: To continue our series on mayoral races happening around Illinois, we dove into an election coming up in the southern Illinois city of Carbondale. A local business owner and a current city councilmember are both vying for the seat, and both candidates joined us to discuss their policies on issues ranging from gun violence to abortion to attracting younger residents to the city.

* Center Square | Illinois corn growers optimistic as US seeks consultation with Mexico over biotech corn restrictions: Mexico has been importing genetically modified feed corn for years, buying about $3 billion worth annually. Illinois is one of the leading corn producers in the country.

* 21st Show | Clashing over carbon capture pipelines in Illinois: While many experts say it is a useful method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many worry about the health risks associated with carbon dioxide if it were to leak from the pipeline.

* Journal Star | Organizer explains why Tailgate N’ Tallboys festival left Peoria for other Illinois locales: The move to leave Peoria, said Wayne Klein, who organizes the festival and also owns Crusens on Farmington Road, had nothing to do with Peoria or music lovers here. It was, as they said in the movie, “The Godfather,” strictly business.

* Block Club | Milwaukee Avenue Polish Heritage Signs Debut At Pulaski Day Celebration In Wicker Park: Last year, state legislators designated 15 miles of Milwaukee Avenue from West Town to Niles as an official “Polish Heritage Corridor.” The bill was introduced by then-Rep. Delia Ramirez and Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas and signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker in June.

* Rolling Stone | Twitter Bots Are Promising Cheap Guns to Anyone Using the N-Word: The bots themselves — which are constantly reported and suspended, only for new bots to take their place — appear to be activated by specific keywords. Any mention of firearms may summon them, but cursing and other strong language can too. When author Jim Wright offered somewhat profane advice to Michiganders during an ice storm, for example, a bot answered, “yooo i got cheap, clean poles 4 sale, click the link in my bio.” In rap lyrics, “pole” refers to a gun; other common euphemisms in these tweets are “heaters,” “straps,” and the water gun emoji. Twitter’s guidelines explicitly prohibit “the promotion of weapons and weapon accessories globally.”

* The Guardian | George Michael: Outed review – this will make you love him even more than you did as a screaming teen: This documentary on the pop star’s arrest for a ‘lewd act’ shows an era so breathtakingly homophobic that the shaming of gay men was a blood sport – and his response to it was one of absolute grace