* Isabel also reached out to one of the House staffers attempting to organize a union and was told, “Further action is off the table until we pass a budget”…

I checked on the first one and there's no factual basis to believe the rumor https://t.co/YnbZZwAcZ0

— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) May 18, 2023

Session rumors, man.

* The decision is here…

Illinois Supreme Court has decided that column names and table names in databases are exempt under IL FOIA. Still need to collect my thoughts on this. This is such a disappointing loss for transparency in Illinois and will allow agencies to hide so much information.

— Matt Chapman (@foiachap) May 18, 2023

* According to the mapmakers and using current voting-age population, the revised Chicago Elected School Board District map has 5 White-majority districts, 7 Black-majority districts and 5 Latino-majority districts. The other districts are split, with Latinos having a slight plurality in two…

The Illinois Senate and House Democratic caucuses today released an updated Chicago Elected School Board District map proposal and have scheduled additional hearings to gather further input from the public.

The updated map is available for review at www.ilsenateredistricting.com and www.ilhousedems.com/redistricting. The proposal incorporates suggestions put forth through online map making portals and public hearings, including requests to keep communities of interest as whole as possible and to ensure the maps reflect the diversity of Chicago. The proposal consists of 20 potential districts. Current law requires that one member be elected and one member be appointed by the mayor from each of ten districts. Lawmakers are seeking guidance on whether current law should remain the same and, if so, guidance on the best way to pair the 20 districts into 10 districts.

The Senate Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board will hold a virtual hearing regarding the updated map at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 18 at www.ilga.gov. Additional opportunities to provide comment can be accessed online at www.ilsenateredistricting.com or through email at ChicagoERSBCommittee@senatedem.ilga.gov.

The House will hold a hearing on the proposed map on Friday, May 19th. Hearing information can be found at www.ilga.gov. Feedback can also be emailed at any time to RedistrictingCommittee@hds.ilga.gov. […]

The General Assembly faces a July 1 deadline to draw Chicago school board districts, which must be consistent with the Illinois Voting Rights Act. That law ensures districts are crafted in a way that preserves clusters of minority voters if they are of size or cohesion to exert collective electoral power.

Currently appointed by the mayor, the Chicago Board of Education will transition to become fully-elected over the course of a two-year hybrid period.

* IDES…

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate fell -0.2 percentage point to 4.2 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased by +8,500 in April, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The March monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +7,900 to +6,400 jobs. The March revised unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, unchanged from the preliminary March unemployment rate. The April payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.

In April, the industry sectors with the largest over-the-month job gains included: Manufacturing (+3,000), Construction (+2,700), Financial Activities (+2,700), and Educational and Health Services (+2,700). The industry sectors with the largest monthly payroll job declines included: Other Services (-2,000), Government (-900), and Leisure and Hospitality (-700). […]

The state’s unemployment rate was +0.8 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate reported for April, which was 3.4 percent, down -0.1 percentage point from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was down -0.3 percentage point from a year ago when it was at 4.5 percent.

Compared to a year ago, nonfarm payroll jobs increased by +131,800 jobs, with gains across nearly all major industries. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases included: Educational and Health Services (+38,100), Leisure and Hospitality (+37,200) and Government (+29,700). Information was the only industry group to report a decline in payroll jobs, down -2,100 from a year ago. In April, total nonfarm payrolls were up +2.2 percent over-the-year in Illinois and up +2.6 percent in the nation.

The number of unemployed workers was 275,000, down -3.1 percent from the prior month, and -5.0 percent over the same month one year ago. The labor force was up +0.1% over-the-month and down -0.1 percent over-the-year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.

* Man, this release is so full of bureaucratic-speak…

Today, Mayor Brandon Johnson; Deputy Mayor of Education, Youth, & Human Services Jennifer Johnson; the Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS); and All Chicago Making Homelessness History announced a partnership with the White House and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) to participate in ALL INside, a first-of-its-kind initiative to address unsheltered homelessness.

As part of ALL INside, the City will partner with USICH and its 19 federal member agencies for up to two years to strengthen and accelerate local efforts to move unsheltered people off the streets and into homes where they can rebuild their lives. […]

To accelerate ongoing efforts by local leaders, the Biden-Harris Administration will offer innovative and tailored support to participating communities for up to two years, including:

• Embedding a dedicated federal official in each community to accelerate locally driven strategies and enact system-level changes to reduce unsheltered homelessness.
• Deploying dedicated teams across the federal government to identify opportunities for regulatory relief and flexibilities, navigate federal funding streams, and facilitate a peer learning network across the communities; and
• Convening philanthropy, the private sector, and other communities to identify opportunities for follow-on support and collaboration.

Hooray, we get some new federal employees. How about giving the city money to put people in homes?

* The Chicago news media is kinda flipping out over that list of tax hikes issued by a couple of groups which supported Brandon Johnson’s mayoral campaign. But Lavin is right to try to calm things down…

“Let’s take a step back and see what the mayor’s plan actually is,” said Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce CEO Jack Lavin

And this looks more like a rejection than mere “distancing”…

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration on Wednesday distanced itself from a new proposal to raise up to $12 billion in annual revenue […]

“We put out a plan that we had to [argue about internally] a hundred different times. It was about $800 million. This is $12 billion. So it has nothing to do with what we’re trying to do,” Johnson’s senior adviser Jason Lee told the Sun-Times.

The final amount was “based on our kind of sober analysis of what might be feasible. … Their employee head tax is proposed to raise $100 million a year. Our head tax was proposed to raise $20 million a year. … They raise $2 billion off the income tax alone. We didn’t have an income tax in our plan. We didn’t think that was the right thing to do. They have a wealth tax. We don’t have a wealth tax.” […]

“His plan does not include a city income tax. He doesn’t plan to cut one penny from the CPD budget. Springfield has no appetite for a financial transaction tax. So we need to wait and see what the mayor’s proposals are before we react, then see how the mayor’s proposals address things like current obligations,” [Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce CEO Jack Lavin] said of the $37 billion pension crisis and the $700 million “funding cliff” for mass transit.

* Press release…

State Senator Ram Villivalam, State Representative Dagmara Avelar, and stakeholders announce an agreement on continuing medical education required for licensure of healthcare professionals. The initiative has been introduced as Senate Floor Amendment 3 to House Bill 2450.

State Sen. Ram Villivalam, D–Chicago
I am proud to have worked with Rep. Avelar, the Illinois State Medical Society, Equality Illinois, and a coalition of labor, civil rights, and community service organizations. The agreement ensures that healthcare providers will have the tools and knowledge to effectively serve their diverse communities while at the same time providing healthcare professionals with the flexibility they need in order to fulfill their continuing education requirements.

State Rep. Dagmara Avelar, D–Bolingbrook
As Illinois becomes more diverse, our health care needs to do the same. Culturally competent health care leads to more compassionate treatment and better health outcomes for some of our most vulnerable communities. This agreement is the result of extensive negotiations among advocates, legislators, and other stakeholders.

Illinois State Medical Society
We are pleased to support House Bill 2450 as amended as the new proposal will provide Illinois health professionals enhanced flexibility in taking continuing education coursework required for licensure. In addition to general continuing education hours, all licensed health professionals must take courses in specific areas to maintain licensure. We appreciate the efforts of Senator Ram Villivalam and our supporters in the House to provide much need flexibility and scheduling relief for thousands of healthcare heroes while keeping them educated on important matters related to patient care.

Healthcare Cultural Competency Coalition
We are a coalition of civil rights, community healthcare, and labor organizations. Thanks to the leadership of State Sen. Ram Villivalam and State Rep. Dagmara Avelar, this legislative agreement with the state’s medical community will ensure that healthcare providers are equipped with critical information and tools to deliver culturally competent care for the diverse communities they serve. We appreciate the leadership of Sen. Villivalam and Rep. Avelar and urge the Illinois General Assembly to pass this important legislation.

* DPI…

Today, the Democratic Party of Illinois (DPI) announced recent additions to its staff as part of Chair Lisa Hernandez’s Party Building Directive. DPI continues to build its staff to effectively implement the vision of Chair Hernandez and the Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC), expanding and strengthening the Party’s presence throughout the state and serving as a resource for all Democrats.

• Madeline Doctor will head the Party’s fundraising efforts as DPI Finance Director, expanding grassroots donor engagement and managing high level donor relationships. She previously served as Illinois Finance Director for Senator Tammy Duckworth and as Finance Director at Betsy Dirksen Londrigan for Congress.
• Jarae Hines will lead electoral strategy as DPI Field Director, working with DPI’s Regional Political Organizers to expand year-round voter engagement. He comes to DPI from Brandon Johnson’s mayoral campaign, where he was a field consultant and Operations Director on the transition team. He was previously Organizing Director for Congresswoman Lauren Underwood.
• Randall Webster is DPI Data Director. He will drive the strategic use of data for Democratic campaigns at all levels in Illinois and work to modernize the party’s data infrastructure. He previously worked as the New Hampshire Data Director in the Independent Expenditure for America Votes.
• Jessica Genova is now DPI Deputy Political Director. She came to DPI as a Regional Political Organizer after previously serving as Chief of Staff for State Representative Lindsey LaPointe.
• Allison Janowski is DPI Press Secretary. She was previously the Deputy Director for Protect Illinois Communities and a Communications Associate on Governor JB Pritzker’s reelection campaign.
• Alex Lineberry will serve as DPI Voter File Manager. She was previously a Data Associate at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and a Field Organizer at the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor-Party.

* Isabel’s roundup…

* Crain’s | Illinois biz leaders in uproar over last-second lawsuit bill that’s set to pass: Patrick Salvi II, president of the state trial lawyers group, disputed that. By the association’s count, 34 states allow for punitive damages on wrongful-death judgments. About 25 of those don’t limit the amounts, he said in an interview. … In Cook County over the past decade, he said, there were just 18 cases where punitive damages over $10,000 were imposed.

* Tribune | Native American history would be latest public schools requirement under bill Gov. J.B. Pritzker expected to sign: “The Native American history is in our DNA,” Democratic state Rep. Maurice West of Rockford, the bill’s sponsor, said in an interview. “It’s our obligation to truly know our history as a state.”

* Daily Herald | Rolling Meadows, Palatine mayors fear Bears-related costs will be passed to their towns: “The bill as written does not take into account the full scope of the Bears development. The Bears don’t even know the full scope of the Bears development at this time,” Sanoica said of the proposed $5 billion project.

* Daily Herald | How might Bears advance subsidy bill downfield? By giving Chicago a bigger cut: Legislation put forward by state Rep. Marty Moylan would also add a $3-per-ticket tax on every admission to a new Bears stadium to help pay down Chicago’s debt from the 2002 renovation of the old lakefront stadium. The legislation will not get full General Assembly consideration until at least the next legislative session; the current session ends Friday.

* Sun-Times | Johnson’s City Council floor leader portrays Lightfoot as sore loser undermining smooth transition: “Mayor Lightfoot, in her final days, really worked to harm this incoming administration. It’s sad. It’s unfortunate. But we now have to come together as a city and clean up the mess that she left us,” Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, the mayor’s City Council floor leader, told the Sun-Times.

* Block Club | Satanists Sue Chicago For Not Allowing Them To Say ‘Hail Satan’ At City Council Meetings: The lawsuit — filed this month by the Satanic Temple — says the city violated the religious group’s First Amendment rights by “excluding disfavored minority faiths” from giving an invocation at the start of City Council meetings.

* Illinois Answers | Mayor Brandon Johnson says he’ll reopen the city’s mental health clinics. It won’t be as easy as it sounds.: “Of course we want [to reopen] the mental health clinics, but I think we also need to reimagine what those clinics can look like,” said Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd), a close ally of the new mayor and the likely next chair of the City Council Committee on Health & Human Services. “At this point, we have to assess: where is the biggest need?” Rodriguez-Sanchez said. “It might not be the exact same six buildings — or it might. That’s something we’re going to need to study.”

* Chalkbeat | Illinois lawmakers to hold hearing on revised draft map for Chicago elected school board ahead of possible vote: The new draft tinkers with three districts where no racial or ethnic group has a 50% majority, tilting two of those in favor of Latinos.

* Illinois Times | A controversial purchase: “It’s too tall to fit under the Capitol Avenue underpass. So, anytime we have to go west from downtown, we can’t go that way. Normally, that’s OK – unless there’s a train – and then we either have to go all the way down to Stanford or all the way up to Sangamon,” said Kainan Rinaberger, who heads Springfield Fire Fighters Local 37.

* Crain’s | Chicago-area home prices dip for the first time in 12½ years: The median price of a home sold in the nine-county metropolitan area in April was $320,000, according to data released this morning by Illinois Realtors, a statewide professional group. That’s down 1.5% from the same time a year ago.

* Bloomberg | Stunted wheat crops are turning blue in drought-ravaged Kansas: Crop scouts set out this week to analyze yield prospects in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas, the biggest US grower. What they found underscores why the government is predicting that farmers across the nation will likely abandon their wheat crops at the highest rates since 1917. The signs of drought are everywhere, and many plants are too scrawny and damaged to be worth reaping.

* Crain’s | Sam Zell dies at 81: Known for his savvy in finding undervalued properties and companies, Zell built a sprawling empire that at times included the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Cubs, cruise ships, energy companies and Chinese and Mexican homebuilders. In his first entrepreneurial venture in 1953, a teenage Zell bought Playboy magazines in Chicago and resold them at a markup to his friends in Highland Park, where he grew up.

* NCSL | Human-Driven Physical Threats to Energy Infrastructure: In 2022, at least 25 reports were filed under the “actual physical attacks” criteria—as opposed to threats or suspicious behavior—compared to only six in 2021, but this can cover a range of activity. Additionally, while it is important to track all physical security incidents, it is important to note that not all incidents filed under the “actual physical attack” criteria resulted in customer impacts.