Question of the day
Tuesday, May 23, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Attorney General Kwame Raoul today filed a lawsuit, alongside 48 attorneys general, against Avid Telecom, its owner Michael Lansky and vice-president Stacey S. Reeves, for alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule and other federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws. Avid Telecom allegedly initiated, facilitated, and transmitted more than 7.5 billion illegal robocalls to millions of people on the National Do Not Call Registry. Between December 2018 and January 2023, more than 290 million of those calls were to Illinois residents.
Avid Telecom is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider that sells data, phone numbers and dialing software to help its customers make mass robocalls. It also serves as an intermediate provider and allegedly facilitated or helped route illegal robocalls across the country.
“Robocalls violate consumers’ privacy and unnecessarily cost them time and money. Companies responsible for this illegal practice must be held accountable,” Raoul said. “I am happy to work with fellow attorneys general addressing this problem in Illinois and will continue to protect consumers’ rights by fighting against these unlawful actions.”
Between December 2018 and January 2023, Avid sent or attempted to transmit more than 24.5 billion calls. More than 90 percent of those calls lasted less than just 15 seconds, which indicates they were likely robocalls. Further, Avid helped make hundreds of millions of calls using spoofed or invalid caller ID numbers, including more than 8.4 million calls that appeared to be coming from government and law enforcement agencies and private companies.
Avid Telecom allegedly sent or transmitted scam calls about Social Security Administration scams, Medicare scams, auto warranty scams, Amazon scams, DirecTV scams, credit card interest rate reduction scams and employment scams.
The USTelecom-led Industry Traceback Group, which notifies providers about known and suspected illegal robocalls sent across their networks, sent at least 329 notifications to Avid Telecom that it was transmitting these calls. Avid Telecom allegedly continued the calls.
The legal action arises from the nationwide Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force Raoul joined in August 2022 along with 50 bipartisan attorneys general. The task force is investigating and taking legal action against those responsible for routing significant volumes of illegal robocall traffic into and across the United States. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General provided investigative assistance in this matter.
Attorney General Raoul has been a consistent advocate for protections against illegal robocalls. In 2022, Raoul joined a coalition of 33 attorneys general in filing a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court defending the anti-robocall provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. In August 2019, Raoul joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from all 50 states and Washington D.C. in partnering with 12 phone companies to create a set of principles for telecom companies to fight robocalls. In June 2019, Raoul, in cooperation with the FTC, announced a major crackdown on robocalls that included 94 actions targeting operations around the country that were responsible for more than 1 billion calls. Raoul has also submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission urging the adoption of its proposed rules on enforcement against caller ID spoofing.
Joining Raoul in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
* The Question: How do you deal with these robocalls?
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Tuesday, May 23, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* NYT | Sex Abuse in Catholic Church: Over 1,900 Minors Abused in Illinois, State Says: The report adds 149 names to lists of child sex abusers whom the dioceses themselves had publicly identified before or during the investigation. That brings the total number of identified abusers to 451, the report says. The additional names were supplied by victims who came forward and shared their accounts with investigators, who then followed up on their accounts. Investigators also reviewed more than 100,000 pages of files held by the dioceses, and interviewed church leaders and their representatives. The 149 new names are religious brothers, who are accountable primarily to independent religious orders rather than to local dioceses and bishops.
* Sun-Times | Yellow-vested Peacekeepers, funded by the state, will patrol Chicago streets Memorial Day weekend: More than 500 people have been hired as Peacekeepers, trained to de-escalate conflicts in 102 “hotspots” in 14 Chicago communities. They’re on duty from Tuesday through Saturday.
* WJOL | Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias Awards $221,000 to Joliet Public Library: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced that his office is awarding nearly $18 million to 639 public libraries statewide – including more than $221,000 to the Joliet Public Library. These grants, awarded once every fiscal year, will help provide library services to nearly 12 million patrons statewide and approximately 150,000 Joliet residents.
* Sun-Times | Convicted ComEd CEO’s attorney warns ‘we may be trying this case again,’ but judge won’t allow contact with jurors: It’s another signal that, despite the resounding guilty verdicts early this month against Pramaggiore, Hooker, former ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain and onetime City Club President Jay Doherty, the case isn’t over.
* Center Square | Illinois seeks to bar out-of-state police access to data of those seeking abortions in state: The measure also would prohibit the use of such camera data by out-of-state law enforcement for tracking down undocumented migrants in Illinois. It now goes back to the House for concurrence.
* Center Square | Proposal to consolidate lawmaker pensions with other funds to be discussed this summer: Reick said the goal of the proposals is to bring the state to conformity with the nation’s Employee Retirement Income Security Act. “What we are trying to do with this bill is basically bring Tier 2 into conformity with safe harbor provisions of ERISA,” Reick said. “Which we have been out of compliance with since 2012.”
* Sun-Times | Brandon Johnson’s first City Council meeting certain to be tamer than Lightfoot’s: Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), whom Lightfoot accused that first day of “carrying the water for Burke,” also expects zero fireworks. He noted that Lightfoot and Johnson are “two different personality types.” “She came in with much more animosity towards certain individuals than Brandon has. He’s actually been pretty pro-active in reaching out to make human connections with members. So, I would be surprised if he got off on that foot,” Lopez said.
* Crain’s | Top Lightfoot aide rips move to dump him from the McPier board — but he says he might quit if Johnson asks: In his first comments on the matter, the former deputy mayor, who served as Lightfoot’s top aide for relations with the business community, said a pending bill to rescind Lightfoot’s last-second move appointing him to the board of the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority may be illegal and is “terrible for democratic values.” The authority, generally known as McPier, operates the McCormick Place convention center and plays a major role in the city’s economy. It also owns Navy Pier but does not run the facility.
* Center Square | Some criticize proposed grants for groceries to eliminate ‘food deserts’ in Illinois: State Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, said a grocery store is the lifeblood of a small community. “When you lose a grocery store, you lose the identity of your community, and you lose the ability to retain population and keep families in your community,” Spain said.
* Bloomberg | Walgreens settles consumer claims it knew Theranos was a fraud: US District Judge David Campbell in Phoenix this month ordered the case to go to trial after concluding there are factual issues that only a jury can resolve over whether Walgreens entered into an ill-fated partnership with Theranos to offer tests at its drugstores even while it had good reason to suspect the startup’s technology didn’t really work.
* Bloomberg | How mega-retailers like Walgreens became health care’s biggest disruptors: In 2021, Walgreens invested $5.2 billion to take a majority stake in primary care provider VillageMD, accelerating plans to open 1,000 co-branded “Village Medical at Walgreens” practices by 2027. CVS says primary care complements its value-based care efforts. It acquired Oak Street Health in a $10.6 billion transaction earlier this year and plans to expand to 300 Oak Street sites by 2026. The company has also built a national network of roughly 1,200 MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinics.
* Crain’s | After $1.5 billion PE deal, Rosemont medical-data firm buys AI startup: Intelligent Medical Objects, a Rosemont medical data firm that took a $1.5 billion private-equity deal last year, is buying a Texas-based artificial intelligence startup, a move it says will help it expand to more health care segments.
* WGLT | Lincoln brought Guy Fraker to Illinois; preserving the landscape came later: A lawyer by profession, Fraker’s two avocations are studying Abraham Lincoln and land conservation — so it is serendipitous that he chose to settle in the Twin Cities. His commitment to both topics is what prompted McLean County Museum of History to select Fraker as a 2023 History Maker.
* WCIA | Grammy-winning Alanis Morissette to headline Illinois State Fair in August: “We are excited to welcome Alanis Morissette to the Illinois State Fair for the first time,” said state fair manager Rebecca Clark. “Her album ‘Jagged Little Pill’ was a defining music achievement for my generation and over 25 years later, you still hear ‘You Oughta Know’ or ‘Ironic’ on the radio.”
* AP | UPS strike looms in a world grown reliant on everything delivered everywhere all the time: Annual profits at UPS in the past two years are close to three times what they were before the pandemic. The Atlanta company returned about $8.6 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks in 2022, and forecasts another $8.4 billion for shareholders this year. The Teamsters say frontline UPS workers deserve some of that windfall.
* Crain’s | The fine print of the Big Ten’s blockbuster TV deal is turning into quagmire for new chief: report: When new Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti took the reins of the conference last month, finalizing the $7 billion-plus broadcasting deal his predecessor [New Bears president/CEO] Kevin Warren struck last year seemed a formality.
* KFVS | More than 16K turkey harvested during Illinois’ spring season; Jefferson Co. in top 5 for harvest totals: They say the record harvest total for the spring season was set in 2006 when 16,569 turkeys were taken.
* NBC Chicago | ‘What Do You Know About Benton, Illinois?’ Southern Illinois Town at Center of New Show With ‘Real Housewives’: According to a press release from Bravo, Sonja Morgan and Luann de Lesseps, of the New York Real Housewives franchise, will “trade big-city chic for small-town charm” as the duo fronts “Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake,” a new show premiering on NBC’s streaming service Peacock beginning in July.
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* Back in 2015…
Officials with the Shawnee School District #84 fear schools could face closing if the county reassesses a southern Illinois power plant’s property value.
A letter from the Jackson County Board of Review to the school district details the Grand Tower Energy Center, LLC is asking the county to lower its full market value on the Grand Tower Power Plant from $100,337,421 to $7,049,295. […]
Now, a letter from the county to the school district details what the plant’s new owner is asking. It asks that the county lower its full assessed value on the property by more than $90 million.
* Also from 2015…
A power plant says it hasn’t been able to pay more than $2 million in taxes to Jackson County because of a property tax assessment.
The Grand Tower Energy Center said in a statement to the Southern Illinoisan that it’s “not in a financial position to make tax payments based on the current assessment.” The plant said it has been working with the county assessor’s office for nearly two years to resolve the issue but its efforts have been “rebuffed.”
The Jackson County Board of Review in May upheld the assessed tax valuation after plant officials tried to get the property’s full valuation reduced from about $100 million to about $7 million.
* From the above-referenced Southern Illinoisan story…
In the statement from the power plant, it says the plant has submitted its appeal for the second year to the Board of Review.
Rendleman said the decision on the property taxes in 2014 has already been made by the Board of Review. If the power plant wants to appeal that decision, it must go through the Property Tax Appeals Board in Springfield.
Scott Ginsburg, legal representation for the Shawnee School District, said the procedure in Springfield requires the plant to pay the taxes first, and if it wins, they get the difference back plus interest.
* The Grand Tower Energy Center did go to the Property Tax Appeals Board, and it ruled in 2019 that full market value should be $20 million, not $100 million.
WSIL TV…
A recent decision by the Property Tax Appeal Board could cost local taxpayers millions of dollars.
The board decided Tuesday to lower the Grand Tower Energy Center’s property tax bill retroactively for 2014 and 2015. […]
Ameren owned the power plant until 2014, when it sold the plant, along with two others in Illinois, to a financial firm called Rockland Capital. […]
The Shawnee School District stands to lose the most, about $2.5 million according to the Jackson County Tax Assessor’s office.
* The school district had also complained that Grand Tower Energy Center was “required to pay the taxes under protest before filing a statutory objection with either the PTAB or the court.” PTAB rejected that argument and the school district appealed. The Fifth District Appellate Court ruled three years later, in 2022, that PTAB was right on both counts (the property value and that the company didn’t need to pay taxes up front in protest). From the school district…
In a momentous departure from longstanding Illinois law, an appellate court found that delinquent taxpayers who deliberately withhold taxes may still pursue a claim for property tax assessment relief. In so doing, the court, in the case of Shawnee Community Unit School District No. 84 v. Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, 2022 IL App (5th) 190266-U, provided a roadmap to taxpayers looking to coerce taxing districts into accepting favorable settlements, lest the taxing districts, including schools, lose the local property tax revenue they need to perform their essential functions like providing education to children and safety services to the public. […]
The Fifth District’s decision upended nearly a century of Illinois case law reaffirming the “payment under protest” doctrine meant to prevent taxpayers from harassing local taxing bodies by withholding operating funds as part of a strategy to extract favorable property tax settlements.
* Last September…
Shawnee School District Superintendent Shelly Clover-Hill says her schools and Galatia School District will receive a significant loss grant in the Illinois State Fiscal Year 2023 budget.
* Last October…
“Can you imagine the catastrophic breakdown of social services if every tax payer in Illinois found out now, there’s a 5th district decision that says you don’t have to pay while you protest,” [Shawnee School District Superintendent Shelly Clover-Hill] explains. “That’s hospitals and road and police and fire and schools.” […]
Clover-Hill says other school districts across the state are concerned about the 5th district’s decision and how it could impact their tax funding. Those districts have offered their support to Shawnee.
She expects this case to be heard by the Illinois Supreme Court in the Spring of 2023.
* Yesterday…
A school district in southern Illinois is asking the state for some financial help and this isn’t the first time a company nearby refuses to pay its property taxes, for the second year in a row.
“This is unfortunately not the first time they have failed to pay their taxes. They put us in this same boat last year,” said Shawnee District #84 superintendent Shelly Clover-Hill.
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* US Attorney’s Office…
A Prophetstown, Illinois, man, Philip J. Buyno, 73, has been arrested and charged by federal criminal complaint with attempting to use fire to damage a building used in interstate commerce. Danville, Illinois, police officers arrested Buyno on Saturday, May 20th, and he is scheduled to appear in federal court in Urbana today at 1:15 pm before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long. At that time, Judge Long will address whether Buyno will be released on conditions of bond or held in custody pending further proceedings.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, Danville police officers responded to an alarm at 600 N. Logan Avenue in Danville around 4:30 a.m. early Saturday morning. They found Buyno stuck inside a maroon Volkswagen Passat that he had backed into the entrance of the building, which is being renovated for use as a reproductive health clinic. According to the affidavit, Buyno brought several containers filled with gasoline with him.
If convicted of attempted arson, Buyno faces a minimum penalty of five years up to twenty years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years of supervised release.
The charges are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, and the Danville Police Department. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller is representing the government in the prosecution.
Members of the public are reminded that a complaint is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
* WAND…
“Let’s focus and call it what it is. This is an act of terrorism, and this is a fight against women’s rights,” said Caylynne Dobbles, President of VC Pride Coalition. […]
WAND reached out to Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. who said that he did not have a comment due to this being an open investigation.
“The community should know that not everyone on either side is like this. Not everyone is out to hurt people or harm buildings. And that the VC Pride Coalition is here,” said Dobbles.
* WCIA…
A neighbor, who doesn’t want to be identified, says she heard banging that sounded like someone was messing with her car, but instead, she says it was someone ramming their own car into the clinic building. She says shortly after she saw a man trying to get away. […]
The neighbor says police used to sit in the parking lot to keep an eye on the building. But since these no-trespassing posts went up, she says she hasn’t seen them. While she doesn’t agree with the clinic opening, she says that doesn’t give people the right to destroy it.
* Chicago Tribune…
The alleged attack follows recent heated, high-profile demonstrations in support of and against abortion access in this community of about 30,000.
Earlier this month, the Danville City Council narrowly passed a controversial ban on the mailing and shipping of abortion pills, a measure Attorney General Kwame Raoul and civil rights experts have warned is illegal in Illinois. […]
The attack in Danville occurred just a few months after another man was accused of setting fire to a Planned Parenthood Health Center roughly a hundred miles away in Peoria.
Tyler W. Massengill, 32, of Chillicothe in February pleaded guilty to setting the fire; when he was arrested in January, he told authorities that an ex-girlfriend had an abortion several years ago in Peoria, which upset him. The blaze was set a few days after Illinois passed expansive reproductive rights legislation that included protections for abortion providers and out-of-state patients as well as an expansion of the pool of clinicians that can perform abortions.
Buyno is a decades-long activist. Click here for video of him being arrested outside a clinic in Milwaukee back in 1991. And click here to see him talk about being arrested in Peoria a few years ago.
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* The state’s turnaround times are still too long, but at least the trend is finally moving in the right direction…
Illinois State Police (ISP) Director Brendan F. Kelly today announced ISP has received final accreditation for the new ISP Decatur Forensic Science Laboratory and it is now officially open for business. The new four-story facility located along U.S. Route 51 on the south side of Decatur houses12,200-square feet of laboratory space and will serve law enforcement agencies across the state.
“This top-tier facility will increase capacity to significantly reduce turnaround time for DNA testing, produce rapid results, and further reduce the case backlog,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Since day one, my administration has been committed to delivering justice for every Illinoisan, and this new Decatur lab will ensure we can accomplish that.”
The new lab will focus on high-throughput DNA testing, which comprises about 20% of all ISP forensic cases in the laboratory system. Forensic scientists at the laboratory will examine evidence collected from crime scenes and analyze biological material to identify DNA profiles from suspects.
“The Decatur facility is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art technology and will be staffed with highly trained individuals who are critical to providing DNA analysis for the citizens of Illinois,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “The new lab will further reduce backlogs and allow us to solve crimes faster and bring justice to all involved.”
The new high-throughput DNA laboratory utilizes robotics, which will increase ISP’s testing capacity. These robots can process case samples with minimal hands on from the forensic scientist. The technology will be crucial in providing a short turn around for cases such as property crimes, homicides, and criminal sexual assaults requiring DNA analysis.
The Decatur facility houses ISP’s seventh forensic laboratory, as well as Crime Scene Services. The new facility brings new jobs to the area and has space for approximately 27 employees, including 12 forensic scientists, five evidence technicians, five administrative staff, and five crime scene investigators. Approximately $5.4 million was awarded for staffing and equipment at the new laboratory for the first year.
The ISP forensic science laboratory system has been recognized as one of the largest crime laboratory systems in the world providing forensic science analytical services to more than 1,200 state, county, and local criminal justice agencies. The ISP laboratory system, currently comprised of seven operational laboratories and a training and application laboratory, processes evidence from criminal cases in seven disciplines: drug chemistry, trace chemistry, toxicology, biology/DNA, latent prints, firearms/toolmarks, and footwear/tire tracks.
The average turn-around-time for a DNA case to be completed is 3.6 months. At the end of March 2023, 37% of the assignments for DNA analyses were completed in 60 days or less. Backlogs in testing for trace chemistry, drug chemistry, latent prints, firearms, toxicology, and footwear have all decreased by approximately 37% since 2021.
In June 2022, ISP announced that after decades of extensive sexual assault forensic backlogs, the number of pending sexual assault forensic assignments older than 180 days reached zero. This was the first time since the General Assembly passed the Illinois Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act in 2010 that the State of Illinois was in compliance with the statute.
It’s just ridiculous how the state let the rape kit problem so horribly deteriorate. I mean, it was so bad they had to pass a law, and it still took a dozen years to reach what is really a not optimal result of 6 months.
Anyway, click here for some videos of the new lab.
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* Click here for the report. Press release…
Attorney General Kwame Raoul today released a comprehensive report detailing decades of child sex abuse by members of the Catholic clergy in Illinois. The report concludes a multi-year investigation into child sex abuse by members of the clergy in all six Catholic dioceses in Illinois. Attorney General Raoul’s report reveals names and detailed information of 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers who abused at least 1,997 children across all of the dioceses in Illinois.
The Attorney General’s Report on Catholic Clergy Child Sex Abuse in Illinois – released this morning during a press conference in Chicago – represents the state of Illinois’ first comprehensive accounting of child sex abuse by members of the Catholic clergy in the six dioceses across Illinois. The nearly 700-page report features detailed narrative accounts of child sex abuse committed by Catholic clerics. Many of the narratives were written in consultation with survivors, are based upon their experiences, and told from the survivor’s point of view. Although the report formally concludes the investigation the Attorney General’s office opened in 2018, it contains 50 pages of the office’s recommendations to the dioceses for the handling of future child sex abuse allegations.
“I was raised and confirmed in the Catholic church and sent my children to Catholic schools. I believe the church does important work to support vulnerable populations; however, as with any presumably reputable institution, the Catholic church must be held accountable when it betrays the public’s trust,” Raoul said “It is my hope that this nearly 700-page report will provide some closure to survivors of child sex abuse by Catholic clerics by shining a light both on those who violated their positions of power and trust, and on the individuals in church leadership who covered up that abuse,” Raoul said. “These perpetrators may never be held accountable in a court of law, but by naming them here, the intention is to provide a public accounting and a measure of healing to survivors who have long suffered in silence.”
Before Raoul’s investigation, the Catholic dioceses of Illinois publicly listed only 103 substantiated child sex abusers. By comparison, Raoul’s report reveals names and detailed information of 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers who abused at least 1,997 children across all of the dioceses in Illinois.
Attorneys and investigators in Raoul’s office reviewed more than 100,000 pages of documents held by the dioceses and received more than 600 confidential contacts from survivors through emails, letters, interviews and phone calls. Raoul’s office also worked closely to record accounts of the survivor experiences of children who were sexually abused by clerics.
“I am extremely proud of the work done by my office’s team of investigators and attorneys who faced challenges and intervening factors including a pandemic and a ransomware attack to the office’s IT infrastructure. The emotional impact of the work was unique to this investigation, and our team committed to approaching the investigation with grace and compassion,” Raoul added. “I thank each of them for the tireless work and commitment to allowing survivors to share their experiences.”
Raoul’s nearly 700-page report is organized into five sections, with sections highlighting detailed information on each diocese’s historic handling – and inaction – of child sex abuse, data analysis showing the extent of child sex abuse by clerics in each Illinois diocese, and specific recommendations from the Attorney General’s office to the dioceses for handling future child sex abuse allegations.
The survivor narratives demonstrate a troubling pattern of the church failing to support survivors, ignoring or covering up reports of abuse, and survivors being revictimized by the church when they came forward to report being abused. Repeatedly, church officials prioritized the reputation of the institution over protecting children, frequently giving abusive priests the benefit of the doubt – giving abusers the chance to abuse again – and even covering up the abuse by misleading the public. The Attorney General’s investigation also found instances in which church officials were in a position to report abuse but chose not to do so. As a result, many narrative accounts demonstrate the continued trauma and impact survivors continue to experience decades later.
As a result of the Attorney General’s investigation, Illinois Catholic dioceses have adopted uniform policies to improve the handling of alleged child sex abuse. Among those are policies requiring dioceses to investigate allegations against clerics who are deceased, have resigned or been laicized. Additional policies require the dioceses to ensure that allegations against religious order and extern clerics are investigated, and to publicly list a religious order or extern cleric who is substantiated as a child sex abuser if the cleric had sufficient connection with the diocese.
While these policies demonstrate a step in the right direction, they do not go far enough. Attorney General Raoul’s report includes 50 pages of recommended policies the office strongly encourages the dioceses to enact to further improve the handling of future allegations of child sex abuse. Those recommendations range from how the dioceses communicate with and support survivors, investigate and make determinations related to alleged abuse, as well as disclosure and transparency protocols, mediation and compensation, and the handling of allegations related to religious orders.
Raoul’s report contains detailed descriptions of child sex abuse, assault and trauma. Resources for survivors of child sex abuse can also be found in Attorney General Raoul’s report.
…Adding… Sun-Times…
In August 2018, shortly after then-Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced an investigation into whether the Catholic church in Illinois had fully disclosed the scope of child sex abuse by priests and other clergy members, Cardinal Blase Cupich said the church had nothing to hide.
“Our record’s clean,” the top Catholic cleric in Chicago told a closed-door gathering of about 200 men studying at the Mundelein seminary to be priests, according to sources who were there. “I’m confident that, when the attorney general looks in our files . . . that she will, in fact, find that we’re doing our job.”
“We posted all of the names,” Cupich told the group, referring to the publicly available church list of clergy members in the Archdiocese of Chicago deemed to have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.
Cupich’s assertions were far off the mark, according to the results of the investigation announced Tuesday by Madigan’s successor, Kwame Raoul, who said the archdiocese, covering Cook and Lake counties, and the rest of the Catholic church in Illinois failed to acknowledge hundreds of allegedly abusive priests and other religious figures.
…Adding… Ugh…
* Also, from the report…
. What can be said is that as things stand, the Diocese of Springfield has yet to reconcile itself with its past. To do that, the diocese must commit to transparency and survivor healing through deeds, listening to survivors and their pleas for trauma-informed responses. The diocese must also openly acknowledge that turning its back for half a century on the needs of children suffering sex abuse at the hands of its clerics was in no way “virtuous.”
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It’s almost a law
Tuesday, May 23, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* WCIA…
A bill moving through the state legislature would prohibit Illinoisans from paying exorbitant costs for generic brand medications.
A bipartisan group of legislators worked to pass the Pharmaceutical and Health Affordability Act, which aims to stop skyrocketing prices of generic and off-brand prescription medications. The bill passed the Senate Wednesday and the House of Representatives Friday and now heads to the governor’s desk.
In the bill, price gouging is defined as “an increase in the price as 30% or more within the preceding year, 50% or more within the preceding 3 years, or 75% or more within the preceding 5 years.” It also must be found the price hike burdens consumers because of little to no competition in the marketplace. The bill does exempt if companies raise the price because of production cost increases. […]
If signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker, the law would go into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
* Brenden Moore…
A bill that would allow the state to explore entering into an agreement with a private company to run the World Shooting and Recreational Complex near Sparta is headed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.
The legislation is a trial balloon of sorts that will permit the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to gauge interest in a public-private partnership to manage the state-owned, 1,600-acre site, which is the home grounds for the Amateur Trapshooting Association’s Grand American Trapshooting Championships.
The amended bill, sponsored by state Rep. David Friess, R-Red Bud, and state Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, passed the Senate 56-0 and the House 111-1 earlier this month.
“IDNR is constantly reviewing our nearly 400 property holdings across the state and considering our options,” said IDNR director Natalie Phelps Finnie in a statement to Lee Enterprises. “Top of mind for the department is always whether we are providing taxpayers with the best value for their money.
* WGN…
A bill headed to the governor’s desk will assist law enforcement in finding stolen vehicles by requiring automakers to provide location information.
HB2245 passed unanimously in both the Illinois House and Senate and, if signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, will force any car manufacturer which sells its vehicles in the state to create a 24/7 hotline. This hotline would be used by law enforcement, to include 9-1-1 center operators, to obtain a stolen car’s location to the best of a manufacturer’s technical abilities.
Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart helped to craft the bill and he wants to see similar legislation at the federal level.
Dart held a news conference Tuesday morning to discuss the state legislation and what he sees as its impacts on his own fight against carjacking in Cook County.
* Ag Clips…
The passage of Senate Bill 1701 advances agriculture conservation in Illinois by supporting farming practices that will yield healthier, stronger soils and cleaner water across the state, advocates said May 19.
Legislators approved Senate Bill 1701 as part of the final days of the spring legislative session in Springfield. It now goes to the Governor for review. […]
The legislation sends a strong message that Illinois must accelerate its efforts to protect soil health and prevent nutrient losses. It directs the Illinois Department of Agriculture to work with Soil and Water Conservation Districts and other conservation-focused state agencies to help with the accelerated soil health framework. […]
The organizations supporting this legislation are now calling on legislators to vote for an Illinois state budget that follows through on SB1701’s promise of more support for sustainable farming practices. By putting more money into Soil and Water Conservation Districts and urging farmers to make voluntary conservation practices a key part of how they manage their operations, we will invest in our future success – on our farms and across our state.
* Sen. Willie Preston…
Taking a step forward in ensuring the safety and well-being of employees and incarcerated individuals, State Senator Willie Preston advanced a measure through the Senate addressing indecent exposure in correctional facilities. […]
House Bill 1399 amends the Criminal Code of 2012 to create the offense of “lewd sexual display in a penal institution,” making it a Class A misdemeanor for incarcerated individuals to expose themselves with the purpose or effect of intimidating, harassing or threatening someone in the presence of such a display. Repeat offenders would face more severe penalties, with subsequent violations being considered Class 4 felonies. The provisions will be repealed on Jan. 1, 2028, allowing for thorough review of annual reports provided by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.
Brought forth by the Cook County Sherriff’s Office, the measure mirrors penalties for public indecency but changes the penalties given the context and motivation of the crime. House Bill 1399 excludes facilities of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and other juvenile detention facilities, as well as individuals under the age of 18 and those suffering from behavioral health issues. […]
House Bill 1399 passed the Senate on Friday.
* Center Square…
A measure that implements full-day kindergarten throughout Illinois is now awaiting to be sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker for his signature.
State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, filed House Bill 2396. It passed the House in March. After several amendments in the Illinois Senate last week, the House voted to concur Friday.
State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, said the bill better prepares the state’s youth for the future.
“Full-day kindergarten has shown to boost academic gains and prepare children for the social and emotional demands of early elementary,” Lightford said. “This can provide students and their families with sufficient support and opportunities in their early education career.”
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It’s just a bill
Tuesday, May 23, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Sierra Club Illinois…
Environmental justice organizations and allies will speak at a press conference calling on the Illinois General Assembly to oppose House Bill 2878 and House Joint Resolution 23 (HJR23). At the tail end of a legislative session marked by the failure to act on environmental injustice, advocates are urging lawmakers to reject last-ditch efforts to prop up polluting industries and instead protect communities from diesel emissions, air pollution, and environmental injustice.
In the eleventh hour of the spring legislative session, the legislature introduced HJR23, which would allow the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to enact a public-private partnership to fund a construction project expanding I-55. Expanding this highway would worsen climate change, increase pollution, and put already overburdened environmental justice communities at risk. Then, the Senate amended HB2878, an omnibus state procurement bill, to include new pathways to highway expansions like the I-55 widening project in HJR23, through a broad expansion of public-private funding for large transportation projects. Both HJR23 and HB2878 hurt environmental justice communities and should be opposed by lawmakers.
WHAT: Press conference calling on the Illinois General Assembly to prioritize environmental justice ahead of key votes during the final week of the spring legislative session.
SPEAKERS:
State Rep. Theresa Mah
Jen Walling, Illinois Environmental Council
José Miguel Acosta-Córdova, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
Brian Urbaszewski, Respiratory Health Association
Additional speakers to be announced, and legislators will be present.
WHEN: Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at 2:15pm CT
WHERE: Virtual via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84815172312
* WAND…
An Illinois House Democrat has been trying to phase out the sub-minimum wages for workers with developmental and intellectual disabilities since 2019. State representatives had the opportunity to pass a bill tackling this issue Friday, but the Dignity in Pay Act failed to gain enough support after an intense debate.
Disabled workers have been paid much less than the state’s minimum wage for many years, and some lawmakers stress it is past time to eliminate the sub-minimum wage. […]
The plan failed to pass on a 59-32 vote with 11 representatives voting present.
Mah asked for the bill to be put on postponed consideration. That means the House could vote on her plan when lawmakers return this week.
* Effingham Radio…
If your dentist closes permanently, how do you find out? What do you need to do to get your records so you can start with a new dentist? Thanks to legislation sponsored by State Senator Steve McClure (R-Springfield) dental patients will have advanced warning of closures as well as information on obtaining copies of their records. […]
House Bill 2077 requires that dental facilities are required to inform patients of a planned closure at least 30 days in advance. As part of that requirement, the facilities must inform their patients about how they obtain copies of their dental records.
The legislation also contains several updates to dental rules and cleans up errors in existing law.
House Bill 2077 passed the Illinois Senate on May 19th and awaits a concurrence vote in the House.
* Patch…
After months of contention between two Tinley Park public entities, the much-coveted Tinley Park Mental Health Center campus and Howe Developmental Center could soon be in the hands of the Tinley Park-Park District—at a price of just $1—following the advancement of a piece of legislation Friday. […]
Tinley Park-Park District’s officials are invigorated by the legislation.
“We are excited to hear about legislation supporting the Park District’s vision for the vacant land and hope for the General Assembly’s support of our plan to finally move forward with the vacant property, clean it up, and redevelop the site,” the board of commissioners said in a prepared statement. “After years of inaction, we are thrilled with the prospect of turning the site into a recreational and athletic hub for the entire southland region to enjoy.”
Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz and Village Manager Pat Carr called the move “disappointing” in light of the Village’s more than decade-long quest to acquire the property. […]
The amended legislation will need to go back before the House, ultimately also requiring Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature.
* Center Square…
State Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, filed Senate Bill 90. The measure, as amended by the House, requires Illinois school districts, excluding private religious schools, to create and maintain at least one written policy prohibiting discrimination and harassment against students based on race, color or national origin. […]
State Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, said if you read between the lines, there is another motive involved.
“In the analysis it says that this is for teachers to grow in their skills for culturally responsive instruction, so if you’re against some of the culturally responsive teacher standards, you may want to take a look at this,” Wilhour said.
The House passed an amendment to the bill by an 87 to 18 vote, and it now heads back to the Senate for concurrence. Legislators return Wednesday.
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Open thread
Tuesday, May 23, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Obligatory Oscar pic for y’all…
* What’s going on?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Tuesday, May 23, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* ADDED: ABC Chicago | AG Kwame Raoul to give update on Catholic Church priest sex abuse investigation: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is expected to update his investigation into sex abuse allegations in the Catholic Church Tuesday. His office says he’ll provide a “significant update” on the investigation.
* WTTW | Illinois Lawmakers Set to Return Wednesday In Push to Pass a Budget: Passing a budget is arguably the single must-happen task for lawmakers and it was supposed to have been done by Friday, but that self-imposed deadline came and went without any budget action. Democrats, who control the General Assembly, say continued negotiations are coming along, but they’re not at the point of full agreement.
* Crain’s | Final Chicago school board map still a work in progress in Springfield: “I think we will get it done,” says state Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago. “I anticipate we’ll have it done by the end of the week,” by which time lawmakers are hoping to wrap up their spring session.
* Scott Holland | Hoping for a productive, substantial General Assembly week: New members from Democratic strongholds have their own learning curves, but Democrats who might have won seats from Republicans are likely to be advocating for constituents trying to make newer voices heard. Add in this being the first budgeting process following the decennial redistricting as well as the fact House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is relatively fresh in his role, compared to the lengthy shadow of predecessor Michael Madigan, and it seems clear getting anything done early was always fairly ambitious.
* Patch | For $1, Tinley Park District Could Soon Own Mental Health Center Land: Backed by Sen. Mike Hastings (D-Frankfort), House Bill 3743 would grant ownership of the 280-acre campus and adjacent Howe Development Center to the park district, as written into an amendment to the bill declaring September as Alopecia Awareness Month.
* Daily Herald | Deal would allow Schaumburg police to access school cameras in emergencies: The Schaumburg Police Department’s 18-month-old Real-Time Information Center is expanding its capabilities through a recent $175,000 grant. It was created with the help of an earlier $552,000 federal grant. Though the information center’s operators can routinely monitor municipal cameras throughout the village, they won’t have the same freedom with those in District 211’s schools.
* Sun-Times | Dozens of new immigrants joining Chicago Public Schools as school year nears end: As many as 50 immigrant children staying temporarily at Piotrowski Park joined Zapata Academy in South Lawndale, and about a dozen youths may enroll in Little Village Lawndale High School, the Sun-Times has learned.
* Chicago Defender | Hunter Celebrates Resolution Creating Task Force on Black Immigrants: House Joint Resolution 18 creates the Task Force on Black Immigrants to study the economic, social and legal status of Black immigrants and provide recommendations for how to better support them — whether through state resources, programs or funding. The task force will consist of 16 members, serving without compensation, with the Illinois Department of Human Rights providing administrative support.
* Sun-Times | Chicago’s top cop ends training agreement with Texas firm with ties to ex-police superintendent: Chicago’s acting top cop is ending the department’s relationship with a Texas firm that has been paid more than $1.3 million to train officers and is owned by a colleague of the city’s former police superintendent. The firm, Professional Law Enforcement Training, is led by Byron Boston, who served in the Dallas Police Department with Fred Waller’s predecessor, David Brown.
* WTTW | Indicted Former Ald. Carrie Austin Collecting More Than $114K Annual City Pension, Records Show: When she stepped down, Austin was the second-longest serving member of the City Council, earning more than $142,000 annually. In July 2021, Austin was charged with accepting bribes from a developer, including bathroom tile and a sump pump, and lying to FBI agents.
* Tribune | Developer transforming Northwest Side’s Marshall Field’s complex into Chicago’s latest film studio: Knickpoint Ventures held a topping-off ceremony Monday for The Fields Studios, what the company bills as Chicago’s first purpose-built film studio, at the former Marshall Field’s warehouse campus on the Northwest Side. The developer bought the site in 2018 and plans to complete construction and open nine soundstages, along with creative and production offices, by early next year.
* Daily Herald | Bloomingdale mayor leads effort to go big in remaking Stratford Square: Bloomingdale has been buying mall real estate to facilitate a full-scale redevelopment of Stratford Square. The village paid $2.4 million for the vacant Carson’s department store, $2.15 million for the former Burlington building and $1.1 million for a vacant parcel east of the mall, between townhouses to the north and medical offices to the south.
* Sun-Times | Millennium Park fox family is the latest Chicago wildlife to go viral: The viral fox family joins other recent animals to gain fame, including giant turtle ‘Chonkosaurus,’ piping plover couple Monty and Rose, and alligator ‘Chance the Snapper.’
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Live coverage
Tuesday, May 23, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Afternoon roundup
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I really do like the direction Jeremy Gorner is taking the Tribune’s Statehouse bureau. That shop has produced yet another high-quality story…
While failing to get a budget done by its self-imposed deadline, the Illinois General Assembly passed measures addressing issues ranging from abortion rights to full-day kindergarten during its spring session, which this week goes into overtime.
It was the first full session since the November election, when Democrats won victories in every constitutional office and expanded their overall supermajority in the General Assembly. Despite the single-party control, legislators didn’t complete their work Friday as scheduled and will reconvene Wednesday to get back to work on a spending plan that became complicated by the spiraling costs of a health care program for immigrants.
Here’s a look at some of the bills heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.
It’s a comprehensive look and well worth your read.
* Heather Wier Vaught…
The law that prohibited out-of-state donations to judicial committees and capped contributions at $500K was permanently enjoined on May 18. The order followed an agreement between the Attorney General and plaintiffs, in which the Attorney General opted not to appeal and the plaintiffs agreed not to file a motion to recover legal expenses.
* This is the very definition of “do-nothing.” From Block Club Chicago…
From the time buses full of migrants began arriving in Chicago last summer, city officials scrambled to find them places to stay. And even when they did, officials often failed to communicate their plans to alderpeople, advocates or other community residents.
Yet as the pace of arrivals built into a humanitarian crisis, the City Council committee responsible for overseeing immigration issues didn’t ask questions or propose solutions.
In fact, for more than a year, the council’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights didn’t meet once, though it is tasked with making sure immigrants are treated humanely.
By the time the committee finally convened in late April, the migrant crisis was overwhelming Chicago’s social service systems. With nowhere else to go, families ended up sleeping on police station floors. City officials have turned shuttered schools and park field houses into makeshift shelters, and more migrants are on the way from border states.
But the committee still didn’t take any action.
Hilarious. Not.
* Illinois PIRG…
Legislation to phase out the use of single-use plastic polystyrene foam foodware in state facilities passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly last week and is being sent to Gov. Pritzker for his signature. Also last week, Oak Park became the first municipality to pass a ban on polystyrene foam foodware as part of a broader ordinance tackling single-use plastic waste.
The EPA estimates that Americans throw away almost 70 million plastic foam cups every day. Twenty-two million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes each year and just over half of that ends up in Lake Michigan alone. Already, eight states and roughly 200 cities and municipalities have enacted bans on polystyrene foam containers.
Under the state legislation passed last week, sponsored by state Sen. Laura Fine and state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, no state agency may purchase polystyrene foam foodware after January 1, 2025, and no vendor with a state contract may distribute any foam products to customers after January 1, 2026. Under the ordinance passed by Oak Park, restaurants may not sell or distribute polystyrene foam foodware after January 1, 2024.
The Coalition for Plastic Reduction, a coalition of more than 35 organizations across Illinois championed legislation that would phase out foam foodware statewide starting in 2024. That legislation passed the state House but not the state Senate. The coalition plans to push for the full statewide ban in next year’s legislative session.
* Appellate Justice Jesse Reyes has been gearing up hard to run for the Supreme Court. In the meantime, here’s the Illinois Latino Agenda…
The Illinois Latino Agenda (ILA) is calling on the Cook County Democratic Party to slate a Latino for the Illinois Supreme Court in the 2024 primary election when Justice Burke’s term officially expires. ILA and other networks believe that there are plenty of well qualified Latinos with experience in judicial matters to warrant slating a Latino candidate for the State’s highest court.
Last fall, more than 25 Latino leaders from the community, government, and private sectors, were unified in voicing their disappointment with the Illinois Supreme Court’s appointment to fill the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court Anne Burke vacancy. The Court denied the historic opportunity to appoint Illinois’ first Latino Supreme Court Justice when it selected Justice Burke’s recommended nominee.
“The Illinois Supreme Court sorely lacks Latino representation in a state where Latinos make up 18% of the population and are one of the fastest growing demographics” Jose M. Muñoz, Co-Chair of the Illinois Latino Agenda, said. “We demand a fair opportunity to elect the first Latino Supreme Court Justice with the support of the Cook County Democratic Party.”
Cook County’s District 1, where the latest appointment was made, has a Latino population that is 26% and growing. The Cook County Democratic Party stands at the forefront of rectifying an inequity that has existed for far too long by slating a Latino candidate that would create a truly diverse elected Supreme Court
“The Illinois Judiciary has a growing number of Latinos, the most it has ever had in its 205 year history, yet a Latino has never sat on the Illinois Supreme Court,” said Juan Morado Jr., Chair of the Latino Leadership Council and Illinois Latino Agenda member. “There is undoubtedly a pipeline of Latino Judges that the Cook County Democratic party can slate for Illinois’ Supreme Court and we strongly urge them to do so.”
“If there was ever a time to bring true diversity and equity to the Illinois Supreme Court, the time is now,’ said Sylvia Puente, Co-Chair of the Illinois Latino Agenda and President and CEO of the Latino Policy Forum. “Latinos are embedded in Illinois, our communities contribute to our state’s economy and culture, and we deserve to be represented at all levels of government, the Illinois Supreme Court should not be an exception.”
Other stakeholders, including political leaders and bar associations, are expected to make their own statements in the upcoming days.
The Illinois Latino Agenda (ILA) is a coalition of 26 Latino leaders, most of whom head Chicago’s largest Latino-serving organizations.
* Harsh judgement on Proft’s part, but all HGOPs were individually asked to sign the letter and these did not…
* And congratulations to all of us for surviving Mass Death Day!…
Luc Montagnier is, indeed, still dead.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* WCIA | Illinois may crack down on generic drug price gouging with proposal advanced in legislature: In the bill, price gouging is defined as “an increase in the price as 30% or more within the preceding year, 50% or more within the preceding 3 years, or 75% or more within the preceding 5 years.” It also must be found the price hike burdens consumers because of little to no competition in the marketplace. The bill does exempt if companies raise the price because of production cost increases.
* WTTW | Illinois Bills Look to Crack Down on Deepfakes and Doxing, Would Allow Civil Suits: Illinois lawmakers are working to catch up with artificial intelligence developments and social media by passing a pair of bills cracking down on deepfakes and doxing. Both measures give victims the ability to bring a civil lawsuit against an alleged perpetrator — a step that has raised alarm from civil liberties advocates and media groups like motion picture and cable organizations.
* Crain’s | New EV registrations: GM, Ford, Rivian chip away at Tesla’s share: EV registrations numbered 257,507 for an increase of 63 percent. Total industry registrations were just over 3.69 million, Experian said, an increase of 8.4 percent.
* Chicago Tribune | Threats of violence don’t belong in the state Capitol. Sen. Neil Anderson must apologize: Nonetheless, the language used by Republican Sen. Neil Anderson of Andalusia during the debate over a bill introduced by Democrat Rep. Katie Stuart was shocking, to say the least. Stuart’s bill, which was debated Thursday, provided (with certain conditions) that “any multiple-occupancy restroom may be identified as an all-gender, multiple-occupancy restroom and designated for use by any person of any gender.”
* Sun-Times | I’ve been riding CTA all my life. It’s time for a reckoning on public transit’s problems.: “I’ve been riding the CTA since my mother was pregnant with me,” Natalie Moore writes. “I don’t mind the peddling, whether it’s music, socks or incense sticks. … But when safety and cleanliness become problems, change must be afoot.”
* Crain’s | Aldermen revive effort to make COVID-era outdoor dining program permanent: The program was twice extended for a year, but when Lightfoot sought to make the program permanent, the effort fell apart amid pushback from the City Council that the ordinance would take them out of the decision making process and because powerful interests had lined up on opposing sides of the closure of a portion of Clark Street in River North.
* Sun-Times | University of Chicago’s new international police academy teaching policing successes of New York, Los Angeles, not Chicago: Homicide rates plummeted in those cities over the past 30 years. “We haven’t seen that same success in Chicago, where murder rates have remained stagnant for 30 years. That needs to change,” said Kristen Mahoney, director of the new academy.
* Sun-Times | From inside Cook County Jail, chess spreads across the globe: Chicago hosted an international conference on teaching chess to detainees in jails and prisons. Officials from the International Chess Federation and corrections agencies from around the world are exploring how chess can be used to help rehabilitate incarcerated people.
* Crain’s | CEO pay disclosures are getting weird: Michael Pykosz’s compensation as CEO of Oak Street Health dropped by $50 million to a “negative” $48.4 million last year. Anders Gustafsson did better at Zebra Technologies, but his pay was a negative $17.5 million. Dover CEO Richard Tobin finished $13.7 million in the hole.
* Community Voices | Springfield’s African American History Museum grows with addition of Executive Director Nalo Mitchell: Nalo Mitchell is the Executive Director of the Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum. She sat down with Vanessa Ferguson on Community Voices to discuss how she plans to increase outreach in the community and provide inclusive exhibits. She also shared information about the many things to see in the museum and how her family history ties into one of the featured exhibits.
* County Herald | Illinois Law Enforcement Raises Record $1 Million at #CopOnARooftop Event for Special Olympics: The #CopOnARooftop event, which has become an annual tradition, brings together law enforcement personnel, Dunkin’ franchisees, and volunteers who camp out on rooftops of participating Dunkin’ locations. The purpose of the event is to raise funds and awareness for the Special Olympics Illinois.
* SJ-R | Budzinski, joining local Reps., banned from entering Russia: Following new sanctions from the Biden administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation released a new list of political and corporate leaders banned from entering the country. Joining former President Barack Obama and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, among the 500 added officials on Friday was U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield.
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* News-Gazette…
Danville police are declining to release information about damage recently done to a building identified as the future site of a new abortion clinic.
“Due to coordinating efforts with federal authorities, we will not be releasing information at this time,” said Danville Deputy Police Chief Josh Webb. “The initial release of information will come from either the FBI or the U.S. Attorney’s Office once they have a press release prepared.” […]
The property was sold in March to Indianapolis-based McGhee Investment Group, which has the same address as Clinic for Women, an Indianapolis abortion provider. […]
Damage done to the Danville building followed a May 4 passage of an ordinance by the city council that would ban the shipment of abortion pills and other items intended for abortions.
* Urbana-Champaign Reproductive Justice passes along allegations from the National Abortion Federation…
More from the alleged suspect is here.
*** UPDATE *** The News-Gazette has updated. Was he trying to be a suicide bomber?…
Philip J. Buyno was charged with terrorist threat, burglary, conspiracy to commit arson, attempted arson and criminal damage to property in excess of $10,000.
According to a court filing by Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy, Buyno “intended to cause or create a risk and created a risk of death or great bodily harm by using his vehicle as an incendiary device to burn down the building” at 600 N. Logan Ave., Danville.
The filing also states Buyno drove a vehicle loaded with flammable material into the building at 600 N. Logan, intending to damage the building by fire.
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It’s just a bill
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Capitol News Illinois…
While rank-and-file lawmakers awaited the budget details Friday, several other major, wide-ranging initiatives were filed in a similar last-minute fashion. That included an expansive cannabis regulatory bill, a change to Illinois’ strongest-in-the-nation biometric privacy law, a broad elections bill and an ethics proposal prohibiting political donations from red light camera companies among other reforms.
CANNABIS: A bill that aims to implement a variety of reforms to Illinois’ burgeoning cannabis industry would change dispensary operations and restrictions on craft growers. […]
The amended Senate Bill 1559, among other things, would increase canopy space for craft growers from 5,000 square feet to 14,000 square feet. It would also allow dispensaries to operate drive-thru windows and offer curbside pick-up services, making sure they prioritize medical patients.
BIOMETRIC PRIVACY: Business groups balked Friday after Democrats dropped a bill that would change Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act, a first-of-its-kind law that allows individuals to sue companies over improper collection or storage of information such as fingerprints or facial scans. […]
Friday’s amendment to House Bill 3811 stipulates that “the same biometric identifier from the same person using the same method of collection has created a single violation,” but business groups said the language was too vague. They also assailed the proposed fine increase for negligent violations from $1,000 to $1,500 and decried the addition of another type of biometric data to the law – electronic signatures – as a giveaway to trial lawyers.
* SB281 passed through the GA on Friday in shell bill HB2862. The Labor Tribune…
The Illinois AFL-CIO and Chicago Workers Collaborative stood with legislators, advocates and workers on Latino Unity Day to urge the passage of the Temp Worker Fairness and Safety Act (SB281).
“Passing the Temp Worker Fairness and Safety Act is a crucial step to address the uptick we are seeing in workplace deaths among Black and Brown workers,” said Senator Robert Peters, the bill’s Senate sponsor. “We cannot continue to ignore the plight of these workers and their families. We must take action to ensure that they are protected from exploitation and unsafe working conditions.” […]
The Temp Worker Fairness and Safety Act would support workers by improving safety standards, and mandating equal pay for equal work after a 60-day grace period. It creates a whistleblower right of action to allow worker advocates to bring enforcement actions against abusive employers. […]
The Illinois workforce includes 650,000 temp workers, 85 percent of whom are people of color. Data shows that temp workers are seriously injured at three times the rate of direct hire employees. Furthermore, these workers face high rates of wage theft and are paid, on average, $4 per hour less than their direct-hire colleagues doing the same or comparable work.
* Bloomberg…
Lawmakers are advancing pioneering legislation that would protect people traveling to Illinois seeking abortions from being tracked by out-of-state police.
The bill, approved by the Illinois Senate Friday night, would prohibit local police from sharing data collected by license plate readers with out-of-state law enforcement departments that seek to use it in abortion-related investigations.
An increasingly hostile abortion access landscape, combined with an explosion of law enforcement surveillance technology, has created new risks for pregnant people traveling to obtain abortions even in states where it is legal. Privacy advocates have warned that automated license plate readers (ALPRs) especially, which are used by traffic and law enforcement officials to identify law-breaking drivers, could be a powerful tool for investigators looking to track people’s movements into abortion-friendly jurisdictions. […]
Illinois’ legislation, which is now going back to the House for final adjustments before being sent to the governor, applies not only to law enforcement agencies, but to private businesses or even individuals that have access to license plate reader data.
* State Journal-Register…
Senate President Don Harmon introduced an amendment to House Bill 3062 earlier this week, which sets courtrooms in Sangamon and Cook counties as the only locations where actions alleging constitutional violation brought-on by legislation or executive orders can be heard.
Harmon, along with Gov. JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, have often been at the center of recent constitutional challenge lawsuits. The bill passed on a 37-16 vote and now returns to the House for a concurrence vote as part of next week’s extended session.
“These cases are all going to end up in Springfield or Chicago,” he said during floor debate Friday evening, referring to the Illinois Supreme Court’s presence in both cities. “It’s our judgment that it is best to simply, streamline that process and make sure these cases are all heard in an organized fashion.”
Spirited debate led by Senate Republicans claimed the bill would be unfair to many downstate communities due to the extended travel time needed to make it to these courtrooms.
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Question of the day
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Republican Party Chair Don Tracy…
In recent months, some individuals have published fake news about the Illinois Republican Party’s policy on endorsements in primary elections. First, it was said that the State Party sent mail in last year’s gubernatorial primary in support of one of the several gubernatorial candidates and against other Republican candidates for Governor. That claim is false. Pursuant to longstanding policy, the State Party did send mail supporting State House candidates in last year’s primary, but did not send any mail in the primary in support of, or against, any gubernatorial candidate.
More recently, it has been claimed that the State Party recently established an “Endorsement Committee.” That claim also is false. Several months ago, I appointed an “Endorsement Policy Committee” to review our current policy of not endorsing in statewide primaries and compare how that is handled in other states including Virginia. That Committee has never met. And, a majority of the State Central Committee appear not to support reviewing that policy at this time.
Therefore, our current policy of not endorsing in statewide primaries will continue for the foreseeable future.
* The Question: Should the Illinois Republican Party take more or less of a role in statewide primaries? Explain.
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* Inside Climate News…
Increasingly, warehouses crop up beside neighborhoods, exposing people living nearby to exhaust fumes from starting, stopping and idling trucks. And these diesel plumes carry a host of potential health threats to the public, including low birth rates, respiratory illnesses, even dementia.
These are the findings of a recent report from the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group that, using proximity-mapping technology, found that about 15 million people live within a half mile of a warehouse in 10 states it examined, including more than one million children under 5 years old. […]
The problem is especially acute in Illinois as a freight-handling, crossroads transportation hub where the study showed nearly two million people, including 138,000 children under 5, live within a half mile of a warehouse. […]
The Environmental Defense Fund tallied 17,600 warehouses in the 10 states it examined, 2,401 in Illinois, with the homes of Black, Latino, Asian and American Indian people disproportionately affected. […]
The pattern of unequal warehouse distribution holds across all states, the study found, but in Illinois, the disproportionality is double what would be expected given the state’s population. The same was found to be true for Colorado and Massachusetts.
* Last month, Warehouse Workers for Justice released a report detailing air pollution in Joliet and Elwood. Herald News…
Warehouse Workers for Justice on Wednesday released a report saying air pollution in residential areas in the vicinity of the Joliet and Elwood intermodal facilities is at unhealthy levels and urging a move to electric trucks.
The report comes after a study by WWJ monitoring pollution from particulate matter 2.5 in the air at four locations in Joliet and Elwood over eight weeks.
“This report was born from health and safety concerns of warehouse workers and local residents living close to warehouses, highways and ports who are growing increasingly worried about levels of chronic lung conditions like asthma and [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] in the area,” Madison Lisle, co-author of the report, said at a news conference.
One participant in the study said that more than 1,000 trucks could be counted at one Joliet intersection in a two-hour period.
* Sun-Times Editorial Board…
In the closing days of the Illinois General Assembly, some lawmakers are supporting a dubious idea: adding managed toll lanes to a section of Interstate 55 between the Dan Ryan Expy. and I-355.
What transportation planners really should be doing is focusing on clean air, reviving public transit — in line for big post-pandemic funding cuts — and finding other low-cost alternatives to driving. Transportation is the No. 1 source of greenhouse gas emissions in Illinois, and it also releases particulate matter and other pollutants. Expanding interstates is not going to fix that. […]
I-55 does suffer from traffic congestion, especially where the road shrinks from three lanes to two. Intermodal facilities on the Southwest Side have added to the truck traffic. But urban planners have long known that adding lanes to deal with congestion also puts more vehicles on a particular road — which in this case would increase vehicle emissions on the Southwest Side. And where is the discussion of adding infrastructure for electric vehicles?
The most successful route to reducing congestion is to provide people with alternatives, including safe, reliable and frequent public transit. Any move for public-private financing demands a lot of discussion to make sure it benefits the taxpayers.
* Sen. Rachel Ventura cited pollution from semi-trucks for her “no” vote on the Peotone Airport bill. WJOL…
Illinois lawmakers have passed legislation which takes steps toward the development of a new airport. If the governor signs the bill, it will direct the Illinois Department of Transportation to create a list of qualifications for proposals to build a cargo airport in Peotone. The project has been debated for around 40 years. IDOT has spent nearly $100 million acquiring land in the area over the years.
But Joliet State Senator Rachel Ventura (D-Joliet) voted against House Bill 2531 – which would bring a new freight airport to Will County. Ventura spoke out during Senate debate against the bill, citing increased cargo truck traffic along with local opposition from the Will County Farm Bureau and a majority of Will County Board members.
In response, she released the following statement:
“If this airport is built, the residents of Will County are going to face increased truck traffic on our roadways and interstate highways. This cargo airport is going to bring more freight into the region that will be transported to intermodal yards via roadways instead of using railways. Overall, the airport is a bad deal for Will County residents who are likely to see more congestion, more accidents, more pollution, and higher property taxes to pay for road repairs.”
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* Background is here if you need it.
* From the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act…
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to conflict with the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004 and the rules promulgated thereunder.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to apply to a contractor, subcontractor, or agent of a State agency or local unit of government when working for that State agency or local unit of government.
* I received this email on Friday…
Hello Mr. Miller,
Thank you for everything you all are doing over at Capitol Fax. An amendment was just filed on BIPA reform. But, the bill does nothing to protect small fingerprint vendors and locksmiths, who follow the rules to a T and are true stewards/SMEs of the law, from frivolous lawsuits. Fingerprint vendors are vertically integrated throughout the state in healthcare, cannabis, FOID/CCL, gaming, DCFS, etc. See the attached listing of areas where fingerprint vendors are integrated. BIPA is not complicated law at all, but the locksmith Act exemption in BIPA doesn’t really have any teeth. BIPA even has an exemption for subcontractors of government agencies, but you still need to defend against an expensive, frivolous lawsuit. The exemptions are, effectively, rather circular. I think that those who flout the law or are not in compliance should pay a dear price for violating consumers. However, licensed, regulated entities who follow the law should not be subjected to damaging or crippling causes of action brought by nationwide law firms that are frivolously seeking a settlement from Illinois small businesses. […]
I think a “simple” fix would be to amend the Locksmith Act or JCAR rules to allow the “aggrieved” to seek relief through IDFPR or injunctive relief. This way BIPA is not watered down and the locksmith act exemption gains the teeth that the 2008 legislature intended. Again, thank you for your blog and stellar journalism .
* I followed up and asked about what he called “circular” exemptions…
BIPA allows a private right of action. The locksmith act does not provide a private right of action or any consumer relief. BIPA points to the locksmith act and the locksmith act rules point to BIPA. The circular logic is licensees can maintain their IDFPR license, follow all the BIPA rules (written notifications, obtain consent in writing, retention schedule), and still be sued even when the plaintiff/lawyer knows that the rules were followed. It’s a loophole and it’s incredibly damaging to small businesses. While they can be successful in defending themselves in court by showing how they followed the rules, the legal fees and insurance claims are abundant. These matters last months or even years. The IDFPR exemption lawsuit loophole should be closed and I think it can be by giving IDFPR a stake in ensuring BIPA is being conformed to among its licensees. This leaves BIPA intact, as it should be.
* From the original House floor debate in 2008…
Rep. Ryg: Senate Bill 2400 creates the Biometric Information Privacy Act which will be applicable to private entities doing business in Illinois. It sets collection and retention standards while prohibiting the sale of biometric information. It provides exemptions as necessary for hospitals, organ donation efforts, licensed fingerprint vendors working with State Police doing background checks and private subcontractors working for a state or a local unit of government and banks that are covered under Federal Law.
The bill passed the House unanimously. Here’s one reason why…
This Bill is especially important because one of the companies that has been piloted in Illinois, Pay By Touch, is the largest fingerprint scan system in Illinois and they have recently filed for bankruptcy and wholly stopped providing verification services in March of 2008. This pullout leaves thousands of customers from Albertson’s, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Jewel Osco, Shell, and Sunflower Market wondering what will become of their biometric and financial data. The California Bankruptcy Court recently approved the sale of their Pay By Touch database. So, we are in very serious need of protections for the citizens of Illinois when it comes to biometric information. I know of no opposition to the legislation and I’ll attempt to answer any questions.
There were no questions.
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Better management, please
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WCCU TV…
People across the state are waiting on refunds after installing solar panels to their homes and businesses in an effort to lower their electric bills. […]
FOX Illinois contacted [the Illinois Power Agency] and it responded with a statement saying how the organization went through a change in administration, which caused other areas to be impacted: “the need to create a new portal and build a new, larger team, incentive payments have not been processed in as timely or urgent a manner as we’d hoped.”
This lasted from July 1st to September 1st of 2022, and more than 2,000 families are waiting in line plus more who applied during that pause.
The IPA blamed its vendor, Energy Solutions, and claims its backlog is being whittled down.
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* Center Square…
Republicans decry end of scheduled session without budget from Illinois Democrats […]
Friday, on the last day of scheduled session without a budget, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said Republicans have not been invited by the Democratic majority to help craft the budget.
* Capitol News Illinois…
House Republicans’ lead budget negotiator Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb, said members of her party have been essentially uninvolved or uninvited to budget negotiations throughout the spring session.
“We have attempted numerous meetings with the House Democratic budgeteer, with the speaker and the governor,” Hammond said at a Capitol news conference. “Only one group has met with us on more than one occasion; that is the governor and his team. No negotiations with others have occurred.” […]
Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville, said he expected the budget to once again be filed “at the last minute” and quickly pushed through by the supermajority party, a customary process in recent years.
* Mike Miletich was the only one of this bunch to run the Senate Republicans’ statement…
“Our budgeteers have been meeting throughout the budget process and the Leader and the budgeteers plan to continue conversations,” said Senate Republican Leader John Curran’s (R-Downers Grove) spokesperson Whitney Barnes.
I’m told that Curran has met with the governor and the Senate President and the SGOP’s budgeteers have sat down with the SDem’s budgeteers.
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It’s almost a law
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Fox Chicago…
An anti-carjacking initiative, crafted by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, has been approved by the state’s General Assembly.
Although the bill is awaiting Governor JB Pritzker’s signature, it mandates automakers selling vehicles in the state to establish a 24/7 hotline for tracking carjacked cars or cases involving kidnappings. […]
With 488 carjackings occurring in Cook County from January to date, 88% of cars are recovered within 72 hours.
Sheriff Dart believes this initiative will lead to a decline in carjackings, and the tracking service would be provided free of charge to car owners.
* Center Square…
A bill that passed the Illinois Legislature requires school principals to report bullying to parents within 24 hours. Some opponents say that is not feasible.
House Bill 3425, sponsored by state Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, passed the Illinois House in March. The measure passed the Senate earlier this month. Some school associations opposed the bill, saying a 24-hour time limit puts an undue burden on schools.
Mark Klaisner, president of the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, told The Center Square that the 24-hour deadline is not feasible. […]
In conversations Klaisner has had this spring, he said school administrators tell him “we’re all about stopping bullying and working with parents.” The problem, he said, “is we can’t always ensure that there will be a 24-hour turnaround in reporting back to the parents, especially if the bullying is happening after school on social media.”
* Effingham Daily…
After spending several years advocating for laws protecting stranded drivers from injury or even death, Distress Bandanna announced that both houses of the Illinois General Assembly have voted in favor of Senate Bill 2028, which would amend the state’s driver safety protocols to include new information and guidance for drivers who are stranded and those who might come across stranded vehicles on the road.
Both Illinois House and Senate voted unanimously to pass SB2028 on May 16.
If the bill is approved by Gov. J.B Pritzker, the state’s safety protocols for stranded drivers would be updated and new language would be added to the Illinois Rules of the Road by the Illinois Secretary of State.
According to the bill, the updated protocols, among other things, advise drivers on how to pull safely out of traffic and into a safe location, use hazard lights, when to stay in a stranded vehicle, and when and how to safely exit a stranded vehicle.
* Crain’s…
Among the health care measures sitting on Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk awaiting signature is a measure making behavioral telehealth permanent for Illinois Medicaid recipients. Senate Bill 1913 has been approved by both houses of the General Assembly.
The bill allows Illinois Medicaid patients to continue to receive behavioral health telehealth care remotely. The state already has made delivery of substance use disorder and mental health treatment via telehealth permanent under commercial insurance plans in 2021.
“As soon as Governor Pritzker announced in February the formal end date of his COVID-19 public health emergency orders, the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health leadership knew that the continuance of telehealth services for Medicaid patients would enter an uncertain, unwelcome legal gray area,” Illinois Association for Behavioral Health CEO Jud DeLoss said in a statement.
“Within hours we had legislation written and swiftly recruited state Sen. Laura Fine and state Rep. Jenn Ladisch Douglass to serve as legislative champions, who expeditiously advanced the bill.”
* WTTW…
Revenge porn, or the non-consensual sharing of sexual images, has been a felony in Illinois since 2014. In 2019, in the wake of since-resigned state Rep. Nick Sauer posting images of naked women without their consent, Illinois allowed victims to sue for civil damages.
The deepfake legislation (House Bill 2123) piggybacks onto that law, adding “digitally altered sexual images” to it.
A victim of a sexual digital forgery can sue for $10,000. […]
The proposal (House Bill 2954) seeks to create a civil liability when someone non-consensually posts private information online with the intent to “harm or harass” and with “reckless disregard that the person whose information is published would be reasonably likely to suffer death, bodily injury or stalking” and that sharing the information would cause a person to “suffer significant economic injury or death” or that it would cause the individual to “suffer a substantial life disruption.” […]
Both measures passed the House and Senate without opposition and require signatures from Gov. J.B. Pritzker before becoming law.
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Since 2018, Uber and Arizona State University have provided 5000 qualified drivers and their families with 100% tuition coverage.
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We can stop talking about this now
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
From Illinois law: “No unit of local government shall levy any tax on stock, commodity or options transactions.”
That statute has long been targeted for elimination by the Chicago Teachers Union and its allies. The CTU reliably shuns any proposal to increase property taxes across the board, instead pushing often-times “magical” solutions as alternatives. It’s one way the union has maintained its popularity among Chicago voters.
And new Mayor Brandon Johnson, who spent much of his career working for the CTU, made it clear during his inaugural address that he will eschew property tax increases, lumping them in with onerous fines and fees.
“We have a structural deficit,” Johnson told his audience. “And we have to invest in people. And we have to do that without breaking the backs of working people with fines, fees and property taxes.”
During the campaign, Johnson proposed a 1%-2% “Big Banks Securities and Speculation Tax” that would raise $100 million. So, naturally, there’s worry he will try to use his considerable contacts in the General Assembly and CTU’s clout to persuade Gov. J.B. Pritzker to reverse his position on allowing Chicago to impose a transaction tax and ease the city’s structural deficit.
When he was asked last month about the transaction tax, Pritzker said, “Obviously, what we all want is a thriving financial services economy in the state and the city. I have not stood for a transaction tax, because I think it would be easy for those companies’ servers to move out of the state.”
The financial services industry employs thousands of Illinoisans. And one of the leaders of that industry left Chicago in a huff last year. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin abruptly announced his move to Florida after shutting down funding for his preferred Republican gubernatorial candidate, Richard Irvin. Griffin and Pritzker have exchanged verbal jabs ever since then, and Pritzker has repeatedly full-on attacked Griffin’s Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
It’s not a stretch to believe Griffin would love to see more Illinois-based companies relocate to Miami. Crain’s Chicago Business, citing “multiple industry sources,” recently reported that investment firm Guggenheim Partners, which has strong Chicago ties, “is on the verge of deciding to move its headquarters to Miami, the Florida city to which Citadel recently decamped.”
And lots of heads turned last week when Bloomberg reported that CME Group CEO Terry Duffy indicated the company could leave Chicago. CME has already sold all of its real estate in the city and the state, Duffy said.
“In our leases, we have a language in there that says if there’s something that’s ill-conceived from the city or the state, that our leases are null and void,” Duffy said on a Bloomberg podcast. “We’re in a very strong position. If we had to leave, we could leave.”
Duffy did make it clear that “we like Chicago,” saying he wants to be “part of the solution, not a part of the problem.” Also, if you listen to the podcast, Duffy made a point to say he realized that campaign rhetoric often changes when people assume office and have to govern.
And Johnson’s own campaign website claims: “We should raise revenues from activities that won’t leave and cost us jobs.”
While Duffy has strong, lifelong ties to Chicago, he is clearly not happy with how the city has been run. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Duffy said: “Three o’clock in the afternoon, my wife got carjacked right in the city of Chicago, and it’s absolutely insane what’s going on here.”
Duffy said he was also upset with the response he received from then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot about how the homicide rate was falling. “I said, ‘Don’t go there. Please don’t go there.’ One is too many.”
I would assume Duffy has been inundated with offers to move his company elsewhere since the progressive Johnson’s election. Company headquarter locations are very often subject to the whims of the CEO.
Duffy said during his most recent interview he hadn’t yet talked with the new mayor. “I’m hopeful that he reaches out, I don’t care if it’s me or whoever, and talks about these things.”
So, I reached out to the two legislative leaders to see where they stood on allowing home rule units like Chicago impose a tax on electronic transactions.
Spokespersons for both Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Chris Welch said their bosses opposed the idea.
This thing is off the table.
…Adding… The Chicago news media freakout over a proposal by a couple of fringe groups continues unabated in Crain’s Chicago Business…
When pressed for insight on the mayor’s own attitude toward these proposals, a senior adviser told Crain’s, “if we were for these ideas, we would have said it.” And yet, given many opportunities to express opposition to these measures, the adviser said only: “Everybody should have a right to put their ideas into the public square.”
That’s not exactly comforting. Nor is the pushback from some observers who have been quick to argue these are merely fringe ideas that would be dead on arrival in Springfield, where many of these measures would have to be blessed before they could be implemented. Messaging matters — especially at a time like this, when investor and employer faith in Chicago as a great place to do business is faltering. If the mayor truly isn’t considering things like a city income tax, a wealth tax, a financial transactions tax or any of the other ideas contained in this report, he ought to say so, loudly and unequivocally.
Oh for crying out loud…
“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.”
Chicago had four years of a mayor saying everything “loudly and unequivocally,” and she still flip-flopped on a regular basis after hemming herself in.
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Open thread
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* It’s Monday! Hope you all had a relaxing weekend. What’s going on?
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Tribune | While stymied on a budget, Illinois legislators addressed issues including abortion, book bans and south suburban airport during spring session: Also sometimes known as “crisis pregnancy centers,” these anti-abortion nonprofits operate across the country and often open near or even next to clinics where abortions take place. The bill allows the Illinois attorney general to investigate claims that a pregnancy center engaged in fraud, deception or false pretense, and centers that violate the law could be fined up to $50,000.
* Daily Herald | Four years in, Rebuild Illinois has been a success — but more can be done: Rebuild Illinois has generated $2 billion in additional transportation funding annually. As a result, four years into the six-year program, Illinois has repaired 5,000 miles of highway, restored nearly 500 bridges, constructed more than 700 safety improvements, and supported 3,800 local transportation projects.
* WBBM | Bill to extend telehealth services for Medicaid recipients awaits Pritzker’s signature: Like so many things during the pandemic, treatment sessions for Medicaid recipients battling mental health and substance abuse went online. With the end of the state’s COVID emergency orders, state lawmakers have passed a bill allowing those services to continue.
* Effingham Daily | Bill aims to protect stranded Illinois drivers: After spending several years advocating for laws protecting stranded drivers from injury or even death, Distress Bandanna announced that both houses of the Illinois General Assembly have voted in favor of Senate Bill 2028, which would amend the state’s driver safety protocols to include new information and guidance for drivers who are stranded and those who might come across stranded vehicles on the road.
* WTTW | Critics Say Chicago’s Elected School Board Won’t Reflect the District’s Student Population Unless Map is Redrawn: “There is very little difference between the original map released and the current map,” activist Eli Brottman testified at a Friday hearing on the second attempt, despite input and sample maps he and others provided. “It feels as if the General Assembly is not using that feedback.”
* WIFR | New bill worries some local shop owners: Erik Carlson owns Buckbee Weed Co. in Rockford and worries if the bill and the tweaks added to it become a law, his business will take a major hit. He says it would ban the sale of hemp products in businesses that aren’t classified as licensed dispensaries.
* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson’s pick for deputy mayor for community safety signals strategy change: Garien Gatewood will focus on “the other aspects of public safety beyond law enforcement that are so critical to our agenda,” Johnson’s senior adviser Jason Lee says.
* Crain’s | Johnson’s labor allies move to undo Lightfoot’s 11th-hour McPier board pick: The measure — pushed by allies of new mayor Brandon Johnson and organized labor groups headed by the Chicago Federation of Labor — would reverse Lightfoot’s decision, announced in the final days of her tenure, to place her deputy mayor for economic development on the board that oversees the city’s McCormick Place convention center and Navy Pier.
* Chicago Mag | Yesterday’s Radicals Have Become Today’s Establishment: Brandon Johnson’s mayoralty is seen as the culmination of teachers union militancy that began in 2012, when his predecessor Rahm Emanuel closed 50 schools. But as Johnson pointed out, the union movement that produced him has such a long history in Chicago that yes, it is striking that we’ve waited so long for one of its members to become mayor.
* Tribune | While DNC coming to Chicago might provide good vibes, experts say economic boost might be overhyped: Much has been written about the squishiness of pre-convention economic benefits, along with the costs cities end up eating themselves getting ready for the pomp and circumstance. While boosters have predicted economic returns of $150 million or more to cities that hosted them recently, economists say those numbers have been overblown.
* The Triibe | ‘Fox and Friends’ staged Naperville interview criticizing Mayor Brandon Johnson: One of the men, Lavondale “Big Dale” Glass, is an assistant director of violence prevention for Project H.O.O.D., a nonprofit whose founder endorsed Vallas. The other man, Andre Smith, was paid more than $10,000 by Vallas‘s campaign committee, and told The TRiiBE he ran field operations for the campaign. Glass told The TRiiBE that he didn’t work for Vallas’s campaign and was not aware Smith had been a paid Vallas operative.
* NYT | As Rahm Emanuel Pushes Japan on Gay Rights, Conservatives Bristle: The U.S. ambassador has enthusiastically embraced his host country. But critics say he has overstepped diplomatic bounds with his advocacy on equality.
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Live coverage
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Your weekend briefing
Saturday, May 20, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Let’s start with the Tribune’s session coverage. The whole article is good, but here’s a sample…
The various internal Democratic caucuses are still meeting and discussing their budget priorities “to see if there’s any overlap,” [Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, D-Chicago] said.
“Nobody’s ready yet,” he said. “I think there’s still a lot to be worked out.” […]
The size and relative inexperience of the Democratic caucus, Welch’s short tenure and a new team of budget negotiators have contributed to missing the deadline Democrats set for themselves, said Democratic Rep. Fred Crespo of Hoffman Estates, a member of both the moderate and Latino caucuses in the House.
”We have 78 members that represent so many different interests,” Crespo said. “You have experienced members that understand how the system works. We understand that we might want something or need something and it takes a while to get that. We have new members that are experiencing this for the first time. So there’s some growing pains.”
”We have to manage all the members to understand that there’s a finite number of dollars, and there’s only so many things that we can do,” Crespo added.
Crespo said the cost overruns in the expanded immigrant health care program are an example of what can happen when new ideas aren’t fully evaluated through the regular committee hearing process before being approved.
Go read it all.
* On to the Pantagraph. Subscribers have been briefed on these two points…
Only a few details have been shared with rank-and-file lawmakers, lobbyists and the public about the proposed spending plan.
Hospitals are expected to receive a 10% increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates, their first in several years though lower than their initial 20% ask. […]
Pritzker told reporters earlier this month that it was up to the legislature to find a solution [for the noncitizen health care cost issue], though he suggested that instituting co-pays and less generous reimbursement rates could help control costs. Other suggestions include limiting future enrollment in the program.
Lawmakers, however, have appeared unwilling to include a legislative fix in the budget, instead hoping that DHFS can control costs administratively.
* Tina Sfondeles also has a must-read…
The Illinois General Assembly had planned to adjourn on Friday, but Democratic leaders blew that self-imposed deadline, failing to reach agreement on the state budget. Health care costs for undocumented immigrants was the key sticking point. […]
With parents, teachers and community advocates complaining in separate hearings this week in the House and Senate, the [Chicago elected school board map] is expected to change once again, according to a source close to the negotiations. The goal is to vote on a final version next week. […]
But the changes aren’t enough for some advocates, including Eli Brottman, a consultant who has testified at each hearing. Brottman on Friday argued at a House hearing that there still aren’t enough Latino majority districts, communities of color are in some cases split apart in certain districts, and there are no Asian plurality districts. […]
The Chicago Teachers Union is among a coalition of groups, including Pilsen Alliance, Raise Your Hand, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization and the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, among others, who have created their own proposed map. They are urging lawmakers to revise the current map to look more like their proposal, which they say better reflects the actual population CPS serves.
* Capitol News Illinois…
Most Democrats haven’t seen anything resembling a draft budget either, as the group of top lawmakers negotiating the state’s spending plan is intentionally small.
The most recent revenue estimate from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget anticipates about $50.4 billion in revenues for the upcoming budget year, even after April revenues plummeted more than $1.8 billion from one year ago.
One point of contention among Democrats in negotiations is an anticipated $1.1 billion in spending on health care for non-citizens aged 42 and older who would otherwise qualify for Medicaid if not for their citizenship status.
The governor’s office had budgeted $220 million for that program, creating an $880 million budget pressure. Members of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus and Progressive Caucus have called for expanding the program to noncitizens between the ages of 19 and 42, at an estimated cost of $380 million next year.
While advocates for the noncitizen health care expansion have called those estimates overblown, the program has far exceeded estimates through its implementation and two expansions.
* SJ-R…
Amid budget negotiations, lawmakers have passed hundreds of bills this week - several of which have local implications. The ones producing perhaps the most tense debates pertain to all-gender bathrooms and one opening the doors for the firearm industry to be held liable for consumer fraud. The governor has indicated his support for the latter, planning to sign the bill into law when it arrives on his desk.
Led by Senate President Don Harmon, a bill permitting punitive damages in a wrongful death lawsuit passed the Senate on Thursday. If House Bill 219 goes into law, the family of Earl L. Moore, Jr., who allege he was murdered by two Springfield EMS workers, could seek those damages in addition to compensatory damages.
* More on the wrongful death lawsuit bill from Hannah Meisel…
Illinois is one of 16 states that does not allow for the recovery of punitive damages in wrongful death cases, although the state does allow for plaintiffs in personal injury cases to seek punitive damages.
“It’s only when the plaintiff has died from his or her injuries that punitive damages are precluded,” Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said Thursday during a brief debate on House Bill 219. “The awarding of punitive damages should not turn on whether the injuries were severe enough to kill the plaintiff.”
HB 219 would take the standards for seeking punitive damages in personal injury cases and apply them to Illinois’ Wrongful Death Act. The bill is an initiative of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, which has historically been an ally to Democrats.
The state’s business community mounted a swift but ultimately ineffective opposition campaign against the bill after it popped up earlier this week, citing increased liability costs.
* Also SJ-R on the venue shopping bill…
Senate President Don Harmon introduced an amendment to House Bill 3062 earlier this week, which sets courtrooms in Sangamon and Cook counties as the only locations where actions alleging constitutional violation brought-on by legislation or executive orders can be heard. […]
“These cases are all going to end up in Springfield or Chicago,” [Harmon] said during floor debate Friday evening, referring to the Illinois Supreme Court’s presence in both cities. “It’s our judgment that it is best to simply, streamline that process and make sure these cases are all heard in an organized fashion.” […]
“The reality is we’re trying to legislate venue shopping because certain constitutional officers in the state, frankly, are having a lot of their decisions challenged by the people that they’re supposed to serve,” [Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville] said, later calling the legislation an “affront to democracy.”
Republican Caucus Whip Sen. Sally Turner of Beason asked if whether the bill would place more pressure on the Fourth District Appellate Court in Springfield in terms of an increased workload. Harmon noted that a number of these constitutional challenges are already consolidated in Sangamon County, so an increase in justices or staff would not be likely.
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