* The bill is here. Press release…
State Senator Linda Holmes is ready to bring the state’s hiring practices out of the 1950s and into the present so Illinois’ ability to recruit and hire quality applicants is improved and streamlined. The future is now, as Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 2228 into law Tuesday.
“It’s difficult to believe Illinois’ Personnel Code has not been systematically updated since it was adopted in 1955, but I’m pleased we can make these substantial updates now so the process will move more quickly with greater accessibility and transparency,” said Holmes (D-Aurora).
Senate Bill 2228 changes the code to implement modern processes and best practices in the state’s hiring methods, while reducing the time it takes to hire and grow the state’s workforce. It also provides for real-time review of proposed rules by JCAR and the Civil Service Commission to reduce the time it takes to make necessary regulatory changes. This improves transparency and access to workforce data, too.
This legislation was an initiative of the Department of Central Management Services to address delays and difficulties faced by departments with positions to fill, as well as applicants and CMS itself. It expands a mechanism for on-the-spot job offers (provisional hiring) and to get new employees working while the administrative hiring process is completed. Provisional hiring would decrease the hiring cycle timeline for critical positions by months.
CMS says they process tens of thousands of hiring sequences each year, and this will result in exponentially compounded time saved.
“It is possible that our state government has missed out over 68 years on many talented candidates for whom this process took too long and they accepted positions elsewhere,” Holmes said. “Several state functions are seriously understaffed right now, and this is an opportunity to fill those roles and provide more timely services to Illinoisans needing their assistance.”
The governor signed Senate Bill 2228 into law Tuesday. It takes effect immediately.
AFSCME Council 31 slipped as “No Position.”
* The other bills Pritzker signed today…
Bill Number: HB 1186
Description: Provides that Health Maintenance Organizations are not required to use a referral system for enrollees to access providers under contract with or employed by the health maintenance organization.
Action: Signed
Effective: January 1, 2024
Bill Number: HB 1364
Description: Creates the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Workgroup Act.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill Number: HB 3296
Description: Increases the cap on regulatory fees for Illinois largest credit unions.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill Number: SB 2228
Description: Amends the Personnel Code and other relevant statutes to modernize the Personnel Code by seeking to remove inefficiencies, which delay the hiring process for state employees, and represents an overall clean-up to account for modern hiring practices.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill Number: SB 2379
Description: Deadline extension for Counsel in Immigration Proceedings task force report.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
HB3296 was originally opposed by the Illinois Credit Union League, but they switched to neutral after three amendments were filed. You never give up in this business.
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More like this, please
Tuesday, Jun 27, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Daily Southtown…
A Will County judge ordered the losing candidate in the 2022 race for Will County clerk and her attorney who filed an election fraud lawsuit to pay $35,000 in sanctions for what he called a “frivolous lawsuit.”
Republican Gretchen Fritz filed the lawsuit Dec. 28, claiming she believes “mistakes and fraud have been committed in the casting and counting of ballots” in the race because her opponent, Democratic Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry, received more votes than Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker. […]
“It’ll be a deterrent so that these fake election lawsuits don’t get filed,” said Burt Odelson, Staley Ferry’s attorney. […]
In the lawsuit, Fritz claimed that “some unknown and unidentified person or thing” used a mathematical process to fradulently decide a winner in the clerk’s race, he wrote.
“But her supporting factual allegations are as vague as they are outrageous,” Anderson wrote in Monday’s order.
“In short, Ms. Fritz and her counsel violated Rule 137 by filing an election contest petition that was not well grounded in fact, and was not predicated on a reasonable factual inquiry,” Anderson wrote. “The Court finds that sanctions are proper.”
That county has always been a bit different, but it’s getting downright bizarre these days. The adults need to follow this judge’s example and step the heck up.
…Adding… By the way, these folks were supporters of Tom McCullagh, who dropped out of a House GOP primary after being accused of grooming. Every accusation is a confession with these people.
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Afternoon roundup
Tuesday, Jun 27, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Former Sen. Terry Link’s sentencing hearing is October 6th, the Sun-Times reports…
But in summer 2020, he resigned from the Senate and pleaded guilty to filing a false income tax return. In all, he admitted he filed false tax returns for the years 2012 through 2016, costing the IRS $71,133 and the Illinois Department of Revenue $11,527.
Then, earlier this month, Link wound up on the witness stand in Weiss’ trial, testifying about his cooperation with the FBI. There, he explained that he’d withdrawn money from his campaign account and said, “I used some for gambling.”
“The other part was, I was helping a friend who was in dire need,” Link said. He explained that it was someone who “I knew most of my life and he was a businessman.”
* Gov. Pritzker was asked today about his past statements that providing preventive healthcare saves money. So, he was asked today, if that’s the case, then why would he limit enrollment for part of the state’s undocumented immigrant healthcare program to save $550 million in the coming fiscal year…
One of the challenges is of course - and again, everybody should get basic health care - is that basic health care even upfront costs money. The savings come in years hence, as a result of the investments that you make in basic health care. So we need to acknowledge that there’s going to be savings as a result of the early investments that we make in preventative health care, for example. But let’s remember that the legislature actually increased the amount of money that was available for this program from $220 million to $550 million. And although the estimates had been if we hadn’t put these tools to work, then it might go to $1.1 billion, which wasn’t something that the budget could tolerate. And so we’re doing it within the confines of what we have available to us and the legislature’s given us.
* News media interview offer…
Tio “Mr. CeaseFire” Hardiman says that he is now a Republican. The nonviolence activist and former Democratic candidate for Governor says that the Republican Party’s stances on violent crime and immigration resonate within him and his life’s work.
Hardiman hasn’t been with CeaseFire in years. It’s not even called that any longer, but it’s his claim to fame. Hardiman hit his political high point in 2014, when he took 28 percent of the vote as the only alternative to the unpopular Gov. Pat Quinn in the Democratic primary. Four years later, he received just 1.6 percent in the Democratic primary, or a mere 21,075 votes.
His current group, Violence Interrupters NFP, currently has an $893K contract with the state. And he remains a Chicago news media darling.
* Press release…
Today, Governor JB Pritzker was joined by state and local officials as he signed legislation authorizing a new state-based marketplace (SBM) for Illinois, which gives state agencies additional tools to create a more consumer-focused health insurance exchange and better identify traditionally uninsured communities. The Governor also signed historic rate review legislation, which will protect health insurance consumers from unfair rate hikes.
The Illinois Department of Insurance (DOI) and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (DHFS) will work together to implement the new legislation and coordinate with all state medical assistance programs.
“As governor, I’ve worked to build a state government that is more efficient and more responsive to what working families need,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Operating our own healthcare marketplace gives us the dexterity to offer more enrollment windows, coordinate with nonprofit partners who help families navigate insurance choices, and protect Illinoisans from any future changes in federal policy that seek to undermine access to affordable healthcare – including access to reproductive healthcare.”
“Illinois joins more than three dozen other states with similar prior approval authority in the individual and small group health insurance market,” said Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. “This is a win for insurance consumers and an example of our collaboration with partners in the General Assembly and beyond to improve insurance access, affordability, and transparency for Illinoisans.”
Illinois residents currently access the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace using the federal platform which the state pays a fee to use. This legislation (HB 579) will transition Illinois to a state platform, redirecting that fee to Illinois to fund the new SBM. The full state-based marketplace goes live for plan year 2026, and consumers will start enrolling via the Illinois platform during the ACA Marketplace Open Enrollment Period beginning November 1, 2025.
Currently, the federal platform does not share real-time data, and the Illinois Department of Insurance (DOI) must rely on federal CMS reports with limited information regarding enrollment in ACA Marketplace coverage. The new legislation will help address that challenge, allowing Illinois to better target and serve uninsured communities.
The rate review bill signed into law today – HB2296 – is a monumental piece of consumer protection legislation that substantially advances health care affordability. Illinois joins 41 other states in protecting Illinois consumers and small businesses from unfair premium rate hikes.
For the first time, insurance companies will have to provide specific information about how they set their rates and the DOI will have the authority to approve, modify, or disapprove health premium rates that it determines to be unreasonable or inadequate in the individual and small group market. It also increases transparency for consumers and small business by adding reporting requirements for insurance companies, and gives DOI the data it needs to explain to consumers and small businesses why people pay what they pay in a yearly report.
* Illinois Policy Institute headline…
5 years after Janus v. AFSCME, unions are smaller but more militant
National Review headline…
Five Years after Janus, Government Unions Are Weaker — and More Desperate
* SEIU press release…
Tuesday, June 27 at 3:00 PM - after several months of classes, around 70 Service Employee International Union (SEIU) Local 1 janitors working at the Merchandise Mart will be graduating from the Green Janitor Education Program – a groundbreaking environmental program that creates safer working conditions for janitors and building tenants and puts money back into building owners pockets.
The Green Janitor Education Program is member-led, meaning Local 1 janitorial leaders teach the classes. The program provides education in green building practices to meet the latest energy, water and green initiative standards covering energy efficiency, recycling, waste management, water conservation and sustainable cleaning practices.
These lessons benefit not just the janitor’s health and work environment, but also the environment for the tenants in the buildings these janitors clean. The building’s carbon footprint is lowered, and moreover, the building saves money enacting these lessons. This program takes place in Merchandise Mart, one of the largest buildings in Chicago by square footage, making one of the biggest single-building impacts possible. This program also took place at 321 N. Clark in Chicago, from which SEIU Local 1 janitors graduated last month.
* Gov. Pritzker was asked today if he was attending the upcoming NASCAR race…
I will not be at NASCAR. It’s just unfortunate, but I made plans long before the NASCAR ever got, you know, put into Chicago that that I wasn’t going to be there. So, yeah.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Tribune | Pritzker signs bills giving Illinois power over health insurance prices, Affordable Care Act exchange: The bill signings Tuesday came amid criticism aimed at Pritzker for his decision to close enrollment for many people in a separate health care program for immigrants in the country without legal permission. One of the bills signed into law Tuesday will allow Illinois to run the exchange where health insurance plans are sold, by 2025. Now, consumers must go to the federally-run healthcare.gov to buy exchange plans.
* Tribune | Gov. J.B. Pritzker defends cuts to immigrant health care program as cost to Cook County remains uncertain: “We need to make sure that we’re living within our fiscal limits within the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said Monday during an unrelated event at Chicago’s Union Station. “That’s something that wasn’t done for a number of years in Illinois.”
* Crain’s | Unemployment nearing record low around metro Chicago: According to surveys released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and IDES, the Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights statistical area reported an unemployment rate of just 3.2% in May, not seasonally adjusted. That’s near the lowest level ever, according to IDES, with only a 3.0% figure in November 2019 coming in lower.
* Crain’s | Chicago is now second city for home price growth: S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices released this morning for April. Chicago-area single-family home values rose by 4.1% that month from a year earlier, according to the index, second only to Miami, where prices were up 5.2%.
* Crain’s | Another season of drought would cost Illinois farms: Jeff Kirwan, an Illinois Farm Bureau board member and farmer in Mercer County near the Quad Cities, estimates the drought damage to date could cause a 20% reduction in crop yields in comparison to a normal year — assuming the region still gets some rain, that is. If the lack of rainfall continues with high daily temperatures, crop yield could be reduced by as much as 40% to 50%, Kirwan says.
* Belleville News-Democrat | Dangerous temperatures headed for metro-east. Here’s the latest forecast & safety tips: “Everyone’s heard a lot about the heat down in Texas. There’s an impressive heat dome of high pressure that’s drifting northeast,” Deitsch said. “Wednesday will be progressively warmer than today and then we’ll get very impressive heat Thursday and Friday, pushing 100 degrees. It’s the remnants of the same system in Texas drifting to the north and east.”
* Sun-Times | Chicago’s Urban Prep can stay open as lawsuit fighting its closure continues, appeals court rules: This is a major win for Urban Prep Academies, said Craig Wimberly, president of the Coalition of African American Leaders. COAL has been fighting for Urban Prep. It’s the city’s only all-male charter school operator, once celebrated nationally for getting all its seniors, who are almost all Black, into college year after year. It currently has two CPS campuses, one in Englewood and another in Bronzeville, with about 380 students enrolled before classes ended for the year. CPS budgeted $8 million for Urban Prep this past year.
* Crain’s | Good timing! CTA announces big grant for electric buses: The agency won a discretionary $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to upgrade a bus-charging facility adjacent to its terminal at 95th Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway, which serves 16 bus lines that carry 26,000 riders on an average workday.
* Mendota Reporter | LaSalle County among four counties in Illinois to report West Nile Virus: While no human cases of West Nile virus have been reported in Illinois so far this year, there were 34 human cases (which are significantly under-reported) and eight deaths attributed to the disease in the state in 2022, the most in any year since 2018, when there were 17 deaths. A total of 10 batches of mosquitos that tested positive for West Nile virus have been reported this year in Cook, LaSalle, Morgan and St. Clair counties.
* Sun-Times | How could potential sale of Greyhound station in downtown Chicago affect bus riders at regional hub?: Some riders had to pay for additional travel to get to the makeshift station, local TV station WDRB reported. Louisville officials had debated helping Greyhound move to a spot near the city’s airport, but the station was sold before its city council approved the move.
* Tribune | Removing brain-damaging lead from day cares is aim of new Cook County initiative: Under the new LeadCare Cook County, providers in Calumet City, Cicero, Hazel Crest, Harvey and Maywood can apply now to have lead service lines — the pipes that deliver water from the main to the building — removed and replaced.
* AP | New York City drivers to pay extra tolls as part of first-in-the-nation effort to reduce congestion: Under one of several tolling scenarios under consideration, drivers could be charged as much as $23 a day to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street, with the exact amount still to be decided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is overseeing the long-stalled plan.
* Reuters | US Supreme Court turns away case on charter school’s mandatory skirts for girls: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a North Carolina public charter school’s defense of its blocked requirement that girls wear skirts - a student uniform policy that its founder explained is aimed at treating women like “fragile vessels.”
* Daily Herald | Illinois Sen. Don DeWitte opening district office in St. Charles: State Sen. Don DeWitte is opening a second local office in his 33rd Senate District at 406 Surrey Woods Drive in St. Charles.
* Sun-Times | Oscar Mayer Frankmobile to visit Chicago area over the next few weeks: The Frankmobile, the symbol for the Chicago-based hot dog maker, can be spotted at parades, celebrations and businesses around the city from Tuesday through July 4.
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* Background…
On July 1, Illinois’ gas tax will undergo its annual increase [roughly three cents per gallon] and the state’s moratorium of [the local 1 percent] grocery tax will expire.
* Gov. Pritzker was asked about this today…
* Reporter: On Saturday, folks are gonna see prices go up at the grocery checkout line. Prices will go up at the gas pump for the second time in six months. Critics, when you passed that tax relief plan last year, called it an election-year stunt. The election year is over. Were they right about that?
* Pritzker: Dan, I hope you’ll report - you haven’t yet, so I’m gonna ask you to do it now - report on the fact that the grocery tax doesn’t go to the state of Illinois. It goes to local governments.
What we did last year was a temporary measure because we had very high inflation. Inflation, you may notice, has come down. But we had very high inflation. We wanted to do everything that we could and we provided $1.8 billion of tax relief for families across Illinois. The grocery tax was one of them. But what we did was we replaced the money that local governments were getting from that grocery tax for the year at the state level. We provided the money to replace that tax.
Now I hear often Republicans complaining that the grocery tax is being reimposed. But these are the same folks who don’t have a solution for well, how would you reimburse local governments for the grocery tax that you would like to get rid of? I would like very much to eliminate entirely the grocery tax, but it is a matter of local governments and what they would do if they didn’t have that income as a result of the grocery tax.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
*** UPDATE *** Reporter in question brings receipts…
Heh.
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Chicago NASCAR preview
Tuesday, Jun 27, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Rick Telander of the Sun-Times…
I won’t get into the rights or wrongs of taking over the center of a city in the middle of summer and inconveniencing Chicagoans for weeks just to have a loud NASCAR race with ticket prices rivaling those of a Taylor Swift concert. “What, and for whom, are city parks and streets for?” you could ask.
Nor will I mention the oddness of a NASCAR race laid out like a Formula 1 track or the fact that police have been cracking down hard on young Chicagoans’ illegal street racing and “drifting” at rowdy intersections. You can watch “Fast & Furious” movies, kids. Do not imitate. […]
No matter. The legends of guys named Buckshot and Junior and Fireball, their suped-up moonshiner cars “runnin’ through the woods of Caroline” (to quote Springsteen’s “Cadillac Ranch’’), the roar of straight pipes and barely controlled recklessness — it’s primitive and enduring and, yep, American.
NASCAR’s here, like the traveling circus. Might as well put in the earplugs, folks, and climb aboard.
* WBEZ…
In addition to the races, there’s also a festival happening all weekend, including some big-name performers. On Saturday, the Black Crowes are slated to perform at 2:30 p.m. and the Chainsmokers will take the stage at 7 p.m. On Sunday, Charley Crockett and Miranda Lambert are on deck for pre-race shows beginning at noon.
How do I attend the race or concerts? Tickets are available online. All tickets are for both days and range in price from $269 for general admission to $3,015 for the President’s Paddock Club, which is billed as the “most luxurious race weekend experience.” While officials say the event is family friendly, there is no discount for youth tickets.
If you don’t have a ticket, officials say the best way to watch the race is on TV (Sunday’s race will be broadcasted on NBC). A NASCAR representative said at a recent press conference that there will be no streetside view of the race.
If you want to be a part of the scene without shelling out money for a ticket, there will also be a free NASCAR Village both days at nearby Butler Field, featuring pace cars, merchandise and concessions. The area will close each day at race time.
* WGN…
The Xfinity Series will be the first to race on Saturday, July 1, with their race, The Loop 121, beginning at 4 p.m. central time and will be televised on the USA Network.
The Cup Series, the best in NASCAR, will race on Sunday, July 2 at 4:30 p.m. central time in the Grant Park 220, and will be televised on NBC.
With a limit of ten total hours of track time, the drivers for both series will have a tight schedule to get their cars ready for the inaugural Chicago Street Race.
The teams will begin to arrive in Chicago on Friday, June 30, with garage hours starting for the Xfinity Series at 12:30 p.m. central time that day. Cup Series teams have their garage hours starting at 3:30 p.m. central time.
* $465 a ticket…
* Sun-Times…
NASCAR’s traveling show is coming to town for an Xfinity Series race on Saturday and the biggie, the Cup Series’ Grant Park 220, on Sunday. Are those cars and drivers ready for us? Are we ready for them?
Harrison Burton traveled here, too, to check out what would become the Chicago Street Race’s 2.2-mile, 12-turn, seven-90-degree-turn course, or track, or highway to hell and back — whatever you want to call it.
“It was wild,” he says. “I was just cruising in traffic. It was still just normal streets, and the [stoplights] were up. To me, that’s crazy. We normally go to places that are year-round set up and kind of permanent, and it’s just so different. It was mind-blowing to think about. Some of the corners there are a little tight even in a street car. It’s going to be a challenge.”
It’s going to be tight and it’s going to get gnarly, the drivers expect, with cars exceeding 100 mph on relatively short straightaways, having to slow way down — 40 mph or so? — into several turns and “trading paint” like nobody’s business. Picture a few dozen shopping carts flying into a cart corral all at once outside your local Jewel, if it helps. There will be lots of collisions and probably a good bit of chaos, making it tough on the dudes behind the steering wheels but, NASCAR hopes, such a spectacle that folks here will look forward to the races returning around the Fourth of July in 2024 and 2025. […]
“I had someone in Chicago ask me what NASCAR was,” Burton says. “I was like, ‘Holy cow.’ That’s crazy to me. Obviously, my whole life is NASCAR and it revolves around the sport. For me to hear someone who doesn’t even know what it is, much less what we’re doing and who we are — anything, no idea what our sport even is — is seriously crazy.
* More…
* NBC Chicago with some racing history…
While this is the first street race ever in NASCAR, the city of Chicago is no stranger to racing. NASCAR made its first trip to Chicago for a race in 1956, and the area has hosted dozens of races in the years since then. […]
That’s right, the Chicago Bears’ home stadium once hosted NASCAR races.
In 1956, three NASCAR-sanctioned races were held at Soldier Field – one NASCAR Cup Series race and two NASCAR Convertible Division races. The Cup Series race was held at the quarter-mile, paved track inside the stadium on July 21, 1956. NASCAR Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts won the race, earning $850 by crossing the finish line first.
The Convertible Division returned for one final race in 1957 before NASCAR went away from Soldier Field for good. In the last two years, the Cup Series has raced inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, so perhaps a return to Soldier Field some day isn’t out of the question.
* Even more…
* SBJ | Bubba Wallace bringing ‘Bubba’s Block Party’ to Chicago ahead of NASCAR street race: Ahead of Sunday’s NASCAR Chicago Street Race, 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace tomorrow will host “Bubba’s Block Party,” a “nationwide community initiative at The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center,” according to Shakeia Taylor of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The free event, scheduled from 5-9pm CT, will feature “racing-themed entertainment, local food from Black-owned businesses and a live musical performance” from artist Lupe Fiasco. Wallace, who became just the second Black driver to win a race in NASCAR’s top Cup Series level in 2021, “wants his block party to be a place where people who haven’t felt welcomed by the racing community to come and learn about the sport.”
* NBC Chicago | Excitement builds ahead of NASCAR Chicago Street Race: With the NASCAR Chicago Street Race a mere days away, the drivers are pumped to get their first taste of the new course. NBC 5’s Ruthie Polinsky reports.
* NBC Chicago | Michael Jordan, NASCAR owner? Unlikely path leads 23XI Racing to Chicago Street Race: “I’m a big racing fan,” Jordan explained in a 2019 interview with NBC Sports’ Dale Earnhardt Jr. “It started off when I was a kid. I grew up watching (Dale Earnhardt Sr.), I grew up watching Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough.
* NASCAR | Betting: 2023 Chicago street race odds: See which drivers hold the best odds to win the first-ever street race in Chicago, with odds courtesy of DraftKings.
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* From December of 2021…
From the air, the former Caterpillar factory outside Chicago is sprawling – the size of two dozen football fields. Once a heavy equipment plant, it’s now a hive of activity making a product that has never been in higher demand: medical gloves.
The US Medical Glove Company, or USMGC, wants to turn a profit – but also to reduce US reliance on imports of medical gloves from the Far East, especially China and Thailand, while creating American jobs that pay well beyond the minimum wage.
It’s one of several US companies on the same mission: to make America more self-reliant on essential medical equipment after the coronavirus pandemic sparked a global scramble, especially for personal protective equipment, or PPE. […]
In 2020, 90% of gloves, syringes and needles used in the US were sourced from Asia alone, according to HHS. Now, Washington plans to spend $1.7 billion to spur domestic PPE production, part of $4.5 billion to help expand US manufacturing more broadly, according to HHS. The US is also investing in the domestic production of raw materials for gloves, masks, gowns, drugs, vaccines, medical test kits and other essential medical supplies.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there was only one company producing single-use nitrile gloves in the United States, that maker told CNN. SHOWA Group, a Japanese company, had about 125 employees at a factory in Fayette, Alabama, making about 400 million gloves annually. The production lines were old, and higher domestic costs made a box of gloves about twice the price of Asian brands, the company told CNN.
* Earlier this month…
Although city officials will not confirm if a new occupant is coming to the long-dormant Motorola campus at 2001 N. Division St., logos for Kentucky-based U.S. Medical Glove Co. have been reported on “no trespassing” signs placed around the campus and on security vehicles patrolling there. […]
[Harvard Mayor Mike Kelly] told the audience that the building is being “brought up to occupational standards to have manufacturing there” and that city officials expect the company to bring jobs to Harvard within the next year. […]
Manufacturing, Kelly said, could begin at the site before the end of 2023.
“They are expecting a lot of people to come work for them,” and Harvard will need more housing soon for those workers, Kelly said.
The Motorola campus has been empty since 2003.
* Yesterday…
The City of Harvard welcomes a major company to the community with the hope it will bring more than 1,000 jobs to the region. The U.S Medical Glove Company will take over the former Motorola space on Route 14 that’s sat vacant for 20 years.
“It’s amazing to see the life come back into that building and the potential,” Lou Leone said, City Administrator for Harvard.
Harvard leaders believe the U.S Medical Glove Company will bring more jobs, more residents and more customers to the city. […]
With the expectation of around 1,200 jobs opening up, Leone says the area could see a population boom.
Bringing manufacturing back from overseas is a good thing. More Illinois jobs is a good thing. I hope it works out for them.
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* Sun-Times…
How bad is the air quality in Chicago today?
It’s the worst anywhere on the planet, according to the World Air Quality Index. That’s right — worse than the biggest, most polluted cities in India and China. Minneapolis was ranked second; Detroit fifth.
Airquality.gov, which uses the official U.S. Air Quality Index, listed Chicago as “unhealthy” as of 9 a.m. Chicago time. […]
“Definitely people with respiratory issues should definitely limit their time outdoors today and try to maintain themselves indoors if at all possible,” said Zachary Yack, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Romeoville.
* Map from yesterday…
* NWS Chicago…
* Block Club Chicago…
The problem is predicted to last through the day Tuesday.
Chicago Public Schools said in an email to families Tuesday it would move its summer programs indoors “to reduce the risk to students and staff.”
The American Lung Association and Mount Sinai Health System shared the following tips for those looking to limit exposure to unhealthy air:
Avoid exercising outdoors and stay inside with windows closed an air conditioning on if possible.
Walk, bike or carpool. Combine trips. Use buses, subways, commuter trains or other alternatives to driving your car.
Don’t smoke.
If you must be outside, consider wearing an N95 or KN95 mask. Surgical masks will not be helpful with air pollution, according to Mount Sinai Health.
* Reuters…
Wildfires burning through large swathes of eastern and western Canada have released a record 160 million tonnes of carbon, the EU’s Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service said on Tuesday.
This year’s wildfire season is the worst on record in Canada, with some 76,000 square kilometres (29,000 square miles) burning across eastern and western Canada. That’s greater than the combined area burned in 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2022, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
As of June 26, the annual emissions from the fires are now the largest for Canada since satellite monitoring began in 2003, surpassing 2014 at 140 million tonnes.
* Adriana Pérez…
* Paris Schultz of WTTW…
* More from Twitter…
* ABC Chicago…
ABC7 Meteorologist Tracy Butler said it will remain hazy throughout the day.
With the poor air quality, AirNow.gov recommends people with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens to reduce exposure by:
-Avoiding strenuous outdoor activities
-Keeping outdoor activities short.
-Consider moving physical activities indoors or rescheduling them.
* Milwaukee is in second place…
Early Tuesday morning, the city at one point moved into the “very unhealthy” category for everyone with an Air Quality Index of 248 (purple zone) as smoke from Canadian wildfires is blanketing the state, making the skies hazy.
Milwaukee’s air quality reached the “very unhealthy” level for the first time in a spring and summer that is being defined by deteriorating air quality. Other parts of Wisconsin remain in the “unhealthy” category as defined by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. […]
Milwaukee’s air quality is the second worst in the country and the world as defined by IQAir.com.
…Adding… Chicago Mayor Johnson…
“The City of Chicago is carefully monitoring and taking precautions as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has categorized our Air Quality Index as “unhealthy” due to Canadian wildfire smoke present in the Chicago region. We recommend children, teens, seniors, people with heart or lung disease,and individuals who are pregnant avoid strenuous activities and limit their time outdoors.
For additional precautions, all Chicagoans may also consider wearing masks, limiting their outdoor exposure, moving activities indoors, running air purifiers, and closing windows. As these unsafe conditions continue, the City will continue to provide updates and take swift action to ensure that vulnerable individuals have the resources they need to protect themselves and their families. Anyone who needs immediate medical attention should dial 911.
This summer, cities across North America have seen unhealthy levels of air quality as a result of wildfire smoke, impacting over 20 million people from New York City, Washington DC, Montreal, and today here in Chicago. As we work to respond to the immediate health concerns in our communities, this concerning episode demonstrates and underscores the harmful impact that the climate crisis is having on our residents, as well as people all over the world.
We must take drastic action to mitigate these threats and ensure that every Chicagoan in every neighborhood has the resources and protection they need to thrive. Please visit airnow.gov for information on the latest air quality in Chicago.”
*** UPDATE *** More from the city…
Smoke from wildfires in Canada continues to impact air quality in Chicago, which was rated as “very unhealthy” beginning at 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) air monitors. By midday, the IEPA issued an Air Quality Alert in effect until midnight on Wednesday, with recommendations that all Chicagoans – and particularly sensitive populations, including individuals with heart or lung disease, older adults, pregnant people, and young children – avoid outdoor activities and take precautions to protect themselves from exposure.
The City initiated a comprehensive response, including outreach to vulnerable populations and special precautions such as moving Chicago Park District camps, Chicago Public Schools and other activities indoors where possible. For Chicagoans without access to properly ventilated and safe indoor conditions, please utilize our public libraries, senior centers, Park District facilities, and the Cultural Center or the six community service centers that operate from 9am-5pm:
• Englewood Center – 1140 W. 79th Street
• Garfield Center – 10 S. Kedzie Ave. (24 Hours)
• King Center – 4314 S. Cottage Grove
• North Area Center – 845 W. Wilson Ave.
• South Chicago Center – 8650 S. Commercial Ave.
• Trina Davila Center – 4312 W. North Ave.
These facilities are open to the public for respite. Other critical actions being taken by the City today in response to the air quality conditions include:
• Urging the private sector, members of the public, and City departments to delay, reduce, and/or halt outdoor activities wherever possible.
• Alerting Chicago Housing Authority, delegate agency clients, Department of Family and Support Services Seniors, and Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities clients of the air quality situation and providing helpful safety information.
• Urging the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly for sensitive populations.
• Making PPE available to vulnerable residents through our street outreach teams.
• Urging employers to allow telecommuting where possible.
• Urging the public and City departments to limit automobile use and refueling.
• Providing 3-1-1 with helpful air quality safety information.
• Utilizing the City’s broad communication network, including digital assets, to share information with the public.
• Monitoring 9-1-1 call volume and hospital visits for respiratory related health emergencies.
For the duration of the Air Quality Alert, all individuals, and particularly sensitive populations should:
• Avoid spending time outdoors. If you must go outside, keep outdoor activity short and wear a KN95 or N95 mask while outside.
• Stay indoors and keep your indoor air as clean as possible by not smoking, using candles, or vacuuming.
• Follow your doctor’s advice if you have asthma, lung or cardiovascular disease. Some symptoms of breathing smoke include wheezing, chest pain, shortness of breath, and trouble breathing. If your symptoms worsen, call your physician or 911.
• Keep windows and doors closed and turn on your air conditioner if you have one. Seek shelter elsewhere if you do not have an air conditioner and your home is too warm.
• Use an air filter if you have one.
• Limit driving a vehicle if possible.
• Stay tuned to local news media advisories.
To learn more about air quality in our area and monitor for updates from the U.S. EPA, visit www.AirNow.gov. Residents can also sign up to receive NotifyChicago alerts at NotifyChicago.org or download the Chicago OEMC App through the Apple App or Google play stores for public safety tips and alerts.
* Related…
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* This is the Edgar Ramp…
Despite some recent positive steps, Illinois has lots more hard and painful work to do if it’s to finally solve pension woes that pose a continuing risk to the state’s financial stability.
That’s the bottom line of a definitely dour report from S&P Ratings warning that, even with stepped-up funding under Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the state still has been contributing billions of dollars a year less than actuaries say is needed to bring Illinois’ government-worker pension funds into long-term fiscal balance.
“We believe pensions have an elevated probability of stressing the state and local governments,” the report says. “Costs will keep rising because contributions are significantly short of meaningful funding progress, plans are poorly funded, and the Illinois Pension Code allows plans to use assumptions and methodologies that defer costs.” […]
However, by casting a spotlight on slow progress, the report could give some momentum to a proposal by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago to impose a temporary income-tax surcharge to pay off billions in old pension debt as part of a deal in which the state also would repeal its estate tax. Illinois Senate President Don Harmon has publicly expressed interest in using the proposal as “a framework” for future action.
* From the report, with the important part highlighted…
Pension costs will keep rising, as Illinois has adhered to policies that defer contributions and weigh down its pension plans’ funded status. Even with efforts to reduce costs, buy out liabilities, and recently, contribute more than what was statutorily required, fixed pension costs related to the five state-sponsored plans (see Overview section) are projected to increase at an annual average rate of more than 2.2% over the next 10 years, according to the Commission of Government Forecasting and Accountability’s Special Pension Briefing, published November 2022.
Pension payments are high, no doubt about it. But the increases are manageable. And 2.2 percent is below inflation.
* On the Tier 2 fix…
Under Tier 2, the capped cost-of-living adjustments could result in benefit payments violating social security’s safe harbor provision if inflation persists at elevated levels. If the safe harbor provision is violated, employers are required to pay Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes, which would allow employees to participate in social security. Changes were made with the downstate firefighters’ consolidation and the state recently passed a bill that raises the pensionable salary cap and benefits for Tier 2 employees in Cook County’s pension system to avoid triggering the safe harbor provision. Segal Consulting recently analyzed the impact of changes to pension cost projections to TRS, SURS, and SERS to maintain an exemption from FICA taxes. In this analysis, Illinois’ 2022 unfunded liability would increase by $285 million, and the state would need to add a further $5.6 billion to its contributions through 2045. Even with the projected changes, the savings from Tier 2 benefits would still be significant. However, we believe an unexpected increase to pension costs will make annual contributions more challenging to fit into budgets.
More challenging, for sure, but not catastrophic.
* This is something to watch out for because retiree healthcare costs are paygo…
We expect cost volatility and increases, as most state OPEB plans are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis and health care cost trends exceed inflation. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled that retiree health care benefits are covered by the pension protection clause and cannot be impaired or diminished.
But this is from the state budget book…
State Employee and Retiree Health Care Savings – negotiated over $1.8 billion in health care cost savings.
✓ Estimated $650 million in collectively bargained cost savings with employees through FY23.
✓ Additional $515 million in savings achieved through negotiations with insurance companies and providers.
✓ $660 million for first five years of savings for retiree health insurance contracts.
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* This presentation by Bears team president Kevin Warren seems kinda desperate and even somewhat pathetic to me…
But…
This thing has a definite “Monorail!” vibe to it.
* Crain’s…
Warren let slip another locale that had — literally — come calling: Lake Forest. According to the Daily Herald’s report of the event, Warren mentioned that officials from the North Shore community had called about the team’s move while he was on his way to Monday night’s event. The team’s headquarters, Halas Hall, are already based in Lake Forest.
The apparent Lake Forest overture comes just two weeks after nearby Waukegan made known its interest in being the Bears’ new home.
…Adding… Crain’s updates…
A spokesperson for the Bears clarified Warrens’s comments on the overture from another suburb, saying Warren received the call from another suburb while coming from Lake Forest but that the call was not by reps of Lake Forest.
* Waukegan’s proposal has some, um, problems…
So, Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor wants to lure the Chicago Bears to the city by offering a toxic site for a new stadium. Can you say, “Dead on arrival.”
One can imagine the guffaws emanating from Halas Hall, a short trip south in Lake Forest, when news reached them that a 300-acre, one-time asbestos wasteland is the chief spot where officials in the City of Progress want to host the Bears’ $5 billion domed football arena. […]
If the Bears decline, what does become of one of the foremost reminder of Waukegan’s industrial legacy? It’s in a somewhat deserted location.
It would take more costly environmental mitigation, if at all, to turn it into usable open space. As Bridge Industrial’s plan for turning the old Baxter International property in Deerfield into a logistics center is stymied, the Chicago-based company may want to turn to that location.
* WGN appears to have gone into sportswriting mode…
Kevin Warren, the CEO and President of the Chicago Bears, answered questions on a variety of topics, including livability concerns, whether an impact study will be provided, how the organization would work with and give back to schools, and whether the organization is asking for tax breaks.
He also said the Bears organization has made offers to pay back more than $4 million in taxes to the school districts.
* Daily Herald…
The Bears and three school districts — Palatine Township Elementary District 15, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211, whose boundaries cover portions of the sprawling shuttered racetrack property — are far apart on what the tax payment should be the next two years.
The Bears’ last offer was $4.3 million, while the schools suggested $7.9 million. Though it’s being challenged, Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s reassessment of the property would increase the annual property tax bill from $2.8 million to $16.2 million.
Warren hasn’t met with the school superintendents since April 18, but amid the stalled negotiations, he has had meetings with the mayors of Chicago and Naperville. […]
Warren was interviewed on the theater stage by attorney Ernie Rose, who is on the six-member steering committee of Touchdown Arlington, a coalition of Arlington Heights business owners who support the Bears’ move to town. Warren didn’t take questions from the assembled media before or after the hourlong event, but Rose said his questions to Warren were among the 300 or so written queries of those who registered for the event.
* More…
Newly-obtained letters by NBC 5 Investigates underscore why the Bears may have said that the former horse racecourse site is “no longer their singular focus.”
In a letter sent May 4 to school districts that serve the northwest suburbs, Warren called the current $95 million valuation on the land a “non-starter.” […]
In his May 4 letter to the school districts, Warren countered with a $52 million value for the land, alluding to the team’s fears that the tax bill would only increase as they build a stadium.
“Because we do not have property tax fairness,” Warren wrote. “We will not be moving forward with plans to develop the property at this time…”
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* Rock River Current…
A small library district in northern Illinois has become the latest battleground over drag queens.
Roughly 500 people filled the streets outside the Rockton Community Center in the northern Winnebago County village to demonstrate both against and in support of the Talcott Free Library’s plans to hold a drag queen question and answer session on July 14.
The library’s board of trustees ultimately voted 4-2 to go forward with the event after hearing from speakers on both sides of the issue. Board President Gary Kovanda and Vice President Bob Geddeis were the two no votes. […]
The drag queen Q&A was planned as part of the library’s teen summer program called Find Your Voice. At issue is whether a drag event is appropriate at a taxpayer-funded venue.
Originally listed as being for sixth to 12th graders, the event’s Facebook description was changed in the last week to say “LGBTQ+ friendly and anyone interested can attend.”
* Rockford Register Star…
The controversy started about a week ago when word spread about the event, called Drag Queen Q&A and billed as an opportunity for people to learn more about the art of drag. The library’s event page says “This program is LGBTQ+ friendly and anyone interested can attend.”
The Rockford Family Initiative, a group that regularly protests outside Rockford’s abortion clinics and also rallied against a drag queen story hour at the Rockford Public Library in recent years, objected to the event saying a publicly-funded library is not the right place. […]
Last week, the library posted the following on its Facebook page:
“Drag is a type of performance art. Drag performers make the act of expressing gender — through their stage name, clothing, makeup, hair, and how they perform on stage — highly creative, exaggerated, and/or theatrical. It does not have anything to do with sexual orientation or sexuality though it is often associated with the LGBTQIA+ community as that is where the art began. There are many common misconceptions about the art and that’s why the library is hosting a Q&A so that young people can ask questions and we can foster understanding and unity in our community.”
* WTVO…
“I just thought everyone should be represented. The silent majority. My friends and family were here, and I don’t think it’s right to have drag queens in a library,” said Brian Huff.
Community members both for and against the event gathered outside the Rockton Community Center, 302 W. Main Street, with signs, flags and megaphones.
“It’s about the drag community and making sure that they’re represented, they’re safe, they’re loved, and they have a community behind them,” said Jessica Green. […]
“Everyone is represented in the library,” said Green. “And so we want to let our librarians know that they are appreciated. There’s a community here that supports them and what they’re doing to be more inclusive. And we really appreciate their efforts. And you know, we’re creating a more inclusive Rockton, more inclusive community and a nation. And this is one step.”
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Open thread
Tuesday, Jun 27, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* What’s going on? Keep it Illinois-centric please…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Tuesday, Jun 27, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Crain’s | Progressives hope to scare off challengers for Northwest Side state Senate seat: Pacione-Zayas stepped down earlier this month to become Mayor Brandon Johnson’s deputy chief of staff. Progressive elected officials and organizations are making it clear they want her former chief of staff, Graciela Guzmán, to replace her in representing the 20th District, despite not controlling the votes in the appointment process.
* ABC | Progressives launch their own campaign to flip school board seats nationwide: Some high-profile Democrats are mounting their own campaign from the other side of the spectrum, as seen with Illinois’ Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s recent outlaw of book bans. PCCC’s fundraising launch on Friday comes just a week before conservative nonprofit group Moms for Liberty holds its annual meeting in Philadelphia, where several Republican 2024 hopefuls, and Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are slated to speak.
* Crain’s | S&P warning to Illinois on pension debt: You’re still not doing enough.: “We believe pensions have an elevated probability of stressing the state and local governments,” the report says. “Costs will keep rising because contributions are significantly short of meaningful funding progress, plans are poorly funded, and the Illinois Pension Code allows plans to use assumptions and methodologies that defer costs.”
* Crain’s | The week ahead: Pritzker defends Johnson’s pension fix panel: Johnson walked by reporters without taking questions, but Pritzker stopped and defended his decision to impose new enrollment limits and copays on the state’s insurance program for undocumented immigrants. The Legislature’s Latino Caucus “knew what was going on,” Pritzker told reporters. The cuts “saved the program” from financial collapse, he added.
* Tribune | The next generation of Latino leaders are being forged by the Chicago Latino Caucus Foundation: “We needed to build a pipeline so that we could put forward folks as opportunities came up, whether it was within city government, state government, county government, corporate boards, commissions that both the city and state have where citizens can serve,” Villegas said.
* Crain’s | With diversity on boards lagging, Giannoulias and researchers target more corporate cooperation: As required by the amendment, Illinois corporations are required to submit diversity reports to the secretary of state. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers then compile those filings into an annual report which analyzes the makeup — including gender, racial and ethnic and sexual orientation — of members of the Illinois corporate boards that file the mandated reports.
* Sun-Times | City could open as many as 5 migrant shelters: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration also plans to open a welcoming center at Roberto Clemente Community Academy High School, 1147 N. Western Ave. Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), chair of the City Council’s Immigrant and Refugee Rights Committee, described it as a point of entry for migrants arriving in Chicago.
* Crain’s Editorial | More questions swirl around Lightfoot’s casino deal: On June 23, the Sun-Times pulled back the covers on the relationship between the financial services consultancy hired by then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot to evaluate pitches for the Chicago casino and the gambling company that eventually won the contract.
* Center Square | New Illinois law ends insurance restrictions on certain dog breeds: “For years, harmful stereotypes of certain dog breeds have allowed insurers to punish families for owning a specific dog breed, resulting in cancellation or stiff premiums for their policies,” said state Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora. “This measure will help ensure that all dog owners are treated fairly in the insurance market.”
* WMAY | Illinois Supreme Court Justice Holder White to run for full term in 2024: Holder White’s appointment runs through late 2024, so she will run next year as a Republican for a full ten-year term in the court’s 4th District; she and her husband live in Sangamon County.
* Tribune | Chicago police log 11,000 complaints since consent decree went into effect, as monitor cites ‘real concerns’ about effort to analyze use-of-force issues: “They have a plan and they’re working on it, but it is very important to have that up-to-date because that’s where they spot trends,” former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey said, and staffing challenges continue to hinder CPD’s efforts.
* Sun-Times | GI Bill case filed by decorated Army veteran James Rudisill to be heard by the Supreme Court: James Rudisill, 43, says the federal Department of Veterans Affairs wrongly cut short the number of months of college benefits he earned under both GI bills over the course of multiple periods of service in the Army.
* Lake County News-Sun | Brownfield site may doom Waukegan’s push for Bears stadium: But doubtful in Waukegan, which sees its possible location as no laughing matter, while the team weighs and negotiates and wrangles offers from a growing throng of locations. Those communities want to be at the goal line if the historic and soon-to-be-razed former Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights falters as the Bears’ chief stadium pick.
* Sun-Times | Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community ‘visible, vibrant’ — but concerned for transgender members’ ability to ‘live your life freely.’: As Pride Month comes to a close, the Sun-Times spoke to advocates, service providers and members of the community about the key issues affecting Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community — and what more needs to be done to protect them.
* Block Club | South Shore Neighbors Push For Law Locking In Protections For Longtime Residents Near Obama Library: A revised proposed ordinance aims to protect locals from being displaced by the Obama Presidential Library. New Ald. Desmond Yancy has pledged to introduce it in his first 100 days in office.
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Live coverage
Tuesday, Jun 27, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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