As we approach what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 95th birthday, I am writing to encourage everyone to honor the legacy of the civil rights icon by working to emulate his philosophy through our own lives.
Dr. King’s extraordinary impact on our society remains interconnected with his philosophy of embracing equality and rejecting bigotry and segregation.
In honor of Dr. King, let us commit ourselves to the following: never discriminate or dislike someone because of race, creed or color; learn to love your fellow man and woman; do something good for someone every day; and give back to those less fortunate when you become successful.
I remain indebted to Dr. King’s kindness and guidance. As a college student at Alabama State College, I attended the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in northern Montgomery where Dr. King served as the pastor. I had the privilege of listening and observing him firsthand. He was a breath of fresh air and an inspiration at a time when I was experiencing many challenges and frustrations in Alabama due to segregation. African Americans were not allowed to drink at certain water fountains. We were prohibited from sitting in certain seats on buses and banned from eating at many restaurants.
Following the lead of Dr. King, Rosa Parks and other civil rights leaders, I participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott that ultimately led to the desegregation of the public transit system.
The systemic racism I experienced in the south cut deep and left a lifelong impression on me, and I’ve dedicated my life to treating people — all people — with fairness and compassion.
It has been just over a year since I completed my sixth and final term as your Secretary of State, and I remain filled with gratitude for the trust Illinoisans placed in me for 24 years to serve them in such an important role.
In reflecting on my career in public service, I’m forever appreciative of those who helped me along the way — especially during my impressionable college years in Montgomery, AL. It was there that I encountered one of my earliest mentors, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and I continue to do everything I can to honor him through my actions.
House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch announced Friday the hiring of a new Research and Appropriations Director, Endra C. Curry. With years of experience managing and analyzing state budgets in South Carolina, Curry was chosen following an extensive nationwide search and will assume the role effective Jan. 22.
“It is my privilege to welcome Ms. Curry to the Illinois House of Representatives as our new budget director,” said Speaker Welch. “Ms. Curry brings with her an exceptional resume filled with valuable work experiences, as well as enthusiasm and a great work ethic, that make her the perfect fit for this role. I look forward to welcoming her to the Capitol this session and working with her on behalf of the people of Illinois.”
Curry joins the Office of the Speaker following a successful career in the South Carolina Senate, where she served as the nonpartisan Director of Financial Policy since 2020, and previously as the Senior Budget Analyst for the Senate Finance Committee.
“I am grateful to Speaker Welch, his office and leadership team, for welcoming me as the new Research and Appropriations Director for the Illinois House Democratic Caucus,” said Curry. “I consider it an honor to serve them and the people of Illinois in this role and look forward to establishing and cultivating relationships with internal and external stakeholders through observation, collaboration, and congeniality. While my time with my native state is at its end, I would be remiss in not recognizing the professional foundation provided to me by the South Carolina Senate, from which I am fortunate to build upon in this next phase of my career. I am thrilled to make the Prairie State my new home.”
“I’m excited to welcome Endra Curry to the Illinois House as our new budget director and I am eager to get to work alongside her this session,” said Leader Jehan Gordon-Booth, the chief budget negotiator for the House. “I look forward to Ms. Curry’s perspective on our budget-making process, which has already delivered wins for working families and ushered in 9 credit upgrades for our state.”
Curry also has a range of non-legislative experience, which includes her work as a Federal Relations Officer and National Transportation Advisor at the South Carolina Department of Transportation. She was an adjunct faculty instructor at Virginia College and worked in the non-profit sector supporting individuals with disabilities as a Community Outreach Coordinator at the Babcock Center Foundation. Curry earned both her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and Economics and her Master of Public Administration from the University of South Carolina.
“As we welcome Ms. Curry, I also want to thank and congratulate our outgoing director, Mark Jarmer,” said Speaker Welch. “He has provided 15 dedicated years of service to the House of Representatives, and he was an integral part of my transition into the role of Speaker. I also want to thank his wife and children for sharing his talents with us and the state of Illinois. I look forward to his continued success.”
Curry’s first job will be trying to bring some order to her staff, which has been agitating to join a union for months.
* Sun-Times| Pritzker urges Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to stop migrant dropoffs amid winter storm: ‘I plead with you for mercy’: “We’re trying to prevent those companies from leasing their planes to the state of Texas. You can’t, in general, you can’t tell a group a people or an aircraft that it can’t come somewhere,” Pritzker said. “On the other hand, there are lots of things that I think would be a significant deterrent and they already are working.” Last year, the state tried coordinating with bus operators and organizations at the border to try to gauge the timing of dropoffs. Results of that effort were mixed.
* WGLT | Immigration advocate says dozens of bused migrants are already living in McLean County : Charlotte Alvarez, executive director of the Immigration Project based on Normal, said between 75 and 100 people transported north from the southern border since 2022 either got off a bus in McLean County, or came here after leaving a migrant processing center. She said that’s a sign the community can support more asylum seekers if they came here.
* BND | Ethics adviser recommends sanctions for Madison County Board chairman over business cards: Madison County’s ethics adviser is recommending that the County Board sanction Chairman Kurt Prenzler for handing out “campaign-style” business cards while on the job. Adviser Bruce Mattea, a Collinsville attorney, stated in an investigative report that Prenzler violated a county ethics ordinance when he gave the cards to a vendor working at the county administration building last fall and to an assistant state’s attorney.
* ABC Chicago| Supreme Court ruling could affect hundreds charged in Jan. 6 Capitol attack: An Illinois man is the first Jan. 6 rioter to be released from prison while awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could derail dozens of prosecutions, the ABC7 Chicago I-Team has learned. Tom Adams, 42, of Springfield has been released early from a federal penitentiary while the high court looks at what happened three years ago and answers the question: “Is this obstruction?”
* Cain’s | Real estate transfer tax referendum campaign heating up: But the official account could soon be dwarfed by an independent expenditure committee led by campaign veteran Greg Goldner, founder of Resolute Public Affairs. Goldner has run dark-money campaigns in Illinois politics for over a decade, including two efforts last year that spent almost $400,000 in support of U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s fourth-place finish in Chicago’s mayoral race before spending just under $900,000 in opposition to Johnson in his runoff race against Paul Vallas. According to sources familiar with his pitch, Goldner has asked developers for six-figure sums. Goldner confirmed to Crain’s he’ll be involved in the opposition campaign, saying the tax changes have “implications well beyond a few nice homes in the city.”
* Tribune | First lady Jill Biden, Halle Berry stop at UIC to promote women’s health research: First lady Jill Biden traveled to the University of Illinois at Chicago Thursday to tout a White House initiative to expand research on women’s health issues that include menopause. Biden was joined by actress Halle Berry in speaking about the historical lack of investment in women’s health research nationwide.
* Lake County News-Sun | Former North Chicago officer receives $475K settlement in suit against city: The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Thursday said it negotiated the settlement on behalf of Ramtin Sabet. Sabet, who joined the North Chicago police department in 2007, faced “relentless harassment” on the job based on his Iranian background and Muslim religion, according to CAIR. The hostile work environment led to Sabet’s termination in 2016, CAIR said.
* WCIA | USDA grants to increase ethanol-based fuel at IL gas stations: The funds come as a result of the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program, a byproduct of the Inflation Reduction Act. U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said the program will help install more dispensers and storage tanks at gas stations across the state.
* Sun-Times | Expensive program to get high-risk teens back in school is off to a slow start: According to a new University of Chicago analysis, Back to Our Future is struggling to connect with the kids targeted by the program. And even those who sign up are not participating at the intended level. In the first pilot year, 446 students joined the program, 32 students have completed high school, and another 71 students have reengaged in school, according to CPS.
* CBS | Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois kicks off 2024 Cookie Season: Consumers can now order from the iconic cookie lineup and support local girl entrepreneurs earning funds that fuel amazing experiences in the outdoors, STEM, and beyond. Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois kicked off the 2024 Girl Scout Cookie season, the annual event in which Girl Scouts unbox their futures as young female entrepreneurs through the world’s largest entrepreneurial program for girls.
* Block Club | Here Are 17 Ways To Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day This Year: Want to give the family a fun and productive Martin Luther King Jr. Day? Chicago has plenty of options. There are basketball tournaments, panel discussions, family days, skate parties, sing-alongs and more being held to honor the civil rights leader and Baptist minister, born January 15 nearly 100 years ago.
* Axios | States’ big 2024 health plans: Workforce support and cheaper drugs: As state legislatures get back to work across the country, state policymakers are eying measures to bolster their burned-out health care workforces, make prescription drugs more affordable and reform their Medicaid programs. Policymaking in Washington tends to slow down in a presidential election year, and the current Congress — so far the least productive in decades — has struggled to advance even bipartisan health measures.
* Crain’s | More than 1,000 flights canceled at O’Hare, Midway: At O’Hare, 391 departures, or 39%, and 374 arrivals, or 37%, had been scrapped. Midway had 140 departure cancellations, or 50% and 136, or 56%, for arriving flights, according to FlightAware.
The CTU, which has always supported a fully elected [Chicago school board], prefers [Rep. Ann Williams’ hybrid, half-elected half-appointed House plan], in part because it would give the union more time to choose candidates and raise campaign funds. The union would only have to find 10 candidates, as opposed to 20, under the House Democrats’ plan. And the union’s political action committee will have to play catch-up after contributing a hefty $2.46 million to Johnson’s mayoral campaign.
* But Greg Hinz reported this week on another aspect to this fight. As you know, Senate President Don Harmon moved a fully elected school board bill during veto session which he said (accurately) was done at the behest of the CTU. There’s more to it, however…
Amid that standoff, a fight for a state Senate seat now held by appointed Harmon ally Natalie Toro has turned red-hot. Toro was named by Democratic ward committeemen to replace Cristina Pacione-Zayas, who resigned to take a top job with the Johnson administration, where she has, among other things, overseen the city’s migrant response. Now that her Senate seat term is ending, progressives badly want the position back. They’re backing CTU organizer Graciela Guzman in the March primary. There also are two other candidates in the race, physician Dr. David Nayak and former radio account executive Geary Jonker.
CTU has made the race a top priority, with progressive groups stepping up precinct work and big checks from teachers unions beginning to arrive in Guzman’s warchest. Harmon in turn dropped $500,000 into Toro’s campaign earlier this week — and according to Guzman is responsible for an internet push poll that asserts, “Guzman’s political organization is attempting to stall Natalie Toro’s plan to fully elect the school board now and wants to keep the school board out of the hands of voters.”
Harmon, in a phone interview, said he’s not familiar with the internet item but that campaigns “often test out different messages.”
Harmon termed “baloney” charges from CTU insiders that he is using the Toro seat as leverage, offering to finally approve the hybrid school board bill if the union will drop its opposition to Toro, who also is a CTU member but has a poor relationship with union leaders. “We’re committed to a fully elected school board,” Harmon said. The only reason he supported a hybrid bill a few years ago was that it was the most that CTU could get out of the Legislature given the opposition to a totally elected board by then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Harmon said.
Heh.
Toro’s Senate Democratic advertising campaign has positioned her as a progressive CTU member. So, Sen. Toro votes for a fully elected school board, which has been politically popular (and likely still polls well if they’re using this tactic), then blasts her primary opponent for conspiring to obstruct the beloved reform.
It’s almost like the Senate Democrats used the entire chamber last fall to weaponize an issue on behalf of a single appointed member facing a tough primary challenge.
Maybe more than almost.
…Adding… From Senate President Harmon’s spokesperson John Patterson…
“’Baloney’ was the one-word take on this theory, and “baloney” is about as profane as Don Harmon gets. The legislation we passed is our attempt to best ensure the most diverse representation of all voters of the City of Chicago. That’s the only motivation.”
A Florida school district is pulling nearly 2,000 books from its shelves — including some dictionaries and encyclopedias — to make sure they abide by a new state law.
The state law, which prohibits schools from carrying books that describe sexual content, comes as Florida continues to get pushback over its titles banned in prisons and classrooms.
Northern Florida’s Escambia County School District has taken away over 1,600 titles for review, including five dictionaries and eight different encyclopedias, according to PEN America earlier this week.
Part of the legislation, known as HB 1069, “expands parental rights in education by prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in Pre-K through 8th grade,” according to the office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
A second transgender woman’s attempt to run for public office in Ohio was challenged under a decades-old law that requires candidates to disclose previous legal names on election documents.
Arienne Childrey, a Democrat vying for a seat in the Ohio house of representatives, learned late last week that the head of her county’s Republican party, Robert Hibner, asked the local board of elections to reject her campaign petition.
Hibner’s letter to election officials comes just days after Vanessa Joy, also a trans woman, was disqualified from running for the Ohio state house. Both Joy and Childrey are accused of violating a 1995 Ohio statute that requires political candidates to disclose any legal name changes within five years of the election. […]
“I wasn’t surprised to get the phone call. Once the articles started coming out about Vanessa’s story, I knew there was a bullseye on us,” Childrey said.
More than 1,500 books have been temporarily removed from a Florida school district this week, including two written by former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.
The Florida Freedom to Read Project recently obtained a list of books that have been temporarily removed from libraries in the Escambia County Public School District, which included encyclopedias, The Guinness Book of World Records and two books from conservative pundit O’Reilly: Killing Jesus: A History, and Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency.
According to Pen America, the list also contains titles from David Baldacci, Stephen King, John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks.
In a statement to Newsweek, Escambia County Public Schools Superintendent Keith Leonard said: “I want to clarify that our district has not imposed a ‘ban’ on over 1600 books. Additionally, the dictionary has not been banned in our district. Any claims suggesting otherwise are inaccurate and should be disregarded.”
An Ohio woman facing a criminal charge for her handling of a home miscarriage will not be charged, a grand jury decided Thursday.
The Trumbull County prosecutor’s office said grand jurors declined to return an indictment for abuse of a corpse against Brittany Watts, 34, of Warren, resolving a case that had sparked national attention for its implications for pregnant women as states across the country hash out new laws governing reproductive health care access.
A municipal judge had found probable cause to bind over Watts’ case. That was after city prosecutors said she miscarried, flushed and scooped out the toilet, then left the house, leaving the 22-week-old fetus lodged in the pipes. Her attorney told the judge Watts had no criminal record and was being “demonized for something that goes on every day.” An autopsy determined the fetus died in utero and identified “no recent injuries.”
Watts had visited Mercy Health-St. Joseph’s Hospital, a Catholic facility in working-class Warren, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Cleveland, twice in the days leading up to her miscarriage. Her doctor had told her she was carrying a nonviable fetus and to have her labor induced or risk “significant risk” of death, according to records of her case.
Due to delays and other complications, her attorney said, she left each time without being treated. After she miscarried, she tried to go to a hair appointment, but friends sent her to the hospital. A nurse called 911 to report a previously pregnant patient had returned reporting “the baby’s in her backyard in a bucket.”
Texas state officials this week abruptly blocked federal U.S. Border Patrol agents from entering and patrolling a public area in the border town of Eagle Pass where they typically first encounter migrants who cross the Rio Grande illegally, two U.S. officials told CBS News on Thursday.
After seizing control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas National Guard units deployed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott have prevented Border Patrol agents from entering the area, the federal officials said. Border Patrol has used the park in recent weeks to hold migrants in an outdoor staging area before they are transported for further processing, including last month, when illegal crossings soared to record levels.
Earlier Thursday, Texas state officials prevented Border Patrol boats from patrolling that area, one of the officials added, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. […]
In a filing early Friday with the Supreme Court, the Justice Department described the extraordinary standoff between Texas and the federal government. Citing testimony from local officials and photos, the Justice Department said Texas was using armed Guardsmen and vehicles to deny Border Patrol agents and federal National Guard soldiers access to roughly 2.5 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Kate Cox was pregnant with her third child when she learned the baby had a rare genetic disorder called Trisomy 18. Cox and her husband, Justin, were informed by their doctors that if their child survived the pregnancy, her life expectancy would be at best a week. With the baby’s health at risk as well as her own, Kate and Justin Cox sued the state of Texas for the right to have an abortion.
In her first interview since the Texas Supreme Court ruled against her, Cox talks about the case, her decision to have an abortion in New Mexico, and more in an interview with Tracy Smith for “CBS News Sunday Morning,” to be broadcast Sunday, January 14 on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.
Cox was 20 weeks pregnant when she and her husband filed the lawsuit seeking an exception to Texas’ ban on abortions because of the baby’s condition and the health risks to Cox. On December 11, while the Coxes were in New Mexico, the Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling, saying Kate Cox did not qualify for a medical exemption to the abortion ban.
According to the couple’s attorney Molly Duane, the Texas Supreme Court said “essentially, Kate wasn’t sick enough [for an exemption].”
Republican governors in 15 states are rejecting a new federally funded program to give food assistance to hungry children during the summer months, denying benefits to 8 million children across the country.
The program is expected to serve 21 million youngsters starting around June, providing $2.5 billion in relief across the country.
The governors have given varying reasons for refusing to take part, from the price tag to the fact that the final details of the plan have yet to be worked out. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said she saw no need to add money to a program that helps food-insecure youths “when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.” Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) said bluntly, “I don’t believe in welfare.”
Republican leaders have been criticized for playing politics with children in need, but they argue it is necessary to revert to pre-pandemic spending levels at a time when the United States is trillions of dollars in debt and lawmakers in Washington are struggling to come to a budget agreement. The summer food program was approved as part of a bipartisan budget agreement in 2022.
* This was distributed by the city during a briefing about new arrivals today…
Kinda makes you wonder if the city intends to just dump folks into the street.
Meanwhile, Texas keeps sending people here.
…Adding… So, they told legislators they’re pausing new shelters and downsizing them, and then told the news media this, according to the Tribune…
Mayor Brandon Johnson is delaying enforcing his 60-day migrant shelter limit policy for the first group of asylum-seekers who were due to be required to leave this month, his administration announced Friday as heavy snowfall and low wind chills pummeled the city.
Brandie Knazze, commissioner of the Department of Family and Support Services, said the first migrants set to be kicked out of the city shelters next Tuesday — about 50 of them, who have been in the system since 2022 — will no longer need to leave by then. Those due to leave between then and Jan. 21 will also be allowed to stay “until at least Jan. 22nd,” she said.
…Adding… Pritzker tries to appeal to Abbott’s humanity…
January 12, 2024
Governor Abbott,
The ongoing international migration crisis that our nation faces demands a strong, compassionate, and humane response. We agree that our nation needs immigration reform, but instead of advocating for that, you have chosen to sow chaos in an attempt to score political points. You are now sending asylum seekers from Texas to the Upper Midwest in the middle of winter — many without coats, without shoes to protect them from the snow — to a city whose shelters are already overfilled with migrants you sent here. Chicago’s temperatures this weekend are forecast to drop below zero. Your callousness, sending buses and planes full of migrants in this weather, is now life-threatening to every one of the arrivals. Hundreds of children’s and families’ health and survival are at risk due to your actions.
We refuse to play your political game of exploiting the most vulnerable for the sake of culture wars and talking points. You seem to have no interest in working on bipartisan solutions to the border crisis because that would put an end to your cruel political game, but I am writing to you today hoping to appeal to your humanity. Over the coming days, Illinois will experience a dangerous winter storm and subzero temperatures. I strongly urge you to stop sending people to Illinois in these conditions. You are dropping off asylum seekers without alerting us to their arrivals, at improper locations at all hours of the night. As we grapple with the existing challenges of your ongoing manufactured crisis, the next few days are a threat to the families and children you are sending here. I am pleading with you to at least pause these transports in order to save lives.
There is much more that needs to be done by the federal government to provide aid to asylum seekers and to secure the border. I understand that the border crisis is untenable for border states. Illinois, and all other states, especially Texas, ought to lobby Congress immediately to vote for bipartisan immigration reform.
While action is pending at the federal level, I plead with you for mercy for the thousands of people who are powerless to speak for themselves. Please, while winter is threatening vulnerable people’s lives, suspend your transports and do not send more people to our state. We are asking you to help prevent additional deaths. We should be able to come together in a bipartisan fashion to urge Congress to act. But right now, we are talking about human beings and their survival. I hope we can at least agree on saving lives right now.
Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that the Secretary of State may not issue to or allow the renewal or retention of a driver’s license or permit by anyone who possesses a revoked Firearm Owner’s Identification Card unless: (i) the applicant’s Firearm Owner’s Identification Card is successfully reinstated or (ii) the applicant surrenders possession of the Firearm Owner’s Identification Card to the Illinois State Police. Amends the Firearm Owner’s Identification Card Act. Provides that the Illinois State Police shall provide the Secretary with a notice of any individual who fails to surrender a revoked Firearm Owner’s Identification Card.
Illinois lawmakers will be picking up where they left off on Tuesday. […]
Here’s what we’re keeping an eye on in the months ahead: […]
Karina Gonzalez of Chicago was shot and killed in July 2023 by her husband, against whom she had an order of protection. But he still lived in their shared home and had access to his guns. This legislation would require Illinois State Police to revoke firearms from the home when an abuse victim is granted an order of protection. It passed the House in May and is awaiting Senate action. […]
State Rep. Marcus Evans (D-Chicago) and State Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago) are promoting a plan to put wind turbines to Lake Michigan. The goal with the “Rust Belt to Green Belt” fund is to eventually build a 150 megawatt wind turbine project somewhere off the Illinois shores of Lake Michigan. It passed the House by a comfortable margin and is awaiting action in the Senate. […]
The Illinois House passed a measure that would let legislative staffers at the state Capitol unionize. It gives the Illinois Labor Relations Board oversight of employees of the General Assembly and sets parameters for how bargaining should take place. It’s now in the Senate, but members of the Illinois Legislative Staff Association (ILSA), who spearheaded the bill, said there’s still a lot of work to do on it.
* HB4431 was filed by Rep. Jeff Keicher yesterday…
Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Removes language providing that the examination of an applicant for a driver’s license or permit who is 75 years of age or older or, if the Secretary of State adopts rules to raise the age requirement for actual demonstrations, the examination of an applicant who has attained that increased age or is older shall include an actual demonstration of the applicant’s ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control of the operation of a motor vehicle. Effective January 1, 2025.
Amends the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act. Provides that one representative of the Office of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman (instead of one representative of the Department on Aging) is a nonvoting member of the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Advisory Board. Adds a certified long term care ombudsman and 3 current or former residents of an assisted living establishment or shared housing establishment as voting members of the Board.
Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates an income tax deduction for any amounts paid by the taxpayer’s employer on behalf of the taxpayer as part of an educational assistance program. Creates an income tax deduction for any amounts paid by the taxpayer on behalf of an employee of the taxpayer as part of an educational assistance program. Provides that the deductions are limited to the first $5,250 of such assistance so furnished to any individual. Effective immediately.
Amends the Nurse Practice Act. Ratifies and approves the Nurse Licensure Compact, which allows for the issuance of multistate licenses that allow nurses to practice in their home state and other compact states. Provides that the Compact does not supersede existing State labor laws. Provides that the State may not share with or disclose to the Interstate Commission of Nurse Licensure Compact Administrators or any other state any of the contents of a nationwide criminal history records check conducted for the purpose of multistate licensure under the Nurse Licensure Compact.
* ICYMI: Illinois lawmakers return to Springfield next week, here’s some things to keep an eye on. WBEZ…
- The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning wants to merge Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority into one regional agency as part of an attempt to close a $730 million budget deficit.
- Plans for a wide ranging “cannabis omnibus” bill fizzled in the final days of 2023’s spring session, but cannabis advocates in the legislature are still pushing forward.
- State Rep. Marcus Evans (D-Chicago) and State Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago) are promoting a plan to put wind turbines to Lake Michigan.
* Crain’s | Plan to elect Chicago school board hits political land mines: The twin battles pit the Chicago Teachers Union and progressive groups against Senate President Don Harmon and more centrist Democrats, with Mayor Brandon Johnson potentially playing a key intermediary role. Until a deal is reached, the rules that guide board elections mandated by a 2021 state law are uncertain — including whether all 20 board members and the chair will be elected this November, or whether voters will elect only 10, with Johnson temporarily selecting another 10 plus a chair for a hybrid board that would run schools until another election in 2026.
* WTTW | What a Permanent Child Tax Credit Could Mean for Families in Illinois: The expansion of the child tax credit during the pandemic — which included cash payments to families for six months — lifted more than 2 million children out of poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. […] State Rep. Mary Beth Canty (D-Arlington Heights) is a chief co-sponsor of a bill in the state House that would enact a permanent child tax credit.
* Governor JB Pritzker heads to Iowa to campaign with President Biden ahead of the Republican Caucus. He will be holding a news conference in Des Moines on Monday at 2:30 pm.
* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…
* Sun-Times | High times for Illinois pot industry as annual recreational sales top $1.6 billion: Illinoisans bought more joints, gummies, flower and other weed products overall, too — 42,124,741 of them, to be exact — a 15% jump from the previous year, officials said. The only number harshing Illinois’s reefer revenue buzz was a 14% decline in sales to out-of-state customers, who spent $418 million. Officials blamed burgeoning weed sales in nearby states that have also legalized recreational cannabis, such as Michigan, Missouri and Minnesota.
* 25 News Now | McLean County Board rejects immigration resolution:: The McLean County Board has rejected an effort to ban the use of county tax dollars to support migrants who would come to the community from the border. The vote was 13-7 against GOP board member Chuck Erickson’s resolution, with three Republicans joining all 10 Democrats opposing Erickson’s measure. Board Chair Catherine Metsker, Randall Knapp, and Susan Schafer -all Republicans - voted with the majority.
* WMBD | McLean County’s EMA director lays out plan for migrants: Cathy Beck, director of McLean County’s Emergency Management Agency (EMA), said the plan would be to send migrants to the migrant intake center in Chicago. She did mention that a lot of the planning would have to be done spontaneously, as the buses would likely arrive without warning.
* Lawmaker: More legislation may be needed to protect young people on social media: State Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, said she plans to introduce legislation in Illinois to address mental health problems among young people. “You talk to teachers in your school districts and they will tell you that the No. 1 issue that they are dealing with is mental health breakdowns, and they’re coming to Springfield for more money,” Rezin told The Center Square. “We need to ask ourselves why are we seeing these breakdowns, especially in minors.”
* Illinois Times | Judge denies Sam McCann’s request to delay trial again: The bench trial of former Conservative Party gubernatorial candidate Sam McCann on illegal campaign fund spending charges will begin as scheduled Feb. 5, a federal judge ruled Jan. 10 when she turned down McCann’s request for another delay in the almost 3-year-old case. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Lawless also denied McCann’s second request since January for a delay in filing a list of potential witnesses the Plainview resident plans to call to the stand and testify during the trial.
* WNIJ | Has the well-being of children in Illinois improved over the past decade? A new report explores.: “In general, our scores were above the national average for the well-being of children in most racial and ethnic groups. But the state ranked in the bottom third of states for the well-being of Black children,” she said. “This data point really underscores in Illinois, and in states more broadly, we’re really failing to ensure that children, especially children of color, have all the resources they need to thrive.”
* Crain’s | Debt and deficits set off alarm bells at University of Chicago: The university ended fiscal 2023 in June, reporting operating expenses of $3.14 billion and a deficit of $239 million, resulting in a hiring freeze and other budget cuts. At the same time, it has been dealing with debt and rising interest payments.
* STAT | Addressing the Black youth suicide crisis requires a new approach to licensing clinical social workers: But at a time when they are arguably needed most, Black social workers face stringent barriers to earning full clinical licenses. Nationally, Black social workers report experiencing racial bias in the test-taking process that is required to earn the clinical license needed to administer independent therapeutic services. This crisis calls for new solutions, and Illinois is trying one that sounds promising. A new state law provides alternative paths to obtaining clinical licensure, and other states would benefit from closely watching this approach.
* Crain’s | In the search for a new top tourism exec, Chicago’s reputation is at stake: With the unexpected departure of CEO Lynn Osmond, Choose Chicago finds itself in the same place it was in 2021, casting a wide net to reel in a new leader in charge of drawing visitors and conventions to the city. The challenge proved formidable back then, when the agency’s board of directors spent more than nine months trying to fill the role.
