* Gov. Pritzker…

https://t.co/6h8XzPYAU1 pic.twitter.com/ETgdKJ1NMK

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) November 8, 2024

* Some news…

From the docket: The Court finds in favor of the Plaintiffs and against the Defendants in these consolidated cases. The Court holds that the challenged provisions of the Protect Illinois Communities Act are unconstitutional under the Second Amendment to the United States…

— Bishop On Air (@BishopOnAir) November 8, 2024

…Adding… Gov. Pritzker…

The Protect Illinois Communities Act was the result of hundreds of hours of deliberation between legal experts, legislators, and advocates, and it makes Illinois a safer place for everyone. Despite those who value weapons of war more than public safety, this law was enacted to and has protected Illinoisans from the constant fear of being gunned down in places where they ought to feel secure. We look forward to the Attorney General filing an immediate appeal and the Governor is confident the constitutionality of the Protect Illinois Communities Act will be upheld through this process.

…Adding… AG Raoul…

Although this decision is disappointing, the Protect Illinois Communities Act remains in effect for the next 30 days. The law is an important part of the state’s comprehensive efforts to make communities safe from gun violence. We will continue to defend the law’s constitutionality, as we have in courtrooms throughout Illinois, and plan to appeal the court’s decision.

* Former Gov. Pat Quinn…

This Tuesday, November 12, at noon in the press room of the State Capitol in Springfield, former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn will discuss the resounding victory of the Illinois Property Tax Relief Amendment Referendum on the November 5th statewide ballot and outline next steps for passage of a constitutional amendment for property tax relief in Illinois.
 
The referendum passed with more than 60% voter support and marks the first time ever that Illinois voters had a direct referendum opportunity to demand mandatory property tax relief.
 
The referendum asked: “Should the Illinois Constitution be amended to create an additional 3% tax on income greater than $1,000,000 for the purpose of dedicating funds used for property tax relief?”
 
After New Jersey, Illinois has the second highest property taxes in the nation.
 
The property tax burden is a major factor in the cost of living for millions of Illinois households who pay more than $23 billion in residential property taxes every year.
 

* Stellantis strike? WIFR…

“A strike is seen as a necessary evil,” says John Mann. “We don’t want to do it, but we may have to.”

On Thursday, Mann and other Local 1268 members put their thoughts on the ballot – voting on a strike authorization (i.e., ability to hit the picket line, if required). Workers approved the measure by 91%. […]

More than 2,000 jobs sit in limbo without operations returning. The automaker maintains it will keep Belvidere open; most voters share the optimism – arguing the plant “works too well” to abandon. […]

Fresh off President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, UAW President Fain says the union must depend on itself to protect workers.

“We’ve said all along that no matter who is in the White House, our fight remains the same… It’s time for Washington, DC to put up or shut up.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Crain’s | Illinois government blamed for failing social equity cannabis businesses in new lawsuit: The seven cannabis transporter businesses claim in the new lawsuit, filed Nov. 1 in Circuit Court for the Seventh Judicial District of Sangamon County, that Pritzker and the IDOA changed course in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The change allowed the 22 existing licensed medical marijuana companies to transport their own cannabis goods, instead of following the original 2019 law which required such businesses to use independent transporters — a move that was never reversed.

*** Statewide ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois school Superintendent Tony Sanders discusses strategy to boost math scores: In a podcast interview recorded Wednesday, Nov. 6, State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders spoke with Capitol News Illinois about the report card and the need to address the sagging math scores.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | A majority of the Chicago City Council is calling for an early vote on mayor’s property tax hike: A group of 29 alderpersons across the political spectrum are calling a special City Council meeting next Wednesday in hopes of voting on the proposed property tax hike, separate from the rest of the 2025 budget. “This support’s not there for a $300 million property tax increase — it’s just not there,” said Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th Ward. “So, the reality is: How do we have a real, candid discussion around how this is going to play out?”

* Chalkbeat | Results for two outstanding school board races called, with a third still too close: Karin Norington-Reaves, the District 10 candidate who finished second behind Smith, said she is not conceding and is considering legal steps. She said all mail-in and early ballots must be counted and she argued Thursday that voters receiving ballots for the wrong school district denied them the opportunity to participate in the city’s first school board election. She said she has retained a lawyer. “This isn’t about sour grapes,” she said. “When it’s this close, and we have this many uncounted ballots and this many irregularities, I’m not conceding.”

* WBEZ | Migrants in Chicago might find legal help tough to get as they try to meet asylum application deadlines: More than 50,000 migrants, most from Venezuela, have arrived in Chicago since August 2022, many who fled violence, threats and persecution and are seeking asylum. With few exceptions, they have one year from arriving to apply to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for asylum. So those who arrived last fall now face only a limited amount of time to do so.

* Crain’s | At Old Post Office, Vizient bulks up while Uber shrinks At Old Post Office, Vizient bulks up while Uber shrinks: The health care management consulting firm has signed on to add about 40,000 square feet to its office in the hulking riverfront property at 433 W. Van Buren St., according to people familiar with the matter. The expansion came from a three-party deal in which Vizient will take over space on the building’s 8th floor that has been occupied by Uber, but will lease it directly from the building’s owner, New York-based 601W, sources said.

* Block Club | Beloved ‘Mayor’ Of Armitage Brown Line Station Is Retiring In February: People call Janet Martin the mayor of the Armitage Brown Line station for a reason. Martin, a CTA customer service representative, arrives at the station at 5:30 a.m. daily. She cleans the lobby, picks up garbage on the platform and starts her shift at 6 a.m. While there’s a customer service office next to the fare gate area at every station, Martin hardly sits in there. Instead, she’s greeting people and helping with whatever they need: buying a ticket at the kiosk, pushing luggage through the fare gate and assisting people who use wheelchairs.

* Block Club | Venezuelan Couple’s Empanadas A Hit In Humboldt Park, Selling Out Daily As They Wait For Work Permits: The couple, asylum seekers from Venezuela, have become a staple at the neighborhood’s busy intersection of North and California avenues. They’re reaping the benefits of the area’s foot traffic, catering to people waiting in the long line at the state’s human services and family community resource building, many of whom are other asylum seekers from Latin America. “We’ve had a lot of opportunities to try new things like this,” Angelica said in Spanish. Block Club isn’t publishing their last name for safety reasons. “Even though we can’t work legally in businesses yet, we have made new friends and received a lot of support for migrants from the local community and organizations.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | 3 Aurora mayor hopefuls accused of conspiring to force a primary: The objections call Jazmine Garcia and Karina Garcia “sham candidates” and say they conspired with another candidate, Alderman-at-large John Laesch, by collecting signatures for each other or having supporters do so. They acted as a de facto political party, according to the objections, and Aurora’s election is nonpartisan. Doing so violates state election law, according to John Fogerty, the attorney for Tara Loza, who filed the objections. Loza collected signatures for Mayor Richard Irvin, who is seeking re-election.

* Tribune | Suburban voters approve more than $1 billion in school borrowing, but draw the line on some measures: Suburban voters outside Chicago generally bucked a national conservative trend in Tuesday’s election by supporting more than a dozen measures to borrow more than $1.1 billion to fund schools, and more for fire stations, park facilities and open land. Notable school spending plans that appeared on the way to approval in unofficial results include $151 million for Wheaton-Warrenville District 200, $150 million for Mundelein District 120, $89 million for Park Ridge-Niles District 64, $85 million for Mount Prospect District 57, and $75 million for Westmont District 201, $64 million for Barrington District 220, $48 million for Salt Creek District 48 in the Oak Brook area, $30 million for Bloomingdale District 13 and $20 million for Cary District 26.

* Shaw Local | Kendall County voter participation down in 2024: While Kendall County is the fastest growing county in the state, the vote count of the 2024 General Election reveals the surge in population has not translated to a significant rise in voter participation. Between the 2020 General Election and the 2024 General Election, the total number registered voters in the county increased nearly 9%.

* Tribune | Two suburban men charged in Jan. 6 Capitol riot, first Chicago-area charges since Trump election: Two suburban men, one a retired professional boxer and another a convicted burglar, have been hit with federal charges alleging they stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and scuffled with police while chanting “Whose House? Our House!” The charges against Michael Mollo Jr., 44, and Emil Kozeluh, 41, are the first Chicago-area cases to be brought involving the events at the Capitol since the election earlier this week of Donald Trump, who repeatedly said on the campaign trail he’d consider issuing pardons if he returned to the White House.

* Daily Herald | Trump, turnout, taxes and more: 5 takeaways from Election Day in the suburbs: While the status quo largely prevailed throughout the suburbs in the wake of Tuesday’s election, some results did raise eyebrows. Suburban support for former President Donald Trump grew while every Democratic congressional incumbent handily defeated their Republican challengers. Turnout dipped, local improvements that will cost suburban taxpayers more won over voters and two coroners were ousted.

*** Downstate ***

A southern Illinois man charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has sought to delay his guilty plea because "Donald Trump became President-Elect of the United States" and there will likely be a change in how such cases "will be handled in the near future." pic.twitter.com/QhnoqaJIjk

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) November 8, 2024

* WGLT | McLean County Democrats continue long march toward parity: A Twin City political scientist says McLean County Democrats have been building toward gaining control of the McLean County Board through changing demographics for two decades now. “With new voters, a diversification of our community’s population, and the fact that we’re the highest educated community outside of Chicago in the state, those are all things that have led our voting patterns toward the Democrats,” said Illinois Wesleyan University professor Tari Renner. Elections on Tuesday flipped control of the board from a 10-10 split between Republicans and Democrats to a 12-8 advantage for the Democratic Party.

* Rockford Register Star | From Rockford to Peoria to Springfield, fewer voters cast ballots on Election Day: Although Election Day felt busy as former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris faced off for president, the number and percentage of voters who showed up were below expectations, Rockford Board of Elections Commission Chairman Ryan Brauns said. “It does seem like turnout is down all over, but then the swing states and places with hot races were up,” Brauns said. “I don’t know if it is the fact that Illinois isn’t in play, or that we didn’t have all that much on our local ballot and a lot of unopposed races.”

* WCIA | Here’s how voter turnout compares in Central IL counties: Some counties, like Ford and Iroquois, both had more than 70% registered voter turnout rates reported. Champaign County was also unable to match its 79% turnout from 2020. Sangamon County saw slightly lower numbers than in 2020. In the last Presidential election, the county had a 75% registered voter turnout rate. In 2024 they saw a 72% turnout rate.

* WSIL | Wife of southern Illinois judge who was shot and killed, appears in court: Megan S. Valentine faces murder charges, along with other felony charges, after police said her husband Michael Valentine, was shot and killed. On Friday, November 8, Megan Valentine had her first court appearance. Online court records state the defense attorney, on behalf of Megan, did not object to his client remaining in custody until the new court date.