Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Commonwealth Edison wants to up the ante for data center developers looking to cash in on the artificial intelligence wave.

The electric utility serving Northern Illinois wants to dramatically raise the deposit required for massive projects to discourage speculators from wasting its time and engineering resources on projects that may never come to fruition. […]

Not long ago, a data center requiring 100 megawatts would be considered huge. Large industrial projects, such as an electric vehicle battery factory or computer chip plant, might require 100 to 200 megawatts. The massive Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park, which envisions being home to multiple quantum-computing companies, could eventually require 350 megawatts. […]

ComEd currently charges a $1 million refundable deposit for customers seeking 50 megawatts or more. The current amount already is likely the highest in the country. Under an application filed yesterday with the Illinois Commerce Commission, ComEd seeks a base deposit of $1 million for the first 50 megawatts, plus $500,000 for each 100 megawatts. A 1 gigawatt data center would pay $5.5 million.

* Capitol News Illinois…

For 60 years, SkillsUSA Illinois has held workforce development competitions for young people entering the trades. For 60 years, there has never been an all-female team competing in the architecture and construction team competition. […]

SkillsUSA Illinois’ first all-girls team — Aubrey Levin, Kayhl Miles, Catelin Wesley and team captain Amyla Walls — did not know they were breaking boundaries until after they had finished their competition this spring in Peoria.

The team from the Bloomington Area Career Center reacted to the news with shocked laughter, followed by near immediate dread as they anticipated the heightened expectations and scrutiny of their work this title would bring.

“They’re going to be like, ‘You’re the first all-female team,’ and I’m going to be like, ‘Please don’t look at my electrical,’” Levin said, half laughing.

Although it may seem late for the existence of the first all-female team, it is consistent with the construction industry demographic trends in Illinois. Over the past 10 years, women have held fewer than one in 10 construction jobs. Prior to 2021, fewer than 5% of new construction apprentices in Illinois were women, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Top candidates for the US House in Illinois’ 2nd, 7th, 8th and 9th districts for the 2026 election: The domino effect that began in late April with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s announcement that he wasn’t seeking a sixth term has caused two members of Congress — U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson and U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg — to declare their interest in Durbin’s seat. That means their spots in Congress are opening up. In addition, much of the north and northwest suburbs will see their first new members of Congress in nearly three decades as U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky is retiring at the end of her term.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WAND | Violent crime reporting proposal arrives on Pritzker’s desk, awaits signature: Police departments would also be required to document when each crime occurred and the status of criminal cases. “The purpose of this is to streamline the process to get away from the clearance rate number that we’re using right now that is a bit opaque and doesn’t provide true justice for people,” said Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago). “The amendment also brings ICJIA and the Illinois State Police to neutrality on the bill.”

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Chicago-area home prices rising at four times the nation’s: In the Chicago metro area, where home prices used to be among the slowest-rising in the U.S., prices in May went up at four times the speed of the nation. That’s according to reports from Illinois Realtors and the National Association of Realtors, released separately June 23. A month ago, Chicago-area prices were going up at more than three times the national pace, and before that, they were going up at more than double the U.S. rate.

* Tribune | City mum on what documents it provided ICE in Streets and Sanitation subpoena: After first asserting it did not turn over personal information about city workers to U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Law Department is now hedging on how exactly the administration responded to a federal subpoena for employment eligibility forms. Johnson Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry told reporters last week the city’s response to an ICE subpoena for the forms of Streets and Sanitation employees that determine whether they can legally work in the U.S. contained no personal information about those workers. But on Monday, a Law Department spokesperson declined to go that far when the Tribune asked about what documents ICE did receive and what information they contain.

* Sun-Times | Mayor Brandon Johnson credits tipped minimum wage law with fueling growth in Chicago: Samoora Williams, an organizer with advocacy group One Fair Wage, bartended in Chicago from 2019 to 2022. She made a base pay of $10 an hour; additional tips did not bring her up to minimum wage, she said on Monday. Williams wasn’t aware of the federal law mandating employers pay minimum wage if tips don’t bring workers to that baseline. One Fair Wage organizer James Rodriguez worked as a host at a Lincoln Park Italian restaurant for two years. He said the eatery paid tipped workers minimum wage if they didn’t reach that threshold with tips. But “a lot of workers don’t know they’re supposed to be making that,” said Rodriguez. “These are so many cases of abuse of the law. The city doesn’t have the manpower to go after those restaurants.”

* Sun-Times | Patients evacuated from Weiss Memorial Hospital over heat suffer again during heat wave at new facility: Then the heat came. Last Tuesday, Weiss evacuated its entire inpatient unit after failing to fix the hospital’s air conditioning system as temperatures inside the building rose to 90 degrees and a heatwave moved into the city. Hospital leaders blamed the problem on an aging air conditioning system that had not been maintained by previous owners, which forced the 239-bed acute care hospital to transfer or discharge 45 patients. The AC may not be fixed for two more weeks, they said.

* Tribune | Indicted on fraud charges, ex-Loretto Hospital exec wages bizarre PR campaign from Dubai: And while the news release, dated Sunday, claimed Ahmed is still based in Chicago, he actually fled to Dubai before the first charges were filed and has not returned to answer to either case. A warrant for his arrest remained active as of this week, court records show. The news release was the latest in a strange public relations campaign that appears aimed at rebuilding Ahmed’s image and possibly courting the attention of President Donald Trump, who has recently granted executive clemency in a number of notable Chicago-area cases, from Gangster Disciples boss Larry Hoover to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

* WGN | ‘Potential death’: Chicago firefighters, alderman raise concerns with OSHA-backed policy change: “There’s going to be a lot of buildings burning down and potential death,” said Patrick Cleary, President of Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2. “That’s what’s gonna happen.” The specific issue Cleary is fired up about involves new tactical guidelines affecting the first fire engine to respond on scene to a fire. According to the new policy, the officer on smaller, four-man rigs responding to fires must become the incident commander, with two other firefighters performing specific duties.

* Block Club | Wicker Park Neighbors Fight ‘Atrocious’ Rat Problem In Dean Park. So Far, The Rats Are Winning: The city has taken some action to remedy the issue this spring, with 311 requests showing the Department of Streets and Sanitation baited the park with rat poison three times since May, including on Monday. Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) said his office is also working on improving sanitary conditions in the surrounding area. But neighbors have continued to see rats in the park after the first two baitings, with some digging new holes over the weekend along the fence near Gutstadt’s apartment, Gutstadt said.

* Crain’s | Can buying pot be as easy as buying groceries? A Chicago company aims to find out.: Verano Holdings, which has 157 stores across 13 states, is opening a pilot location in Cave Creek, Arizona, that’s more like a convenience store than the traditional dispensaries that most companies operate. This type of setup is rare in the tightly regulated industry, where most products are kept behind the counter and handed over by staff after ID checks.

* Tribune | PETA names Chicago the country’s most vegan-friendly city: Brody said PETA chose Chicago because it has become so easy “to enjoy classic Chicago dishes” in vegan form, citing Buona’s Italian beefless sandwich and Kitchen 17’s vegan deep-dish pizza. At Runaway Cow, Eichhorn offers fully vegan beef sandwiches and Chicago dogs. Rafael Tenorio, who lives in LaGrange, has been vegan for 10 years. He stopped eating meat after he began volunteering at animal shelters, joining his daughter in the lifestyle. He has found it easy to maintain in the Chicago area. Most restaurants, he said, can accommodate vegans even if their menus are not designed for them.

* WBBM | Chicago journalism icon Craig Dellimore retires after 42 years at WBBM: “I think what made everyone think twice was, frankly, the civil unrest of the 60s, and going forward, because people realized that you didn’t have a variety of voices, that they didn’t see it coming,” said Dellimore. “I think that’s really what it was. People didn’t see all of this coming, and said maybe we ought to either train and or hire people who had a different perspective.”

* Fox Chicago | What’s happening in Chicago this summer? A lot—from jazz nights to burgers and beer: This summer, Millennium Park and the Shedd Aquarium are offering fun and unique experiences open to the public from May through August. While Jazzin’ at the Shedd requires a ticket, all concerts and movies at Millennium Park are free. Check out the highlights below for details on event dates, performers, and what to expect.

* Block Club | West Side’s ‘Unsung’ Blues Legacy Gets Its Due In New Austin Exhibit : “Unsung Austin-West Side Stories,” organized and presented by the Chicago Blues Museum, explores 70 years of musical history on the West Side through large reprints of archival photos, banners and posters along with extensive descriptions. The free exhibit is hosted in the lobby of the park’s cultural center, 5610 W. Lake St. This is the first time the West Side is getting an exhibit that chronicles its unique history and contributions to music, said Gregg Parker, founder of the Chicago Blues Museum and curator of the exhibit.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | It’s so hot you could fry an egg on the buckling pavement — asphalt eruptions dot suburbs: Heat indexes above 100 degrees and humidity create perfect conditions for asphalt and concrete blowouts, IDOT explained. When there’s no more room for the pavement to expand, it pushes up. Bartlett drivers were down to one lane along Route 59 north of Stearns Road on Sunday afternoon, when the roadway buckled. More street meltdowns occurred Monday in Buffalo Grove.

* Daily Herald | Homer Glen names former Willowbrook police chief, real estate agent, as trustee: Schaller worked for the Willowbrook Police Department for 28 years, including five years as police chief. For the last two years, he has been a real estate broker in Orland Park. Schaller said his extensive background in government will make him an effective board member, and said he’s worked hand in hand with various municipal departments during his tenure in Willowbrook. Schaller said he is confident and ready to get to work on the Homer Glen Village Board. “I’m hitting the ground running,” he said.

*** Downstate ***

* Sun-Times | For older adults, a robust network of friends, relatives key to better health outcomes, study finds: The analysis was led by Lissette Piedra, a professor of social work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who found three types of social networks emerged among older adults. Those in an “enriched” network — a larger social circle filled with diverse relationships that included friends and relatives from different social circles — reported better health scores and lower rates of loneliness, Piedra said. Researchers used a health indicator model in which adults in the study ranked their own health.

* WIFR | ‘Starved Rock Killer’ Chester Weger dead at 86, reports say: Chester Weger, the man convicted of slaying a woman at an Illinois state park in 1960, has died, according to a report from Shaw Local. He was 86 years old. Weger, also known as the “Starved Rock Killer,’ spent nearly 60 years in prison for killing Lillian Oetting, one of three women found dead in St. Louis Canyon.

* WGLT | Bloomington council OKs updated massage business regulations in effort to halt illicit operations: “Really, what we want is compliance, and we want to get a regulatory structure in place,” said City Manager Jeff Jurgens. “We understand that we have a lot of great massage therapists out there and establishments, and we understand that the illicit ones are likely not going to go through this process. But we will use this regulatory process to shut them down.” Two weeks after tabling an original proposal, the city council on Monday unanimously approved an adjusted ordinance to include application fees and other regulations for massage establishments.

* WCIA | Effingham man accused of human trafficking after pastor, others help victim escape: “A trusted third party who is the pastor of a local church brought the juvenile to the police department to make the report,” officials said. “The pastor had previously attended an informational meeting for community leaders on how to be an advocate for victims, which was led by Effingham Police officers.” After the initial report, the victim received immediate medical attention and was given protective assistance from child-victim crisis professionals.

*** National ***

* WaPo | Supreme Court for now allows Trump to deport migrants to ‘third countries’ : The court’s order, which drew a sharp dissent from the three liberal justices, was the latest of several allowing President Donald Trump to move forward with a major change in policy while litigation on the issue continues in lower courts. Each has been made as part of the court’s “emergency docket,” which means they are decided based on truncated court filings, not oral argument, and the justices do not always explain their reasoning.

* NYT | The Global A.I. Divide: Nations with little or no A.I. compute power are running into limits in scientific work, in the growth of young companies and in talent retention. Some officials have become alarmed by how the need for computing resources has made them beholden to foreign corporations and governments. “Oil-producing countries have had an oversized influence on international affairs; in an A.I.-powered near future, compute producers could have something similar since they control access to a critical resource,” said Vili Lehdonvirta, an Oxford professor who conducted the research on A.I. data centers with his colleagues Zoe Jay Hawkins and Boxi Wu.

* Rockwood Notes | A Profile: Nicholas J. Pritzker: While his grandsons Jay (the financier) and Bob (the operator) are often credited with the family’s vast wealth, and his son A.N. was the first real dealmaker, Nicholas played a different, but arguably more fundamental, role. It’s not a story of high profile deals but of perseverance through relentless hardship and tragedy, pieced together from an autobiography he wrote entirely from memory. He was the family’s first lawyer and, inspired by the Rothschilds’ centuries of success, unified the family’s assets under a shared ethos that would define the family for nearly a century.

* The Atlantic | The Archaic Sex-Discrimination Case the Supreme Court Is Reviving: By invoking Geduldig, the Roberts Court is doing what the Supreme Court of earlier eras did: supplying tortured legal logic to justify long-standing hierarchies. In Plessy v. Ferguson, for example, the Court insisted that laws that required white and Black individuals to ride in different train cars were not impermissible racial discrimination—the rules applied to and burdened everyone, after all. That logic sounds like the thread in Skrmetti that maintains that bans on gender-affirming care don’t constitute gender-identity discrimination because the bans allow transgender and cisgender kids to access hormones and puberty blockers—just not for treatment of gender dysphoria. In Korematsu v. United States, the Court claimed that the internment of Americans of Japanese descent did not constitute racial discrimination; the policy was about national security. That reasoning tracks with Skrmetti’s insistence that the health-care bans do not discriminate on the basis of sex or gender identity; they are about age and medical procedures.

* WaPo | The plan to vaccinate all Americans, despite RFK Jr.: The American College of Physicians, one group involved in the talks, said Kennedy’s recent changes to the ACIP and lack of transparency in the process “puts at risk decades of progress in vaccine development, access, and public trust, and contributes to confusion and uncertainty.” If the panel departs from long-standing recommendations, “we will need to look elsewhere for reliable information guided by the best-available evidence to guide the use of vaccines,” said Jason Goldman, the group’s president, in a statement.

3 Comments

Musical interlude: Mick Ralphs

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* AP…

Mick Ralphs, a guitarist, singer, songwriter and founding member of the classic British rock bands Bad Company and Mott the Hoople, has died.

A statement posted to Bad Company’s official website Monday announced Ralphs’ death at age 81. Ralphs had a stroke days after what would be his final performance with the band at London’s O2 Arena in 2016, and had been bedridden ever since, the statement said. No further details on the circumstances of his death were provided.

Ralphs is set to become a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Bad Company in November.

“Our Mick has passed, my heart just hit the ground,” Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers said in a statement. “He has left us with exceptional songs and memories. He was my friend, my songwriting partner, an amazing and versatile guitarist who had the greatest sense of humour.”

* This Ralphs song truly swings…

I can’t get enough
Enough of your love

3 Comments

Ten years and $9 million

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* More than eight years after the old station was destroyed, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for a new station, which won’t be completed for another two years and is projected to cost almost $9 million…

The 115th Street Morgan Park Metra stop along the Rock Island Line is set for a major renovation, with members of the Metra Board of Directors and local officials recently gathering for a ground-breaking ceremony.

On June 16, Metra began the $8.69-million project to improve the 115th Street Morgan Park Station on the Rock Island Line.

The renovation, expected to be completed in 2027, will replace the existing platform shelters, create a new plaza and sidewalks, and address stormwater management needs.

Since 2017, the 115th Street Morgan Park stop has not had a depot. The original station, located at 1982 W. 115th St., sustained extensive damage from a fire in May 2017 and was later demolished.

* This is what commuters are getting for almost $9 million…

Not trying to pick on Metra here, just pointing out how long it takes to build anything - and how expensive it is.

* Of course, that little station pales in comparison to the $80 million Damen Green Line Station and is barely a speck of dust next to the CTA’s $5.75 billion Red Line extension - which works out to a mind-boggling billion dollars per mile.

* The High Speed Rail Association looked at this a few years ago…

One factor is the inappropriate use of consultants in the U.S. “Oftentimes, what we’ve found is that consultants are brought on to answer the questions of, What do we need to be doing?” [Eric Goldwyn, who leads the Transit Costs Project], said in a recent interview with the publication Governing. “Rather than an agency telling the consultant what they need to be doing, the consultant starts to do stuff, and the agency is like, ‘Well, that’s not really what we want. We need you to go study this other thing.’ They’re billing you by the hour and those costs accumulate.”

Labor costs are a second driver of the high costs. The issue isn’t wages per se, since most European countries pay equivalent or higher wages for construction work. It’s more about the overall number of workers employed on projects, along with the deference to car culture in the U.S.—which not only slows down projects but leads to workers being paid for overtime and overnight shifts. “If you don’t let a lane or two of traffic be shut down so they can dig a big hole,” Goldwyn said, “that just means they’re going to dig it much more slowly, and they’re going to have to dig it at weird hours of the day, so it’s going to be much more expensive. If you just said, ‘Yeah it’s going to be annoying, but let’s just do it and get it over with,’ that would be, I would argue, a better way to go.”

The relative lack of standardization in U.S. projects is a third key factor. Countries with lower construction costs emphasize standardization and “really trying to economize as much as possible,” according to Goldwyn. “In the States, we have this tendency to customize and make everything bespoke,” he said in the Alliance webcast. “The issue is that if you’re designing everything as one-off, you don’t save any money in your design,” and you can’t apply the lessons learned—or the potential cost savings—moving forward.

A fourth factor is that there are so many stakeholders with their own agendas in the U.S. “One of the things that’s interesting in this research is how often government agencies or utility companies gum up these projects because they want something” in exchange for doing their job, Goldwyn said. “There’s all these opportunities for extraction, and there needs to be someone at a high enough power, like a mayor, who is saying, ‘Cut the crap. We need to get this done. . . . You can’t keep trying to extract more and more bribes from these megaprojects.’”

Discuss.

* Related…

Illinois Transit Overhaul

19 Comments

Question of the day

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* AInvest…

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the “Bitcoin Reserve Bill” SB 21 into law on June 21, allowing the state to invest an unlimited amount of money from the state’s fund into Bitcoin (BTC). This legislation creates the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, enabling the Comptroller to purchase BTC as long as the asset’s market cap exceeds $500 billion, a threshold that only Bitcoin currently meets.

With the proposal signed into law, Texas became the third state in the US with an official Bitcoin reserve, joining New Hampshire and Arizona. The statute does not cap allocations, meaning lawmakers could appropriate the full balance of the Economic Stabilization Fund. The ESF closed fiscal 2024 with $21 billion in cash and investments, according to the Comptroller’s annual cash report and supplemental ESF fact sheet.

If legislators route the maximum, Texas alone could become the largest public-sector Bitcoin holder in the US. The state could funnel up to $2.1 billion in Bitcoin if it decides to allocate up to 10% of its budget in BTC, as Arizona had intended to with its failed bill. Together with New Hampshire, the total state allocations could reach nearly $2.2 billion.

* Illinois Treasurer Frerichs…

Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today that he has made more than $5 billion in investment earnings from the state portfolio during his time in office.

With one month to go in the state’s Fiscal Year 2025, investment earnings are up 6.07% over the same 11 months in Fiscal Year 2024.

“Every dollar we earn in interest for the people of Illinois is a dollar that lawmakers don’t have to raise in taxes,” Frerichs said. “We are trying to maximize earnings for our state at a time when the Trump administration is looking to strip away health care for working families to give billionaires a tax cut.”

Treasurer Frerichs also has surpassed $3 billion in gross investment earnings for cities, villages, school districts, counties and other units of government that take part in the highly rated Illinois Funds local government investment pool the State Treasurer’s Office operates. The Illinois Funds has received the highest rating of AAA from Fitch, a national credit ratings agency.

“Working with local government to earn cities and school districts more through smart, safe investing helps at a time when costs are rising,” he said.

Treasurer Frerichs is the state’s Chief Investment and Banking Officer. He is responsible for investing state revenue in the state investment portfolio.

Under state law, the Treasurer’s Office is prohibited from directly investing the state’s portfolio in the stock market. Treasurer Frerichs convinced the General Assembly to allow his office to invest in secure local government bonds, such as those issued by Illinois school districts to purchase land or erect buildings, and prime money market funds that emphasize security and liquidity.

* The Question: Should Illinois allow the state treasurer to invest in cryptocurrency? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.

online polls

34 Comments

Pritzker to announce reelection bid Thursday, sources say

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Subscribers got the news first yesterday. Politico…

Gov. JB Pritzker has sent out invitations for a Thursday morning event. The invite is short on details, so recipients are guessing it’s a campaign kick-off to run for a third term. The governor’s campaign didn’t immediately return a request for comment. There’s no limit to the number of terms an Illinois governor can serve. Gov. Richard Oglesby served during three non-consecutive terms, and Gov. Jim Thompson was elected to four.

* NBC Chicago…

Sources told NBC Chicago political reporter Mary Ann Ahern the governor is slated to make his announcement Thursday.

The decision isn’t unexpected as experts and those close to the governor have indicated another run was likely. […]

There has been much speculation recently on whether Pritzker could run for president, though that campaign would not come until after the 2026 state election. […]

In an appearance last month on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” show, Pritzker said his decision for Illinois would come before his decision on a potential presidential run.

* Fox 32 Political Correspondent Paris Schutz…

Thoughts?

* More…

Tribune | Gov. JB Pritzker running for a third term in 2026, but remains mum about presidential bid:

* WGN | Pritzker to announce reelection bid Thursday: sources: Pritzker has reportedly scheduled multiple campaign-style events this Thursday to kick off his third run for governor. The next gubernatorial election in Illinois is November 3, 2026.

57 Comments

It’s almost a law

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Capitol News Illinois…

Immigration rights advocates in Illinois are anxiously awaiting the governor’s signature on legislation aimed at protecting K-12 students who may be in the country without legal authorization from being denied access to a free public education.

House Bill 3247, known as the “Safe Schools for All Act,” passed both chambers of the General Assembly in the final days of the spring session. It would prohibit schools from denying any child access to a free public education based on their actual or perceived immigration status, or that of their parents.

It would also prohibit schools from disclosing, or threatening to disclose, information about a student’s immigration status or the status of a person associated with the child. And it would require schools to develop procedures for reviewing and authorizing requests from law enforcement agents attempting to enter a school or school facility.

The bill is intended to buffer K-12 students in Illinois from efforts by the Trump administration to launch mass deportations of noncitizens living in the United States without legal authorization.

* Chicago Reporter…

When a survivor of domestic violence escapes an abusive situation, their journey is only beginning. Physical and emotional impacts of trauma can stay with survivors for years as they recover, but another form of abuse can make it harder for survivors to leave in the first place: financial abuse.

Financial abuse occurs in 99% of domestic violence cases, according to the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), which can take the form of an abuser controlling how money is spent, prohibiting or sabotaging work opportunities, hiding or stealing assets and various forms of coerced debt.

In partnership with Legal Action Chicago, NNEDV, a network of national and state coalitions against domestic violence, drafted an Illinois bill prohibiting the collection of coerced debt that state legislature on May 11. If signed by Gov. Pritzker, the law will go into effect Jan. 1 2026. […]

The bill, HB 3352, defines coerced debt as “a debt incurred due to fraud, duress, intimidation, threat, force, coercion, undue influence, or non-consensual use of the debtor’s personal identifying information as a result of domestic abuse, sexual assault, exploitation, or human trafficking.”’

* WAND…

The highly anticipated plan to stop carbon capture and sequestration near the Mahomet aquifer has arrived on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.

This comes roughly a year after community advocates raised concerns that carbon sequestration pipes full of liquid carob dioxide could have leaks and contaminate the aquifer. […]

“There is a task force that is also included in this bill to continue protecting the aquifer,” said Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana). “The task force itself, hopefully with the support of the Prairie Research Network and certainly the Prairie Research Institute as well as other advocacy organizations, will continue to monitor this.” […]

The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association has urged Pritzker to veto this plan. They argue carbon capture and sequestration is a safe and proven technology that is key to maintaining economic growth and decarbonization goals.

* The Crain’s Editorial Board…

While lawmakers squabbled over and eventually kicked several very big cans down the road — including a transit rescue and energy reform — one small-scale time bomb, introduced just a day before the session ended on May 31, got waved through. […]

The legislation in question is SB 328, otherwise known as the toxic-tort bill. Its primary purpose, according to the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and others who support it, is to hold companies liable if and when a plaintiff suffers injury or illness resulting from exposure to toxic substances. Sounds reasonable, right? If someone gets sick from being around a toxic substance that a company produces, or by performing work that puts them in contact with a toxic substance, somebody somewhere should be held accountable, no?

But the bill does more than that. It potentially makes it much easier to sue out-of-state businesses in Illinois for personal injury and wrongful death, even if a defendant isn’t headquartered in Illinois, even if the plaintiff doesn’t reside in Illinois, and even if the alleged mishap didn’t occur in Illinois. […]

If the governor doesn’t veto this measure, he’ll undo much of the work he and his economic development partners have done to attract new investment to the Land of Lincoln. Because the message SB 328 sends to businesses everywhere is loud and clear: Do business here and expose your company to a new, unfair and potentially costly risk.

* WAND…

Legislation on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk could raise the mandatory senior driving test age from 79 to 87.

Drivers 79 and older would be required to renew their license, but they will not have to take a driver’s test for the renewal process.

Anyone 75 or older with a commercial license would still need to take a driver’s test to keep driving for work. […]

The plan does give people the ability to report their senior family member to the Secretary of State’s office if they’re suffering from a severe illness like dementia and should not drive.

* WGLT…

High school and community college students in Illinois will soon be able to earn automatic admission to most state public universities based on their GPA — without even having to apply.

The Direct Admission Program [DAP] will require public universities to offer admission to any student who meets their established GPA standard, according to the bill synopsis. Additionally, qualifying community college students who have completed 30 credit hours and are eligible to transfer to a public university will be able to do so. The program begins with the 2027-28 academic year.

One of the lead sponsors of the bill, state Rep. Katie Stuart, said direct admission was not a new topic for Illinois universities. Gov. JB Pritzker endorsed the idea during his budget address this year. It’s seen as a way to encourage Illinois students to stay in Illinois for college, and to eliminate what can be a complicated application process, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. […]

Misinterpretation of costs frequently discourage students from attending the state’s institutions, Stuart said. According to Stuart, surrounding states offer financial incentives and other promotions to appeal to out-of-state students, including those in Illinois. In 2021, nearly half (47.6%) of Illinois’ four-year college-going high school graduates chose an out-of-state school, according to IBHE.

* Meanwhile… Forbes wrote about SB1938, a bill that never made it out of committee…

Illinois lawmakers appear to be considering a revival of the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax—an idea that was first floated in 2019 but proved dead on arrival. Instead of recoiling from it as “just another tax,” perhaps we should ask a more interesting question: what if the VMT tax is exactly what is needed to internalize the actual cost of road usage—not only in Illinois, but nationwide? […]

The proposed legislation, SB1938, allows for variable pricing by time of day and by road type. This opens the door to potential congestion pricing and smarter infrastructure load balancing. While the bill doesn’t mandate it, there is nothing stopping the state from also tiering the fee by vehicle weight which, along with time of day and road type, would bring us even closer to matching tax policy with actual impact.

Critics contend that the VMT tax opens the door to all manner of Orwellian surveillance schemes. The proposal’s pilot program does entertain transponders and odometer photography, neither of which is ideal. However, it requires minimal data collection, explicitly prohibits personal information gathering, and offers non-GPS alternatives. It seems less like an Apple Watch for your Grand Wagoneer and more like a simple step tracker for your Corolla.

Most importantly, the pilot program is temporary and subject to legislative review. It must run for at least a year, with a full report due to the General Assembly within 18 months. The report must analyze not just revenue and logistics, but equity impacts, enforcement concerns, data security, and the potential for fraud.

11 Comments

Caption contest!

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From my high school days…

I’m the Fender copy bass player, in case you couldn’t figure out where I am.

Good times.

20 Comments

Why Are Tax-Exempt Hospitals Getting Rich?

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Across Illinois, big hospital systems and PBMs are abusing the 340B drug discount program – making massive profits while patients drown in medical bills. One whistleblower called it “laundering money.”

Here’s how the scam works: big hospitals buy discounted 340B drugs, bill patients full price, then split the difference with for-profit pharmacies and PBMs.

340B was meant to help Illinois communities in need. But there are no rules requiring hospitals and PBMs to pass savings on to patients. No transparency. No oversight. Just higher costs for working families, small businesses, and taxpayers.

Meanwhile, tax-exempt hospitals cash in – and PBMs get a cut too.

Comments Off

Open thread

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Rolling Stone…

[Eric] Church has never paid much mind to fulfilling expectations, and instead of shying away from the gospel sounds he debuted at Stagecoach, he brought the choir with him into the studio and doubled down with orchestral strings and horns. The result is Evangeline vs. the Machine, a record that is both dazzling and challenging, and creates a listening experience that upends the idea of what country music is — or at least the type of country music that first made Church a Nashville star.

It is also a masterwork. Evangeline vs. the Machine is just eight tracks, noticeably brief compared with its predecessor, 2021’s trio of LPs, Heart & Soul, but it cements Church’s legacy as a try-anything artist, one with more in common with David Bowie or Bob Dylan than his peers. It’s impossible to think of another mainstream country singer daring enough to emphasize French horn over electric guitar on a major-label album.

But the instrument is everywhere on EVTM, showing up on six of the songs. It announces “Evangeline” in a way similar to how the Rolling Stones relied on French horn in “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” “Still the man that I was/Just a little more gray, a little more stay/A little less sting in my buzz,” Church sings in the ballad, a rumination on getting older and finding solace in music.

* Evangeline…

For the songs she sings
I’m glad to give my soul

* Keep it Illinois-centric, please. Thanks much.

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: The Trump administration is making an unprecedented reach for data held by states. NPR…

[E]arlier this month, federal health officials shared data about millions of Medicaid recipients from a handful of states with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement. […]

The data pertains to Medicaid recipients in California, Illinois, Washington and Washington, D.C., according to the AP report. Those jurisdictions allow some noncitizens who do not qualify for federal Medicaid to enroll in a version of the program that is funded by the state. (All states receive federal funding to use for emergency care, which can treat low-income patients regardless of their immigration status.) […]

“CMS has long promised the public that it is committed to protecting the integrity and privacy of its data, including not sharing it for immigration enforcement purposes,” Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services spokesperson Melissa Kula wrote in an email, adding that the state agency is “deeply concerned.” […]

Public information officers from California, Illinois and Washington told NPR they still have not been notified by CMS about the data transfer and therefore could not confirm what data DHS holds. States routinely must share detailed data about Medicaid enrollees with CMS, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers and immigration status, under the expectation that it will remain confidential and secure.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Daily Herald | Metra, Pace and CTA now have a day pass to ride all three systems: The new fare will be offered for six months as a pilot program and could be made permanent in 2026, depending on funding, officials said. Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority are facing a massive budget shortfall of $771 million next year. […] The day pass will cost $2.50 more than the usual Metra day pass.

* Decatur Now | Amid soaring temps and increased prices, Citizens Utility Board calling on utilities to work with customers: Ameren has estimated the increase will cost customers an average of 18 to 22 percent, or about $38 to $46 more per month over the summer. The spike is connected to an increase in the price for reserve power, also called “capacity.” CUB argues that capacity costs have skyrocketed largely because of policy problems with the power grid operator for central and southern Illinois, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, which runs an auction that determines the capacity price.

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Illinois must build 227,000 units in 5 years to keep up with housing demand, report finds: The joint study published Tuesday by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found that although the rental and for-sale housing markets in Chicago and Illinois as a whole remain more affordable than many coastal cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, and some other states, Illinois still faces a severe housing shortage that is escalating affordability challenges.

* BND | IDOT using ‘safer, faster and cheaper’ full closures for roadwork projects: In recent years, the Illinois Department of Transportation has been using full closures of major roadways in the metro-east during construction because it offers three distinct advantages. “We have found that full closures are safer, faster and cheaper,” said Joel Cumby, IDOT’s District 8 project implementation engineer based in Collinsville. “Now, we will look at it, but we will only use a full closure if we do have good parallel routes, good alternate routes — a good detour.”

* Sarah Moskowitz | Frustrated — even ‘heartbroken’ — Nicor customers wonder when enough is enough: Nicor Gas usually delivers the heat, but at a recent Illinois Commerce Commission public forum in Joliet the utility was the one on the hot seat — over escalating bills. One Nicor customer walked to the microphone and directly addressed the utility bigwigs who were on stage to champion their proposal for the largest gas hike in Illinois history. The consumer said she was “heartbroken” over high gas bills that were burdening families. “We’re still suffering,” she said, calling on Nicor to lower bills so they are “truly affordable for all of us.” Given Nicor’s track record, it’s doubtful Illinois’ biggest gas utility got the message. Nicor has slapped its over 2 million customers with four rate hikes since 2017–raising delivery rates by 114%, or $747 million, and helping its parent, Southern Co., laugh all the way to the bank with $25.2 billion in profits

*** Statehouse News ***

* Daily Herald | After narrow loss in 2024, Maria Peterson making second bid for state House: Months after falling less than 50 votes short of a seat in the state legislature, Maria Peterson announced Monday she will again run for the 52nd District House post. […] “Since the last election, I have committed countless hours to electing Democrats locally, and worked with Barrington Giving Day, the Rotary Club, and others to help families who are drowning in property taxes, paying more for child care than their mortgage, and skipping doctor visits due to costs,” Peterson said in Monday’s announcement. “I am ready to take this and years of fighting for our community to Springfield.”

* Decatur Now | State Rep Sue Scherer announces intention to run for re-election: June 23, 2025 – State Representative Sue Scherer has announced her intent to run for re-election in the 2026 election. […] Scherer notes her work to increase educational funding, DCFS reform and for bringing billions of dollars in infrastructural advances to the 96th district.

* Financial Advisor | State Budget Wounds Intensify From Trump, DOGE Policy Shifts: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a $55 billion budget for the 2026 fiscal year that is smaller than his proposal in February. Pritzker has said no state can backfill the billions of dollars the US government provides for services such as Medicaid. “This year, that task was made harder by the turbulent national economic conditions and unstable federal funds flow caused by the chaos and ineptitude of the Trump administration,” Pritzker said. “The Trump slump is effecting the entire nation.”

* LSR | The Richest Men In Illinois And The Billion-Dollar Sports Betting Grudge: Bluhm’s portfolio features city-shaping commercial properties in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston, along with personal residences at a surf club in Miami and a mountain retreat in Aspen. He’s served on the board for the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum in New York, and his homes are adorned with pieces from his $300 million personal collection. He has a wife and three kids, an ownership stake in the Bulls and the White Sox, and he once hosted a birthday party for Barack Obama. He is a prolific philanthropist. Neil Bluhm doesn’t need anything. But what he seems to want more than everything is revenge against two of the country’s biggest sports betting and online casino companies. His grudge against FanDuel and DraftKings has lasted for at least a decade, driven millions of dollars in political donations, and found validation from another of Illinois’ wealthiest men.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | CPS needs to borrow to avoid cuts, CTU chief Stacy Davis Gates argues: Davis Gates said the mayor has only supported taking out a loan to manage the structural deficit in the short term without laying off school workers or cutting programs. She said the real long-term solution remains persuading the state Legislature and governor to provide adequate funding. According to the state’s own formula, CPS should be getting about $1.2 billion more each year.

* Sun-Times | Heat wave linked to rise in opioid overdoses in Chicago over the weekend, health experts say: Sixty opioid overdoses were reported Friday and Saturday — including more than 37 Saturday alone — triggering the city’s spike alert system, the Chicago Department of Public Health said. […] The heat wave may have also played a role in the spike in overdoses, according to Jenny Hau, medical director of behavioral health and interim deputy commissioner at CDPH. “We always see a seasonal increase in the number of overdoses in Chicago, as well as many other places in this country and around the world,” Hau said. “So certainly heat has a pretty close correlation in terms of the amount of overdose activities.”

* WGN | Woman arrested, charged in connection to anti-ICE protest where car drove through crowd: According to the Chicago Police Department, 30-year-old Dierdre Kemp was charged with one felony count each of aggressive reckless driving/bodily harm and aggravated fleeing/bodily injury, one misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license, and one citation each of operating an uninsured motor vehicle and involuntary committed obedience to police officers. Kemp turned herself in at the 1st District Chicago police station on South State Street on Thursday, June 19, where she was then placed under arrested and later charged.

* Crain’s | Former Black McDonald’s franchise operators back upcoming boycott: The boycott is being organized by The People’s Union USA, a grassroots advocacy organization led by Illinois resident John Schwarz. It’s the same group that championed the massive “economic blackout” in February that impacted brands nationwide. In an Instagram post promoting the McDonald’s boycott, Schwarz accused the Chicago-based company of price gouging, exploiting tax loopholes, suppressing workers’ rights and practicing “performative DEI,” though he did not offer specific examples or evidence of those claims.

* WTTW | Comedy and Crime Fighting Join Forces in Chicago for Police Learning Leadership Skills: Officials at the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Policing Leadership Academy brought members of The Second City, Chicago’s storied improv theater, to teach police leaders the more diverse skills found in improv exercises — like thinking on your feet, reserving judgment and fully listening. The academy, a workshop taught over five months, tackles some serious topics like to make data-driven decisions or how to help officers handle on-the-job trauma.

* Block Club | The Ultimate Guide To Chicago Ice Cream 2025: 100+ Spots For Scoops, Popsicles, Gelato, Italian Ice And More: Block Club rounded up more than 100 ice cream shops, cafes, bakeries, paleterias and other Chicago businesses ready to dish out loads of summer favorites this year. Menus and hours can vary from shop to shop, so consider calling ahead of your trip.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Residents of Park Forest apartments swelter as air conditioning goes unfixed; village promises fines: Residents of a large Park Forest apartment complex that has been without air conditioning for several days complained Monday the problem hasn’t been fixed, while the village promised to levy fines against the property owner. The village said Monday it is demanding staff at Autumn Ridge, 119 E. Sycamore, “work quickly to restore air conditioning for its residents” and said daily fines will be imposed.

* Daily Herald | ‘Basically reckless driving’: Schaumburg enacts regulations on use of e-bikes and scooters: The village board this month approved a measure setting a minimum rider age of 16 years old, requiring riders to wear helmets and use vehicle lights at night, and prohibiting their operation on sidewalks. “It’s basically reckless driving that’s going on right now,” Mayor Tom Dailly said. “I’m seeing it all the time myself.”

* Tribune | Wilmette adopts initial plan to boost affordable housing from 4.8% to required 10%: The plan, approved unanimously by the Wilmette Village Board on June 10, is the first piece in a more robust housing plan that will be developed by the village and the Wilmette Housing Commission over the next 12 to 18 months, Village Manager Michael Braiman said. “This is more of a bare bones plan that has to conform to certain requirements that the state lays out,” he said.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Campton Hills considers annexation for 900-unit residential project after years of local opposition to area’s development: Another development project is under consideration for a plot of land in what is currently rural La Fox, an unincorporated community in Kane County, which multiple developers have tried and failed to turn into a housing development since the early 2000s. But, this time, the proposed plan — which features a less dense housing plan and is set to allocate more than half of the area to open space — has the backing of the local open space organizations which have previously opposed the area’s development.

* CNN | NIH Froze Funding for Clinical Trials at Northwestern University. By Fall, They’ll Run Out of Funding: Brown became the first patient to enroll in the trial, which now has signed on more than 1,700 people and is designed to run for another four years. If it proves that some people can manage their AFib in an individualized way, it could revolutionize treatment for millions of Americans, reducing use of costly blood thinners that can come with unpleasant side effects. “This is huge,” Passman said. But he may never get the results. The trial is funded with $37 million from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and Northwestern hasn’t received any funding from the federal biomedical research agency since the end of March.

* Daily Southtown | Will County Board refuses to drop 143rd Street widening from transporation plan, but stalls passage: Recently, a bill authorizing the county to use quick-take powers to seize property along 143rd Street stalled in Springfield. Although the bill was not voted on by the time the legislature ended their spring session May 31, that does not stop the widening project. Will County began engineering studies in 2009 to widen 143rd Street from two to five lanes from State Street/Lemont Road to Bell Road. For more than a decade, county officials voiced their support for the project, and $6.2 million has already been spent. A $7 million federal grant earmarked for the project must be obligated by 2026.

*** Downstate ***

* WCBU | Bradley professor challenges incumbent Darin LaHood in U.S. House race: An adjunct economics professor at Bradley University in Peoria is joining the race for U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood’s seat because he says the financial policy just doesn’t “math up.” Before Joseph Albright taught accounting and other classes at Bradley, he was a campus police officer there for nine years. Before that he worked for almost a decade in health insurance. Albright says between his careers and his home life he has a personal stake in all the issues that form pillars of his campaign platform.

* WCIA | DeWitt County getting new transportation system: “Piattran” will be available for DeWitt community members beginning July 1. Residents will be able to use the door-to-door service for medical appointments, work, shopping, social visits, and more. Officials said it will offer safe, reliable, and accessible transportation throughout the county. […] Piattran will serve the entire county, and will be available Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Rides will cost between $1-$8, based on distance, and rider discounts (seniors and those with disabilities could qualify for a reduced cost). Piattran officials said rides must be scheduled by 2 p.m. the previous day.

* WGLT | Rally crowd opposes federal immigration crackdown after ICE arrest at McLean County courthouse: LUCIR [Latinos United for Change and Immigrant Rights], The Immigration Project, and Punks Against Trump organized the rally. It came two weeks after Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] took into custody a man who was at the McLean County courthouse for a criminal hearing. […] Alvarez said The Immigration Project wants to make sure everyone understands that national enforcement operations should be separated from local law enforcement and local court. “We’re in talks with the McLean County Board and we want to talk to Sheriff Lane and we want to talk to the court to make sure everyone is aware of and upholding state law under the Trust Act,” Alvarez said.

* BND | O’Fallon school building damaged by mine subsidence. Here’s how it will be fixed: Mine subsidence has caused cracks in floors and both exterior and interior walls, which have gradually worsened with over the years. In one 18 month span, the floor dropped 9 inches on the north end of the school, O’Fallon Central School District 104 Superintendent Gabrielle Rodriguez said. “It was sickening to go in every day and watch these cracks widen,” Rodriguez said. “We had actual walls separating.”

*** National ***

* WaPo | In West Virginia, Medicaid is a lifeline. GOP cuts could devastate the state.: At least five hospitals in West Virginia are at risk of immediate closure if the changes to Medicaid go into effect, said Rich Sutphin, president of the West Virginia Rural Health Association. (Hampshire Memorial is not among those five.) The state already struggles with access to maternity care, emergency medical transport and mental health, and has few hospitals that are able to perform complicated surgeries or treat high-risk patients. Sutphin said his group has been in “constant contact” with Capito, Justice and the state’s two House members, Reps. Carol Miller and Riley Moore, both Republicans who voted for Trump’s budget bill.

* AInvest | Texas Allows Unlimited Bitcoin Investment in State Fund: With the proposal signed into law, Texas became the third state in the US with an official Bitcoin reserve, joining New Hampshire and Arizona. The statute does not cap allocations, meaning lawmakers could appropriate the full balance of the Economic Stabilization Fund. The ESF closed fiscal 2024 with $21 billion in cash and investments, according to the Comptroller’s annual cash report and supplemental ESF fact sheet.

* NYT | Media Matters Sues F.T.C. Over Advertising Investigation: Media Matters said in its lawsuit that the Federal Trade Commission had employed “sweeping governmental powers to attempt to silence and harass an organization for daring to speak the truth.” The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., claimed that the agency was trying to limit the organization’s free speech rights, and asked a judge to immediately halt the investigation.

* Iowa Capital Dispatch | Iowa’s revenue shortfall becomes political fodder for 2026 campaign: The Iowa state government will be dipping into reserve funds to meet spending obligations in the 2026 fiscal year under the budget passed by lawmakers in 2025 — a decision Republican leaders said was accounted for when they approved income tax cuts, but that Democrats said could leave the state in a risky position in the case of economic downturns. The merits of the state tax cuts and Republicans’ budget decisions have become partisan talking points in the early days of the 2026 campaign, as candidates begin to position themselves to run for governor and other offices.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Live coverage

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.

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