Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Wednesday, Feb 26, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

In August, a federal judge ordered that most of Stateville Correctional Center’s population be transferred to other prisons due to derelict conditions.

But one section was excluded because it “does not exhibit the risks of falling concrete that exists in the general housing units”: the health care unit. […]

Disability rights group Equip for Equality filed a lawsuit against Latoya Hughes, acting director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, alleging that she violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act by holding the men inside in “unduly restrictive and isolating conditions compared to prisoners without disabilities, because of their disabilities.” The lawsuit also alleges she deprived the men inside of programs otherwise available because of their disabilities. […]

The lawsuit alleges one man died since these men were left in the facility after Stateville was otherwise closed. Witnesses said they saw staff disregard his urgent medical needs for the hours leading to his death, according to the lawsuit. A week later, two individuals heard staff laughing about the man’s absence, joking that he was “on a permanent writ,” the lawsuit continues.

* Ready Nation Illinois…

As our state and nation grapple over where best to invest public resources, ReadyNation commissioned the national polling firm of Zogby Analytics to survey 400 Illinois business leaders concerning these early learning priorities. Results of this online poll — conducted between Dec. 9, 2024 and Jan. 9, 2025 — reveal overwhelming support for early childhood services and their role in maintaining a stable and productive workforce. Here is an overview of key survey findings.

Employers and managers continue to see costly fallout from child care challenges, both for working parents and for employers’ own bottom line.

• 81.1% of surveyed business leaders agree that their employees “struggle with finding and retaining stable, affordable child care and early childhood programs” (24.3% strongly agree).

• As a result of these challenges, 66.4% of respondents say they’ve seen their employees losing
work hours. Other consequences they’ve witnessed among employees lacking stable child care:
o Lost wages – 58.3%
o Lost jobs/positions – 48.8%
o Lost promotions – 37.3%

• Executives have also experienced these business problems resulting from child care struggles:
o Reduced productivity – 66.8% of respondents
o The need to replace displaced workers (63.3%) and train/retrain new hires (49.5%)

• Overall, 92.8% of surveyed executives concur that high-quality child care and early education
are important to “workforce stability and productivity” (59.3% strongly agree). […]

An economic priority: Business leaders overwhelmingly want to increase public investments in young children’s learning and development.

• 91.5% of poll respondents support “greater public investments in high-quality child care and early childhood education,” with 51% expressing strong support.

• 97.1% of business leaders say investing to improve the quality and stability of early childhood teachers and staff is “beneficial for the state’s economic development.”

• 95.3% concur that public investments in early childhood facilities’ construction and renovation would “enhance the availability and quality” of such programs statewide.

• Regarding the new Illinois Department of Early Childhood that’s being developed, to consolidate oversight of core birth-to-5 programs spread across three agencies:
o 85.8% of business leaders express con1idence this unfolding effort will improve services’
access and quality
o 92.8% agree “streamlining and simplifying” these early care and education programs will
benefit kids, families, service providers and local communities

• Looking to the future, 93.1% of executives agree that Illinois’ current, multiyear approach to improve early childhood services — based on the research and recommendations of a bipartisan commission in 2021 — will “positively impact the workforce in Illinois.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Baptist News Global | Be ‘hopeful doom-scrollers,’ Pritzker urges: “I want to thank you for the late nights and for your early mornings and for leaving your family functions to formulate legal strategy over Zoom calls,” he said. “And I want to thank you for canceling Friday night drinks with friends so you could file briefs and battle executive orders. Boy, do we need you. I know what the last six weeks have asked of you. You’ve had to be hopeful doom-scrollers. “You’ve had to wake up every single day and be your smartest and be your sharpest because you live well with the worry that anything less will mean the constitutional republic you love so much may slip away,” he continued. “You’ve been stepping up when it seems like everyone else is stepping back.”

*** Statewide ***

* WIFR | Free test prep courses offered at all public universities in Illinois: The Illinois Student Assistance Commission is working with Kaplan to provide more than 40 free courses through the Prepare for Illinois’ Future Program. Students will have access to Kaplan’s preparation for professional licensing exams, graduate-level exams and credential exams including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, NCLEX-RN, USMLE, Illinois State bar exam, real estate and securities exam and more.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Brandon Johnson’s $830 million borrowing plan narrowly approved in City Council: The plan, passed 26-to-23, had been blocked from a vote at a previous City Council meeting as opponents criticized a lack of clarity on the projects that would be funded by the bonds and worried the backloaded debt payments risked a further downgrade of the city’s credit rating. Johnson’s team tweaked the proposal to clarify the funding would not be used for operations expenses at Chicago Public Schools as some have claimed. Any capital spending for CPS would need to be approved by the local alderman.

* Tribune | Park District boss stepping down after Mayor Brandon Johnson vow to purge holdovers: Chicago Park District Supt. Rosa Escareno is stepping down, the latest shakeup in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration after he vowed to purge officials who aren’t loyal to him. Escareno, a longtime City Hall veteran, submitted her letter of resignation on Wednesday after four years of helming the top job at the Park District, according to sources who are familiar with her decision. […] Her replacement was not immediately clear, but the Johnson administration is considering longtime ally Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th. If confirmed, Ramirez-Rosa’s appointment would further increase progressive representation within Johnson’s leadership team, as the mayor hinted was the goal in his explosive Feb. 10 remarks.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago school board to consider saving 4 of 7 Acero charter schools slated for closure: According to Chicago Public Schools officials, the funding needs for all seven Acero campuses on the chopping block exceed a legal state limit on how much money the district can provide to charter schools. A resolution included on the board’s agenda for its Thursday meeting calls for CPS to provide financial help to Acero in order to keep the Casas, Fuentes, Tamayo, and Santiago campuses open next school year. It then calls for CPS to figure out “the viability” of absorbing those campuses and turning them into district-run schools after next year.

* Crain’s | Convention agency bringing McCormick Place management back in-house: It’s a notable shift by an agency that has lauded the privatization of McCormick Place management for giving the city a competitive lift. The convention center — one of the region’s most important economic engines — was publicly managed from 1960 until 2011, when a slate of labor reforms enacted by the Illinois General Assembly prompted the hiring of a private operator to streamline campus operations and lower costs for trade shows, conventions and other meeting-organizer customers.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan, North Chicago primaries set stage for mayoral elections: Claiming victory in the Waukegan Democratic primary, former Mayor Sam Cunningham enters a four-way race for the city’s top job against incumbent Mayor Ann Taylor — who unseated him four years ago — Ald. Keith Turner, 6th Ward, and former Ald. Harold Beadling, 4th Ward. Cunningham’s performance was one of four contests for Democratic nominations in Waukegan and North Chicago, with two setting the stage for the April 1 general election for mayor in both cities, and two others putting unopposed candidates on the April ballot.

* Daily Herald | Complaint claims Arlington Heights trustee candidate violated donation limits: The campaign committee for Michele Hunter received in-kind contributions of $6,353.86 and $1,406.22 on Jan. 17 from the Illinois Republican Party for mailing and printing, according to disclosures filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. Arlington Heights bars candidates for village trustee or mayor from accepting more than $1,000 from any single organization.

* Daily Herald | Schaumburg, Zurich settle suit over public payments for workforce size: The settlement resulted in Schaumburg immediately paying Zurich $20 million in withheld reimbursement funds from the redevelopment area’s tax increment financing (TIF) district. Meanwhile, the maximum amount Zurich can receive over the life of the district was lowered from $100 million to $80 million. TIF funding generally pays for infrastructure improvements within the district for up to 23 years of the district’s existence.

* Lake County News-Sun | Hundreds protest Musk at Libertyville Tesla dealership: ‘What Elon has done to the brand is just make it feel dirty’: “Elon Musk paid to own Donald Trump, who promised to bring down prices on day one, and now people are paying even more,” said Lauren Beth Gash, chair of the Lake County Democratic Party, who was helping run the protest. During Saturday’s protest, a small group of conservative counter-protesters were stationed just a dozen yards away, and the two groups traded barbs and insults. The word “traitor” was thrown back and forth. In the background of the politically charged confrontation was the Libertyville Tesla dealership.

* WBEZ | The first Black-owned airport in the U.S. was in Robbins, Illinois: The Black men and women pilots who came after Coleman all attributed their work to her, explaining that they wanted to continue what she started. Two of these pilots, Cornelius Coffey and John Robinson, were highly skilled mechanics who were able to use their own knowledge of technology to teach, train, and further innovate the field of aviation. Coffey and Robinson met in Detroit and connected over their passion for aviation. After reading about the death of Bessie Coleman, the two were inspired to move to Chicago and apply to attend the Curtiss-Wright School of Aviation. They were the masterminds who built their own airport in south suburban Robbins with the help of Janet Harmon Bragg, the first Black woman to earn a commercial pilot’s license, and Willa Brown, the first Black woman to get both a pilot’s and commercial license. Both Bragg and Brown were trained by Coffey and Robinson, and became their colleagues.

*** Downstate ***

* Illinois Times | Sean Grayson’s attorneys seek change of venue: The trial of Sean Grayson, who is charged with first-degree murder in the July 6 death of Sonya Massey, needs to be moved outside Sangamon County because pretrial publicity would bias potential jurors, Grayson’s attorneys argued in court documents filed Feb. 26. “The print and electronic news media coverage relating to the death of Sonya Massey has been extensive nationally and worldwide, but especially in the local community,” Springfield defense attorneys Daniel Fultz and Mark Wykoff wrote in the request to Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin.

* Pantagraph | Bloomington to acquire Commerce Bank building, see other downtown sites torn down: On Monday, the Bloomington City Council approved two agreements: one with Consolidated Properties LLC to accept the former Commerce Bank building at 120 N. Center St. as a donation to the city, and one with Catalyst Construction to demolish three vacant properties south and west of the former bank to add surface parking at a cost of about $3.9 million.

* BND | O’Fallon’s new emergency alert system wakes up only those who are needed, not everyone: The alert systems went in separately to the public safety building 20 years ago, fire station no. 3 15 years ago, and fire station no. 4 12 years ago. “They were built by three different companies,” Brueggeman said. “If we receive a lift assistance call at 1 a.m. and only need two paramedics, every single paramedic gets a call.”

* Illinois Times | Manufacturing operations moving to Clinton: A manufacturer with more than 100 workers is closing two of its Springfield facilities and moving operations to Clinton after a dispute with the city over building-code violations. Mike Hoyle has owned Kwik-Wall for 19 years, a company that makes movable partitions for conference and convention facilities. Hoyle used an LLC to purchase the former Farm and Home building on North Dirksen Parkway for $2 million in April 2024, according to Sangamon County tax records, but soon found himself at loggerheads with city officials over changes made to the building.

*** National ***

* WaPo | Elon Musk’s business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding: Over the years, Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, often at critical moments, a Washington Post analysis has found, helping seed the growth that has made him the world’s richest person. The payments stretch back more than 20 years. Shortly after becoming CEO of a cash-strapped Tesla in 2008, Musk fought hard to secure a low-interest loan from the Energy Department, according to two people directly involved with the process, holding daily briefings with company executives about the paperwork and spending hours with a government loan officer.

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There’s No End To Credit Card Swipe Fee Greed

Wednesday, Feb 26, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Credit card companies collect more than $172 billion in swipe fees from customers and businesses each year, but it’s not enough to satisfy their greed. As consumers and retailers continue to grapple with inflation, Visa raised swipe fees on January 1.

Gov. JB Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and the General Assembly took a stand against swipe fee greed by passing the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, which limits swipe fees from being charged on the sales tax and tip portion of transactions. This law will provide tangible relief to Illinois families and retailers of all sizes.

While Visa and Mastercard fight to protect their unchecked duopoly in court, Illinois policymakers have sent a clear message that enough is enough.

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Audit finds thousands of improper enrollments in noncitizen healthcare program, massive cost underestimates (Updated)

Wednesday, Feb 26, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Tribune reporters Jeremy Gorner and Dan Petrella…

Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration vastly underestimated the cost and popularity of a pair of health insurance programs for immigrants who are not citizens that has ended up costing the state $1.6 billion since the initiative began in 2020, according to an audit report released Wednesday.

Aside from inaccurate projections of the programs’ cost and the number of people who would enroll, the audit uncovered more than 6,000 people enrolled in the programs who were listed as “undocumented” despite having Social Security numbers, and nearly 700 who were enrolled in the program for people 65 and older despite being younger than that. In addition, almost 400 people were enrolled in the programs but appeared to have been in the country long enough to qualify for Medicaid, which is jointly funded by the federal government.

The report from Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino’s office was published a week after Pritzker proposed eliminating funding for the program that provides Medicaid-style insurance coverage for people younger than 65 who are in the country without legal permission or are in the U.S. legally but have not yet qualified for a green card. The cut, estimated to save $330 million, was part of Pritzker’s plan to close a budget hole once pegged at more than $3 billion.

The cost overruns were particularly pronounced in the program for younger recipients, with the actual expenditure of $485 million through the three years ending June 30, 2023, coming in at nearly four times the estimated cost of $126 million, according to the audit.

* From the Auditor General’s Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors and Adults audit…

Key Findings:

Actual enrollment and actual costs exceeded the initial program estimates for both the HBIS and HBIA programs. Regarding estimated number of enrollees, in FY23:

- for HBIS (65+), the initial estimated number of enrollees was 6,700,
while the actual number enrolled was 15,831;
- for HBIA (55-64), the initial estimated number of enrollees was 8,000, while the actual number enrolled was 17,024; and
- for HBIA (42-54), the initial estimated number of enrollees was 18,800, while the actual number enrolled was 36,912.

Regarding the initial cost estimates for all three fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023:

- for HBIS (65+) the total estimate was $224.0 million, while the actual total cost was $412.3 million or 84 percent higher;
- for HBIA (55-64) the total estimate was $58.4 million, while the actual total cost was $223.1 million or 282 percent higher; and
- for HBIA (42-54) the total estimate was $68.0 million, while the actual total cost was $262.2 million or 286 percent higher.

In FY21, 6,884 individuals were enrolled in HBIS (65+). HBIS (65+) enrollment increased to 11,362 in FY22, 15,831 in FY23, and decreased to 11,464 in FY24. The HBIA (55-64) enrollment increased from 6,675 in FY22, to 17,024 in FY23, before decreasing to 13,596 in FY24. The HBIA (42-54) enrollment increased from 5,823 in FY22, to 36,912 in FY23, before decreasing to 27,941 in FY24. According to HFS officials, the FY24 numbers exclude those who have been removed from the
program due to redetermination or due to the change in eligibility that removed legal permanent residents from the program.

Click here for the full report.

…Adding… Governor Pritzker was asked about the audit during an unrelated press conference…

Reporter: Governor, there was an audit released this morning that showed that your administration underestimated the cost and the popularity of the immigrant healthcare programs that have been discussed in recents years. I’m wondering what happened to cause those estimates off, particularly for program for people under 65?

Pritzker: So I think the thing that is missing from the reporting, and what I would point out to you, is that number one people’s immigration status changes during the course of a year. You’ve got people who were eligible for the program, who became uneligible for the program. So even though you expect that people will move on because, well, it may be their immigration status, it may be because they got a job that has health care coverage associated with it. But you expect them to move on, and maybe they didn’t move on either because they didn’t know they could, should. But that happens, I hate to tell you, on Medicaid as well.

It’s why we do every year redeterminations, and we did it with this program as well. One of the reasons that we even know about some of those people is because of the redeterminations. So people get removed from the program as a result of the redeterminations. But before they got redetermined to not be eligible, they were still on the program and that cost taxpayers money. So that’s a lot of I think what I would say about that.

But the broader context is people need to get healthcare. I am in favor of universal healthcare however that comes together. And we can talk about the myriad ways that we could do that. But people don’t go get healthcare [or] get treated when they don’t have a problem. And so it’s some evidence that there are an awful lot of people out there who need coverage, who aren’t getting it, or who will do anything to get it. And I think that’s a sad state of affairs in our society.

Reporter: For redeterminations, the issue is on the cost estimates?

Pritzker: No, I’m saying, I think when you look at who’s covered, how much it costs to cover them. Some of those people become ineligible mid-year, and you’re still paying for them because we don’t know and maybe they don’t know that they’re no longer eligible for that program. We find out when we do redeterminations. We did that for the larger Medicaid population, as you know, in the state of Illinois, which we were kept from doing for three years because of COVID, but we also did it in this program to determine who’s no longer eligible for it. So the program is became a lot less expensive as a result of the work that we did and and as you know, you know we’re no longer operating, or we will no longer operate that earlier the 42-63 cohort, and instead focus on the most vulnerable, who are the seniors that are covered by that program.

Please pardon all transcription errors.

…Adding… House Minority Leader Tony McCombie…

“House Republicans warned about the costly expansion of this program when it was first exposed last year. We could not afford it then, and we cannot afford it now. Yet, Democratic leadership forced taxpayers to shoulder the burden of this reckless spending for non-citizens, pushing our state’s finances to the brink.

“Beyond the overwhelming cost, reports of fraud and abuse make it even clearer that this program must end. There is no need to wait until the next fiscal year—immediately shut it down and protect Illinois taxpayers.”

…Adding… Senate Republicans…

A new report from the Illinois Auditor General confirms significant mismanagement in Gov. Pritzker’s taxpayer-funded free healthcare program for noncitizens, revealing thousands of potentially ineligible enrollees and costs far exceeding initial projections. At a capitol press conference, Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) and Senator Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) highlighted the audit’s findings, calling for more financial transparency from the Pritzker Administration and stronger oversight to prevent further misuse of taxpayers.

“The audit’s findings show the shocking misuse and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars by the Pritzker Administration,” said Curran. “The governor’s overspend on his free healthcare for non-citizens program and gross mismanagement increases costs on all Illinois taxpayers and crowds spending on education and other core services.”

Auditors found that more than 6,000 enrollees classified as “undocumented” actually had Social Security Numbers, raising serious concerns about the integrity of the enrollment process and failure to properly verify eligibility. Senate Republicans voiced concerns that the lack of oversight not only erodes public trust but also leaves taxpayers on the hook for the Pritzker Administration’s failure to manage the program responsibly. Curran and Rose said that Illinoisans deserve transparency and accountability—not more bureaucratic incompetence.

The audit also exposed massive cost overruns, with spending on some age groups running nearly 300 percent over budget. The most extreme overrun came in the 42-54 age group, where costs surged to nearly triple what was projected.

These staggering miscalculations highlight a complete failure of fiscal planning, forcing taxpayers to cover the shortfall, Senators explained.

“Once again, the governor has proven himself unreliable, and we’re finding out after the fact that his estimates weren’t even in the ballpark,” said Senator Rose (R-Mahomet). “If it were up to me, we’d get rid of these programs entirely. Illinois taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for illegal immigrants.”

Senate Republicans have long criticized Gov. Pritzker’s decision to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on non-citizen programs while Illinois families struggle with skyrocketing property taxes, grocery bills, and healthcare costs. Instead of prioritizing hardworking citizens, the Democratic Majority have funneled taxpayer dollars into a program riddled with waste, mismanagement, and a lack of transparency.

The audit’s findings have renewed calls for accountability. Leader Curran reintroduced Senate Bill 1699, which requires detailed annual reports on a range of taxpayer-funded programs for noncitizens—not just healthcare, but also housing, legal aid, and other services. The reports would include total expenditures, specific appropriations, the number of recipients, funding sources, and awarded contracts. To ensure transparency and prevent further misuse of taxpayer dollars, this information would be made publicly available online.

Illinois taxpayers deserve transparency and fiscal responsibility. This audit confirms that mismanagement in Gov. Pritzker’s program has resulted in massive cost overruns and wasted taxpayer dollars. With accountability long overdue, Senate Republicans will continue fighting for reforms that put hardworking families first, demand transparency, and end reckless spending.

The full press conference can be viewed at this link: https://youtu.be/VEL04XfYoGE

* Related…

Sun-Times | Pritzker’s $55.2 billion budget has no new taxes, cuts health care for adults lacking legal status:

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For crying out loud, Chicago: Legalize video gaming and ban these shady sweepstakes games

Wednesday, Feb 26, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* If Chicago and other municipalities don’t step in to ban these sweepstakes games, Illinois needs to do so as soon as possible. The unregulated “gray market” is really a “black market.” Sun-Times…

A man previously tagged as a “mob associate” by law enforcement is accused in a new federal indictment of conspiring to dodge taxes through the use of “sham” companies — and then marrying his 80-year-old girlfriend to thwart her grand jury testimony.

Robert “Bobby” Dominic, 70, is charged with a conspiracy to defraud the United States, tax evasion and failing to file tax returns in the 19-page indictment made public Tuesday.

The charges are the latest tied to the legally gray area of sweepstakes machines. The devices look and operate like typical video gambling machines, but they’re unregulated and largely untaxed thanks to loopholes in Illinois’ gaming laws. […]

Dominic is accused of hiding his income from the feds by having sweepstakes-involved companies pay him more than $500,000 through “sham” companies. One of the sweepstakes companies was owned by James Weiss, the Chicago Sun-Times has confirmed.

The indictment alleges that two sweepstakes companies paid nearly $900,000 to one “sham” company between October 2014 and January 2020, even though it provided no services. The sole member of the company was Dominic’s girlfriend, it says, who died Jan. 4, 2020.

Enough already. These machines are operating out in the open and they need to go away. Chicago encourages this behavior by not legalizing video gaming within city limits. It’s just ridiculous, not to mention the revenues they’re giving up.

More on Jimmy Weiss is here.

* From the indictment…

Between in or around 2014 and continuing until at least in or around 2022, DOMINIC did not file a United States Individual Tax Return, Form 1040.

Needless to say, a casino owner or a video gaming machine distributor couldn’t get away with doing that.

* Overt acts…

a. On or about February 19, 2020, Articles of Incorporation for Sham Company B were filed with the State of Illinois.
b. On or about March 22, 2020, Company 1 entered into a “consulting agreement” with Sham Company B.
c. On or about March 22, 2020, Company 2 entered into a “consulting agreement” with Sham Company B.
d. On or about February 14, 2021, the IRS received a 2020 Form 1099 issued by Company 1 to Sham Company B in the amount of $120,000.
e. On or about February 14, 2021, the IRS received a 2020 Form 1099 issued by Company 2 to Sham Company B in the amount of $185,000.
f. On or about April 10, 2021, Sham Company B filed a false 2020 corporate income tax return which contained false expense deductions.
g. On or about April 6, 2022, the IRS received a 2021 Form 1099 issued by Company 1 to Sham Company B in the amount of $115,500.
h. On or about April 6, 2022, the IRS received a 2021 Form 1099 issued by Company 2 to Sham Company B in the amount of $154,000.

Again, regulators would’ve caught this.

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It’s just a bill

Wednesday, Feb 26, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Sen. Bill Cunningham…

State Senator Bill Cunningham held a press conference Tuesday to introduce legislation aimed to address a projected energy deficit for Illinois.

“With energy prices skyrocketing across the country and leaders in Washington opening the floodgates for fossil fuels, our bill makes it clear that Illinois will remain at the forefront of lowering energy costs while investing in clean energy,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs. “This legislation proves to the nation that we don’t have to choose between taking care of our communities, our economy, or our planet.”

Senate Bill 2497 would address Illinois’ energy crisis caused by rapid inflation and steep tariffs on many goods used to build and maintain energy infrastructure. The bill would also address and rectify significant delays in connecting clean energy projects to regional energy grids.

The bill would by establish a target for Illinois to build 15 gigawatts of clean energy storage – a battery technology that stores excess solar and wind power for later use – and remove barriers keeping newly built clean energy infrastructure from connecting to the grid, potentially saving consumers $2.4 billion on energy bills over the next 20 years.

Senate Bill 2497 awaits a committee assignment.

* WAND…

Rep. Nick Smith (D-Chicago) told WAND News Tuesday that he saw and heard stories about so many people who tried to buy tickets for the Taylor Swift Eras Tour but struggled with third party groups that drove up prices.

Smith’s legislation could require ticket sellers to display the full price and assessed fees to consumers when the price is first shown online. Ticket resellers would also be prohibited from selling or offering tickets they do not possess or have a contract to purchase. […]

House Bill 3108 also states that ticket resale marketplaces would not be allowed to include the name of an artist, team or event venue in a URL of a website operated by the ticket reseller or its agents unless it is authorized by the artist, team or event venue. Smith noted ticket issuers should deliver any tickets purchased within four days unless a delay is clearly and conspicuously disclosed at the time of sale. […]

House Bill 3108 has not moved out of the House Rules Committee at this time. Although, Smith hopes to have the plan moved to the Consumer Protection Committee soon.

* Sen. Mary Edly-Allen…

To address unnecessary and burdensome Illinois School Code mandates, State Senator Mary Edly-Allen worked with multiple statewide education stakeholders to create Senate Bill 1740, which passed the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday.

“As an educator, I know personally how overly burdensome and duplicative educational mandates can harm schools that are already struggling due time constraints and limited funding,” said Edly-Allen (D-Libertyville). “This bill aims to increase administrative efficiency and create more flexibility for local school districts.”

Senate Bill 1740 initiates the reduction of unnecessary school code mandates agreed upon by statewide educational stakeholders. The bill would create the School Code Mandate Reduction Council, comprised of eight members of the General Assembly and one member from each of the 12 statewide educational organizations, to identify and recommend the removal of mandates that align with the state’s goal of providing high-quality education tailored to each student.

“The state should be working to make schools a safe, accessible and supportive place for both students and educators,” said Edly-Allen. “We do not need to bog down our educators with more mandates to their already full plate. I was proud to work alongside Senator Loughran Cappel and many education experts to begin the process of evaluating the 699 mandates introduced since 1982.”

Senate Bill 1740 heads to the full Senate for further consideration.

* Center Square…

Hundreds of Illinoisans descended on the Illinois State House Tuesday calling for legislation to control the rising costs of prescription medications.

State Rep. Nabeela Syed, D-Palatine, is sponsoring House Bill 1443 that would create the Health Care Availability and Access Board. The proposed board would be an independent body that would review and set upper payment limits in each step of the supply chain. The board would decide which prescriptions would be subject to price caps.

“We really don’t have time to waste,” said Syed. “There are people that are genuinely struggling, these are our neighbors, these are people we love, and we can’t afford to delay the progress on this so Big Pharma can continue to pad profits. It’s critical that we pass this bill this session.” […]

“Over one in three Illinoisans are either skipping pills, cutting pills in half, or skipping refilling their prescriptions all together due to costs, and we don’t believe that it is right,” said Anusha Thotakura, executive director of the public interest group Citizen Action Illinois.

* WAND…

Sen. Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles) told the Senate Transportation Committee Tuesday that people who live in neighboring states but work as public safety employees should be able to operate emergency vehicles in Illinois if they have the required driver’s license in their home state.

His legislation also states nonresidents must complete the fire service vehicle operator program with the Illinois State Fire Marshal in order to be eligible. […]

DeWitte said he appreciates the Illinois State Police, State Fire Marshal and Secretary of State’s office working together to make this plan a reality.

Senate Bill 1249 passed unanimously out of the Senate Transportation Committee Tuesday. The proposal now moves to the Senate floor for further consideration.

* The Caucus Blog of the Illinois House Republicans…

The long line of cars that sit idling on the side of the busy roadways leading to O’Hare Airport is threatening the safety of thousands of motorists who travel to O’Hare each day.

Instead of using the cell phone lot created for drivers so they can remain in their vehicles while they await incoming flights at O’Hare International Airport, some motorists are lining up in the emergency lanes alongside the highly trafficked road leading to the airport.

Traffic heading into O’Hare is often traveling in excess of 55 mph. Drivers who pull onto the shoulder, sit on the side of the road or merge back into fast moving traffic create a dangerous scenario for the motoring public. A scenario Illinois State Representative Brad Stephens is committed to preventing.

Last year, Stephens’ O’Hare Driver Safety Act was enacted and is aimed at improving safety for those driving to the airport. The new law prohibits motor vehicles from idling or stopping on the shoulder of a highway, including the highway entrance and exit ramps or on the side of a roadway, within a one-half-mile radius of the eastern entrance to O’Hare International Airport as well as the intersection of Interstate 90 and Interstate 294. It also requires the Illinois Toll Highway Authority to install and maintain cameras along those same areas to help enforce the law.

However, a jurisdictional issue has complicated the installation of the cameras and enforcement of the law, in response Stephens has introduced “a trailer bill” in the form of HB 1502 to ensure all necessary state agencies have the authority needed to implement the provisions of the O’Hare Driver Safety Act.

“I will continue to work with the Illinois State Police, Toll Highway Authority and Illinois Department of Transportation to ensure the safety of the traveling public.” said Stephens.

House Bill 1502 is scheduled to be heard in the Transportation Committee on Wednesday, February 26. Those wishing to file an electronic witness slip can do so on the ILGA website.

* Sen. Julie Morrison…

With more than 60% of infectious diseases in humans originating from animals, State Senator Julie Morrison is working to address public health challenges in Illinois through improved collaboration between health care professionals, veterinarians and environmental experts.

“The well-being of people, animals and our environment are all interconnected,” said Morrison (D-Lake Forest). “Through improved communication and collaboration among agencies, we can more effectively prevent and address health risks across the state.”

Senate Bill 291 would establish a One Health Framework Task Force within the Illinois Department of Public Health charged with developing a strategic plan to promote collaboration among physicians, veterinarians and other scientific professionals. The task force would work closely with state agencies to advance health initiatives that benefit both humans and animals, and submit a report of recommendations to the governor and General Assembly by Jan. 1, 2027.

The One Health approach, which is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recognizes the connection between human, animal and environmental health. This framework promotes a multisector approach to addressing broad health challenges, such as diseases that spread between animals and people, and bacteria or viruses that become resistant to medicine. Research shows integrating expertise across disciplines helps achieve better health outcomes for all living things.

“Recent outbreaks like the bird flu and Salmonella highlight the need for a more coordinated response,” said Morrison. “This bill lays the groundwork for a stronger and more proactive approach to addressing these issues in Illinois.”

Senate Bill 291 passed the Senate Public Health Committee on Tuesday and heads to the full Senate for further consideration.

* Politico…

There’s an effort to improve Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site in Petersburg, Ill. It’s where Abraham Lincoln lived in his 20s. Volunteers with the New Salem Lincoln League say the historic site has experienced “deterioration and neglect” and is working with state Sen. Steve McClure, who represents the New Salem and some surrounding Springfield area, on legislation to make needed repairs: Senate Bill 1417 would create the New Salem Preservation Commission to address repairs and improvements; Senate Bill 1496 would appropriate $5 million in state capital funds for site improvements and Senate Bill 1861 would create an exemption from the state Procurement Code for needed purchases.

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The Credit Union Difference

Wednesday, Feb 26, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

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Local results: Balich slate swept out in Homer Township; Henyard trounced in Dolton; Durbin candidate fails to make Aurora runoff; Dominick, Jackson win in Cicero and Riverdale

Wednesday, Feb 26, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We saw some consequential election results last night. Let’s start with this one…

The Homer Township Reset slate, a group of Republicans challenging the incumbent township administration, was leading by a large margin Tuesday night in the Homer Township Republican primary after all precincts reported, according to unofficial results.

The Will County Freedom Caucus headed by incumbent Supervisor Steve Balich sought an additional four years, but the Homer Township Reset slate, said they wanted to change the tone of the community.

The race was fueled by allegations the current administration divides the community, isn’t transparent and hires family members of elected officials for full-time township jobs.

Members of Homer Township Reset said the existing administration did not respect residents’ viewpoints. Residents were chastised during public meetings, and the administration didn’t listen to residents’ concerns when they tried to sell open space property.

That’s pretty amazing.

You may recall Supervisor Balich…

The Republican leader of the Will County Board, who also serves as Homer Township supervisor, is defending himself after ordering the U.S. flag outside the township offices to be flown upside down Friday as a symbol of national “distress” following former President Donald Trump’s conviction last week on 34 felony counts.

Steve Balich, long a controversial right-wing figure in Will County politics, is also a Trump delegate to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July and has been hosting regular weekend rallies for the former Republican president.

In a statement posted on the township’s website, Balich sought to explain his decision to fly the inverted flag outside the taxpayer-funded offices. He said it was “bigger than Republican vs. Democrat” as he also repeated a series of Trump-related campaign talking points critical of Democrats about immigration, inflation and the judicial system.

* This result was fully expected…

Trustee Jason House handily won the race for mayor of south suburban Dolton Tuesday, defeating former ally and embattled incumbent Tiffany Henyard and bringing her sole, troubled term to a close in a stunning landslide.

With 100% of precincts reporting, House had nearly 88% of the vote, compared to Henyard’s 12%. It was a convincing defeat for Henyard, who had won 82% of the vote when she won the race for mayor in 2021.

House and the rest of his “Clean House” slate walked out to a recording of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance of “Not Like Us,” dancing their way to the podium before declaring victory. Later, when House’s victory was clear, he addressed his supporters.

Oof…

* According to the Daily Herald, Aurora requires a primary if four or more people run in the first round…

Incumbent Richard Irvin and Alderman-at-large John Laesch will battle April 1 for who gets to be mayor of Aurora.

Unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary election in Kane, Kendall and Will counties showed Irvin with 3,776 votes and Laesch 3,344, as of 9:15 p.m.

1,200 people voted for Alderman Ted Mesiacos, 373 for Karina Garcia and 989 for former alderman Judd Lofchie.

In DuPage, Kane and Will counties, the counts reflected all early, vote-by-mail and Election Day votes. Two precincts had yet to be counted in Kendall, but it was not clear if the Aurora race occurred in those precincts. There was a primary election in Oswego in Kendall.

The totals do not include any outstanding vote-by-mail ballots.

The third-place contestant Mesiacos was endorsed by US Sen. Dick Durbin…

I don't get involved in too many local races, but I wanted to make sure to support Ted Mesiacos in his run for Mayor of Aurora. Ted has the determination and commitment to lead Aurora residents into a better tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/BBPp01AYUt

— Dick Durbin (@DickDurbin) February 18, 2025

Also, Durbin involves himself in lots of local races.

* Cicero is Cicero…

Incumbent Cicero Town President Larry Dominick will serve a fifth straight four-year term, defeating Esteban Rodriguez in the primary election Tuesday evening.

Dominick received 4,586 votes (57.34%) compared to Rodriguez’s 3,412 (42.66%).

Rodriguez was challenging the longest-serving town president in Cicero’s history, Dominick, who has been in office since 2005. […]

“I’m always here for the people. I’ve worked for the town since 1970. I’ve been a lucky guy, worked as a garbage man, police man and now the town president. I’ve had a long run,” Dominick said.

* And, apparently, so is Riverdale…

In Riverdale, indicted Mayor Lawrence Jackson led with 59% of votes against challenger Michael Airhart, according to unofficials results. […]

Jackson was charged in 2023 with perjury and obstruction of justice in U.S. District Court for allegedly lying in a civil deposition about accepting secret funding for his trucking business from a clout-heavy waste hauling firm.

Jackson’s indictment alleged the mayor and his wife started their trucking company, Centennial Holdings, in 2018 despite knowing nothing about the business and putting up no capital. The business was run by James and Kelly Bracken, who own Riverdale Materials LLC, which was sued in 2018 by a competing company that said Jackson gave the business special treatment in his position as mayor. The indictment charges Jackson lied on the stand during proceedings in that lawsuit.

* Meanwhile…

* More races…

* Daily Southtown | Thaddeus Jones declares victory over James Patton in Calumet City mayoral race: Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones celebrated his victory Tuesday night in the city’s Democratic primary. With all 21 precincts reporting, Jones had 2,326 votes, or 60%, compared to 1,533 votes for Ald. James Patton, according to unofficial results from the Cook County clerk’s office. Calumet City filings show no challenger to the Democratic nominee in the April 1 general election. … Several incumbent candidates on Patton’s slate were leading Tuesday night, including 2nd Ward Ald. Monet Wilson, 5th Ward Ald. DeJuan Gardner and City Clerk Nyota Figgs. Figgs had 2,019 votes compared to Cassandra Hobert Elston’s 1,812, and Wilson had 499 votes to Erica Jenkins’ 421. Gardner was leading Roger Munda with 422 votes, or 77%. Members of Jones’ slate leading Tuesday night included Shalisa Harvey in the 1st Ward, with 173 votes to incumbent Ald. Michael Navarrette’s 148. Miacole Nelson was leading in the 6th Ward with 295 votes to Garnadette Stuckey’s 248.

* Shaw Local | Algonquin Township Supervisor Randy Funk appears headed for defeat along with his slate: Algonquin Township Supervisor Randy Funk is trailing behind challenger Richard Tado in the primary Republican election polls as of Tuesday night. … The Algonquin Township campaigns were marked by animosity, with incumbent trustees having filed nine censures against Funk from March 2023 through last December over how he ran the township. Candidates were split in two unofficial but sharply divided camps.

* Shaw Local | Oswego Village Trustee Kit Kuhrt behind in bid for second term: With 26 of 28 precincts reporting, Oswego Village Board Trustee Kit Kuhrt was behind in his bid for a second term on the board, according to unofficial results from the Oswego Village Board Republican primary. With two precincts left to be reported, Kuhrt is in fourth place with about 15% of the vote.

* Daily Southtown | Incumbents Jada Curry and Lawrence Jackson lead in Lynwood and Riverdale primaries: A passionate crowd of supporters gathered at Lynwood Bowling Center Tuesday night to rally behind Lynwood Village President Jada Curry, facing a challenge in the Democratic primary. Wearing shirts emblazoned with her slate’s campaign slogan, #LynwoodStrong, they gathered to show their support for the incumbent, who is in the lead with 62% of votes after all precincts reported, according to unofficial results from the Cook County clerk’s office.

* Shaw Local | Here are Will and Grundy counties’ unofficial February 2025 primary election results

* Rockford Register Star | Election results: Here’s who won contested battles for Rockford City Council, Township

* Peoria Journal-Star | ‘Full of gratitude’: Peoria mayor comfortably wins primary: Peoria Mayor Rita Ali and at-large City Councilmember John Kelly have secured their spots as Peoria’s mayoral candidates in April’s general election after emerging as the top two vote getters in Tuesday night’s primary election based on unofficial election results. With 100% of precincts reporting, mayoral candidate Chuck Grayeb, a city councilmember representing the 2nd District, does not have enough votes to advance in the race.

* Herald-Whig | Troup secures nomination in reelection bid for mayor: Quincy Mayor Mike Troup is one step closer to earning a second term. Troup, 67, defeated former 6th Ward Alderman Dan Brink for the Republican nomination for mayor in Tuesday’s consolidated primary election.

* WAND | Urbana and Lincoln Illinois’ Consolidated Primary Election results: In Urbana, Deshawn Williams is leading the mayoral race with over 64% of the votes, while Annie Adams has garnered 21% of the votes with 21 out of 23 precincts reporting. In the Ward 2 Alderman race, Christopher Evans edged out Larry Lister to win the Democratic primary. In Ward 6, Grace Wilken won the Democratic primary to hold onto her seat.

* WCIA | Urbana one step closer to meeting new mayor as primary election ends: The months-long contest between Williams and Adams has had people heading to the polls long before Tuesday. Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons said of the about 23,000 registered voters in the city, about 3,000 had casted their vote as of Tuesday afternoon. At that time, he said about 370 people had voted in person, 1,161 cast their ballot early and 1,435 mailed in their vote.

* Northwest Herald | Here are McHenry County’s unofficial February 2025 primary election results: Voters in McHenry County had their say in the February primary, which will help shape the coming April ballot. The results include early voting, vote-by-mail and Election Day ballots.

* McHenry County Blog | Mike Shorten Wipes Out Incumbent Nunda Township Supervisor Leda Bobera-Drain: McHenry County Board member Mike Shorten, a former Township Trustee, challenged incumbent Leda Bobera-Drain. The results show Shorten winning over 60-40%.

* McHenry County Blog | Three Percent Turnout Decide All But One Township Official in Algonquin, Grafton and Nunda Townships

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Open thread

Wednesday, Feb 26, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Wednesday, Feb 26, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Subscribers know more. ICYMI: Pritzker and Illinois Dems say the state is being shorted $1.9B by Trump. Crain’s…

* Related stories…

∙ Capitol News Illinois: Pritzker positions himself at forefront of Trump opposition by invoking Nazis’ rise to power
∙ CNN: Illinois Gov. Pritzker warns against authoritarianism

* Governor Pritzker is in Chicago to announce new medical debt relief for working families at 10 am. Click here to watch.

* BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois banned life sentences for young offenders—but not for those already behind bars: Illinois is one of 28 states that has banned juvenile life sentences without the possibility of parole. In just over half of these states, the law applies retroactively. Illinois is not one of them.Sen. Rachel Ventura, a Democrat from Joliet, introduced a bill in the previous legislative session that would have made the ban on life without parole retroactive, but it failed. Republican Sen. Seth Lewis, of Bartlett, co-sponsored the measure. Though he declined an interview, a spokesperson said he “still agrees with the concept” but believes the bill’s language needs revisions. The spokesperson did not specify what changes he had in mind.

* STLPR | Federal cuts to Missouri and Illinois national forests have unclear impact: Sources at the Mark Twain National Forest in southern Missouri and the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois confirm there have been positions eliminated but did not provide information on the number or job duties of those employees. They referred all questions to the main office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service. […] “To be clear, none of these individuals were operational firefighters. Released employees were probationary in status, many of whom were compensated by temporary IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) funding,” the statement said.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Press Release | Rep. Rita Named Illinois Park Districts Legislator of the Year: Rep. Rita sponsored a new law last year, in Senate Bill 2849, to give local governments such as park districts and forest preserves the power to control the flying of drones over their public spaces. The law was aimed at helping control potentially intrusive drone activity over softball and baseball games, swim meetings, trail hiking and other recreational activities. “Since joining the General Assembly in 2003, Representative Rita has been a champion of park and recreation agencies throughout Illinois,” IAPD President and CEO Peter Murphy said in remarks at the IAPD awards luncheon. “Throughout the years, Representative Rita has consistently demonstrated strong support for his local park districts through his unwavering dedication to community parks and recreational spaces.”

* WBEZ | The pros and cons of banning cell phones in Illinois schools: The goal of the proposed cell phone ban is to improve student performance and social skills and fight cyberbullying. But it would also limit parents’ access to their kids. Reset checks in with an education reporter for more on the proposal and hears from an expert on the impact of screens on kids.

*** Statewide ***

* WTTW | Dozens of Illinois Communities Vote to Reinstate Grocery Tax, Many More Expected to Follow: Municipalities are now asking the state to give them more taxing authority, including for all municipalities’ elected officials to be able to enact a local sales tax on motor fuel to fund road and infrastructure improvements. Currently only non-home rule municipalities within Cook County or that have populations over 100,000 have the ability to pass an ordinance to locally tax gasoline at the pump, up to 3 cents a gallon (House Bill 1283).

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | CTU leaders file motion to quash subpoena for their texts, depositions: The subpoenas are part of an ongoing lawsuit between Martinez and the Board of Education over arguments that board members obstructed the chief executive officer’s job duties. The legal dispute and the top CTU officials’ desire not to turn over information comes at a time of intense financial uncertainty for the fourth-largest school district in the nation — now facing several unsettled, high-stakes budget costs that led to the conflict between Martinez, Mayor Brandon Johnson and the teachers union that played a pivotal role in electing him.

* Crain’s | Johnson pushing CPS to cover disputed $175M pension payment: Johnson won City Council approval of a 2024 budget amendment and 2025 budget that both relied on CPS covering the $175 million pension payment made to the Municipal Employees’ Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago on behalf of non-teacher employees at the school district. The city is statutorily required to make the payment on the district’s behalf, but former Mayor Lori Lightfoot began forcing the bill onto CPS’ books as it began its transition to an elected school board. Johnson opposed the move at the time as a member of the Chicago Teachers Union, but now wants to see it through as mayor.

* Sun-Times | Rep. LaHood calls Trump policies a ‘priority’ as he opens search for new top federal prosecutor: Nearly two years after ex-U.S. Attorney John Lausch left office, U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood formally opened the search for Chicago’s next top federal prosecutor, insisting that person’s priority must be to ensure “the policies and priorities of the Trump Administration” are implemented here. “The importance of selecting a strong U.S. attorney who will understand the importance of implementing and enforcing our immigration laws, fight to stop rampant and rising criminal activity in Chicago, support our brave men and women in law enforcement, and prevent public corruption is now more critical than ever,” LaHood’s office said in a statement Tuesday.

* WBEZ | Musicians David Byrne, Tom Morello to create new works for Goodman Theatre’s centennial season: The Talking Heads’ David Byrne and writer Mala Gaonkar are the creative team behind “Theater of The Mind,” which comes to the Goodman in the coming season (opening date to be announced). Directed by Andrew Scoville, it’s described as a “theatrical experience you’ll see, feel, taste and hear. Inspired by both historical and current neuroscience research, the show takes you on an intimate and immersive journey inside how we see and create our worlds.” Audiences will be guided through a series of rooms to participate in “thought-provoking neuroscience experiences.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | More jurors seated for Highland Park suspect’s trial, as judge issues warning to media : According to Rossetti, a media outlet published a detailed description of a potential juror that included information on that individual’s employment, job location and spouse’s employment. The court previously had told possible jurors - referred to in court by numbers, not names - that personal information that could identify them would not be published. Publishing such information puts a juror’s ability to be fair and impartial at risk, said Rossetti. It also could have a chilling effect on jurors answering questions honestly, she said.

* WBEZ | Palestinian American mother testifies during murder trial: ‘My son screaming, screaming, screaming’: Shaheen testified that she told Czuba she was Muslim and from Jerusalem when she moved into his property in 2021, and that he expressed no issue at the time with her religion or nationality. That changed, she said, after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel. A few days later, Shaheen said she saw Czuba in one of the home’s common areas, and he told her; “Your people are killing Jewish [people] and babies in Israel. Muslims are not welcome here, not in my home.”

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Plans moving forward for estimated $8 million Oberheim Park in Monticello: Plans for Monticello’s Oberheim Park are moving forward. City Council members approved five acres from the Allerton Public Library to be transferred to the city for the project off of Old Route 47. Terry Summers, the city administrator, said design engineers estimate it’ll cost about $8 million. The money would come from the reserve and general funds.

* BND | Under Trump, trans discrimination lawsuit against metro-east pig farm may be dismissed: President Donald Trump’s policies on transgender issues have prompted a federal agency to ask the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois to dismiss its civil lawsuit against a rural New Athens pig farm accused of discriminating against a transgender employee. Court documents show that the employee admitted during questioning that she had provided the farm, Sis-Bro Inc., with a fake Social Security number and was working illegally in the United States.

* AP | Apple shareholders reject proposal to scrap company’s diversity programs: After a brief presentation about the anti-DEI proposal, Apple announced shareholders had rejected it. In a regulatory filing submitted Tuesday evening, Apple disclosed that 97% of the ballots cast were votes against the measure. The outcome vindicated Apple management’s decision to stand behind its diversity commitment even though Trump asked the U.S. Department of Justice to look into whether these types of programs have discriminated against some employees whose race or gender aren’t aligned with the initiative’s goals.

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

Wednesday, Feb 26, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Wednesday, Feb 26, 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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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Wednesday, Feb 26, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Some good news from the Illinois State Board of Education…

The Illinois State Board of Education released new data today from the College Board that shows Illinois’ Class of 2024 set new records in Advanced Placement (AP) participation and performance. The report highlights the results of Illinois’ commitment to college readiness and equity pertaining to access to advanced coursework.

The percentage of Illinois graduates scoring a 3 or higher on an AP exam has increased by 6.7 percentage points over the past decade, rising from 21.6% in 2014 to 28.3% in 2024 — outpacing the national average of 22.6%. […]

Illinois ranks among the top five states in multiple AP success metrics, including:

- Third in the nation for the 10-year increase in the percentage of graduates scoring a 3 or higher on an AP exam during high school.
- Fifth in the nation for the percentage of the Class of 2024 scoring a 3 or higher on an AP exam during high school, up from sixth place last year.
- Fourth in the nation for the percentage of Black/African American graduates taking an AP exam during high school, a jump from 11th place last year.
- Fifth in the nation for the percentage of Hispanic/Latino graduates taking an AP exam during high school, maintaining the same ranking as last year.
- Third in the nation for the percentage of Asian graduates taking an AP exam during high school.
- Fifth in the nation for the percentage of graduates taking an AP exam during high school.

* Spotted!…

This is a congressional reporter, so I'm gonna assume the governor is in DC today https://t.co/Rf3CKturtt

— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) February 25, 2025

*** Statehouse News ***

* WCIA | Illinois legislators introduce proposal for more clean energy storage: A bill in the Illinois State Capitol aims to create 15 gigawatts of energy storage to help prep for a clean energy grid. The bill expands on the Clean Energy and Jobs Act, Illinois’ goal to curb carbon emissions coming from transportation and energy that was signed into law in 2021. The storage would keep excess solar and wind power to use later when the weather is not ideal.

* Crain’s | Raoul and other AGs urge Supreme Court to protect preventative services in ACA: As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s preventative care provision, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and 22 other attorneys general are urging it remain protected. Raoul’s office said he led the coalition in filing an amicus brief with the court in the case of Kennedy v. Braidwood Management Inc., in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is unconstitutional. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is appealing the 5th Circuit decision.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | City Hall’s legal chief and inspector general trade barbs over ethics ordinance: The city’s corporation counsel, Mary Richardson-Lowry, today said an ordinance put forward by Ald. Matt Martin, 47th, at the request of Inspector General Deborah Witzburg “not only flies in the face of 30 years of precedent, it’s just legally deficient on its face.” Witzburg urged the City Council to take up the ordinance in a memo sent to members of the Ethics Committee Martin chairs. Her memo followed a meeting where members questioned why Office of Inspector General investigations take so long to move forward.

* Block Club | Alderman’s Office Kicks Reporter Out Of Meeting On Controversial Bar Reopening: “It very well could be a First Amendment violation,” said attorney Matt Topic, who specializes in government transparency and media laws. “We’re at a time when there are enough attacks on the press already and they shouldn’t be coming from members of the Chicago City Council.” Sigcho-Lopez Lopez dismissed these concerns, saying it is a “tragedy” when “corporate media” centers a story “around some sort of First Amendment rights that are being made up.”

* Tribune | Search for next US attorney in Chicago underway, again, in dramatically changed landscape: After nearly two years without a permanent leader, the search for the next U.S. attorney in Chicago is officially underway in a dramatically changed landscape that has seen years of political turmoil and a steep drop in productivity. U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, a Peoria Republican, announced in a news release Tuesday that he is leading the search for potential nominees to give to President Donald Trump, who’s ultimate selection for the plum job would then go through a confirmation process in the U.S. Senate.

* Block Club | Kenwood Shelter To Stay Open As State Plans To Transfer Operations To City: Illinois’ funding to operate the Best Western shelter ends June 30, after which the state plans to transfer it to the city, local officials told residents at a public meeting last week. The shelter would continue serving new arrivals and longtime Chicagoans alike. The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services will soon issue a request for proposals, seeking a nonprofit or another agency to operate the facility once the city takes over July 1, said Christine Riley, the city’s director of homeless prevention, policy and planning.

* Bloomberg | Southwest Airlines plane narrowly avoids runway collision in Chicago: Video shared on social media showed the Southwest Boeing Co. 737 abort its landing moments from touching down before rapidly ascending again after the smaller jet began crossing the runway from a taxiway. “The crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident,” Southwest said in a separate statement. “Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Cook County housing authority union workers say they struggle to afford rent, mortgage payments: Rachel Dubose had just bought a house and started a new full-time job at the Housing Authority of Cook County as a housing specialist, helping low-income county residents obtain and maintain their subsidized housing. She made $40,000 a year at HACC in 2022. Her bills piled up. While she never fell behind on her mortgage payments, her credit card debt was “getting too out of control,” Dubose said. She started a part-time job at Walmart. Some days she would go straight from her job at HACC to Walmart until 10 p.m., having been up since 5 a.m. It “took a toll,” she said.

* CBS Chicago | High early voter turnout for Dolton, Illinois primary with embattled Mayor Tiffany Henyard on ballot: Along Sibley Boulevard in Dolton, a crew has been trying to convince anyone going grocery shopping to get out and vote. Under the brand “Clean House,” Dolton Village Trustee Jason House is running against Henyard. House and Henyard were part of the same ticket in 2021. Now they are rivals.

* Daily Herald | Defendant returns to court as jury selection continues for accused Highland Park parade shooter: After skipping court Monday afternoon, the 23-year-old Highwood man accused of fatally shooting seven people and injuring dozens of others during Highland Park’s Independence Day parade in 2022 returned Tuesday morning for the second day of jury selection. Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti has admonished Robert E. Crimo III several times that the trial will continue despite his absence.

*** Downstate ***

* WSIL | Rep. Mike Bost issues statements after constituents upset in regards to Telephone Town Hall: During Bost’s Telephone Town Hall meeting, many community members complained to News 3 they never received a phone call and were angry about not getting an opportunity to speak with Bost. […] “I apologize again to any constituent who registered but was unable to participate in Monday night’s telephone town hall. To connect with more people during a time of high political engagement, we expanded the number of households we reached out to by 50%. In doing so, it may have caused technical issues that are currently under review to minimize the chances of them happening again. We have scheduled another telephone town hall for March 11th and made the decision to work with a new service provider moving forward. We will also work to best inform constituents in advance about why their phone numbers could be automatically filtered out of the system, particularly by carriers flagging the calls as spam. I remain committed to being accessible and accountable to the people I’m blessed to represent,” [Bost said in a statement.]

* Press Release | SIU Simmons Law School to host Illinois Supreme Court arguments: Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Simmons Law School will host the Illinois Supreme Court as justices hear oral arguments in two cases on March 18 in the Student Center. “This is an extraordinary opportunity for our students and the broader Southern Illinois community to witness the Illinois Supreme Court in action,” said Angela Upchurch, SIU Simmons Law School acting dean. “This experience provides students in our community with direct exposure to the judicial process, enhancing their education and inspiring future careers in law. We are honored to partner with the Illinois Supreme Court to bring this historic event to our campus.”

* Muddy River News | Adams County CARES initiative to address local child care worker shortage with comprehensive approach: A new program to address the local child care shortage was announced Monday afternoon by the Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois & Northeast Missouri and its partners. Adams County Child Care Advancement and Recruitment Effort (CAREs) will offer scholarships, paid internships and sign-on bonuses to “encourage and incentivize individuals to enter and remain in the child care field,” according to the program’s newly launched website.

* WCIA | Champaign Central High School hires first African American principal in school history: The Champaign School Board has approved a new high school principal who is making history. Montia Gardner was officially appointed at Monday’s night meeting. The vote for Gardner’s appointment was unanimous. District officials told WCIA they believe she is the first African-American principal at the school.

* WCIA | Actor Nick Offerman returns to U of I for book signing: On March 8, Offerman will be interviewed by Emmy Award Winning Documentarian Alison Davis during an “intimate gathering,” at the University of Illinois. After the interview, attendees will have the chance to meet Offerman and have their copies of his book signed.

*** National ***

* NYT | DOGE Quietly Deletes the 5 Biggest Spending Cuts It Celebrated Last Week: The “wall of receipts” is the only public ledger the organization has produced to document its work. The scale of that ledger’s errors — and the misunderstandings and poor quality control that seemed to underlie them — has raised questions about the effort’s broader work, which has led to mass firings and cutbacks across the federal government.

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Chicago Mayor Johnson says the state will have to ’show up in a stronger way’ if there are federal grant cuts

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was asked if his budget requests have shifted during a press availability today…

Reporter: So we know that there are lots of questions about what could happen in Washington and how that funding could affect what comes to Illinois. Governor Pritzker presented a very austere budget. Does that mean the city is now adjusting what its requests are for the legislature? And can you offer a little bit of how you might be adjusting what you’ll be asking?

Mayor Johnson: As I said before, what the state of Illinois is dealing with, the state of Maryland, states across the country, cities across the country, are dealing with these deficits. And these are heavy lifts in this moment, and I do want to acknowledge that. And look, we fought hard to secure $426 million from the federal government to respond to the to the victims of flooding back in 2023. So we’re moving full speed ahead to repair the damage in those homes, as well as make sure that individuals who are repairing that damage reflect the neighborhood where the damage occurred.

So there is some uncertainty. If I get this right, I believe [Christina Pacione-Zayas] said that about 80% of the funding for CDPH is through grants, 85% federal grants, right? So there are some real challenges, make no mistake about that. And this is why local governments, as well as state government, will have to show up in a stronger way. Now, in the city’s budget, we did have cuts across the board. I’m not going to look back at our commissioners, because I know I’m going to trigger them in a second, but they worked hard to find the 3% — It was only 3% right? — Okay, all right. They said only sure mayor, only.

They found those efficiencies, and that wasn’t that wasn’t easy, and they found them. But we didn’t have to lay people off. We didn’t have to cut services.

In terms of our request. Look, our state and its vibrancy is certainly connected to the vibrancy of the city of Chicago. Everybody’s in agreement with that. Our requests are not that much different than any other municipalities across this the state. We still need more support for special education, for bilingual education, transportation within our public schools.

So those requests, we’re still holding strong to those. Our Chief Operations Officer, part of his portfolio, and the 20 plus years of service that he is lended to the city and the county, he has been a part of every single department in the city of Chicago [during] course of his time, and we’re looking very closely at Chicago Transit Authority and how we can have more equitable funding.

Help me out here. [Chief Operating Officer John Robinson], I believe, CTA we attribute for what percentage of the overall transportation input into the state?

Robertson: Over 80 percent.

Johnson: Over 80 percent. But do we get what back? About 40 percent, right? So that’s an unequitable distribution, in terms of our output. And so we want balance and equitable structures that complement who we are as a city.

And then, as I mentioned before, progressive revenue is one that we are still paying attention to. But there are mayors across the state we’re all in agreement that the LGDF structure is woefully underwhelming, right? So we want to see some progress there. And you know, we’ll continue to push the General Assembly to help support local municipalities. And then, of course, as I said before, the personal property replacement tax and the telecom tax just some areas of cleanup that we need to do to ensure that there’s revenue available for our cities.

The last thing that I’ll say to this is working people in the city of Chicago elected a working class man to fight for working class people. And that doesn’t change, because the circumstances are in flux. We have to remain committed to our overall agenda to repopulate Chicago with working people. Right now we can conservatively get 400,000 more people in Chicago. Aren’t we looking forward to 400,000 more people in the city of Chicago? We are! And that’s going to help increase our tax base. It’s going to put more people in homes. It’s going to make sure that our schools are vibrant, with young, smiling, diverse faces across the globe. So in other words, my commitment to working people has not changed. We’re going to push to ensure that investments in our city reflect the output of our city.

23 Comments

Question of the day

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Capitol News Illinois in January…

Rep. Suzanne Ness, D-Crystal Lake, wants to prohibit businesses and grocery stores from providing single-use plastic bags to customers, as well as prohibit grocery stores from providing customers with single-use paper bags.

If Illinois lawmakers pass House Bill 1146, Illinois would join nine other states that ban both paper and plastic single-use bags. The states with existing bans are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon and Vermont.

This is far from the first time a bill to ban plastic bags has been introduced in the Illinois General Assembly (2022, 2023, 2024), but none have gained significant traction.

* World Economic Forum last month…

A new report from nonprofits Environment America, U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund and Frontier Group has found that bans on plastic bags around the U.S. have already reduced the number of bags used by billions.

The report, “Plastic Bag Bans Work”, found that bans in three states — New Jersey, Philadelphia and Vermont — and two cities, Portland, Oregon and Santa Barbara, California, have reduced the number of single-use plastic bags used each year by around 6 billion. According to Environment America, the number of bags saved could go around the planet 42 times.

Further, the findings suggested that plastic bag bans could cut single-use plastic bag use by around 300 bags per person each year once adopted. […]

But the report did outline some grievances, including that companies have used loopholes, replacing thin, single-use plastic bags with thicker plastic bags labeled as recyclable in some places with legislation that allows replacing bags with thicker, recyclable (but still plastic) bags. For instance, the report noted that California banned plastic bags in 2016, while still allowing thick, recyclable plastic bags for a 10-cent fee. Following this legislation, the weight of plastic bags used and thrown out per person increased.

Some areas have also swapped the plastic bags for paper, which are still single-use bags, with or without a fee. When charged a minimum 10-cent-per-bag fee, shoppers in Mountain View, California saw a decline in paper bag usage. But shoppers in Philadelphia used paper bags at a 157% increased rate amid the plastic bag ban when paper bags were available for use with no fee.

* The Question: Do you support a plastic bag ban in Illinois? Make sure to explain your answer…

44 Comments

It’s just a bill

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Crain’s…

The Illinois craft distillery industry could be at the breaking point — but a piece of legislation would throw them a lifeline.

Distillers say that if SB 1618 doesn’t pass — which would create a class 3 license that allows distillers the opportunity to both self-distribute and have on-site full-bar privileges — distilleries will begin to shutter. […]

Currently, Illinois’ some 60 craft distilleries can either self-distribute their product or offer a full bar on-site for guests that includes beer and wine. The legislation would change this, allowing distillers of whiskey and other spirits to now do both, matching similar legislation in states like New York, California and Kentucky. […]

This push for legislative change comes as the industry faces growing headwinds such as drinkers cutting back on booze and rising inflation that are more devastating to smaller distillers. Trump’s tariffs could also negatively impact the industry.

* WAND…

A new bill in Springfield could allow sexual assault survivors to use vouchers to pay for taxis or rideshare services like Uber and Lyft. Sponsors and advocates believe this is another way to help people going through trauma. […]

“It’s a voucher that they can use I think for 90 to 180 days afterwards at some point if they need follow-up care,” said Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs). “The voucher also pays for things from pharmacies as well. There’s a cap on that voucher.” […]

Although, some Republicans are concerned about the cost for survivors to use rideshare services. The Illinois Department of Healthcare & Family Services caps the current vouchers at $1,000 per service. […]

Senate Republicans said this is a well-intended bill, but they want to have more concrete answers on how long people could use the rideshare voucher and how many people could benefit from it.

* Illinois Municipal League…

WHO:
- Brad Cole, CEO, Illinois Municipal League
IML President, Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen, City of Champaign
- IML First Vice President, Village President Sheila Chalmers-Currin, Village of Matteson
- IML Second Vice President, Mayor Gary W. Manier, City of Washington

WHEN: Tuesday, February 25, 2025 10 a.m.
WHERE: Illinois State Capitol Blue Room (basement, room 010)

WHAT: Municipal leaders will unveil their 2025 Moving Cities Forward legislative platform designed to ensure the long-term success of Illinois’ cities, villages and towns. This year’s platform promotes local government efficiency and modern policies that reflect community needs and resources. These policies include legislation that grants authority to fulfill public notice mandates electronically, ensures fair compensation for lift-assist services, creates equitable motor fuel tax authority, protects local authority in housing initiatives and reduces unnecessary financial burdens on small municipalities.

* Crain’s…

Nearly three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the sale of delinquent property taxes — as it’s been practiced for decades — unconstitutionally takes away owners’ property wealth, a bill in Springfield aims to bring Illinois counties into compliance with the ruling.

Illinois is the last of 12 states to look at becoming compliant. […]

“The Supreme Court ruled that homeowners’ interest in their property should be put first,” said Illinois Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, who introduced a bill, HB 3146, on Feb. 6 aimed at fixing the issue. […]

The bill, which was referred to the Rules Committee Feb. 18, says property owners whose taxes are sold “shall have the right to recover surplus equity that was lost” in the sale.

* HB1428, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Olickal, is set for a hearing in the House Judiciary-Criminal Committee this afternoon…

Creates the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act. Provides that the Act may be referred to as the Nelson Mandela Act. Provides that a committed person may not be in isolated confinement for more than 10 consecutive days. Provides that a committed person may not be in isolated confinement for more than 10 days in any 180-day period. Provides that the provision of basic needs and services, such as nutritious food, clean water, hygiene supplies, clothing, bedding and mattress, religious materials, legal materials, access to grievance forms, and access to medical and mental health, shall not be restricted as a form of punishment or discipline for committed persons in isolated confinement. Provides that a committed person in protective custody may opt out of that status by providing informed, voluntary, written refusal of that status. Provides that a committed person shall not be placed in isolated confinement if the committed person: (1) is 21 years of age or younger; (2) is 55 years of age or older; (3) has a disability as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; or (4) is pregnant or postpartum. Provides that nothing in the Act is intended to restrict any rights or privileges a committed person may have under any other statute, rule, or regulation. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.

* Center Square…

[Rep. Sonya Harper] filed House Bill 1227 last month. The measure to create the Slavery Disclosure and Redress Ordinance would require corporations seeking to do business in Illinois to pay reparations if the company had any ties to slavery. […]

Nineteen lawmakers have co-sponsored Harper’s bill, which was referred to the Illinois House Rules Committee on Jan. 28.

Harper said the state can do the work necessary to figure out how reparations are funded.

“We’re finding ourselves in new situations every couple of years where one minute we say, ‘We have no money, we’re in a deficit,’ but we find billions of dollars out of nowhere to fund different programs,” Harper said.

24 Comments

Stop Credit Card Chaos In Illinois

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

A last-minute provision called the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA) was snuck into the budget process last May and will create chaos for small businesses and consumers across Illinois if it takes effect on July 1, 2025.

The IFPA gives corporate mega-stores like Walmart and Home Depot — who pushed for this backroom deal — millions more in profits, while small business owners get new expenses and accounting headaches. What’s more, consumers could be forced to pay for parts of their transactions in cash if this law moves forward.

A recent court ruling in the litigation challenging the law suggests IFPA is likely pre-empted by federal law for national banks and will only apply to credit unions and local Illinois banks, putting local banks at a disadvantage against their national competitors.

Illinois lawmakers should repeal the IFPA and focus on protecting small businesses and consumers across the state — not lining the pockets of corporate mega-stores.

Stop the countdown to chaos by supporting a repeal of this misguided and flawed policy. Learn more at https://guardyourcard.com/illinois/

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Open thread

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* RIP Roberta Flack…

What’s up in your neck of the woods?

11 Comments

Isabel’s morning briefing

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Jim Edgar hopes to beat pancreatic cancer: ‘But to be very truthful, if it ended tomorrow, I’ve had a great life.’ Sun-Times…

* Related stories…

∙ Tribune: Former two-term Gov. Jim Edgar diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
∙ WGN: Former Illinois governor reveals cancer diagnosis

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* KSDK | ‘I just want to promote this program that changed my grandson’s life’: Illinois apprenticeship program helps students with disabilities: A southern Illinois county is changing lives, one job opportunity at a time. It’s all through a registered apprenticeship program specifically for students with disabilities. The program gives high school students, who are often overlooked, an opportunity for real-world job experience. The goal at the end is to ultimately lead to full-time employment.

* Elizabeth Whitehorn | More uninsured Illinoisans would be ruinous for the state: Imagine being cut off from your prenatal doctor’s visits halfway through your pregnancy. Imagine having to choose between your child continuing therapy or buying groceries. Imagine forgoing a critical procedure to avoid out-of-pocket expenses that could become medical debt. These are the choices that millions of Americans will have to make if the Trump administration and congressional Republicans succeed in passing any Medicaid cuts.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WHBF | Gov. Pritzker’s proposal to fund resources for the homeless in Illinois: Advocates for the homeless in Illinois worry about the resources coming from the state and federal governments, as cuts to the federal workforce hit the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development hard.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Illinois schools chief tells districts to follow state law, not Trump threats: In his weekly message sent Wednesday, Sanders said Illinois law prohibits discrimination against marginalized groups. “Black history is American history,” wrote Sanders, who noted that these and other topics are required by Illinois mandates for classroom instruction. “The study of events related to the forceful removal and illegal deportation of Mexican-American U.S. citizens during the Great Depression is American history. The study of the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people is American history.”

*** Statewide ***

* Sun-Times | Medical schools enroll fewer Blacks, Latinos from Illinois after Supreme Court’s affirmative action ban: While other factors are also at play since the ruling, the number of Hispanic medical students from Illinois plummeted by 42.6% between the 2023-24 school year and this year, data shows. The number of Black students decreased by 6.5%, and mixed race students decreased by 8.3%.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Johnson pressured to amend $830M borrowing plan before City Council vote: Johnson and his senior aides spent the weekend listening to what changes may be needed to avoid a loss at Wednesday’s City Council meeting after a vote on the plan was blocked last week. Further negotiations are expected to carry on through the week. The borrowing proposal has been criticized for its payment structure — which pushes off paying down the principal until 2045 — and a lack of trust among some in the council who say they want assurances that the funds go towards capital projects as intended.

* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson’s office intensifies push for CPS borrowing to avoid leaving city in the red: City Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski tells WBEZ the city will have to reach into reserves to cover the shortfall, which would likely be concerning to credit rating agencies. The city’s rating was recently downgraded to two notches above junk rating, which will result in city taxpayers being forced to pay higher interest rates on loans. Meanwhile, dipping into reserves would face scrutiny from a wary City Council that fiercely butted heads with Johnson during a drawn-out budget fight last year. Alderpersons, depending on where they stand politically, would likely blame both the city and the school district for the financial quagmire.

* Tribune | Chicago craft brewers expect Trump’s aluminum tariffs to raise the price of a six-pack: “Imagine something that you’re buying every day goes up 25% overnight,” said Jason Klein, 42, co-founder of Spiteful Brewing. “We would have no choice but to raise prices — there’s no way we can absorb that.” A niche segment of the beer industry, craft brewing has become big business in Illinois, with hundreds of mostly small manufacturers generating $3.1 billion in economic impact in the state in 2023, according to the Brewers Association, a Colorado-based trade group. But after years of explosive growth, craft brewers have struggled in the post-pandemic landscape amid a glut of competitors, with a number of high-profile brewery and taproom closings in the Chicago area. Tariffs may be another blow.

* Sun-Times | Passengers at O’Hare know flying is safe, but some have concerns after plane crashes: The 43-year-old said she reconsidered her flight “for about a second” before remembering that flying is still the safest way to travel. She brushed the momentary worry aside and boarded a plane with her daughter and her daughter’s best friend last week for a birthday celebration. “I just feel like you pray and you pack your bags. You don’t let [doubt] stop you from doing anything that you want to do,” Katrina said after landing Thursday at O’Hare from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* CBS Chicago | Dolton, Cicero, Aurora are among Illinois communities holding contentious primaries Tuesday: Tuesday is primary election day in Illinois. Chicago does not have any races this cycle, but dozens of suburbs do. Among the cities, villages and townships with primary elections on Tuesday, few races will be watched as closely as Dolton — as their embattled mayor is up for re-election.

* Sun-Times | Highland Park massacre suspect skips court half way through first day of jury selection: Seven of the jurors who will decide the fate of the Highland Park parade shooting suspect were chosen Monday — but the defendant in one of the worst massacres in Illinois history declined to return to the courtroom after the day’s lunch break. Among those initially selected for the panel in the murder trial of Robert Crimo III are a business analyst, a hospice nurse, a nursing home chef, a summer camp counselor and an accountant.

* Daily Herald | Nine-term incumbent and library trustee vie for office of Streamwood village president: The April 1 election for Streamwood village president sees Poplar Creek Library Trustee Asad Khan challenging nine-term incumbent Billie Roth for the opportunity to lead the village through the spring of 2029. Khan said he’s concerned about a declining population in the village, which he believes hurts revenues. “Shocking information is that in 2015 we were 40,000 people,” he said. “The new numbers are 36,000 and some change. That’s a 10% drop, which is unbelievable. People are leaving. Why? Why are people leaving, and what are we doing to address that?”

* Evanston Round Table | Chow, Suffredin trade blows as Sixth Ward race stays tense: No City Council race has made noise this campaign season quite like the heated competition for the Sixth Ward seat between incumbent Tom Suffredin and challenger Candance Chow. The two candidates have been trading blows for the last three weeks, since Chow suddenly called for a ban on elected officials acting as lobbyists on behalf of other municipalities. The move took direct aim at Suffredin, who is a lobbyist by day and represents clients like the Chicago Teachers Union and Amazon at the state house in Springfield.

*** Downstate ***

* BND | St. Clair County fired HR director for investigating official’s relative, he alleges: As human resources director, Bergman states that he also investigated inappropriate actions by Austin Thomas, who the complaint identifies as Jordin Simmons’ friend. Both men were dispatchers for the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency, according to county salary information compiled by the Illinois Answers Project. Bergman filed the lawsuit late last year in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against the county, Herb Simmons, County Board Chairman Mark Kern and Bob Jones, an attorney who represented Jordin Simmons and Thomas during Bergman’s investigation.

* WJBD | Salem Police no longer responding to non-violent mental calls: Deputy Police Chief Tyler Rose says the department is participating in a pilot program ahead of a new law that prohibits initial response to mental calls that takes effect in July. “If it is non-violent, there are no weapons, there no threat to another individual, it’s someone simply having a mental health crisis, the legislation forbids us from dispatching officers right away,” Rose said. “That will have to be referred to these mobile crisis units. For Salem, it’s going to be members of the Community Resource Center that come out and make contact with that that individual.”

* WIFR | Former Jackson Charter School executive director accused of stealing thousands: Emily Wallen, 39, of Rockford is accused of one count of theft ($10,000-$100,000) and one count of official misconduct. ISP reports its investigation began in September 2024 after the agency received a tip alleging theft and official misconduct against Wallen. Wallen was previously the executive director for Jackson Charter School, 315 Summit St. in Rockford.

* WTVO | No property tax on new homes? Rockford considers extending 3-year program: The Three-Year Property Tax Rebate Program for Newly-Built Residential Construction went into effect in 2023 and is coming up for renewal. “If you pulled a permit to build that home in 2024, you get a three-year tax rebate. So for the next three years, you don’t pay property taxes [and then] year four, year five, you start to pay property taxes,” said Mayor Tom McNamara.

* WREX | Rockford City Council Committee votes to keep “All People Are Welcome” sign: Alderwoman Torina responded by highlighting the city’s commitment to inclusivity and diversity, referencing the guiding principles that were written two years ago. The guiding principle was then read aloud in the meeting: “Rockford provides a welcoming, nurturing, inclusive community that values diversity, where community members feel safe and respected…” said Todd Cagnoni, City Administrator.

* News-Gazette | All 6 taxing districts OK agreement to bring $750 million plant to Douglas County: Six taxing districts have voted, and not one “no” was cast. In question was an agreement that will clear the way for the siting of a $750 million corn wet-milling plant west of Tuscola. All that’s left is for company officials to decide where the plant will be located.

*** National ***

* The Hill | EPA to make higher-ethanol gas available year round beginning in April: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will proceed with Biden-era plans to allow the year-round sale of higher-ethanol E15 fuel, a longtime ask of midwestern lawmakers and the biofuels industry. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency would maintain the agreed-upon date of April 28 to make the fuel available in eight states. The governors of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin had requested waivers to sell the fuel throughout the year rather than only the high-demand summer months.

* WaPo | Firings of some federal workers should be halted, watchdog recommends: Hampton Dellinger, the head of the independent Office of Special Counsel whom President Donald Trump has tried to oust but a judge has temporarily kept in place, said the firings are likely illegal

* Forbes | mRNA Vaccine Shows Promise In Pancreatic Cancer Trial: “The latest data from the phase 1 trial are encouraging,” said Vinod Balachandran, MD, surgeon-scientist from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and principal investigator of the trial. “They suggest this investigational therapeutic mRNA vaccine can mobilize anti-tumor T cells that may recognize pancreatic cancers as foreign, potentially years after vaccination,” said Balachandran, also senior author of the new publication.

13 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Tuesday, Feb 25, 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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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Bloomberg…

Illinois is planning to sell $725 million in bonds backed by sales tax revenue for capital projects, according to a filing.

The state, the lowest-rated among peers, issued on Friday a voluntary notice of the potential sale of so-called Build Illinois Bonds, which are among the main sources of funding for its long-term capital budget — helping to pay for roads, bridges, technology and other infrastructure investments.

The possible deal comes as Gov. JB Pritzker and the state legislature negotiate the details of the roughly $55 billion spending plan he laid out last week. His fiscal 2026 budget includes earmarking $500 million to address a “long overdue capital need” to demolish unused properties and turn them into sites for attracting business and residential developments.

Proceeds from the sale of the bonds would go toward capital expenses and the cost of issuing the debt.

* Click here for some background. CBS…

The Supreme Court on Monday turned away two appeals from abortion rights opponents asking the justices to overrule a 25-year-old decision that allowed for buffer zones around abortion clinics, leaving that ruling in place. […]

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said they would have granted the requests to hear the cases. In a dissent from the Supreme Court’s denial of the appeal in one of those disputes, involving an ordinance passed by the city council in Carbondale, Illinois, Thomas said the high court should make clear that its 2000 decision “lacks continuing force” and should be explicitly overturned. […]

The ordinance enacted in Carbondale came just six months after the Supreme Court’s conservative majority rolled back the constitutional right to abortion. Known as the “Disorderly Conduct Ordinance,” the restriction was put in place in response to the high court’s ruling, as reproductive health care clinics in the city reported an uptick of threats and acts of intimidation by people protesting abortion access. […]

The ordinance took effect in January 2023 but was repealed several months later. The Carbondale City Council said it had not been enforced against any potential violator.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Tribune | Cook County moves to change how it offloads delinquent taxes: The bill, backed by county Treasurer Maria Pappas, calls for an open auction after a tax sale, through which a property owner could recoup some of its value. As it stands today, people who buy a home’s unpaid taxes can eventually get the deed simply by paying late property taxes and fees, effectively pocketing the home’s value. Pappas may not have much choice but to seek changes. The Supreme Court recently sided with a Minnesota homeowner who lost her condo because of overdue taxes. Her attorneys successfully argued that systems similar to Cook County’s rob delinquent homeowners of equity. A similar local lawsuit from Cook County property owners is seeking class-action status.

* WTVO | It will soon be easier to get a car loan in Illinois thanks to new electronic lien and title system: Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias made the announcement Monday that Illinois will join 25 other states that have active Electronic Lien and Titling available when purchasing a vehicle from a participating dealer. “An electronic lien and titling program will make the process of buying a car significantly faster, more convenient and more secure than the paper system. What used to take months can be done with a few clicks, dramatically reducing the ‘Time Tax’ customers were forced to pay when titling a vehicle,” said Giannoulias. “Implementing new technology strategically enables our office to create efficiencies and benefit consumers. These investments are crucial to providing convenience, but more importantly security, for our customers and their data.”

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Trump and Musk take aim at Loop’s Kluczynski, Metcalfe buildings: The Trump administration is planning to shed half of the office space it occupies in Chicago and Illinois, with two huge properties, the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building and Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building, heading the list of structures on the chopping block. That’s the word from Chicago U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, a ranking Democratic member of the House Appropriations Committee, whose district is home to thousands of federal workers whose jobs have been or are being eyed for elimination.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Parents Defending Education challenges Chicago district’s Black Student Success Plan as discriminatory: An out-of-state advocacy group filed a federal antidiscrimination complaint challenging Chicago Public Schools’ Black Student Success Plan the day after the district released its long-awaited blueprint. Parents Defending Education, which has challenged race-based initiatives and the teaching of topics involving race and gender in schools, submitted a complaint to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, asking it to block the five-year plan’s implementation. It invoked the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision banning the use of race as a factor in college admissions, and a “Dear Colleague” letter from the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights late last week warning school districts to halt any race-based initiatives or risk losing federal funding.

* WTTW | City Has $142M Left in Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds After $87M Cuts to Balance 2025 Budget: City officials would have an additional $87 million to spend on a host of programs — including affordable housing, mental health, violence prevention, youth job programs and help for unhoused Chicagoans — but the Chicago City Council used those funds to balance the city’s 2025 budget and avert a property tax hike. That means the City Council reduced the amount of federal money available to the city to fuel a wide variety of social service programs until the end of 2026 by nearly 38% to balance the city’s budget without a single sentence of debate about what those cuts will mean for Chicagoans who have yet to regain the ground they started to lose five years ago.

* Crain’s | United Center owners buy more lots for 1901 Project: A venture led by the Reinsdorf and Wirtz families, which co-own the Near West Side stadium, paid about $11 million late last month for a pair of properties along the elevated Chicago Transit Authority tracks east of the arena, according to Cook County property records. The entity purchased the sites from an affiliate of longtime parking lot operator Peoples Stadium Parking.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Jury selection underway in trial of accused Highland Park parade shooter: It began with Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti admonishing prospective jurors to “keep an open mind, a mind that is free of any misconceptions” and “resist jumping to conclusions” as questioning began shortly before 11 a.m. […] By 12:15 p.m., three jurors had been selected. Juror selection continues this afternoon. Testimony is expected to begin at 9 a.m. Monday, March 3.

* Daily Herald | Batavia deciding how to spend $200K from single-use bag tax: City council members began reviewing proposals from prospective candidates vying to execute those green initiatives at the Feb. 11 Committee of the Whole meeting. At the meeting, committee members heard from four applicants. Two would conduct energy audits and rebates for residents, and two others would execute a public education campaign and design the city’s branded reusable bags.

* CBS Chicago | Oak Park, Illinois seeks to regulate hemp-derived THC products: Leaders in Oak Park, Illinois, want to crack down on products made from hemp that contain THC. […] Oak Park village trustees will introduce an ordinance next month that would set the minimum age for purchasing hemp-derived products containing THC to 21.

* WGN | Family of young journalist struck, killed by train sues Metra: The suit is seeking damages and family previously said they hope safety changes are made to prevent future incidents. Both Metra and the South Shore Line had no comment, citing pending litigation.

*** Downstate ***

* WSIL | Small number of probationary staff dismissed with Marion VA Health Care System, VA official reports: This coming after 1,000 Department of Veterans Affairs employees were reported to have been dismissed nationwide on February 13. A representative with the VA shared a statement by the VA Press Secretary for the VA facility in Marion. The statement is below… “The Marion VA Health Care System has dismissed a small number of probationary staff. This decision will have no negative effect on Veteran health care, benefits or other services and will allow VA to focus more effectively on its core mission of serving Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors. We cannot discuss specific personnel matters due to privacy concerns.”

* WJBD | School insurance trust drops $7 million in the red: An insurance trust utilized by 80 school districts in the state, mostly in Southern Illinois, has fallen $7 million in the red due to higher-than-expected medical claims and drug costs. The Salem Grade School District is one of the districts impacted. Superintendent Dr. Leslie Foppe told the school board Thursday night says a lot of school officials are not happy. The trust has come up with a plan to charge an extra assessment to each district, which would amount to $108,000 to the Salem Grade School district.

*** National ***

* AP | Scholarships suspended at NC A&T, other HBCUs for students in agriculture via 1890 Scholars Program: The U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended the 1890 Scholars Program, which provided recipients with full tuition and fees for students studying agriculture, food or natural resource sciences at one of 19 universities, known as the 1890 land grant institutions. It’s not clear exactly when the program was suspended, but some members of Congress first issued statements criticizing the suspension of the program on Thursday.

2 Comments

More about 2025 than 2028

Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Politico today…

There was no push-back within Pritzker’s team about comparing the Trump administration and the Nazi era, something that Republicans have criticized. “There was a lot of conversation about it, like ‘How do we do this, and how do we do it the right way?’ But I wouldn’t say that there was any hesitation,” [Anne Caprara, the governor’s chief of staff] said. “This is the moment and the message that we need to deliver and if it gets a lot of attention, we feel like people need to hear it.”

Getting the message across: “We are very careful with the language,” Caprara said. “But I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic when I say that the people around me working in government and others who email me are extremely alarmed [about what’s happening in Washington]. They’re texting and emailing asking ‘What should I be doing and why isn’t somebody saying something about how bad it is?’” […]

Caprara dismissed critics who say the speech was an effort to promote Pritzker’s political stature. Not so, she said. The governor “feels a moral obligation and also he thinks it’s the right thing to do.”

* Gov. Pritzker on Jen Psacki’s podcast…

Pritzker: I don’t know if you remember. I think it was in January or February of 2024, Joe Biden gave a big speech at Valley Forge, and it was a speech about democracy.

[Biden recording: America, as we begin this election year, we must be clear: Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot.]

Pritzker: And even though everything that he said was 100% accurate, and he intended it to be the message of his campaign, but that really doesn’t work. I have to say, you know, if you knock on 100 doors, and I’ve knocked on a lot of doors in my day, probably way more than 100 a lot, a lot. And I can tell you that if you said to people that democracy is challenged, people wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. They know they go to the polls and vote every two years or every four years, and things just keep going no matter who gets elected. And so democracy being challenged or being at risk isn’t something people can even imagine. So in my view, it was a terrible message, even though it clearly was being challenged, and we’re seeing the results of that now. But I don’t think that the average American is thinking that. So that’s one thing. I think a second thing I’ll just point out is, you know, this was, in my view, an election that should have been all about, and we should have singularly focused on affordability. And again, I didn’t make any of the decisions about what the messaging would be.

But I can tell you that if you just go walk down the street and stop 100 people and ask them what’s really bothering them and what they’d like to see it’s, you know, more focus on affordability. I mean going to the grocery store and not being able to buy eggs at a reasonable price. Or now, you know, with the tariffs that Donald Trump is proposing tomatoes and lettuce and, you know, [garbled] prices are going up, and so addressing that, trying to hone in on it. We did it here in Illinois. I eliminated the state grocery tax in Illinois, for example, we went after some of the very costly things, like health care. We’re going to do it again this year that are affecting people’s lives where, you know, the cost of health care and health care premiums keeps going up and up. And I think, if you’re not addressing those kind of kitchen table issues, making it cheaper and easier for kids to go to college and for their parents to be able to afford it, those things are the most important things, I think, to folks out there who were going to the polls in November and Democrats managed not to focus on that. And we need to be really clear, really clear as Democrats focusing on the things that really matter.

The take-away from all this is that Pritzker understands that the stuff he talked about at the end of his speech last week hasn’t been an effective campaign message against Trump. So, why did he do it anyway? As explained above, lots of folks were demanding that somebody stand up and say what they were thinking. I was told much the same last week. From the subscriber section…

When I pressed the issue yesterday, I was told that the governor was trying to send as strong a message as possible to timid national Democrats that it is time to wake up to escalating authoritarianism. The address was Pritzker’s most high-profile opportunity to send that message and it therefore had a much better chance of being noticed than if he did it at a lesser event.

In other words, the speech was not so much about 2028, as the Tribune claimed over the weekend. The end of his speech was about February of 2025. Today.

* Even so, I’m still not convinced it was a good idea to use that constitutionally required speech to deliver that message. He could’ve gone to the White House with the National Governors Association and said it and he would’ve gotten a ton more coverage…

Not attending National Gov Assoc events in DC this weekend - @GovPritzker who “had a prior family commitment” https://t.co/sHdmalorAl

— Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) February 23, 2025

46 Comments

Former Gov. Jim Edgar reveals cancer diagnosis: ‘We do not underestimate this challenge, but we have confidence in the medical team helping us address it’ (Updated)

Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* An email from former Gov. Jim Edgar, authorized for publication…

Brenda and I are facing a new, significant challenge.

Doctors at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago have determined I have pancreatic cancer that has spread. They and physicians at Mayo Clinic are coordinating on a treatment regimen that I am following initially in Arizona, where we spend the winter, and later in Springfield when we return. We do not underestimate this challenge, but we have confidence in the medical team helping us address it.

Brenda and I remain hopeful, and we are grateful for the kindness of so many who have offered their prayers and support.

He has done a remarkable job with his bipartisan Edgar Fellows program. I wish him nothing but the best. Hang in there, Jim.

…Adding… House Speaker Chris Welch…

“Governor Jim Edgar is a model of a true statesman, and his commitment to integrity and collaborative leadership continues to guide Illinois. The opportunity I had to learn from him through the Edgar Fellows Program helped me as a new lawmaker, as a committee chair, and still today as Speaker. The fact that so many leaders in our Capitol can tell similar stories is a testament to the amazing scope of Governor Edgar’s impact.

“Governor Edgar and his family are in my prayers as they face this new challenge. As he has worked to bring out the best in others, may our prayers and well wishes bring the best to him.”

18 Comments

Poll: Mayor Johnson’s re-elect in crowded field is 8 percent; Just 7 percent view him favorably, 80 percent unfavorably (Updated)

Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* M3 Strategies is a Republican pollster, but they’ve done pretty good work. The firm’s last poll had President Trump’s favorables right about where the Pritzker campaign did in its most recent release, for example. The poll was paid for by Juan Rangel, who regularly engages in battle with the CTU and the mayor’s people on Twitter.

From the pollster’s latest analysis of its Chicago survey…

1. Crime Dominates Voter Concerns

o 67% say crime is Chicago’s biggest issue, outpacing high taxes (54%) and inflation (41%).
o Issues like LGBTQ+ rights (3%) and reproductive freedoms (4%) rank among the lowest priorities.

2. Paul Vallas and Alexi Giannoulias Lead Early Mayoral Preferences

o Vallas (27.4%) and Giannoulias (21.0%) lead the crowded field, while Mayor Brandon Johnson lags at just 8.2%.

3. Brandon Johnson Is Overwhelmingly Unpopular

o 79.9% of voters disapprove of Johnson, with just 6.6% holding a favorable view—a net favorability of -73.3%.

4. Vallas and Giannoulias Have the Strongest Favorability, While Lesser-Known Candidates Struggle

o Giannoulias (49% favorable) and Vallas (41%) have the highest name recognition.
o Buckner and Conway remain relatively unknown, with over 35% of voters saying they’ve never heard of them.

* Methodology…

M3 Strategies surveyed 696 likely Chicago voters from February 20-21, 2025. The survey has a margin of error of 3.71%. Respondents were randomly selected from a pool of individuals who are likely to vote. All responses were generated via SMS to web survey.

* On to the toplines. Which of the following would you say are the biggest issues facing Chicago right now?…

Crime is a much bigger issue in Chicago than it is statewide and has been for quite a while.

* If the election for Mayor of Chicago were held today, who would most likely lean toward (if undecided is not an option)?…

* What is your opinion of the following Chicago public figures?…

* Alexi Giannoulias, IL Sec of State…

* Susana Mendoza, IL Comptroller…

* Bill Conway, Alderman…

* Kam Buckner, State Rep…

* Paul Vallas, Former Mayoral Candidate…

* Brandon Johnson, Mayor…

Whew. That’s gotta be some kind of a record.

* In your own words, tell us your opinion of Mayor Brandon Johnson…

* In your own words, tell us your opinion of former mayoral candidate Paul Vallas…

* In your own words, tell us your opinion of IL Comptroller Susana Mendoza…

* In your own words, tell us your opinion of IL Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias…

Haven’t seen those word clouds used in a while. Interesting.

…Adding… I took a quick look at the full crosstabs. Mayor Johnson’s favorable/unfavorable rating among Black voters is 16/67, with 17 percent neutral. Among Latino voters it’s 2/88 (not a typo) with 10 percent neutral. Among White voters it’s 5/84 (also not a typo) with 10 percent neutral.

Johnson receives 18 percent support from Black voters in the horse race question, along with 2 percent Latino, 6 percent White.

37 Comments

Dick Durbin wants to put this blog (and others) out of business

Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Press release last week from US Sen. Dick Durbin…

This week, Durbin will join U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to introduce a bill that would sunset Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in two years. Section 230—and the legal immunity it provides to Big Tech—has been on the books since 1996—long before social media became a part of our daily lives. To the extent this protection was ever needed, its usefulness has long since passed.

The full statute he wants to eliminate is here.

* From a few years ago, when President Trump vetoed a Defense Department appropriations bill because it did not repeal Section 230…

Section 230 has two key provisions. One states that an online service provider can’t be treated as the publisher of content created by a third party. The second provision says that a provider can’t be held liable for taking down content it “considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable.” The inclusion of “otherwise objectionable” in this list gives online platforms essentially bulletproof protection against lawsuits for removing third-party content.

Trump’s focus on Section 230 seems to be driven by anger that online platforms—especially Twitter—have labeled or removed his posts when they violate their policies. In May, Twitter slapped a warning label on a Trump tweet exaggerating the risks of voter fraud. Soon afterward, Trump signed an executive order asking the FCC to reinterpret Section 230. He’s been tweeting angrily about the law ever since.

* More background from the Electronic Frontier Foundation…

For more than 25 years, Section 230 has protected us all: small blogs and websites, big platforms, and individual users.

The free and open internet as we know it couldn’t exist without Section 230. Important court rulings on Section 230 have held that users and services cannot be sued for forwarding email, hosting online reviews, or sharing photos or videos that others find objectionable. It also helps to quickly resolve lawsuits cases that have no legal basis.

Congress knew that the sheer volume of the growing Internet would make it impossible for services to review every users’ speech. When Section 230 was passed in 1996, about 40 million people used the Internet worldwide. By 2019, more than 4 billion people were online, with 3.5 billion of them using social media platforms. In 1996, there were fewer than 300,000 websites; by 2017, there were more than 1.7 billion.

Without Section 230’s protections, many online intermediaries would intensively filter and censor user speech, while others may simply not host user content at all. This legal and policy framework allows countless niche websites, as well as big platforms like Amazon and Yelp to host user reviews. It allows users to share photos and videos on big platforms like Facebook and on the smallest blogs. It allows users to share speech and opinions everywhere, from vast conversational forums like Twitter and Discord, to the comment sections of the smallest newspapers and blogs.

* Why Durbin’s idea is so clueless…

The dumbest part: removing Section 230 would actually entrench Big Tech’s power, not diminish it. The giants would survive just fine — most cases against them would still fail on First Amendment grounds. But defending speech under the First Amendment is far more complex and expensive than Section 230’s straightforward protections. Meta, Google, and their ilk have armies of lawyers to handle this. Everyone else? Not so much.

This explains why Mark Zuckerberg has been practically begging Congress to eliminate Section 230. It’s not because he suddenly developed a burning passion for content moderation reform. It’s because he’s looked at the math and realized: “Hey, we can afford buildings full of lawyers. Our competitors can’t.” When Zuckerberg advocates for eliminating Section 230, he’s not confessing his sins — he’s pitching his business plan.

Without Section 230 “Big Tech” would be fine. First of all, in nearly all cases that are filed against websites would still lose, because almost all of these decisions are protected by the First Amendment. But — and this is the important part — having to defend it under the First Amendment is way more expensive. And takes way longer. Which means that smaller defendants, especially, will likely cave in to threats.

The end result? Big Tech gets bigger, smaller platforms disappear, and the “monopolies” that Durbin claims to be fighting become actual monopolies — now with congressional approval! It’s like trying to punish Standard Oil by making it illegal for anyone except Standard Oil to sell kerosene.

Durbin’s claim that Section 230’s “usefulness has long since passed” isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous. The law is more vital now than ever, as demonstrated by countless cases where it’s protected essential online discourse. At a moment when we desperately need more venues for protected speech and democratic dialogue, Durbin is proposing to demolish the very framework that makes such dialogue possible.

The consequences would be predictable and devastating: a cascade of frivolous lawsuits designed to silence critics and suppress inconvenient truths. Without Section 230’s efficient dismissal process, even completely baseless legal threats become effective censorship tools. Think about it: if you’re running a small community forum and someone threatens to sue you because they don’t like a user’s post about their business, what are you going to do? Spend hundreds of thousands of dollars defending your First Amendment rights, or just take down the post? This isn’t theoretical — it’s basic economics.

The end result is that it becomes that much easier to suppress dissent.

No Section 230 means no comments, no live news feeds and very likely no CapitolFax.com at all, while big tech just hires a few more lawyers.

Nice job, Dick.

44 Comments

When RETAIL Succeeds, Illinois Succeeds

Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Findings of a recent economic study were clear — the retail sector is a cornerstone of the state’s economy and crucial to our everyday lives. Retail in Illinois directly contributes more than $112 billion in economic investment annually – more than 10 percent of the state’s total Gross Domestic Product.

Retailers like Barb enrich our economy and strengthen our communities. We Are Retail and IRMA showcase the retailers who make Illinois work.

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It’s just a bill

Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Daily Herald…

House Bill 2969 would tie any professional sports team’s request for state or local government financing for stadium construction, renovation or maintenance to the team’s on-field performance, requiring at least a .500 record in three out of the last five regular seasons. […]

For the Bears, who haven’t hit that mark since the 2020-21 season, it’s a no. Same for the Sox, who set the Major League Baseball record for most losses in a single season last year. […]

The Cubs and the Sky — who won the WNBA Championship in 2021 — do meet the bill’s eligibility requirements, but seem to have settled in at their homes. The Cubs’ owners were rejected by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel for help with their $550 million face-lift of Wrigley Field, but now want Mayor Brandon Johnson’s help to tighten security in and around the historic ballpark to host the 2027 All-Star Game. And after departing Rosemont’s Allstate Arena in 2017, the Sky now rent out Wintrust Arena in the South Loop.

The Chicago Stars — of the National Women’s Soccer League — would also be eligible under Morgan’s bill. The team has a lease at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview through this year, but owners — which include Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts — have asked state lawmakers for a seat at the table in discussions about new publicly funded stadiums.

* Farm Week…

The “Good Food Purchasing Bill” is one of [Rep. Sonya Harper’s] priorities as chair of the House Agriculture Committee. The bill, introduced Feb. 18, requires state agencies and state-owned facilities that purchase food, such as colleges and universities, to purchase healthy food sourced from Illinois farmers.

“I’m also interested in collaborating more across the state and coming up with some innovative solutions and some actual SMART goals to eliminate food deserts,” Harper said. “I have legislation around a commission that takes invoices of all the counties and officials at every level because that’s not something that just the state can fix.”

She explained that having meaningful conversations about food access with other levels of government and important decision-makers is necessary to improve quality access to food throughout the entire state.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Lawmakers are considering legalizing a controversial medical practice that proponents say could ease suffering for the terminally ill. […]

The measure, contained in Senate Bill 9, is being backed by Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, who told her Senate colleagues at a hearing Friday that she supports the proposal because of her parents’ deaths. Both her mother and father died after extended battles with cancer.

“You think the toughest thing you go through is watching somebody die, and you know what? It’s not,” Holmes said. “It’s not as tough as watching somebody you love suffer and there’s nothing you can do to ease that suffering. That is the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through.”[…]

Friday’s meeting of the powerful Senate Executive Committee was a “subject matter” hearing, meaning no vote was taken. The bill will need more committee hearings, a vote in both legislative chambers and approval by the governor before becoming law.

* Sen. Lakesia Collins…

To assist community members and homeowners, State Senator Lakesia Collins advanced a measure Wednesday to provide guidance to law enforcement that simplifies the process for removing criminal trespassers from a person’s home.

“For homeowners who have had to deal with squatters and those living on property without permission, this helps clarify the law,” said Collins (D-Chicago). “Oftentimes, law enforcement is unclear about what to do about squatters and so the issue is often left to the eviction process. This legislation clarifies that squatters–who are trespassers–can be removed under the appropriate criminal trespass laws.”

This legislation responds to local squatters who snuck into a home while the owner was away. Law enforcement told the owner that they could not remove the squatters and that the homeowner would need to file an eviction.

Senate Bill 1563 would add a provision to the state’s eviction law that nothing about the eviction process keeps the police from enforcing our criminal laws. As a result, it clarifies that squatters–who are trespassers–can be removed without going through the eviction process.

“Squatters have been a problem my constituents have raised across the district and clarity for law enforcement is essential to avoid an unneeded and lengthy process to return someone’s home to them safely,” Collins said. “Tenants have rights and trespassers do not. This is simple but powerful clarification.”

Senate Bill 1563 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

* Center Square…

Illinois lawmakers are considering legislation that supporters say aims at enhancing protections for freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but some legislators have expressed concern that the current proposal goes too far.

The Illinois House Judiciary Committee passed House Bill 1077, which is intended to reign in SLAPP, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.

State Rep. Daniel Didech, D-Buffalo Grove, the bill’s sponsor, said current law, the Citizen Participation Act, has been rendered almost toothless by judicial decisions. […]

The bill, which would create the Uniform Public Expression Act, passed out of committee by a 12 to 7 vote on Wednesday. State Reps. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, and Tracy Katz Muhl, D-Northbrook, joined as co-sponsors of the legislation.

10 Comments

Welch on ethics reform, Pritzker, Trump

Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…

Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch didn’t sound all that enthused about passing any new ethics reforms during an interview last week.

In the wake of former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s conviction on 10 felony counts earlier this month, I asked Welch if he believed Madigan’s conviction called out for new reform laws.

“I didn’t get a chance to listen to what every juror who has spoken said, but they looked at the evidence in that case, and they weighed the evidence in that case. And I think I heard one juror say that he didn’t have anything negative to say about Springfield per se. But when they looked at the evidence in that case, they came to the verdict that they came to,” Welch said.

That doesn’t sound like he believes there’s a clarion call for change.

“Are there things that we can do better in Springfield?” Welch asked rhetorically. “Probably are some things that we can do better. I think we need to talk to our members and find out what they think. I think we need to talk to advocates and hear what advocates think.”

Welch said he was “proud” that nobody in his caucus had been accused of corruption since he took over. “We addressed ethics in my first year as speaker. There’s a number of things that we have done that I think really changed the environment and have helped us get to the point that we’re at today.”

Madigan said much the same thing about his caucus after Rod Blagojevich was impeached and removed. It didn’t work out so well. Not saying Welch is a problem, but one never knows what individual caucus members are up to.

Gov. JB Pritzker was clearly angry at Welch during the January lame duck legislative session when the governor’s attempt to pass a bill to regulate intoxicating hemp blew up in his face and Welch refused to call the bill, claiming that the governor didn’t have 60 Democratic votes. Pritzker insisted at the time that he did have the votes and also demanded apologies from House Democrats who yelled insults at members of his administration during a private caucus meeting. Pritzker has since backed off. I asked Welch if things were patched up between them and how that happened.

“First of all, there was nothing to patch up,” Welch declared. “The governor was doing his job, I did my job. The governor and I talk all the time. We talked before lame duck. We’ve talked since lame duck. The governor is an important partner of mine. We’ve gotten big things done in the state of Illinois by working together. From time to time we may disagree on something, but know this, my position is always going to be based on what my caucus’s position is, and I make that clear with the governor or whoever I’m talking to.”

In other words, Welch is gonna stand with his caucus against any outsider, and people, including the governor, need to accept it.

Earlier this month, the House moved three resolutions to the floor that sharply criticized President Donald Trump. The Republicans eventually stormed off the floor in response. My associate Isabel Miller asked Welch if he might be bringing more such resolutions up for a vote.

“I don’t want to talk about our strategy for governing the chamber during the 104th,” Welch said. “But let me say this: I think that it is extremely important that we give our members space to vocalize what this administration’s actions are doing to the people of this state and to the people around this country. I think the President’s actions, his administration’s actions, are directly impacting the people we serve. And we’re going to see as we work to assemble a budget that the administration’s actions are directly impacting our ability to run a responsible state. And so we can’t tell you what Donald Trump’s going to do, but we’re also not going to sit silently while he unilaterally pushes policies that hurt the people that we represent. And if we have to go to the floor and shine a light on those things, we will, because this is not a time to be silent.”

Asked if the debates were effective, Welch said, “I think that they have been extremely effective. I think if you talk to our members and what they’re hearing from their constituents back home, particularly the members who actually spoke on the floor, they will tell you what they’re hearing from their constituents back home.”

11 Comments

Open thread

Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* RIP Jerry “Iceman” Butler…

What’s up by you?

2 Comments

Isabel’s morning briefing

Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* We informed subscribers about this earlier this month. ICYMI: What Illinois faces if congressional Republicans slash Medicaid. Crain’s…

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Subscribers were told about this last week. Daily Herald | The governor wants to put pause on fuel tax shift. What would that mean?: It was just one line item in Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget proposal Wednesday, pausing the final shift of the state’s motor fuel sales taxes to the road fund. But for drivers, road builders and lovers of convoluted Illinois legislative history, it means a lot. Since July 1, 2021, the state has incrementally transferred motor fuel sales taxes from its general fund to the road fund. The change was part of 2019 legislation enabling the Build Illinois capital program.

* Tribune | The hidden world of Chicago ICE arrests: In a system where people can be detained with little public information available, rosters for out-of-state jails that hold many Chicago-area detainees offer one of the only glimpses of people taken into custody amid the heightened fear and uncertainty of the past several weeks. Though they do not represent a complete picture, the jail logs, obtained by the Tribune via public records requests, present a rare, if narrow, window into a byzantine and opaque immigration system, where people can be detained and not go before a judge for weeks, or even months. In contrast, in Illinois’ criminal justice system, arrestees must go before a judge within 48 hours and police must make arrest reports with identifying information available within 72 hours.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Illinois Eagle | State rep calls for equity in funding for HIV in Black community: State Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) highlighted the disparity in health outcomes for Black Illinois residents. “We cannot afford inaction while Black communities face disproportionately high rates of HIV/AIDS illness and limited access to life-saving resources,” she said at press conference with the Black Leadership Advocacy Coalition for Healthcare Equity (BLACHE) for Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

* BND | Metro-east state rep settles lawsuit over blocked Facebook comments: Illinois State Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville, has settled a lawsuit alleging he violated the First Amendment free speech rights of four constituents by blocking their “critical” comments on his Facebook page. […] The settlement agreement calls for Meier to reinstate Poettker’s access to his Facebook page and to reinstate comments from Moore, Williams and

* Daily Herald | Milena McConchie, wife of recently resigned state senator Dan McConchie, dies at 51: Dan McConchie posted news of his loss and the life he had shared with her on Facebook Saturday. “Unfortunately, the health troubles that plagued her since Chernobyl were not to be outrun,” he wrote. “She passed away from heart failure due to the cancer, the radiation, and the chemotherapy treatments that we now know cause the heart muscle to harden. Fortunately, she is now free of those troubles and is finally in a place where there is no sickness and there is no death with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

*** Statewide ***

* Sun-Times | Illinois expanded tax credits for some workers and families but the money isn’t being claimed, experts say: Illinois expanded its earned income tax credit in 2024, giving low- to moderate-income workers a bigger break on their 2023 state income tax filing. But many taxpayers who receive the federal EITC are unaware that the state program exists. Workers who qualify for the federal EITC generally qualify for the Illinois EITC, since the requirements are similar. And some of those filers could see an increase this tax season by also taking advantage of the state’s first-ever Child Tax Credit, which offers relief to parents struggling with rising living costs. Parents with children under 12 who qualify for the Illinois EITC are eligible to claim the CTC.

* Tribune | ‘Whole different level.’ The Illinois-Indiana political divide widens amid Trump 2.0, from immigration to DEI to LGBTQ rights: “What Donald Trump tried to do in the last 24 hours was illegal,” Pritzker said during a press conference that day. “Let’s be clear: This is a demonstration of cruelty against people who depend on us.” Yet just over the border in Indiana, the top state official praised the austerity measure, which was designed to root out progressive agendas, promote efficiency and end “wokeness” through federal spending nationwide.

*** Chicago ***

* Kam Buckner | A city charter is the reform Chicago actually needs, not recall powers : Chicago is the largest city in America without a city charter. No governing document, no foundational rules that define how power is distributed, how decisions are made and what rights the people have in relation to their government. That’s like buying a complex piece of Ikea furniture and tossing the instructions, only to realize years later that you screwed everything in backward and now it barely holds together. Instead of a charter, we rely on a patchwork of century-old state laws, home rule authority and political traditions so entrenched you’d think they were carved into stone tablets. This system works, until it doesn’t.

* Tribune | City touts mission to target employee ties to hate groups; community demands police be the priority: Representatives with the mayor’s office told a roomful of residents and community groups at the West Side gathering that Johnson’s working group would produce recommendations and policies to deal with city employees linked to hate groups. The group was assembled eight months after the city’s Office of the Inspector General recommended in a report last year that the mayor convene a task force.

* The Athletic | Bears boost ticket prices as if they just had playoff season, not a 5-12 disaster: If you go through past numbers to look for context, the 10 percent jump for the 2025 season shouldn’t be a shock. The Bears have been known to raise prices after playoff seasons. Wait, what’s that? The Bears didn’t make the playoffs last year? They went 5-12, lost 10 in a row, fired their coach and offensive coordinator during the season and were the laughingstocks of the NFL from Halloween to New Year’s?

* Crain’s | Chicago billionaire Justin Ishbia to boost stake in White Sox: The deal will allow Ishbia, managing partner of Chicago investment firm Shore Capital Partners, to take control of the team at some point by buying the shares of longtime owner Jerry Reinsdorf and other partners, the Athletic contends, citing unnamed people familiar with the arrangement.

* Sun-Times | Just because Justin Ishbia wants to buy the White Sox doesn’t mean Jerry Reinsdorf is selling: I don’t blame them a bit for getting their hopes up. The Athletic reported that Ishbia, a financier worth $5.1 billion, wants to increase his minority stake in the Sox now that he’s given up his pursuit of buying the Twins. There’s a large segment of the fan base that would want anybody besides Reinsdorf, including a disinterred Stalin, owning the team. But the idea of someone as wealthy as Ishbia stepping in, well, it was enough to make Sox fans swoon on social media the past few days. To be rid of Reinsdorf, who cut the Sox’ payroll after losing a modern-era record 121 games in 2024, and gain a multibillionaire who has a home in Winnetka? Exchange Evergreen Park for Winnetka, and that’s a dream your standard Sox fan has about once a week.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Metra paid a law firm over $1.5M for an internal investigation that it won’t release, raising transparency questions: The investigation stemmed from anonymous complaints made to Metra about the agency’s Police Department, and bills from the attorneys hint at the scope of the work: McGuireWoods undertook analysis related to an “investigation of potential disparate treatment.” Also included among 130 pages of attorneys bills was reference to “EEO” incidents and complaints, according to documents obtained by the Tribune through a Freedom of Information Act request. Still, Metra’s failure to publicize information about the outcome of the investigation — and the agency’s decision to rely on an outside law firm to investigate its Police Department in the first place — raises questions about Metra’s motives, government transparency advocates said.

* Evanston Round Table | Candidates go on ‘speed dates’ with voters: Nearly everyone running for a city office or school board seat in the April 1 consolidated elections was present with a desk, a trifold poster board and any snacks, flyers or other campaign materials they could fit at their station. A steady stream of potential voters arrived over the three-hour event to talk directly to the candidates lined up around the room, with the din of conversation interrupted every 10 minutes by the sound of a tambourine — an encouragement for attendees to wrap up their chats and move on to someone new.

* Daily Herald | Aurora primary Tuesday to narrow the field for mayoral election: Five people are seeking spots on the ballot, including incumbent Mayor Richard Irvin, Alderman-at-Large John Laesch, Alderman Ted Mesiacos, former alderman Judd Lofchie, and Karina Garcia. Jazmine Garcia’s name is still on the primary ballot, but she announced on Tuesday that she had dropped out of the race.

* Tribune | ‘We saw evil that day.’ Highland Park mass shooting survivors hope for justice, resolution as trial begins Monday: More than two years after that horrific holiday, the suspect’s trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection Monday at the Lake County Courthouse. Alleged gunman Robert Crimo III faces more than 100 charges, including 21 counts of first-degree murder — three for each person who lost their life while attending the parade. If convicted of first-degree murder, he could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

* Sun-Times | Trial set to start Monday for Plainfield landlord charged with killing 6-year-old Palestinian American boy: Joseph Czuba is charged with stabbing his tenant, Hanan Shaheen, and her 6-year-old son, Wadee Al Fayoumi, killing the boy, in an alleged hate crime that drew national attention. His trial is set to begin Monday at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet.

*** Downstate ***

* BND | Metro-east teachers fear closing the Department of Education will harm students: According to the Illinois State Board of Education, about 12% of Illinois school districts’ revenues for fiscal year 2023 came from the federal government. Most school funding comes from the state and local taxes. But what that relatively small percentage of funding does is extremely important, said educators at a round table discussion hosted by the Illinois Federation of Teachers and U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski on Monday. The federal government directs money to schools to serve low-income students through Title I funding and to support programs for students with disabilities under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

* WICS | Lincoln residents hopeful for redevelopment of former developmental center site: Community members in Lincoln are expressing optimism about the potential redevelopment of the former Lincoln Developmental Center site, which has been closed since 2002. The closure, ordered by then-Governor George Ryan, left many residents concerned about the future of the site and the jobs lost as a result. […] The timeline for demolition or rehabilitation of the site remains uncertain, as it is contingent on decisions by the Illinois General Assembly.

* Tom Kacich | 100 years after merger first floated, Champaign, Urbana happy to be separately together: Former Champaign Mayor Dan McCollum, who said he supported the 1953 merger question as a high school student, recalled that he suggested another merger effort sometime after becoming mayor in 1987. “I approached Jeff Markland (then the mayor of Urbana) about getting the two cities together,” McCollum recalled. “He said that historically it hadn’t been supported by his town, so he couldn’t support it. That was the end of that.”

* WCIA | Therapy dogs drop by Danville library to help kids learn to read: “Fear of pets is one thing, but if we can get away from some of the other children and adults, some children don’t want to try and read in front of adults because they’re afraid of making mistakes,” retired librarian Mary Easterday said. “And when they read to a dog, the dog doesn’t care. The dog loves them. The dog sits there and listens and loves them.” She said the library plans to continue bringing dogs in to mingle with kids — and is also considering doing the same thing at Oakwood Elementary School.

*** National ***

* NYT | Microsoft Says It Has Created a New State of Matter to Power Quantum Computers: On Wednesday, Microsoft’s scientists said they had built what is known as a “topological qubit” based on this new phase of physical existence, which could be harnessed to solve mathematical, scientific and technological problems. With the development, Microsoft is raising the stakes in what is set to be the next big technological contest, beyond today’s race over artificial intelligence. Scientists have chased the dream of a quantum computer — a machine that could exploit the strange and exceedingly powerful behavior of subatomic particles or very cold objects — since the 1980s.

* WaPo | Weight-loss drugs aren’t just slimming waists. They’re shifting the economy: Ozempic, and its GLP-1 cousins Mounjaro, Wegovy and Zepbound, may not be the lightbulb, jet airplane or internet, but their impact is expected to be so significant that Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, predicts that if 60 million people take the medications by 2028, GDP would be boosted by 1 percent — or several trillion dollars. Hatzius’s analysis was based primarily on the idea that healthier people mean a healthier workforce and, in turn, lower health-care costs. But there’s a lot more to it.

* Tribune | Democratic governors balance whether to fight or pacify after Donald Trump threatens one of their own: President Donald Trump’s real-time confrontation with Maine’s governor over transgender athletes captured the conundrum many Democratic governors are facing in the Republican’s second term. Gov. Janet Mills’ vow that she would see Trump in court over his threat to withhold money from the state if it didn’t comply with his executive order delighted Democrats who want more strident pushback. But the dust-up that played out in the open Friday as Trump hosted governors at the White House ticked off a president known to retaliate against people he considers enemies.

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Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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