I’ll add more as we find them. If you know of a results page not listed above, put it in comments.
* You can see some of the contributions made by the Democratic Party of Illinois by clicking here. From a March 14 DPI press release…
In partnership with the Illinois Democratic County Chairs Association (IDCCA), DPI and county chairs have identified 270 recommended candidates in municipal races across the state. Credible community advocates recommended by DPI are fighting for equitable public investments, better healthcare, and strong public schools for our kids. Conservative candidates who oppose these values are also seeking local office. DPI has identified 230 opposed candidates who will be targeted through this program.
The Party’s plan will include a six-figure mail and digital advertising investment, reaching hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters in target regions across Illinois. The paid communications program will highlight the Donald Trump–aligned conservatives on the ballot, as well as support the credible, commonsense community advocates that DPI recommends. In addition, the Party is facilitating direct candidate training led by DPI’s campaign staff and assigned one-on-one campaign coaches.
The Trump administration on March 28 issued a decision to claw back funds for Illinois schools, reversing the U.S. Department of Education’s prior approval of Illinois’ request for a liquidation extension on federal pandemic relief funds. The decision revokes approval for Illinois grantees to spend $77.25 million in federal pandemic relief funds intended to support Illinois’ highest-need students, forcing school districts to reconsider essential services.
“Our most at-risk students are having resources their districts were promised stripped away for political gain, and Illinois will not stand by and let this kind of cruelty abide,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Every dollar of these funds would go to support districts in need of every available support, and instead the administration is making it harder yet again for Illinois families to live, work, and get an education.”
“This decision is a devastating blow to the students and schools that were relying on these approved funds to provide critical services,” said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders. “School districts depend on stability in funding to plan effectively and ensure continuity of services for students. The abrupt reversal of this extension disrupts stability and jeopardizes essential programs that support students’ learning recovery.”
Illinois has spent down 98.5% of its federal pandemic relief funds. The remaining $77.25 million has been obligated, meaning it has been committed within contracts, orders, or payroll, but has not yet been expended. Grantees had requested late liquidation approval on a narrow, project-specific basis to account for supply chain issues, staffing shortages, and other delays due to the pandemic.
Previously, the U.S. Department of Education granted Illinois the requested extension to liquidate federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief and ARP Homeless Children and Youth funds until March 28, 2026, for obligations made on or before September 30, 2024.
The Trump administration’s revocation of the approval meant funds had to be liquidated by March 28, 2025 – the same day the revocation decision was announced – leaving school districts, Regional Offices of Education, and other grantees suddenly unable to access the remaining funds.
The Trump administration’s action impacts 27 school districts, two Regional Offices of Education, and three other grantees that were relying on these funds to reimburse expenses for essential services, including transportation for homeless children, adaptive technology for students with disabilities, certification for teachers of English learners, and after-school tutoring to address learning loss. Without access to these funds, impacted grantees may have to stop services.
The letter from the U.S. Department of Education suggests that states may resubmit extension requests, placing an unnecessary and duplicative administrative burden on grantees and jeopardizing access to critical resources for the schools and students who need them most.
I’ve asked for a list of the school districts and a list of the grants.
In Major Victory for Survivors of Highland Park Mass Shooting, Judge Allows Majority of Claims in Civil Case Against Smith & Wesson and Firearm Retailers to Proceed
Romanucci & Blandin LLC and Everytown Law Represent 48 Survivors of Highland Park Mass Shooting
The ILGOP Election Integrity Committee will audit and examine municipal election voter rolls for cases of voter fraud, improper registration and voter suppression. Using advanced AI, the Election Integrity Committee will help ensure that our elections are safe and secure. The Election Integrity Committee will present its recommendations to ensure that our elections are conducted with transparency and integrity.
“We need to be doing everything possible to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat,” said ILGOP Chair Kathy Salvi. “Unfortunately, Illinois Democrats have not pushed for requiring proof of U.S. citizenship or photo ID to cast a ballot. Our Election Integrity Committee is reviewing this year’s voters to safeguard our elections and will present its findings on voter fraud, improper registration, and voter suppression.”
CPS CEO Pedro Martinez takes victory lap after contract agreement - notes that he estimates initial CTU proposal would have cost $10 billion over 4 years. The final deal instead costs $1.5 billion over that period pic.twitter.com/FMW3buEfmv
After The Mendota Reporter went to press with the March 26 edition featuring a story on the Trump Administration’s program cuts affecting the Mendota Area Christian Food Pantry, the Illinois Department of Human Services sent a notification to lead agencies.
The notification stated the Illinois Equitable Access Towards Sustainable Systems program (Illinois Eats) was reinstated on Thursday, March 20 after it was cut on March 4. The program was shut down for 16 days.
The IDHS also notified it is in partnership with the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the determined funding to reinstate the program is directly coming from the United States Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for establishing the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, the umbrella for Illinois Eats.
“It was a huge relief for me, the clients, and for the food pantry’s board of directors,” said MACFP Executive Director, Tracy Cooper. “From what I understand, they’re bringing it back under a different funding. It will now be funded by the USDA without federal assistance. This is also a good sign they are not going to take away the USDA program we use for other food purchased for the pantry.
“They’re only bringing Illinois Eats back until the end of the fiscal year, which is actually July 1. We don’t know if it will be done again at the end of June. It depends on whether they find funding or not. So, we’re still up in the air when it comes to June because the program could still end.”
* The governor has spent the last couple days on a trade mission in Mexico…
For those of you who don’t know, I’m a bit of a history buff – and particularly passionate about Abraham Lincoln, a son of Illinois and one of our nation’s greatest presidents.
One of the lesser-known stories about him was his relationship with Mexican President Benito Juárez. pic.twitter.com/UifWDbLGIr
📺ICYMI: ILGOP Chair Kathy Salvi joined @FoxFriendsFirst to discuss Pritzker’s trade mission to Mexico as businesses and families alike flee the Prairie State⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/LLGuZJnxy1
* WTTW | Postal Workers Union Pushes Back on Potential USPS Cuts and Outlines Impact on Illinois Residents: “Look at the model from the Royal Mail in England,” said Melissa Rakestraw, executive vice president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “They privatized in 2013 and it increased cost for mailers and consumers, it slowed down services and increased the mismanagement of pension funds. We can expect the same thing here.”
*** Chicago ***
* Tribune | Trump tariffs on steel and aluminum could squeeze Chicago apartment developers, leading to higher rents: The White House began implementing tariffs of 25% on global steel and aluminum imports March 12, saying it wants to stimulate domestic production. But experts say tariffs will also make the crucial materials more expensive, forcing developers to pass higher costs onto tenants, or make it tougher to secure financing and kick off construction. Down the road, that could mean higher rents and fewer choices for those looking for housing. “It’s a very difficult environment for the construction industry,” said Julie Workman, a Chicago-based real estate attorney and partner at Saul Ewing LLP. “Uncertainty and delay can kill deals. Time kills deals.”
* Tribune | Chicago drivers can pay old tickets without late fees under amnesty plan: Drivers must pay off their base fine balance in full by June 30 to avoid the late penalties and interest they have since accrued. Only violations with a “notice of final determination” issued before 2024 will qualify, according to a news release. “This is what it means to build a government that’s rooted in fairness and justice,” Johnson said at a news conference Tuesday. “To the Chicagoans who have old ticket debt, this is your chance for a fresh start. So do not wait.”
* Crain’s | The mayor has made his pick to replace Ramirez-Rosa in the 35th Ward: Mayor Brandon Johnson is set to appoint 8th District Cook County Commissioner Anthony Joel Quezada to replace former Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa to represent the 35th Ward on the Northwest Side in the City Council, according to sources familiar with the decision. The selection will come as a shock to no one as Quezada has been the presumed choice since Ramirez-Rosa was tapped by Johnson to head the Chicago Park District in February. Ramirez-Rosa’s first day at the helm of the park district is today.
* Bloomberg Opinion | Ex-Skadden lawyer proves the resistance isn’t over: Until last week, Cohen was a third-year finance associate in the Chicago office of white-shoe law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. As Trump put out executive orders targeting firms that had done work for his adversaries, she watched the industry fail to come together in support of its peers and the legal profession as a whole. When it became clear that Big Law wasn’t going to rally around some sort of collective action, Cohen suggested to a handful of friends at other law firms that they put together an open letter, signed anonymously by associates, that would put pressure on their employers to speak out. “I don’t buy people saying they just couldn’t get the firms together,” she told me, “because I and like six friends who graduated [law school] in 2022 did that in 36 hours.”
* ABC Chicago | Concern on Chicago area college campuses after downstate international student has visa revoked: An international student at Southern Illinois University is now in immigration limbo because their student visa was abruptly revoked late last week. […] The university wouldn’t elaborate on the reason for the revocation or the student’s country of origin. […] According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Trump administration has revoked roughly 300 student visas and counting. It’s a triggering reality for University of Illinois Chicago’s heavily international student population.
* Daily Herald | ‘We are gutted’: Mundelein’s Tonality Brewing to shutter this month: To encourage redevelopment of the former municipal building, the village board voted to give Gelfand and partner Don Phillips $180,000 in grants and tax rebates. The development deal called for the village to give Tonality $50,000 from the local Business Incentive Grant program; a 50% sales-tax rebate of up to $65,000 over five years, once the business began operating; and up to $65,000 from a village tax increment financing fund over five years, once the business began operating.
* Naperville Sun | Naperville to welcome new pickleball facility thanks to a team of longtime friends-turned-franchisees: Saumil Parikh, Chirdip Sheth, Hemang Patel and Dhaval Sheth have seen each other through life’s major moments. Now, the longtime friends are embarking on a new chapter together: the launch of their very own pickleball facility. The group is coming together to bring a franchise of Pickleball Kingdom to Naperville. They are in the process of finding a location for their new facility, which — when complete — will feature climate-controlled indoor pickleball courts, according to a news release announcing the burgeoning franchise last month.
* ABC Chicago | Elk Grove softball coach becomes all-time-winningest high school softball coach in IL: Ken Grams has become the all-time-winningest high school softball coach in Illinois, and he’s done it all at Elk Grove High School. […] “Right now, I’m sitting at 1,044,” Grams said. The team won 3-2 Monday. In his 44th season, Coach Grams was just one victory away from standing alone at the top of the all-time-wins list. To rack up so many wins, of course, takes many years.
*** Downstate ***
* WSIL | Former southern Illinois police chief pleads guilty to corruption charges: A former police chief in one southern Illinois city pleaded guilty to one count of misapplication of property from federally funded programs and one count of interstate transportation of stolen property, according to the United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Illinois. A representative with the US Attorney’s Office said Anson Fenton, 46 of Belle Rive, was in court on Monday and admitted to selling forfeited items which were confiscated by their department for his personal benefit.
*Shaw Local | Election 2025: 5 races we are watching in Whiteside, Lee counties: Sauk Valley-area voters headed to their polling places Tuesday to choose who will represent them on city, school, park, library and township boards. After the polls close at 7 p.m., visit the Sterling Gazette/Dixon Telegraph’s website for election night coverage and updates on the races.
* WCIA | ‘It’s disgusting’: Buckley residents call on village officials to focus on water quality: The Village of Buckley has tried to build a new sewer system, but funding the project has been an issue. The Village President said they’ve secured millions of dollars in grants, but initial bids are higher than expected. Now, the sewer rate is rising on water bills, and patience is running low for people in town. “We didn’t sign up for this and I feel like that’s really cruel,” said resident Karin Hall.
* Herald-Whig | Troup, Moore make final push before election: Republican Mayor Mike Troup faces off against former city treasurer and independent candidate Linda Moore in the consolidated election. Troup, 67, who is finishing his first term, believes the city has undergone tremendous business growth during his time as mayor and wants to see that continue. “If you look at where we started four years ago with coming out of COVID, a lot of empty big box stores, an uncertain economy, we have filled virtually the empty big box stores,” Troup said. “Our sales tax revenues have jumped up and have remained at that height. We have been able to use those dollars to improve infrastructure.”
* WCIA | Danville Rescue Men’s Overnight Crisis Shelter now open: Back in January WCIA reported that organizers were struggling to find insurance for the building. Now, the only thing left is to fill the spots and get homeless men off the streets. Monday night the Danville Rescue Mission began providing the unsheltered men a hot meal and a place to lay their heads.
*** National ***
* NBC | Scientists warn of severe honeybee losses in 2025: Honeybee colonies in the United States are projected to decline by up to 70% in 2025, entomologists at Washington State University said Tuesday. The university said in a news release that in the past decade, honeybee colony losses have averaged 40% to 50% annually. But this year, a combination of nutrition deficiencies, mite infestations, viral diseases and possible pesticide exposure during the previous pollinating season led to higher losses, the release said.
* Chalkbeat | Programs like tutoring in jeopardy after Linda McMahon terminates COVID aid spending extensions: “Extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion,” the letter states. “The Department’s initial approval of your extension request does not change anything.” The last opportunity to spend pandemic relief money was 5 p.m. Friday, the same day McMahon sent the letter.
* AP | A Senate vote to reverse President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada is testing Republican support: Even as the resolution from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia offered them a potential off-ramp to the tariffs levied on Canadian imports, Republican leaders were trying to keep senators in line by focusing on fentanyl that comes into the U.S. over its northern border. It was yet another example of how Trump is not only reorienting global economics, but upending his party’s longtime support for ideas like free trade. “I really relish giving my Republican colleagues the chance to not just say they’re concerned, but actually take an action to stop these tariffs,” Kaine told The Associated Press in an interview last week.
* Stateline | Red states create their own DOGE efforts to cut state government: Conservatives have long sought to shrink the size and cost of government. And it’s common practice for officials from both parties to hire outside consultants to help reduce inefficiency or waste in school, state and city bureaucracies. But the DOGE effort is gaining new steam as Republicans look to fall in line with Trump and blue and red states alike face massive budget gaps that will require some combination of spending cuts or increased taxes.
* Reuters | Trump administration to freeze family-planning funds for Planned Parenthood: Planned Parenthood said that nine of its affiliates received notice that funding would be withheld under a program known as Title X, which has supported healthcare services for the poor since 1970. The Wall Street Journal reported last week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) planned an immediate freeze of $27.5 million in family planning grants for groups including Planned Parenthood.
On April 1, 2007, legislation was passed to create Cheap Trick Day in Illinois. […]
“With the profound impact Cheap Trick has had on music for 52 years, we are proud of their accomplishments, beyond happy they are still entertaining in venues around the world and pleased they still call Illinois home,” said State Senator Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley), who sponsored the legislation.
* Bun E. Carlos could really pound those skins. Turn it up…
A coalition of state attorneys general sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over its decision to cut $11 billion in federal funds that go toward COVID-19 initiatives and various public health projects across the country.
Attorneys general from 23 states filed the suit in federal court in Rhode Island. They include New York Attorney General Letitia James, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as well as attorneys general in California, Minnesota, North Carolina, Wisconsin and New York, as well as the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit argues the cuts are illegal and will result in “serious harm to public health” that will put states “at greater risk for future pandemics and the spread of otherwise preventable disease and cutting off vital public health services.”
The lawsuit asks the court to immediately stop the Trump administration from rescinding the money, which was allocated by Congress during the pandemic and mostly used for COVID-related efforts such as testing and vaccination. The money also went to addiction and mental health programs.
The Public Health Terminations exceed Defendants’ statutory and regulatory authority and are unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). The foreseeable end of the COVID-19 pandemic is not a lawful basis to terminate “for cause.” Defendants have never alleged, much less demonstrated, any failure by fund recipients to comply with the applicable terms and conditions of the grants and agreements. Nor did Congress limit the funding at issue here to the period of the COVID-19 emergency. During the pandemic, Congress made wide-ranging public health investments extending beyond COVID-19 and the immediate public health emergency. And after the pandemic was declared over, Congress reviewed the COVID-19 related laws, rescinded $27 billion in funds, but determined not to rescind any of the funding at issue here.
The Public Health Terminations also violate the APA because they are arbitrary and capricious, for reasons including:
- assuming, with no legal or factual support, that all appropriations in COVID-19 related laws were only intended for use during the pandemic, when the relevant statutes indicate the opposite; failing to undertake any individualized assessments of the grants or cooperative agreements, including any analysis of the benefits of this public health funding or the dire consequences of termination;
- ignoring the substantial reliance interests of Plaintiff States (and their local health jurisdictions) and the tremendously harmful impact of immediately terminating, without any advance warning, billions of dollars in congressionally appropriated funds midstream;
- asserting that this public health funding was suddenly unnecessary due to the “end of the pandemic” —an event that occurred almost two years ago;
- failing to explain HHS’s sudden change in position regarding availability of funds;
- and arbitrarily misapplying a “for cause” termination provision.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 24 attorneys general and governors, today filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for abruptly and illegally terminating nearly $12 billion in critical public health grants to states.
The grant terminations, which came with no warning or legally valid explanation, have quickly caused chaos for state health agencies that continue to rely on these critical funds for a wide range of urgent public health needs such as infectious disease management, fortifying emergency preparedness, providing mental health and substance abuse services, and modernizing public health infrastructure.
“Illinois and states across the nation rely on federal grants to provide state public health services that protect our children and residents from serious diseases or health crises,” Raoul said. “The abrupt termination of this funding that impacts millions of American lives is both callous and unlawful. I am absolutely committed to standing with other state attorneys general to fight the Trump administration’s ludicrous and unlawful actions that threaten the health and safety of Illinois residents.”
Illinois stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars from these cancelations by HHS. The programs funded by these grants support critical state and local public health services, such as providing vaccines to children, supporting public schools’ ability to share information about communicable diseases, administering tests for serious diseases like Ebola, constructing laboratory facilities for disease monitoring, and addressing public health crises like measles and influenza in children.
Attorney General Raoul and the coalition warn that the HHS cuts threaten the urgent public health needs of states around the country at a time when emerging disease threats – such as measles and bird flu – are on the rise.
Congress authorized and appropriated new and increased funding for these grants in COVID-19-related legislation to support critical public health needs. Many of these grants are from specific programs created by Congress, such as block grants to states for mental health and substance. abuse and addiction services. Yet, with no legal authority or explanation, HHS agencies on March 24 arbitrarily terminated these grants “for cause” effective immediately claiming that the pandemic is over and the grants are no longer necessary.
In their lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, Raoul and the coalition assert that the mass terminations violate federal law because the end of the pandemic is not a “for cause” basis for ending the grants, especially since none of the appropriated funds are tied to the end of the pandemic, which occurred more than a year ago. HHS’ position, up until a few days ago, was that the end of the pandemic did not affect the availability of these grant funds.
Additionally, for some of the grants, termination “for cause” is not a permissible basis for termination. Yet, the federal government unlawfully terminated them. With this lawsuit, Attorney General Raoul and the coalition are seeking a temporary restraining order to invalidate HHS’ mass grant terminations in the suing states, arguing the actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The states are also asking the court to prevent HHS from maintaining or reinstating the terminations, and any agency actions implementing them.
Joining Attorney General Raoul in sending this letter are the attorneys general of Arizona California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Washington, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
* Related…
*AP | Layoffs begin at US health agencies responsible for research, tracking disease and regulating food: The layoffs are expected to shrink HHS to 62,000 positions, lopping off nearly a quarter of its staff — 10,000 jobs through layoffs and another 10,000 workers who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers. Many of the jobs are based in the Washington area, but also in Atlanta, where the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is based, and in smaller offices throughout the country.
Today, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) published a new report that shows American homeowners saw their insurance premiums increase by an average of 24% over the past three years. Nationally, CFA found homeowners saw their insurance premiums rise twice as fast as inflation between 2021 and 2024, which amounts to a $21 billion total price hike for Americans.
The study authors of “Overburdened: The Dramatic Increase in Homeowners Insurance Premiums and its Impacts on American Homeowners” used proprietary industry data purchased for this research to evaluate the growth in insurance premiums for typical homeowners in every ZIP code in the country.
The states with the greatest percentage increase in premiums were Utah (59 percent), Illinois (50 percent), Arizona (48 percent), and Pennsylvania (44 percent). The states with the greatest premium hikes in absolute dollars were Florida ($2,118 increase), Louisiana ($1,775), and Kentucky ($1,426). […]
Homeowners in rural areas also experienced steep premium increases. Premiums charged to homeowners in rural ZIP codes rose by 22 percent from 2021 to 2024 (compared to 25 percent in urban and suburban ZIP codes). Annual premiums in rural ZIP codes were $3,317 on average in 2024, compared to $3,299 in urban and suburban areas.
1. Require insurance companies to publicly release data on homeowners insurance underwriting, pricing, coverage, and claims every year. Mortgage lenders have been required to report detailed, annual mortgage data under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) since 1975, to protect against housing discrimination and ensure that all communities are served. As homeowners insurance increasingly determines who can own a home, insurers should be required to report homeowners insurance data in the same manner.
2. Invest federal and state dollars in housing resiliency and require insurance companies to reward risk reduction with lower premiums. The federal government, as well as states, should adopt and expand grant-based and low-interest-loan risk mitigation programs. These programs can help homeowners better protect their homes, such as through roof fortifications. Given their large investment portfolios, insurance companies should become direct investment partners in these projects. In addition, states should require insurers to reward these loss prevention investments with lower premiums.
3. Create a public reinsurance program to stabilize the American property insurance market and to expand the availability of affordable, quality homeowners insurance. A federal public catastrophe reinsurance program would make available additional – and lower cost – coverage to domestic homeowners, insurers, and state insurers of last resort than the unregulated global reinsurance market currently offers. By adding more risk transfer capacity, the program would loosen the grip of these global companies and insulate consumers from unrestrained cost increases in that market. In exchange for access to this lower cost capacity, participating insurers would have to cover all natural disasters in their homeowners insurance policies and increase availability of their coverage across the country.
* Illinois PIRG notes that the state’s Department of Insurance drafted this bill to implement rate review for auto and homeowners insurance. SB268 is still in a Senate committee, but its passage deadline has been extended to April 4…
Creates the Insurance Fairness and Consumer Protection Law Article of the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that insurers must submit a request for approval to the Department of Insurance for any proposed rate increase for homeowners insurance premiums or automobile insurance premiums. Prohibits implementing any rate increase without prior written approval of the Department. Prohibits using nondriving factors, such as credit score, occupation, and education level, to determine automobile insurance premiums. Provides that, for homeowners insurance, factors unrelated to the insured property’s location, age, and condition shall not be considered in rate setting. Requires a public disclosure and comment period for any proposed rate increase exceeding 10% in a 12-month period. Prohibits an insurer from increasing premiums by more than 15% per year for any policyholder without exceptional justification, which must include specified evidence. Sets forth provisions concerning definitions; penalties; reimbursement of consumers; market conduct actions; Department approval of rate increases; and rulemaking. Effective immediately.
Chief opponents include the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.
…Adding… Joint statement from the insurance industry…
While tornadoes and flooding in Illinois and across the Midwest have led to significant home damage and an increase in claims, compared to the rest of the country, Illinois boasts a competitive insurance marketplace with over 200 companies competing to serve consumers. Legislation to bring California-style overregulation to Illinois and to limit how insurance companies calculate risk, would limit competition and lead to higher rates. While the legislation currently being considered is the wrong path forward, the insurance industry in Illinois will continue to work with the General Assembly and the Illinois Department of Insurance on commonsense solutions that will preserve our competitive marketplace and protect consumers.
Key Points:
• The CFA’s report is a flawed and unreliable analysis. The CFA does not use actual premiums charged to customers as the basis for its findings but instead uses premiums quoted to hypothetical customers.
• The report also fails to acknowledge that insurance premiums are driven primarily by losses and claims costs.
• Illinois experienced 120 reported tornadoes in 2023, the most in the nation.
• Homeowners insurers in Illinois had an average of 6.2% underwriting loss over the last decade, with a massive 27.6% underwriting loss in 2023. This is not sustainable.
• Banning certain risk factors like credit leads to rate increases for most consumers. When Washington state banned the use of credit scores in setting auto insurances rates in 2021, more than 60 percent of drivers experienced rate hikes.
• Research shows that using credit alone saves consumers between 30-59% on their auto insurance rates.
* Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was asked about his top three priorities in Springfield this spring session during a press availability today…
Mayor Johnson: I think we have five. So yes, we have a number of people in Springfield that are carrying the agenda on behalf of the City of Chicago. Again the loudest voice for our team in Springfield is me. I had a conversation with the Senate President yesterday. Senate President Don Harmon is my mentor, he gave me my first job, and I was his director of constituent services making 10 bucks an hour. And now I call him Senate President, he calls me Mr. Mayor. Had a few conversations with Speaker Welch. On rotation, our budget director and our CFO have had regular conversations with Springfield. My Chief of Staff [Cristina Pacione-Zayas], she understands that place better than any other chief of staff in the history of Chicago because she’s been there. And her relationships, of course, are tried and true. And so those top priorities CPZ, if you don’t mind just running through them, there’s a number of them.
CPZ: A lot of them focused on revenue, so there’s the Personal Property Replacement Tax.
There’s also the Telecom fix that we were working on last session, as well as the 911 surcharge extending that. The sunset was set for this year, we’re extending it a little bit further.
We have mandated categoricals in the Illinois State Board of Education Funding. This would be something that wouldn’t just benefit Chicago Public Schools, but it would benefit the entire plethora of school districts. The 852 because, as you know, with mandated categoricals there are certain services such as transportation and special education and bilingual education that school districts are required to provide but the state does not reimburse at the fullest amount. And so right now there’s some discussion about increasing the proration so that we can get closer to 100% reimbursement, which would then mean that all school districts would get more money into their budgets to take care of the services that they’re required to give.
And then the last, is the One System Initiative. This is the partnership with the state in terms of what we took with our legacy homelessness system and the emergency temporary system that we put up because of the humanitarian crisis we built the infrastructure for something that would live beyond that crisis. But ultimately be able to expand our beds to 126 percent increase up to 6,800 beds have a 24 hour access point. So now we have nobody on a wait list if they need shelter.
So those are the five top priorities. Of course, we know that transit is huge and there’s a lot to be discussed there, with respect to the RTA and the various proposals that are put out by some of our colleagues in the labor space, as well as the advocates.
* H/T Chicago Bars. More on the Personal Property Replacement Tax…
The law requires the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) to collect these taxes and allocate 51.65% to local governments in Cook County and 48.35% to local governments in the other 101 counties. The allocation for each local government was to be based on their share of the total personal property tax collected in 1976 for Cook County and 1977 for everywhere else.
In State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2024, IDOR distributed an estimated $2.99 billion in PPRT to 6,525 local governments throughout Illinois. One-fifth of those distributions went to municipalities.
Prior to SFY 2009, IDOR could only divert PPRT revenues for the purpose of paying costs for administering and distributing the revenues of the tax. As illustrated below, past General Assemblies and Governors have increasingly diverted PPRT revenues to pay state’s attorneys, stipends to county officials, regional offices of education and others. In the past, these costs were paid for by state general revenue sources. In SFY 2025, total diversions from PPRT are more than $370 million.
…Adding… Maurice Scholten of the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois…
To ensure revenues are distributed correctly, the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) reconciles an annual distribution of income tax payments after processing income tax returns. It was discovered through this reconciliation process that PPRT disbursement to local governments were worth more than they should have been in SFY2022 and SFY2023.
IDOR offset $818 million from PPRT disbursements to local governments in SFY2024 to “true up” these distributions, and another $1.021 billion in SFY2025. The SFY2026 offsets should be an estimated $510 million, which means more PPRT money should be disbursed to local governments. Since the City of Chicago gets 11.6% of PPRT, they should receive roughly $59 million in additional revenues just from the “true up.” Since Chicago Public Schools receive 21% more from PPRT than the City of Chicago, they should also experience increased PPRT revenues, as will every local government unit. The PPRT “true up” should be completed by SFY2027.
Members of the Illinois Senate Democratic Caucus will outline a package of measures aimed to address the mental health crisis through workforce development initiatives and expanded access to care during a press conference Wednesday.
WHO: State Senators Javier Cervantes (D-Chicago), Laura Ellman (D-Naperville), Robert Peters (D-Chicago), and Mike Simmons (D-Chicago), as well as CEO of The Center for Youth and Family Solutions Patrick Phelan, and Vice President of Government Relations of the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health Randy Wells
WHAT: Press conference on measures to prioritize mental health
WHEN: Wednesday, April 2 at 11 a.m.
* Rep. Kelly Cassidy…
Today is Transgender Day of Visibility. While the transgender community has never had the comfort of widespread support and allyship, the volume, intensity, and danger brought about by the current administration’s hateful focus on attacking trans people is unlike anything we’ve seen in my lifetime. Hundreds of bills attacking their very existence have been introduced in state legislative bodies across the country, including somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 here in Illinois. While those bills will not see the light of day because of our pro-equality majority here, every day the members of the Fearful Caucus (they like to call themselves the Freedom Caucus, but we know the truth) get up and spew hatred, usually including a transphobic rant or two. More often than not, the people in the chamber continue their conversations about legislation or lunch and ignore them. However, I started hearing from people who were tuning into the live stream who were concerned that their lies were going unchallenged. I realized that it wasn’t enough to treat their rants as irrelevant. We had to ensure that our constituents listening to their words knew they weren’t going unchallenged and along with some of my colleagues have refused to let them have the last word.
Today, I introduced HR221, honoring Transgender Day of Visibility. I’m pleased that 25 of my colleagues have already signed on in support. While symbolic, it’s important that we take steps to acknowledge the contributions of the transgender community and the many ways our world is a better place because of our commitment to inclusion in Illinois. The Resolution honors many trailblazing members of the community, from Albert Cashiers who passed as a man to join the Union Army in the Civil War and lived most of his post war life as Albert, to Judge Jill Rose Quinn who was the first trans person to win countywide office, to Lilly Wachowski and her groundbreaking filmmaking, philanthropy, and advocacy, to the incredible Commissioner Precious Brady-Davis of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Illinois, we simply can’t pretend that trans people have not always been here, always a critical part of the fabric of our community.
A bill by Illinois House Democrats have three major goals. One, ban expulsions from kindergarten through second grade. Two, require superintendent approval for K-2 suspensions. Three, report annual discipline data to Illinois State Board of Education.
Most of the pushback comes from the first two proposals. Some school groups oppose the new plan, but advocate for the bill State Rep. Will Davis (D-Hazel Crest) said that these expulsions don’t make a lot of sense. […]
Some of the opponents to the bill include the Illinois Principals Association. In a statement they said they urge lawmakers to change the language of the plan.
“The Illinois Principals Association urges lawmakers to not limit school disciplinary options without adequately addressing the critical shortage of behavioral health personnel and supports in schools,” Alison Maley with IPA said. […]
Davis said he’s currently working with some opponents to make some possible amendments, but he will not kill the bill.
* Rep. Janet Yang Rohr…
State Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, D-Naperville, is working to help Illinois students succeed by advancing new legislation creating additional paths for students seeking to expand the scope of their education, and empowering advanced middle schoolers to get a head start on their high school coursework. […]
Yang Rohr’s House Bill 3250 gives students more options for completing the Illinois Global Scholar Certification by expanding their ability to use digital badges and online micro-credentials to meet criteria for their capstone project. These methods allow for more affordable ways for students to verify that they have met Global Scholar requirements. This bill received bipartisan support in committee and now awaits consideration before the full House.
Yang Rohr also advanced House Bill 3039, which allows students in 7th or 8th grade taking high school-level courses to receive high school credits if they pass the end-of-course exam at the high school granting credit. This expands credit-earning opportunities, which are currently limited based on a teacher’s certifications or a student’s physical attendance at the high school.
Currently, students can receive high school credit during middle school, if the course is offered by the high school the student would otherwise attend, and the course is taught by a teacher who holds a valid teaching license and is endorsed in both the content area and grade level for the course.
* Rep. Natalie Manley…
A bill making it easier for certified public accountants (CPAs) to work in Illinois has passed unanimously out of the Financial Institutions & Licenses committee, thanks to state Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, working to add two additional methods for CPAs to gain licensure and cut red-tape for non-resident CPAs. […]
Manley’s House Bill 2459 would amend the Illinois Public Accounting Act by carving two new pathways for accounting professionals without disturbing the current path to licensure, allowing CPA applicants to now become licensed with:
A bachelor’s degree in accounting, at least two years of experience, and the passage of the CPA exam; or
A bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree with 30 hours of accounting concentration, at least one year of experience, and passage of the CPA exam.
Additionally, pending the bill’s passage, out-of-state CPAs in good standing and who meet state requirements would have the ability to gain licensure to practice in Illinois.
House Bill 2459 passed with a committee vote of 12-0 and will soon be debated on the House floor.
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
What if Illinois could expand its energy grid, attract AI and emerging tech companies to the state, and provide over 60,000 new jobs with no impact on communities or the environment?
SOO Green makes it possible.
Built along existing rail corridors, this underground transmission project will deliver 2,100 MW of low-cost reliable power making the electric grid more resilient in the face of extreme weather while unlocking billions in economic investments for Illinois.
The SOO Green Advantage:
• Accelerates Illinois’ Clean Energy & Jobs Act goals
• 60,000+ new jobs
• Lower energy costs for families and businesses
• $26 billion in economic benefits statewide
• $9.8 billion in health benefits by reducing emissions
With SOO Green all ratepayers will enjoy a more reliable grid, protection from rising energy costs, and a stronger economy for Illinois.
* Candidates can start circulating nominating petitions in late July. That’s not far off. Is it surprising to you that we haven’t yet heard any Republicans floating their names for down-ballot statewide races?
A lawsuit accuses Illinois State Police and state officials of operating an unconstitutional “system of dragnet surveillance” through license plate reading cameras which track motorist’s whereabouts.
The suit, filed last week by Cook County residents Stephanie Scholl and Frank Bednarz, names the state police, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Atty. Gen. Kwame Raoul as defendants.
“Defendants are tracking anyone who drives to work in Cook County — or to school, or a grocery store, or a doctor’s office, or a pharmacy, or a political rally, or a romantic encounter, or family gathering — every day, without any reason to suspect anyone of anything, and are holding onto those whereabouts just in case they decide in the future that some citizen might be an appropriate target of law enforcement,” the suit states.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, “challenges the warrantless, suspicion less, and entirely unreasonable” tracking as a violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments.
Because their alleged constitutional injuries are not sufficiently imminent, plaintiffs lack standing to enjoin the warrantless use of the LEARN database. […]
Indeed, plaintiffs’ attempt to sue Governor Pritzker and Attorney General Raoul under Ex parte Young is foreclosed by Ex parte Young itself. … Accordingly, Governor Pritzker and Attorney General Raoul are dismissed. […]
Plaintiffs, of course, are concerned less with the license plates themselves and more with what the [Automated License Plate Reader] data reveals about their movements. But “[a] person travelling in an automobile on public thoroughfares has no reasonable expectation of privacy in his movements from one place to another.” […]
In reaching this conclusion, the court joins the nearly uniform consensus of courts that have evaluated the constitutionality of ALPRs and held that their uses “were not Fourth Amendment searches requiring warrants or probable cause.” State v. Sidor, 558 P.3d 621, 631 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2024) (collecting cases); see, e.g., United States v. Porter, No. 21-cr-00087, 2022 WL 124563 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 13, 2022); United States v. Brown, No. 19-cr-00949, 2021 WL 4963602 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 26, 2021); United States v. Toombs, 671 F. Supp. 3d 1329 (N.D. Ala. 2023); Commonwealth v. McCarthy, 142 N.E.3d 1090 (Mass. 2020); Sidor, 558 P.3d at 629. But see Schmidt v. City of Norfolk, No. 2:24-cv-621, 2025 WL 410080 (E.D. Va. Feb. 5, 2025); Commonwealth v. Bell, 113 Va. Cir. 316 (Va. Cir. Ct. 2024).
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Ironworkers are at the forefront of Illinois’ green energy transition, ensuring a sustainable future while securing strong, union-backed wages. Thanks to the historic investment in renewable energy by Governor Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly, thousands of Illinois ironworkers are finding employment in green energy projects, including energy storage.
From day one, ironworkers have been erecting wind turbines and battery plants. By advancing hydrogen and other energy storage solutions, they play a crucial role in making the ambitious goals of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) a reality. Their expertise ensures that Illinois not only meets but leads in clean energy innovation.
By including all of union labor in renewable energy projects, we strengthen our workforce, our economy, and our environment. The future is green—powered by the hands of skilled ironworkers.
* Tribune | Illinois secretary of state’s office opens larger ‘flagship’ DMV in the Loop: The new 24,000-square-foot facility at 125 W. Monroe St. is nearly five times the size of downtown’s former office at the corner of Randolph and LaSalle streets, which closed on Friday “and often experienced long lines and wait times because of its small size,” Giannoulias’ office said.
* WBEZ | CTU bargainers approve tentative contract deal. Here’s what you need to know: The proposed settlement cleared the hurdle of the union’s “big bargaining team,” a group of 65 educators that has negotiated with the school district for almost a year. A meeting of the CTU’s 730-member House of Delegates is Wednesday, with a ratification vote by all 30,000 members expected in the next week or two.
*** Statehouse News ***
* Capitol News Illinois | Students, women in trades advocate for more career and technical education: The resolution, introduced by state Rep. Elizabeth “Lisa” Hernández, D-Cicero, who serves as chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois, also takes shots at President Donald Trump. It cites recent executive orders that “aim to reverse hard-won progress to diversity the workforce and will further entrench systemic occupational segregation, robbing women of economic security.” […] The resolution, which is awaiting a hearing in the House Labor and Commerce committee, is sponsored exclusively by Democrats, including House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, who signed on as a chief co-sponsor last month.
* WGLT | Libraries and museums in Illinois are hit by Trump executive order: Children’s Discovery Museum Director Beth Whisman said they’ve been told the government will not honor reimbursement for the third year of a $250,000 grant. Whisman estimated the museum is on the hook for about $40,000 already spent. The program serves 1,900 children in both major school districts, the YWCA, and Heartland Head Start early childhood STEAM education.
* Tribune | Illinois becomes first state to mandate halal, kosher meals be available in public institutions such as schools: Muslim students who eat halal usually only have a few options in the school cafeteria line once they’ve passed the hamburgers, chicken nuggets and deli sandwiches: a slice of cheese pizza, maybe a salad, fruit, yogurt, a carton of milk. “Just not a lot of healthy, filling choices to pick from,” said Khadija Basith, whose children attend Forest Glen Elementary School in Glen Ellyn. “Even if there aren’t halal options, I want to at least see them offering a good veggie burger or a good fish wrap.”
*** Chicago ***
* Crain’s | Chicago Public Media reorganizes newsroom leadership in wake of buyouts: Chicago Public Media is naming Jennifer Kho its interim editor-in-chief, along with other leadership changes, as the nonprofit moves forward with integrating the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ-FM/91.5. Kho, who joined the Sun-Times as executive editor in 2022, will be leading the reorganization of a unified Chicago Public Media newsroom as the company searches for a permanent editor-in-chief, the organization confirmed. She will oversee journalists from both publications, according to a news release.
* WTTW | CTA Austin Green Line Station Begins $25M Reconstruction Aimed at Accessibility Amid Broader Funding Questions: Funding for the $25.6 million project is through the Federal Highway Administration’s Surface Transportation program and the state’s Rebuild Illinois capital plan. Federal funds provided $20.3 million and Rebuild Illinois picked up $5.3 million, according to transit officials. “This is an innovative approach to utilizing funds traditionally spent on roads to invest and modernize our transit system, so we remain a competitive and reliable alternative to driving,” CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen said.
* Block Club | Lincoln Square Neighbors Can Take Walking History Lesson With Shermann ‘Dilla’ Thomas: The Walking Hour, a walking series organized by Pamiya Opoku, is partnering with Thomas for an event that will start 2:30 p.m. April 13 at Winnemac Park and continue to western Andersonville. Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) will also attend the 2.5-mile walk. […] Opoku began taking walks with her friends at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, she launched The Walking Hour in the Evanston area as an expansion of those initial walks, according to the Evanston Roundtable.
* ABC Chicago | Chicago street sweeping starts Tuesday, April 1: Signs about upcoming sweeps are posted in orange two days in advance. Mechanical street sweepers remove debris and litter from Chicago’s streets. Street sweeping continues through the fall.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Daily Herald | Elgin City Council rejects delay of ban on synthetic THC product sales: The council approved a ban on the advertisement, display, sale and delivery of Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, products without a state license in late February. On Wednesday, a proposal to push back the ban to begin in late August, allowing stores to sell their current inventory, failed by a 5-4 margin. The same council members who approved the ban rejected the delay.
* WTTW | Illinois, Cook County Public Health Officials Say Federal Funding Cuts Came With Little Notice: The Illinois Department of Public Health announced this week the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is taking back $125 million allocated to IDPH and 97 local health departments for infectious disease prevention. Another $324 million appropriated by Congress for “future use” in preventing and treating infectious disease also is being blocked.
* Crain’s | Northwestern details progress in combating antisemitism on campus: In its report, NU says that reports of antisemitism on campus have decreased significantly since last year, thanks in part to the efforts the school has made, which include: updated demonstration and student conduct policies, mandatory antisemitism training, enhanced Title VI enforcement tools, and the creation of a Jewish advisory group.
* Fox Chicago | Orland Park mayoral candidates differ on handling of ceasefire resolution, public safety: Dodge said he offers a more moderate and civil approach to governing and differs with Pekau on issues like public safety, where he says police are asking for a change in work hours. “Our cops would like to go to three days on 12-hour shifts and then have a little bit bigger break than the current shift structure. Almost all the towns around us are doing that, so we’re starting to lose young police officers to other towns,” he said.
*** Downstate ***
* WCIA | City of Hoopeston to begin voting for new Mayor: Current mayor Jeff Wise said he’s the man for the job. Wise has been in office for three years. He believes the city has seen a lot of success, like the demolition of nine downtown buildings and bringing in a tractor supply to the area. […] His opponent Tracy Carter decided to run for mayor after friends and family believed he’d be the one to make a difference in the city. Carter said he currently works for a manufacturing company in town and has experience managing a yearly budget. He also did various other village jobs, like working for the water department when he lived in Rankin.
* 25News Now | Mayor-led group forms to advocate for towns and cities along the Illinois River: Those fifteen, including Peoria Mayor Rita Ali and East Peoria Mayor John Kahl, form the first Illinois River Cities and Towns Initiative and advocate for their homes along the river. In the group’s first meeting today in Peoria at the Illinois Waterway Ports Commission, members outlined their plans to increase development, sustain the economy, and protect the environment along the waterway.
* SJ-R | Online newspaper supporting LGBTQA+ closes Springfield brick-and-mortar office: Editor and owner of the Illinois eagle Tom Wray said initially he wanted an open forum and way to communicate with the public who could walk in but chose to close the chapter for the office and end his lease due to financial struggles. “We’re still putting content out and we’re still reporting what’s going on in the community,” Wray said. “I mean a lot of people still want the news we provide, it’s just reality that set in … I kind of need to pay my mortgage.”
* First Alert 4 | Fairmount Park to become racino: The venue will have 271 slot machines, including 40 premium games. The casino’s temporary placement in the grandstand is Phase 1 of a broader redevelopment effort, with the full-size casino coming in Phase 2. “Soon, folks will be able to come in and enjoy the casino as well as racing here at the track,” said Vince Gabbert, Sr. VP of US Gaming and General Manager at Fairmount Park Casino & Racing. “We’ve brought in the best slot machines and electronic table games on the market. Every game on the floor is either brand-new or a fan favorite, making for an exciting selection.”
*** National ***
* STAT | HHS starts layoffs of thousands of workers across its agencies: Layoff notices began arriving early Tuesday for thousands of employees of the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services and its subsidiary agencies, with as many 10,000 workers potentially expected to be hit by the cuts. “I regret to inform you that you have been affected by a reduction in force (RIF) action,” an email to affected employees said. It went on to tell the recipients that they were placed on immediate administrative leave, offering no details of the length of that leave. The email also stated that their firing was not a reflection of their work.
* 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.
National Weather Service weather balloon releases — tracking temperature, pressure and wind speed — have been temporarily suspended in Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, because of staff shortages and reduced at six other sites in the Midwest and Great Plains, according to agency memos.
That loss has created “a gaping hole” in our balloon data in Illinois, according to Victor Gensini, an associate professor in the department of Earth, atmosphere and environment at Northern Illinois University.
Gensini was among the climate and weather scientists who told the Tribune they’re concerned about the effects on Illinois of recent National Weather Service staff cuts.
“Is public safety at risk? Yes, it is,” said former National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini, referring to the staff cuts. “(Can) I tell you exactly when the system is going to break? No, but the risks are definitely increasing.”
*** Statehouse News ***
* Journal Courier | Illinois task force uncovers nearly 400 Underground Railroad sites: Gerald McWorter, vice president of the New Philadelphia Association board, said the task force looked at several areas. “The first aspect is the actual telling of the history — the experience of people escaping from slavery — the freedom seekers,” McWorter said. Now, the task force is pushing legislation that would establish a commission to help provide resources, funding and support for all sites and academics connected to the Underground Railroad in the state.
* Tribune | Thomas Hardy, Tribune political columnist who went to work for Gov. Edgar, U. of I., dies at 72: Thomas Hardy was a writer and editor for the Tribune, including 10 years as the paper’s top political reporter and a Sunday columnist, before leaving journalism to work as a press secretary for then-Gov. Jim Edgar and then spending 18 years overseeing public affairs for the University of Illinois System. “He was the epitome of what you would hope a political writer would be,” said Edgar, who hired Hardy from the Tribune in 1997. “He wasn’t cynical but he was not fooled by anyone.”
*** Statewide ***
* Tribune | ‘We’re not seen’: Illinois’ incarcerated Muslim community observes Ramadan: Richblood, 33, has been incarcerated since he was 16 and in different facilities throughout the state, starting in juvenile detention. He has been at Danville Correctional for about nine years. He became Muslim at 19 while in the prison system, he said. Richblood said he appreciated his first Ramadan because he “likes challenges” but said the facility he was in at the time wasn’t particularly accommodating. “My perception was that being afforded accommodations to fast while incarcerated would be met with a little resistance,” Richblood said. “Then I came here, and the chaplain has got our back. It’s been a different experience than what I had all those years ago,” he said of his experience at Danville.
*** Downstate ***
* SJ-R | In face of allegation, Capital Township trustee candidate says he’s done ‘nothing wrong’: Leadership of the Sangamon County Democratic Party is standing behind a Capital Township trustee candidate who has been the subject of recent sexual misconduct allegation by a Springfield woman on social media. At least one group within the party, the Sangamon County Young Democrats, withdrew support for Evan Brown, who is seeking his first public office position in the April 1 consolidated election.
* Advantage News | Macoupin County Board Chair target of protest: The chairman of the Macoupin County Board has apparently stirred up some controversy as a result of social media postings. Larry Schmidt is identified in a post from a St. Louis television station reporting on a bar dropping Anheuser-Busch products after the company dropped its sponsorship of the St. Louis Pride Parade. In a comment on that post, Schmidt equated homosexuality to a disability, a statement that he later retracted. Chelsa Pruden is partnering with the Macoupin County Action Alliance and is helping organize a demonstration at the next county board meeting on April 8. She tells The Big Z the comments were hurtful.
* PJ Star | Dunlap school board candidate addresses issue from his past: The professional history of Dunlap school board candidate Mick Hall includes a three-year suspension of his license to practice law in 2012. […] According to the Illinois State Bar Association, Hall was suspended because of: Misappropriation of over $35,000 in funds he had agreed to hold for a relative in a trust. Conversion of $2,500 from The Hall Law Group in 2001. He was a senior partner at the Hall group. Conversion of $57,500 from client trust accounts between 2005 and 2006.
* WAND | New technology at Carle Foundation Hospital saves over $40,000 in food waste: Carle Foundation Hospital is fighting back on food waste, and has implemented a new technology that should help keep those food waste numbers to a minimum. It’s called Leanpath. At first glance, it’s just a scale and tablet. But in actuality, the scale is programmed to see what the food is, and determine the dollar amount of food that’s being wasted.
* PJ Star | Five vying for three spots on Dunlap School Board. Meet the candidates: Ahead of the April 1 consolidated election, perhaps the biggest subplot has been a campaign by a group of parents to remove Abby Humbles as school board president. […] Humbles believes the campaign to remove her as school board president is something that comes with serving in the public sector. “Sometimes, we have to endure some negative comment,” she said. “We’d like to please everyone, but to me, the results of the Dunlap School District are astoundingly positive. That doesn’t mean that we don’t take into consideration comments from parents. We always feel we could do better.”
* WAND | Former WAND Anchor to star in documentary “The Farmer’s Daughter”: Tara Barrett, a former morning news anchor at WAND News, left her TV career in 2011 to take over the family farm. A documentary titled “The Farmer’s Daughter,” airing this weekend on WAND, explores her transition. Tara discusses the challenges she faced, particularly the business aspects of farming, which were new to her despite her prior experience with farm operations.
*** Chicago ***
* Tribune Opinion | Police district councilors: Enforcement of parking violations shouldn’t fall on CPD: We often think of 911 as a number to call for violent crimes or emergencies that need an immediate response. But the Chicago Police Department receives about 100,000 911 calls each year for something far less urgent: parking violations. As some of Chicago’s first elected police district councilors, it’s our job to understand our neighbors’ policing and public safety priorities. Our constituents want CPD addressing serious crime and spending more time in the community — not tied up with minor enforcement issues.
* Block Club | NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race Will Close Downtown Streets Starting In June: The race is set for July 5-6, though the city will need 25 days for setting up and then tearing down the course, according to a Monday news release. Traffic and street closures related to the building will total 18 days, with pre-race closures and parking restrictions starting in late June.
* Chicago Eater | Feast Upon a Unique Cambodian Tasting Menu: One of America’s only Cambodian tasting menus is served in Chicago thanks to Khmai Fine Dining in Rogers Park. Chef and owner Mona Sang launched the endeavor in January with the intent of rotating menus monthly to focus on a particular Cambodian province. Diners can experience a unique seven-course meal with non-alcoholic or alcoholic beverage pairings. March’s menu focuses on Kampot, a province known for its peppercorns, durian, and crab dishes. For many diners, Khmai’s gateway to Cambodian food is the egg roll, something they’re eaten at Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants. Egg rolls aren’t on Khmai’s tasting menu. Sang is determined to set Cambodian food apart from other Asian cuisines.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Tribune | Waukegan area residents sharing $48.1 million settlement for EtO emissions from an industrial plant: A group of Waukegan area people impacted by the emission of ethylene oxide (EtO), a known carcinogen, from an industrial plant in Waukegan will be sharing in a $48.15 million settlement with Isomedix Operations, Inc., a one-time owner of the Waukegan facility. Isomedix, a subsidiary of STERIS, plc, a Dublin, Ireland-based company, settled its portion of a multiparty lawsuit with numerous plaintiffs (the ETO plaintiffs) for $48.15 million, according to a March 3 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
* Daily Herald | Seven Northwest suburbs to receive backup water supply during upcoming leak repair: Seven Northwest suburbs will rely on backup water supplies for about five days but should experience no disruption of service as repairs are made to a leak in water main. Residents of Elk Grove Village, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, and Streamwood will switch over to the backup supplies beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday. A repair to a leak in a 90-inch water main delivering water to the seven Northwest suburbs is needed, officials at the Northwest Suburban Municipal Joint Action Water Agency said.
*** National ***
* Forbes | RFK Jr. Expected To Lay Off Entire Office Of Infectious Disease And HIV/AIDS Policy: It’s apparently part of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s whole HHS downsizing and restructuring plan, which has been posted as a fact sheet. That fact sheet indicates that the number of HHS employees will be slashed from around 82,000 to 62,000. This will include cutting around 3,500 jobs at the Food and Drug Administration, 2,400 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 1,200 at the National Institutes of Health.
Lawyers for convicted former House Speaker Michael Madigan are arguing for a new trial in his corruption case, saying prosecutors failed to prove the then-powerful Democrat knew about a scheme by ComEd to pay off his associates and alleging a series of mistakes by the trial judge.
The 73-page motion filed Friday alleged those errors tainted the jury with highly prejudicial evidence, and asked U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey to reverse the jury’s verdict on certain guilty counts and grant a new trial on others.
Such post-trial motions are routine and rarely granted, however the filing provides a blueprint for a likely appeal to the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals down the line.
The motion covers a litany of issues that arose during Madigan’s marathon, four-month trial, which ended in February with a split-verdict that saw the former speaker convicted of a wide-ranging bribery conspiracy but acquitted on other counts. The jury also deadlocked on some key charges, including the overarching racketeering conspiracy count.
* The Dennis Gannon part (consultants were making out “like bandits”) was interesting…
2. The Court Erred Admitting Government Exhibit 156.
Allowing the government to cross examine Madigan with, and introduce into evidence, Government Exhibit 156 was error. The court should have stood by its pretrial ruling that the discussion of a separate hire (Gannon) had nothing to do with Madigan and its introduction created unfair prejudice due to confusion. Further, the timing of the reversal prejudiced the defendant and, in particular, his right to testify in his own defense. Madigan chose to exercise his Fifth Amendment right and testify after the court excluded admission of that recording. After his direct examination, the court reversed course and allowed its admission. This denied the defendant the opportunity to front the evidence, an opportunity that the government enjoyed with its witnesses. Instead, the government was allowed to question Madigan and, even though all of the evidence was clear that Madigan had nothing to do with Gannon, the prosecutor nonetheless suggested otherwise during both the examination and during closing arguments. There can be no doubt that admission of this recording was prejudicial – one juror commented post-trial that it was the “most significant” piece of evidence and believed it related to the sub-contractors actually recommended by Madigan, the very confusion that correctly prompted the court to exclude the recording before trial.
Exhibit 156 was a recording between Madigan and McClain. During the call, McClain described that labor consultant Dennis Gannon was asked to drive around a contract to get it signed. When Madigan asked how Gannon got involved (because he did not even know Gannon was employed by ComEd), McClain explained that “we [ComEd]” gave him a contract for $150,000. In response, Madigan stated that some consultants, like Gannon, were making out like “bandits.” As noted, Madigan had no involvement in the hiring of Gannon, and three different witnesses confirmed this fact. Tom O’Neill knew Gannon and recommended that he be hired. Fidel Marquez was supposed to supervise Gannon. And, the government interviewed Gannon himself. All three confirmed that his hiring by ComEd had nothing to do with Madigan. Knowing this, the government kept scrambling, offering conflicting explanations as to why the recording should be allowed. (Tr. p. 8889-91 (Gannon was a Madigan hire); (Tr. p. 8895-96 (Madigan and McClain mistakenly thought they helped Gannon); Tr. p. 8889-90 (“these guys” referred to Madigan recommendations).
And when the government tried to avoid acknowledging that it had no evidence to suggest that Madigan was involved, the court pressed prosecutors as “officer[s] of the court” to answer the question. In the end, the discussion about Gannon had nothing to do with Madigan. There was no reason to admit the recording. It did not relate to the charges, and it presented a danger of confusion. The admission of the exhibit allowed the prosecution to improperly impeach Madigan’s testimony, call him a liar, and describe his testimony as a façade, all while knowing that its own investigation demonstrated that Madigan had nothing to do with Gannon’s hiring. Its admission was error.
Monday, Mar 31, 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.
Though municipal and school board races in Illinois are nonpartisan, voters may see many of the same political themes that were hallmarks of races during the 2024 presidential election cycle. The Democratic Party of Illinois is applying many of the same tactics it uses in partisan elections to this year’s local races.
“We as the Democratic Party of Illinois should be defending Democratic values in every single election in nonpartisan and partisan elections alike, because all of these local offices have jurisdiction over super critical controls and we think our party has the best platform for governance,” Democratic Party of Illinois Executive Director Ben Hardin said.
The 2025 local elections are the second time that Illinois Democrats are getting involved in nonpartisan races. After recruiting more than 1,000 prospective candidates last year, the state party is supporting 270 candidates for a variety of local offices in all areas of the state.
The party trained the candidates and attached them to “coaches” experienced in running Democratic campaigns. Candidates will also be supported by a six-figure advertising campaign by DPI in the coming weeks.
Normal mayoral candidate Kathleen Lorenz faced criticism Sunday from one of her two opponents after accepting a $28,000 campaign contribution from the McLean County Republicans that she said was really a pass-through contribution from a specific donor.
Lorenz told WGLT late Saturday that she coordinated with the donor to route the money through the McLean County Republicans, which was at the donor’s request. Lorenz said the “ridiculous amount of money” was critical to paying for three weeks of advertising during the homestretch of the campaign. She said that advertising gave her a better chance to win against a favored incumbent.
Lorenz would not identify the donor, but she confirmed that the $28,000 she received from the McLean County Republicans last week came from him. The election is Tuesday.
Typically, an individual is capped at $7,300 in contributions to a candidate campaign committee like Lorenz’s, based on state contribution limits. However, individuals can give larger sums to political party committees like the McLean County Republicans, and there is no limit to how much political party committees can give to candidate campaign committees.
[I]n a Facebook post Saturday, [incumbent Chris Koos’] campaign said, “the McLean County GOP is trying to buy this race.”
“So it’s worth saying again: Mayor is a nonpartisan position. And our community deserves a leader like Mayor Koos who puts people over politics,” Koos’ campaign wrote. […]
Koos, meanwhile, picked up endorsements from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, and former Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger in the last few days.
Bloomington and Normal mayoral and council elections are technically nonpartisan, although both McLean County Republicans and Democrats have endorsed candidates anyway. Again, Lorenz disputed that what the local GOP has done constitutes an endorsement.
The McHenry County Democratic Party is promoting candidates in more than 90 local races this cycle. Democratic township organizations in the Wheeling, Elk Grove and Mundelein areas are among those pushing their preferred candidates, too.
In Naperville, Democratic U.S. Reps. Lauren Underwood and Bill Foster are actively campaigning for city council candidates Benny White, Mary Gibson, Ian Holzhauer and Ashfaq Syed and park district hopefuls Rhonda Ansier, Leslie Ruffing, Alison Thompson and Aishwarya Balakrihna. […]
DuPage County Republican Party Chair Kevin Coyne responded on social media by endorsing Naperville City Council candidates Derek McDaniel, Jennifer Taylor and Meghna Bansal.
Coyne’s activity this cycle doesn’t end there. Although not strictly a partisan organization, the Safe Suburbs USA political action committee he founded and leads has endorsed dozens of suburban candidates.
* The Question: Should local elections remain “non-partisan”? Make sure to explain you answer.
* Um, Tom, if you’re gonna lead the anti-RINO opposition (he even has a theme song), at least take the time to learn that the Chicago Teachers Union is a local within the Illinois Federation of Teachers, not the Illinois Education Association…
While helping families get services for their child with disabilities, Alexandra Kuske says she has seen school districts slip in language requiring parents to waive their children’s rights to bring claims under state and federal laws.
Recently, one district proposed that a parent waive all claims related to her 12-year-old’s education for the next 10 years in return for a six-month placement at a therapeutic day school, said Kuske, a state attorney at Equip for Equality, a federally mandated protection and advocacy organization for Illinois.
Now, special education advocates from organizations including Equip for Equality, Access Living, and Legal Council for Health Justice are pushing state lawmakers to pass House Bill 2337, which would require school districts to limit waivers to students involved in the mediation process. Under the bill, waivers would have to be “limited in scope and duration and narrowly tailored” to the student’s case. […]
A spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of Education said the state offers mediation to parents and school districts that voluntarily agree to participate. The state board has received 413 mediation requests for the 2025 fiscal year, but not all requests result in a mediation hearing, the spokesperson said. Among the mediations that occur, 71% reach an agreement. However, the state board does not track waivers placed in agreements.
Because she thinks it could help students like her to complete their education without being so stretched financially and otherwise, [Monica Mendoza] is advocating for a proposal from Gov. JB Pritzker that would allow some community colleges to offer four-year degrees. It would allow students like her to earn a bachelor’s degree from their community college, rather than having to transfer. […]
But the pitch is facing stiff headwinds in Springfield, where earlier this month it failed to be called for a committee vote ahead of a procedural deadline amid opposition from existing four-year institutions, some of which are facing enrollment and financial issues. […]
Four-year universities argue the bill could diminish progress the state has made on educational access and achievement, according to a statement to reporters from a coalition of Illinois universities including leadership from Chicago State University, Illinois State University and several “directional” Illinois schools such as Northern Illinois University. […]
The governor’s proposal includes some guardrails against siphoning off students from their local universities, according to its proponents. It says community college boards must be able to demonstrate the programs wouldn’t “unnecessarily duplicate” already-available four-year offerings in the same district, though few specifics are outlined in the bill’s text. […]
Negotiations on the bill continue. State Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl, the bill’s House sponsor, said that the discussions include “setting up a framework for how these programs are going to run throughout the state,” including keeping the door open for regional differences in how issues like commute times are calculated, for example.
7 weeks after bill intro deadline; 1 week after committee passage deadline; 5 session days until 3rd Reading deadline. Nice media pop, tho https://t.co/YvjdTMCDu8
On Thursday, the Senate Executive Subcommittee on Procurement held a subject matter hearing on a bill led by State Senator Rachel Ventura that would make Illinois the first state to ensure state purchases do not contribute to deforestation, forest degradation or human rights violations. […]
Senate Bill 2157 would position Illinois as a national leader in responsible sourcing, aligning with global efforts to protect forests, climate and biodiversity. The proposed bill would ensure state-funded purchases of key commodities — such as rubber, paper and specific wood products — come exclusively from sustainable sources, curbing the state’s contribution to global deforestation.
The Deforestation-Free Illinois Act would ban state purchases of tropical hardwood or related products, positioning Illinois as a global climate leader with stronger procurement standards. Ventura’s bill would help safeguard biodiversity by preserving ecosystems and protecting at-risk species. […]
The bill supports Illinois and U.S. businesses by prioritizing low-deforestation products — recognizing that U.S. soy and cattle have significantly lower deforestation risks than imports. It also includes a preference for Illinois-sourced products, keeping taxpayer dollars in state. […]
Additionally, the bill upholds Indigenous rights by requiring Free, Prior, and Informed Consent for developments affecting their land and resources. […]
Senate Bill 2157 has been assigned to the Senate Executive committee.
Surgeons and surgery room staff came to the Capitol Thursday to push for a bill that could change requirements for surgical technologists. […]
Surgeons and certified surgical technologists filed a bill with Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora) called the Operating Room Patient Safety Act. This bill will require all new surgical technologists to complete an accredited education program and obtain a national certification after completing their certification first. […]
Several hospitals and associations oppose the bill. The Illinois Health and Hospital Association Senior Vice-President of Government Relations, Dave Gross, said by making certification and education a requirement, this will cause delays in care because it could limit the number of qualified surgical technologists available. […]
The bill to make certification a requirement has gained momentum in the House on both sides of the aisle. If signed into law, the bill would take effect in 2027.
Second Chance Month is a national opportunity, but it matters right here at home. In Illinois, an estimated 2.2 million people carry the burden of a past arrest or conviction record. It takes hard work to turn one’s life around — especially when finding meaningful employment is harder than falling back into crime. Yet, so many persevere. […]
In the coming days, state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth will introduce Clean Slate legislation in Springfield. This year, Illinois can pass this needed legislation that carefully balances fairness and public safety. The bill includes safeguards to ensure eligibility requirements are met; automated systems are also more efficient and equitable, reducing human error and bias in the expungement process.
Now is the time for action. To begin with, we urge lawmakers to prioritize Clean Slate legislation. To follow, we urge everyone to advocate for this important bill with your state representative. Then our elected officials will need to listen to their constituents, many of whom live with these barriers every day. We need to hear their stories, recognize their resilience and change the law. Passing this legislation is not just the right thing to do — it’s what justice demands.
Illinois cannot afford to wait. Let us seize this moment to transform lives, strengthen communities and pave the way for a brighter, more equitable future. The time for Clean Slate is now.
Illinois lawmakers have proposed a bill that would change the tax code to reflect other prescription drug taxes.
The bill would amend the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act to recognize cannabis as prescription and nonprescription medicine and drugs as long as a buyer purchases it from a dispensary and has a medical cannabis card.
The proposal would also amend the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act to stop certain cannabis infused products being used for medicinal purposes from being taxed twice. […]
The bill was proposed by Illinois Rep. Sonya Harper (D) on January 10th. The potential law was referred to the House Rules Committee on January 28th.
If not tempted outdoors yet, you can remain “wheely active” by boning up on recently introduced state biking bills, contacting elected officials, and offering input on transportation plans/studies — all of which may impact your future riding experience.
The Ride Illinois Bicycle Bill Tracker lists over a dozen biking-related bills ranging from simply including trikes in the definition of bicycles to the broader status of cyclists on Illinois roadways. […]
State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-7th) of Chicago introduced SB2285 which amends the Illinois Vehicle code redefining “bicycle” as including two or more wheels. A companion bill HB3225 with the same wording by State Rep. Lilian Jiménez (D-4th Chicago), was cosponsored in the House by Batavia State Rep. Maura Hirschauer (D-49th).
Naperville State Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-41st) introduced HB1875 which provides specific instances in which bicyclists approaching a stop sign may proceed without coming to a complete stop if no cross-traffic exists. Neighboring State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray (D-81st) also of Naperville is co-sponsor.
Hirschauer has also taken on the broader issue of a bicyclist’s roadway status with a bill that affects the immunity liability of governmental units. She is sponsoring HB2454, a bill in response to two bicycle crashes due to poorly maintained infrastructure — a 1992 incident in Wayne Township near Bartlett in her district and on Chicago’s northwest side in 2019.
The biking-related House bills above missed the deadline to get out of committee, however, SB2285 received an April 4 extension.
Despite support from both sides of the aisle, licensing reform legislation went nowhere. Licensing reform always faces stiff opposition from special interest groups that benefit from keeping out competition. But if we want to get people back to work, it’s a necessary part of the solution.
To understand how burdensome rules keep people on the sidelines, consider what aspiring barbers have to navigate before they can become licensed: 1,500 hours in an approved barbering school, which can cost as much as college tuition. By comparison, New York requires just 500 hours — a third as much — yet suffers no apparent decline in public safety or service quality.
A Democrat-sponsored bill could have made it easier for Illinoisans to become licensed stylists. State Rep. Michael Crawford, D-Chicago, is behind legislation that would enable aspiring barbers to become licensed through apprenticeships, offering an alternative to traditional schooling by recognizing hands-on training under licensed professionals.
Meanwhile, a downstate Republican wanted to make it easier for newcomers to our state to find work. State Rep. Paul Jacobs, R-Marion, is the lead sponsor of the Recognition of Licenses Act, which would establish provisions for the recognition of out-of-state professional licenses in Illinois. Illinois does recognize some out-of-state professional licenses, such as teaching licenses, but not all. And it’s not part of the Nurse Licensure Compact, which establishes mutual recognition of nursing licenses among the 41 member states. Another bill, sponsored by state Rep. Yolonda Morris, D-Chicago, would’ve added Illinois to the NLC — a long-overdue and crucial step in addressing the nursing shortage that’s plagued hospitals since COVID-19 hit. […]
We wish Springfield would’ve acted on this initiative and hope these bills are revived soon.
Retail generates $7.3 billion in income and sales tax revenue each year in Illinois. These funds support public safety, infrastructure, education, and other important programs we all rely on every day. In fact, retail is the second largest revenue generator for the State of Illinois and the largest revenue generator for local governments.
Retailers like Meli enrich our economy and strengthen our communities. We Are Retail and IRMA showcase the retailers who make Illinois work.
The Civic Federation, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability recently released a report calling for the expansion of the sales tax to several services, claiming such a move could raise $2 billion for the state.
The state imposes an additional sales tax in the Regional Transit Authority’s jurisdiction. Last week’s study found that expanding those specific RTA sales taxes to services could generate an additional $315 million per year.
There’s been a little talk behind the scenes of slightly lowering the 6.25 percent state sales tax if services were also taxed, except possibly in the RTA zone, when a quarter of a percent might also go to transit.
Whatever happens, something important is being overlooked in the coverage so far.
As far back as September, Gov. JB Pritzker has said that local governments within the RTA’s coverage area would also have to step up on funding. “Of course, Springfield is going to be a very important part of that. We’re not the only funder or the only available partner in that, but certainly we’re trying to put together a plan that will make sense for the future,” Pritzker said on Sept. 4.
On February 4, Pritzker said, “When we look at the question of mass transit, we’ve got to consider everything that contributes to that, state government, county government, city government, as well as the fare box and all those things together are going to help solve the problem.”
Two weeks later, Pritzker again mentioned transit fares: “There will be adjustments to the fare box, probably,” Pritzker said. And on total costs, he said, “who’s covering how much of that is a negotiation that will take place.”
The CTA, for example, hasn’t increased fares since 2018, and that was the first increase in nine years. Adjusting for inflation, fares should be about $3 for an L train ride, instead of the $2.50 they are today.
On March 21st, Pritzker urged negotiators to “come to a conclusion” on transit reforms “soon,” and then, he said, “everybody’s got to step up on the funding.”
Pretty much everyone at the Statehouse has said that funding won’t happen without reform. But the transit leaders are still demanding lots more money without interference with their governance.
“It’s something that I think we all understand is necessary soon,” the governor repeated, emphasizing the word “soon.”
But the difficulty in finding a solution to the many problems at the transit agencies was highlighted in a committee hearing last week.
My associate Isabel Miller told subscribers last week that Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines) produced documentation showing that Chicago-area mass transit system overtime payments totaled almost $800 million in a four-year period.
“From 2020 to 2024, Metra, CTA and PACE paid over $778 million in overtime to employees,” Transportation: Regulation, Roads and Bridges Committee Chair Moylan told committee members, according to a story written by Isabel.
But House Assistant Majority Leader Marcus Evans, the sponsor of the labor-backed transit reform bill, pushed back against his fellow Democrat. “We need to move on from the overtime,” according to Isabel’s reporting.
“That’s just a reflection of mismanagement. So quoting large overtime numbers, I think, is disingenuous,” Leader Evans (D-Chicago) said.
Rep. Moylan (D-Des Plaines) agreed that managers and supervisors must be held to account for the massive overtime expenditures, Isabel reported.
“We have to hire more people—whatever we have to do to alleviate this,” Moylan said. “It’s a big concern, and it’s going to be a big problem, a logistics nightmare for myself and others.”
After the hearing, Isabel reported, Rep. Moylan distributed a document to committee members outlining the highest overtime earners.
According to the document, a CTA Ironworker General Foreperson who earned $320,000 in 2024 worked 1,666.5 overtime hours. Without overtime, his base salary would’ve been $113,000. A Metra Mechanical Relief Foreman logged 2,005 overtime hours, earning $138,600 in overtime pay. A PACE Master Mechanic worked more than 620 overtime hours, adding $73,467 to his 2024 salary.
After the committee hearing, Isabel asked Leader Evans to elaborate. “We need more truth in the story of overtime,” he told her.
“Most workers in transit don’t accrue overtime. People call off a lot in transit in [inclement] weather, so some workers have to stay,” Evans said. “It’s not these evil workers that are greedy.”
Rep. Moylan told Isabel he’s not going to call a mass transit bill until there is some solution for overtime costs.
Two federal judges in separate rulings late Friday froze parts of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting the law firms Jenner & Block and WilmerHale, both firms linked to the Robert Mueller investigation Trump has sought to punish. […]
The temporary restraining order in the Jenner & Block case, announced by Judge John Bates at the end of a hastily scheduled Friday hearing, pauses parts of the order instructing agencies to terminate contracts with the firm and its clients, as well as the order’s directives seeking to limit the firm’s access to federal officials and buildings.
Bates said those directives, as well as another he paused aiming to crack down on former Jenner employees being hired for government jobs, were likely unconstitutional because they retaliated against protected speech and were a form of view point discrimination. Language in Trump order’s expressing his desire to sanction the firm for pro bono work for causes the president disagrees with was “disturbing” and “troubling,” Bates said.
* Sun-Times | With Chicago’s mass transit system on the fiscal precipice, what solutions are on the table?: Lawmakers remain laser-focused on reforming the agencies as they discuss two bills to either merge the agencies or empower the RTA. But legislators have all but refused to talk about immediate funding solutions. “There will be no funding without reform,” state Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, has repeatedly said when asked about potential funding solutions. He reiterated the point in a call with the Sun-Times this week.
* Sun-Times | Illinois elections board says Trump executive order won’t impact April 1 elections: Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich said the agency was aware of the order but that it would have no bearing on the April 1 elections. He said the agency was waiting on changes to state or federal law — which executive orders cannot make — to update guidance for local election officials.
*** Statehouse News ***
* Center Square | Illinois GOP chair calls Governor’s trade mission ‘irresponsible’: Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jaime di Paulo is part of the delegation. He said his goal is to bring business to Illinois. “Being the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I think we have a lot to offer so they can come and do business in Illinois,” di Paulo told The Center Square. According to di Paulo, the big delegation is split into sectors. “We’re meeting with agriculture folks, with automotive people, technology folks, and then we have a bunch of workshops,” di Paulo. “Hopefully each one of us can get our job done and bring some wealth to Illinois.”
* LGBTQ Nation | Governor stands with trans kids & won’t take ‘soul-sucking path’ of sacrificing their rights: At a recent Human Rights Campaign dinner in Los Angeles, Pritzker reaffirmed his commitment to supporting queer folks and resisting Trump. “The Trump administration and his Republican lackeys in Congress are looking to reverse every single victory this community has won over the last 50 years,” Pritzker said. “And right now it’s drag queens reading books and transgender people serving in the military. Tomorrow, it’s your marriage license and your job they want to take.”
*** Statewide ***
* Greg Hinz: Yes, Illinois’ economy is lagging. So what do we do about it?: After talking to other economists and civic leaders, business chiefs and government officials, there is some reason to think the picture, while not good, isn’t quite as bad as Moody’s depicted. But it’s still not rosy. There’s much to debate on this critical issue of public policy as Gov. JB Pritzker prepares to announce whether he’ll seek a third term as Illinois’ chief executive. […] Much of the problem appears to stem from metro Chicago, home to loads of well-paying financial and high-end service jobs that have not yet recovered from COVID, Moody’s indicates. That’s consistent with other research from the Brookings Institution. Chicago ranks 48th of the nation’s 54th largest metros on economic performance measured between 2013 and 2023, with the lag concentrated in the post-COVID period.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Denise Crosby | Aurora mayoral election goes negative unlike any other, say those on both sides: From police calls involving harassment complaints or yard signs to attack ads filling up residents’ mailboxes and social media feeds, the election between incumbent Mayor Richard Irvin and Ald. John Laesch has gotten so nasty that multiple city leaders expressed fear it was dividing the city in ways that could be felt for years to come. Count Linda Cole among those who were “very concerned” about what this election says about the future of Aurora. “It makes me sad that both sides are displaying such poor behavior,” said the former longtime Fox Valley Park District board member whose name is on the FVPD Cole Center.
* Daily Herald | ‘Unnecessary angst’: Partisan politics creeping into local races: The McHenry County Democratic Party is promoting candidates in more than 90 local races this cycle. Democratic township organizations in the Wheeling, Elk Grove and Mundelein areas are among those pushing their preferred candidates, too. In Naperville, Democratic U.S. Reps. Lauren Underwood and Bill Foster are actively campaigning for city council candidates Benny White, Mary Gibson, Ian Holzhauer and Ashfaq Syed and park district hopefuls Rhonda Ansier, Leslie Ruffing, Alison Thompson and Aishwarya Balakrihna.
* Daily Southtown | Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau and former Trustee Jim Dodge discuss public works, taxes and morale: Keith Pekau, seeking a third term as Orland Park’s mayor, touts accomplishments under his watch including improving village streets and parks. He is challenged in the April 1 election by Jim Dodge, a former longtime village trustee who has assembled a slate of candidates for trustee seats and village clerk. Dodge said voters are concerned about issues in the Police Department, which he says suffers from low morale. He said the overall tax burden on residents also needs to be addressed.
* Daily Herald | The hottest mayor’s races to watch in DuPage, Kane counties: West Chicago Mayor Ruben Pineda faces his toughest reelection bid in years with two challengers trying to deny him a fourth term. The future of the city’s downtown has been one hot topic in the race, with Pineda and his opponents, Daniel Bovey and Joseph Sheehan, offering sharply different visions. “There is an alternative to what we’ve been doing for the last 25 years, and that’s to build small, to invest in small developers, to invest in small businesses,” Bovey said at a League of Women Voters forum. “Let’s play to our strength.”
* Daily Herald | Mayoral offices at stake in North, Northwest suburbs: Three-term Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes’ decision not to seek another term has led to a crowded field seeking to replace him — all say they want a seat at the table in talks with the Chicago Bears over redevelopment of the sprawling Arlington Park property. Running are Jim Tinaglia, a 12-year village trustee; Tom Schwingbeck, a six-year trustee; and Jon Ridler, executive director of the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce for the past 20 years. Hayes endorsed Tinaglia.
* Lake & McHenry County Scanner | ‘A major win’: State orders power plant to remove toxic coal ash ponds along Waukegan lakefront: The Illinois Pollution Control Board issued an order last week denying an adjusted standard petition by Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of NRG Energy. Midwest Generation owns power-generating stations in Illinois, including one at 401 East Greenwood Avenue in Waukegan along Lake Michigan. […] The moment marks a win for local and state officials, along with residents and not-for-profit organizations, who have been involved in a nearly four-year administrative process and a decade of advocacy on the issue.
* Lake County News-Sun | Mundelein residential development a ‘capstone’ on Plaza Circle, Mayor says: During Monday’s Village Board meeting, the board approved an amendment to the redevelopment to address a 45% increase in the project’s budget, rising from $61 million to $89 million. Trustee Jenny Ross attributed the increases to inflation. Village documents indicate three main areas of cost increases; hard costs, such as for materials and landscaping, soft costs, such as fees and insurance rates, and financing costs, with interest rates higher than in 2022, when the project was initially proposed.
* Daily Herald | ‘You can’t roll the dice all the time’: First responders preparing for more freight trains: The Itasca Fire Protection District is building a second station. Bensenville is rethinking how it dispatches police cars and ambulances. Wood Dale firefighters are learning new train detection software. It’s been two years since U.S. Surface Transportation Board members approved Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of the Kansas City Southern, creating a railway that spans North America. As freight traffic inches up in the suburbs, first responders are focused on troubleshooting the inevitable increase in blocked crossings to prevent delays in getting to 911 calls.
*** Chicago ***
* Crain’s | Chicago Teachers Union ready to take CPS contract offer to full bargaining team: Negotiations between CPS and the teachers union resulted in a contract proposal the union is ready to present to its full bargaining team. The CTU’s “big bargaining team” will meet Monday at 1 p.m. to consider the contract. The movement is a step forward in talks on a new four-year deal that has appeared imminent all week. If the CTU’s bargaining team approves the deal, the tentative agreement would still need to be approved by the full union and the Chicago Board of Education.
* Crain’s | Trump names interim top prosecutor for Chicago:
The Trump administration has named former federal prosecutor Andrew Boutros the interim U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois, according to media reports. The posting fills a U.S. attorney seat in Chicago that has been without a permanent replacement since former U.S. Attorney John Lausch stepped down in March 2023. April Perry, a former federal prosecutor, was nominated by former President Joe Biden to succeed Lausch as the first woman to hold the office. Perry was confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2023, but her final confirmation was held up by then-U.S. Sen. JD Vance.
* Tribune | Nearly 1,000 people pour into Federal Plaza to show support for transgender people amid attacks: At Sunday’s protest, attendees displayed a range of emotions, from anger due to the Trump administration’s attacks, to joy because of the sheer number of people who showed up to publicly support transgender people. “We are a resilient people. Don’t you dare tell them we don’t belong,” Precious Brady-Davis, a commissioner for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and the first Black transgender woman to be an elected official in Cook County, said to the crowd. “We belong in every (sector) of society, from the boardroom to the bathroom. Quit playing with us. Our lives matter and we deserve to be treated with respect and decency.”
* Block Club | Chicago VA Nurses Protest Proposed Workforce Reductions That Could Cut 80,000 Jobs:
About 50 protestors — mostly made up of nurses and union members — marched in a line across from the medical center at 820 S. Damen Ave., while holding up signs calling on nurses and federal employees to come together in times of adversity. “This has been like working in a trauma zone on a daily basis,” said Aimee Potter, a VA social worker and organizer. “We’re waiting for the pin to drop, waiting for another Musk email or demand. Our phones are constantly ringing every day. People are so stressed that it’s hard for them to even do their jobs at this point.”
* Crain’s | Sterling Bay surrendering part of Lincoln Yards to lender: In a letter sent today to the developer’s investors and reviewed by Crain’s, Sterling Bay CEO Andy Gloor said the company has reached a deal with Bank OZK to transfer the northern portion of the proposed 53-acre development to the Little Rock, Ark.-based lender. Sterling Bay is expected to hand over the property through a so-called deed in lieu of foreclosure, sources familiar with the matter said, a transaction that allows landlords and lenders to resolve distressed loans without going through a lengthy court process.
* Tribune | Contentious overhaul of electronic-monitoring program in Cook County arriving after brewing for years: After months of planning and discussion, the Cook County sheriff’s office starting Tuesday will no longer accept new electronic monitoring participants, marking the beginning of a shift in one way pretrial justice is handled in Cook County. The county will now run all electronic monitoring through the court system, merging parallel programs that have previously operated separately under the authority of Sheriff Tom Dart and Chief Judge Tim Evans. Often used as something of a middle ground between being released or jailed pretrial, both programs use GPS technology to oversee defendants that judges determine need additional supervision, even though they aren’t ordered to remain in jail.
* The Triibe | Anjanette Young’s new exhibit at the DuSable Museum showcases the trauma of Black women victimized by police: Chicagoan Anjanette Young is debuting a new art exhibit entitled “I Am Her” at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center. The exhibit, which Young curated, is a collection of artwork representing not only her experience as the victim of a wrongful police raid in 2019 but also that of other Black women and girls who’ve also been traumatized by police. […] “This work is a part of my healing journey,” Young said Thursday ahead of the debut. “This is me fighting back, bringing awareness to what happened to me and to the corrupt systems that we have within the police department, not only in the city of Chicago, but across the state and across the country.”
* AP | Fast-moving storm causes headache for White Sox grounds crew: The crew used a patchwork of smaller tarps to cover as much of the area as it could. When the rain stopped, the crew began to work on the infield with bags of drying material. “I’ve had some trying times in my career. Eight inches of snow before opening day, stuff like that,” head groundskeeper Roger Bossard said during an interview on Chicago Sports Network. “This one takes the cake. I don’t ever remember hail while I’m pulling the tarp, and I used close to 4 tons of drying compound.”
*** Downstate ***
* The Pantagraph | Election Day is Tuesday. Here’s what to look for on the ballot: Three candidates also have their hat in the ring for mayor of Normal: incumbent Chris Koos and council members Chemberly Harris and Kathleen Lorenz. The Normal Town Council race is uncontested, with newcomer Rory Roberge, a member of the McLean County Regional Planning Commission, seeking Harris’ seat.
* WICS | Sanagamon County Sheriff’s staff completes ICAT training, director explains importance: I spoke to the Executive Director of the ICAT de-escalation training program, Chuck Wexler, and he told me the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department’s training was fully funded by former Macon County Sheriff, Howard Buffett. […] Recognizing the need for her staff to be highly skilled on dealing with crisis calls to prevent future tragedies, Wexler told me Crouch searched for answers. “Buffet heard about this, invited her to lunch and asked, how can we help you?” Wexler said. “She said ‘I need to figure out how I can train my entire department’.”
* The Daily Egyptian | SIU administration addresses international students after a student’s visa was revoked: The email, signed by Tina Sickinger, Director of International Student and Scholar Services at SIU, was sent at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, March 28, hours after the university confirmed earlier that day that one of its international students had their visa revoked. The reason for the visa revocation is still unknown, and as of the evening on Sunday, March 30, SIU has yet to provide any further information on the matter.
* WCIA | Macon Co. election judge prep honing in on double voters: Election judge training in Macon County is cracking down on double voters. It comes after 70-year-old Brenda Wilcott got a second ballot in the November primary. County Clerk Josh Tanner said annual training targets issues from previous elections. This time around, he’s hoping people know they will be caught if they try to test the system.
* AP | Young Abraham Lincoln’s tiny Illinois town is due for a makeover: The tiny central Illinois village, where Lincoln accidentally spent half-a-dozen years in the 1830s, perhaps did as much to prepare him to be the Union-saving 16th president as any other aspect of his humble yet remarkable life. Volunteers in period clothing provide historical demonstrations for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year at the site, now part of a state park over 200 miles (330 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. But long-neglected maintenance has taken a toll on the setting, which was re-created by a federal public works program in the 1930s during the Great Depression.
*** National ***
* MLB | Yankees’ new ‘Torpedo’ bats create a stir amid 15-homer weekend barrage: Major League Baseball confirmed Sunday that the bats do not violate Major League rules or bat supplier regulations. Rule 3.02 states that bats cannot be more than 2.61 inches in diameter and 42 inches in length. […] The Yankees made home run history during their season-opening homestand, tying an AL/NL record with 15 home runs in their first three games of a season and tying a club mark with 13 home runs in two games. They belted four in Sunday’s 12-3 win after clubbing nine on Saturday.
* AP | President Trump’s election order creates much confusion before the next federal election in 2026:
Election officials were already dealing with the loss of some cybersecurity assistance from the federal government and now face the potential for major changes that include a new voter registration requirement, decertification of certain voting systems and stricter ballot deadlines for many states. In Connecticut, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas is hopeful that ballot scanners the state just bought for $20 million will be acceptable under the executive order, but she worries about other states.
* SCOTUS Blog | States call on justices to leave restored teacher training funds in place: Eight states, led by California, on Friday urged the Supreme Court to leave in place an order by a federal judge in Massachusetts that requires the Department of Education to restore more than $65 million in grants, intended to address teacher shortages, that it ended in February because the funded programs included diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. In a 40-page filing, the states told the justices that there was no reason for them to intervene. “Because the district court acted responsibly — entering a narrow and time-limited restraining order to preserve the status quo while moving rapidly to adjudicate” the state’s request for a preliminary injunction, the government cannot appeal the district court’s order, the states argue, and the government’s appeal will in any event be moot (that is, no longer a live controversy) by early April.
* AP | Transgender People Are About 1% of the US Population. Why Have They Become a Political Lightning Rod?: Zein Murib, an associate professor of political science and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Fordham University, said there has been a decades-old effort “to reinstate Christian nationalist principles as the law of the land” that increased its focus on transgender people after a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling recognizing same-sex marriage nationwide. It took a few years, but some of the positions gained traction. One factor: Proponents of the restrictions lean into broader questions of fairness and safety, which draw more public attention.
* ProPublica | The CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations: In an aborted plan to roll out the news, the agency would have emphasized the importance of vaccinating people against the highly contagious and potentially deadly disease that has spread to 19 states, the records show. A CDC spokesperson told ProPublica in a written statement that the agency decided against releasing the assessment “because it does not say anything that the public doesn’t already know.” She added that the CDC continues to recommend vaccines as “the best way to protect against measles.”
* 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.
