“Today, Chief of Staff Anne Caprara and Deputy Governor Andy Manar met with the Chicago Bears organization to discuss the team’s stadium proposal. The Governor’s Office appreciates the opportunity to discuss the Bears’ proposal and appreciates the organization for taking the time to discuss it.
As the Governor has said, the current proposal is a non-starter for the state. In order to subsidize a brand new stadium for a privately owned sports team, the Governor would need to see a demonstrable and tangible benefit to the taxpayers of Illinois. The Governor’s office remains open to conversations with the Bears, lawmakers, and other stakeholders with the understanding that responsible fiscal stewardship of tax-payer dollars remains the foremost priority.”
* Click here for more background. The House just passed SB2412, that would put three questions on the statewide ballot. Assistant Majority Leader Jay Hoffman added the referendum questions and several other provisions in an amendment earlier today. House Republicans held a press conference after it passed, Here’s Minority Leader Tony McCombie…
Thank you everybody for coming today, we really appreciate it. The House Republicans are standing here united after a present protest vote on the House floor today.
This is an another bill, here we are beginning of May, a bill that just dropped on us at the last minute with no transparency or opportunity for our residents to weigh in. This morning, the amendment was filed out of the blue on a Senate Bill. It was assigned to the House executive committee for a hearing shortly thereafter and just a few hours later, it was brought forward for a vote on the House floor.
Serious legislators should want to give time to the public to understand the impact on our state. We’re used to seeing this kind of maneuvering on May 31. But we don’t understand the sense of urgency right now. Unless the end goal is to stifle the democratic process through the changes on slating candidates.
We are united on providing checks and balances in the much needed state government. The problem this bill purports to solve could be helped anytime, by legitimate legislation that has been brought forward by members of the House, vetted by members of the House and with our constituents input.
We are for building families. We are for protecting election workers, and we are certainly for property tax relief.
But there is something else that we stand for, and that is democracy. This bill takes away the opportunity for us to work together with our counterparts on any number of substantial challenges facing our state. There has been ample time for tax relief, we need to provide families with that relief, but instead, here we are at the beginning of May, playing games.
* Here’s the vote…
* Jeremy Gorner asked McCombie why vote present and not no…
It’s just because it’s not serious legislation. We wanted to stand united together to show that this was not, you know, if we would have voted no, you wouldn’t be standing here listening to us right now. This was a united present protest vote. And here we are talking about it.
Many of the same advocates who successfully pushed for the state to abolish cash bail last year are now hoping to build on that reform with The Pretrial Success Act, a bill filed this legislative session that would direct $15 million to community organizations around the state to provide voluntary services to people awaiting trial. The legislation would offer grants of up to $500,000 for these organizations to develop and scale up programs that offer everything from clinical behavioral and health services to transportation, child care, and case management for people on pretrial release in accordance with their needs, in order to improve their odds of success. […]
The bill, introduced in February by State Senator Elgie Sims and State Representative Maurice West, has been widely supported by social service agencies across the state. Supporters say that it builds on prior Illinois grant programs aimed at improving public safety using community investment—such as the 2021 Reimagine Public Safety Act that established a public health approach to gun violence prevention and the Restore, Reinvest, Renew program launched in 2019 that directs a portion of cannabis tax revenue into disinvested communities. This year’s Pretrial Success Act would be the first to specifically target services for pretrial defendants released from jail. The bill is currently being debated in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the House Public Safety Committee.
[Rebecca Levin, Vice President of Policy at Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities], whose organization was a key partner in drafting reforms to strengthen services for people released from jail, says the bill is built on a belief that mental health and substance use problems should not be addressed through the criminal legal system. Incarceration has historically been used as a catchall solution for addiction and mental illness, even though incarcerated people rarely receive the necessary care for those conditions, compounding behavioral health problems and magnifying the risk of overdose and suicide after release, Levin said.
“The behavioral health issues and violence have the same root cause, and it’s really the cycle of trauma,” Levin said. “Folks who are traumatized often look to cope through substance use. Folks who are traumatized may experience mental illness. Investing in these behavioral services is about interrupting this cycle of violence and trauma.”
* Sen. Lakesia Collins…
State Senator Lakesia Collins and State Representative Yolonda Morris presented legislation at a press conference Wednesday to help protect Illinoisans’ data and create jobs by providing incentives to locate data centers in low-income areas. […]
Several major hospitals in Illinois have suffered cybersecurity attacks in recent years – including Lurie Children’s Hospital and St. Anthony’s Hospital. Both Collins and Morris have worked for years in the health care industry serving patients and those who are vulnerable, leading them to introduce the Keep Illinois Data in Illinois tax credit legislation to strengthen health care and cybersecurity infrastructure while helping minority business owners develop data storage facilities. […]
In 2021, Collins and Morris helped to pass a data center tax credit law to offer an additional 5% credit for minority- and women-owned companies that are invested in traditionally disinvested areas. According to reports commissioned by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the 13 Chicago-area data center projects approved since 2020 have created more than 8,000 jobs for construction workers and $4.2 billion of direct investment into Chicago-area communities.
This past February, several data center experts testified in front of the Economic, Capital, and Technology Development Committee of the Chicago City Council to discuss the tax revenue from data centers in other states, highlight the benefits to storing Illinois data within the state and discuss how that could impact revenue for communities.
“The average data center creates 50 or more new full-time high-paying jobs. Each individual data center also employs more than at least 3,000 people across numerous industries to design, build, and deliver the facility,” said Ross Litkenhous, a data center expert and the vice chair of Falls Church Economic Development. “On average, data centers generate $15 in direct local tax revenue for every $1 in public service costs. Other commercial real estate projects average 3-to-1.”
Collins and Morris are continuing to work with advocates on Senate Bill 3939 in the final weeks of the spring legislative session.
* Sen. Seth Lewis…
Just days after representatives of the Chicago Bears unveiled a multi-billion-dollar plan for a new lakefront stadium in Chicago, State Senator Seth Lewis (R-Bartlett), Minority Spokesperson for the Senate Appropriations- Public Safety & Infrastructure Committee, asked some pointed questions of leaders of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (ISFA) when they appeared before the committee with their budget request for Fiscal Year 2025 on Tuesday. Appearing on behalf of the ISFA were Chief Executive Officer Frank Bilecki, Chief Financial Officer Dana Phillips Goodum, and General Council Maria Saldaña.
“The rumor mill has been running wild since last week’s new stadium proposal announcement, and I felt we needed to separate fact from fiction,” said Lewis. “First and foremost, people need to understand that the Sports Facilities Authority does not have the ability to just build a new stadium. The Authority can only carry out the conditions set forth in legislation approved by the General Assembly, and at this time there is no such legislation before us.”
At the hearing, Bilecki explained that the ISFA’s responsibilities are limited to the payment of debt service obligations to bond holders for Guaranteed Rate Field and Soldier Field, to provide for the safety and structural integrity and character of Guaranteed Rate Field and the surrounding property, and to provide financial assistance to the Chicago Park District for the maintenance and capital improvements to Soldier Field. He also explained that the debt for these sports facilities is structured for repayment largely through a percentage of the Chicago hotel tax and the statewide hotel tax. […]
Bilecki said LGDF funds have been used to subsidize bond payments in recent years and will likely be needed in amounts that could total up to $20 million per year through the end of the bond repayment schedule in 2033.
The total ISFA budget request for Fiscal year 2025 was $80.275 million.
* A good point from yesterday’s transit consolidation react…
*** Statewide ***
* BND | A day after lawsuit filed over state rep’s Facebook page, ‘critical comments’ are restored: Rep. Charlie Meier, a Republican from Okawville who represents the 109th House District in the metro-east, declined to comment Tuesday on the lawsuit and the status of the comments on his Facebook post from mid-April. Tom DeVore, the attorney who represents the four plaintiffs, said Tuesday he would be interested in reaching a settlement of the lawsuit after seeing all of the comments had been restored to Meier’s page.
*IL Corn Growers Association | New GREET Model Will Limit Availability of Cleaner Jet Fuel in the Short Term: Illinois corn farmers are very concerned by the announcement from the U.S. Department of Treasury (USDOT) limiting corn-based ethanol’s contribution to the decarbonization of the aviation sector. Yesterday’s update to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne GREET model now pushes farmers to implement a bundle of three additional on-farm conservation practices – cover cropping, minimized tillage, and nitrogen management – for their corn to qualify to make ethanol for the Sustainable Aviation Fuel market and access the tax credits available in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA credit requires a total 50 percent reduction in GHG emissions. Today’s announcement significantly limits farmers’ options for reaching emission targets through the end of the year. New guidance and a rulemaking process will occur for SAF tax credits effective January 1, 2025.
* Crain’s | Your tax refund and other state checks could start arriving late, Mendoza warns: Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is challenging the U.S. Postal Service as it considers condensing one of its processing centers in Springfield, demanding proof that the move would not result in delays for residents getting checks in the mail. “It (is) our understanding that the proposal would require such mail first to be transported to a distribution center in St. Louis, Mo., which is 100 miles south, then to be redirected to recipients living in the Chicago area some 300 miles north,” Mendoza said in a letter addressed to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. “Likewise, I have the same concern if the distribution center is in the Chicago area when state payments are to be redirected to downstate Illinois.”
* WCIA | Deadline approaching for Illinois residents to get a REAL ID: One year from now, Illinois residents will be required to possess a REAL ID card to board flights and visit certain federal offices. After May 7th, 2025, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will no longer accept identification that does not meet the standards established in the REAL ID Act of 2005, which was passed in response to the 9/11 attacks.
* WCIA | Student-designed postcards available at this year’s IL State Fair: For the second year in a row, Springfield School District 186 and the Illinois State Fair teamed up to present students at Ridgely Elementary School an opportunity to design postcards for the State Fair. In their art classes, students designed postcards that captured their creative view of the State Fair, highlighting rides, food and more.
*** Chicago ***
* Sun-Times | New police stats give City Council ammo to support keeping ShotSpotter: In making the case to tie Mayor Brandon Johnson’s hands on canceling the ShotSpotter contract, City Council members have repeatedly cited faster response times and the number of gunshot detection alerts not accompanied by a 911 call. South and West side alderpersons representing the city’s most violent police districts have argued that Chicago police officers never would have known about those incidents without ShotSpotter.
* Tribune | Who is DCASE’s new commissioner? A few questions for Clinée Hedspeth: In March, Johnson announced former art appraiser and curator Clinée Hedspeth as Harkey’s successor. Hedspeth has known Johnson for 20 years; they both got their start in politics working together in the offices of Oak Park representatives Don Harmon and Deborah L. Graham. She later worked for Johnson as his legislative director from 2018 to 2021, when he was Cook County commissioner.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Daily Southtown | Homer Township Republican committeeperson race to be decided by lot following judge’s order: A Will County judge ruled in favor of Homer Township Supervisor Steve Balich’s request to get a ballot for his opponent tossed out, which results in a tie for the position of Republican precinct committeeperson that will be decided by lot. Judge John Anderson wrote in his opinion that one ballot cast for Homer Glen resident Tami O’Brien was not initialed by an election judge and could not be counted. A handful of ballots that were initialed in the wrong spot were not considered in this case and were counted.
*** Downstate ***
* SJ-R | Staffer: Springfield school district’s Lawrence Education Center is closing: A Springfield District 186 program that caters to adults seeking a high school diploma and other workforce services is shutting its doors after the school year. Staff members at Lawrence Education Center were informed about the decision from LEC administration last week. Lawrence Education Center’s workplace coordinator Alex Rockford went public with the announcement at Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting.
*** National ***
* Rolling Stone | Louisiana Lawmakers Move to Criminalize Possession of Abortion Pills: State Sen. Thomas Pressly (R) filed Senate Bill 276 in honor of his sister, whose husband slipped abortion medication in her drink without her consent. The House Criminal Justice Committee heard multiple bills regarding abortion Tuesday, and there was not much buzz surrounding this particular one, until Pressly submitted the set of amendments that would classify the abortion medications mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV controlled substances under Louisiana law. […] The doctor says she had been texting with colleagues throughout the day, and they are all in “complete shock” about the amendment. “This was not on anyone’s radar at all — it feels very sneaky,” she adds. “Your husband should not slip you abortion pills without you knowing it; that story is terrible. But linking that with this is totally backwards.”
* Reuters | US Bird Flu Outbreak Spreads to Chickens, Cattle, Raises Concerns Over Human Infections: The outbreak of H5N1 bird flu virus has spread to dairy cows for the first time in the United States, raising concerns about it spreading to humans through the nation’s milk supply. Since 2022, bird flu in the United States has infected over 90 million chickens, more than 9,000 wild birds, 34 dairy herds, one person in Texas who came in close contact with infected cattle and another after exposure to poultry.
A group of Jewish organizations that includes the the Anti-Defamation League Midwest are calling for Northwestern University President Michael Schill’s removal, saying he failed to prevent the spread of antisemitism on campus after agreeing to a deal with encampment protesters demanding the school end all ties with Israel.
In a joint press release, the ADL Midwest, StandWithUs and The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law said the calls are coming “in response to the reprehensible and dangerous agreement reached between President Schill and leaders of the university’s encampment protests.”
“We call on President Schill to resign immediately and trust that, if he fails to resign, the Board of Trustees will step in as the leaders the University needs and remove him,” a joint statement read.
“For the last seven months — and longer — Jewish Northwestern students have been harassed and intimated by blatant antisemitism on campus, worsening since Oct. 7. Yesterday, President Schill signed an agreement with the perpetrators of that harassment and intimidation, rewarding them for their hate.”
Isabel and I talked it over and decided it was a good time to ask Gov. Pritzker about the Northwestern situation. Isabel is an NU alum as well.
* Here’s Isabel’s question and the governor’s response…
Q: Do you support the Jewish organizations’ call for Northwestern’s president to step down?
Pritzker: I support the Jewish organizations. I’m not about calling for people to step down. What I support is the fact that we need to protect not just Jewish students but all students on campuses where there are protests. And so that’s why I’ve been in regular communication with our state universities, their presidents and Jewish organizations on those campuses.
Somebody else interrupted her so she wasn’t able to get in a follow-up. But somebody else did ask a question about the topic…
Q: The Northwestern protests, all the college campus protests have to do with pushing for a divestment from universities and these companies. I wonder what your thoughts are on just the merits of these protests. Does that accomplish what the protesters hope it would? Is that a reasonable call for them to be making in this time?
Pritzker: I don’t think that’s the reason that you’re seeing the protests. I think you’ve seen people protest for a variety of reasons. Let me be clear. There are anti-war protesters out there. There are people who are anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian, which is different than just being anti-war. And there are some bad actors, too. There are people who are yelling anti-Semitic epithets and are, and have forever been bigoted. And we want to make sure that we’re keeping everybody safe on campus. That’s my focus, keeping everybody safe on campus. We want to protect free speech rights but not hate speech rights. [Crosstalk] And protesting is fine, impeding academic operations is not.
OK, everybody take at least two deep breaths before commenting. And stay on topic. This is a state blog. Remember that.
* Keep in mind before going further that Illinois limits the number of questions that can appear on a statewide ballot to three.
Not saying, just saying, but here’s the SJ-R on March 8…
An advisory question, asking whether parents should have to grant approval for their children to receive gender-affirming care, could be added to the ballot.
“Shall the written consent from a minor’s parent or guardian be required before any entity, person, clinic or school can provide a minor (under the age of 18 years) any non-emergency medical procedure, medication, pharmaceutical, or any gender modification procedure, gender identification counseling or gender therapy?,” the question reads.
Advocates were in Springfield [in February], collecting signatures and discussing the referendum. The push has the backing of the far-right Illinois Freedom Caucus and former gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Ives.
Another proponent is Illinois House District 96 Republican candidate Dr. Lisa Smith, who will face state Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, in November.
“I do not want anyone making health decisions for any of my children without me being involved,” she said, previously losing to Scherer in 2022.
Creates the Election Worker Protection and Candidate Accountability Referendum Act. Directs the State Board of Elections to cause the following advisory question to be submitted to the voters at the general election on November 5, 2024: “Should any candidate appearing on the Illinois ballot for federal, State, or local office be subject to civil penalties if the candidate interferes or attempts to interfere with an election worker’s official duties?”
Creates the Property Tax Relief and Fairness Referendum Act. Directs the State Board of Elections to cause the following advisory question to be submitted to the voters at the general election on November 5, 2024: “Should the Illinois Constitution be amended to create an additional 3% tax on income greater than $1,000,000 for the purpose of dedicating funds raised to property tax relief?”
Creates the Assisted Reproductive Health Referendum Act. Directs the State Board of Elections to cause the following advisory question to be submitted to the voters at the general election on November 5, 2024: “Should all medically appropriate assisted reproductive treatments, including, but not limited to, in vitro fertilization, be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides coverage for pregnancy benefits, without limitation on the number of treatments?” Requires immediate certification by the State Board of Elections of the advisory questions of public policy created by these new Acts.
Again, not saying, just saying, but if the General Assembly puts three questions on the statewide ballot, it would crowd out everything else.
It’s just a bill, of course, but what are your thoughts on these proposals?
…Adding… As the House was preparing to take up Leader Hoffman’s bill, the Republicans asked for a one-hour caucus.
Q: Some are saying to look at Karina’s Bill, which would require police to confiscate firearms in domestic [violence] types of situations with protective orders. Your thoughts on that issue?
Gov. Pritzker: “Well I want to say in general I support the concept of the bill. I will say that if you listen to the State Police and actually all the other police departments too, it’s quite difficult to remove a firearm from somebody, even if they have given up their FOID card. But in the instance where you’ve got to go confiscate the firearm, literally you have to bring sometimes four officers to one situation in order to remove the weapon. And if somebody doesn’t want to give it to you, it becomes quite complicated and maybe dangerous.”
* From Amanda Pyron, Executive Director of The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence…
“Karina’s Bill would strengthen the law allowing domestic violence survivors to request the firearm remedy during the order of protection process while also clarifying that judges can issue a search warrant to retrieve a gun from an accused abuser if they deem it necessary. We strongly support giving law enforcement the tools they need to carry out any resulting search warrants quickly and safely, and we are proud to have the support of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, who serves the highest number of orders of protection in the state.
“We agree with Gov. Pritzker’s comments that domestic violence must be something that is taken very seriously by our lawmakers and criminal justice system, and we appreciate his support for the concept of Karina’s Bill. Gov. Pritzker rightly points out that domestic violence and firearms can be an extremely dangerous and too often deadly combination.
“We understand that removing a firearm in these situations is sometimes difficult for law enforcement, but we cannot ignore the serious peril many domestic violence survivors endure when requesting an order of protection with a firearm involved. Research shows that risk of intimate partner homicide increases 500% when abusers have access to a firearm. We also cannot abide by domestic abusers illegally possessing firearms with revoked FOID cards, a situation that has resulted in the recent murders of Julie Elguezabal, Adriana Lopez, Maria Roque, Karina Gonzalez and Daniela Alvarez, and others.
“Karina’s Bill (SB2633) is a common sense step to protect domestic violence survivors, one that is in place in several other states, and we strongly urge its passage this session.”
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The vital role of Illinois hospitals and health systems in health and well-being is only part of the story. While best known for treating everything from cancer and broken bones to delivering babies and performing lifesaving surgeries, hospitals are also major contributors to the state economy—to the tune of $117.7 billion annually.
A new report expands on hospital and health system contributions to Illinois’ economy: Together, the Illinois hospital community:
• Spends $50.3 billion on payroll, $61.8 billion on supplies and services, and $5.6 billion on capital.
• Supports working families through 445,000 full-time jobs.
• Creates 1.4 jobs in other sectors for every hospital job.
Hospitals across Illinois are economic anchors, and are oftentimes the largest employers in the communities they serve. They fuel job growth as consistent creators of healthcare jobs in Illinois, which have increased 11% between 2010 and 2023. All this comes as hospitals face financial challenges, with an average 3% operating loss as a percentage of net revenue in 2022.
Illinois hospitals are essential to communities, essential to families and essential to the economy. Learn more about the hospital community’s economic impact.
The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition introduced a hefty legislative package Tuesday outlining potential solutions in the power, buildings and transportation sectors. […]
In targeting Illinois’ electric grid, one of the bills seeks to speed up the approval and connection of clean energy projects, update state energy efficiency policies, reduce barriers to building transmission lines and require transparent energy planning by municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives. […]
A second bill would look to tighten up energy efficiency and move buildings away from gas. […]
The legislative package also zeros in on Illinois’ largest greenhouse gas emissions source: transportation. A third bill looks to address vehicle pollution and to go “beyond electrifying vehicles to include comprehensive solutions” such as improving transit, according to the release.
* Sen. Rachel Ventura…
In an effort to expand clean energy infrastructure across Illinois, State Senator Rachel Ventura is leading an initiative that would allow local governments to apply for loans through the Illinois Finance Authority Climate Bank. […]
Senate Bill 3597 would allow units of local government to apply and obtain a loan from the Illinois Finance Authority Climate Bank to build, purchase, remodel or improve clean energy infrastructure.
After the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act passed in 2021, cities in Illinois were allowed to borrow funds from the Climate Bank. Between 2022 and 2023, the IFA/Climate Bank has mobilized approximately $627 million in private capital for climate finance projects, including water quality infrastructure, solid waste management and Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy projects.
Currently, units of local government borrows from the bond market, but by borrowing from the Climate Bank, they will receive a lower interest rate, saving all taxpayers money.
In 2023, the first full year of IFA’s designation as the Climate Bank, it mobilized $256 million for climate finance purposes. In early April, IFA/Climate Bank became a sub awardee of a $5 billion national federal award to the Coalition for Green Capital through the USEPA Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) of the Inflation Reduction Act. Additionally, IFA/Climate Bank submitted/participated in at least nine federal funding applications/awards. To date, they have received $60 million in federal funding awards, with more anticipated. […]
Senate Bill 3597 passed the House Financial Institutions and Licensing Committee on Tuesday and now heads to the full House for further consideration.
Under Illinois state law, to purchase delta-8 users must be at least 21, but a recently released Keck School of Medicine study found more than 11% of U.S. 12th graders used psychoactive delta-8 THC in 2023.
It is with these lack of regulations that the state legislature is considering a crackdown on the sale of these products. Through Senate Bill 3926, businesses that sell delta-8 or other unregulated hemp-derived products would face a $10,000 fine. […]
How quickly lawmakers act on the legislation remains unclear, but it has been met with mixed reception among Democrats.
Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-Chicago, tried to advance legislation last year regulating delta-8 products, outlawing the sale to those 21 and younger while also taxing them and similarly adding a new class of licenses for hemp businesses. He and Sen. Lakesia Collins, D-Chicago, said an outright ban does not make sense.
SB3926, filed April 10, has not made it out of committee and has no extension.
* Executive director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois Tiffany Chappell Ingram…
While synthetic THC intoxicants like delta-8 products are derived from hemp, they are altered with additives and chemicals to heighten their intoxicating effect, and yet face no oversight or testing.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that delta-8 can contain unsafe chemicals and harmful substances. There are no age requirements for buying these products and no rules for where stores selling Delta-8 can be located, meaning products containing intoxicants are being sold in gas stations, smoke shops, bakeries and mini-marts near schools. There are no packaging requirements, so products containing delta-8 can look nearly identical to a package of candy or a bag of chips.
To protect children and consumers of all ages, Illinois lawmakers must pass the bipartisan Hemp Consumer Products Act to pause the sale of synthetic THC intoxicants and create a regulatory structure for other consumer hemp products, such as CBD. This will allow businesses to continue to sell the safe hemp products many consumers rely on, while preventing access to synthetic THC intoxicants that pose a danger to our communities, until further study. […]
This unregulated market directly undermines social equity license holders who worked for so long to establish their dispensaries as legal, well-regulated businesses. Newly-opened dispensaries are particularly disadvantaged when it comes to competing with retailers that sell synthesized THC intoxicants due to the expensive nature of licensing and taxes.
Illinois lawmakers are one step closer to banning corporal punishment in private schools and home-school settings.
The state Senate Education Committee passed a bill Tuesday with bipartisan support banning the practice in non-public schools. The bill would ban school employees and volunteers from deliberately inflicting pain on a student in response to their behavior. It’s already illegal in public schools. […]
The bill would not ban the use of physical restraints to prevent a student from harming themselves or someone else or causing damage to physical property. […]
State Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, and state Sen. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, voted against the bill. They cited concerns about the legislation potentially infringing on parental rights as it does not exempt home school settings.
* Press release…
A major amendment to a bill designed to increase employment opportunities and phase out Illinois’ practice of paying some workers with disabilities less than the state’s minimum wage has the unprecedented support of a broad industry, advocacy, cross-disability coalition of legislators and advocates, who will discuss their revised proposal at a May 2 news conference.
The Dignity in Pay Act, as outlined in Amendment 3 to House Bill 793, proposes ending the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities later this decade (in July 2029) and creates a state fund to help employers who hire disabled workers to transition to more cost-effective supported employment options.
Legislators and advocates will discuss the compromises made in a new amendment to the bill, designed to secure passage in the spring legislative session, including an extended implementation date for the phase out, and new resources for disability service providers as the change is made. Supporters include the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Illinois Department of Human Rights, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, Jewish United Fund, AFSCME Council 31, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, the Illinois AFL-CIO, and an array of groups who provide direct service and support to Illinoisans with disabilities.
Long a pipe dream of transit advocates, the idea of combining the Chicago region’s four public transportation agencies into a single super-entity is suddenly gathering momentum.
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning urged lawmakers last year to consider the seismic move, spurred by a looming fiscal cliff and a growing crisis of confidence in the CTA’s leadership. The nonpartisan Civic Federation lent its support to the idea last week, and now some lawmakers are out with their own proposal to wind down the CTA, Metra, Pace and the Regional Transportation Authority and establish the Metropolitan Mobility Authority in their place.
The plan is hugely ambitious and would doubtlessly take years to realize — and that’s only if it survives the rigors of the Springfield legislative process and earns a signature from the governor. […]
Where does the new revenue come from?
Sponsors of the legislation say they’ll accompany their proposal with a call for $1.5 billion in new revenue to feed the new mega-agency — but they haven’t come up with sources for the money, the Chicago Tribune reports.
White Castle has reached a $9.4 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit involving Illinois’ controversial biometric information privacy law.
The deal, which received preliminary approval by a federal judge in Chicago last week, looks like a bargain, considering the $17 billion in potential damages the company could have faced if it had gone to trial and lost. The settlement comes as state lawmakers are considering a change to the law that could reduce damages in the future. […]
Legislators are considering whether to change the law to prevent fines from accumulating every time biometric information, such as a fingerprint, was collected, instead focusing on the number of individuals impacted. Proposed legislation also would allow for workers or customers to provide consent electronically.
The bill has passed the Illinois Senate, and a House of Representatives committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill this morning.
“There have been a lot of BIPA reform bills introduced over the years,” says Sen. Bill Cunningham, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the legislation. “What we’ve seen in the past is, going further than this is difficult to achieve.
School support workers are asking Illinois lawmakers to address a personnel shortage in their respective fields.
Speech pathologists, counselors, nurses and social workers were among the groups represented at a recent Illinois House Higher Education Committee hearing. […]
One proposal under consideration is House Bill 5492. The measure would establish paid internship and scholarship programs, subject to appropriation, for students in school support fields.
State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, said the shortage is spiraling downward.
HB5492 was re-referred to the House Rules Committee last month.
* Rep. Angie Guerrero-Cuellar…
State Rep. Angie Guerrero-Cuellar, D-Chicago, is demanding more resources to help first responders face the stresses of the job by advancing legislation to expand access to confidential counseling and mental health resources for police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians.
“When we support our police, paramedic and fire personnel as they respond to these life and death emergencies, we need to extend that same support as they work through on-the-job traumas in a safe, confidential setting,” Guerrero-Cuellar said. “Emergency first responders are heroes in every way, but they aren’t invulnerable to what they see and experience in their line of work. This legislation can and will positively shape the lives of our emergency responders statewide, by prioritizing their wellbeing and supporting their families.”
Currently, cities and counties that cover expenses related to the care of police officers and firefighters directly, rather than through a workers’ compensation insurer, are not required to cover costs associated with mental health counseling. Guerrero-Cuellar is working with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office to advance Senate Bill 3538, which would ensure these units of government cover counseling and other resources to meet the mental health needs of first responders. The legislation received bipartisan approval in the Senate.
Illinois senators could soon pass a plan to allow public and charter high schools to annually observe a week for students to learn about workers rights.
The “workplace readiness week” would include information about local, state, and federal laws and how the labor movement played a role in winning protections and benefits for workers.
Sen. Michael Halpin (D-Rock Island) said students could learn about wage and hour protections, worker safety, unemployment insurance and paid leave.
“This is not a mandate on any school district,” Halpin said. “They are free to adopt it or not. If they end up adopting it though, it does have the minimum requirements for what should be presented to students. It applies only to students in 11th and 12th grade.” […]
House Bill 4417 passed out of the Senate Education Committee on a 8-3 vote. The proposal now heads to the Senate floor for further consideration.
* Rep. La Shawn Ford…
State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago, will welcome exonerated individuals Wednesday in the Capitol Blue Room at 12:30 p.m. to discuss the need for Springfield to take action and raise compensation caps for those wrongfully convicted. […]
Currently, in Illinois exonerated individuals are capped on how much money they can receive. If they are imprisoned for five or less years, they cannot receive more than $85,350. The cap rises with each year served until a hard cap is reached after 14 years imprisonment at $199,150. Regardless of additional years a person is locked away, they cannot receive more than $199,150.
Ford is advocating for legislation (House Bills 1015 and 1016) that would award a fixed amount of $50,000 per year, prorated for partial years, to individuals wrongfully incarcerated. For years that a person was wrongfully on parole or probation or required to register as a sex offender, $25,000 would be awarded per year, with the amount prorated for partial years. Payment would max out at the state’s $2 million Court of Claims award limit, which rises with inflation.
House Bill 1015 is in the Senate, and currently has a pending amendment that reflects intent of House Bill 1015 and 1016.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
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* ICYMI: Bears might need new playbook for initial lakefront stadium huddle with Pritzker aides. Sun-Times…
-The Chicago Bears on Wednesday will for the first time discuss their proposal for a lakefront stadium with two top aides for Gov. JB Pritzker.
- Team officials are likely to hear that there isn’t a magic number to get them close to wiping away the governor’s ideological opposition, according to a source with knowledge of Pritzker’s thinking.
- Pritzker has said a new Bears stadium is not a priority for him — and that taxpayers would need to reap more of the benefits.
Governor Pritzker will give remarks at the annual IMA/IRMA Business Day luncheon at 12:30 pm. Click here to watch.
* Press release…
Community leaders from across Illinois convened in the state capital today to call on the State of Illinois to permanently fund a 2021 law that has provided much-needed dollars to community violence intervention (CVI) organizations combatting gun violence. At a rally in front of the Lincoln Statue in Springfield, elected officials and community leaders gathered in support of the Reimagine Public Safety Act (RPSA).
State Representative Justin Slaughter, a sponsor of the law, told the crowd that permanent funding for RPSA will make our communities safer and establish Illinois as a leader in the field of gun violence reduction.
“RPSA is the foundation for a public health approach to addressing gun violence. Our goal is to save lives by preventing shootings from happening instead of simply arresting and incarcerating after the fact,” Slaughter said.
Illinois State Senator Robert Peters, who also sponsored RPSA, said, “We have built the infrastructure needed to take violence prevention to scale. It’s time to broaden our investment and commit for the long term.”
In Chicago, the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, an alliance of more than 50 foundations and other funders, the business community through the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and local governments are collaborating to support and expand a network of CVI organizations serving communities with the highest levels of gun violence.
The goal, announced in February at an event with the Governor, the Mayor and legislative leaders, is to reduce gun violence by 50 percent in the next five years and 75 percent over the next decade, in part, through a dramatic increase in the number of highest risk individuals served by CVI and allied organizations.
Since 2016, the private sector has contributed more than $300 million in support of CVI. More recently, local and state governments have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support CVI.
A growing body of research from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago affirms the positive impact of CVI. Advocates for permanent funding for RPSA are seeking more than $140 million in state funds in the proposed 2025 budget.
* Pantragraph | Harmon, Welch would get national Democratic Party spots under proposal from state party chair: Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, and House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, would become members of the Democratic National Committee by virtue of their positions under a proposal from state party chair Lisa Hernandez. Hernandez, a state representative from Cicero who serves on Welch’s House leadership team, told the 34-member Illinois Democratic State Central Committee on Monday she will seek to amend the state party’s bylaws to include language that would make the president of the Illinois Senate and the speaker of the Illinois House “base” DNC members if they are Democrats.
* Tribune | Gov. J.B. Pritzker and wife donate key Civil War document to Lincoln presidential library: On Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his wife, M.K., donated that historic document to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. The couple acquired it at auction for $471,000. It’s now one of about 13 million documents and artifacts amassed at the Springfield library and museum. “This was an act of leadership that required careful consideration but also courage and immediate action to take every action possible to keep the nation intact,” the governor said to a small audience during a ceremony at the library, flanked by his wife, moments before the framed document was unveiled. “To me, this document and the museum as a whole serves as a reminder of how far we’ve come as a nation. Despite our current divisions and challenges, more than 150 years after a terrible Civil War, our nation perseveres.”
*** Statehouse News ***
* BND | Lawsuit filed against metro-east state rep for allegedly blocking Facebook comments: The suit was filed in Madison County court by attorney Tom DeVore on behalf of Jared Poettker of New Baden, Donald Moore of Troy, Sharon Williams of Belleville and Roger Respondek of Clinton. Meier, a Republican from Okawville, could not be reached for comment Monday night. The lawsuit doesn’t include specific comments that were critical of Meier, but DeVore said in an interview that one of the issues involves campaign donations by the Illinois Education Association, which is a union for teachers. DeVore said Meier has received $240,000 from the union since he took office in 2013.
* Cook County Chronicle | Buckner draws on sports, political background as state representative: After spending six years working for Senator Durbin, Buckner headed to New Orleans for a little over two years, seeking a new challenge. “I felt like we were doing God’s work down there,” he said. “We were literally rebuilding the city that had been devasted by Hurricane Katrina … We were really fighting against this narrative that they were stupid for even existing in that space. So, we were building everything from roads and infrastructure and bridges to the school system, public works system, New Orleans Police Department.” After about a year, however, even though loving the work he was doing, Buckner began to feel like he was “cheating” on Chicago.
* Crain’s | As White Castle pays up, the Legislature considers tweaking Illinois’ biometric privacy law: White Castle has reached a $9.4 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit involving Illinois’ controversial biometric information privacy law. The deal, which received preliminary approval by a federal judge in Chicago last week, looks like a bargain, considering the $17 billion in potential damages the company could have faced if it had gone to trial and lost. The settlement comes as state lawmakers are considering a change to the law that could reduce damages in the future.
* Capitol News Illinois | After 3 years, state poised to enforce law aiming to end lending discrimination: The idea was simple. By requiring lenders – primarily banks – to make credit available in all parts of the communities they served, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, the government could redirect the flow of private capital back into areas that had suffered from decades of systemic disinvestment. Nearly half a century later, many people in Illinois argue the federal CRA has failed to live up to its promise. Whether that’s because the law was too narrow in scope, or because the lending business itself has changed dramatically over the decades, urban metropolitan areas like Chicago are still plagued with crumbling neighborhoods where few lenders are willing to invest.
* Crain’s | Springfield taking cautious approach with Tier 2 pension changes, avoiding sweeteners: Gov. J.B. Pritzker mounted a sign on the wall outside of his Capitol office after Illinois received its first credit upgrade under his tenure. Though he didn’t detail what that sign said during a recent press conference in Springfield, the subtext reads: “Caution.” “The reason we’ve gotten so many credit upgrades is we’ve been very careful about how we’re managing the fiscal condition of this state and our pensions, which are a deep concern to investors in our bonds,” Pritzker said April 18.
*** Chicago ***
* WBBM | Merger? Transit agencies sending mixed signals: The CTA, however, released a statement saying that the agency remains dedicated to addressing the root of the region’s transit challenges: A decades-long lack of sufficient funding. The Chicago Transit Authority pushes back hard against the proposal to overhaul and unify the northern Illinois transportation system.
* Tribune | Long-awaited Chicago policy doesn’t do enough to protect migrating birds, advocates say: But Chicago bird safety advocates say they are disappointed that the city’s policy update, now in draft form, does not make bird safety measures mandatory. Instead, anti-collision measures, which can include installing glass with tiny markings, are included in a menu of sustainable design options from which developers working on affected projects can pick and choose. “We feel it’s not adequate,” said Prince, chair of Bird Friendly Chicago, a coalition of local birding and conservation groups that’s been working for bird-safe building measures since 2016.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Naperville Sun | DuPage overdose deaths down 24% in 2023, but ‘we still have a long way to go,’ coroner says: The drop, Coroner Richard Jorgensen says, is as much an affirmation that countermeasures the county has developed are working as it is a reminder that active oversight must continue to keep the issue at bay. There were 114 overdose deaths in DuPage County last year. That’s 36 fewer than 2022, which saw 150 drug-related fatalities, data shows.
* WCIA | Rantoul hosting public meeting to discuss PFAs in water from Chanute Air Force Base: Representatives from the Department of the Air Force will be answering questions on the contamination from the base from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The Department of the Air Force is planning a Remedial Investigation to help identify the extent of contamination and its health and environmental effects.
*** National ***
* Crain’s | The bottom-line impact of rescheduling marijuana: Cannabis stocks rose quickly yesterday after reports that the Justice Department has agreed to recommend the change. But the real payoff comes from tax law. If marijuana is rescheduled from a Class 1 to Class 3 controlled substance, cannabis companies such as Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries, Verano Holdings and Cresco Labs will be able to write-off typical corporate expenses like other businesses. The long-awaited move will mean $70 million to $100 million to the bottom line, potentially starting this year, which will further boost the value of the companies.
* NBC | Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pro-abortion-rights group sinks money into Florida ballot question: Think Big America, Pritzker’s not-for-profit group that has funded abortion-rights efforts across the country, told NBC News on Tuesday it is donating $500,000 to the Floridians Protecting Freedom ballot initiative campaign. The funding follows Think Big’s donation of $1 million to the ballot campaign in Nevada and $250,000 so far to Arizona’s ballot campaign.
