* The 2025 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Democratic Illinois State Senator is a tie. Robert Peters…
Peters has come into his own and is truly a leader in his caucus. He remains with the principles and values he came into office with while recognizing what leadership needs. He is a go to for passing difficult legislation that others are hesitant to touch and he does it with great humor.
He worked endlessly to get this transit reform package passed while carrying other important legislation and working kindly with staff and lobbyists.
* The 2025 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Republican Illinois State Senator goes to Seth Lewis…
State Senator Seth Lewis (R-Bartlett) is an eloquent spokesperson - he offered a robust debate on the budget bill as head of the GOP Budget Negotiation Team. He is very community-minded and responsive - and he showed some courage by being the lone GOP vote on the transit bill
Congratulations!
I somehow forgot to post this earlier today, so now it’s too late to start another category on a Friday afternoon. I checked and we have five-days’ worth of categories for next week, so we’ll be fine.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday issuing a single regulation framework for artificial intelligence, undermining the power of individual states.
“To win, United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation,” the order says. “But excessive State regulation thwarts this imperative.”
The Trump administration, with the aid of AI and crypto czar David Sacks, has been pursuing a path that would allow federal rules to preempt state regulations on AI, a move meant to keep big Democratic-led states like California and New York from exerting their control over the growing industry.
Sacks and fellow tech investor and podcaster Chamath Palihapitiya stood beside Trump during the signing in the Oval Office. He was also joined by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to sustain and enhance the United States’ global AI dominance through a minimally burdensome national policy framework for AI.
Sec. 3. AI Litigation Task Force. Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General shall establish an AI Litigation Task Force (Task Force) whose sole responsibility shall be to challenge State AI laws inconsistent with the policy set forth in section 2 of this order, including on grounds that such laws unconstitutionally regulate interstate commerce, are preempted by existing Federal regulations, or are otherwise unlawful in the Attorney General’s judgment, including, if appropriate, those laws identified pursuant to section 4 of this order. The Task Force shall consult from time to time with the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and the Assistant to the President and Counsel to the President regarding the emergence of specific State AI laws that warrant challenge. […]
Sec. 5. Restrictions on State Funding. (a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Commerce, through the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, shall issue a Policy Notice specifying the conditions under which States may be eligible for remaining funding under the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program that was saved through my Administration’s “Benefit of the Bargain” reforms, consistent with 47 U.S.C. 1702(e)-(f). That Policy Notice must provide that States with onerous AI laws identified pursuant to section 4 of this order are ineligible for non-deployment funds, to the maximum extent allowed by Federal law.
“An executive order doesn’t/can’t preempt state legislative action,” posted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on X Monday in response to Trump’s Truth Social post announcing the upcoming order, “Congress could, theoretically, preempt states through legislation.” DeSantis has recently proposed a series of AI-related measures.
John Bergmayer, the legal director of the nonprofit advocacy group Public Knowledge, agreed. “They’re trying to find a way to bypass Congress with these various theories in the executive order. Legally, I don’t think they work very well.”
In a post on X on Tuesday, Sacks suggested that the federal government can override state AI laws because it has the power to regulate interstate commerce.
Bergmayer disagreed, “States are, in fact, allowed to regulate interstate commerce. They do it all the time. And the Supreme Court just recently said it was fine.”
Bergmayer cited a 2023 Supreme Court decision where the court supported California’s power to regulate its pork industry even though the regulations affected farmers in other states.
A series of new Illinois laws set to take effect in 2026 will impact workers’ rights, including limiting the use of artificial intelligence.
An amendment to the Illinois Human Rights Act, which will take effect on January 1, will prohibit employment discrimination that utilizes artificial intelligence to consider factors like race or ZIP codes when making hiring decisions.
The bill also covers other protected classes including gender, religion and sexual orientation, according to the legislation.
According to the text of the legislation, the bill also prohibits AI using race, ZIP codes or other factors when determining acceptance or rejection of credit applications in the state of Illinois.
* Other Illinois AI news…
* 2024: Mayer Brown | Illinois Passes Artificial Intelligence (AI) Law Regulating Employment Use Cases: Based on the latest legislative developments, Illinois’s AI law underscores that use of AI in the employment context carries higher risks. Employers that are considering using AI for recruiting or other human resources-related decisions should consider conducting a bias audit on their AI systems and/or conducting sufficient diligence on the AI vendor providing such a tool. Those assessments should look at whether AI tools disproportionately impact certain groups—such as those of a certain race, gender, or age. Employers should document their analysis in an AI-impact assessment, keep records of any formal audits conducted on the AI system, and continuously monitor the AI system once it is used in the real world in order to make adjustments if the AI system deviates. Finally, employers should be transparent about their use of AI through appropriate AI pre-use notices.
* 2025: Press Release | Gov Pritzker Signs Legislation Prohibiting AI Therapy in Illinois: The Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act prohibits anyone from using AI to provide mental health and therapeutic decision-making, while allowing the use of AI for administrative and supplementary support services for licensed behavioral health professionals. This will protect patients from unregulated and unqualified AI products, while also protecting the jobs of Illinois’ thousands of qualified behavioral health providers. This will also protect vulnerable children amid the rising concerns over AI chatbot use in youth mental health services.
* Today: JDSupra | Sneak Peek: Illinois AI Workplace Notice Rulemaking is Coming – What to Expect + Your 5-Step Action Plan: As Illinois employers that use AI in employment decisions ready themselves for the new anti-discrimination, notice, and record-keeping requirements starting January 1, the Illinois Department of Human Rights is in the process of drafting the long-anticipated rules for compliance. Indeed, the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) recently met with stakeholders to propose rules to implement the new law. How will this big change impact your workplace? Here’s what you need to know about the state’s new employment-related AI law, the proposed rule, and the five steps you can take now to prepare.
* And a response from Rep. Dan Didech, who has sponsored some AI-related bills…
Many aspects of AI regulation should be addressed at the federal level, but this week’s executive order takes the wrong approach. By threatening to withhold statutorily guaranteed federal funds, it unlawfully punishes states that have acted responsibly in the absence of federal leadership.
States like Illinois have enacted targeted, commonsense guardrails to protect children, prevent discrimination, and ensure transparency when AI is used to make consequential decisions affecting people’s lives. These measures respond to real and documented harms and do not impede innovation or competitiveness.
The executive order also reflects a troubling pattern of the federal administration attempting to strong-arm private companies into advancing the president’s political agenda. Its directive to target state laws based on vague notions of “truthful outputs” risks being used to chill dissent, pressure AI developers, and coerce American companies into echoing government propaganda.
Illinois will not be bullied into abandoning its responsibility to protect its residents. Some aspects of AI policy are appropriately addressed through a uniform federal framework, while others reasonably reflect state-level judgment based on local needs and circumstances. Any federal approach should respect that balance, support innovation, and prioritize public safety over partisan interests.
…Adding… Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid…
“Once again, Donald Trump is trampling on our Constitutional separation of powers, while writing a blank check to corporations. This order prioritizes the interests of Big Tech over protecting consumers, ignoring broad bipartisan concerns about the social and ethical impacts of unfettered AI.
“I have been part of bipartisan efforts urging Congress not to preempt state regulation of AI. We have been successful, because it’s undeniable that AI can cause real harm to our residents through privacy invasions, algorithmic discrimination, deepfakes, and job losses.
“Genuine leadership on AI requires robust safeguards, democratic input, and accountability — not a federal fiat that effectively deregulates one of the most transformative and potentially harmful technologies of our time. We in Illinois will not be cowed into submission. We will continue to provide leadership on necessary AI regulation to protect consumers.”
* Every now and then we take a look at what AG Kwame Raoul has been up to because much of it isn’t covered by the news media. Press release today…
ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL FILES LAWSUIT OVER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S UNLAWFUL NEW $100,000 FEE FOR H-1B VISA
Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over its unlawful policy imposing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions for highly-skilled foreign national workers.
In the lawsuit that will be filed, Raoul and the coalition allege the policy implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violates the law because it charges an additional, unwarranted fee that is contrary to Congress’ intent in establishing H-1B visas to temporarily fill positions in specialty occupations, like physicians, researchers, nurses and teachers. Additionally, the fee bypasses required rulemaking procedures and exceeds the authority granted to the executive branch under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
“The $100,000 visa fee is devastating for all states, including Illinois, and threatens the quality of education, healthcare, and other core services available to our residents,” Raoul said. “The H-1B visa is essential to alleviate nationwide labor shortages, and I will continue to work with fellow attorneys general in protecting this critical program.”
President Trump issued a proclamation in September imposing an unprecedented $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa petitions, undermining the purpose of the program and making it harder to address severe labor shortages in critical fields. The policy affects any visa application filed after Sept. 21, 2025, and purports to grant the Secretary of Homeland Security broad discretion to determine which petitions are subject to the fee or eligible for an exemption. Raoul and the coalition are concerned that this unjustified measure could be applied selectively against employers disfavored by the Trump administration.
Raoul and the coalition’s lawsuit explains that Congress has on many occasions since the H-1B visa program’s inception modified it to meet employers’ labor needs while protecting the interests of American workers to ensure that they are not wrongfully displaced. For example, Congress has enhanced enforcement, increased penalties, and set fees though legislation for to prevent misuse of the program.
In petitioning for an H-1B worker, employers must submit an application to show employment of the H-1B worker will not negatively affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
Fees associated with H-1B visas have long been established by DHS following the APA’s notice-and-comment process pursuant to congressional authority, which limits fees to a reasonable amount necessary to administer the program. Typically, an employer filing an initial H-1B petition would expect to pay between $960 to $7,595 in regulatory and statutory fees. The Trump administration’s $100,000 fee far exceeds the actual cost of processing H-1B petitions. By imposing this additional fee, Raoul and the attorneys general argue that the administration is acting arbitrarily and exceeding the fee-setting authority granted by Congress.
Additionally, the Trump administration issued the fee without going through the notice-and-comment process required by the APA and without considering the full range of impacts.
Raoul and the coalition’s lawsuit state hospitals and other healthcare centers rely on the H-1B visa program to hire physicians, surgeons and nurses. Without foreign-trained physicians, the United States is projecting a shortfall of 86,000 physicians by 2036. Additionally, educators are the third-largest occupation for H-1B visa holders, with nearly 30,000 educators receiving the visas, and nearly a thousand colleges and universities employ hundreds of H-1B personnel to support their research and education missions.
In Illinois’ 2023-2024 school year, 3,684 teaching positions remained unfilled. The lawsuit explains that rising H-1B visa costs are disrupting international recruitment to address staffing needs. Some Illinois schools rely on the H-1B program to hire specialized staff for difficult to fill positions, including bilingual teachers, special education teachers, and bilingual speech-language pathologists.
Joining Raoul in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin in filing the lawsuit.
* Tuesday…
ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL SECURES COURT VICTORY PREVENTING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FROM HALTING DEVELOPMENT OF WIND ENERGY
Chicago — Attorney General Kwame Raoul won his lawsuit against the Trump administration over its unlawful order to freeze all federal permitting of wind energy projects.
In May, Raoul and a coalition of attorneys general filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to indefinitely halt all federal approvals necessary for the development of offshore and onshore wind energy projects pending federal review. Today, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated those actions, ruling that they were arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law.
“Wind energy is a key component in Illinois’ transition to a renewable energy future,” Raoul said. “The Trump administration’s attempt to effectively halt all wind energy development was illegal and baseless. I am pleased with the court’s decision, and I will continue to push back against the president’s unlawful actions.”
On Jan. 20, President Trump issued a memorandum that, among other things, indefinitely froze all federal approvals needed for the development of wind energy projects pending federal review. Pursuant to this directive, federal agencies stopped all permitting and approval activities.
In their lawsuit, the attorneys general alleged that President Trump’s directive harmed their states’ efforts to secure reliable, diversified and affordable sources of energy to meet their increasing demand for electricity and help reduce emissions of harmful air pollutants; meet clean energy goals; and address climate change. The directive also threatened to thwart billions of dollars of states’ investments in wind industry infrastructure, supply chains and workforce development.
Illinois is one of the top states in the country for producing renewable energy from wind, and even more development of wind power in Illinois is planned for the near future.
The coalition argued that federal agencies’ actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal laws because the agencies, among other things, provided no reasoned explanation for categorically and indefinitely halting all wind energy approvals. The lawsuit also argued that the abrupt halt on all permitting violated numerous federal statutes that prescribe specific procedures and timelines for federal permitting and approvals, procedures the administration wholly disregarded in stopping wind-energy development altogether.
Attorney General Raoul was joined in filing the lawsuit by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.
* Last week…
ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL SECURES PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION BLOCKING PROVISION THAT CUTS OFF MEDICAID FUNDING FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD
Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul secured a preliminary injunction in an ongoing lawsuit to block the Trump administration from enforcing the “Defund Provision” in the recently enacted federal budget reconciliation law. The Defund Provision was designed to exclude Planned Parenthood facilities and other health centers that provide abortions from receiving federal Medicaid reimbursements for other essential health care services like cancer screenings, testing for and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), birth control, and other critical medical services. Because long-standing federal law already prohibits federal dollars from being used to cover abortion care, the Defund Provision is intended to completely prevent these reproductive health clinics from receiving Medicaid dollars for providing any essential health care services to low-income patients.
In July, Raoul joined a coalition of 22 states in filing a lawsuit challenging the provision.
“Planned Parenthood facilities play a key role in our nation’s health and wellness by providing comprehensive care to more than 1 million Americans,” Raoul said. “The Defund Provision is a cruel and unconstitutional attempt to create confusion and attack abortion providers while burdening states’ agencies and health care systems. I’m pleased with the court’s ruling, and I will continue advocating for vital federal funding that ensures every person in Illinois has access to the health care services they need.”
The injunction, issued by Judge Indira Talwani from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, orders the Trump administration to not enforce the Defund Provision and requires the administration to ensure that Medicaid continues to be distributed as usual. Judge Talwani placed a seven-day administrative stay on the injunction to allow the administration an opportunity to appeal. […]
Attorney General Raoul was joined in filing the lawsuit by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
As 2025 draws to a close, Illinois has reached a critical inflection point in its 16-year effort to boost educational attainment. The state set an ambitious goal in 2009: 60% of adults would hold a postsecondary credential by 2025. The result? Illinois hit 57.1%, falling just shy of the target—but the real story is what comes next.
Our new analysis, published by the Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University, examines what this milestone means for Illinois’ future. We’ve found that while the state lacks a new vision to guide its next steps, the groundwork laid over the past 16 years offers valuable lessons for state and local leaders working to improve economic mobility.
Key findings:
• Progress made: Illinois increased adult postsecondary attainment from 38% in 2009 to 57.1% today—significant growth that occurred across all demographic groups.
• Persistent gaps: Despite overall gains, disparities remain stark for students from low-income households, students of color, English learners, and students with disabilities.
• Local innovation thrives: The Illinois Education and Career Success Network’s 20 Leadership Communities demonstrate that collective impact models work, especially during crises like the pandemic.
• Critical missing piece: Without a successor goal or statewide coordinating infrastructure, Illinois risks losing momentum on cross-agency collaboration that drove much of the progress.
What makes this timely:
As states nationwide grapple with declining college enrollment, workforce shortages, and equity gaps in education, Illinois’ experience offers a roadmap of both successes and cautionary lessons. With emerging industries like quantum computing, clean energy, and AI transforming Illinois’ economy, the need for an educated workforce has never been more urgent.
Why this matters now:
Illinois leaders haven’t yet developed a new postsecondary attainment vision for 2025 and beyond. This creates both a risk and an opportunity. Our report outlines two critical strategies: building a table of champions across education, workforce, and economic development systems, and investing in robust data infrastructure for continuous improvement.
As Illinois’ economy continues to diversify and its economic prospects improve as a result of recent developments in nascent industries such as quantum computing, clean energy, and artificial intelligence, it is even more important that Illinois’ public institutions organize around a collective vision of how public systems and resources, coupled with private sector investments and opportunities, can provide true economic mobility for all Illinois residents.
Such a goal will require two key strategies:
1. Building a Table of Champions
An inclusive vision should galvanize all sectors of Illinois’ education, workforce development, and economic development systems to see their place in providing economic mobility for all Illinoisans. Centering economic mobility can pressure our education and workforce systems to improve how learners are prepared for the jobs of tomorrow, and can drive employers to improve job quality. To ensure this goal can be achieved, the state should cultivate a table of statewide and local champions who can hold the vision and monitor and identify strategies to drive toward this vision throughout the P-20 and workforce pipeline.
2. Invest in Data
The state should invest in robust data systems and integration to ground both initial goal-setting and continuous improvement. State and local leaders need access to quality, longitudinal data to target and operationalize strategies that improve progressions through education to employment, and to evaluate where policy and programmatic interventions are generating the most impact. As federal data infrastructure and resources continue to weaken, this is even more essential to shore up at the state level.
I admit that the jargon is confusing me. Sounds like a task force and more study money.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez, an illegal alien from Venezuela and suspected member of Tren de Aragua (TdA).
ICE officers attempted to conduct a vehicle stop, at which point Acosta resisted arrest by intentionally ramming an officer’s vehicle into a tree. Thankfully, the officer sustained no injuries.
Acosta then fled on foot and barricaded himself into an apartment of a person he did not know. The suspected gang member came out on the apartment’s balcony and officers tried to negotiate with him to leave the apartment. During this time, a large crowd of agitators formed and began throwing rocks and bottles at law enforcement officers. The local police department refused to protect ICE law enforcement officers.
All emphasis added.
* The Elgin Police Department released its own statement two days later…
The Elgin Police Department is continuing its investigations relating to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities occurring in the 1600 block of Maple Lane last Saturday, December 6.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a press release on Monday, December 8 about the ICE actions conducted in Elgin on Saturday. The press release alleges “rioters threw rocks and bottles” at ICE agents and that the Elgin Police Department “refused to help protect ICE law enforcement.”
The police department’s emergency communications center received over 50 calls relating to the incident. Callers reported on vehicles blocking the roadway, persons having been struck by pepper balls and persons being exposed to other chemical irritants. The police department has contacted each caller to ensure no other services or reports from the police department are needed.
Police reports have been created in response to eight incidents, and the investigations are continuing on each of those reports. Elgin police officers at the incident site determined that federal agents dispersed chemical irritants on some bystanders. Elgin police officers assisted Elgin firefighters in providing medical treatment for that exposure, and seven persons were treated and released on scene. The Elgin police department filed six police reports for persons stating they were either struck or had been exposed to chemical irritants.
The police department has been reviewing the body worn camera footage of the officers responding to the community calls for services, along with the numerous videos recording the incident that have been posted on public social media accounts.
Preliminary findings indicate the police department received five calls from subjects who identified themselves as federal agents. None of those agents reported rocks or bottles being thrown at them when making their calls. When Elgin police officers arrived on the incident site in response to these five calls, no federal agent said that rocks or bottles were being thrown at them to the responding Elgin police officers. A federal agent supervisor who was not at the incident site called the Elgin police department alleging bricks were being thrown at federal agents and that tires were being slashed. An Elgin police supervisor on the scene at the time of that call did not observe any such activity.
The police department has reviewed its body worn camera footage during the time when federal agents were leaving the incident area. The footage shows that some federal agents, while walking to their vehicles, were simultaneously deploying what appears to be crowd control munitions. The footage also showed other federal agents simply driving away in their vehicles. Footage from one body-worn camera shows a single instance in which what appears to be a plastic water container being thrown by a bystander at a federal agent’s vehicle. The water container strikes the rear window of the federal agent’s vehicle and bounces off as the vehicle is driving away.
The police department’s review of videos posted on social media accounts shows an in- stance in which a bystander picks up what appears to be a snowball from the ground and then throws it at a federal agent’s vehicle.
A Tribune search of local court systems did not locate criminal matters matching Acosta Gutierrez’s name. Records, though, show that Acosta Gutierrez paid a fine for a 2023 traffic violation for driving without a license and the matter was closed in April 2024, according to McHenry County court. […]
The saga began in Elgin shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday in the 1600 block of West Highland Avenue. Acosta Gutierrez had been driving to a mechanic to get work done on his car, said Robert Held, an attorney and activist assisting Acosta with the case.
What happened next is in dispute.
Federal authorities said ICE was attempting a vehicle stop, and that Acosta Gutierrez rammed an officer’s vehicle into a tree. Held said it was an agent who rammed Acosta Gutierrez’s vehicle. […]
When asked about evidence of Acosta Gutierrez’s alleged affiliation to the Tren de Aragua gang, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group as of this year, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, “DHS intelligence assessments go well beyond just gang affiliate tattoos and social media.”
“We are confident in our law enforcement’s intelligence, and we aren’t going to share intelligence reports and undermine national security every time a gang member denies he is one. That would be insane,” McLaughlin said.
* This post will likely be updated. Press release…
Governor Pritzker Signs Bill Expanding End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients
Illinois becomes 12th state to enact legislation to provide terminally ill patients with autonomy, dignity and peace at the end of their lives
CHICAGO – Today, Governor Pritzker signed the Medical Aid in Dying bill (SB 1950), a law that will provide qualified terminally ill patients with the option to seek medication to peacefully end their lives on their own terms in consultation with physicians.
To ensure the highest safeguards for patients, the law is effective in September of 2026, which affords participating health care providers and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) significant lead time to implement stringent processes and protections as outlined in the law.
Also known as “Deb’s Law,” the bill honors Deb Robertson, a lifelong Illinois resident living with a rare terminal illness who has strongly advocated for the bill and shed light on the impacts on families and individuals struggling with terminal illness as they seek dignity and autonomy to peacefully end their lives on their terms.
“I have been deeply impacted by the stories of Illinoisans or their loved ones that have suffered from a devastating terminal illness, and I have been moved by their dedication to standing up for freedom and choice at the end of life in the midst of personal heartbreak,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Today, Illinois honors their strength and courage by enacting legislation that enables patients faced with debilitating terminal illnesses to make a decision, in consultation with a doctor, that helps them avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at the end of their lives. This legislation will be thoughtfully implemented so that physicians can consult patients on making deeply personal decisions with authority, autonomy, and empathy.”
The legislation expands compassionate end of life options in a manner that establishes clear processes, guidelines, and protocols. Several safeguards are in place to ensure robust patient protection for Illinois residents. No physician, health care provider, or pharmacist is required to participate in the option. The law makes it a felony to coerce anyone to request the medication or to forge a request. Adult patients (18 or older) requesting end-of-life medication must:
• Have a terminal illness that will result in death within six months (as determined by two physicians).
• Be informed by their physician about all of their end-of-life care options, including comfort care, hospice, palliative care, and pain control.
• Have the mental capacity, confirmed by their physician, to make medical decisions.
• Make written and oral requests in order to receive the aid-in-dying medication, among other requirements. The request can only be made by the patient, not by the patient’s surrogate decision-maker, health care proxy, health care agent, attorney-in-fact for healthcare, guardian, nor via advance care directive.
Lawmakers and the Governor have heard numerous personal stories from families and individuals who have faced harrowing circumstances as they near the ends of their lives. Some were enduring unbearable pain, even travelling thousands of miles to seek medical aid-in-dying in other states and countries while sick. They also heard from families who spoke of the pain of seeing their loved one experience prolonged suffering that they were desperate and powerless to end.
“With this law, we are strengthening our commitment to compassionate care for every patient, bodily autonomy for every person, and basic human dignity at every stage of life,” said House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston).
“Both of my parents died of cancer. I’ll never forget the helpless feeling of watching them suffer when there was nothing I could do to help them,” said Senate Assistant Majority Leader Linda Holmes (D-Aurora). “I believe every adult patient of sound mind should have this as one more option in their end of life care in the event their suffering becomes unbearable.”
“I want to thank Governor Pritzker for signing this measure into law – giving the full range of end-of-life options for Illinois residents,” said Deb Robertson, a retired Lombard social worker who worked to pass the Deb’s Law. “Today, I know the end for me could be near. But I’m pleased to have been able to play some role in ensuring that terminally ill Illinoisans have access to medical aid in dying.”
“As someone who is disabled, disability justice has always meant having the right to determine how I live,” said Beth Langen, a longtime disability rights advocate from Springfield who testified in support of Deb’s Law. “We know that disability is not terminal. And like anyone else, I may face a terminal illness in the future that will make death imminent. If I do, I want my right to self-determination to include the final days of my life.”
“My son, Andrew, died peacefully utilizing the option of medical aid in dying in California, where he lived,” said Suzy Flack, a former Naperville resident who testified in support of Deb’s Law. “Most of our family members were able to travel to be with him, but his grandmother couldn’t travel to California because of her age. She never got to see Drew for a final goodbye. No other family in Illinois will experience that hardship.”
“Deb’s Law adds medical aid in dying care to the full range of health options that Illinois residents can choose and safely access as a result of a deep commitment from our state’s leaders,” said Khadine Bennett, Advocacy and Intergovernmental Affairs Director at the ACLU of Illinois. “Terminally ill individuals living in Illinois will no longer have to agonize about spending their remaining days fearful of a painful death because the full range of end-of-life care options were not available in our state. We thank Governor Pritzker for listening to the people directly impacted by this issue and applaud his continued commitment to ensuring that Illinois continues to be a place where our residents are allowed to make the most vital, personal decisions throughout their lives without government interference.”
“We applaud Governor Pritzker for signing this compassionate legislation, honoring the 71% of Americans who support the option of medical aid in dying for their fellow Illinoisans facing their last months, weeks, or days with a terminal illness,” said Kevin Díaz, President/CEO for Compassion & Choices and Compassion & Choices Action Network. “Thanks to Governor Pritzker’s thoughtful leadership in signing Deb’s Law today, Illinois will become the first state in the Midwest to authorize medical aid in dying, joining the growing number of U.S. jurisdictions that have committed to law their dedication to patient-driven healthcare at all stages of life.”
“Today, Illinois affirms the dignity and autonomy of individuals confronting the final stages of a terminal illness” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “IDPH is committed to implementing this new law with the highest ethical standards, transparency, and care, supported by strong safeguards and detailed reporting systems that protect patients and guide providers.”
“Abundant research has shown that strong safeguards like the ones in this bill not only protect the patient, but also improve end-of-life care,” said Dr. Cynthia Chatterjee, Psychiatrist and Physician, and member of the Illinois State Medical Society who testified in support of Deb’s Law. “With these safeguards, patients who meet all the requirements will be able to end terrible suffering from a terminal illness and experience an easy, comfortable death.”
“In signing this law, Gov. Pritzker has given those who are at the end of their life freedom from the fear of enduring unrelenting, needless suffering, and replaced it with the chance to experience death as the final sacred moment of their being,” said Episcopalian minister Reverand Judith Doran from Chicago.
PROCESS TO RECIEVE MEDICAL AID IN DYING MEDICATION
• Patients who meet eligibility criteria must make several oral and written requests in order to receive medical aid in dying medication.
• The written request must be signed by the requesting patient and witnessed by at least two individuals who attest that the patient has the mental capacity to make this decision, is making it voluntarily, and is not being coerced or doing so under duress.
• Patients who qualify must be able to self-administer the medication.
Patients who qualify and receive medication have the right to withdraw their request at any time or choose not to ingest it. The death certificates of those who take end-of-life medication under the bill will attribute their cause of death to the underlying terminal disease. The option to prescribe aid in dying will be available on September 12, 2026, when the Medical Aid in Dying bill goes into effect.
REQUIREMENTS FOR PHYSICANS
• Attending physicians must provide informed consent regarding all appropriate end-of-life care options, not just medical aid-in-dying.
• They must provide an in-person examination to determine whether the patient has an illness that will result in death within six months. Two doctors must concur.
• As part of the process, the physician must also confirm that the individual has the mental capacity to make the decision to pursue medical aid-in-dying. If there are any questions about fitness, the patient will be referred to a licensed mental health professional. If the mental health professional determines that the patient does not have mental capacity, the patient will not qualify for medical aid-in-dying.
• If a patient elects the end-of-life option as outlined in the Act, physicians must submit information within 60 days after the patient’s death to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) regarding the patient, their diagnosis, notice that requirements under the Act were completed, and notice that medication has been prescribed pursuant to the Act. This information is to be considered confidential, privileged, and not discoverable in any civil, criminal, administrative, or other proceeding.
Health care professionals are not under any duty to participate in the provision of aid-in-dying and are not subject to criminal or civil liability for participating or refusing to provide aid-in-dying care to a patient in good faith compliance with the Act.
HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONS AND ENTITIES
Health care entities can also prohibit their staff from practicing aid-in-dying care while working for the organization. The Act also requires that an insurance plan, including Medicaid, cannot deny or alter benefits to a patient with a terminal disease based on the availability of aid-in-dying care, their request for medication pursuant to this Act, or the absence of a request. It does not require coverage of this care either by private insurers or Medicaid.
*** UPDATE *** Let’s use this app for our updates…
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* Background is here if you need it. Always look at local reporters and commentators when the national news media swoops in on a big story. Jacob Stewart at the Indianapolis Star predicted what would happen in his state’s Senate a couple of days ago…
“Washington, D.C.-funded organizations in favor of redistricting are using extremely negative texts, videos and phone calls to try to win support for their cause,” State Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, said in a statement. “These groups do not have the best interest of my rural area or the state of Indiana at heart, and their methods are completely unacceptable.”
After this statement, a redistricting lobbyist made a misleading post suggesting Leising had no clue how mass text campaigns worked. Others piled on and suggested she was old and stupid.
It seems too unbelievable to them that she cares more about what her district has to say than about Turning Point USA, a group that referred to Hoosiers as “Indianans” in a now-deleted post on X.
The Senate is the prouder chamber of the Indiana General Assembly. Senators tend to hate being treated like non-equals by lobbyists, the unofficial fourth branch of government. The only thing they hate even more is being treated like non-equals by the governor. […]
“Where we screwed up with property taxes is we had tens of thousands of people behind us, but not enough targeted in each district. We couldn’t overcome the power of the local city officials or school districts,” [Rob Kendall, a conservative radio host] told me. “The redistricting people are making the same mistake. Except a lot of their most vocal supporters don’t even live in the state.” […]
“I mean, I just think that if those maps pass, there’s a good possibility that three or four millionaires from Indianapolis will represent a third of the state, so I don’t know that that serves us well,” State Sen. Mike Crider, R-Greenfield, told the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Over-the-top lobbying (we’ve seen that backfire at our own Statehouse with lefty Chicago “activists”), an “upper-chamber” superiority complex (”Fix it in the Senate”), failure to learn from past mistakes, and the ever-present urban vs. rural rivalry.
And this sort of thing is now happening in the Chicago budget fight. From February…
A nonprofit advocating for Gov. Mike Braun’s legislative agenda is taking lawmakers to task — and praising them, too — with a mid-six figure social media campaign.
Jean Leising spoke at a breakfast this fall at her 8th grade grandson’s school. Hours later, when she was set to give him a ride home from basketball practice, he bashfully told her that his entire team had received text messages about her that day — “and they were all bad.”
Recounting the moment to CNN shortly after she joined 20 other Republican state senators in rejecting President Donald Trump’s redistricting push, Leising said she laughed the moment off with her grandson — but that it ultimately led to her opposing the president.
“Boy, when I got home that night, that’s when I decided,” said Leising, a 76-year-old grandmother of eight, first elected to the Senate in 1988. “I was angry. So the next day, I said, ‘I’ve got to talk about this.’ Because this is over the top. This shouldn’t be the way it was.”
“But that was the beginning,” she added. “It only got worse from there.”
Spencer Deery’s son was getting ready for school when someone tried to provoke police into swarming his home by reporting a fake emergency.
Linda Rogers said there were threats at her home and the golf course that her family has run for generations.
Jean Leising faced a pipe bomb scare that was emailed to local law enforcement.
The three are among roughly a dozen Republicans in the Indiana Senate who have seen their lives turned upside down while President Donald Trump pushes to redraw the state’s congressional map to expand the party’s power in the 2026 midterm elections.
Over the past few days, I’ve asked both Republicans and Democrats here to explain why Indiana has become the new hotbed of GOP resistance to Trump. It is not the only state to rebuff the president’s redistricting demands; Kansas Republicans also have been unable to muster the votes for gerrymandering, and success in Florida is not assured. But no state has faced the White House–directed onslaught that Indiana has.
I received several answers. Most, however, said that the push for mid-decade redistricting simply ran afoul of the small-c conservatism on which many Indiana Republican legislators still pride themselves. “Midwesterners being midwestern,” one anti-redistricting advocate replied with a shrug outside the senate chamber. Republicans told me that state Senate opponents of redrawing the maps tended to be more institutionalist than MAGA, echoing a divide that still crops up among the party’s lawmakers in Washington. […]
Threats of primary challenges are more potent in Indiana state House races, where lawmakers are up for reelection every two years and will face a filing deadline early next year. Only half of the senators will be on the ballot next year, and a number of Republicans in the chamber have already announced their retirement. GOP senators also have reason to doubt that either Trump or his allies will follow through on promised spending in the coming years, particularly for those whose next election isn’t until 2028. “The idea that Trump would be spending political capital not just four months from now, but two and a half years from now, individually targeting Indiana senators who defied them on one vote? Just crazy,” Roberts said. By 2028, “they will have bigger fish to fry.” […]
A vote expected to be close turned into something of a rout, as a majority of Republicans in the senate banded together to reject a bill that Trump had aggressively pushed. “You don’t change minds by being mean, and they were mean-spirited from the get-go,” Senator Jean Leising, a Republican who voted no, told reporters afterward. With the matter settled, she said that she wasn’t worried much about threats of retaliation: “I’m sure that the president and the governor will get over it.” Another senate Republican who voted no, Eric Bassler, had higher aspirations for the message that Indiana sent today: “I hope that this is the beginning of the country stepping back from the brink.”
The Democrat party has been engaged in a vast far-reaching scheme to displace and disenfranchise Republican voters and their families through mass voter importation. And yet there are Republican lawmakers who eagerly facilitate the disinheritance of their own children. https://t.co/1RA5jchtTY
* Sun-Times | Indiana Republicans reject Trump-backed redistricting, easing pressure on Illinois Dems for remap: Pritzker, a vocal Trump opponent and potential 2028 presidential contender, suggested Illinois’ threat to retaliate helped defeat the measure across the border — and he didn’t rule out an effort to expand his state’s 14-3 Democratic edge. “Our neighbors in Indiana have stood up to Trump’s threats and political pressure, instead choosing to do what’s right for their constituents and our democracy,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Illinois will remain vigilant against his map rigging — our efforts to respond and stop his campaign are being heard.”
*Tribune | Illinois Democrats applaud as GOP-led Indiana Senate rebuffs President Trump’s push for new redistricting map: Democratic Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch described Indiana Republicans who voted against the remap as “courageous” and said they “rightly stood up to Donald Trump’s gerrymandering schemes.” “To protect and preserve our Republic, we need more Republicans across the country to stand up and fight back against Trump and MAGA’s tyranny,” Welch said in a statement. “In Illinois, we remain vigilant and committed to protecting our democracy.”
* ICYMI: Illinois Democrats applaud as GOP-led Indiana Senate rebuffs President Trump’s push for new redistricting map. Tribune…
-The heavily Republican-led Indiana Senate on Thursday rejected a mid-decade redistricting plan aimed at giving the state two additional GOP U.S. House members.
- Led by Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois Democrats had been awaiting the outcome of the Indiana vote, warning that Illinois was ready to respond by redrawing its own boundaries to try to squeeze out at least one additional Democratic U.S. House district if Indiana Republicans had approved the new map.
-For now, it appears Illinois will stand down in that effort. “Our neighbors in Indiana have stood up to Trump’s threats and political pressure, instead choosing to do what’s right for their constituents and our democracy,” Pritzker said in a statement on X. “Illinois will remain vigilant against his map rigging — our efforts to respond and stop his campaign are being heard.”
More on this in a bit!
*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***
* Capitol News Illinois | Sen. Emil Jones III to enter deferred prosecution agreement after bribery mistrial: On Thursday, Jones told Capitol News Illinois that he wished the deferred prosecution agreement could’ve been executed earlier this year but was glad to put the case behind him. “Just happy that I’m able to move on, have a fair election,” he said. “Looking forward to getting back to serving the people. Sitting on some committees, passing some bills that’ll benefit my district.”
* CNI | New laws: Gun storage, police background check changes take effect in 2026: Gov. JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 8, known as the Safe Gun Storage Act, in late July, which prohibits gun owners from storing their weapons in an unsecured way at any location where they know that the gun could be accessed by a minor, a person at risk of harming themselves or others, or by a person who is prohibited from possessing a firearm. Under the law, gun owners will be required to keep them in a locked container so that they are inaccessible or unusable by anyone other than the owner. Owners who violate the law could be subject to fines as high as $10,000.
*** Statehouse News ***
* CBS Chicago | Advocates, opponents seek to sway Gov. JB Pritzker on medical aid in dying legislation passed by Illinois General Assembly: Outside the governor’s Chicago office on Thursday, many disability advocates, religious leaders, lawmakers, and doctors have called on Pritzker to veto the bill that would legalize what they call state-sanctioned suicide “The question becomes where do you draw the line in the medical ethics dilemmas?” one physician who identified himself as Dr. Pete said. “We don’t need to go to this crossing of a red line of actually providing a means to directly end life.”
* WAND | Bill on Pritzker’s desk could raise minimum detainment age for minors, create juvenile justice task force: A bill on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk would change the detainment age from 10 to 12 years old in 2026 and then to 13 years old in 2027. There would be a carveout for intense crimes like murder, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated vehicular hijacking. “The bill allows for a year to develop the final planning for implementation, building on the great work that has already been done throughout the years by the Juvenile Justice Commission,” said Rep. Justin Slaughter (D-Chicago). “Most importantly, this planning phase will create accountability to address service shortfalls throughout the state where identified.”
*** Chicago ***
* NYT | ICE Tells Watchdog It Has No Videos to Release of Chicago Operations: Immigration and Customs Enforcement told a nonprofit watchdog this week that it had found “no records” of body camera footage produced during its sweeping immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, raising concerns that it was skirting laws intended to ensure transparency and accountability. The assertion, contained in a response to a public information request from the Freedom of the Press Foundation, contradicted the Trump administration’s sworn court testimony and the fact that it had previously submitted video footage to a judge. The response also raised questions about whether the administration is fully complying with a court order that required the use of body cameras in the monthslong operation, which has included a string of allegations of excessive force.
* WBEZ | As move-out date arrives at Chicago building raided by feds, one resident looks back — and ahead: One day in 2024, in the lobby, Hightower ran into a wheelchair-bound neighbor, who asked for a slice of bread. “Most people ask you for money, so I’m like, ‘What’s wrong?’ ” he remembers asking the neighbor. “He told me, ‘I’ve been stuck in this lobby for two days because the elevator broke down.’ That hurt me. I wanted to carry him upstairs so bad, but I’m dealing with the surgeries and everything.”
* Tribune | ‘No space for us’: Parents claim overcrowding at Haugan Elementary but CPS disagrees and denies expansion: Desks, tables and play areas for children were packed tightly near the printing area. Boxes and bins of nameless items on shelves swallowed her in, she said. What was once a library had been converted into a very tight multipurpose room including a makeshift office space for counselors, teachers and the school’s dean. Students and parents also meet there for student counseling sessions or parent conferences, when necessary. Gomez found the crowding so concerning that she wrote it down in her personal journal so she’d never forget, she said. “There’s no space for us. … There’s no space for them to play,” Gomez wrote in Spanish in her notebook.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Daily Herald | Elgin police rebut DHS account of violence by protesters during immigration enforcement: DHS says ICE officers pursued Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez, “an illegal alien from Venezuela and suspected member of Tren de Aragua,” into the complex after he rammed an ICE officer’s vehicle into a tree during an attempted vehicle stop. The DHS release says “a large crowd of agitators formed and began throwing rocks and bottles at law enforcement officers” and that the “local police department refused to protect ICE law enforcement officers.” Elgin police disputed that account, saying that they received five calls from subjects who identified themselves as federal agents and that “none of those agents reported rocks or bottles being thrown at them when making their calls.”
* Crain’s | Cook County property tax incentives need a refresh: study: Property tax sweeteners are pivotal tools for promoting economic development across the Chicago area, but they need to be more flexible, accessible and equitable, according to a new study. In a report that could lay the groundwork for big changes to Cook County’s incentive programs, researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning recommended 30 steps county officials could take over the next two years to improve the efficacy of its property tax incentive system.
* Daily Southtown | Homer Glen OKs license plate cameras, despite referendum vote against plan: The Homer Glen Village Board voted 5-1 Wednesday to approve 12 license plate reader cameras at key access points throughout town. The Flock camera system will cost $57,150 plus an annual subscription of $49,500, officials said. The cameras are used by police to locate cars that have been involved in criminal activity. They can also locate missing persons. The Flock cameras read a vehicle’s license plate number and state information as well as its make, model and color. The cameras are not used for traffic tickets such as speeding or red-light violations, officials said.
* Patch | Arlington Heights Creates Immigration Resources Webpage: In sync with a recently passed ordinance that restricts the conduct of civil immigration enforcement operations on Village property, Arlington Heights has launched a new webpage dedicated to immigration resources. Officials said the intent of the webpage is to provide useful information for community members, along with any updates to the Village’s policies related to federal civil immigration enforcement activity.
*** Downstate ***
* KWQC | Western Illinois University to sell Quad Cities Campus building: The university’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the sale during a meeting on Wednesday, according to a media release. WIU President Kristi Mindrup said the revenue from selling the building would allow the university to support students and programs. The university has consolidated on-campus academics into Riverfront Hall at 34th Street and River Drive to respond to student needs and growing demand for online and flexible learning, officials said.
* Vermillion County Watchdogs | IDOT: CRIS Mass Transit Has Severe Financial And Governance Deficiencies: In the letter: The audit revealed severe deficiencies in financial management, internal controls, and governance, including: For three consecutive years, only 46% of expenditures contain supporting documentation, Ineligible items charged to grants, Violations of the Open Meetings Act, Insufficient payroll documentation Significant reliance on credit.
* JP Star | Plans revealed for new Par-A-Dice Casino replacement in East Peoria: oyd Gaming will attempt to build its new $160 million casino, a replacement for the Par-A-Dice Riverboat Casino, in East Peoria, settling months of speculation while also raising new questions. Officials from Boyd Gaming unveiled their plans to build a new casino in East Peoria to the Illinois Gaming Board on Thursday morning. The gaming board will not make any determination about Boyd Gaming’s plan until February.
* WCIA | U of I community spreads holiday cheer with ‘Dial-A-Carol’ tradition: Thursday marked the start of Dial-A-Carol at the University of Illinois. Dial-A-Carol is a University Housing tradition that goes all the way back to 1960. During finals week, student volunteers will take the time to sing holiday songs to anyone around the world who calls, for 24 hours a day, from Dec. 11-17.
*** National ***
* AFL-CIO | Labor Movement Delivers Bipartisan Victory as House Passes Bill to Restore Federal Workers’ Union Rights: A bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives voted to pass the Protect America’s Workforce Act (H.R. 2550) today, a bill that would restore collective bargaining rights to 1 million federal workers by reversing President Trump’s March executive order. Following that order, the Trump administration has escalated its attacks, stripping away even more collective bargaining rights by unilaterally canceling union contracts for 700,000 federal workers.
* Crain’s | NASCAR settles antitrust suit with Michael Jordan’s racing team: According to published reports, attorneys for the teams told a federal judge today that the parties had “positively settled” the case, though terms were not disclosed. The agreement halts a jury trial that was in its second week and had already included testimony from Jordan, 23XI co-owner and driver Denny Hamlin and senior NASCAR executives including CEO Jim France. The dispute centered on NASCAR’s charter system, which functions much like franchise rights in other sports by guaranteeing teams entry into Cup Series races and a share of purse revenue.
* Pew | Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025: Even as teens express mixed feelings about social media’s impact, these sites remain a key part of their lives, with some using them “almost constantly.” Now, AI chatbots, like ChatGPT and Character.ai, are getting teens’ attention. Roughly two-thirds report using chatbots, including about three-in-ten who do so daily, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of 1,458 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17.
* Semafor | Washington Post’s AI-generated podcasts rife with errors, fictional quotes: Earlier this week, the Post announced that it was rolling out personalized AI-generated podcasts for users of the paper’s mobile app. In a release, the paper said users will be able to choose preferred topics and AI hosts, and could “shape their own briefing, select their topics, set their lengths, pick their hosts and soon even ask questions using our Ask The Post AI technology.” But less than 48 hours since the product was released, people within the Post have flagged what four sources described as multiple mistakes in personalized podcasts. The errors have ranged from relatively minor pronunciation gaffes to significant changes to story content, like misattributing or inventing quotes and inserting commentary, such as interpreting a source’s quotes as the paper’s position on an issue.
Who very soon will come our way?
Santa very soon will come our way
Donations always taper off the further we get into our annual fundraiser to buy Christmas presents for foster kids. Y’all have done a great job so far, but those kids are still counting on you and we only have a week to go, so please click here and help. Thanks!
The Indiana Senate rejected mid-decade redistricting today, capping off a bitter state fight for control of Congress that has divided the GOP, spurred violent threats and dramatically changed the political landscape ahead of the midterm elections.
The failure will likely be seen by President Donald Trump and his allies as a rebuke of his vision for cementing a congressional majority at all costs. Several groups have promised to spend top dollar on unseating those who oppose redistricting, setting the stage for a messy primary if the Senate did not pass the bill.
* The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mike Gaskill (R-Pendleton) warned members during his closing arguments about this threat…
And then I tell you, I believe what Washington DC says, whether it’s right or whether it’s wrong, consider this is going to be important to you as all of us, when they take away all the money that they can take away from this state and not give it to us, our citizens will be harmed. Our duty is not to be here to harm our citizens. Our duty is to be here to help our citizens. And if we don’t get that money, especially the block grant education money, we will be harmed.
* Sen. Gaskill regarding Republican primary threats from the president and his cohorts…
I know what’s about to happen to some of my friends in this chamber. You can believe it or not. You can believe it or not, but when they come into your districts, and I’m not lying, with $2-3 million, I know you’ll try your best. You’ll do what you can. But I believe in the end, most of you won’t be here anymore, and that takes courage to give up your seat when you don’t want to help, or, I’ll take that back, when you have an opportunity to help your country.
Just two of the threats…
Rod Bray, the Senate leader in Indiana, has consistently told us he wouldn't fight redistricting while simultaneously whipping his members against it. That level of dishonesty cannot be rewarded, and the Indiana GOP needs to choose a side. https://t.co/63Vg7qkpDg
*** UPDATE 1 *** This doesn’t necessarily take the issue off the table here. Gov. Pritzker has said he would push to remap Illinois’ congressional districts if Indiana changed theirs. Pritzker said earlier that were “paired” with Indiana. Does this mean we could pair up with another Republican state? I’ve asked the governor’s office for clarification…
Our neighbors in Indiana have stood up to Trump's threats and political pressure, instead choosing to do what's right for their constituents and our democracy.
Illinois will remain vigilant against his map rigging — our efforts to respond and stop his campaign are being heard.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From a Pritzker spokesperson in response to my above question: “As he’s said many times, all options remain on the table.” So, I guess he’s not taking it off the table.
* Congressional candidate Willie Preston, who also chairs the Senate Black Caucus…
“Donald Trump started this gerrymander war because he knows his policies and performance are so unpopular that they threaten his House majority. And lap dogs like the Indiana Senate almost followed his commands to the letter by enabling an extraordinary and anti-Constitutional mid-decade gerrymander.
“But two wrongs don’t make a right. With the Indiana threat gone and Democrats on the march around this country, I urge Governor Pritzker and our legislative leaders to abandon any redistricting in Illinois that further dilutes Black political power. We have already done our job in Illinois to protect Democratic values. Now let’s not sacrifice our core principles in the pursuit of power. Black Democrats have already given so much to our Party and this nation. We should not be asked to give more.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** From John Patterson, the spokesperson for Senate President Don Harmon…
We will review our options as needed
*** UPDATE 4 *** House Speaker Chris Welch…
In Indiana, Democrats and a few courageous Republicans rightly stood up to Donald Trump’s gerrymandering schemes. To protect and preserve our Republic, we need more Republicans across the country to stand up and fight back against Trump and MAGA’s tyranny. In Illinois, we remain vigilant and committed to protecting our democracy.
* Oscar is such a good boy, but he does need a holiday haircut…
If he could talk, Oscar would certainly encourage you to contribute to our annual fundraiser to buy Christmas presents for foster kids. Please, click here and brighten those kids’ (and Oscar’s) day. Thanks!
Any police officer shot in the line of duty has one expectation: that they can immediately count on their fellow officer to come to their aid. Chicago Police Officer KRYSTAL RIVERA should have been able to rely on her partner to do just that when she was shot, but—against all decency—her partner not only shot her but then ran in an opposite direction and left her to die. […]
RIVERA’s death was not instantaneous. Indeed, she lay bleeding and was breathing and desperately called in her own shooting to dispatch while Defendant BAKER stood by, failing to provide any form of medical care, aid, or assistance, as is required by Chicago Police Department (“CPD”) policy and training. Defendant BAKER failed to apply pressure to stop the bleeding or take any basic first aid measures to try to save RIVERA’s life, as taught in CPD policy and training. He never called for an ambulance. He failed to promptly notify dispatch of the shooting; he failed to disclose that he was the person who discharged his weapon, blaming it instead on a third party when he was the only one who discharged a weapon at the scene; and he failed to properly identify the location of the shooting so that paramedics or other officers could quickly come to her rescue.
Antonio Romanucci, an attorney for the Rivera family, said that Rivera and Baker became involved in an on-again, off-again romantic relationship dating back to 2023, which was known to other CPD employees.
Rivera eventually broke that relationship off this year after learning Baker was involved with another woman, attorneys said Thursday, and threatened to inform the other woman of their relationship.
Attorney Maura White said Rivera expressed concerns about Baker’s “adverse reaction” to the breakup and his continued attempts to contact her outside of work. Less than 48 hours before she was shot, Baker showed up at Rivera’s home uninvited after she told him not to come, White said.
This tragedy was not only the foreseeable result of Defendant BAKER’s willful and wanton conduct, but also the foreseeable consequence of the Defendant CITY OF CHICAGO’s (“THE CITY”) own negligence. THE CITY, through the Chicago Police Department, chose to continue to employ BAKER and keep him partnered with RIVERA, even after it knew (or, at a minimum, should have known) that BAKER had a lengthy record of misconduct, including complaints for domestic violence, an improper search and seizure, neglect of duties, insubordination, inadequate/failure to provide service, and conduct unbecoming of an officer.
In particular, THE CITY also knew or should have known—based on a prior complaint against BAKER from a woman who he was dating—that BAKER posed a particular risk of harm to women with whom he has, or has had, a dating relationship. At the time of her death, that included RIVERA, who had recently ended a romantic relationship with BAKER. At least two of BAKER’s CPD supervisors were aware of RIVERA and Defendant BAKER’s romantic relationship, and the risk to RIVERA’s safety. One or more members of CPD knew that BAKER and RIVERA’s relationship had ended, knew that RIVERA believed BAKER was a threat to her personal safety, and knew that RIVERA was eager to be transferred to a different CPD district away from BAKER or be reassigned to a different partner. Despite this knowledge, CPD chose to retain BAKER as a CPD officer and maintain his and RIVERA’s assignment as partners. In doing so, CPD exposed RIVERA to the foreseeable risk that BAKER would fail to provide aid or medical care to RIVERA in the event she needed it. And that is exactly what happened. BAKER left RIVERA suffering from mortal injuries, instead of coming to her aid or even calling for help.
A month before his retrial on bribery charges, state Sen. Emil Jones III has agreed to enter into a deferred prosecution deal with prosecutors that will leave him with no conviction as long as he admits to certain illegal conduct and pays a fine.
The agreement was announced at a hearing Thursday before U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood and scuttles a trial that had been set for Jan. 12.
Under the terms of the deal, Jones would pay a fine of $6,800, agree to stay out of legal trouble, and make admissions about his meetings with FBI mole Omar Maani and agree that his later statements to the FBI about how much Maani paid Jones’ intern were false.
If Jones lives up to his end of the agreement, the charges against him will be dropped in December 2026.
The case was flawed from the start. He never took the money offered by a government mole, who himself admitted on the stand to passing bribes to important people through other important people (none of whom were charged). The government also used some questionable tactics against Jones, including trying to paint him as having a gay relationship.
When Wood asked Jones whether he wanted to go forward with the arrangement, Jones said “absolutely.”
Federal prosecutors in Chicago struck a similar deal in October with ex-AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza, whose own trial also ended with a hung jury.
* Another poll from the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association conducted by PPP…
● In the initial matchup, 39% are undecided, down slightly from 41% in September. Krishnamoorthi leads with 32%, followed by Stratton at 20% and Robin Kelly at 9%. In September, Krishnamoorthi led with 33% to Stratton’s 18% and Kelly’s 8%. So, despite Krishnamoorthi spending another $5 million, he has not continued to grow his support.
● Krishnamoorthi’s name identification also saw no movement, stagnating at 61%.
● Stratton’s name identification continues to grow despite zero spending from her campaign, going from 37% in September to 42% in December.
Public Policy Polling surveyed: 667 likely Democratic primary voters from December 8-9, 2025. The margin of error is +/- 3.8%. 58% of the interviews for the survey were conducted by text message and 42% by telephone.
Seems like no real movement by anyone.
* The react from the Raja campaign didn’t actually talk about the poll, but instead focused on the campaign’s current messaging about Stratton…
Today, following the release of yet another DLGA poll on behalf of Juliana Stratton, Raja for Illinois spokesperson Hannah Goss released the following statement:
“Once again, the Stratton campaign is showing that their alleged ‘no corporate PAC pledge’ is nothing but a hypocritical sham meant to confuse voters and hide her corporate ties. Juliana Stratton has taken a quarter of a million dollars in contributions from corporations and continues to drive her polling through a corporate-funded super PAC. This is why people hate politics — cheap games and empty pledges that have become typical of the Stratton campaign.”
ICYMI: Chicago Sun-Times: Stratton vows to not take corporate PAC money in Senate bid but has history of getting corporate backing
• But Stratton has a history of accepting corporate PAC and direct corporate contributions into her state campaign funds since 2016 — and this year returned a $5,000 check from The Marquis Energy Corporate PAC for her Senate campaign while taking in $21,000 from the same family controlling the company.
• This year, she also received $5,000 in corporate PAC money and $46,000 from corporations in her super PAC, the Level Up PAC, a hybrid PAC she created in January in anticipation of a Senate run.
• She has also taken in thousands of dollars from corporate executives and company leaders in her Senate bid. While the money is not coming from corporate PACs — as she vowed in her pledge — it is still coming in steadily from people who run corporations and companies.
• Corporate PACs that have previously contributed to Stratton’s state campaign fund include the Illinois Restaurateurs PAC, the Illinois Bankers PAC, Manufacturers PAC, Illinois Hotel-Motel PAC, AT&T Illinois Employee PAC, the Illinois Merchants PAC Team and United Airlines PAC.
• “This is what people hate about politics — people who say one thing and do another,” the congressman told the Sun-Times in a statement. “It’s rich that someone who condemns others for taking corporate PAC money has accepted nearly a quarter of a million dollars in direct corporate contributions, including multiple checks just weeks before launching her Senate bid.”
* That response appears more of a react to this press release sent by Stratton yesterday…
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi continues to avoid accountability for the MAGA allies funding his campaign. Krishnamoorthi claims to be a fighter against Trump, but his donor list proves otherwise, and rather than taking responsibility, he continues to double down. While the Congressman is known for his “prolific” fundraising, it’s about time he answered some questions about where his money is coming from.
FIRST: Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi’s Senate campaign downplayed the tens of thousands of dollars he accepted from MAGA advisers and ICE profiteers, calling them “just .2%” of his fundraising, and stating they “welcome anyone” who supports his mission.
THEN: After being pressed by CNN’s Brianna Keilar, Congressman Krishnamoorthi said he “may revisit the contributions” from one of those MAGA allies, Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar. Over 50 elected officials and community members signed a letter urging him to donate the funds.
NOW: Krishnamoorthi’s campaign says they’ve donated the money, but they refuse to say where, and they have not answered to the other tens of thousands in MAGA money.
So which is it, Congressman? Do you “welcome anyone” or are there more contributions you’d like to revisit?
Before Illinoisans head to the polls, Krishnamoorthi owes voters answers – so we have some follow up questions:
• Will you revisit the $120,000 you’ve taken from the corporations building Trump’s ballroom, which you called “corrupt special interests”?
• Will you revisit the $34,000 you’ve taken from a man who “saluted” Trump’s “historic leadership,” praised Pete Hegseth, and celebrated Kristi Noem for “aligning border security, ICE operations, and inter-agency force in a way no administration has before”?
• Will you revisit the repeated donations from Bharat Barai, who believes Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is a “great Patriot”?
• Will you revisit Project 2025 contributor and Heritage Foundation advisor Michael Pillsbury’s $5,000?
• Will you revisit the $1,667 from “DOGE’s unpaid intern” Marc Andreessen?
“Despite Team Raja originally doubling down on their ICE money and saying they welcome support from “anyone,” we’re glad to see that they’ve course-corrected, and we look forward to their full and transparent accounting of where the money was sent,” said Juliana for Illinois spokesperson Allison Janowski. “While they’re busy revisiting their donations, they should also revisit the tens of thousands of dollars they’ve collected from Trump advisors and MAGA colluders. Values that you only uphold when you’re held publicly accountable aren’t values – they’re talking points. Illinoisans see through it.”
* Following a CBS 2 report that basically just took everything Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart told them as gospel (it’s really quite something, so click here), I reached out to the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice for a response…
Sheriff Dart Lies Again About Pretrial Fairness Act Electronic Monitoring Provisions
We are incredibly disappointed and angry to see Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart once again exploiting community safety concerns to spread misinformation about the electronic monitoring provisions of the Pretrial Fairness Act.
The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice continues to keep Bethany Magee and her family in our hearts as she works to recover and heal. But we cannot remain silent as the Sheriff continues to weaponize the harm Bethany and her family experienced to achieve his policy goals of incarcerating people who are presumed innocent while they await trial.
It is incredibly irresponsible and self-serving to utilize isolated incidents to change the law governing tens of thousands of people’s rights while awaiting trial—all while ignoring data that shows the vast majority of people on electronic monitoring return to court and are not rearrested while awaiting trial. These cynical attempts to blame pretrial reforms are only a distraction from effective evidence-based efforts to reduce violence.
The Pretrial Fairness Act requires that people subject to house arrest under electronic monitoring be given permission to leave their homes to take care of basic needs such as buying food and doing laundry. Each electronic monitoring program in the state can choose how to implement that requirement. The Cook County Sheriff’s Office chose to implement this law by creating a default schedule that allows each person two, eight-hour periods of time per week to take care of their essential needs. Judges must order that movement and can choose to order different and shorter or longer periods of movement for essential activities.
For years, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office created a human rights crisis by denying people on electronic monitoring the ability to contribute to their households, perform life-affirming tasks, and even access healthcare. The electronic monitoring reforms in the Pretrial Fairness Act are intentionally designed to correct that history. Even now, current Sheriff’s Office policy prevents people in apartment buildings from doing laundry or checking their mail in common areas of the building without the kind of movement permission the Sheriff is once again attacking.
Since taking effect in 2022, the electronic monitoring provisions of the Pretrial Fairness Act have been incredibly successful. Ensuring people on electronic monitoring are able to go grocery shopping, attend doctor’s appointments, pick their children up from school, and apply for jobs increases community safety. Removing these provisions would violate basic human rights principles by returning to a system that locked people in their homes with no way to access food or other necessities—and made them less likely to succeed.
Facts on Pretrial Fairness Act’s Electronic Monitoring Provisions
• Nothing in the Pretrial Fairness Act or any other law requires the Cook County Sheriff’s Office not to track people during the time they are on essential movement. Every person on Sheriff’s EM is on a GPS ankle monitor, and those GPS monitors continue to record people’s exact location the entire time they are outside of their home. You can read the provision of the Pretrial Fairness Act that authorizes essential movement at 730 ILCS 5/5-8A-4(A-1).
• Before these reforms were implemented, the lack of movement caused immense harm to people on Cook County Sheriff’s electronic monitoring, as detailed in a report submitted to the Cook County board by CGL Industries and Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts. (See page 47 here for discussion of harms of lack of movement.) The trauma that young people suffered while on Sheriff’s Dart’s EM program was unnecessarily cruel and ineffective, and had real life effects such as the ones described here.
• Between January 2016 and June 2020, 91% of people on electronic monitoring in Chicago were not re-arrested for any crime. Only 1.75% of people were re-arrested for a serious felony (Class 2 or higher).
* From former US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s 2nd Congressional District campaign page…
Jesse Jackson Jr. represented Illinois’ Second Congressional District for 17 years and served as a Member of the powerful Appropriations Committee. Political and business leaders who drafted him to enter the race know the former congressman would use his considerable knowledge, intellect and experience to help improve quality of life across the District. Jesse Jackson Jr. was considered one of the hardest-working and most effective members of Congress. He never missed a vote and he delivered nearly a billion dollars in federal grants and appropriations to the District.
* The American Prospect’s Emma Janssen took a closer look at his attendance…
But publicly available data shows a completely different picture—Jackson missed 376 votes over the course of his 17 years in Congress, including a whopping 278 in 2012 alone.
When asked about the discrepancy, John Digles, who heads communications for the Jackson campaign, initially seemed confused: “That’s not our understanding at all. I’m a little confused by that.” He later clarified that the vast majority of Jackson’s missed votes happened after he “ran into his health issues” during his last term in Congress. Between 1995 and 2009, Jackson only missed two votes. In the last six months of 2012, he missed 100 percent of votes held.
Also in 2012, Jackson disappeared from the public eye entirely. His office initially declined to share information about where the sitting congressman was; the Mayo Clinic eventually revealed in a statement that Jackson was being treated there for depression and bipolar disorder.
In October 2012, just two months after his hospitalization, news broke that Jackson was under criminal investigation for misuse of campaign funds. He won re-election that November and resigned just weeks later. The next February, he pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud his campaign of $750,000.
* Part of Janssen’s story is about Jackson’s attempt at redemption…
Jackson is framing his entry into the race as an almost spiritual redemption project. “Even when I was exiting prison after I was sentenced, I said I still seek forgiveness, and I still seek the restoration and the resurrection of my life and the life of others, and I’m still right there,” he said on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight: Black Voices in 2024.
So check this out, a young freshman congressman can’t afford her apartment until she gets sworn into congress and is on the payroll. This is what happens. Then when you have kids and they need to attend decent schools in DC and you want to have a life while serving, guess what? You start calling everything you do a campaign expense.
This is what happened to me. Yes there were excesses but working between your district and Washington DC will definitely put you in the poor house and legal jeopardy. Unless you come to Congress a millionaire or a billionaire, it is easy to call and justify everything you do “a campaign expense.” She needs to be real careful. Especially now that she is on the public record as being broke.
Over the course of my 17 years in Congress, the Government looked at a 10 year snap shot of my life, and they said I was padding my life to the tune of 75,000 dollars a year. And it was true. Two kids showed up, their education, and some of my lifestyle choices all showed up at the same time. I was elected in 1995, my first child came in 2000, and my next child was born in 2003. I was 31 when I started the job, and a life long vow of poverty, I did not take for me or my family. when you truly represent people you have a lot of personal standards that you have to maintain and they are expensive. […]
I would buy my kids what they wanted for Christmas, and I said to myself, “self, they deserve it, my supporters won’t mind, because I’m working hard as hell.”
Former Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., 47, pled guilty today to conspiring to defraud his re-election campaigns of about $750,000 in funds that were used to pay for a range of personal items and expenses, including jewelry, fur capes and parkas, high-end electronics, celebrity memorabilia, furniture, kitchen appliances, and a home renovation project.
Jackson, who has residences in Chicago and Washington, D.C., also admitted taking steps to conceal seven years of illegal activities, including the filing of false and misleading reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Jackson’s wife, Sandra Stevens Jackson, 49, a former Chicago alderman, pled guilty in a separate proceeding to filing false tax returns for her role in the scheme. […]
DIRECT EXPENDITURES: Jackson made $57,792 in direct expenditures from the Campaign’s bank account from January 2006 through July 2011. In July 2007, for example, he withdrew $43,350 in Campaign funds to purchase an official check made payable to a jeweler for a men’s gold-plated Rolex watch. In addition, he used $14,442 in Campaign funds to pay down balances on person credit cards maintained by the Jacksons.
CREDIT CARD EXPENDITURES: The Campaign maintained a credit card account, “Jackson for Congress,” from at least August 2005 through August 2012. Individual credit card members on this account included Jackson and his wife. During this period, the Jacksons used the credit cards to purchase merchandise and services that were personal in nature, including high-end electronic items; a washer, a dryer, a range and refrigerator; collector’s items; clothing, food and supplies; movie tickets; health club dues; personal travel, including a holistic retreat, and personal dining expenses.
All told, Campaign funds were used to pay $582,773 of these purchases. During the conspiracy, the Jacksons made approximately 3,100 purchases that were personal in nature. A large number of these personal expenditures fit into these categories:
• Restaurants, nightclubs, and lounges, approximately $60,857.
• Airfare, approximately $31,700.
• Sports clubs and lounges, including gym membership, approximately $31,700.
• Tobacco shops, approximately $17,163.
• Alcohol, approximately $5,814.
• Dry cleaning, approximately $14,513.
• Grocery stores, approximately $8,046.
• Drug stores, approximately $6,095.
[…] GIFTS AND LOANS: At Jackson’s direction, two companies made payments on the balance of a personal credit card of Jackson and his wife. The owner of an Illinois consulting firm issued a check in 2009 for $3,500 from a business account to pay down the balance of a personal credit card. The owner of an Alabama-based family issued a check for $25,000 from a corporate account in 2011, also to pay down a personal credit card balance. […]
For example, in May 2008, “Person A” reported that the Campaign spent $1,553 in January 2008 at a Chicago museum for a fundraiser. In fact, Jackson spent these funds to purchase porcelain collector’s items. In July 2008, “Person A” reported that the Campaign spent $387 for equipment for office repairs. Jackson actually used this money to purchase grass seed and fertilizer for the lawn at his Chicago home.
* Last word to Sen. Robert Peters, who is also running for the open seat created by US Rep. Robin Kelly’s US Senate bid…
“He’s a name. He’s someone who literally spent a bunch of money to live a lavish lifestyle while people are just trying to be able to go to the doctor,” Peters said. “What we’ve seen in the last year or so is a lot of people who’ve tried to make a political comeback off of their name and fail. This election cannot be about your name. It’s about what you’re going to deliver for the working people of the Second Congressional District.”
Except, that name is still golden in the Chicago area. So, we’ll see.
* Today is the Third House’s annual holiday party. And since we’ve moved into the lobbyist portion of our Golden Horseshoe Awards, it doesn’t seem right to do that when they’re mostly otherwise occupied with their festivities. So, we will have no awards today. Yesterday’s categories are therefore still open until tomorrow.
*** UPDATE *** Ed Peck is the new Third House “Speaker”…
* Isabel arrived at her paternal grandparents’ (my parents) house yesterday and is staying through the end of this week. So, we won’t be publishing an afternoon news roundup nor any of her regular posts except for the morning briefing today or tomorrow. Some of you know they’re both having some health issues, particularly my mom. We’re all taking turns being with them and Isabel stepped up this week like a champ.
* ICYMI: Illinois National Guard still federalized as President Trump extends order, despite troops sitting idle. Tribune…
- Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s office said Wednesday that the 60-day federalization order — issued Oct. 4 in conjunction with the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz deportation efforts — was earlier extended for at least another month.
- The 300 Illinois National Guard troops have mostly remained at an Illinois Army National Guard training site in Marseilles and were never deployed for the White House’s stated purpose of protecting federal officers and assets.
- In a statement, U.S. Northern Command, which oversees the National Guard deployment, said the soldiers “are conducting planning and training but not engaging in Federal Protection Mission operational activities.”
* Tribune | Charges formally dismissed after grand jury refused to indict Laugh Factory manager accused of assaulting agents: Prosecutors’ move to drop the case against Griffin is the latest instance in a string of high-profile cases against U.S. citizens caught up in “Operation Midway Blitz” to fall apart only weeks into proceedings. U.S. District Judge Keri Holleb Hotaling, walking into a 17th floor courtroom of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse Wednesday morning, asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Snell about the move to dismiss the charges, filed Dec. 3 in what Hotaling called a “bare bones” motion. Snell said the deadline to return an indictment in the case had already been extended once and the grand jury assigned to the case had not seen fit to indict Griffin.
* Sun-Times | Family of Chicago cop killed in botched chase sues Chicago Police Department and partner who shot her: The mother of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera filed a wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday in which she says her daughter’s partner, Officer Carlos Baker, was struggling to accept her decision to end their romantic relationship when he fatally shot her during a foot chase on June 5. […] Baker then “ran in the opposite direction and left her to die,” according to the lawsuit, which says he failed to provide medical aid, call for an ambulance or acknowledge he was the shooter.
*** Statehouse News ***
* Daily Herald | 33rd state Senate candidate removed from ballot: The Illinois State Board of Elections ruled that he did not have enough valid signatures on his petition. It said that after signatures were checked, Holt fell 120 signatures short. Former St. Charles alderman Rita Payleitner and Patrick Carroll of St. Charles had filed the objection, questioning 225 of the 1,047 signatures Holt submitted. The board agreed that 167 were invalid for various reasons.
*** Chicago ***
* Sun-Times | Chicago’s bond rating likely to drop to a notch above junk, no matter how and when budget stalemate ends: “The danger is that it will be incredibly expensive to issue a lot of debt,” said Dana Levenson, who spent three years as Chicago’s chief financial officer under former Mayor Richard M. Daley. “It’ll be at a higher price and the property tax will be impacted. That’s where the average Joe gets affected.” Levenson said Chicago has no choice but to issue general obligation debt backed by property or sales taxes. It’s the only way to bankroll upkeep of roads, bridges, sidewalks and other infrastructure that every city needs to function.
* Sun-Times | Council opposition wins Round 1 in budget battle with Mayor Johnson: Council members who oppose Brandon Johnson’s proposed budget and its corporate head tax showed Wednesday that they have more than the 26 votes needed to pass their alternate spending plan, which steers clear of short-term financial fixes that threaten Chicago’s beleaguered bond rating.
* WTTW | CTA Board OKs $1.75M Settlement, Pushes Back on Federal Claims of Lax Transit Safety: Separately, the board approved a $1.75 million lawsuit settlement. The case was brought by the estate of a man who fell while riding on a northbound #50 Damen bus in July 2022. The lawsuit accused the bus driver of slamming on the brakes as the man was waiting to exit the bus, causing him to fall and suffer serious injuries that eventually resulted in his March 2024 death.
* Crain’s | Hemp ban delayed, but one carve-out makes City Council OK more likely: The ordinance, first introduced by Ald. Marty Quinn, 13th, was deferred until at least the next City Council meeting by Ald. Rosanna Rodriguez-Sanchez, 33rd, and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th. There are expected to be multiple meetings through the end of the year as the city looks to pass a 2026 budget. The measure is opposed by Mayor Brandon Johnson and local entrepreneurs who instead want to tax and regulate the industry, including banning the sale of the products to those under 21. By excluding hemp beverages from the ban, Quinn neutered what would have been a significant block of opposition from local bars, restaurants and the hospitality industry and he believes he is closing in on 30 votes, which would secure approval but fall short of the 34 votes necessary to override a potential veto from Johnson.
* Tribune | New Chicago teen curfew plan would require 12-hour notice by police: The mayoral opponent said that’s a necessary tool after a chaotic “teen takeover” outside the Chicago Theatre last month ended with a 14-year-old boy killed and eight other teens wounded in shootings. “We wanted to have reasonable restrictions. There were concerns about the possible abuse of the curfew tool under the previous snap curfew ordinance,” Hopkins said. “The point is to prevent these events from happening in the first place, and this new time and place curfew will absolutely accomplish that goal.” A spokesperson for the Chicago police did not immediately comment Wednesday morning.
* Sun-Times | A union wave is rolling through more Chicago cultural venues, even at precarious moment for museums: Employees at the Adler Planetarium could soon join them after a vote on Thursday. Separately, staffers at the Chicago Botanic Garden are organizing under the Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United. But such votes are happening at what museums say is a perilous time, as about a third of U.S. museums have lost government grants or contracts. More than half of U.S. museums reported fewer visitors in 2025 than in 2019, according to a November report by the American Alliance of Museums. As a result, financial performance has stalled or declined for about half.
* WTTW | In Chicago’s War on Rats, Cats Lack the Killer Instinct, Study Suggests: The question Murray’s team posed: Are feral cats likewise likely to become collateral damage in the campaign to control Chicago’s rat population? Initial results suggest no. Of the 57 free-roaming cats tested in the study, only four — or just 7% — were found to have traces of rodenticide in their blood samples. The amount of rat poison was significantly less than that of other local species subjected to the same test.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Daily Herald | ‘A win for fiscal responsibility’: DuPage County lauds latest ruling in ongoing legal battle with county clerk: On Wednesday, DuPage County Judge Bryan Chapman denied a motion for a summary judgment in which Kaczmarek argued that she has the authority to procure services and that contracts awarded to two election-related vendors fit under the professional services exemption for public bidding. Chapman also ruled in favor of the county’s request for a summary judgment. Attorneys for the county had argued that the contracts had been bid during previous years. If Kaczmarek had determined the services were exempt from bidding, the county argued that she should have communicated that to the county auditor.
* Sun-Times | Former Summit police chief convicted of bribery, conspiracy, obstruction of justice: A federal jury on Wednesday convicted a former police chief of southwest suburban Summit, finding him guilty of bribery, conspiracy and obstruction of justice at the end of a seven-day trial tied to several corruption cases that swept Chicago’s suburbs. John Kosmowski seemed to close his eyes for an extended period of time after U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger read the three guilty verdicts in a 23rd-floor courtroom at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. Kosmowski now faces significant prison time at his sentencing, set for March 27.
* Daily Southtown | Oak Lawn sets $277 million budget with 4.7% property tax levy increase: “It was a difficult budget,” Village Manager Thomas Phelan. “We started six, eight weeks ago with an $8 million projected deficit, and through a coordinated effort with all our department heads and chiefs worked very hard to focus on needs, not wants.” Phelan said village staff prioritized “cutting down as much as they could” considering future economic uncertainty and “all the political drama and fighting” nationally.
* Patch | Hinsdale Likely To Keep Lobbyist To Deal With Expressway Project: The lobbyist, John D’Alessandro of JLD Consulting Group, has been working for the village for six years. The village wants the lobbyist to help in dealing with the state’s years-long Interstate 294 project. According to a village memo, Hinsdale continues to negotiate several issues with the Illinois Tollway, many of which are related to the Hinsdale Oasis.
* Daily Herald | Mundelein creates local 1% grocery tax — but revenue won’t arrive for months: Months after many neighboring towns took the same action, Mundelein trustees this week approved a 1% local tax on groceries to replace a state tax set to expire at year’s end. But whereas the towns that acted before an October deadline can start collecting that tax Jan. 1, Mundelein’s grocery tax won’t become effective until July 1. That means the village won’t see the tax money until October 2026.
* Daily Southtown | Tinley Park’s Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre adds parking charges for the 1st time in venue history: General parking will cost $20 per vehicle if customers pay online in advance or $25 per vehicle if paid on the event date. Parking spots can be reserved and upgraded on Ticketmaster. Premier parking spots, closer to the venue, cost $50 online. Reserved, oversized and limo parking spots cost $90. Parking spots labeled as easy out, which provide an easy entry and exit according to the website, cost $120.
* WCIA | New shelter coming to Champaign to help homeless families: Families who are interested can go to the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission facility next to the C-U At Home offices. That’s on South Neil Street and West Springfield Avenue. From 7 to 7:30 p.m., the RPC is screening applicants. You do have to be a parent or legal guardian of a person under the age of 18. If you are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis, you’ll be given the location of the shelter, which the RPC said it’s keeping secret for safety.
* BND | Former metro-east cop pleads guilty to stealing from union fund: A former Alton police officer has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $58,000 from the department’s union fund for officers, Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Wednesday. Jeremiah T. Dressler, 42, of Brighton, Illinois, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of felony theft, one count of felony theft by deception and three counts of felony wire fraud, according to a news release from Raoul.
* WCIA | Champaign City Council approves next step for U of I themed hotel: The hotel will be University of Illinois themed and will go on the corner of Neil and Hill Streets. At Tuesday’s meeting, the council heard a presentation on the tax incentive agreement with the developers. The city said it won’t be giving the builders more money from its general fund, and instead, it will give $7 million in reimbursements from revenue the hotel itself generates. They’re expecting these incentives to pay off in a big way for the city long-term.
*** National ***
* NYT | How Online Crypto Casinos Use Celebrities and Livestreamers to Recruit Gamblers: Many sites do not have strong identity verification and are able to advertise on social media with little oversight. Tech-savvy young people in the United States can gamble on them using false identities and readily available software to mask their locations, often unbeknownst to their parents. Eight years ago, crypto casinos were obscure websites. Now they are a multibillion-dollar industry with dozens of operators. The success of Stake and Roobet, two of the largest casinos, has enabled them to sign partnership deals with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Premier League soccer teams and celebrity rappers like Drake and Snoop Dogg.
* AP | Trump wants to keep farmers happy with cash. They’re still worried about the future: “It’s a bridge. It’s not the ultimate solution we’re looking for,” said Charlie Radman, a fourth-generation farmer who grows corn and soybeans on the land his family has owned near Randolph, Minnesota, since 1899. “What we really want to have is a little more certainty and not have to rely on these ad hoc payments.”
Thanks to you all, we have raised enough for 1,810 gifts. That is 45,260 dollars toward LSSI’s 63,250 dollar goal to provide 2,530 gifts for foster kids this holiday season. We still need 720 more gifts to reach the goal. If you are able, please chip in and help us get there for these kids. Thank you!
