* Greg Bishop at The Center Square did a lot of work today and pieced together a bunch of legislative candidate filings…
Among the candidates who filed were two Democrats seeking the 3rd District seat in the Illinois House. That seat was vacated by former state Rep. Luis Arroyo. He stepped down after he was charged with bribing an unnamed state senator. He has pleaded not guilty.
House Speaker Michael Madigan signaled the House would challenge the qualifications of the person party leaders chose for the seat if Arroyo had any part in the selection project. Party leaders in that district chose Eva Dina Delgado to take Arroyo’s seat. She filed Monday, as did David Feller.
Peter Breen of Lombard filed as a Republican in an effort to regain the 48th House district seat he lost to state Rep. Terra Costa-Howard, D-Glen Ellyn. Costa-Howard also filed Monday.
There could be a Republican primary in the 74th Illinois House district. State Rep. Dan Swanson, R-Alpha, filed, as did Frank Ostling of Amboy. Another Republican primary would pit state Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-East Dundee, against Carolyn Schofield of Crystal Lake, both filed for the 66th District seat. Democrats Suzanne Ness of Crystal Lake and Jim Malone of Carpentersville also filed papers for the 66th District seat.
Three Republicans – David Friess of Red Bud, David Holder of Baldwin and Kevin Schmidt of Millstadt – could face off to challenge state Rep. Nathan Reitz, D-Steeleville. All three filed Monday.
Four Republicans filed Monday for the 115th House seat being vacated by state Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro. Bryant filed for the 58th state Senate district on Monday. The four Republicans vying for her seat are John Howard of Texico, Johnnie Ray Smith II of Ashley, Clifford Lindemann of Bluford and Zachary Meyer of DuQuoin.
Three Republicans are vying for the seat of state Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, after Bailey announced he’s running for the state Senate. The three Republicans are Andy Hires of Olney, Cory Musgrave of Geff and Adam Niemerg of Dieterich. Bailey filed Monday for the 55th Senate District.
Two Democrats, Maggie Trevor of Rolling Meadows and Ryan Huffman of Palatine, want to unseat state Rep. Tom Morrison, R-Palatine. Two Republicans, Al Manzo of Addison and Michael Camerer of Bartlett, want to challenge state Rep. Diane Pappas, D-Itasca.
In the Illinois Senate, state Sen. Chuck Weaver, R-Peoria, could face a challenge in the primary from Win Stoller of East Peoria. Both filed as Republicans. State Sen. Tony Munoz, D-Chicago, could face Froylan Jimenez of Chicago in the Democratic primary. State Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, faces a primary challenge from Ken Thomas of Chicago. State Sen. Robert Martwick, D-Chicago, could be challenged by Danny O’Toole of Chicago.
State Rep. Margo McDermed, R-Mokena, isn’t running for reelection. Republicans Tim Ozinga of Mokena and Tim Baldermann of New Lenox filed Monday for that seat as did Democrat Michelle Fadeley of Joliet.
State Rep. Theresa Mah, D-Chicago, could face a challenge in March from Bobby Martinez Olsen of Chicago. State Rep. Justin Slaughter, D-Chicago, may face a challenge from Marlo Barnett of Chicago. State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, could see a challenge from Marc Loveless of Chicago. State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, could see a challenge from Ryan Podges of Chicago. State Rep. Omar Williams, D-Chicago, could face Gerard Moorer of Chicago in the primary.
State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, has two party challengers, Joe Duplenchin and Patti Vasquez, both of Chicago. All three filed petitions Monday. State Rep. Yahiel Kalish, D-Chicago, faces a primary challenge from Denyse Stoneback of Skokie.
The start of filing for the March 17 primary election in DuPage County attracted an unprecedented number of Democrats Monday in what, until a year or so ago, had been a traditional Republican stronghold.
Democrats were filing nominating petitions Monday to challenge Republican incumbents for all six available county board seats next fall. Several of those Democratic candidates could find themselves in contested spring primaries. […]
The most hotly contested Democratic primary has emerged in District 4, where five candidates are expected to vie for their party’s nod to face incumbent Republican Tim Elliott of Glen Ellyn next November.
At least four of those candidates filed Monday morning — Hadiya Afzal of Glen Ellyn, Lynn LaPlante of Glen Ellyn, John Jacobs of Wheaton and Janette DeFelice of Glen Ellyn. Party leaders say they also expect Hailey Nicewanner of Glen Ellyn to run.
Smith has the entire rundown, so if you’re into this topic, click here.
[An investigation by Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting] amassed internal injury records from 23 of [Amazon’s] 110 fulfillment centers nationwide. Taken together, the rate of serious injuries for those facilities was more than double the national average for the warehousing industry: 9.6 serious injuries per 100 full-time workers in 2018, compared with an industry average that year of 4. […]
But injury records and interviews with three of the former Amazon safety managers suggest the introduction of the robots led to even more injuries. Of the records Reveal obtained, most of the warehouses with the highest rates of injury deployed robots. One robotic facility in Kent, Washington—which a senior operations manager boasted was “the flagship of fulfillment,” as one of the few centers in 2016 to ship a million packages in a day—logged 292 serious injuries last year, for a rate of about 13 serious injuries per 100 workers.
And when disaster struck at one Indiana warehouse, Amazon’s economic might may have helped the company evade accountability. When a maintenance worker was crushed to death by a forklift there, state officials in Indiana, which then was jockeying for Amazon’s second headquarters, sided with the company over their own investigator. […]
On Sept. 24, just a few days after he’d been eating ice cream and watching college football with his grandkids, Terry showed up for work and was sent to do maintenance on a forklift. He walked under the machine’s forks and metal platform to work on it with a wrench. Suddenly, the 1,200-pound piece of equipment dropped down and crushed him.
His body lay there nearly two hours before a co-worker noticed the pool of blood. […]
As he surveyed the site of the accident, [Indiana OSHA inspector John Stallone] quickly figured out the problem: A tall pole, lying just feet away, should have been used to prop up the forklift during maintenance. In a recording he made of his inspection, Stallone asked an Amazon manager whether there was any written documentation of Terry being trained on that. […]
Indiana OSHA issued four serious safety citations, for a total fine of $28,000. Stallone sought more, but he was getting pushback. On Nov. 20, 2017, Stallone joined his boss, Indiana OSHA Director Julie Alexander, as she called Amazon officials. He secretly recorded the conversation, which is legal in the state, and shared the recording with Reveal.
During the call, Alexander told the Amazon officials what she’d need from them in order to shift the blame from the company to “employee misconduct,” according to the recording. […]
Some days after the conference call with Amazon officials, Stallone said Indiana Labor Commissioner Rick Ruble pulled him into his office. The governor was there, too, standing by the commissioner’s desk, according to Stallone.
He recalled that Holcomb told him how much it would mean to Indiana if the state won the Amazon headquarters deal. Then, Stallone said, the commissioner told him to back off on the Amazon case—or resign.
Governor JB Pritzker vetoed House Bill 3902 today, which would provide a sales tax exemption for private aircraft parts and components through December 31, 2024.
The past due taxes from Illinois’ private jet companies amount to roughly $50 million, including interest and penalties. This bill would also allow an additional $10 million per year in tax credits through 2024.
“Giving private aircraft companies tens of millions of dollars in past due tax forgiveness is not the right fiscal decision for our state as we face billions in debt associated with unpaid bills, a multi-billion-dollar structural deficit, and critical needs in schools and public safety services,” writes Governor JB Pritzker in the veto message.
My administration appreciates the hard work of the sponsors of this legislation in the House and Senate. However, I am opposed to providing a sales tax exemption to private aircraft companies. The delinquent taxes owed from Illinois’ private jet companies amounts to roughly $50 million, including interest and penalties, and if House Bill 3902 became law, the state would be allowing an additional $10 million per year in tax credits through 2024. […]
Most importantly, we are working to balance our budget and to provide a stable fiscal environment upon which to build a thriving economy. Allowing this past due tax forgiveness to the private jet industry at this time is not in line with this vision.
With Thanksgiving approaching this week, we wanted to make sure you were equipped with all of the latest information you need to tell your loved ones this holiday season that Illinois is controlled by a ring of corrupt Democrat politicians led by Michael Madigan.
Who says you can’t talk politics at the Thanksgiving table?
Here are some important updates to share with your holiday guests:
Governor JB Pritzker, Speaker Mike Madigan, and their top political allies are all under federal investigation.
The Democratic Party of Illinois is a vehicle for no talent cronies and grifters to reward friends, wield power and personally profit from public office.
A wide-ranging corruption probe throughout the state has already yielded indictments for two Democrat state legislators and the most powerful Chicago alderman.
The FBI is issuing warrants and subpoenas on Mike Madigan’s top political cronies; it’s just a matter of time before the machine comes to a screeching halt.
We’ve pulled together all of this information on our new website, which tracks the web of corruption that Mike Madigan and his political cronies have built throughout the state:
VISIT DemCorruption.com
We are aggressively gathering more resources to keep updating this website with all of the new information we receive.
Before Thanksgiving Day, can we ask you to chip in $5 to our STOP CORRUPT ILLINOIS DEMOCRATS fund?
We’re still $10,000 away from our end of month goal.
Thank you for continuing to support the Illinois Republican Party. We wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving holiday.
Sincerely,
Anthony Sarros
Executive Director
I checked and didn’t see any significant updates from the launch of the site.
Also, people who insist on talking politics during holiday dinners shouldn’t ever be invited back. It’s a time for family togetherness, not cable TV debates. Sheesh.
* Oscar’s groomer told me last week that the little guy has an ear infection. He also has some redness on his tummy. So, he’s going to the vet. I’ll be back when I can. Meanwhile, be nice to each other and keep it Illinois-centric. Thanks.
*** UPDATE *** The vet found no ear infection, but he does have a little infection on his belly, so he’s taking some antibiotics for the next 10 days. Should be all good by then.
* Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) got a surprise this week when she opened her campaign mailbox…
Cassidy said she’s worked with the Illinois Policy Institute on criminal justice reform, campaign finance reform and ethics. So, she’s depositing the check and not refunding it.
* Mark Maxwell at WCIA has a long piece up about the race for Illinois Senate President. Here are a couple of excerpts…
“Illinoisans need to trust their elected leaders, particularly those who lead the legislative chambers,” Emily Bittner, a spokeswoman for Pritzker said in an email on Sunday. “The governor strongly believes that those who have been subject to federal raids or indictment would taint the outcome of that election and should not participate in selecting the next Senate President.”
“The election of the Senate President is among the oddest elections,” [Sen. Don Harmon] said in response to Pritzker’s statement. “It’s entirely an internal debate and deliberation. In the end, we will need to figure out what the appropriate ground rules are.” […]
Should Senate Democrats agree to accept Pritzker’s guidance and bar Senators Tom Cullerton and Martin Sandoval from casting a vote, the pool of available Democratic senators would shrink to 37 and increase the likelihood of a protracted battle between warring factions.
Enter the Republicans, who hold 19 votes in reserve.
While it could prove an incredibly unlikely scenario for a number of politically sensitive and risky reasons, many of the Senate Republicans admitted they have discussed the possibility that if the conditions were right, one or more of them could play a role in electing the next leader of their chamber. Others suggested they might even listen to offers from certain of their Democratic counterparts. Two Republicans, who spoke anonymously in order to avoid disrupting delicate discussions, confessed they already had, and described casual conversations about the prospect of crossing the aisle to back a candidate if that person made public pledges to support ‘Fair Maps’ or to grant concessions at the committee level.
1) The governor has to be a bit more careful here; 2) The Republicans would be playing a very dangerous game if they tried to interfere. From the Senate’s rules…
Election of the Minority Leader. The Senate shall elect a Minority Leader in a manner consistent with the Constitution and laws of Illinois.
The entire Senate votes on the Republican Leader. Mess with the Democrats, they could mess with the GOPs.
…Adding… Good point in comments…
You can’t assume anything if this succession battle goes completely off the tracks, but hypothetically, I would think that the same bipartisan group of 30 senators that gets together to pick a president would also cut a deal to pick the minority leader — two votes on two different motions by the same 30 members.
Task force members came up with the plan a few months ago and urged the legislature to pass it. The General Assembly did so in the recent fall veto session.
Amanda Kass, the associate director of the Government Finance Research Center at the University of Illinois-Springfield, cautiously embraced consolidation when it was first disclosed. But she suggested proponents produce a “thorough analysis of the estimated costs and savings and their respective time horizons.” She also noted that different municipalities will have different “transition” costs and pressed for specifics.
Was any of that forthcoming?
Kass said “the only analysis” came in the task force report that “was not the most sophisticated analysis.”
“In the spring, we expanded a program to buy out — a voluntary program — to buy out retirees, when they’re retiring, at 60% of what their pensions would be,” Pritzker said.
“People are choosing to take the money up front. It’s saving the state money. In fact, a study was done of what the savings would be and it’s billions and billions, potentially $25 billion of savings. And by the way, people are choosing it — almost 20% of people who are retiring are choosing that buyout.” […]
As for Pritzker’s contention that the buyouts would save the state billions, his spokeswoman said the governor was presented with an independent analysis that came to that conclusion. She declined to provide the study itself or offer any further details about where it came from and what it was based on.
“The governor was referencing a proprietary study conducted by and for an outside organization that he was presented,” Abudayyeh wrote in an email. “It determined that pension buyouts, depending on the structure of the options, have the potential to save billions, including as much as roughly $25 billion. The administration has not yet determined its estimate, nor did the governor say that this was the administration’s estimate for how much money buyouts are currently saving or will save.”
Without access to the study, we cannot confirm if Pritzker’s comments square with its findings.
* The live coverage feed was filled with stuff like this…
This morning at 8am my nominating petitions for re-election as State Representative for the 7th District of Illinois were filed at the State Board of Elections headquarters in Springfield. It is truly an honor and a privilege to serve such an amazing district. Thank you all!👊🏾 pic.twitter.com/OMreARWQMk
I’m officially on the ballot for 2020! So thankful for the opportunity to represent the 58th District and hope to continue to earn your trust and support.
Candidate filing begins — The busiest place in Springfield Monday morning will be a strip mall that contains both a Chuck E. Cheese and the Illinois State Board of Elections’ headquarters. As is the biannual tradition, candidates for Congress, the General Assembly, judges and other elected offices — or their proxies — will brave the usually cold pre-winter morning to be in line by 8 a.m., or even earlier. Those with petitions ready to hand in first thing Monday have the chance to get listed first among their competitors on the ballot, which studies have shown may have a slight statistical benefit in down-ballot races. For those who aren’t willing to stand in the cold for hours, or who still have to finish collecting enough signatures to survive a possible petition challenge, the filing period is one week and closes at 5 p.m. Dec. 2.
Those in line when the doors opened were eligible for a lottery that will determine the top ballot spot, which some believe is politically beneficial at the polls. When filing ends on Monday, Dec. 2, those candidates in line at 4 p.m. will be after the last ballot spot — also seen by some as a plus on Election Day.
Mary McClellan, a Republican candidate for a circuit judge seat in McHenry County, was the first in line. McClellan, a former McHenry County clerk, said she arrived at about 9 a.m. Sunday.
“I want to be able to show my constituents that I’m committed, and that they’ll be represented the same way,” McClellan said.
By 7: 30 a.m., hundreds of the people were outside the Board of Elections office in a line that snaked along the sidewalk outside a Springfield strip mall.
* The Question: Your favorite petition gathering or filing day stories?
…Adding… Expected…
Indicted Ald. Ed Burke (14) filed this morning to run for another 4-year term as 14th Ward Democratic Committeeperson — a position he has held since 1968. Burke, who has pled not guilty, refused @cookcodems Chair @ToniPreckwinkle's request to resign last month.
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan released the following statement Monday:
“Continuing House Democrats’ commitment to comprehensive reform of the laws governing the behavior of elected officials, state employees, and lobbyists, I have appointed Majority Leader Greg Harris and Assistant Majority Leader Kelly Burke to serve on the bipartisan, bicameral Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform. Leader Harris and Leader Burke are widely recognized for their ability to work across the aisle to build consensus for significant legislative reforms. As the representatives of the House Democratic Caucus, they will help bring all stakeholders together, lead a thorough review and discussion of existing ethics and lobbying laws, and prepare recommendations for additional reforms by the end of March.”
The following can be attributed to Majority Leader Greg Harris:
“Serious reforms to state ethics and lobbying laws will require a thorough and bipartisan discussion on where our current laws are working and where they fall short. I appreciate Speaker Madigan’s commitment to bringing key stakeholders to the table for a public conversation on how we can continue to restore confidence in our state government.”
The following can be attributed to Assistant Majority Leader Kelly Burke:
“The task of addressing corruption and strengthening lobbying laws is not a Democratic or Republican issue; it must be a bipartisan effort. The Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform will allow for a comprehensive and cooperative conversation on an issue of tremendous importance to our state. I look forward to working with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle and the appointees of our constitutional officers to prepare a strong set of bipartisan reforms.”
The handwritten Gettysburg Address has just arrived! It has to be left in this case to acclimate to the room temperature before we can get it out. The suspense is killing me!!! pic.twitter.com/cqPqE2T05X
Gov. J.B. Pritzker fired the executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Friday, marking the latest chapter of turmoil for the Springfield institution. […]
A spokeswoman for Pritzker said they couldn’t provide details of the firing.
An Illinois watchdog has determined the head of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield violated policy by loaning its copy of the Gettysburg Address to conservative commentator Glenn Beck.
The state’s Office of the Inspector General started investigating the loan after it received an anonymous tip that officials at the museum “p*mped out” an irreplaceable, handwritten copy of the Gettysburg Address to Beck for $50,000 last year.
Mercury One, Beck’s right-leaning nonprofit, put the rare artifact on display for three days at its office in Texas as part of a “pop-up” museum in June 2018.
Lowe, the former director of the George W. Bush Presidential Center who took over at the Springfield museum in July 2016, ignored the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency’s standard practices for loaning items, according to the inspector general report.
After the Gettysburg Address arrived at its destination in Texas, the Facebook page of Beck’s television and radio station, The Blaze, posted a live video showing “Beck and a woman referred to in the video as a curator together lifting the Gettysburg Address out of the crate with gloved hands and carrying it to a table,” according to the report. […]
“The people of Illinois are fortunate that the Gettysburg Address and other artifacts ultimately returned safely to the ALPLM in June 2018, despite the risks that were taken,” the report says.
In recommending Lowe’s firing, the report also noted that he attempted to make two additional loans to Mercury One that never came to fruition, one because the planned exhibit never occurred and one because it was blocked by Lincoln museum staff.
State historian Samuel Wheeler told investigators that he told Lowe the loan was “inappropriate and unadvisable on every level.” Wheeler said that Lowe responded that the decision was already made and that he wanted to know how to facilitate the loan.
Investigators interviewed Lowe, who said he was not aware the Historic Preservation Agency board, which was no longer in existence when the loan was made, had passed a resolution prohibiting future loans of the Gettysburg Address.
Lowe said he knew Beck from the time he was director of the George Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. Lowe said Beck contacted him about wanting to help raise money to pay off the debt that was incurred from buying the Taper collection of Lincoln artifacts. As part of that effort, Beck wanted to mount an exhibit in Dallas that would use Lincoln artifacts. […]
[Chief Operating Officer Michael Little] went to work for Mercury One after leaving the ALPLM in lieu of termination. Little was the subject of another inspector general report that said he left a Lincoln document unattended in the Capitol.
Mr. Lowe’s Consulting Business And Advisory Position With Mercury One
On an ALPLM form dated August 17, 2018, Mr. Lowe disclosed that he has secondary employment through his business, Alan Lowe Consulting. Mr. Lowe described this business as consulting related to archives, museums, and public policy centers.
In his position as ALPLM Executive Director, Mr. Lowe is required to annually submit a Supplemental Statement of Economic Interests form to the Executive Ethics Commission.69 In response to a question on that form as to whether he had held any non-governmental position during the preceding calendar year of 2018, Mr. Lowe’s response dated April 25, 2019 disclosed that he had held an uncompensated position of “Member Advisory Committee” for “Mercury One American Journey Experience.”
Since then, union-heavy states have been enacting laws to weaken the impact of the Janus decision. Which state probably is next to have such a law? You guessed it. Illinois.
Lawmakers during the fall veto session sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker legislation that would make it easier for unions to recruit members and harder for employees to know their rights under Janus. Public employers — mostly governments — would be required to provide the names, addresses and contact information of their employees, including personal email addresses and cellphone numbers on file, directly to union bargaining units.
The legislation also severely limits the ability of employers to inform their workers about the choice to join a union or not. […]
If Pritzker signs the bill, he will demonstrate once again who actually runs Illinois state government. It’s not his administration. It’s not the department heads. It’s the public employees unions who represent more than 90% of the state workforce. They already have the power. Governor, why give them more?
Always with the hyperbole. I don’t recall the editorial board getting upset when the Rauner administration slipped employees’ personal contact info to the Illinois Policy Institute.
Also, this bill was mostly just a codification of the contract that Gov. Pritzker’s administration negotiated with AFSCME. He ran as an unabashedly pro-union candidate. To call on him to flip-flop now is more than a bit disingenuous.
* Cass County has a population of 12,260 and its largest municipality is Beardstown. I did not know that it doesn’t have its own website until today, when I read this story by Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree…
Cass County plans to boost its online presence with the launch of a new website in a few weeks.
The website, which should be available Dec. 1, will house information about the county, government and attractions.
County board member Josh Millard said Cass County is one of only a few counties in the state that does not have its own website.
“Trying to find information on the county is a nightmare,” Millard said. “We are one of four counties that didn’t have a website.”
* Exelon says it has created a special board committee with its own outside counsel to deal with the federal investigation. But the company will not say who is on that committee and what firm the committee has retained. Steve Daniels at Crain’s takes a look…
But the temperature of the water Exelon and ComEd find themselves in arguably is no hotter than that enveloping Wells Fargo when evidence surfaced of employees creating fictitious accounts for customers or, more recently, Boeing when design flaws in its new 737 Max apparently led to fatal crashes.
Both San Francisco-based Wells Fargo and Chicago-based Boeing established special board committees to probe what went wrong. The members and chairmen of those panels were disclosed when they were established.
Wells’ special board panel had its own legal counsel, and it identified the law firm. […]
Exelon’s refusal to say who is serving on the special board committee on what is clearly emerging as a time of crisis for the company “is a little odd,” says Charles Elson, chairman of corporate governance and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. “You want to let your shareholders know because it shows you’re dealing with it in a serious, transparent and independent way.”
The Chicago Tribune recently reported that Mike McClain, the most prominent insider connected to House Speaker Michael Madigan, sent a blind-copied email to what he called the “Most Trusted of the Trusted” asking for help raising money in the closing weeks of the 2018 campaign.
After thanking them for their work on behalf of “Himself” (presumed to be Madigan), McClain claimed to have reviewed a “magic Excel sheet” and asked for more contributions, which were to be directed to a Madigan person at the Democratic Party of Illinois so their money could be tracked on said “magic” spreadsheet.
Chicago public radio station WBEZ reported the same day that McClain sent a blind-copied email last December to what he called a “Magic Lobbying List.” McClain claimed the list was compiled by him and Madigan and the two of them had recently culled the roster to less than two dozen. He asked recipients to contact him if they had turned down any lobbying clients so he could apparently funnel them to other “magic” lobbyists.
The two emails are certainly distasteful, but nothing in either appears to directly violate a law. Every legislative leader has trusted contribution bundlers and favored lobbyists. If you’re trying to get close to a leader, it’s not too difficult to figure out how. How far that gets you is another matter. But it certainly never hurts to be on a leader’s good side, which is why so many people try to do it, particularly with someone who controls the strings as closely as Madigan does.
The difference here is that somebody put this stuff in writing. That is just not done. Ever. And that’s why some are wondering what else might have happened.
What’s that line from that movie? Oh, yeah: “Gentlemen, welcome to Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club.”
McClain met regularly with Madigan and he worked diligently to maintain his position as the Madigan’s most trusted adviser. The two huddled multiple times a week during legislative session and spoke often when the General Assembly wasn’t in session. It was widely assumed that if McClain said certain things he was speaking for Madigan. And so it’s not much of a leap to think that the folks who received those emails believed that McClain was once again speaking on Madigan’s behalf.
But did it go any further? Was a bill, for instance, kept in committee until a “magic” somebody got a contract? That is the real question. The setup is there, but we’re waiting to see if any official steps were taken to further any alleged conspiracy. So far, we haven’t yet seen any proof of such a thing. But it sure seems like that’s at least one direction this particular branch of the massive ongoing federal investigation is headed.
Another string of McClain emails reported by the Tribune makes one wonder what the “real” Mike Madigan was up to.
Madigan publicly said he believed Alaina Hampton’s story about how the brother of his alderman sexually harassed her and even praised her for having the courage to come forward. But McClain actively raised money for Kevin Quinn through a handful of trusted Madigan loyalists, who were encouraged to put him on their payrolls for six months. Quinn apparently did things like monitor committee hearings for the lobbyists via online video and audio, but connected people like those guys can easily find out what happened in committees by talking to staff or legislators. McClain also coached Quinn how to structure his contracts (perhaps to avoid having to register as a lobbyist) and warned him never to speak of this to anyone, lest they all be dragged through the mud.
Publicly, Madigan said and did almost all the right things when the sexual harassment scandals were breaking around him. But was he also quietly taking care of a guy who might have damaging information about his operation, or at least avoiding creating a grudge and a resulting willingness to talk to the “wrong” people?
Madigan also made a big deal of firing his longtime chief of staff Tim Mapes after allegations were made about Mapes’ conduct. McClain and others near Madigan helped Mapes try to find a soft landing after he was given the boot. Mapes obviously knew where a lot of bones were buried because he helped bury them.
Needless to say, Madigan needs to fully address all of this. The sooner the better.
* Sen. Iris Martinez (D-Chicago) supported the appointment of Eva-Dina Delgado to the House over Speaker Madigan’s strong objections. Martinez sent out a press release today…
Recent news reports call into question the forthrightness of Illinois Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan’s commitment to fighting the harassment and abuse that spurred the #METOO movement. The Chicago Tribune reports Speaker Mike Madigan closest political confidants paid disgraced political operator Kevin Quinn, more than $30,000. The first payments arrived right after Madigan publicly stated that Quinn was no longer part of his political organization. During the same period, Madigan penned a Tribune Op-ed, saying he “made it a personal mission to take this issue head-on and correct past mistakes.”
“Women are the foundation of the Democrat Party. Speaker Madigan doesn’t get this simple fact. Last year, Speaker Madigan claimed to want to clean up his messes. His long-serving Chief-of-Staff had to leave in disgrace because of sexual harassment. His key aide, the brother to his Alderman, also had to exit in disgrace because of sexual harassment. He publicly promised things would be different. But he didn’t want to change his staff’s behavior. He wanted a cover-up. Madigan lied in public while his cronies paid the harasser,” states Senator Iris Martinez, who is also a State Central Democratic Committeeperson. “This action should not be tolerated from Chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party. Speaker Madigan needs to explain these inconsistencies or resign as leader of the Party.”
At an Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association event last year, Michael Madigan addressed the importance of abolishing a culture that perpetuated sexual harassment, bullying, and fear of retaliation in the workplace. He outlined measures taken against party officials and collaborators who fired after reports of harassing behavior. Many people believed that speaker Madigan’s words were the prelude to a real and positive change. This week’s Tribune story demonstrates Mike Madigan’s sincerity on sexual harassment was merely public relations cover.
“I urge my colleagues in the party and the legislature to join my demand for answers. Speaker Madigan must state what he knew, and when he knew it,” Martinez continued. The party and the public deserve to know why Madigan’s top lieutenants paid $30,000 to a fired, disgraced sexual harasser while at the same time directing a PR whisper campaign against the victim. The misogyny of the Madigan era must end. Women have come too far to have a leader who thinks pay-offs and cover-ups are appropriate. Madigan should be ashamed that he and his people stand with the harasser and against the victim.”
A Madigan spokeswoman stood by the statement given when the Tribune disclosed McClain’s role: “If a group of people were attempting to help Kevin Quinn, the speaker was not a part of it.” […]
As for Martinez, she and Madigan have been involved in some intraparty fights, including local Democratic Party slatemaking.
But Martinez, the state central committeewoman of the 4th Congressional District, said her questions about Madigan had nothing to do with her run for circuit court clerk. She did not get the Cook County party endorsement of Madigan and other local Democratic leaders, who slated Michael Cabonargi, a member of the county Board of Review.
In addition to Martinez’s comments, Democratic Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago called the payments to Quinn “frustrating.” Cassidy also said it was “incredibly frustrating” that so many people were worried about [Kevin] Quinn rather than his victim. “Everybody’s asking about him,” she said.
TO: State Agency Directors
FROM: Dan Hynes, Deputy Governor
DATE: November 22, 2019
RE: Merit Compensation
Our employees are integral to ensuring that state government meets the needs of those we serve. Day in and day out, state workers provide vital services to people, businesses, and communities across Illinois. We have a responsibility to ensure that we attract the best talent to these roles and fairly compensate the public servants who make our state run.
To that end, shortly after taking office, Governor Pritzker asked me to evaluate the pay structure for merit compensation employees. These employees have not received a cost of living adjustment in more than a decade (since July 1, 2009). Over that same period, inflation has increased the cost of living by 19.5 percent. This disparity has operationally hamstrung state agencies, with some managers unfairly penalized in their compensation and in some cases, paid less than those they supervise. This undermines the state’s ability to recruit and retain managers and devalues the work of those overseeing critical work within state government.
In order to begin to address these issues, we are moving forward with a two-year merit compensation plan. The plan includes the following:
Fiscal Year 2020
• Rebuild salaries for bargaining unit employees who left their bargaining unit position to take a merit compensation position. Employees with a current salary less than what it would have been with the step increases will receive an increase to match the value of the post-step adjustment level. This level will be determined by what the level would have been when the employee left to take the merit compensation position. Adjusted salaries will be effective retroactive to September 1, 2019.
• Issue a one-time stipend for all eligible merit compensation employees. To be eligible, a merit compensation employee must have been in active status as of December 31, 2018, and not had a special salary adjustment in the last 12 months (since November 1, 2018). The stipend will be pro-rated based on years of service as of November 1, 2019 ($2,500 for four or more years of service; $1875 for more than 3 years of service; $1,250 for more than 2 years of service; $625 for more than 1 year of service).
• Provide a cost of living adjustment of 1.5 percent effective January 1, 2020 for eligible merit compensation employees (in line with the 1.5 percent cost of living adjustment that AFSCME employees will receive). To be eligible, merit compensation employees must have been in active status as of December 31, 2018.
Fiscal Year 2021
• Provide a cost of living adjustment of 2.1 percent effective July 1, 2020 for all merit compensation employees (in line with the 2.1 percent cost of living adjustment that AFSCME employees will receive).
• Begin to align salary ranges for merit compensation position classifications with salary ranges for identical bargaining unit position classifications. Employees in these merit compensation positions who are earning less than the minimum salary of the corresponding bargaining salary range will receive salary increases to a new minimum salary over the next three years. Salaries for merit compensation Public Service Administrators who make less than the bargaining unit minimum will begin to be addressed over five years.
Looking ahead, I have also directed the Department of Central Management Services (CMS) to put together a proposal for a permanent merit compensation pay structure for FY22 and beyond.
In the coming days, CMS and the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget will send further guidance to state agencies to ensure proper implementation of this plan.
We sincerely value the hard work of our merit compensation employees, and we hope that this plan will provide long overdue relief and stability to state workers.
Back in the day, when the state had money to spend because it wasn’t making its full pension payments, merit comp workers would receive the same raises as union employees. The lack of raises is a big reason why so many employees have clamored to join a union.
* Oscar was born on Thanksgiving Day in 2012, so today is his 7th birthday. Here he is after a long celebratory walk…
* From earlier this week…
According to archived posts, I found out on this day 10 years ago I would be moving to Springfield to intern for @capitolfax. Of course, nothing significant happened afterwards. /s
The operator of a Summit bar that’s come under scrutiny as part of a political corruption investigation in the southwest suburbs is an associate of a top political operative for Ald. Edward Burke and state Sen. Martin Sandoval, both facing their own problems with federal investigators.
Mariano “Mario” Martinez — who runs Mars Bar, 6030 S. Harlem Ave. — has personal and professional connections to Rudy Acosta Sr., a Burke precinct captain and Sandoval pal, according to records and interviews.
Martinez, 50, was charged earlier this year with possessing and distributing a kilo of heroin.
Court papers filed in March by his lawyer identify Acosta’s nephew as the “cooperating witness” who helped federal authorities ensnare Martinez.
Martinez’s name surfaced after federal agents visited Summit on Sept. 26 as part of the ongoing corruption probe and questioned Mayor Sergio Rodriguez on matters including whether political pressure was applied to get Mars Bar a late-hours liquor license, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Thursday said she’s not sure whether she’ll call for Commissioner Jeff Tobolski to resign from his elected position, despite his absence from three important board meetings.
Preckwinkle, who is chair of the Cook County Democratic Party, recently called on Tobolski, who is also mayor in McCook, to step down from his committee leadership posts.
“I’m not sure how this is going to play out. I don’t want to speculate now on what actions I may take in the future,” she said. “I think it was clear to me anyway that we needed to make some changes in leadership as a result of his continued absence, and we’re in the process of doing that. We’ll have some recommendations for the December meeting.”
A south suburban developer is in the early stages of a deal that could bring horse racing back to Balmoral Park near south suburban Crete as part of a project that would include casino-style gambling. […]
But before Goldberg’s plan for Balmoral can be realized, state lawmakers would have to amend the gambling expansion bill Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law this summer. The law permitted a horse track and casino to operate in any of six south suburban Cook County townships, and Balmoral is in Will County. […]
A proposal for a new “racino” in Tinley Park was derailed after Pritzker stepped in to quash a sale of state land for the project. The governor’s action came after the Tribune reported the developer’s longstanding business ties to a banking family with reputed mob connections.
A former vice chancellor at City Colleges of Chicago and seven others have been indicted on federal charges alleging they ran a $350,000 kickback scheme that awarded college contracts to a series of companies with ties to the administrator’s relatives and associates.
In some cases, no work was even performed, the charges alleged.
Sharod Gordon, 45, of Oak Park, was charged in an indictment made public Wednesday with 16 counts of wire fraud. At the time of the alleged scheme, Gordon served as City Colleges’ associate vice chancellor for community relations and recruitment and later the vice chancellor of legislative and community affairs.
Also charged was Gordon’s ex-wife, Angelique Orr, 49, and two former employees of City Colleges who worked under Gordon, Krystal Stokes, 39, and Marva Smith 37. Katheryn Hayes, a spokeswoman for City Colleges, said Stokes worked as a project director and Smith as a liaison for local government agencies, both since November 2011. Stokes left in February 2018, while Smith’s last day was Wednesday, she said.
Stefanik has been a breakout star for the Republicans at these hearings. This impeachment proceeding is awash with partisan rancor — but not between Stefanik and Krishnamoorthi.
Krishnamoorthi, as a new member of the committee, has always been the last of 22 members to get his five-minute turn to quiz a witness. That means he shows up with a lot of potential questions and needs to keep juggling because he may need to be reacting to some testimony or that his questions have been asked.
When Stefanik approached, “I was in the middle of my preparation,” Krishnamoorthi said. “I think she came over and she may have just said, ‘Hello, how long is the break?’ or something like that. And then she walked away, and I was focused on my work.” […]
Krishnamoorthi said he told her, “I don’t know what happened. I didn’t intend anything.”
Stefanik told me, “We were chitchatting about our coffee or our water. It was general chitchat. I consider Raja a friend.”
Job growth in metropolitan Chicago suddenly has come to a dead halt, according to newly released state data, raising questions about how Illinois as a whole can thrive if its economic engine is idling.
The data is from the latest edition of Where Workers Work, a publication of the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Unlike most jobs numbers, it is based not on surveys and estimates but on an actual hard count of private-sector jobs covered by unemployment insurance that is considered highly reliable.
According to the report, the total number of jobs in the six-county metro area in the year ended March 31 grew just 1,361, to 3,598,232. That’s not even a tenth of a percent, and far and away is the lowest annual rise since the city and state began recovering from the subprime mortgage recession a decade ago. […]
[Thomas Walstrum, senior business economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said via email] “My best explanation is that this slowdown in jobs growth in Chicago appears to be in line with a slowdown in jobs growth in the Midwest and U.S. as a whole. . . .Because Chicago and the Midwest have been growing slower than the country throughout the recovery from the Great Recession, a slowdown in jobs growth everywhere looks worse here. I wouldn’t interpret these numbers as a sign that the Chicago economy is tanking while everywhere is doing well, but as a reflection of the fact that Chicago is the economic capital of a slow-growing region.”
A long-awaited review of the state’s troubled child abuse hotline has found the 24-hour call center needs to hire more staff, revamp its online reporting system and overhaul other procedures so people trying to report maltreatment of a minor don’t have to leave a message and wait for a callback.
The report, released Thursday by the state Department of Children and Family Services, examined hotlines in seven other states and found that Illinois had the only one that could not handle its call volume. During busy periods, callers to the Illinois hotline must leave a message with a worker, and it can take hours, and in some cases days, to receive a response from DCFS.
In the new report, researchers from the University of Illinois’ School of Social Work concluded that “inefficient processes and insufficient technology have limited the ability of Hotline staff to handle the high volume of calls that they receive. … Given the critical importance of the Hotline in protecting the safety of children in Illinois, fixing the identified problems must be considered a high priority and the Department should be given adequate resources to implement potential solutions.” […]
The hotline, which is based in Springfield, is considered the “front door” of DCFS because it’s where all child abuse and neglect investigations begin — with call takers who receive the initial report, assess the allegation and send the information to a local field office for follow-up. During peak times, the hotline receives more than 100 calls an hour and it handled a total of 268,406 calls in the last fiscal year. With call volume rising in recent years, hotline staff has resorted to taking more messages and is struggling to promptly respond to all reports.
Though the review was initially called an “audit,” internal emails between DCFS officials and U of I researchers obtained by The Daily Line show that during the months the report was being researched, written and prepared for release, the terminology switched to “report” and “review.” Additionally, top officials at DCFS and Gov. JB Pritzker’s office were able to review and make edits to the review before it was published — something that would not have been done to an official audit. […]
DCFS officials knew about the results of the report for nearly two months before it was released to certain lawmakers Wednesday and released to the public Thursday. [DCFS Director Marc Smith] himself was copied on several emails in a 213-page packet of emails obtained by The Daily Line between DCFS top brass and the U of I researchers conducting the hotline review.
The emails begin in early June when the partnership between the Children and Family Research Center and the agency was just underway, and conclude a few weeks ago. While the emails show the report was supposed to have been published in early October, the date was pushed back so that DCFS and the governor’s office could provide feedback, including edits.
“These emails say to me that DCFS put a very heavy thumb on the scale,” said Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert. […]
“If DCFS got to edit in rewrites, and the PR people at DCFS was involved, and the Governor’s office got to edit, it was not independent,” Golbert said.
“It makes it seem like they had a lot more influence on it than they should have, which again, I think they should have had nothing to do with the process,” said Leyda Garcia Greenawalt.
Greenawalt leads the Foster Care Alumni Network in Illinois. She said the big loser when government removes independent investigators are the kids who rely on that hotline.
Pritzker spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh told The Daily Line that the governor’s office was involved in asking for edits to the report throughout the fall with the explicit goal of getting more specific recommendations from researchers.
“The administration sought specific, actionable feedback through the audit. Requests focused on getting an additional level of specificity about auditors’ recommendations, particularly in regard to staffing,” Abudayyeh said. “The Governor is working diligently with leadership at DCFS to improve frontline processes in order to better serve the state’s most vulnerable children…The department will work to implement all 11 recommendations and will continue to engage with stakeholders to ensure vulnerable children across the state are getting the services they deserve.”
And then there’s the issue of America’s longest-serving Speaker of a State legislator, Michael Madigan.
“I’ve got a good relationship with the Speaker. I actually respect him as a legislator. He’s done an amazing job over what 40 years or more? You can’t take it away from him, he’s a political genius,” Lightford said. “But that doesn’t intimidate me. It allows me an opportunity to work with the speaker. I have excellent negotiation skills and I would love to shake up the table a little bit. … Power is in the imagination. It’s what you give him. I’ll have power too as the Senate president so we can balance our power out. “
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE *** Some of the “thoughts” in comments are clearly lacking on this topic. A legislator pal just texted me this: He has the power you allow him to have over you. Operate from there.
That’s at the heart of what Lightford said, not your own fantasy worlds.
Madigan gets into peoples’ heads. Look at Bruce Rauner, who let Madigan reside rent free in his cranium for four long years.
The best way to deal with Madigan is, first and foremost, not let him get into your head.
Of all the new tax programs Pritzker is using to balance his budget, Fitch noted that “the most significant” one is the nearly $400 million from a new assessment fee levied on managed care organizations, or MCOs.
Pritzker called it an “insurance tax” in his budget address last week. His administration has projected it will bring in $390 million.
Davesurance.com insurance broker David Castillo said consumers can expect to pay more if the tax is implemented.
Earlier this year, credit rating agency Fitch said the proposed insurance tax is “the most significant” recurring revenue stream proposed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, which could bring in $400 million. Pritzker’s administration earlier this year said it would bring in $390 million.
Davesurance.com insurance broker Dave Castillo said consumers can expect to pay more if such a tax passes, but that money will be matched dollar for dollar by the federal government.
“So I think it might be a reliable source of revenue,” Castillo said. “I don’t think it’s enough to cause major discontent in the marketplace.”
However, questions about how the tax on managed care organizations will work remain. MCOs are organizations that handle both taxpayer-funded Medicaid and traditional insurance claims. Lawmakers approved a tiered tax on MCOs beginning in 2020 as part of the budget that was passed with bipartisan support in the final days of the legislative session last month. That revenue would then be matched by federal funding as a way to pay the state’s Medicaid bills.
Davesurance.com insurance broker Dave Castillo said it’s like using the same tax dollar twice.
Asked Tuesday if the Medicaid buy-in plan in one expansion he’s eyeing, the governor said: “that’s one area to do it, yeah.”
Davesurance.com insurance broker Dave Castillo said although he doesn’t know the details of the possible plan, he sees some problems, including putting more stress on an already stressed Medicaid system.
When asked this summer if the Medicaid buy-in plan is one expansion he’s eyeing, the governor said: “That’s one area to do it, yeah.”
Davesurance.com insurance broker Dave Castillo said although he doesn’t know the details of the possible plan, he sees some problems, including putting more stress on an already stressed Medicaid system.
Davesurance.com insurance broker Dave Castillo said a proposal could come up during the 2020 election cycle as some presidential candidates have proposed Medicaid-for-all programs. Castillo said a state-specific Medicaid buy-in program could have unintended consequences, such as specialist rationing or higher costs for other insurance plans.
Davesurance.com insurance broker Dave Castillo said there’s no question the high cost of insulin has hurt many with diabetes. But capping the price could have some unintended consequences.
That priority to medical marijuana dispensaries means the first waves of Chicago’s pot shops are all white-owned, according to Black Caucus Chairman Ald. Jason Ervin.
“We are concerned about the lack of African American participation, which stands currently at zero. And we’ve not heard any plan from the state or from anyone to change that … so I think as a city that is a majority minority, to see that a half a billion dollar industry has no participation from two of the city’s largest communities I just think is wrong,” Ervin said. “The reality is that today I think that the state should create a system that would ensure African American ownership from the start … They want us to participate in the consumption but don’t want us to participate in the growing and the distribution of it.”
Ron Holmes and Kareem Kenyatta established their business, The Majority-Minority Group, to help applicants navigate the complicated – and expensive – process.
“Social equity kind of a buzzword that’s floating all over the country. Everyone’s going to have a different definition. For me it just means that the black corner boy can have the same opportunity that the white VC guy with the corner office can have,” Holmes said. “We want to make sure that we’re providing not just an equal amount of licenses to folks but also trying to repair and restore communities that have been disproportionally impacted by the war on drugs.”
Two social equity groups are pushing to get minority business owners involved in recreational marijuana sales in Illinois.
Neffer-Oduntunde Kerr is one of 30 people chosen Sunday as part of a 6 weeks’ long training process sponsored by two organizations aiming to add diversity to the upcoming Illinois’ marijuana industry.
Kerr is a single mother currently working multiple jobs while attending graduate school. She said this new opportunity presents promise and equity that she hasn’t seen very much of in her own community. […]
The [people] chosen on Sunday will now move on to the competitive process to apply for state-issued adult-use licenses, with both 4th MVMT and Majority-Minority helping them along the way.
Holmes and Kenyatta could’ve just submitted their own applications and cashed in. Instead, they’re doing this. And, yes, they’re getting paid, but they’re also doing some real good work.
Illinois’ highest court ruled Thursday that it is unconstitutional to ban convicted sex offenders from social media sites.
Conrad Allen Morger was convicted of sexually abusing a minor and sentenced to four years of probation by a court in McLean County. That came with a binding condition he not use specific internet sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
During oral arguments, held in September in Godfrey, Morger’s representative said the ban is a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment fundamental right to freedom of speech. […]
The justices analyzed Illinois’ law by considering whether the mandatory social media ban is “reasonably related” to the goal of probation — which is rehabilitation.
In Packingham, defendant, a registered sex offender who had completed his sentence, was convicted for violating a North Carolina law that barred registered sex offenders from gaining access to commercial social networking websites. The Supreme Court concluded the North Carolina statute impermissibly restricted lawful speech in violation of the first amendment.
* Crain’s takes a look at Senate President hopeful Kimberly Lightford’s history with ComEd and Exelon. Exerpt…
Among those bills was ComEd’s most recent major initiative—a 10-year extension of the generous formula rate that enables it to change rates each year, at a locked-in profit, with little scrutiny from state regulators. Lightford was a chief co-sponsor of that bill when it was introduced last spring. ComEd lobbied hard for the measure before the May adjournment, but uncharacteristically failed to win approval. It later came to light that contract lobbyists for the company had had their homes raided by federal investigators in that month.
Lightford was the primary Senate sponsor of ComEd-backed legislation in 2015 that for the first time allowed the utility to profit on the increasing amounts it invests in promoting energy efficiency, financed through a surcharge on customers’ monthly electric bills. The legislation, as introduced, would have authorized six ComEd-built “microgrids”—dedicated power generators and lines serving discrete areas. ComEd’s bill was rolled into the broader Future Energy Jobs Act, enacted in late 2016, which also bailed out two nuclear plants parent company Exelon had threatened to close, and in the final product authorized just one microgrid, serving the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.
According to the Center for Illinois Politics, Lightford raised the sixth most in the Senate from ComEd and Exelon. Senate President Cullerton and Sens. Tony Munoz, Bill Brady, Sue Rezin and Terry Link raised more. Sen. Don Harmon, who is also bidding to replace John Cullerton, raised the eleventh most. Among just ComEd recipients, Lightford ranked third in the Senate behind Senate President Cullerton and Sen. Tony Munoz.
Asked about how fellow senators might view the ComEd issue in light of her bid, she said they don’t want “a leader who was not engaged” in major issues. She’s made stronger ethics rules a key plank of her campaign, which some might view as hard to square with a record of staunch support for ComEd and Exelon’s priorities. But, she said, “I don’t know that Edison has any direct relationship to us changing the ethical things we need to change.”
I think I know what she may have meant to say there, but it surely didn’t come out that way. She’s going to talk herself out of the top job if she isn’t careful.
State Rep. Curtis Tarver II (D-Chicago) was arrested Monday night in the Woodlawn section of Chicago and charged with carrying a weapon with an invalid concealed carry license (CCL), according to Chicago police.
Replying to an inquiry from Chicago City Wire, the CPD Office of Communications said that at approximately 8:32 p.m. on November 18 officers on patrol in the 6500 block of South Stony Island Avenue stopped a vehicle with a broken headlight. They asked the driver, whom they identified as Curtis Tarver, 38, if there were weapons in the vehicle.
“The driver handed officers a weapon that was in the vehicle, as well as a concealed carry license,” a CPD communications officer wrote in an email. “Further investigation revealed the license was revoked. The subject was taken into custody and charged accordingly.”
Tarver was charged with a misdemeanor for the invalid license. He was also cited for the faulty headlight. He was issued an I-bond (a no-cash bond) and released. A court appearance is set for December 27 at 727 E. 111th St., Chicago.
And then it delves into speculation about why his carry license had been revoked.
* From Rep. Tarver…
On November 18, I was the subject of a routine traffic stop, at which time what appears to have been a clerical error regarding my concealed carry license resulted in my arrest. The facts are clear and supported by documents which I have shared with the Chicago Police Department: In August 2019, my concealed carry permit was renewed through August 2024. Upon receiving notice that concealed carry license was revoked because my Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID) had expired I immediately renewed my FOID. The renewal was effective as of November 16. While I had no way of knowing, this renewal purportedly was not yet reflected in Chicago Police Department records. The department acknowledged that my FOID was valid as of November 16. This was two days prior to the traffic stop, indicating that the concealed carry license should also be valid. I fully expect this case will be resolved quickly and without incident.
Like many people in Chicago, I applied for a concealed carry license in order to keep myself and my daughter safe. I take considerable efforts to ensure that I am always in compliance with our state’s laws and following safe practices for handling a firearm. This commitment to stronger gun laws that promote responsible ownership is why I recently voted for the Fix the FOID Act, which cracks down on illegal gun sales, strengthens background checks and closes unnecessary loopholes. I look forward to continuing this work on behalf of our community and focusing efforts to prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands.
Reached Friday morning, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the misdemeanor charge was due to an expired CCL license and that it was “likely a paperwork issue.”
* I’ve heard about the existence of this “magic lobbyist list,” but I haven’t seen this email sent by Mike McClain to several people last December. Kudos to Dan Mihalopoulos and Dave McKinney at WBEZ…
Shortly before last Christmas, consummate Springfield insider Michael McClain sent an email to what he called the “Magic Lobbyist List.” […]
“There are now a little less than two dozen on the list,” McClain wrote in the email, which WBEZ obtained. “So, I would ask what has been asked in the past.”
McClain then directed the remaining members of the list to help him arrange for any new, potential clients in Springfield to hire the right lobbyists for the upcoming, 2019 legislative session at the Illinois Capitol. […]
“A Friend of ours and myself have gone through the ‘magic list’ and frankly culled quite a few names from the list,” McClain told the surviving members of the group.
He asked them to do “what has been asked in the past” — to help him coordinate who would get lobbying deals with companies that needed their interests represented in Springfield.
“If you have a potential client come up to you and seek you as a lobbyist but you cannot for whatever reason please engage him/her and try to get him or her to consider a recommendation from you,” McClain wrote. “Please call me then and I will have a conversation with someone and get back to you asap.”
(T)he group email about the magic lobbyist list and interviews with Democratic insiders indicate McClain worked alongside Madigan in a much broader effort to arrange for trusted lobbyist allies to enrich themselves by representing powerful private interests in Springfield.
The email also offers the first evidence suggesting the speaker himself had a role in connecting lobbyists with clients whose fortunes rely heavily on his favor.
I think the best way to describe this list is to compare it to “made men” in the Outfit. He even used the phrase “A Friend of ours” in the email.
…Adding… Let’s go back to the Tribune’s story from earlier today. This was buried at the bottom…
The [October 2018 McClain] email thanks an undisclosed list of recipients for help on a “secret” project involving campaign fundraising for House Democrats in targeted contests on the November 2018 ballot. […]
“We always called you the ‘Most Trusted of the Trusted,” McClain wrote. “So, again, on behalf of Himself, I thank you for ALL your work to help him and the Caucus.” […]
In the email, McClain goes on to say he’s reviewed a “magic Excel sheet,” and makes a request [for more contributions]. […]
“Remember either the checks themselves have to be tendered to Mary or copies of them in order to be placed on the excel sheet as tendered,” said McClain, a reference to Mary Morrissey, the executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois.
So, the party was tracking contributions from McClain’s “Most Trusted of the Trusted” list.
* I told you in October that retired lobbyist Dick Lockhart was very ill. He was flooded with calls, texts, emails and visits from his old friends after that. His son sent me a text a little over a week later saying he was still going strong and at home.
I received a call from a friend of his a couple of hours ago and then received this email with the same basic message…
Rich! I am sending this on behalf of Dick’s family.
It is with heavy hearts that Dick Lockhart’s family is notifying friends of his peaceful passing this a.m. at his home.
* I was content to ignore this story because Bourne’s district is so overwhelmingly Republican that the dude basically has no chance…
A Democrat from Coffeen says he plans to run for a seat in the Illinois House against Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond.
Chase Wilhelm, 35, will be making his first run for elected office. […]
Wilhelm is currently a member of the Army Reserve. Until recently, he was on active duty most recently stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa with the Special Operations Command.
Wilhelm said he has a master’s degree in religion and society from Princeton Theological Seminary and a doctorate in ethics from Garrett-Evangelical in Evanston. He took a job as a chaplain with the Department of Corrections in October, where he makes $79,488 a year.
President Trump won the district by 37 points. The only statewide Democrat to win it has been Secretary of State Jesse White (of course).
* But then this overkill press release arrived and I figured I’d post it…
“This week, Democrat Chase Wilhelm announced his candidacy for state representative in the 95th House District, but it didn’t take him long to dodge the Madigan question and hedge his position on abortion. The people of the 95th District want a conservative leader who will stand up to Madigan and oppose the Democrats’ radical, pro-abortion agenda. They have that in Avery Bourne. That’s why clear majorities of voters have elected her twice.
“Don’t let Wilhelm fool you. He will accept campaign support from Madigan, and, if elected, will vote for Madigan and stand idly by while he pushes his radical agenda. If Wilhelm won’t stand up to Madigan or the Democrats on abortion, what else will he let them get away with?” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Joe Hackler
Chase Wilhelm, a Democrat from Montgomery County, announced his intention to run for state representative in the 95th House District, which is currently held by Republican State Rep. and Pro-Life leader Avery Bourne.
Almost immediately, Wilhelm hedged his views on abortion, saying, “While I recognize where I am at, I also definitely recognize a woman’s right to defend and protect her body.”
Would Wilhelm have opposed taxpayer-funded abortion in House Bill 40 or late-term abortions in the Reproductive Health Act? Based on Wilhelm’s vague platitudes, we don’t know.
And then, Wilhelm refused to answer whether or not he would support Mike Madigan for another term as Speaker of the Illinois House: “Wilhelm did not commit to either supporting or rejecting Michael Madigan as House speaker.
“‘The bottom line is going to be what’s best for my district,” [Wilhelm] said. “Like a lot of things, the conversation is bigger than a yes or a no.’”
Don’t let him fool you - Wilhelm will accept campaign support from Madigan, and, if elected, will vote for Madigan and stand idly by while the Democrats push their radical agenda on the people of Illinois.
What else will Wilhelm let the Democrats get away with?
To be clear, Rep. Bourne could jet to Paris for the next year, post her expensive purchases and scrumptious dinners on Facebook and still win. Seems odd the ILGOP would get this fired up, but, whatevs. It’s still a free country.
* The Illinois State Board of Education’s new emergency rules are here. I’ve skipped over a few things, so if you have a question, you should first click on the link to see if you can find it addressed in the new rules.
* Old rule…
Isolated time out and physical restraint as defined in this Section shall be used only as means of maintaining discipline in schools (that is, as a means of maintaining a safe and orderly environment for learning) and only to the extent that they are necessary to preserve the safety of students and others. Neither isolated time out nor physical restraint shall be used in administering discipline to individual students, i.e., as a form of punishment.
New rule…
Time out and physical restraint as defined in this Section shall be used only for therapeutic purposes, or to the extent necessary to preserve the safety of students and others. Neither time out nor physical restraint shall be used as a form of punishment.
* Old rule…
“Isolated time out” means the confinement of a student in a time-out room or some other enclosure, whether within or outside the classroom, from which the student’s egress is restricted.
New rule…
“Time out” means a behavior management technique that involves the monitored separation of a student from classmates with a trained adult for part of the school day, usually for a brief time, in a non-locked setting
* Old rule…
If an enclosure used for isolated time out is fitted with a door, either a steel door or a wooden door of solid-core construction shall be used. If the door includes a viewing panel, the panel shall be unbreakable.
New rule…
If an enclosure used for time out is fitted with a door, the door shall not be locked at any time during the time out.
* Old rule…
An adult who is responsible for supervising the student shall remain within two feet of the enclosure.
New rule…
An adult trained under this Section who is responsible for supervising the student must remain with the student at all times during the time out
* Old rule…
The adult responsible for supervising the student must be able to see the student at all times. If a locking mechanism is used on the enclosure, the mechanism shall be constructed so that it will engage only when a key, handle, knob, or other similar device is being held in position by a person, unless the mechanism is an electrically or electronically controlled one that is automatically released when the building’s fire alarm system is triggered. Upon release of the locking mechanism by the supervising adult, the door must be able to be opened readily.
The new rule deletes all of that language.
* Old rule…
“Physical restraint” as permitted pursuant to this Section includes only the use of specific, planned techniques (e.g., the “basket hold” and “team control”).
New rule…
“Physical restraint” as permitted pursuant to this Section includes only the use of specific, planned techniques (e.g., the “basket hold” and “team control”). A physical restraint shall not impair a student’s ability to breath or speak normally. Prone or supine physical restraint shall not be permitted.
* Old rule…
A student shall not be kept in isolated time out for longer than is therapeutically necessary which shall not be for more than 30 minutes after he or she ceases presenting the specific behavior for which isolated time out was imposed or any other behavior for which it would be an appropriate intervention.
New rule…
A student shall not be kept in time out for longer than is therapeutically necessary. No less than once every 15 minutes, the trained adult must assess whether the student has ceased presenting the specific behavior for which the time out was imposed
* Old rule…
A written record of each episode of isolated time out or physical restraint shall be maintained in the student’s temporary record.
New rule…
In a form and manner prescribed by the State Superintendent, a written record of each episode of time out or physical restraint shall be maintained in the student’s temporary record.
* Old rule…
Each district, cooperative, or joint agreement whose policy permits the use of isolated time out shall provide orientation to its staff members covering at least the written procedure established pursuant to Section 1.280(c)(2) of this Part.
New rule…
Each district, cooperative, or joint agreement whose policy permits the use of time out shall provide training.
* Newly added rules…
No later than 48 hours after any use of time out or physical restraint, the school district or other entity serving the student shall, in a form and manner prescribed by the State Superintendent, submit the information required under subsection (f)(1) to the State Superintendent.
The State Superintendent reserve the authority to require districts to submit the information required under subsection (f)(1) for previous school years. […]
Any adult who is supervising a student in time out or applying physical restraint shall be trained in de-escalation, restorative practices, and behavior management practices. […]
Any use of time out or physical restraint permitted by a board’s policy shall include:
1) the circumstances under which time out or physical restrain will be applied;
2) a written procedure to be followed by staff in cases of time out or physical restraint;
3) designation of a school official who will be informed of incidents and maintain the documentation required under this Section when time out or physical restraint is used;
4) the process the district or other entity serving public school students will use to evaluate any incident that results in an injury to the affected student;
5) a description of the district’s or other entity’s annual review of the use of time out or physical restraint, which shall include at least:
A) the number of incidents involving the use of these interventions;
B) the location and duration of each incident;
C) identification of the staff members who were involved;
D) any injuries or property damage that occurred; and
E) the timeliness of parental notification, timelines of agency notification, and administrative review.
k) Complaint Procedures
1) Any parent, individual, organization, or advocate may file a signed, written complaint with the State Superintendent alleging that a local school district or other entity serving the student has violated this Section. The complaint shall include the facts on which the complaint is based; the signature and contact information for the complainant; the names and addresses of the students involved (and the name of the school of attendance), if known; a description of the nature of the problem, including any facts relating to the problem; and a proposed resolution of the problem to the extent known.
2) The State Superintendent shall only consider a complaint if it alleges a violation occurring not more than one year prior to the data on which the complaint is received.
3) The State Superintendent must issue a written decision to the complainant that addresses each allegation in the complaint and contains findings of fact and conclusion; the reasons for the State Board of Education’s final decision; and orders for any action, including technical assistance.
4) The complaint procedure under this Section does not limit, diminish, or otherwise deny the federal and State rights and procedural safeguards afforded to students with disabilities.
* Meanwhile, Rep. Jonathan Carroll’s bill is now online…
Prohibits a school district employee or volunteer or an independent contractor of a school district from placing a student in seclusion; defines seclusion. Provides that this prohibition does not apply to the use of seclusion in a court-ordered placement, other than a placement in an educational program of a school district, or in a placement or facility to which other laws or rules apply. Requires State Board of Education rulemaking. Effective immediately.
…Adding… I asked Rep. Carroll for his take on the new ISBE rules…
I think it’s a start. I think there’s more work that has to be done. And I’m frustrated that we have to go through these pounds of cures instead of ounces of prevention. We have to make sure that there’s a lot more accountability and at this point ISBE has not shown much of that.
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce has once again collected the results from its annual paid Holiday Survey which indicates how Illinois employers and their employees will be handling paid holidays in 2020.
The Chamber’s Annual Holiday Survey is an instrumental tool for many Illinois businesses in helping them to make a decision on holiday benefits for employees. It has, for many years, been regarded as the standard to follow. The results provide a good indicator of what employers will be doing in 2020 and are provided by a good cross-section of businesses from across Illinois. […]
Compiled from hundreds of responses from Illinois businesses of all size and industries, the survey indicated that the average number of paid holidays for Illinois workers is 8.2 days, up very slightly from 2019. The average number of paid personal days is 2.9 days, identical to 2019.
* Holidays and percentage of firms providing a paid holiday…
New Year’s Day 2017 - Wednesday, January 1 - 96.0%
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (observed) - Monday, January 20, 22.7%
Lincoln’s Birthday - Wednesday, February 12 - 4.2%
President’s Day (Washington/Lincoln Day) - Monday, February 17 - 21.3%
Casimir Pulaski’s Birthday (observed) - Monday, March 2 - <1%
Good Friday - Friday, April 10 - 32.4%
Memorial Day - Monday, May 25 - 94.5%
Independence Day - Saturday, July 4 (30% of noted observe on Friday, July 3) - 95.6%
Labor Day - Monday, September 7 - 94.8%
Columbus Day - Monday, October 12 - 12.5%
Election Day - Tuesday, November 3 - <1%
Veterans Day - Wednesday, November 11 - 18.5%
Thanksgiving
Wednesday, November 25 - 6.5%
Thursday, November 26 - 96.5%
Friday, November 27 - 68.9%
Christmas
Thursday, December 24 - 50.9%
Friday, December 25 - 96.0%
New Year’s Eve
Thursday, December 31 - 30.7%
Employees Birthday - 2%
Floating Holiday (1 or more days) - 5.2%
Jewish Holidays (1 or more days) - About 1%
Average number of paid holidays - 8.2; Average number of paid personal days - 2.9
Number of firms responding - 351
* Percentage of firms from each industry classification responding…
Manufacturing - 22.7%
Services - 13.1%
Finance/Banking - 2.2%
Retail Trade - 4.5%
Wholesale Trade - 3.4%
Insurance/Real Estate - 5.4%
Utility/Transport/Communications - 3.7%
Construction - 3.9%
Non-Profit/Association/Chamber of Commerce - 18.8%
Government - 7.1%
Other - 14.8%
Another outside group is advertising in the 13th Congressional District and featuring pictures of U.S. Rep. RODNEY DAVIS, R-Taylorville. But this time, the group agrees with Davis on impeachment.
American Action Network, a Washington, D.C.-based group, is running TV ads in the district thanking Davis for “standing against impeachment and focusing on the issues that matter to us.”
This comes even as ads have continued to run this week from a group called Defend American Democracy, featuring a Marine veteran from New Jersey who served in Afghanistan and who calls on Davis to “hold the president accountable for risking our national security and abusing his office to benefit himself.”
Economic Club of Chicago Chairwoman Debra Cafaro asked Pritzker why lawmakers shouldn’t let voters change the state’s pension protection clause to control the growing cost of public sector pensions.
“To even working-class me, that seems like a fair way to address the shared sacrifice that we all have to make to get Illinois on the right track,” Cafaro said.
Ventas Chairman and CEO Debra Cafaro received more than $25 million in total pay [in 2017], more than double what she earned in 2016, as the company switched to a new compensation system for its top executives.
Ventas, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust that specializes in senior housing and medical properties, paid Cafaro $25.3 million in 2017, including stock awards totaling $17.4 million, up from total compensation of $9.7 million in 2016, according to a company proxy filed yesterday.
People do rise from the working class to high positions of power and wealth (as Cafaro most certainly did) and they may still consider themselves working class at heart. But, c’mon, they’re no longer working class when they make $25 million in a single year. A person making the median income would have to work about 397 years to earn what she raked in during just one.
So, with respect, maybe it’s not all that believable for a successful CEO to advocate cutting retirement benefits for people who worked for modest pay their entire lives by claiming to currently be one of them.
* I’m taking Oscar to the groomer and then I may run a couple of errands. Please keep the conversation Illinois-centric and be nice to each other. Thanks.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Heading back to pick him up, so you’re on your own again. Previous rules apply.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Yeah, he’s not happy with me at the moment for putting him through that experience, but I think it’s a nice haircut…
The watchdog overseeing the Chicago Public Schools has received nearly three complaints per school day since last year of sexual misconduct by adults against students.
And out of all 535 cases reported since the start of October 2018, there are 239 that are still open and under investigation, according to the watchdog.
Those new numbers were released Wednesday by CPS Inspector General Nicholas Schuler as he detailed his office’s investigative work at the Board of Education’s monthly meeting.
Among those new cases in the past year, 228 involved a teacher while 81 involved a security guard — meaning 4.7% of security guards were the subject of an allegation.
That’s a darned high percentage of security guards. Sounds like it’s time to revamp the vetting process.
Of the closed cases, investigators have substantiated 67 allegations against adults, mostly involving “concerning” behavior and not rising to the level of sexual abuse or assault. Seven substantiated cases involved a sexual act or abuse and another 12 were about improper touching that was deemed less than sexual abuse.
As a result of those substantiated cases, 57 adults were fired, resigned or retired after the completion of the investigations while another 96 have been pulled from their job while the inspector general examines the cases. Seventeen cases have involved police and criminal prosecution.
As the battle rages over who will take criminally charged former state Rep. Luis Arroyo’s House seat, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday said a new ethics task force should place a top priority on whether Democratic ward committeemen are “picking replacements properly.”
“I made it clear from the beginning that I want to make sure that the people of the district get represented properly,” the governor said. “There’s no air of corruption around the person who gets appointed and also be elected.” […]
“I think this is something that the new ethics commission that’s been created should look at,” Pritzker said at a Chicago State University event. “Among the very first things they should look at is are we picking replacements properly so that we avoid problems.”
Legislators last week passed a resolution to create the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform to take up the many issues unearthed by federal investigations into Arroyo, state Sen. Tom Cullerton, D-Villa Park, and state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago.
Under House rules, any member of the House or voter in the 3rd District has 90 days to file a petition challenging whether Delgado’s appointment was legal. A petition would trigger an investigation by a House committee that could ultimately lead to Delgado being removed. That would require approval from a three-fifths majority of the full chamber.
Brown said that, as of Wednesday afternoon, no challenge petition had been filed with the clerk’s office. He declined to say whether Madigan would file the challenge himself after his warning was ignored.
Cook County’s Public Guardian is urging a federal judge to accelerate a lawsuit that challenges the Department of Children and Family Services practice of allowing foster children to languish in psychiatric hospitals beyond medical need if the agency can’t find a place for a child, saying the situation has gotten worse.
Even though the suit was filed a year ago, the judge has yet to decide whether to dismiss the class action lawsuit. Lawyers for the state have repeatedly won extensions to offer additional information to support its efforts to dismiss the case.
The case could affect hundreds of foster children, but a ruling earlier this year by U.S. District Judge John Lee has also stymied efforts to allow the public guardian and state officials to begin collecting evidence to prove their arguments by issuing subpoenas.
“Over the past year since Plaintiffs filed suit, the problem has objectively worsened,” according to Wednesday’s filing. “Children are spending more time locked in psychiatric hospitals; Plaintiffs are at risk of being stuck [beyond medical need] under the same practices and policies that caused them to be class members, and the potential class size grows by the day.” […]
While DCFS officials said at a September hearing that they had added beds through state contractors in order to alleviate the problem, sources tell The Daily Line those beds are mostly considered shelter beds — beds not meant for a permanent placement.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is pleased to share the endorsements of Illinois Democratic Leaders:
Governor JB Pritzker
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle
Senator Dick Durbin
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Congressman Bobby Rush
Congressman Danny Davis
Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky
Congresswoman Robin Kelly
“Today, we couldn’t be more proud to come together to endorse Kim Foxx for re-election as Cook County State’s Attorney.
Under Kim’s leadership, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has blocked the Trump administration’s discriminatory attempt to threaten immigrants who seek public health services, which would have created a crisis for both families and our public health. She has taken on the gun lobby – and won, defeating a challenge to the county’s assault weapons ban. Kim is a leader who stands up to a man in the Oval Office who uses our city as a punching bag and isn’t afraid of the NRA, which is hellbent on letting guns flood our streets.
Kim Foxx has brought reform to Cook County, and her leadership has inspired reform across this country. Kim represents the future of our Democratic Party, standing for justice while rejecting the fear-mongering of those who are set on reversing the progress we’ve made.
We are confident and ready to hit the ground running to re-elect Kim Foxx.”
* This Tribune story by Ray Long and Jason Meisner is fascinating because it includes emails from Mike McClain to his inner circle of friends and allies…
For months, federal authorities have been looking into payments made to a former political operative for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan as part of a sweeping investigation into ComEd’s lobbying practices.
Now, newly obtained emails show that Michael McClain, a close confidant of Madigan, orchestrated the contracts that saw money flow from current and former ComEd lobbyists to the ex-aide.
All told, more than $30,000 went to Kevin Quinn, who had been ousted by Madigan in early 2018 after being accused of sexually harassing a female campaign worker. At the time, Madigan called the campaign worker “courageous” for making him aware of the unwanted advances and inappropriate text messages.
* But the story is also interesting because it explains something I’ve been wondering about: Why do federal prosecutors even care about these payments?…
The Tribune has reported that federal authorities are zeroing in on payments made through ComEd’s vast network of consultants to some individuals who seemed to have done little actual work. The payments were aimed at currying favor with certain lawmakers while circumventing lobbying disclosure rules, the source added. Authorities believe the payments to Quinn, which the Tribune first disclosed in July, are an example of this, a source has said.
So, apparently, the G believes the payments to Quinn, the brother of Madigan’s alderman Marty Quinn, were designed to curry favor with a lawmaker. Would that lawmaker be Speaker Madigan? His spokesman had this to say…
“If a group of people were attempting to help Kevin Quinn, the speaker was not a part of it.”
…Adding… Rep. Margo McDermed (R-Mokena)…
This confirms that the Speaker’s response to the harassment of his employees was nothing more than window dressing while he continued to put political victories and fundraising ahead of his staff and the people of Illinois. As a female legislator, I find this insulting and hope my Democrat colleagues start to confront this disgraceful behavior in their caucus.
