Afternoon roundup
Monday, Apr 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Cook County Public Guardian is now claiming, without evidence, that the Pritzker administration is lying about DCFS hiring…
The Department of Children and Family Services gained more than 100 employees between 2021 and 2022, records show. This mirrors figures in the governor’s proposed budget, which shows a 4.3% increase in headcount for the department for the 2022 fiscal year. Headcount for the department jumped by almost 500 employees since the 2017 fiscal year, according to state records. […]
Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert, who has been with the office for more than three decades, is skeptical the increased staff will improve performance by DCFS.
“Whatever number of people they’ll tell you that they’ve hired, whatever it is, they’ve lost the same number,” Golbert said.
The governor’s office disputed that characterization while emphasizing staffing trends.
“The net number of workers at DCFS is at the highest number in more than a decade. Any statement that implies that number is not actually higher than it was in the previous year is wrong because numbers do not lie,” said Jordan Abudayyeh, deputy chief of staff for communications and media strategy.
* Supreme Court Justices Rochford and O’Brien won’t recuse…
The Illinois Supreme Court has denied a motion to disqualify two justices from hearing a challenge to the state’s new gun ban over perceived conflicts of interest. The two justices also declined to recuse themselves.
Before Elizabeth Rochford and Mary O’Brien were elected to the Illinois Supreme Court in November 2022, Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave each of their campaign funds half a million dollars from both his campaign account and a revocable trust, totaling $1 million to each. The two justices also received six-figure donations out of a campaign fund controlled by Illinois House Speaker Emanual “Chris” Welch,” D-Hillside. […]
Rochford further said previous precedent “cautioned that courts must consider whether attacks on a judge’s impartiality are ‘simply subterfuge to circumvent anticipated adverse rulings.’”
“Plaintiffs cast sinister aspersions that contributions to my campaign committee were made to influence the instant litigation,” Rochford said. “Plaintiffs provide no factual basis for those aspersions.”
Rochford’s ruling is here, O’Brien’s is here.
* The fact that nobody at IDPH seemed to realize that what they were doing was wrong says so much…
* Background is here if you need it. This loss puts them at 0 for 3…
* The same guy who wrote this…
Also filed this…
By the way, May 15 is Chicago’s inauguration day. Unreal.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* WBEZ | Thousands of Black history archives will be made available to the public through a $2 million grant to the Chicago Public Library: “Archival collections in general, they don’t circulate. People usually do have to come see them in person. But digitizing is one of those things that makes it so that everybody doesn’t have to come see it in person. Geography, that’s definitely a thing for most folks. That’s an access issue,” said Stacie Williams, head of archives and special collections for CPL.
* Tribune | Political operative tied to ex-Ald. Daniel Solis gets nearly 5 years in prison for wire fraud: Caldero — who pleaded guilty in September as he faced eight charges for attempting to influence a $1 billion Chicago Public Schools janitorial contract and using former Ald. Daniel Solis’ clout to solicit campaign cash and get a park and street renamed for donor’s relatives — had made his mark, Seeger said.
* Crain’s | Who is Jessica Angus, Brandon Johnson’s transition team chief?: His choice to lead the transition team, Jessica Angus of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, is a veteran of local political fights, according to those who’ve worked with her. But in recent years, she has been the kind of behind-the-scenes operator Johnson may need to fill out his team with people who recognize compromise will be needed to advance his progressive policy agenda.
* WTTW | 4 Years of High-Profile Appointments by Lightfoot Did Not Completely Keep Pace with Growth of Latinos in Chicago: The people of Chicago are 31.4% White, 28.7% Black, 29.9% Latino and 6.9% Asian, according to the 2020 U.S. census. But approximately 34% of Lightfoot’s appointees are White. Another 31.5% were Black, while 27% were Latino and 6% were Asian, according to WTTW News’ analysis. That analysis does not include appointments Lightfoot made to a variety of advisory councils designed to make recommendations to her administration that require City Council confirmation. However, those boards and commissions have no policymaking authority and serve a largely ceremonial role.
* Tribune | High-impact tutoring, funded by Illinois pandemic aid, helps boost students’ scores and confidence: Borders said high-impact tutoring allows kids in small groups to get much-needed extra time to sharpen skills in a subject area, but it’s hard to say how quickly a program like this can fill in the gaps. And there is a key caveat: The tutoring initiative was designed specifically for schools that were under-resourced or schools that were disproportionately affected by COVID-19. ITI looked at the percentage of low-income students, among other things, to determine which districts qualified for the program.
* Crain’s Editorial | Judging Johnson by the company he keeps: No, what really stands out is how little actual government experience is shared among the five people Johnson is surrounding himself with at this critical juncture. Also noteworthy: The team’s résumés contain little in the way of experience running a business or even working in the private sector. To many in the business community, the people on Johnson’s transition team list are virtual unknowns.
* WTTW | Black Unemployment Rate Falls to Record Low in March: Brenda Palms, president and CEO of the North Lawndale Employment Network, said that while these new numbers are interesting, it’s not necessarily reflected in the job markets she works with, primarily in North Lawndale, where there’s a “constant concern” about the reduction of the unemployment rate.
* Crain’s | Asking prices for homes hit a new high: The asking prices on Chicago-area hit a new high in late March, according to data from online real estate marketplace Redfin. The median asking price was a little more than $333,500, according to the market-tracking tool in Redfin’s data center. That’s up about 2.4% from the same time last year and about 1.1% above the region’s highest median asking price on record, mid-May’s roughly $332,700.
* STLPR | Renewable energy use is up sharply in Illinois and slightly in Missouri: Generation of renewable energy surged in many U.S. states last year with a major jump in Illinois and a minor increase in Missouri, according to a new report by a nonpartisan research group. Nationally, renewable energy climbed 16% in 2022, compared to 2021, according to the Climate Central “WeatherPower Year In Review: 2022.”
* Crain’s | The looming Medicaid purge is sending a chill through hospitals: While some patients removed from Medicaid may find other insurance, many will become uninsured and unable to pay for medical care. With fewer dollars coming in, safety-net leaders say they may be forced to cut back on charity care and hiring plans. In more severe cases, leaders say eliminating services and staff is a possibility.
* CNN | The government wants to change how it collects race and ethnicity data. Here’s what you need to know: A new proposal aims to change that, merging the two questions into one and adding a new category for people of Middle Eastern and North African descent. That would alter how the government – and by extension, the research community studying Americans’ demographics, opinions, voting habits and behaviors – measures and reports on the race and ethnicity of the American public.
* WTTW | 4 Wheaton College Students Prevented From Proselytizing in Millennium Park Should Be Paid $205K, City Lawyers Recommend: The proposed settlement is set to be considered by the City Council’s Finance Committee on Monday. A final vote of the City Council could come on Wednesday. The incident began when four members of Wheaton College’s Chicago Evangelism Team, a group of students devoted to spreading the gospel in the city, were stopped from handing out religious literature to people in Millennium Park by security guards.
* SJ-R | African American History museum names first executive director: Serving as a connector of people has always been a priority for Nalo Mitchell. Now she plans to use that skill for the purposes of expansion as the first executive director of The Springfield and Central Illinois African-American History Museum. “I’m truly excited and I really want this museum to be on the map,” Mitchell said. “It’s an honor to work with the board and be in a place where I can make a difference in a different way.”
* AP | Why are teen girls in crisis? It’s not just social media: Study after study says American youth are in crisis, facing unprecedented mental health challenges that are burdening teen girls in particular. Among the most glaring data: A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed almost 60% of U.S. girls reported persistent sadness and hopelessness. Rates are up in boys, too, but about half as many are affected.
* Block Club | Snow Hits Chicago Days After City Breaks Warm Weather Record — But The 70s Could Soon Return: Tuesday is expected to be sunny with a high near 52 degrees, according to the weather agency. There could be wind gusts up to 25 mph.
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* Earlier today…
* Coincidentally, Gov. Pritzker hosted an investor meeting in New York today ahead of a general obligation bond sale this Wednesday. During the Q&A, he was asked about how the state’s collective bargaining agreements would impact the budget. Pritzker deferred to his aide Andy Manar…
This will be a relatively short answer, but we’re in the middle of bargaining right now. So what we won’t have, I’m certain, is a situation like we had years ago in the state prior to Governor Pritzker being elected where there was an impasse that ended up being very costly. I think I would argue also that that has had an impact still, even today in terms of state employment. So, budgetary impact, lack of a collective bargaining agreement clearly has had an impact on the state even even years after the fact. So, we’re in the middle of that process today. And I would just report generally that there’s nothing out of the ordinary that’s happening at the moment. Parallel courses, the legislative session, which is scheduled to adjourn on May 19th. One question we typically get is how do those two things intersect? And, you know, today, I think it’s just very difficult to say. So that’s probably not the update you’re looking for. But obviously, I have to be constrained in terms of how we answer that question.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* From AFSCME Council 31 back in January…
Veterans of state employment will remember former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s disrespect and vilification of public employees and their unions. Rauner’s enduring legacy will be his unwillingness to bargain with AFSCME members as he dragged out a contract fight for most of his 4-year term.
The years-long contract fight reached a boiling point when 81% of eligible AFSCME members in state government voted to authorize a strike for the first time in history. Due to a court order stymying Rauner’s game plan, state employees never ended up going out on strike, but the threat loomed large. […]
With the combination of federal stimulus dollars and inflation at a 40-year high, total state revenue has consistently exceeded expectations. In 2022, total revenue reached $50.3 billion. But it’s not expected to stay there—as the Federal Reserve tries to tame inflation and federal COVID dollars run dry, revenue could creep downward in coming years.
“With this revenue, there are a lot of competing interests who want to be prioritized for funding,” said Council 31 Director of Research and Employee Benefits Martha Merrill. “Just because the state is in a more stable position doesn’t mean that it wants to spend more money on employees. We’re still going to have to demand what we deserve like we do at every bargaining table.”
There’s another reason that the state’s finances are exceeding expectations: the staffing crisis. With so many vacant positions in state government, the state’s payroll is smaller than it has budgeted for.
* Manar also addressed hiring issues…
Today, the challenge, as the governor said, that the state faces is not unlike private employers. Our largest challenge is most acute today in the 24/7 facilities, correctional facilities, human service facilities, and that’s where we’ve concentrated our efforts first and foremost. So the answer is yes, we need more employees in state government, like most employers in the private sector today in the state, and we’ve done things that state government has never done before from ground level, community level town halls for recruiting, to identifying career pathways for state employees that could move up in terms of management roles. We’re modernizing our intake system for applications. That has been very successful. Matter of fact today, a year ago, our challenge was not enough applicants. Today, I would tell you we have a good number of applicants. Now it’s getting those applications processed. We’ve even, going back to the earlier question about relationship with the legislature, the administration has filed legislation to help streamline that process. And that’s a conglomeration of negotiations with unions and how state law directs our state departments to hire individuals. So, in short, the answer is, yes, we need more state employees, particularly in our 24/7 facilities, and the administration is focused first and foremost on those.
* Kinda off topic, but the governor also talked about how balancing the budget has been a net political plus for Democratic lawmakers…
Our legislature has really done a great job over the last few years of being aligned in our goal, to lift up our credit, to make sure that we’re doing the right things fiscally for the state. And I hope you pay attention to that as we head into the last part of the session here, because if we weren’t cooperating, if we were, you know, fighting one another, well, you’d be back in the situation we were in before I became governor. But also that the leaders in the legislature really do understand that this is how we make a real solid future […]
I should add, and maybe this should give you some confidence, that it’s been politically beneficial for the Democrats in the legislature to do the right thing for our fiscal future, because we won the elections in what was supposed to be a red wave year in November of 2022 in part because people who are going door to door running for the legislature were able to say, ‘We Democrats balanced the budget, we Democrats are the fiscally responsible party, we’re the ones who got credit upgrades for the state. Republicans voted against every one of those budgets.’ They’re in the Super minority. They couldn’t have stopped them. But the truth is that they didn’t vote for the balanced budgets that we got. And I think that’s just an important recognition. It’s one thing to have a governor who’s, I think, heading in the right direction for the state, but another thing for us all collectively to be working together to do the right things for the state. It’s a harder thing to do, but that’s something that we’ve done.
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Meanwhile… In Opposite Land
Monday, Apr 17, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* The New York Times reports on Florida’s push to restrict abortions…
Florida lawmakers voted to prohibit abortions after six weeks of pregnancy on Thursday, culminating a rapid effort by elected Republicans and Gov. Ron DeSantis to transform the state to one of the most restrictive in the country.
Mr. DeSantis, a likely 2024 Republican presidential contender, signed the new ban late on Thursday night with little fanfare. The ban will end Florida’s long-held role as a destination for women from across the Deep South seeking abortions and force them to travel farther, to states such as North Carolina or Illinois, for care.
In the six months after the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion last year, no state saw a greater increase in the number of legal abortions performed each month than Florida, according to a report released on Tuesday.
“For the past 50 years, we’ve had a culture grow in this nation — a culture of abortion for any reason at any time,” State Representative Jenna Persons-Mulicka, a Fort Myers Republican, said before the 70-40 vote. “Today we lead. Today we stand for life. We stand with mothers, and we stand with Florida families. And by your vote today, we change the culture of abortion to a culture of life.”
* Missouri…
During debate Tuesday on a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, Missouri State Senator Mike Moon suggested children as young as 12 should have the right to marry with parental permission.
“Do you know any kids who have been married at age 12? I do. And guess what? They’re still married,” Moon said in response to questioning by Democratic state Representative Peter Merideth. A clip of the interaction has garnered attention on social media.
A southwest Missouri Republican from Ash Grove, Moon’s support of child marriage in some instances has been long documented. In 2018 Missouri passed a law raising the marriage age in the state from 15 to 16 and requiring parental permission for older teenagers to marry. Moon opposed the bill at the time — citing the same anecdote of a couple he met in college who had married one another at age 12. […]
The Senator did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the News-Leader, but defended his comments on Twitter and noted the couple he referenced was not an adult and child but two children who married after becoming pregnant.
Here’s the clip…
* Trouble in Tennessee…
* More from Tennessee…
A bill that made its way through the Tennessee legislature aims to strengthen rules passed last year that can change how schools approach teaching many kinds of lessons in social justice, racial inequity, political science, social work, psychology and many other fields.
The bill passed the House of Representatives on April 13, after passing Senate on April 5.
In 2022, lawmakers passed rules that allow state leaders to withhold funding for schools that teach about social, cultural and legal issues related to race and racism. Most of those concepts focus on how the impact of racism affects people today.
The law also specified that schools can teach about ethnic groups’ histories as described in textbooks and instructional materials. Educators can also only teach about controversial aspects of history, such as racial oppression or slavery, as long those discussions are impartial.
The bill, HB 1376, was introduced by Representative John Ragan (R - Oak Ridge). He previously said that the new bill was meant to strengthen the law passed in 2022 by “promoting freedom of expression,” and keep “colleges about advancing knowledge, not about advancing political or social agendas.”
* Moving on to Texas…
When Texas Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk overruled the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion medication mifepristone late last Friday, not only was he attempting to wrest away control of our reproductive lives through a wild abuse of the law, but he was also attempting a resurrection of a notorious anti-abortion crusader who has been dead for more than a century, Anthony Comstock. Kacsmaryk is a Trump appointee serving on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Comstock is the uncanonized patron saint of sexual purity, the nineteenth-century moral entrepreneur behind an 1873 federal anti-obscenity law bearing his name, one that is still inexplicably on the books to this day. By bringing Comstock back to the forefront of the legal canon, Kacsmaryk wasn’t just ruling directly on abortion medication but offering notice that a 150-year-old law that many had presumed dead is the next vehicle that conservatives will employ to roll back sexual and reproductive freedom for anybody in the United States.
Kacsmaryk’s bow to Comstock comes in the latest order in a landmark abortion case brought with the backing of anti-abortion groups attempting to ban mifepristone, one drug used in medication abortion. It is one of the most consequential post-Dobbs reproductive rights cases, devised by legal minds on the Christian right, such as Alliance Defending Freedom, for the express purpose of winning a total, nationwide abortion ban. Kacsmaryk moves them closer to that goal in his order, citing the Comstock Act to support the plaintiffs’ attempt to overturn the FDA’s 23-year-old approval of mifepristone. Further, Kacsmaryk claims that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their argument that the Comstock Act already prohibits mailing mifepristone. The result is that the FDA’s approval of mifepristone will be overturned, effective this Friday, unless a higher court reverses Kacsmaryk’s ruling. […]
The Comstock Act could be used more broadly to ban abortion nationwide (and without having to win a Fourteenth Amendment argument anti-abortion groups could well lose). This was the case made by Mark Lee Dickson, one of the architects of Texas Senate Bill 8, the six-week abortion ban enforceable by private citizens in pursuit of bounties, to Amy Littlefield at The Nation. “If an abortion facility cannot receive abortion-inducing drugs or any abortion paraphernalia,” he explained, “then how can they perform abortions?” Does he believe Comstock would support such a legal maneuver? “To be honest,” Dixon told her, “I don’t know a whole lot about him, but I have looked at the laws, of course.”
As of this moment, “for abortion opponents, the Comstock Act is the only realistic way to force through a national ban,” argues Mary Ziegler, law professor and author of Roe: The History of a National Obsession. “That’s because it has nothing to do with what the American people want or what the Constitution means.” What those who assault mifepristone now also share with Comstock is such a quest for power, the law itself be damned. “This renaissance of misogyny and homophobia, this increasingly terrifying regulation of gendered self-expression, meted out under color of law, is what the extreme-conservative Supreme Court justices are there for,” as historian Felicia Kornbluh wrote after the Texas ruling. There is no stopping it without reckoning with that fact. Considering the breadth of conduct the Comstock Act was aimed at, not to mention the right’s big power play of the moment to redefine anything but reproductive sex between one man and one woman as tantamount to obscenity, that queerness and transness is akin to sexual predation. Kacsmaryk himself has railed publicly against what he called the demands of the “Sexual Revolution,” that “the unborn child must yield to the erotic desires of liberated adults.” It would be foolish to think this stops with even a national abortion ban.
* Business Insider…
South Dakota’s Republican governor told an audience that her 2-year-old granddaughter “already” had several guns.
Speaking at a National Rifle Association (NRA) event in Indiana on Friday, Kristi Noem spoke about her grandchildren, Addie and Branch. She said that the nearly 2-year-old Addie had a shotgun and a rifle.
“Now Addie, who you know, soon will need them, I want to reassure you, she already has a shotgun and she already has a rifle, and she’s got a little pony named Sparkles too. So the girl is set up,” Noem said.
Later, while on stage, Noem signed an executive order to “protect the God-given right to keep and bear arms from being infringed upon by financial institutions,” according to Dakota News Now.
* Arkansas…
Arkansas on Wednesday became the second state to restrict social media use by children, as Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders approved legislation requiring minors to get their parents’ permission to create a new account.
The bill signed by the Republican governor requires social media companies to contract with third-party vendors to perform age verification checks on new users. The law will apply to new accounts created starting in September.
“While social media can be a great tool and a wonderful resource, it can have a massive negative impact on our kids,” Sanders said before signing the legislation.
The proposal is similar to a first-in-the-nation law that Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed last month. Utah’s law takes effect in March 2024. Several other states are considering similar measures, touted by supporters as a way to protect children. California last year enacted a law requiring tech companies to put kids’ safety first by barring them from profiling children or using personal information in ways that could harm children physically or mentally.
* Turns out the essay requirement on what accomplishments of Arkansas governor that applicants ‘admire the most’ was chalked up to a simple design error.…
A webpage design error put the essay question, “What is an accomplishment of the Governor’s that you admire the most?” into the online application for state staff and commissions, according to a statement Thursday by the governor’s office.
The question was meant for the application to be an intern in the governor’s office — never for staff, state boards or commissions, said Alexa Henning, spokeswoman for the governor. Summer interns are temporary employees working for the state.
“Our web vendor was supposed to be editing the internship application but instead mistakenly made additions to the boards and commissions form,” Henning said in a statement. “That was never intended to be a part of the application. As soon as we realized it, we corrected it with the vendor. However, it should be news to no one that someone wanting to intern in any administration should support the work that principal and their team is pursuing.”
This year’s interns will work from June 5 through July 28, according to the state’s website. The goal of these internships is to give experience to young adults interested in public service. These summer jobs are available for U.S. citizens 18 years or older who are still enrolled in college, recently graduated or are high school graduates who have served at least two years of active duty in U.S. armed forces.
* Missouri…
While Missouri lawmakers target procedures that assist minors in transitioning genders, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, ramped up the debate last week and went after gender-affirming care for people of all ages, including adults.
Bailey filed a set of restrictions, including requiring 15 separate hourly therapy sessions over 18 months before a person can receive care. The restrictions aimed at limiting all transgender health care, including adults, are believed to be the first of their kind in the country. […]
When Bailey’s office announced the restrictions, it said the restrictions were aimed at stopping gender-affirming care for minors. But the wording of the restrictions makes no distinction between minors and adults.
“We have serious concerns about how children are being treated throughout the state, but we believe everyone is entitled to evidence-based medicine and adequate mental health care,” Madeline Sieren, Bailey’s spokesperson, told The Star in an email when specifically asked if the rules extended to adults.
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* One of the things that kinda jumped out at me over the break was how Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson had so enthusiastically embraced holding the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Back in 1996, many lefties just hated the whole idea. Times change and they’re soon to be in charge.
Anyway, Bill Torpy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is a former Chicago resident and wrote about the decision to host the convention in the Windy City…
Crafting a political narrative going into the 2024 election is a huge consideration. And that’s why Dems gave Chicago the nod.
Common wisdom has it that Georgia is a battleground state because Donald Trump was beaten here in 2020 and two Democrats won their way to the U.S. Senate. I’ve argued with my esteemed colleague Greg Bluestein that 2020 was a mulligan, that enough Georgia voters, even many Republicans, decided Trump was a bum.
But the results of last year’s Democratic shellacking in Georgia up and down the ticket indicates Georgia is still reliably red.
So, let me bring you Chicago’s hidden weapon: Scabby the Rat.
Scabby is a 12-foot inflatable rodent brought by unions in Chicago to non-union (aka “scab”) job sites as a protest prop. Not long ago, Scabby won a legal battle on his First Amendment bonafides as a symbol of union protest. He’s also become sort of a cult hero. People like to shoot selfies with him and when he rolled down Western Avenue in my old neighborhood for the South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day parade, he was a crowd favorite.
Again, Chicago is a Union Town.
And that’s a big part of the narrative going forward. Sure, the Democrats want to keep Georgia flipped blue. But they want to maintain the Blue Wall of the Midwest — the Great Lake swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Appealing to unions and working-class Americans will be a big part of the package.
There is no town with as much of a union heritage as Chicago. The term “May Day,” which is May 1 and was later adopted by the former Soviet Union, came about in the 1800s to commemorate Chicago’s bloody Haymarket Riot of 1886. No town has done as much to create the eight-hour workday as the Windy City.
Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania all went with Trump in 2016. The Democrats absolutely must hold those states next year and they’ll apparently be spotlighted throughout the festivities.
Your thoughts?
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Tribune | Chicago selected as site of 2024 Democratic National Convention: “Democrats will gather to showcase our historic progress including building an economy from the middle out and bottom up, not from the top down,” Biden said. “From repairing our roads and bridges, to unleashing a manufacturing boom, and creating over 12.5 million new good-paying jobs, we’ve already delivered so much for hard working Americans — now it’s time to finish the job.”
* Sun-Times | 4 things to know about the 2024 Chicago Democratic convention: Deals with multiple private and government entities have been negotiated or are still in the works. On Wednesday, Lightfoot signed off on the city’s pledges and Wirtz OK’d the lease on the United Center, which will reprise its 1996 role and host delegates each evening. Contracts are still pending with McCormick Place and organized labor — with everything on track toward signing. Each of the 30 hotels housing delegates — all in the city — also did or are doing contracts dealing with room blocks, rates and other details.
* Tribune | Democrats place big bet on Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson by tapping Chicago for ’24 convention: They’re betting Johnson can help them tell a multicultural, multigenerational Democratic story that their geriatric presidential nominee can use as a springboard to energize young voters and win four more years in the White House. And they’re betting their made-for-TV bash will go off without a hitch in a city that has a spotty record throwing these shindigs and a national reputation for violent crime that Republicans are certain to try to exploit.
* Crain’s | Illinois conservatives question Democrats’ convention choice: In a statement, the Illinois General Assembly’s Freedom Caucus, which represents the Legislature’s most conservative members, questioned how the city can serve as the backdrop for a presidential candidate who has to run nationally. The seven-member group of state representatives focused on crime.
* Politico | Chicago will host 2024 Democratic convention: After last week’s mayoral runoff in Chicago, Pritzker said he “absolutely” saw Johnson’s victory as enhancing the city’s chance of securing the convention. “Look, he brings a real excitement to the job, I think to the people of Chicago. And I think that’s being felt in Washington, D.C.”
* NYT | Chicago Will Host 2024 Democratic Convention as Party Returns to Midwest: On Tuesday, Mr. Biden called Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois personally to tell him the news that Chicago had won the bid. “Chicago is your kind of town,” Mr. Pritzker replied, according to a person with knowledge of the call who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the conversation, “and we’re going to throw a huge party for you.”
* The Hill | Georgia Democrats fume after party picks Chicago for 2024 convention: “It feels a little bit like a slap in the face,” one Georgia Democratic operative said. “You know, there’s a lot that goes into this — hotels and transportation and all that. But there’s the symbolism to consider too, and I think it would have been a strong statement to say, ‘Hey, Georgia has delivered for us, and we’re not taking that for granted.’”
* NYT | 5 Reasons Democrats Picked Chicago for Their 2024 Convention: Chicago — unlike the last four Democratic convention cities — is not in a presidential battleground. But it is the cultural and economic capital of the American Midwest. The United Center, the convention arena, sits about an hour away from two critical presidential battleground states, Wisconsin and Michigan, with sometimes-competitive Minnesota nearby.
* WBEZ | What the DNC 2024 could mean for Chicago: The Democratic National Convention in August next year could draw up to 50,000 visitors, with the potential for up to $200 million in economic impact, if outcomes from previous conventions hold true.
* Block Club | Democratic National Convention Will Show Chicago Is ‘Best City’ In The US, Officials Vow: The convention will also give Chicago the national spotlight in a positive way — something the city isn’t always able to do as Republicans try to frame the city as “violent,” Lightfoot said. “We have too many things out there in the mouths of pundits and critics who talk about our city in a way that is unrecognizable to us. .. This will help us right that wrong and the truth about the best city in the United States,” she said.
* Daily Herald | Rosemont expects boost from Democratic convention, but how big remains to be seen: How many visitors might seek lodging at any of the 20 hotels and 6,200 rooms within the 1.79-square-mile town is still unknown, but officials know their location is attractive because of the proximity to O’Hare International Airport.
* FiveThirtyEight | Should Democrats Have Picked A Swing State For Their 2024 Convention?: If you remove the 2004 DNC from the list, the average convention boost is just 0.7 points and only two states saw more than a 2-point boost (California in 2000 for Democrats and Ohio in 2016 for Republicans). Excluding the 2004 DNC, a convention boost has also occurred just seven out of 11 times. Four other times, the party actually did worse than expected in the state hosting its convention.
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It’s just a bill
Monday, Apr 17, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Crain’s…
A little-noticed bill teed up for action in Springfield would sweeten pension benefits for thousands of current and future Cook County retirees — an action the sponsor says is needed to repair a legal defect but one that, if taken statewide, could cost taxpayers “billions.”
At issue is a measure sponsored by state Sen. Rob Martwick, D-Chicago, that would revamp the $14.3 billion Cook County Pension Fund. Martwick introduced the bill at the request of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. […]
It’s a third clause that is drawing attention. It would boost the maximum wage base for purposes of pensions from $123,489 now to up to $160,000, the current cap used by Social Security.
Martwick says the change is needed to fix a flaw in the 2010 law that created a Tier 2 for newly hired government workers.
The law capped annual increases in benefits to the lesser of 3% or one-half of inflation — the consumer price index. Social Security uses a more expansive inflation measure. As a result, a significant gap steadily has grown between the county’s and Social Security’s maximum covered salary figures.
…Adding… [From Rich] The bill’s list of proponents does not include a single labor union. Opponents, however, include the Chicago Federation of Labor, Illinois AFL-CIO and AFSCME Council 31. The unions apparently don’t believe this is a “sweetener.”
* Sen. Bennett’s SB1488 was passed unanimously out of the Senate and now awaits action in the House. The Telegraph…
The test is known as the Teacher Performance Assessment, or “edTPA,” and it is intended to determine whether a prospective teacher has the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective in the classroom. It has been a requirement for teacher licensing in Illinois since 2015.
State Sen. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, said he started hearing concerns about the test from people in his district, and he later learned that those concerns were shared by other lawmakers. […]
Bennett said that having outside evaluators who have never met or worked with the applicant scoring their portfolios is one of the issues that concerns him about edTPA. […]
Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel, D-Shorewood, a cosponsor of the bill, said she has concerns that edTPA is so rigorous and intensive that it could deter some people from ever trying to become a teacher.
Governor Pritzker issued an executive order suspending use of the edTPA but it will expire on May 11. Bennett’s bill would continue the suspension through Aug. 2025.
* Chalkbeat Chicago has a handy list of education bills they’ve been following…
Anti-book banning bill: Amid a conservative-led push to challenge books about race and LGBTQ issues, House Bill 2789 stands out. It would prevent libraries and library systems from banning books, or risk losing state grants. This bill has moved from the House to the Senate.
Native American history curriculum: House Bill 1633 will require schools to teach Native American history in every social studies course related to American history or government. Students in sixth to 12th grade will study genocide and discrimination against Native Americans as well as tribal sovereignty and treaties made between tribal nations and the United States. This house bill is currently in the Senate.
Task force on children’s mental health: In February, Pritzker spoke about the need to bring together state agencies that focus on children’s mental health to make it easier for families to navigate and access state resources. To address this concern, Senate Bill 0724 would create the Interagency Children’s Behavioral Health Services Act and require the state to establish a Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Officer who will lead the state’s efforts to work across state agencies to make it easier for families to access services. This bill has moved from the Senate and is in the House. […]
Full-day kindergarten: Illinois allows school districts to provide either half-day or full-day kindergarten programs for young learners. If passed, House Bill 2396 will require school districts to provide full-day programs by 2027-28 school year — instead of 2023-24 in an earlier version of the bill. The bill will also create a task force to conduct a statewide audit of kindergarten programs and offer recommendations to the state board of education. This bill passed through the House and is currently in the Senate.
* Illinois Primary Health Care Association…
As Illinois makes mental health and substance abuse care a strong priority, leaders of community health centers, also known as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and their legislative champions will make a direct, powerful case at the state Capitol for increased funding to treat thousands more facing health challenges in underserved communities.
The Illinois Primary Health Care Association (IPHCA) represents 53 FQHCs serving more than 1.5 million patients across Illinois at more than 400 sites. IPHCA will join with State Sen. Robert Peters and State Rep. Anna Moeller at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 19, for a Statehouse news conference to advocate for increased funding to address inadequate community health center payment rates in Illinois, especially the severely insufficient behavioral health rates.
Sen. Peters and Rep. Moeller will explain their sponsorship of legislation that would increase historically low reimbursement rates for meeting patients’ medical, dental, and behavioral health needs under the Medicaid program – where Illinois’ rates trail neighboring states by about 80 percent. The result will be tens of thousands more patients receiving care, including substance abuse treatment, dental services, transportation and more, with the federal government picking up half the cost.
Leaders of community health centers will explain the needs their centers are seeing for increased funding to support additional services and programs, as they come to Springfield Wednesday to meet with legislators on their annual advocacy day.
* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) may soon be required to digitize all master record files thanks to a measure recently passed through the Senate by State Senator Rachel Ventura.
“In the long run, having digital access to these records will not only save the state money, but also ensure that those who have been waiting to be released and go back into their communities are not idly waiting for months on end simply because Illinois didn’t have an updated records system,” said Ventura (D-Joliet). “It’s about time we digitize these records instead of having our old paper files in place.”
The digitization of the records system would include medical and dental records and all other information IDOC maintains concerning its institutions and facilities by July 1, 2029.
Additionally, Senate Bill 422 would require IDOC, in consultation with the Department of Information Technology (DOIT), to conduct an impact study to be completed on or before Jan. 1, 2024. The study is subject to appropriation.
“Restore Justice is proud to support SB 422. This bill makes necessary and important changes regarding documents and recordkeeping in Illinois,” said James Swansey, policy manager at Restore Justice. “It would make sure important files and documents are accessible and require our state to study the best ways to digitize all IDOC records, which would be an important step toward ensuring people who are incarcerated can access their records.” […]
Senate Bill 422 moves to the House for further consideration.
* WAND…
House Bill 1468 could create the task force chaired by an OB-GYN and pediatrician specialized in child abuse and neglect. Advocates told the House Adoption and Child Welfare Committee Friday that the Departments of Children and Family Services, Human Services, and Public Health would also be at the table to help figure out how the state can best implement a safe family recovery approach.
“Children should not be removed solely because of substances used, but only when there is an actual identified risk to the child that cannot be mitigated with supports,” said Danielle Gomez, supervising attorney for the Cook County Public Guardian’s Office. […]
Meanwhile, the longest-serving Illinois House Democrat believes children should not be considered abused, neglected, or dependent solely because their parents or guardians use controlled substances. Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) has long been an advocate for keeping families together instead of forcing kids into DCFS care. […]
“We do not take a newborn baby away from her mother and indicate the parents for neglect because she smokes cigarettes,” Flowers said. “Nor do we take the child away from the mother because she does alcohol while she’s pregnant. But we do it because of substance abuse.” […]
Each of these bills are locked in the House Rules Committee. Although, language can always be filled into shell bills to pass before session ends next month.
* Sen. Laura Murphy and Rep. Maurice West…
No matter your political party, we can all agree that elections should be free and fair. But under our current system, not everyone’s vote counts. Not because of fraud or other election-related conspiracies, but because many people wind up voting for someone who isn’t viable.
Let us explain. With more and more people getting access to the ballot via early and absentee voting, some voters cast ballots for candidates who end up dropping out of the race before Election Day. Others vote for a candidate who receives so few votes that they will never win. Colloquially, this is known as a “wasted vote.” A whopping 70,000 Democrats wasted their votes in Illinois’ 2020 presidential primary; the same thing happened to 30,000 Republicans in our state’s 2016 presidential primary.
Ranked choice voting, or RCV, solves these problems, which is why we are working to pass legislation in Springfield to allow for RCV in presidential primaries.
Under RCV, voters have the option to rank candidates in order of preference: first, second, third and so on. If their first choice is not viable, their vote counts for their highest-ranked candidate who is. The ability to rank backup choices ensures that voters’ voices are heard and makes sure no one wastes their vote. In addition, RCV ballots are easy to audit, which improves election security.
RCV also favors candidates with broad appeal and encourages positive campaigning, which would reduce the growing toxicity of our current political landscape.
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C’mon, man
Monday, Apr 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is a not-great analysis from Capitol News Illinois…
While Illinois has recently experienced a prolonged stretch of good financial news, a new state fiscal forecast notes that if spending continues to grow at its recent pace it could lead to future budget deficits. […]
In the highest-spending scenario outlined in the three-year forecast from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, the state could once again face a bill backlog as high as $18 billion. That estimate assumes spending growth at its five-year average of 7.1 percent.
“This example shows that spending patterns seen in the past few years cannot continue without a comparable increase in revenues which is not seen in the commission’s current estimates,” the report from the legislature’s nonpartisan forecasting commission noted.
Well, duh. Trouble is, that particular COGFA scenario is pure fantasy, likely included merely as a “what if.” Nobody is advocating that. Revenue and spending in that five-year average included huge amounts of one-time federal money to deal with the massive COVID pandemic, which is no longer with us. The spending also included billions of dollars in one-time approps to pay down gigantic amounts of debt, including for pensions and the unemployment insurance trust fund, rather than put the money into the spending base.
* Back to the “analysis”…
If the state keeps spending growth at 1.8 percent – the most austere scenario outlined by the commission – it could maintain an accounts payable balance of $1.4 billion, the same as it was at the end of Fiscal Year 2022.
Even in that scenario, state spending would outpace revenues in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2024 that begins July 1 – although Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed decreasing state spending in FY 24.
That “austere” scenario predicts FY24 spending of $50.9 billion. Pritzker’s proposed FY24 budget is $49.6 billion, which is $1.3 billion below the COGFA scenario and $800 million less than COGFA’s own revenue projection. How does he do that? Because, as mentioned above, the state didn’t put most of those pandemic dollars into the spending base. By far the largest revenue increase this fiscal year is a one-time $1.2 billion bump to the state’s Refund Fund, which has been anticipated for quite some time. And why did he not propose spending it all? Because there’s possibly a recession on the horizon, not to mention that money needs to be put in reserve to deal with future revenue issues.
Using COGFA’s own numbers, if (big “if”) Pritzker’s proposed spending levels are enacted, FY25’s projected revenues will be 2.7 percent above FY24’s spending. And FY26’s revenues will be 5.3 percent above FY24’s proposed spending.
Now, that is indeed lower than the 20-year average annual growth of spending of 3.5 percent, but using out-of-context scare quotes from purely hypothetical scenarios to declare: “Report suggests state spending will soon begin outpacing revenues once again,” is not what you’d expect from the self-declared grownups in the room.
* All that being said, if COGFA’S revenue projections hold (and that’s also a big “if” because nobody knows if they will or won’t, nor which direction they might go), this is still manageable. It’s not ideal, by any means, because some very real base spending needs are much greater than current reality permits (subscribers know more, but also see the new ad at the top of the page for just one example and click here for another).
Democrats may end up wanting to increase taxes, but if they manage things right, they won’t need to do that to keep the lights on.
Bottom line: Using purely academic scenarios to make real-world predictions is unwise. Things are iffy enough if we stick to the real-world stuff.
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Question of the day
Monday, Apr 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson will travel to Springfield on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Mayor-elect will deliver an address at a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday and hold multiple meetings throughout his time at the State Capitol.
“I am excited to join our dedicated leaders in Springfield and discuss how we can invest in people to lift up all of our communities,” said Mayor-elect Johnson. “Building a better, stronger, safer Chicago will take all of us, and I look forward to establishing a strong foundation for collaboration.”
“On behalf of the Senate, we look forward to working with the mayor-elect, identifying shared goals, and finding ways to make things better for people all across the great state of Illinois,” said Senate Don President Harmon.
“I look forward to welcoming Mayor-elect Johnson to the State Capitol and the Illinois House next week,” said Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch. “A strong relationship with the mayor of Chicago is vital in our goal to grow our state’s economy and lift up people in all corners of Illinois. Through collaboration and open dialogue, we can and will build on the progress we’ve made to move our state forward.”
Upon adjournment of the joint session, Mayor-elect Johnson, Senate President Harmon, and Speaker Welch will hold a brief press availability for members of the media to discuss the visit and the importance of a collaborative relationship between the respective leaders. Details on time and location will be forthcoming.
* The Question: Your Statehouse advice for Mayor-elect Johnson?
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ComEd 4 trial coverage roundup
Monday, Apr 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Chicago Tribune’s latest ComEd 4 story…
Under the governing case law, prosecutors do not have to show a specific or obvious quid pro quo between Madigan and the four defendants, only that there was a corrupt intent to provide the stream of benefits to Madigan in order to win his influence
If that reasoning survives, it could change a whole lot of things in Illinois and throughout the country.
* On to Steve Daniels at Crain’s…
Former Commonwealth Edison CEO Anne Pramaggiore took the stand in her own defense late Thursday, but the day’s drama in the “ComEd Four” trial centered on Joe Dominguez, her successor in that job and the man who ultimately signed the utility’s 2020 deferred-prosecution agreement, essentially admitting to an elaborate bribery scheme.
Dominguez, subpoenaed to testify as a defense witness for Pramaggiore, found himself being interrogated by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu almost as if he were the defendant. […]
What upset Dominguez were questions suggesting that he hadn’t been honest in meetings with the feds, while still ComEd CEO, after the investigation became public. At the time, Dominguez was answering questions after obtaining a proffer letter that required him to be truthful but also barred the government from using anything he said in those sessions against him in any prosecution.
The source of the friction was video captured by Fidel Marquez, then a ComEd insider working as a government informant, in March 2019. In that video, Dominguez and Mike McClain, ComEd’s lead outside lobbyist, discussed the lobbying subcontracts for associates of House Speaker Michael Madigan kept on the lobbying contract of Jay Doherty.
* From that surveillance video…
United States v. McClair, et al. 20 CR 812
In-person conversation between Michael McClain, Joe Dominguez, and Fidel Marquee
March 5, 2019
10:18 a.m.
SPEAKERS:
Michael McClain, Fidel Marquee, Joe Dominguez
(NON-PERTINENT CONVERSATION)
DOMINGUEZ: But anyway, with Jay, so-
McCLAIN: So, let’s go back, I think we gotta go backwards, so um, the history with Madigan is, um, even in the, uh, when, when Lee Daniels was, was uh, Speaker-
DOMINGUEZ: Mhm.
McCLAIN: -we had a bill that we wanted, uh, heard and Lee wanted no part of it, and even then Madigan grabbed the bill and had to meet us in his office, and um the same thing when we de-regged-
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah.
McCLAIN: -um, it’s it’s just um, um, I don’t know if it’s his, um view of ComEd, uh, from even the 70’s when, when, you know, he got to name people to be meter readers, you know it’s the old-fashioned patronage system, and-
DOMINGUEZ: Mhm.
McCLAIN: -um ComEd played it like um, like a-
DOMINGUEZ: Like a chip.
McCLAIN: -you’re a Ward Committeeman and, um, we have seven meter readers in your, in your, in your ward and you can name four of them, you know (laughs). And that’s just the way ComEd was, for, uh, years. And then as, as we kinda morphed into um, not being able to do that, no meter readers and um, ah your, your um, frankly, your employees are more skilled than a lot of people in his Ward, uh, we morphed into, “How else can we help you?”
DOMINGUEZ: Right.
McCLAIN: Right. And um, so um, it’s um, he would, like, for instance, you don’t know this gentleman, he’s died, he died, Tom Donovan, have you met Tom Donovan yet?
DOMINGUEZ:Yeah.
McCLAIN: So, his son, Brian, was a lawyer. And uh, one of Madigan’s requests was, “Would you hire Brian Donovan?” And we hired him as a lawyer, to a big salary. And um, I, I don’t know what kind of lawyer he was. Unfortunately, the gentleman died, what do you think, maybe five or six years ago now?
DOMINGUEZ: Oh its, its, its, its way, yeah, older.
McCLAIN: He was very young.
UNKNOWN: Do you want me or no?
MARQUEZ: Uh, no, I’ll brief Joe later. Yeah. Brian, in fact Brian and I were officemates. He used to sit next to me, and he was doing a lot of compliance work.
DOMINGUEZ: I didn’t know that Tom’s (unintelligible)-
MARQUEZ: Yeah, so, he was, he was uh, we were about the same age. So, I think he, he might have died at least, what year is this, at least seven years ago, might be, might be more.
(Simultaneous conversation.)
MARQUEZ: Uh, sudden, sudden, sudden, it was sudden. It was tragic-
McCLAIN: Tom, Tom was trying to get him at a law firm and stuff like that, but just couldn’t get. And the kid was not dumb, don’t misunderstand me. It wasn’t, it was, He’s not dumb.
MARQUEZ: He worked in regulatory, he worked in regulatory at the time.
McCLAIN: Not Ivy League but he did his job.
DOMINGUEZ: Hm.
McCLAIN:Like Fidel says, mainly uh, compliance. Yeah, but the gentleman died, but you know, Tom, always had a special love for ComEd, before that and after that-
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah.
McCLAIN:-because of that commitment. So um, um, so that, that’s just what we’ve always done for, good lord, over 20 years now, because we can’t really do meter readers, we don’t have them anymore-
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah.
McCLAIN: -we don’t linemen, there’s no one from the 13th Ward that’s a lineman. So what we have is, uh, um, Mike Zalewski, Junior, I’m sorry, Senior, used to be an alderman, um next uh, and his son is Chairman of the Revenue Committee, um and uh, Ray Nice, who’s a top three precinct committeeman-
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah.
McCLAIN: Uh, and uh, they’re all, they’re all good solid people.
DOMINGUEZ: And available, when, when we need uh, when we need some help, right?
McCLAIN: Mm-hmm.
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah, so.
McCLAIN: So, it’s um, it’s uh, it’s a um, it’s sort of like um, this is my impression, you might say, “Mike that’s not how it happened at all,” but, like you hired Liz Brown. I suspect that was a request of Mike Carrigan.
DOMINGUEZ: It wasn’t, but I knew it would be-
McCLAIN: Okay.
DOMINGUEZ: -well received by Mike at a time-
McCLAIN: Right.
DOMINGUEZ: -where we had a little bit of a rough relationship-
McCLAIN: Right.
DOMINGUEZ: -and he might be on the ICC. So, its uh, and I like Liz.
McCLAIN: And then uh, so, Jim Durkin came to us and said, we’d like you to hire Tom Walsh.
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah, we get that.
McCLAIN:(Laughing) That’s, that’s what we do right? I mean, um, it’s sort of like, if uh, if you came in and said uh, okay-
MARQUEZ: And I caught flak for that.
McCLAIN: Yeah, you did.
MARQUEZ: Well, we had this gentleman’s agreement. That utility wouldn’t hire other utility’s contract lobbyists, and Tom was working for People’s at the time, but I said look, I got called and says, “You broke the trust.” I said, “It was a request. Suck it up.”
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah, that’s right.
McCLAIN: Yeah, so um-
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah, there’s exceptions to every rule.
McCLAIN: It would be like you coming in and saying, “Ok Fidel, I wanna cut a million dollars out of your budget and half your contract lobbyists gotta go.” Then Fidel would have to sit down and say, “Okay, now this guy game from Jim Durkin (laughs) -
DOMINGUEZ: Nah, no, no, listen. And this is true in every jurisdiction, right?
McCLAIN: Yeah.
DOMINGUEZ: Now, but, ha-, Fidel, was there an, an issue with Jay’s deal that I was holding it up or-
MARQUEZ: Well, J, J, so Joe-
DOMINGUEZ: -because that’s what I was unaware of- (Non-Pertinent Conversation.)
MARQUEZ: And I was always taught, you gotta know what you’re signing.
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah (unintelligible).
MARQUEZ: So, I was, I was just-
DOMINGUEZ: I’m fine.
MARQUEZ: -making sure, Joe, this is what it is. You know, it’s coming out of your budget. It’s four hundred grand, so that you, that, that was, that was it.
DOMINGUEZ: Fidel, my view on all this, on this stuff is, is it’s, it’s like the lobbying team itself. You know. There are,at periods of time where people are saying, “What the hell are these guys doing? Why are we paying them?” And then they will do something in the minute, in the magic moment-
MARQUEZ: That, that, that’s worth a hundred times-
(Simultaneous conversation.)
MARQUEZ: -what you’re paying them.
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah, right, right. And so that, that’s-
MARQUEZ: No, I, it was just me, wanting to make sure Joe, that
DOMINGUEZ: No, I don’t I don’t wanna hold it up, this is fine.
MARQUEZ: So, we’re going, it’s going forward. When you sent me that note-
DOMINGUEZ: Okay, good.
MARQUEZ: That was it.
DOMINGUEZ: Good.
MARQUEZ: I just wanted you, you to be aware.
DOMINGUEZ: We gotta do that business, you know.
MARQUEZ: Yeah.
DOMINGUEZ: So.
MARQUEZ: Yeah. Good.
DOMINGUEZ: How else could we be helpful?
McCLAIN: Um, hav, have you decided what kind of bill we’re going to have? Are we gonna-
MARQUEZ: Y, you know what? Can I ask-
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah.
MARQUEZ: -Veronica to come in here?
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah.
MARQUEZ: I did have a call with Dean Apple this morning-
DOMINGUEZ: Okay.
MARQUEZ: -based on your direction last night-
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah.
MARQUEZ: -and I wanna share that.
DOMINGUEZ: Yeah, good.
MARQUEZ: Mind if we have Veronica come in here?
McCLAIN: Sure. No, of course. Want me to get her?
MARQUEZ: No, I’ll get her. But, you can stay here.
(END OF PERTINENT CONVERSATION)
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Tribune | As ‘ComEd Four’ shifts to defense, FBI wiretaps could prove hard to overcome: It’s come from the defendants’ own mouths, captured in the dozens of wiretapped phone calls and secretly recorded videos in which they talked about an alleged scheme to funnel payments to Madigan’s cronies in exchange for little or no work on ComEd’s behalf — all when they thought no one was listening. Those FBI wiretaps, however, only started rolling in mid-2018, years after the utility’s key legislative wins in 2011 and 2016 that are at the heart of the allegations in the indictment.
* Tribune | Ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore takes stand in own defense, says Speaker Madigan cared most about ‘staying speaker’: In a highly anticipated moment, Pramaggiore, 64, took the stand Thursday afternoon in the “ComEd Four” bribery trial, where she and three associates are accused of bribing powerful Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan to advance the utility giant’s legislative agenda in Springfield. […] “He’s a very quiet person, doesn’t say a lot,” she said. “But I did get to know a bit about him. I think we had mutual respect for each other.”
* ABC Chicago | Former CEO takes stand in her own defense, denies bribery: “Did you think ComEd had influence with speaker Madigan so you could call on him to get legislation passed?” defense attorney Scott Lassar asked. “No,” Pramaggiore answered. Pramaggiore was only on the stand for about 45 minutes, focusing mostly on scene setting for the bulk of her testimony which will resume on Monday.
* ABC Chicago | Prosecution rests its case as former CEO says she plans to testify: First up was ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore’s defense team, who called as their initial witness a former ComEd executive who was part of the process to develop and negotiate some of the legislation in question at the trial. Val Jensen said the company didn’t get everything it wanted and that it was coalition building with environmental and labor groups that ultimately led to the bill’s success.
* WTTW |: Pramaggiore went on to recount when the company plucked the DePaul law school graduate from her job as an anti-trust attorney at a Chicago law firm through her rise at ComEd, and how when she reached the top ranks she got in the trenches, and learned from lower-level employees how badly the company needed to be turned around. Stories took a personal bent, as she shared that she relied on leadership lessons from a book by Gen. Colin Powell to get ComEd linemen to open up about how problems with trucks and scheduling caused a hinderance for repairs. She also described how she accompanied co-defendant, and former ComEd head of government and external affairs, John Hooker, to some of Chicago’s most under-resourced neighborhoods.
* Sun-Times | Despite cache of secret FBI recordings, ex-ComEd CEO tells jurors in bribery trial she didn’t view Madigan as an ally of utility: However, Pramaggiore’s testimony began only 50 minutes before the scheduled end of court Thursday. That meant it barely had time to scratch the surface of the case before the trial wrapped up its fifth week. Pramaggiore’s defense attorney, Scott Lassar, will likely have far more questions to ask when the trial resumes Monday. But that’ll be the easy part. When Lassar is finished, Pramaggiore will surely face a vigorous cross-examination by federal prosecutors in the high-stakes case. They gave her a hint Thursday of what might be to come with their questioning of another witness called by Pramaggiore’s legal team — Joseph Dominguez, another former ComEd CEO.
* WTTW | ‘This Was a Hell of a Plum’: Madigan Ally Tells ‘ComEd Four’ Jury He Was Paid For Years To Do Little or No Work: Edward Moody, one of the federal government’s key witnesses in the “ComEd Four” trial, said Tuesday that starting in 2012, he received monthly checks from lobbyist and longtime Madigan confidant Michael McClain under the guise of doing consulting work for ComEd. But according to Moody — who is testifying under an immunity deal with the government — he was actually being paid to continue working as a political operative on Madigan-connected campaigns.
* Crain’s | At ‘ComEd Four’ trial, Ed Moody reminisced about his rise and his financial rewards: Testifying with what appeared to be honest pride under a grant of immunity from federal prosecutors, Moody spoke of how he and his brother became political troubleshooters for Madigan. Sent to districts outside Chicago where a candidate was struggling, they would swoop in as Madigan’s elite precinct squad of sorts.
* Capitol News Illinois | Top Madigan foot soldier testifies he didn’t work for $4,500 monthly checks: “I never got the sense that (Madigan) wanted me to become a lobbyist because you start to build a business,” Ed Moody testified to a federal jury on Tuesday. Moody’s attorney asked for and was granted an immunity agreement. “I didn’t feel like he wanted me to be independent of his politics,” Moody said.
* Tribune | ‘I control the contract’: Longtime Madigan precinct captain Ed Moody takes stand in ‘ComEd Four’ bribery trial, says speaker set him up with lobbying deal: Moody also said he sought Madigan’s blessing for two public offices — county commissioner and as recorder of deeds — because “politically, he would be the boss” and had the power to “put a brick” on any potential appointment. Moody’s testimony, which came near the end of the prosecution’s case in chief, was crucial because he’s the only one of the Madigan-approved “subcontractors” allegedly paid by ComEd to cooperate with the government.
* Sun-Times | Longtime precinct captain says he was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by ComEd to do political work for Michael Madigan : Moody said his success in turning out votes helped him land government jobs. But he also said he continued working thousands of hours on campaigns that were important to Madigan out of “fear” of losing such a job. “Always fear,” Moody said.
* Tribune | Evidence seen and heard by the jury: The more than 100 secretly recorded phone calls and meetings, which were gleaned from wiretaps and confidential informants over the course of more than a year, form the backbone of the case, one of the most highly watched political trials in Illinois for years.
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Monday, Apr 17, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
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Turns out, voters can do nuance
Monday, Apr 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
A couple of Chicago mayoral race polling results from last month have been stuck in my head ever since they were released.
The BSP Research poll, taken March 15-23 for Northwestern University’s Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy, found the two mayoral runoff candidates were running neck and neck. The poll was almost universally ignored by the city’s news media, yet it might’ve possibly contained an important nugget that could help explain at least part of Brandon Johnson’s win and Paul Vallas’ loss.
The poll found that 82% of Chicagoans supported the idea of increasing the number of police on the force. OK, no surprise there.
Immediately after answering that question, however, 63% said they supported the idea of decreasing police funding and investing in addressing root causes of crime. According to the poll, 68% of Black people, 66% of Latinos and 59% of whites supported that idea.
“If that second result is even close to accurate, it upends everything we’re supposed to believe about this contest,” I wrote at the time.
Vallas heavily outspent Johnson on television ads, warning voters for weeks that Johnson wanted to “defund the police.” According to Vallas, Chicago crime was “out of control” and Johnson would only make things worse.
Almost Vallas’ entire platform centered around both hiring more police officers, which is something Chicago voters of all persuasions clearly said they wanted, and ridiculing Johnson for his past remarks on the topic of police funding. Johnson soft pedaled his past remarks but insisted that crime prevention and solving crimes should be at the top of the priority list.
I’ve often declared that voters “don’t do nuance,” but it’s been clear that pundits and many political reporters are the ones who’ve been far less nuanced about crime than voters over the past year in this state, and particularly in the Chicago metro area.
As we saw in 2022, polls showed that suburban and Downstate voters simply did not view the crime problem as the over-arching issue portrayed by the news media and Republican political operatives.
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin spent tens of millions of Ken Griffin’s money to use the crime issue in a spectacularly failed effort to capture the Republican gubernatorial nomination and prove his questionable Republican bonafides.
The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police aggressively attacked state Sen. Rob Martwick (D-Chicago) over his support for the SAFE-T Act in an attempt to nominate a candidate with Republican affiliations in a Democratic primary. That also failed miserably.
And then, of course, there were the endless TV ads from Dan Proft’s People Who Play by the Rules PAC last year, designed to depress the Democrats’ Chicago base and hurt Gov. J.B. Pritzker and wound Democrats in the suburbs. Nope.
A GQR poll released the day after Chicago’s mayoral election found similar results.
Likely Chicago voters were asked if they preferred 1) “Doing more to get tough on crime, like having stricter sentences for people convicted of violent crimes, maintaining strong bail laws to keep potentially dangerous people in jail, and giving police more support and resources”; or 2) “Fully fund things that are proven to create safe communities and improve people’s quality of life, like good schools, a living wage, and affordable housing, and do more to prevent crime by increasing treatment for mental health and drug addiction and cracking down on illegal gun sales.”
By a 58-39 margin, respondents chose the prevention angle over the tough-on-crime angle.
At least in this state, the Bill Clinton era sure appears to be over. Ginning up fears about crime and promising to throw more money at the police just aren’t enough by themselves any longer to win races.
In that bygone time, Vallas would’ve likely easily defeated Johnson with the message he used this spring, despite his affiliations with the far right in the recent past (including the ultra-radical Awake Illinois and Dan Proft). Today’s voters here want far more than just “lock ‘em up” rhetoric.
Not all of Clinton’s lessons are now passe, however. Vallas, who will turn 70 in June, constantly surrounded himself with older Democrats like former Secretary of State Jesse White, former Senate President Emil Jones, former U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.
But that ignored one of Clinton’s most valuable and enduring political lessons: Don’t offer to be a bridge to the past; promise instead that you will build a bridge to the future. Johnson did that, Vallas did not.
* Tahman Bradley and Peter Curi at WGN TV also wrote about that second poll after my column was published…
“Voters have a very nuanced perception about public safety and about what gets us to public safety in every community across a city as complex as Chicago,” ACLU of Illinois’ Communications Chief Ed Yohnka said.
During the campaign, Vallas vowed to increase the number of police while Johnson promoted a platform to make CPD more efficient. Asked the most effective solution to crime about a third of voters chose increased mental health/drug treatment compared to 18% who favor hiring more police.
“It was never a binary choice of in the way that it was sometimes portrayed. I think there was kind of an easy one’s tough on crime, one’s not,” Yohnka said. “At the end of the day people kind of piece through the easy labels and actually look at what kind of policies are going to get us to enhanced public safety.” […]
“It turns out that you can spend a lot of money sorta trying to paint this picture of black and white but people still see grey. And they see that I would argue at least largely because these are the people in the communities they’re living in. They know what the issues are in their communities, and they know that they’re aren’t necessarily solved by just more policing, that there are other underlining needs that just have to be met.”
* Meanwhile, a little context about yet another nationally notorious Chicago weekend…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Apr 17, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go!…
* Inside Climate | Look Out, California: One of the Country’s Largest Solar Arrays is Taking Shape in… Illinois?: The 593-megawatt Double Black Diamond Solar farm near Springfield is indicative of several trends in solar power, as projects grow ever larger and are built in places that get much less sun than the southwest. The developer, Swift Current Energy of Boston, is building the project to meet demand from corporations and local governments aiming to meet clean energy goals.
* Daily Herald | State help with tuition, college budgets tanked amid 20 years of state disinvestment: When adjusted for inflation, state spending on higher education fell 46% from 2000 to 2023, according to a new report from the left-leaning think tank Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. This mirrors a less extensive data analysis from the Illinois Board of Higher Education, which found that the buying power of 2021 higher ed appropriations is 55.5% of what it was in 2002.
* WTTW | How a COVID-19 Exodus Affected Illinois Government Staffing, Salary Spending: With more than a million people dying since the disease was first detected in the U.S., there was an enormous amount of work to do and seemingly never enough people to do it. Yet the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) saw the total number of paid employees drop by 6.25% to 1,409 last year, and overall pay fell by 2%, according to records kept by the Illinois comptroller’s office.
* Tribune | Judges could push the pace on slow-moving murder cases. Most of them don’t: In a court system that is taking longer than ever to resolve murder cases, the Tribune found the pace of justice can depend on who is wearing the robe. State law and local rules give judges the power to impose and enforce deadlines, hold to account a no-show witness or an unresponsive record-keeper, and actively inquire about what needs to be done and how long it will take to do it.
* Sun-Times | Dozens of Cook County employees resign or are fired in clerk of court, county inspector general’s PPP fraud probe: Forty-eight court clerk’s office employees “no longer work” there after investigators found they defrauded the federal COVID relief Paycheck Protection Program. Six employees of other county agencies also have been found to have defrauded federal relief programs.
* WCIA | Budzinski reflects on first 100 days, talks gun control reforms: While those efforts have been successful on topics like rural healthcare and agriculture, it’s a different story when it comes to more polarizing topics like gun control. Budzinski said she is a supporter of the second amendment, but she supports restrictions on the sale of assault-style weapons.
* Politico | Why GOP culture warriors lost big in school board races this month: While there’s no official overall tally of school board results in states that held an array of elections on April 4, two conservative national education groups did not dispute that their candidates posted a losing record. Liberals are now making the case that their winning bids for school board seats in Illinois and Wisconsin show they can beat back Republican attacks on divisive education issues.
* NPR | Out-of-staters are flocking to places where abortions are easier to get: When Mara Pliskin started working at Planned Parenthood Illinois, she didn’t expect to feel like a travel agent. Now, the abortion navigation program manager and her co-workers joke that that’s half the job — booking flight, train and bus tickets for out-of-state abortion seekers, arranging hotel stays and giving them money for food and gas.
* Capitol Cast | Lawmakers Return: The Capitol News Illinois reporting team takes a look at the state of state government in the final one month of the legislative session and recaps the week’s developments in the ComEd Four trial.
* Sun-Times | ‘Do not stay silent,’ Chicago protesters urge as courts weigh access to abortion pill: A federal judge in Texas on April 7 issued a preliminary ruling that invalidated the Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade old approval of mifepristone. An hour later, a judge in Washington state contradicted the decision and instructed the FDA to make no changes. The issue landed Friday at the U.S. Supreme Court, which temporarily blocked restrictions on the drug pending a decision next week.
* Crain’s | CSU faculty reach a tentative agreement, ending their strike: Faculty and administration at Chicago State University reached a tentative four-year contract agreement Sunday, ending a 10-day strike that included an appearance by Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson on the picket line and a faculty sit-in at the school’s president’s office. In a statement, the union said it had suspended the strike and would return to classes on Monday. The strike began on April 3.
* CNN | What Walmart’s pullback from Chicago says about Corporate America’s limits: The closures are another example of the shortcomings of local governments and even national political leaders betting on leading chains to provide key public services and fill gaps. If government couldn’t provide for a populace in desperate need of jobs and fresh foods, the thinking went, for-profit corporations would.
* Tribune | Illinois first lady M.K. Pritzker appointed to committee charged with the preservation of the White House: “The Committee is charged with establishing policies relating to the museum function of the White House, its staterooms, and collections,” the White House said in a statement. “It also works to make recommendations on acquisitions for the permanent collection of the White House and provides advice on changes to principal rooms on the ground floor, state floor, and the historic guest suites on the residence floor of the White House Executive Residence.”
* Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan casino starting to attract other businesses to the area; ‘We are excited … to see all the kinds of development happening around it’: Among the planned developments is a strip shopping center containing a Five Guys restaurant, a Jimmy John’s sandwich shop and one to two additional merchants on Northpoint Boulevard, walking distance from the casino. Developers are seeking city approval.
* CBS Chicago | “Conservative Dad” says he’s brewing “woke-free” beer called “Ultra Right” in Illinois: The company’s website calls it “100 percent, woke-free American beer,” claiming it is brewed in Northern Illinois and will be available next month.
* Tribune | 5 state public health workers kept ‘yearbook’ that mocked photos of medical marijuana applicants, IG report says: “Those that participated in activities related to the yearbook attempted to minimize or downplay their conduct, as evidenced by their characterizations of the yearbook as ‘benign’ and intended simply to ‘lighten up the mood,’ for ‘jest,’ and to be funny,” the report stated.
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