On Friday evening, the building administration was notified about potential COVID exposures to students in social settings at multiple parties across a four day period beginning on August 14th. After spending the entire weekend calling families, we know students were exposed to positive cases of COVID at these parties. When we’re notified about potential positive cases, we enact our mandated contact tracing protocol. For this protocol to work, it requires complete cooperation and honesty with all parties and unfortunately, we did not have that from some families. It makes the process impossible if we’re not able to quickly figure out which students were present where and with whom. In total, Maine South staff made contact with, or attempted to make contact with, at least 71 students over the weekend to determine the scope of contact tracing for the reported events.
Based on the numbers of students we believe were in attendance at the parties, and the positive cases we know of, we are making the following changes to the week of August 24th:
Senior day (August 24th) is now online.
Junior orientation (August 25th & 26th): a virtual orientation recording will be sent via email.
Sophomore orientation (August 27th & 28th): a virtual orientation recording will be sent via email.
More information about instructional materials pick-up will be forthcoming.
The following will remain the same for the week of August 24th:
Virtual classes for students of all grade levels begin on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 25th. Students can log into their Google classroom accounts after noon on Monday, August 24th to join their teacher’s classes.
Any students receiving special education services on campus this week will still attend as planned.
When your student is being tested for COVID, we need to know about it immediately. Please call the school’s health office when you take the test and then again with the test result. Information can be found in our COVID parent guide.
We have repeatedly said in the online sessions that we all want our students back in school. For that to happen, the rules outside of the school cannot differ from the rules inside school … and large parties are not going to help. What was also troubling was the lack of partnership that we witnessed through the weekend as we spoke to families who either refused to share information or gave us false impressions of what took place. There is no disciplinary action when we have to contact trace and when we call, we are doing so to keep our students and staff safe and make sure COVID is not passed along to anyone, especially those with underlying health conditions.
The virtual schedule for Senior day can now be found on the Class of 2021 webpage.
“If this is the norm, we don’t have a chance (for in-person learning),” [Maine South Superintendent Ken Wallace] said. “If this is what we have to deal with week to week, trying to run down who is exposed and who is positive, it’s going to be really difficult to maintain any semblance of in-person school and grow it like we want to.”
In order to transition from remote learning to in-classroom learning, schools in District 207 must know if students have tested positive for COVID-19 or been exposed to it, Wallace said. Such information should be reported immediately by calling the student’s school, the superintendent said.
Students and their parents also share the responsibility in protecting themselves from contracting the virus and exposing others, he added.
The city is launching a contest that will ask Chicagoans to envision how there can be outdoor dining this winter.
Chicago is famous for its cold, snowy winters, with patio dining all but impossible. That’ll be challenging for restaurants, which are relying on expanded outdoor service because the coronavirus pandemic has limited their indoor capacity.
But the Winter Design Challenge will ask Chicagoans to “propose innovative outdoor dining solutions that adhere to COVID-19 protocols,” according to the Mayor’s Office. Three winners will get prizes of $5,000 each.
Do masks really work? Ask the dozens of Starbucks customers who tested positive for COVID-19 in Seoul this month after a woman with coronavirus sat under one of the cafe’s air-conditioners.
According to a local news report, at least 56 coronavirus cases have been linked to that one customer. The kicker: The four masked workers avoided infection.
The Starbucks SBUX, 4.88% patrons, according to officials, weren’t consistently wearing masks because, of course, it’s hard to enjoy a latte when you can’t access your mouth.
“This speaks volumes about the role masks can play,” Ma Sang Hyuk, a pediatric infectious diseases physician in South Korea, explained to Bloomberg News. “Masks may not provide 100% protection, but there’s nothing out there that’s as effective.”
Local authorities made it mandatory this week for everybody to wear masks both indoors and outdoors, as the greater Seoul area has seen a surge in coronavirus cases.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill mapped locations in the respiratory tract to see where COVID-19 most likely infiltrates the body and found the cells that line the nose were significantly more likely to become infected and spread virus than the throat or lungs.
In addition, they said that part of the reason you could be more likely to get infected through the nose is because COVID-19 infects cells with tiny hairs on them called cilia, which usually helps protects from pathogens.
“The nose is basically the purveyor of all viral ill,” said Dr. Richard Boucher, director of the Marsico Lung Institute/UNC Cystic Fibrosis Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. “The virus appeared to pick the nose as a fertile ground for infection.”
Ellerin called the study “important” and explained that the nasal passage has as many or even more receptors that the virus can use to enter the cell than the throat or in the lungs. Which makes it imperative that people cover their noses, he said.
Density and temperature are intricately related, and coughs tend to be warmer than their surrounding area. Tapping into this connection, Simha and Rao utilized a technique called schlieren imaging, which visualizes changes in density, to capture pictures of voluntary coughs from five test subjects. By tracking the motion of a cough over successive images, the team estimated velocity and spread of the expelled droplets.
Unsurprisingly, they found N95 masks to be the most effective at reducing the horizontal spread of a cough. The N95 masks reduced a cough’s initial velocity by up to a factor of 10 and limit its spread to between 0.1 and 0.25 meters.
An uncovered cough, in contrast, can travel up to 3 meters, but even a simple disposable mask can bring this all the way down to 0.5 meters.
A study conducted in Brazil — the nation with the second-most coronavirus cases and deaths in the world — found that people with sociopathic traits were less likely to follow safety measures designed to curb the virus, such as face mask wearing.
“Our findings indicated that antisocial traits, especially lower levels of empathy and higher levels of Callousness, Deceitfulness, and Risk-taking, are directly associated with lower compliance with containment measures,” said the study published in the online journal Personality and Individual Differences. […]
People who tested for high levels of empathy were more likely to follow coronavirus safety measures, the study said.
Researchers said 1,578 adults in Brazil took a test between May 21 and June 29 to assess their “maladaptive personality traits,” as well as their attitude toward COVID-19 safety measures. The test included 220 questions answered on a 4-point scale.
* A reader today sent me this mailer she recently received from her county sheriff. The return address is the same as the Stark County Sheriff’s office in Toulon. The email the sheriff uses in the letter matches the one on his official website and he admits below that this is official stationery…
1) Applette? Aside from the multiple typos in the letter, Justice Thomas Kilbride is running for retention on the Illinois Supreme Court. The Illinois Republican Party has made defeating Kilbride a top priority this year.
2) What the heck is Sheriff Sloan doing sending a political mailer on official stationery with that official return address?
Here’s our email exchange today…
Did your office send this mailer? It has your office’s return address. Were taxpayer resources used?
Yes I sent it
Yes I’m paying for it out of my pocket
Was this on county stationery?
Yes, it was. It was on a piece of paper with my letter head
As part of a previous federal coronavirus relief package, workers collecting unemployment insurance temporarily received an extra $600 per week in supplemental benefits. Though Democrats pushed to extend it, they could not get Republicans to agree, and the extra benefits expired July 31.
As a workaround, President Donald Trump authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set aside up to $44 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund for lost wage payments. Under this Lost Wages Supplemental Payment Assistance program, FEMA will provide participating states with grants to help cover expanded unemployment benefits of $300 per week, plus 5% of the total grant amount to cover administrative costs.
States also may choose to contribute an additional $100 per week, bringing the total extra benefit amount to $400 per week. However, few states are expected to do so because of the cost.
It was originally expected that these unemployment benefits would last about five weeks. However, states approved for funding are now only guaranteed three weeks, retroactive to Aug. 1. If there are still funds available after that period, allocation of the money will be determined on a week-by-week basis until the money is gone. […]
“I think the reason that states are reluctant to get engaged is because of the technology involved,” said Jane Oates, a former U.S. Department of Labor official who now serves as president of the advocacy group WorkingNation. “Many of the states are using antiquated technology that doesn’t have interoperability. … it’s very difficult for them to add it to the unemployment checks of out-of-work workers.”
Getting that money into unemployed workers’ pockets depends on when the state applied, when it gets approved for funding and how quickly it can update computer systems to handle the payments. Arizona, for example, has already paid out benefits to qualifying residents. Other states may need six weeks or longer to get up and running.
* The article noted that Illinois hadn’t yet announced what it planned to do. I’ve been asking the governor’s office for days about this and the governor was finally asked today about why the state hadn’t yet made a decision when so many other states have…
That’s not accurate. It’s just not an accurate question. We have begun that process and, indeed, it takes a lot of setup on an internal basis for us to move forward with that and so that’s what we’ve been doing.
The State of Illinois today announced revised guidelines for restaurants and bar establishments statewide to operate safely and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Based on a recent increase in cases, these latest guidelines will require patrons to wear a mask during any interaction with wait staff, food service workers and other employees at bars and restaurants. Face coverings must be worn over the nose and mouth when patrons are approached and served by staff, including but not limited to when employees take patrons orders, deliver food and beverages, and service tables. This guidance will also apply to other facilities with food services areas that are currently subject to the Restore Illinois guidance, such as indoor recreational facilities, museums and entertainment venues.
New guidelines go into effect Wednesday, August 26th and will require face coverings to be worn both in indoor and outdoor dining settings in all eleven regions in the state. Full guidelines may be found on the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) website.
“Illinois residents continue to take important steps to protect the safety of our loved ones and neighbors. However, due to a recent uptick in cases, we must take additional precautionary steps when we are out in public,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Based on conversations and input from industry and business leaders, the State of Illinois is implementing updated guidelines which will allow restaurants and bars across the state to stay open while helping protect the health and safety of patrons and staff.”
The revised guidelines announced today build on both the statewide Restore Illinois guidelines as well as the tiered mitigation strategies that are implemented when a region sees consistent increased test positivity or hospital admissions. The latest data on regional test positivity and hospitals can be found on the Illinois Department of Public Health(IDPH) website. More information about the Restore Illinois guidelines and tiered mitigation measures can be found on the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) website.
“Going out for food and drinks should not be a reason or an excuse to let our guards down in the fight against COVID-19,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of IDPH. “IDPH and DCEO are updating current guidance to make it clear that face coverings should be worn in any situation where we are interacting with those outside of our immediate circles. We will continue to adapt our guidelines and institute additional precautions to help protect all residents that make up our communities.”
Patrons are currently required to wear a mask whenever on premises, except while eating and drinking at the table or bar. The new guidelines ensure that while seated, interactions between business staff and patrons can happen safely to prevent possible spread of the virus.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,680 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 29 additional confirmed deaths.
- Cook County: 1 male 50s, 3 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
- DuPage County: 1 female 80s
- Jersey County: 1 female 90s
- Lake County: 2 males 60s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- LaSalle County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 100+
- Madison County: 1 female 80s
- Massac County: 1 male 70s
- Peoria County: 1 male 80s
- Rock Island County: 1 male 40s
- Saline County: 1 female 70s
- Shelby County: 1 female 70s
- Vermilion County: 1 male 80s
- Williamson County: 1 female 90s
- Winnebago County: 1 female 20s, 1 male 50s, 2 males 60s, 1 male 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 223,470 cases, including 7,917 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 40,859 specimens for a total of 3,781,050. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 18 – August 24 is 4.1%. As of last night, 1,549 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 345 patients were in the ICU and 135 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
Sens. Sue Rezin (38th District) and John Curran (41st District), both of whom represent portions of Region 7, have issued the following statement regarding the Governor’s double-standard when it comes to applying COVID-19 mitigation restrictions.
“In making his announcement today, the Governor has decided to place partisan politics above science. As a result, Will and Kankakee Counties will be forced to ban indoor dining while the Metro-East (Region 4) will be given an extra week to improve their numbers. Why the double standard? Because Democrat elected officials from that region pressured the Governor to change this stance. Backroom political deals should not be how public health decisions are made. The same rules should apply to all regions, and they should be based on science, not politics.”
I’ve asked the governor’s office for a response.
…Adding… I’m told that neither Curran nor Rezin were contacted or briefed about this decision.
State health officials reversed a decision to preemptively ban indoor dining in the metro-east after facing pressure from lawmakers and mayors, St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency director Herb Simmons said Monday.
The state was planning to reimpose a ban on indoor dining and drinking at bars and restaurants in the metro-east Wednesday as the region sees a resurgence of coronavirus cases — a week before the original deadline they’d given regional leaders to reduce cases. […]
Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike told mayors in a Monday morning conference call that their communities could see restrictions this week because cases are increasing so rapidly, said Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokeswoman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
But area mayors and county leaders reacted with outrage and frustration at being cut short by a week. […]
Democratic State Reps. Jay Hoffman of Swansea, LaToya Greenwood of East St. Louis, Nathan Reitz of Steeleville, Katie Stuart of Edwardsville and state Sen. Christopher Belt of Cahokia “worked to combat the additional restrictions set to be imposed,” the county emergency management agency posted on social media after the reversal.
…Adding… The latest IDPH numbers show the Metro East’s positivity rate is 9.8 percent, far higher than Region 7’s 8.4 percent. Yet, the mitigation measures are far more restrictive in Region 7.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Gov. Pritzker said today that the mitigation efforts in Region 4 haven’t worked. The mitigations were based on advice from local public health directors who had worked with St. Louis to devise a standard set of guidelines on both sides of the Mississippi River. In retrospect, Pritzker said, bowing to that arrangement “was not a good idea.”
When asked why Region 4 was given another week before mitigation efforts would match Region 7, Pritzker said “We had said when we put the mitigations in place that they would have two weeks under those sets of mitigations and so there’s one week left.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Sen. Hastings, a Democrat, is not pleased…
My letter to Governor Pritzker based on feedback from residents, community and elected leaders and business from the Will County residents of the 19th Legislative District. pic.twitter.com/6V7SIqwiix
* I only mention it because his name has popped up a few times this week, including on WTTW…
Leading up to and during his term as Illinois’ 42nd governor, Bruce Rauner spent some of his personal fortune to help boost the Republican Party in the state.
He’s not only no longer doing that, Rauner’s not even registered to vote in Illinois anymore; he’s set to cast his ballot from Florida.
It’s a sign of the lurch the Illinois GOP is in: The Congressional delegation is split 13 Democrats to five Republicans, both of the state’s U.S. Senators are Democrats, there are no GOP constitutional officers and Republicans are in super-minorities in both the Illinois House and Senate.
* The Tribune also ran a story last week about Democrats teeing off on the former governor…
“As comptroller, I’ve witnessed firsthand how bad leadership has hurt Illinois, mainly because of two Republicans. … These two Republicans have a lot in common. Former Gov. Bruce Rauner who nearly crippled our state over political ideology and now President Donald Trump who has botched the White House response to the COVID-19 pandemic and tanked our economy,” Mendoza said.
Fair hit?
…Adding… Interestingly enough, Mrs. Rauner and several of the Rauner kids are still registered to vote in Chicago.
[Logan County] Judge Jonathan C. Wright ruled Monday morning that Pritzker’s order that temporarily halted county jails from moving prisoners to state-run facilities ran afoul of state law.
The Illinois Department of Corrections must accept an inmate within 14 days of a transfer, but Pritzker’s order struck that language for the duration of his emergency orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Well, the Fourth Appellate District just overturned the circuit judge’s preliminary injunction and stayed the ruling…
(W)e hereby find defendants have made a strong showing on their likelihood of success on the merits, which would offset equitable factors that may favor the plaintiffs.
* Trial judges should not attempt to govern the entire state from their little county benches. Make a ruling and then stay it pending appeal…
In Stacke, 138 111. 2d at 302-09, the Illinois Supreme Court explained that when considering whether to grant a stay pending appeal, courts should consider the following non-exhaustive factors: (1) whether the party seeking the stay is likely to succeed on the merits, (2) whether a stay would preserve the status quo,’ and (3) whether the balance of equities favors a particular party.
Section 7(8) of the IEMMA, 20 ILCS 3305/7(8) (West 2018), provides that the governor shall have the power to “[c]ontrol *** the movement of persons within the [disaster] area, and the occupancy of premises therein.”
At oral argument, this court asked plaintiffs if they had any argument as to why section 7(8) did not apply. Their only response was that it did not apply because another portion of the IEMMA states that nothing in the IEMMA should affect the responsibilities of the police. Id. § 3(c). Plaintiffs made a similar argument in their brief. However, we conclude that this limitation pertains only to active law enforcement and policing and does not extend to incidental activities such as transferring prisoners. When read in context with the remainder of § 3[(c)J, “responsibilities of police forces” refers to the core functions performed by the police, such as keeping the peace, protecting the public, and enforcing criminal laws. Transferring prisoners to IDOC custody is an administrative task outside of the essential responsibilities of police forces generally. […]
We acknowledge plaintiffs believe EO 2020-50 imposes serious hardship on numerous sheriffs’ offices throughout the State and is unwise and unfair. However, we do not pass judgment on whether the Governor’s actions are unwise or unfair, but rather on whether the Governor’s actions are authorized.
The good news for Illinois’ 102 sheriffs is that they had two weeks to transfer roughly 2,000 inmates to state prisons. The bad news is that they now face the same problem they had before — holding newly-sentenced inmates in county jails who ought to be serving their sentences in prison. […]
Coronavirus infection numbers jumped in DOC after the department was ordered to accept inmate transfers.
Two weeks ago, DOC reported that 371 inmates had contracted the virus, 336 of whom recovered.
On Monday, DOC reported 729 coronavirus cases, 470 of whom recovered.
* After revealing that he planned to vote for Joe Biden, former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar talked to several reporters about his decision. Turns out, this won’t be the first time he’ll cast a ballot for a Democratic presidential candidate. Bernie smoked him out…
Edgar, who was a state representative and secretary of state before serving as governor from 1991-1999, has broken with his party previously. In 2016, he said he wouldn’t vote for Trump, but didn’t reveal his vote at the time.
Edgar said Monday that he had always voted for Republicans for president until 2016. Asked if he marked Democrat Hillary Clinton on his ballot, he said, “I think you could guess that, yeah.”
“I had hoped when he got elected, he’d kind of grow into the job. I think it’s been a very unfortunate four years — there’s a lot more turmoil than there needed to be. He doesn’t act like a president — his character is lacking. The presidents of the past, none of them have been perfect, but this is unusual,” Edgar said in a phone interview.
So is it a vote against Trump? Or do you like Biden? “It would have been hard for me to vote for Trump no matter who the Democrats would have” nominated, Edgar tells The Spin. “He never was around government. Some people like that. I think you need to understand the relationship between the federal government and the states. You have to watch what you say. What the president says really matters, and the president, it’s not in his DNA” to edit himself. “Do I agree with all his policies? No,” Edgar said of Biden. “But I do think he’s a decent guy and he’ll steer a moderate course.”
“I have been very disappointed,” Edgar said. “We’ve had chaos for four years we didn’t need to have. I mean, there’s always going to be some turmoil, but he stirs it up. He bullies. You can’t believe what he says because he’ll do the different thing the next day. … He’s bungled the virus, there’s no doubt about that. He continued to stir up division in the country, (when) a president should be trying to bring people together. I mean, the list goes on and on.” […]
A spokesman for the state GOP did not respond to Edgar’s statements.
“I think he bungled the pandemic thing. He undercuts our allies. I don’t understand his relationship with [Russian President Vladmir] Putin. The list goes on and on.
“But I think the biggest thing is his character. He’s a bully. He doesn’t tell the truth. Just all kinds of things,” said the former two-term governor from downstate Charleston who served between 1991 and 1999. […]
Edgar, who had high approval ratings that once topped out at 73%, said he understands how Trump’s message resonates among downstaters. But it is a losing ideology for Illinois Republicans, he said.
“All the downstaters are going to vote for Trump, but it’s not going to matter because they’re going to get out-voted by the suburbanites and Chicagoans,” Edgar said. “For the Party to be able to win in Illinois statewide, we need to divorce ourselves from the Trump thing.”
“He has been more of a disappointment than I thought he would be four years ago, and I was definitely bummed out when he won four years ago. But I’m just – I think this country has suffered a lot that going to take a while to take care of.”
While Trump is popular in much of downstate Illinois, Edgar said the President hurts Republican candidates who run statewide, in the city of Chicago and in the suburbs.
“If Trump would lose in November, then I think the Republican Party in Illinois statewide has a better chance of coming back,” Edgar said. “Republican candidates have to answer everything Trump says and does. … It hurts them in the suburbs and in the city.”
* It’s convention week, so I generally give people latitude when they act all exuberant. Here’s Greg Hinz…
The goal: Snag a couple of congressional seats from Democrats, grab a seat on the Illinois Supreme Court, defeat Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated income tax amendment. And maybe even make Donald Trump competitive in what now is very much donkey country.
So says Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider, asserting that a mix of law-and-order concerns among voters and ethical stumbles by Democrats make those goals achievable. […]
“The president can win in Illinois,” said Schneider, a former member of the Cook County Board who got the job leading his party at the behest of then-Gov. Bruce Rauner. “Sitting here, 71 days out, I’m not saying that he will. But there is a lot going on.”
In a livestream Monday afternoon, Schneider said “we need to make Illinois Republican again.”
He pointed to looting that has roiled the city in recent months, as well as the heavy security presence around Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home while “terrible crimes and murders and shootings” happen in the city as reasons why the state should swing to the right.
“So, we can institute policies that are positive for the people of Illinois, to keep people from leaving our state,” Schneider said. “Or, as I always say, we’re going to need a wall around Illinois just to keep people in.”
Schneider said Lightfoot has barricaded four blocks in her neighborhood but she hasn’t protected “our downtown and our Loop and our Magnificent Mile.”
Illinois Republican Party chairman Tim Schneider said on Monday that President Donald Trump can win the state.
“Our side has the energy going this election. Who really cares about Sleepy Joe and Kamala Harris,” Schneider said. “People aren’t rushing out the door to vote for Joe Biden.”
The “lawlessness in Chicago” will put Trump on the victory path, Schneider said.
“This convention is going to be one of optimism, one of leading the American people,” said Demetra Demonte, a Republican National Committeewoman.
Demonte had to cancel her trip to Charlotte after being exposed to someone with COVID-19 two and a half weeks ago.
She did not contract the virus and has just been invited by the President to attend his acceptance speech in Washington Thursday. She believes his pre-COVID record on the economy, and his push for law and order will make him an appealing candidate for suburban women.
“Donald Trump is a man of action,” she said. “He is a man who says what he will do and he does what he says he is going to do.”
It’s kinda difficult to make the case that all is well when your party is forced to hold a mostly remote convention.
Despite having a member of their own party in the White House, or partly because of that fact, these are tough times for Illinois Republicans, probably the worst in memory.
Coming up on two years since Bruce Rauner vacated the governor’s mansion, taking his money with him, the Illinois GOP has no statewide elected officials, faces super-majority opposition in both chambers of the Legislature and can claim only five of 18 members of Congress. Party coffers are anemic, if not quite bare.
To top it off, President Donald Trump is so unpopular in the state, particularly among the Chicago suburban voters who once gave Illinois Republicans an even chance, that no quick turnaround seems likely.
It’s so bad that Jim Edgar, the state’s last popular Republican governor, revealed Monday that he, too, is voting for Joe Biden for president.
Federal prosecutors told a judge this morning they still anticipate filing additional charges against ex-state Rep. Luis Arroyo. He was charged via information in January with bribing a then-state senator and was expected to plead guilty.
Seems a little unusual that more charges coming against Arroyo. Typically, when a defendant is charged via a criminal information, he intends to plead guilty and so the discovery review is mostly to iron out any disagreements over sentencing.
Prosecutors first indicated in June that additional, related charges could be forthcoming.
Arroyo, a Chicago Democrat, was charged in October 2019 with one felony count of bribery for allegedly attempting to pay $2,500 to an unnamed state senator, with promises of more to come, in exchange for the senator’s support of gambling legislation that would have benefitted one of Arroyo’s lobbying clients. The senator was wearing a wire at the time for federal investigators.
Chicago-area media outlets, citing unnamed sources, have reported that the unnamed state senator was Terry Link, a Democrat from Indian Creek in Lake County, although Link has strongly denied any involvement. Link was recently charged in an unrelated case with tax evasion for filing a false 2016 federal tax return.
Arroyo has pleaded not guilty to his charges, but he resigned his office Nov. 1, just ahead of a special House investigative hearing to determine whether he should be expelled from the General Assembly.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has again extended Executive Order 2020-25, which includes limits on garnishments and wage deductions. It is now in effect until Sept. 19, 2020.
The extension is part of a new order that continues or reissues several existing regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The garnishment and wage deduction order, which originally took effect April 14 and was extended into July, “suspends sections in the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure that permit the service of a garnishment summons, wage deduction summons, or a citation to discover assets on a consumer debtor or consumer garnishee. It shall not be construed to apply to domestic support obligations or relieving a debtor of any liability.”
So, the Will County areas of those cities and towns will now see indoor tavern service closed, no indoor dining in restaurants and social gatherings limited to the lesser of 25 guests or 25 percent of overall room capacity, among other things. The rest of those municipalities will see no changes at all.
* I’ve said this before, but we really need a county remap in this state. We have far too many counties here. And their boundaries, particularly in the suburbs, are just too confusing.
Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) are announcing new COVID-19 mitigation efforts will be implemented in Region 7, the greater Will and Kankakee County areas, beginning Wednesday, August 26 after the region reached 8 percent positivity for three days. Region 4, the Metro East region, which is already operating under additional mitigations, continues to report increasing COVID-19 positivity rates and will have until September 2nd at their current mitigation level before the state must move to impose further mitigation in the region.
For Region 7, mitigation measures taking effect August 26, 2020 include the following:
Bars
• No indoor service
• All outside bar service closes at 11:00pm
• All bar patrons should be seated at tables outside
• No ordering, seating, or congregating at bar (bar stools should be removed)
• Tables should be 6 feet apart
• No standing or congregating indoors or outdoors while waiting for a table or exiting
• No dancing or standing indoors
• Reservations required for each party
• No seating of multiple parties at one table
Restaurants
• No indoor dining or bar service
• All outdoor dining closes at 11:00pm
• Outside dining tables should be 6 feet apart
• No standing or congregating indoors or outdoors while waiting for a table or exiting
• Reservations required for each party
• No seating of multiple parties at one table
Meetings, Social Events, Gatherings
• Limit to lesser of 25 guests or 25% of overall room capacity
• No party buses
• Gaming and Casinos close at 11:00pm, are limited to 25 percent capacity, and follow mitigations for bars and restaurants, if applicable
These mitigations do not currently apply to schools and the measures will remain in effect over a 14-day period after which time more stringent mitigation measures can be implemented if metrics do not improve. View the new mitigations online here.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) continues to monitor each region in the state for several key indicators to identify early, but significant increases of COVID-19 transmission in Illinois, potentially signifying resurgence. Indictors include an increase in COVID-19 cases with a simultaneous decrease in hospital capacity, or three consecutive days greater than or equal to 8% test positivity rate (7 day rolling). These indicators can be used to determine whether additional community mitigation interventions are needed for a region to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
IDPH will track the positivity rate in both regions to determine if mitigations can be relaxed, if additional mitigations are required, or if current mitigations should remain in place. If the positivity rate averages less than or equal to 6.5 percent over a 14-day period, then Regions 4 and 7 will return to Phase 4 mitigations under the Restore Illinois Plan. If the positivity rate averages between 6.5 percent and 8 percent, the new mitigations will remain in place and unchanged. If the positivity rate averages greater than or equal to 8 percent after 14 days, more stringent mitigations will be applied to further reduce spread of the virus.
The state could reimpose a ban on indoor dining and drinking at bars and restaurants in the metro-east [next] week as the region sees a resurgence of coronavirus cases, according to area mayors.
The rules are not final, St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern said […]
State health officials informed mayors of two new regulations in a call on Monday.
*** UPDATE *** Governor’s daily public schedule…
What: Gov. Pritzker to join local leaders to discuss the COVID-19 response in Will and Kankakee counties.
Where: Will County Health Department, 501 Ella Avenue, Joliet
When: 12:00 p.m.
Watch live: https://www.Illinois.gov/LiveVideo
Ten “frustrated” Republican senators demanded Gov. JB Pritzker allow state offices tasked with processing unemployment claims to reopen in a letter sent exactly five months after Illinois’ first stay-at-home order was issued.
The Department of Employment Security was widely reported to struggle with the historic influx of unemployment filings it received from residents who lost their job due to the COVID-19-induced economic downturn.
While the unemployment rate dropped from the pandemic peak of 16.8 percent in April to 11.3 percent in July, the senators argued Illinoisans continue to have problems applying for and receiving benefits from the department. These issues are “long-standing” and “continue unabated,” they wrote in a letter Thursday.
Reopening the Employment Security offices for “face-to-face assistance,” as Secretary of State Jesse White allowed for motor services buildings, is the best solution, the senators added.
“Surely in 6 months, couldn’t we have installed plexiglass barriers and outside air ventilation systems in the IDES offices by now,” they asked in their letter. “Limit the number of people in the offices, socially distance, mask, all that, hell, we don’t care, put a tent up outside and buy laptops for the staff — but get these offices back open. People are hurting.”
Not mentioned is that one reason the state shut down IDES offices was the threats those offices were receiving from angry unemployed people.
* The Question: Is it time for IDES to reopen its local offices? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
No one feels more strongly than AFSCME members in IDES about the importance of timely and efficient processing of unemployment benefits. They have been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic to meet unprecedented demand. They know how urgent their task is, and unfortunately, previous administrations that neglected the agency, reduced its staff and failed to make needed technology upgrades have made meeting today’s challenges that much harder.
But it’s critically important to understand that IDES employees have *not* been working remotely; they are in the office, doing their jobs, even as those offices remain closed to the public for safety reasons.
Reopening the offices to the public would not improve benefit processing but it would expose both IDES employees and applicants to potential COVID exposure, among other complications. What IDES employees need is real support, not being made a political football for obviously partisan attacks.
“The policies of the Trump administration — bringing health care to a new generation and protecting our economy and jobs and taking on China and fighting for safe streets — those policies, I think, history will prove there were a lot of great things done,” said Brady, who is an at-large Trump delegate who is casting his vote for the president by proxy.
But the Senate GOP leader acknowledged that while the Trump brand is wildly popular downstate, it isn’t doing well in vote-rich suburban Chicago, a swath of once-reliable Republican territory now dominated by Democrats. With the exception of McHenry County, four of the five collar counties voted overwhelmingly against Trump in 2016.
“I think the suburban mindset has real trouble with some of the personality of Donald Trump, without looking at the policy,” he said.
Brady said he thinks the Illinois GOP’s political fortunes will be “more driven by local issues,” and there is plenty of fertile material from which to draw, starting with the federal bribery investigation into Commonwealth Edison’s bribery-tainted lobbying in Springfield.
If they want to break through in the suburbs, they’re probably gonna need more than just Madigan, although he is indeed a stronger issue right now because of ComEd. I mean, it’s not too difficult to see what the number one issue is right now. People are absolutely consumed day to day with the pandemic and what it has done - and continues to do - to their lives. Give suburban voters some hope.
And I think they have some folks who really get it. Rep. Mark Batinick, for instance, has been a leader on the face mask issue and was instrumental in convincing Gov. Pritzker to issue an executive order on masks way back in early May.
* But, of course, they also have suburban legislators like this…
Way to go, Allen. I thought to myself, oh great finally some information that will confirm my preconceived ideas around masks, but then I clicked on your link and Twitter warned me that your source is not even safe to click on. Bwahahahaha!😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/mJsdARY463
Rep. Miller (no relation) thankfully deleted that post, but not before others had sent it to me. I guess he must’ve spent too much time on the combine again. /s
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,612 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 8 additional confirmed deaths.
- Cook County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 80s
- DuPage County: 1 male 70s
- Iroquois County: 1 female 80s
- Kane County: 1 male 50s
- Monroe County: 1 female 70s
- Winnebago County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 221,790 cases, including 7,888 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 36,155 specimens for a total of 3,740,191. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 17 – August 23 is 4.2%. As of last night, 1,529 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 334 patients were in the ICU and 141 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,893 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 6 additional confirmed deaths.
Cook County: 1 female 40s, 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
Iroquois County: 1 male 60s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 220,178 cases, including 7,880 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 54,351 specimens for a total of 3,704,036. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 16 – August 22 is 4.2%. As of last night, 1,449 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 339 patients were in the ICU and 117 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,356 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 17 additional confirmed deaths.
Cook County: 1 female 20s, 1 male 30s, 1 male 40s, 2 females 60s, 2 males 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
Douglas County: 1 male 80s
Iroquois County: 1 female 80s
Kane County: 1 male 50s
Madison County: 1 male 60s
Sangamon County: 1 female 80s
Winnebago County: 1 male 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 218,285 cases, including 7,874 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 56,766 specimens for a total of 3,649,685. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 15 – August 21 is 4.3%. As of last night, 1,488 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 322 patients were in the ICU and 127 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
*** UPDATE *** With a hat tip to a commenter, Region 7 (Kankakee and Will Counties) is showing three days straight of 8 percent positivity or above. That will likely trigger state mitigation.
In a surprise Friday afternoon news drop, Governor J.B. Pritzker has re-signed an executive order, allowing users in Illinois to sign-up for sports betting accounts and place wagers without having to visit a casino in person.
DraftKings and BetRivers are the two sportsbooks that are live with online registration. The Action Network has confirmed you can place a bet at DraftKings in Illinois without having to go into a casino.
During the height of the pandemic, casinos were shut across the state, meaning that bettors could not physically visit such facilities to set up an online sports wagering account. As a result, remote registration was allowed from June 4 until it was brought to an end by the governor on July 26.
The Sports Wagering Act that was signed by Gov. Pritzker in July 2019 states that players have to register in-person for an online sports betting account during the first 18 months of the legal market being live.
Having launched its online sports betting offering in Illinois early August, DraftKings looks set to take advantage of the return of remote registration. It has since announced on Twitter that it is now accepting remote registrations from the state’s residents
While in-person registration would have significantly benefited online sportsbooks partnered with physical outlets in the Chicago metropolitan area, such as PointsBet, others including DraftKings, in more remote locations, faced having access to customers significantly reduced.
However, at a time when rising numbers of Covid-19 cases have prompted new restrictions on opening hours in the Metro East region of Illinois – covering DraftKings’ sportsbook at Casino Queen in the Greater St. Louis area – players will once again be able to register online.
The state’s sports betting market went live on 9 March, days before Covid-19 shut down sporting events around the world.
Per the Sports Wagering Act signed into law by Pritzker in July 2019, licensees must have players register in-person for the first 18 months of operation.
• Rivers Casino outside of Chicago was one of the forces behind the in-person requirement in Illinois law, but will still try to take advantage of remote registration.
• PointsBet was hoping physical sportsbooks near Chicago would help its early push, but that advantage could have gone up in smoke if the order stays in place for any amount of time.
• FanDuel has plans to launch its online sportsbook in Illinois, but the timeline for that wasn’t clear. This may quicken the company’s pace.
• Hollywood Casino sportsbooks have launched, but an online version branded for Barstool Sports isn’t expected until Q1 of 2021.
…Adding… From Jordan Abudayyeh…
As the state imposes stricter mitigations to combat the spread of COVID-19, the administration has reinstituted online sports betting through the Governor’s emergency powers. Increased mitigation measures are impacting the capacity limits and hours of operation at casinos in regions seeing higher rates of the virus and online sports betting allows for an even playing field across the industry.
The Republican Legislative Delegation to Illinois’ Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform held a Zoom video press conference on Monday morning demanding that Ethics Commission chairs take steps to resume meetings immediately. The four Republican lawmakers serve as commission members.
State Representative Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis) led off by recounting the contents of a letter he and his colleagues submitted to the co-chairs of the Ethics Commission on July 23.
“We’re now one month and one day removed from the day we sent a letter to the co-chairs of the commission asking for meetings to resume,” Windhorst said. “There is an urgent need to get these meetings back on track so we can generate a report that leads to a real cleaning up of our laws. Our state is beyond needing so-called “ethics reforms”. We need to pass a sweeping package of effective corruption reforms as soon as possible.”
State Senator Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) says Governor Pritzker signed legislation allowing certain Illinois boards, commissions and committees to meet electronically.
“On June 12, the Governor signed into law Public Act 101-0640, which amended the Open Meetings Act to allow meetings to be held by audio or visual conference without the physical presence of a quorum of members.
“Those potential legal barriers preventing us from meeting were removed by the Governor way back in June,” said Sen. McConchie. “There is no reason why we continue to delay the people’s work on this issue, especially during a time when corruption and unethical behavior looms over Springfield.”
State Senator John Curran (R-Downers Grove) says a culture of corruption holds back progress on passing significant reforms, and questioned how other committees and commissions are able to meet safely while the Ethics Commission remains inactive.
“JCAR has been holding in-person committee hearings safely during the pandemic and other committees are meeting virtually,” said State Senator John Curran. “Meanwhile, anyone watching or reading the news understands that Illinois state government is in the middle of a continuing ethical crisis. There is no reason for the ethics commission to be shut down right now, except to let corruption continue unabated.”
State Representative Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) says the need to reform Illinois’ laws to stamp out corruption is needed now more than ever.
“From a legislative standpoint, nothing is more important right now than ethics reform,” said Rep. Wehrli. “Commissions and committees are conducting their business safely, yet the Joint Commission on Ethics & Lobbying Reform remains dormant. There’s no excuse for it. How many more indictments have to hit high-level elected officials in this state before Speaker Madigan and his leadership team finally take ethics reform seriously? I guess the answer is - at least one more. Maybe then Democrat leadership will step out of the shadow cast by Speaker Madigan and finally do the right thing for Illinois. It is time to resume our work, create our report, and most importantly, pass meaningful reforms to end corruption.”
* Chaser…
Following a press conference by several Republican legislators regarding the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform, Co-Chairs of the Joint Commission, Senator Elgie R. Sims, Jr. and state Representative Greg Harris and commission members Senator Cristina Castro and state Representative Kelly Burke released the following statement:
“The Commission will meet to submit the final report to the General Assembly in the coming weeks.
“It’s unfortunate that our Republican colleagues have chosen to politicize this issue.
“While our state is still hurting from the effects of the pandemic and cases continue to rise, we’re all trying to help our constituents the best we can, now is not the time to work against each other.
“We remain dedicated to finding meaningful ethics reform that restores the people’s trust in government and look forward to continuing the discussion in the coming weeks.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker plans today to lay out a sprawling framework for a renewable energy package he’d like to see the state legislature take up in November, including new ethics laws in response to Commonwealth Edison’s bribery-tainted lobbying practices.
The “point person on utility matters” for Pritzker? Christian Mitchell: Mike Madigan’s former executive director at the Democratic Party of Illinois, former Madigan loyalist in the State House and former campaign staffer for Lisa Madigan.
Here’s what Mitchell said when asked whether it was a problem that Madigan remained Speaker of the House during this new legislative push (you know, because he’s under federal investigation for bribery in connection with the issue)…
The governor’s top aide stopped short of saying the administration would make a formal request that Madigan recuse himself from deliberations, considering the numerous Madigan references in the federal filing outlining ComEd’s bribery scheme.
“The speaker’s not been involved in any working groups or conversations,” Mitchell said, when asked about the speaker recusing himself. “I think that’s a question for him.”
Recuse himself? Madigan is the Speaker of the House. He controls every detail of how every bill advances. He doesn’t need to be in the room. All the staff in the room works for Madigan.
How can Pritzker get away with this without demanding Mike Madigan resign as Speaker of the House immediately?
Also, how can Mitchell be involved in any of this? He’s not only conflicted by his strong ties to Madigan, he’s also conflicted by his past campaign contributions from ComEd.
And while we’re talking about conflicts of interest, let’s take a look at this bit from the WBEZ report:
The governor is seeking to have Illinois running on 100% clean energy by 2050 and is calling for new steps to boost solar and wind project developments in the state, plus encourage use of electric vehicles. By 2030, the governor hopes to have 750,000 more electricity-powered vehicles on Illinois roads.
Wouldn’t you know it: one of the governor’s closest advisors, Dave Lundy, represents a number of “clean energy” clients and played a leading role in opposing the Future Energy Jobs Act back in 2016.
To review our key questions:
1. Does Pritzker acknowledge that Madigan must resign as speaker before considering this proposal?
2. Will Pritzker ask Christian Mitchell to step away from this portfolio given his conflicts of interest?
3. Does Pritzker acknowledge he is conflicted in this debate by his senior political advisor Dave Lundy?
1) Mitchell’s ComEd contributions totaled $7,750 over 4+ years. He raised $2.3 million over that same time period. So, ComEd accounted for a whopping 0.3 percent of his total.
Interestingly enough, the Illinois Republican Party reported raising $41,600 from ComEd in that same time period.
2) It’s difficult to comprehend what the purpose of this press release is beyond just repeating the word “Madigan” over and over like it’s some sort of talisman. For example, Mitchell was installed at DPI as a check on Madigan. And AG Lisa Madigan was a very well-known ComEd nemesis.
3) Lundy has also been a ComEd nemesis for years. That company’s lobbyists hate him, as do many of the other folks who pushed the ComEd-backed Future Energy Jobs Act. But I don’t doubt that Lundy loves the idea of being known as the governor’s “senior political advisor.” Congrats, ILGOP, you just put money in Lundy’s pocket while enabling his enemies at ComEd. Swell job.
4) The basic gist that I’m getting out of this release, other than the Madigan stuff, is that the governor’s proposal needs to be put on hold until Madigan is gone. The only entity that truly benefits from such a result would be… ComEd. I mean, it’s not like Madigan can jump in and help his old pals at ComEd right now without adding to his already substantial legal problems. The opposition currently has ComEd right where it wants the utility. If you really want to zap that company, then now is the time to strike while Madigan is sidelined and ComEd is at its weakest point in decades.
So, what in the heck is the ILGOP up to?
*** UPDATE *** ILGOP response…
Your questions should be directed to Governor Pritzker. These are his conflicts of interest to address. As you may know, it’s the Republicans who called for a special session to deal with a range of ethics issues; it’s the Republicans who called for Madigan to resign immediately. And it’s JB Pritzker who has stood by Madigan’s side and protected his corrupt system. If you believe a bill will become a law in the State of Illinois without any control by Speaker Madigan - who employs all the staff writing and negotiating the bill - you are living in a fantasy land far away from Springfield. For Christian Mitchell to suggest otherwise is extraordinary.
I dunno. If I was a hair’s breadth away from an indictment over ComEd, I don’t think I’d go anywhere near that bill.
* According to the US Census Bureau, Illinois ranked 7th in the nation for self-responses to the decennial count as of August 20th. Minnesota was first at 73.3 percent, Wisconsin was second at 70.5 percent and Illinois’ self-response rate was 69.1 percent. As you’ll see in a bit, though, the actual enumeration for Illinois is significantly higher.
The Census response rate across Southern Illinois is abysmal, putting at risk millions of federal dollars for infrastructure improvements, education and social service programs. The low response rate could also dilute the region’s political representation in Congress and the state legislature as maps are redrawn following every decennial census count based on population.
As of Monday, only about 46% of Carbondale households had responded to the 2020 Census survey. The city estimates it loses about $1,600 for every person, per year that fails to respond — or $16,000 over a decade.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Carbondale Planning Director Chris Wallace, who also heads the Complete Count Committee. The census count concludes Sept. 30.
Carbondale isn’t the only community struggling on this front. Most Southern Illinois counties have a response rate significantly below that of the overall Illinois response rate of just shy of 69%. In Jackson County on the whole, the response rate to date is 56%. Three counties — Alexander, Pope and Hardin — have response rates under 50%. Hardin County’s is the lowest, with more than two-thirds of households not responding.
You can look up state and county self-response rates by clicking here.
The state’s 2010 census [self] response rate was 70.5 percent, giving organizers hope of passing that mark by the Sept. 30 deadline — a date recently moved forward one month by the Trump administration.
About one-third of Peoria households still have not responded to the federal census.
And with census takers ending their work on Sept. 30, a month earlier than previously planned, it’s getting down to crunch time — resulting in local officials trying to find new ways to reach residents and get them to respond to the once-a-decade national survey.
One plan involves recruiting volunteers to go out into neighborhoods themselves, supplementing existing door-to-door census takers, to boost the number of responses.
Peoria Citizens Committee for Economic Opportunity, the local agency that’s serving as an outreach partner, is looking for such volunteers to go out for a few hours, likely on Saturday, Sept. 12, to do so.
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin has issued an urgent call for census outreach volunteers to reach hard-to-count neighborhoods and boost participation in the once-in-a-decade population survey. […]
Illinois’ response rate — 69% — currently ranks No. 7 in the country, according to the federal bureau. Nearly 72% of Aurora households have responded. […]
Volunteers will fan out to 25 neighborhoods to bring reminders in both English and Spanish, starting Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon. Another round of outreach will begin 2 p.m. Sept. 25. Caputo will join volunteers on that date.
“We are moving beyond the online reminders and the postcards reminders to making the personal connection needed to bring home the point that we need a complete count,” Irvin said.
Recent door-to-door efforts to collect Census information have significantly improved West Virginia’s response to the 10-year count.
While the “self-response” rate to the Census in West Virginia was just more than 55%, one of the lowest rates in the nation, the success of the recent door-to-door campaign has boosted the response rate to 84.5 percent. […]
The U.S. Census Household Response ranking has Idaho number one followed by West Virginia, Washington, Connecticut and Illinois the top five. A report shows 29.1% of West Virginia’s count has come in the follow-up personal contact category. [Emphasis added.]
In Ogle County, a rural area in northwestern Illinois, the clerk’s office has already received 4,000 applications for mail-in votes by late August, compared to roughly 750 two years ago, said County Clerk Laura Cook. The county hired extra staff to do data entry and process the ballot applications, she said.
Rodney Davis has shifted on Trump since 2016. He said shortly before that election that he could not vote for Trump after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump talked of grabbing women. But he’s now an honorary co-chair of Trump’s Illinois campaign. […]
“I certainly hope the president is re-elected,” Davis said. “I think outside of this pandemic, we would have had historic economic growth. We would have continued (the) sustained, lowest unemployment levels in my lifetime. I believe that working with the president, we’ve enacted good policies.”
In a year of interesting political twists, here’s another one: U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, is an honorary co-chair of President Donald Trump’s campaign, but won’t say if he’ll vote to re-elect the president.
“I clearly chair the president’s campaign, but I’ve learned a valuable lesson from 2016,” Davis said on a recent edition of “The 21st,” an Illinois Public Media show hosted by Brian Mackey. “Unless you tell me who you’re going to vote for up and down the ballot, I’m going to exercise the same right you and every other American has to cast my vote in the privacy of the ballot box.” […]
His position about not revealing his coming vote for president hadn’t changed as of Friday, spokesman Aaron DeGroot said.
Rep. Rodney Davis, an honorary co-chair of the Trump campaign, told Playbook through a spokesman Sunday that he “supports the president’s re-election.”
Already political underdogs in a decidedly blue state, holding no statewide offices and serving as the minority party in a veto-proof Democratic legislature, the GOP had fears of seeing its ranks further diminished in legislative and congressional offices in November due to the controversial Trump.
But Republicans in the state have gained a modicum of momentum in recent weeks when House Speaker Michael Madigan, who also is the state Democratic Party chairman, was implicated in an alleged federal bribery scandal involving ComEd and Democratic infighting began over Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s handling of looting and violent protests in Chicago amid racial strife.
“The Republican Party is really getting charged up over all the things going on in Illinois, not just the Chicago issues but the political issues, Springfield issues,” [Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar] said. “That’s getting people hyped up.” […]
Now, Republicans are scrambling to keep any momentum and deliver messaging particularly aimed at voters in the suburban collar counties that were once reliably Republican but have shifted ever increasingly toward Democrats.
Former Gov. Jim Edgar joins a growing list of Republican leaders who are voting for Democrat Joe Biden over President Donald Trump.
“I think a president should be someone we can point to our children and say: ‘That’s someone we can respect,’” Edgar said when asked by Playbook who he was voting for in November. “I don’t agree with some of his policies, either. But the real issue is character. The president of the United States isn’t going to be perfect. But you don’t want to be embarrassed.”
Four years ago, Edgar would say only that he wasn’t voting for Trump. He wouldn’t say if he backed Hillary Clinton. This time, he’s taking a stand, following in the steps of former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who endorsed Biden last week at the Democratic National Convention.
“I know a lot of people say, ‘but look at the economy.’ Well, the economy wasn’t terrible before,” said Edgar, also ticking off Trump’s handling of Covid-19 and international relations as problematic. “I don’t trust Putin. And I don’t understand why [Trump’s relationship with the Russian president] doesn’t rattle Republicans more.”
The late Jim Thompson was just 40 years old when he was first elected governor of Illinois in 1976. Rod Blagojevich was called a youthful politician, but he was 45 on the day he was elected governor. Jim Edgar was 44 in November 1990.
After serving 14 years as governor, longer than anyone else in Illinois history, Thompson was still just 54 years old the day he left office.
Thompson could’ve coasted on his reputation and lived a charmed life as a law firm rainmaker. Instead, he became chairman of Winston & Strawn and transformed it into the international legal powerhouse it is today.
Along the way, he served on the 9/11 Commission, chaired the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, did a little lobbying and argued numerous cases before the Illinois Supreme Court.
But his time as governor is what he’ll justifiably be most remembered for. He truly dominated Illinois, and the man was one of the best natural-born campaigners I’ve ever seen.
Thompson had the innate ability to wrap a blistering attack in a humorous coating. For instance, his 1982 opponent Adlai Stevenson III once complained that Thompson was treating him like “some kind of wimp.”
“I have never called Adlai Stevenson a wimp,” Thompson said to knowing laughter. “I don’t think he’s a wimp, whatever wimp means. Sun-Times called him a wimp, but I didn’t call him a wimp.”
Thompson just barely won that race, though the state was in the depths of the “Reagan recession.” Stevenson came back four years later, but Thompson had already adopted most of Stevenson’s best ideas from 1982 and Stevenson was obliterated after followers of Lyndon LaRouche created havoc by winning two statewide Democratic primaries. Like Barack Obama after him, Thompson’s opponents seemed to fall away on their own, but it was never that easy.
Thompson was a strong partisan on the campaign trail and with his innumerable patronage hires. He once said if two people were equally qualified to be a janitor, then he’d naturally prefer that a Republican was hired.
But he was a bipartisan dealmaker par excellence when it came to the General Assembly. Thompson and House Speaker Michael Madigan cooked up countless deals, with the new ballpark for the White Sox being the best known. When Senate President Phil Rock was having trouble with Madigan, Thompson would straighten things out.
When Senate Minority Leader Pate Philip wouldn’t take his calls, he physically barreled past Philip’s chief of staff and marched into the leader’s office and cleared the air.
The man knew how to handle people, and he knew how to pass a bill. And when he decided he wanted to be endorsed by both the AFL-CIO and the Illinois Chamber in his final reelection bid, he made it happen.
Gov. Richard Ogilvie helped move Illinois into modern times with a state income tax, but Thompson accelerated the process with his massive state building and construction programs. He traveled the world to attract businesses and was instrumental in opening a new automobile assembly plant in McLean County. He fathered the state’s nuclear energy program, which is still a cornerstone of our economy.
Along the way, he mentored countless people and helped even more with their careers. After convicting former Gov. Otto Kerner as U.S. attorney, Thompson argued strenuously for his early prison release on health grounds. He was, in a word, a mensch.
Thompson was a lover of art, a lover of knowledge and a lover of people.
All that being said, some of Thompson’s actions created a burdensome legacy for Illinois. Back in the 1970s, state retirees who’d worked for decades were stuck with tiny pensions that couldn’t possibly keep up with rampant inflation. Thompson eventually pushed through a compounded annual cost of living pension increase that has since driven the state’s finances into a deep pit because the benefit increases were never properly funded.
And during his years in office, the state budget did not nearly keep pace with the need for more money for K-12 schools, a habit that has continued to this day and has caused huge property tax hikes.
I do not think he knew how much the pension change would cost, and just about every politician loves pandering to the elderly. And Illinois still had fairly reasonable property taxes at the time.
Whatever. I could never hold a grudge against that man. I respected him, warts and all. Rest in peace, Big Jim.
There was an error in the original version of this column. Retirement income was exempted from the state income tax before Thompson came to office. I mistakenly thought he was responsible. Heck, we even talked about it a few years ago for a column. Anyway, sorry about that.
Federal prosecutors filed long-anticipated criminal charges Friday against former Cook County Commissioner Jeffrey Tobolski, accusing him of a conspiracy to commit extortion.
The feds also accused Tobolski of filing a false income tax return. The charges against Tobolski appeared in a document known as an information, which typically signals a defendant intends to plead guilty.
Tobolski resigned in March from his posts on the Cook County Board and in McCook, where he’d been mayor, months after federal agents searched his offices at McCook’s Village Hall. Agents also seized $55,205 in cash from Tobolski’s home at that time, including $51,611 taken “from within a safe,” according to records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
According to the bare-bones charges, Tobolski allegedly conspired with an unnamed McCook official to extort a victim identified only as Individual A. He also allegedly filed a falsified income tax return for 2018, according the the paperwork.
Defendants charged by criminal information typically intend to plead guilty.
To lessen my troubles
I stopped hanging out with vultures
And empty saviors like you
Oh I wish I had a nickel for every miracle
That you easily tricked me into
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration is replacing two top Illinois Department of Public Health officials in charge of the state’s efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 through nursing homes, WBEZ has learned.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is announcing a top to bottom, independent review of its Bureau of Long-Term Care in the Office of Health Care Regulation, in response to a delay in the investigation of abuse and neglect complaints during the COVID-19 pandemic. Manatt Health Strategies, LLC, has been hired to conduct a top to bottom review of the division, with a focus on recommending best practices to ensure proper licensure and oversight activities by the Bureau of Long-Term Care. IDPH has also hired a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, A. Courtney Cox, to take a closer look at specific investigations IDPH conducted into complaints made concerning long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This review will inform IDPH’s efforts to improve existing procedures.
The independent reviews are being launched in response to IDPH’s recent discovery that the Bureau of Long-Term Care was not properly processing and investigating complaints of abuse and neglect at long-term care facilities from approximately March 15 to June 30, 2020. IDPH took immediate action to ensure all of the complaints received during this time period have been investigated. IDPH also took appropriate personnel action. […]
As soon as IDPH leadership identified that some abuse and neglect complaints had been improperly classified and not investigated in a timely manner, surveyors were directed to investigate all complaints of abuse and neglect that had not yet been investigated. Investigations for all of complaints of abuse and neglect that were received during that time period have now been completed. These investigations include an on-site visit, interviews with necessary individuals, review of relevant facility documents, and, where appropriate, confirmation that law enforcement had also been notified at the time of the incident alleged in the complaint.
* Jim Prescott has been speaking for Gov. Jim Thompson’s family this week, so I’ve been in contact with him almost every day. This is from an email he sent me today…
I’ve said this before, and it’s not really a new concept, but there are three parts to being governor: politics, process and policy. He was the best at all three. Other governors may have been better at one of the three, but nobody was as good across the board as JRT. Actually, he was probably better in all three than anybody.
Thompson was equally at ease working with Dr. Leon Lederman, Nobel Prize winner in physics and director of Fermilab. In response to Illinois losing its bid for the Superconductor Super Collider, Thompson and Lederman brought together Illinois’ leading research universities, national laboratories and corporate executives and created a state-funded program to compete for federal grants for science and technology projects.
During the controversy surrounding the proposed closure of the Native American burial ground at Dickson Mounds Museum, Thompson met with Native American activists. He also dropped by beauty shops in Lewistown to hear what local women thought.
Thompson listened to disparate views and made well-informed decisions. He relied on staff to prepare comprehensive bill reviews and position papers before acting on bills passed by the legislature and making other decisions. He factored in the policy issues, budgetary impacts, political implications and kept track of who were proponents and opponents.
Thompson’s environmental record earned him respect from the environmental community. He expanded funding for open space and included funding for natural areas and the environment in his large Build Illinois infrastructure program. He agreed to listen to presentations by the Illinois Environmental Council about major policy issues; this memorable meeting lasted five hours. His administration was responsible for significant environmental legislation, including the Solid Waste Management Act and Groundwater Protection Act.
Thompson was an advocate for the arts and cultural organizations. He created the Historic Preservation Agency. Thompson had a personal interest in art and antiques and hosted antique shows on the grounds of the governor’s mansion. When the Thompson Center was built in the Chicago Loop, an Illinois Art Gallery and Illinois Artisans Shop graced the second floor, thanks to Thompson. He created the Illinois Artisans Program within the Illinois State Museum to raise the visibility of the state’s talented artisans. He led many trade missions, and the gifts he gave to foreign leaders were often handcrafted items made by Illinois artisans. He requested the Illinois State Museum Society operate a second artisans shop in the Executive Mansion. A few weeks prior to leaving office, Thompson cut the ribbon opening the Southern Illinois Art and Artisans Center at Rend Lake. The center, which sadly is now closed, has a colorful history connected to wrangling votes for the White Sox Stadium.
During his four terms as Illinois Governor, Jim Thompson acquired a deserved reputation as a builder. His legacy includes scores of crucial roads, bridges and buildings, in every part of the state, that were constructed or restored under his leadership.
But nothing Jim Thompson built, no legislation he signed into law, has had greater impact on the quality of life for millions of Illinoisans than the collective bargaining legislation he signed into law in the 1980s.
Prior to collective bargaining, public school teachers and support staff professionals were routinely treated as second-class citizens by local school boards. The boards would often dictate the terms of the employee contracts, which established not only compensation but also the teaching and learning conditions in the schools, including class size. […]
In the seven years before collective bargaining, there were, on average, 25 teacher strikes each year. This constant turmoil was bad for the teaching profession, bad for the students and bad for the communities served by public schools.
Governor Thompson realized this and told the Illinois Education Association that, if we could convince the General Assembly to pass a collective bargaining bill, he would sign it.
* He was also a proud father…
* Related…
* Here’s the plunger from which Jim Thompson drank at a WIU football game. Allegedly.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her City Council allies stalled an effort led by political rivals on Friday to declare a state of emergency in Chicago and ask the governor to send the National Guard into the city.
A handful of aldermen, including Raymond Lopez, Anthony Beale and Anthony Napolitano, invoked a rarely used state law on Wednesday to force the City Council into a special meeting. Only 26 members were needed to hold a meeting, but nearly the entire council roster was present for the virtual meeting.
Moments into it, and after a brief debate, Lightfoot allies maneuvered the National Guard proposal into a committee — delaying the matter for possible future consideration.
Public safety chairman Ald. Chris Taliaferro, 29th, accused the aldermen who pushed the measure of being anti-democratic for circumventing the normal system where proposals are introduced and debated in committee before heading to the full City Council. Taliaferro then called for a vote to send the matter to committee
Just another example of grandstanders rarely doing the work required to actually accomplish their stated goals.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 20 counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.
Twenty counties are currently reported at a warning level – Bureau, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Franklin, Greene, Grundy, Hancock, Henderson, Jefferson, Logan, Madison, Monroe, Moultrie, Randolph, St. Clair, Union, Whiteside, Will, and Williamson.
These counties saw cases or outbreaks associated with weddings, businesses, neighborhood gatherings, parties, long-term care facilities and other congregate settings, travel to neighboring states, bars, sports camps, and spread among members of the same household who are not isolating at home. Cases connected to schools are also beginning to be reported.
Public health officials are observing people not social distancing or using face coverings. Additionally, there are reports of individuals who are ill attributing their symptoms to allergies or other illnesses, or not being forthcoming about their symptoms or close contacts.
Several counties are taking swift action and implementing mitigation measures to help slow spread of the virus, including working to increase testing in their communities and launching mask campaigns such as “Masks on Faces Keeps Places Open.”
IDPH uses numerous indicators when determining if a county is experiencing stable COVID-19 activity, or if there are warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk in the county.
• New cases per 100,000 people. If there are more than 50 new cases per 100,000 people in the county, this triggers a warning.
• Number of deaths. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly number of deaths increases more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly test positivity. This metric indicates a warning when the 7-day test positivity rate rises above 8%.
• ICU availability. If there are fewer than 20% of intensive care units available in the region, this triggers a warning.
• Weekly emergency department visits. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly percent of COVID-19-like-illness emergency department visits increase by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly hospital admissions. A warning is triggered when the weekly number of hospital admissions for COVID-19-like-illness increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Tests perform. This metric is used to provide context and indicate if more testing is needed in the county.
• Clusters. This metric looks at the percent of COVID-19 cases associated with clusters or outbreaks and is used to understand large increase in cases.
These metrics are intended to be used for local level awareness to help local leaders, businesses, local health departments, and the public make informed decisions about personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do. The metrics are updated weekly, from the Sunday-Saturday of the prior week.
A map and information of each county’s status can be found on the IDPH website at https://www.dph.illinois.gov/countymetrics.
Clay County, of course, has been where Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) and Tom DeVore have filed several COVID-related lawsuits, which have now been moved to Sangamon County (which is not on the warning list).
Apparently, when you don’t play ball with the governor’s office, other people suffer. In this ballgame of politics, the victims are the minority-owned small businesses in Illinois.
The Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce is a 23-year-old institution and one of the largest and most active voices for African American businesses in Illinois. Ninety percent of our members are small businesses, and as the head of this organization it’s my job to promote and advance their interests.
With an extensive business background and as an expert on small businesses, I was asked by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office to be a key panelist with Groupon during an Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity webinar to celebrate August as National Black Business Month.
The event was Thursday. Unexpectedly, Wednesday morning I was notified by the governor’s office that I was no longer on the panel.
Why? The ILBCC dared to express a concern in opposition to the administration. On Monday, I was mentioned in the media speaking out against the governor’s proposed graduated-rate income tax amendment, which is to appear on the November ballot.
“They told me it was because I disagreed on the ‘fair tax,’ ” Ivory said, using Pritzker’s preferred terminology. “The panel had nothing to do with the fair tax. It had to do with National Black Business Month. I’ve never seen something as petty, in my opinion, as that. I think we can agree to disagree. At any point in time, the governor could have said, ‘I want you to understand what we’re trying to accomplish here.’ ”
* I checked in with Jordan Abudayyeh…
This situation was the result of a mistake. The Governor has never shied away from talking with people who oppose initiatives he is pursuing and hearing their views.
She did not say what that “mistake” was, however.
* Marine Corps veteran Ivory’s Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1997. It’s a legit group. And it has decidedly Republican leanings. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but Ivory was all-in for Bruce Rauner…
Speaking at the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce’s (ILBCC) annual gathering on Aug. 8, Gov. Bruce Rauner said he was honored to be the recipient of the 2018 Alfred A. Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received earlier this summer.
“There is no better governor as far as we are concerned,” ILBCC President and CEO Larry Ivory said in introducing Rauner.
Last fiscal year, Walker’s Decatur branch received a $220,000 incubator grant from DCEO. But the statewide BCCI’s Facebook page and website are both currently inactive.
* Anyway, that’s a deep dive into the weeds to say I doubt the governor’s office would’ve intentionally invited Ivory. But I doubt a soul would’ve noticed had Ivory spoken out about the “Fair Tax” during an obscure webinar. Now, he’s getting a bunch of press.
The original invite might’ve been a mistake, but the real mistake was disinviting Ivory. Next time, just bite the darned bullet.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,208 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 24 additional confirmed deaths.
- Cook County: 1 male 30s, 2 males 40s, 2 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s,1 female 80s
- DuPage County: 1 male 50s
- Iroquois County: 1 male 80s
- Knox County: 1 female 80s
- Lake County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s
- LaSalle County: 1 female 70s
- Macon County: 1 female 80s
- Madison County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 90s
- Mason County: 1 male 50s
- Perry County: 1 male 90s
- Rock Island County: 1 female 80s
- Sangamon County: 1 female 90s
- Will County: 1 male 60s
- Williamson County: 1 male 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 215,929 cases, including 7,857 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 51,736 specimens for a total of 3,592,919. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 14 – August 20 is 4.3%. As of last night, 1,526 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 351 patients were in the ICU and 121 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration is proposing a series of “accountability” measures for utility companies as part of an energy policy agenda unveiled Friday, a month after federal prosecutors said the state’s largest utility, Commonwealth Edison, engaged in a “yearslong bribery scheme” while seeking political favors in Springfield.
Improving transparency and ethics is the first of eight principles in Pritzker’s agenda, which also includes a number of clean energy proposals. […]
The agenda also calls for an additional disclosure requirement for elected and appointed officials if they have relatives who work for regulated utilities. […]
In a statement issued Friday morning, ComEd spokeswoman Shannon Breymaier said company officials are reviewing Pritzker’s energy proposals. She also said that past infrastructure investments “have been fully vetted in a transparent process” and have benefited customers.
“ComEd has already moved aggressively to implement comprehensive ethics reforms to ensure that the unacceptable conduct outlined in the agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office never happens again,” Breymaier said in a statement. “However, we recognize the importance and challenge of rebuilding the trust of the public, regulators and elected officials, and look forward to working with these stakeholders to achieve the state’s ambitious clean energy goals.”
Declaring that utilities “can no longer write the state’s energy policies behind closed doors,” Pritzker’s office issued a set of proposals Friday that include getting rid of the state’s formula rate system, banning utilities from making charitable contributions and requiring elected officials to report any relatives who work for a regulated utility company in their ethics filings.
The proposal (click here) doesn’t outright ban charitable contributions. It bans utilities from using ratepayer money for contributions (which often go to charities favored by elected officials). That money would have to come from profits if Pritzker has his way.
...Adding… I’ll put the full press release on the live coverage post, but here are his 8 principles…
1. Strengthen Utility Company Transparency and Ethics Requirements
2. Expand Consumer Affordability Protections
3. Make Illinois a Renewable Energy Leader and Phase Out Dirty Power
4. Implement a Market-Based Solution That Supports Clean Power and Clean Air
5. Electrify and Decarbonize Illinois’ Transportation Sector
6. Support Communities Transitioning to Clean Energy
7. Advance Equity in the Growing Clean Energy Economy
8. Enhance Energy Efficiency in Illinois
Tops on the governor’s wish list is an immediate repeal of so-called formula rates, which ComEd won in 2011 through a bill that former Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed. His veto later was overridden by the General Assembly.
That rate structure enabled ComEd to automatically get increases to cover any operating losses, which essentially guaranteed the company a profit every year. The law limited the role of the Illinois Commerce Commission in setting rates.
The rate structure is due to expire in 2022, but the company has actively pushed for an extension. […]
Pritzker’s demands also include the elimination of deposits and late fees for low-income residential ratepayers and an end to fees assessed for the online payment of bills.
Additionally, the governor is seeking beefed-up disclosure of shut-offs and reconnections to state utility regulators, which were not consistently reported before Pritzker’s COVID-19 moratorium on shutoffs.
Pritzker also is “highly skeptical” of Exelon’s proposal, mirrored in the environmentalist-supported Clean Energy Jobs Act, to have the state take over from a federally chartered regional power administrator the task of setting prices reflected in electric bills paid to power plants to promise to deliver during high-demand periods, Mitchell says. The state would be directed to have consumers pay more to carbon-free power sources like Exelon’s nuclear plants than coal- and natural gas-fired plants emitting heat-trapping gases.
“The first step in that (policy) is to annually pay each of Exelon’s nuclear plants an amount equal to three times the current taxpayer subsidy that two Exelon plants already receive without any strings attached and without Exelon showing us their math as to why this is necessary,” according to a document laying out the governor’s principles. […]
Instead, the governor supports setting a price on carbon emissions from power plants and then letting the market determine which plants survive or not. Such a method would probably mean more revenue for Exelon’s financially ailing nukes. But not nearly as much.
Any extra support for Exelon plants—the company has warned that without ratepayer help it will have to close three of its four nuke stations not currently subsidized—would require the company to open its books to the state on a plant-by-plant basis. Exelon wasn’t required to do that the last time it asked for subsidies.
A carbon fee would be controversial, since it would likely mean higher costs for many consumers. But it’s not without precedent, and there are advocates for that approach from both the left and right sides of the political spectrum. A multi-state carbon market has been in place in the Northeast for 15 years. Mitchell says Pritzker is open to a regional market in the Midwest as well if other states are interested.
Pritzker’s market-based approach has been hotly opposed by Exelon/ComEd and the enviros. The environmentalists are “highly skeptical that a carbon market can meet equity concerns.”
The problem with Pritzker’s approach, as I see it, is he wants to toss out existing plans and doesn’t really have a concrete alternative, just a concept…
Some advocates have concerns that a market-based approach to carbon pricing will result in more-polluting plants being able to operate longer because they will be able to pay their way out, and will allow them to continue polluting communities that are already disproportionately experiencing the impacts of climate change.
However, we know that there are ways to structure a carbon pricing program to make sure that this does not happen, and we are committed to achieving that principle in any program that we design and implement. Coal-fired power plants that do not capture carbon are on their way out in Illinois and nationally. It is our goal to design a program that accelerates closures, while re- directing revenue to other clean energy pursuits.
They’ve essentially punted the issue to the working groups. That’s probably where it belongs, though.
“We applaud Gov. Pritzker for standing up for Illinois against corruption with this thoughtful, serious energy plan,” said Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch.
“By ruling out another Exelon bailout, the governor has saved ratepayers in Illinois, including residential customers and small businesses, an estimated $414 million.”
“A well-crafted plan made up of diverse and reliable sources of energy that considers both environmental, and ratepayer needs is critical to Illinois’ economic future. The Chamber has long supported these goals and worked with Illinois Senate President Pro Tempore Bill Cunningham to propose a balanced approach to these issues, that prioritizes the needs of energy consumers and provides thousands of jobs for Illinois workers.
“We appreciate the Governor’s Office’s thorough review of Illinois energy policies and are energized to see some of these initiatives included in their initial plan. We look forward to working with him, Sen. Cunningham and other legislators, staff and stakeholders to continue to develop balanced energy polices for Illinois.”
[Tara Frost] works for the state at Northern Illinois University. She says in May she got a notice from NIU telling her an IDES employee had called to check on her unemployment claim, but Frost never stopped working. […]
“My payroll department assured me that they let them know and that would be the end of it, but then two weeks later I got money deposited directly into my account from unemployment,” Frost said.
It was about $2,000. That is when she began calling IDES to report the fraud and to try to give the money back.
“Then she stated to me that, ‘Unemployment is a mess right now. We really don’t know what to do. Call back towards the end of the year, and pay it back then,’” Frost said.
Frost said she set aside the money in savings, but then there was another twist. Her pay stub showed the state was garnishing her wages for the money she owed and charging her a $100 administrative fee to boot.
Southern Illinois University officials on Thursday began publicly reporting a running total of COVID-19 cases on campus after facing backlash for a previously announced decision not to do so.
SIU’s COVID-19 dashboard will report total cases as it relates to on-campus students, off-campus students and faculty/staff. Currently, the university is reporting three total cases involving students who are living off campus.
Chancellor Austin Lane notes disclosure of an affiliation with the university is optional, but encourages individuals to provide that information if they are asked by the health department. Jackson County Health Department Administrator Bart Hagston said that the vast majority of people who test positive for COVID-19 fully cooperate in reporting their affiliated schools and employers.
SIU plans to report total active COVID-19 cases weekly. The information will come from the health department. Ben Newman, SIU’s director of public safety and chief of police, said they currently do not have a number to share of how many university-affiliates are in quarantine after being exposed to the virus, but notes there are nuances with quarantine directives.
I’m guessing the weekly reporting idea is also going to come in for some criticism.
If Springfield is freed from the constitutional constraints of a flat tax rate, soon enough middle-class earners also will get hit with a rate increase.
Yes, because the General Assembly and the governor spent all that time and energy getting the graduated income tax amendment on the ballot and the governor is now spending at minimum $50 million so the state can… raise taxes on everyone?
The idea here is to make it possible to raise taxes on upper income earners.
Does that mean a tax hike on middle income earners will never happen? Of course it could. But it won’t be nearly as easy to do that as raising taxes again on the top 3 percent. This is why the opposition is so up in arms. Billionaires and multi-millionaires ain’t about to spend a fortune to prevent tax hikes on folks making $50,000 a year.
Also, make no mistake here, if the “Fair Tax” proposition fails, the flat tax the Tribune prefers is surely going to be increased on everyone, not just the top 3 percent.
I asked Pritzker’s press secretary, Jordan Abudayyeh, if the governor would appoint himself to the Senate.
“The answer is no,” Abudayyeh said.
Can we move along now, please? Sheesh. I mean, we had 16 years of columns about how, any day now, Speaker Madigan was gonna engineer a pathway to the governor’s office for his attorney general daughter. In the end, she quit the game because her father wouldn’t step aside.
JB Pritzker didn’t spend a zillion dollars to be elected governor to get himself a back bench seat in the Senate.
Within thirty days after a vacancy occurs, it shall be filled by appointment as provided by law. If the vacancy is in a Senatorial office with more than twenty-eight months remaining in the term, the appointed Senator shall serve until the next general election, at which time a Senator shall be elected to serve for the remainder of the term.
Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) is currently just a bit over 28 months from the end of his four-year term. So, if he quit today, a special election would be triggered for November.
State Sen. Terry Link announced Thursday that he’s stepping down as head of the Lake County Democratic Party effective Sept. 15. The move came after party members emailed him Wednesday saying if he didn’t resign immediately, they’d vote to push him out.
Link, who has been charged by the feds with tax evasion, is also expected to step down from his seat in the General Assembly sometime before Sept. 15.
That little window, in which he’d be out of the Senate but still running the Lake County party, would allow Link to name his successor. It’s a point that’s infuriating Lake County Dems who say Link has been promising he’d step down for weeks. […]
If Link resigns before Sept. 12, that would trigger a special election for the Nov. 3 ballot. Then each party would put a candidate forward.
If Link resigns his Senate seat after Sept. 11, the cut-off date for a 2020 election is missed and his successor is appointed and would serve out the remainder of Link’s term, through 2022. And Link could have a hand in the selection.
Committee members are calling the move an “egregious” abuse of power and are pushing for a special meeting to confirm new leadership. “Enough is enough,” said one committee member. “It’s time for him to move along with his life.”
He wouldn’t just have a “hand” in his replacement. As county party chair, he’d be able to make the replacement on his own.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
State Representative Bob Morgan and State Representative Sam Yingling, joined by the below co-signers, released the following statement:
“November’s election is so important and so consequential that we must put 100% of our energies into the campaigns of every Democratic candidate up and down the ballot.
We can’t afford any distractions or delays, which is why we are demanding that Terry Link step down immediately as Chair of Lake County Democrats.”
The below are co-signers to this statement:
Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10)
State Senator Julie Morrison (IL-29)
State Representative Mary Edly-Allen (IL-51) State Representative Jonathan Carroll (IL-57) State Representative Bob Morgan (IL-58) State Representative Dan Didech (IL-59) State Representative Joyce Mason (IL-61) State Representative Sam Yingling (IL-62)
Lake County Sheriff John Idelburg Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim
Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart (District 13)
Lake County Board Member Mary Ross-Cunningham (District 9) Lake County Board Member Paul Frank (District 11)
Lake County Board Member Julie Simpson (District 18)
Lake County Board Member Marah Altenberg (District 20)
