* After listening to Sen. Darren Bailey’s Labor Day message on Facebook, I reached out to the Pritzker campaign to see what else the candidate might have said in the past…
BAILEY SHARED AN INSENSITIVE LABOR DAY MEME FEATURING PRISONERS IN SHACKLES
2019: Bailey Shared A Meme With Prisoners In Shackles With Caption “Labor Day In Illinois … Property Tax … Income Tax … Gas Tax” Compared To “Labor Day In A Free State” With Folks On The Beach. “I couldn’t resist….. thank you Valinda for sharing! Too much truth here! Happy Labor Day! The future is before us!” [Facebook, Darren Bailey for Governor, 9/2/19]
BAILEY ATTACKED UNIONS, SAID HE DID NOT WANT TO TALK TO THE “UNION BOSSES”
October 2021: Bailey Said He Does Not Want To Talk To “Union Bosses” Or “Political Leaders” About The Pension System. “Part of his proposed solution is to converse with the people that matter to him — the public. He wants to hear what people have to say about the problems being faced. ‘I don’t want to talk to the union bosses, and I don’t want to talk to the political leaders,’ Bailey said. ‘I want to talk to the people and offer solutions and see what’s good with them and what’s not. See what ideas they have. We have to come up with a final fix for the pension problem.” [Pontiac Daily Leader, 10/12/21]
BAILEY REPEATEDLY QUESTIONED MINIMUM WAGE, VOTED AGAINST RAISING IT TO $15/HR IN IL
Bailey Questioned Minimum Wage Increase. “Bailey also questions Pritzker’s initiatives to increase the state minimum wage to $15/hour. While the Representative is a proponent of competitive wages and fair business policies, he wonders where the state will find the money for these increases. He is concerned that the lofty minimum wage increase could result in small local businesses having to close their doors.” [Olney Daily Mail, 1/18/19]
Bailey Voted Against Increasing Minimum Wage To $15 An Hour. [SB 1, 2019]
* 1.4 Million Workers Got A Raise From Minimum Wage Increase. “A $15 minimum wage would directly affect more than 1.4 million adult workers in Illinois. Of these individuals, 57 percent are women, 44 percent are African American workers and Latino and Latina workers, 89 percent are U.S. citizens, and 56 percent are workers age 30 or older.” [The Regional Impacts Of A $15 Minimum Wage In Illinois, Illinois Economic Policy Institute, 2/5/19]
Bailey: “Simply Put, Minimum Wage Needs To Be Set Federally. State Has No Reason Of Setting Minimum Wage. … We Need To Stick With That Federal Mandate Of Setting A Minimum Wage. [Bailey Event, 2/19/18 (VIDEO)]
March 2020: Bailey Was Opposed To Pritzker’s Minimum Wage Increases And Said That Illinois’s Businesses Could Not Afford Minimum Wage Increases. According to the Effingham Daily News, “The four candidates also agreed that the mass exodus of people the state is currently facing is because of high taxes and the minimum wage increase implemented by Pritzker. Bailey said in order to end the exodus, the state should look at modeling its government on a neighboring state.‘I see modeling our government maybe after Indiana would be a start where we spread the wealth. We spread business across the state. We have a two-year budget,’ Bailey said.‘Businesses are suffering because we simply cannot afford this minimum wage. I’m telling you, it’s happening as well in Chicago, so I see the day of reckoning coming.’” [Effingham Daily News, 3/15/20]
Bailey Urged Voters To Vote No On Increasing The Minimum Wage To $15. “We’ll be voting on that in November of 2020. We will be educating you on that. So you’ll understand that thoroughly and the importance of why you will need to vote. No, for that, we increase the minimum wage to $15. That’s a that’ll slowly rise, uh, to ’til the year 20, 25. Hopefully we can put a stop to that.” [Darren Bailey for Governor, Facebook, 2020 (VIDEO)]
It’s Labor Day weekend. Be safe out there. Have fun and enjoy family. And let’s celebrate freedom. Let’s celebrate the actual fact that we live in a free land and we get to choose what we do, where we work, how we work. And let’s make it a vow to ourselves to let’s keep more of the fruits of our work instead of letting government continually take so much.
In a move that may dispel some doubts about the viability of his candidacy, mayoral hopeful Paul Vallas has signed up an A-List of nationally-recognized consultants to work on his campaign.
Retained as senior strategist/media advisor is Joe Trippi, a political veteran who served as campaign manager for Howard Dean in 2004. He also worked on presidential campaigns for Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, Richard Gephardt, Jerry Brown and John Edwards and has advised numerous other ranking pols including ex-Los Angles Mayor Tom Bradley and Doug Jones, who, in 2017, became the first Democrat to be elected senator from Alabama in a quarter century. […]
In a phone interview, Trippi said Vallas “will have the resources” to wage a full TV ad campaign against incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot and other contenders. He also rejected the notion that Vallas, who has riled the Chicago Teachers Union and consulted for the Fraternal Order of Police, is too conservative to win in a city that has moved to the political left.
“I don’t see him in that way at all,” Trippi said. “He’s a political progressive who’s trying to find ways to get the city working again.”
Trippi hasn’t run a race in years. Lightfoot campaign’s response…
Lightfoot for Chicago campaign spokesperson Christina Freundlich released the following statement on so-called “political progressive” Paul Vallas:
“We can’t wait to meet ‘political progressive’ Paul Vallas. The only Paul Vallas Chicagoans know is the one who plays footsie with white supremacists, promotes racist and homophobic tweets, opposes police reform, closed neighborhood schools, and funds his campaign with high-dollar Republican donors. Who, exactly, is this so-called ‘political progressive’ Paul Vallas? We’d love to know – but the Paul Vallas who is currently running is nothing but a Republican with extremist views and a long track record of financial mismanagement.”
* Lopez has a goofy take, but I’ve been wondering lately if the attacks by Darren Bailey on the city and the Abbott bus stunt, etc. are strengthening Lightfoot’s political position…
The news of undocumented, non-refugees arriving by bus in Chicago overshadows an obvious yet amazing point: both @GregAbbott_TX & @chicagosmayor coordinated this delivery.
* GOP congressional candidate blames Highland Park mayor for parade shooting: “Rotering is the reason the shooting occurred,” Severino’s tweet reads. “She was negligent in ensuring that steps were made to confiscate the gun by court order after awareness of the red flag.” … Schneider campaign manager Matt Fried called Severino’s tweet disgusting and accused him of spreading misinformation. “If he had a shred of decency, he would apologize to Mayor Rotering and the families of the victims whose memories he has sullied,” Fried wrote, adding “the bottom line is this: Easy access to dangerous assault weapons and our nation’s failed mental health care systems are contributing to the proliferation of monsters like the one who attacked Highland Park on July 4.”
* DuPage County judge bows out of race for circuit court seat: Republican nominee Kavita Athanikar has bowed out of the judicial race with a little over two months until the November election. Her exit virtually ensures her Democratic opponent, attorney Mia McPherson, will ascend to the court.
With 90 counties in the state at an elevated level for COVID-19, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is urging all who are eligible to take advantage of the new bivalent booster shots that have been authorized by the CDC. IDPH is reporting 26,127 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 70 deaths since August 26, 2022.
“Once the updated booster shots become available next week, I urge everyone in Illinois who is eligible to take advantage of the opportunity to get fully protected before we enter the fall season,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “These new bivalent vaccines are designed to offer extra protection against the omicron variants which are now the dominant strain of the virus. Getting up to date now is especially important for those who are at risk of serious outcomes as the updated vaccines offer protection from hospitalization and even death.”
This week, the FDA granted emergency use authorization for two new bivalent booster vaccines that include an mRNA component of the original strain to provide an immune response that is broadly protective against COVID-19 and an added mRNA component in common between the omicron variant BA.4 and BA.5 lineages to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant.
The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18 years of age and older. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 12 years of age and older.
IDPH expects to receive 580,000 doses of the new bivalent vaccines for distribution in the next week. This is in addition to 150,000 doses designated for the City of Chicago. The updated boosters will be available at pharmacies, hospitals, and other healthcare providers. The best way to locate a vaccine provider near you is to go to www.vaccines.gov and search for bivalent booster availability.
According to the CDC, 30 Illinois counties are now rated at High Community Level for COVID-19. An additional 60 counties in Illinois are now rated at Medium Community Level.
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 3,696,385 cases, including 34,747 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic.
As of last night, 1,263 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 154 patients were in the ICU and 46 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide case rate is 205 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Illinoisans.
The counties in Illinois listed at High Community Level are Adams, Champaign, Clark, Coles, Crawford, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Franklin, Fulton, Grundy, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Lee, Macon, Massac, Perry, Pike, Shelby, Stephenson, Vermilion, Wabash, Wayne, Whiteside, Will, Williamson, and Winnebago.
* The Question: Are you planning to get the new bivalent booster shot?
[Knox County’s Democratic State’s Attorney Jeremy Karlin] states on Jan. 1, all people accused of committing a crime will either be released or will be held in custody without bond.
But only in very specific cases will defendants be held without bond.
One category of who can be held is those accused of non-probational forcible felonies; things like first-degree murder, residential burglary, and aggravated arson.
But in the case of crimes like second-degree murder, robbery, arson, and kidnapping, a person can only be held if it can be established they pose an immediate threat to a specific person or persons.
Just a general threat to the public isn’t good enough.
Also examined were the proportion of cases going through bond court that will be eligible for initial detention under the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA), which will become effective on January 1, 2023. Under the PFA there are two groups of individuals who can be considered for initial detention: 1) those eligible based on a “public safety” standard, and 2) those eligible based on a “willful flight” standard. The public safety standard allows for the pretrial detention of individuals charged with specific, detainable offenses who are also found to pose “a specific, real and present threat to a person” (i.e., a risk to public safety). The specific detainable offenses under this standard can be categorized broadly into three groups: 1) non-probationable forcible felonies (e.g., first degree murder, armed robbery, home invasion, aggravated vehicular hijacking, aggravated battery with great bodily harm) and sex offenses, 2) weapon offenses (e.g., illegal firearm possession, unlawful discharge of a firearm, unlawful sale/delivery of a firearm), and 3) domestic violence offenses and violations of orders of protection (VOOP). The willful flight standard allows for the pretrial detention of individuals shown to be a risk for willful flight from prosecution who are charged with either 1) a detainable offense under the public safety standard or 2) any Class 3 Felony or more serious felony offense. The proportion of all cases going through bond court during the study period that were potentially detainable under the public safety standard was 51%, and an additional 26% would be potentially detainable under the willful flight standard.
When someone is in a mental or a behavioral health crisis, a call to 911 can become a crisis in itself.
So what should happen when police, jail, hospital emergency rooms or use of force aren’t the best answers?
New programs with reimagined response teams are aiming to redefine bad or even deadly outcomes.
To deal with the increasing number of mental health crisis calls, police agencies across Illinois are adding social service programs into their departments.
Brain Solache benefited from one such co-responder program in Aurora.
“I probably would have attacked someone just to have the officers be coerced to shoot me,” he explained.
Solache was just 18 years old when he became so despondent he said he wanted to get police to shoot him. Instead, he was talked into living. [..]
Solache explained that an argument with a family member and his unmanaged mental illness sent him spiraling. He had a knife and was he threatening to use it.
“Just cracked… just was done with everything. I was at that point where I was angry at everyone, everything — even myself,” he said. […]
Among the responding officers was the newly formed Crisis Intervention Unit, or CIU, consisting of specially trained police investigators and social workers.
The co-responders spent nearly an hour and a half talking with Solache until he gave up the knife.
Chicago’s extended and expanded teen curfew — touted by Mayor Lori Lightfoot as the way to put an end to a spate of downtown violence among young Chicagoans — was enforced by police only four times between May 17 and Aug. 18, according to data obtained by WTTW News.
The city’s curfew starts at 10 p.m. seven days a week and applies to everyone 17 years old and younger.
In effect since 1992, the city’s curfew had allowed teens to stay out until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and only covered those 16 and younger — until the murder of a 16-year-old in the heart of Millennium Park on May 14 touched off a political firestorm.
No newly covered 17-year-old Chicagoans were reported to have violated the city’s curfew in the first three months that the expanded law was on the books, according to data provided to WTTW News by the Chicago Police Department in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
* From Dan Proft’s People Who Play by the Rules PAC…
According to a Fox 32 report this week, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot cluelessly claimed that the city’s Black neighborhoods are portrayed as more troubled and violent than they really are. In the story by Mike Flannery, Lightfoot told a crowd at a South Side 8th Ward restaurant that “The media doesn’t tell the true story of Black Chicago.” The piece also quoted Chicagoans in crime plagued black neighborhoods, all but begging the mayor for more police presence in their communities. Their pleas are apparently falling on deaf ears.
He are the top ten Chicago neighborhoods by homicide count in Lightfoot’s “Summer Of Joy,” according to heyjackass.com and the latest U.S. Census demographic data available with percentage African-American (unless otherwise noted):
1. 206 homicides plus wounded in Garfield Park, 91%
2. 200 homicides plus wounded in Englewood: 94%
3. 141 homicides plus wounded in Austin: 84%
4. 127 homicides plus wounded in South Shore: 93%
5. 114 homicides plus wounded in Humboldt Park: 52% Hispanic, 42% Black
6. 112 homicides plus wounded in Auburn Gresham 97%
7. 111 homicides plus wounded in Grand Crossing 96%
8. 90 homicides plus wounded in North Lawndale 87% Black, 9% Hispanic
9. 87 homicides plus wounded in Little Village 83% Hispanic, 12% Black
10. 83 homicides plus wounded in New City 62% Hispanic, 24% Black
PBR PAC President Dan Proft: “The story isn’t how the media covers neighborhoods beset by systemic violent crime. The story is the failure by Lightfoot and Pritzker to keep residents of all races in Chicago safe–and that hits black and brown neighborhoods the hardest as they represent the majority of the victims of this lawlessness. Pritzker and Lightfoot are running a race hustle on the residents of Chicago and Illinois, trying to make a safety issue about race and trying to redirect people’s attention away from who is suffering the most as a result of their coddling of career criminals.”
Lori Lightfoot and JB Pritzker’s negligence of Chicago’s black and brown neighborhoods is only exacerbated by their cynical “racism” attacks on their critics, and now the media, implying they are somehow darkening their coverage of violence.
Per the CPD, homicides in the city this year are down about 16% compared to 2021, while the total number of shootings (1,904) is down nearly 19%. For the month of August alone, there was an 18% decline in homicides in the city, compared to the same month last year (80).
Though the Chicago Police Department is years into efforts to reform and rebuild trust among communities, young Black and Latino men persist in having negative perceptions of and interactions with Chicago police officers, according to a special report from an independent panel reviewing the department.
The findings of surveys of men aged 18 to 35 paint a “bleak picture of the relationship” between the department and the men, the report said. […]
Participants in the most recent survey reported most of their interactions with police were negative experiences, even when no enforcement actions were taken, and they lacked trust in their local police department.
Heading into the Labor Day holiday, Attorney General Kwame Raoul yesterday filed a lawsuit against a Bridgeview, Illinois-based construction company over an elaborate scheme to keep its employees off payroll and avoid paying tax withholdings required by law. The Attorney General’s office filed the lawsuit against Drive Construction Inc., its principal officers, and a complex web of entities and individuals for a years-long conspiracy to pay millions of dollars of wages in cash, and skirt laws intended to protect Illinois workers and ensure fair wages.
Drive Construction (Drive), which specializes in carpentry, plumbing and masonry, obtains public works projects worth several millions of dollars each year. Raoul’s lawsuit alleges Drive misclassified workers to avoid paying employees fair rates of pay for the hours they worked and to skirt its obligations to pay unemployment insurance contributions to the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Raoul alleges Drive violated Illinois’ Minimum Wage Law, the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act and the Illinois Employee Classification Act. […]
Raoul’s lawsuit follows an investigation based on information provided by the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, which has a collective bargaining agreement with Drive.
“The Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council worked closely with Attorney General Raoul’s office to shed light on this prime example of wage theft perpetrated against exploited workers,” said Gary Perinar, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council. “The Carpenters Union aggressively pursues wage theft cases because they hurt working families, they hurt Illinois taxpayers, and they hurt our signatory contractors who play by the rules and are at a major disadvantage against unscrupulous contractors who lowball bids by cheating the system. Earlier this year we were proud to introduce wage theft legislation that was signed into law which now holds cheating contractors accountable. We will continue our fight for working families across Illinois.”
Raoul’s lawsuit alleges that between 2015 and 2020 alone, Drive Construction obtained contracts for public works projects, such as schools and public housing apartments, worth nearly $40 million. The contracts required Drive Construction to pay its carpenters at Illinois-mandated prevailing wage. Instead, Drive allegedly paid workers in cash, off the books, for thousands of hours of labor at rates well below the prevailing wage mandated by state law. Additionally, Raoul’s lawsuit alleges that Drive’s employees often worked over 50 hours per week on both public and private projects. The Illinois Minimum Wage Law requires employers to pay employees at time and a half their regular rate for each hour worked in excess of 40 per week. Instead of paying these workers at time and a half their regular rate of pay for overtime hours, Drive paid many of its employees off the books at the same rate of pay for all time worked, regardless of the number of hours employees worked on any given week.
The Attorney General’s lawsuit also names Jesus Cortez, Kelly Byrne, Francisco Guel, Raul Lovera and Juan Carlos Lara, alleging they helped Drive set up various shell companies to funnel millions of dollars of wages to its employees off the books and shield Drive Construction from liability for violating Illinois law. These entities included Accurate Construction, Infinity Construction, R&L Construction of Illinois, and A Lara Construction. According to Raoul, the shell companies relied on currency exchanges to convert Drive Construction’s money into cash and money orders that foremen used to compensate workers under the table.
Officials in Madison County have confirmed a criminal investigation is underway after election judges noticed similar handwriting on roughly 39 mail-in ballots during the Illinois primary election.
Madison County Clerk Debbie Ming-Mendoza, a Democrat, confirmed her office detected the suspicious mail-in ballots during the June 28 primary election and promptly reported the case to the authorities. She said sheriff’s deputies interviewed suspects and took witness statements. […]
So far, no one has been charged in the case, and Haine’s petition to recommend a special prosecutor remains under seal. […]
Mendoza said the mail-in ballots in question were all cast in the Democratic primary. At this time, there is no available evidence that would suggest the ballots in question might have altered the outcome of any election results.
With the November 8 General Election approaching and early voting just a month away, Madison County Clerk’s Office says it has been inundated with FOIA requests for voting records. Madison County Clerk, Debbie Ming-Mendoza, is issuing this statement to the public with information regarding access to voting records. […]
“To track who votes for who or what and provide that information to another party is a real invasion of a person’s privacy,” said Mendoza. “I believe residents want their vote to be confidential and not reviewed,” she continued. ES&S, the vendor which provides technical voting support to the Madison County Clerk’s office, contacted Mendoza and confirmed that the voting machines used in Madison County do not provide the type of records the recent FOIA requests have demanded.
Similar FOIA requests have been filed all over the state of Illinois. Mendoza cited that the cyber security exemptions provision applies to the FOIA law to protect the voting process from individuals attempting to access confidential voting information. Mendoza has complied with all state Freedom of Information (FOIA) policies as Madison County Clerk and will continue to provide information for rationale FOIA requests to the public.
Mendoza assures the public that when they cast their ballot this fall it will be secure and accurately counted.
With ten weeks to go until the 2022 midterms, dozens of state and local officials across the country tell ABC News that preparations for the election are being hampered by onerous public information requests, ongoing threats against election workers, and dangerous misinformation campaigns being waged by activists still intent on contesting the 2020 presidential election.
The efforts, many of which are being coordinated at both the national and local level, range from confronting election officials at local government meetings to training volunteers to challenge the vote-counting process on Election Day, according to election officials. […]
Election officials said that records requests, which are designed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to make the vote-tallying process transparent to the public, have increasingly been used by election deniers to disrupt the system.
At the “Moment of Truth Summit,” a two-day meeting of election deniers hosted by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell last week in Springfield, Missouri, activists instructed attendees on how to request election-related records, and pointed them to templates to make it easier to submit the forms.
* Beth Hunsdorfer of Capitol News Illinois and Molly Parker of Lee Enterprises Midwest have some ProPublica Illinois stories up today about Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. First, a bit of background on the center…
People from across Illinois come to live at the 270-bed facility on the outskirts of the small town of Anna, Illinois. It serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental illnesses or a combination of disorders. Patients can enter voluntarily or be placed there by a guardian, or a judge may order them to Choate for treatment after finding they’re at risk of harming themselves or others. Many end up living at Choate for years.
Nearly 15% of Choate residents with developmental disabilities have diagnoses in the severe or profound range; about 10% are nonverbal.
“In essence, many of these individuals can be ‘the perfect victim’ for a crime because it is easy to cast doubt on someone who has mental challenges or can’t give a statement due to their mental health status,” said Tyler Tripp, the state’s attorney in Union County.
Choate houses the state’s only forensic unit for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who have been accused of a crime and found either unfit to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity. That’s the unit where Reichard, who had been arrested for attacks on his family, police and medical personnel, initially lived; he was moved to the less restrictive “step-down” unit in 2014. Though Choate includes a small psychiatric unit, a review of records shows that most of the alleged mistreatment has involved patients with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
* Much of the story contains graphic descriptions of beatings by employees. But here are some numbers…
Using court records and Illinois State Police case files, reporters found that at least 26 Choate employees were arrested on felony charges over roughly the same time period, including four who were connected to the Reichard case. Employees have since been accused of whipping, choking, punching and raping residents.
Among the more recent arrestees are four employees who were accused of choking and beating another Choate patient in 2020, leading to felony battery charges. Two have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery charges in exchange for probation sentences and two cases are still pending.
In 2020, an employee was charged with felony battery, for allegedly taking off his belt and using it to repeatedly whip a resident. Then, earlier this year, an employee was charged with criminal sexual assault of an intellectually disabled person who lived at the facility. And in another 2022 case, an employee was charged for allegedly grabbing a nonverbal patient with the mental capacity of a 15-month-old by the neck and punching him in the back of the head as a security officer watched, according to court records. These three cases are still pending.
Over the years, advocates have called for the facility to be closed. “It’s a purely political decision to keep Choate open,” said civil rights attorney Thomas Kennedy, who has provided legal services to Choate patients on and off for decades. “It’s not about helping people. It’s not about habilitating or rehabilitating people. It’s about keeping jobs in the community. Period. They have failed miserably at any other mission.”
IDHS’ inspector general recommended the installation of cameras in the course of 21 investigations into abuse and neglect allegations at Choate between fiscal years 2015 and 2021, according to a review of internal records by the news organizations. Each time, Choate officials responded to the inspector general that it was “not an option due to budget concerns.”
This summer, advocates and insiders praised Hou’s announcement that IDHS would finally install cameras.
But in response to reporters’ questions, Kollias, the agency spokesperson, clarified that the cameras would go outside the facility.
One former investigator with the inspector general’s office, when told of the plan to put cameras outside, called it “a waste of money and time.” Almost all abuse and neglect allegations stem from incidents that occur inside.
Unbelievable. What the actual heck?
…Adding… I’m told this letter sent to stakeholders yesterday by IDHS Director Grace Hou indicates that the department is moving away from its decision to keep the cameras outside…
Adding approximately 10 surveillance cameras to public areas (in process).
UPDATE: A contract for camera purchase, plus related equipment and installation is being finalized. The vendor has assessed wiring needs for installation on campus. Work is underway to install cameras in public locations where there is a low, or no reasonable expectation for privacy. Guardians who wish to install cameras in their loved ones’ rooms may also do so– and have done so in several facilities.
This election season, we have a historic opportunity to enshrine our right to organize and bargain collectively with coworkers in our state constitution when we vote yes on the Workers’ Rights Amendment. Doing so would send a powerful message that Illinois is and always will be a workers’ rights state while protecting Illinoisans from the whims of any anti-worker politician that may come along in the future.
Protecting collective bargaining has benefits for everyone in our state. When we protect the right to organize, we’re putting more money into the pockets of working people. A recent study from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found that union construction workers, emergency responders like firefighters and registered nurses, and teachers earn anywhere from 5 to 35 percent more in Illinois compared to anti-worker states.
And those middle-class jobs are available to working people of all backgrounds across our state, no college degree necessary. Plus, collective bargaining raises wages for all workers, union or not. When pay goes up for union workers, non-union workers often see the benefits, as well as employers, compete with one another in a tight labor market.
For our first responders like firefighters, police officers, and nurses, the Workers’ Rights Amendment will protect their ability to collectively fight for better training and equipment on the job, keeping them safe while they keep our communities safe. These heroes know how to protect our communities, and when we strengthen their ability to collectively bargain, we protect their right to fight for the tools they need to get the job done.
* Illinois Policy Institute Executive Vice President Amy Korte…
Business owners will pay a high price if they vote for a proposed law at the top of the ballot on Election Day.
Amendment 1 is a potential change to the Illinois Constitution up for a vote Nov. 8. Proponents disingenuously refer to Amendment 1 as a “Workers’ Rights Amendment,” yet no Illinois worker would lose their rights if the amendment fails. Business owners would face hefty costs if it passes, though. […]
Uncertainty is a business person’s enemy, and here, too, the amendment presents a threat. The language is so broad that it attempts to regulate union bargaining powers in the private sector, but the federal government already regulates private-sector union workers. This could entangle private business owners in costly and time-consuming litigation, as the employers may need to go to court to determine which laws and protections apply to their businesses and unions.
More tax dollars for government unions and potential legal costs for private businesses translate into less money to hire workers or pay general operating expenditures. Amendment 1 wouldn’t just cut into Illinois businesses’ bottom lines: it could hinder operations as well.
Instead, ever since Congress first passed national legislation allowing workers to form unions and bargain collectively, we’ve seen a steady and successful effort to erode these same rights in the courts and in dozens of states. Over the past 60 years, this has led to a historic low in the share of American workers represented by labor unions, even as unions enjoy historic highs in public opinion polling. […]
This has not been a good trend for workers or our economy. Research has shown that states where politicians have weakened unions and collective bargaining suffer from slower economic growth and lower levels of workforce productivity. Indeed, recent research from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign revealed that workers in these states earned lower wages; faced higher rates of poverty and income inequality; and were less likely to have health insurance, more likely to rely on government welfare programs and significantly more likely to be injured or killed on the job. […]
The Workers’ Rights Amendment to the Illinois Constitution offers a similar check on the structural power imbalance that has long existed at the workplaces where we spend so much of our lives.
Importantly, it will finally guarantee rights that have long proven to deliver higher job quality, better safety outcomes and a stronger overall economy.
* Adrienne Alexander and Father Clete Kiley writing for Chicago Catholic say support for the amendment is “not in doubt” in Catholic teachings …
The purpose of this article is to highlight relevant principles of Catholic social teaching that faithful citizens should take into consideration as they decide how to vote.
First, the right of workers to organize in unions is one of the oldest principles of modern Catholic social teaching. It was first articulated by Pope Leo XIII in 1891.
Observing the exploitation and abuse of the working classes during the early industrial revolution, the Holy Father observed in his encyclical “Rerum Novarum” that “workingmen’s unions” were helping redress cruel and inequitable conditions in the workplace and wished “that they should become more numerous and more efficient” (49).
This teaching has been repeatedly reaffirmed by the church ever since. “Among the basic rights of the human person is to be numbered the right of freely founding unions for working people,” according to the Second Vatican Council’s “Gaudium et Spes.” “Included is the right of freely taking part in the activity of these unions without risk of reprisal” (68).
Supporters of Amendment 1, the so-called Workers’ Rights Amendment, are all over the place with contradictory, outlandish claims about what the amendment would do if approved by voters in November.
The latest is their first TV ad featuring a private-sector health care worker at a children’s facility. He says, “These kids are fighters. We work with them so they can make it to their next birthday. We see these kids as family, but hospitals see them as dollar signs. They cut corners. Fewer nurses, longer shifts. It’s not safe for these kids. When we speak up, we risk being fired. But the Workers’ Rights Amendment will protect us as we stand up for our patients. I shouldn’t lose my job for putting them first. That is my job.”
But hold on. Applying the amendment to the private sector flatly contradicts what the lead sponsor of the resolution for the amendment told the Illinois Senate. In discussion on the Senate floor, state Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said, “as federal labor law stands today, the amendment could not apply to the private sector.”
Which is it?
* Lake County News-Sun Managing Editor Charles Selle…
A vote in favor of Amendment 1, also called the benign Workers’ Rights Amendment, establishes a state constitutional right for Illinois employees to bargain collectively to negotiate wages, hours and working conditions. While Illinois is not a right-to-work state, there is nothing in the state’s Constitution to ensure it never becomes one.
The proposal is opposed by business interests and conservative organizations who maintain, if adopted, it will give too much power to unions and result in higher taxes. Opponents also claim the amendment is quite vague and tip the negotiating scale in favor of organized labor.
Less than a handful of states have similar amendments protecting collective bargaining in their constitutions. More than 30 states have right-to-work laws, despite studies showing the relationship between union membership, and higher salaries and benefits.
Currently, about 11.2% of U.S. workers belong to unions. A few years ago, it was 13%. The figure is even worse in the private sector, where just one in 15 employees is a union member.
Billed as the “Workers Rights Amendment” by its proponents, particularly within the publication from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign titled “The Workers’ Rights Amendment and Its Impact on Protecting Quality Jobs and Essential Industries in Illinois” published on August 11, this response will urge a “NO” vote on Amendment 1.
The reason for the “NO” vote is simple, and 3-fold.
It is the honest opinion of the author of this response Amendment 1 should not pass for the following reasons:
-Current Illinois law already guarantees the freedoms the proponents say are needed through passage of Amendment 1
-The proponents present their case focusing heavily on labor unions and not the workers across Illinois or the changing economy for workers choices and entrepreneurships which no longer need representation through a labor union
-With the current organized labor movement within Illinois, other states and within the current Administration and the United States Congress, the risks for all workers under the current Amendment outweigh the benefits proponents claim
Finally, all workers freedoms can be protected through a holistic approach to reforming current labor law at the national level and within the state of Illinois without the need for a constitutional amendment. As witnessed at the Port of Oakland in July where 1099 independent contractors and rank-and-file union members stood side-by-side, so can all stakeholders work respectfully together to build the long-term solution to ensure workers rights, while protecting the American workers’ freedoms within and outside of a labor union.
“The crisis at the border has a terrible human cost and we in Illinois are about to get a close up look. No city or state has the resources to handle this. Pritzker should get his buddy Biden to fix the border. Biden also owes us the resources to vet and take care of these people.”
Democratic losses could imperil existing state and local laws dealing with abortion, gun control and union rights and throw a wrench into a potential second term for Gov. JB Pritzker should he defeat Republican Darren Bailey this fall. […]
In a fundraising pitch to donors earlier this month, the state Republican Party went so far as to say the court elections are “MORE important to fixing our state” than even elections for governor or Congress — a concession, perhaps, that Bailey and the GOP’s congressional prospects in Illinois may be looking iffy this fall and that the court is where all the political marbles are at. […]
Indeed, the same culture wars that have divided the electorate could wind up before a newly constituted state Supreme Court.
On guns, for example, justices might again wade into whether the state firearms owner identification card is constitutional after punting on that question in 2020, sending the matter back to a local court. Legal challenges also have been threatened against a crackdown by Naperville this month on the sale and possession of high-capacity rifles and ammunition like those used in the Highland Park mass shooting on July 4.
And on abortion, a new court ultimately could be confronted with litigation from anti-abortion advocates that seeks to dismantle a landmark state law Pritzker signed in 2019 that requires health insurers cover abortions and that repealed a 1975 law criminalizing abortions. That case is pending in Sangamon County Circuit Court.
Republican candidate for Illinois treasurer Tom Demmer continues to push against his opponent, Mike Frerichs, and vows to stop any possible taxing of retirement income in the state.
Demmer, a Republican state representative from Dixon, faces Frerichs, the incumbent Democrat, in the November election.
Demmer has campaigned against a proposed retirement income tax, which he says his opponent will implement. Frerichs’ campaign says that simply isn’t true.
Demmer spoke Wednesday in Edwardsville alongside Illinois State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Fosterburg, candidate for the Illinois House 112th District Jennifer Korte, and candidate for the Illinois Senate 56th District Erica Harriss.
It was the second news conference Demmer’s held on taxing retirement income.
“Retirement income tax is something that Mike Frerichs during the debate in 2020 said we should have a discussion about,” Demmer said. “Well, if that discussion is going to happen, then we are going to show that a majority of people are against taxing retirement income.”
But Frerichs’ campaign said Demmer’s statements aren’t true.
“Mike Frerichs has never proposed taxing retirement income. He opposes it and will not support it,” his campaign manager, Lauren Young, said in an email to The Center Square. “Anything that contradicts this statement simply is untrue. Anyone who contradicts this statement should be asked, ‘why are you lying?’”
An investigation has revealed that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s investments include companies that earned more than $20 billion in state business since he took office.
In 2019, Pritzker promised to divest his personal fortune of investments in state contractors and to transfer his portfolio into what he calls a “blind trust.”
The nonpartisan watchdog Better Government Association found in some cases, state dollars flowed to companies that were registered to lobby Pritzker, who as governor could influence the outcome of the contracts.
“We found that three of the companies had lobbyists registered to lobby Pritzker directly,” BGA reporter David Jackson said.
* ILGOP…
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Kathy Salvi announced today that she has accepted the invitation to attend the first Senate debate, hosted by WTTW, WBEZ, and the Chicago Sun-Times. Kathy Salvi called for two additional debates with Senator Duckworth, consistent with the three debates held by Duckworth and then Senator Mark Kirk in 2016 as well as in keeping with Illinois’ “long tradition of monumental political debates,” as said in the Salvi campaign’s press release.
“Senator Duckworth should accept Kathy Salvi’s invitation to debate. Illinois families are facing a triple-threat from Washington; record inflation caused by out-of-control government spending, unprecedented pain at the pump from anti-energy policies, and looming tax-hikes at the worst time. The fate of the US Senate could very well hinge on this seat, and Senator Duckworth owes voters the same transparency that she demanded of her 2016 opponent. She must answer for her support of the reckless Biden administration policies that have fueled gas and groceries inflation, handcuffed US energy producers while enriching foreign energy producers, and hired 87,000 IRS agents to harass Illinois taxpayers ,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy.
* DeVore tells the Tribune why he busted the campaign caps in the AG’s race…
“I am all in for the fight against Kwame Raoul, JB Pritzker and the overbearing political class that protected power at the expense of hardworking families and businesses in this state,” DeVore said in a statement. “I’m all in for the people of Illinois.”
Under state law, contribution limits are lifted when one candidate for statewide office gives their campaign more than $250,000. Until then, limits range from $6,000 for individuals to $239,900 for political party contributions to statewide candidates.
The move to lift contribution limits in the race is a gamble for DeVore, who prior to the loan had raised just under $122,000, including previous loans he made totaling $28,500, state campaign finance records show. DeVore started July with less than $16,000 in his campaign fund after winning a GOP primary in which he was vastly outspent by one of his two opponents.
Raoul, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, had more than $1.1 million in the bank at the beginning of July.
* Brady press release…
A common-sense, cost-and-time effective solution to a longstanding problem was authorized by the Illinois General Assembly 21 years ago, but two decades later taxpayers are still waiting for that long-promised relief. Illinois Secretary of State candidate Dan Brady, a Bloomington Republican, pledges to make the implementation of that solution one of his top priorities once he’s sworn into office.
“We’ve been waiting far too long for the Electronic Lien and Title system in Illinois, and as Secretary of State I will implement this system as soon as possible,” Brady said. “We need more than just discussion on this system, we need action. Neighboring states with this system are only too happy to snatch away our business for every day we delay its implementation.”
The Electronic Lien and Title (ELT) system in Illinois will make the switch from an expensive, time-consuming, and less-than-secure paper system of tracking vehicle title liens to an electronic system that will be faster, safer, cheaper, and easier to access for both businesses and consumers.
The Illinois General Assembly passed a measure in 2001 that authorized the Secretary of State to develop and implement the ELT system. The deadline to do so has been extended several times, most recently to July 1, 2022. That most recent deadline was also not met.
“The Secretary of State issues millions of paper vehicle titles every year, more than half of which contain a lien holder notation, and they must also process hundreds of thousands of lien release letters each year,” Brady said. “This terribly outmoded paper system means delay, expense, and many opportunities for mistakes and fraud. It’s time we helped our vehicle lenders and buyers by moving Illinois into the 21st century with the ELT, a system we’ve been waiting on for more than two decades.”
“An ELT system will expedite the validity and release of liens and help to ensure against the fraudulent release of liens,” Brady said. “Title holders, lenders, purchasers, dealers, and the State of Illinois will all benefit from this up-to-date system.”
Two local reproductive health organizations focused on providing and supporting abortion care are the recipients of city funding aimed to help the organizations continue their work following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision that reversed the constitutional right to an abortion.
The Chicago Abortion Fund, which helps people pay for abortion services, and Planned Parenthood of Illinois, one of the state’s largest abortion providers, each received $250,000 from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office and the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Lightfoot originally announced that $500,000 in funding was available to reproductive organizations back in May. On Wednesday, the city announced that Planned Parenthood of Illinois and the Chicago Abortion Fund were selected as funding recipients through a “competitive request for proposals process.”
“The City of Chicago is committed to ensuring that no person will lose their rights to reproductive health care,” Lightfoot said in a statement.
* The money may help out of state abortions seekers coming to Illinois. Sun Times…
Though the funding is coming from the city, it also could be used to help those coming from out of state to get the medical procedure. […]
In 2020, there were 9,686 out-of-state individuals who got abortions in Illinois, according to statistics maintained by the Illinois Department of Public Health. In 2019, there were 7,534 people who traveled to Illinois for an abortion.
Brigid Leahy, vice president of public policy at Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said the funding comes as the organization faces the critical challenge of serving people from states that have banned almost all abortions.
About 30% of the patients Planned Parenthood of Illinois clinics are seeing are coming from outside Illinois, with many patients traveling from Wisconsin and Ohio, Leahy said. Some patients are traveling from as far as Florida and Texas.
During the first week after Roe v. Wade was overturned, appointment wait times at Planned Parenthood’s Fairview Heights Health Center went from three or four days to two and a half weeks, said Yamelsie Rodriguez, CEO of Advocates of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis region and Southwest Missouri.
“The surge of patients came much faster than any of us could have anticipated,” Rodriguez said.
The clinic is one of only two abortion providers in southern Illinois. They have “seen the biggest impact in wait times because every state below them has cut off abortion access,” said Brigid Leahy, Planned Parenthood’s vice president of public policy.
As patients are forced to wait for appointments, the Fairview Heights Health Center has also seen a 76 percent increase in people getting abortions later in pregnancy, Rodriguez said during the news conference.
If you click on the website for the Memphis Choices Center for Reproductive Health, a message pops up: “Starting August 25th, CHOICES can no longer provide abortion services in Memphis due to a new law banning abortions entirely in Tennessee. A new CHOICES clinic is opening in Carbondale, Illinois in mid-September.”
Thanks to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, an almost-total ban on abortion is now law in Tennessee. There is no exception for rape or incest. Protecting the mother’s health might not be a good enough reason, either. “While it allows abortion treatments in cases where a woman’s life is in danger, it still requires physicians to defend themselves in court, putting their licenses on the line,” the Knoxville NBC News affiliate reports. As for the health of the mother, the physician will have the burden of proof to show “serious and permanent bodily injury” would occur if the abortion were not performed.
Moreover, the law discriminates against those with mental health issues. ABC News reports, “Under the ban, abortions cannot be authorized based on a ‘claim or diagnosis’ relating to mental health, including claims that the woman would ‘engage in conduct that would result in her death or substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function,’ according to the law.” A woman whose pregnancy might trigger a relapse of schizophrenia, panic attacks or life-threatening depression would be denied abortion care.
That’s the bleak reality now facing women in Tennessee and other states with draconian bans. Memphis Choices President and CEO Jennifer Pepper tells me in a phone interview, “We performed our last abortion Wednesday afternoon” — Aug. 24. The clinic remains open to offer other reproductive care, but if women need an abortion, clinic employees will direct them to websites that provide information about where they can still find access to care and seek financial support for travel, lodging and other expenses that might be necessary.
A state board in Michigan refused on Wednesday to place an abortion rights referendum on the November ballot because of a dispute over word spacing on the petition, an embarrassing blow to abortion rights supporters who had gathered more than 750,000 signatures.
The decision, which came when the Board of State Canvassers deadlocked along party lines, could still be overturned by the courts. But it injected further uncertainty into the fate of abortion in Michigan, a swing state where enforcement of a pre-Roe v. Wade abortion ban has been temporarily blocked by a judge and where many closely watched races are on this year’s ballot. […]
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel, both Democrats facing re-election races, have made support of abortion rights central to their campaigns.
But unless the Michigan Supreme Court overrules the canvassers, the future of abortion in the state is likely to be determined by a disputed law that was passed in 1931. That measure, which has been blocked by a judge, bans most abortions in Michigan and is unlikely to be repealed by the Republican-controlled Legislature.
* Indiana providers may make out-of-state referrals for patients with no legal abortion option, but will not assist with travel plans. Indy Star…
Bracing for a dramatic change in Indiana abortion law, Indiana University Health leaders have spent hours in meetings over the past month, sketching out a response that includes a 24/7 consultation team, arranging for obstetrics residents to undergo abortion training out of state, and offering providers as much clarity as possible on how to handle difficult cases.
In a virtual news conference Thursday, IU Health leaders outlined the many challenges that the new law, scheduled to go into effect Sept. 15, has posed for the largest health care system in the state. Under Senate Bill 1, abortions can now only legally take place in this state in a hospital’s care.
In 2021, only 133 of the 8,414 abortions performed occurred in hospitals, according to the Indiana Department of Health. The vast majority were in outpatient clinics.
The new law only allows abortions when the mother’s life is in danger, when the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest up to 10 weeks post fertilization, or when the fetus has been determined to have a fatal anomaly up to 20 weeks.
After another wild weekend of stunt driving, drifting and street racing, a new bill introduced in Springfield aims to hold drivers accountable by charging them with a felony that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
State Rep. La Shawn Ford told the Sun-Times he introduced the measure earlier this week to send a “strong message” to those involved in the city’s underground car culture, who he said have faced little consequences and “think this is a game.” The Chicago Democrat previously spearheaded a similar law that takes effect at the start of the year. […]
His bill would give officials the ability to charge street racers and drifters with mob action, a Class 4 felony that carries a possible prison sentence of one to three years. Others who engage in violent disturbances, like those captured in a viral video chucking objects and kicking a police cruiser, would face the same charge.
Ford said he was first moved to act last December, when he saw drivers block off the Eisenhower Expressway near the Rush University Medical Center. Video of the incident shows cars doing donuts and kicking up smoke as onlookers record video on their cellphones, a familiar scene for the car sideshows.
“With them shutting down the [Interstate 290] expressway right by Rush hospital, people wouldn’t be able to get there for an emergency,” he said. “And I called the state police and talked to some of the law enforcement community, and they said there’s nothing they can do.”
The ISP said there’s nothing they could do?
* I asked the Illinois State Police about this…
The Illinois State Police responds to all calls it receives of illegal and/or dangerous activity. The most recent example is ISP’s response to mob action at the intersection of Division Street and Elston Avenue on July 3, 2022, in which a mob of about 100 people began to swarm an ISP trooper’s squad vehicle, jumping on the hood, breaking the windshield, kicking the vehicle, and throwing rocks, bricks, and fireworks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_i5XRMxeS4
In the December 2021 referenced by Rep. Ford, ISP made arrests for the expressway shutdown (attachment) and dedicated additional resources to prevent these types of expressway shut downs, such as monitoring by air operations and rapid deployment of patrol. The challenge for all law enforcement with these illegal events is they are often spontaneous events driven by real time social media activity.
ISP enforces the law to its fullest extent. However, there are limitations within the current laws that don’t sufficiently address the specific danger of the conduct being displayed. ISP worked with Rep. Ford on his legislation to address street sideshows within the Illinois Vehicle Code, creating a specific charge for a specific offense to make it easier to hold everyone involved accountable, including those people who are blocking the street to take video or watch. ISP will continue to work with Rep. Ford and other legislators by providing our subject matter expertise to policy development aimed at bringing those who take part in this dangerous action to justice and protecting the public on Illinois expressways.
The ISP arrest press release is here. The bill Ford passed and was signed into law is here.
* Rep. Ford’s new bill adds the “knowing and reckless” activity of drifting and street racing to the mob action criminal statute “if the activity results in the use of force or violence disturbing the public peace.” It has no current co-sponsors.
The race is on to unionize cannabis shops at the same time unionization is picking up at places like Starbucks and Amazon.
Teamsters Joint Council 25 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters entered a joint agreement that gives Teamsters Local 777 exclusive jurisdiction for organizing cannabis workers in Illinois. The agreement signals that Teamsters Local 777 will be the only local unit under the Teamsters union to deal with cannabis in the state.
The move, which happened on Aug. 16, is said “to benefit Teamsters across Joint Council 25 as they negotiate strong contracts with cannabis corporations that are increasingly large, multistate firms.”
Teamsters has been organizing around cannabis in Illinois for a little over a year, said Teamsters representative Matt McQuaid. Since that time, they have won more than 10 cannabis elections throughout the state and organized over 500 dispensary workers.
Modern Cannabis dispensary in Chicago unionized in 2021, and many other businesses in the city have done the same. The first cannabis union contract in Chicago was ratified in March 2022.
“We’re trying to make these careers for the long term, not just one that is a turnover establishment,” says Alex Suarez, who works at Modern Cannabis. “I think the upswing in organization in this country right now is astonishing and we need to keep going over that energy.”
Tonya Townsend, who worked at a Green Thumb Industries cannabis facility in Rock Creek, Illinois when they pioneered unionizing in 2018 and 2019, saw some backlash to the movement. They failed to unionize, as the vote missed by a 26-30 margin.
“There was a lot of union busting. They hired the top union avoidance firm in the country,” she says. “We took them on for about a year. It was a lot. It was mental, physical, verbal, daily abuse from these guys – they fought us tooth and nail the whole way. These workers are reaching out to us for help, so that’s unusual. It used to be we were seeking them out and now they’re coming to us. Our phones are ringing constantly with workers who want protection, higher wages, better benefits and accountability from these companies.”
Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), called on federal and state legislators to build on the success of the cannabis industry in creating high quality, better paying jobs for hardworking Americans. A new report released today by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that unionization was key to ensuring new jobs created in the fast-growing cannabis industry were safer, better paying, and more likely to provide benefits like health care, paid leave, and fair scheduling.
The report also found that Labor Peace Agreements (LPAs) between companies and workers in the industry successfully protected the right of cannabis workers to unionize while supporting greater alignment between companies and workers. This led to increased job quality and pay standards for all workers, particularly those of color, in addition to increased safety for customers and workers. Specifically, unionized cannabis workers can earn up to $8,690 more than their non-union, non-cannabis peers. This model provides a tangible opportunity to repair the harm done to communities of color during the war on drugs. […]
As Congress considers the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act discussion draft introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Cory Booker (New Jersey) and Ron Wyden (Oregon), the UFCW is urging lawmakers to recognize the importance of strengthening protections and the right to unionize for all workers in the fast-growing cannabis industry which already supports 321,000 American jobs nationwide.
Labor peace agreements (LPAs) have proven successful in protecting workers’ rights to organize in the six states (California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Illinois and Virginia) with statutes encouraging or requiring LPAs for licensed medical and/or recreational cannabis businesses. LPAs prevent union busting by employers in exchange for workers’ pledge not to strike.
Cannabis sales are up in Illinois as the state received nearly $450 million in tax revenue from $1.5 billion in recreational marijuana sales.
According to Governor JB Pritzker, the amount of taxes collected from recreational marijuana sales went from $297.7 million in fiscal year 2021 to $445.3 million this year, an increase of 50% from the same time last year. Overall, recreational pot sales also went up 50%, going from $1 billion to $1.5 billion.
“Illinois has done more to put justice and equity at the forefront of this industry than any other state in the nation and has worked to ensure that communities hurt by the war on drugs have had the opportunity to participate,” Pritzker said. “The $1.5 billion in sales of adult-use cannabis in Illinois translates into significant tax revenue with a portion of every dollar spent being reinvested in communities that have suffered for decades.”
According to state law, 25% of tax revenue from cannabis sales must support economically distressed communities along with being “disproportionately impacted by drug criminalization.”
* Darren Bailey’s running mate Stephanie Trussell on AM560 today…
One thing that a lot of people are concerned about, voter integrity. We have so many volunteers signed up to be poll watchers in Chicago. They are ready to come up from Downstate to keep an eye on what’s happening. That’s how Virginia won. They had 98% of their precincts covered.
* No taxpayer resources are being used for the event, the Daily Herald reports. Keith Pekau press release…
The Downers Grove Public Library has announced a drag performance planned as part of a “Drag Queen Bingo” event on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at the library. The event is targeted to children in grades 7-12.
Keith Pekau, Mayor of Orland Park and GOP nominee for Congress (IL-06), released the following statement in response: “I join parents across the district in denouncing this event, just as I would denounce a library introducing kids to straight sex by holding a burlesque show. To be clear, I have no interest in regulating the private, consensual activities and decisions of adults. This event, however, targets children. It’s inappropriate, and an unacceptable use of taxpayer funds.
“Furthermore, I call on Sean Casten to join me – as a public official and as a father – in denouncing this inappropriate event and unacceptable use of public resources.”
Awake Illinois has issued a call of action and started an email campaign in its drive against a child-friendly drag show scheduled at Downers Grove Public Library.
The parent rights group raised the issue of the appropriateness of a “Drag Queen Bingo” show to be held at the Downers Grove Public Library on Oct. 11. The event is to be hosted by drag queen Aurora Devine.
Awake IL is suggesting concerned community members engage in an email writing campaign and attend the next Downers Grove Library Board Meeting Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
“The last thing I want is for our community children to be exposed to sexually charged content simply because they visited their local library. Lewd adult content doesn’t belong at a public library event for any age group,” an Awake Illinois form letter reads. “As a taxpayer and concerned citizen, I urge the Downers Grove Library to cancel the event and discipline the staff involved in planning and hosting the event. Additionally, I request a response to questions on why this event allowed minors to register, provide their contact information and share their grade level without parental notification.”
The library says registration is full, and that there’s now a waiting list. The library says it’s gotten lots of feedback and questions from the community about the program, but insisted that the performance will be age-appropriate and has been discussed at length with librarians specially trained and educated to work with teens.
The event falls on National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11. Supporters have praised the library for its dedication to diversity and inclusion, while some—including Orland Park mayor and GOP candidate for that congressional district Keith Pekau—have called the event inappropriate and unacceptable use of taxpayer funds.
The gathering also has been condemned by Awake Illinois, a Naperville-based group that has made queerphobic social media posts and encouraged people to protest a recent drag show at a Lake in the Hills bakery.
The group’s government affairs director, former GOP lieutenant governor candidate Kathleen Murphy, handles communications for Pekau’s campaign.
Neither Pekau nor Awake Illinois leaders have responded to interview requests. […]
Library officials are speaking with Downers Grove police about extra security.
The library announced it would host an event on October 11 called Drag Bingo, set to coincide with National Coming Out Day. The event is geared toward seventh to 12th grade students.
“We want to create a safe environment where teens can see difference being celebrated first-hand with a performance that is accessible and age-appropriate,” said Julie Milavec, director of the Downers Grove Public Library.
According to library officials, the event will include a drag queen hosting a bingo game, who will then offer a brief performance where they will lip sync Katy Perry’s song “Rainbow.”
The City of Chicago and nonprofit organizations are mobilizing to provide temporary shelter and other services to dozens of migrants who arrived by bus Wednesday from Texas, according to city officials.
For weeks, there had been rumors that migrants arriving at the Texas border would be sent on charter buses to Chicago, as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star” border security initiative. […]
The mayor’s office released a statement on Wednesday evening, saying about 60 migrants arrived in Chicago.
“Chicago is a welcoming city and as such has collaborated across various departments and agencies to ensure we greeted [the migrants] with dignity and respect,” the statement read.
The migrants, mostly from Venezuela, faced long, treacherous journeys trying to reach the United States. Some migrants said they traveled for nearly 30 days, others almost 40 days, to reach Texas, crossing jungles, deserts and small towns, meeting up with other migrants along the way.
“We crossed the jungle, Colombia, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and then got here,” said Cesar Rodriguez, 21, adding that he originally wanted to go to New York but was told that they wouldn’t be able to send him there. So when they offered Chicago instead, he immediately accepted. […]
As city officials welcome incoming immigrants, various city agencies are working to provide social services in response to Abbott’s actions.
“We understand that many are fleeing violent, traumatic or otherwise unstable environments,” said a spokesperson from Lightfoot’s office. “We will respond with essential services while these individuals navigate the next steps of their journey, and our community partners have been working diligently to provide a safety net.”
* The Tribune reported 75 migrants were dropped off at Chicago’s Union Station…
”We are tired and hungry, like any other human being,” one said. “Can you help me?” he asked a Tribune reporter.
Many of the migrants waiting carried a clear plastic bag with their documents and small possessions. Few had cell phones and most had a piece of paper where they had written phone numbers of people who might be able to help them.
”We just want a place to sleep tonight,” said Jose Rios, 40, as other Venezuelan men surrounded him. They all met on their journey from Texas to Chicago, they said.
“We are so hungry but have no idea where to go or what to do,” said Rios, who left his three children and wife back in his native country. He said he migrated because the poverty in Venezuela is extreme. ”We just want to work now — have a dignified life,” he said.
Governor Greg Abbott today announced the arrival of the first group of migrants bused to Chicago, Illinois from Texas. The migrants were dropped off at Union Station tonight. In addition to Washington, D.C. and New York City, Chicago will now be a drop-off location for the busing strategy as part of the Governor’s response to President Biden’s open border policies overwhelming border communities in Texas.
“President Biden’s inaction at our southern border continues putting the lives of Texans—and Americans—at risk and is overwhelming our communities,” said Governor Abbott. “To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities Washington, D.C. and New York City as an additional drop-off location. Mayor Lightfoot loves to tout the responsibility of her city to welcome all regardless of legal status, and I look forward to seeing this responsibility in action as these migrants receive resources from a sanctuary city with the capacity to serve them.”
In April, Governor Abbott directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to charter buses to transport migrants from Texas to Washington, D.C. Earlier this month, the Governor added New York City as second drop-off location. Since beginning this busing strategy in the spring, thousands of migrants have been transported to these sanctuary cities while providing much-needed relief to Texas’ overwhelmed border communities. With its “Welcoming City Ordinance” making it a sanctuary city, Chicago will not deny city services to individuals based on their immigration status. The city also does not require local police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Illinois’ Democratic chief executive took the unusual step of releasing a late-night statement pledging asylum seekers and migrants arriving Wednesday evening in Chicago will be treated safely and with respect.
“Illinois welcomes refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants and we are working with federal and city officials to ensure that these individuals are treated with respect and safety as they look to connect with their family and friends,” said Pritzker.
“My great-grandfather came to this country as an immigrant fleeing Ukraine in 1881. Immigrants just like my family seeking freedom and opportunity built this country,” Pritzker said.
“Illinois is and has always been a welcoming state,” he added.
* Twitter coverage…
First Texas bus of migrants has arrived in Chicago.
Biden's inaction at our border puts Texans at risk & is overwhelming our communities.
We'll continue bussing migrants to sanctuary cities like NYC, DC, & now Chicago until the federal gov't does its job & secures the border. pic.twitter.com/RccsdIOXiI
A group of people stand outside Union Station after arriving on a bus with approximately 60 other migrants from Texas Wednesday in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/9Gt0jwxEWt
In 2017, I was the lead sponsor of the Trust Act and we made Illinois a welcoming state for immigrants. In 2021, after I became Speaker of the House, we made the Trust Act stronger. Why? Because immigrants are welcome here, always! Los immigrantes son bienvenidos aqui!!! https://t.co/YrAykpinXm
Officials tell WBEZ most of the migrants come from Cuba, Venezuela & Nicaragua. Upon arrival, they will receive health screenings, emergency housing and resettlement help from city & state agencies and local nonprofits.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and top state lawmakers shifted around roughly $1 billion in federal coronavirus aid to help pay for their campaign to arrest migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, exposing gaps in a law meant to bolster the country’s response to the ongoing pandemic.
Relying on the availability of generous federal relief funds, Texas repeatedly in recent months rerouted state money toward its controversial immigration crackdown — all without leaving a massive hole in its budget. But critics say the money would have been put to better use tending to a public health crisis that has killed more than 86,000 people in the state.
