Question of the day
Friday, Jul 8, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Synopsis of Rep. Deb Conroy’s newly introduced HB5766…
Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Provides that a minor who causes or attempts to cause physical self-harm or harm to another is subject to the denial of an application for or the revocation and seizure of a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card. Provides that until the age of 24 years, such a person is presumed to be a person whose mental condition is of such a nature that it poses a clear and present danger. Provides that a physician, clinical psychologist, qualified examiner, law enforcement official, school administrator, or other person who has knowledge of a minor causing or attempting to cause physical self-harm or harm to another shall report the incident to the Department of Human Services. Effective immediately.
* Rep. Conroy explained her proposal to NBC 5…
This will give us that added layer of protection, and kind of close a loophole within the Red Flag Law and hopefully make some difference while we try to figure out socially what is happening in our country.
* You’ll recall earlier this year that a man was arrested for allegedly making threats against Rep. Conroy. He apparently paid his bond, but his movements are being tracked as he awaits trial. Conroy told me this today…
As I was driving to Wisconsin and working with staff to file this, I was contacted by the county and told the man arrested in my case had penetrated the perimeter of my home. A few minutes later, my son called to say the police were at my home and needed to confirm I was safe. I had protection and still do. I had warning. These innocent families and so many around the country have no warning and no protection.
She later received an all-clear from the county.
* The Question: Do you support this bill? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
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* Dick Uihlein has contributed $5 million more to Dan Proft’s People Who Play By The Rules PAC. That brings Uihlein’s total to $12 million.
* The Republicans have 18 out of 59 Senate seats. They don’t generally demand special sessions to pass actual bills…
* From a reader: “The local gas station here in Springfield on Toronto Road has something a little bigger than a sticker about the gas tax. This 11×17 sign is on top of all of the pumps”…
Heh.
* Establishment-backed candidate concedes defeat…
By a margin of just 69 votes, Connie Cain is on track to be the Republican nominee for the 66th House District in Illinois after her opponent, Arin Thrower, conceded the race Wednesday evening.
Cain, a longtime accountant living in Gilberts, declared victory in a Facebook post Wednesday evening as the unofficial results across Kane and McHenry counties showed Cain with 3,439 votes, or 51% of the vote, and Thrower with 3,370 votes, or 49%.
Yep. This does say it all…
Cain will face Rep. Suzanne Ness (D-Crystal Lake) in the fall.
* New state Senator appointed and sworn in…
Kris Tharp, a captain and jail administrator for the Madison County Sheriff’s Office with nearly 25 years of law enforcement experience and a life-long volunteer in the Metro East, was sworn in to represent Illinois’ 56th Senate District Friday.
“I’m truly honored and humbled by this entire experience,” said Tharp (D-Bethalto). “We have a lot of important issues to explore this year, and I’m eager to serve the residents of the 56th District in this new role.”
Tharp has worked through the ranks of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and dedicated his life to improving public safety for communities throughout the Metro East. In addition to his roles as a captain and jail administrator, Tharp serves as a Deputy Commander for the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis.
In 2018, Tharp founded Madison County Triad, a partnership between the Madison County’s Sheriff’s Office, area service providers and older residents to improve the safety and quality of life of seniors in the community. He serves as president for the organization.
He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. To highlight his law enforcement credentials, Tharp is an active member of the FBI National Academy Associates, Police Benevolent and Protective Association 118, Illinois Sheriff’s Association, Illinois Correctional Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police and the International Homicide Investigator’s Association.
He is a life-long resident of the 56th District. He lives in Bethalto with his wife, Jaime. The couple has two adult sons.
Tharp, who is familiar with government work in Springfield from his time working on the Illinois Elder Abuse Task Force, is excited to return to the Capitol this fall in a new capacity and advocate for the needs of working families.
The 56th Senate District includes all or parts of Alton, Bethalto, Caseyville, Collinsville, East Alton, Edwardsville, Elsah, Fairview Heights, Glen Carbon, Godfrey, Granite City, Hartford, Maryville, O’Fallon, Roxana, South Roxana and Wood River.
He replaces former Sen. Rachelle Aud Crowe, who resigned after she was confirmed as the region’s new US Attorney.
His Republican opponent Erica Harriss responds…
This appointment has no real bearing on the upcoming election. Chicago Democrat Elites, like Senate President Don Harmon, hand-picked Senator Crowe’s replacement months ago. Ultimately there will be an election to decide who will be the next state senator from the Metro East.
“Voters are going to have the final say in November and there is a very stark contrast between what I stand for and what the Chicago Elite have planned. My message resonates with families who are frustrated with the cost of everything, who are anxious about their children’s future, and who are hungry for leadership,” Erica Harriss, Candidate for State Senate, stated.
“The Democrat Elites have chosen a candidate who will support them and their policies which keep our taxes high, send our high-paying energy jobs to other states and overseas, and release dangerous criminals onto the street.” Erica continued: “That’s not a platform I would want to run on, and this election will be a referendum on the failed leadership of the Democratic Party.”
“Voters need to hear that there is hope for the future of our state and that with good policy we can make great strides together. I have a proven record of voting to safeguard our future by lowering taxes, funding law enforcement, and standing up for local control,” said Harriss.
* New state Supreme Court Justice appointed and sworn in…
A week after Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, a comparable trail was blazed Thursday into Illinois’ top court.
Lisa Holder White took the oath in Springfield to become the first Black woman to serve as a justice on the Illinois Supreme Court in the institution’s 203-year history.
Holder White was selected by retiring Justice Rita Garman as her replacement in the central Illinois district, with the six other jurists on the court approving the appointment of the Decatur Republican this spring.
AG Raoul…
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A descent into darkness, hate and terror
Friday, Jul 8, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* First, a brief primer on Highland Park…
* NPR…
The cartoonized video of an armed Crimo in a bloody standoff with police is one example that researchers point to when explaining how some violent, fringe online communities come to influence users’ behavior.
“There’s this kind of tendency to ‘gore-post,’ which is essentially to post shocking, graphic, violent imagery in an attempt to draw some kind of camaraderie between the users in these spaces,” said Melanie Smith, head of research at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue US. Crimo appears to have been active in at least one large so-called “gore forum.”
Experts agree that it’s impossible to determine Crimo’s mental health condition from his online content. Newhouse said that the darker alternate reality communities and gore forums are designed to plant the seeds of hopelessness, nihilism and lower one’s natural reluctance to commit violence. He said he noted an inflection point on Crimo’s timeline that may indicate he had fallen farther away from real-world interaction and further into these online subcultures.
“From what we can tell, he became extraordinarily alienated from both his music audience and his in-person social networks, but clearly began exhibiting the signs of being immersed in these much much deeper Internet communities,” he said.
Crimo was a rap artist who released music online. Newhouse said the style of Crimo’s latest album was also markedly different from earlier ones.
“Something was going on in that period of time,” he said.
* The framing of that NPR article has been sharply criticized…
* And some of that criticism has included at least one of the experts quoted by NPR…
I happened to have been in touch with the same experts this NPR article quoted, and I reached out to one of them, Sarah Hightower, an independent researcher who specializes in the far right and online extremist movements, to hear what she thought about the piece.
She was worried about how it had been framed.
“You have this entire community, and they’re scared,” she told me. “And now it looks like they’re essentially being told, ‘Oh no, y’all are overreacting because it’s just edgy white boy sh*t.’”
She had explained to the writer, and in all of her interviews, that you can’t separate ideology and bigotry from these online subcultures, she told me, and she shared evidence of the suspect’s racist and antisemitic posts in hate forums.
The suspect was part of a “gore forum,” a place for people to post things like beheadings. He was part of the Nazi Catboy movement, which is… hard to explain. He was part of the far-right anime fandom movement. Hightower confirmed that he had posted on an online forum conveying Holocaust denial, overt antisemitism, the desire for a new Holocaust as well as a desire to wipe out Black people and Asian people. His last and only remaining post on Facebook before it was shut down said simply, “You are all sinners.”
Not only was the suspect visible at multiple Trump rallies, but a Highland Park resident who knew of his activity and called him a “known agitator” said he was known for violently attacking counter-protestors and referring to Black Lives Matter supporters as “monkeys.” According to a Facebook post by this resident, she had previously informed the police, who she says did nothing.
While all hateful communities are complex in their own ways, there is a common bigotry that unites and drives them, and too often spills out into real-world attacks.
Each group is propelled by bigotry against the vulnerable, an ideology of destruction, and ideologies built on white and Christian supremacy. The explicit goal is to cause terror and confusion. Like all terrorists, they want vulnerable populations to suffer not just the physical toll of a mass shooting, but the emotional toll that then follows their attacks.
While we may never fully understand the full motive behind this specific attack, and it would be wrong to label it simply as “antisemitic,” a simple fact remains: The suspect was active in many online breeding grounds for bigoted extremism, he was a known threat to a synagogue in Highland Park, and he had previously expressed hopes to annihilate minority groups.
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* Sen. Darren Bailey yesterday…
The FOID card system is simply to pilfer money from people’s pockets. That’s all it does. We have the federal firearm background check. We have age limits. We have waiting periods. We have the Firearms Restraining Act, which was passed to take care of this very issue. It’s not working, the FOID card’s not working and it needs to go.
* Yeah, about that federal background check…
There were over 1 million opportunities for someone to buy a gun from a licensed dealer without a completed background check in 2020 and 2021, according to an FBI report released last month.
In all, 1,002,274 background checks — or 4.2 percent — took longer than three business days in 2020 and 2021, a higher share than any other period since at least 2014, according to data compiled by NBC News. After the third business day, federal law allows dealers to sell weapons while the background check is still pending, which potentially puts weapons in the hands of people who can’t legally own a gun because of mental illness or their criminal history.
The FBI ultimately completed about one-fourth of those delayed background checks and discovered that 11,564 people were able to buy guns in 2020 and 2021 before the check showed that they should not have been allowed to do so, according to the FBI report. Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives then had to retrieve the weapons.
But that number only accounts for a fraction of the delayed background checks. The FBI never completed 734,604 checks from January 2020 through November 2021, the most recent data available, because they took longer than 88 days — after which the bureau must stop its research and purge the unfinished checks from its system. […]
Last month, after a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Congress extended the deadline to complete a background check to 10 business days for gun buyers under 21. That gives the FBI more time to block a sale to someone who shouldn’t have a weapon. But the new law also requires a more extensive background check for gun buyers under 21, meaning that officials will have more time but also more to do. […]
The new law doesn’t change the tight three-day deadline for gun buyers 21 and over.
* Related…
* GOP governor nominee Darren Bailey apologizes for comments after Highland Park parade shooting but struggles to move past controversy: But Bailey’s efforts to move past the controversy ran into problems of their own as the Downstate Republican conflated state gun control laws, misidentified a neighborhood in Chicago where violence occurred over the weekend and even misquoted a Bible verse.
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* COGFA…
General Funds base receipts finished the fiscal year off extremely well growing $730 million in June. This month’s growth came from a combination of all of the major revenue sources – a fitting culmination of above-average receipts that the economically-tied revenue sources have experienced throughout the fiscal year. The increase was despite June having one less receipting day than the prior fiscal year.
As has been the case many times throughout the fiscal year, corporate income tax receipts led the way by adding $373 million, or $287 million on a net basis. After seeing revenues take a temporary tumble last month due to timing issues related to the previous year’s final tax payments, personal income tax revenues responded with an increase of $189 million, or $156 million net. Sales tax receipt growth has slowed in recent months, but still managed to add another $41 million or $23 million net. […]
After dipping last month, base federal sources finished the year off strong with growth of $127 million in June. This figure does not include the $298 million in revenues from the ARPA reimbursement for Essential Government Services that the State received this month.
Year to Date
The strong month of receipts for June caps off a sensational fiscal year of revenues with base receipts totaling $50.334 billion, or $51.070 billion overall. This record-breaking fiscal year of revenues was led by the State’s “big three” revenue sources. As has been mentioned throughout the fiscal year, despite FY 2022 receipts being compared to FY 2021 which contained two periods of income tax final payments, personal income tax receipts finished the year a whopping $2.787 billion above last year’s levels, or $2.314 billion on a net basis. Perhaps more impressive was the $1.844 billion rise in corporate income tax net receipts. Sales tax receipts were just as impressive, with year-over-year growth in net receipts of $866 million.
While there were a few State sources that did see declines in FY 2022, the remaining State sources combined to finish up $82 million. These gains were led by a $153 million increase in inheritance tax revenues, which benefitted from the strong market conditions over the past several years, and a $104 million annual increase in miscellaneous State source revenues. These sources helped offset a notable loss in revenues from the corporate franchise tax [down $106 million]; cigarette taxes [down $27 million]; interest earnings [down $27 million]; and insurance taxes [down $25 million]. […]
FY 2022 ended up well exceeding all “official” projections. In total, including the revenue received from the ARPA reimbursement for Essential Government Services, actual receipts for FY 2022 finished $6.703 billion above the FY 2022 Final Budget Assumption; $2.582 billion or 5.3% above CGFA’s last official March 2022 projection and $1.884 billion or 3.8% above the GOMB revision released in April 2022. […]
A recent report from the National Association of State Budget Officers indicates that 49 states reported FY 2022 general fund revenue collections exceeding original budget forecasts.
In summary, the better-than-expected revenue gains in FY 2022 came from several atypical revenue- enhancing factors that strongly influenced the overachieving nature of the economically tied revenue sources. Those factors include: the one- time influx of federal stimulus dollars to the nation’s economy; the continuation of a pandemic-related shift from non-taxed service-based sales to taxable goods; and strong market conditions as a result of this enhanced activity, thus, creating elevated taxable income and tax revenues from corporate profits and capital gains. The influence of these particular factors is expected to wane as the State enters into FY 2023 resulting in reduced revenue expectations for the upcoming fiscal year.
* Capitol News Illinois looks at that impending revenue decline…
That’s something Gov. JB Pritzker told Capitol News Illinois last week that lawmakers planned for in April when they projected Fiscal Year 2023 revenues at $46.5 billion – an 8 percent decrease from the final FY 2022 numbers.
“We wrote that into the budget, that is a decrease in revenue just in this coming year,” Pritzker said in an interview. “So, we understand that there were some temporary nature of revenues that were coming in.” […]
A GOMB spokesperson said in an email Wednesday that the surplus has not led to any discussion of amending the FY 2023 budget in the first week of the new fiscal year. But it’s likely to allow for some flexibility.
“FY 2022 revenues continued to outperform expectations through the last quarter of the fiscal year,” GOMB spokesperson Carol Knowles said in an email. “This will allow the state to be better positioned in the coming year as we continue to monitor the national economic outlook.”
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* Sen. Sims makes some valid points in Politico today…
On the same day of the mass shooting in Highland Park, five people in Chicago were injured by gunfire and another died. Over the long weekend, Chicago saw 68 people shot and eight killed.
The Chicago violence, down by 14 percent from a year ago. according to the city’s police chief, drew passing attention while the governor of Illinois and vice president converged on Highland Park to offer condolences and raise their voices about how “enough is enough.” Even the pope offered prayers.
Highland Park isn’t experienced with such violence. Not a single murder was logged between 2000 and 2020, according to FBI crime stats, and other violent crime was a fraction of what it is in the rest of the state, The New York Times reported.
But the attention paid to the mostly white suburban town hasn’t been lost on some residents on Chicago’s South and West sides, where the brunt of the city’s violence occurs.
State Sen. Elgie Sims Jr., who carried much of the criminal justice reform measures that lawmakers passed last year, said interns in his office and seniors he visited yesterday have spoken out about the disproportionate attention.
“A woman pulled me aside to say, ‘I appreciate the work you do on gun violence, but when violence happens in our community, where’s the outpouring of support? Where are the national leaders when it happens in my community?’” Sims told Playbook.
“It’s a reasonable question,” said Sims, who has worked with fellow Democratic lawmakers to call out systemic racism in the justice system.
“It’s not to diminish the pain in Highland Park. What happened is horrible and horrific,” he said, “But it’s also horrible when it happens on the South and West sides.”
* Meanwhile, the Sun-Times reports about a possible special session on guns…
The goal in the aftermath of the July Fourth Highland Park massacre is to limit military style weapons and keep those and other firearms out of the hands of people considered dangerous to themselves or others. […]
Pritzker’s office is looking at everything from training and education about the Firearm Restraining Order, or the “Red Flag” law designed to keep guns away from those deemed a danger to themselves or others — to putting into state statute the amount of time a “clear and present danger” file should be kept, even if it’s unfounded.
State law requires police and teachers to file such reports when someone exhibits dangerous behavior that should bar them from having a gun.
The state currently keeps such records for just six months but lawmakers are seeking “clarity in the law.”
Pritzker’s office has also had discussions about potentially lowering the levels of proof required for a report to trigger action, according to a source with direct knowledge.
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LIVE COVERAGE
Friday, Jul 8, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Campaign notebook
Thursday, Jul 7, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sen. Bailey tries to walk back his “move on and celebrate” comments shortly after the Highland Park shooting…
…Adding… This Bailey campaign is a mess, man. Not only did the candidate mistakenly invent a mythical community (Edgefield Park), but the bible verse he quoted today was not Psalm 112. It was Colossians 3:12.
* Greg Hinz…
Bailey also appears to have decided to keep Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy on the job instead of moving to dump him for his own candidate, as often happens. Tracy was in Effingham for Bailey’s election night party and the gesture was noted. “If he’ll work with us, we’ll work with him,” says one insider.
* This will likely receive more coverage as the campaign year progresses…
Saying Illinois workers need a constitutional guarantee of their right to organize and bargain—and reminding workers of the war former right-wing Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner waged against them—leaders of the Illinois AFL-CIO and legislative allies began their drive for voters to pass a proposed pro-collective bargaining constitutional amendment this November.
If approved, the measure would be one of four such guarantees enshrined in the 50 state constitutions. To win, it needs either 60% of the votes on the initiative itself, or an absolute majority–50% + 1–of all votes cast in the election. […]
“We’re getting ready for the inevitable attacks” from the corporate class, Drea told the Peoria crowd. “To counter the attacks, we have to blunt the lies we expect” from those interests. One of the few Republicans to oppose the amendment during last year’s debate, State Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Altamont, called it “special interest legislation” designed to “draw campaign contributions.”
The state fed’s campaign for the amendment will include radio and TV ads, plus mailers but will rely on person-to-person contact, Drea said.
* Personal PAC endorsed Judge Rochford’s opponent in the Democratic primary, but Rochford won by 16 points…
The Personal PAC Board of Directors is extremely proud to endorse pro-choice Liz Rochford for the Illinois Supreme Court in the 2nd district, which includes Lake, Kane, Kendall, McHenry and Dekalb counties.
We believe Rochford respects the fundamental right to privacy in reproductive decision-making. The November 8th election could not be more important to the future of reproductive rights in Illinois and across the entire Midwest for the 56 million women who will depend on us being here into the next decade and beyond as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
Rochford’s opponent, Mark Curran, has been endorsed by the most extreme factions of the anti-choice movement seeking to make abortion illegal in Illinois, even in cases of rape and incest. For this reason Curran has the full support of “Illinois Right To Life,” the political arm of the anti-choice movement. From Curran’s Supreme Court campaign website: “Person of Faith-Devout Roman Catholic and follower of Christ, he founded Bibles, Badges and Business…”
* This is not a very fair take. Pritzker released two statements, one of which was consoling, before issuing the statement highlighted in this WaPo piece…
President Biden took the stage at an Independence Day barbecue just a few hours after the latest horrific shooting to upend an American city — but at his first opportunity to address the nation in person about the Highland Park killings, he did so only obliquely.
“You all heard what happened today,” Biden said. “Things will get better still, but not without more hard work together.”
It was not until about two hours later, after singer Andy Grammer finished an acoustic version of “Give Love,” that the president returned to the stage and attempted to respond to the tragedy more fully, calling for a moment of silence and decrying the spate of mass shootings. “We’ve got a lot more work to do,” Biden said, reiterating some of what he had said in a written statement earlier in the day. “We’ve got to get this under control.”
In contrast, J.B. Pritzker, Illinois’ Democratic governor, delivered a fiery response that took direct aim at those blocking gun control legislation. “If you are angry today, I’m here to tell you to be angry,” he said, seething while Biden was consoling. “I’m furious. I’m furious that yet more innocent lives were taken by gun violence.”
* Illinois Family Action…
Illinois conservatives face serious challenges in the gubernatorial race.
In 2014, Bruce “The Deceiver” Rauner beat Pat Quinn in the race for governor by about 140,000 votes. Quinn won only one county: Cook County. Rauner won in large measure by deceiving Illinoisans–including many conservatives–with his dishonest campaign promises. By the time he ran for reelection in 2018, Rauner had been found out and, as a consequence, had little support. He received nearly 58,000 fewer votes in the 2018 election and was trounced by J. B. Pritzker.
Because of his promotion of all sorts of evil, Pritzker was able to energize the Democrat base, thereby beating Rauner by over 700,000 votes in the 2018 race. While Quinn won only one county in 2014, Pritzker won at least 16 counties in 2018 (of 102 total counties in Illinois).
Here was the key for Pritzker over Rauner: He won Cook County by 836,138 votes. Fifty-one percent of his total votes came from just Cook County alone! If you throw in the following 6 counties: DuPage, Will, Lake, Kane, Champaign, and St. Clair counties, Pritzker received more votes than Rauner did statewide. In fact, Pritzker could have given the 611,791 votes he received in the rest of Illinois and donated them to Rauner and still won.
In the 2020 presidential election, Donald J. Trump received 260,608 more votes than Rauner did in those 7 counties. Of course, in a presidential election, the voter turnout is much higher which may account for the discrepancy. However, what is interesting is that in a non-presidential election year, Pritzker still received 32,855 more votes in those 7 counties than Trump did.
Therefore, two things must happen if GOP nominee Senator Darren Bailey is to beat Pritzker. He must get as many votes as Trump did and hope that the turnout for Democrats decreases by 5 percent or more or to make up the rest of the difference downstate. This will be a challenge for Bailey.
To say the least. Also, turnout across the board is always much higher in a presidential year. Bailey matching the Trump numbers would take a political hurricane and a perfect campaign run by Bailey. Trump received over 2.4 million statewide votes in 2020, while Pritzker took about 2.5 million and Bruce Rauner and Sam McCann combined received less than 2 million votes in 2018.
* Speaking of turnout, here’s the Chicago Board of Elections…
Updated Voter Turnout: 338,402 – 22.58% of registered voters in Chicago (1,498,813)
Democratic Turnout: 302,605 (89.42%)
Republican Turnout: 34,769 (10.27%)
Libertarian Turnout: 1,022 (0.30%)
Nonpartisan Turnout: 6 (0.001%)
32,461 additional votes have been counted and added to this total since the last summary report I sent on 7/1/22 , with 30,101 new Vote By Mail ballots included (received on Election Day 6/28/22 up through Tuesday 7/5/22). In total, 90,431 Vote By Mail ballots were returned and counted so far for the June 28th Primary Election.
So far, 173,571 Chicago voters chose to Early Vote or Vote By Mail (51.3% of voters), and 164,831 Chicago voters chose to vote on Election Day (48.7%).
These results will remain unofficial until the July 19th Proclamation of Results. The Board will now begin to process and count 3,662 Provisional Ballots, and will continue to count properly postmarked Vote By Mail Ballots sent to our office through July 12th. There are 34,154 Vote By Mail ballots that were sent and not returned (though we do not expect most of these will be returned with the proper postmark).
All updated results and ward by precinct totals are live on our website here: https://www.chicagoelections.gov/en/election-results.html
Four years ago, which featured hotly contested gubernatorial primaries in both parties, 452,529 voters chose Democratic ballots and 31,535 Chicagoans chose GOP ballots. So, Republican turnout was up this year by about 10 percent and Dem turnout dropped by 33 percent. Also, Chicago voter registration has fallen ever so slightly (0.3 percent). That lack of Democratic enthusiasm is being pointed to by some as a possible warning sign for the Pritzker campaign, but if Darren Bailey doesn’t right his ship soon, he’s gonna deflate his momentum in a hurry.
* And speaking of Chicago, here’s Fran Spielman…
Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas dropped $836,500 into his mayoral campaign fund on Wednesday in the first significant fundraising report filed by any of the seven candidates vying to unseat Mayor Lori Lightfoot. […]
They include $500,000 from prominent Republican donor and golf course magnate Michael Keiser; $100,000 apiece from John Canning and James Perry of Madison Dearborn Partners; $50,000 from Noel Moore, managing partner of Endurance Asset Management; and $25,000 from Edgar Bachrach of Bader Clothing.
Vallas also reported receiving $10,000 contributions from Petco Petroleum’s Jay Bergman; the O’Donnell Family LLC; and Edward J. Wehmer, president and CEO of Wintrust Financial.
After a first-quarter fundraising frenzy — her best since taking office — Lightfoot still had just $1.7 million in cash in her primary political account.
…Adding… Kendall County Republicans…
We are selling raffle tickets for four popular firearms (one raffle per firearm). Cost is $20 per ticket. Click a link below to buy a ticket for that firearm. The drawing (and last date to buy tickets) will be on July 24th at 2 PM at Mike & Denise’s in Yorkville.
To be eligible to buy a raffle ticket, you must be a FOID card holder, at least 21 years old, and legally allowed to own a gun.
• Smith & Wesson 642 38 Special
• Smith & Wesson 5.56/.223
• Glock G19 G5 9MM
• Viper G2 Silver 28 Gauge
*** UPDATE *** That Smith & Wesson 5.56/.223 being auctioned by the Kendall County Republicans is very similar to and the same caliber as the Smith & Wesson M&P15 that was used in the Highland Park shooting. Great move, folks. Sheesh.
…Adding… Edgefield Park is the new Lincoln County?…
…Adding… Heh…
…Adding… Press release…
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot’s reelection campaign announced today that it raised more than $1.25 million for the second quarter of 2022, ending the quarter with $2.5 million cash on hand.
“I’m so grateful to the supporters who are Ridin’ with Lori and have joined our reelection campaign,” said Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “When I announced my reelection bid last month, I promised to never back down from the tough fights that lie ahead. I will continue to tackle our biggest problems head on, like continuing to bring down violent crime, standing up for women’s bodily autonomy and access to high quality reproductive care, helping bridge the financial burdens that too many Chicagoans face and continuing investments in neighborhoods that have been neglected for decades. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but we are seeing what happens when we join together and focus on making a difference in people’s lives. I am honored by the support of so many Chicagoans and I will keep fighting everyday for you.”
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Question of the day
Thursday, Jul 7, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Synopsis of Rep. Daniel Didech’s HB888…
Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Provides that the Department of State Police shall conduct a search of the purchasers’ social media accounts available to the public to determine if there is any information that would disqualify the person from obtaining or require revocation of a currently valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card. Provides that each applicant for a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card shall furnish to the Department of State Police a list of every social media account.
The bill was filed in 2019 and went nowhere. A total of 3,575 people submitted electronic witness slips against the bill, compared to just 29 in support. Rep. Didech said his staff was inundated with communications from angry opponents.
* Rep. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) said Didech’s proposal would “create unnecessary bureaucracy, unacceptable delays and is an outrageous infringement on law-abiding citizens exercising both their Second and First Amendment rights” at the time.
A gun shop owner told WAND back then he was against the bill and was wondering, “Who’s going to make that judgement? What’s the parameter? What are they looking for?”
“It seems much more likely to end in profiling of people, rather than catching a possible school shooter,” Rebecca Glenberg, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Illinois, told CNN.
* But the sponsor said this…
In an increasingly online world, we must have an open discussion about the tools law enforcement may use to keep our communities safe, and my intention is to continue that discussion so we can find the right balance that respects the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners while at the same time keeping our children safe from gun violence.
And today, in the wake of the Highland Park massacre, Sen. Darren Bailey seemed to at least endorse the concept of the Illinois State Police proactively monitoring gun owners’ social media accounts.
* The Question: Do you support the concept of police agencies proactively monitoring social media accounts of Illinois gun owners? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
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State loses big court round over managed care
Thursday, Jul 7, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* David Jackson at the Better Government Association…
Since 2011, Illinois lawmakers have promised to save taxpayer dollars, improve care for low-income patients and give them more choices when selecting doctors and clinics by privatizing its Medicaid program, which was completed in 2018.
Before then, the state paid each doctor, clinic or hospital a fee for every Medicaid service rendered. Now, the state contracts with private insurance companies to make reimbursement decisions.
Under their current contracts with the state, four for-profit MCOs are supposed to quickly reimburse practitioners who care for Medicaid patients. Medicaid rules say the MCOs must pay 90% of providers’ uncontested claims within 30 days and 99% within 90 days.
But Saint Anthony Hospital, a safety net hospital on Chicago’s Southwest Side, and many providers allege the MCOs deploy bureaucratic dodges and opaque billing error codes to skirt the federal rule, make partial payments, pay years late or deny claims without explanation.
* But a federal appellate court has stepped in…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled Saint Anthony Hospital “alleged a viable claim for relief” when it sued state officials for not adequately overseeing the insurance companies they contracted as managed care organizations.
The panel overturned a lower court decision to toss out the case and underscored widespread claims from hospitals and caregivers who say they have been driven to near bankruptcy by the failure to reimburse them fairly. […]
The appeals court panel overturned a district court judge who ruled the hospital could have first arbitrated each billing claim against the insurance companies individually — a task providers said is costly, cumbersome and unachievable.
* From the decision…
The State has tools available to remedy systemic slow payment problems—problems alleged to be so serious that they threaten the viability of a major hospital and even of the managed‐care Medicaid program as administered in Illinois. If Saint Anthony can prove its claims, the chief state official could be ordered to use some of those tools to remedy systemic problems that threaten this literally vital health care program. We therefore reverse in part the dismissal of the case and remand for further proceedings.
The state essentially claimed a loophole in the definition of the term “health care providers” that allowed it to delay payments to hospitals but not to physicians. The court pointed to ample evidence to the contrary…
Given this evidence, it would seem odd to construe a provision Congress intended to assure timeliness of provider payment as not applying to many providers, as HFS advocates. That would appear to defeat the statute’s evident purpose in most cases. We decline to read the text in such a manner.
The court was split 2-1. According to the article, the state hasn’t decided on its next move.
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Unclear on the concept
Thursday, Jul 7, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Firearms Restraining Order Act…
“Firearms restraining order” means an order issued by the court, prohibiting and enjoining a named person from having in his or her custody or control, purchasing, possessing, or receiving any firearms or ammunition, or removing firearm parts that could be assembled to make an operable firearm. […]
“Petitioner” means:
(1) a family member of the respondent as defined in this Act; or
(2) a law enforcement officer who files a petition alleging that the respondent poses a danger of causing personal injury to himself, herself, or another by having in his or her custody or control, purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm.
* From Sen. Darren Bailey’s press conference today regarding the Highland Park massacre and gun violence…
Let’s be clear, Governor Pritzker, this happened on your watch. You’ve got more gun control laws than almost anywhere else in America. Our problems are more complex than just more restrictive gun laws on law abiding citizens.
The Firearms Restraining Act would have prevented the tragedy on the Fourth, but you buried it. You left it moldering in some bureaucratic basement somewhere. Your watch, Governor. It’s not enough to pass laws. You have to do the hard work to make sure that the laws do what they were intended to do. Gun owners, let’s get real. The Firearms Restraining Act exists and we need to stop pretending that it doesn’t. If we have to amend it to make sure that it protects our constitutional rights, let’s take a look at that. But for Pete’s sake, let’s use it. […]
I’m telling the people that the law is on the books and it was ignored. We didn’t know one government, starting at the top with government, Governor Pritzker ignored it. It wasn’t used, and if it would have been used, it could have prevented this. And that’s why I’m calling for special session. […]
The FOID card system is simply to pilfer money from people’s pockets. That’s all it does. We have the federal firearm background check. We have age limits. We have waiting periods. We have the Firearms Restraining Act, which was passed to take care of this very issue. It’s not working, the FOID card’s not working and it needs to go. […]
I want to find out why government didn’t enact this and it starts at the top. Governor Pritzker failed in enacting this Firearms Restriction Act. […]
We have a law on the books, the Firearm Restraint Act. And as far as I can tell, that bill looks like it should have caught it, but it’s not being used. It’s another law. People come here to Springfield. They want to pass more laws. They think passing laws is the solution. That time is wasted if we don’t have a leader that holds people can hold these laws accountable and make sure that they work, thats where the system messed up at.
Following Bailey’s logic, every time cops are called by third parties regarding an alleged threat that family witnesses denied ever happened (as was the case with the Highland Park shooter in 2019), the Illinois State Police should go to court and petition a judge to force the alleged offender to surrender their firearms. And if the person doesn’t own or possess any firearms (as was also the case with the Highland Park shooter in 2019), then… what?
* Back to Bailey…
The Highland Park shooter was posting violent videos with an intent to attack. The shooter could have been stopped and would have been stopped if Governor Pritzker and the government were living up to their true duty to protect the innocent
OK, so Sen. Bailey wants the Illinois State Police to monitor all social media at all times to see if Illinois residents and gun owners are posting any violent videos online, like, I dunno, perhaps, posting a video of shooting a printed Illinois state budget with a high-powered rifle, or defiantly proclaiming a willingness to “die on my porch before I give up my guns,” or repeatedly raffling off weapons of war to help fund a political campaign, and then take every single incidence of that to a county judge?
See how that works, Darren?
If the ISP had received a tip or otherwise stumbled across the fact that the Highland Park shooter was posting videos threatening to kill certain people or shoot up an event and didn’t do anything about it, then that’s most definitely on the ISP. Otherwise, what Bailey is proposing is a huge government overreach and intrusion with almost unlimited potential for abuse.
…Adding… The Firearms Restraining Order Act was expanded last year. Sen. Bailey voted “No.”
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ISP goes deeper in its explanation
Thursday, Jul 7, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* ISP…
In the ongoing investigation into the shooting in Highland Park on July 4, 2022, the Illinois State Police (ISP) continue to provide information to the public.
Clear and Present Danger reporting was established by Illinois law in 1990 and expanded incrementally to include school administrators and law enforcement. This law is distinct from the Firearms Restraining Order which became law in 2019. Clear and Present Danger is a mechanism used by the ISP to revoke or deny a Firearm Owner Identification Card (FOID). On the other hand, the Firearms Restraining Order is a court ordered restriction on firearms possession. Clear and Present Danger status is only one of many factors that can result in the revocation and denial of a FOID card. Other factors can include criminal records, mental health prohibitors, and other orders of protection.
Upon receipt of a Clear and Present danger report submitted to ISP, officers determine if the subject of the report has a FOID card or a pending FOID application and review all information submitted by the local reporting police department.
For a Clear and Present Danger determination, the legal standard for review ISP must meet is a preponderance of the evidence, which is a higher legal burden than probable cause. Granting a Firearms Restraining Order has an even higher burden of proof requiring “clear and convincing” evidence.
If the reviewing officer determines there is sufficient evidence to establish a clear and present danger posed by the subject of the report, then the subject’s FOID is revoked, or a pending FOID application is denied. If there is insufficient evidence, the status of the FOID or pending application is unaffected.
For the individual charged in the Highland Park shooting, in September 2019 ISP officers confirmed the individual did not have a FOID card or pending application. According to the report submitted, the threat of violence allegedly made by the individual was reported to Highland Park Police second hand. When police went to the house, both the individual and his mother disputed the threat of violence. The individual told police he did not feel like hurting himself or others and was offered mental health resources. Additionally, the report indicated the knives did not belong to the individual and were ultimately turned over to the father who claimed they were his. As stated by Highland Park Police, there was no probable cause to arrest. Upon review of the report at that time, the reviewing officer concluded there was insufficient information for a Clear and Present Danger determination.
In December of 2019 the individual applied for a FOID card. The application included a parental legal guardian affidavit signed by the father of the individual applying.
Illinois law dictates that the Illinois State Police shall issue a FOID card to an applicant who meets the statutory requirements and who has no firearms prohibitor. At the time of FOID application approval for the individual in question there was no new information to establish a clear and present danger, no arrests, no prohibiting criminal records, no mental health prohibitors, no orders of protection, no other disqualifying prohibitors and no Firearms Restraining Order. The available evidence would have been insufficient for law enforcement to seek a Firearms Restraining Order from a court.
Much of the reporting so far has focused on the Firearms Restraining Order law, but, as indicated above, that misses the point.
* I guess my next question is, did the local police ever report the alleged suicide attempt/threat to ISP?…
Officials said cops were called to Crimo’s home in April 2019 after receiving a report that he had attempted suicide a week earlier.
Officers spoke to Crimo and his parents, but the matter was handled by mental-health professionals at time, said at a news conference.
“There was no law-enforcement action to be taken. It was a mental-health issue handled by those professionals,” Covelli said.
And…
[Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli] said in April 2019, an individual contacted Highland Park Police after learning that Crimo had attempted to commit suicide. Police responded to his home but the situation was already being handled by mental health professionals and was not deemed a police matter at the time.
That report happened several months before the report of the alleged threat of violence.
Perhaps the “preponderance of the evidence” requirement could be eased by the General Assembly.
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* Coalition partner list is here. Press release…
On behalf of the members of Illinois Latino Agenda 2.0 and our respective organizations, we are once again grief-stricken and outraged by the gun violence epidemic shattering the lives of families and crippling our communities with fear.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and survivors of the awful Fourth of July mass shooting in Highland Park.
Celebrating Independence Day is a welcomed tradition of time spent making memories with family enjoying music, cookouts, fireworks, parades, and other festivities. It is also a day of reflection to contemplate what freedom means to us as members of this beautiful quilt of blended cultures united by the American flag, embracing American values.
Now the images of young and old smiling faces lining the streets of Highland Park to cheer floats and marching bands that quickly turned to looks of horror and screams of terror are unfortunately part of July Fourth memories.
The downrush of gun violence that has become frighteningly commonplace in America continues to deny us freedom of assembly, freedom to enjoy and have productive lives in our society, and freedom to live.
This weekend in Chicago, where living in violence is sadly commonplace, eight people were killed and 68 wounded, a reduction of 18 dead and 92 shot in 2021. But the Summer has just started, and we are bracing for the number of victims to soar.
As Highland Park joins Buffalo, Uvalde, and other communities forever broken by mass shootings and national attention again focuses on our country’s unique gun problem, we demand better.
We demand a special legislative session in Springfield for lawmakers to immediately address:
● Ban assault weapons, high-capacity magazines.
● Create an assault weapons registry.
● Demand mandatory fingerprinting on FOID cards.
It is time to bring about policies to keep all our communities safe from gun violence. Once again, we have proved that guns and assault weapons in the wrong hands are lethal and have no geographical boundaries, and do not discriminate
While Congress tried to develop a landmark bipartisan bill addressing gun violence after 26 years, our concerns were barely met.
The killing of seven people and 37 wounded in Highland Park are sadly part of the prevalent gun violence culture in the U.S. We are disheartened to learn that among the victims are the grandfather and the boyfriend of health volunteers at the non-profit Mano a Mano.
After 2 1/2 years of Covid19, the isolation, violence, and gun violence have increased, and it is also cause for immediate action in our cities and state’s mental health services.
ILA 2.0 is compelled to DEMAND better self-monitoring of platforms that, while enjoying their success, should fully embrace the responsibility that comes with their growth and how it affects vulnerable minds and people searching for a place and ideology to fit in. It can not only be about profits…it’s about lives.
We once again urge our local governments and philanthropy to increase resources for mental health services so that no person who needs it goes without. A number of our organizations provide mental health services– with language and cultural competence– to victims of crime and potential perpetrators. The evidence overwhelmingly supports the value of reducing crime through trauma-informed services.
The members of the ILA 2.0 are dedicated to making impactful change. By supporting common-sense gun measures, greater access to mental health services, and holistic youth programming, we aim to ensure that all recently lost are remembered through collective action.
The state significantly increased mental health funding this year and enacted a big mental health omnibus bill, which appears to be tacitly acknowledged in the release since they’re calling on local governments and philanthropy groups to step up.
…Adding… The Gun Violence Prevention PAC has also been calling for inclusion of specific issues during any upcoming special session…
Specifically, we call upon them to act quickly to regulate weapons of war that make mass shootings like today’s in Highland Park more deadly, including registration of assault rifles and semi-automatic handguns as well as limiting high capacity ammunition magazines.
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Open thread
Thursday, Jul 7, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Coming a day late to this, and it would’ve been a strong addition to yesterday’s Ken Griffin post, but here you go anyway…
Anyway, talk about whatever you want, as long as it’s Illinois-centric.
14 Comments
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LIVE COVERAGE
Thursday, Jul 7, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
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