False alarm
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
A patient being treated at the University of Chicago Medical Center for a suspected coronavirus case has tested negative for the virus, hospital officials said Tuesday night. That leaves a total of four reported COVID-19 cases in Illinois.
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Cannabis roundup
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Regulators say state law bars the release of almost all the information businesses have to submit to get lucrative licenses to grow or sell cannabis.
As a result, the public can’t see records that could show whether pot businesses have questionable funding sources or ties to unsavory people. That’s proven problematic in another state-regulated industry — gambling, where revelations of reputed mob ties have sent officials scrambling.
Concerns about a lack of transparency came up last year before the passage of the law that legalized recreational pot. Sponsors Sen. Heather Steans and Rep. Kelly Cassidy vowed to “make ownership data completely accessible.” Despite that pledge, their bill passed with a confidentiality provision that the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation recently cited in denying the Tribune’s open records requests for applications and ownership information about marijuana dispensaries. […]
Both Pritzker’s office and legislators are promising changes that would allow more disclosure of pot industry ownership, though they did not offer specifics. […]
Pam Althoff, executive director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois, said the owners of pot enterprises remain concerned about being identified, given that marijuana is still illegal under federal law.
Most other states already post this information. Get it done.
* I still can’t quite believe that Effingham, in the heart of the Eastern Bloc, went ahead with it…
With security in place and a celebratory atmosphere inside, Effingham’s Rise operation, formerly known as The Clinic Effingham, opened their doors Saturday morning for the city’s first day of adult-use cannabis sales.
It may be time for a fact-finding mission, perhaps including a stop at the Firefly Grill.
* Press release…
Community activists with the Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition announced today that they have signed a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with Nature’s Care Company, LLC (“Nature’s Care Company”), a cannabis operator seeking approval from the City of Chicago to open a new dispensary in the West Loop.
The CBA is a legally enforceable agreement designed to ensure that the economic success of the dispensary is linked with economic benefits for the communities most disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs. Among other provisions in the CBA, Nature’s Care Company has committed to:
Provide 100% living wage jobs for disproportionately impacted individuals
Hire 75% of employees from disproportionately impacted areas (“DIAs”) within two years
Donate 10% of net profits of the dispensary to community organizations working in DIAs
Contract 10% of products and services from minority and social equity businesses
Create a training and career development program for employees
Host “know-your-rights” educational events and participate in National Expungement Week
“This is a milestone moment for racial justice in the story of Illinois’ cannabis legalization,” said Doug Kelly, President of the Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition. “Nature’s Care Company is leading the way for Chicago’s new fleet of adult-use dispensaries. Their customers in the West Loop will greatly benefit from their commitment and their dollars will directly help address the historic wrongs of our cannabis laws, instead of reproducing them.”
Charles Amadin, General Manager of Nature’s Care Company, said: “We recognize the critical role we must play to help support under-served communities and citizens in Chicago. Signing this CBA is our way of saying we won’t just pay lip service to that responsibility. We applaud the Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition for driving this initiative.”
The Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition has pledged to support only those dispensaries that sign a CBA as they seek the City’s approval to open a plus-one location to sell recreational cannabis. This Friday, Nature’s Care Company and seven other dispensaries seeking approval of their plus-one locations will appear at City Hall before the Zoning Board of Appeals, which has the power to grant them the special use permit that is required to open a state-licensed cannabis business. The coalition will attend the hearing and express its support for CBA partner dispensaries like Nature’s Care Company.
* Related…
* Weed war: Pot firms race to get city OK for 7 potential dispensaries — but only 3 will ever open
* Two groups — one in favor of Naperville marijuana sales and the other against — spending thousands in campaigns for referendum votes
* Frustrated with shortages, medical marijuana patients begin growing their own at home
* Cresco Labs co-founder Caltabiano resigns: Cannabis companies that were once seen as risky by corporate executives are beginning to attract seasoned talent. Cresco recently promoted Greg Butler, a former marketing executive at Molson Coors, to chief commercial officer. GTI recently hired Julie Knudson, former chief human resources officer at GGP, and Beth Burk, general counsel, who was chief compliance officer at Aon.
* More options for recreational marijuana buyers in the metro-east
* McDonough County may approve cannabis sales tax
* SIU symposium to look at legal impact of Illinois’ recreational marijuana law
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It’s just a bill
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times editorial…
Should anybody need further evidence that an infectious, potentially deadly disease can spread like wildfire, look no further than the coronavirus.
The global outbreak of this highly contagious virus should put anti-vaxxers — science-denying parents who refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated — to shame. […]
Religious exemptions from an Illinois law requiring vaccinations are soaring in number. From 2016 through 2019, according to data from the Illinois State Board of Education, measles vaccination exemptions rose from 15,652 to 19,169, polio exemptions rose from 15,130 to 18,690, and chickenpox exemptions rose from 16,050 to 20,244.
We support legislation, introduced by State Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, to eliminate all religious exemptions to vaccinations, as called for by the American Academy of Pediatrics. No one parent’s religious convictions — or anti-science militancy masquerading as religious conviction — should be allowed to put somebody else’s child in harm’s way.
* In this case, it’s not even a bill yet. From Capitol News Illinois…
Several statewide law enforcement organizations said Monday they will strongly oppose efforts to eliminate cash bail in Illinois, one of Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s top priorities.
“We’re here to say we cannot, and unequivocally do not, support efforts being discussed to eliminate cash bail,” Jim Kaitschuk, executive director of the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, said during a news conference. “This is not the way to make the criminal justice system more equitable. It is not the way to make our communities safer.”
Kaitschuk and several other law enforcement leaders announced they had formed a new organization, Coalition for Public Safety. Its members include the Sheriffs’ Association, the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council, Chicago Lodge 7 Fraternal Order of Police, Illinois Police Benevolent and Protective Association, and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police. […]
But McDonough County Sheriff Nicholas Petitgout said bail is also an effective way to ensure someone will make their court appearances. Since the 2017 reforms went into effect, he said, the number of warrants issued in his western Illinois county has more than doubled, from fewer than 1,000 per year before the change in law to more than 2,000 per year.
I asked Jordan Abudayyeh for a response…
The governor believes the cash bail system for low and moderate risk defendants is broken and the socioeconomic barriers to justice need to be addressed. The administration welcomes questions and scrutiny in how we approach this problem, but we are committed to fixing it. From his first days in office Gov. Pritzker has worked to bring stakeholders and lawmakers together to address problems. We look forward to working with people who want to be at the table to negotiate a solution that makes our criminal justice system and communities safe, equitable and fair.
Annie Thompson at the attorney general’s office…
Attorney General Raoul has previously called for ending wealth discrimination in setting bail and will continue to work with stakeholders to evaluate reforms that ensure pretrial justice and public safety. As part of those efforts, the Attorney General’s office participates in the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices, which is working to minimize the effects of monetary conditions of release in the criminal justice system while also maximizing appropriate release and ensuring court appearances.
* Media advisory…
State Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-Tinley Park) will partner with Southwest Airlines employees to hold a press conference advocating for the expansion of sick leave for airline employees Wednesday.
Hastings will be joined by Corliss King, a flight attendant for Southwest, who was affected by this in 2017 after her husband was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease. He was hospitalized several times and received various surgeries that left him in need of care. Corliss was able to use her own accrued sick time to help care for her husband and children until 2017, when a law was passed that removed coverage for airline employees.
The bill is here.
* WCIA TV…
Lawmakers are looking to give back to some first responders. State Senators Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) and Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) are sponsoring new legislation to help volunteer firefighters and EMTs with expenses.
Senate Bill 3224 provides a $500 tax credit for qualifying first responders when they file state income tax. Since it’s a credit and not a deduction, it will decrease the amount of taxes owed or increase potential refunds.
* Related…
* Gun-owner lobby tracking 254 bills in Illinois: “We’re tracking 254 bills right now, so some are pro-gun, some are anti-gun,” Pearson said. “Most are anti-gun.”
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* From Carolyn Schofield…
The Illinois Legislative Inspector General, Carol Pope has substantiated recent ethics violation claims filed against Representative Allen Skillicorn charged with falsifying his attendance and voting record in Springfield while campaigning in Harvard, Illinois for another office on the same day;
“My investigation substantiated allegations that Representative Skillicorn was not present when the quorum roll call vote was taken at 12:15 p.m. on June 1, 2019, nor was he present for any of the votes that he was recorded as voting on prior to 3:00 p.m. Representative Skillicorn filed a letter to correct the record with the Clerk of the House.”
“I interviewed 11 people during the course of my investigation, including Clerk’s Office personnel, staff members, and several members of the General Assembly.”
“Apparently it is common practice for members to ask a seatmate or staffer to vote their switch if they need to step out and use the bathroom, or meet with leadership or talk to a constituent. It is not accepted practice for a member to ask someone to vote their switch when they are out of town, nor is it appropriate for a staffer or seatmate to take it upon themselves to vote another member’s switch when they are out of town and absent from the session.”
The LIG also indicated that no legislators were paid for the overtime session held on June 1st, 2019, at the direction of Speaker Mike Madigan. A suggestion will be made to Leadership that written protocol be put in place as some members, despite the existing set of Rules that govern the House, have not familiarized themselves with proper procedures.
Skillicorn is being challenged for his 66th District House seat by McHenry County Board Member Carolyn Schofield in the March primary.
I’ve reached out to Skillicorn for comment.
…Adding… The letter from LIG Pope…
Ms. Schofield—I wanted to update you on the status of my investigation into your complaint relating to Representative Skillicorn. My investigation substantiated your allegations that Representative Skillicorn was not present when the quorum roll call vote was taken at 12:15 p.m. on June 1, 2019, nor was he present for any of the votes that he was recorded as voting on prior to 3:00 p.m. Representative Skillicorn filed a letter to correct the record with the Clerk of the House. You can find it on pages 5-6 of the House Journal for June 1, 2019. Here is a link to the Journal:
http://www.ilga.gov/house/journals/101/2019/HJ101063R.pdf
I found no evidence that Representative Skillicorn authorized anyone to operate his switch in his absence. I interviewed 11 people during the course of my investigation, including Clerk’s Office personnel, staff members, and several members of the General Assembly. Apparently it is common practice for members to ask a seatmate or staffer to vote their switch if they need to step out and use the bathroom, or meet with leadership or talk to a constituent. It is not accepted practice for a member to ask someone to vote their switch when they are out of town, nor is it appropriate for a staffer or seatmate to take it upon themselves to vote another member’s switch when they are out of town and absent from the session. I will be suggesting to Leadership that a written protocol be put together and given to members and staff so there is no question about the procedures to be followed when a member is going to be absent. There is a set of Rules that govern the House, however, I am not sure how many members have totally familiarized themselves with the particulars of those rules. Some members could relate to me the procedures that should be followed if they are going to be absent, but some members indicated they did not know what procedures to follow if absent.
I found no evidence of malicious intent with regard to the operation of Representative Skillicorn’s switch.
No per diem was paid to any member of the House for June 1, 2019, per order of the Speaker.
Thank you for bringing this situation to my attention. I am hopeful that a written protocol provided to every member and his or her staff will prevent such a situation from reoccurring. I have closed my investigation into this matter.
Sincerely,
Carol Pope
Legislative Inspector General
State of Illinois
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Skillicorn…
I agree with everything in Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope’s findings. Clearly, mistakes were made here. I corrected the official record of the House to reflect the fact that I was not present in the chamber on June 1, 2019 during the few initial votes that were taken that day.
I strongly support LIG Carol Pope’s recommendation for a written protocol to ensure that this does not happen again. As she noted, she “found no evidence of malicious intent with regard to the operation of Representative Skillicorn’s switch.”
Indeed, there was no malice. It was mistake and we as a legislative body should clearly define what the protocol should be so that the rules are clear and mistakes like this will not be made.
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* Click here to read it for yourself.
* Meanwhile, John Bambenek recently paid $65 to troll local Democratic candidate Emily Rodriguez…
Set aside the prank for a moment. That’s just a bad video all around and… what the heck is on Rod’s face? This is the clearest evidence yet that you should not be paying him for one of his goofy videos.
* Anyway, a Rodriguez ally actually filed a complaint with the Board of Elections claiming there should be a “paid for by” on Bambenek’s silly tweet. Click here to read it. That’s kinda weird because Bambenek isn’t running for anything and currently has no active candidate committee. It’s paid for, in other words, by Bambenek himself.
Mark Maxwell…
The complaint, dated March 2nd, alleges that Bambenek has supported Rosales in his primary challenge, and that he should have included a “paid for by” disclaimer in the video he posted to his 35,000 Twitter followers.
As chairman of the County Board, Rosales, a Democrat, has an obligation to appoint someone to fill the vacant Treasurer position. Bambenek, a Republican, has expressed interest in running for that seat in November. Bambenek claims he did not coordinate the gag with Rosales, and that the $65 expense is below the reporting threshold. He also argues the satire is protected under his right to exercise political speech, and does not consider the video an ‘in-kind contribution’ to the Rosales campaign.
If the expense were to be filed with the State Board of Elections, it would not appear until the next reporting period, which is after the primary will have concluded.
Even if it was an in-kind contribution, Rosales has no campaign committee. Bambenek couldn’t file an A-1 even if he wanted to.
* From Bambenek’s response…
In fact, until about the time of filing this complaint, [Emily Rodriguez’s] own twitter profile stated something of the form “once described as a gussied up Blago”. It has since been deleted.
Yep.
* Since she was the object of ridicule, Rodriguez will get the last word…
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* He’s been saying this all along…
With the Illinios primary two weeks away and as voters in “Super Tuesday” states were going to the polls, Gov. JB Pritzker today remained neutral in the Democratic race for president.
“I’m for the Democrat,” he told reporters following an agricultural legislative day event at the Illinois State Library. “I don’t know who’s going to win Illinois. I don’t know who’s going to win the nomination. But I know one thing: (President) Donald Trump’s got to go. You can see it in the way that some of the challenges around the coronavirus are being handled. The administration has done a terrible job, in my opinion, of really helping states with the challenges they face.”
* Meanwhile…
[Sheila Nix], the president of Tusk Philanthropies, said the Biden Illinois team hit the phones to leverage the new Biden boom, making another round of calls to uncommitted Illinois elected officials and to donors.
Notice the campaign didn’t call actual voters. Biden has zero ground game here, or pretty much anywhere, for that matter. He’s got his name and a few new dollars and some intense media exposure since South Carolina. Other than that, not much.
Nix, by the way, was hired as one of Rod Blagojevich’s deputy governors after Bradley Tusk quit. She then became Jill Biden’s chief of staff before going to work for Tusk, who is a Bloomberg guy.
…Adding… Advisory…
Tuesday, March 10
12:30 p.m. Bernie 2020 Rockford Rally with Sen. Bernie Sanders
Coronado Performing Arts Center, 314 N Main St, Rockford, IL 61101
Information for the public: This event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is encouraged. Entrance is provided on a first come, first served basis. Doors open at 11:00 a.m.
* The Question: Who are you supporting for president? Make sure to explain your response and don’t start arguments with anyone else. Their opinion is their opinion. Yours is yours. Keep it that way or find yourself deleted and possibly banned. Thanks.
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COVID-19 updates
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Not good and probably more to come if this trend continues…
An annual trade show that brings close to 60,000 visitors to McCormick Place each year has canceled its event there this month, citing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
The International Housewares Association today announced it will not hold its four-day Inspired Home Show, which was scheduled for March 14-17 at the Near South Side convention center.
The Rosemont-based trade group becomes the first to cancel an event at McCormick Place amid the recent outbreak of the virus, which has set off unrest among many companies unsure of how its spread will impact their operations.
The cancelation deals a blow to the convention center and especially downtown hotels, which lose more than 47,000 room nights tied to the event.
* Sun-Times
The University of Chicago Medical Center admitted a patient Monday that is suspected of having coronavirus.
If the case is confirmed, the patient would be the fifth person in the Chicago area to have contracted the disease.
“UChicago Medicine has been preparing for this eventuality since COVID-19 became a global health concern in January,” hospital officials said in an email to faculty, staff, students and residents. “Senior hospital leadership and leaders from our infectious diseases and infection prevention teams, along with other expert clinicians, are working closely with local, state and federal health officials and continue to apply up to date recommended guidelines.”
* Sun-Times…
Chicago election officials urged voters worried about contracting coronavirus to vote by mail instead of trekking to a voting location as early voting expands countywide. […]
Despite the virus, both the city, and the county, are surging ahead with their early voting plans. Voting sites will have hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes at voting sites.
* Let’s hope this doesn’t happen here…
[Iran’s] head of Parliament said that nearly two dozen lawmakers had tested positive and should avoid meeting with members of the public, the authorities announced on Tuesday.
* Is it starting to weaken in China?…
Mushrooming outbreaks in the Mideast, Europe and South Korea contrasted with optimism in China, where thousands of recovered patients were going home. Virus clusters in the United States led schools and subways to sanitize, quickened the search for a vaccine and spread fears of vulnerability among nursing home residents. […]
In China, the count of new virus cases dropped again Tuesday, with just 125 new cases after a six-week low of 202 a day earlier. It’s still by far the hardest-hit country, with 80,151 cases and 2,943 deaths. The virus has been detected in at least 70 countries with 90,000 cases and 3,100 deaths.
China’s ambassador to the United Nations said the country was winning its battle against COVID-19.
“We are not far from the coming of the victory,” said Zhang Jun.
Then again, China is not a reliable source. Click here for more on that topic.
* Some bad news and some not so bad news…
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday that data has shown the new coronavirus disease to be considerably deadlier than the usual seasonal flu, but he added that it also appears to spread less easily.
Crucially, Tedros also said it did not appear that the new COVID-19 disease was spread readily by infected individuals who are not experiencing symptoms themselves. That news came after days of experts warning that many thousands of cases could essentially be hidden around the world, spread quietly by infected people with either mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.
Tedros said about 3.4% of confirmed COVID-19 cases have died globally, a huge increase in previous estimates which have ranged between 1-2%. Generally the seasonal flu kills less than 1% of those infected, Tedros said by way of comparison.
* Related…
* 286 Illinoisans being monitored for coronavirus, but Pritzker says risk to public remains low - Gov. J. B. Pritzker also visited Chicago’s Chinatown on Monday to help support businesses; neighborhood merchants say they’ve seen a drop in customers since the coronavirus outbreak began.
* China’s aggressive measures have slowed the coronavirus. They may not work in other countries
* Trump asked pharmaceutical execs if the flu vaccine could be used to stop coronavirus. Here’s why that wouldn’t work.
* Twitter tells all of its employees to work at home because of coronavirus
* Homeland Security facility in Washington state closes after employee visited nursing home affected by coronavirus outbreak
* ‘We are in uncharted territory,’ World Health Organization says, as coronavirus shifts west toward US, Europe: In the capital of Seoul, drive-thru virus testing centers began operating, with workers dressed head-to-toe in white protective suits leaning into cars with mouth swabs, a move meant to limit contact with possible carriers of the illness. Troops were also dispatched across the city to spray streets and alleys with disinfectant.
* Coronavirus Confusion: Miami Woman Allegedly Denied Proper Testing: In what may be the first case of coronavirus in South Florida, a woman who recently returned home from Italy says she was told by doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital that she “likely” has COVID-19, but that they are unable to verify it because state and federal officials refused to conduct the necessary tests to confirm it.
* Field Museum, Art Institute enact COVID-19 travel bans for staff
* Stadiums, arenas sit empty as coronavirus spreads
* Surfaces? Sneezes? Sex? Here’s how the coronavirus can and cannot spread.
* Which virus is deadlier? Comparing the coronavirus with the seasonal flu
* Outbreak Strikes Seattle Area as Testing Is Scrutinized
* Tim Cook and Apple Bet Everything on China. Then Coronavirus Hit. Quarantines, tariffs and slumping sales have caused agitation about the company’s strategy of assembling most of its products there
* Wuhan shake: People in China developing new ways to greet each other amid coronavirus fears - Foot-to-foot greeting comes as health officials discourage close contact around globe
* Aurora area schools working to ‘closely monitor’ coronavirus outbreak
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* Paul Simon Public Policy Institute…
Two-thirds (65 percent) of respondents said they favored a constitutional change “to allow a graduated income tax—that is, tax rates would be lower for lower-income taxpayers and higher for upper-income taxpayers.” Support was robust, with 44 percent strongly favoring and 21 percent somewhat favoring the proposal. About a third (32 percent) opposed the proposal, 24 percent strongly and 8 percent somewhat opposed.
Support for the graduated income tax proposal reached majority levels in all three of the major geographic breakdowns in Illinois: 73 percent in favor in the City of Chicago, 68 percent favorable in the Chicago suburbs and 55 percent favorable downstate. Partisan differences were more stark with 83 percent of Democrats favoring the graduated tax system, compared with only half that level of support among Republicans (41 percent). Roughly six in ten (59 percent) Independents favor the graduated tax. […]
A bare majority (51 percent) favored a constitutional amendment that would allow a reduction in retirement benefits earned in the future by state workers. About a quarter (24 percent) strongly favored, and 27 percent somewhat favored a proposal that “would preserve state retirement benefits already earned by public employees, but would also allow a reduction in the benefits earned in the future, whether by current or future employees.” More than a third (37 percent) opposed the proposal.
The pension-reduction question received majority support in Chicago (55 percent) and its suburbs (51 percent), and plurality support Downstate (48 percent). The variation occurs among partisan groups: below a majority among Democrats (48 percent) and independents (47 percent), with much more enthusiasm among Republicans (61 percent favor).
1,000 voters, MoE of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, mobile phone users were 60 percent of those polled. We’ve discussed some problems with this poll before. A big one is the sample was 56 percent male and 44 percent female. Another is that Chicago is underrepresented and the poll skewed older.
* Questions…
Some people have proposed an amendment to the Illinois Constitution that would preserve state retirement benefits already earned by public employees, but would also allow a reduction in the benefits earned in the future, whether by current or future employees?
Favor 51%
Strongly favor 24%
Somewhat favor 27%
Oppose 37%
Somewhat oppose 17%
Strongly oppose 20%
Other/don’t know 12%
Would you favor or oppose a proposal to change the Illinois Constitution to allow a graduated income tax – that is, tax rates would be lower for lower-income taxpayers and higher for upper-income taxpayers?
Favor 65%
Strongly favor 44%
Somewhat favor 21%
Oppose 32%
Somewhat oppose 8%
Strongly oppose 24%
Other/don’t know 3%
Low levels of undecideds on the tax question and high numbers of “strongly favor.”
We’ll get to some of the other questions later today.
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It always helps to have friends
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* ProPublica Illinois’ Jason Grotto…
Andrew Rubenstein rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange last November, then pumped his fist and cheered. He had much to celebrate. In a decade, the company he founded and led, Illinois-based Accel Entertainment, had grown from a tiny startup into the largest video gambling operator in the nation. Accel had also become the country’s first video gambling operator to be publicly traded. With the backing of investors, Accel now hopes to bring video gambling to other cash-strapped states hungry for new sources of revenue.
Few would have predicted Rubenstein’s fledgling enterprise to emerge as the industry leader in 2009, when Illinois legalized video gambling outside of casinos. He had no experience in the gambling business and no apparent ties to companies that, before legalization, had provided bars and restaurants with “gray” machines, simulated video slots and poker devices that were legal but widely known to be used for illegal gambling.
Rubenstein, according to the company, used a combination of savvy hires, well-timed acquisitions of other operators and infusions of capital from family, friends and private equity firms to catapult Accel to the top of the heap.
But records obtained by ProPublica Illinois, as well as interviews with current and former Accel employees who asked to remain anonymous, reveal that Rubenstein and his company also took advantage of connections at the Illinois Gaming Board. They did so using an unusual degree of access to a key board attorney during video gambling’s earliest days, when regulations were being drafted and the competition to lock up gambling locations was at its fiercest.
In addition, the company obtained internal gaming board documents about its competitors and benefited from board decisions that made it more difficult for other operators to gain a foothold in Illinois’ video gambling market.
The gaming board lawyer, Bill Bogot, was a childhood friend of Rubenstein’s. He met with Rubenstein regularly and used two private email accounts to correspond with him, answering legal questions and helping the company when it ran into snags with other regulators, according to the emails and interviews. […]
Similarly, industry insiders say the confidential documents in Accel’s possession would have given it an advantage in building its business. It’s also illegal for gaming board staff to release “protected personal information” to third parties; gaming board officials said they would investigate the leaked confidential documents and, if appropriate, forward any findings to other authorities.
“The IGB takes these allegations very seriously and will not tolerate unethical or illegal conduct of any kind,” said Marcus Fruchter, a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement lawyer appointed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in May 2019 to run the gaming board.
Bogot said in an interview that he would have given any other video gambling operator the same information he provided to Rubenstein in the emails.
How many times were we told that the Illinois Gaming Board Chairman was running a super-tight ship? The Tribune editorial board was solidly behind him, and yet we keep seeing these sorts of stories emerge years later.
* Also, this…
Bogot left the board in July 2013 and not long after went to work for Donna More, Accel’s gaming attorney. More was the gaming board’s first general counsel and is currently running in the Democratic primary for Cook County state’s attorney.
And was endorsed by the Tribune, of course.
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Putting The United Back In United States
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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He’s a Leader: Mike led efforts to bring New York City back from the 2001 terror attacks and the 2008 financial crisis, and prepared the city against numerous crises such as hurricanes and possible pandemics including Swine Flu and West Nile Virus. He’d do the same in the face of the Coronavirus outbreak.
Mike Can’t Be Bought: He is self-funding this campaign and no special interests will influence him.
No other candidate has done more and no one has made proposals that go as far as Mike does for Black America, Women’s rights, the Latino community, LGBTQ+, Labor, Education, Climate Change, Science and much more.
Watch “Mike’s Story,” here.
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Media feud escalates
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Brett Rowland and Dan McCaleb at The Center Square…
The office of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker asked the editor of a west-central Illinois newspaper in February to unpublish a news story by The Center Square about the governor’s plans to cut spending if voters don’t pass a progressive income tax in November.
In an email to the editor of The Jacksonville Journal-Courier, a spokeswoman for the governor said the article was “flawed” and lacked context.
“This ‘article’ is filled with mischaracterizations and devoid of any context in which the Governor talked about the budget challenges the state faces and how, as he said and is not reported, the state will have to manage through them,” spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh wrote in the Feb. 10 email. “Ultimately, it would be prudent to take down this partisan content masquerading as news.”
A nearly 2-minute video that accompanies the same story on The Center Square’s website shows Pritzker saying what he is quoted as saying in the story. The governor’s office did not alert The Center Square to any errors in the Feb. 7 article, headlined “If voters reject progressive income tax, Pritzker promises to cut state spending,” and no corrections were published.
“We have a clear corrections policy. The Center Square story in question is accurate – both factually and contextually – and the Jacksonville Journal-Courier, which refused to comply with this outrageous request, agrees with us,” Chris Krug – publisher of The Center Square, the national nonprofit, nonpartisan newswire – said Monday. “It’s shameful that Gov. Pritzker and his office would attempt to bully a news media outlet into unpublishing a factual news story – for any reason.”
David Bauer, editor and publisher of the Jacksonville Journal-Courier, has been out of the office and unavailable for comment.
The Center Square obtained the email through a request under the state’s open records laws. At least three other news outlets also published The Center Square story.
In the email to the Jacksonville Journal-Courier, Abudayyeh called The Center Square’s reporting partisan and included a link to a Columbia Journalism Review article that does not mention the nonprofit news organization.
“The governor’s office attempted to mislead an Illinois news outlet by linking to a story that is not about The Center Square,” Krug said. “Media has a responsibility to accurately report the news. This is a blatant attempt to censor the news. The governor has no business policing media for stories with which he disagrees. He owes our team an apology.”
Abudayyeh, who previously worked as a reporter for WICS TV in Springfield, did not respond to a request for comment about her email to the Jacksonville newspaper.
Pritzker has made changing the state’s constitution to allow for a progressive income tax the cornerstone of his first term in office. His $42 billion fiscal 2021 budget proposal includes $1.4 billion in new revenue from a proposed progressive income tax that voters won’t decide on until November.
The Center Square covers state government and statewide issues in Illinois and 24 other states with a focus on government taxing, spending and regulatory issues. It allows other news media outlets to republish its stories.
Sam Fisher, president and CEO of the Illinois Press Association, whose organization operates the Illinois First Amendment Center, declined to comment.
Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said the governor’s office did nothing illegal but said it smacked of “intimidation.”
“The governor’s office is probably within its right to make this request but it does smack of intimidation for the governor’s office to presume to tell a news outlet what it should and should not publish,” Lueders, who also is editor of Progressive magazine, said. “But the ultimate decision is with the news outlet. I think journalists often get blowback from politicians and they need to defend their rights to publish what they want to publish. I’m glad that the newspaper, in this case, didn’t give in to it.”
Pritzker’s office’s attempt to kill a news story is not the first time staff of a sitting U.S. governor has attempted to have a Center Square story unpublished.
In September, the office of Colorado Gov. Jared Polis asked editors of two Colorado newspapers to unpublish a news story by The Center Square that raised the question of the cost of a new office Polis created and included a comment from a Senate GOP spokesperson criticizing the fact it was the third new office created this year. Both Colorado newspapers also refused to comply with the request.
I remember that story because I specifically decided not to post it here. It seemed to be lacking context, but that’s just me. In retrospect, what I probably should’ve done was posted the story and made fun of the liberal governor for warning about 15 percent budget cuts that everybody knows he’ll never willingly make.
The Pritzker administration does not respond to any inquiries from Center Square reporters, but the governor does take questions from them at press conferences.
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Support The Healthy Youth Act
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The Healthy Youth Act builds upon the current requirement that instruction be medically accurate, developmentally and age appropriate to include instruction that is also culturally and linguistically appropriate and adapted for students with disabilities and non-English speaking students for grades K-12.
It also removes outdated, stigmatizing language and updates the current 6-12 standards for health and sexual health education courses by including information on healthy relationships and decision making; STIs including HIV; puberty, growth, and adolescent development; gender identity, gender expression; and sexual orientation; personal safety; and pregnancy and reproduction.
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* From a reader…
Hi Rich,
I live in the 13th Ward and I got the attached letter at my door today from someone named “Steven Hensley” recommending I support Dan Lipinski for Congress and others.
I googled the name Steven Hensley and found this article from the Tribune. I don’t think it’s right that someone who is tied up in this stuff should be trying to influence me and my neighbors’ votes.
I don’t want to be involved or have my name associated with any of this, but I think people need to know.
Thanks
Must be a transplant.
* From the linked article…
House Speaker Michael Madigan swayed the University of Illinois to admit the relatives of public officials, political allies and donors who contributed $115,200 to campaign funds he controls, a Tribune investigation has found. […]
Madigan also sponsored a relative of Steven Hensley, a Madigan campaign contributor and circulator of petitions for the speaker’s campaigns. The relative, referred to in university records as a “Madigan request,” was an alternate to get into a competitive graduate program at the Chicago campus. The applicant eventually was admitted. What’s more, the relative then received more than $32,000 in taxpayer-funded legislative scholarships from the speaker.
* The flier…
Another handout is here. My favorite part…
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Ignorance is not bliss, it’s just ignorant
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Southern Illinoisan interviews Rep. Dave Severin (R-Benton) and his GOP primary opponent Tim Arview…
The two also have different takes on Illinois’ pension woes, caused by years of lawmakers and governors agreeing to skimp on their funding obligations. Severin said that he uses his position to advocate for the state making its required payments in annual budgets. But he said that he would not make further adjustments to benefits. He opposes a proposal to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to tie annual cost-of-living adjustments, or COLA — currently a fixed, compounded 3% annually — to inflation.
Arview, on the other hand, said he would support efforts to tie the COLA to inflation. He also suggested the state pass legislation creating a new benefits structure for incoming employees. Arview was not familiar with legislation the General Assembly passed to do that a decade ago, creating a second tier effective for new employees hired after 2010. Given that information, Arview said he would create a third tier and cut their benefits by 2% compared to the second tier employees.
And then Arview went on to opine on his brand new idea he just came up with after being informed that he was uninformed.
*facepalm*
* Meanwhile, this is hot off the presses from the National Institute on Retirement Security…
As many small towns and rural communities across America face shrinking populations and slowing economic growth, a new report finds that one positive economic contributor to these areas is the flow of benefit dollars from public pension plans. In 2018, public pension benefit dollars represented between one and three percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on average among the 1,401 counties in 19 states studied. […]
This new report finds that public pension benefit dollars also account for significant amounts of total personal income in counties across the nineteen states studied. For all 1,401 counties in this study, pension benefit dollars represent an average of 1.37 percent of total personal income, while some counties experience more than six percent of total personal income derived from pension dollars.
The report’s key findings are as follows:
* Public pension benefit dollars represent between one and three percent of GDP on average in the 1,401 counties studied.
* Rural counties and counties with state capitals have the highest percentages of populations receiving public pension benefits.
* Small town counties experience a greater relative impact both in terms of GDP and total personal income from public pension benefit dollars than rural or metropolitan counties.
* Rural counties experience more of an impact in terms of personal income than metropolitan counties, whereas metropolitan counties experience more of an impact in terms of GDP than rural counties.
* Counties with state capitals are outliers from other metropolitan counties, likely because there is a greater density of public employees in these counties, most of whom remain in these counties in retirement.
* On average, rural counties have lost population while small town counties and metropolitan counties have gained population in the period between 2000 and 2018, but the connection between population change and the relative impact of public pension benefit dollars is weak.
The study is here.
* A couple of counties in Rep. Severin’s district with the percent of GDP represented by public pension benefit dollars…
Franklin 3.19 percent
Williamson 3.1 percent
…Adding… Meant to add this Tribune headline…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated income tax plan won’t fix Illinois’ pension problems, ratings agency says
Nobody, but nobody ever implied that the proposal would “fix” the problems.
The headline reminds me of the stories about how cannabis revenues wouldn’t cure the state’s many fiscal ills. Um, there is no single, easy cure. Those who think there is such a thing should probably get their heads checked.
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* If you’re driving down to session on Interstate 55, here’s an advisory from the Illinois State Police…
I-55 southbound at milepost 126 is shut down near Lincoln, IL. A small plane has crashed. IDOT is on scene and will be working on a detour.
Use this as an open thread, if you wish.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the State Police…
At approximately 08:49, a small airplane crashed on I-55 at M/P 126 in Lincoln IL. The plane became fully engulfed upon impact in the middle of the interstate. Multiple Agencies on the scene to assist. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been notified and is responding. I-55 S/B traffic is being diverted at M/P 126 into Lincoln, IL by IDOT. I-55 S/B road closure is expected for an extended period of time (4-5 hours).
*** UPDATE 2 *** ISP…
I-55 S/B has been reopened officially at 14:30
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* From the governor’s office…
MEMORANDUM
TO: All Issuers of Health Insurance Coverage and Travel Insurance
FROM: Robert H. Muriel, Director of Insurance
DATE: March 02, 2020
Re: Insurance Coverage for Coronavirus COVID 19
In the midst of the ongoing COVID 19 outbreak, the Illinois Department of Insurance (Department) is issuing this bulletin in recognition of the critical role that health insurance coverage plays in the public’s actual and perceived access to and affordability of health care services. This bulletin does not apply to excepted benefit policies or short-term, limited-duration health insurance coverage.
Balance Billing and Surprise Bills
Members of the public may seek a variety of forms of health care in connection with COVID 19, including physician office visits, laboratory testing, urgent care services, and emergency services, among others. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) have agreed to bear the cost of the lab test for the presence of COVID 19. However, it is possible that hospitals will still charge their own fees for collecting the specimens, which then could be billed to the patient or to the patient’s health insurance issuer. The federal government also may stop covering the cost of CDC lab test at some point. Press coverage of the outbreak has revealed uncertainty for the moment about who will bear the costs arising from quarantines imposed upon individuals returning from overseas, including the hospital stay and ambulance transportation.
Given this uncertainty, it bears a reminder that Section 356z.3a of the Illinois Insurance Code requires health insurance issuers to impose no greater cost-sharing on an enrollee than their coverage provides at the in-network level when the enrollee receives care from certain specialists at participating network hospital or participating ambulatory surgical center, even if the specialists themselves are not participating providers. This requirement does not apply if the enrollee has willfully chosen a non-participating provider specialist when a participating provider was available. These specializations include radiology, anesthesiology, pathology, emergency physicians, and neonatology, some of which could be called upon to address testing or treatment in connection with COVID 19. The enrollee must be held harmless from any of these providers’ charges that exceed the applicable cost-sharing for an in-network provider, regardless of whether the issuer and provider have agreed upon the overall charges.
Additionally, emergency services for an emergency medical condition must be covered at the in-network level regardless of which provider performs the services. 215 ILCS 5/370o, 124/10(b)(7), and 134/65. Emergency services include transportation services, such as ambulance services, as well as inpatient and outpatient hospital services from a qualified provider that are needed to evaluate or stabilize the patient. Many individuals who have contracted COVID 19 are only mildly ill and do not have an emergency medical condition that triggers this consumer protection, but exceptional circumstances may arise.
Barriers from Cost-Sharing
Individuals enrolled in health insurance coverage with a high deductible could be reluctant to seek testing or treatment because of the anticipated cost. The Department encourages health insurance issuers to consider all feasible and prudent options to reduce the barriers of cost-sharing for testing and treatment of COVID 19 during the outbreak.
Prescription Drug Supply
The CDC and American Red Cross have general guidance for disaster preparedness that households should maintain at least a 30-day supply of any prescription drugs used by household members. In the event that individuals are subject to quarantine at home for COVID 19, they could be reliant on their existing supplies. To the extent consistent with clinical guidelines, and in a manner prudently calculated to ensure an enrollee’s ability to maintain a 30-day supply at home during the outbreak, the Department encourages issuers to cover enrollees for prescription drug refills even when the enrollee has not yet reached their scheduled refill date, provided that the prescription itself would remain valid beyond the refill date. This recommendation does not apply to prescription drugs with a high likelihood of abuse, such as opioids that are restricted to 7-day prescriptions.
In the same vein, the Department encourages issuers to consider allowing enrollees the temporary use of out-of-network pharmacies at the in-network benefit level of coverage in the event a shortage of medications occurs at network pharmacies.
Health insurance issuers are also reminded that Illinois law requires that any form of third-party payments for prescription drugs, such as drug manufacturers’ coupons or financial assistance from not-for-profit or government organizations, be counted toward a policy’s applicable cost-sharing limitations, including any copay, coinsurance, deductible, or out-of-pocket maximum. 215 ILCS 5/155.36 and 134/30(d).
Denial or Termination of Coverage
Section 356z.27 of the Illinois Insurance Code prohibits individual or group accident and health insurance from imposing any pre-existing condition exclusions, including in connection with COVID 19. Federal law and state regulations provide protections against preexisting condition exclusions in health insurance coverage, as well. 42 U.S.C. 300gg-3; 50 Ill. Adm. Code 2001.5.
A health insurance issuer may not cancel or nonrenew coverage based on an enrollee’s receipt of, or attempt to obtain, treatment or testing for COVID 19. An issuer also may not deny enrollment in new coverage based on testing for or treatment of COVID 19. See 50 Ill. Adm. Code 2001.4.
Travel Insurance
Unless a travel insurance policy contains an exception applicable to COVID 19, a policy of travel insurance that covers the risks sickness, accident, or death incident to travel presumptively must cover such risks relating to COVID 19. The extent of coverage for health care services, including emergency transportation within a foreign country, as well as the costs of returning to the United States for further treatment, may depend on the terms and conditions of the policy.
Public Education
Issuers have an opportunity to magnify public health education efforts to relay guidance about mitigating the risk for contracting or spreading COVID 19 and to explain options available for covered health care services. Informative communications received from an issuer could reassure enrollees that medically necessary testing and treatment will be covered, and thereby reduce the risk of the virus spreading untracked and untreated. The Department encourages informative engagement with enrollees subject to the guidance of public health officials.
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Question of the day
Monday, Mar 2, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Your current level of concern about COVID-19? Make sure to explain, please.
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Justice Charles Freeman
Monday, Mar 2, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Illinois Supreme Court…
Justice Charles E. Freeman, who had a long and distinguished career on the Illinois Supreme Court from 1990 to 2018 and was the first African American to serve on the Court and as Chief Justice, passed away on March 2, 2020. He was 86.
“It is with great sadness that I have learned of the passing of Justice Charles E. Freeman. Charles and I had been acquaintances for several decades before I joined the court, having often attended many of the same social events,” Chief Justice Anne M. Burke said. “However, we became close friends once we became colleagues and I considered Charles to be my mentor. He was a gentleman and a truly gracious individual. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. He was a consensus builder and treated everyone equally and with respect.”
Chief Justice Burke continued: “Justice Freeman was also a trailblazer. He was the first African American to become a member of the court and the first African American Chief Justice, positions he held with dignity and integrity. He was an accomplished jurist as well, serving the court with skill for almost 30 years.
“Justice Freeman was a devoted family man. He was married to the love of his life, Marylee for more than 50 years. Charles once told me that Marylee would slip a little love note into his suitcase every time he travelled to Springfield. I knew then that they had one of those storybook romances – everlasting. Charles was also a loving father to his son, Kevin, and daughter-in-law Cami, and a devoted grandfather to his grandchildren, Skye and Miles.
“He will be greatly missed.”
Born in Richmond, Virginia, on December 12, 1933, Freeman descended from slaves freed by Quakers before the American Civil War. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Union University in 1954 and earned his Juris Doctor from the John Marshall Law School in 1962.
In private practice from 1962-1976, Freeman also served as an Illinois assistant attorney general, Cook County assistant state’s attorney, and assistant attorney for the County Board of Election Commissioners. He was appointed by Illinois Gov. Otto Kerner as an arbitrator with the Illinois Industrial Commission, where for nine years he heard thousands of work-related injury cases. Then from 1973-1976, under Gov. Dan Walker, he served on the Illinois Commerce Commission.
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Spending pressures abound
Monday, Mar 2, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WTAX…
As the group which represents the state’s mayors and city councils rolls out its legislative wish list for 2020, the cities want a return to the old days for getting money from the state.
River Forest Village President Catherine Adduci wants the “local government distributive fund” returned to ten percent of the state income tax.
“If you can just think, taking another half percent, or another percent, we are talking about $45 million more that can come back to the municipalities. That’s not insignificant,” Adduci told a Capitol news conference Monday. “I don’t think there’s a mayor that is part of the Illinois Municipal League that is not concerned about this constant picking at the possible revenue we have in our budgets”
That LGDF was ten percent for years and was cut to about six percent around ten years ago. The cities want it back at ten percent, whether the graduated income tax passes or fails.
* Republican Sen. Jason Barickman…
Gov. JB Pritzker recently gave his annual budget address in Springfield. In his speech, he laid out his priorities for funding, and there were certainly some good things in there that we can all agree with. The total price tag, however, adds up to $1.6 billion dollars in new spending. Where will the additional money come from? The majority of it would come from the passage of a tax increase the Governor is seeking. Because that new tax money isn’t guaranteed, the governor has proposed holding a certain amount of spending back, until after he sees if the new tax passes.
Unfortunately, the money he is planning on holding back includes $150 million destined for our schools, an idea with which I strongly disagree.
* Rep. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) and Stephenson County Sheriff David Snyders…
You may have seen that we recently alerted the public to a very serious concern with funding law enforcement training in the State of Illinois. Without intervention by the Illinois legislature, the responsibility for paying for law enforcement training will be shifted from minor traffic offenses and criminals convicted of more serious crimes paying for this training to, instead, Illinois taxpayers picking up the tab as part of a bigger progressive push to hold criminals less accountable for their actions.
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* Press release…
Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 14 attorneys general, announced settlement agreements under which three national fast food franchisors will cease using “no-poach” agreements, which restrict the right of fast food workers to move from one franchise to another within the same restaurant chain.
The agreements entered with the chains Burger King, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Tim Hortons, which are owned by Restaurant Brands International, are the result of an investigation into national fast food franchises announced by the states in July 2018 over concerns that no-poach agreements hurt low-wage workers by limiting their ability to secure better paying jobs.
“I will continue to push restaurants to end their use of no-poach agreements, which allow businesses to take advantage of low-wage workers,” Raoul said. “These agreements stop employees from seeking higher-paying opportunities and escaping the cycle of poverty.”
Under the terms of the settlements, the franchisors have agreed to stop including no-poach provisions in any of their franchise agreements and to stop enforcing such provisions in any franchise agreements already in place. The franchisors also have agreed to amend existing franchise agreements to remove no-poach provisions and to ask their franchisees to post notices in all locations to inform employees of the settlement.
Raoul and the coalition began their investigation in July 2018 by sending letters to Arby’s, Burger King, Dunkin’ Brands, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Little Caesars, Panera Bread, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, and Wendy’s requesting documents, including copies of franchise agreements and communications related to no-poach provisions. Raoul and the coalition alleged that no-poach provisions make it difficult for workers to improve their earning potential by moving from one job to another or seeking a higher-paying job at another franchise location. Additionally, Raoul and the coalition argued that many workers are unaware they are subject to these no-poach provisions.
In March 2019, the attorneys general announced they had reached settlements with Dunkin’, Arby’s, Five Guys, Little Caesars and Panera under which the restaurants agreed to cease using no-poach provisions in their franchise agreements. These franchisors have reported that all franchisees in the settling states amended their franchise agreements to remove the no-poach provisions. Wendy’s provided confirmation that it never used no-poach provisions in their contracts with franchisees.
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It’s just a bill
Monday, Mar 2, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Center Square…
A new proposal in Springfield would open up a whole new market of direct-to-consumer wine delivery.
Currently, only the producer of wine can ship bottles into Illinois and deliver them to a customer. A vineyard sending their wine club shipment, for instance. If Senate Bill 3830, sponsored by state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, is enacted, Illinois residents could have wine shipped to them from retailers or wine clubs from all over the world.
The bill is a response to the protectionist and anti-consumer ban on consumers receiving wine shipments from out-of-state retailers and wine clubs, said Tom Wark, executive director of the National Association of Wine Retailers.
“When you have an entire group from the middleman wholesaler to the Illinois retailer who don’t have to deal with competition from around the country, what you’ve got is protectionism,” he said.
Should the ban be lifted, Wark said the state’s tax revenue would increase immediately.
“In the first year, the state of Illinois would reap somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million to $6 million in tax revenue,” he said.
It would also put an end to an ongoing lawsuit challenging the ban’s constitutionality.
* SJ-R…
The team name “Indians” is labeled across Pawnee High School’s football and basketball jerseys and a Native American is depicted on the football scoreboard and on the matted walls in its gymnasium.
But the high school doesn’t offer specific classes geared toward Native American history or culture. It is instead tied into subjects within U.S. history courses.
Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, wants high schools with Native American imagery to provide classes and school-wide programs teaching Native American culture and societal contributions in order to keep its team name and imagery.
West said there are 52 high schools in Illinois that have Native American imagery, with the Pawnee Indians, about 20 miles south of Springfield, being one of them. Under his proposal (House Bill 4783), the schools would also have to receive written consent from a Native American tribe based within 500 miles and renew the consent every five years.
* Capitol News Illinois…
Certain chemicals that are commonly used as sealants on asphalt driveways, parking lots and playgrounds could soon come under state regulation over concerns about their impact on human health and the environment.
A state Senate committee advanced a bill Thursday that would require public entities, including schools and state agencies, to publicly disclose their use of coal tar-based sealants or any other sealants with high concentrations of a substance called “polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon,” or PAH, a compound that federal officials say poses risk to both human health and the environment.
“According to the American Medical Association, it increases your chances of developing certain kinds of cancers by 38 times,” said Sen. Laura Fine, D-Glenview, the lead sponsor of Senate Bill 2954. “And so with this legislation, we’re just educating parents of what may or may not be on their child’s playground so they can make that decision for their health.”
The bill requires public schools to inform the public at least 90 days before the signing of a contract to use the chemical. Those entities also must post, for a minimum of 10 years after application, signage on the school’s grounds regarding the dangers the use of the chemical poses.
* Other bills…
* State lawmakers introduce bills to reform DCFS
* New proposal could change how schools report data to state
* Municipal group critical of bill to require all Illinois fire districts to levy foreign fire insurance fees
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Happy Pulaski Day!
Monday, Mar 2, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mark Brown…
For many if not most Chicagoans, Pulaski Day is that quirky bonus Illinois holiday that nobody else gets: an opportunity perhaps to take the kids for a three-day weekend getaway to the Dells without having to fight the crowds unleashed on a real holiday.
Not so for our political leaders, who in a fitting payback for this blatant sop to Polish-American voters, must stick close to home.
That’s because no current or aspiring officeholder dare miss the command appearance at the annual Pulaski Day celebration at the Polish Museum of America, 984 N. Milwaukee Avenue.
On most Pulaski Days, you will find at least one U.S. senator, several Congressmen, the governor, the mayor, the county board president and numerous lesser figures seated on the stage of the museum’s Great Hall.
* Tribune reporter…
* It’s not a state day-off holiday, so that’s why I’m working today…
* Related…
* Who was Casimir Pulaski and why does he have his own holiday? 9 things to know about a Poland-born American hero
* Celebrate Casimir Pulaski Day At The Polish Museum of America
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*** UPDATED x1 *** COVID-19 roundup
Monday, Mar 2, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
– The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) are today announcing that a fourth Illinois patient has tested positive for COVID-19. The tests conducted in Illinois resulted in presumptive positives for COVID-19. The positive test results will have to be confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lab. The individual is a woman in her 70s and is the spouse of the third case – a man in his 70s. This fourth case is quarantined at home and is complying with health officials. Both cases are reported to be in good condition.
Public health officials are working to identify and actively monitor individuals who were in contact with both patients in an effort to prevent additional transmission. Public health officials will reach out to individuals who may have been exposed.
Governor JB Pritzker has requested that hospitals across the state implement additional testing to improve surveillance for COVID-19. Illinois was the first state to provide COVID-19 testing and Gov. Pritzker announced two more IDPH labs in central and southern Illinois that will be able to test specimens this week.
Illinois’ previously confirmed two cases of COVID-19 and both patients made a full recovery.
Symptoms reported among patients have included mild to severe respiratory illness with fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. Right now, the virus has not been found to be spreading widely in the U.S., and the risk to the general public remains low. Public health officials are encouraging the public to not alter their daily routines and remain vigilant about keeping germs from spreading, by covering coughs and sneezes, washing hands with warm soap and water, and staying home when sick.
Easier said than done about that last point. If you don’t have paid sick leave at your job, staying home could mean financial devastation.
* Earlier…
Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights confirmed Monday morning a patient who’s tested positive for coronavirus is being treated at the northwest suburban hospital, as a local school district told parents two staffers and their two children were staying home because of exposure to a person who treated someone with coronavirus.
The patient was the third in Illinois to be diagnosed with coronavirus. The hospital issued a statement saying it is following all associated protocol, including examining who the patient may have had contact with and treating the patient in isolation.
The hospital statement said the state is requesting assistance from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team and confirmation of the diagnosis from one of its labs.
* Brace yourselves…
Researchers who have examined the genomes of two coronavirus infections in Washington State say the similarities between the cases suggest that the virus may have been spreading in the state for weeks.
Washington had the United States’ first confirmed case of coronavirus, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 20. Based on an analysis of the virus’s genetic sequence, another case that surfaced in the state and was announced on Friday probably was descended from that first case.
The two people live in the same county, but are not known to have had contact with one another, and the second case occurred well after the first would no longer be expected to be contagious. So the genetic findings suggest that the virus has been spreading through other people in the community for close to six weeks, according to one of the scientists who compared the sequences, Trevor Bedford, an associate professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington.
Dr. Bedford said it was possible that the two cases could be unrelated, and had been introduced separately into the United States. But he said that was unlikely, however, because in both cases the virus contained a genetic variation that appears to be rare — it was found in only two of the 59 samples whose sequences have been shared from China, where the virus originated.
* Daily Herald…
In preparation for a possible outbreak, the Illinois Department of Public Health is assessing hospitals throughout the state for available space should more people require care for coronavirus infection. The department also is assessing the availability of personal protective equipment — gloves, masks, gowns, goggles and the like — for health care workers.
Health care providers and their individual hospitals, meanwhile, are preparing themselves by implementing infection prevention protocols, screening patients for symptoms and risk factors, and running drills on their response to a positive diagnosis of COVID-19.
“We assembled a team representing infection prevention, emergency preparedness, supply chain and other departments to ensure our facilities are prepared with ample supplies and support to keep our patients and team members safe,” said Dr. Gary Stuck, chief medical officer of the Downers Grove-based Advocate Aurora Health hospitals.
* This is a very real problem…
*** UPDATE *** Media advisory…
UPDATED: Daily Public Schedule: Monday, Mar. 2, 2020
What: Governor JB Pritzker and Director of Illinois Department of Public Health Dr. Ngozi Ezike to provide update on COVID-19 cases.
When: 2:30pm
Where: Blue Room, Thompson Center, Chicago
…Adding… Watch or listen live…
https://multimedia.illinois.gov/balance/press-live.html
https://multimedia.illinois.gov/balance/press-live-cc.html
https://multimedia.illinois.gov/balance/press-live-a.html
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* It has long appeared as though the most high-profile establishment Democrats were holding back on their support for former VP Joe Biden until after he proved he could actually compete. Besides, nobody was going to convince Pete Buttigieg or Tom Steyer to bow out before Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina voted.
But with those four over-hyped smallish contests behind them and with the massive Super Tuesday just around the corner and then the Illinois/Ohio/Florida primaries on March 17th, the time was simply right.
And so…
Citing the strength of his experience on foreign policy, Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday morning.
The announcement is the latest in a series of endorsements that has the Democratic establishment in Illinois lining up squarely behind Biden ahead of a primary that is a little more than two weeks away.
Duckworth’s backing came just hours after former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a fellow veteran, bowed out of the race. She also decided to weigh in on the race amid calls for the party’s moderates to unify around Biden in a bid to stop Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders from accumulating an insurmountable delegate lead in the presidential race.
Just a bragging bundler for now, but something to keep in mind…
* And…
Secretary of State Jesse White, the longest-serving statewide official in Illinois, has endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden ahead of the March 17 presidential primary.
White, one of the state’s most prominent African American politicians, said the decision came down to which candidate has the best chance to win in November.
“I’ve been asked by a number of candidates for their support,” White said in an interview Saturday afternoon. “I decided I was going to go with Joe Biden, because I believe that he has what it takes to be able to beat Donald Trump and put this country back on a sound footing.”
You may also have noticed that Speaker Madigan’s 13th Ward endorsed three Biden delegate candidates.
A list of all Illinois presidential endorsements is here.
…Adding… The consolidation continues…
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Two overlooked Illinois contests
Monday, Mar 2, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Antonia Ayres-Brown at the Tribune…
Questions about diversity and judicial reform have marked a contentious campaign to fill the seat of retired Illinois Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Freeman, the only person of color ever elected to the state’s highest court.
Freeman was elected in 1990 and served 27 years, including three as chief justice. Justice P. Scott Neville Jr., who also is African American, was appointed by the Supreme Court in 2018 to complete Freeman’s term and has won the endorsement of the Cook County Democratic Party going into the March primary.
Neville now faces six opponents — five state appellate judges and one private attorney — in his bid for a full 10-year term. Two of the other candidates are African American, one is Latino and three are white.
Depending on the election’s outcome, the court could have an all-white bench for the first time in 30 years. Going into this year’s elections, 23 states have all-white supreme courts, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a progressive-leaning law and policy institute at New York University Law School.
You can find some candidate profiles by clicking here.
* Sarah Schulte at ABC7…
Diversity has driven the race. If Freeman is not replaced by a minority, the high court will be all white.
“The Chicago Bar Association believes there should be diversity on all our courts from the highest down to the circuit,” said Maryam Ahmad, first vice president of the Chicago Bar Association.
With the exception of Daniel Epstein, the Chicago Bar Association has rated all the other candidates qualified or highly qualified.
* Meanwhile, on to Pearson…
Heading into the 2020 campaign season, Republican leaders were concerned about finding a strong candidate to challenge Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 ranking Democrat in leadership.
Representing the GOP on the March 17 ballot is an underfunded group of five candidates, many pursuing unorthodox strategies in seeking the nomination in the only statewide seat up for election this year.
One candidate is a former Democrat and onetime suburban county sheriff who has said he believes that “God had a hand” in electing President Donald Trump.
Another is a Downstate social media agitator who spurred a suburban police investigation after saying she brought a gun and ammunition into a candidate forum at a high school to “prove a point” about safety, only to say at a later event that she “misspoke” and had her gun locked in her car.
There’s a perennial candidate who has run unsuccessfully for a variety of offices from both political parties, most recently as a Democratic candidate for governor, who wants to split Illinois into three states.
Go read the whole thing.
* Bernie…
Dr. Tom Tarter, Springfield’s entry in the five-way Republican primary race for U.S. Senate, has been taking particular aim at perhaps the best known of his opponents.
In news releases in recent weeks, Tarter, 67, a retired urologist and cancer surgeon, pointed out past comments about President Donald Trump by one of his opponents — former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran.
Lake County is just north of Cook County, in the far northeast corner of the state. Tarter calls Curran a “never-Trumper,” which Curran denies.
“I support the president and think he is doing a solid job,” Curran told me.
Says Tarter: “Mark Curran claims he’s always supported President Trump, yet he’s on record multiple times having opposed Trump since 2015. Is he lying or has he flip-flopped? Either way, he can’t be trusted.”
* Related…
* Five things to know about this year’s bar association ratings: A third of the 117 judicial candidates on the March 17 Cook County primary ballot have received at least one negative rating from the three major bar associations. Here’s what that means.
* ENDORSEMENT: P. Scott Neville Jr. for Illinois Supreme Court in 1st District Democratic primary
* For the Illinois Supreme Court: Neville and Overstreet
* Endorsement: Howse for Illinois Supreme Court
* What They Said: Republican Senate Candidates on the Issues
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Mike’s Campaign Is Built To Win Everywhere
Monday, Mar 2, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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* Stephanie Zimmermann and David Roeder at the Sun-Times…
Chicagoans would see much higher utility bills if expected rate hikes for electricity and natural gas are approved even though energy production prices are now low.
ComEd and Peoples Gas are planning significant capital spending that threatens to eat up any savings that might have come from low energy prices.
“There will be a significant effect on customers’ bills,” says Jeff Orcutt, president of the consulting firm Chapman Energy Strategies, which analyzes utilities for the Illinois Public Interest Research Group.
David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, another private, not-for-profit watchdog group, says there’s “no question” ComEd’s latest spending projections will boost customers’ bills. And he says an expected Peoples Gas rate hike could create an “impending crisis” for low-income consumers.
* Steve Daniels at Crain’s…
Nicor Gas, the utility delivering natural gas to most of suburban Chicago, is pushing legislation in Springfield to put the rate changes for it and Peoples Gas, the utility serving the city, on the same sort of autopilot that ComEd and downstate utility Ameren Illinois have enjoyed for eight years. Bills were introduced in mid-February in the House and Senate.
For its part, Peoples says the bill is Nicor’s idea and that Peoples is still reviewing it. Sources hear that Peoples intends to file with the Illinois Commerce Commission for a rate hike as soon as this month, so that’s presumably more on the minds of the utility and Wisconsin-based parent WEC Energy Group than Nicor’s bid to convince lawmakers to let it set rates via a truncated annual-formula process. Gas utilities currently must use the traditional route, requesting rate hikes at times of their choosing from the ICC and going through an exhaustive 11-month review process.
Naperville-based Nicor, a unit of Atlanta-based Southern, has obtained ICC approval of two rate hikes in the past two years, together adding $261 million in additional revenue from ratepayers. With Peoples not having received a rate increase since 2015, its request is likely to be a whopper whenever it arrives. And it will come at a time when Chicago households are showing increasing difficulty paying their heating bills. […]
The average residential customer in the city paid $1,222 for natural gas last year. That includes many dwellers of small homes and condominiums, so average usage is less than that of Nicor’s customers in the suburbs.
*** UPDATE *** Interesting news from Steve Daniels…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants Illinois to approve legislation putting the state on the path to 100 percent clean energy in the foreseeable future. But, unlike virtually every other major energy bill the state has enacted in the past two decades, he doesn’t want Commonwealth Edison to write it.
So he’s calling in reinforcements. The governor’s office has hired Doug Scott, former Illinois Commerce Commission Chairman under Gov. Pat Quinn, as a consultant to advise on legislation to advance more clean-energy development in Illinois.
As ICC chair, Scott, now vice president for electricity and efficiency at Minneapolis-based consultancy Great Plains Institute, led Quinn’s ultimately unsuccessful effort to kill ComEd’s smart grid bill in 2011, which permits the utility to raise rates via an annual formula that gives regulators little say.
Before that, he was director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. He spent many years in Springfield before his administrative roles as a Democratic state representative from Rockford.
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Fitch reacts to Pritzker budget proposal
Monday, Mar 2, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Fitch Ratings…
The fiscal 2021 executive budget recently introduced by Illinois’ governor includes a significant $1.4 billion contingency tied to voter approval of a constitutional amendment in November that would allow the state to implement graduated income tax rates, which are already statutorily approved. Under the governor’s budget proposal, failure of the income tax amendment would trigger fiscal actions that could exacerbate the state’s structural budget challenges and pressure local governments, particularly school districts, says Fitch Ratings. The proposal now moves to the legislature for consideration, and Fitch will evaluate the final budget once enacted.
Illinois’ ‘BBB’ Issuer Default Rating (IDR) reflects an ongoing pattern of weak operating performance and irresolute fiscal decision-making that has produced a credit position well below the level that the state’s broad economic base and substantial independent legal ability to control its budget would otherwise support. The state’s elevated long-term liability position remains a key credit challenge. As of Fitch’s December 2019 State Pension Update report, the state’s combined debt and Fitch-adjusted pension burden was 27.5% of personal income, well above the 5.7% state median and the highest of the states. Fitch estimates the state’s total long-term liabilities at approximately $200 billion with pensions accounting for 80% of the total.
Response to Income Tax Amendment Vote Will be Critical
Fitch has indicated that the credit implications of the November 2020 vote on the income tax amendment depend on whether Illinois uses any increased revenues to address structural budget challenges, or if the state can adequately adjust its budget to work toward structural balance if the amendment fails. In his executive budget, the governor proposes to hold $1.4 billion of budget actions in reserve, dependent on voters’ decision. If the amendment fails some of the governor’s proposals, including deferral of up $400 million in employee health insurance costs and more than $500 million of interfund transfers or borrowings, would risk exacerbating the state’s structural budget challenges. If voters approve the constitutional amendment the governor’s executive budget would avoid such non-recurring measures and appears to continue recent progress towards structural balance.
Pensions Pose Structural Budget Challenge
Importantly, Fitch notes that pension contributions remain a point of structural weakness for the state, regardless of the income tax amendment vote, as the governor’s proposal continues the practice laid out in current law of underfunding the systems relative to actuarial determinations. The state currently structures its contributions to pension systems to target 90% funding by 2045, short of the actuarially determined contributions (ADCs), which target 100% funding. Fitch considers full ADC contributions to be a crucial element of structural balance.
Based on analysis of the state’s fiscal 2018 CAFR, Fitch estimates Illinois’ actual pension contributions totalled approximately $7.7 billion, 71% of the ADC of $10.9 billion that year, a gap of more than $2.0 billion; the gap likely increased since then given the underfunding embedded in the statutory 90% target. Fitch believes the supplemental annual pension contributions of $100 million-$200 million proposed by the governor if the income tax amendment passes would be helpful. But on their own, they would not materially affect Fitch’s view that the state’s budget remains structurally unbalanced given the sizable gap between actual contributions and the ADC. As with other states, Illinois retains substantial budgetary powers allowing it to manage the associated fiscal challenges at a level commensurate with its ‘BBB’ IDR.
Executive Budget Implications for Local Governments
For local governments, and particularly school districts, the $1.4 billion of reserved items in the governor’s budget proposal pose risks. The 2017 statute establishing the revised evidence-based funding formula (EBF) for K-12 school aid established a target of annual increases of $350 million. In the current year, the enacted budget included slightly more than that, with a $379 million increase. For fiscal 2021, the governor’s executive budget holds $150 million of the suggested $350 million increase, or more than 40%, in reserve, to be released only if voters approve the income tax amendment. The governor’s office notes that a $200 million increase would still reflect a higher annual growth rate than school districts have received over the past decade and the total increase in EBF funding since fiscal 2018 would total $1.3 billion.
Several additional measures could also affect local governments, but generally to a much less significant degree. The governor proposes holding approximately $100 million in combined income tax and sales tax revenue shared with local governments in reserve, pending voters’ decision on the income tax amendment. Additionally, $40 million in increased state funding for school districts for certain mandated categorical items is likewise held in reserve in the executive budget plan.
* Speaking of local government funding…
Municipalities Push for Full Restoration of Local Revenue Sharing in “Moving Cities Forward” Legislative Platform
WHO: Brad Cole, Illinois Municipal League Executive Director
Leon Rockingham Jr., North Chicago Mayor and IML President
Catherine Adduci, Mayor of River Forest and IML second vice president
WHEN: Monday, March 2, 2020
10:00 a.m.
WHERE: Illinois State Capitol Blue Room (basement, room 010)
401 S. 2nd Street
Springfield, Illinois
WHAT: Municipal leaders will unveil their 2020 “Moving Cities Forward” legislative platform designed to ensure the long-term success of Illinois’ cities, villages and towns. The platform includes proposals to reinstate full funding to the Local Government Distributive Fund, empower non-home rule communities and expand the state’s Financially Distressed Cities Law.
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* My Crain’s Chicago Business column…
After trying and failing to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot, activists hoping to reform the state’s legislative and congressional redistricting process have given up on that tack and are instead hoping to convince three-fifths majorities in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly to put it on the ballot.
To say the well-meaning and sincere proponents are facing an uphill battle is perhaps the understatement of the year. Lots of legislators, particularly in the majority party, prefer the status quo of their leaders drawing the maps to make sure they’re all re-elected with as little effort as possible.
It’s just human nature. If you worked at a private company that issued new personnel rules designed to put your job in jeopardy, you’d be wary, too. On top of that, what if your company said you might also have to sell your house and move a few blocks away because your territory had been changed, and, by the way, there will be no help with your expenses?
Even though the proponents appear to be doomed, they should still try because this is hugely important. But what they’re doing so far doesn’t impress me.
For starters, they should
Click here to read the rest before commenting, please. Thanks.
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A look inside MJM’s operation
Monday, Mar 2, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Chicago public radio station WBEZ recently published a story about emails between Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s former consigliere, Mike McClain, and top staffers in Madigan’s office. Federal investigators raided the former ComEd lobbyist’s home last year.
The WBEZ reporters culled pretty much all the really good stuff, including discussions about how Madigan was McClain’s “number one client,” getting former Madigan staffers jobs with ComEd and muscling a pro-ComEd resolution through a committee by replacing some Democratic members so that the vote was unanimous.
I decided to take a look at the emails myself to see what else might be there.
The determination to jam that resolution through with a unanimous vote is unusual because it was an “agreed” resolution. ComEd parent company Exelon was pushing legislation in 2014 to bail out their nuclear power plants, but the four legislative leaders decided to just pass a resolution urging various other entities to help Exelon. Speaker Madigan was the chief sponsor and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin was the chief co-sponsor.
An Exelon lobbyist emailed McClain on the afternoon of May 27, 2014 to report that he had nine “Yes” votes out of 16 committee members, with an “outside chance” of flipping one of the “No” votes to his side. McClain forwarded the email to Madigan’s then-chief of staff Tim Mapes and Madigan’s then-Issues Staff director Will Cousineau, among others. And then three hours after the original email was sent, Cousineau replied with what he said would be the final roll call. Five House Democrats on the committee who had been identified as opponents were to be replaced with five supportive Democrats and a sixth had been flipped to Exelon.
“The opponents won’t have contemplated all the subs we’re lining up since I don’t like to rely on Republicans,” Cousineau announced, even though there wasn’t much of any formal opposition.
“I love you,” McClain replied.
Mapes replied to say he’d bet McClain’s lobbyist friends hadn’t given this replacement tactic any thought, and asked if McClain was in charge of Exelon’s lobbying efforts.
“No,” McClain wrote, “but we’re going to have a little bit of a discussion after session about the quality of their lobby.” McClain called Exelon’s Statehouse operation “101 level.”
That the House Democratic staff and the ComEd lobbyist McClain would expend so much effort to make sure that Madigan’s word was gold to a giant energy company tells you much of what you need to know about how that operation worked at the time.
And the internal mindset was further summed up months later when Mapes complained about his workload to McClain.
“We love the guy,” McClain wrote, “but his requests are totally consuming and because we love him we do not want to fail even on the simplest of items. It is what it is. We would not change it but it is what it is.”
That’s Team Madigan in a nutshell.
There were numerous mentions of jobs and other favors in the email exchanges.
Raymond Nice, for instance, is a longtime Madigan precinct worker who also lobbied for ComEd after he retired from Cook County. The town of Merrionette Park, where Nice once had a contract, was recently hit with a federal subpoena. The subpoena also demanded all communications between the village and Madigan, McClain, Mapes and Madigan’s alderman Marty Quinn and Quinn’s brother Kevin.
Kevin Quinn was the beneficiary of a fundraising effort by McClain after he was forced out of his job with Madigan when Alaina Hampton complained about sexual harassment.
I’d heard that Madigan only asked Gov. Bruce Rauner to hire a few people and Nice was one. Just before Rauner was inaugurated, McClain and Mapes exchanged emails about who Madigan had placed on state boards and commissions. McClain led off his list with “Ray Nice….you already know about him, of course.”
The emails reveal just how involved the lobbyist McClain was in House Democratic operations.
Numerous emails were exchanged, for example, after a reform group offered to host a meeting with Gov. Rauner and the four leaders to try and break the budget impasse. McClain was involved in crafting the House Democratic response to Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget veto of legislator salaries as punishment for not reforming pensions. And Mapes summoned McClain to an exclusive upper-echelon meeting with Madigan to discuss what to do about the upcoming spring session with incoming Gov. Rauner.
The emails make crystal clear that McClain was closer to Madigan’s operation than anyone but Mapes. McClain is now gone and so is Mapes after his own sexual harassment scandal. Only Madigan is left.
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* From the Champaign County GOP…
Earlier this week WCIA covered the mailing of multiple ballots to some absentee voters in Champaign County. The County Clerk claimed that it wouldn’t present any problems because these people couldn’t vote twice.
However, state law requires that every Election Authority (County Clerk) upload to the State Board of Elections the names of everyone who has received a pre-election ballot. Every jurisdiction in the state is complying with this law except Champaign County and Alexander County (literally, the poorest county in the state).
This list allows the state, other jurisdictions, and poll watchers to look for duplicate voting. So right now, a voter who casts a ballot in Champaign County is able to register to vote in another jurisdiction in the state and they would have no reason to believe that they were not entitled to a ballot.
Once again, Champaign County voters are given assurances about the conduct of elections, but once again a major failing exists.
Scaremongering aside, there’s just no reason for this nonsense. Click here and see the full statewide list for yourself.
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* Press release…
Building on a strong team of experts in their fields, Governor JB Pritzker appointed Jerry Costello II to serve as the Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
“With farming playing an important role in his family’s history and a career of public service, there’s no better person to lead the Illinois Department of Agriculture at this time than Jerry Costello,” said Gov. JB Pritzker. “Our agriculture sector drives our state’s economy to the tune of $19 billion every year, and I’m confident that Jerry’s deep experience will bring a steady hand to the department and continue the impressive growth of this vital industry.”
“I’m honored to continue serving the people of Illinois and excited to take the helm at the department I once oversaw in the state legislature,” said Jerry Costello II, Acting Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture. “As a leading producer of soybeans, corn and swine, Illinois is home to the most dedicated farmers in the world, and I look forward to partnering with them to grow our state’s agricultural economy.”
Background
Jerry Costello II will serve as the Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture.* He joins the Governor’s cabinet from his position as the Director of Law Enforcement for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which he had held since May 2019. Costello represented the 116th district in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019, during which he served as chair the Agriculture and Conservation committee. He also served on the Pritzker-Stratton Agriculture Transition Committee. A graduate of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Costello decided to serve his country by joining the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. Not long after signing up, he and his unit saw combat during Operation Desert Storm. Following his military service in Iraq, Costello returned to Illinois where he became a police officer and started a family. Initially a patrolman, he would rise through the ranks and become assistant chief of police. Born and raised in Southern Illinois, his family has a small farm in Franklin County, producing crops and raising cattle. Costello lives in Smithton with his wife Lori and their three children.
Costello replaces John Sullivan, who was forced to resign after he admitted opening that now-infamous “rape in Champaign” email from Mike McClain. Sullivan denied having read the entire email.
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Corruption roundup
Friday, Feb 28, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mark Brown and Robert Herguth at the Sun-Times…
Worth Township Supervisor John O’Sullivan, who has been under investigation for his role in the SafeSpeed red-light camera scandal, told township officials he intends to resign Friday.
O’Sullivan, a former state legislator and Democratic committeeman, is under federal scrutiny because of his work as a sales consultant for SafeSpeed LLC.
SafeSpeed provides red-light cameras to numerous suburbs, including several where O’Sullivan has helped elect allies to local offices. […]
The Sun-Times reported previously that O’Sullivan, a political associate of [Patrick Doherty, who was indicted on bribery charges and is chief of staff to Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski], lobbied Oak Lawn officials to more aggressively ticket motorists identified by SafeSpeed’s cameras as potential violators.
O’Sullivan has a strong precinct crew that has done work for Speaker Madigan’s operation, among others.
* Tribune…
Former Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios and his political committees must pay $168,000 in fines after a judge dismissed his complaints challenging the ethics board’s findings and ability to sanction him.
The Cook County Ethics Board previously fined Berrios, the Committee to Elect Joseph Berrios Cook County Assessor and his 31st Ward Democratic Organization $41,000 in January 2018 and $127,000 more that May for accepting campaign contributions in excess of legal limits.
At the center of the ethics board’s rulings was a 2016 county ordinance stating that donors who seek “official action” with the county may contribute no more than $750 in nonelection years. Attorneys for Berrios sought to overturn the rulings, arguing that the county limits are unconstitutional and that higher limits set by state law should apply, among other objections. […]
“My office worked tirelessly to defend the actions of the Cook County Board of Ethics and demand accountability from Mr. Berrios,” Foxx said in a statement.
The ruling is here.
* Lauren FitzPatrick and Tim Novak at the Sun-Times…
On a quiet street in Oak Lawn, a brick split-level home with a built-in pool sat empty for years, mold growing in the flood-prone basement.
Federal lenders seized the house after the couple who owned it split up. They sold it to the Cook County Land Bank Authority, a government agency established for just such a circumstance: to find buyers for vacant houses, usually in struggling neighborhoods.
Two developers offered to buy and fix up the home, which an inspector had warned “is not a rehab for the faint of heart or a tight budget.” But the land bank turned down both developers.
Instead, it sold the home in 2018 — at a lower price than what the developers offered to pay — to Natasha Cornog, executive assistant to the land bank’s top boss, and her elderly mother on the condition that they live there. And so the Cornogs paid $150,000 for the home the land bank had bought for $141,786. […]
But Cornog had another problem, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation found. She was taking homestead property tax exemptions on that house and also two more she owns, records show. The law allows you to take only one homestead exemption — on the home where you live.
Cornog has since been fired.
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* Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights…
After more than two years’ efforts working with state agencies stalled, six advocacy groups representing the nonpartisan Just Democracy Illinois coalition have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Illinois Secretary of State’s office (SOS) and the Illinois Board of Elections (SBOE) for failing to properly implement Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) and violating federal and state voting rights laws. The coalition is seeking a court order to fix the implementation problems.
The suit charges that implementation of the voter registration law, which was supposed to be implemented in July 2018, has been riddled with problems and massively delayed. Three elections have passed without AVR properly in place. Earlier this year, the Secretary of State’s office revealed that it failed to protect hundreds of people who identified as non-citizens from being accidentally registered. The agency also allowed several thousand 16-year-olds to begin the registration process and sent election officials the information of eligible voters who appeared to decline to be registered.
The lawsuit filed today charges SOS and SBOE with violations under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), the federal Voting Rights Act, and the Illinois AVR statute by failing to provide language access for those with limited English proficiency and failing to automatically update voter rolls when people have moved, among other problems. “The implementation problems layered on top of each other create serious barriers to voter registration access,” according to the complaint.
Ami Gandhi, Senior Counsel at Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights which is representing the coalition, said: “By failing to implement AVR properly, these agencies are creating serious barriers to voter registration access.”
Lawrence Benito, CEO/Executive Director of Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) said: “AVR is not the problem, the Secretary of State’s office is the problem. SOS was tasked with executing this law and instead it has put individuals at risk and undermined confidence in our voting system.”
Jay Young, Executive Director for Common Cause Illinois, agreed: “We’ve tried meeting directly with officials, giving testimony at public hearings, negotiating a resolution, and sending legal notices to address these issues – but these agencies aren’t meeting us halfway. This lawsuit is a measure of last resort to fix the ongoing problems with AVR implementation and improve the accuracy and security of the state’s voter rolls.”
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago, CHANGE Illinois, Chicago Votes, Common Cause Illinois, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and Illinois Public Interest Research Group (Illinois PIRG) are steering committee members of the Just Democracy Illinois coalition, which advocated for passage of the AVR law in 2017. AVR was passed on a unanimous, bipartisan vote and signed into law by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
The voter registration law was intended to provide fair registration access to over one million eligible, but unregistered voters in Illinois. By automatically registering eligible voters interacting with state agencies, AVR would also address longstanding racial disparities in voting access. According to US Census Bureau data, voter registration rates for Black, Latino, and Asian citizens lag behind the registration rate for White citizens in the state.
“Asian American communities across Illinois continue to lag behind in voter registration rates, largely due to language barriers. That is why compliance with Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act is absolutely essential,” said Andy Kang, Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago. “This is about protecting our communities’ access to the ballot box.”
Niyati Shah, Assistant Director of Legal Advocacy at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC said: “We want Illinois agencies to fulfill AVR’s promise and expand voter access to these very communities that have been historically excluded from civic participation while complying with federal laws such as the NVRA and the Voting Rights Act.”
Attorneys at Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC and pro bono co-counsel say that the lawsuit is not intended to suspend the AVR program but rather to get a court mandate to fix these ongoing problems.
The lawsuit is here.
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Coronavirus roundup
Friday, Feb 28, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Click here for links to three real-time coronavirus heat maps. And now, a press release…
Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot today joined City and State public health officials to announce a robust and coordinated effort to prevent spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Earlier this month, Illinois became the first state to provide COVID-19 testing in-state, allowing IDPH to produce results within 24 hours. Next week, the administration will expand testing statewide, with new testing labs in the central and southern regions to join the existing testing lab in Cook County. Following the recommendation of the CDC, the state will also partner with hospitals in every region to engage in voluntary testing, which will allow us to diagnose new cases quickly and prevent any further community spread. Under the plan, certain emergency departments will soon begin testing select patients who present with influenza-like symptoms for COVID-19.
“Our top priority is keeping Illinoisans safe and we are using every tool and resource at our disposal to prepare for this virus and contain any spread,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “This is a coordinated effort with state, city and local entities working together to put the full weight of our government behind this response. Illinois has a leading public health system that was the first – and remains one of just a few nationally – able to test for COVID-19 and we will continue leading the way forward to protect our communities.”
To date, Illinois has had two confirmed cases of COVID-19 and both individuals have made a full recovery. The immediate health risk to the state remains low. While the latest available information suggests that person-to-person spread will continue to occur and additional cases are likely to be identified in the United States, most cases of COVID-19 cause a mild illness. In very rare cases people infected with the virus have died. Additionally, to date, data shows that children are less likely to become ill.
“For over a month, Chicago has been working daily to strengthen and refine our response to this situation, contain the virus, and protect our residents from any harm,” said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “While the chances of contracting coronavirus remain extremely low, we will continue to closely monitor this situation as it evolves, and take appropriate preventive and pre-cautionary measures as needed in coordination with public health agencies, and our many community and healthcare partners.”
“We continue to actively monitor the international and domestic situation closely, plan ahead and strengthen and refine our local public health response,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. “We’ve undertaken these serious, but necessary measures while remaining in close communication with our federal and local partners to ensure all systems in place work efficiently and effectively.”
“Cook County Department of Public Health continues to work closely with IDPH, CDPH and the CDC in our efforts and will use what resources we have to minimize the risk of spread in our communities,” said Dr. Terry Mason, COO of Cook County Department of Public Health. “The collaboration between all the agencies is what resulted in the best possible outcome for the two confirmed cases. This is classic public health at work doing what we are trained and prepared to do.”
The city and state are experienced at responding to infections disease outbreaks and continue to work in lockstep to put systems in place to respond to this new virus. Current efforts include:
Airport screening and monitoring health of travelers returning from China.
Investigating confirmed cases of COVID-19 and monitoring friends and family who may have been exposed.
Planning community measures that can help limit the spread of disease, like having ill individuals stay home (including housing and transportation needs).
Providing regular guidance to hospitals and healthcare professionals, including information on infection control, personal protective equipment (PPE) supply planning, and clinical evaluation.
Working to expand local laboratory testing for COVID-19.
Developing and distributing guidance for childcare facilities, schools, universities, businesses, community- and faith-based organizations, among many others.
In addition to efforts by local health systems, there are important steps individuals and communities can take to help minimize the risk of COVID-19 spread:
Practice everyday preventive actions such as performing frequent hand hygiene, using hand sanitizer or soap and water when visibly soiled; covering your cough and sneezes; avoiding ill people; and staying home when sick (except to seek medical care). These simple actions can prevent the spread of many illnesses, including COVID-19.
Healthcare providers should continue to ask patients with fever and respiratory symptoms about their travel history. Refer to CDC’s Guidance for Healthcare Professionals for more information on screening and evaluating Persons Under Investigation.
Childcare facilities, K-12 schools and colleges/universities should review their emergency operations plans, including strategies for social distancing and online learning.
Businesses and employers should actively encourage all employees to stay home when sick, perform hand hygiene, and cover coughs and sneezes. Businesses should review their emergency operations plan, including identification of essential business functions, teleworking and flexible sick leave policies. For more information see CDC’s Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers.
Community- and faith-based organizations should review existing emergency operations plans, including strategies for social distancing and modifying large gatherings such as concerts and festivals.
Officials also warned against stigmatization toward specific populations and said knowing the facts about COVID-19 will help minimize stigma and misinformation.
This is a rapidly evolving situation and information will be updated as it becomes available. More information can be found on the IDPH website, the CDPH website, and the CDC website and questions can be directed to the IDPH hotline, 1-800-889-3931.
* The federal government really needs to get its act together…
Federal health employees interacted with Americans quarantined for possible exposure to the coronavirus without proper medical training or protective gear, then scattered into the general population, according to a government whistle-blower who lawmakers say faced retaliation for reporting concerns.
* CNBC…
World Health Organization officials said Friday they are increasing the risk assessment of the coronavirus, which has spread to at least 49 countries in a matter of weeks, to “very high” at a global level.
“We are on the highest level of alert or highest level of risk assessment in terms of spread and in terms of impact,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies program. The group isn’t trying to alarm or scare people, he said. “This is a reality check for every government on the planet: Wake up. Get ready. This virus may be on its way and you need to be ready. You have a duty to your citizens, you have a duty to the world to be ready.”
The world can still avoid “the worst of it,” but the increased risk assessment means the WHO’s “level of concern is at its highest,” he said at a press conference at WHO headquarters in Geneva.
World leaders still have a chance to contain the virus within their borders, Ryan said. “To wait, to be complacent to be caught unawares at this point, it’s really not much of an excuse.”
* Reuters…
World share markets crashed again, winding up their worst week since the 2008 global financial crisis and bringing the global wipeout to $5 trillion.
Hopes that the epidemic that started in China late last year would be over in months, and that economic activity would quickly return to normal, have been shattered as the number of international cases has spiralled.
“The outbreak is getting bigger,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva.
“The scenario of the coronavirus reaching multiple countries, if not all countries around the world, is something we have been looking at and warning against since quite a while.”
* This is a good point…
Health officials are urging the public to get vaccines like the flu or pneumonia shot.
While it won’t prevent contracting the virus, it will help keep people out of healthcare systems.
* Other important news…
* ADDED: No, the CDC isn’t recommending men shave their beards to protect against the coronavirus
* How A Coronavirus Blood Test Could Solve Some Medical Mysteries: Very few kids globally have ended up in the hospital. Is that because they’re not getting infected, or they’re getting infected but not getting sick? An answer to that question will help public health officials figure out whether it makes sense to close schools if there’s a big outbreak.
* What are the novel coronavirus health risks?: It doesn’t get a lot of press attention, but seasonal influenza viruses kill tens of thousands of people every year in the U.S. Current estimates of mortality rates for COVID-19 – which may not be completely accurate because we do not know how many unreported or unconfirmed infections there are – suggest that this disease is more deadly than seasonal influenza. However, mortality rates are highly age-dependent and are only high for older people and people with other underlying health conditions. Accurate estimates of these numbers in the middle of an outbreak are hard, but the case fatality rates for confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China are 1.3% for ages 50-59, 3.6% for ages 60-69, 8% for 70-79, and 14.8% for 80+. Mortality rates are much lower for younger people.
* Chicago Area School Districts Putting Together Coronavirus Protocol: The IDPH says the state statute “allows schools districts to use e-learning days in lieu of emergency days if they have an e-learning plan approved by their Regional Office of Education.” … There were lessons learned when the 2009 H1N1 pandemic closed over 100 schools. The CDC said research since then shows that something small like keeping classes smaller and spacing desks further apart could have a big role in minimizing spread of other similar viruses, like coronavirus.
* Olympic Officials Dismiss ‘Speculation’ That Coronavirus Could Disrupt Tokyo Games
* Key Missteps at the CDC Have Set Back Its Ability to Detect the Potential Spread of Coronavirus: The CDC designed a flawed test for COVID-19, then took weeks to figure out a fix so state and local labs could use it. New York still doesn’t trust the test’s accuracy.
* Springfield businesses not seeing impact of coronavirus — yet: “If we have a suspected case of coronavirus, we know the testing criteria, we know how we isolate that patient, we know where we would place them in our facility, we know how we would contact the state Department of Public Health to get testing done, we know the equipment we will need,” said Raj Govindaiah, chief medical officer at Memorial Health System. “Yeah, we’re prepared.” The hospital has put together a group led by its infection prevention experts to make a coronavirus plan. The group has been meeting for about a month, with Govindaiah describing the effort as analogous to the hospital’s response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014.
* Coronavirus outbreaks worry students studying abroad, while colleges cancel some overseas programs. ‘Doing everything I can to stay safe and healthy.’
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Feeding Our Future, Protecting Our Farmers
Friday, Feb 28, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Today, Mike Bloomberg announced a progressive agenda for the next generation of American farms, reversing the Trump administration’s missteps and restoring respect and opportunity to America’s farmers and rural communities.
As a candidate, Trump claimed he was going to “take care of the farmers,” but he has repeatedly put politics before the best interests of America’s agricultural producers and engaged in a reckless trade war with China that puts the American economy at risk.
Mike will reverse Trump’s needless trade war, promote farms of all sizes, make trade policy fair, and invest in a 21st century agricultural economy.
Read more about Mike’s agriculture plan here.
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Fun with numbers
Friday, Feb 28, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WILL…
Chicago’s public schools will no longer observe Columbus Day, replacing that October school holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day. The decision by the Chicago Board of Education has aroused the ire of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. Its president, Sergio Giangrande, on Thursday called the decision a “slap in the face” of the more than 500,000 Italian Americans in Chicago. Grande says his group, which sponsors the city’s annual Columbus Day parade, is moving to reverse the school district’s decision. The five-to-two decision by the Chicago Board of Education follows similar efforts elsewhere, including South Dakota, to recognize the negative effect of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the western hemisphere on the indigenous population.
Um, that 500,000 number is for the entire Chicagoland area, not the city itself. The Illinois portion of the Chicago region is about 8.63 million people, so they’re just under 6 percent of the population. Just 10.3 percent of CPS students are white, and it stands to reason that far fewer are Italian-Americans. That’s not meant to downplay the role of Italian-Americans in society, it’s just pointing out that the number used by Mr. Giangrande and repeated in several news outlets is inflated.
* Meanwhile…
* There’s obviously a strong feeling of entitlement by most ethnicities for “their” holiday, which is reflected in this comment…
To be fair, Sposato said “The Polish” and “the Irish,” so it’s kind hard to say this was racist. But that’s beside the point. People get all fired up about “their” holiday, so none of this is particularly surprising.
* As an aside, I have German ancestry. “We” have a “day,” but it’s not a “no-work” holiday, even though almost 20 percent of Illinoisans report German ancestry.
I’ve often wondered who should be chosen to celebrate on a German-American holiday. Albert Einstein comes to mind. Any musings from you?
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* We talked yesterday about the 13th Ward’s palm card that doesn’t include party-slated State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. More from Hannah Meisel and Alex Nitkin at the Daily Line…
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Kimberly Neely DuBuclet were not included on Madigan’s list of candidates he supports, despite being slated by Cook County Democrats last fall ahead of the March 17 primary. Also missing from the palm card is MWRD Commissioner Cam Davis, who is running for re-election after a successful write-in campaign in 2018.
While the State’s Attorney’s race is totally absent from the palm card, MWRD candidates Eira Corral Sepúlveda and Patricia Therese Flynn are recommended on the card. DuBuclet, Davis and Sepúlveda were slated by the party last year, but Flynn was not, instead entering the race with the support of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399, which has given nearly $83,000 to her campaign.
The party did not slate congressional candidates, but atop the palm card is U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, who is an embattled primary race with progressive Marie Newman, who came close to besting Lipinski in the 2018 primary matchup.
The palm card urges voters to back the official choice of the Cook County Democrats for the 1st District seat on the Illinois Supreme Court, P. Scott Neville. Neville was appointed to the high court in 2018 after former Justice Charles Freeman retired. Neville is the only African American on the 13th Ward palm card. […]
The palm card begins with outdated voting instructions to “connect the arrow” on the ballot. Touchscreens will be used at every early voting site and will be available by request on Election Day, with options to select ballots and audio prompts in English, Spanish, Chinese or Hindi, officials said.
All other voters will fill in bubbles to choose their candidates, ending the previous system of asking voters to scribble a thick line.
* Rachel Hinton at the Sun-Times…
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who doubles as chair of the county Democratic Party, said she has “no control” over the palm cards of individual committeepersons.
“The Cook County Democratic Party slates candidates. It has always been true, and it is still true, that not every committeeman puts on their palm card every candidate slated by the party,” Preckwinkle said. “And the chairman of the party has no control over the individual decisions [made] by a committeeman.”
When asked if that means the speaker isn’t a team player, Preckwinkle, who is also mentor to Foxx, said “I think I’ve said all I’m gonna say.”
Preckwinkle and Mayor Lightfoot are doing an event for Foxx today at the Painters District Council 14 Headquarters, so I figure reporters will be asking more questions about this.
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* From Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills)…
I was made aware of allegations of a potentially serious crime involving public official misconduct and immediately reported it to law enforcement authorities. I have been authorized to report that there is an ongoing investigation into the allegations. When the investigation is complete, I will urge for all the documents and reports to be fully released to the public and will answer all questions authorized by law enforcement officials.
I believe that as a result of my involvement in this investigation, misinformation is being intentionally shared regarding my red light camera ban bills. As such, I want to make it clear that I will not be intimidated and will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement on their important investigation described above. Law enforcement has also been made aware of these concerns.
On a separate note, my HB 322 (bans red light camera for non- home rule units of government) has passed the House and will be sent to the Senate. Yesterday as promised, I officially asked for HB 323 (bans ALL IL red light cameras) to be released from the Rules Committee.
We must end corruption in both parties in IL!
Rep. McSweeney said the potential crime did not involve red-light cameras, but did clarify that “One of the people who has knowledge of my interactions with law enforcement” is involved with spreading the above-mentioned misinformation about his bill.
He said he wasn’t authorized to tell me if this public official was a legislator or which law enforcement agency he notified.
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Pritzker over Rauner, 130-10
Friday, Feb 28, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Lauren FitzPatrick at the Sun-Times…
What do you give to a governor who has two mansions and can afford anything he wants? How about a $950 bottle of Japanese whisky. Or $450 worth of tequila. Or a bust of Abe Lincoln?
Those were among the 130 gifts Gov. J.B. Pritzker has logged getting since taking office a little over a year ago, records show. The uber-wealthy Illinois politician also reported getting six hats, a smattering of scarves, 14 shirts and 54 books among a haul that his staff values at an estimated $25,230. […]
Pritzker didn’t keep any of it, according to spokeswoman Jordan Abuddayeh, who says the governor shared anything perishable with his staff and put the rest in secure storage locations at the Thompson Center and the Capitol until they are donated to charity. […]
The logs list Republican former Gov. Bruce Rauner as having gotten just 10 items in his first year in office, 2015. It showed Rauner received chocolates that December, eight books — including one titled “Don’t Sell Yourself Short” — and a painting. It didn’t include prices or say what was done with the items. Rauner representatives didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.
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* Mitchell Armentrout at the Sun-Times…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday forced out three members of the Illinois Racing Board for allegedly making illegal political contributions, leaving the state’s horse racing regulatory agency in flux as the struggling industry jockeys to get back on track with help from a massive gambling expansion.
The abrupt resignations of Racing Board Chairman Jeffrey Brincat and commissioners Edgar Ramirez and Gregory Sronce were the result of apparent violations of a new provision included in the gaming package signed into law by Pritzker last summer, which bars board members from giving money to politicians.
“The Illinois Horse Racing Act states that ‘[n]o member of the Board … shall engage in any political activity,’” Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in an email. “Three sitting members of the Illinois Racing Board made political contributions. As a result, they were asked to resign and each has submitted a letter of resignation.”
Brincat, who was appointed by Republican former Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2015, gave $1,000 to the campaign of state Sen. Tony Munoz, D-Chicago, on Dec. 15, according to Illinois State Board of Elections records, almost six months after Pritzker signed the gaming expansion June 28. […]
Three seats were already vacant on the 11-person racing board before the abrupt resignations of Brincat, Sronce and Ramirez. That leaves just five members, which is short of the quorum required “for the transaction of any business” under state law.
Oops.
*** UPDATE *** \Bernie…
Sronce, 36, said Friday he agreed to resign from the panel that oversees horse racing in the state but was not aware of the law signed last summer until after he had written a $1,000 check to the Sangamon County Republican Foundation.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed the new gaming law on June 28. Board general counsel John Gay sent the board members a memo on July 15 saying in part “board members and staff are barred from participating in any political activity in support of or in connection with any campaign for state or local elective office or any political organization.”
Sronce produced a copy of a check he wrote July 2 to the GOP foundation. He also noted the group supports local candidates for offices including park and school board.
“It’s a very strange prohibition that as a commissioner you can’t donate to a local park board or school board candidate,” Sronce said, while gaming interests can donate to legislators who make laws concerning the industry and “can put them on the payroll.” He called the situation “ironic.”
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Open thread
Friday, Feb 28, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A suggested topic: Do you want me to continue posting these open threads?
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