Announcer: This was a crime against democracy. But to Catalina Lauf, it’s legitimate political discourse. asa a Trump loyalist, Lauf is all-in on the MAGA agenda. She supports banning abortion without exception, spouts conspiracy theories and opposes gun safety.
Foster: MAGA extremists are tearing this country apart, turning neighbors against each other and putting women in danger. I’m Bill Foster. I approved this message and I’m using facts and science to bring us back together.
* Related…
* ‘They should be banned’: Foster calls for restrictions on military-style firearms: Lauf’s campaign website once included text about gun rights. In a section labeled “Protect Our Individual Liberties,” Lauf assailed the erosion of gun rights and other rights, saying “governments at all levels (are) trying to take away the 2nd Amendment rights of its lawful citizens.” “We must be tough against the attack on Free Speech, 2A, and all individual liberties,” Lauf said on the site. But after winning the 11th District GOP primary in June, Lauf removed the references to the Second Amendment from those statements. The missing text can be found on the nonpartisan Ballotpedia website.
* Foster, Lauf on opposite sides of abortion debate: During her first bid for Congress in 2020, when she unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination in the 14th District, Lauf said she was against “any legislation that would be proposed on a federal level for funding contraception or abortion measures.” Additionally, Lauf’s campaign website for her current race once proclaimed she was a “vocal opponent of the Left’s radical position in support of late-term abortion, partial-birth abortion, and infanticide.” But after winning the 11th District GOP primary in June, Lauf removed a section about her stance on abortion from the site.
This report contains the results of a Civiqs survey of 659 likely voters in Illinois from October 22-25, 2022.
The survey was conducted online, among selected members of the Civiqs research panel. Sampled individuals were emailed by Civiqs and responded using a personalized link to the survey at civiqs.com. The survey results are weighted by age, race, gender, education, and party identification to be representative of the population of likely voters in Illinois. The general design effect due to weighting is 1.26. The survey has a margin of error of ± 4.3% at the 95% confidence level, accounting for the design effect.
In the race for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, incumbent Democrat Tammy Duckworth leads Republican Kathy Salvi by a substantial margin, 56% to 40%. Duckworth has a positive favorability rating, 51% favorable to 43% unfavorable. Salvi is both less popular and less well known among likely Illinois voters, with a 28% favorable rating, 36% unfavorable rating, and 36% who are unsure about her.
Democrat JB Pritzker holds a 17 percentage point lead over Republican Darren Bailey in the election for Governor of Illinois, 56% to 39%. Pritzker is viewed favorably by 50% of Illinois likely voters, and unfavorably by 45%. Likely voters have a negative opinion of Bailey, who gets a 29% favorable rating and a 56% unfavorable rating, with 16% unsure.
Likely voters in Illinois give President Joe Biden a 46% favorable rating, with 49% viewing him unfavorably.
* During last night’s attorney general debate, Tom DeVore claimed that AG Kwame Raoul’s negotiations over police certification “abruptly stopped” when the language was folded into the SAFE-T Act. He said the FOP was upset about it. Amanda Vinicky asked Raoul if that’s how it went down…
Raoul: No, we had, in fact, in my direct conversations with the state FOP, they thanked me for for engaging them.
DeVore: Chris Southwood would probably disagree with him.
DeVore made an accurate prediction for a change…
Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) State Lodge President Chris Southwood and Chicago FOP Lodge 7 President John Catanzara issued the following statements regarding Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s assertion that the FOP “thanked” him for including the organization in discussions while the SAFE-T Act was making its way through the Illinois General Assembly in 2021. Raoul made the assertion during the Attorney General debate on October 25 with Republican candidate Tom Devore:
Illinois FOP State Lodge President Chris Southwood: “Mr. Raoul needs to get his facts straight. Why would we thank him for promising to include us in those fateful discussions, only to have him ‘ghost’ us at the most crucial time in the negotiations and let the bill’s supporters completely exclude us from providing any input whatsoever? All you need to do is look at the SAFE-T Act to know that Mr. Raoul didn’t keep his pledge to us, and caved in to the pressure from his own political party.”
Chicago FOP Lodge 7 President John Canzara: “Thank Mr. Raoul? For what? For promising one thing to our faces and then breaking off the knife he stabbed us in the back with? You’d have to be crazy to think that there was any FOP input in the monstrosity that should be called the UN-SAFE-T Act by any Illinoisan who is sick of coddling criminals and punishing the police.”
According to Mark Maxwell of KSDK, Budzinski lists her assets and investment portfolio in the ballpark of $700,000 and $1.9 million.
Meanwhile, Budzinski’s opponent, Regan Deering, lists her net worth between $35 million and $142 million. Deering is the granddaughter of Dwayne Andreas, former chairman and CEO of Archer-Daniels-Midland.
* Illinois early vote totals…
The @illinoissbe has updated early vote totals (10/26/22): Total VBM requested: 817,276 Total VBM returned: 307,512 Total VBM outstanding: 509,764 Return Rate: 38% Total Early Vote: 122,827 Total Grace Period: 2,046 Total Already Voted: 432,385https://t.co/44ga6Axjmq
The most up-to-date Early Vote and Vote By Mail totals in Chicago, night of Tuesday, October 25, 2022.
The Early Vote total stands at 18,724 ballots cast.
Additionally, 38,672 Vote By Mail ballots have been returned to the Board – total VBM applications stands at 195,203.
The grand total is 57,396 ballots cast so far in Chicago for the November 8th General Election.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* GOP eyes Indiana upset amid national push to diversify party : Democrats have represented this industrial, union-friendly corner of northwest Indiana in Congress for nearly a century. But Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan’s reelection bid is in question as the party faces headwinds around the U.S. this year, buffeted by President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings and high inflation. The contours of this district, encompassing Gary, have been redrawn to be slightly more friendly to Republicans.
* Your vote on workers’ rights, Illinois Supreme Court can help improve the lives of working families: The other two races, at the end of the ballot, are just as important. Maintaining a worker-friendly majority on the state Supreme Court will assure that the Workers’ Rights Amendment, if passed, will be upheld. Indeed, it will do more than that. The two Supreme Court vacancies are arguably the most significant races on the ballot; the justices who sit on our state’s highest court are the ultimate arbiters of Illinois law. The seats at stake are for the 2nd judicial district, which includes Kane and Lake counties; and the 3rd district, which includes DuPage and Will counties.
* Candidates for Illinois treasurer take different approaches in campaigning: Demmer has done a series of Facebook videos and has hosted news conferences to share ideas. Recently, Demmer was on PBS and explained why should be elected. … Earlier this week, Frerichs, seeking a second term, released his first TV ad, calling himself the watchdog and touting things he says are accomplishments since being elected.
* How votes are cast and counted is increasingly decided in courtrooms: In the United States, election season has turned into lawsuit season. One legal challenge in Michigan seeks to remove thousands from the voter rolls. Two lawsuits in Wisconsin seek to have more absentee ballots counted, even if they are missing some information. In Arizona, a judge is reviewing a new law requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote. And in Pennsylvania, lawsuits challenge the state’s no-excuse absentee voting law, as well as the policy to count undated mail-in ballots.
As families across the nation prepare for festive Halloween fun, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is reminding consumers to focus on safety when selecting and creating costumes and home decorations.
Over the past three years, CPSC estimates that an annual average of 3,200 Halloween-related injuries were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments.
Here’s how the injuries break down:
• 55% were related to pumpkin carving;
• 25% were due to falls while putting up or taking down decorations, tripping on costumes or walking while trick-or-treating;
• 20% of the injuries included lacerations, ingestions and other injuries associated with costumes, pumpkins or decorations, and allergic reactions or rashes.
Among the injured, 54 percent were adults 18 years and over, 46 percent were under 18 years old, and about 10 percent of all injuries were to children 6 years old or younger.
Fire safety is important year-round, with special awareness during holiday seasons. A new CPSC report estimates that candles and electrical cords/plugs were associated with an annual average of 5,600 and 1,600 fires, respectively, from 2017 through 2019.
* The Question: Your favorite Halloween memory? Bonus points if you can connect it to Illinois politics.
“[The] total investment going into K-12 Education is $3.7 billion less than what the evidence indicates is needed for every school district to have the resources it requires to educate the students it serves,” [Ralph Martire, the executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability] said.
Martire co-wrote the evidence based funding model which is designed to use certain metrics to determine the amount of money schools need to give students a proper education. Those metrics include total enrollment, and the number of English learners, low income students and students with disabilities. It passed in 2018 under Republican Governor Bruce Rauner. […]
The model is supposed to be fully funded by 2028 but he said now, it won’t reach that until 2040.
“We’re very far away from fully funding the model, and you skip another year, skip another two, that means another generation of kids has to go through a K-12 education system that doesn’t have adequate resources to implement the evidence based practices that have been shown to allow every student to receive the kind of education they need to achieve academically,” Martire said.
* I asked Martire for an explanation of that evidence-based funding ramp…
The EBF establishes two ongoing funding metrics for state-level investments in K-12 Education. First, the EBF sets a target of having state-level formula funding for K-12 Education increase on a year-to-year basis by at least $300 million (the “Minimum Target Level”). Note that is $50 million less than the $350 million amount actually specified in Section (g) of the EBF. The reason for this is the Property Tax Relief Grant or “PTRG” established in paragraph 9.5 of Section (g) of the legislation. Under the statute, the dollar amount of any year-to-year increase in funding the state appropriates to the EBF in a given fiscal year that is in excess of $300 million, up to and including $350 million, is dedicated to the PTRG—not to formula funding.
In addition to creating the aforesaid target for increasing K-12 funding on a year-to-year basis, the EBF also committed the state to fund the formula fully within 10 years of its initial implementation, which would be June 30, 2027. According to ISBE, at the start of FY 2023, the EBF was underfunded statewide by some $3.68 billion. At its current rate of increasing EBF funding, the state is not close to being on track for satisfying the obligation to fund the EBF fully by 2027.
Figure 1 shows that if the state continues the practice of increasing year-to-year funding for the EBF at the Minimum Target Level, the legislation will not be fully funded in real, inflation adjusted terms, until FY 2038, which is 20 years after the EBF was first implemented—or double what is required in statute.
To meet the statutory deadline of fully funding the EBF in real, inflation adjusted terms by 2027, starting in the 2023-2024 school year and continuing thereafter, Illinois would have to increase K-12 funding by $912 million each year—or more than triple the current Minimum Target Level—as shown in Figure 2.
Unfortunately, according to the Illinois State Board of Education, the current amount of K-12 funding in Illinois is some $3.7 billion less than what the evidence indicates is needed for each school to have the resources to educate the children it serves. And Bailey wants to cut school funding?
Even more curious is Bailey’s head-scratcher of a rationale for reducing state spending on education. According to Bailey, the high-quality academic programming offered in excellent schools like New Trier — you know curriculum designed to ensure students who graduate high school are college and career ready — isn’t needed in downstate communities like Clay County, because “Most, many of our children, some of our children are going to the military. They’re going right into the workforce,” where they get employed as ‘pipe fitters,’ ‘welders,’ and ‘linemen.’”
Wait, what? There’s so much wrong with that thinking it’s impossible to unpack it all in one column.
When Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s campaign bus came to town recently, the local conservative talk radio station covered the event, dutifully informing its audience on social media that “counter protesters were in attendance.”
The “counter protesters” were the radio station’s employees. They mugged for photos in front of the governor’s bus, held up signs that said, “Fire Pritzker” — then turned around and covered the Democrat’s event.
Since President Biden’s election, the talk radio station Cities 92.9 has upended the traditional media ecosystem in this part of Central Illinois with an unusual mix of hyperlocal news coverage — crime, weather and the like — and election misinformation. Replying on Facebook to a social media post about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, the station turned its focus to the 2020 election results: “What about the insurrection on Nov. 3?”
Cities 92.9 organized a sold-out bus trip to the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, supported a man accused of making a Nazi salute at a school board meeting and co-hosted a fall “freedom” festival during which a former Marine and Jan. 6 attendee called for revolution, saying, “Violence is always the answer.” […]
[Catrina Petersen, the station’s program manager] posted a photo of herself on her personal Facebook page last year posing before a banner that said, “Q Sent Me,” writing, “Yeah I’m ‘Q’ what of it.” Asked whether she was an adherent to the extremist ideology embraced by many on the far right, she responded, “As much as you are BlueAnon, I suppose.”
Gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey hired David Paul Blumenshine, who hosts a talk show on Cities on weekends, as his election integrity program director. Back to the WaPo story…
Blumenshine, too, soon had a different story [about January 6], spinning tales of mysterious tour buses arriving and claiming he saw a weak security perimeter at the Capitol — assertions he has repeated to this day. In the interview, he dismissed the police officers who were assaulted by rioters during the attack — more than 140, some who suffered traumatic injuries such as brain damage and crushed spinal disks — as “political theater.”
* WMBD reported on the group’s return from the rally on Jan 7, 2021…
Trump supporters from the Twin Cities returned home Thursday afternoon after participating in the “Stop the Steal” Rally.
The group of 49 said the thousands of supporters were “reminiscent of Dr. Martin Luther King” and said they didn’t see any violence or rioting first hand. Group organizer David Paul Blumenshine said the mood was celebratory and the president promoted peace during his speech.
“There were other speakers that day, but the president was just magnificent, he also continued to preach peace and a peaceful protest,” Blumenshine said. “Upon delivering his message, along Constitution Ave and Pennsylvania Ave, people marched, reminiscent of Dr. Martin Luther King.”
Blumenshine said the group from Normal did not participate in the “small group” that breached the Capitol Building and condemned the group that turned the event into a deadly tragedy. He said all forms of political violence should be prosecuted.
* Legacy media giving up on endorsements could cede public opinion to these kinds of “alt” outlets. The AP…
Some readers have difficulty distinguishing between news and opinion, or flat-out don’t believe that a paper’s editorial stance doesn’t affect its news coverage, said Hunter, whose Iowa newspaper is owned by Gannett.
Gannett didn’t ban political endorsements, but strongly advised its more than 220 newspapers to cut back on national opinion and focus on local issues. The Des Moines Register’s opinion pages, for example, now run twice a week. The Register is being selective in its choices this fall, weighing in on the Iowa governor’s race and a referendum on guns. But the state’s top newspaper won’t endorse in federal races, including U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s bid for an eighth term. […]
Many politicians view the dwindling state of endorsements with a collective shrug. News organizations were once seen as objective, but Republican consultant Alex Conant said many voters his candidates are trying to reach consider newspapers as partisan as politicians. […]
Advertisements — often filled with disinformation — become the primary source of information, she said. By contrast, American Presidency Project co-director John Woolley said, newspaper endorsements “are a good thing in that they model how to think, and clarify to people what the big issues are.”
…Adding…[From Rich] Speaking of news vacuums, here’s the Tribune…
No part of the Lincolnwood Public Library’s collection will be moved or restricted after a heated group of public commenters forced an abrupt end to an Oct. 24 meeting of the library’s board of trustees.
Library Director Josephine Tucci said more than 60 members of the public attended Monday night’s meeting, where videos show conflict erupted in the audience over the library’s collection and programming.
Tucci said some of the commenters were misinformed about a program they thought the library had held but which had not taken place — “something to do with a drag queen storytime where the drag queen conducted the program, and that never happened,” she said.
Tucci said other commenters were objecting to a book called The Bare Naked Book that the library does not have in its collection. […]
Eventually, the meeting was dismissed by the board and police came onto the scene at the request of library officials. Officers dispersed the attendees from the room immediately upon adjournment, according to Lincolnwood Police Chief Jay Parrott.
* That Cardboard Box in Your Home Is Fueling Election Denial: Flush with profits from their shipping supply company, the Uihleins have emerged as the No. 1 federal campaign donors for Republicans ahead of the November elections, and the No. 2 donors overall behind liberal financier George Soros. The couple has spent at least $121 million on state and federal politics in the last two years alone, fighting taxes, unions, abortion rights and marijuana legalization.
* How ‘pink slime’ journalism exploits our faith in local news: As local outlets have disappeared, many have been replaced by algorithmically managed pink-slime outlets that use the good will earned by news institutions of yore to help push political agendas from outside those communities. […] Poorly paid freelancers replaced staff reporters who had made living wages at newspapers like the Chicago Tribune. Part of my job was to write local news stories for the Houston Chronicle — even though I lived in Chicago — and select fake American-sounding bylines for stories written in virtual sweatshops in the Philippines. A Filipino writer named Junbe, for instance, might be renamed Jimmy Finkel, thanks to a built-in drop-down menu, and Gisele Bautista could instantly become Jenni Cox. These “reporters” earned pennies per story, and much of the content was plagiarized. “It would pay off to have you both write and edit these stories only if you could write the stories in about 90 seconds,” my remote supervisor told me.
* Why false claims about Brazil’s election are spreading in far-right U.S. circles: It’s the latest example of how debunked election fraud narratives are going international. In many cases, the false claims about Brazil are being pushed in English to American audiences by right-wing influencers and conservative media sites who falsely assert that Donald Trump won the 2020 U.S. presidential election and appear to be planting the idea that similar fraud will occur in the upcoming midterms.
* ‘They’re not newspapers’: The not-so-mysterious publications in your mailbox: Before reading the articles published in the paper, Yamshon thought it looked like a normal local news operation, with typical advertisements and a back page featuring the names and photos of former high school football players from the area now playing in college. But then, she started to read. A box in the top left corner of the front page read, “Special Sex Education Edition: What are they teaching your child in 2022?” Below that was a reference to an article on page 2 about a Naperville elementary school teacher, with the phrase “Teaching boys to be girls.”
With two weeks to go until the November election, the Democratic Party of Illinois (DPI) this week launched a new ad campaign focused on reproductive choice. The campaign includes ads in both Spanish and English, and will reach Latino, Black, and downstate communities in over 230 zip codes across the state.
“Abortion is on the ballot this November. While Republicans are committed to turning back the clock on reproductive rights, we’re working hard to make sure voters know that the Democratic Party is the party of reproductive freedom,” said DPI Chair Lisa Hernandez. “We’re sharing our message with underrepresented communities in over 230 zip codes to make sure they know that with Democrats in office, Illinois will remain a safe haven for women everywhere.”
The ad campaign consists of two 15-second digital videos entitled “Saw This Coming” and “Ready” (“Listo”).
The new ads follow the launch of DPI’s first ever Spanish-language ads last month. With this critical initiative, DPI is continuing its work to reach and mobilize traditionally underrepresented voters in the home stretch leading up to the November election.
…Adding… I do not think this is on TV…
As your next Attorney General, I will fight like hell to end the NO BOND SAFE T Act. pic.twitter.com/ubASLytAUO
Woman 1: For 50 years, Illinois women have had freedom over their own bodies.
Woman 2: Those rights are under attack.
Woman 3: With the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade,
Woman 4: Extremists are trying to take us backward, ban abortions, criminalize women.
Woman 1: We need Kwame Raoul now more than ever.
Woman 3: He’s fighting for our freedoms in the court and on the frontlines.
Woman 2: Standing up to the extremists, fighting back.
Kwame Raoul: This extremist attack on women’s freedoms — not in Illinois, not while I’m Attorney General. I’m Kwame Raoul. This is the work of my life, and there’s so much more to do.
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Global Strategy Group
DATE: October 25, 2022
RE: NEW POLL: Making Significant Gains Since Summer, Rochford Even Better Positioned to Win
Survey results from Global Strategy Group’s recent research show an electorate focused on electing a candidate who is highly qualified and will protect abortion rights in our state’s highest court – and that candidate is Democrat Elizabeth Rochford. With voters getting to know her in the last few months, Rochford now enjoys positive personal ratings and a 6-point lead against Republican Mark Curran, of whom voters now have mixed opinions. Still, there is room to consolidate key voting blocs further in the next two weeks. And with so many voters unfamiliar with the candidates, the race is still wide open. Should Rochford be able to stay in front of voters, push back on misleading attacks, and communicate her experience and support from pro-choice groups, she has a path to victory. Takeaways from a survey of 500 likely 2022 generical election voters are as follows.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• After learning more about her this fall, voters like and support Elizabeth Rochford. While there is still work to do to educate voters on the candidates for Illinois Supreme Court Justice, Rochford has significantly increased her name ID so that now 41% of voters can rate her (up from less than a third in August). Those voters who know her like her by a 7-point margin (24% favorable/17% unfavorable). Still, more than half of the electorate needs to learn about Rochford’s background and qualifications.
• While Mark Curran remains the better-known candidate, voters have mixed opinions. Over half of voters are familiar with Curran. But given that a plurality of the electorate is hearing something negative about him (33% positive/39% negative), his ratings have now weakened to a draw (27% favorable/27% unfavorable).
• As a result of communications on behalf of Rochford up to this point, she now leads Curran just under 50%. Voters now choose Rochford over Curran by a 6-point margin – Rochford 49%/Curran 43%. Between our first poll in August and now, Rochford has successfully consolidated key groups like Democrats, especially women Democrats; women over 55; college women; and voters in Lake County.
ABOUT THIS RESEARCH
Global Strategy Group conducted a survey of 500 likely 2022 general election voters in Illinois Supreme Court District 2 between October 18 and October 23, 2022. Interviews were conducted via live telephone as well as a text invitation to a web-based survey. Care has been taken to ensure the geographic and demographic divisions of the population of likely 202 2 general election voters are properly represented.
Justice Mary Jane Theis was selected for the office of Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court at the Court’s November 2022 Term. She will serve a three-year term commencing today, October 26, 2022, succeeding Anne M. Burke, whose tenure as Chief Justice ended on Oct. 25, 2022.
Justice Theis will be the fourth woman to serve as Chief Justice following the late Justice Mary Ann McMorrow, Justice Rita B. Garman, and Justice Burke. She will be the 122nd Chief Justice in Illinois history.
“I would like to thank my colleagues for giving me this opportunity to serve the people of Illinois as Chief Justice. I also would like to congratulate Justice Burke for her successful term as Chief and her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Justice Theis said. “I look forward to working with the bench, bar and community at large to further the Court’s mission of providing access to equal justice, ensuring judicial integrity and upholding the rule of law. Our goal continues to be increasing public trust and confidence in the courts.”
As Chief Justice, Justice Theis will serve as the chief administrative officer of the Supreme Court, which is constitutionally vested with general administrative and supervisory authority over the more than 900 judges in the statewide judicial system.
Among other duties, the Chief Justice selects the items to be placed on the Supreme Court’s agenda for the Court’s consideration during its constitutionally-mandated five terms each year; supervises all appointments to Supreme Court committees, serves as chairperson of the Executive Committee of the constitutionally-mandated Illinois Judicial Conference and presents the Court’s annual budget request to the General Assembly.
…Adding… ILGOP…
With Election Day drawing near, Democrat Elizabeth Rochford’s campaign for Illinois Supreme Court is showing signs of desperation. This morning, Rochford’s campaign released a polling memo in an attempt to signal to her Madigan Machine donors and backers that she’s in desperate need of additional millions.
Rochford’s call for help comes even after she’s raised $3.5 million for her campaign, and the so-called “All for Justice” group has raised nearly $6.8 million, spending much of it on Rochford. Illinois Republican Party Executive Director Shaun McCabe released the following statement in response:
“Elizabeth Rochford and her Madigan Machine allies are desperate, even after spending millions of dollars on her failing campaign. Rochford knows if voters learn about her Machine ties and record, she will lose her election and the Madigan Machine will lose a vote on the Supreme Court. Mark Curran is in a strong position to win because he’s an independent outsider with extensive law enforcement experience who will uphold the rule of law, not the rule of Madigan.”
Madden Mental Health employees to demonstrate over lack of staff
Frontline employees who support individuals with mental illness at Madden Mental Health Center in west suburban Hines, Ill., are raising awareness of a severe staff shortage at the state-operated facility and throughout state government.
Members of the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 will hold an informational picket outside Madden MHC TOMORROW (Wednesday) morning, Oct. 26.
AFSCME and INA members say the lack of staff threatens to erode the quality of care for patients at Madden, poses a safety risk to employees, and is driving out-of-control overtime—including mandatory overtime—that is leading to burnout among workers.
* Background from AFSCME…
Madden MHC is a short-term psychiatric hospital treating people who are acutely mentally ill. The average length of stay is about three weeks.
In the first quarter of calendar 2022, Madden had 96 staff (monthly average) at any given time. Five years ago the facility had an average 138 staff; 10 years ago 168. (Although the average patient census has also declined, it has not dropped as steeply—to 92 patients today from 114 five years ago and 139 ten years ago.)
The staffing shortage is driving excessive overtime:
• The latest available is from July, when 91 AFSCME members at Madden worked nearly 2,000 hours of overtime.
• There were only 36 mental health technicians on staff (the largest direct-care job title) who worked nearly 1,000 overtime hours in the month. 983 hours.
• The 25 support service workers (housekeeping and dietary) worked more than 600 overtime hours in the month
• Even doctors and social workers were doing overtime, as were employees represented by other unions, including a substantial number of registered nurses, security employees and tradespeople.
Lack of staff has also led to:
• The closure of one of Madden’s five units
• The use of more than 20 expensive agency nurses while trying to hire RNs.
• Sometimes no security staff on site, or just one, during weekend shifts. At other times, mental health technicians are made to cover security officer vacancies.
Keeping new hires is a problem, too: Of a recent class of 11 mental health technicians, four alreafy left. Five new support service/housekeepers were promised in the spring; only two were hired and both quit. So far only one has been replaced.
It’s a difficult work environment and short-staffing makes it much worse.
* Illinois governor race: Where JB Pritzker, Darren Bailey stand on immigration, guns, crime: “So let’s explicitly put into the Safe-T Act with an amendment saying that we’re not going to let anybody out, any of the violent criminals out on January 1,” Pritzker said. […] “He’s thinking about amending it because he’s finally learning what it actually says, otherwise why on earth did the man sign it if he knew what it said?” Bailey accused. “So, I know, I completely believe that public sentiment has shifted and turned.”
* How the abortion ruling transformed midterm political advertising: In terms of spending on abortion-related ads, Democrats ($21.7 million) and Republicans ($20.9 million) had near-parity in the pre-Dobbs period. Post-Dobbs, Democrats’ spending on abortion-related ads surged (to $57.9 million) while Republicans’ spending on abortion-related ads plunged (to $5.7 million).
* Rashid, Schultz spar at 21st District candidate forum: The candidates also had different views about banning the sale of automatic weapons. Schultz said he would consider such a ban as a last resort but said that prohibitions usually don’t work, and the more immediate problem is a shortage of police. […]“The issue in Highland Park on July 4 was not ‘not enough police.’ The issue in Uvalde, Texas, was not ‘not enough police,’ the issue at Sandy Hook was not ‘not enough police.’ The issue is guns getting in the hands of the wrong people and we absolutely do need to ban assault rifles,” Rashid said.
* State House District 62 candidates spar over guns, criminal justice and abortion rights: Though Dias and Shores are far apart on the SAFE-T Act, their views on a woman’s right to decide to terminate a pregnancy are closer together, though not aligned. Shores said he opposes late-term abortion and would reinstate parental notification for women under 18. “Personal health care decisions are unique to every woman, and they should be between the woman and her doctor,” Shores said, though he would still require parental notification and a late-term ban if he could.
