A second case of measles has been reported in Champaign-Urbana. Like the first case announced in January, this second case involves a member of the University of Illinois campus community.
“What we have right now are two college-age unvaccinated persons, who are infected with measles,” said Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Administrator Julie Pryde. “And we know that right now that it’s not into the school-age population, the K-through-12 or the younger children.”
Measles is more likely to result in potentially life-threatening complications among children under 5 and adults over 20, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control. Complications can include pneumonia and encephalitis (swelling of the brain).
Campus Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Andreas Cangellaris says the university is working with its own McKinley Health Center and the Public Health District to try to identify and warn anyone susceptible to measles about the local presence of the highly infectious disease. That includes anyone who has never had measles and who has never been vaccinated for it.
* The minimum wage bill has popped in the Senate and will be heard during an Executive Committee committee meeting at 2 o’clock this afternoon. Click here to read the bill. The Trib has some deets…
Lightford’s bill also proposes a tax credit that would help employers with 50 or fewer full-time employees offset some of the cost of raising wages. Employers would be able to deduct 25 percent of the cost in 2020, and the credit would then scale back annually until hitting 5 percent in 2025. It would phase out entirely for employers with more than five employees in 2028.
The credits wouldn’t be available to franchise owners whose businesses belong to chains with more than 50 workers.
Employers would be able to continue paying a lower wage to workers under 18 if they work fewer than 650 hours in a year.
The minimum wage for younger employees — currently $7.75 per hour — would increase to $8 on Jan. 1 and peak at $13 per hour in 2025.
…Adding… As a commenter points out, the Trib’s language is a bit sloppy. This isn’t a tax deduction. It’s a tax credit on wages paid above the current minimum wage.
Illinois lawmakers have renewed bipartisan efforts to address the Chicago Public Schools sexual abuse scandal, filing bills designed to protect students by making sweeping changes to state laws.
Legislators last year proposed 12 bills that would allow state officials to swiftly revoke the licenses of educators found to have sexually abused children, lift the intense secrecy around disciplined teachers and make it a crime for a school employee to have sexual contact with a student regardless of age, among other fixes.
None of those proposals, which were filed late in the legislative session, made it to a floor vote last year. But state Sen. Thomas Cullerton, D-Villa Park, said he now plans “to move forward as fast as possible” with twin bills he crafted with Barrington Hills Republican Rep. David McSweeney.
“It is up to us to get some accountability here,” Cullerton said. “You can’t just leave this on the shelf. It is too important for our kids.”
An Illinois lawmaker has made some tweaks to his “parental bullying” legislation, but an opponent says it still goes too far.
State Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Chicago Democrat, in December filed House Bill 181, which would have created the offense of parental bullying. The bill’s synopsis stated that a parent or legal guardian of a child would commit the petty offense, punishable by a fine, “when he or she knowingly and with the intent to discipline, embarrass, or alter the behavior of the minor, transmits any verbal or visual message that the parent or legal guardian reasonably believes would coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to the minor.”
The bill also stated that, if convicted, “a portion of any fine imposed, as determined by the court, be placed in escrow for the purchase of a certificate of deposit for use by the victim when he or she attains 18 years of age.”
More than 70 people filled out witness slips with the House’s Judiciary Committee, in opposition to the bill. […]
“We don’t like government getting in between parents and raising their children,” said Ralph Rivera, a lobbyist for the [Illinois Family Institute]. “Obviously, abuse and neglect are a different matter. But we have to be careful when we infringe on the rights of parents to discipline and raise their children.”
Legislation that would raise the minimum age to purchase cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes, chewing tobacco and other products in Illinois to 21 made it past its first legislative hurdle Tuesday.
The Senate bill sponsored by Julie Morrison, a Democrat from Deerfield, won the approval of the chamber’s Public Health Committee along party lines, by a vote of 8 to 4.
But the Republican members did not focus on the main issues the tobacco 21 initiative faced in previous legislative sessions. Instead, they took issue with the removal of language from current state law establishing penalties for minors in possession of tobacco. […]
Morrison said her bill removes that language in an effort to “refocus the responsibility” onto the retailers who sell the tobacco product, as opposed to placing it on the minors who purchase the product.
The Senate will take another crack at raising the minimum pay for Illinois teachers. Senate Bill 10 from state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hills, is similar to the bill that passed last year, but was vetoed by Gov. Bruce Rauner. Rauner said pay practices should be left to locally elected school boards.
“[That] approach to teacher compensation both limits a school district’s local control and imposes a significant unfunded mandate on school districts,” Rauner wrote in his veto message last year.
With a new governor and Democratic supermajorities in both chambers, Manar got his bill through the Senate education committee Tuesday. He said it won’t increase how much the state gives school districts under the recently passed school funding formula, but it will have a local impact with the initial year of the five-year phase into $40,000 being just over $32,000.
“[The first year is] $32,076,” Manar said. “And I don’t hide behind that. This has a budgetary impact on local school districts.”
* As we’ve discussed before, the Belleville News-Democrat has been shedding experienced staff over the past several months. The BN-D is owned by McClatchy.
On Friday morning, McClatchy President and CEO Craig Forman emailed employees to let them know 450 staffers across the enterprise, all aged 55 and over, would be offered early retirement.
In his email on Friday, Forman attributed this latest reduction in staff to “the culmination of the enormous progress McClatchy has already made in our transition to a digital future,” but the response among reporters didn’t match his optimism. “McClatchy laid off a bunch of folks including me back in 2018,” reporter Christian Boschult tweeted as the news broke. “Hopefully the folks who don’t take buyouts aren’t let go.” […]
In 2017, Forman’s take-home pay from McClatchy was $1.7 million, excluding restricted stock. His newest contract with the company, dated January 25, 2019, includes a base pay of $1 million, a bonus of $1 million, and an additional $35,000 monthly stipend. According to Segal, this stipend will be used to pay for Forman’s travel, housing, office, and security expenses. This monthly stipend alone, which is up from $5,000 in his previous contract, could fund several reporters’ salaries every year.
It’s unclear whether Monday’s statement by the state’s six Roman Catholic bishops opposing recreational use of marijuana will make it harder to pass legislation allowing the practice in Illinois, a key lawmaker advocating legalization says.
State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, said it was no shock that the six bishops — including Thomas John Paprocki of the Springfield Diocese, Daniel Jenky of the Peoria Diocese and David Malloy of the Rockford Diocese — oppose legalization. […]
“Prohibitionists are going to prohibit,” she said. “It just doesn’t surprise me that they want to cling to the old ways. I don’t know that anybody’s going to be surprised by this.”
New data from the EPA released Tuesday reveals higher levels of the cancer-causing agent ethylene oxide near Sterigenics’ facility in suburban Willowbrook than earlier studies, prompting calls for its closure from officials and residents who feel the plant is responsible for a litany of medical problems in the community.
A protest outside Gower West School Tuesday is the latest involving residents of this community against Sterigenics, which has been operating in the area since 1984. These folks say the data is irrefutable: the levels of emissions is to a point that people have been getting sick - and some dying - for years.
Sterigenics produces ethylene oxide, which is odorless and is used to make other chemicals like anti-freeze, adhesives, detergents, pesticides and sterilizers for medical equipment.
William Wehrum, the administration’s top air official, said the EPA is sticking to its plan to re-evaluate cancer risks in the Willowbrook area after collecting more air samples during the next month and combining the results with computer modeling of pollution emitted by Sterigenics.
Samples analyzed so far suggest that on some days the air monitors are registering other, unknown sources of ethylene oxide, Wehrum said, meaning the agency needs more time to assess the dangers, determine the extent Sterigenics is responsible and figure out how to limit future emissions.
“Does this somehow exonerate Sterigenics? The answer is no,” Wehrum said on a conference call dominated by residents urging the EPA to shut down the facility and questioning if the Trump administration is backing away from promises made before the November elections. “We think it’s really important to gather enough information so we can make valid and supportable decisions.” […]
Based on wind patterns during days when the EPA collected air samples in late November and December, there is no doubt Sterigenics is exposing residents to higher-than-normal levels of ethylene oxide, Wehrum and other agency officials said.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul and DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin today issued the following statement regarding the Sterigenics facility in Willowbrook.
“We are very deeply troubled by recent media reports showing improper operations at the Sterigenics facility in Willowbrook. We have also since learned just this afternoon from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that 12 more days of EtO sampling results from November and December 2018 show a clear link between EtO emissions from the Sterigenics facilities and elevated EtO levels within the Willowbrook community. The citizens of DuPage County should not have to endure this exposure to a known human carcinogen. We are coordinating our review of the data released this afternoon with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Willowbrook EtO Task Force, which includes retained environmental professionals, including toxicologists. We will exercise all available legal authority to protect the community from this exposure.”
And…
State Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) today released the following statement on the latest allegations made against the Sterigenics facility in Willowbrook:
“The latest allegations against Sterigenics are beyond troubling and once again call into question their commitment to the safety of our communities and their employees. I am not convinced, nor are many of the families that I represent, that Sterigenics is willing to make the changes necessary to ensure our health and safety. So I am calling on Sterigenics to immediately shut their doors and leave our community.”
Former workers, who do not want to be identified, accused the company of improperly dumping ethylene oxide and ethylene glycol.
One former Sterigenics worker said the chemical would be washed directly into the factory drains.
“The people in the back would call it chamber scum,” said one former worker. “It was really nasty. They would have us scrub it out, hose it down and squeegee it right into the drainage pits.”
Workers say plant supervisors would dump ethylene oxide’s byproduct– ethylene glycol–down the public sewer drains to avoid the cost of shutting down operations. Ethylene glycol is found in anti-freeze.
To avoid plant shutdowns, former workers say, the company manipulated alarm systems meant to warn workers when they were over-exposed to chemicals.
* From the campaign…
Sterigenics should be completely shut down until we determine it can operate safely. Our top priority must always be keeping communities safe. https://t.co/SPdD3Cz9VM
House Majority Leader Greg Harris, Chair of the Appropriations I Committee State Senator Heather Steans, State Representative Will Guzzardi and Latino Caucus Chair State Senator Omar Aquino joined leaders with Fair Economy Illinois in Springfield to announce a People and Planet First Agenda for the new legislative session. A trio of bills will bring transparency in use of fracking chemicals and raise $433 million in new revenue by closing corporate tax loopholes.
“Today we are focused on bringing adequate revenue to fund education, human services, capital investment and good public safety across the state,” said Majority Leader Greg Harris. “While we are all working towards a fair tax along with Governor JB Pritzker, the needs in education, public safety, new roads and bridges, support for seniors and childcare are immediate and they need funding now.”
“Although there is a new landscape in Springfield, Illinois is still in crisis. The social service sector, public education and environmental enforcement need urgent attention and investment in this legislative session,” says Bea Westrate, a leader with Fair Economy Illinois and a resident in Harris’ district. “Passage of these environmental and revenue bills would be an important downpayment on the governor’s promise to make our state safer and our tax system fairer.” […]
HB282 is a transparency bill giving Illinois residents the right to know whether an oil or gas well transects their property, possibly polluting drinking water. State Senator David Koehler (46) and State Rep. Robyn Gabel (18) are the primary sponsors in their respective chambers.
HB2085/SB1115 reigns in offshore tax sheltering and would generate $318 million annually in revenue for the Illinois General Fund. Majority Leader Rep. Greg Harris (13) and State Senator Heather Steans (7) are the primary sponsors in their respective chambers.
HB2079/SB1132 amends the “Retailers’ Discount” tax break, to claw back $115 million in consumer-paid sales taxes kept by big corporations. Corporate giant Walmart keeps over $8 million each year through this tax break. State Rep. Will Guzzardi (39) and State Senator Omar Aquino (2) are the primary sponsors in their respective chambers.
Illinois residents are fleeing for more economically hospitable states. They go to Texas, Florida and other Sun Belt states because job prospects are better, tax burdens are lower and the weather is more temperate. The Exodus is real. It’s damaging Illinois. And it may be getting worse.
The warning comes from a fellow sufferer, otherwise known as the governor of New York. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo reports that New York state income tax revenue last year came up short by a projected $2.3 billion. Cuomo partially blames the departure of wealthy residents from his high-tax state in the wake of federal tax reform, which put a limit on the amount of state and local taxes that can be deducted on federal income tax forms.
When New York, already expensive, put an even higher tax burden on residents, some New Yorkers who could afford to leave did so. In Cuomo’s memorable phrase on Monday: “Tax the rich. Tax the rich. Tax the rich. We did that. God forbid the rich leave.”
As of Tuesday we hadn’t seen an estimated 2018 tax revenue figure from Springfield, but a trend’s a trend. There’s reason to anticipate that some affluent, mobile residents of Illinois will reach the same conclusions as their brethren from New York that they’d be better off financially in a different locale. The Wall Street Journal reports that growing numbers of wealthy tax refugees from New York, New Jersey and Illinois are showing up in Miami to buy condos.
In expectation of the [federal tax] change, an untold number of New York taxpayers accelerated income and deductions in the final days of 2017, paying more taxes than the state anticipated so that they could pay less in 2018. Absent that timing-related shift, personal income tax revenue would have risen 4.3% rather than declined, a state budget spokesman said. That suggests the state economy grew stronger last year.
Emphasis added.
Gov. Cuomo was basically just making a political argument against the Republican tax plan and everyone focused on that, rather than what actually happened.
…Adding… The Tribune claims “As of Tuesday we hadn’t seen an estimated 2018 tax revenue figure from Springfield.” The editorial board should’ve pulled up the latest monthly revenue briefing from COGFA. Here it is…
In January, base monthly receipts decreased $379 million. Regular readers of the Commission’s monthly briefing will recall that last January net income tax revenues spiked $925 million not only due to higher income tax rates, but also to taxpayer behavior related to the federal tax reform package. In essence, taxpayers were incentivized to pay their tax liabilities within tax year 2017 to take advantage of the last year of the SALT deductions—prior to new federal limitations. The timing of those accelerated payments caused a jump in estimated payments collected in January. As a consequence, the comparative decline in this month’s income tax performance is not surprising and was quite solid when viewed through the proper lens. This month had the same number of receipting days as the same prior year period.
While monthly gross personal income taxes fell $393 million, or $340 million on a net basis, that decline needs to be put in context given last year’s record January levels.
In Illinois, each of the income categories we examined saw net domestic out-migration, meaning more people left Illinois for elsewhere in the US than arrived here from other states. On its own, that’s not surprising: Illinois has had negative overall net domestic migration for nearly a century, even when its population was booming, as we explained in our previous post. (One big reason is that Illinois has long relied on international immigration and new births for its population growth.)
But Illinois’ greatest losses aren’t among those making over $100,000 — not even close. From 2012 to 2016, on average, for every 1,000 people making six figures or more, Illinois lost 4.6 of them to domestic migration each year. In contrast, that figure was more than doubled for people making under $25,000, at 10.6 per 1,000, and hit a substantially higher 9.1 per 1,000 for people making between $25,000 and $50,000.
Indeed, Illinois’ migration losses are least severe in what we might think of as the “middle class” categories, between $50,000 and $100,000.
In other words, most people generally leave when they can’t afford to stay.
* And where have the wealthy Illinoisans been moving to? Well, New York, for one…
The top destination for households making over $100,000 is actually the New York City metropolitan area — hardly a low-tax oasis. Houston is second, with the top six rounded out by Los Angeles (where the top state income tax bracket is 13.3 percent, versus 4.95 percent in Illinois); Minneapolis-St. Paul (where it’s 9.85 percent); Denver (4.63 percent) and Washington, DC (8.95 percent). Only then do we reach northwest Indiana, in seventh place.
Overall, high-income Illinoisans’ top out-of-state destinations are a mix of low-tax usual suspects in the Sun Belt (Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Nashville) and places you’d probably steer clear of if you were moving to find low taxes (four metropolitan areas in California, New York, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Washington). This makes sense: As we wrote in our last post, migration experts generally say that taxes rank low on the list of reasons that people move, far below things like job opportunities, being close to friends and family, or overall cost of living, which is often more affected by housing costs than state and local taxes.
As local pension costs continue to skyrocket across Illinois, mayors are pursuing legislation to reform and consolidate the state’s more than 650 public safety pension funds. Consolidating these funds could streamline investments and benefit decisions and eliminate unnecessary, redundant administrative costs, ensuring more money is available to fund pension benefits without reducing benefits.
Bipartisan legislation has been introduced by Sen. Steven Landek, a Democrat who currently serves as the mayor of Bridgeview, and Rep. Ryan Spain, a Republican who previously served as a member of the Peoria City Council. The package of legislation proposes varying degrees of reform and consolidation for local public safety pension funds in order to deliver on promises made to those who have dedicated their lives to serving their communities.
The Illinois Municipal League’s (IML) Pension Reform Working Group made the recommendation to consolidate the individual public safety funds after examining the best ways to stabilize pension benefits for hardworking public servants. Smaller local pension funds have experienced lower returns on investments than larger consolidated funds. As a result, many communities across Illinois are forced to choose between funding basic municipal services, including police and fire services, or making pension contributions. […]
“Consolidating smaller pension funds into larger funds has been shown to generate greater investment returns. Additionally, consolidation will relieve some of the burden placed on taxpayers. This is a win-win for both retirees and our communities as a whole,” said Michael J. Inman, mayor of the City of Macomb and president of the IML Board of Directors.
One proposal recommends a single downstate fund modeled on the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF), which remains the second largest and best-funded pension system in the state. Consolidating funds would enact efficiencies and streamline services to ensure financial contributions from both taxpayers and employees go towards pensions, and not unnecessary overhead or administrative expenses.
SB 1106/HB 1566: Consolidation into IMRF, with IMRF Formula for New Hires
Consolidates all downstate public safety pension funds into the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) and requires the regular IMRF pension formula to apply to all newly hired public safety employees after a certain date. Local pension boards would be abolished following consolidation.
SB 1107/HB 1567: Consolidation into IMRF, with Retained Police and Firefighter Formulas
Consolidates all downstate public safety pension funds into IMRF. This proposal would allow the benefit characteristics of these funds to stay the same, but be under the management and administration of IMRF. Local pension boards would be abolished following consolidation.
SB 1108/HB 1568: Consolidation with IMRF, for Investment Funds Only
Consolidates the investments (only) of all local pension funds by the transfer of assets and investment authority into IMRF and maintains local pension boards for each fund to administer pension determinations.
SB 1109/HB 1569: Consolidation Creating a Single Downstate Police Pension Fund
Consolidates all downstate police pension funds into a single downstate police pension fund. The fund would have one statewide board that would carry out all aspects of the fund’s management, thereby eliminating the local pension boards.
SB 1110/HB 1570: Consolidation Creating a Single Downstate Firefighter Pension Fund
Consolidates all downstate firefighters pension funds into a single downstate firefighter pension fund. The fund would have one statewide board that would carry out all aspects of the fund’s management, thereby eliminating the local pension boards.
SB 1111/HB 1571: Consolidation with IMRF, for Investment Funds Only, By City Council Action, Maintaining Local Pension Boards
Allows municipal officials to direct the local pension fund board to transfer and consolidate its investment funds into a single statewide fund. Allows local pension boards to maintain all other authority, such as pension awards and disability determinations. Participating communities would see their property tax levies for pensions be exempted from the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL).
SB 1112/HB 1572: Extend the Amortization Period and Reduce the Funded Ratio Target
Maintains all characteristics of each local pension fund (i.e., no consolidation), extends the amortization period from 2040 to 2050 and reduces the required funding ratio target from 90% to 80%, and directs a comprehensive study be done to examine the costs and benefits of full consolidation.
Several council members and public speakers in Naperville rose in defense of their hometown Tuesday after state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray described Naperville as a city with a “history of white supremacist policies.”
Council member Kevin Coyne called for Stava-Murray to step down from her seat representing the 81st District, which includes parts of Naperville, saying she “has a fundamental misunderstanding of both the Naperville community and what it means to represent a constituency.” […]
These public statements came more than a month after Stava-Murray, a 32-year-old Democrat, responded to a woman’s post on Facebook with a message that said she is working to change what she sees as the city’s “history of white supremacist policies.”
She later pointed to what she calls racial profiling during traffic stops, questionable police hiring, discrimination in housing and home showings, largely white teacher populations, high rates of black student suspensions and low rates of black student enrollment in advanced placement courses as evidence of “white ignorance” in Naperville policies.
Stava-Murray said she has no plans to step down after what she described as Coyne’s attempt to cause further division by revisiting her comments. She said he “has no genuine intention” behind “his continued escalation of the situation.”
City Councilman Benny White, the first African-American resident elected to the Naperville council, also rebuked Stava-Murray’s comments. […]
“As a parent of black children, when my kids became of age, like many other black parents, we actually had to sit down with our kids and tell them what to do and what not to do if they’re stopped by the police,” White said. “It’s just a different perspective that many of us probably just don’t get or quite understand.
“I have a story and my wife has a story and sadly our kids have a story since moving here,” White said. “Our kids both felt the sting of racism in schools in Naperville.” […]
“To be clear, I do not believe Naperville is a community with white supremacist policies,” White said. “However, that does not mean Naperville is immune to the ills and bias of discrimination. To believe so would be a fallacy.”
Elected officials need to understand their voices are louder than most, and that their words matter, White said.
Robert Bruno, a professor at the UIUC School of Labor and Employment Relations and director of the Project for Middle Class Renewal, said 10 states have already legalized sports gambling in the last year, but none are in the Midwest. “There is some advantage to be the first mover, so Illinois may want to be out of the box first. Obviously that incentivizes taking action,” he said.
But there is still debate on how it could impact gambling addiction.
Frank Manzo, policy director for the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, said sports betting already exists in the black market, and regulating it could help with those concerns. “People are doing it anyway, and legalizing sports betting, which is an economic activity that has been approved by the U.S. Supreme Court, would bring those bettors into a safe and regulated marketplace.”
Bruno said their analysis estimates up to $100 million annually in state tax revenue, which could not only go toward infrastructure or public education, but also toward funding gambling addiction programs. […]
According to the report, legalization could also help create up to 2,500 jobs.
The Illinois Economic Policy Institute’s full report is here.
U.S. Sen. DICK DURBIN, D-Illinois, says he doesn’t think Illinois should rush into making recreational use of marijuana legal.
Durbin, of Springfield, was asked about the issue when appearing on another topic last week at the Memorial Center for Learning and Innovation.
“I can remember the worst times, when it came to marijuana, and when I was a lawyer in this town, and somebody with a 17-year-old son would come in and say, ‘My kid just got busted for smoking pot,’” Durbin said. “They wanted to know … whether or not there was any way to spare their son from the embarrassment and possibly life-changing results of being prosecuted for smoking a joint.” […]
Durbin said he recommends a recent article by MALCOLM GLADWELL in The New Yorker. The headline of the online version is: “Is Marijuana as Safe as We Think?”
He said it discusses “the impact of legalizing marijuana in many states … and what they have seen as a result of it: the increase in traffic accidents; certain mental health conditions seem to be more prevalent in those states. These are all legitimate clinical questions that should be asked and tested.”
* From that thoroughly debunked article, which is based on an even worse book…
Berenson looks, too, at the early results from the state of Washington, which, in 2014, became the first U.S. jurisdiction to legalize recreational marijuana. Between 2013 and 2017, the state’s murder and aggravated-assault rates rose forty per cent—twice the national homicide increase and four times the national aggravated-assault increase. We don’t know that an increase in cannabis use was responsible for that surge in violence. Berenson, though, finds it strange that, at a time when Washington may have exposed its population to higher levels of what is widely assumed to be a calming substance, its citizens began turning on one another with increased aggression.
We don’t know—that’s true. Science can’t prove a negative. But this is innuendo, the public-intellectual equivalent of just sayin’. Innumerable factors go into homicide rates. One of the strongest predictors is income inequality, for example, which was increasing in Washington during that period; the state now has the 10th-biggest gap in the country. If marijuana legalization accounted for increased murder rates, Amsterdam would be a much deadlier place to live. As it is, the homicide rate in the Netherlands is one-fifth as high as it is in the United States.
It’s not a presentation of evidence as much as a dire hypothetical that ignores literally all other possible factors for a fluctuation in assault and homicide rates.
When it comes to violence, Beatriz Carlini, a senior research scientist at the University of Washington’s Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute, notes Gladwell says there was an increase in violent crime after marijuana legalization began in Washington. But what he fails to note, according to Carlini, is there was a decrease in violence the two years prior, and therefore crime levels have simply reached the point they were at in the years before legalization. And Benjamin Hansen, an economics professor at the University of Oregon, who showed that crime rates in Washington and Colorado have actually decreased since legalization.
Another thing Gladwell focuses on is a report by the National Academy of Medicine that showed a link between schizophrenia and marijuana use. But Ziva Cooper, a research director at UCLA’s Cannabis Research Initiative and one of the authors of the report cited by Gladwell, came out and publicly affirmed that the report does not mean that marijuana use causes schizophrenia.
* Gov. Pritzker’s office reacts to the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club’s plan unveiled yesterday to raise the income tax rate, expand the tax to retirement income and tax some services…
Despite what the Civic Committee folks say, Gov. Pritzker does not seem enamored of the plan.
The official response: “We appreciate the recommendations the Civic Committee is making as we begin this journey, and we will continue to listen to and work with all stakeholders as we move forward.”
The unofficial background response from an administration source: “The governor ruled out some of these recommendations during the campaign, including taxing retirement income. He opposes an increase in the flat tax and believes that a graduated income tax is the appropriate path forward for income taxes, so that the vast majority of Illinois families receive a tax break while the wealthiest pay more.”
The only way this plan looks even a little viable (aside from the retirement income tax, which is almost undoubtedly out of the question) is if the progressive tax proposal fails to pass.
Kennedy summed it up…
Rich people propose that Governor break his campaign promise to tax the rich, prefer alternative plan to raise taxes on the not-rich.https://t.co/fdy7OcLOcZ
At the same time, the [Civic Committee] plan calls for elimination of the estate tax and the franchise tax at a cost of about $500 million. The organization said it would make Illinois more competitive and combat its “outlier status.”
Yeah, I’m thinking the Democrats are in zero mood to eliminate the estate tax these days.
“The people of Illinois pay among the highest state-and-local tax burdens in the nation, and yet Illinois has been in a perpetual budget crisis for years,” it says. “Taxes are the No. 1 reason people consider leaving Illinois, as residents face constant uncertainty about future tax rates. We support some of the reforms the Civic Committee includes in its proposal, including rightsizing government-worker health insurance costs so they more closely match what their peers in the private sector pay. But a $6 billion tax hike with little reform or shared sacrifice is likely to make our problems worse and would require Gov. J.B. Pritzker to break his promise not to raise taxes for his first two budget years.”
Also on Tuesday, bond ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service in a report pointed to many of the same issues the Civic Committee highlights: “massive unfunded pension liabilities, chronic budget deficits causing bill payment delays, and subpar economic and demographic trends.” It also says new money likely will be required to balance the budget.
“The car is not crashed. The car is in perfect condition,” Moreno said. “She’s a friend of mine. We dated for a while. She’s a single mom. I was trying to help out. She was down on her luck and needed a car. That’s end of conversation.”
Moreno was asked if he was trying to falsify a police report.
“It’s political season. I get it. You throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. This is something that is absolutely, 100 percent false,” Moreno said. “Absolutely not. I did exactly what I was supposed to do.”
* Uh-oh…
#CPD confirms they have opened an investigation into whether @Alderman_Moreno filed a false police report, after lending his car to a friend he formerly dated and then reporting it stolen to the cops.
Governor JB Pritzker addressed hundreds of attendees at the Illinois Excellence in Tourism Awards Dinner [yesterday] evening, promoting the state’s strengths and celebrating our booming travel and tourism industry.
The following is an excerpt of the governor’s remarks:
It’s so wonderful to join you all here to celebrate Illinois.
After all, we attracted 114 million visitors in 2017 for a reason.
Illinois is home to some of the greatest cities in the world. Chicago truly has it all, from an abundance of arts and culture to Millennium Park to Wrigley Field to a shopping and dining scene like no other.
Illinois is home to small towns, rich in history and filled with charm. From Galena to Alton and Ottawa to Peoria, our magnificent rivers connect scenic regional communities.
And we’re home to natural wonders like the Shawnee National Forest and Starved Rock State Park, where families can make the outdoors their playground with hiking and biking, sledding and skiing, hunting and fishing.
Most importantly, we’re home to the greatest people in the world.
Entrepreneurs building shops and restaurants and hotels in every corner of our state.
Chefs and wait staff, hotel managers and clerks, designers and shopkeepers, welcoming people from across the world to our state and showing them everything that is good about Illinois.
We’re powered by some of the most decent, hard working, dedicated and kind people in the world.
I’ve often told people that in the summer you’ll often see a family from out of town walking together on Michigan Avenue looking at a map maybe a little confused. And every time, you’ll see one of our great Chicagoans ask “can I help you find something?” And inevitably a smile and a wave and “thanks” and “have a good time” are exchanged. That’s Illinois in a nutshell.
Our people are our strength. It’s all of you in this room and working families statewide who help make Illinois a great place to live and a great place to visit.
It’s no wonder Illinois is one of the top tourist destinations in the country!
And let’s not understate how much that helps our bottom line.
In 2017, the tourism industry generated $40 billion in economic activity.
That amounted to $3 billion in revenue for state and local governments.
And that saved the average Illinois household more than $1,300 in taxes.
Those tourism dollars supported over 337,000 jobs, providing wages and a decent living to so many working families.
The fact is, Illinois is the fifth largest economy in the United States and our travel and tourism plays a huge role in making that possible.
I want you to know I don’t take that for granted, and I’m going to stand with you to make your footprint in our state even larger.
As I said in my inaugural address, I am going to be our state’s best Chief Marketing Officer.
When people from other states and other countries are deciding where to visit, I will tell them about our natural beauty, our terrific historic sites, our awesome restaurants, and our amazing people.
When entrepreneurs are deciding where to build and grow their business, I’m going to tell them why Illinois is second to none in its supply of talented workers that come from our great higher education institutions.
And when families are deciding where to move and raise their children, I will make it clear that we are the most livable and affordable big state in the U.S.
And I’ll follow your lead too. You all know what it takes to promote our state’s potential.
With the help of everybody in this room, we’re going to attract even more people to visit. We’re going to promote all our state has to offer. We’re going to welcome even more people from all over the world. And together we’re going to build a better future for everyone that calls Illinois home. Thank you for all that you do!
Under the proposal from the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, the state would increase personal and corporate income taxes by one percentage point across the board, pulling in $4 billion. The group would net another $1.9 billion by beginning to tax retirement income, and $500 million by extending the sales tax to cover more consumer services.
That $6 billion a year in higher taxes would be matched by $2 billion in spending cuts, half in general state spending and half in trims to health insurance for state workers and retirees. But the plan notably does not include any projected savings from cuts in pensions by requiring workers to pay more, accept reduced benefits, or both.
* OK, first of all, Pritzker ran on an oft-repeated promise to implement a progressive income tax and said he wouldn’t raise taxes on regular folks. He’d have to break that promise. The only way I see him doing that is if he can’t get a graduated tax proposal through the General Assembly and approved by the voters.
Secondly, Pritzker ran hard against a tax on retirement income. So, following the Civic Committee’s plan would require a gigantic flip-flop in order to implement a horribly unpopular tax. Paul Simon Institute..
A recurring idea is for the state to tax retirement income, such as pensions and social security. This idea is widely unpopular, with 74 percent opposing and only 22 percent in favor.
Proposing such a thing is infinitely easier said (from Chicago) than done (under the Dome).
Also, the Illinois Supreme Court decided in Kanerva v. Weems that retiree health care costs are to be treated the same as pension benefits. So, the Civic Committee has a work-around…
However, the ruling does not apply to new employees, and the State could create a separate retiree healthcare plan for new employees with a reduced premium subsidy structure that would be applied going forward. It is unclear how much the State could save from reducing the premium subsidy for new employees, but the State should pursue the implementation of a separate retiree healthcare plan for new employees.
* And their billion dollars in other budget cuts comes from this…
Reduce State spending through operational improvements
Specifically, it wants to take the current funding plan in which the state pays about $8.5 billion a year and add an extra $2 billion a year. Doing so would get the state to the actuarial level in just four years, and result in 93 percent funding of the pension plans by 2045. By paying earlier, the state would save at least $46 million in interest costs on pension debt over the next three decades—not counting the potential upgrade of the state’s bond rating and more economic growth, the report asserts.
Such “front funding” of pension debt indeed has been recommended by numerous officials lately including Pritzker. But there has been no agreement on where to find the needed revenue.
Of the $8 billion in new revenue and spending cuts, roughly $3 billion will be needed each year to cover the state’s growing structural deficit, according to the committee’s math. Another $1.5 billion would go to pay short-term, non-pension debt; $1 billion into a new reserve fund; and $2 billion into the extra pension payment.
…Adding… From a pal…
Remember when Fahner and the Civic Committee were personally meeting with the ratings agencies to get the state downgraded? Hard to have imagined this day coming. Welcome to reality, boys and girls
Yep.
…Adding… Wordslinger is probably spot-on…
I always thought the civvies obsession with pensions was really about heading off a call for a progressive income tax.
I think this particular tax increase proposal is the same.
Targeting campaign fund corruption between lobbyists and state legislators, State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) has sponsored legislation to prohibit lobbyists with political campaign accounts from donating to members from that account.
“Senate Bill 128 is a measure to prevent retired legislators-turned-lobbyists—and new lobbyists involved with a PAC—from misusing their campaign funds to benefit their lobbying career,” said Tracy. “It is a good government bill that prevents the corrupt flow of campaign money in the State Capitol, and I hope my Senate colleagues will join me in implementing this responsible lobbying regulation.”
The concerning oversight in the lobbying ethics policy was brought to the Senator’s attention by members of the public who inquired about former legislators’ use of campaign funds. Under current law, there are no regulations to prevent newly registered lobbyists who have access to a campaign account from donating campaign funds to members of the Illinois General Assembly. Senate Bill 128 would specify that donations to members from campaign accounts are strictly prohibited and will remain forbidden for two years after the individual’s lobbyist registration expires.
“While I am not aware of any lobbyists engaging in this activity, I was surprised to uncover there is a loophole allowing for it,” said Tracy. “Campaign contributions exist to support the candidate’s run for office, and this is purely a preventative and precautionary measure to ensure those contributions are not abused.”
* The Question: Agree or disagree with this concept? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
Addressing speculation on a bid for the U.S. 14th Congressional District, State Rep. Allen Skillicorn said in a statement if it means running for another position for Illinois families to have a voice and not a special interest to represent them, so be it.
The 14th district is currently represented by Democrat Lauren Underwood, who unseated Republican Randy Hultgren in November.
“I am 100 percent focused on saving Illinois from high taxes, a restrictive economic policies and Obamacare’s high costs that hurt all Illinoisans,” Skillicorn, R-East Dundee, said. “I will fight for Illinoisans in the state Capitol, Main Street, on farms and even Washington D.C.”
Skillicorn, who said the statement was something he wanted to make for any future releases, said he is listening to Illinois families in the counties of Lake, McHenry, Kane, DeKalb, Kendall, DuPage and Will – all of which make up the 14th Congressional District.
We’ve all felt it. We’ve all had conversations, discussions and disagreements with friends from different parts of the state that have only bolstered our feelings. We see it in the news on a daily basis. It’s hard to avoid the sense that we have two different states of Illinois — one that those in Chicago and the suburbs experience and another distinct Illinois embodied by those living outside Cook and the collar counties.
Over the past year, I spent a lot of time going door to door and talking with residents and voters in our region. If you live in Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Winnebago, Carroll, Ogle or Whiteside counties, you likely not only know this to be true but may have even talked with me when I came to your door. In those discussions, many important topics came up — property taxes, jobs, children and grandchildren moving out of Illinois for work and starting their families elsewhere. All common and expected topics. All topics our elected officials should held accountable to address during their time in public service.
Nonetheless, I never once had a person at their doorstep tell me that their top priority is tasking the Illinois State Police with the role of reviewing and systematically analyzing social media accounts like Facebook or Twitter to issue a Firearm Owners Identification card. This is to look for reasons to restrict access to an otherwise law-abiding citizens’ Constitutional rights — in this case, the Second Amendment. Nobody suggested that as a way to bring jobs back to Illinois, to keep our kids and grandkids here or to protect our biggest investments, our homes and families, or that this is in line with the priorities pressing our state.
However, now that legislators are filing their bills in Springfield, I see one of my Democratic colleagues must have heard a whole different message when he went door to door in Buffalo Grove, a suburb of Chicago on the edge of Cook County. That is the only explanation as to why Rep. Daniel Didech could have filed a bill requiring the Illinois State Police to do just that.
Surely, he must know that the processing time for a citizen seeking a FOID card is already delayed and is often in violation of state law. Surely, he must understand before each firearm purchase that background checks are performed. Surely, he must know that criminals do not follow laws passed by government bodies. If they did, they would not be criminals in the first place. Surely, most would conclude that the type of laws like Rep. Didech proposed in House Bill 888 create unnecessary bureaucracy, unacceptable delays and is an outrageous infringement on law-abiding citizens exercising both their Second and First Amendment rights. Right?!
When I decided to run to represent my hometown of Buffalo Grove in the Illinois House of Representatives, I promised that I would reach across the aisle and work in good faith with my colleagues throughout the state to move us forward in a cooperative manner. That’s why I accepted an invitation earlier this year to participate in the Jo Daviess County Farm Bureau’s “adopt-a-legislator” program. Even though I live in a suburban community with little farmland, I respect the critical role that farmers and the agriculture industry serve for Illinois’ economy, and I recognize the importance of listening to people whose life experiences may not perfectly align with those of my own.
After my community overwhelmingly chose to send me to Springfield, my mandate was clear: cut taxes for middle-class families, keep our schools safe, and work across the aisle to solve problems caused by years of fiscal mismanagement in Illinois. To that end, in addition to introducing legislation that would make our tax system fairer to low-income families, I introduced HB 888 to advance a conversation about the actionable steps we can take to improve public safety.
In an increasingly online world, we must have an open discussion about the tools law enforcement may use to keep our communities safe, and my intention is to continue that discussion so we can find the right balance that respects the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners while at the same time keeping our children safe from gun violence.
The first time I met Rep. Andrew Chesney, we had a productive dialogue about how we could partner to address many issues facing local governments. We discussed how my success consolidating redundant units of local government in Lake County could serve as a model for his prudent plan to eliminate Freeport Township. I was hopeful that this productive dialogue would also include our shared desire to keep our community, schools and places of worship free from violence.
However, I was disappointed to learn that instead of continuing our productive dialogue about how we could work together, Rep. Chesney quickly retreated to Bruce Rauner’s failed strategy of dividing and conquering our state. There is a reason why this tactic of pitting Chicago and its nearby villages against the rest of Illinois was so resoundingly rejected by the voters in last year’s election. When legislators focus on who can score the most political points instead of achieving our common goals, they lose sight of how our most vulnerable neighbors – children, senior citizens, people with disabilities – are the ones who pay the price.
I agreed to partner with the Jo Daviess County Farm Bureau because I am committed to working across the aisle with my colleagues to address the very serious problems that Illinois faces after four years of relentless partisan bickering. In that same spirit, I would like to invite Rep. Chesney to join me in Buffalo Grove to attend a meeting of our local chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, an organization that believes in both the Second Amendment and reducing the risk of gun violence.
Several gun dealers in Central and Southern Illinois are closing their businesses rather than pay what they’re saying is thousands of dollars in costs to comply with a law enacted last month.
When he signed the bill into law last month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the Gun Dealer Licensing Act was about stopping straw buyers.
“The reason for it is to deter straw purchases so that we can prevent someone from buying a gun for someone else who is not legally allowed to own a gun,” he said at the signing ceremony in Chicago.
* “Several”? I dunno about that, but INN does identify two. Here’s one…
Mick Moore made the same decision for Walnut Creek Shooters Supply in Brownstown after seeing not only the cost of the license and the camera system. but also the uncertainty additional regulations and more fees.
“It’s just not worth it,” he said. “I’ve fought it and fought it but I’m just not up to the fight much longer.”
I’ve worked 8 to 12 hrs a day for the last 8 years building my business as an honest and legal gun shop and put all the money back into inventory so i could provide what my loyal customers want. Never drawn a paycheck for my time. I send a nice check to the state of Illinois for sales tax every month. Now they want to add more hardships on all of the small local gun shops. There’s no way we can comply and stay in business. We have allowed a few square miles in the north east corner of our state completely ruin the rest of the state. I will be selling off my inventory of firearms and ammo and not replace them and discontinue those sales. Then i won’t need their firearm license to sell all the rest of the accessories and supplies i have in stock. Time to go hunting and fishing and enjoy my retirement. A very heart felt thank you to all my loyal customers and friends.
If a business is operating on such a thin margin that the owner can’t even draw a paycheck for eight years, then almost any additional regulation and fees would put that person out of business.
That being said, it sucks when people have to give up something they’ve built.
Harvest Ridge would create up to 250 full-time equivalent jobs during construction and eight to 10 permanent jobs to operate and maintain the turbines once they’re up and running, according to EDP. […]
Wal-Mart has signed on to buy 233 megawatts of electricity from EDP’s various wind farms, including 50 megawatts specifically from Harvest Ridge. A local cooperative, the Wabash Valley Power Association, has plans to purchase 100 megawatts for 20 years and a second unidentified private purchaser will buy 50 megawatts for an undisclosed number of years.
But a zoning battle that has spilled into court could jeopardize all of that.
EDP recently filed a lawsuit against Murdock Township, which last fall created and enacted its own zoning requirements for wind, separate and more restrictive than the Douglas County ordinance that was intended to be countywide.
In the lawsuit, EDP attorneys argue that the township ordinances are designed “in a manner in which it would be effectively impossible to develop and permit the project.” The company’s complaint states that Murdock Township’s actions are prejudicial to the project, contrary to zoning authority granted to townships by the Illinois General Assembly and an improper attempt to override the county’s wind-farm ordinance.
The governor committed Illinois to the US Climate Alliance just the other day. We’re not going to get there if rural township NIMBYs are setting up arbitrary roadblocks to wind (and solar) power.
The state needs reasonable, uniform siting and operational guidelines. As I’ve mentioned before, the Farm Bureau and the alternative energy folks have been butting heads for years. It’s going to take an involved governor to resolve this disagreement.
Elgin schools officials say they are disappointed unit districts that applied for a portion of $50 million in property tax relief grants from the state this year were sidelined due to the criteria used for calculating eligibility.
Elgin Area School District U-46 sought roughly $43 million — the maximum for which it was eligible — for fiscal year 2019.
Tax relief grants are a provision of the state’s new evidence-based school funding law. A school district’s eligibility is based on whether it has the highest unit equivalent tax rate compared to all the districts that applied. Approved districts must agree to abate a portion of taxes in the coming tax year.
“The way the state evaluated which districts were eligible really favored high school districts,” school board member Sue Kerr said during Monday night’s school board meeting. “Not a single unit district in the state received any property tax relief, and I believe 75 percent of the schools that got it were high school districts. It’s a problem.”
Those grants are a paltry sum in comparison to the actual need. A good explainer about the state law is here.
“I’m from Metropolis, right across the river from Paducah, Kentucky,” [Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis] said. “Young families are just picking up and moving to Paducah because they pay less in property taxes. They feel like they have more opportunity, better life quality, and it’s causing a huge problem in Southern Illinois. People are leaving and they’re not coming back.”
And yet, this is one of the first bills he introduced…
Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that the homestead exemption for veterans with disabilities carries over to the benefit of the veteran’s surviving spouse if the veteran resided outside of the State but otherwise qualified for the exemption at the time of his or her death and the surviving spouse relocates to Illinois after the death of the veteran.
No disrespect for out-of-state surviving spouses of veterans, but if you want to help young families with their property taxes, the first thing to do is stop narrowing the property tax base. Somebody always has to pick up the tab.
* Meanwhile…
State Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) has introduced legislation to provide Illinois residents with some much-needed property tax relief.
“We have to do more than just stop property taxes from increasing– we must find ways to lower the property tax burden in Illinois,” McSweeney said. “To that end, I have filed a measure to reduce all property tax levies by 10 percent.”
House Bill 320 reduces property tax levies by 10% total (5% each year for two years) for all local governments, even home rule units of government. The net effect of the measure will be a permanent 10% reduction in property taxes in Illinois in the next two years. Property taxes would be permanently frozen after the 10% reduction and could only be raised if local voters approve an increase by referendum.
According to the most recent data available, Illinois has the second highest property tax rates in the country.
“We know property taxes in Illinois are too high,” McSweeney said. “We know that people are leaving Illinois in droves in large part because the taxes are too high. Illinois lost nearly 45,000 people net last year alone. The longer we delay action on solving the property tax issue in Illinois, the more people are going to leave. We need to reverse this out-migration. It is time to lower property taxes permanently in Illinois.”
House Bill 320 has been introduced and awaits assignment to a House Committee.
Property taxes are a very real problem here. But ordering locals to lower their levies by 10 percent and then freezing them in place forever doesn’t seem like a doable idea without some sort of state help, particularly for schools.
Hundreds of state jobs that once were exempt from Rutan anti-patronage protections have been reclassified to remove them from political influence during the four years of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration. […]
[Joe Hartzler, who was special counsel to Rauner] said that “we knocked out like 2,500 patronage positions.” […]
At one point, several thousand state jobs were considered Rutan-exempt and subject to patronage considerations. Hartzler said the number is now below 1,500.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Special Prosecutor Joseph McMahon had what they say was a “productive” phone call on Monday about possibilities for challenging the sentence of Jason Van Dyke, the former Chicago police officer convicted of murder in Laquan McDonald’s killing.
The sentence, handed down last month, would allow Van Dyke’s release from prison in as few as three years. Police accountability advocates have characterized that penalty as far too lenient.
Raoul and McMahon “are both continuing their review and will make a decision on next steps once they have finished their review,” the attorney general’s spokeswoman Annie Thompson said after the call.
Chris Nelson, a McMahon spokesman, said the call lasted 45 minutes and was the first conversation about the case between the attorney general and special prosecutor.
An option previously raised by McMahon is asking the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn the sentencing.
“This is part of the process to decide whether to go forward with a challenge to the sentence,” [McMahon’s spokesman] Christopher Nelson said.
McMahon has said he plans to decide by March 1 on whether to petition the state Supreme Court to file a writ of mandamus, which is an order that would send the case back to Gaughan for a new, likely longer, prison sentence.
Civil rights activists and Laquan McDonald’s family have called for a harsher sentence for Van Dyke, who was convicted in the teen’s death in early October. Van Dyke could be released in fewer than four years with credit for good behavior. Raoul, a former state senator from Chicago who was sworn in days before the sentencing hearing, had said his office was reviewing whether state law mandated a stiffer sentence for Van Dyke.
Nelson said McMahon, who is the state’s attorney for Kane County, had called for Monday’s conference call.
Now, with Democrats in control of the governor’s mansion and both the Illinois House and Senate, they are charging ahead on an issue that’s popular with many of their supporters. But Pritzker could risk alienating business interests and Republican lawmakers in his first big legislative effort, shortly after sounding bipartisan tones when he was sworn in last month.
State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, a Maywood Democrat who has tried to raise the minimum wage before, said she hopes to introduce her new proposal as early as Tuesday. That timetable could give Pritzker a chance to sign a minimum wage increase into law before delivering his first budget proposal to lawmakers on Feb. 20, she said. […]
Her goal is to get the state’s minimum wage to $15, more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25 and equal to the level it will reach in California in 2022 and in Massachusetts the following year. As of Monday, specifics were still being worked out, and debate among lawmakers could further change any proposal. Up for discussion is how many years it should take to boost the wage to $15, whether employers should continue being allowed to pay some teenage workers less and how to structure tax credits to help small businesses offset rising payroll costs. […]
Other business groups are asking for bigger changes. Retail leaders want Illinois to take into account the fact that it costs more to live in the Chicago area than it does Downstate. For example, the rate could be $15 in Chicago and Cook County, $13 in the collar counties and $11 in the rest of the state, Illinois Retail Merchants Association President and CEO Rob Karr said. […]
“There is a difference between being heard and being listened to,” Karr said.
Groups representing retailers, manufacturers, gas stations and others have accepted that there will be an increase from the current minimum of $8.25, said Mark Grant, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. They’re now lobbying to prolong the phase-in and limit the $15 amount to Chicago and perhaps the collar counties, arguing that the cost of living is lower downstate.
New York and Oregon have higher minimum wages for employers in major cities. In California and Massachusetts, the $15 minimum wage applies across the state, as it will in New Jersey, which last week passed legislation guaranteeing a $15 minimum wage.
SEIU Healthcare Political Director Erica Bland-Durosinmi wants the $15 amount to take effect across the state, and quickly, saying it will help workers from Chicago to Danville pay for rent and groceries.
“This fight is a fight we have been fighting for years,” she said. “We want money in folks’ pockets as soon as possible.”
* Related…
* How has minimum wage hike worked out elsewhere?: Andrew Farnitano helped lead the campaign to raise Massachusetts’ minimum wage — twice. The first time was in 2014, when his organization, RaiseUp Massachusetts, found success in legislation that increased the wage from $8 to $11 within three years. Immediately after, Farnitano’s organization began campaigning for an increase to $15 an hour, succeeding in June 2018. Farnitano says what happened after the first round of raises was the opposite of what many people and groups, especially business associations, expected. “As the minimum wage went up, we saw massive job growth, a stronger economy, and the biggest drops in unemployment in the communities where the most people, some 30 or 40 percent of workers, benefited from the increase,” Farnitano said.
* Q-C Chamber opposes minimum wage hike in Illinois: According to Rumler, the negative impact would be exacerbated in regions like the Quad Cities that share state borders where businesses could easily move a few miles and not be subject to Illinois’ proposed $15 minimum wage.
As Illinois explores the possibility of legalizing cannabis for recreational use, the state’s six Catholic bishops say they’re urging lawmakers to say “no.” […]
Advocates for legalization argue, hundreds of thousands of people already use cannabis and a state-run program will make the products safer and shrink the black market. They also propose using some of the tax dollars for education campaigns to let the public, and especially youth, aware of the potential dangers of the drug.
But [Bob Gilligan, the executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois] asked, if this is the case, then why legalize?
“If the legislature has to use revenue to support programs to urge people not to use marijuana, or if they use it, how to get off it, it begs the question as to why are we doing this at all.”
So, he doesn’t want to fund programs to help people avoid drug abuse? I don’t get it.
Pritzker’s press secretary, Jordan Abudayyeh, said in an email statement that the governor remains committed to legalization.
“Governor Pritzker supports legalizing and taxing the recreational use of marijuana and is confident we are ready to do this in a safe and economically beneficial way in Illinois,” Abudayyeh said. “He is committed to working with leaders in the General Assembly, listening to experts and community leaders, and drawing lessons and best practices from other states to move this forward.”
* By far the best comeback is in Robert McCoppin’s Tribune story…
Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference, noted that cannabis impairs memory, coordination and judgment, and that the state will be profiting off an addictive substance.
The bishops only occasionally take stands on public issues, such as against abortion and the death penalty. In this case, Gilligan will be speaking out against legalization at upcoming public hearings in Springfield. […]
Dan Linn, executive director of the Illinois chapter of the pro-cannabis group NORML, and general manager of Maribis medical marijuana dispensaries in Chicago and Springfield, said marijuana has proved safer than alcohol, and that prohibition simply doesn’t work. By overseeing legal marijuana sales, he said, the state will have a much greater ability to regulate it.
“Cannabis is a natural substance,” he said. “God put it on this planet for a reason. I don’t know why the bishops are concerned about undermining God’s credibility.”
