Greg Kelley, the President of SEIU Healthcare Illinois issued the following statement:
“The appointment of Lakesia Collins as the next State Representative of the 9th District represents the very best of our grassroots political agenda to elect new leaders who will carry our progressive movement forward into state and local government.
“Watching the trajectory of Lakesia grow from working as a nursing home CNA while raising three boys as a single Mom, to a shop steward, then serving as an organizer with our Union, to an activist fighting to end short-staffing and a leader in the Fight for $15, then winning her hard-fought primary in March makes all workers within our Union swell with unbelievable pride. We honor her dedication, grit and sacrifice by pushing herself, and us, to demand more from our current politics.
“Lakesia’s campaign inspired so many working people, especially young women of color, who cheered her on and saw firsthand the fighter that she is and who will carry the voices of our members calling for fundamental change into the State Capitol. Her leadership is and will continue to be instrumental as we rebuild our economy, protect essential healthcare workers, and invest in Black and Latinx communities who are suffering because of this COVID-19 pandemic.
“Lakesia’s victory shows that a new politics is possible by putting the voices of working people first and demanding that our government act for the benefit of everyone, not just the wealthy few.”
It’s been one week since the ground shook across the State of Illinois when the United States Attorney for the Northern District told us what we had long guessed but didn’t know with certainty: Speaker Michael Madigan is “Public Official A” in a massive federal investigation looking into multiple allegations of bribery and fraud.
More than a decade ago, when we learned that Rod Blagojevich was “Public Official A,” the Chicago press corps was relentless. Former Gov. Blagojevich could barely get through a press conference without being asked about the federal investigation. When investigative reporters broke new details, reporters on the governor’s daily beat hammered him with questions. We recall with fondness a pack of reporters even once chasing the governor down the street, screaming questions as the governor ran away.
But for some reason, a decade later, Mike Madigan and JB Pritzker get a different standard. We understand that Mr. Madigan does not hold press conferences. But Mr. Pritzker does – almost daily.
Mr. Pritzker is the chief executive of our state. He is a political ally of Mike Madigan who has invested millions of dollars in Madigan-controlled campaign funds. He is the highest-ranking Democrat in a party that Madigan chairs. He has appointed people to his administration at Madigan’s request and with ongoing close ties and loyalty to Madigan. He negotiates with Madigan for the passage of legislation and for how to spend taxpayer funds. He has called on others to resign at the same stage of an investigation that Madigan now faces. He has a constitutional duty to protect the people of Illinois from corruption.
This week, we learned more details about the federal investigation into “Public Official A.” We learned more about subpoenas issued to companies beyond ComEd. We learned more about a Pritzker appointee close to Madigan and a target of the federal investigation who helped ComEd cover up the death and injury of cable line workers. We also learned more about a separate federal investigation into property tax fraud and how that investigation is looking at more Pritzker-connected properties than previously known.
Investigative reporters at the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ and Crain’s are doing their jobs. But when their stories hit the wire and the Governor held his daily press briefings, Chicago area reporters asked Pritzker a total of zero questions. They let Pritzker change the subject to anything but Madigan and his own property taxes. They looked like a different press corps than the one we remembered.
Take this example. The Governor has said that Madigan should resign if the allegations against him are true. No one in Chicago asked him why that standard is different from the one he applied to Marty Sandoval. No one asked him to react to a Democratic state senator who called for the resignation immediately. No one asked him what allegations he thinks aren’t true. No one asked him when they would be “true” – after the next big news story, after another Madigan ally gets indicted, only when Madigan gets indicted or only when Madigan gets convicted.
Another example. Pritzker visited Central Illinois this week where he did face questions on Madigan. In Peoria, he bungled a question on whether he still considers Madigan a political ally. Pritzker came back to Chicago and received zero follow-ups all week. Reporters let him off the hook.
We’ve heard the conventional wisdom in Illinois for a long time. Mike Madigan is Teflon. The feds will never get him. Other people might plead guilty but they don’t have evidence on him. Why ask questions about this if it costs us our access?
It’s time to wake up and smell the federal investigation. Madigan is now Public Official A. People are talking. The net is widening. The people of Illinois need a press corps that will hold their leaders accountable.
A $550 million dollar settlement was not enough for Illinois Facebook users who allegedly had their privacy rights violated. Instead, the social media giant has agreed to pay $650 million.
Illinois Facebook users could be eligible for up to $400 as part of the new settlement in the class action suit, depending on how many people file claims, according to court documents filed this week in a California federal court.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,532 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 19 additional confirmed deaths.
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 168,457 cases, including 7,385 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 44,330 specimens for a total of 2,432,523. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from July 17 –July 23 is 3.4%. As of last night, 1,471 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 325 patients were in the ICU and 115 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
“I refuse to be beholden to Big Pharma, insurance, or any corporation for that matter,” [Democratic congressional candidate Betsy Dirksen Londrigan] wrote in a June 2019 op-ed in the State Journal-Register. “That’s why I am proud to announce that I won’t be taking corporate PAC money in this campaign or in Congress. Refusing corporate PAC money is an important step toward fighting the corruption in Washington,” she wrote.
The pledge provided her a chance to distinguish herself from a four-term Republican incumbent [Rodney Davis] who has raised $792,100 from corporate PACs so far this cycle, and $3.4 million total since he first took office in 2013. […]
Since launching her bid for Congress, Dirksen Londrigan has accepted at least $82,930 in campaign contributions from corporate lobbyists, including some who have represented pharmaceutical companies, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, gambling companies, red light camera companies, suburban municipal governments, telecommunications giant AT&T and utility company ComEd. […]
Corporate lobbyist Amy Souders, who lobbies for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, hosted a December fundraiser for Dirksen Londrigan, and solicited contributions for her campaign through the online Democratic fundraising conduit ‘Act Blue.’
Platinum Advisors DC, a corporate lobbying firm with clients like pharmaceutical company Allergan, AT&T, and pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark, hosted a Washington, D.C., fundraiser for Dirksen Londrigan in June. Campaign finance reports show that one of the event hosts, Mona Mohib, works for McGuire Woods Consulting, LLC, a corporate lobbying firm founded by Dirsken Londrigan’s husband, Tom Londrigan.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported four counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.
Four counties are currently reported at a warning level – Adams, LaSalle, Peoria, and Randolph.
These counties saw outbreaks associated with business and risky behavior, including:
Adams County: larger social events, health care exposure, travel to hotspots including those in neighboring Missouri and Iowa, places of worship, and youth sports.
LaSalle County: large family and social gatherings, increase in cases among people younger than 29 years, younger people visiting bars and attending larger social events, and inconsistencies with masking requirements.
Peoria County: increases in cases among people younger than 29 years, large gatherings including 4th of July parties, and people traveling to Florida, Iowa, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Randolph County: congregate settings, numerous bars not complying with distancing and masking, a large party with more than 200 people, and among households.
IDPH uses numerous indicators when determining if a county is experiencing stable COVID-19 activity, or if there are warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk in the county.
• New cases per 100,000 people. If there are 50 or more new cases per 100,000 people in the county, this triggers a warning.
• Number of deaths. This metric indicates a warning when the number of deaths increases more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly test positivity. This metric indicates a warning when the 7-day test positivity rate rises above 8%.
• ICU availability. If there are fewer than 20% of intensive care units available in the region, this triggers a warning.
• Weekly emergency department visits. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly percent of COVID-19-like-illness emergency department visits increase by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly hospital admissions. A warning is triggered when the weekly number of hospital admissions for COVID-19-like-illness increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Tests perform. This metric is used to provide context and indicate if more testing is needed in the county.
• Clusters. This metric looks at the percent of COVID-19 cases associated with clusters or outbreaks and is used to understand large increase in cases.
These metrics are intended to be used for local level awareness to help local leaders, businesses, local health departments, and the public make informed decisions about personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do. The metrics are updated weekly, from the Sunday-Saturday of the prior week.
The 2011 “Smart Grid” law was passed over the objections of the then-governor and baked in rate increases for ComEd for years.
Since that law passed, revenues from the company’s state-approved delivery rates have jumped from a little over $2 billion in 2012 to nearly $2.7 billion last year, the state commerce commission documents show. That increase was about 2-1/2 times the roughly 12% rate of inflation during the same period.
The state-sanctioned “net operating income” reaped by ComEd rose even faster, from about $500 million a year at the time the bribery scheme in Springfield began to $739 million last year, according to the state documents and court records. […]
By approving FEJA, Illinois lawmakers enabled Exelon to collect more than $2.3 billion from ComEd’s ratepayers. Records show the legislation yielded more than $935 million in the first four years after the Springfield decision. The cost of the 2016 law appears as a line item on monthly ComEd bills as “Zero Emission Standard,” under the “taxes and fees” section. […]
The sentencing guidelines for ComEd’s misdeeds called for a fine of $240 million or as much as $480 million, according to the agreement in the case. That range in the guidelines gave ComEd credit for cooperating with the investigation.
A source close to the investigation said the clout-heavy lawyer referred to in the settlement with ComEd was Victor Reyes, once a top aide and political operative for former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.
In or around 2011, ComEd agreed to retain Law Firm A, and entered into a contract pursuant to which ComEd agreed to provide Law Firm A with a minimum of 850 hours of attorney work per year. This contract was entered into with Law Firm A, in part, with the intent to influence and reward Public Official A in connection with Public Official A’s official duties and because personnel and agents of ComEd understood that giving this contract to Law Firm A was important to Public Official A. In 2016, Law Firm A’s contract was up for renewal. As part of renewal discussions, personnel within ComEd sought to reduce the hours of legal work they provided to Law Firm A from the 850 hours specified in the 2011 retention agreement because ComEd paid only for hours worked and there was not enough appropriate legal work to give to Law Firm A to fill 850 annual hours.
Thereafter, an attorney associated with Law Firm A [Lawyer A] complained to Individual A about ComEd’s effort to reduce the amount of work provided to Law Firm A. On or about January 20, 2016, Individual A contacted CEO-1 and wrote, “I am sure you know how valuable [Lawyer A] is to our Friend [Public Official A],” and then went on to write, “I know the drill and so do you. If you do not get involve [sic] and resolve this issue of 850 hours for his law firm per year then he will go to our Friend [Public Official A]. Our Friend [Public Official A] will call me and then I will call you. Is this a drill we must go through?” CEO-1 replied in writing, “Sorry. No one informed me. I am on this.” Thereafter, CEO-1 tasked a ComEd employee, who was assigned as a “project manager” to assist with the project of obtaining legislative approval of FEJA, to ensure that Law Firm A’s contract was renewed. The project manager had no oversight authority over ComEd’s legal department and was not otherwise involved in deciding what legal professionals the legal department retained. The project manager was assigned the task of ensuring Law Firm A’s contract was renewed because the work provided to Law Firm A was, in part, designed to influence and reward Public Official A in connection with Public Official A’s official duties, including the promotion and passage of FEJA. ComEd agreed in or around June 2016 to renew Law Firm A’s contract with substantially reduced annual hours.
The Illinois Tollway authority’s top two officials got their jobs from Gov. J.B. Pritzker after being “strongly endorsed” by a group that includes John Hooker, a former ComEd lobbyist who has become embroiled in a bribery scandal involving the utility and Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.
Will Evans, a former Peoples Gas executive, was named chairman of the tollway board in early 2019, soon after the Madigan-led General Assembly passed legislation restructuring the panel in the name of reform and allowing Pritzker to fill posts with new faces.
Around the same time, Pritzker tapped former Chicago Housing Authority official Jose Alvarez as the tollway’s $223,200-a-year executive director, running day-to-day operations of the government agency.
“In the case of both chairman Evans and executive director Alvarez, the Business Leadership Council, including John Hooker, strongly endorsed their work,” Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh told the Chicago Sun-Times in November, referring to a group that advocates for African American businesses and executives. “As the governor looked to build the most diverse administration in state history, the administration took care to seek out recommendations from respected leaders in a variety of industries. Both appointees went through interviews, reference checks and background checks.” […]
Pritzker spokeswoman Emily Bittner said: “The governor had no way of knowing about these allegations and urges anyone involved in the federal investigation to be forthcoming with authorities. He is satisfied with the work of the tollway leadership, including expanding opportunities for minority contractors and reducing motorist fines to create a more fair system.”
As the article notes, the Business Leadership Council is a veritable Who’s Who of Black Chicago business executives, including Avis Lavelle, Jim Reynolds, Charles Smith and Robert Blackwell Jr.
* Evans succeeded Desiree Rogers at Peoples Gas. His bio…
Will holds a Bachelor of science in electrical engineering and a Master of Management degrees from Northwestern University. He is a member of the Business Leadership Council, American Association of Blacks in Energy, the Human Relations Commission, Village of Skokie (Chair), the National Association of Corporate Directors, Northwestern Club of Chicago and the Kellogg Alumni Club of Chicago. Will also is the Chairman of Chicago Commons.
So the BLC endorsed one of its own. No surprise there.
Alvarez comes to the Tollway after having served in a multitude of public sector leadership roles, including chief of staff for the State Superintendent of Education for Washington D.C. Schools, deputy chief of staff for the CEO of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), and most recently, chief operating officer and chief of staff for the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA).
During his tenure at CHA, Alvarez presented balanced budgets for four consecutive years, secured over $1 billion in funding for mixed-income developments and developed a five-year capital plan for building and maintenance of facilities.
He also championed small and minority business participation in contracts through the Sec3 Job Order Contract Program aimed at driving small business participation and eliminated waivers for minority and women business enterprise contract requirements.
* I’m going out for a bit. It’s such a gorgeous day, so I think I’ll have some lunch. Keep it Illinois-centric, avoid national politics like the plague and be nice to each other. Thanks.
Republican state Rep. Darren Bailey asked a judge Wednesday for permission to lodge a fifth complaint in his lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker: Any further disaster proclamations should not affect Clay County. […]
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, there have been nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 and zero deaths resulting from the virus in Clay County as of Wednesday. Just less than 1,500 tests had been conducted in the county of about 14,000 residents.
Those statistics indicate the novel coronavirus does not meet the definition of a public health emergency as defined by the statute Pritzker cites as granting him authority to utilize emergency powers, Bailey argued in the new filing. […]
But, Bailey’s attorney Thomas DeVore wrote, Clay County’s data does not support the second part of the criteria. There is not a “high probability” that COVID-19 will lead to “a large number of deaths” or “a large number of serious or long-term disabilities” for county residents.
It is also unlikely that there will be “widespread exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a significant risk of substantial future harm to a large number of people” in Clay County, DeVore wrote.
Take off all the restrictions and there won’t be widespread exposure? Right.
* React from Ann Spillane, Gov. Pritzker’s General Counsel…
There is a public health crisis that has taken the lives of 7,367 Illinoisans. It is unconscionable that as states around this country are grappling with a resurgence of COVID-19, there are those who continue to challenge science and data and fight against basic guidance from public health experts to prevent the spread of this deadly virus.
Let’s be very clear about what is going on in with these filings. In the midst of a pandemic, Tom DeVore is playing a game. His actions in every case have demonstrated that he has no interest in truly resolving a real legal dispute. With the exception of a single judge in Clay County, courts throughout Illinois have consistently rejected Mr. DeVore’s arguments and upheld the Governor’s actions to combat the coronavirus. Mr. DeVore has never appealed his losses. And he is now desperately seeking to prevent an appeal in the Clay County case by adding a new claim that is legal nonsense. These cases are all part of his game.
Also, this whole argument that counties are somehow the most important unit of government is ridiculous. Counties are a creation of the state. The state has infinitely more authority over counties than the federal government has over states. Arguing about individual counties is nonsense.
Also, are those counties prepared to give up their disaster funding?
* Maybe they can get a Clay County judge to bite, but this same lawsuit was filed in five other counties…
Residents in six central and southern Illinois counties, including the state capital’s home, filed lawsuits Thursday against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s restrictions on social interaction prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The actions taken in Bond, Clay, Clinton, Edgar, Richland and Sangamon counties seek court orders declaring there is no public health emergency as defined by Pritzker’s Public Health Department. Springfield, the state capital, is in Sangamon County.
Plaintiffs in each case seek injunctions against the disaster declaration Pritzker’s using to justify restrictions on public interaction to limit transmission of the virus. The state has reported 7,367 deaths among 167,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus — mostly in Chicago and Cook County.
“You can’t put a county that has had nine confirmed cases and no one pass away under the same rules and restrictions as counties like Cook,” said Thomas DeVore, a Greenville attorney respresenting the plaintiffs.
The Fifth Judicial Circuit has reported that it was notified Thursday afternoon that Cumberland County presiding Judge Jonathan Braden and at least one other court employee have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Vermilion County Courthouse will be closed tomorrow after an employee in the circuit clerk’s office tested positive for COVID-19. […]
All of Friday’s court hearings will be rescheduled to a later date. Parties will receive a new court date in the mail.
* Here’s Annie Thompson at the attorney general’s office…
We take our role as the state’s chief law enforcement officer and the responsibility to protect the people of Illinois and our constitution seriously – even when that means defending against lawsuits that are frivolous. More than 166,900 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed over the course of the pandemic. While many have fortunately recovered, many still suffer from long-term effects, and 7,367 individuals have lost their lives. Each life lost to COVID-19 is “significant,” and we will continue to defend the governor’s constitutional and statutory authority to protect the health and wellness of all Illinois residents.
Thursday was the first time Tom DeVore and the Illinois High School Association virtually appeared in Montgomery County court for a lawsuit over the Return to Play guidelines. Both parties had to appear over Zoom due to COVID-19 guidelines for the court. […]
The Association’s attorney, Matthew Hefflefinger, says everyone is dealing with a global pandemic right now, and things change hourly. He argues it’s reasonable to rely upon guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education. Hefflefinger calls DeVore’s argument “nonsense,” as student-athletes won’t suffer irreparable harm from the guidelines.
Judge Kevin Parker said extracurricular activities and sports aren’t guaranteed as a right under the Constitution. Hefflefinger also explained students won’t be “barred from participating.”
Parker said he’ll need several days to review documents filed Thursday morning by the defendants. A ruling on the case is expected next week.
…Adding… Interesting move by ISBE…
Tag, you’re it! Today’s update from ISBE includes the following statement about sports: pic.twitter.com/FWNzQPajuf
“It means prosecutors are coming for him,” said Phil Turner, a defense attorney and former prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago. “They have laid siege to the castle and it’s only a question of time when they assault.” […]
That prosecutors took the unusual step of identifying Madigan as a chief suspect before any indictment suggests charges could come any day, said Turner. […]
“The lesson that Madigan has to learn from Blagojevich is that he has to be prepared to be arrested,” said Turner.
* From Rep. David Welter (R-Morris), the GOP spokesperson on the House Energy and Environment Committee…
I spoke with Chairwoman Williams [yesterday]. We’ve agreed to work together and collaborate on amendments that hold public utilities accountable in energy legislation next session. There is a genuine desire on the part of some members on both sides of the aisle to put tough laws in place to prevent the kind of corruption that’s been exposed by the U.S. Attorney’s investigation from occurring again.
I am disappointed that House Democrats denied my request for hearings specific to how ratepayers may have been adversely impacted by ComEd’s lobbying practices during the period in question. I disagree that doing so would somehow “impede or interfere with an ongoing federal investigation”, because ComEd has already agreed to pay $200 million to defer further prosecution. The fact is, both the City of Chicago and the Illinois Commerce Commission plan to hold hearings of their own and call ComEd officials to testify. Why not Mike Madigan’s House of Representatives?
* Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago), who chairs the House E&E Committee, sent this letter to her colleagues yesterday…
Like you, I was incredibly disturbed by the revelation last week by the U.S. Attorney that ComEd had engaged in an ongoing bribery scheme to corrupt the legislative process and benefit their bottom line at the expense of Illinois consumers. As chair of the Illinois House Energy & Environment committee, I have consistently opposed efforts by utilities to guarantee their profits at the expense of residents and small businesses, including automatic rate hikes. It is now abundantly clear that we must work together to pass strong reforms to hold utility executives accountable and create clean energy policy that puts the people of Illinois first. For years, ComEd and other utility and business interests have run the show when it came to developing energy policy in Springfield; we now know that this was a methodical and criminal attempt to manipulate the process. No more.
As the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic becomes clear, we must find solutions that will put people back to work without relying on scarce state resources – especially in communities hit the hardest by the pandemic and already facing systemic inequities across the board. Creating jobs and providing economic opportunity must be a cornerstone of any strategy to recover and rebuild. In order to move Illinois toward a clean energy future, we must decisively and deliberately move away from fossil fuels as we push for the development of renewable energy resources via private investment in Illinois.
However, we cannot move forward without addressing what has happened in the past. The era of utilities, nuclear and fossil fuel industries, and other big business groups dictating energy policy in Illinois is over. We can no longer allow corporate profits to come before efforts to create affordable and clean energy sources. We can - and we should - make Illinois a national model for addressing climate change and restoring the public’s trust by requiring significant accountability, transparency and ethics requirements for utilities.
I am in the process of drafting an amendment to the Clean Energy Jobs Act to end automatic rate hikes and implement strong and significant utility accountability measures, which I hope will have your support. I stand ready to join colleagues on both sides of the aisle and Governor Pritzker in crafting a comprehensive energy package containing these important provisions.
As the House sponsor of the Clean Energy Jobs Act, I look forward to working collaboratively with you in the coming months to pass an energy bill that will protect our future, create opportunity in the communities that need it most, and ensure a fair, transparent and equitable process for the consideration of energy policy today and into the future.
* For some background on what happened last night with the Christopher Columbus statues, click here for an amazing thread by Sam Kelly of the Sun-Times, beginning with a protest outside Mayor Lightfoot’s house. It gets kinda weird, and you may see some naughty words, but it’s really worth your time.
The controversial Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park was taken down under cover of darkness early Friday, hours after Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered its removal.
Two cranes pulled up to the statue just before 2 a.m. Friday, after protesters and supporters of the statue argued and yelled at each other. Supporters included John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7.
The decision to remove the statue came after violent clashes between police and protesters broke out last week when activists tried but failed to take it down.
* A statement from Mayor Lightfoot’s office early this morning indicated that these were only temporary removals…
The City of Chicago—at Mayor Lightfoot’s direction—has temporarily removed the Christopher Columbus statues in Grant Park and Arrigo Park until further notice. This action was taken after consultation with various stakeholders. It comes in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, as well as efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner. This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our city’s symbols. In addition, our public safety resources must be concentrated where they are most needed throughout the city, and particularly in our South and West Side communities.
Over the coming days, Mayor Lightfoot and the City will be announcing a formal process to assess each of the monuments, memorials, and murals across Chicago’s communities, and develop a framework for creating a public dialogue to determine how we elevate our city’s history and diversity. As the Mayor has stated previously, this is not about a single statue or mural, but how we create a platform to channel our city’s dynamic civic energy to collaboratively, purposefully and peacefully reflect our values as Chicagoans and uplift the stories of all of our diverse city’s residents, particularly when it comes to the permanent memorialization of our shared heritage.
* This op-ed by Rachel Greszler, research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, sums up a lot of the opposition to extending the additional $600 per week unemployment insurance benefits beyond the end of this week…
When the COVID-19 pandemic brought the U.S. economy to a partial halt in March, it made sense for Congress to expand unemployment insurance benefits.
It never made sense, however, to provide an across-the-board $600-a-week bonus unemployment benefit as part of that boost. The purpose of unemployment benefits, after all, is to replace a portion of workers’ wages to help them get by after a job loss through no fault of their own. Accordingly, unemployment benefits usually replace between 40 percent and 50 percent of the previous earnings for workers.
If workers can receive more money from unemployment benefits than by working, there’s a clear incentive to remain unemployed. That’s not good for workers or businesses in the long run — as the unintended consequences of the recently added unemployment benefit show. Yet, Democrats are pushing to extend into 2021 the $600 weekly bonus — set to expire July 31 — as Capitol Hill debates a new coronavirus relief package ahead of the deadline.
The other side of the argument is that the pandemic caused the unemployment and the benefits should be extended until it’s reasonably safe for people to go back to work or reopen their small businesses.
* So, I asked some members of the state’s Republican congressional delegation about where they stood on extending the extra benefits. I’ve received three responses so far. This is from US Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s comms director…
The Congressman supports a formula that encourages people to work and not stay on unemployment.
* Darin LaHood’s comms director…
Congressman LaHood supports providing individuals who have lost their jobs because of COVID-19 with the support they need to get them through this difficult time; but it’s clear that the $600 per week unemployment is disincentivizing individuals from returning to work. Congress should phase down the expanded unemployment program as states begin reopening, incentivize returning to work, and pass Rep. LaHood’s Clean Start bill that would provide businesses the tools to open safely, protecting both workers and customers.
Experts also agree it is disincentivizing work: Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office: Extending higher unemployment payments “would lower economic output and employment in 2021.” Bipartisan Policy Center: The $600/week should be phased down to $400 for two months and then re-evaluated. “As local officials begin to relax stay-at-home orders, however, evidence is increasing that the additional $600 in weekly benefits serves as a disincentive for some people to return to work and inhibits an economic rebound as business activity picks back up.”
In an op-ed from June, some of President Obama’s economic advisers: Extending the benefit “does not make sense now”—it should be phased out.
* Rep. Rodney Davis…
I supported the CARES Act because our country was, and still is, facing a public health and economic crisis of historic proportions. That extra $600 per week payment was never intended to become law. As currently structured, it allows many who are unemployed to earn more while out-of-work than by working. That cannot go on forever.
I have heard from countless small business owners who are having difficulty re-opening their businesses because of this. If the benefit continues in its current form, the federal government will be holding back our economic recovery and incentivizing workers to remain on unemployment. We should focus our time ensuring state unemployment systems are functioning properly and benefit levels do not deter individuals from returning to work. Additionally, I believe we can provide targeted assistance to out-of-work individuals to make sure they have access to vital services like health care, which is why I introduced bipartisan legislation to make COBRA more affordable.
* I always thought that if you refused to return to your job in Illinois you’d lose your unemployment benefits. So, I reached out to IDES via the the governor’s office. Here’s what I got back from the department…
Under the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act, refusing an offer of suitable work can result in an individual being found ineligible for benefits.
“Suitable” and “can” would be important words there. For instance, if an employer is reopening in defiance of a governor’s EO, then it could conceivably be argued by the worker that the job isn’t suitable. But it’s not exactly a slam dunk.
A claimant who had been a clerk at a retail store is responsible for a minor child who is prevented from attending school due to closures resulting from the COVID-19 virus. The individual must stay home to watch his/her child until school reopens. However, the claimant is able to perform work that could be performed from the isolation of his/her home (e.g., transcribing, data entry, virtual assistant services) and makes himself/herself available to perform that work. While the claimant is not currently available for work at a retail location, he/she is available for work due to his/her availability for work that could be performed from home.
* As I think I’ve told you, my pontoon boat has not been running this year. It’s a 2007 model, so things do happen with age, I suppose. Oldtimers may remember that we christened it “Sweet Bloggy Goodness” back in the day.
For me, putting around the lake on the ol’ pontoon is like going on a mini-vacation, so this mechanical issue has been a real bummer, especially with the limited recreational options during a pandemic.
But I have some great news! The boat is finally running! A buddy of mine is coming over soon and we’re taking it out on the lake for a while. So, I’m done for the day. Check out the live coverage post for updates. We’ll talk again tomorrow…
The grinding vote by vote hand recount of the disputed Macon County sheriff’s election finished Tuesday, and now it looks certain a judge will have to decide who keeps or gets the sheriff’s job.
Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner said he will announce the raw recount numbers Friday when he formally turns the results over to Champaign Circuit Court Judge Anna M. Benjamin. She will have to sort out dozens of disputed ballots where voters’ intentions weren’t clear in a race that saw Democratic Sheriff Tony Brown beat Republican rival Lt. Jim Root by just one vote: 19,655 to Root’s tally of 19,654 in the 2018 original contest.
Tanner wouldn’t comment on the number ahead of Friday’s formal announcement, but Root told the Herald & Review Wednesday evening that more than 1,300 ballots are not counted yet because they are in dispute.
“And yes, I am still confident the results are there for me,” he said. “I just need to get them in front of a judge for her to rule whether or not certain votes are going to be allowed.”
One hundred years after women were granted the right to vote, the U.S. has more women in political office than ever before. Yet gender has been a major theme of the 2020 campaign, as candidates, voters and the media debate whether a woman can win the presidency. To better understand what it’s really like to try and win an election as a woman, we spoke to women from every state who have done it — 97 women in all.
New claims for unemployment benefits rose last week for the first time since March as states began reimposing lockdown restrictions in an effort to reverse a surge of coronavirus cases.
More than 1.4 million new claims were filed during the week ending July 18, an increase of more than 100,000 over the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
In addition, claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which helps people who are self-employed or who don’t qualify for regular benefits, went up nearly 20,000 to about 975,000.
The number of new claims had been steadily ticking downward since March, when nearly 7 million people filed for unemployment insurance in a single week. Last week’s numbers marked the first reversal of that trend.
The increases are evidence that the labor market is deteriorating as businesses around the country close their doors again in response to an intensified coronavirus pandemic.
According to the US Department of Labor, 35,938 Illinois filed for unemployment assistance last week, a decrease of 2,323 from the week before. But initial Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims rose in Illinois to 74,414, up a whopping 17,257 from the previous week.
* Not good, campers. Highest number of cases reported in almost two months. Lots more testing now, but that positivity rate continues to rise. Not good…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,624 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 20 additional confirmed deaths.
Boone County: 1 male 80s
Cook County: 1 male 30s, 2 male 40s, 4 females 50s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 100+
Douglas County: 1 male 80s
DuPage County: 2 males 60s
Kane County: 1 male 70s
Lake County: 2 males 70s, 1 male 80s
McHenry County: 1 female 80s
Will County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 166,925 cases, including 7,367 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 39,706 specimens for a total of 2,388,193. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from July 16 –July 22 is 3.4%. As of last night, 1,473 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 309 patients were in the ICU and 135 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Peoria County Sheriff Brian Asbell confirms to Heart of Illinois ABC that eight more inmates have been confirmed with COVID-19.
That brings the total to 30.
This comes less than 24 hours after he told us there were also 13 employees at the jail, currently isolating after either testing positive, potentially being exposed to someone who was positive, or still waiting for test results.
* Press release…
In a press conference this morning, union leaders representing thousands of faculty and staff at Illinois colleges and universities formally issued a joint statement calling on campus presidents to start the upcoming semester with online learning.
“The latest science should dictate and guide the reopening of our colleges and universities to protect the safety of our students, faculty, employees, their families, and communities,” said University Professionals of Illinois (UPI) President John Miller. “With so much still unknown about COVID-19, this is not the time to rush the reopening of our institutions.”
Considering the current uptick in cases across Illinois and the likelihood of a second wave in the months ahead, we must put science before politics and economics to ensure everyone’s safety, he added.
University Professionals of Illinois – which represents faculty and staff at seven of Illinois’ 12 public universities – is one of more than 40 unions and allied groups to sign on to a joint higher education statement demanding remote learning to start this fall.
As cases of COVID-19 again begin to swell in Southern Illinois, some restaurants are saying it’s just too risky to stay open for dine-in service, while others find themselves closing after employees test positive.
Thai Taste was late to the dine-in reopening party. As Illinois moved into Phase 4 of its reopening plan in June, Tam Rachatanavin, owner of the popular Carbondale eatery, said he wanted to wait. He and his staff waited until July 13 to welcome guests back inside. It didn’t last long, though. The restaurant announced on Facebook on Monday that after about a week of dine-in service, it would go back to curbside and delivery only. […]
“It was the reasonable and responsible thing to do,” Rachatanavin said of canceling dine-in service. He said “we take a hit, we take a hit but I’d rather this than have a positive case and (have to close).”
The Illinois bar exam, which was to take place in person in September, has been canceled and will be replaced with a remote version in October “due to continuing public health concerns raised by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Illinois Supreme Court announced Thursday.
The change comes after months of student advocacy and a letter earlier this week from nine Illinois law school deans to the court recommending a remote exam.
According to an email sent out to administration, faculty and staff this morning, Frankfort District #168 Superintendent Matt Donkin stated: “We are tracking COVID-19 cases and working through protocols and guidance so that we can respond properly. Staff that were in closet contact will remain isolated at this time.” The email further states that the Administrative Service Center is also closed until further notice.
State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, is calling on institutions of higher education in Illinois to release data on their use of Black-owned businesses for professional services.
“Colleges and universities in Illinois are second to none when it comes to leadership in learning and education, but we don’t know if that is the case for these institutions when it comes to providing economic justice for African Americans and Black-owned businesses,” Welch said. “That’s why I’m calling on all public and private colleges and universities in Illinois to release data about their employment of Black-owned professional service firms.”
Welch sent a letter to the presidents of public and private colleges and universities in Illinois calling on them to disclose data about contracting and employment at their institutions regarding the hiring of Black professionals and Black-owned professional service firms. Welch’s letter was sent to the leaders of Bradley University, Chicago State University, DePaul University, Eastern Illinois University, Illinois State University, Loyola University Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University, Northwestern University, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Illinois at Springfield, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Western Illinois University. Welch demanded that the data include information for the colleges and universities as well as their endowments and foundations.
“Economic justice and equity have always been tied directly to the quest for racial justice for African Americans. That’s why it is critical that Black-owned businesses that provide professional services including investment management and legal consultation, among other areas, are given a fair opportunity for contracting,” Welch said. “Our institutions of higher education can’t achieve their missions and can’t demonstrate their values to students if they aren’t providing equitable and inclusive opportunities for Black-owned businesses.”
Too often, lip service is paid on this topic and then you scratch the surface and find out the good ol’ boy network barely hands out crumbs, if that. Hopefully, these universities cooperate fully and, if need be, change their ways.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker admonished Illinois residents who refuse to wear a mask at his coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, as the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,600 new cases, the highest in the month of July so far.
“It is on all of us to bring these numbers down,” Pritzker said. “This virus is not a blue state or red state virus. The deadly nature of this virus is not a hoax. Going out without a mask is not a political statement. It demonstrates a callous disregard for people in your county, your state, and our nation. You’re endangering everyone around you. The enemy is you.”
* The Question: Your thoughts on the governor’s use of the word “enemy” to describe some recalcitrant Illinoisans?
* Dragging people through the mud because of an internet search without context. Great…
Telephone giant AT&T has been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors amid a widening criminal probe encircling House Speaker Michael Madigan’s political operation, a source with knowledge of the investigation told the Chicago Tribune.
The subpoena, delivered earlier this year by the U.S. attorney’s office, is part of an inquiry into whether companies improperly used a stable of consultants with ties to the longtime House speaker as they pushed for legislation in Springfield. […]
Records show that AT&T has used several of the same former Madigan staffers and ex-Democratic state representatives as Commonwealth Edison, which was accused in federal charges unveiled last Friday of orchestrating a “years-long bribery scheme” involving jobs, contracts and payments to Madigan allies in exchange for favorable action in the state Capitol.
Among those who have lobbied for both ComEd and AT&T are Tom Cullen, who served as Madigan’s political director and was considered part of the speaker’s “inner circle”; former Madigan legal counsel Heather Wier Vaught; and onetime Madigan staffers Liz Brown-Reeves and D’Javan Conway, state lobbying records show.
You’d never know by reading the piece, but Cullen hasn’t lobbied for ComEd since May of 2007 - more than 13 years ago. He and several other contracts were terminated by the company at the insistence of then-Senate President Emil Jones. I could go on, but what’s the point? This story is just a list of people without regard to whether there’s any there there.
How about we not smear folks unless we have at least an inkling it’s for a good reason?
Also, that 2017 bill they wrote about was used as a practice run for the budget and veto override votes later that month. That legislation wouldn’t have passed without heavy rank and file Republican involvement.
A senior Department of Justice official on Wednesday corrected comments by Attorney General William Barr, who minutes earlier had said 200 arrests had been made within two weeks in Kansas City as part of Operation Legend, a federal anti-crime effort. […]
Speaking with McClatchy after the Wednesday event, the senior Justice Department official clarified that the 200 figure included arrests dating back to December 2019.
It also included, the official said, both state and FBI arrests in joint operations. […]
Prior to the DOJ’s correction of the misinformation, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas had cast doubt on the claim. Lucas said that he was aware only of one arrest that had been announced by the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas City.
John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, today joined Attorney General William P. Barr and President Donald J. Trump to announce the expansion of Operation Legend to Chicago.
Operation Legend is a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime. The Operation was first launched on July 8, 2020, in Kansas City, Mo., as a result of President Trump’s promise to assist America’s cities that are plagued by recent violence. Operation Legend is named after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed while he slept early in the morning of June 29, 2020, in Kansas City. The first federal arrest under Operation Legend was announced on July 20, 2020.
As part of Operation Legend, Attorney General Barr directed the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, and ATF to significantly increase resources into Chicago, as well as Albuquerque, N.M., in the coming weeks to help state and local officials fight high levels of violent crime, particularly gun violence.
“A top priority as federal prosecutors is to reduce violent crime, particularly in a large urban area like Chicago,” said U.S. Attorney Lausch. “As part of Operation Legend, additional federal resources will assist our office and our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to increase prosecutions of trigger-pullers, drug traffickers, carjackers, and those who illegally traffic, use, and possess firearms. We will use these new resources and every other available federal law enforcement tool to reduce the unacceptable level of violent crime in Chicago.”
“The most basic responsibility of government is to protect the safety of our citizens,” said Attorney General Barr. “Today, we have extended Operation Legend to Chicago and Albuquerque to protect the residents of those cities from senseless acts of deadly violence by targeting those involved in gang activity and those who use guns to commit violent crime. For decades, the Department of Justice has achieved significant success when utilizing our anti-violent crime task forces and federal law enforcement agents to enforce federal law and assist American cities which are experiencing upticks in violent crime. The Department of Justice’s assets will supplement local law enforcement efforts, as we work together to take the shooters and chronic violent criminals off of our streets.”
Chicago is currently experiencing a significant increase in violent crime, with homicides up 51% over 2019. Over the weekend of July 17, more than 60 people were shot in the city of Chicago, with 14 fatalities. Similarly, Albuquerque is currently on pace to break 2019’s record for homicides in the city. On the weekend of July 10, there were four murders in Albuquerque within a 24-hour period.
In Chicago, the Department of Justice will supplement state and local law enforcement agencies by sending more than 100 federal investigators from the FBI, DEA, and ATF to the city. Under the leadership of U.S. Attorney Lausch, these investigators will complement the work already underway by existing joint federal, state and local task forces focused on combatting Chicago’s violent criminals, gangs, and drug trafficking organizations. The investigatory efforts will be advanced by more than 100 members of the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Task Force, which will direct violent fugitive apprehension operations within Chicago to identify wanted gang members, violent criminals, and firearms violators. The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is also committing 100 agents, already stationed in Chicago, to Operation Legend. HSI agents will conduct investigations into gangs, narcotics traffickers, violent offenders, and firearms traffickers.
To further support the Chicago Police Department in reducing violent crime, ATF has deployed its national Crime Gun Intelligence Mobile Command Vehicle to assist local law enforcement with analysis of crime scenes and spent shell casings through the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). ATF will also make available additional resources to assist the city of Chicago in providing timely, efficient analysis of ballistic evidence from shootings in order to quickly disrupt violent criminals and prosecute those prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law. The Bureau of Justice Assistance will make available $3.5 million in funding to reimburse the Chicago Police Department and City of Chicago for the work of local law enforcement on the federal task forces supporting Operation Legend’s violent crime reduction efforts. The COPS Office has also made $9.375 million available to the Chicago Police Department to fund the hiring of 75 officers.
I’ll post react if it comes in.
…Adding… Durbin and Duckworth…
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding the Department of Justice (DOJ) announcing an expansion of Operation Legend to Chicago, Illinois. Operation Legend is DOJ’s violent crime reduction initiative with the stated goal to provide support and assistance to state and local law enforcement partners as they work to combat violent crime, and gun violence in particular. Durbin and Duckworth are set to speak with U.S. Attorney John Lausch about Operation Legend today.
“After needless threats from the President, we’re relieved the Trump Administration says they plan to work with local officials and authorities in Chicago rather than undermine local law enforcement and endanger our civil rights, as their agents have done in Portland. We will continue closely monitoring the Administration’s efforts to ensure they follow through with this commitment.
“More than three years ago, we sent President Trump a letter suggesting a range of ways in which the Federal Government could work in partnership with local officials to provide support and resources to assist in public safety, violence prevention, and economic development efforts in Chicago. While we are hopeful that today’s announcement means the Administration has reconsidered and will take a more positive approach, President Trump still has not replied to our letter nor followed through with our suggestions. We reiterate that these steps would be more effective in reducing violence in Chicago than any effort the Administration may take to replicate the destabilizing role it played in Portland.”
In their 2017 letter which they reiterated yesterday, Durbin and Duckworth recommended that the Trump Administration take steps to assist local violence prevention efforts, including:
• enhancing Department of Justice (DOJ) programs that improve community policing;
• directing DOJ to promote mentoring and job training programs for youth and formerly incarcerated individuals;
• improving mentoring and violence prevention initiatives and boosting funding for recidivism reduction programs;
• directing DOJ to abide by its commitment to help implement policing reforms recommended by the Department’s Civil Rights Division;
• closing gaps in the FBI gun background check system and in federal firearm laws that enable straw purchasers and gun traffickers to flood Chicago’s streets with illicit guns;
• prioritizing career and youth training programs to address lack of economic opportunity in neighborhoods hit hard by violence; and
• redirecting resources that are being devoted to construction of a border wall and committing those resources instead to the efforts discussed above.
The expansion of Operation Legend will consist of an increased federal law enforcement presence in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and in Chicago, Illinois. This federal law enforcement presence will consist of experienced investigative agents from FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, and HSI, focused on providing support to existing violent crime task forces.
*** UPDATE *** Mayor Lightfoot…
The President reached out to Mayor Lightfoot this evening to confirm that he plans to send federal resources to Chicago to supplement ongoing federal investigations pertaining to violent crime. The conversation was brief and straightforward. Mayor Lightfoot maintains that all resources will be investigatory in nature and be coordinated through the U.S. Attorney’s office. The Mayor has made clear that if there is any deviation from what has been announced, we will pursue all available legal options to protect Chicagoans.
A key Illinois House committee chairman is rejecting calls from Springfield Republicans for public legislative hearings on whether ratepayers got bilked in the ComEd bribery scandal—and, if so, what to do about it.
In a statement, House Energy Committee Chairman Ann Williams, D-Chicago, said that while she voted against the “smart grid” legislation of 2011, which raised rates and is at the core of the scandal, now is not the right time for the Legislature to respond.
“A legislative committee is not the appropriate place to investigate a criminal matter currently under the jurisdiction of the U.S. attorney’s office,” Williams said. “As was the precedent during prior corruption cases, the House Energy & Environment Committee will not hold hearings that could impede or interfere with an ongoing federal investigation.”
Williams, a member of the House Progressive Caucus, which occasionally has clashed with Speaker Mike Madigan, declined to elaborate when asked whether any interference would be minimal. ComEd already has confessed in its deferred-prosecution deal with federal prosecutors to improperly giving jobs, contracts and other financial inducements to benefit Madigan.
* Others, however, are holding hearings. For instance, this is from the ICC…
In response to the Deferred Prosecution Agreement revealed by the Department of Justice on Friday, the Illinois Commerce Commission requested Commonwealth Edison executives to appear before the Commission during its Open Meeting on July 29, 2020. Since the beginning of the new administration, the Commission has been committed to fostering a culture of transparency, accountability and inclusivity at the agency. This includes holding utility companies accountable for their compliance with ethics reforms required by a law enforcement agency. At the open meeting on July 29th, the Commission will have an opportunity to ask ComEd executives about the ethics reforms that the company says it has implemented.
The Illinois Commerce Commission is the state agency charged with reviewing all utility costs on behalf of consumers to make sure those costs are allowed under the law and reasonable. Pursuant to that duty, the Commission will take action to ensure that ComEd is not paying the $200 million criminal penalty at the expense of Illinois’ electricity consumers. Additionally, under Illinois law, utilities like ComEd cannot charge consumers for the costs of the company’s lobbyists. The Commission will continue to take steps to ensure that law is followed.
* Mayor Lightfoot…
The conduct admitted to by ComEd in the Deferred Prosecution Agreement unveiled today is deeply disturbing. The Department of Justice is appropriately holding ComEd accountable for their criminal conduct. As a significant vendor for the City of Chicago, ComEd must also be accountable to the taxpayers and residents of Chicago. As Mayor, I have made transparency, reform and accountability pillars of my administration. And, as a former federal prosecutor myself, I know the thorough and meticulous work that goes into the scale of this kind of investigation and this type of agreement.
As a City, we are committed to ensuring that all Chicagoans can access high quality, reliable services at rates that are affordable for all our residents, particularly our most vulnerable. It is also critical that consumer voices are heard in response to today’s announcement, which is why the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy will hold a public hearing on July 30th to hear directly from ComEd leadership as well as from residents. Chicagoans deserve fairness and transparency from all who are paid with taxpayer dollars, and my administration will do everything in our power to ensure that expectation is a reality.
As states revisit their spending plans for the 2021 budget year, which began July 1 in most states, they are making deep budget cuts to offset huge revenue shortfalls triggered by COVID-19 and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The initial state and local cuts enacted in spring and early summer caused sizable harm through layoffs, furloughs, and cuts to vital public services. Unless federal policymakers provide a new round of flexible fiscal aid, the harm will only worsen.
With business closures and layoffs sharply reducing state income and sales taxes, we estimate that state shortfalls will total about $555 billion through 2022. That’s a sharper drop than even in the worst three years of the Great Recession and its aftermath of a decade ago, and it doesn’t include the added state and local costs to confront the virus, such as more testing centers and hospital capacity. States must balance their budgets even in recessions, so state policymakers face enormous pressure to fill these shortfalls however they can, including with damaging cuts. […]
Some states have found ways to shield K-12 public schools or health services from their initial cuts, but that’s likely unsustainable. Policymakers will find it nearly impossible to protect these programs entirely over time, since education and health make up more than half of state spending nationwide. Indeed, several states have already slashed crucial health programs, such as substance use treatment and prevention.
More federal aid would enable states to reverse many of these cuts and minimize further cuts next year, when revenues likely will still be significantly depressed. That would limit further damage from the crisis, which has especially hurt people of color and economically struggling communities. It also would help lay the groundwork for state and local economies to recover more strongly.
The current crisis is simply too large for states to handle on their own. Federal aid in the Families First Act and CARES Act, both enacted in March, helped, but only about $100 billion of it is flexible enough for states to use to offset revenue shortfalls and limit cuts in services. Even after accounting for states’ “rainy day” reserves, which were a historically high $75 billion when the crisis started, about $380 billion in potential shortfalls remains through 2022.
Citing Stephen Douglas’ racist past, the Park District has moved to rename Douglas Park for Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
In a special meeting Wednesday, the Chicago Park District Board voted unanimously to move forward with the process to rename the West Side park for Frederick Douglass, opening up a 45-day comment period for Chicagoans to weigh in.
The long-awaited renaming could signal a tide of change as officials assess other statues, parks and street names honoring racists and controversial figures in the city.
In 2017, West Side youth began asking the city to rename their neighborhood park to honor abolitionist Frederick Douglass instead of slavery advocate Stephen Douglas. A park in a neighborhood that’s about 90 percent Black shouldn’t memorialize a white supremacist, they reasoned.
For three years, the city largely ignored their efforts.
I didn’t realize this until today, but Stephen Douglas changed the spelling of his name when he was in his 20s. He was born Stephen Arnold Douglass…
The younger Douglas would drop the second “s” from his name in 1846, the year after the publication of Frederick Douglass’s first autobiography; it is unknown if these two events were connected.
Coincidentally the parent company of the utility company accused of bribery is one of Rep. Davis' biggest campaign donors. $10k from Exelon PAC plus more $ in individual donations this cycle. https://t.co/f1RnGCMNUn
I also want to provide an update for our residents who are at risk of losing their housing. Because of this pandemic. Since March we’ve protected millions of Illinoisans by banning residential evictions. Today I’m extending that moratorium through August 22.
I take this step today because I want to ensure that we have support in places in place so that we have support in place for those who are most vulnerable. As many of you know, we worked with the General Assembly to put in place two programs to help those whose housing is insecure, one for renters, and one for homeowners. Each distributing $150 million.
Starting the week of August 10, applications will open for renters. And then the week of August 28 for homeowners. Through the fall recipients will be awarded grants of $5,000 for renters, and up to $15,000 for homeowners. And meanwhile we continue to explore partnerships and ways that we can provide additional support for many people their ability to weather this crisis hinges on their ability to keep a roof over their family’s heads. It’s not enough to say that we want to build a more just and equitable state on the other side of this pandemic. We have to take tangible action to get there. Today marks another step forward, though, frankly, our work is not done.
I’ll be back with the Q&A in a bit. Please pardon all transcription errors.
* Before taking questions, Pritzker said this…
Before I take questions I also want to take a moment to address the violence that too many residents are experiencing in their communities. As Governor I have and will continue to invest in communities that have been neglected for far too long.
Earlier today, I also spoke to the head of the Chicago office of the FBI to convey my long standing position I welcome legitimate resources from the federal government to reduce violence and help our residents stay safe. That can mean getting illegal guns off the street or investigating criminal enterprises, and I welcome the support for our local and state efforts to reduce crime.
But let’s be clear. That also means we must invest in our schools, in our physical and mental health services in workforce development programs that build up opportunity where years of disinvestment have hollowed it out. If you want to fix a problem, you start with the roots of the problem.
But what I will not stand for are efforts that undermine civil rights and civil liberties, like what’s happening in Portland, conducted anonymously under the cover of darkness and with no transparency. Any effort from the federal government to undermine the basic freedoms this nation has in its best moment aspired to protect will be met with resistance from this state government.
* He was then asked about the Portland issue and his conversation with DHS…
The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security did not return my phone call and said that he would not over the next 48 hours. So that’s what happened in that call ytesterday. I have worked tirelessly over the last few days, speaking with not only the mayor but the Attorney General to coordinate activities that we might engage in, if we need to push back on some force of the Federal Protective Services that might arrive, the kinds of issues that are on the ground in Portland. And so we’re, you know, we’re talking about that working that out. We are hopeful that that will not be the case. We know that the ATF the FBI, the DEA are coming to and are in Chicago, engaged in activities to help our local law enforcement, the state police are engaged in that, Chicago police departments, police departments across the state, in fact, are engaged in that and that seems legitimate activity to go after criminal enterprises, and I encourage that. We need to get violence and criminal enterprises shut down.
* What about imposing a quarantine on visits from people in surrounding states?…
So ,let me begin by by doubling down on what you just said, which is every state around us has either double or triple our positivity rate. So this is challenging for us right. And we don’t live in a country where you close the borders between states. And we’re not going to stop people who live in Illinois and work in Wisconsin from doing so.
And you can’t ask somebody who crosses the border every day to go to work, who’s following all the mitigations that we’ve asked, you know, wear a mask, wash your hands all the things we’ve asked them to do. They’re not gathering in large groups, but they go to work every day. You can’t ask them to quarantine for 14 days at a time. So that’s not something that we really can do. We have a lot of border counties in Illinois, where people on one side or the other of the border regularly cross because they have family, or because they work on the other side of the border.
So instead what we need is for Illinoisans to do, frankly, what most people have been doing. But we just need everybody to pay close close attention to this. If you’re not wearing a mask you’re doing it wrong. You have to wear a mask if I told you you could take a pill that would reduce the likelihood of you getting COVID-19 by 80%, you would do it. And that’s what happens when people wear masks, we reduce the likelihood of transmission by 80%.
* He also said this…
We’re encouraging local officials to shut down things, for example like we’re aware of a party bus company in Metro East where people get on and they go from bar to bar to bar. Well guess what happened? Somebody on one of those party buses either contracted it along the way or had it when they went to on a party bus and spread it to the locations that they went to. So the local officials have to be asking themselves, how do we cut down on the spread? Well one way to do that might be to first of all completely disinfect all the buses. Second of all, make sure you’ve got social distancing and third possibly shutting down those party buses.
Pritzker was asked about contact tracing and said tracers were currently reaching about 61 percent of people identified “within a reasonable period of time.”
* There is clearly not a flattening now, right?…
Dr. Ezike: We have seen an increase in cases and I know some people say, oh it’s just because there’s more testing. There’s a way to look at that, actually, if you do more testing your positivity should actually go down the more testing you do. So for it to even stay about flat suggests that there’s increased transmission. So yes we’re seeing increased transmission. Some of it was predictable, as we opened up more we have you know places at 25% capacity 50% capacity places that were completely closed, you know, personal services all the kind of movies and going from groups of 10 to groups of 50, of course, we can imagine that there’s more opportunity for the virus to be spread and in fact, that has been the case. And so, we needed to have the opening and the increased ability to do more things we needed that to be coupled with like 100% masking and distancing. And so I think our rates are probably high, but we really need like full hundred percent compliance to really try to keep our rates, where they were or keep them lowering so we’re in, you know, in treating or asking for the public to continue supporting us with that encourage people who aren’t doing it, why they should we need everybody to be on the same page for this.
* The governor also stepped in to warn bar owners…
There’s no doubt about it, we need to increasing masking not decrease, and we’re never going to get to 100% but that’s our goal anyway we want everybody to wear a mask, everybody who’s medically able and an old enough to be able to keep a mask on. But the other thing I’d point out is that as you open things up, what happens is some bar owners, for example, go beyond the capacity limits that we’ve allowed. And that is when you really run into trouble because it’s already difficult enough in bars. … Guess what your you know your droplets are greater because you’re drinking. And people tend to be yelling or shouting or speaking louder than they normally do because there’s music playing. And so there’s greater risk. And that’s why we’ve kept the capacity limits where they are. But when people don’t abide by those when bars don’t abide by those, it really creates a problem and that isn’t the only place I’m not just calling them out but I just want to be clear that just opening up doesn’t mean that we’re going to have a problem. It’s opening up and then having people not abide by the rules, and understand that opening up means having a greater attention to wearing a mask.
* IDPH is now reporting probable cases, not just confirmed cases. Why?…
Dr. Ezike: Yeah, the CDC started putting those metrics out there, probable cases. I lose track of dates in COVID world, but I think it’s been, I think it’s, it’s been more than three or four weeks that they were going to put up probable cases. And so they’re asking us to put forth the problem cases probable cases are people who were contacts of confirmed case that then develops similar symptoms in the timeframe that would suggest that, in fact, you know this person had covid you lived with them. We didn’t test you but you had all the symptoms and you know you had this direct epidemiologic link, you probably had it too. So those are the probable cases so if the lab wasn’t done for that second individual, but all signs point to being. This was COVID, then that’s a probable case and so the CDC has been asking us to put probable cases we’re trying to put that to be with them. We don’t have, you know, in the beginning when we didn’t have all the testing, right, we know that there were many cases where we would say yeah don’t even try to get a test, you know this person had it, you probably have it just stand out if you get sick go to the hospital, but just stay sequestered you know stay isolated. So there’s lots of probable cases that are not in our total, you are correct.
* Thoughts on President Trump encouraging the wearing of masks?…
It’s never too late to learn more, you know what the right thing to do is. And so I’m very glad that the President did that. I think there are probably a lot of people who follow his every word and now understand that this is the right thing for them to do. We want everybody safe. I don’t care what their politics are. Everybody in Illinois, I want them to wear a mask and if the president comes out in favor of wearing masks which he seemed to yesterday, then I think that can only be a good thing.
* IDES debit card fraud scheme…
So it appears and I’m just giving you what my understanding is now. It appears that in past breaches, we’ve all heard about these massive breaches of systems of corporations, and then they warn you, go get your credit report, and so on. Many people don’t do that. Many people don’t respond properly to that.
So all of that information is being held by somebody, some hacker right, who wants to use it at some point in the future, and waits a long enough period of time until they can find the right thing to do without you paying a lot of attention. And so they hold on to the information and this apparently this program the federal government set up was something that was attractive to those hackers. And so that’s the, the fraud has been engaged in by them with information that they obtained in some other capacity, and they you know that it’s not that they’re breaching our systems is they’re applying in the normal way that people apply to get these programs and payments to them. Using the names that they’ve gotten now how they would obtain them from somebody’s mailbox if it were sent to somebody. I’m not sure. There’s a lot of federal investigation going on and I’m hopeful that they’ll get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. We want to warn everybody.
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,598 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 23 additional confirmed deaths.
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 165,301 cases, including 7,347 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 39,633 specimens for a total of 2,348,487. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from July 15 –July 21 is 3.2%. As of last night, 1,456 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 337 patients were in the ICU and 132 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
…Adding… Press release…
As the state continues to build out a robust COVID-19 testing and tracing infrastructure, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for public health organizations to assist with contact tracing efforts.
Through the NOFO, IDPH will award a grant to one organization in each of the nine regions outlined in Governor Pritzker’s COVID-19 resurgence mitigation plan, with Cook County and Chicago standing up their own contact tracing programs with community organizations. Each of these nine organizations will serve as coordinators in their region, awarding sub-grants to community-based organizations in their region who can most effectively conduct tracing, education and outreach in their communities. The NOFO will be available on the IDPH website on Friday, July 24, 2020.
“Today I’m proud to announce that applications for community-based organizations to obtain funding through IDPH to collaborate with local health departments will open on Friday. This opportunity – called the COVID-19 Pandemic Health Navigator Program – is geared toward organizations able to serve as coordinators for their region, sub-awarding to other agencies, across three main areas of work: education and outreach, contact tracing, and resource coordination for those who need to isolate,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Because Chicago and its immediate suburbs are running their own community programs, these partnerships will be with regional leaders outside of Cook County. Most important to our ability to minimize outbreaks is the efforts of everyday people to do their part: if one of our statewide force of 1,600 contact tracers calls you, please answer.”
The funding will assist organizations in contact tracing efforts through the following three areas:
1. Provide education and outreach to promote everyday preventive actions to help slow the spread of COVID-19, as well as identify populations at greater risk of infection, and provide information to breakdown myths and rumors.
2. Conduct contact tracing through interviews and provide follow up information for close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
3. Coordinate resources, such as food, laundry, and even housing if needed, for cases or close contacts of cases who need to isolate or quarantine.
Expanding contact tracing efforts on a regional level will allow local organizations to serve as coordinators for their community and give them the ability to grant funds to other local agencies. To apply, an organization must be a GATA (Grant Accountability and Transparency Act) certified tax-exempt organization.
“By working with established community-based organizations, we are hoping to reach people who may be at higher risk of infection, but hesitant to talk with health officials,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “We need people who are trusted in communities across the state to let people who have been in close contact with a confirmed case know that they need to monitor their health and take steps to potentially prevent spread of the virus to their family, friends, co-workers, and other community members. This is how we will help prevent outbreaks and the need to close businesses or institute other temporary restrictions.”
IDPH continues to work closely with local health departments in Illinois. Currently, the department has executed grant agreements with 57 local health departments across the state, about 60 percent of all local health departments, to enhance contact tracing efforts. These local health departments will receive $50 million in contact tracing funding over the next two weeks. IDPH is also finalizing agreements with the remaining 40 local health departments. In total, grants to local health departments for contact tracing amount to more than $215 million.
More than 1,600 contact tracers are currently available in Illinois. The number of staff needed to conduct contact tracing varies depending on several factors, including:
• Number of people seeking medical care or testing
• Number of new cases per day
• Amount of time that has passed from when symptoms start to positive test results
• Number of contacts identified of each confirmed case
• How quickly patients are isolated, and contacts are notified and advised to stay home, self-monitor, and maintain social distance from others
In addition to grants, IDPH has contracted with a software application platform to ensure contact tracers across the state are collecting all the same information and in the same way. A virtual call center is also being established to ensure critical call information is accurately conveyed. Additionally, IDPH has enlisted Partners in Health (PIH) as a consultant to help build the contact tracing program in Illinois. PIH has received acclaim for their contact tracing work in Massachusetts and is providing IDPH with technical assistance, including lessons learned through working with jurisdictions nationwide.
* If you click here and scroll through, you’ll see the 137 accounts that Gov. Pritzker follows on Twitter. State agencies, top staff, the congressional delegation, other governors and Illinois statewide electeds dominate the list. Not a lot of fun stuff. And he follows no news media accounts.
* The Question: What Twitter accounts would you recommend he follow? Make sure to explain, and yes, it is a slow state news day today. There is some stuff going on, but I’m stuck waiting for more info before I can post anything.
Just before 7 a.m. Friday, only a few hours before federal authorities took the wraps off their big investigation of Commonwealth Edison and House Speaker Mike Madigan, the doorbell rang at the McKinley Park home of state Rep. Theresa Mah.
Mah was awake but still in bed. Her husband was up and just starting to make coffee.
She assumed it was a delivery driver and shouted to her husband to get the door, but he was already on the way to answer the intercom.
“Who is it?” he asked.
“FBI,” came the answer. They asked to speak to Mah.
That will wake you up in a hurry.
I got this story directly from Mah, a Democrat completing her second term in the Illinois House. She told it in the way that only a person with a clear conscience can tell it.
Go read the whole thing, but the bottom line is Rep. Mah opposed legislation to transfer state land on behalf of a Chinatown developer, as did IDOT. The developer hired a Statehouse lobbyist, but the legislation never advanced out of Rules Committee. Madigan could’ve stuck it in the BIMP, but he didn’t do it. I’m really not sure what the heck the feds are supposed to be looking at here. I mean, there could’ve been a quid, but there is not yet a discernible quo because the developer’s bill didn’t move an inch. Stay tuned.
This is happening to a bunch of people. It happened to my father, who didn’t apply for unemployment and has been retired for 15 years. If you think you’ve been a victim of this kind of fraud, file a report with your local police department and IDES. https://t.co/2zoqcrFtTr
Nearly a dozen people contacted the ABC7 I-Team about receiving unemployment benefits even though they never actually applied for unemployment.
They said a debit card just showed up at their home, and they weren’t sure if it was junk mail or a hoax. But after calling the number of the back of the card, they learned they could have a big problem on their hands. […]
She called KeyBank, the company that administers the cards, and said she was told the Illinois Department of Employment Security instructed them to send her the card.
Somehow all her personal information matched what KeyBank had in their system, except her phone number, which she said they wouldn’t give out.
When a person applies for unemployment, they are sent a KeyBank debit card in an inactivated state. It is up to the recipient to call KeyBank and have the card activated and set up a PIN number. It’s only then that the card would be ready to use, Salustro said.
At the same time, IDES always asks people to sign up for direct deposit of benefits because it is faster and more secure, he said. What scammers do is apply for benefits using a person’s stolen identify and then quickly convert the benefits into a direct deposit of an account that they control.
If someone gets a card or other notices that they are receiving benefits when they didn’t apply, IDES is asking people to report it as fraud. People should not activate the cards, but neither should they simply shred them and ignore what happened, Salustro said.
“In most cases, a person committing unemployment fraud in someone else’s name is, in all likelihood, using their name and identifying information, obtained through various methods and avenues, simply to receive unemployment funds,” he said. “Once this has been detected and reported, the claim is stopped and the fraudulent individuals pursued. The department is working with federal law enforcement authorities to investigate, pursue and prosecute those who defraud the unemployment insurance systems.”
Good luck getting through to IDES to report this fraud, however.
*** UPDATE 1 *** IDES…
The increase in the fraudulent unemployment claims is believed to be coming primarily out of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. Under the ambiguous federal guidelines, which were developed in haste because of the urgency of the pandemic and issued to every state without a uniform method of implementation, the potential for fraud within this system is abundant.
One of the largest vulnerabilities within PUA is the absence of an employer on the other side of the claim to contest the claim in the event the it is fraudulent or should be protested. Under regular unemployment insurance guidelines, an employer has the ability to alert IDES if a claim has been filed in the name of an employee who is currently employed, and has the ability to protest a claim if they believe the employee does not fall into the category of having lost work through no fault of their own.
This fraud scheme is in no way connected to the PUA program access issue experienced in May. The limited data access issue of the PUA system found that one PUA claimant was able to inadvertently access personal identifying information of a limited number of claimants who had already filed an unemployment claim. Out of an abundance of caution, a year’s worth of free credit monitoring was provided to any claimant whose information may have been inadvertently viewed by this one individual claimant.
*** UPDATE 2 *** This is getting ridiculous…
Identity theft related to Illinois' unemployment insurance system is a serious problem, as I learned personally today when I received a UI KeyBank debit card despite not filing for unemployment. #IDESFraudpic.twitter.com/1Wd58lskIe
— State Representative Yoni Pizer (@StateRepYoni) July 22, 2020
Maryland is investigating a vast operation using identity theft to commit coronavirus unemployment insurance fraud on the order of more than half a billion dollars, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Wednesday.
The Maryland operation involved more than 47,500 fraudulent claims and totaled over $501 million, according to Hogan. […]
After finding “an unusual increase in out of state, federal pandemic unemployment assistance claims,” the Maryland Department of Labor discovered the claims, “which were involving massive identity theft, attempting to utilize stolen identities and the personal information of innocent and unsuspecting individuals, which was apparently acquired from previous national data breaches,” Hogan said.
