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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Tribune…

National Weather Service weather balloon releases — tracking temperature, pressure and wind speed — have been temporarily suspended in Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, because of staff shortages and reduced at six other sites in the Midwest and Great Plains, according to agency memos.

That loss has created “a gaping hole” in our balloon data in Illinois, according to Victor Gensini, an associate professor in the department of Earth, atmosphere and environment at Northern Illinois University.

Gensini was among the climate and weather scientists who told the Tribune they’re concerned about the effects on Illinois of recent National Weather Service staff cuts.

“Is public safety at risk? Yes, it is,” said former National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini, referring to the staff cuts. “(Can) I tell you exactly when the system is going to break? No, but the risks are definitely increasing.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Journal Courier | Illinois task force uncovers nearly 400 Underground Railroad sites: Gerald McWorter, vice president of the New Philadelphia Association board, said the task force looked at several areas. “The first aspect is the actual telling of the history — the experience of people escaping from slavery — the freedom seekers,” McWorter said. Now, the task force is pushing legislation that would establish a commission to help provide resources, funding and support for all sites and academics connected to the Underground Railroad in the state.

* Tribune | Thomas Hardy, Tribune political columnist who went to work for Gov. Edgar, U. of I., dies at 72: Thomas Hardy was a writer and editor for the Tribune, including 10 years as the paper’s top political reporter and a Sunday columnist, before leaving journalism to work as a press secretary for then-Gov. Jim Edgar and then spending 18 years overseeing public affairs for the University of Illinois System. “He was the epitome of what you would hope a political writer would be,” said Edgar, who hired Hardy from the Tribune in 1997. “He wasn’t cynical but he was not fooled by anyone.”

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | ‘We’re not seen’: Illinois’ incarcerated Muslim community observes Ramadan: Richblood, 33, has been incarcerated since he was 16 and in different facilities throughout the state, starting in juvenile detention. He has been at Danville Correctional for about nine years. He became Muslim at 19 while in the prison system, he said. Richblood said he appreciated his first Ramadan because he “likes challenges” but said the facility he was in at the time wasn’t particularly accommodating. “My perception was that being afforded accommodations to fast while incarcerated would be met with a little resistance,” Richblood said. “Then I came here, and the chaplain has got our back. It’s been a different experience than what I had all those years ago,” he said of his experience at Danville.

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | In face of allegation, Capital Township trustee candidate says he’s done ‘nothing wrong’: Leadership of the Sangamon County Democratic Party is standing behind a Capital Township trustee candidate who has been the subject of recent sexual misconduct allegation by a Springfield woman on social media. At least one group within the party, the Sangamon County Young Democrats, withdrew support for Evan Brown, who is seeking his first public office position in the April 1 consolidated election.

* Advantage News | Macoupin County Board Chair target of protest: The chairman of the Macoupin County Board has apparently stirred up some controversy as a result of social media postings. Larry Schmidt is identified in a post from a St. Louis television station reporting on a bar dropping Anheuser-Busch products after the company dropped its sponsorship of the St. Louis Pride Parade. In a comment on that post, Schmidt equated homosexuality to a disability, a statement that he later retracted. Chelsa Pruden is partnering with the Macoupin County Action Alliance and is helping organize a demonstration at the next county board meeting on April 8. She tells The Big Z the comments were hurtful.

* PJ Star | Dunlap school board candidate addresses issue from his past: The professional history of Dunlap school board candidate Mick Hall includes a three-year suspension of his license to practice law in 2012. […] According to the Illinois State Bar Association, Hall was suspended because of: Misappropriation of over $35,000 in funds he had agreed to hold for a relative in a trust. Conversion of $2,500 from The Hall Law Group in 2001. He was a senior partner at the Hall group. Conversion of $57,500 from client trust accounts between 2005 and 2006.

* WAND | New technology at Carle Foundation Hospital saves over $40,000 in food waste: Carle Foundation Hospital is fighting back on food waste, and has implemented a new technology that should help keep those food waste numbers to a minimum. It’s called Leanpath. At first glance, it’s just a scale and tablet. But in actuality, the scale is programmed to see what the food is, and determine the dollar amount of food that’s being wasted.

* PJ Star | Five vying for three spots on Dunlap School Board. Meet the candidates: Ahead of the April 1 consolidated election, perhaps the biggest subplot has been a campaign by a group of parents to remove Abby Humbles as school board president. […] Humbles believes the campaign to remove her as school board president is something that comes with serving in the public sector. “Sometimes, we have to endure some negative comment,” she said. “We’d like to please everyone, but to me, the results of the Dunlap School District are astoundingly positive. That doesn’t mean that we don’t take into consideration comments from parents. We always feel we could do better.”

* WAND | Former WAND Anchor to star in documentary “The Farmer’s Daughter”: Tara Barrett, a former morning news anchor at WAND News, left her TV career in 2011 to take over the family farm. A documentary titled “The Farmer’s Daughter,” airing this weekend on WAND, explores her transition. Tara discusses the challenges she faced, particularly the business aspects of farming, which were new to her despite her prior experience with farm operations.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune Opinion | Police district councilors: Enforcement of parking violations shouldn’t fall on CPD: We often think of 911 as a number to call for violent crimes or emergencies that need an immediate response. But the Chicago Police Department receives about 100,000 911 calls each year for something far less urgent: parking violations. As some of Chicago’s first elected police district councilors, it’s our job to understand our neighbors’ policing and public safety priorities. Our constituents want CPD addressing serious crime and spending more time in the community — not tied up with minor enforcement issues.

* Block Club | NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race Will Close Downtown Streets Starting In June: The race is set for July 5-6, though the city will need 25 days for setting up and then tearing down the course, according to a Monday news release. Traffic and street closures related to the building will total 18 days, with pre-race closures and parking restrictions starting in late June.

* Chicago Eater | Feast Upon a Unique Cambodian Tasting Menu: One of America’s only Cambodian tasting menus is served in Chicago thanks to Khmai Fine Dining in Rogers Park. Chef and owner Mona Sang launched the endeavor in January with the intent of rotating menus monthly to focus on a particular Cambodian province. Diners can experience a unique seven-course meal with non-alcoholic or alcoholic beverage pairings. March’s menu focuses on Kampot, a province known for its peppercorns, durian, and crab dishes. For many diners, Khmai’s gateway to Cambodian food is the egg roll, something they’re eaten at Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants. Egg rolls aren’t on Khmai’s tasting menu. Sang is determined to set Cambodian food apart from other Asian cuisines.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Waukegan area residents sharing $48.1 million settlement for EtO emissions from an industrial plant: A group of Waukegan area people impacted by the emission of ethylene oxide (EtO), a known carcinogen, from an industrial plant in Waukegan will be sharing in a $48.15 million settlement with Isomedix Operations, Inc., a one-time owner of the Waukegan facility. Isomedix, a subsidiary of STERIS, plc, a Dublin, Ireland-based company, settled its portion of a multiparty lawsuit with numerous plaintiffs (the ETO plaintiffs) for $48.15 million, according to a March 3 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

* Daily Herald | Seven Northwest suburbs to receive backup water supply during upcoming leak repair: Seven Northwest suburbs will rely on backup water supplies for about five days but should experience no disruption of service as repairs are made to a leak in water main. Residents of Elk Grove Village, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, and Streamwood will switch over to the backup supplies beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday. A repair to a leak in a 90-inch water main delivering water to the seven Northwest suburbs is needed, officials at the Northwest Suburban Municipal Joint Action Water Agency said.

*** National ***

* Forbes | RFK Jr. Expected To Lay Off Entire Office Of Infectious Disease And HIV/AIDS Policy: It’s apparently part of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s whole HHS downsizing and restructuring plan, which has been posted as a fact sheet. That fact sheet indicates that the number of HHS employees will be slashed from around 82,000 to 62,000. This will include cutting around 3,500 jobs at the Food and Drug Administration, 2,400 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 1,200 at the National Institutes of Health.

  8 Comments      


Madigan sets stage for appeal

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tribune…

Lawyers for convicted former House Speaker Michael Madigan are arguing for a new trial in his corruption case, saying prosecutors failed to prove the then-powerful Democrat knew about a scheme by ComEd to pay off his associates and alleging a series of mistakes by the trial judge.

The 73-page motion filed Friday alleged those errors tainted the jury with highly prejudicial evidence, and asked U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey to reverse the jury’s verdict on certain guilty counts and grant a new trial on others.

Such post-trial motions are routine and rarely granted, however the filing provides a blueprint for a likely appeal to the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals down the line.

The motion covers a litany of issues that arose during Madigan’s marathon, four-month trial, which ended in February with a split-verdict that saw the former speaker convicted of a wide-ranging bribery conspiracy but acquitted on other counts. The jury also deadlocked on some key charges, including the overarching racketeering conspiracy count.

* The Dennis Gannon part (consultants were making out “like bandits”) was interesting…

2. The Court Erred Admitting Government Exhibit 156.

Allowing the government to cross examine Madigan with, and introduce into evidence, Government Exhibit 156 was error. The court should have stood by its pretrial ruling that the discussion of a separate hire (Gannon) had nothing to do with Madigan and its introduction created unfair prejudice due to confusion. Further, the timing of the reversal prejudiced the defendant and, in particular, his right to testify in his own defense. Madigan chose to exercise his Fifth Amendment right and testify after the court excluded admission of that recording. After his direct examination, the court reversed course and allowed its admission. This denied the defendant the opportunity to front the evidence, an opportunity that the government enjoyed with its witnesses. Instead, the government was allowed to question Madigan and, even though all of the evidence was clear that Madigan had nothing to do with Gannon, the prosecutor nonetheless suggested otherwise during both the examination and during closing arguments. There can be no doubt that admission of this recording was prejudicial – one juror commented post-trial that it was the “most significant” piece of evidence and believed it related to the sub-contractors actually recommended by Madigan, the very confusion that correctly prompted the court to exclude the recording before trial.

Exhibit 156 was a recording between Madigan and McClain. During the call, McClain described that labor consultant Dennis Gannon was asked to drive around a contract to get it signed. When Madigan asked how Gannon got involved (because he did not even know Gannon was employed by ComEd), McClain explained that “we [ComEd]” gave him a contract for $150,000. In response, Madigan stated that some consultants, like Gannon, were making out like “bandits.” As noted, Madigan had no involvement in the hiring of Gannon, and three different witnesses confirmed this fact. Tom O’Neill knew Gannon and recommended that he be hired. Fidel Marquez was supposed to supervise Gannon. And, the government interviewed Gannon himself. All three confirmed that his hiring by ComEd had nothing to do with Madigan. Knowing this, the government kept scrambling, offering conflicting explanations as to why the recording should be allowed. (Tr. p. 8889-91 (Gannon was a Madigan hire); (Tr. p. 8895-96 (Madigan and McClain mistakenly thought they helped Gannon); Tr. p. 8889-90 (“these guys” referred to Madigan recommendations).

And when the government tried to avoid acknowledging that it had no evidence to suggest that Madigan was involved, the court pressed prosecutors as “officer[s] of the court” to answer the question. In the end, the discussion about Gannon had nothing to do with Madigan. There was no reason to admit the recording. It did not relate to the charges, and it presented a danger of confusion. The admission of the exhibit allowed the prosecution to improperly impeach Madigan’s testimony, call him a liar, and describe his testimony as a façade, all while knowing that its own investigation demonstrated that Madigan had nothing to do with Gannon’s hiring. Its admission was error.

Lots more in there.

  7 Comments      


Stop Credit Card Chaos In Illinois

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

A last-minute provision called the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA) was snuck into the budget process last May and will create chaos for small businesses and consumers across Illinois if it takes effect on July 1, 2025.

The IFPA gives corporate mega-stores like Walmart and Home Depot — who pushed for this backroom deal — millions more in profits, while small business owners get new expenses and accounting headaches. What’s more, consumers could be forced to pay for parts of their transactions in cash if this law moves forward.

A recent court ruling in the litigation challenging the law suggests IFPA is likely pre-empted by federal law for national banks and will only apply to credit unions and local Illinois banks, putting local banks at a disadvantage against their national competitors.

Illinois lawmakers should repeal the IFPA and focus on protecting small businesses and consumers across the state — not lining the pockets of corporate mega-stores.

Stop the countdown to chaos by supporting a repeal of this misguided and flawed policy. Learn more at https://guardyourcard.com/illinois/

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Question of the day

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Capitol News Illinois earlier this month…

Though municipal and school board races in Illinois are nonpartisan, voters may see many of the same political themes that were hallmarks of races during the 2024 presidential election cycle. The Democratic Party of Illinois is applying many of the same tactics it uses in partisan elections to this year’s local races.

“We as the Democratic Party of Illinois should be defending Democratic values in every single election in nonpartisan and partisan elections alike, because all of these local offices have jurisdiction over super critical controls and we think our party has the best platform for governance,” Democratic Party of Illinois Executive Director Ben Hardin said.

The 2025 local elections are the second time that Illinois Democrats are getting involved in nonpartisan races. After recruiting more than 1,000 prospective candidates last year, the state party is supporting 270 candidates for a variety of local offices in all areas of the state.

The party trained the candidates and attached them to “coaches” experienced in running Democratic campaigns. Candidates will also be supported by a six-figure advertising campaign by DPI in the coming weeks.

* WGLT today…

Normal mayoral candidate Kathleen Lorenz faced criticism Sunday from one of her two opponents after accepting a $28,000 campaign contribution from the McLean County Republicans that she said was really a pass-through contribution from a specific donor.

Lorenz told WGLT late Saturday that she coordinated with the donor to route the money through the McLean County Republicans, which was at the donor’s request. Lorenz said the “ridiculous amount of money” was critical to paying for three weeks of advertising during the homestretch of the campaign. She said that advertising gave her a better chance to win against a favored incumbent.

Lorenz would not identify the donor, but she confirmed that the $28,000 she received from the McLean County Republicans last week came from him. The election is Tuesday.

Typically, an individual is capped at $7,300 in contributions to a candidate campaign committee like Lorenz’s, based on state contribution limits. However, individuals can give larger sums to political party committees like the McLean County Republicans, and there is no limit to how much political party committees can give to candidate campaign committees.

* More from WGLT…

[I]n a Facebook post Saturday, [incumbent Chris Koos’] campaign said, “the McLean County GOP is trying to buy this race.”

“So it’s worth saying again: Mayor is a nonpartisan position. And our community deserves a leader like Mayor Koos who puts people over politics,” Koos’ campaign wrote. […]

Koos, meanwhile, picked up endorsements from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, and former Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger in the last few days.

Bloomington and Normal mayoral and council elections are technically nonpartisan, although both McLean County Republicans and Democrats have endorsed candidates anyway. Again, Lorenz disputed that what the local GOP has done constitutes an endorsement.

* Daily Herald…

The McHenry County Democratic Party is promoting candidates in more than 90 local races this cycle. Democratic township organizations in the Wheeling, Elk Grove and Mundelein areas are among those pushing their preferred candidates, too.

In Naperville, Democratic U.S. Reps. Lauren Underwood and Bill Foster are actively campaigning for city council candidates Benny White, Mary Gibson, Ian Holzhauer and Ashfaq Syed and park district hopefuls Rhonda Ansier, Leslie Ruffing, Alison Thompson and Aishwarya Balakrihna. […]

DuPage County Republican Party Chair Kevin Coyne responded on social media by endorsing Naperville City Council candidates Derek McDaniel, Jennifer Taylor and Meghna Bansal.

Coyne’s activity this cycle doesn’t end there. Although not strictly a partisan organization, the Safe Suburbs USA political action committee he founded and leads has endorsed dozens of suburban candidates.

* The Question: Should local elections remain “non-partisan”? Make sure to explain you answer.

  33 Comments      


Unclear on the concept

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Um, Tom, if you’re gonna lead the anti-RINO opposition (he even has a theme song), at least take the time to learn that the Chicago Teachers Union is a local within the Illinois Federation of Teachers, not the Illinois Education Association…

Unreal.

  23 Comments      


It’s just a bill

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Chalkbeat Chicago…

While helping families get services for their child with disabilities, Alexandra Kuske says she has seen school districts slip in language requiring parents to waive their children’s rights to bring claims under state and federal laws.

Recently, one district proposed that a parent waive all claims related to her 12-year-old’s education for the next 10 years in return for a six-month placement at a therapeutic day school, said Kuske, a state attorney at Equip for Equality, a federally mandated protection and advocacy organization for Illinois.

Now, special education advocates from organizations including Equip for Equality, Access Living, and Legal Council for Health Justice are pushing state lawmakers to pass House Bill 2337, which would require school districts to limit waivers to students involved in the mediation process. Under the bill, waivers would have to be “limited in scope and duration and narrowly tailored” to the student’s case. […]

A spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of Education said the state offers mediation to parents and school districts that voluntarily agree to participate. The state board has received 413 mediation requests for the 2025 fiscal year, but not all requests result in a mediation hearing, the spokesperson said. Among the mediations that occur, 71% reach an agreement. However, the state board does not track waivers placed in agreements.

* Tribune…

Because she thinks it could help students like her to complete their education without being so stretched financially and otherwise, [Monica Mendoza] is advocating for a proposal from Gov. JB Pritzker that would allow some community colleges to offer four-year degrees. It would allow students like her to earn a bachelor’s degree from their community college, rather than having to transfer. […]

But the pitch is facing stiff headwinds in Springfield, where earlier this month it failed to be called for a committee vote ahead of a procedural deadline amid opposition from existing four-year institutions, some of which are facing enrollment and financial issues. […]

Four-year universities argue the bill could diminish progress the state has made on educational access and achievement, according to a statement to reporters from a coalition of Illinois universities including leadership from Chicago State University, Illinois State University and several “directional” Illinois schools such as Northern Illinois University. […]

The governor’s proposal includes some guardrails against siphoning off students from their local universities, according to its proponents. It says community college boards must be able to demonstrate the programs wouldn’t “unnecessarily duplicate” already-available four-year offerings in the same district, though few specifics are outlined in the bill’s text. […]

Negotiations on the bill continue. State Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl, the bill’s House sponsor, said that the discussions include “setting up a framework for how these programs are going to run throughout the state,” including keeping the door open for regional differences in how issues like commute times are calculated, for example.

* Something to keep in mind…



* Sen. Rachel Ventura…

On Thursday, the Senate Executive Subcommittee on Procurement held a subject matter hearing on a bill led by State Senator Rachel Ventura that would make Illinois the first state to ensure state purchases do not contribute to deforestation, forest degradation or human rights violations. […]

Senate Bill 2157 would position Illinois as a national leader in responsible sourcing, aligning with global efforts to protect forests, climate and biodiversity. The proposed bill would ensure state-funded purchases of key commodities — such as rubber, paper and specific wood products — come exclusively from sustainable sources, curbing the state’s contribution to global deforestation.

The Deforestation-Free Illinois Act would ban state purchases of tropical hardwood or related products, positioning Illinois as a global climate leader with stronger procurement standards. Ventura’s bill would help safeguard biodiversity by preserving ecosystems and protecting at-risk species. […]

The bill supports Illinois and U.S. businesses by prioritizing low-deforestation products — recognizing that U.S. soy and cattle have significantly lower deforestation risks than imports. It also includes a preference for Illinois-sourced products, keeping taxpayer dollars in state. […]

Additionally, the bill upholds Indigenous rights by requiring Free, Prior, and Informed Consent for developments affecting their land and resources. […]

Senate Bill 2157 has been assigned to the Senate Executive committee.

* WCIA…

Surgeons and surgery room staff came to the Capitol Thursday to push for a bill that could change requirements for surgical technologists. […]

Surgeons and certified surgical technologists filed a bill with Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora) called the Operating Room Patient Safety Act. This bill will require all new surgical technologists to complete an accredited education program and obtain a national certification after completing their certification first. […]

Several hospitals and associations oppose the bill. The Illinois Health and Hospital Association Senior Vice-President of Government Relations, Dave Gross, said by making certification and education a requirement, this will cause delays in care because it could limit the number of qualified surgical technologists available. […]

The bill to make certification a requirement has gained momentum in the House on both sides of the aisle. If signed into law, the bill would take effect in 2027.

* Chicago faith leaders in the Tribune…

Second Chance Month is a national opportunity, but it matters right here at home. In Illinois, an estimated 2.2 million people carry the burden of a past arrest or conviction record. It takes hard work to turn one’s life around — especially when finding meaningful employment is harder than falling back into crime. Yet, so many persevere. […]

In the coming days, state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth will introduce Clean Slate legislation in Springfield. This year, Illinois can pass this needed legislation that carefully balances fairness and public safety. The bill includes safeguards to ensure eligibility requirements are met; automated systems are also more efficient and equitable, reducing human error and bias in the expungement process.

Now is the time for action. To begin with, we urge lawmakers to prioritize Clean Slate legislation. To follow, we urge everyone to advocate for this important bill with your state representative. Then our elected officials will need to listen to their constituents, many of whom live with these barriers every day. We need to hear their stories, recognize their resilience and change the law. Passing this legislation is not just the right thing to do — it’s what justice demands.

Illinois cannot afford to wait. Let us seize this moment to transform lives, strengthen communities and pave the way for a brighter, more equitable future. The time for Clean Slate is now.

* WTVO…

Illinois lawmakers have proposed a bill that would change the tax code to reflect other prescription drug taxes.

The bill would amend the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act to recognize cannabis as prescription and nonprescription medicine and drugs as long as a buyer purchases it from a dispensary and has a medical cannabis card.

The proposal would also amend the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act to stop certain cannabis infused products being used for medicinal purposes from being taxed twice. […]

The bill was proposed by Illinois Rep. Sonya Harper (D) on January 10th. The potential law was referred to the House Rules Committee on January 28th.

* Daily Herald…

If not tempted outdoors yet, you can remain “wheely active” by boning up on recently introduced state biking bills, contacting elected officials, and offering input on transportation plans/studies — all of which may impact your future riding experience.

The Ride Illinois Bicycle Bill Tracker lists over a dozen biking-related bills ranging from simply including trikes in the definition of bicycles to the broader status of cyclists on Illinois roadways. […]

State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-7th) of Chicago introduced SB2285 which amends the Illinois Vehicle code redefining “bicycle” as including two or more wheels. A companion bill HB3225 with the same wording by State Rep. Lilian Jiménez (D-4th Chicago), was cosponsored in the House by Batavia State Rep. Maura Hirschauer (D-49th).

Naperville State Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-41st) introduced HB1875 which provides specific instances in which bicyclists approaching a stop sign may proceed without coming to a complete stop if no cross-traffic exists. Neighboring State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray (D-81st) also of Naperville is co-sponsor.

Hirschauer has also taken on the broader issue of a bicyclist’s roadway status with a bill that affects the immunity liability of governmental units. She is sponsoring HB2454, a bill in response to two bicycle crashes due to poorly maintained infrastructure — a 1992 incident in Wayne Township near Bartlett in her district and on Chicago’s northwest side in 2019.

The biking-related House bills above missed the deadline to get out of committee, however, SB2285 received an April 4 extension.

* The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board…

Despite support from both sides of the aisle, licensing reform legislation went nowhere. Licensing reform always faces stiff opposition from special interest groups that benefit from keeping out competition. But if we want to get people back to work, it’s a necessary part of the solution.

To understand how burdensome rules keep people on the sidelines, consider what aspiring barbers have to navigate before they can become licensed: 1,500 hours in an approved barbering school, which can cost as much as college tuition. By comparison, New York requires just 500 hours — a third as much — yet suffers no apparent decline in public safety or service quality.

A Democrat-sponsored bill could have made it easier for Illinoisans to become licensed stylists. State Rep. Michael Crawford, D-Chicago, is behind legislation that would enable aspiring barbers to become licensed through apprenticeships, offering an alternative to traditional schooling by recognizing hands-on training under licensed professionals.

Meanwhile, a downstate Republican wanted to make it easier for newcomers to our state to find work. State Rep. Paul Jacobs, R-Marion, is the lead sponsor of the Recognition of Licenses Act, which would establish provisions for the recognition of out-of-state professional licenses in Illinois. Illinois does recognize some out-of-state professional licenses, such as teaching licenses, but not all. And it’s not part of the Nurse Licensure Compact, which establishes mutual recognition of nursing licenses among the 41 member states. Another bill, sponsored by state Rep. Yolonda Morris, D-Chicago, would’ve added Illinois to the NLC — a long-overdue and crucial step in addressing the nursing shortage that’s plagued hospitals since COVID-19 hit. […]

We wish Springfield would’ve acted on this initiative and hope these bills are revived soon.

  21 Comments      


RETAIL: Strengthening Communities Across Illinois

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Retail generates $7.3 billion in income and sales tax revenue each year in Illinois. These funds support public safety, infrastructure, education, and other important programs we all rely on every day. In fact, retail is the second largest revenue generator for the State of Illinois and the largest revenue generator for local governments.

Retailers like Meli enrich our economy and strengthen our communities. We Are Retail and IRMA showcase the retailers who make Illinois work.

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If a transit solution was easy, it would be done by now

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…

The Civic Federation, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability recently released a report calling for the expansion of the sales tax to several services, claiming such a move could raise $2 billion for the state.

The state imposes an additional sales tax in the Regional Transit Authority’s jurisdiction. Last week’s study found that expanding those specific RTA sales taxes to services could generate an additional $315 million per year.

There’s been a little talk behind the scenes of slightly lowering the 6.25 percent state sales tax if services were also taxed, except possibly in the RTA zone, when a quarter of a percent might also go to transit.

Whatever happens, something important is being overlooked in the coverage so far.

As far back as September, Gov. JB Pritzker has said that local governments within the RTA’s coverage area would also have to step up on funding. “Of course, Springfield is going to be a very important part of that. We’re not the only funder or the only available partner in that, but certainly we’re trying to put together a plan that will make sense for the future,” Pritzker said on Sept. 4.

On February 4, Pritzker said, “When we look at the question of mass transit, we’ve got to consider everything that contributes to that, state government, county government, city government, as well as the fare box and all those things together are going to help solve the problem.”

Two weeks later, Pritzker again mentioned transit fares: “There will be adjustments to the fare box, probably,” Pritzker said. And on total costs, he said, “who’s covering how much of that is a negotiation that will take place.”

The CTA, for example, hasn’t increased fares since 2018, and that was the first increase in nine years. Adjusting for inflation, fares should be about $3 for an L train ride, instead of the $2.50 they are today.

On March 21st, Pritzker urged negotiators to “come to a conclusion” on transit reforms “soon,” and then, he said, “everybody’s got to step up on the funding.”

Pretty much everyone at the Statehouse has said that funding won’t happen without reform. But the transit leaders are still demanding lots more money without interference with their governance.

“It’s something that I think we all understand is necessary soon,” the governor repeated, emphasizing the word “soon.”

But the difficulty in finding a solution to the many problems at the transit agencies was highlighted in a committee hearing last week.

My associate Isabel Miller told subscribers last week that Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines) produced documentation showing that Chicago-area mass transit system overtime payments totaled almost $800 million in a four-year period.

“From 2020 to 2024, Metra, CTA and PACE paid over $778 million in overtime to employees,” Transportation: Regulation, Roads and Bridges Committee Chair Moylan told committee members, according to a story written by Isabel.

But House Assistant Majority Leader Marcus Evans, the sponsor of the labor-backed transit reform bill, pushed back against his fellow Democrat. “We need to move on from the overtime,” according to Isabel’s reporting.

“That’s just a reflection of mismanagement. So quoting large overtime numbers, I think, is disingenuous,” Leader Evans (D-Chicago) said.

Rep. Moylan (D-Des Plaines) agreed that managers and supervisors must be held to account for the massive overtime expenditures, Isabel reported.

“We have to hire more people—whatever we have to do to alleviate this,” Moylan said. “It’s a big concern, and it’s going to be a big problem, a logistics nightmare for myself and others.”

After the hearing, Isabel reported, Rep. Moylan distributed a document to committee members outlining the highest overtime earners.

According to the document, a CTA Ironworker General Foreperson who earned $320,000 in 2024 worked 1,666.5 overtime hours. Without overtime, his base salary would’ve been $113,000. A Metra Mechanical Relief Foreman logged 2,005 overtime hours, earning $138,600 in overtime pay. A PACE Master Mechanic worked more than 620 overtime hours, adding $73,467 to his 2024 salary.

After the committee hearing, Isabel asked Leader Evans to elaborate. “We need more truth in the story of overtime,” he told her.

“Most workers in transit don’t accrue overtime. People call off a lot in transit in [inclement] weather, so some workers have to stay,” Evans said. “It’s not these evil workers that are greedy.”

Rep. Moylan told Isabel he’s not going to call a mass transit bill until there is some solution for overtime costs.

“Soon” is a relevant term.

Discuss.

  27 Comments      


Open thread

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

  5 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Chicago’s Jenner & Block wins Round One. CNN…

Two federal judges in separate rulings late Friday froze parts of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting the law firms Jenner & Block and WilmerHale, both firms linked to the Robert Mueller investigation Trump has sought to punish. […]

The temporary restraining order in the Jenner & Block case, announced by Judge John Bates at the end of a hastily scheduled Friday hearing, pauses parts of the order instructing agencies to terminate contracts with the firm and its clients, as well as the order’s directives seeking to limit the firm’s access to federal officials and buildings.

Bates said those directives, as well as another he paused aiming to crack down on former Jenner employees being hired for government jobs, were likely unconstitutional because they retaliated against protected speech and were a form of view point discrimination. Language in Trump order’s expressing his desire to sanction the firm for pro bono work for causes the president disagrees with was “disturbing” and “troubling,” Bates said.

* Related stories…

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | With Chicago’s mass transit system on the fiscal precipice, what solutions are on the table?: Lawmakers remain laser-focused on reforming the agencies as they discuss two bills to either merge the agencies or empower the RTA. But legislators have all but refused to talk about immediate funding solutions. “There will be no funding without reform,” state Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, has repeatedly said when asked about potential funding solutions. He reiterated the point in a call with the Sun-Times this week.

* Sun-Times | Illinois elections board says Trump executive order won’t impact April 1 elections: Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich said the agency was aware of the order but that it would have no bearing on the April 1 elections. He said the agency was waiting on changes to state or federal law — which executive orders cannot make — to update guidance for local election officials.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Center Square | Illinois GOP chair calls Governor’s trade mission ‘irresponsible’: Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jaime di Paulo is part of the delegation. He said his goal is to bring business to Illinois. “Being the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I think we have a lot to offer so they can come and do business in Illinois,” di Paulo told The Center Square. According to di Paulo, the big delegation is split into sectors. “We’re meeting with agriculture folks, with automotive people, technology folks, and then we have a bunch of workshops,” di Paulo. “Hopefully each one of us can get our job done and bring some wealth to Illinois.”

* LGBTQ Nation | Governor stands with trans kids & won’t take ‘soul-sucking path’ of sacrificing their rights: At a recent Human Rights Campaign dinner in Los Angeles, Pritzker reaffirmed his commitment to supporting queer folks and resisting Trump. “The Trump administration and his Republican lackeys in Congress are looking to reverse every single victory this community has won over the last 50 years,” Pritzker said. “And right now it’s drag queens reading books and transgender people serving in the military. Tomorrow, it’s your marriage license and your job they want to take.”

*** Statewide ***

* Greg Hinz: Yes, Illinois’ economy is lagging. So what do we do about it?: After talking to other economists and civic leaders, business chiefs and government officials, there is some reason to think the picture, while not good, isn’t quite as bad as Moody’s depicted. But it’s still not rosy. There’s much to debate on this critical issue of public policy as Gov. JB Pritzker prepares to announce whether he’ll seek a third term as Illinois’ chief executive. […] Much of the problem appears to stem from metro Chicago, home to loads of well-paying financial and high-end service jobs that have not yet recovered from COVID, Moody’s indicates. That’s consistent with other research from the Brookings Institution. Chicago ranks 48th of the nation’s 54th largest metros on economic performance measured between 2013 and 2023, with the lag concentrated in the post-COVID period.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Denise Crosby | Aurora mayoral election goes negative unlike any other, say those on both sides: From police calls involving harassment complaints or yard signs to attack ads filling up residents’ mailboxes and social media feeds, the election between incumbent Mayor Richard Irvin and Ald. John Laesch has gotten so nasty that multiple city leaders expressed fear it was dividing the city in ways that could be felt for years to come. Count Linda Cole among those who were “very concerned” about what this election says about the future of Aurora. “It makes me sad that both sides are displaying such poor behavior,” said the former longtime Fox Valley Park District board member whose name is on the FVPD Cole Center.

* Daily Herald | ‘Unnecessary angst’: Partisan politics creeping into local races: The McHenry County Democratic Party is promoting candidates in more than 90 local races this cycle. Democratic township organizations in the Wheeling, Elk Grove and Mundelein areas are among those pushing their preferred candidates, too. In Naperville, Democratic U.S. Reps. Lauren Underwood and Bill Foster are actively campaigning for city council candidates Benny White, Mary Gibson, Ian Holzhauer and Ashfaq Syed and park district hopefuls Rhonda Ansier, Leslie Ruffing, Alison Thompson and Aishwarya Balakrihna.

* Daily Southtown | Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau and former Trustee Jim Dodge discuss public works, taxes and morale: Keith Pekau, seeking a third term as Orland Park’s mayor, touts accomplishments under his watch including improving village streets and parks. He is challenged in the April 1 election by Jim Dodge, a former longtime village trustee who has assembled a slate of candidates for trustee seats and village clerk. Dodge said voters are concerned about issues in the Police Department, which he says suffers from low morale. He said the overall tax burden on residents also needs to be addressed.

* Daily Herald | The hottest mayor’s races to watch in DuPage, Kane counties: West Chicago Mayor Ruben Pineda faces his toughest reelection bid in years with two challengers trying to deny him a fourth term. The future of the city’s downtown has been one hot topic in the race, with Pineda and his opponents, Daniel Bovey and Joseph Sheehan, offering sharply different visions. “There is an alternative to what we’ve been doing for the last 25 years, and that’s to build small, to invest in small developers, to invest in small businesses,” Bovey said at a League of Women Voters forum. “Let’s play to our strength.”

* Daily Herald | Mayoral offices at stake in North, Northwest suburbs: Three-term Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes’ decision not to seek another term has led to a crowded field seeking to replace him — all say they want a seat at the table in talks with the Chicago Bears over redevelopment of the sprawling Arlington Park property. Running are Jim Tinaglia, a 12-year village trustee; Tom Schwingbeck, a six-year trustee; and Jon Ridler, executive director of the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce for the past 20 years. Hayes endorsed Tinaglia.

* Lake & McHenry County Scanner | ‘A major win’: State orders power plant to remove toxic coal ash ponds along Waukegan lakefront: The Illinois Pollution Control Board issued an order last week denying an adjusted standard petition by Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of NRG Energy. Midwest Generation owns power-generating stations in Illinois, including one at 401 East Greenwood Avenue in Waukegan along Lake Michigan. […] The moment marks a win for local and state officials, along with residents and not-for-profit organizations, who have been involved in a nearly four-year administrative process and a decade of advocacy on the issue.

* Lake County News-Sun | Mundelein residential development a ‘capstone’ on Plaza Circle, Mayor says: During Monday’s Village Board meeting, the board approved an amendment to the redevelopment to address a 45% increase in the project’s budget, rising from $61 million to $89 million. Trustee Jenny Ross attributed the increases to inflation. Village documents indicate three main areas of cost increases; hard costs, such as for materials and landscaping, soft costs, such as fees and insurance rates, and financing costs, with interest rates higher than in 2022, when the project was initially proposed.

* Daily Herald | ‘You can’t roll the dice all the time’: First responders preparing for more freight trains: The Itasca Fire Protection District is building a second station. Bensenville is rethinking how it dispatches police cars and ambulances. Wood Dale firefighters are learning new train detection software. It’s been two years since U.S. Surface Transportation Board members approved Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of the Kansas City Southern, creating a railway that spans North America. As freight traffic inches up in the suburbs, first responders are focused on troubleshooting the inevitable increase in blocked crossings to prevent delays in getting to 911 calls.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Chicago Teachers Union ready to take CPS contract offer to full bargaining team: Negotiations between CPS and the teachers union resulted in a contract proposal the union is ready to present to its full bargaining team. The CTU’s “big bargaining team” will meet Monday at 1 p.m. to consider the contract. The movement is a step forward in talks on a new four-year deal that has appeared imminent all week. If the CTU’s bargaining team approves the deal, the tentative agreement would still need to be approved by the full union and the Chicago Board of Education.

* Crain’s | Trump names interim top prosecutor for Chicago:
The Trump administration has named former federal prosecutor Andrew Boutros the interim U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois, according to media reports. The posting fills a U.S. attorney seat in Chicago that has been without a permanent replacement since former U.S. Attorney John Lausch stepped down in March 2023. April Perry, a former federal prosecutor, was nominated by former President Joe Biden to succeed Lausch as the first woman to hold the office. Perry was confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2023, but her final confirmation was held up by then-U.S. Sen. JD Vance.

* Tribune | Nearly 1,000 people pour into Federal Plaza to show support for transgender people amid attacks: At Sunday’s protest, attendees displayed a range of emotions, from anger due to the Trump administration’s attacks, to joy because of the sheer number of people who showed up to publicly support transgender people. “We are a resilient people. Don’t you dare tell them we don’t belong,” Precious Brady-Davis, a commissioner for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and the first Black transgender woman to be an elected official in Cook County, said to the crowd. “We belong in every (sector) of society, from the boardroom to the bathroom. Quit playing with us. Our lives matter and we deserve to be treated with respect and decency.”

* Block Club | Chicago VA Nurses Protest Proposed Workforce Reductions That Could Cut 80,000 Jobs:
About 50 protestors — mostly made up of nurses and union members — marched in a line across from the medical center at 820 S. Damen Ave., while holding up signs calling on nurses and federal employees to come together in times of adversity. “This has been like working in a trauma zone on a daily basis,” said Aimee Potter, a VA social worker and organizer. “We’re waiting for the pin to drop, waiting for another Musk email or demand. Our phones are constantly ringing every day. People are so stressed that it’s hard for them to even do their jobs at this point.”

* Crain’s | Sterling Bay surrendering part of Lincoln Yards to lender: In a letter sent today to the developer’s investors and reviewed by Crain’s, Sterling Bay CEO Andy Gloor said the company has reached a deal with Bank OZK to transfer the northern portion of the proposed 53-acre development to the Little Rock, Ark.-based lender. Sterling Bay is expected to hand over the property through a so-called deed in lieu of foreclosure, sources familiar with the matter said, a transaction that allows landlords and lenders to resolve distressed loans without going through a lengthy court process.

* Tribune | Contentious overhaul of electronic-monitoring program in Cook County arriving after brewing for years: After months of planning and discussion, the Cook County sheriff’s office starting Tuesday will no longer accept new electronic monitoring participants, marking the beginning of a shift in one way pretrial justice is handled in Cook County. The county will now run all electronic monitoring through the court system, merging parallel programs that have previously operated separately under the authority of Sheriff Tom Dart and Chief Judge Tim Evans. Often used as something of a middle ground between being released or jailed pretrial, both programs use GPS technology to oversee defendants that judges determine need additional supervision, even though they aren’t ordered to remain in jail.

* The Triibe | Anjanette Young’s new exhibit at the DuSable Museum showcases the trauma of Black women victimized by police: Chicagoan Anjanette Young is debuting a new art exhibit entitled “I Am Her” at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center. The exhibit, which Young curated, is a collection of artwork representing not only her experience as the victim of a wrongful police raid in 2019 but also that of other Black women and girls who’ve also been traumatized by police. […] “This work is a part of my healing journey,” Young said Thursday ahead of the debut. “This is me fighting back, bringing awareness to what happened to me and to the corrupt systems that we have within the police department, not only in the city of Chicago, but across the state and across the country.”

* Ope…

* AP | Fast-moving storm causes headache for White Sox grounds crew: The crew used a patchwork of smaller tarps to cover as much of the area as it could. When the rain stopped, the crew began to work on the infield with bags of drying material. “I’ve had some trying times in my career. Eight inches of snow before opening day, stuff like that,” head groundskeeper Roger Bossard said during an interview on Chicago Sports Network. “This one takes the cake. I don’t ever remember hail while I’m pulling the tarp, and I used close to 4 tons of drying compound.”

*** Downstate ***

* The Pantagraph | Election Day is Tuesday. Here’s what to look for on the ballot: Three candidates also have their hat in the ring for mayor of Normal: incumbent Chris Koos and council members Chemberly Harris and Kathleen Lorenz. The Normal Town Council race is uncontested, with newcomer Rory Roberge, a member of the McLean County Regional Planning Commission, seeking Harris’ seat.

* WICS | Sanagamon County Sheriff’s staff completes ICAT training, director explains importance: I spoke to the Executive Director of the ICAT de-escalation training program, Chuck Wexler, and he told me the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department’s training was fully funded by former Macon County Sheriff, Howard Buffett. […] Recognizing the need for her staff to be highly skilled on dealing with crisis calls to prevent future tragedies, Wexler told me Crouch searched for answers. “Buffet heard about this, invited her to lunch and asked, how can we help you?” Wexler said. “She said ‘I need to figure out how I can train my entire department’.”

* The Daily Egyptian | SIU administration addresses international students after a student’s visa was revoked: The email, signed by Tina Sickinger, Director of International Student and Scholar Services at SIU, was sent at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, March 28, hours after the university confirmed earlier that day that one of its international students had their visa revoked. The reason for the visa revocation is still unknown, and as of the evening on Sunday, March 30, SIU has yet to provide any further information on the matter.

* WCIA | Macon Co. election judge prep honing in on double voters: Election judge training in Macon County is cracking down on double voters. It comes after 70-year-old Brenda Wilcott got a second ballot in the November primary. County Clerk Josh Tanner said annual training targets issues from previous elections. This time around, he’s hoping people know they will be caught if they try to test the system.

* AP | Young Abraham Lincoln’s tiny Illinois town is due for a makeover: The tiny central Illinois village, where Lincoln accidentally spent half-a-dozen years in the 1830s, perhaps did as much to prepare him to be the Union-saving 16th president as any other aspect of his humble yet remarkable life. Volunteers in period clothing provide historical demonstrations for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year at the site, now part of a state park over 200 miles (330 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. But long-neglected maintenance has taken a toll on the setting, which was re-created by a federal public works program in the 1930s during the Great Depression.

*** National ***

* MLB | Yankees’ new ‘Torpedo’ bats create a stir amid 15-homer weekend barrage: Major League Baseball confirmed Sunday that the bats do not violate Major League rules or bat supplier regulations. Rule 3.02 states that bats cannot be more than 2.61 inches in diameter and 42 inches in length. […] The Yankees made home run history during their season-opening homestand, tying an AL/NL record with 15 home runs in their first three games of a season and tying a club mark with 13 home runs in two games. They belted four in Sunday’s 12-3 win after clubbing nine on Saturday.

* AP | President Trump’s election order creates much confusion before the next federal election in 2026:
Election officials were already dealing with the loss of some cybersecurity assistance from the federal government and now face the potential for major changes that include a new voter registration requirement, decertification of certain voting systems and stricter ballot deadlines for many states. In Connecticut, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas is hopeful that ballot scanners the state just bought for $20 million will be acceptable under the executive order, but she worries about other states.

* SCOTUS Blog | States call on justices to leave restored teacher training funds in place: Eight states, led by California, on Friday urged the Supreme Court to leave in place an order by a federal judge in Massachusetts that requires the Department of Education to restore more than $65 million in grants, intended to address teacher shortages, that it ended in February because the funded programs included diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. In a 40-page filing, the states told the justices that there was no reason for them to intervene. “Because the district court acted responsibly — entering a narrow and time-limited restraining order to preserve the status quo while moving rapidly to adjudicate” the state’s request for a preliminary injunction, the government cannot appeal the district court’s order, the states argue, and the government’s appeal will in any event be moot (that is, no longer a live controversy) by early April.

* AP | Transgender People Are About 1% of the US Population. Why Have They Become a Political Lightning Rod?: Zein Murib, an associate professor of political science and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Fordham University, said there has been a decades-old effort “to reinstate Christian nationalist principles as the law of the land” that increased its focus on transgender people after a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling recognizing same-sex marriage nationwide. It took a few years, but some of the positions gained traction. One factor: Proponents of the restrictions lean into broader questions of fairness and safety, which draw more public attention.

* ProPublica | The CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations: In an aborted plan to roll out the news, the agency would have emphasized the importance of vaccinating people against the highly contagious and potentially deadly disease that has spread to 19 states, the records show. A CDC spokesperson told ProPublica in a written statement that the agency decided against releasing the assessment “because it does not say anything that the public doesn’t already know.” She added that the CDC continues to recommend vaccines as “the best way to protect against measles.”

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Live coverage

Monday, Mar 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.

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Reader comments closed for the weekend

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* India.Arie…

All I need is my guitar

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Second supplement to today’s edition

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Sun-Times federal courts reporter Jon Seidel…



* Wyndham update: These signs have been put on the hotel’s doors. Credit to WCIA…

* WCIA…

The 30-story hotel in downtown Springfield is closed after police say someone damaged the property. […]

Police said they have collected and processed evidence and are investigating. […]

Springfield Fire Chief Ed Canny told WCIA Friday the hotel does not have functioning sprinklers, fire alarms or elevators. While employees are allowed to work inside, no guests are currently allowed to stay overnight.

City officials are working with the Springfield Hotel & Lodging Association and other tourism partners to make contingency plans for affected conventions, meetings, and events in the future.

* Tribune…

Weeks after tapping a former Chicago alderman to help lobby for the city in the state capitol, Mayor Brandon Johnson is adding a Springfield alderwoman to his once-skeletal state team.

Johnson’s office confirmed Thursday it intends to hire Lakeisha Purchase, a current Springfield alderwoman and registered state lobbyist, on a contract basis, saying she came “highly recommended from lawmakers in Springfield.”

Before she became a lobbyist, Purchase was employed as a support services specialist for the Illinois Department of Transportation, where she was once faulted for “abusing” government time. She left the IDOT job in 2023.

Purchase’s hiring is part of a broader shift in Johnson’s intergovernmental affairs efforts in Springfield, where since taking office nearly two years ago he’s had minimal success working with Gov. JB Pritzker and some lawmakers. Johnson this month hired former Ald. John Arena, 45th, full time as one of his intergovernmental affairs deputies over the objections of some of Arena’s former colleagues who clashed with Arena on the City Council.

*** Statewide ***

* Capitol City Now | Survey says: Public education has much support in state: Against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, the state’s largest teachers’ union says Illinois families back what is going on in the classroom. A survey indicates 71 percent of respondents believe public education needs more money, 78 percent say they are concerned about the teacher shortage, and 81 percent says the curriculum should include slavery.

* WBEZ | We asked hundreds of people in Illinois prisons how they define ‘rehabilitation’: But when we asked hundreds of people in Illinois prisons and jails how they define “rehabilitation” – which is supposed to be a core tenet of Illinois’ criminal justice system – many more responded like Stacy Erica, inside Illinois River Correctional Center. “I do not believe it exists in [the Illinois Department of Corrections],” she wrote. “I see guys come in, go out, and come back repeatedly. … A few may get rehabilitation, thousands do not.”

* Press Release | Rare Gold Coins, Piece of Joe DiMaggio’s Bat Part of Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs I-CASH Auction: An 1881 U.S. $10 gold coin, an 18-karat yellow gold chain link bracelet, and a baseball card with a piece of Joe DiMaggio’s bat are among the unclaimed property items being auctioned online from March 28 through April 6. The spring online auction also includes vintage pocket watches, currency notes from various countries, and 25 1 oz. 999 fine silver rounds.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | Power struggle delays hiring of the city’s top tourism official, one of Chicago’s highest-paid jobs: Several sources familiar with the marathon search said there’s more to it than that. They asserted that Johnson allies spent months lobbying behind the scenes for Merritt, deputy mayor for economic and community development. The search process dragged on because there was heavy resistance to Merritt on the smaller search committee and on the full, 34-member Choose Chicago board that includes heavyweights from business, labor and government, and appointees of both the mayor and Gov. JB Pritzker.

* Sun-Times | Feud between CTU, SEIU threatens Mayor Johnson’s political future: The host committee for an upcoming fundraiser for Brandon Johnson doesn’t include the Service Employees International Union or any of its affiliated unions. That’s a potent signal that the union helping to bankroll and staff Johnson’s 2023 campaign is disenchanted with Johnson, and may not support him for a second term.

* Crain’s | Johnson officials blast CPS chief Martinez in letter on pension stalemate: The letter, written by Budget Director Annette Guzman and CFO Jill Jaworski, was a response to demands from some on the City Council for more transparency, and potentially more authority, over how the city would cover the shortfall in the city’s 2024 budget caused by the school district not making the payment by March 30. Guzman and Jaworski reassure the City Council the city’s “strong liquidity” will allow the city to “manage this issue in the short-term and will continue to work with the Board of Education, City Council, and the State on solutions to both responsibly disentangle our finances and bolster the School District’s finances.”

* WTTW | Chicago Teachers Union Bargaining Team Meeting Monday to Weigh Possible Contract Agreement: In a social media post on Friday afternoon, CTU confirmed the union’s big bargaining team — comprised of rank-and-file members — will meet Monday afternoon to weigh the potential deal. If that body approves, the proposal would then be sent to the union’s House of Delegates for a vote. The deal, however, would still not be finalized, and won’t be until the CTU’s 30,000 rank-and-file members vote to approve the contract.

* More federal funds rescinded…

* WTTW | While Some Southwest Siders Want Protected Bike Lanes, Others Have Gentrification Concerns: Residents of the 25th Ward, which includes Little Village and Pilsen, are being asked to participate in a survey to rank their main infrastructure priorities. The survey allows neighbors to influence how the ward’s annual $1.5 million in discretionary funding, known as “menu money,” is allocated. Options include improvements to alleys, sidewalks, lighting, street resurfacing and protected bike lanes. Among these, bike infrastructure is one of the most contentious topics. While some see bike infrastructure as necessary for public safety and mobility, others worry the introduction could accelerate displacement in the predominantly Latino communities.

* Sun-Times | As Trump wages war on Tren de Aragua, little evidence links Venezuelan gang to violence in Chicago: But the three dozen-plus men flagged by the Chicago Police Department as possible Tren de Aragua members have mostly faced only drug and traffic cases, the Chicago Sun-Times found, based on arrest records and other data. The Sun-Times also reviewed dozens of other arrest reports for Venezuelan nationals charged with violent crimes in Chicago in recent years. Those separate reports show only one man whose tattoo is considered a symbol of the gang.

* Sun-Times | Over 150 flights delayed at O’Hare and Midway as storms persist and temperatures rise to low 70s: Over 150 flights have been delayed at O’Hare and Midway airports as showers and thunderstorms were expected to persist and affect the Friday morning commute. Ground stops at both airports expired about 8 a.m. after being ordered around 5 a.m. Friday, impacting departures to both airports, according to the FAA. As of 8:05 a.m., over 130 flights at O’Hare have been delayed, according to FlightAware. Over 30 delays were reported at Midway.

* Tribune | National Association of Realtors cutting nearly 12% of staff as a part of a ‘strategy to reduce costs, streamline operations’: The Chicago-based National Association of Realtors is laying off nearly 12% of its staff and eliminating 20 open positions, according to a news release posted on the organization’s website Friday. The cuts affect 41 of NAR’s 344 employees and, with the elimination of open roles, hit various departments including public relations and communications, creative and content strategy, digital strategy, meetings and events, member development, human resources, member engagement, member experience, research, finance and IT.

* WBEZ | ‘Everyone deserves clean air,’ says a Chicago EPA worker who fears her job will end: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees gathered in downtown Chicago this week to protest plans to cut its staff and budget as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government. Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, has said he wants to cut the agency’s budget by 65%. “We don’t need the money,” he said in an interview with Fox News.

* Tribune | DePaul to begin national search for next women’s basketball coach after Doug Bruno steps down: Bruno missed the 2024-25 season while on a medical leave. The team announced prior to the season that he was dealing with a “medical complication,” and Jill M. Pizzotti served as interim coach in his absence. Pizzotti has been with the Blue Demons for 14 seasons and finished her 11th year as associate head coach. DePaul was 13-19 this season, including 8-10 in the Big East.

* Daily Herald | ‘Second holiest day’: Sox fans back for home opener: “Wreck-It” Ryan McCann of Geneva and his tailgating friends found it in a parking lot across the street from what is now Rate Field two hours before game time. McCann was among the tens of thousands at Thursday’s opener hoping for better times. He attended four home games last year; the Sox lost all of them.

* Tribune | 100 concerts for Chicago summer 2025 — starting with music this weekend: This summer may not have the biggest of the big blockbuster concerts compared to last summer — farewell, Eras Tour — but that still leaves Beyoncé, AC/DC, The Weeknd, the recently announced Lady Gaga and lots more. It begins with the most concert-packed May in memory: Along with the first three of the aforementioned, Paul Simon is playing what’s likely his farewell Chicago show at Symphony Center, Post Malone is at Wrigley and Sueños returns to Grant Park.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Slate that opposed COVID rules took over Huntley 158 school board in 2023. New group aims for new direction: Despite the election formally being nonpartisan, political parties have been wading into local elections. In the school board race, Burns, Martin and Wiley have the support of the Grafton Township GOP. […] That slate had campaigned on a platform including lowering taxes, emphasizing test scores and removing what they felt were political agendas from the classroom. Some candidates elected two years ago had been critical of COVID-19 school closures and mask mandates, and Murray was among two parents who sued Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker over mask requirements.

* Daily Herald | Longtime Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld faces challenge from Brady Chalmers: Parking in Homewood’s downtown, or the apparent lack of it, is a concern of candidates running for mayor and trustee in the village leading up to Tuesday’s election. Rich Hofeld, first elected mayor in 1997, faces a challenge from Brady Chalmers. Hofeld said to help address the parking issue, the village is working on a jurisdictional transfer with the Illinois Department of Transportation for a section of Harwood Avenue, between Ridge Road and the railroad viaduct at Dixie Highway, just west of the downtown business district.

* Daily Herald | Copycat crackdown? Hemp-based THC getting scrutiny from suburban communities: A loophole in regulations that legalized hemp production in 2018 has opened a path for gas stations and smoke shops to sell an unregulated hemp-derived intoxicant, Delta-8 THC, packaged to look like popular snack foods. The fallout has left some communities scrambling to craft regulations without waiting for the state to act. The growing list of communities passing their own regulations includes Rolling Meadows, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Wheeling, Des Plaines, Lake Zurich, Elgin and Antioch.

* Forest Park Review | Key Roosevelt Road site likely to remain military reserve facility: The Armed Forces Reserve Center building on Roosevelt Road will likely see a new military tenant this year in the Illinois National Guard. The Illinois National Guard is confident that the Army Corp of Engineers, which owns the property at 7402 Roosevelt Road, will process its request and license the land to the Illinois National Guard indefinitely. “We don’t anticipate any problems,” Rich Munyer, director of the construction and facility management office for the Illinois Army National Guard, told the Review.

* Crain’s | GOP leaders target Northwestern law school in growing antisemitism probe: In a letter sent to the school, congressional leaders highlight a Northwestern Pritzker School of Law legal clinic they say is supporting “illegal, antisemitic conduct” by providing free legal representation for organizers of an “anti-Israel blockade” of highway traffic to O’Hare International Airport.

* Daily Herald | Arlington Heights Starbucks becomes 12th to unionize in the suburbs: Employees at the 115 W. Rand Road location voted 11-3 to join Starbucks Workers United in an election held in the café Tuesday, according to the union and National Labor Relations Board. All 20 full-time and regular part-time baristas and shift supervisors are set to become part of the bargaining unit, pending certification. Store managers and clerical employees are not included.

*** Downstate ***

* Rockford Register Star | New medical supply company picks Pekin for first U.S. production facility: The Singapore-based medical supply manufacturer Epic Medical chose Pekin as the site for its first production facility in the United States. The Pekin City Council on Monday unanimously approved an agreement authorizing the $500,000 sale of 66.5 acres of land in the city’s Riverway Business Park to Epic.

* BND | Somebody turned to ‘dirty tactics’ in Shiloh mayoral race, but nobody is saying who: Shiloh Mayor Robert Weilmuenster, his supporters, and a prominent businessman are calling out whoever has resorted to “dirty tactics” against his reelection campaign against two-term village trustee Julia Warchol-Black. Specifically, they want to know who sent inflammatory campaign flyers through the mail and passed out decks of cards at a local restaurant containing derogatory and misleading statements.

* Daily Egyptian | International SIU student has visa revoked, confirms university admin: Southern Illinois University administration confirmed on Friday, March 28 that an international SIU student has been notified that their student visa has been revoked. It is unclear why the revocation is taking place, and there are no further details about the student nor their status at this time. If a visa is revoked, it becomes invalid, meaning that it cannot be used to enter or re-enter the United States. A visa revocation can lead to severe consequences, including potential deportation or restrictions on future visa applications.

* 25News Now | Environmental group working to make Bloomington-Normal a greener place: The Ecology Action Center in Normal is expanding its efforts to go green in the Twin Cities, with plans to plant 10,000 more trees across McLean County in 2025. Over the past three years, the EAC’s Tree Corps initiative has already planted more than 30,000 trees, benefiting both the environment and local communities.

* WCIA | U of I researcher developing 3D printed materials to heal bones faster: U of I researchers are changing the way broken bones heal by 3D printing materials to make the recovery process faster. Shelly Zhang, an assistant civil and environmental engineering professor, leads the project with a team of engineers. “Our goal of this research is to realize the programmable materials that can be smart and intelligent can respond to various different types of external environments,” she said.

*** National ***

* WIRED | DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Codebase in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse: Social Security systems contain tens of millions of lines of code written in COBOL, an archaic programming language. Safely rewriting that code would take years—DOGE wants it done in months.

* NYT | Remedy Supported by Kennedy Leaves Some Measles Patients More Ill: Parents in Gaines County, Texas, the center of a raging measles outbreak, have increasingly turned to supplements and unproven treatments to protect their children, many of whom are unvaccinated, against the virus. One of those supplements is cod liver oil containing vitamin A, which Mr. Kennedy has promoted as a near miraculous cure for measles. Physicians at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, say they’ve now treated a handful of unvaccinated children who were given so much vitamin A that they had signs of liver damage.

* AP | Musk changes reason for visiting Wisconsin to hand out $2 million ahead of Supreme Court election: Billionaire Elon Musk on Friday clarified his reasons for visiting Wisconsin two days ahead of its hotly contested Supreme Court election after deleting a social media post saying he planned to “personally hand over” $2 million to a pair of voters who have already cast their ballots in the race. Musk later posted a clarification, saying the money will go to people who will be “spokesmen” for an online petition against “activist” judges. After first saying the event would only be open to people who had voted in the Supreme Court race, he said attendance would be limited to those who have signed the petition.

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Intellectual and developmental disability services brace for potential Medicaid cuts

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Capitol News Illinois…

by Erin Drumm and Medill Illinois News Bureau, Capitol News Illinois
March 28, 2025

SPRINGFIELD — Intellectual and developmental disability service organizations are bracing for potential cuts to Medicaid and Medicare from the federal government under congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump.

About 3.9 million Illinoisans are enrolled in Medicaid. Of that total, 44% of Medicaid recipients are children, 9% are seniors and 7% are adults with disabilities, according to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

“We’re very concerned. We don’t see what the path is right now,” Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities CEO Josh Evans CEO said. “And so our mission is to continue to educate our members of Congress that this is not just a program that is ripe with payments, it’s serving people.”

IARF is an association of community-based providers that serve children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and serious mental illnesses in Illinois. Community providers focus on inclusion in a smaller community that offers more independence when providing care and some community providers help their residents find employment.

“I’m going to do whatever it is that I can do, but I can’t come up with $8 billion to keep a federal program going in my state,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in an interview with The Contrarian last week. “I can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to try to provide free healthcare for people who are most acute, but people are going to die because of what they’re doing.”

Prtizker proposed increased funding in the developmental disabilities division at the Department of Human Services, DHS, in his proposed 2026 fiscal year budget. This would include funding to continue placements of individuals who qualify and want to live in community-based settings and for new placements under a 2011 federal court order the state has struggled to comply with.

Read more: Federal judge rejects Illinois’ bid to end court oversight of disability programs | Illinois faces backlash over bid to end oversight of disability services

The Ligas Consent Decree requires states to provide care options in integrated community settings for Illinoisans with intellectual and developmental disabilities who request community-based services.

Despite Trump’s claim that he would not make cuts to Medicaid, congressional Republicans’ budget resolution would almost certainly result in shrinking funding for the program.

Read more: Pritzker calls $55.2B budget ‘responsible and balanced’ – but warns Trump policies could upend it | State lawmakers brace for possible federal cuts to Medicaid

Trump has vowed not to cut Medicaid benefits, but he has also said his administration will go after “waste and fraud” and cited tens of billions of “improper payments” in entitlement spending as the target for trims.

“You need to be careful in terms of how you’re looking at Medicaid, whether it’s focused on ways you can try to eliminate fraud, abuse and improper payments, which we all support, by the way, (but) major substantive changes to Medicaid will have a downstream impact on disability services,” Evans said.

Service providers worry the budget cuts proposed in a United States House budget resolution could jeopardize access to medical care for people with disabilities in Illinois and across the United States who rely on Medicaid. The budget proposal calls for $2 trillion in budget cuts, making it likely that Medicaid and Medicare will be impacted, Evans said. All 14 Illinois Democratic House members of Illinois’ congressional delegation voted against the resolution.

“I think some people assume that the cut automatically equals cost savings, but that isn’t necessarily the case,” said Kelly Berardelli, CEO of southwest suburban-based disabilities nonprofit Sertoma Star Services. “Just because the funding is cut doesn’t mean the need is gone, and a lot of people we serve are from the most vulnerable populations, so they’re going to still need services and supports.”

Sertoma Star Services serves more than 1,500 children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana. The organization receives most of its funding from Medicaid, and many of the people using their services rely on Medicaid for access to care.

“Any cuts to Medicaid have the potential to reduce the quality of life for the people we serve,” Berardelli said.

Evans agreed.

“Disability services in Illinois are primarily exclusively funded through Medicaid,” he said. “There’s no private pay, there’s very little to no Medicare. It’s all Medicaid.”

If access to community-based care is slashed by Medicaid cuts, people will seek care through institutionalized facilities, which tend to be large facilities run by the state with a focus on medical care, or in some cases, be hospitalized. This could cause Illinois to further violate the Ligas Consent Decree.

According to Berardelli, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities living at home could lose access to respite care if Medicaid funding is decreased in Illinois. Respite care is temporary care from a professional who is not the recipient’s primary caregiver, which is usually a couple of hours in a day or week.

More than half of those who receive care from Sertoma Star Services live with a family member over the age of 55, making the threat to respite care particularly concerning, Berardelli said. If these people cannot get respite care, they may not be able to live at home and will have to be placed in institutionalized facilities, more full-time care away from home.

While some may seek placements at community providers, there are already long wait times and a shortage of community providers of care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“Cuts to Medicaid would, I think, inevitably increase that waiting list,” Berardelli said. “Progress has been made over the past several years, and we would definitely see that progress reversed if there were cuts to Medicaid.”

Behavioral health services would also be impacted as Medicaid helps both to fund service providers in addition to insurance coverage for services such as mental health care and addiction treatment.

“The majority of our member organizations who provide behavioral health services are straight Medicaid,” IARF senior vice president of behavioral health policy and advocacy Emily Miller said. “Very few accept private insurance and so you would decimate the community with these drastic cuts that are being proposed to the Medicaid program.”

Cutting federal funding would also cause many health industries to compete with one another for funding. If there is a more limited pool of funding for health provider programs, not every specialized program would get the funding they need.

In the state fiscal year that ended in June, Illinois received over $20 billion in federal Medicaid funding, which made up about 62% of the total funding for Medicaid programs in Illinois, according to HFS.

“If there’s a major change where we see a dramatic loss of dollars, that means we’re going to have to be lobbying against one another in the healthcare and human services space for a more limited amount of resources,” Evans said. “We cannot be put in that position.”

 

Erin Drumm is a graduate student in journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and a fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

This article first appeared on Capitol News Illinois and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

  4 Comments      


Trump targeted Chicago’s Jenner & Block, now they’re suing him

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* The Trump administration is facing legal pushback from some law firms targeted by executive orders. Jenner & Block, for instance, has filed a lawsuit arguing that the order is unconstitutional. Crain’s…

Chicago law firm Jenner & Block sued the Trump administration today, seeking to halt an executive order that could cripple the firm’s ability to represent clients.

The suit, filed in a Washington, D.C., federal court, alleges the administration engaged in unconstitutional retaliation that violates the First Amendment. […]

President Donald Trump targeted Jenner & Block in an executive order earlier this week, noting the role a former member of the firm, Andrew Weissmann, played in the probe of Trump’s links to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. […]

Trump has gone after firms and attorneys who were involved in that investigation, including a similar order signed yesterday that goes after the firm WilmerHale, where special counsel Robert Mueller once worked.

* Click here for the President’s order. From the firm’s lawsuit…

Like the prior executive orders targeting law firms, the Order sanctions Jenner for its representation of clients in cases adverse to the government, for its prior association with an individual who has not worked at the firm in four years but has been critical of the President, and for its hiring practices. Each of these grounds, standing alone, is a constitutionally impermissible basis to target Jenner. The Order violates the First Amendment by targeting Jenner for its protected speech; by discriminating based on viewpoint; by seeking to prevent Jenner from petitioning the government on behalf of itself and of its clients, and by leveraging government controls to suppress protected speech and association. The Order violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment by impairing the ability of Jenner and its attorneys to practice law; by creating a list of disfavored firms that is anathema to our scheme or ordered liberating; and by creating a vague set of prohibitions that invite arbitrary enforcement. The Order violates the right to council under the Sixth Amendment by impairing the Firm’s ability to represent its clients in connection with government-facing work, including criminal matters, and by undermining the attorney-client relationship and clients’ right to counsel of their choice.

* Former Presidents of the Chicago Council of Lawyers defended Jenner & Block, and also called Trump’s executive order a violation of constitutional rights. Their press release…

“We strongly support the decision of Jenner & Block to fight in court the blatantly unconstitutional order issued by President Trump against them. As fellow Chicago lawyers we welcome their standing strongly in the tradition of Bert Jenner, a great Chicago lawyer who would be proud of his firm today.

“Lawyers are not spectators to the Constitution; we are its agents. We cannot allow the President to scare law firms and lawyers into silence. Lawyers must refuse to bow to illegal and unconstitutional threats of retribution for having the temerity to represent clients and cases opposing the administration.”

    Robert Bennett
    Locke Bowman
    John Christie
    Daniel Coyne
    Matt Daniels
    George Galland
    Jeff Gilbert
    Carrie Huff
    Gary Johnson
    Arnie Kanter
    Barry Miller
    Judd Miner
    David Melton
    Paul Mollica
    Marty Oberman
    Sheli Rosenberg
    John Schmidt
    Tom Staunton

* Perkins Coie is also challenging Trump’s executive orders. Wall Street Journal…

Perkins Coie, a law firm with Democratic ties, is fighting against President Trump’s executive order that sought to cripple the firm. Despite losing some business, the firm’s biggest clients and superstar lawyers are standing with it.

Perkins Coie’s lawsuit against Trump’s order argues that it is unconstitutional and threatens the firm’s survival. The firm is being represented by Williams & Connolly in the case. […]

When President Trump signed an executive order attacking Perkins Coie, the white-shoe law firm did what most of its rivals have not. It fought back. And so far, its biggest clients and superstar lawyers are standing with it.

“The dishonest and dangerous activity of the law firm Perkins Coie has affected the country for decades,” began Trump’s March 6 order. It sought to cripple a firm that had deep Democratic ties and had tangled with Trump. The order stripped Perkins employees of security clearances, limited their aeat used the firm.

One of Perkins Coie’s Democratic clients is Governor JB Pritzker. Since 2019, Pritzker’s campaign has spent over $3 million on legal services from the firm.

* Related…

    * NYT | Trump Administration Live Updates: Law Firms Split on Strategy as Trump Seeks Retribution: Fight or Make a Deal: Jenner & Block also created a website — Jenner Stands Firm — to publicize its filing and to highlight newspaper editorials criticizing the executive orders and comments from law school professors questioning the legality of Mr. Trump’s actions. […] The effort to fight back in a public manner stands in contrast with the way other firms have handled Mr. Trump’s campaign against them. Last week, the law firm Paul Weiss announced an agreement in which Mr. Trump rescinded his executive order against the firm in exchange for it committing to represent clients regardless of their political leanings and pledging $40 million in pro bono legal services to issues Mr. Trump has championed.

    * NYT | Judge Assails White House Efforts to Kick Her Off Perkins Coie Case: A judge on Wednesday angrily rejected the Justice Department’s efforts to remove her from considering the law firm Perkins Coie’s request to stop a Trump order that could effectively cripple the firm’s ability to represent its clients. In a blistering decision, the judge, Beryl A. Howell, said that the attempt to kick her off the case threatened to “impugn the integrity of the federal judicial system.” It also signaled an effort to blame any losses the department might ultimately face in the case on her work as a judge rather than on the weakness of its own legal arguments, she added.

    * NYT | With New Decree, Trump Seeks to Cow the Legal Profession: Mr. Trump issued the order late Friday night, after a tumultuous week for the American legal community in which one of the country’s premier firms, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, struck a deal with the White House to spare the company from a punitive decree issued by Mr. Trump the previous week. Vanita Gupta, who as a civil rights lawyer and a former Justice Department official has both sued the government and defended it in court, said Mr. Trump’s memo “attacks the very foundations of our legal system by threatening and intimidating litigants who aim to hold our government accountable to the law and the Constitution.”

    * Reuters | US conservative, Democratic lawyers urge Bondi to defend lawyers and firms: More than 700 lawyers and legal groups representing diverse viewpoints have signed a letter urging U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to defend the independence of attorneys and law firms, as the Trump administration escalates attacks on some of the country’s top law offices. They said Bondi had a responsibility as the nation’s top government lawyer to oppose attacks on the legal profession and judges. The influence campaign comes a day after the White House targeted a fourth major law firm with an executive order that threatened its business.

    * Illinois Attorney General | An Open Letter to the Legal Community Regarding the President’s Attacks on the Legal Profession and the Federal Judiciary: As state attorneys general, we stand for the rule of law. As members of the legal profession and of our state bars, we all must stand together. The President’s attacks on the practice of law must not, and will not, subvert our zealous representation of our clients. We also stand firm in our support of the federal judiciary and judicial independence. We call on our colleagues to denounce suggestions that a judicial decision must be the result of bias simply because the result is undesired. We categorically reject the President’s calls for the impeachment of judges in response to rulings contrary to positions his administration has advanced. As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a March 18, 2025 statement: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

    * Politico | Two more law firms targeted by Trump sue to block punishing executive orders: Jenner & Block’s lawsuit contends Trump’s order is an unconstitutional threat to the firm and the legal system itself, seeking to “punish citizens and lawyers based on the clients they represent, the positions they advocate, the opinions they voice, and the people with whom they associate.” The lawsuit was filed on the firm’s behalf by California-based law firm Cooley LLP.

  17 Comments      


Misguided Insurance Regulation Proposals Could Increase Premiums For The Majority Of Illinoisans

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Several bills proposed this legislative session seek to ban certain factors that insurance companies use to set fair and accurate insurance pricing for customers. The bills would ban the use of credit-based insurance scores, zip codes, age, and gender in insurance pricing.

An op-ed published recently in the Chicago Tribune explains why such bans could cause insurance rates to rise for the majority of consumers.

Case in point: When the use of credit was banned in Washington in 2021, more than 60 percent of Washington drivers saw an increase in their insurance premiums. Should similar legislation pass in Illinois, the majority of Illinoisians with better-than-average credit could see premium increases.

With stubbornly high inflation and high property taxes, now is not the time to pass bills that could end up hiking insurance premiums for most Illinoisans.

Click here to learn more.

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The unregulated: Delta-8 and sweepstakes

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Daily Herald…

A loophole in regulations that legalized hemp production in 2018 has opened a path for gas stations and smoke shops to sell an unregulated hemp-derived intoxicant, Delta-8 THC, packaged to look like popular snack foods.

The fallout has left some communities scrambling to craft regulations without waiting for the state to act.

The growing list of communities passing their own regulations includes Rolling Meadows, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Wheeling, Des Plaines, Lake Zurich, Elgin and Antioch.

Rolling Meadows’ ban on Hemp-derived THC went into effect in February. Licensed cannabis dispensaries are exempt.

* Moving on to another shady industry…

In most states, playing slot machines online for real money is illegal. But a group of companies known as sweepstakes casinos has found a way around the law to let users play classic casino games online.

Their revenues have grown 10-fold in the last five years, and they’re now large enough to feature ads with Ryan Seacrest, Drake and Michael Phelps. Only recently have states like New York and Maryland contemplated restricting them, with billions of tax dollars at stake. But the loophole used by sweepstakes casinos complicates the states’ ability — and desire — to take action.

That loophole? The “no purchase necessary” rule that differentiates a legal sweepstakes from an illegal lottery.

And, so far, no real Statehouse movement to regulate the manufacture and sale of Delta-8, nor anything about sweepstakes machines and these online faux casinos.

  15 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Pritzker heading to Mexico for trade mission (Updated)

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Crain’s…

Gov. JB Pritzker is leading a trade mission to Mexico from Sunday through Wednesday focused on agriculture, finance and manufacturing.

The trip to Mexico City follows a delegation to Japan last fall and comes as trade tensions between the U.S. and Mexico are worsening. The Trump administration said March 26 it will impose 25% tariffs on imported cars and parts.

Mexico, which is the state’s second-largest export market with nearly $13 billion in trade in 2024, also is the largest exporter of vehicles and parts to the United States. […]

Agriculture products top the list of Illinois exports to Mexico, followed by chemicals and transportation equipment. Illinois was the fourth-largest importer from Mexico among the states at $19 billion last year. The largest categories are beverages and tobacco, transportation equipment, and electrical equipment, appliances and components.

* Governor Pritzker…

Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA), and Intersect Illinois, joined by public and private sector leaders from across the state, will lead a trade mission to Mexico from March 30-April 2, 2025.

This trade mission will focus on the importance of deepening economic ties and fostering greater cooperation between the State of Illinois and Mexico. The delegation will engage with Mexican counterparts to discuss enhancing collaboration in key sectors such as agriculture and food processing, finance, and manufacturing, all of which are vital to growing the Illinois economy and creating jobs. Through this mission, Illinois seeks to strengthen its longstanding partnership with Mexico, paving the way for future investment and shared success. […]

Trade mission delegation members include:

    JB Pritzker, State of Illinois, Governor
    Juliana Stratton, State of Illinois, Lt. Governor
    MK Pritzker, State of Illinois, First Lady
    Bryan Echols, State of Illinois, Second Gentleman
    Anne Caprara, Office of Governor JB Pritzker, Chief of Staff
    Andy Manar, Office of Governor JB Pritzker, Deputy Governor
    Claire Lindberg, Office of Governor JB Pritzker, First Assistant Deputy Governor
    Andrea Vallejo, Office of Governor JB Pritzker, Senior Special Projects Officer
    Natashee Scott, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Chief of Staff
    Teresa Reyes, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer
    Kristin Richards, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Director
    Cas Peters, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Chief Business Attraction Officer
    Omar Mendoza, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Managing Director of the Latin America & Caribbean Regional Trade Office
    Jerry Costello, Illinois Department of Agriculture, Director
    Bobby Dowson, Illinois Department of Agriculture, International Marketing Manager
    Carlos Cruz, Illinois Department of Agriculture, Agribusiness Director
    Celina Villanueva, Illinois State Senate, State Senator
    Cristina Castro, Illinois State Senate, State Senator, Majority Caucus Whip
    Elgie Sims, Illinois State Senate, State Senator, Appropriations Leader
    Elizabeth Hernandez, Illinois House of Representatives, State Representative, Deputy Majority Leader
    Robyn Gabel, Illinois House of Representatives, State Representative, Majority Leader
    John Atkinson, Intersect Illinois, Chairman
    Christy George, Intersect Illinois, President & CEO
    Paulina San Millan, Intersect Illinois, Senior Vice President of Business Development
    Robin Ficke, Intersect Illinois, Senior Vice President of Research
    Cathriona McGuire Fey, Intersect Illinois, Vice President of Clean Energy and Manufacturing
    Reyna Torres Mendivil, Consul General, Consulate General of Mexico in Chicago, Ambassador
    Adrian J “AJ” DeLeón, Innovare, CEO
    Robert Karr Jr., Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Partner
    Carly McCrory-McKay, Champaign County Economic Development Corporation and iFAB Tech Hub Executive Director & Chief Partnerships Officer
    Chris Setti, Greater Peoria Economic Development Council, CEO & Founding Partner
    Craig Meyer, JLL, President
    Dan Lynch, United Airlines, Vice President, State and Local Government Affairs
    Daniel Gamba, Northern Trust, President of Asset Management
    David Reifman, Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres, Partner
    Doug Pryor, Will County Center for Economic Development, President & CEO
    Elizabeth “Betsy” Ziegler, 1871, CEO
    Federico Gorbea, Archer Daniels Midland, President for North Latin America
    Gil Quiniones, ComEd, President & CEO
    Greg Bedalov , Choose DuPage, President & CEO
    Guillermo Garcia, GSG Consulting, Inc., President
    Jack Lavin, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, President & CEO
    Jaime di Paulo, Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, President & CEO
    James Reynolds, Loop Capital, Chairman & CEO
    Jennifer Aguilar, Little Village Chamber of Commerce, Executive Director
    Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, Will County, County Executive
    Jennifer Tirey, Illinois Pork Producers Association, Executive Director
    Jesse Ruiz, The Vistria Group, LP Partner, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer
    John Lumpe, Illinois Soybean Association, CEO
    John Lyons, DLA Piper, Partner
    Joseph Dominguez, Constellation, President & CEO
    Josh St. Peters, Illinois Beef Association, Executive Vice President
    Juan Salgado, City Colleges of Chicago, Chancellor
    Kaitlin Fahey, Magnify Strategies, CEO & Founding Partner
    Kara Demirjian-Huss, TCCI Manufacturing & DCC Marketing, Owner & Senior Vice President
    Kyle Kamin, CBRE, Vice Chairman
    Leonard Singh, Ameren Illinois, Chairman & President
    Lisa Freeman, Northern Illinois University, President
    Maria Bocanegra, Peoples Gas & North Shore Gas, President
    Mark Denzler, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, President & CEO
    Martin Cabrera, Cabrera Capital Markets, CEO
    Martin Montes, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Partner
    Meredith O’Connor, JLL, International Director
    Nicole Bateman, Economic Development Corporation of Decatur & iFAB Tech Hub, President & Chief Strategy Officer
    Oswaldo Alvarez, Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation, Executive Director
    Patrick Hoban, Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council, CEO
    Rob Karr, Illinois Retail Merchants Association, President & CEO
    Rodney Weinzierl, Illinois Corn Growers Association, Executive Director
    Ryan McCrady, Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance, President & CEO
    Sandy Hart, Lake County, Chairperson
    Timothy Killeen, University of Illinois System, President
    Wendell Dallas, Nicor Gas, President & CEO

“As a Mexican American founder of an investment firm, it is an honor to be part of Governor Pritzker’s timely trade mission to Mexico,” said Martin Cabrera, CEO of Cabrera Capital. “Trade supports over 800,000 jobs in Illinois, and our firm values businesses that support international cooperation and investments that benefit working families at home. I look forward to joining Governor Pritzker and leaders from across the state as we deepen cooperation and economic ties.”

…Adding… This trip has been contemplated for at least two years…

Gov. J.B. Pritzker plans to return to Chicago on Thursday after a seven-day trip to Great Britain aimed at advancing Illinois’ economic development goals, including in clean energy and technology — his second major international trip this year.

And the Democratic governor has hinted that more trips — including travel to Israel, Mexico and Asia — are in the works.

  28 Comments      


It’s just a bill

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Rep. Maurice West and Arne Duncan…

Studies show that housing instability is a major challenge for those exiting jail and prison and for those who are chronically exposed to violence. Far too many people with both the determination and the desire to find employment and become a contributing member of society struggle and fail because they lack a safe place to sleep and an address to put on an application. These setbacks, caused by systemic problems that can be fixed, ripple through families and neighborhoods and create instability and unsafe conditions for all of us.

It is time to respond boldly, with a statewide solution such as the Home for Good Program, HB3162 and SB2403. People with arrest and conviction records struggle to find stable and affordable housing options due to lack of employment opportunities and discrimination by landlords and employers. In addition, people exiting jail and prison are excluded from state and federally funded long-term housing for three months because of state and federal definitions of homelessness.

The need to address this issue is critical, as data and research show:

    - 45% of people leaving state prisons are unemployed for at least three years.
    Only 34 affordable and available homes exist for every 100 extremely low-income Illinois renters.
    - 60% of CVI program participants request support finding or affording housing, and 80% have arrest or conviction records, which creates a significant barrier to finding work or securing a lease.
    - People leaving prison don’t qualify for some existing homelessness supports upon release.
    - Nearly 40% of people leaving prisons return within three years, with each return costing Illinois taxpayers an estimated $190,000. However, research shows that stable housing reduces the likelihood of returning to prison and is far less expensive than reincarcerating a person.

The Home for Good legislation builds upon existing, but limited, housing programs and reentry housing pilots that have proved to help people build stable lives. It would allocate $103 million for the Illinois Housing Development Authority and the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority to expand those housing opportunities. The program will fund rental assistance for people with criminal records who can contribute up to 30% of their income; grant money to acquire, build and rehabilitate affordable transitional and permanent housing; wraparound support services for those seeking housing; and the creation of the Home for Good Institute, a training center for organizations that want to provide this kind of housing.

* WAND…

State lawmakers could pass a plan this spring to automatically seal records for people convicted of nonviolent felonies. Felony convictions currently eligible for expungement could be automatically sealed by a circuit court judge or the Illinois State Police. […]

Illinois House Assistant Majority Leader Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) has been working on a clean slate policy for six years. Gordon-Booth told WAND News that she was inspired to work on the legislation after hosting multiple expungement summits in Peoria. […]

The Democrat worked with former House Minority Leader Jim Durkin to pass legislation in 2017 to allow certain offenders with nonviolent felony convictions to apply for expungement. However, she said each of the state’s 102 counties are addressing the record sealing process differently. Gordon-Booth argued it is past time for a streamlined system. […]

Leader Gordon-Booth plans to file her proposal when lawmakers return to Springfield next month. She hopes to have the plan move out of committee and voted on the House floor by the end of April.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Even after the family of a victim of sexual assault from Taylorville obtained an emergency order of protection, the school still allowed the young girl’s assailant to attend the same school and merely moved him to a different school bus with younger students.

It was only after three weeks of filing multiple orders of protection in court and advocating on their daughter’s behalf that the girl’s parents were able to get the assailant removed from their daughter’s school.

In response to this mishandled incident, state Sen. Steven McClure, R-Springfield, introduced a bill in January to help combat sexual violence and protect victims in Illinois schools.

That bill, Senate Bill 98, was not assigned to a committee before the Senate committee deadline on March 21 — a necessary step in becoming a law. But McClure said he has not given up hope for the bill and has filed a letter requesting an extension on the bill past the deadline this session.

* Rep. Maura Hirschauer…

State Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, is continuing her efforts to make classrooms safer, advancing a new bill to ensure more teachers are prepared to prioritize student safety in an emergency situation.

“My work in Springfield is rooted in the kitchen table issues discussed in my neighborhood every night. Parents, teachers and students alike are more fearful than ever to attend school without the thought of ‘Will I be safe today?’ This bill reflects a serious effort to close gaps we see locally that will have an impact statewide—ensuring every community, school, and student feels seen and protected.”

Hirschauer passed House Bill 1787 out of the Education Policy Committee last week, ensuring substitute teachers and semi-permanent educators receive the same lockdown and emergency preparedness training as full-time teachers. As a former teacher and champion of commonsense gun safety laws, Hirschauer developed this measure in coordination with Moms Demand Action in order to continue developing a more comprehensive approach to student safety.

“I’m a staunch advocate for protecting our schools, and this measure is another way we can prioritize our students’ safety,” said Hirschauer. “I’ll continue to work toward policy that intersect the dangers of firearms, children, and schools—because our kids deserve to enjoy the same safety that we once did when we were growing up.”

* WCIA…

Convicted sex traffickers in Illinois may soon face an additional penalty, thanks to a bill sponsored by the Senate Minority Leader.

Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) has introduced a bill that would amend the Sex Offender Registration Act to include human traffickers. Offenders who are convicted of the following offenses would need to register: violations or attempted violations of involuntary servitude or trafficking minors or adults for commercial sexual activity. […]

“Someone who is convicted of involuntary servitude or trafficking in persons is profiting from forcing victims into the sex trade,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin said, whose office worked with Senator Curran on the legislation. “They are dangerous not only to their victims but to society as a whole and forcing these predators to register as sex offenders will help law enforcement keep track of their whereabouts, inform the community of their presence and make it more difficult for them to traffic new victims.” […]

The bill has been assigned to the Senate Criminal Law Committee.

* Rep. Jed Davis…

Last week, State Representative Jed Davis (R-Yorkville) passed a common-sense bill through committee requiring elected community college board members to take an oath upholding the Constitutions of the United States and Illinois upon being sworn into office. The bill passed unanimously through the Higher Education Committee.

“Currently, community college board members are the only elected office in Illinois not requiring an oath upholding the Constitution,” said Davis. “This bill simply aligns community college trustees with all other elected officials in the state. It also represents the values of freedom and liberty we cherish as Americans.”

House Bill 3011 now awaits further action on the House floor.

* IPM Newsroom…

Two bills that would ban carbon sequestration under the Mahomet Aquifer and other sole-source aquifers in Illinois passed out of their respective House and Senate committees last week.

The legislation would amend the state’s Environmental Protection Act to implement a total ban on carbon sequestration under, in or around a sole-source aquifer, like the Mahomet Aquifer, which provides clean drinking water to nearly one million east-central Illinois residents.

“We want to make sure that there is no point in no time in the present moment or any future moment where this water source is risked because of corporate need to store toxic waste,” said Rep. Carol Ammons (D-103), who sponsors the House bill (HB 3614). […]

“While we’re poised to lead the way in carbon capture technologies, our progress must be balanced with an unwavering commitment to protecting our essential resources and safeguarding the health of our residents,” said Sen. Paul Faraci (D-52), sponsor of the Senate bill (SB1723), in a written statement March 20.

* Center Square…

Illinois taxpayers are being told there will be no added cost from a measure that would ensure non-citizen children have access to public education while being safe from immigration enforcement inside schools.

House Bill 3247 from state Rep. Lilian Jiménez, D-Chicago, was heard earlier this month in a House committee.

“It will protect students and school communities from immigration enforcement actions at schools and school facilities unless there’s a valid federal warrant,” Jiménez told members of the Illinois House Education Policy Committee on March 19. […]

Jiménez’s measure is expected to be amended and is being held on second reading.

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Open thread

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* It’s Friday! What’s going on?…

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Intoxicating Hemp: No safety? No thanks!

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

A federal loophole has led to a booming gray market across Illinois for intoxicating hemp products, which use synthetics to alter the composition of hemp to get consumers high.

This is happening outside the structure of the state’s legal cannabis industry. This means intoxicating hemp faces NO quality testing, NO age restrictions, NO packaging requirements, NO potency rules, and NO taxes to fund programs in communities impacted by the War on Drugs. Most intoxicating hemp products aren’t even produced in Illinois. By contrast, Illinois cannabis businesses face extensive rules and regulations to operate, with products tracked from seed to sale. When consumers purchase legal cannabis grown and processed in Illinois, they know their products are safe.

Hemp and cannabis come from the same plant. Both products can get users high. Why the different rules? Illinois already has a system in place to regulate hemp – it’s called the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. It’s time for Illinois to close the intoxicating hemp loophole.

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Trump administration blocks more than $400M in funding for Illinois health programs. Capitol News Illinois…

    - Trump’s administration is pulling back $477 million from Illinois that was to be used to prevent infectious disease and treat mental health and substance abuse issues.
    - IDPH’s funding for infectious disease prevention will see a “debilitating impact,” Director Sameer Vohra said in a statement.
    - The $477 million being pulled from IDPH and DHS is part of roughly $1.8 billion in federal funding the state is expecting to receive but remains in limbo.

* I’ve only ever heard great stories about Matt. Click here to donate if you can…


*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Crain’s | Pritzker leads trade mission to Mexico: The trip to Mexico City follows a delegation to Japan last fall and comes as trade tensions between the U.S. and Mexico are worsening. The Trump administration said March 26 it will impose 25% tariffs on imported cars and parts. Mexico, which is the state’s second-largest export market with nearly $13 billion in trade in 2024, also is the largest exporter of vehicles and parts to the United States.

* Tribune | In texts, Gov. JB Pritzker expressed doubts about Mayor Brandon Johnson amid rumors United Airlines might move: “Susana. You should already know that I am on top of this as well as anyone,” Pritzker texted Mendoza on Feb. 12 after she reached out to him to raise concerns about a United move. “I have been in constant conversation with United for more than two years, and their CEO and their lobbyist have assured me that they do not intend (anytime in the foreseeable future) to leave Chicago.” Then the governor remarked: “Meanwhile, as you know the state has almost nothing to do with O’Hare so you (redacted) should make sure the Mayor doesn’t do anything to push them out.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Subscribers know a little more. WAND | ‘No Answers’: Illinois State Rep. left in limbo after water floods hotel elevator in Springfield: Illinois State Representative Joyce Mason said she and her dog were fast asleep in her 17th-floor room at the Wyndham Springfield City Centre when something felt off Thursday morning. […] That moment of intuition led her to leash up Twix and head toward the elevators—only to find none of them working. As she started to wake up, she heard water pouring down the elevator shafts and noticed the carpet beneath her feet was soaked. She decided to call the front desk.

* America’s Workforce | Tim Drea on Illinois Transit funding crisis and union unity: Tim Drea, President of the Illinois AFL-CIO, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the $770 million funding shortfall for Illinois transit, the impact of federal decisions on Local Unions and the importance of union solidarity in legislative advocacy.

*** Statewide ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Despite Trump order, Illinois won’t require voter proof of citizenship: Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections, said in an email Thursday that under existing federal law, known as the National Voter Registration Act, voters only need to sign a sworn statement on their voter registration application that they are a U.S. citizen. He also said Illinois does not require voters to show any type of photo ID at the polls.

* Press release | Dem County Chairs Partner with Casten to Host town halls: The Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association (IDCCA) is excited to partner with Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) to host a series of town halls throughout Illinois. Many of these areas are the hardest hit by turmoil coming from Washington D.C. and these town halls will allow voters to finally have the chance to speak to a Member of Congress. The first town hall will be in Dixon, IL on Saturday, April 12th.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Naperville | Naperville Election 2025: Council candidates split on reviving affordable housing incentives for developers: Ahead of the April 1 election, the Naperville Sun asked the eight candidates on the ballot to answer several questions about issues facing the city, including if the city should revive stalled discussions on an affordable housing incentive program. The candidates seeking the four, four-year council terms are incumbents Jennifer Bruzan Taylor, Benny White and Ian Holzhauer and challengers Ashfaq Syed, Derek McDaniel, Mary Gibson, Meghna Bansal and Nag Jaiswal.

* Daily Herald | Dispute over Ivanhoe Village proposal prompts a resignation in Mundelein: The ongoing dispute between Mundelein village leaders and area school officials over the impact of the proposed development of the Wirtz family’s land has its first political casualty. Mundelein resident, artist and author Shawn Killackey resigned from the village’s historical commission this week, publicly declaring he cannot be “part of a municipality that I don’t respect.”

* Daily Herald | Huntley village president Hoeft challenged by trustee Piwko in Tuesday’s election: During a recent endorsement interview with the Daily Herald, Hoeft pointed to successes with residential and economic projects during his first term, among them the Cornell Luxury Apartments development, the mixed-use redevelopment of the former fire station downtown and the Amazon facilities on the village’s south side.

* Daily Herald | Rolling Meadows council hits brakes on Kirchoff ‘road diet,’ orders traffic study first: A split Rolling Meadows City Council decided to temporarily halt conceptual plans for a so-called “road diet” of a key thoroughfare through the center of town so that a traffic study can be done first. Controversy over the proposal to trim down a milelong stretch of Kirchoff Road — from five lanes to three — held up adoption of the rest of a corridor planning study the elected officials said they otherwise agree with.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | CPS is close to a deal with the teachers union — but bargaining continues: The two parties are putting the final touches on a four-year contract that will provide teachers at least 4% raises and solidify key demands of the union including a limit to class sizes and increased staffing, but they have yet to ink the deal. The union’s so-called big bargaining team met internally this evening without voting to approve a tentative agreement with the school district. They will reconvene on Monday. That vote will mark the first step in an internal union process leading to a final ratification vote among the full union.

* CBS Chicago | RTA warns of how drastic service cuts would be to CTA, Metra, Pace without bailout from state: At an RTA board meeting Thursday, two maps were shown. One shows the scale of CTA service now, while the other shows just how much service would be reduced if cuts were needed due to the lack of funding. “This is not a different CTA. This would literally be no longer CTA as we know it without the funding that we’re talking about,” said acting Chicago Transit Authority President Nora Leerhsen. “Of our eight rail lines, four of them would see service suspended across an entire branch.”

* Greg Hinz | Jenner & Block must stand strong at a moment of peril: For instance, Trump in his signed order repeatedly references Jenner’s pro bono work on behalf of the legal rights of transgender people, whom Trump has declared on numerous occasions to be only the man or woman they were declared to be at birth, regardless of what they want, what science says, or basic humanity. “Jenner engages in obvious partisan representations to achieve political ends (and) supports attacks against women and children based on a refusal to accept the biological reality of sex,” the order states.

* Tribune | ‘He is my lifeline’: Man in limbo after brother from Venezuela is detained by ICE while trying to donate kidney: His older brother, Jose Gregorio González, 43, who was denied entry to the country at the southern border, tried to enter once again hoping to donate a kidney to save his brother’s life. He managed to cross and stay in the United States under immigration supervision. After a long and complicated process to get approved for the transplant under public insurance, the brothers had an appointment in a Chicago hospital in April to go forward with more tests for the organ exchange. But on March 3rd, González was arrested by immigration authorities and now awaits deportation at Clay County Detention Center in Indiana, leaving Pacheco, once again, desperate and fighting for his life.

* Tribune | Chicago White Sox remain blacked out on Comcast for opening day: While negotiations between the nascent Chicago Sports Network and Comcast are ongoing, they have yet to reach a carriage agreement, leading to a blackout for the White Sox on opening day. Too early to invoke the time-honored Chicago sports mantra of “wait until next year,” Comcast subscribers may have to switch to another pay-TV provider, sign up for a streaming service or buy a TV antenna to watch the White Sox start the 2025 season.

* Tribune | On opening day, hope springs eternal — even on the South Side: No more wait ‘til next year. No more suffering through a long winter of cold, baseball-less discontent. Now there was something like a rebirth, even for supporters of a team that a year ago was as lifeless as any in baseball history. This was not merely opening day, an annual rite in Chicago and more of a holiday in this city than in a lot of places, but it was opening day on the South Side. Opening day for the White Sox, losers of a modern major league record 121 games a season ago; standard-bearers, now, of a new and unrivaled sort of sports misery.

*** Downstate ***

* PJ Star | Assistant state’s attorney charged with possession of stolen firearm in Woodford County: Kali Pray, 28, of Groveland was arrested along with 23-year-old Drake Tharp of Creve Coeur for possession of a stolen firearm and no FOID card after the Woodford County Sheriff’s Office found a stolen Smith & Wesson .38 caliber firearm inside a vehicle that had been stopped for speeding.

* BND | Kern-backed committee funds ‘offensive’ campaign postcards to support Belleville mayor: The postcards referred to Meyer as a “part-time city clerk,” implying that she misses work regularly. They also alleged that she’s affiliated with a political-machine-style Chicago “network.”

* WCIA | Burwell Building in Gibson City moving forward with restoration: Nearly two years ago, the Gibson City Restoration Association Board said they wanted to redevelop the Burwell Building into something special for the community. Currently, they’re still undecided on what it will turn into once completed. However, many people have expressed they’d like to see the opera house reopen along with a list of other businesses. The building is more than 140-years-old, and one board member said it has provided people in the city a lifetime of memories.

* WTVO | Seth Swinehart of Rockford has a pro boxing career that is rising rapidly: Rockford’s Seth Swinehart is probably the best combat fighter currently living in the Stateline. He’s certainly the hottest fighter in the Stateline. Next month, he’ll show off his skills at the Indoor Sports Center in one of the main events at the Stateline Rumble. Swinehart spends most of his time at Northern Illinois Combat Club & Fitness either coaching or working out. He had an impressive amateur career as a fighter. Now he’s putting together a very impressive professional career as a boxer. He’s 5-0 with five knockouts since turning pro last year.

*** National ***

* LA Times | Deadly, drug-resistant fungus CDC calls ‘urgent threat’ is spreading in hospitals: Candida auris, a type of yeast that can cause life-threatening illness, was first identified in the U.S. in 2016 with 52 infections reported across the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of cases has more than doubled annually, hitting 4,514 in 2023, the latest year the CDC has data available. During this same period, California reported 1,566 infections, more than any other state.

* NYT | Food Banks Left in the Lurch as Some Shipments Are Suspended: Food banks across the country are scrambling to make up a $500 million budget shortfall after the Trump administration froze funds for hundreds of shipments of produce, poultry and other items that states had planned to distribute to needy residents.

* Public Notice | Trump’s hopeless tariffs confusion, explained by a historian: With Trump’s tariffs promising to be a big topic of conversation ahead of next week’s “Liberation Day,” we connected with Eric Rauchway, a UC Davis distinguished history professor and an expert on early 20th century America, to better understand what exactly Trump is getting wrong. “The McKinley tariff was one of a series of laws passed in Congress in the 1890s that actually precipitated a severe economic downturn. If we had better data on it, we’d probably think of it like the Great Depression,” Rauchway told us. “There are millions of people unemployed. This is an era where you have armies of the unemployed protesting. It’s what helped give rise to the progressive movement.”

* KFF Health News | Trump Turns Homelessness Response Away From Housing, Toward Forced Treatment: “Our once-great cities have become unlivable, unsanitary nightmares,” Trump said in a presidential campaign video. “For those who are severely mentally ill and deeply disturbed, we will bring them to mental institutions, where they belong, with the goal of reintegrating them back into society once they are well enough to manage.” Now that he’s in office, the assault on “Housing First” has begun.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Live coverage

Friday, Mar 28, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* WMBD…

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Wednesday that the federal government is taking back previously awarded funds to help fight infectious diseases.

This means IDPH and other local health departments across the state are losing $125 million, which had been allocated for the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Disease program, an Illinois State news release said.

That money was originally allocated to Illinois as part of the CARES Act during the first Trump administration. […]

In addition to the money the federal government is rescinding, they are also blocking $324 million that was expected to come to the state to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases in Illinois.

*** Statehouse News ***

* My Journal Courier | Illinois attorney general filing for approval of multi-million settlement with drug maker: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is moving to close on a multi-million dollar settlement with a generic drug maker accused of conspiracy. Raoul and a coalition of 50 attorneys general have filed for approval of a $39.1 million settlement with Apotex, a manufacturer of generic drugs. Apotex has been accused of a conspiracy to inflate prices of pharmaceuticals and limit competition.

*** Statewide ***

* Green Market Report | Two THC potency labeling cases dropped in Illinois: Within the surge of copycat lawsuits targeting cannabis companies over potency claims, two have been dropped in Illinois. Chad Alsip and Alex Martinez each filed notices with the Northern District of Illinois saying that they were voluntarily dismissing their claims against three entities, Ieso LLC, NuMed and HDC Group LLC, Law360 reported.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Johnson rebranding city initiatives into a new economic development strategy: Mayor Brandon Johnson is repackaging a collection of administration initiatives into an economic development strategy that senior officials say will lead to growth and investment in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The rebrand comes as Johnson nears the end of his second year in office and is meant to highlight efforts his administration has made to speed up the development approval process at City Hall and tweak existing programs to provide flexibility in how the city invests in Chicago neighborhoods.

* Block Club | ‘Founder’ Of LGBTQ+ Apartments For Seniors Being Evicted From Building He Fought For: Don Bell, a longtime advocate and pillar of Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community, is facing eviction from Town Hall Apartments, the LGBTQ-friendly senior and affordable housing complex where he has lived since it opened in 2014 and where he is regarded by some as a founder. Building management says that 75-year-old Bell has repeatedly violated residency rules, citing multiple trespassing incidents involving Bell’s husband, who was barred from the property.

* Crain’s | Trump reversal of anti-racism tool in home appraisals could hit Chicago hard: Little’s letter does not provide an estimate of cost savings to be realized by abandoning the rule. The letter says an ROV should only be used for appraisals that appear to have failed to consider factors that were known at the time the property was appraised. It makes no mention of race. It is, essentially, a reversal of nondiscrimination efforts sparked by research in the past decade that found appraisers often mark down the value of Black- or Latino-owned homes based only on the race of the owners or racial makeup of the neighborhood.

* Crain’s | Navy Pier alleges ‘bait and switch’ by Crystal Gardens immersive exhibit group: Navy Pier Inc. alleges in the complaint that a venture of Atlanta-based Illuminarium Experiences pulled a “bait and switch” by selling pier officials on a “breathtaking and unique experience” inside the glassy atrium to secure a 10-year lease for the space in 2021, but only building out a showcase that was “significantly less than” promised amid a struggle to secure funding for the exhibit, according to the complaint. NPI, the nonprofit that operates the pier, is seeking an order from a Cook County judge forcing Illuminarium to build out the attraction city officials expected when they signed off on the lease more than three years ago.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | Clout-heavy lawyer with Madigan ties still raising campaign money for suburban mayors: A principal at Cornerstone, former Madigan aide Will Cousineau, testified under an immunity deal as a government witness in Madigan’s corruption trial. Cousineau had been part of a scheme to help a brother of Chicago Ald. Marty Quinn stay afloat financially after a sexual harassment scandal led Madigan to force him out of his political organization. Del Galdo represented Cousineau during his cooperation with authorities. … Cousineau’s company previously helped Welch’s wife, Shawnte Raines-Welch, during her successful run for Cook County judge in 2022, records show.

* Daily Southtown | University Park board candidates say recreation, water are top issues: Sorrell said she would prioritize increasing police patrols, expanding park programs and implementing mental health and youth activities that will “challenge their minds” and keep children busy. Robinson, a military veteran and three-year resident, said while chairing the Veterans Committee, he often receives requests from residents for more services.

* Daily Southtown | Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz faces challenge from Michael Maloney: Providing property tax rebates to Tinley Park taxpayers and improving relations with the village’s Park District are priorities of a slate of candidates facing incumbents in the April 1 election. Michael Maloney, a former union executive, leads the Tinley Together party as a mayoral candidate trying to unseat Mayor Michael Glotz, who is seeking a second term.

* Bloomberg | Evanston hedge fund could take $1 billion bite of OpenAI: OpenAI is close to finalizing a $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank Group Corp. — with investors including Magnetar Capital, Coatue Management, Founders Fund and Altimeter Capital Management in talks to participate, according to people familiar with the matter. Magnetar Capital — an Evanston-based hedge fund — could contribute up to $1 billion, according to multiple people, all of whom asked not to be identified because the information is private.

* Daily Herald | How pickleball is revitalizing vacant big-box spaces across suburbs: When big-box stores like Toys R Us or Buy Buy Baby close, they leave behind tens of thousands of empty square feet — spaces that can be difficult to fill. Finding new tenants for these massive spaces is no small task. But one unlikely contender, pickleball — among the nation’s fastest-growing sports — is breathing new life into these cavernous retail spaces.

*** Downstate ***

* IPM | ‘Poverty-level people’: University of Illinois AFSCME workers rally for higher wages: The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Locals 3700 and 698 represent about 1,600 clerical, technical and community workers at U of I. The group said administrators are not offering them a fair contract after their last pay agreement expired in September. According to university spokesperson Robin Kaler, the union is asking for a 15% boost in pay over three years — and U of I is offering 6.75% in that period. Kaler said that would be more than the most recent campus plan for salary increases.

* NPR Illinois | Exciting updates and innovations are happening at the Illinois State Fair: Along with maintenance, new programming, entertainment, and new social media techniques have been introduced while also keeping the fairground’s history intact. Illinois State Fair officials talked about the improvements that have been made and what’s to come. They also gave an update on some of the festivities surrounding the centennial celebration of Route 66.

* WCIA | ADM, Mitsubishi Corporation team up to address agricultural issues: ADM and the Mitsubishi Corporation signed an agreement that outlines their plan to join together and explore potential areas of collaboration in the agricultural industry. Both companies signed a non-binding “memorandum of understanding” to form this alliance. […] Now, the two companies plan to explore ways to use their strengths to meet these global challenges together. ADM is one of the world’s largest food and agriculture companies, while Mitsubishi deals in multiple industries, including food and energy. The two hope that together, they’ll be able to identify new opportunities, ranging from a biofuel supply chain to a stronger global food system.

* The Southern | Sculpture dedication, discussion commemorate 2024 total solar eclipse at SIU: “Art in the Dark” will reflect on special moments with a discussion and sculpture design dedication. The “Journey to the Sun” panel discussion is from 3 to 4 p.m. in the library’s John C. Guyon Auditorium and will look at SIU’s meticulous planning, collaboration and scientific endeavors behind the experience. The discussion will also be available on the NASA-SIU Carbondale SolarSTEAM YouTube channel.

*** National ***

* The Hill | RFK Jr. set to cut 10K HHS jobs in major restructuring: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning to dismiss 10,000 employees as part of a massive restructuring effort, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday, in a push to consolidate more agency functions under Kennedy’s purview. In total, HHS will reduce staff from the current 82,000 full-time employees to 62,000. The agency will seek to cut 10,000 jobs through layoffs, while the rest will come through buyouts, early retirement and the administration’s “Fork in the Road” offer.

* WaPo | See all the tariffs Trump has enacted, threatened and canceled: President Donald Trump began proposing new tariffs within hours of being sworn into office. Sixty days later, his whirlwind of on-again, off-again tariffs shows no sign of slowing down. Having trouble following the deluge? Scroll on for a day-by-day look at how Trump’s trade war has unfolded and where it stands now.

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The Credit Union Difference: People Over Profits

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

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February jobs up a mere 0.3 percent over last year

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here and here if you need it. From IDES…

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate fell -0.1 percentage point to 4.8 percent in February, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The revised January unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent. The Illinois unemployment rate was down -0.1 percentage point from a year ago when it was 4.9 percent. The national unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in February, up +0.1 percentage point from the previous month, making the state’s unemployment +0.7 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate.

Illinois nonfarm payrolls remained nearly unchanged in February at -6,500 (-0.1%), while the January monthly change in payrolls was revised from -1,100 to -4,400. The industry sectors with over-the-month job increases included: Construction (+2,900), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+2,300), and Professional and Business Services (+1,900). The industry sectors with the largest monthly payroll job decreases included: Government (-5,600), Leisure and Hospitality (-3,100), and Private Education and Health Services (-1,700).

Compared to a year ago, total nonfarm payroll jobs increased by +19,100 jobs. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases included: Private Education and Health Services (+20,700), Government (+14,900), and Leisure and Hospitality (+5,300). The industry groups with the largest jobs decreases included: Professional and Business Services (-13,900), Manufacturing (-7,300), and Construction (-1,600). In February, total nonfarm payrolls were up +0.3 percent over-the-year in Illinois and up +1.2 percent in the nation.

“While this month’s headline unemployment rate shows little change, a deeper look at the report reveals the start of a troubling trend—federal government workers being victim to the chaos unleashed by Elon Musk and the Trump Administration,” said Deputy Governor Andy Manar. “Despite this alarming new trend, the report also reflects the resiliency of the state’s economy, due in part to the investment in key growing industries made by this Administration. IDES stands ready to provide critical resources to support federal employees and contractors impacted by recent terminations.”

Chart…

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Sparks Fly At Nursing Home Industry Legislative Hearing

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Sparks flew in a high-drama House Human Services Committee hearing last week as Representative Anna Moeller and Representative Yolonda Morris called attention to nursing home owners falling short of meeting minimum safe staffing requirements, despite significant state investment intended to address staffing shortages.

The nursing home industry-backed HB2922 attempts to ease fines meant to enforce accountability for understaffing in facilities, even though nursing home owners previously asked for and received millions in tax breaks and additional state funding intended specifically to improve staffing levels.

Despite the resources provided by the state, way too many nursing homes continue to operate short staffed, resulting in real harm and ongoing risks to our seniors.

Rep. Morris, a former nursing home certified nursing assistant, highlighted the severity of staffing issues, “It’s time for you guys to learn how to start staffing up and be held accountable.”

Rep. Moeller added, “Why do we have to keep fighting the battle every year with the industry? Why can’t you just do what you’re supposed to do to take care of our seniors?”

Lawmakers Moeller and Morris underscored the critical need for accountability, emphasizing that the industry has received hundreds of millions of dollars in public resources meant to improve care for our seniors. Oppose HB2922, because the minimum required resident care can’t wait.

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Judge to push ahead with ComEd Four sentencing despite recent Supreme Court ruling

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Earlier this month, Judge Manish Shah tossed out the bribery convictions in the ComEd Four case…

A federal judge Monday granted a new trial on some counts in the “ComEd Four” case alleging a wide-ranging plot to illegally influence then-House Speaker Michael Madigan, saying the Supreme Court’s ruling last year on a key bribery statute means the jury was not instructed properly.

In making his ruling, however, U.S. District Judge Manish Shah left intact the convictions on a number of other counts, including the lead count of conspiracy and charges alleging the defendants cooked ComEd’s books to hide the scheme.

* A status hearing was held this morning in the ComEd Four case. Sun-Times Federal Courts Reporter Jon Seidel…



* Prosecutors asked to proceed with sentencing on the counts that Judge Shah left in place. Tribune…

Defense attorneys strongly objected, saying they received a letter recently from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office saying the case was under review by the Department of Justice, which would make a decision whether the false statements counts charged under the FCPA should be dropped.

The defense also said the Supreme Court’s ruling last week in the case of former Chicago Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson gives them further ammunition to argue that the false statements counts should not stand.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker, however, said they have no timetable on when the attorney general might weigh in and have “received no guidance” on what the decision might be. “We will follow whatever guidance we get,” she said.

“The defendants have had more than a full opportunity over the past two years to make post trial motions…It is now time for sentencing,” Streicker said. There is no basis to just delay sentencing based upon a hope that something might turn the defendant’s way.”

Shah agreed, saying he was satisfied that a proceeding to sentencing would finally bring the prosecution to a close and leave it in the hands of appellate courts. He said he wanted to sentence the four defendants separately sometime in July and asked the parties to consult their schedules and get back to him.

* Sun-Times…

Pramaggiore attorney Scott Lassar told the judge that prosecutors wanted to proceed to sentencing, while also reserving any decision on whether to retry the four defendants on the overturned bribery counts. He objected.

“It sounds like they’re going to wait and see what the sentence is, and then they’ll decide whether they’ll dismiss the counts,” Lassar said.

But Shah asked Streicker, “if I set sentencing dates and there is a sentencing on the counts of conviction, will the government dismiss the remaining counts?”

Streicker told him, “yes, that would be our intention.”

* Judge Shah said he’s looking at July. The Tribune’s Jason Meisner…



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More on yesterday’s EO (Updated)

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* More background is here if you need it. Tribune…

Democrats in Springfield and Washington are vowing to defend Illinois election laws against a sweeping executive order from Donald Trump aimed at limiting counting of mail-in votes, requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and giving Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access to voter data. […]

Trump’s order goes after one significant aspect of Illinois election law, a 2015 statute that requires the counting of mail-in ballots that are postmarked or voter-signed and certified by Election Day and arrive within the following 14 days. Illinois is among about 20 states that allow post-Election Day vote counting.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in August upheld a lower federal court ruling that dismissed a case brought by Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro and led by the conservative law group Judicial Watch that sought to prevent any votes from being counted after Election Day.

Judicial Watch appealed the case, which was dismissed for lack of standing, to the U.S. Supreme Court. The appeal came less than a month after the conservative 5th District Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana sided with Republicans and said Mississippi’s law allowing post-Election Day vote counting violated federal law. […]

Trump ordered the U.S. attorney general’s office to “take all necessary action” against states that “include absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the final tabulation of votes for the appointment of presidential electors and the election of” U.S. senators and House members. He also said the federal Election Assistance Commission “shall condition any available funding to a state on that state’s compliance” with counting all votes on Election Day.

I don’t know how the president can claim that he has the power to decide a dispute between two appellate circuits. That’s the US Supreme Court’s job.

…Adding… Press release excerpt…

In response to the executive order, a group of voting rights advocates including the League of Women Voters of Illinois and the ACLU of Illinois released the following statement:

    As organizations who have worked tirelessly to advance and expand access to the ballot across Illinois for many years, we condemn the President’s blatant overreach aimed at changing the progress we have made in our state. Donald Trump would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters—based on the lie that non-citizens are voting in large numbers. This executive order—like so many of Trump’s efforts—is blatantly illegal and attempts to substitute the conspiracy theories of the Trump White House for good policy measures we have adopted in Illinois.

    With less than a week before voters across the State of Illinois go to the ballot box in critical important elections, no one should be confused or misled: the President’s order does not impact the ability of people to vote by mail or register on election day in our state for these elections. We encourage everyone who is eligible to participate and vote for candidates who reflect their values in these important local elections.

  32 Comments      


RETAIL: The Largest Employer In Illinois

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Retail creates more jobs in Illinois than any other private sector employer, with one out of every four workers employed by the retail sector. Importantly, retail is an industry in which everyone, regardless of credentials, can find a viable career path.

Retailers like Holly enrich our economy and strengthen our communities. We Are Retail and IRMA showcase the retailers who make Illinois work.

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It’s just a bill

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* The Pantagraph…

PBMs are the middlemen between health insurance companies, drug manufacturers and pharmacies. Originally, they were meant to help manage prescription drug benefits for health plans, employers and government programs such as medicaid.

Today, Many pharmacists and other members of the pharmaceutical industry argue PBMs are focused more on profit than patient care, steering patients toward their own vertically integrated pharmacies – like CVS Caremark directing patients toward CVS or OptumRx toward United Health-affiliated providers. [….]

Gov. Pritzker will soon introduce his prescription drug affordability act that plans to regulate PBM practices and reduce drug costs for Illinois patients. […]

SB2385 filed by Sen. David Koehler, D-Peoria, would curb PBM abuses by stopping steering, mandating fair reimbursement, mandating fair reimbursement, and requiring PBMs to submit annual pricing reports. The bill is currently assigned to the Senate Executive Committee but has yet to be heard.

* WCIA…

Illinois restaurants and other businesses may have to say goodbye to styrofoam cups.

Last week, the fight against plastic waste moved forward in the Senate committee, which aims to ban Styrofoam and single-use bags. […]

The Coalition for Plastic Reduction joined other advocates to support a bill filed by Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview). The bill passed the Senate committee and aims to ban manufacturing companies from making and selling containers made with polystyrene foam in the state starting in 2030. These products include Styrofoam to-go boxes, cups, and plates. […]

The bill now goes to the Senate floor for a full vote. If passed, companies will have five years to transition to an alternative product before the deadline. However, they can still make Styrofoam containers to be exported outside of Illinois. Any first-time violation will receive a warning, followed by a fine.

* WAND…

The Illinois House can pass a bill next month to allow certified nurse midwives to help address the state’s maternal healthcare deserts.

Home birth services could be provided by certified midwives if they have a written collaborative agreement with local doctors or other healthcare providers. […]

House Bill 2688 passed unanimously out of the House Healthcare Licenses Committee and now moves to the House floor.

Representatives Adam Niemerg (R-Teutopolis), Chris Miller (R-Hindsboro), and Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) are all co-sponsors of the legislation.

* Center Square…

State Sen. Celina Villanueva, D-Chicago, filed Senate Bill 1618, which would create a distillery shipper’s license, a class 3 craft distiller license and a spirits showcase permit. […]

According to the Illinois Craft Distillers Association, while 47 states allow for the direct shipment of wine from winemakers to consumers, only 11 states allow distillers to ship their products directly to consumers. Illinois is not among the 11. […]

Illinois Retail Merchants Association Vice President Alec Laird spoke in opposition to the direct-to-consumer part of the bill.

“So there is a disadvantage for local retailers. Distillers selling directly-to-consumers undercut retail prices, making it difficult for local stores to compete,” Laird said.

* Insurance Business Mag…

Illinois lawmakers have launched a formal effort to address a quietly building crisis that advocates say could soon overwhelm the state’s already-strained foster care system. At the heart of the issue: the disappearance of liability insurance for the private agencies that care for the vast majority of the state’s foster children.

A new resolution, House Joint Resolution 24, establishes the Child Welfare Agency Liability Task Force, charged with developing a permanent solution to the liability insurance shortfall that has shaken the foundations of Illinois’ child welfare system. The urgency is clear: without a fix, hundreds - perhaps thousands - of foster youth may be displaced as agencies lose the insurance coverage required to operate.

The stakes are high. Nearly 70% of Illinois’ more than 18,000 foster children are cared for by community-based, not-for-profit agencies operating under state contract. These organizations must maintain liability insurance to continue serving children. Yet, the market for such insurance has all but evaporated. Two remaining insurers plan to stop writing new policies in 2025 and are only selectively renewing existing ones—often at staggering rate increases and with severely diminished coverage. […]

Two bills introduced earlier this year - House Bill 3138 and Senate Bill 1696 - attempted a short-term fix by offering two-year civil liability immunity to foster care agencies and their employees, unless their actions were found to be “willful and wanton.” But the proposals have stalled under pressure from the politically powerful Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, which argues such immunity would deny justice to abused children.

* WAND…

A bill to expand what constitutes stalking passed the House Judicial Civil committee unanimously on Wednesday.

The plan would make it easier to charge a person with a Stalking No Contact Order when the victim feels under “emotional distress.”

Under the proposed policy, victims can seek legal relief if they receive multiple phone calls from the stalker after they’ve been told to stop, they’re repeatedly appearing at the victim’s workplace or outside their home, or they’re following the victim in a public place among others.

State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview) said a lot of the time, due to the language of current stalking laws, some stalkers can leave charge free.

* Rep. Harry Benton…

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, is working to make childcare more accessible and affordable by advancing a pair of bills bringing more early childhood educators into the classroom and improving access to care for military families. […]

Benton advanced the following legislation out of House committees:

    - House Bill 3268: Helps address the high costs of childcare by allowing daycares to hire teachers according to a tiered system, while they work to get their qualifications–similar to an apprenticeship program. This will help address the teacher shortage and prevent the closures of so many childcare facilities across the state.

    - House Bill 3444: Specifically designed to help military families with the cost of childcare by making daycares located on military bases exempt from DCFS regulation if they are certified by the U.S. Department of Defense and a qualified national accrediting agency.

* Chicago Editorial Board…

Illinois has certainly become famous for its vast number of government entities, with a total of 8,505 townships, counties, villages, water reclamation districts … you name it. The St. Louis Fed points out that Illinois has more than 1.5 times as many units of government as California, despite having less than a third as many residents. All of this to say, the vast quantity of government in Illinois is an outlier. […]

We concede that some townships provide valuable services no other governmental body offers, particularly in rural areas of the state.

It’s a different story in densely populated areas, where townships overlap with counties and villages. Is such a tangle of government truly necessary? […]

Lawmakers this session filed a handful of bills in Springfield to further the cause. One would allow election authorities to merge contiguous townships into a single election precinct if certain conditions are met. Another measure would dissolve all townships with fewer than 5,000 residents, consolidating them with either an adjacent township or the county governing their geographic area. […]

Unfortunately, the movement appears to have stalled in Springfield. Despite the governor’s backing, Senate and House committees moved none of the bills aiming to shrink Illinois’ number of townships before the legislature’s deadline for committee action.

* WAND…

A bill heading to the Illinois House floor could require all assisted living and shared homes to have an AED on-site.

The plan also calls for all healthcare employees at the facility to be trained on how to use defibrillators in emergencies.

Sponsors told the House Human Services Committee Wednesday that 292 nursing homes already have AEDs. However, that number only makes up 54% of the facilities across the state. […]

House Bill 1287 passed unanimously out of the House Human Services Committee and now heads to the House floor.

  33 Comments      


Open thread

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

  32 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Federal government to pull back $125 million in COVID money from Illinois health departments. Tribune…

The federal government is pulling back $125 million in funding from the Illinois Department of Public Health and 97 local health departments for activities related to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, the state health department said Wednesday.

In all, the federal government is slashing $11.4 billion in federal funding across the country for state and local health departments and other health organizations for COVID-19-related activities. The move is the latest by the administration of President Donald Trump to cut costs across the federal government.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement. […]

The Illinois Department of Public Health had allocated the money for technology to track the spread of diseases, invest in labs that test samples for infectious diseases, to conduct surveillance of wastewater, to build the public health workforce and strengthen local health departments.

* Related stories…

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* ABC Chicago | CTA workers, members of ATU Local 308, canvassing stations to raise awareness of fiscal cliff: Members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308 are canvassing Blue and Red Line stations Wednesday, handing out pamphlets to riders on the impending fiscal cliff facing Chicago public transit. “It is feeling like we’re fighting. We’re trying to get the safety issues taken care of. We’re trying to get the morale of the ridership; we’re trying to get that back up,” CTA switch operator Brandy Leach said.

* Tribune | Illinois affordable housing projects on pause as Trump administration evaluates funds: The more than $1 billion national program, known as the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, is funded through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and provides developers with one piece of the complex and expensive capital stack required to complete affordable housing projects. The Associated Press first reported the threat to the national HUD program. About 270 projects were awarded funds, with at least 15 of these projects in Illinois — in various stages of development. The Illinois developments are slated to receive over $52.5 million, with some still forging ahead.

* Capitol News Illinois | A university, a rural town and their fight to survive Trump’s war on higher education: Supporters of Trump’s proposed research funding cuts say schools should dip into their endowment funds to offset the recent cuts. But SIU’s $210 million endowment, almost all of it earmarked for specific purposes, is pocket change compared with Ivy League schools like Yale, which has a similar student population size but a roughly $41 billion endowment. At present, SIU faces a $9.4 million deficit, the result of declining enrollments and years of state budget cuts; there is no cushion for it to fall back on.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Investigate Midwest | Illinois governor moves to slash cover crop funds despite rising demand: Illinois’ only cover crop incentive program could lose nearly a third of its funding under Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposed state budget. A bill to increase funding missed Friday’s committee deadline. Farmers and environmental advocates warn conservation efforts could stall without it.

* WBEZ | New poll shows most Illinois residents want more funding for public schools: A new poll out Wednesday shows that most Illinois residents want more funding for public schools, a finding released just as educators are warning that efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education could reduce school spending and hurt students, particularly the most vulnerable. The poll from the Illinois Education Association found that 71% of Illinois residents believe funding for public schools should increase and more than 9 in 10 residents believe students have a right to a public education. The IEA is the state’s largest teachers union.

* Capitol News Illinois | Democrats argue Republicans waited too long to file latest redistricting lawsuit: A case brought to the Illinois Supreme Court by House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, asked the court to reject the current legislative map for its partisan bias and have a special master redraw the districts. But it is not yet known whether the court will take the case. […] While the court hasn’t yet said whether it will hear the case, it did ask both parties to explain whether McCombie and the other plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in a timely manner, a factor to be considered in deciding whether to take the case.

* Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton | Women in office aren’t an exception but a necessity: As a country, we seem to be forgetting a fundamental and time-tested lesson — representation matters. Not just representation for representation’s sake, but true representation that makes a real impact on our country’s governance. Women all across America deserve leaders who respect them, understand the issues they face, and are brave enough to advocate for them at every level of office. It’s what drove Loretta Durbin and a group of trailblazing women to create the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership Training Academy 25 years ago at the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

*** Statewide ***

* Crain’s | Illinois EV sales surged, fueled by incentives: Sales of electric vehicles in Illinois have perked up in recent months, well above the uptick nationally, as consumer and corporate purchasers took advantage of incentives. The number of new EVs registered across the state totaled 9,821 January through March, compared with 6,535 during the same period a year ago. Even discarding March, which was unusually weak a year ago, total registrations in January and February were up 37%.

* BGA | State Courts Lag on Electronic Monitoring Data Required by SAFE-T Act: As BGA Policy has consistently highlighted, Illinois’ judicial branch is not subject to FOIA, leaving entities like juvenile detention centers, policies and procedures of judicial agencies, training manuals and budget documents to all be kept outside of the public’s view. Even when mandated to publish information, BGA Policy has reported on how the judicial branch has been slow to comply. Now, with an unprecedented expansion of electronic monitoring, the public continues to wait on mandated information from the judicial branch that they have yet to make available.

* Daily Herald | Illinois association survey shows unease over dismantling of U.S. Department of Education: The bipartisan poll of 1,000 people randomly surveyed in late January shows their views on public education. A majority of those surveyed believe: all students have a right to public education (91%); funding for public schools should increase (71%); teachers and support staff should be paid more (53% and 69%, respectively); and that local school board elections should be free from the influence of national political groups (72%).

*** Downstate ***

* WICS | Sangamon County Sheriff’s staff face disciplinary action after burglary leads to car chase: A motorcycle shop is still missing thousands of dollars in merchandise, and a sheriff’s deputy and sergeant are facing disciplinary action months after a burglary investigation led to a suspect’s death. […] Crouch told me her office believes the sergeant and deputy violated some of the office policies. In the Sangamon County sheriff’s policy manual, it says deputies should not pursue a vehicle solely involved in a property crime.

* WCIA | ‘We’re strong’; Neoga students back in school after tornado: “It means a lot to me that we’re strong and can go through this together,” third-grader Afia Simtim-Aboagye said. Students were supposed to head back to school from spring break on March 17, but the storm damage pushed that start date to March 26.

* WIFR | Winnebago Co. inmates graduate with metalworking certifications: The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department and Rock Valley College partnered in late 2020 to offer inmates a chance to get an education and curb recidivism rates in the Rockford region. Their studies are hands-on thanks to the TechWork Training Initiative. Each inmate learns CNC machinery in the class and leaves with the certification necessary to enter the machining industry.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | DePaul class inside Cook County jail brings together incarcerated and traditional students: It’s a typical class session in the Inside-Out program, which brings together campus-based students with incarcerated students for quarter-long courses. Founded in 1997 at Temple University, the program is now taught in hundreds of correctional facilities across the country. DePaul offers at least one of these classes at Cook County jail every quarter.

* Sun-Times | Durbin under fire from progressives over vote for GOP spending plan: A statement by influential Chicago advocacy groups against Sen. Dick Durbin’s vote, coupled with a climate group protest targeting him, are uncommon public rebukes of the 80-year-old lawmaker deciding whether to run for another term.

* WBEZ | Sanctuary and restriction: A look at Chicago mayors’ wildly different approaches to immigrants: One of the city’s most famous anti-immigrant incidents happened because of a one-term mayor, Levi Boone. The 17th mayor of Chicago ran on a pro-temperance and anti-immigrant platform in 1855, two issues that were linked in Boone’s mind. “He was affiliated with a political party called the Native American party. Now, this isn’t referring to indigenous people. Instead, what it meant was people who had been born in the United States,” said Paul Durica, director of exhibitions at the Chicago History Museum.

* Block Club | The City Is Waiving Sticker Penalties For Chicago Drivers For All Of April: “We are pushing so hard on this Amnesty Month message because we want people to take this opportunity, regardless of the last time they purchased a City Sticker, to get on track,” Martinez said.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Fox Chicago | Democratic push to unseat Aurora Mayor Irvin grows amid development and debt concerns: Meanwhile, Democratic challenger John Lash has been knocking on doors, arguing city government has gone off track. He accused Irvin of steering tens of millions in city subsidies to political allies and campaign donors.

* Journal-Topics | Possibly Historic Election Sees Full Slate Of Dems Challenge GOP Trustees In Elk Grove Township: The four Democratic candidates challenging the four incumbent Republicans are Robert Lugiai of Mount Prospect, Monika Stajniak of Elk Grove Village, Jason Wynkoop of Mount Prospect, and Phillip Dukes of Arlington Heights. The incumbent Republicans running for reelection are Richard Keenley, Dale Niewiardowski, David Perns and Brian Maye.

* Aurora Beacon-News | SAFE-T Act increasing expenses in Kane County, state’s attorney says: With a sales tax referendum question being put to voters in less than a week, Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser and other public safety officials in the county described increasing staffing and operational costs they’re facing after Illinois ended cash bail. At the Kane County Board Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday, Mosser and others outlined staffing and operating changes they’ve had to make – from hiring additional attorneys to paying for more overtime hours for staff at hearings that stretch through the day – since the SAFE-T Act took effect in Illinois on Sept. 18, 2023.

* Tribune | Park Ridge council hears from business owner on Delta-8 ban, holds off on vote: The meeting agenda that Monday night called for a vote on passage of the first reading of the draft ordinance, which anticipates banning “the sale of Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC products protects the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the City,” according to the draft. “This is the wild, wild west of controlled substances,” said council member John Moran, 1st Ward, who was not present for the discussion two weeks before. “I had a resident bring it to my attention; a lot of the manufacturers of these products are not reputable.”

  7 Comments      


Selected press releases (Live updates)

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Live coverage

Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here for some background. The Teamsters Union put out a press release today with the headline: “Billionaire Governor’s Anti-Worker Measure Further Harms Amazon Workers”…

The Teamsters Union is condemning Gov. JB Pritzker for vetoing House Bill 2547, the Illinois Warehouse Worker Protection Act (WWPA). The bipartisan legislation, which passed through the statehouse with overwhelming support, would have prevented companies like Amazon from abusing the workforce by regulating the use and disclosure of warehouse quotas.

“We are deeply disappointed that the governor has vetoed the Warehouse Worker Protection Act. In doing so, he has abandoned the very people who give their all every day, working under inhumane production quotas that are not only unacceptable but also dangerous,” said Thomas W. Stiede, President of Teamsters Joint Council 25. “Having been a warehouse worker, I’m deeply familiar with the harsh and inhumane conditions in this industry, and I know firsthand why this bill is necessary. It’s unfortunate that our Governor doesn’t have those same experiences or sympathies. Warehouse workers, including those at Amazon, are simply trying to provide for their families honestly and safely, and the Illinois governor has turned his back on them.”

California, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Washington have already passed their own versions of the WWPA, and a similar measure at the federal level has bipartisan support.

“The Warehouse Worker Protection Act is the most commonsense, effective solution to the rampant abuse of warehouse workers by greedy and dangerous companies like Amazon,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “The Teamsters will never stop fighting for it, both federally and in state houses across the country. In light of the governor’s reckless act, Illinois clearly needs stronger leadership that has the backbone and compassion to put hardworking families first.”

Teamsters Joint Council 25 represents more than 125,000 hardworking men and women throughout Illinois and northwest Indiana.

* The Governor’s Press Secretary Alex Gough…

“Governor Pritzker will not make decisions based on statements from people who spoke in favor of Donald Trump’s anti-worker agenda last summer and aided Bruce Rauner’s attacks on working families. We were clear from the beginning with our concerns with the Teamsters that this would not be enforceable, and presented legal issues. As he said in his veto message, the Governor shares the goal to protect warehouse workers from dangerous and unfair conditions and invites all union leaders to engage in good-faith conversations that will deliver a real solution and actually protects workers.”

* The secret is out!…

Happy birthday, Rich!

*** Statehouse News ***

* Chicago Reader | Illinois’s public defense crisis: Illinois is facing a public defense crisis. That was the message from lawyers, lawmakers, policy advocates, and organizers who converged at the Northwestern Pritzker Law’s downtown campus on March 24 for a daylong summit on the future of public defense. The event, hosted by Northwestern’s Children and Family Justice Center and the Illinois Justice Project, was organized ostensibly to support a bill moving through the General Assembly that would create a statewide public defender agency. Numerous speakers highlighted the need for substantive structural change to address funding disparities, conflicts of interest, and an overall dearth of data about public defense in Illinois.

*** Statewide ***

* Block Club | Sanctuary Policies ‘Protect Public Safety,’ Groups Argue In Response To Justice Department Lawsuit: As the federal government continues to pursue its lawsuit against Chicago, Cook County and Illinois over their “sanctuary” policies, local legal groups this week filed a brief arguing that sanctuary laws actually promote public safety — and encourage economic growth. An amicus brief in the case was filed Tuesday by the ACLU of Illinois and the National Immigrant Justice Center on behalf of several local immigrant advocacy organizations.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Accused Skokie candidate won’t get ethics hearing before election: Skokie Trustee James Johnson, who is running for village clerk and in the midst of an ethics violation investigation, won’t receive a conclusive hearing before the April 1 election on whether or not Johnson used the village’s resources for political gain. An amendment to an ethics complaint targeting Johnson was submitted to the village’s ethics commission on Monday, according to one of the eight Skokie residents who submitted the complaint in February. The amended complaint caused the investigation to start over, and caused an evidentiary hearing scheduled for last week to be canceled.

* Tribune | Wealthy white homeowners vote more on property tax hike proposals in Cook County, study finds: Referendums for $45 million in infrastructure spending in Western Springs, $94.9 million in school upgrades in Northbrook, and for permission to go above state tax caps in the Northfield Park District, Prospect Heights and Roselle are on the ballot this spring. And Pappas’ office found a small number of voters — largely rich, white homeowners — tend to have the strongest turnout for these types of property tax votes.

* Daily Southtown | Dolton 148 Board defends salary increase for superintendent making $450,000: Dolton Elementary School District 148 Board members say they were excluded from discussions leading to a salary increase for Superintendent Kevin Nohelty, boosting his $450,000 salary $30,000 each of the next two years. During a packed meeting Tuesday, board President Larry Lawrence explained the decision to increase the salary, approved at a special meeting March 18, was because Nohely stayed on past his contract’s end date in June 2022 as the board searches for his replacement.

* Daily Herald | District 200 school board race pits incumbents against challengers questioning middle school projects: Unlike the election battles in the pandemic’s shadow, the candidate roster this time is largely divided along more familiar lines, with some challenging the status quo and raising questions about a voter-approved plan for major projects in the district’s oldest middle schools. […] It’s the first school board contest since 68% of voters in November backed the district’s request to take out $151.5 million in bonds for work at Edison, Franklin and Monroe middle schools.

*** Chicago ***

* Chicago Mag | Karen Lewis’s posthumous new memoir recounts the transformation of the Chicago Teachers Union into a disrupter of the status quo: ”Initially I thought Renaissance 2010 was a terrible joke; I didn’t believe it would really happen until I started to see it in action. I wasn’t worried for myself, because I taught at a selective enrollment school that would never close. Yet I knew my sisters and brothers throughout the city were being devastated. Renaissance 2010 led to the closure of more than 100 public schools; it maligned veteran Black teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators; and it launched many charter, contract, and alternative schools without unionized workforces.”

* Sun-Times | Amtrak busing travelers to St. Paul, Milwaukee after canceling trains from Chicago: Amtrak began busing passengers Wednesday between Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota, and Milwaukee after discovering corrosion issues on several of its passenger cars, raising the prospect of long-term service disruptions. The passenger rail service said it is running buses in place of trains on its Borealis route, which runs one train a day to and from Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota. Half of Amtrak’s six daily Hiawatha service trains to and from Milwaukee are also running on buses.

* Crain’s | Chicago food banks stung by Trump cuts while costs climb: In the west side of Chicago, Wendy Daniels has seen an increase of about 25% in the number of new people coming through her food bank since January. That’s a worrying trend, she says, as tariffs, inflation and funding cuts are set to squeeze grocery budgets while making it more expensive for food banks to cover their operating costs.

* Sun-Times | CPD cracking down on sloppy appearance of some cops or face reprimand, according to scathing internal memo: Officers have to wear “clean and serviceable” uniforms with no holes or tears and are forbidden from wearing hoodies underneath or tactical pants, according to the memo, sent out earlier this week by Area 5 District Cmdr. William Betancourt and which was obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. “We have spoken about this for the past 18 months and we are still not addressing the officers in the districts in regards to this!” Betancourt said in the email.

* Tribune | Julie Woestehoff, Chicago education activist who urged local control of schools, dies: Julie Woestehoff was the longtime executive director of Chicago-based Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE), a reform-minded schools advocacy group that pushed for citizen involvement in the city’s schools and equitable use of standardized tests. Woestehoff encouraged “many parents to get involved with their children’s education because she believed that parents were the key to advocating for their own children. They knew what the children needed,” said Wanda Hopkins, a former PURE assistant director. “And we believed that every child had the right to have the best education possible.”

* Tribune | Lady Gaga announces ‘Mayhem’ tour with Chicago concerts in September: Lady Gaga has announced a tour behind her new album “Mayhem” with Chicago dates in September. The tour, dubbed “Mayhem Ball,” will play the United Center (1901 W. Madison St.) on Sept. 15 and 17. An artist ticket presale begins at noon April 2. Access that presale at signup.ticketmaster.com/ladygaga; the signup closes at 8 a.m. March 30. The public pre-sale begins noon April 3; more at www.livenation.com. There will also be a presale for Citi card holders beginning at noon March 31 and a Verizon pre-sale at noon April 1.

*** Downstate ***

* WMBD | Peoria County prosecutor arrested for allegedly possessing stolen firearm: Kali Pray, 28, and her passenger, Drake Tharp, 23, of Creve Coeur, were both charged in Woodford County Circuit Court with possession of a stolen firearm and for not having a valid FOID card. Those charges carry a maximum sentence of up to seven years behind bars. Anna Perales, a spokeswoman for the Peoria County State’s Attorney‘s office, said Pray had been on “administrative unpaid leave when this incident happened. We are reviewing the matter.”

* WCIA | University of Illinois employees rally for fair wages: Their previous agreement expired in September, and negotiations for a new contract have been going on for a year. Now, the union members say the increased .25% wage offer, bringing the total offer to around 2.5% for the first year, is not enough for some of the lower-paid union members to earn a living wage.

* WCIA | Reynolds Towing addresses employee’s Nazi salute after video circulates online: An offensive video circulating online has led to a man getting fired from his tow-truck job. Reynolds Towing in Champaign is apologizing for the antisemitic clip. The video shows an employee standing on the back of a tow truck in a Reynolds towing uniform giving a Nazi salute. He then said an expletive referring to Jewish people.

* WCBU | Peoria County extends low-income broadband access program: Allen says 36 people enrolled in the pilot program, funded by a $125,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The county received an extension to the grant, allowing for funds to rollover to July 2026 and for the inclusion of a second cohort of households.

*** National ***

* Bloomberg | Rivian spins out startup focused on ‘micromobility’ EVs: The new “micromobility” company, known as Also, is launching with $105 million in funding from Rivian and venture capital firm Eclipse. Rivian, which makes consumer EV trucks and SUVs, will have a minority stake in Also. Chris Yu, a Rivian executive who will lead the new company as president, said in an interview that current options are limited for customers looking for plug-in vehicles smaller than a standard car. “There is a lack of personalized experience you get, like with a Rivian, for small EVs.”

  20 Comments      


Stop Credit Card Chaos In Illinois

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

A last-minute provision called the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA) was snuck into the budget process last May and will create chaos for small businesses and consumers across Illinois if it takes effect on July 1, 2025.

The IFPA gives corporate mega-stores like Walmart and Home Depot — who pushed for this backroom deal — millions more in profits, while small business owners get new expenses and accounting headaches. What’s more, consumers could be forced to pay for parts of their transactions in cash if this law moves forward.

A recent court ruling in the litigation challenging the law suggests IFPA is likely pre-empted by federal law for national banks and will only apply to credit unions and local Illinois banks, putting local banks at a disadvantage against their national competitors.

Illinois lawmakers should repeal the IFPA and focus on protecting small businesses and consumers across the state — not lining the pockets of corporate mega-stores.

Stop the countdown to chaos by supporting a repeal of this misguided and flawed policy. Learn more at https://guardyourcard.com/illinois/

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Vinicky focuses on new career

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Last week…


* This week…

Intersect Illinois Announces Strategic Leadership Hires, Adds Depth in Key Areas

Amanda Vinicky, Elizabeth Gichana, Kyla Karten, Kate Lindgren, and Ramya Koritala to support Intersect Illinois’ business attraction strategies

CHICAGO, IL – Today, Intersect Illinois announced the addition of five key leaders to its team, reinforcing its commitment to driving investment, job creation, and economic growth across Illinois. These strategic hires further strengthen the organization’s expertise in life sciences, site readiness, business development, data-driven research, and communications strategy.

“Expanding our team to encompass more expertise is a top priority for our organization as Team Illinois seeks to build on its competitive business advantages,” said Christy George, President and CEO of Intersect Illinois. “Amanda, Elizabeth, Kyla, Kate, and Ramya are tremendous assets to the team, and each of these accomplished professionals brings specialized expertise that will help advance our mission. With the addition of Robin Ficke and Dr. Preeti Chalsani last year, our team is stronger than ever, and we look forward to the impact these leaders will make in driving growth across the state.”

Amanda Vinicky has been named Vice President of Communications. She will lead Intersect Illinois’ communications strategy, amplifying the organization’s mission, success stories, and economic impact to key stakeholders, media, and the public. A talented journalist with over 20 years of experience, Vinicky previously served as a correspondent and host on WTTW-TV’s “Chicago Tonight” and was Statehouse Bureau Chief for NPR Illinois and the Illinois Public Radio network—work that garnered Emmys, Lisagors from the Chicago Headline Club, and other reporting awards. She earned a master’s degree from the University of Illinois Springfield’s celebrated Public Affairs Reporting program and has degrees in political science and journalism from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

“Most anyone who has met me knows I have an unbridled love of Illinois, which is why as a journalist I pushed its leaders to be their best on behalf of its residents,” Vinicky said. “As a lifelong Illinoisan, I know all that the state has to offer and I’m dedicated to being part of Intersect Illinois’ work in sharing that story and advancing the state’s growth.”

I’ve known Ms. Vinicky since she was a PAR intern way back in the day. I never thought she’d leave journalism, but this is a great move for her, and a bad omen for WTTW.

* To this day, I still utter the line “Focus, Amanda. Focus”…


Classic.

  24 Comments      


It’s just a bill

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Retired educator and college basketball referee Ed Hightower…

In high-pressure moments, when everything is on the line, leaders must be able to make the right call. As March Madness takes hold this spring, Illinois lawmakers must make the right call regarding affordable housing.

Growing up in a family of eight children in Southeast Missouri, I knew what it meant to struggle. We didn’t have indoor plumbing until 1966, when my mother moved us to Alton, Illinois. That experience shaped my understanding of the critical need for safe, affordable housing — something too many families in Illinois still lack today. […]

I urge Illinois lawmakers to support the Build Illinois Homes Tax Credit — an innovative solution to our state’s affordable housing crisis.

I believe this legislation could be a game-changer. It provides the push developers need to move projects forward. This tax credit is a low-risk investment for taxpayers. Private investors supply the funds upfront, and the state issues credits only after developments are completed and families move in. It’s a fiscally responsible way to create much-needed housing while spurring economic growth. […]

The Build Illinois Homes Tax Credit will close those financing gaps by making the critical commitment for developers and investors to give these developments the green light. More than half of the states nationally have adopted credits like Build Illinois Homes to drive affordable housing investment. During these trying times, people need safe, affordable housing and education, health care, and social service support. All work together to lift people and their communities.

* Center Square…

Lawmakers discussed proposed regulation of hemp-derived intoxicating beverages in a state Senate Liquor Committee hearing Tuesday afternoon.

State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, filed Senate Bill 1766, which would impose taxes on hemp manufacturers and distributors. It would also force hemp businesses to be regulated by the Illinois Liquor Control Commission.

“We are open to making modifications to the bill, but I think it’s time that this form of beverage be entered into the regulatory space. We think this is a good way to do it,” Cunningham said. […]

Chris Coleman of the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois spoke in support of SB 1766 and said it would impose strict labeling requirements on hemp beverages.

Coleman also addressed lawmakers’ concerns that highly-caffeinated beverages are not part of the bill.

Executive Director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois Tiffany Chappell Ingram …

“While we agree that it’s time for Illinois to take action against intoxicating hemp products, including THC beverages, this proposal falls short of providing consumers the protections they deserve. These products are not alcoholic beverages – differing greatly in their effects on consumers as well as the way they are produced, tested, labeled and sold – and should not be regulated under our state’s liquor laws. THC beverages are derived from the cannabis plant and should be regulated under the state’s existing cannabis laws, which prioritize public health, safety, and industry oversight. We are eager to collaborate on a more appropriate path forward.”

* Rep. Carol Ammons…

Working to bring transformative change to Champaign-Urbana communities and statewide, state Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, successfully advanced legislation filling crucial gaps in education and access to economic opportunities.

“Spearheading these bills, to me, is about restoring opportunity,” said Ammons. “Whether it’s through fairer licensing, access to education, or removing unnecessary barriers, we’re creating real pathways for all Illinoisans to prosper.”

In efforts to expand pathways for formerly incarcerated individuals, Ammons’ House Bill 3462 would refine licensing requirements for those with a criminal record — enforcing the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations (IDFPR) to evaluate licensing applications based on the manner of a person’s conviction, rather than if they possess “good moral character,” an ambiguous term used for justification of denial.

Plus, continuing her advocacy for expanded education for the incarcerated, Ammons’ House Bill 2466 would further support formerly incarcerated students by removing a provision that excludes them from the opportunity to participate in academic programs and financial aid, such as the monetary assistance program (MAP).

Ammons’ work also seeks to remove barriers that hinder those from practicing their profession. House Bill 3356 removes hair-braiding from the list of license cosmetology professions, allowing individuals to self-start in the hair braiding profession without having the financial obligation to pay IDFPR a licensing fee.

* Sen. Erica Harriss…

Another deadline week has come and gone in the Senate as we inch closer to the adjournment of our spring legislative session at the end of May. We just wrapped up week seven of session, a week in which we had to pass Senate bills out of committee that we hope to pass this spring.

Last week, I was able to pass Senate Bill 2463 out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is a bill I worked closely on with the Department of Natural Resources. It is intended to offset taxpayer costs in the event that an oil well operator fails to remediate a well they are responsible for after operations have ceased.

While I am thrilled to have passed a couple of bills out of committee, I have filed extensions on my bills that were assigned to committees but haven’t received a vote. Most of those bills relate to property taxes, with the goal of helping save Illinois residents money.

* WAND…

A proposal moving in Springfield could require health insurance companies to cover prescription vitamins.

State employee, private insurance, and managed care plans would be forced to provide the new coverage for prescription vitamins starting January 1, 2027.

House Democrats said this policy will not apply to vitamins purchased over the counter, but Republicans still argue the bill will cause higher insurance premiums. […]

House Bill 3699 passed out of the House Insurance Committee on a partisan 11-5 vote. It now moves to the House for further consideration.

* KSDK…

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s ambitious plan to allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees has hit a significant roadblock, exposing the complex political dynamics of higher education reform in Illinois.

The proposed legislation, House Bill 3717, would enable community colleges to grant bachelor’s degrees in applied fields, potentially transforming access to higher education for thousands of students. Despite Pritzker’s vocal support, the House Higher Education Committee declined to advance the bill last week.

“I’m glad to see negotiations continuing,” Chairwoman Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) said. “I think we need to focus on finding pathways for students to earn the credentials they need to support their careers and on supporting all our institutions of higher education across the state.’

For Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora), the proposal represents a personal mission. A Waubonsee Community College alumna who later transferred to Aurora University, she understands the financial challenges of higher education firsthand. “School is turning into more of a luxury at this point, and it is unfortunate,” Hernandez said. “I saved a lot of money by starting at community college.”

* Center Square…

Illinois lawmakers are considering a slew of bills affecting gambling in the state. […]

One measure, Senate BIll 2145, would require fantasy sports companies to pay a fee to operate in the state and places a tax of up to 40% on their contest receipts. Tim Jensen of Real Time Fantasy Sports said the bill would end their Illinois operations.

“As a smaller operator, we have hundreds of Illinois players that have been with us for years if not decades, however, the half-million dollar licensing fee exceeds our total gross revenue for the state of Illinois and would effectively lock us out of the state,” said Jensen during a Senate Gaming, Wagering and Racing Committee hearing Tuesday. […]

State Sen. Christina Castro, D-Elgin, said if you want to play, you have to pay.

“Whether the tax the gaming board proposed is the right one I’m not sure, but it’s something to say I don’t want to be taxed, I don’t want to pay fees,” said Castro. “You want the privilege to do business in Illinois, guess what, you’re going to pay for that privilege.”

* Sen. Steve Stadelman…

Following an Illinois Supreme Court decision that weakened protections for journalists, State Senator Steve Stadelman is working to safeguard the rights of Illinoisans and news outlets to state their opinions in the media.

“This legislation is needed in order to protect media and what they do on a daily basis,” said Stadelman (D-Rockford). “We need to stand up for free press and speech, and this measure shows our efforts to do so.”

Senate Bill 1181 builds on existing law to ensure the Citizens Participation Act protects individuals and the press from lawsuits intended to silence or intimidate them, regardless of the motive behind the lawsuit. A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) is a legal tactic used to silence or intimidate critics by burdening them with costly and time-consuming litigation, often targeting individuals or organizations who speak out on issues of public interest.

The Supreme Court ruled the state’s anti-SLAPP law did not protect media outlets or journalists. Stadelman’s legislation clarifies news organizations should be shielded from retaliatory lawsuits.

Senate Bill 1181 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last Wednesday.

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More decline

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here if you need it. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois “Leisure and Hospitality” employment grew by more than 56,000 between January of 2015 and January of 2019. It kept growing through 2019, then, of course, tanked during the pandemic. The sector peaked in February of 2020, but it was 17,400 below that level here as of the end of last year…

The sector has been hard-hit everywhere, but it grew by 3 percent nationally from February of 2020 to December of last year, compared to the 3 percent decline in Illinois.

  32 Comments      


Sparks Fly At Nursing Home Industry Legislative Hearing

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Sparks flew in a high-drama House Human Services Committee hearing last week as Committee Chair Representative Anna Moeller and Representative Yolanda Morris called attention to nursing home owners falling short of meeting minimum safe staffing requirements, despite significant state investment intended to address staffing shortages.

The nursing home industry-backed HB2922 attempts to ease fines meant to enforce accountability for understaffing in facilities, even though nursing home owners previously asked for and received millions in tax breaks and additional state funding intended specifically to improve staffing levels.

Despite the resources provided by the state, way too many nursing homes continue to operate short staffed, resulting in real harm and ongoing risks to our seniors.

Rep. Morris, a former nursing home certified nursing assistant, highlighted the severity of staffing issues, “It’s time for you guys to learn how to start staffing up and be held accountable.”

Committee Chair Rep. Moeller added, “Why do we have to keep fighting the battle every year with the industry? Why can’t you just do what you’re supposed to do to take care of our seniors?”

Lawmakers Moeller and Morris underscored the critical need for accountability, emphasizing that the industry has received hundreds of millions of dollars in public resources meant to improve care for our seniors. Oppose HB2922, because the minimum required resident care can’t wait.

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Promises made…

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here if you need it…

* Spam text message yesterday…

  39 Comments      


Pritzker: ‘We will not blindly follow illegal orders’ (Updated)

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Click here for the EO. From the Washington Post…

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday requiring people to provide documents proving they are citizens when they register to vote, a mandate that experts said could prevent millions of Americans from voting.

The order reflects Trump’s long-standing fixation on election administration as well as his baseless claims following the 2016 and 2020 presidential races that both were riddled with fraud, particularly illegal voting by noncitizens. There is no evidence that widespread corruption, by noncitizens or others, tainted either contest.

Republicans in dozens of states have sought for decades to require voters to present identification to cast ballots, but Trump has taken that effort to a new level with an executive order establishing a federal mandate to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote.

The U.S. Constitution designates the power to regulate the “time, place and manner” of elections to the states, with the proviso that Congress can step in and override those laws. It gives no specific power to the president to do so. Election experts said that Trump was claiming power he does not have and that lawsuits over the measure were all but guaranteed. […]

Others suggested that the order reflects Trump’s desire to expand executive power — and for the Supreme Court to allow it. His order directs the Election Assistance Commission — an agency governed by statute enacted by Congress — to change the federal voter registration form to require government-issued documentary proof of citizenship.

Lots of his EOs are essentially performative.

* Gov. Pritzker press release…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker released the following statement regarding Donald Trump’s executive order to attack free and fair elections in the United States:

“Voting is a fundamental right and sacred responsibility of every American. Yet, once again Donald Trump is ignoring the rule of law and circumventing Congress.

“We need to call this what it is: another illegal, extreme, and dangerous attempt to take power away from the American people and hand it over the wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk, who wishes to decide which U.S. citizens can and can’t vote. ​

“We will not blindly follow illegal orders because Donald Trump wrote them down on a piece of paper. Illinois follows the laws of the land – not the decrees of an aspiring king hell bent on disenfranchising millions of voters who deserve to have their voice heard. ​

“In the face of these attacks on voting rights, Illinois will continue to administer free and fair elections while standing up for strong, secure, and accessible democracy.” ​

…Adding… Rep. West…

State Rep. Maurice West (D-Rockford), Assistant Majority Leader and Chair of the Illinois House Ethics and Elections Committee, released the following statement responding to Donald Trump’s latest attack on Illinois’ electoral process:

“Illinois elections are secure, accessible, and fair. In recent years, the Illinois General Assembly has worked collaboratively with the Illinois State Board of Elections and local election authorities to enact legislative solutions with the goal of promoting civic engagement and ensuring all voters can cast their ballots in a safe, convenient manner.

“When Illinoisans go to the polls, they must have confidence that their vote will be counted quickly and accurately. Instead of engaging Congress or working with the states, Donald Trump is attempting to hand down illegal orders to interfere with our electoral process and potentially disenfranchise millions of people. This new effort comes after years of promoting bizarre, false election conspiracy theories, eroding trust in our democracy and its civic institutions.

“I look forward to working collaboratively with my colleagues to continue to strengthen our electoral system and ensure our votes are free from illegal interference by any outside actor – including the president. Illinois will follow the law, not Donald Trump’s whims.”

  24 Comments      


Intoxicating Hemp: No safety? No thanks!

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

A federal loophole has led to a booming gray market across Illinois for intoxicating hemp products, which use synthetics to alter the composition of hemp to get consumers high.

This is happening outside the structure of the state’s legal cannabis industry. This means intoxicating hemp faces NO quality testing, NO age restrictions, NO packaging requirements, NO potency rules, and NO taxes to fund programs in communities impacted by the War on Drugs. Most intoxicating hemp products aren’t even produced in Illinois. By contrast, Illinois cannabis businesses face extensive rules and regulations to operate, with products tracked from seed to sale. When consumers purchase legal cannabis grown and processed in Illinois, they know their products are safe.

Hemp and cannabis come from the same plant. Both products can get users high. Why the different rules? Illinois already has a system in place to regulate hemp – it’s called the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. It’s time for Illinois to close the intoxicating hemp loophole.

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Good morning!

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Grace Potter covers Fleetwood Mac with Gov’t Mule…

You better put your kingdom up for sale

Keep the discussion Illinois-centric, please.

  4 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Subscribers know more. ICYMI: ‘How is this going to work?’: Transit reform advocates far apart on major issues. Daily Herald…

    - House Transportation: Regulation, Roads and Bridges Committee Chair Marty Moylan said he wants answers on outstanding issues about a $3.9 billion CTA pension debt, crime prevention and overtime before forwarding any legislation.
    - One proposal would abolish the boards of Metra, Pace, the CTA and the Regional Transportation Authority to create a superagency called the Metropolitan Mobility Authority. A second would empower the RTA to manage fares, capital projects and planning.
    - Rep. Moylan encouraged bill sponsors to find common ground, “We’re not very far apart.”

* Related…

* BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Illinois AG pushes for more funding amid legal battles with Trump administration: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is pushing for additional funding for his office as it takes on a host of lawsuits and legal filings against actions by the Trump administration. “What we want to make clear to the legislature is that we’re a good investment, right? And it’s not a time to disinvest in our office,” Raoul said in an interview.

* Subscribers knew about the lawsuit Monday. Tribune | Sen. Michael Hastings alleges smear campaign in 2022 tight race to hold office: State Sen. Michael Hastings alleges in a lawsuit that Republican operators conspired to organize a “smear campaign” leading up to the November 2022 election, which included sending out what the Frankfort Democrat’s lawsuit describes as obscene text messages to voters. The lawsuit, filed Feb. 28, alleges a conspiracy to “execute a malicious text-message campaign designed to defame, humiliate and harass” Hastings leading up to the Nov. 8, 2022, election.

* WICS | HIRE360 offers life-changing career paths for central Illinois through trades: With nearly $5 million in funding from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s CEJA Climate Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program, HIRE360 has expanded its reach to central Illinois. Now, its first class is set to graduate on Saturday, marking a major milestone in workforce development.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Raoul joins motion to block dismantling of U.S. Education Department: In a motion filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, the coalition of Democratic attorneys general are seeking a preliminary injunction to block the mass firing of half the agency’s employees, which Trump ordered March 11, as well as the transfer of student loan management and special education services to other federal agencies.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Harvey World Herald | As state cracks down on delinquent audits, Mayor Chris Clark addresses financial reporting concerns: Mayor Chris Clark responded to critcism over the administration’s ongoing financial reporting challenges at the council’s regular meeting on March 10, focusing on the finance department’s compliance with municipal code and absent treasurer reports. But what Harvey’s top official neglected to mention was a state crackdown on delinquent audits. Criticism flies that city officials aren’t financially transparent, with City Treasurer Aisha Pickett barely giving regular reports.

* Sun-Times | Race, wealth disparities underlie turnout for ballot questions hitting voters’ wallets: An analysis from the Cook County treasurer’s office — ahead of the April 1 suburban consolidated elections — reveals turnout on tax-related referendums is highest in areas that are predominately white, wealthy and mostly homeowners.

* Shaw Local | 2 Joliet Junior College trustees create ‘hostile atmosphere’ for president, staff: report: Joliet Junior College’s president claimed two members of the Board of Trustees harassed him, with one causing him to fear for his safety, according to an independent report following an investigation by a law firm.

* Daily Herald | Mount Prospect trustee candidate owes $32,000 in back property taxes: Mount Prospect village board candidate Jack Brogan owes more than $32,000 in overdue property taxes for four residential parcels he plans to develop along Golf Road. Brogan, who is running as a write-in candidate, acknowledged he is late with the tax payments, but said he has been approved for a construction loan and will pay the taxes. He said he plans to construct three homes on the property and his banker advised him to pay the taxes when he is ready to build.

* CBS Chicago | Show of support for Lynwood, Illinois mayor after questions about her salary: On Monday night, CBS News Chicago’s Lauren Victory pressed the mayor about her salary, and why she is taking home nearly triple the amount in the budget for her position. Before Curry was elected four years ago, an ordinance drastically reduced the mayoral salary from $85,000 to $20,000 a year. […] Curry is currently paid for three different positions — village president at $20,000, cannabis commissioner at $5,000, liquor commissioner at $10,000. That amounts to a grand total of $35,000 in the village budget.

* Daily Southtown | Will County Board member Jacqueline Traynere cited after accident with child bicyclist: Jacqueline Traynere, the past Democratic Leader from Bolingbrook, was involved in the accident about 8:15 a.m. March 11 at the intersection of Lily Cache and Lindsey lanes in Bolingbrook, a police report said. […] The child fell off the bike and was uninjured, the report said. […] The witness told police she observed the driver of the car check on the child but then drive east on Lily Cache Lane, according to the police report.

* Daily Herald | Police: Skeletal remains found in missing Elgin woman’s car: Schepers was 23 when she disappeared after attending a party with coworkers at a Carpentersville bar in 1983. Elgin Police Chief Ana Lalley said Tuesday morning that a search of the river on Monday by the department and Chaos Divers, a group that uses sonar to search for people suspected missing in bodies of water, yielded a vehicle with the license plate XP8919, which matched the 1980 Toyota Celica owned by Schepers.

* CBS Chicago | 1 subdivision in Lisle, Illinois gets its water through private company, and has much higher bills: In all, about 350 customers in Lisle get their water from Illinois American Water rather than the village. “We can’t even have village water, even though we’re taxpayers and village residents,” said Srail. So how much more do families like Srail’s pay? Every two months, a typical homeowner would pay more than $100 if they get water from Illinois American — and those are the charges even before one drop of water flows.

* Shaw Local | Federal funding cuts delay Sterling-Rock Falls fire training facility construction: Rock Falls Deputy Fire Chief Kyle Sommers said the departments are losing $825,000 in federal Community Project Funding appropriations they had planned to use to build a burn tower where firefighters from both communities could train in live-fire conditions. […] However, Sommers said that despite their CPF allocation request having made it out of the Appropriations Committee last fall, it was part of ongoing temporary spending bills. The final spending bill eliminated CPF requests.

* Shaw Local | Niles West removed former coach Nick Torresso after numerous violations. He denies all allegations.: Niles Township High Schools District 219 originally placed Torresso on indefinite suspension with pay from his coaching and teaching duties at the school on Oct. 1 after complaints of “improper treatment of students and staff.” The district’s Board of Education unanimously approved Torresso’s dismissal as football coach on Dec. 10 after a district investigation found that Torresso violated three board policies.

*** Downstate ***

* 25News Now | Rivian on ‘accelerated’ construction schedule for massive plant expansion in Normal: The automaker on Tuesday released a construction update including visual proof of progress that’s being made on building a 1.1 million square foot addition on the east side of the existing plant, plus new space for paint, battery, and material flow. […] When the expansion is finished, the plant in Normal will have the capacity to make 215,000 EV’s a year, according to the company’s release.

* WAND | Construction projects start work across central Illinois: In Champaign, the largest projects are taking place where Interstate 57 and Interstate 74 intersect. “There’s going to be three ramp closures, to facilitate traffic movements to the outside lanes of I-74,” said Paul Wappel, Spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Transportation. “This will allow for the removal and replacement of the remaining inner portions of the I-74 over the I-57 bridge. This will also allow for completion of all I-74 pavement. Late summer or early fall, I-57 paving will begin there. By the end of the year, we hope to have all the ramps open.”

* PJ Star | ‘Target on our backs’: Why Peoria donating a fire engine to Ukraine sparked concerns: The city will donate the engine, which was scheduled to be retired from the fleet, to Ukraine via the Mossville-based organization US Ambulances for Ukraine at no cost to the city. The motion to donate the fire engine passed 8-2 with councilmembers Mike Vespa and Kiran Velpula both vocalizing concerns with the timing of the donation, with Vespa going further saying he worried the donation could put a “target” on Peoria from a “vindictive” President Donald Trump.

* WICS | Springfield’s District 186 considers cuts amid funding concerns: Springfield’s District 186 is evaluating potential budget cuts over the next three years, with a focus on minimizing the impact on classrooms. The district has proposed a deficit reduction plan due to concerns about state and federal funding. Superintendent Jennifer Gill emphasized the district’s commitment to maintaining essential services. “We want to keep these cuts as far away from the classroom as possible,” she said.

* WAND | Full cleanup, demolition set for former Pillsbury Plant in Springfield: Moving Pillsbury Forward (MPF) has officially signed contracts to fully clean up and demolish all remaining structures at the site within the next 12 months. “The neighborhood, the 12,000 people that in within one mile of this site have needed this to happen for a number of years,” said Chris Richmond, President of Moving Pillsbury Forward.

* WTVO | Whiskey made in northern Illinois advances to Top 8 in 2025 Maker’s Madness contest: Whiskey Acres Blue Popcorn Bourbon, made in northern Illinois, has advanced to the final 8 “coolest products made in Illinois” in the state’s 2025 “Maker’s Madness” contest. The bourbon is made by Whiskey Acres Distilling Co., in DeKalb.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Johnson warned to seek Council OK before taking action to cover $175M CPS pension payment: Fifteen independent City Council members put Mayor Brandon Johnson on notice Tuesday: Any move he makes to use city funds to cover a $175 million pension for nonteaching school employees must be made with legislative consent. Johnson does not have the votes on the partially elected Chicago Board of Education to approve a borrowing or refinancing measure after seven board members declared their opposition to the mayor’s favored option. As a result, the mayor is now on the clock to come up with a plan B before city auditors close the books Monday on 2024.

* Crain’s | Choose Chicago targets Long Island tourism exec as new CEO: Board members at the city’s tourism agency are in advanced talks to hire Discover Long Island President & CEO Kristen Reynolds as Choose Chicago’s new chief executive, according to sources familiar with the matter. No deal has been completed, but the board’s search committee targeted Reynolds as its top choice after a roughly yearlong hunt to find a new permanent leader for the organization.

* South Side Weekly | Police District Councilor Threatened: A social media post that a 10th Police District Council member made about a police-involved killing has sparked complaints and recriminations between her and two alderpersons. The district councilor, Kiisha Smith, said that a letter Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward) and Ald. Monique Scott (24th) disseminated about the post led to her receiving an anonymous threat. Scott, who also told a pastor he shouldn’t host the district council’s meeting at a Lawndale church, denied the threat was connected to the letter.

* Crain’s | Chicago home price growth more than doubled the national rate in February: For most of the 2010s, Chicago’s home prices lagged the nation, and even when the pandemic and super-low interest rates sparked a housing boom, prices here rallied but didn’t reach the fizzy heights of places like Phoenix and Miami. That’s all changed. As they have for months now, home prices in Chicago rose again robustly in February, not only growing at more than twice the pace of the nation’s prices, but also widening the gap more with each passing month.

* CBS Chicago | Loyola Ramblers didn’t make NCAA Tournament, but are geared up for NIT quarterfinals: Head Coach Drew Valentine and the Loyola Ramblers missed out on making the NCAA Tournament despite a solid season in the Atlantic Ten. But the Ramblers are making the most of a second chance to keep playing in March. They are staying locked in as they prepare for the NIT quarterfinals in what has been a competitive tournament for them so far — having won the first two games by a combined four points.

*** National ***

* The 21st Show | Should Section 230 be repealed?: The shield is to prevent liability for immunity, provide immunity for what’s posted by third parties on these interactive computer services. And then the sword aspect of it is that it allows these… interactive computer services to go in and say, ‘I’m going to remove this material.’ And if they do that with good faith intentions, then their decisions to remove material will not subject them to liability by third parties who say, ‘Hey, you shouldn’t have taken that down. We’re going to sue you because you took that down. You’ve removed material of mine that should have been kept up.’ So that’s kind of a basic overview of Section 230. It’s a shield. It’s a sword.

* WaPo | Vaccine skeptic hired to head federal study of immunizations and autism: The Department of Health and Human Services has hired David Geier to conduct the analysis, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. Geier and his father, Mark Geier, have published papers claiming vaccines increase the risk of autism, a theory that has been studied for decades and scientifically debunked.

* US News | Moody’s Says US Fiscal Strength on Course for Continued Decline: It projects debt to gross domestic product, a key ratio in assessing a country’s finances, will rise to around 130% by 2035 from nearly 100% in 2025. Debt affordability will worsen at a faster rate, with interest payments accounting for 30% of revenue by 2035 from 9% in 2021, it said.

* WaPo | Trump administration cuts national database tracking domestic terrorism: Jensen said this cancellation comes at a time when their data revealed the first two months of 2025 saw a 25 percent increase in terrorism and targeted violence incidents compared to the first two months of last year.

  8 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition (Updated)

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Live coverage

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.

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* When RETAIL Succeeds, Illinois Succeeds
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* SB 328: Separating Lies From Truth
* Hexaware: Your Globally Local IT Services Partner
* SB 328 Puts Illinois’s Economy At Risk
* When RETAIL Succeeds, Illinois Succeeds
* Reader comments closed for the next week
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Campaign updates
* Three-quarters of OEIG investigations into Paycheck Protection Program abuses resulted in misconduct findings
* SB 328 Puts Illinois’s Economy At Risk
* Sen. Dale Fowler honors term limit pledge, won’t seek reelection; Rep. Paul Jacobs launches bid for 59th Senate seat
* Hexaware: Your Globally Local IT Services Partner
* Pritzker to meet with Texas Dems as Trump urges GOP remaps (Updated)
* SB 328: Separating Lies From Truth
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today's edition
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