* The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Illinois had the second-highest unemployment rate in September, behind only Washington, DC. Minnesota (2.0%), Missouri (2.5%), Iowa (2.7%), Indiana (2.8%), Wisconsin (3.2%), Kentucky (3.8%), Ohio (4.0%) and Michigan (4.1%) were all lower than Illinois’ reported rate of 4.5%.
And according to WalletHub, Illinois’ unemployment rate is almost 20 percent higher than it was in September of 2019, months before the pandemic. Only three states, South Carolina, Colorado and Hawaii, fared worse by that measure.
On Thursday, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced the unemployment rate hasn’t changed.
The unemployment rate is at 4.5% right now.
Nonagricultural jobs did increase by over 14,500 in September.
The industries with the most growth are educational and health services, government, and professional and business services.
“Today’s data is a clear indicator that the Illinois labor market continues to remain strong and stable,” said Deputy Governor Andy Manar. “As continued claims levels remain at historical lows, IDES is committed to connecting job seekers and employers throughout the state with the tools and resources they need to take advantage of the current landscape.”
Illinois’ unemployment rate was up one percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate reported for September.
The Illinois unemployment rate was down one percentage point from a year ago when it was at 5.5%.
We may be seeing the first signs of a cooling job market after a red hot summer. The Labor Department reports that US employers added 263,000 jobs in September, a smaller increase and in August the month before, and this might be good news for the Federal Reserve which has been trying to slow down the rate of inflation. And Bureau Chief Economics Correspondent Scott Horsley joins us now. […]
Horsley: Well, it shows that September was another solid month for job gains, but not quite as strong as the month before. The economy added about 16% fewer jobs last month than it did in August. by historical standards. This is still a pretty hot job market but it’s not quite as hot as it was during the summertime. And as you mentioned, that’s kind of what the Federal Reserve has been hoping for,
Q: Which is kind of counterintuitive, right? I mean, a cooling job market is a positive signal for the Federal Reserve. Can you explain that?
Horsley: Well, it is in this case, and that’s because the Fed has been concerned that the job markets been out of balance. There is too much demand for workers for the workers who are available to fill those jobs. And as result, employers have been bidding up wages at an unusually fast pace. Now of course, rising wages is a good thing for workers but it can also add fuel to the inflationary fires. So the Fed has been hoping to see more of a balance between help wanted signs and job applicants. We did get an encouraging sign earlier in the week when the report came out from the Labor Department showing job openings in August fell by about 10% from about 11 million jobs at the start of the month to 10 million just before Labor Day, even as hiring held pretty steady.
* More…
* Illinois gets $7 million for unemployment system upgrades as debt persists : Four major equity projects will be funded through the grant, according to a news release by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. These projects include upgrading the UI service delivery systems, processes and communications for easier access and experience. This involves making the UI information easier to understand, translating the information into various languages, growing the self-service digital options and increasing the outreach to organizations within the community.
* Illinois manufacturers have a job waiting for you: There are nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs open in the U.S. These are some of the best-paying, most technologically advanced and exciting careers out there. That’s especially true in Illinois, which might be called the epicenter of manufacturing in the United States. A recent study found the total economic impact of manufacturing in Illinois is estimated to be between $580 billion and $611 billion annually — the largest share of state’s gross domestic product of any industry. Manufacturing directly employs 662,298 workers but ultimately supports as many as 1,771,928 jobs, generating up to $150 billion in labor income for Illinois residents annually.
* Illinois’ clean energy jobs grew by 5% in 2021: Here’s where the work is: Jobs in clean energy — such as installing solar panel arrays, recycling lithium-ion battery modules and planning electric vehicle charging infrastructure — grew by more than 5,000 in Illinois last year, according to a recent report.
A federal judge Friday agreed to let the feds delay their prosecution of AT&T Illinois for two years, apparently following the lead set in 2020 by another judge when prosecutors first leveled a bribery charge against ComEd.
Both utilities have now faced charges as a result of the yearslong investigation that led to this year’s racketeering case against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. And both have now entered into deferred-prosecution agreements with the office of U.S. Attorney John Lausch.
AT&T Illinois, like ComEd, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. And Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu on Friday told U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso he expected that cooperation to be helpful in the prosecution of Madigan and former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza. […]
Meanwhile, AT&T Illinois aims to resolve its own criminal charge through its deal with the feds. If the utility holds up its end of the bargain, including payment of a $23 million fine, prosecutors are expected to drop the criminal charge filed against it. Alonso set a status hearing in the case for Oct. 14, 2024.
For more than a decade, Brian Gray was AT&T’s top executive in Illinois for a critical area — dealing with politicians in a state known for its corruption.
As the director of legislative affairs, he oversaw a stable of lobbyists, and in recent years he also headed the telecom giant’s political action committee in Illinois.
Gray had joined AT&T in 2000 after serving as a military pilot and rising to the rank of commander in the U.S. Navy, according to his online professional networking profile.
But Gray was one of two longtime executives who stopped working for AT&T in Springfield last month after many years as lobbyists, records show.
And sources close to the ongoing federal investigation into political corruption at the Illinois Capitol say Gray was one of the three unnamed and unindicted employees referred to by authorities in the case filed last week against their onetime boss, the former AT&T President Paul La Schiazza.
The former president of AT&T Illinois pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges alleging he orchestrated and approved a scheme to funnel payments to an associate of then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in exchange for the speaker’s help passing legislation important to the company.
Paul La Schiazza, 65, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury last week with conspiracy, federal program bribery, and using a facility in interstate commerce to promote unlawful activity. The most serious counts carry up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
La Schiazza, who has homes in Rhode Island and Florida, pleaded not guilty through his attorney during a telephone hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cummings. He will remain free on a recognizance bond while his case is pending.
Asked by the judge if he’s currently employed, La Schiazza replied, “No your honor, I am not.”
* Madeleine Doubek, executive director of Change Illinois in Crain’s…
Acevedo was a lobbyist when he took the AT&T payoff, according to federal prosecutors, as was former state Rep. Luis Arroyo when he was caught trying to bribe former state Sen. Terry Link.
Campaign mailers this season claim lawmakers are banned from lobbying their colleagues right after they leave office. That’s technically true, but the key word there is “right.” Former legislators can lobby their colleagues after waiting six months or less if they quit near the end of a General Assembly session. This is one of the weakest cooling-off periods in the nation. It needs to be at least two years.
We need more disclosure and better, searchable databases of lobbyists, consultants and their clients. And what happened to the push to create a searchable database of lobbyists who are campaign donation bundlers? If lobbyist Jane Doe is a bundler who collected $100,000 in donations for candidate John Smith, she likely has much greater influence with Smith than others do.
Acevedo was a consultant for an AT&T lobbyist, so he didn’t have to register. Now he would have to register. I do not understand why the good government advocates continue to ignore this new law. But whether or not the GA strengthens its weak revolving door ban, it ought to include lobbyist consultants in the mix.
The Illinois Veterans’ Home at LaSalle is experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases among its veterans and staff. Based on robust rapid testing and the support of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) laboratories, in quick succession, we have identified 23 staff and 42 residents as positive for COVID-19. All the residents who tested positive have been moved to the negative pressure isolation unit and are being closely monitored and cared for by dedicated Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) personnel. All cases are mild presenting mostly as cold-like symptoms, and no one has required hospitalization. Responsible parties have been notified per CDC regulations and notice of the outbreak is posted on the IDVA website. The IDVA Senior Infection Preventionist has been at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home working with clinical personnel since the onset of this outbreak. Additionally, the State Medical Officer of the Illinois Department Public Health along with IDVA Director Terry Prince have been at the Home to provide advice and assistance. The residents are vaccinated, and COVID-19 treatment therapies have been administered as needed.
Our top priority is the health and safety of our military veterans and the heroic staff who care for them. We take this very seriously. We are following recommendations from local health officials, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the CDC, and the IDPH to safeguard everyone at the facility. This includes conducting health screenings every four hours on our veterans, COVID-19 testing of staff at each shift change, use of N-95 respirator masks with protective face shields, maintaining social-distancing practices, using gloves and gowns, and intensified cleaning and disinfection protocols.
Communal dining has been curtailed in the home until the outbreak has ended. Activities and social services staff continue to develop leisure activities, in accordance with social distancing practices, to care for the psychosocial wellbeing of our veterans. Visitation is allowed; however, we highly encourage family members to delay their visit until the outbreak is resolved.
We are grateful to our team for their incredible work during this difficult time as they have responded swiftly, appropriately, and professionally to this outbreak.
I live in the Northwest suburbs, and we are less than four weeks from an election when the political signs start to blossom for the second time this year, and they are an eyesore.
Most of the villages have specific guidance and allowance for political signs, and don’t allow these signs: in the right of way (between the sidewalk and the curb); on medians within 2 feet of the roadway; in front of empty lots or buildings; or on public property.
It seems that the volunteer organizations that put these signs in place are ignoring the ordinances of the various cities they are in. These are politicians who want our votes ignoring their constituents’ laws.
When one sign is left, many more pop up around it. I know it has been accepted for a long time, but I never knew the cities were against these signs, yet seem neutered to act. While villages allow public displays of personal political support on homes and businesses because they are a great and a powerful representation of our democracy, politicians and their proxies place their signage on public roadways artificially representing the size of their local support while being a visual nuisance and against city code using public property.
* The Question: Should Illinois law be changed to allow the state and local communities to fine campaign committees for each sign removed from a public right of way? Explain, along with how high or low you would make the fine if you could.
* DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin was on the Jeanne Ives SAFE-T Act panel the other day and said this…
One final part about the law, what happens when you dry up cash bail, is that right now, when defendants post bond and they’re found guilty, when restitution is ordered to victims, that money comes out of bond money, and victims of crime will not receive that restitution out of bond money.
* I reached out to the governor’s office to ask about state funding for victims’ assistance and was told the Fiscal Year 2023 budget puts $10.5 million new GRF in the Attorney General’s budget for awards and grants under the Violent Crime Victims Assistance Act, on top of the existing $5.5 million appropriation. Plus, the AG received a new $7 million GRF appropriation for the Crime Victims Service Division. Plus the GRF appropriation for the Court of Claims’ Crime Victims Compensation Act went from $6 million to $7 million. The Court of Claims also gets federal money. There’s also new state funding for the Violent Crime Witness Protection program.
* And there’s another side of the money issue from Sen. Elgie Sims, a SAFE-T Act sponsor…
Sims said the opposition’s misinformation campaign against the ACT is nothing more than a “red herring that is there to distract you from the real issue. The real issue is that over the last five years, not my numbers, $700 million has gone into the cash bail system. Imagine what could happen in the communities” with that kind of money.
Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser has spent the last two weeks working with other state’s attorneys, law enforcement officials and legislators to make changes to the SAFE-T Act before its introduction Jan. 1, 2023.
Mosser, Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz, Peoria County State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos and DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin have met twice a week over Zoom with legislators and advocates for the SAFE-T Act, the Illinois Sheriffs Association, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police for negotiations over changes to the act. […]
Mosser said she worries about how under the new law, defendants in serious crimes would not be detained. For instance, someone involved in a motor vehicle accident that results in death who fled the scene or someone who threatened a school would not be able to be detained, she said.
“I think this was all unintended and when you have a year and a half to pick apart the legislation, you find these things,” Mosser said.
We have the fall veto session coming up here in mid-November. Are you anticipating a follow-up measure related to the SAFE-T Act?
We do have a public safety working group that’s been meeting on this continuously since the end of session. I do understand that they are having some very productive conversations. And if that group has a recommendation for us, we will be prepared to put it on the board and call it (for a vote). It’s likely that they will have a recommendation for us, because we’ve already had three trailer acts to the SAFE-T Act pass. And they’ve committed to continuing to do the work. And a fourth trailer bill would only be keeping with that commitment.
What are your priorities in a follow-up bill?
I don’t have any priorities. My priority is to listen to my caucus. And the caucus is doing the work. They’ve been meeting since the end of session. Our public safety working group is very diverse and geographically diverse, ethnically diverse, genderly diverse. And they’ve been doing the work, meeting with the advocates. They’re going to have a recommendation for me, as the leader of the caucus. I’ll put it before the entire caucus, we’ll vet it, and likely put it on the board, because it’s gone through our process. But it would be premature for me to get ahead of a group that’s been doing that kind of work, with talk about what my agenda would be. I haven’t met with any of these advocacy groups. They’ve been doing work, and the proper respect would be to allow them to continue to do that work.
* More…
* How will eliminating bail affect counties’ finances?: “The first use of bail bond money that comes into the county is for victim restitution and that’s where you’re trying to make those victims whole,” said Hawthorn Woods state Sen. Dan McConchie, the chamber’s Republican leader. “They’re not sure how they’ll handle victim restitution going forward.”
* Lake County sheriff candidates debate SAFE-T Act merits, myths: Idleburg said he’s told people on the campaign trail that when a resident reports someone is trespassing on their property a deputy will come out and tell the person they need to leave and will be able to arrest the person if they determine it is necessary. “(If) you said that this person is a threat to you and your family that individual will be detained and they will be escorted off the property,” Idleburg said. But in a separate interview with the Daily Herald Editorial Board, challenger Mark Vice, a Round Lake Republican, cited that same debunked claim as one reason he’s 100% against the law. Vice is a 16-year veteran of the sheriff’s office.
* SAFE-T Act concerns or making political hay? McHenry County Board sends resolutions opposing act on party-line vote to Springfield: All seven Democrats present voted against the resolution for the SAFE-T Act, while all but County Board member Kelli Wegener, D-Crystal Lake, voted against the resolution opposing House Bill 3447. Wegener abstained, and on Wednesday said she did so because she felt more information was needed before a full vote could take place. Wegener in a statement Wednesday said the resolutions were brought forth “to create a political issue just before the elections.”
* Halpin, Thoms go head-to-head on SAFE-T Act & inflation policy: “It does end the cash bail system, and gets the system back to a threat-based system as opposed to how much money you have in your wallet,” Halpin said. “No cash bail puts a financial burden on the counties,” Thoms said. “Now that could end up increasing property taxes. We’re starting to give the criminals more rights than the victims.”
* Illinois Attorney General candidate Thomas DeVore visits Sycamore to discuss SAFE-T Act: Evans also said she’s concerned by recent gun violence on DeKalb’s north side, especially as it pertains to DeKalb County youth. “That’s why I’m getting involved in politics and even getting involved in the school board because I also know what they kids are being taught in school,” Evans said. “I just see a lot of damage being done to society. And I believe that the SAFE-T Act is going to only make things worse for our communities, make them unsafe, and probably get a lot of people killed.”
* Some of these numbers are inaccurate or, at the very least, confusing. Politico…
Women passing men at the polls
… The data shows 146,362 women and 122,010 men have requested and returned their mail-in-ballots or voted at early-polling sites as of Oct. 20 — or, 54 percent of women and 45 percent of men have voted.
Still outstanding: More women than men have also requested but not yet returned their ballots. The data shows 318,896 women (58 percent) and 229,255 men (42 percent) are still holding on to their ballots.
Not a surprise: Women have outnumbered men in recent elections, according to historical data from the Board of Elections. In the 2020 General Election, women outnumbered men by 15 percent. In the 2018 General Election it was by 14 percent.
OK, using Politico’s numbers, current Illinois data shows that of all ballots returned this fall, 54.5 percent were from women and 45.5 percent were from men. That’s a nine-point spread.
Using State Board of Elections data, in the 2020 general election, the turnout by gender was 54 percent women and 46 percent men, an 8-point spread among the vast majority of voters with identifiable gender status.
In 2018, the spread was 54 percent women to 47 percent men, or 8 points.
So, yeah, if women return their ballots in the same approximate percentage as they requested/received them (16-point spread), then that would be a big difference from years past and signal an absolute blow-out. Right now, though, the return rate is just a wee bit higher than the past two election cycles. That is, of course, still good news on its face for Democrats because that party did very well the last two cycles.
As Bailey seeks to weaken Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Black support, governor launches new ad with endorsement from former President Barack Obama
A new TV spot from Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker touts an endorsement from former President Barack Obama just as the governor’s opponents are seeking to weaken his support among Black voters. […]
The commercial’s release comes after Bailey and his allies have sought to tamp down enthusiasm among Black voters for the first-term governor.
“Black people should not vote for J.B. Pritzker,” former WLS-Ch. 7 reporter Charles Thomas, who is Black, says in an ad from a Bailey-aligned political action committee called People Who Play By The Rules.
OK, first of all, a whole lot of Illinoisans voted for Obama, not just Black Illinoisans.
And, secondly, it looks like the former POTUS cut a bunch of ads the same day, in the same room, wearing the same clothes. This is what a five-minute Twitter search found over the weekend…
When you cast your vote this election, it’s not just candidates on the ballot. Democracy itself is on the line and it’s up to us to defend it. pic.twitter.com/1mI6DO1R70
Obama doesn’t mention Ron DeSantis by name here, but he does say Charlie Crist “cares about people, instead of bullying them.” pic.twitter.com/fsYMIgbbT5
With Democrats struggling against well-funded Republicans to retain control of the U.S. House, some in the party are gazing covetously at the huge war chest assembled by U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., perhaps for a future bid for the U.S. Senate.
Krishnamoorthi says he’s getting a bad rap and that he has more than paid his dues by sharing proceeds of his fundraising with members of his caucus. “When someone else in the House asks me to help, I do,” he said in a phone interview.
But quiet grumbling from other Democrats has been going on for a while and shows no sign of ending soon. […]
Krishnamoorthi doesn’t deny that he’s potentially interested in running for the Senate someday. “I have no idea what’s going to happen to (incumbents) Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth,” he says. “What I do know is that having money obviously helps you get things done in Washington.”
* DPI…
The Democratic Party of Illinois (DPI) today launched wrongforillinois.com to make sure voters know the truth about State Supreme Court candidates Mark Curran and Mike Burke. Both candidates are wrong on abortion, wrong on democracy, wrong on January 6th — and wrong for Illinois.
With zero experience as a judge, Mark Curran is a far-right extremist who is totally unqualified to serve on the State Supreme Court. In addition to his ultra-MAGA views on abortion, election fraud, and January 6th, Curran has been rated “not recommended” by the Illinois State Bar Association.
Mike Burke is being propped up by anti-choice groups and far-right extremists with ties to the January 6th rally. Can we trust Mike Burke to be independent when that’s the company he keeps?
Click HERE to visit the website and learn the truth.
* Illinois early vote totals…
The @illinoissbe has updated early vote totals (10/24/22): Total VBM requested: 795,085 Total VBM returned: 265,937 Total VBM outstanding: 529,148 Return Rate: 33% Total Early Vote: 66,934 Total Grace Period: 1,009 Total Already Voted: 333,880https://t.co/44ga6Axjmq
The most up-to-date Early Vote and Vote By Mail totals in Chicago, night of Sunday, October 23, 2022.
The Early Vote total stands at 5,220 ballots cast.
Additionally, 28,903 Vote By Mail ballots have been returned to the Board – total VBM applications stands at 192,542.
The grand total is 34,123 ballots cast so far in Chicago for the November 8th General Election.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Early voting expands throughout Illinois Monday: Every county has additional designated voting sites open and if you are a Chicago resident, you can vote at any early voting site no matter what ward you live in but voters must cast their ballot at their home precinct.
* Darren Bailey’s uphill candidacy for farmers, cops and Illinoisans who feel ‘pushed aside’: In his run for governor, Bailey has offered himself up as a herald for those he considers to be the overlooked in Illinois, those he believes have been ignored, forgotten and excluded from a Chicago-driven plan led by Pritzker for the state to thrive. It’s a religion-rooted regional crusade that has made Bailey the most conservative major nominee for the highest elected office in Illinois, a state where all three branches of its government are controlled by Democrats.
* Meet the Illinois 72nd House District Candidates: Gregg Johnson and Tom Martens: Johnson: “I do not support repealing the SAFE-T Act, but I do believe it is an imperfect bill that needs further clarification before it takes effect. Working in the Illinois Department of Corrections for over 30 years, I have seen what works and what doesn’t, and the current status quo does not work. […] Martens: “The SAFE-T Act is not criminal justice reform, and it needs to go. Having bail is supposed to be the first deterrent when deciding to commit a crime. No one is holding a gun to anyone’s head and making them commit crime. Sentencing guidelines need reform more than anything.”
* GOP voters told to hold onto mail ballots until Election Day: Republican activists who believe the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump have crafted a plan that, in their telling, will thwart cheating in this year’s midterm elections. The strategy: Vote in person on Election Day or — for voters who receive a mailed ballot — hold onto it and hand it in at a polling place or election office on Nov. 8.
* State’s attorneys have repeatedly called out the governor for this anecdote about moms shoplifting diapers as not reflecting actual reality. But Gov. Pritzker continues using it…
Keep in mind that Darren Bailey is defending a system that’s in place now, where wealthy, the violent people can go free if they have enough cash. And we’re talking murderers and rapists and domestic abusers being led out because they happen to have enough money. And yet someone who might be a shoplifter, a young mother who you know steals diapers and formula, might be put in jail and not be able to get out because she does have a couple hundred dollars to get out awaiting trial.
* From the Chicago Tribune’s story on Darren Bailey…
In one of his daily devotionals that he posts on Facebook, Darren Bailey read passages from Ephesians that included God’s guidance that “slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear.” Bailey said of the slave reference that “we know today what that means is people, if you’re working for someone, if you have someone above you in authority, you know, respect.”
But then he continued reading the passage that included, “Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good that we do, whether we were slaves or free. Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them. Remember, you both have the same master in heaven and he has no favorites.”
I mean, even if he’s right about the passage pertaining to workers and not to actual slaves (and there’s some real debate about that), why even bring it up?
* From the Tribune’s story on Illinois Supreme Court candidate Mark Curran…
This year, in an interview on the political news show “Public Affairs,” he told host Jeff Berkowitz that God prompted him to run for the court after allowing him to see that Freemasons, members of a fraternal organization that has clashed with Catholicism, held sway over the judicial system in Lake County.
Curran walked back some of those comments in his interview with the Tribune. He said he believes many same-sex parents are doing a good job raising their children, and that his concerns were based in religious liberty. He added he didn’t write everything on his Facebook page, doesn’t think the election was rigged against Trump and doesn’t believe the Freemasons still control Lake County’s courts.
As for his faith, he said it is based in “natural law,” and that compels him to rule upon laws as they are, not how he might want them to be. The former Democrat said he is no lockstep partisan, and suggested some of his remarks had a political calculation.
“I ran for U.S. Senate,” he said. “Regardless of how I felt about it, how do you think it would have worked out if I just threw President Trump under the bus? It’s not going to be well-received.”
The “religious liberty” line was mainly in defense of people who didn’t want to serve LGBTQ customers. And that’s what you might call natural law.
And he admits that he went all-in for Trump to avoid upsetting the guy and his followers?
Also, how did he come to the conclusion about the Freemasons controlling Lake County’s courts? Bizarre.
Curran also points to Rochford’s campaign contributions to Chicago power broker Ald. Edward Burke, including a $1,500 donation recorded weeks after federal agents raided the alderman’s offices in 2018 (he has since been indicted on racketeering and bribery charges).
Rochford’s spokeswoman said that check had been written before the news broke, and that the contributions had been a way of honoring the judge’s late father James Rochford, a Chicago police superintendent who had a tradition of donating to Burke’s annual Christmas event.
If that’s truly the reason, then she shoulda had more sense than that.
In a small southern Illinois town earlier this year, a 58-year-old employee at the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center was accused of sexually assaulting a person with a “severe or profound intellectual disability.”
The victim, who was unable to give consent, was only identified in court records with the initials “E.K.” and the alleged assailant was later identified as a mental health technician at the 270-bed, state-run home who also was accused of a separate sexual assault of a girl under 13.
The shocking charges against Charles Mills this March were the latest in a string of scandals at Choate, a home in downstate Anna for people with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, though few significant reforms at the home had been taken. […]
But some advocates for people with developmental disabilities question whether Pritzker’s reforms are enough and why Choate continues to operate. Experts who’ve studied and monitored residential services in Illinois and nationally say harmful conditions can flourish in large, state-run homes for people with developmental disabilities — of which Choate is one of seven in Illinois. Federally funded research shows 16 other states and the District of Columbia had “closed, downsized, privatized or converted” all of their similar facilities as of 2018.
Disability service providers across the nation are overwhelmingly turning away new referrals, shutting down programs and services and struggling to maintain standards and there’s no relief in sight.
Findings released this month from a survey of 718 organizations serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities nationally show that providers are continuing to shrink more than two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic set the beleaguered sector into a tailspin.
Of the providers surveyed, 83% said they are turning away new referrals, 63% indicated that they have discontinued programs and services and more than half said they’re considering further closures. Nearly all respondents said they’ve had trouble achieving quality standards. […]
And the problems are only expected to get worse. The survey found that 66% of providers anticipate more vacancies and higher turnover when COVID-19 relief funding runs out and other regulatory flexibilities associated with the public health emergency end.
The findings come just months after Congress failed to move forward despite more than a year of negotiation on an ambitious Biden administration plan to invest $400 billion to reinvigorate the nation’s home and community-based services system.
71% of Case Managers are Struggling to Find Available Providers
FACT: More than four in 10 respondents (42%) reported that they offer case management services in addition to long-term services and supports. Of those respondents, 71% indicated that it is difficult to connect families with services due to lack of available providers.
IMPACT: Case managers work with people with I/DD to coordinate services to meet their needs. Due to their role finding and managing availability of services, case managers are often in a unique position to assess accessibility of the provider network—suggesting there are now fewer services to be offered than before.
I get it. To many of you, I’m different. I’m a working farmer who speaks with a Downstate twang and buys my suits off the rack. But like you, I feel that taxes are too high, our streets aren’t safe and our education system is failing our kids. And after back-to-back billionaire governors, it just isn’t working for us. It’s time we have a governor who understands families. I will put people first, not the elites. Let’s fire Pritzker and take our state back
…Adding… Pritzker campaign…
In Darren Bailey’s latest ad, he claims he “understands families,” but time and time again he’s made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t understand any family who lives, loves, or worships differently than he does.
Bailey and his running mate, Stephanie Trussell, have repeatedly used social media to disparage the Muslim and LGBTQ+ communities. He once posted a video that claimed “Islam is NOT a religion of peace,” and denigrated transgender individuals, writing, “When a young girl decides she is too fat and develops an eating disorder, we get her psychological help. When a young girl decides she is a boy, we adjust reality to fit her desires.” Bailey has also stated that he “believe[s] in biblical marriage between a man and a woman.”
Numerous anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ+ groups have supported Bailey, including the Illinois Family Institute and Awake IL, an organization that Bailey continued to support even after their posts led to vandalism and harassment at UpRising Bakery and Café.
“Darren Bailey’s hateful speech and dangerous positions towards women, Muslims, Jews, and LGBTQ+ individuals show how far he is from ‘understanding’ Illinois families. He enthusiastically takes every opportunity to double down on his radical agenda to spread hate and divide us, even going so far as to introduce legislation that would kick Chicago out of the state,” said JB for Governor spokeswoman Eliza Glezer. “With Darren Bailey at the top of the Republican ticket, hate is truly on the ballot. On November 8, Illinoisans will send a resounding message that hate has no home in Illinois.”
House Speaker Chris Welch reported raising a whopping $14 million in the third quarter, with almost half of that, $6 million, coming from Gov. J.B. Pritzker. That gives Welch a huge cash advantage for the home stretch over his Republican counterpart.
Welch’s personal campaign committee reported raising $7 million between July 1 and Sept. 30, and reported having $11.6 million cash on hand at the end.
Welch’s caucus committee, Democrats for the Illinois House, also reported raising $7 million in the same time period, with $6 million of that coming from Pritzker. The committee ended the quarter with about $5.8 million in the bank after spending $6.4 million.
From Oct. 1 through Oct. 21, Welch reported raising another $1.5 million for his personal committee and about $500,000 for his caucus committee, giving him a total of $19.4 million to spend in the final five weeks or so of the campaign if he cleans out the accounts. Welch earlier transferred close to $10 million from his personal committee to his caucus committee. So, his available cash for the final push is likely up to $16 million, but could be more if the need arises.
Senate President Don Harmon reported raising $4.9 million during the third quarter for his personal committee and ended with $13 million in the bank.
Harmon’s caucus committee, ISDF, raised about $9 million, with $7 million of that coming from Harmon’s personal committee and another $1 million from Pritzker. It ended the quarter with $4 million after transferring out $4.5 million to members and spending $1.9 million on polling, media production, etc. plus some overhead.
Harmon has reported raising another $1.8 million from Oct. 1-21 for his personal committee and $6.1 million for his caucus committee, with $1 million from Pritzker and $5 million transferred from Harmon’s personal committee. So, he’s sitting on a total of $19.9 million, plus another million or so in his other accounts.
As expected, Republican fundraising could not even come close to keeping pace with the Democrats. House Republican Leader Jim Durkin’s personal committee reported raising $820,000 in the third quarter, just 12% of Welch’s haul. Durkin ended the quarter with $319,000, after spending $1.8 million, including sending $300,000 to his caucus committee, House Republican Majority. He’s since reported raising $1.4 million through Oct. 21.
House Republican Majority reported raising about $1.4 million in the third quarter, plus Durkin’s $300,000. It spent $1.6 million and ended the quarter with $220,000. It has since reported raising $1.6 million through Oct. 21, but $850,000 of that came from Durkin’s personal committee.
All told, that left Durkin with about $2.5 million to spend in the final five weeks — about 16% of Welch’s grand total.
Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie reported raising $2.7 million in the third quarter, with about $2.2 million of that coming from Richard Uihlein. He reported spending $3.1 million, with $2.9 million going to his caucus committee, Senate Republican Victory Fund. He ended the third quarter with $1.2 million cash on hand and has since reported raising $870,000.
The Senate Republican Victory Fund reported raising about $400,000 in the quarter, plus the $2.9 million transferred in by McConchie. It spent $3.3 million, and ended the quarter with $296,000. It has since reported raising $1.3 million, with $1 million of that coming from McConchie’s personal campaign.
Total it up, and it appears that McConchie has about $2.6 million to spend on the final five weeks — about 12% of what Harmon has.
Legislative caucuses, the governor and other candidates all qualify for a major postage discount by using their respective state parties to handle their mailing operations. So, looking at party spending gives us an idea of what’s happening on the mailer front.
After shedding leadership that couldn’t legally raise or spend state campaign funds, the Democratic Party of Illinois reported bringing in $8.3 million in the third quarter and ended with $5.8 million. It has since reported bringing in $4.3 million, giving it $10.1 million in available mailer spending during the final weeks.
The Illinois Republican Party raised $2.2 million, spent $1.5 million and ended with $1.1 million cash on hand. The ILGOP has since reported bringing in $3 million, giving it $4.1 million for the home stretch — much less than half what DPI had.
* With redistricting, two IL lawmakers don’t live in the districts they want to represent: Two candidates from Madison County filed to run for state offices in the Nov. 8 election even though they do not live within the new boundaries of the districts they wanted to represent. But since this is the first election after the state’s redistricting process, the two candidates — state Rep. Amy Elik, a Republican running in the 111th District, and state Sen. Kris Tharp, a Democrat running in the 56th District — are allowed to stay on the ballot.
* Suburban Democrats spend big to hold two U.S. House seats in newly redrawn districts: ‘We are running to win’: The congressional districts mapped last year by the Democratic super-majorities in the state Legislature were drawn to give the party an advantage, and analysts have rated both seats as likely wins for Democrats. On top of that, Underwood and Casten both have out-spent their Republican rivals, with Underwood’s $3.7 million more than 10 times the $300,000 Gryder had spent as of the latest campaign finance reports. Casten has outspent Pekau nearly 5 to 1.
* Neither side is taking anything for granted in this congressional race: Foster is in a potential semi-pickle in part because Democratic Party leaders got greedy earlier this year. In hopes of shoring up neighboring suburban Democrat Lauren Underwood and creating a second district for Latinos on the north side of the metropolitan area, Foster’s old district was dismembered in the remap. Joliet and parts of Naperville and Aurora were taken out and the new district was moved so far west, all the way to Belvidere, that Foster prizes an endorsement that he just got from the Illinois Farm Bureau. A district that was majority minority now is heavily white.
* We’re getting out of the endorsement game: Crain’s reporting is and always will be independent and rigorous. But at a time when trust in the media generally is at a low point, we’re cognizant that anything we do that erodes that trust further is a mistake. And given the plethora of political information that’s readily available now, continuing an endorsement tradition rooted in the days when such information was scarce is unnecessary.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported that more than 1.1 million Illinoisans have received a dose of the new, bivalent COVID-19 vaccines since they were approved for use in early September, including 207,000 doses in the last week. Since the approval of the updated booster shots, daily vaccination numbers have been trending at the highest level since early February, during the major surge in illnesses caused by the Omicron variant. The new bivalent vaccines are designed to offer added protection from the now-dominant strains of the Omicron variant.
The announcement comes as the CDC released data showing that 26 counties in Illinois are at an elevated level for COVID-19, up from 16 a week ago. This includes three counties at High Community Level for COVID-19. IDPH is reporting 11,955 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, including 43 deaths since October 14.
“I am encouraged to see the large and growing numbers of Illinoisans who are taking action to protect themselves and their families with the new bivalent booster,” IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said. “For those who have not gotten the new bivalent booster or the flu shot, NOW is the best time to get fully immunized and protected, while COVID-19 community levels are still relatively low. As we are currently experiencing a sharp increase in severe pediatric respiratory diseases that is resulting in a shortage of pediatric beds – and at the same time facing the prospect of a fall and winter surge of COVID-19 and other illnesses affecting all of us – I am strongly recommending the latest COVID-19 and flu shots for all those who are eligible. These immunizations are especially important for anyone over 50, immunocompromised, or those with chronic medical conditions.”
IDPH is working with the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (ICAAP) to encourage physicians and parents to ensure children are fully protected from COVID-19 and the flu. ICAAP is providing resources for doctors and parents HERE.
IDPH reported that over the last week, an average of more than 29,000 doses of the new bivalent vaccines were administered across the state each day. This is more than triple the daily average for all vaccinations for most of the summer.
The CDC authorized two new bivalent booster vaccines on September 1 that include an mRNA component of the original strain to provide an immune response that is broadly protective against COVID-19 and an added mRNA component in common between the omicron variant BA.4 and BA.5 lineages to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant.
Initially, the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, was authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18 years of age and older and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, was authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 12 years of age and older. On October 12, the CDC authorized the updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech for children ages 5 through 11 years, and from Moderna for children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years.
The updated boosters are available at pharmacies, hospitals, and other healthcare providers. The best way to locate a vaccine provider near you is to visit www.vaccines.gov and search for bivalent booster availability.
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 3,796,038 cases, including 35,168 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic.
As of last night, 1,060 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 124 patients were in the ICU and 51 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide case rate is 94 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Illinoisans.
* The Question: Have you received your bivalent booster yet? Explain.
Intro: German Shepherd barking with a mother and son carving pumpkins on the porch.
Mike: “Nothing’s better than a good watch dog to protect the family - keep you safe when you’re not looking.
As State Treasurer, that’s what I’ve done.
When big banks and tech companies tried to rip us off, I made them pay back over 1.5 billion dollars to taxpayers.
And I forced life insurance companies to pay families back over $800 million in unclaimed benefits.
It’s your money and I’m proud to be your watch dog.”
In about a month, 58 states attorney’s sued the state over the SAFE-T Act. Now, they are being consolidated into a single county.
A court document published Thursday shows all parties involved decided to consolidate all the cases into Kankakee County. Kankakee State’s Attorney Jim Rowe was the first state’s attorney to sue the state over the SAFE-T Act. All parties were consulted before the motion was filed.
“Allowing one court to resolve the challenges to the SAFE-T Act will thus not only avoid the risk of conflicting rulings and relief, but also minimize the expenditure of resources by and before multiple courts,” the document reads.
By the way, if you want a copy of Sen. Scott Bennett’s reform legislation, click here.
A claim seen by many PFA opponents is that county jail populations will see significant reductions once it goes into effect in January 2023. However when asked on Wednesday, [Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell] said it was still undetermined whether those incarcerated prior to Jan. 1 would be let out retroactively.
Still, having to “prepare for the worst,” the sheriff recounted the number of people currently in the Sangamon County Jail and gave an assessment. Looking at county jail statistics from August, he said approximately 100 out of the approximate 330 inmates in the county jail could be let out.
“That’s about a third of the jail, but again that may not happen,” Campbell said, who previously joined with Wright in a lawsuit against the state over the SAFE-T Act.
A question raised from the audience was about the elimination of requiring a sworn affidavit when filing a complaint against a police officer or department, but [Quincy Police Chief Adam Yates] said that won’t affect Quincy.
“We haven’t required that for about 20 years,” he said. “If we get a complaint through any means, we investigate all of those.”
I have never understood the opposition to anonymous complaints because law enforcement has heavily relied on anonymous tips forever.
* Hearings were held on a proposed omnibus bill for months and months. The Illinois Supreme Court even formed a study commission in 2017, which included a wide range of stakeholders, and which released a report in 2020. So, this claim is exaggerated for effect…
The sponsors of the SAFE-T Act have asserted they were addressing flaws in our state’s criminal justice system. If this was true, then input should have come from judges, state prosecutors, public defenders, private criminal defense attorneys, law enforcement officers, probation officers, civil rights advocates, victim’s rights groups and clerks of the circuit courts.
The proper way to address the merits of a bill is to hold hearings, allow proponents and opponents to be heard and allow the members of the General Assembly to discuss both the purpose of the proposed law and the precise statutory language to be adopted.
In other words, create a legislative history.
The 764-page SAFE-T Act was introduced in the Illinois Senate at 4 a.m., and it passed at 5 a.m. It took the Illinois Senate only one hour to radically alter Illinois’ justice system. Hours later, the SAFE-T Act was introduced in the Illinois House for the first time. It passed at 11 a.m. No bona fide hearings or debates occurred. There was no opportunity for input from proponents or opponents. Ramrodding through any bill, let alone one that will profoundly affect the lives and safety of nearly 13 million Illinoisans, is irresponsible, improper and wrong.
* CPD Superintendent…
In response to a question from Ald. Marty Quinn, Brown calls for changes to be made to the criminal justice reform law (known as the SAFE-T act) that would require defendants with a history of violent crimes to be held before they are tried.
Rich – A statement from Ald. Quinn in regard to Cherone’s tweet you posted. Thanks!
“When I spoke in opposition of the SAFE-T Act today, I offered Supt. Brown my help in repealing the portion of the Act that allows electronic monitoring to more individuals. He was open to that, and I’m glad he saw things in a similar way.”
* Illinois SAFE-T Act: McHenry County board OKs resolution to oppose controversial new law: County board members voted 13-8 at a Tuesday night meeting to pass a resolution opposing the SAFE-T Act after listening to the public’s comments and engaging in a “robust debate” on how to protect the interests of McHenry County constituents, a statement said.
* I’m a pastor, policy advocate and mom, and I support the Pretrial Fairness Act: If you have some questions about what’s happening with money bond and incarceration in our state, I totally understand. Illinois has been inundated with lies regarding the Pretrial Fairness Act, the portion of the SAFE-T Act that will end our state’s use of money bond in January. As disinformation and scare tactics spread, the Winnebago County Board passed a resolution calling for the repeal of this legislation. While their resolution has no actual legal effect, I was disheartened by the messaging.
* Taxes, public safety among topics in Kane County Board District 18 election: Williams, 52, of Blackberry Township, said issues for voters include the SAFE –T Act and taxes. In regard to the SAFE –T Act, Williams said there are concerns about “the no-cash bail provision of the law.” Public safety has been a concern as crime seems to be migrating from Chicago to areas west of the city, he said. “There has been an influx of crime in the area from people coming in from the city. We’ve had several instances in my subdivision where stolen cars have entered and people’s belongings and homes have been invaded,” Williams said.
* Should possession of a little fentanyl, cocaine and heroin be a misdemeanor, not a felony?: McHenry County officials don’t think so, judging by what State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally and Coroner Dr. Michael Rein told a county board committee recently. “As with the SAFE-T Act, the supermajorities in the House and Senate are attempting to quietly remake the criminal justice system in extreme ways that jeopardize public safety,” Kenneally said in a release after the meeting. “Decriminalizing marijuana was the first step toward legalization, and that appears to be the track Springfield is now on with fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, PCP, LSD, methamphetamines and Ecstasy. … “Consequences are an incredibly important part of treating drug addiction,” he said. If charges for personal-use amounts of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine are reduced to misdemeanors, he said, defendants will not be eligible to participate in drug-court programs.
According to [AdImpact, a Chicago media analytics firm], combined spending on TV and radio since July 1 has hit the $65 million mark. A few more ads likely will be purchased, but the $65 million includes payments for ads that will run over the next two and a half weeks before the Nov. 8 election.
Either way, it appears to be a record figure. In 2020, a reported $47 million was spent on political media ads here. That was a drop from 2018 when the total was $62 million. But that election featured the battle of the billionaires for governor with J.B. Pritzker taking on the well-off then-incumbent Bruce Rauner and his super-rich friend, Ken Griffin.
However, particularly notable is spending, even on broadcast TV, for seats in the state House and Senate. Any single House district represents only a tiny fraction of the Chicago area, less than 2%. So 98% of the money spent on those ads by a particular candidate is, in a sense, wasted. But those ads are still coming and, anecdotally, more state rep candidates are on Chicago TV than ever before.
In 2020, the House Democrats ran Chicago broadcast ads for 11 candidates, about what they’re doing this year so far. But they went up pretty early this year in some races.
Subscribers have been getting a full rundown of these ads in both chambers, including another one today. And, sure, those ads reach far more people who don’t live in the district than those who do. But the spending is about reaching as many people who vote in the district as possible, and broadcast is still a valuable tool which has been shown to work time and time again.
* Foster, Casten and Schneider are targeted by a Dick Uihlein-funded PAC…
As Governor, my administration will oppose mandating COVID vaccines for grade school, college and employment. We all know the mandate candidate, J.B. Pritzker, will force it on your kids because he thinks the government knows better than parents. #twill
The radio interview grew intense when Thomas accused Pritzker of taking Blacks for granted during his first term in office.
Thomas said, “The reason I’m doing what I’m doing right now is not because they’re paying me $50,000. Keep in mind I got expenses too. I got to pay people that work with me. But why I’m doing this is because of this, ‘if you ain’t a Democrat, you ain’t Black.’ This [President] Joe Biden BS. I’m tired of that. I’m not going to do that anymore. And I’m not going to have JB Pritzker come up here and talk about he’s going to give us equity in the weed business, and we got nothing. Zero. He took us for granted. He played us.”
When asked where Bailey stands on the cannabis issue, Thomas replied, “Darren Bailey voted against cannabis being legalized. But I did ask him very pointedly, I said, ‘what would you have done if you had been governor and the legislature Democratic supermajority overruled you and legalized cannabis despite your veto? He said, well I would have to make sure everybody got their fair share. And I said does that mean Black folks would have got 15 to 20 percent of the stores that are already there. He said, ‘well I guess so if that is what equity is.’
“I guess so.” Well, that changes everything. /s
* ILGOP…
“From Pritzker’s tax increases to Bidenflation, Nikki Budzinski has made a career out of making life more expensive for Illinois residents,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. It’s troubling that as Illinois residents struggle with Pritzker’s taxes and Biden’s inflation - that she helped cause as Budget Director - that Budzinski has been able to do so well for herself.”
* I missed this one from the other day…
Indicted former Speaker of the Illinois House Mike Madigan’s latest corruption charges involving AT&T amplify just how complicit current Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch and Democratic Party of Illinois Chair and State Representative Lisa Hernandez - both major recipients of Madigan Money - were in allowing corruption to run without restrictions in the Democratic party.
“Speaker Welch and Chairwoman Hernandez abdicated their responsibility to the people of Illinois to cover for Mike Madigan and were rewarded for their loyalty by obtaining major leadership positions in the Democratic Party,” said Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin. “What do they have to say now about the corruption charges against their leader and political godfather? The people of Illinois deserve to know.”
Two years ago, after ComEd admitted to a nearly ten-year scheme to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin demanded the creation of a special committee to investigate Madigan’s corrupt activity and determine grounds for discipline. Instead of running a real investigation, Welch, who was chosen to ‘lead’ the committee by Madigan, called it a “show trial” and shut down the committee without issuing any conclusions or findings after only three sham meetings, one witness and no subpoenas.
“Welch and Hernandez presided over a sham ‘Special Investigation’ into then-Speaker Madigan’s role in the ComEd scandal. They used it to provide him political cover, and were rewarded for their ‘hard work’,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. “The Democrats talk about the defining choice in this election, and they are correct - we are very different. Democrats cover for corruption to protect their power and Republicans want to take it away and give it back to the people of Illinois.”
Welch called the investigation a “political show that was concocted” by Republicans as a “power grab” for the minority party – but federal investigations prove otherwise as corruption charges against Madigan and his accomplices continue to grow.
After successfully shutting down the House investigation into Madigan, Welch was promoted to Speaker of the House and Hernandez was elected as the new chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. All three Democrats on the investigative panel were funded by campaign committees controlled by Speaker Madigan who had given about $585,000 to Manley, nearly $133,000 to Hernandez and more than $100,000 to Welch, according to state election board records as reported by WBEZ.
“Speaker Welch and Chairwoman Hernandez had the opportunity to live up to their oaths of office and end the pervasive corruption that has plagued our state,” said House Deputy Republican Leader Tom Demmer who served on the committee. “Instead, they chose to protect the power of politicians and political insiders. They failed the committee, they failed the people of Illinois and they continue to remain silent and actionless as the culture of corruption continues to operate.”
* Press release…
A press conference in support of HB 5785/SB 4229 will be held Friday, Oct. 21, in Rockford. Together with State Rep. Dave Vella of Rockford and State Sen. Christopher Belt of Swansea, Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza is championing a measure to ensure timely compensation for the next of kin of fallen first responders and members of the armed forces.
The state’s Line of Duty Compensation Act provides benefits for the families of law enforcement officers, members of the armed forces, firemen, paramedics and other first responders killed in the line of duty. However, the appropriations for these benefits can sometimes run out before the end of a fiscal year, requiring the state legislature to approve supplemental appropriations. That needlessly costs families time when they need support the most urgently. This measure aims to ensure a continuing line of appropriation so that there is no delay to the families.
* Laying the groundwork for a “stolen election” claim? Maybe…
New Poll Shows Darren Bailey Within Striking Distance of J.B. Pritzker in Illinois https://t.co/lMdEh5u8hE
That poll claimed 44 percent of the electorate say they’re Republicans, compared to 47 percent who said they were Democrats. I don’t know of any other Illinois statewide polls in the last 20 years which show a spread that even.
The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) was able to help thousands of homeowners with their mortgage payments last spring. Now, the Pritzker administration is reopening the mortgage assistance program to help more people who struggled to make payments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
IHDA is making $115 million available to eligible homeowners starting Nov. 1. People can receive up to $30,000 from the Homeowner Assistance Fund, which is paid directly to a mortgage service or lender.
…Adding… New ad…
I'm fighting to stop Biden and Pelosi's radical agenda and protect our Southern Illinois values. Check out my newest TV commercial that is airing district-wide! pic.twitter.com/irLfu2PtUo
The @illinoissbe has updated early vote totals (10/21/22): Total VBM requested: 780,487 Total VBM returned: 235,002 Total VBM outstanding: 545,485 Return Rate: 30% Total Early Vote: 60,021 Total Grace Period: 828 Total Already Voted: 295,851https://t.co/44ga6AxRbY
* Foster, Lauf on opposite sides of abortion debate: But after winning the 11th District GOP primary in June, Lauf removed a section about her stance on abortion from the site. The missing text can be found on the nonpartisan Ballotpedia website.
* Illinois gubernatorial candidates asked about gender affirming care for minors: “Just look at the Parental Notification Act, Governor Pritzker allows children to make their own decisions without their parents involved, and it is wrong,” Bailey said. “I believe parents have the best interest in mind for their children and that parents should be making that decision, not teachers or doctors or governors.”
* Schakowsky’s fundraising towers over GOP challenger Rice’s: Schakowsky, of Evanston, collected $166,898 during the year’s third quarter, records show — far from the million-dollar hauls that U.S. Reps. Sean Casten of Downers Grove or Lauren Underwood of Naperville reported for their respective races in the 6th and 14th Districts.
* Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza touts a financial rebound while her GOP opponent questions her ties to Madigan: Teresi entered October with a little more than $26,000 in her campaign fund after raising more than $38,000 from July through September, including $21,000 from the campaign fund of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, who headed Griffin’s slate of Republican candidates but finished third in the GOP primary for governor. Mendoza had more than $1.4 million on hand at the start of the month, having raised more than $623,000 and spent a little more than $184,000 in the previous quarter.
* 18th State House District candidates Gabel and Hutchinson talk key Illinois issues ahead of the election: Hutchinson said the [SAFE-T] act has made Illinois’ neighborhoods unsafe. He said he supports providing police with more resources to address crime in communities instead. Gabel, who supports the act, said because it has not gone into effect yet, it has not affected neighborhood safety. She said she supports the act because it seeks to reform systemic racism in the criminal justice system by addressing use of force, body camera usage and pretrial detention, among other issues. The two candidates did, however, agree that banning automatic assault weapons would better protect communities from gun violence.
* Incumbent Joe Aiello faces newcomer Daniel Pittman in race for Sangamon County treasurer: This is Pittman’s first time running for elected office. He has received endorsements from Vote Vets, New Politics and Run For Something. Aiello works closely with organizations such as Veterans Administration, American Legion, St. John’s Breadline and others. As for endorsements, “The most important endorsement is from the voter on Election Day,” Aiello said.
* Recruiters at breweries, schools to fix poll worker shortage: As Adams noted, part of the challenge in recruiting more poll workers is reaching younger people. That’s something Cook County, Illinois (where Chicago is located) has been working hard at. Sally Daly, the deputy clerk of communications at Cook County Clerk’s Office, explained that they’ve been doing outreach with high school students. Even before the students are old enough to vote, they can sign up to work the polls. “We go into [high schools] and make a pitch to students .. .and let them know if they’re 16 years or older they can serve as an election judge. And we pay, they can make some money for a day and also serve their democracy,” she said.
* Posted in the order they were received. Pritzker campaign…
Today, the JB for Governor campaign released a new ad featuring two-term Democratic President and South Side resident Barack Obama sharing his endorsement of Governor JB Pritzker and Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton for reelection.
President Barack Obama: Illinois will always hold a special place in my heart. You believed in me before anyone else did. And you believed in JB Pritzker, too.
He’s made Illinois a national leader on so many issues we care about: raising the minimum wage, protecting voting rights, cracking down on the sale of illegal guns.
JB also signed a landmark law protecting a woman’s right to choose.
That’s why I’m proud to cast my ballot to reelect JB Pritzker.
That’ll be on broadcast TV, as well as other platforms.
…Adding… Looks like Obama taped other candidate endorsement ads in the same room. Click here.
* Proft’s PAC…
People Who Play By The Rules PAC has launched a new ad, “POLITICIAN VS. PROSECUTOR.” It is available on YouTube, the PBR PAC Facebook Page and will run on statewide media this week.
Both are Democrats, but only one is telling the truth.
Pritzker: “There’s no such thing under the SAFE-T Act as ‘non-detainable offenses.’ No one is getting out of jail, if prosecutors do that that’s on them.”
VERSUS
Glasgow: “Well obviously, that is not the truth. We have about 640 people in jail. Half of them would walk out on Day 1, and that’s not on the prosecutor, that’s on the statute.”
* Illinois is the second-largest sports betting market in the US. WGN…
The latest data release by the Illinois Gaming Board shows $565 million in gross gaming revenues for the state in August alone, $8 million more than New Jersey.
According to PlayIllinois.com, an online blog based in Las Vegas devoted to news about legal and regulated gambling in Illinois, those revenues were up 9% from July and a whopping 41% from August 2021.
PlayIllinois attributes the growth to a March 2022 change in legislation which allowed Illinois residents to register for sportsbooks through the internet rather than at one of the state’s land-based casinos.
The August data also shows the state has passed the $1 billion mark in gross gaming revenue from online activity since it began 29 months prior. That amount accounts for 94% of all sports bets made, meaning only 6% of sports bets are made in physical books across Illinois.
A proposal to relocate and expand Aurora’s Hollywood Casino is cleared for a final vote at the Aurora City Council meeting Oct. 25.
If the deal passes — the 12 City Council members had no objections to the proposal at Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting — the new resort will be located on Farnsworth Avenue, across from the Chicago Premium Outlets on the city’s east side.
The new Hollywood Casino campus would move from its current location on the Fox River to the I-88 corridor where it would occupy a space that would include a 200-room hotel and a 10,000-square-foot event space, officials said. The city-owned site most recently housed two hotels and a car dealership. […]
The funding includes a $50 million bond issuance from the city, which officials said would be repaid from increased property taxes received from the new site, not from general funds from taxpayers.
“As an added assurance, if property taxes aren’t enough to cover payment in any given year, Penn has agreed to make up the difference,” Clayton wrote in an email.
CBS 2’s Shardaa Gray spent Wednesday speaking with business owners near the existing casino, some who want it to stay, while others say good riddance.
One business said they’d like to see the casino stay because it brings in customers. Another business said they’ll do fine if they stay or leave, but one restaurant said the casino is hurting their business. […]
Despite council members wanting to move forward, some residents are against the move.
“I want you to think about this check and next week when I come back, if you vote yes, I’m going to ask you to sign this check,” said Aurora resident David Cannon during a city council meeting.
While other suburban casinos are moving to new locations, Elgin’s Grand Victoria Casino is not only staying put but unveiling a new $4 million renovation that adds a Caesars Sportsbook and a World Series of Poker Room to its downtown operation. […]
Staying competitive in an Illinois gaming market that is “evolving just about every time you turn your head” is the goal, he said, and they’re always looking for ways to add new gaming experiences.
While competitor Hollywood Casino plans to move its Aurora and Joliet casinos to new locations — the former is leaving its downtown spot for a higher traffic area near Interstate 88 and Farnsworth Avenue — Grand Victoria won’t be going anywhere, Guerrero said.
“We are committed to the city of Elgin, to our region,” he said. “We are happy with the support and the assistance we’ve gotten through the community, and we hope to continue those relationships going forward.”
* More…
* Bally’s Chicago Comes to Project Labor Agreement: Bally’s Corporation (NYSE: BALY) today announced that it has signed a Multi-Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the Chicago & Cook County Building & Construction Trades Council (CCBT) and the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department as it relates to construction of its flagship Bally’s Chicago casino.
* Bullets, Ballots And Bribery Define Early Illinois Gambling History: In Illinois’ early days, Americans generally accepted gambling as entertainment. But, when gambling commercialization took over, criminality followed, and the pastime became associated with laziness and vice —particularly among the upper classes. By 1830, Chicago’s protestant clergy denounced the activity, and city officials followed suit, jailing the owners of at least two local betting parlors.
* Rivers Tops Illinois Casinos Again In September: Last month, all 11 brick-and-mortar casinos in Illinois combined to hold over $113.8 million of gamblers’ wagers on slots and table games. Rivers accounted for about 41.3% of that total with $47 million in gross receipts. The next strongest performer in September 2022 was the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin. Gross revenue from slots and table games there for the month came to about $12.1 million. The only other Illinois casino to post gross revenue of at least $10 million in September 2022 was Harrah’s Casino & Hotel in Joliet.
* 2,200 housing units near casino site get plan commission’s OK: The proposal envisions four high-rises, the tallest being 620 feet, or roughly 60 stories. Developer Jeffrey Shapack said he would start the multiphase project by converting a Salvation Army building at 509 N. Union Ave. into a hotel with 141 rooms.
* Darren Bailey makes stops in Southern Illinois Thursday on his state wide bus tour: “Gas, groceries, heating our homes. It has become too much. It’s too much. And it’s unfortunate that the little things, the sweetest things in life. We’re having to cut those out and it shouldn’t be that way. We can fix that. We can fix that. And we will. And it will start on November nine, Friends.” Bailey and Trussell also made a stop in Mt. Vernon, Anna, and Harrisburg. They were joined by Senator Terri Bryant and Representatives Paul Jacobs and Patrick Windhorst.
* Formerly incarcerated people in Illinois would get help finding jobs if a proposed bill passes: With the national unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated residents standing at about 27%, compared to 5% in the general population, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a nonpartisan think tank. Now, Illinois lawmakers and advocates hope the proposed SAFER Communities Act will further help returning citizens — while at the same time helping small businesses and communities, too.
* As candidates fill the airwaves, spending on campaign ads hits a record pace: According to the firm, combined spending on TV and radio since July 1 has hit the $65 million mark. A few more ads likely will be purchased, but the $65 million includes payments for ads that will run over the next two and a half weeks before the Nov. 8 election.
* Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza touts a financial rebound while her GOP opponent questions her ties to Madigan: Teresi, 38, has since run a low-profile campaign in her bid to unseat Mendoza, attempting to tie her opponent to Democratic corruption while arguing that her financial credentials make her better suited for the relatively obscure state office, which oversees the state’s checkbook. Mendoza, 50, who made a failed bid for Chicago mayor in 2019 and is often seen to still have higher political ambitions, isn’t shy about taking credit for a modest rebound in the state’s finances during her six years in office — she was elected to a full term two years after winning a special election in 2016.
* Senate District 36: Candidate Halpin answers questions on pandemic, jobs and public safety: “Like throughout Western Illinois what Galesburg needs is jobs, jobs, jobs. We’ve seen over the years companies continue to shift jobs overseas and down to Mexico. I mean it’s been happening for 20 years or more. Maytag leaving in 2004, Gates Rubber shutting down divisions, any number of businesses throughout western Illinois. And so we need to start bringing things back,” Halpin said.
* Our public servants are getting old. Are toxic politics scaring away young people?: “We need a new generation,” U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Oct. 9. “We need new blood, in the House, the Senate and White House. I think that the country has been saying that.” I’ll add that we need new blood on city councils, village boards, township boards, park boards, library boards and other local units of government.
* Beyond the Race for Governor, This Illinois Election Will Feature Some Big Decisions: The balance of the state’s Supreme Court, which brings with it questions over major issues like abortion; races that could determine control over the U.S. House of Representatives; whether or not Illinois’ constitution will change and more could all be decided
* Anti-Pritzker signs are being planted on public ways on Chicago’s South Side…
Here's the other. They currently run from the Dan Ryanish to Ashland. Every 20 feet. That graphic is sort of tire tracks? Tractor tracks? Can't begin to think who they're pitching this to. Same with the Devore signs every 10 feet lining 55th through Jackson Park pic.twitter.com/14SS0fSxjV
Illinois GOP nominee for governor Darren Bailey is desperately trying to get voters to forget that he groveled for an endorsement from Donald Trump for months.
At this week’s debate, when asked about endorsing a candidate for president in 2024, Bailey dodged saying whether or not he would support Trump.
This completely contradicts his Trump loyalist primary campaign, where he unapologetically embraced the MAGA platform and said Illinois would “roll the red carpet out” for Trump in 2024.
“Darren Bailey is trying to mislead voters and hide that he’s been completely loyal to Trump and the far-right all along,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “Illinois voters deserve a leader with a track record they can trust, not someone who changes positions to whatever gets them further ahead.”
* MLL…
Today, the Lightfoot for Chicago campaign published a microsite highlighting quotes from Paul Vallas and Darren Bailey, quizzing Chicagoans on who said which MAGA-like comment.
The website is formatted as a guessing game where users are given direct quotes and are asked if each quote is attributed to Vallas or Bailey. Similarities run rampant between the two men, and many times, it’s hard to tell the difference and who is more extreme and wrong for Chicago.
“Paul Vallas for years now has been an extreme, conservative Republican masquerading as a Democrat,” said Lightfoot campaign spokesperson Christina Freundlich. “When compared to a far-right candidate who walks and talks like Donald Trump, Vallas’s disguise completely falls away. Vallas proves to be indistinguishable from MAGA role model Darren Bailey, and neither leader is right for Chicago.”
Last week, IL13 Republican congressional candidate Regan Deering decided to fully embrace Kevin McCarthy’s radical policy agenda for if Republicans win back the House this November, including expanding school vouchers and gutting Illinois’ public school system.
This is already in line with Deering’s position, who earlier this summer outlined her plan to effectively end public education in Illinois, even saying that “One of my prime issues is going to be advocating for universal school choice [vouchers].”
Nikki Budzinski, Democratic congressional candidate for IL-13, released the following statement: “As the granddaughter of a public-school teacher and someone that comes from a family of educators, this attack on our public schools is especially offensive.
“It’s not surprising that Regan would be so excited to end public education as we know it now. She has proved time and again that she is completely out of touch with working people in Central and Southern Illinois, and this is another example of that.”
* Deering…
Illinois Candidate for Congress Regan Deering released the following statement on the recent Better Government Association investigation into Nikki Budzinski’s special interest payments:
“Nikki has spent millions of dollars calling me an out-of-touch heiress and yet, she made her own millions working for politicians and special interest groups where she always seems to be just outside the line of corruption.
“Her hypocrisy is on full display as she talks about good government and eliminating dark money from politics, but acts as just another part of the Madigan Machine that has held the people of Illinois down for far too long.
“I am running to help end this vicious cycle of corrupt, pay-to-play politics by removing political insiders profiting off the state like Nikki Budzinski from the process. The people of Illinois deserve a representative who will help improve working people’s economic opportunities - not her own.”
* No relation…
A national grassroots Christian organization has named Rep. Mary Miller to its list of 20 “False Prophets” as part of a new initiative to counter Christian nationalism’s distortion of the Gospel and its threat to democracy and equal rights during the 2022 midterm season and beyond.
“There’s nothing Christian about far-right nationalism. Although faith in Jesus has no boundaries, Rep. Mary Miller consistently contorts Christianity to justify her extremist and hateful agenda,” said the Rev. Dr. Dwain DePew, Illinois resident and Faithful America member. “The words and actions of Christian nationalists like Rep. Miller stand for power and hatred, ignoring Jesus’s counter-cultural teachings of love and peace.”
A secondary list of False Prophet “Dishonorable Mentions” also includes gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey.
Leaders of Faithful America, the Christian organization behind the “False Prophets Don’t Speak for Me” campaign against this heretical ideology, note that the list includes both lawmakers who hijack faith to attack democracy and demonize equal rights (such as Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, Senator Josh Hawley, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene) as well as pastors and religious-right strategists (including Franklin Graham, Steve Bannon, and Tony Perkins) who build the Christian nationalist organizing infrastructure of the religious right.
Researchers define Christian nationalism as a political ideology that merges American and Christian identities with the goal of seizing power for conservative Christians and destroying the separation of church and state.
The name “False Prophets Don’t Speak for Me” is a reference to Matthew 7:15: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
“Christian nationalism is a grave threat to both American democracy and the church,” said the Rev. Nathan Empsall, executive director of Faithful America. “Christian nationalist leaders like Mary Miller come to us in sheep’s clothing, claiming to speak for Christ, but prove themselves to be ravenous wolves by distorting Scripture, spreading misinformation, and inciting political violence. The good news is that these false prophets don’t speak for the vast majority of American Christians, many of whom are speaking out to finally deflate the claims of a right-wing monopoly on faith, reclaiming our religion and its prophetic voice for the Gospel’s true values of love, truth, peace, equality, and social justice.”
* Chicago early vote totals…
The most up-to-date Early Vote and Vote By Mail totals in Chicago, night of Wednesday, October 19, 2022.
The Early Vote total stands at 3,087 ballots cast.
Additionally, 20,120 Vote By Mail ballots have been returned to the Board – total VBM applications stands at 187,516.
The grand total is 23,207 ballots cast so far in Chicago for the November 8th General Election.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Rep. Casten calls for federal decriminalization of possessing small amounts of cannabis: “We should not be putting people in jail for low-level drug offenses,” Casten told the Daily Herald in a recent online interview. Casten’s Republican challenger in the mostly suburban 6th Congressional District, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau, refused to participate in the interview or answer questions about the nation’s drug laws and other subjects.
* Underwood has big financial lead over Gryder in 14th Congressional District race: Underwood’s campaign raked in about $1.2 million between July 1 and Sept. 30 — more than three times Gryder’s $348,041 quarterly fundraising haul. Likewise, Underwood has raised about $6.4 million since the campaign began — more than 14 times Gryder’s $439,720 total for the cycle. Neither has gotten much financial help from their respective political parties — indicating party leaders expect an Underwood victory, said Kent Redfield, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois Springfield.
* Election day is around the corner, how is Candidate Jack Vrett feeling?: Arlington Heights veteran and attorney Jack Vrett is challenging Mark Walker for State Rep. in IL District 53. He and the Steve Cochran Show talk about how the mood of the country has shifted towards the “middle”, how he’s going to fight corruption, and he weighs in on recalling State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
* New grant targets political violence prevention in southern Illinois: “I don’t think the right or the left has a full monopoly on violence,” Weerarante said. “So whether you are on the right or the left you can have violent elements with your group.”[…] “The first part of the grant is we are going to do a survey of people in southern Illinois and the second part is based on the data that we get from the survey where we do training sets,” Weeraratne said.
* Regan Deering takes on Nikki Budzinski: In a congressional district drawn to favor Democrats, Republicans believe they have reason for optimism. But just how much optimism is justified remains a bit of an open question for the Illinois 13th Congressional District, which pits Republican Regan Deering against Democrat Nikki Budzinski.
Hiring precinct election judges and poll watchers has traditionally been routine work for state political parties and candidates trying to ensure ballots are cast and counted properly leading up to Election Day.
But this year, the Illinois Republican Party and its candidate for governor, Darren Bailey, have classified those roles as part of a broad “election integrity” effort that is a follow-up to baseless claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen. What’s more, that effort is being led in part by individuals who support former President Donald Trump’s debunked assertions. […]
For their “election integrity” efforts, Bailey and the state GOP have enlisted help from Carol Davis of Carol Stream. She is a former west suburban tea party activist who for years has held election training sessions as head of the Illinois Conservative Union and now is a leader in a national network of election deniers along with top former Trump aides. […]
Davis contends “there is fraud in every election in this country.” She has signaled belief that left-wing, anti-fascist or antifa groups, rather than Trump supporters, were behind the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. She expressed disappointment that a cold kept her away from the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C., on that day. She has questioned the integrity of election machinery. And she has said vote-by-mail ballots are susceptible to fraud and are part of a Democratic plot to do away with in-person voting.
Davis: Well, absolutely not. Monty and our experience over years of investigating elections, learning everything there is to know about elections and learning how to spot fraud teaches us that there is fraud in every election in this country.
Q: Especially here in Illinois, we’re the champion of that.
Davis: Absolutely. You know, Illinois, unfortunately, has got that reputation and it’s well deserved and their methodology of how to swing an election has been taught throughout the country. And I’m not saying they put people in classrooms, or private meetings and teach it. But I’m saying that the things that have worked to sway elections in the Chicago area and throughout the state are working now across the country. Let’s say the best practices of deceit have been picked up by many organizations.
Oof
* When poll watchers were brought up during the debate, Bailey dodged…
Q: Let’s talk about the popular subject these days, threats to democracy. A NextStar, Emerson College, the Hill poll found that threats to democracy is the second most important issue driving voters to the polls this November. Senator Bailey, on Facebook you said your campaign has signed up nearly 2,500 people to be poll watchers on November 8, but very few instances of fraud have been reported here. What specifically are your concerns for election security?
Bailey: My entire concern is the fact that people have lost confidence in the election process. And the very fact that this last primary only drew out 18% of eligible voters. That’s a problem. Peoria County, 9% of the voters showed up, registered voters. And as a matter of fact most times during general elections 40%, sometimes 50% at a high show up to vote. They’re not showing up because they have lost confidence in our election. There’s constitutional positions called election judges and poll watchers. And we need to make sure that we put people in place so that we rebuild integrity to our election process and that we make sure that people show up to vote. The brave men and women that served our country, they fought to protect our freedoms. And today it’s up to us, we the people to get involved with the process and uphold our freedoms. Otherwise, as you suggest, constitutional freedoms are at risk.
Swarms of form letters have been sent to election officials here threatening legal action for unsubstantiated claims of wrongdoing and voter fraud, WBEZ reporters Dan Mihalopoulos and Dave McKinney reported last week.
The letters, which of course offer no proof of misconduct, demand access to voter records the nonpartisan website Votebeat said cannot even be used to demonstrate fraud. But that detail isn’t important to these scribes, who sent the copycat missives to places across the country, including Chicago’s Board of Election Commissioners, the Cook County clerk’s office and the Illinois State Board of Elections. […]
Here in Illinois, Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey said there is no doubt Biden won the election fair and square. Still, he keeps pushing the narrative that election fraud is rampant and has vowed to get close to 4,000 poll watchers for the November general elections.
David Paul Blumenshine, the man Bailey enlisted to recruit poll watchers, also doesn’t deny the 2020 election results. But it is hardly comforting to know Blumenshine attended the Jan. 6 rally that descended into violent chaos at the U.S. Capitol.
State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, will be joined this week by Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll and others for a discussion on changes being made to the criminal justice system through the massive Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act — commonly known as the SAFE-T Act.
* Wednesday press release…
This evening, Faith Coalition for the Common Good came together with concerned community members to disrupt Sen. Steve McClure and Rep. Sandy Hamilton’s SAFE-T Act Town Hall. This disruption was in response to misinformation that has been spread by right-wing political operatives seeking to undermine the law’s success.
“Over the last few weeks, right-wing operatives have spread misinformation about the Pretrial Fairness provision of the SAFE-T Act. These lies are rooted in racism and are meant to protect mass incarceration.
“The Pretrial Fairness Act was designed to protect everyone’s right to the presumption of innocence and ensure that nobody is jailed simply because they’re too poor to pay a money bond. Throughout Illinois, Black people are disproportionately jailed while awaiting trial. By passing the Pretrial Fairness Act, the Illinois legislature took a significant step towards addressing the harm pretrial incarceration has caused communities across our state. For decades, people have lost jobs, housing and even custody of their children, not because they were a danger to the community, but simply because they couldn’t afford to pay bond to secure their freedom.
“We oppose efforts to repeal the Pretrial Fairness Act or roll it back, like SB42228 which would further fuel mass incarceration, worsen racial disparities, and create a pretrial system that is far worse than the one in place today. Instead of suing the state or building opposition against this crucial reform, Sen. McClure, Rep. Hamilton and our county stakeholders should be working together to ensure this historic reform is properly implemented.”
Some video from last night…
Advocates for the Pretrial Fairness Act clashed with local State’s Attorneys and legislators during a Chatham town hall tonight: #twillpic.twitter.com/ph7Zli9Ruy
The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice (INPJ) protested today in Dupage and Will Counties outside of the local state’s attorneys’ offices calling the state’s attorneys’ SAFE-T Act trailer bill (SB4228) unconstitutional and a violation of people’s rights. The group penned an open letter signed by more than 120 organizations calling on the Illinois General Assembly to protect the Pretrial Fairness provisions of the SAFE-T Act and oppose the State’s Attorneys proposal for gutting this historic legislation.
“It is absolutely essential that any future amendments to the Pretrial Fairness Act are made in the same spirit in which it was written.” said Katrina Baugh of The People’s Lobby. “Using this historic legislation as a vehicle for incarcerating more Black and brown people would be a slap in the face to the communities that have suffered under the injustices of the money bond system for decades.”
“The State’s Attorneys Association has not productively engaged in implementation conversations to ensure the safe and effective implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act,” said Reverend Marilyn Pagán-Banks of A Just Harvest. “Following the lead of right-wing operatives like Dan Proft, Jeanne Ives, and Dick Uihlein who’ve funded racist misinformation campaigns, the State’s Attorneys Association is exploiting this moment immediately before an election and attempting to use SB4228 to increase their power to jail vulnerable Illinoisans.”
The result of the State’s Attorneys Association’s political machinations is power-grab that would make the criminal legal system worse, not better.
“SB4228 is unconstitutional because it creates a presumption of detention in some cases, requiring the accused person to prove they deserve pretrial release,” said Em Gonzalez of Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice. “The Illinois Constitution grants a presumption of release to legally innocent people, and requires that the prosecution prove jailing a person pretrial is necessary and that that burden not be placed on a legally innocent person.”
Protestors also pointed out that SB4288 extends the timeframe a person must be brought to trial to 120 days from 90 days, making the right to a speedy trial even further out of reach and prolonging pretrial incarceration.
Worse still, that SB4228 would allow prosecutors to use evidence in their arguments for detention that would not have to be shared with the defense prior to a hearing. This would mean that accused people would have no way to challenge the evidence being used against them.
“The Constitution protects the presumption of innocence,” said David Cannon of West Suburban DSA. “Now these prosecutors don’t even want people to be able to properly defend themselves. It’s outrageous.”
If passed, the state’s attorneys’ bill would cause the number of people jailed while awaiting trial to skyrocket and exacerbate racial disparities in Illinois jails–the exact opposite of what the Pretrial Fairness Act was intended to achieve. Meanwhile, state’s attorneys representing counties that make up 50% of Illinois’ population support the Pretrial Fairness Act, and State’s Attorneys representing 60% of Illinois’ population support eliminating money bond. By contrast, many of the State’s Attorneys leading opposition to the Pretrial Fairness Act represent counties where Black residents make up at most 14% of the population, but up to half of the people admitted to their jails. Specifically:
“Illinois is currently jailing thousands of people simply because they’re too poor to pay a bond, not because they pose a danger to anyone,” said James Baugh, a resident of DuPage County. “While the current system limits who can be denied bond, SB4228 would allow prosecutors to ask that anyone be jailed indefinitely, far beyond the authority they had prior to the passage of the SAFE-T Act. We must protect the Pretrial Fairness Act”
From today’s event…
Illinois State's Attorneys are trying to gut the Pretrial Fairness Act and increase mass incarceration.
We're outside State's Attorney Bob Berlin's Office to tell him: Hell no! We will not go back! pic.twitter.com/nrDM8JbIgN
People Who Play By The Rules PAC has launched a new ad, “FALL OF FEAR.” It is available on YouTube, the PBR PAC Facebook Page and will run on statewide media this week.
JB Pritzker’s Purge Law has put you in danger. That’s what Democrats are telling you:
“…Significant increases in violent crime…” – Justin Hood, Hamilton County State’s Attorney, Democrat
“…Endangers our communities.” – Zachary Gowin, Alexander County State’s Attorney, Democrat
“What you see in Chicago, we’ll have here.” -Democrat State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow
AT HOME.
CHICAGO MAN HAD TO RUN AWAY WITH HIS CHILD DURING CARJACKING IN UKRAINIAN VILLAGE – CBS 2 CHICAGO
“You just started freaking out, thinking ‘Oh my God it happened, it happened, what we’ve been talking about and fearing forever just happened to us.” – Josselyn Kula, Mother
AT WORK.
MOVING OUT. BUSINESSES MOVING OUT OF BIG CITIES DUE TO CRIME.
“The city of Chicago has become Gotham City except we don’t have the Batman. We can’t even walk down the street without looking over our shoulder.” – Uzma Sharif, Chocolatier
Bailey discussed his vision of a “zero-based” budget that he believes will better serve the taxpayer. The candidate said during the Friday forum that he would appoint the proper department heads to serve this mission.
“They will account for every dollar that is going to be spent and, finally, the people of Illinois will be able to look and see directly where there money is being spent,” he said. “I believe that is how we are going to ferret out the waste that is currently in our budget.”
Bailey still won’t say how he’d cut roughly a third of the state’s budget that he believes to be “waste.”
When asked directly for three proposed budget cuts, Bailey didn’t name any. […]
The only number Bailey cited in the discussion was $2 billion in fraudulent claims paid out by the Illinois Department of Employment Security amid nationwide unemployment fraud of a new federal pandemic-related program.
It’s certainly an example of fraud, but it’s not an example of state spending.
The defrauded program was entirely federally funded.
* To the debate…
Q: Senator Bailey, we’re gonna play for you what you said about wanting to enact zero-based budgeting.
Bailey: Once we do a zero-based budget, I believe there’s $10 to $15 billion in that budget of waste. And we can take that and begin to get our state healthy again.
Q: And you’ve also said that everything is on the table. What in the $10 to $15 billion you plan to cut, name three things. You have 60 seconds for that.
Bailey: We’re going to fire all of the agency directors because they failed. We’re going to place business-minded men and women in those positions. They will be tasked with coming up with a zero based budget. Maybe people don’t understand what that means. But that means accounting for every dollar that’s spent. Governor Pritzker hasn’t even read the 5000-page budget that he’s created over the last four years. No one knows what’s in it. And as a matter of fact, just this last year $2 billion of fraud, of fraudulent payments was discovered in the Department of Employment. Governor Pritzker ignored it, he didn’t do anything about it. And it took some doing to actually get an account to find that money. Now I want to suggest to you that if $2 billion were just recently found as fraudulent unemployment payments, can you imagine how much more fraud or waste exists in each one of these agencies? A zero-based budget will ferret that out.
Q: I think I want to hear something a little more tangible. You say you’re gonna fire everybody and put more people in there, you’re gonna be paying them the same, right?
Bailey: Right. Agency directors that Governor Pritzker has put in place. They failed this because there’s not one state agency that’s doing its job.
Q: So where are you cutting the money then?
Bailey: That is the purpose of a zero-based budget. To find that waste.
This is basically just a dodge to avoid answering reporters’ questions and to look like he has a plan. What we all discovered during the Rauner years is that about 90 percent of state funding is mandated. If we try to cut it, the courts will step in. The other ten percent goes to fund a myriad of programs and services. OK, so cut 10 percent of that and you’ve saved less than $500 million. That’s a far cry from $15 billion.
Also, the $2 billion lost in that federal program was through fraud, not waste. And it was a lot less than a third of the overall pricetag. Bailey’s estimates are clearly being pulled out of thin air.
Dozens of counties in Illinois are labeled “Maternity Deserts ‘ meaning there are no maternal resources in the area. […]
After the recent closure of labor and delivery services at OSF in Danville, mothers in the community had to travel around 40 miles to deliver their babies.
Brenda Adams from the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program located in Danville stated that doctors from the Champaign county area are helping fill in the gap over in Danville to make sure all mothers can be seen. […]
Along with WIC services, the Gibbson Area Hospital and Health Services provide maternal care to patients from eight surrounding counties. Helping care for maternity desert areas in Illinois.
That’s according to a report released Tuesday by March of Dimes, a nonprofit focused on maternal and infant health. It finds that 36% of counties nationwide — largely in the Midwest and South — constitute “maternity care deserts,” meaning they have no obstetric hospitals or birth centers and no obstetric providers.
It paints a slightly grimmer picture than the organization’s last such report, which was released in 2020. Five percent of counties have a worse designation this time around, and there’s been a 2% increase in counties classified as maternity care deserts — accounting for some 15,933 women living in more than 1,000 counties.
March of Dimes says these changes are driven primarily by the loss of obstetric providers and hospital services within counties, as a result of financial and logistical challenges including the COVID pandemic.
And it warns the result is disproportionately harming rural communities and people of color: One in 4 Native American babies, and 1 in 6 Black babies, were born in areas with limited or no access to maternity care services.
On Chicago’s South Side, maternal care offerings are severely limited. Between 2019 and 2020, the number of South Side hospitals offering maternity services dropped from seven to three. The lack of options available to women on the South Side has created what the Chicago Tribune called a “birthing desert,” meaning expectant mothers must travel far beyond where they live to seek prenatal care.
How can we begin to address this crisis? A start would be to invest in community-based approaches that include certified practicing midwives providing Black families with holistic, culturally informed and science-based maternal health care before, during and after birth. These approaches can reduce maternal mortality and lead to improved outcomes such as lower rates of C-sections and fewer instances of pre-term or low-birth-weight infants.
Research shows that community-based approaches to maternal care, like doulas and freestanding birth centers (particularly when Black-owned), make a difference. This is why the organization I lead, Chicago Beyond, provided funding for Jeanine Valrie Logan, a birth-equity champion who works to address disparities in Black maternal health. Valrie Logan is bringing a nonprofit, Black midwife-led, culturally concordant, community-focused birth center to the South Side. […]
The truth of the matter is that systemic failures often prevent Black mothers and babies from receiving necessary care. And though we may never live in a perfect world, investing in community-based approaches can promise that healthy and safe birthing
COVID-19 drove a dramatic increase in the number of women who died from pregnancy or childbirth complications in the U.S. last year, a crisis that has disproportionately claimed Black and Hispanic women as victims, according to a government report released Wednesday.
It finds that pregnancy-related deaths have spiked nearly 80% since 2018, with COVID-19 being a factor in a quarter of the 1,178 deaths reported last year. The percentage of preterm and low birthweight babies also went up last year, after holding steady for years. And more pregnant or postpartum women are reporting symptoms of depression.
“We were already in the middle of a crisis with maternal mortality in our country,” said Karen Tabb Dina, a maternal health researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “This really shows that COVID-19 has exacerbated that crisis to rates that we, as a country, are not able to handle.”
Governor JB Pritzker today signed two bills designed to provide better access to healthcare for rural Illinoisans. SB3017 amends the Loan Repayment Assistance for Physicians Act to address the shortage of healthcare providers, particularly for obstetrical services, in rural committees. SB1435 amends hospital licensing procedures to clear the way for health center mergers and increased healthcare coordination in rural districts.
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker outspent Republican challenger Darren Bailey more than 23-to-1 in July through September, according to quarterly campaign finance reports.
The reports show Pritzker spending nearly $38.5 million — including $15.2 million for other state and local candidates — the previous three months.
Dan Proft’s People Who Play by the Rules PAC spent $17 million in the third quarter to help Bailey.
The governor has faced plenty of criticism over his prodigious spending on his political campaigns, shelling out more than $150 million on his reelection efforts.
He says that his spending compares to that done by Republicans and opposing political action committees.
“We’re going head-to-head with them,” he said. “$100 million and more has been spent attacking me. It has to have an effect on the public while they’re doing that, and it’s a tough campaign. I’m certainly telling people what I think about Darren Bailey.”
* Former Teamsters boss John Coli asks judge for home confinement, probation: Duffy wrote that Coli is now “a thoroughly humbled man” who, at 63, has been “barred for life from associating with the Teamsters —the organization he has been devoted to his entire professional life.” Coli is set to be sentenced Wednesday.
* Lawmaker to IDPH at administrative committee: ‘The pandemic is over’: But at JCAR’s meeting in Chicago on Tuesday, state Rep. Steven Reick, R-Woodstock, objected, arguing that “the department has been issuing an awful lot of emergency rules lately.” […] “The pandemic is over,” he said. “It is time for us to get back to normal way of doing business, and the normal rulemaking process should be the one that is used instead of emergency rulemaking when the time is available to do that.”
* No, those Illinois tax rebate checks aren’t bouncing: WGN Investigates contacted Illinois comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office which issues the checks. A spokesperson said the check didn’t bounce due to lack of funds. Instead, the ink likely smeared on the routing numbers rendering the checks worthless.
* Tracking where Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Darren Bailey and their running mates have visited on the campaign trail: From July 1 through the end of last month, Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton had made 105 stops in 52 Illinois cities, making appearances at labor rallies, speaking with faith and equity leaders, and meeting with Democratic groups in various counties throughout the state. Bailey, a state senator from downstate Xenia, and his running mate, Stephanie Trussell, had made 208 stops in 124 cities since the start of July. The Bailey campaign has organized frequent bus tours, attended county fairs and fundraising events, and met with local chapters of law enforcement, as well as religious and conservative action groups.
* Illinois to take center stage in battle over union rights vote: Tim Drea, president of Illinois AFL-CIO, which is pushing for passage, said union counterparts from around the country have been calling him about the ballot measure. “They are watching this very, very closely,” he said
* Bailey Vows To Cut Billions From State Budget, Won’t Say How Government Jobs Would Be Affected: Bailey contends that through “zero-based budgeting,” where every dollar spent has to be justified, he can identify and eliminate $10 to 15 billion in wasteful spending. Speaking to reporters after a Springfield rally Wednesday, one day after his final debate with Governor JB Pritzker, Bailey did not answer when asked how many state jobs might be eliminated by cutting that much spending from the budget. Payroll is generally one of the largest expenditures each year for state government.
* Illinois elections: Big money funnels into lower-profiles state races: “State representative districts are not very big and those ads are very expensive,” ABC7 political analyst Laura Washington said. “They reach millions, but only a very small fraction of people you are targeting.”
Pritzker criticized Bailey for not taking media questions.
“This is the second debate in a row that I’ve shown up to answer your questions and the second time that Darren Bailey has not shown up,” Pritzker told media after the debate. “Like with so many other things, Darren Bailey is all hat and no cattle.” […]
“I can’t fathom what the next four years are going to be like under J.B. Pritzker,” Bailey said. “Every state agency is an absolute failure.”
Bailey said education has been decimated, crime is increasing and businesses and people are moving out.
“All cattle and no show, that’s J.B. Pritzker,” Bailey said.
A Googlewhack is a contest to find a Google Search query that returns a single result. A Googlewhack must consist of two words found in a dictionary and is only considered legitimate if both of the search terms appear in the result. The term googlewhack, coined by Gary Stock, first appeared on the web at Blinking on 8 January 2002.
OK, so it isn’t technically a Googlewhack, but nobody has ever used that phrase before that I can see.
Q: Let’s talk about equity and recreational-use cannabis. The state’s program went online in 2020. The first predominantly Black-owned craft grow house recently opened in the state. But, Governor, since 2020, more than 340 licenses have been given out and only one has been given to a minority owner. Governor when will you make good on your promise to diversify the lucrative cannabis industry?
Pritzker: Well that’s not true. Let me be clear, 185 licenses have been awarded under the social equity licensing program.
Q: But those are conditional.
Pritzker: They are conditional. Conditional upon opening a store. So right now, people are in fact opening stores. It’s terrific. Has it taken too long? Yes, it has. And the fact is that people went to court and sued because they didn’t think that they deserved to be knocked out of the program, some of those folks. People were in the program, wanted the program to change, they sued. Look, I think those things have been worked out through the court system. Now you’re seeing people taking out loans, building out their dispensaries. We’ve seen cultivation licenses awarded those licenses to be clear. 40 percent have gone to people of color, and the whole point of it is to make sure that there is equity across our state for people who have been left out and left behind who’ve been the victims of the war on drugs.
Q: So I guess, governor, where can people go though, if they wanted to support a Black-owned recreational marijuana business? Where would they go to find that?
Pritzker: Those folks are seeking investment right now. In fact, they’re taking loans from the state, which is great. That’s exactly what this program is about. I want to point out another aspect of equity, which is that we’ve expunged 800,000 arrest records. Low-level cannabis arrest records, and pardoned people with low-level convictions. That was all part of this cannabis legalization program. I’m proud of that. We also have the R-3 program which Lieutenant Governor runs and which distributes money in some places that have been left out and left behind.
Q: We need to bring Senator Bailey into the discussion. You voted against recreational cannabis in Illinois. It’s a big topic nationally with President Biden announcing he would pardon thousands convicted of possession earlier this month. If elected as governor, will you reverse decriminalization of cannabis?
Bailey: Nope. I don’t see that happening. That’s not on my priority list. You know, I find it interesting that Governor Pritzker for four years equity equity, equity, and he finally had his opportunity with the recreational marijuana dispensaries, and he failed. Again. I’m out in the Black community. You probably saw me on Facebook a few weeks ago, since you saw everything else, when I was walking with the Black community up and down the streets of Chicago. And they were screaming foul because they can’t get the licenses. So I’d love to see some proof of these actual people, these 146 people who have supposedly are in the process of getting their licenses, because it’s not happening because many of those people are coming to me screening that foul and wondering what the problem is. I simply tell them, you’ve got a governor who can’t tell the truth.
Pritzker: Look, just like with abortion rights, where he opposes abortion, but then complains about how we’re going about providing the rights for people in Illinois. He opposes cannabis legalization. Now he wants to complain about how that legalization operates. Look, you’ve got to be at the table to get things done. You’ve got to work together with people. And indeed we have implemented equity across…
Bailey: Treat the Black people with respect, Governor.
Q: [Sighs.] We’re gonna move on…
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* The Question: Has Pritzker done enough to ensure equity in the recreational cannabis industry? Explain. Also, stick to the question that’s been asked. These can go off the rails fast.
Side question: Do you believe that Sen. Bailey wouldn’t try to roll back the recreational cannabis industry?
*** UPDATE *** Wondering when we would see something like this…
Chicago City Council Latino Caucus rejects Darren Bailey’s hateful rhetoric against immigrants from the southern border. Read full statement here: pic.twitter.com/A1TxeOSih2
(2/3): with our Southern border.’ Baileys’ unprompted connection between migrants and gang violence go far beyond a dog whistle; it is unabashed racism that has no place in Illinois. While Bailey continues to scapegoat Latinos for problems he has no plans to solve.
If the Illinois Primary election was any indication, voters are going to get pummeled with political robocalls and robotexts between now and Election Day next month.
This was true in 2020 when Americans received approximately 8.25 million robocalls on Election Day, and over the past two months Illinois ranks 24th in robocalls on a per capita basis.
Political robocalls, according to this source…
For the month of August, Illinois received around 123,406 robocalls.
For the month of September, Illinois received around 311,919 robocalls.
For the first two weeks of October, Illinois received around 281,917 robocalls.
From 8/1 to 10/16, Illinois received 717,242 robocalls.
* State early vote totals…
The @illinoissbe has updated early vote totals (10/19/22): Total VBM requested: 764,930 Total VBM returned: 200,084 Total VBM outstanding: 564,846 Return Rate: 26% Total Early Vote: 49,153 Total Grace Period: 560 Total Already Voted: 249,797https://t.co/44ga6AxRbY
the most up-to-date Early Vote and Vote By Mail totals in Chicago, night of Tuesday, October 18, 2022.
The Early Vote total stands at 2,694 ballots cast.
Additionally, 17,866 Vote By Mail ballots have been returned to the Board – total VBM applications stands at 185,745.
The grand total is 20,560 ballots cast so far in Chicago for the November 8th General Election.
* ILGOP…
“Pritzker’s policies have turned Chicago into a dystopian version - Pritzkerville - which may soon spread into the suburbs and downstate. Only by electing a new Governor can we begin to rebuild from the damage he caused and once again make our communities safe for residents and businesses. That is the message that Darren Bailey delivered last night,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy.
* Press release…
After begging for Donald Trump’s prized endorsement for months, GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey tried to buck Trump’s support at last night’s debate — but voters know the truth.
Bailey scored Trump’s “complete and total endorsement” at a rally in June, where Bailey said unequivocally: “I’ve made a promise to President Trump that in 2024, Illinois will roll the red carpet out for him because Illinois will be ready for President Trump.”
At yesterday’s debate, he tried desperately to rewrite history, saying: “Nobody’s announced their run for president.”
“Gov. Pritzker tries to inject his radical gender ideology into our classrooms,” Bailey said.
But Pritzker pointed to the Full Armor Christian Academy school Bailey founded that uses curriculum connected to conservative South Carolina’s Bob Jones University. The university’s press has offered history books that taught that not all slaves were mistreated, that the women’s movement in society carried societal costs and that when the Bible and science are in conflict, the Bible is correct.
Q: Let’s talk about reproductive rights, gentlemen, shall we? Senator Bailey, just tonight you said nothing is going to change about Illinois abortion laws if you’re elected. But last week, the Executive Director of Illinois Right to Life promised you will work to undo extremism. If elected, would you pursue pro life policies through executive orders? You’ve got 60 seconds.
Bailey: Well, let’s talk about extremism. Governor Pritzker is perfectly fine with our children needing abortions without their parents knowing anything about it. I think that’s extreme. Governor Pritzker is perfectly fine injecting his gender curriculum, the first of its kind in the nation into our schools, woke ideology. I think that’s extreme. Governor Pritzker, his family foundation is the primary sponsor for experimental gender surgeries (Pritzker: That’s not true) in childrens’ hospitals (Pritzker: That’s not true) all across this nation right here in Chicago. (Pritzker: False.) I think that’s extreme. Governor Pritzker tries to inject his radical gender ideology into our classrooms, and most school districts have rejected that.
That accusation is based on a conspiracy theory about how the governor is supposedly in cahoots with his trans cousin Jennifer, who contributed to Bruce Rauner, Richard Irvin’s 2022 campaign and against the governor’s graduated income tax. The conspiracy theory was pushed by Dan Proft’s papers.
* Press release…
Chairman Scott Gryder released his new ad “Leader” which highlights his priorities in Congress, and his commitment to people, not politics:
“During her tenure as our representative, Lauren Underwood has put big government special interests and her own agenda first – at the expense of every individual in this district. She has made our lives more expensive and less safe. We deserve better.
That’s why I’m running for Congress.
I’ll go to Washington to end reckless spending and lower taxes, giving us back our financial freedom. I’ll also restore safety to our neighborhoods by standing with law enforcement and ensuring that they receive the funding and resources they need to effectively do their job.”
We’re protesting DuPage County Chairman candidate Greg Hart who has done a 180 degree turn on his pro-life stance and now says he’ll never stand in the way of a woman’s “right to choose” with the help and funding of the illinois GOP. Eric Scheidler, our executive director, has some thoughts:
* Cook County Voters to Weigh Forest Preserves Tax Increase in Upcoming Election: It’s rare when newspaper editorial boards and fiscal watchdog groups recommend that residents vote to increase their property taxes. But that’s exactly the case as Cook County voters face a binding question on their election ballot: Do you want to pay a little more to help fund the Cook County Forest Preserves? Outside groups have waged a public campaign to convince voters to say yes, because they believe the investment will pay growing dividends.
* Six takeaways from the second Illinois gubernatorial debate: Bailey had a message. He undercut that message by repeatedly refusing to get specific, but even a casual viewer would get the gist: At a time when the economy is bumpy, taxes are high and the streets of Chicago and other cities are dangerous, Illinois needs a change. Good and simple. Pritzker’s message was that things have improved on his watch, particularly with state finances, and that voters ought to stick with him. But “stick with me” is not much of a second-term agenda. In the closing weeks of the campaign, the governor might do well to spell out what a vote for him means, other than not electing Bailey.
* Illinois’ 6th Congressional District candidates offer stance on education: Pekau said Democrats are pushing their views in Illinois classrooms throughout the state. “We need to stop the agenda they are trying to push, it is unacceptable,” Pekau said. “We need to teach the skills that need to be [taught]. If you want to talk U.S. History, you talk about the good and the bad. We don’t do it through a racial based lens, we do it through an American lens.” […] Casten suggests “providing universal early childhood education” and to “ensure that all students have access to a top-quality elementary, high school, and trade school or higher education.”
* Opinion: In public education debate, don’t overlook community colleges: The ongoing gubernatorial campaign got a mild injection of interest earlier this month when one candidate said it might be time to reduce state spending on K-12 public education. The other countered by pledging further investment and making sure private schools aren’t enriched at taxpayer expense. You know which is which, but the point here isn’t settling the debate between two candidates, but discussing the larger issue of postsecondary education and workforce development.
* Latest fundraising has Vallas eager for campaign fight: A $500,000 donation from prominent GOP donor and golf course magnate Michael Keiser has left an opening for some opponents, including the Chicago Teachers Union, to attack Vallas, a former CPS CEO, as a closet Republican
About 31% of people who took part in the phone and text message survey conducted by Public Policy Polling said they think the Bears should move from Soldier Field to Arlington Heights, compared to 29% who said they think the team should stay put. About 39% said they weren’t sure.
Perhaps not surprisingly, suburban fans are more excited about the potential move, the Sun-Times/WBEZ Poll suggests, as 51% of respondents from suburban Cook County and the collar counties said the team should break ground in the suburbs. Only 19% of Chicago respondents said the team should leave the city, 44% opposed the move, and 37% were unsure. […]
But in a follow-up question, regardless of where they lived, 45% of all respondents said they would oppose any government funding being used for the stadium or any of the sewers, roads and other infrastructure costs needed to make the massive mixed-use development a reality. […]
Twenty-eight percent of respondents were open to public financing for the infrastructure alone, while 12% said they’d even be OK with giving the team money for the stadium itself — something the team has vowed not to ask for.
The remaining 15% of respondents to the Sun-Times/WBEZ Poll said they’re not sure how they feel about the prospect of public money going into an Arlington Heights stadium or the rest of the 326-acre plot that the team wants to round out with other amenities.
Q: Well, gentlemen, as you both know, and no doubt most of our audience knows, the Chicago Bears are currently exploring a move to Arlington Heights. What’s your position on using state tax dollars to develop the land there and build a new stadium? Senator Bailey, we’ll start with you.
Bailey: Well, first of all, we have to back up and we have to take a look at why this situation has arisen. And it’s because the state government, local government have failed. More taxes are not the answer. We have got to sit down at the table and come up with better solutions and there’s our our taxes. When I started running for governor, when I started running for state rep in 2017, Illinois taxes were $32 billion. And today under Governor Pritzker’s leadership they’re $46.5 billion [Editor’s note: It’s actually $41 billion, plus another $2 billion in transfers, lottery, gaming, cannabis, etc.]. Now I want you to think about that, if more money is the solution to everything, why are we talking about this? Why do we have the problems that we have in Illinois? We have got to start being responsible with our money. We’ve got to start saving tax dollars money, we’ve got to start bringing business into the state of Illinois and right now with all of our regulations and when our high taxes and our unsafe streets and our failed schools. Nobody’s wanting to come instead they’re all leaving.
Q: Governor Pritzker. Same question for you. What is your position on using state tax dollars to develop land in Arlington Heights for the Bears?
Pritzker: That I should meander around to other questions while I’m answering? No, that’s what Darren Bailey does. Look, I’m a Bears fan. I support the Chicago Bears. But I do not think that the state should be funding the private development of a stadium anywhere in the state.
* Nowhere in this BGA story is it mentioned that state law was recently changed to require almost immediate disclosure when a Statehouse lobbyist hires a non-lobbying consultant. It’s a good reform and I thought it was a strong first step to cleaning up some problems. Former Rep. Ed Acevedo, we just learned with the latest round of indictments, was hired as a consultant to an AT&T lobbyist in order to funnel him some pin money. It was never disclosed before because disclosure wasn’t mandated. It’s mandated now.
That doesn’t mean that what Budzinski or any other lobbyist consultant did was wrong. It’s legal. I was just pointing out that a significant recent state reform was completely ignored in this exposé…
Shortly after she left her state job as a senior adviser to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, longtime political operative Nikki Budzinski collected more than $500,000 in consulting and other fees in 10 months, including more than $80,000 from a Springfield lobbyist Budzinski helped while working for the governor. […]
The lobbyist who paid Budzinski $82,810 after Budzinski left the Pritzker administration is longtime Springfield operative Julie Curry.
A BGA review of state and federal public records shows a cozy relationship between Budzinski and Curry, who frequently reached out when her clients needed assistance, whether it was to set up a meeting with the governor for a client or access for an event at the governor’s mansion.
One expert said Budzinski’s actions after she left the Pritzker administration highlight weaknesses in Illinois’ ethics laws.
State workers are generally barred from accepting compensation as a lobbyist for one year after leaving government work. Since Budzinski was not a registered lobbyist, but rather worked as a consultant to the lobbyist paying her, Illinois’ executive order did not apply to her, records and interviews show.
“The law should also include work for a lobbying firm,” Southern Illinois University law professor and former lieutenant governor Sheila Simon told the BGA.
I’d probably agree with Simon. If you’re gonna ban employees from lobbying, then you should probably extend that to consulting for lobbyists. But most of the activities ascribed to Curry in the article aren’t particularly juicy. They’re just normal things that lobbyists routinely do. And people obviously jumped at the chance to hire Budzinski after she left the administration. She’s been pretty good at almost whatever she’s put her mind to.
Other contracts Budzinski got were from Sixteen Thirty Fund (consultant, $64K), New Venture Fund (consultant, $48K), Climate Jobs National Resource Center (Midwest strategist, $150K), Dewey Square Group (consultant, $40K), Emily’s List (election strategist, $59K), Kilbride for Supreme Court (consultant, $41K), Union Insurance Group (board member, $24K).
It’s perhaps most interesting to me that Budzinski is now campaigning against dark money in politics after having worked for dark money group Sixteen Thirty Fund.
* By the way, I reminded subscribers about this new disclosure law on Monday in reference to former Rep. Acevedo and complained about the lack of a decent search function for consultants. The folks at the secretary of state’s office have since taught me a little site hack.
If you go to the lobbying info search page, then click the “Consultants Retained By Lobbying Entities” box, then select the year and then ignore the “required” language and just click the “Submit” button without inputting a name, voila, you get the entire list of every consultant hired by lobbying entities.
I’ve converted that page into a pdf for your viewing pleasure. Click here. I didn’t see a whole lot with a cursory scroll, except that Maze Jackson appears to have consulted this year for SafeSpeed, the red light cam company at the heart of some federal probes.
* If your Tuesday night didn’t include watching the debate, here is a thorough roundup from Tina Sfondeles…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker blasted his Republican challenger as an “extremist” and a “threat to democracy” who “shouldn’t be let anywhere near the governor’s office,” — as state Sen. Darren Bailey countered the Democratic incumbent was the extreme one, and his “arrogant leadership is killing people.” […]
But Bailey accused Pritzker of pushing “woke ideology” in schools across Illinois.
“His gender issues are so extreme,” Bailey said. “Gov. Pritzker is perfectly fine injecting his gender curriculum, the first of its kind in the nation, into our schools. Woke ideology. I think that’s extreme.” […]
Pritzker accused Bailey of having no plan to address crime, beyond criticizing Chicago. The governor took credit for increasing the number of police officers, eliminating the rape kit backlog and funding violence intervention, mental health and substance abuse treatment programs in the state to help combat crime.
With early voting underway and Election Day just three weeks away, Pritzker defended his record and deemed Bailey’s policies to be too “dangerous” for Illinois. And Bailey, with a smile, baited the governor repeatedly, frequently interrupting his answers.
The interjections, mostly by Bailey, were met with stern warnings from WGN-TV moderator Micah Materre. There was also an exasperated, “Shh” as Bailey tried to talk after a buzzer went off.
It was the last scheduled televised debate between the candidates and possibly the last time they shared venues, giving Bailey perhaps his last chance to cut into Pritzker’s lead in the polls. Recent polling conducted by The Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ found the Democrat with 49% of voters supporting him compared to 34% for Bailey.
That same poll, when broken down to Chicago voters, found Pritzker’s lead grow to a substantial 66 points with 78% supporting him and 12% backing Bailey.
The Republican has been campaigning heavily in Chicago, even renting an apartment in the Hancock Center to “immerse himself in the culture” as he put it and also to win some votes in the state’s largest city. Challenging that connection, however, potentially are past comments and legislative action from Bailey regarding Chicago.
After some other heated questions, the moderators asked Pritzker and Bailey each to identify one thing they admire about their opponent. Each man did find an answer.
“Governor Pritzker, I’m going to be honest with you – you look awesome,” Bailey said. “I like your suits. You look good in them.”
Bailey said he hoped Pritzker would take him suit shopping when the race was over.
To Bailey, Pritzker said, “I admire the fact that you married your high school sweetheart; that you’ve been together for 30 years. That shows deep commitment. That’s something that I feel strongly about as well.”
Meanwhile, the senator was asked several times about his stance on abortion protections in Illinois. During a debate on Oct. 6, Bailey said he couldn’t change the state’s abortion laws if he wanted to. Bailey was endorsed by all of the state’s anti-abortion groups earlier this year. The Illinois Federation for Right to Life, Illinois Citizens For Life, and Illinois Family Action said Bailey has shown a strong commitment to life and is unafraid to speak about his opinions on abortion.
Bailey has recently pulled back on his strong stance against abortion. Political insiders feel that he may be trying to gain support from moderate Republicans in the Chicago suburbs, although it may distance him from public opinion downstate. Bailey deflected Tuesday night and critiqued Pritzker for repealing the state’s parental notification of abortion law.
“Let’s talk about extremism,” Bailey said. “Gov. Pritzker is perfectly fine with our children getting abortions without their parents knowing anything about it. I think that’s extreme.”
Yet, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action said decades of research and experience showed that forced parental involvement laws hurt young people and served no valid purpose. PPIA Vice President of Public Policy Brigid Leahy said PNA was antiquated, harmful, and did not help young people in dangerous situations.
Pritzker noted that Bailey opposes abortion in all cases except saving the life of a mother. The Democrat said Illinois must continue to be a safe haven for women and others who can become pregnant.
The candidates discussed several topics, including crime, Chicago, and the performance of the Department of Child and Family Services and its director Marc Smith. The department has had significant issues despite budget increases in the past three years.
Bailey said the department needs to be addressed at all levels to succeed.
“We are going to start finding and taking applications for all of these agencies,” Bailey said. “I will tell you this, DCFS must be rebuilt from the ground up because it is failing our children all across the state.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker stood behind Smith, who has been held in contempt of court nine times for failing to find suitable placements for children in DCFS care.
“Governors firing the head of the agency does not solve anything,” Pritzker said. “You actually have to go in and fix the problems. Governors for twenty years did not do that. We are doing that.”
State Sen. Bailey has said he could cut state spending by 10 to 15 billion dollars, about one-third, saying everything should be on the table, including state aid to local schools.
“Our children here in Chicago receive $29,000 per student. Yet Chicago schools — they’re failing our children,” Bailey said. “More money is not the problem. Accountability and transparency is the answer.”
Gov. Pritzker was quick to respond.
“I’ve increased education funding by $1.3 billion. And that really is improving our schools. U.S. News & World Report has named us number one among the top 10 most populous states in the nation for pre-k to 12 education,” Pritzker said.
The candidates also traded barbs over immigration policy, as thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers have arrived in Chicago on buses from Texas in recent weeks.
“We need to get rid of this sanctuary state status, so law enforcement can do their job and start reining this gang activity in,” Bailey said. “We need to deal with our southern border and we need to get that under control and stop the inflow of illegal activity.”
The city of Chicago’s “sanctuary city” policy has made it a target of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has ordered migrants to be bused here, as well as New York and Washington, D.C.
Pritzker has declared a state of emergency, activating 75 members of the Illinois National Guard to provide state resources to asylum seekers.
During the debate, Bailey was asked if he would support Trump if he ran for president in 2024. He dodged the question, saying Trump hasn’t announced he will run.
“Nobody’s announced their run for presidency yet, so I’ll tell you that when they announce,” Bailey said. […]
In response, Bailey said if re-elected governor, Pritzker will use his position to make a presidential bid in 2024.
During the first debate, Pritzker said he intends to serve his full term if re-elected and would support President Biden’s campaign in 2024.
* Some tweets…
Post debate: Billionaire liked what he saw, donates another $2M to @DarrenBaileyIL
Ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker argued against his Republican opponent Darren Bailey on school curriculum, gender-affirming therapy, violence and abortion during a televised debate pic.twitter.com/f464oAmyf4
Q: Senator Bailey, over the course of your career, you have at times called for the City of Chicago to be separated from the rest of Illinois. You also in this studio in the Sspring referred to Chicago as a crime-ridden corrupt hellhole. You also have called it the OK Corral and an unruly child. If you’re elected, what is your specific plan for Chicago within the powers of the governor’s office?
A: To let the people know that help is on the way and things can be better. And I want to remind you four and a half months ago as I stood right here and made that comment within six hours later a homeless man was put on fire in Chicago. So I’ve been thinking about that since you keep bringing it the situation up and I’ve got a new name for Chicago. I’m gonna call it Pritzkerville, because every one of Governor Pritzker’s extreme policies are destroying the city. Out of control crime, devastated education, the fact that corporations are packing up and leaving every day. No, I think Pritzkerville fits quite well because Governor Pritzker, it’s time for him to own it. Chicago is the nightmare called Pritzkerville and it’s still two weeks from Halloween.
* His evasive non-answer was eaten up by reporters. Here’s one example…
Well after this debate I’m going to drive my chumbolone self back to my apartment in Pritzkerville where my friends can practice their reproductive rights and love who they love. Might even stop for some tax-free groceries. #ILGovDebate
* Pritzker was asked about Bailey’s comment in the spin room…
We live in a great global city. I am happy to rename Chicago Pritzkerville as he has, but the fact is we have challenges. There’s no doubt I’ve talked about those challenges and how I would address those. He hasn’t. He just calls Chicago names, wants to throw it out of the state. Again, no solutions from Darren Bailey.
* It turns out that this isn’t an original Baileyism. From an October 13 op-ed by ILGOP Chair Don Tracy…
Illinois is more than its elected officials. Each of us adds something to our community, town, state, and nation. As the clumsy angel Clarence told George Bailey in the Capra classic “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?” This could be said of Chicago, too.
Policies pursued jointly by Pritzker, Lightfoot, and Foxx, such as not prosecuting crime, not backing police, and imposing imprudent and illegal lockdowns by fiat scare people and businesses away. The “hole” created by people leaving is filled by criminals who further ruin Chicago.
Now, mobs of teens led astray steal from stores on Michigan Avenue, day in and day out; thugs chase cops and beat them in the West Loop; and drag racing and drifting competitions are becoming common at night in heavily populated areas of our city. […]
Call it Pritzkerville – eerily like Potterville from “It’s a Wonderful Life,” with pot stores and a massive casino planned to fill the holes ripped in Chicago due to the loss of great businesses and decent people pursuing their dreams. […]
Pritzkerville is the dystopian version of Chicago: a dystopia of high taxes, rampant crime, and Democrat corruption. Pritzkerville is Chicago losing its “soul.” It doesn’t have to be this way. Urban life has challenges, but these challenges have long been met – and still are in thriving cities like Miami.
I’ve picked up on some of the lingo and one of the words that I’ve found that was used many years ago is the word chumbolone. It means lacking common sense. It pertains to the people who are being duped by their elected officials. But in this case, I believe that elected officials are the fools here because JB Pritzker and Lori Lightfoot and Kim Foxx, well, they’re the chumbolones of Chicago. They’re responsible for the crime, the corruption and the chaos that exists today and it’s got to change.
I don’t get it. But, hey, nice shout-out to a noted Indiana resident by a guy being backed to the hilt by a noted Florida resident.
Representative Justin Slaughter (D-Chicago) and Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) join crime survivors’ advocates at a press conference on Tuesday to fiercely oppose the misguided, late-stage trailer bill (Senate Bill 4228) that was orchestrated by conservative states attorneys.
The advocates highlighted three core elements of the prosecutors’ trailer bill that would not only undermine reforms, but move Illinois even further backwards, especially where it concerns survivors.
* SB 4228 removes the requirement that State’s attorneys are responsible for notifying victims about detention hearings (Page 69, lines 20-21).
* SB 4228 creates a system where low-level, nonviolent cases will clog up our pretrial detention system, rather than focusing on serious cases (Page 5, lines 7-9; page 60, lines 7-16).
* Creating a “presumption of detention” is unconstitutional, and particularly harmful to criminalized survivors of violence (Page 11, lines 14-15; page 19, lines 7-9; page 62, lines 12-22; page 63, lines 7-16).
“The supporters of the prosecutors’ trailer bill are knowingly undermining the lived experience of survivors and advocates who fought for and won the provision of the Pretrial Fairness Act that requires States Attorneys to notify victims of crimes about detention hearings,” said Vickie Smith, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “Survivors do not want to be left in the dark, with potentially life-threatening consequences.”
“The shared goal of the Pretrial Fairness Act reforms is to better use the criminal legal system to make us all safer,” said Radhika Sharma-Gordon, Manager, Outreach and Education at Apna Ghar, Inc. “This means freeing up unnecessary resources spent on detaining low-level, low-risk people who’ve been accused of a crime. The prosecutors’ trailer bill seeks to maintain the failed status quo by creating a “catch-all” provision that allows for prosecutors to move for detention on any charge, which is not only a waste of resources, but it diverts attention from the cases that truly need careful and considered review in court.”
Under the Pretrial Fairness Act, prosecutors and law enforcement actually get the time and resources they need to work on cases that impact community safety, instead of spending their days dragging people into bond court for misdemeanors and petty offenses. Under a more focused system they can actually spend their time focusing on the 80 to 90 percent of sex crime reports in Chicago that don’t lead to any arrests. Law enforcement statewide could also spend more time on the 34,000 people in Illinois who have had their right to own a gun revoked by courts – many of whom with domestic violence backgrounds – who have not turned in their weapons or had them confiscated by law enforcement.
“Not only does the prosecutors’ trailer bill undermine the shared goals of the Pretrial Fairness Act, it also undermines the Constitution,” said Kaethe Morris Hoffer, executive director of the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation. “We all agree that a presumption of innocence is a cornerstone of our criminal legal system and any legitimate democratic government. That’s why it’s unthinkable that our elected State’s Attorneys have drafted a bill that creates a presumption of detention. Not only is it unconstitutional but it contradicts the democratic institutions our criminal legal system is ostensibly supposed to protect.”
* Capitol News Illinois did a story on the letter. Here’s an excerpt…
Another unmentioned change contained in [Sen. Scott Bennett’s] bill is a provision to ensure that the end of cash bail does not apply to individuals who were held in lieu of bail prior to Jan. 1, 2023. It addresses one of the main concerns of opponents, that those held before Jan. 1 may be entitled to release depending on how a judge interprets the existing language.
That provision has been called the “Purge Law” by some over the top detractors. Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow has said he’d be forced to empty his jail in an “end of days” scenario. The Lake County state’s attorney, on the other hand, has said he’s actually putting in the work to make sure everything is in order come the first of the year.
* Gov. Pritzker brought up that very change last night during the debate…
Q: Governor you’ve accused Republicans of putting out disinformation about the legislation but the law does have critics from your own party, including State’s Attorneys who are suing you What steps are you taking to clarify what the law actually does?
Pritzker: Look, the folks who are critical of the SAFE-T Act and who are spreading disinformation want to let violent criminals out of jail on January 1. That’s not what the SAFE-T Act says. But if they’re going to try to do that, we ought to amend the SAFE-T Act to make sure they can’t do it. Let’s amend it, but not end it. […]
Q: …Today, the sponsors of the SAFE-T Act said they would not support the proposed changes by Democratic Senator Scott Bennett. You’ve previously called his proposal a ‘pretty good bill.’ Do you still feel that way?
Pritzker: Well as I’ve said, there are a lot of provisions in that bill. I think that we ought to be looking through all those provisions to decide which ones. I just suggested one that we ought to implement. But, look, Senator Bennett is a former prosecutor. He’s very thoughtful about these things. But as you know, I support the SAFE-T Act. Again, we ought to amend it appropriately. And make sure that we’re ending cash bail, while keeping murderers rapists and domestic abusers in jail.
Bennett said while much of the current conversation regarding “non-detainable” offenses stems from “misstatements on the right,” he filed the bill to erase any potential doubt.
“But if there was any ambiguity that some judge might misinterpret that, I think it’s fixed in (Senate Bill) 4228 and I think it makes it very clear that we want people out in the community if they are not a danger to the community. We want people getting back on the path to rehabilitation,” he said. “But I think we also need to recognize that there are people that threaten our society, and if there is an objective finding of that, I think everyone feels better if they are detained until they can have their day in court.”
* Quick coverage roundup from Isabel…
* Debates continue among political parties over Illinois’ new SAFE-T Act: One state lawmaker filed a bill that amends language in the current law, while others in his party fired back, saying such changes would do more harm than good. “Right now, the system is broken and I am proud of my partners in the survivor advocacy community for coming to the table and staying at the table and getting changes that will make us all safer,” said Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), who adds that some of the changes fought for in the Safe-T Act are being threatened.
* City of Moline votes down resolution addressing SAFE-T Act: But, only half of the council members supported the resolution. Mike Wendt gave his reasoning and stated, “It is important to give the city of moline one voice that we are supportive of our officers and our law-abiding residents.” The resolution addresses what they deemed major issues in the SAFE-T act, such as the removal of cash bail and unclear guidelines for law enforcement.
* Kendall County Board approves resolution requesting changes to SAFE-T Act: The resolution received unanimous support from the board. During the meeting, State’s Attorney Eric Weis told the board that preparing for unknowns with the SAFE-T Act has been difficult. Kendall County, along with many others, has filed to suit to halt the act’s implementation.
* I forgot to post a debate thread yesterday. Sorry about that. While Isabel and I gather stories about last night’s gubernatorial debate, here’s your chance to give it your own spin.
* Where 28th state Senate candidates stand on abortion: Murphy, who has represented the district since 2015, said the government “has no business” making decisions about reproduction or other health care issues for women. “We have the right to make our own decisions on our health care,” she said. “Everyone else makes their own decisions on their health care. Why wouldn’t women, throughout the country and particularly in Illinois, have the right to do it?”
* In their own words: Meet the candidates running for Illinois’s 36th Senate District:
For the first time since 2014, State Senator Neil Anderson (R) will not be on the ballot for Illinois’s 36th district. After the state’s once-per-decade redistricting process, Anderson was drawn out of the 36th. He now resides in and is running to represent the new 47th district.
* What’s the Difference Between Illinois’ Treasurer and Comptroller?: While the offices of attorney general and secretary of state seem simple enough, Illinois is one of only a handful of states that has both a treasurer and a comptroller, with both offices controlling elements of the state’s finances.
* Daily Herald Endorsement: Costa Howard for House Dist. 42: Many Democrats danced around questions related to former House Speaker Michael Madigan, the once all-powerful head of the party in Illinois. Costa Howard worked for his ouster. In fact, she was one of the 19 House Democrats who opposed his leadership and one of the first to call for him to go. […] It is a shame that in endorsing Costa Howard we cannot therefore endorse Hood. She is a responsible Republican running to add political balance to a state now dominated by one party and normally we would herald that.
