A 73-year-old Illinois man was sentenced Monday to five years in prison for driving a car into a planned abortion clinic and trying to set the building on fire last year.
Philip J. Buyno of Prophetstown also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $327,547 in restitution, prosecutors said in a news release. U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce handed down the sentence. […]
Buyno admitted that on May 20 he used his car to breach the front entrance to a commercial building in Danville. He brought several containers filled with gasoline to burn the structure down before it could be used as a reproductive health clinic, prosecutors have said.
* Planned Parenthood Illinois Action…
Today, legislators, advocates and reproductive health care leaders in Illinois gathered for a roundtable discussion about the increase in harassment and violence against patients and providers since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Senator Adriane Johnson and Representative Mary Beth Canty spoke with Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action (PPIA) Yamelsie Rodriguez, President and CEO of Advocates of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri (Advocates), Michele Landeau, Chief Operating Officer with Hope Clinic and clinic escorts.
“As Illinois is now a beacon for abortion access in the Midwest and beyond, we have also become a target for violent extremists and harassment,” the Planned Parenthood organizations said in a joint statement. “The attacks on clinics across the state are intensifying. We will never stop fighting to ensure everyone can access the health care they need — free from harassment, intimidation, or threats.”
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, dismantling federal protections for abortion access, violence against abortion providers and patients has seen a sharp increase across the nation. According to a National Abortion Federation study there has been a:
100% increase in arson
20% increase in death threats
25% increase in health center invasions
229% increase in stalking related to abortion
A coalition of abortion providers and advocates, which include Access Health Ltd., Alamo Women’s Clinic of Illinois, Choices Center for Reproductive Health, Equity Clinic, Hope Clinic, and Rockford Family Planning Clinic, are united in their call for action to help address the increased harassment and aggressive tactics patients and providers are experiencing across the state.
— Sonia Anne Khalil has been endorsed by the Illinois Nurses’ Association in her bid for state representative in the 36th District Democratic primary. She faces Rick Ryan.
— Arad Boxenbaum has been endorsed by Run for Something. He faces state Rep. Matt Hanson in the Democratic primary for the 83rd House seat.
A national advocacy group pushing to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers sees smooth sailing ahead for legislation in Springfield following a victory in Chicago’s City Council last year.
The group, One Fair Wage, and state Rep. Elisabeth Hernandez, D-Cicero, unveiled a bill on Feb. 6 that would phase out the sub-minimum wage in Illinois over a two-year period. The legislation follows the passage of a similar law in Chicago that gradually raises the base wages for tipped workers in the city by 8% a year until 2028, when the sub-minimum wage will equal the standard minimum wage. […]
Illinois’ minimum wage stands at $14 an hour while its tipped minimum wage guarantees $8.40 an hour. Those wages will rise to $15 an hour and $9 an hour by 2025. Tipped workers are expected to make up the difference between the tipped wage and standard minimum wage with their tips, but employers must compensate them if they can’t bridge that gap.
Advocates for eliminating the tipped wage argue too many scofflaw employers cheat workers out of their full pay. The state bill proposes enforcement tools, including fining employers up to $1,500 per day per violation for violating the bill’s provisions, which would go toward a wage theft enforcement fund. Those penalties mirror fines proposed by the Illinois Restaurant Association during negotiations at the city level. At the time, the association had suggested raising fines for employers who failed to compensate workers in a bid to avoid increasing the minimum wage.
* Illinois Restaurant Association…
We wholeheartedly disagree with any decision to eliminate the tip credit. The removal of the tip credit will hurt tipped workers, restaurants, and customers across the entire state of Illinois when we should be doing what we can to help them. This legislation will do more harm than good as it will fundamentally change the way all restaurants operate, hurting our smaller, family-run and minority-owned businesses the most. The notion that tipped employees make less than minimum wage is simply not true. In fact, the median wage for full-service tipped restaurant workers is over $28 per hour. These changes will lead to job cuts, an increase in labor costs, and ultimately force restaurant owners to make difficult decisions that will negatively impact their workers and result in higher prices for customers. We are opposed to this legislation.
Congratulations on topping the charts, Tracy Chapman! It was great seeing you on stage at the Grammys this weekend. I'm so glad a new generation is enjoying your terrific music. @tchapmanonlinepic.twitter.com/Bitf0RT75e
* SJ-R | Jordan Davis announced as latest Illinois State Fair Grandstand performer: Davis, a Shreveport, La., native, is coming off his sixth career No. 1 two-time platinum hit, “Next Thing You Know” — his third consecutive No. 1 cut from his album, Bluebird Days. He also received Best New Country Artist honors at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards and Billboard’s Top New Country Artist in 2018.
* Crain’s | Former pilot Duckworth gave Boeing’s CEO an earful — and he listened: She’s been chair of the Senate’s aviation subcommittee for only a year, but Tammy Duckworth is making her presence felt. When the Illinois senator and former Army helicopter pilot told Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun he should drop his request for a safety waiver on a new, smaller version of the 737 that’s still awaiting FAA certification, Calhoun took her advice.
* Tribune | Jussie Smollett asks Illinois Supreme Court to hear case: The move marks the next step as Smollett works to exhaust all his appeal options after a jury in 2021 convicted him on five of six counts of disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months of probation and $130,160 in restitution. Smollett’s attorneys filed the petition to the high court on Monday, arguing that the questions raised by the case have the “potential for wide-reaching implications” across Illinois. The court has the discretion to decide whether to take the case, or leave the appellate court’s decision in effect.
* WGLT | Central Illinois nursing home company faces foreclosure on 17 properties: The company claimed Petersen’s lack of liquidity and use of money transfers to pay off other debts were putting resident health and safety at risk. U.S. District Court Judge Iain D. Johnson appointed Flanagan receiver two days later. Petersen Health Care says they still own those properties, and are working with the lender’s management company to minimize the impact to staff and residents.
* NCSL | 2023 Campaign Finance Enactments: All 50 states introduced 612 campaign finance bills in 2023, and 27 states enacted 62 measures. Highlighted below are the 2023 campaign finance enactments, with summaries of laws relating to contributions, disclosures, public financing, excess funds, crimes and penalties, and independent expenditures.
* WBEZ | Families and schools are rattled by end of state private school scholarship program: Critics of the 5-year-old program say it takes money that could go toward underfunded public schools and sends it to private schools that can discriminate. Advocates defend the program, saying it allows lower-income families to choose schools that are best for their children. They are aiming to try to revive the program in the spring legislative session, highlighting schools like St. Frances with large scholarship numbers to make their case for resuscitating Invest in Kids. Caught in the middle are people like Dela Mora. She is now questioning how she will afford to pay full tuition costs this fall for her son and younger daughter, who is at Trinity High School in River Forest.
* NYT | Mother of Michigan Gunman Found Guilty of Manslaughter: The trial became a lightning rod for issues of parental responsibility at a time of frequent cases of gun violence carried out by teenagers and children. […] The prosecutors argued that Ms. Crumbley should have noticed her son’s distress and stopped him from committing an act of unspeakable violence. Marc Keast, one of the prosecutors, said that she and her husband “didn’t do any number of tragically small and easy things that would have prevented all of this from happening.”
* CNN | What the border bill would and wouldn’t do: Once illegal border crossings reach a certain threshold, the Department of Homeland Security would be required to exercise a new emergency authority that bars migrants, except unaccompanied minors, from crossing the border between ports of entry. The authority would automatically kick in if crossings rise above 5,000 on average per day on a given week, or 8,500 in a single day. The authority sunsets after three years and there are time limits on how many days it can be used.
* WTTW | The Oldest Restaurant in Illinois – Where Even the Furniture Was Once for Sale: When it was known as the Zimmer Tavern and Wagon Shop, The Village Tavern in present-day Long Grove, Illinois was a place where travelers and locals could stop to get their horses shod, their bridles repaired, and their stomachs filled with hearty meals, mugs of ale, and whiskey straight from the barrel. Today, it’s the oldest restaurant in the state, having continuously operated since 1847 – only fourteen years after nearby Chicago was incorporated as a town, and 29 after Illinois became a state.
* SJ-R | Playwright hopes original work about 1908 race riot can jumpstart conversations: A native of Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood who retired from the Illinois Education Association in 2017, Crawford said he knew little about the Springfield Race Riot until 2018 when he encountered a video of Peoria artist Preston Jackson telling the story of his mural depicting the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis caring for the victims. The mural was a centerpiece for an exhibit commemorating the centennial of the riot at the Women and Children´s Clinic at HSHS St. John´s Hospital.
* WBEZ | A world premiere on the West Side salutes three great jazz women, including Nina Simone: More than a tribute piece, Women Out of Time confronts a long-vexing inequity in jazz. Divas like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Dinah Washington are highly visible — worshiped, even. But women in jazz are rarely showered with such praise for their compositional prowess, and it’s still woefully rare to see women on bandstands as instrumentalists. Even then, they might be pressured to pivot to singing instead, as Simone was.
* NBC Chicago | Chicago could threaten temperature record that’s stood for nearly 140 years: Those temperatures could even threaten longstanding records in the city. According to the National Weather Service, the record high temperature for Chicago for Feb. 8 is 62 degrees, set all the way back in 1925. Friday’s record could certainly be threatened, with the record of 56 degrees having been set in 1886, according to NWS officials.
* WGN | NFL commissioner in favor of new Bears stadium, believes dome feature could lead to hosting Super Bowl: With tax negotiations at a $100 million impasse, a new report said the Chicago Bears are shifting their stadium focus from Arlington Heights to the city’s lakefront. “I talked to the mayor of Chicago recently, he wants them in the city. I spoke with Arlington Heights, they want it out in Arlington Heights,” Goodell said.
* The University of Illinois System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs…
A recent Policy Spotlight published by the University of Illinois System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs titled “Working from Home in Illinois: Who Can and Does?” focuses on how Illinois workers adapted to working from home in the wake of the pandemic. Using the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, researchers describe the nuanced trends, challenges and opportunities surrounding remote work in Illinois.
Concentrating on this robust data set, researchers mapped out the geographic locations where the Illinois workforce is employed in occupations that can work remotely. By examining workforce trends driven by the loosening of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the report reveals a significant increase in remote work prevalence — especially in management, business, science and arts professions. The shift is more pronounced in higher-income brackets, but remote work is more prevalent across all income levels in 2021.
“McLean County, for example, has a large proportion of its workers in finance and insurance occupations. In contrast, Kankakee County has a larger proportion of workers in health care and manufacturing,” said David Merriman, a co-author of the Policy Spotlight and interim director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs. “The types of occupations and industries present in a county contribute greatly to whether the county’s labor force could work from home.”
Researchers explore the factors influencing who can and did work from home, including occupation types, geographic locations, gender and household dynamics, and access to high-speed internet. Focusing on gender and household dynamics, it appears that women with children were slightly more likely to work from home than women without children, but by 2021, men were still more likely to work from home regardless of whether they had young children. Additionally, the researchers highlight the importance of high-speed broadband infrastructure to facilitate remote work.
“Women under the age of 40 with children under five were slightly more likely to work from home compared with women without children under the age of five in both 2019 and 2021,” said Alea Wilbur-Mujtaba, a co-author of the Policy Spotlight and a Ph.D. student in public policy, management, and analytics at the University of Illinois Chicago.
Additionally, the researchers highlight the importance of high-speed broadband infrastructure to facilitate remote work
The report concludes that remote work is ingrained in Illinois’ workforce, mirroring national trends. It emphasizes the need for a comprehensive and equitable approach by policymakers, employers and society to address the lasting implications of remote work on state finances, economic disparities and work-life balance.
[Work from home] workers represent 13% of the Illinois work-force compared to 2.8% in 2019. In 2021, those in sales and office jobs represent close to 20% of the Illinois workforce, with 4% who are WFH.
Last year, five Illinois counties took part in the Benton Institute’s Broadband Breakthrough program. The effort coached local leaders on how broadband expansion happens, how to conduct community surveys, and how to get a better shot at these incoming federal dollars.
In interviews with the Daily Yonder, participants said the program helped ready the counties for a “once-in-a-generation” funding opportunity, one that could help business owners like Braffet. […]
In Hancock County, at least two internet service providers have already applied for and will continue to apply for broadband expansion grants as the federal dollars become available, said Samantha Harnack, executive director of Hancock County Economic Development. […]
“The state is 100% not going to give anyone a grant that doesn’t have their ducks in a row,” Harnack said. “The federal government, same thing.”
It’s unclear just how long it will take to expand broadband access to underserved rural areas. Patricia Nordman, a district representative for the Ogle County government, said she’s thinking on a 10-year timescale.
The White House is pressing Congress to extend a subsidy program that helps one in six U.S. families afford internet and represents a key element of President Joe Biden’s promise to deliver reliable broadband service to every American household. […]
The Affordable Connectivity Program offers qualifying families discounts on their internet bills — $30 a month for most families and up to $75 a month for families on tribal lands. The one-time infusion of $14.2 billion for the program through the bipartisan infrastructure law is projected to run out of money at the end of April. […]
[T]he program serves nearly an equal number of households in Republican and Democratic congressional districts, according to an AP analysis.
Biden has likened his promise of affordable internet for all American households to the New Deal-era effort to provide electricity to much of rural America. Congress approved $65 billion for several broadband-related investments, including the ACP, in 2021 as part of a bipartisan infrastructure law. He traveled to North Carolina last month to tout its potential benefits, especially in wide swaths of the country that currently lack access to reliable, affordable internet service/
Beyond the immediate impact to enrolled families, the expiration of the ACP could have a ripple effect on the impact of other federal broadband investments and could erode trust between consumers and their internet providers.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently proposed a bill to sustain the ACP through the end of 2024 with an additional $7 billion in funding — a billion more than Biden asked Congress to appropriate for the program at the end of last year. However, no votes have been scheduled to move the bill forward, and it’s unclear if the program will be prioritized in a divided Congress.
* PBS | New tool gauges economic effects of expanded broadband in rural IL: A report by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society estimates that, across 15 agricultural counties in Illinois, faster internet speeds could boost production of corn and soybeans by over $100 million annually.
* COStar | After Championing Remote Work, Dell Calls Employees Back to the Office: The Round Rock, Texas-based company told some of its employees that they must show up to a corporate hub at least 39 days a quarter, a mandate that shakes out to roughly three days a week, a Dell spokesperson confirmed to CoStar News. The new in-person requirement will apply to workers who have been operating on a hybrid policy, which the computer hardware company has gradually revised over the past couple of years.
Illinois State Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, and Illinois 12th Congressional District candidate Darren Bailey railed against the immigration policies of the federal government and sanctuary cities like Chicago during a trip to the nation’s southern border this week.
Wilhour and Bailey held a press conference Monday at the border in Eagle Pass, Texas where they discussed immigration and border security as the city of Chicago continues to grapple with an influx of immigrants, many of whom are being sent to Illinois by the state of Texas.
The site of the press conference, Shelby Park, has become the center of rising tensions between federal immigration authorities and the Texas National Guard who recently blocked U.S. Border Patrol from accessing the park. The Texas National Guard has also been installing razor wire along the border there despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing the federal government to remove it.
“God bless Texas and the Texas National Guard and Gov. Abbot for having the courage and foresight to come in here and take over this park,” Wilhour said during the press conference, which was livestreamed.
Two Illinois Republicans, both competing in the March 19 primary, broadcast Monday afternoon from Eagle Pass, Texas, to call for completion of the border wall.
“Friends,” said Darren Bailey, “it’s time to vote for a secure border. It’s time to vote for a safe America.
Meanwhile, Bailey stressed that he would strongly oppose the current bipartisan border proposal if he was a member of Congress.
“It’s shameful that any Republican would join in any kind of talks putting this together,” Bailey said. “What I do support and demand is a single action bill closing the border right now and finishing the wall. Let’s protect our country.”
* Bailey’s opponent, US Rep. Mike Bost, is hitting the airwaves with another spot. Press release…
Congressman Mike Bost’s campaign today has released its third television advertisement of the 2024 election cycle. The ad, titled “Fighting Patriot,” will air district-wide on cable, broadcast, and satellite television, as well as on streaming services.
“I’ve been to Eagle Pass twice in the past 10 months, meeting with border patrol and reviewing security measures at one of our most targeted points of entry. I voted to build the wall, end catch and release, and hire more border agents. I introduced legislation to stop the Biden administration from facilitating healthcare for illegal migrants with money intended for American veterans. Unlike my opponent, who hastily planned a meaningless publicity stunt at the border because we’re one month from an election, I’ve always viewed border security as a top priority.”
“I’m a governing conservative,” Bost told members of the local farm bureau at a campaign stop in Belleville last month. “Governing means, yes, we’re still going to operate government. We’re not going to blow up the world. We’re going to actually allow government to do its job, and we’re going to be as wise as we can.”
On the other side is the House Freedom Caucus, a small, far-right, pro-Trump faction of House Republicans that sees bipartisan deals as failures. They block House business using procedural rules, and some of its members have said they’d let the government shut down to secure spending cuts, among other demands.
Bailey’s on that side.
“Shut it down and let the American people rise up and wake up, and see that failed leadership has created that,” Bailey said in January during an interview at his homestead in rural southeastern Illinois.
Bost appears to be moving away from his January comments about being a “governing conservative,” at least through March.
Whether section 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B) criminalizes gratuities, i.e., payments in recognition of actions a state or local official has already taken or committed to take, without any quid pro quo agreement to take those actions.
The ComEd Four defendants believe the outcome of this case could overturn at least some of their convictions. And former House Speaker Michael Madigan was able to get his trial delayed until after this decision comes down.
* As noted above, the heart of this is the definition of gratuities. The US Attorney’s office believes gratuities are covered under the criminal statute in question. “I wish somebody would just read the language of the statute,” Assistant US Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said last month.
corruptly solicits or demands for the benefit of any person, or accepts or agrees to accept, anything of value from any person, intending to be influenced or rewarded in connection with any business, transaction, or series of transactions of such organization, government, or agency involving any thing of value of $5,000 or more
Two of the key words there are “rewarded” and “corruptly.” The feds say Congress clearly meant gratuities when it used the word “rewarded.” The defense begs to differ…
The government obtained a conviction below on the theory that merely knowing that a gift was meant as a reward for official conduct qualifies as acting “corruptly.” Under that theory, it is irrelevant whether the gift is worth $1, $100, or $100,000; all that matters is awareness that the gift is thanks for official conduct.
The government now argues that “corruptly” refers to unspecified wrongfulness. But the government cannot defend a conviction on a new theory on which the jury was not instructed. And the government never says what separates innocuous from wrongful gratuities, let alone how ordinary citizens would have notice of that dividing line.
Keep in mind the federal law also applies to “private companies and nonprofits that accept at least $10,000 in federal funds”…
This Court has repeatedly rejected similarly sweeping and amorphous interpretations that would extend federal criminal law to commonplace conduct that States and localities ordinarily regulate. Congress did not plausibly upend the federal-state balance and impose potential ten-year prison terms on 19.2 million state and local officials, thousands of tribal officials, and millions of private employees for accepting gifts as thanks for on-the-job acts. It is even less conceivable that Congress subjected state, local, and tribal officials to such lengthy prison terms when the federal gratuities statute imposes a maximum two-year sentence on federal officials, whose ethics are extensively regulated by the federal Office of Government Ethics. Congress surely did not contemplate that federal prosecutors might treat every political contribution—a form of core First Amendment activity—as a potentially unlawful gratuity.
The far more natural reading of section 666 is simple: the provision criminalizes all forms of bribery. By prohibiting “corruptly … accept[ing] … anything of value …, intending to be influenced or rewarded” in official business, Congress employed all the hallmarks of a bribery statute. Bribery involves wrongfully and deliberately trading official conduct for money. Congress used “intending to be influenced or rewarded” to cover the waterfront of inducements. Using “rewarded” makes clear that officials still engage in bribery if they take money in exchange for official conduct and claim they would have acted the same way regardless, or take money after the fact. Those officials “intend[] to be … rewarded” with money in exchange for taking some promised action.
Congress routinely uses similar language in other bribery statutes, and routinely uses dramatically different language when criminalizing gratuities. Congress famously does not hide elephants in mouseholes, and Congress did not camouflage a gratuities crime deep within a provision targeting bribery.
Three key officials in charge of coordinating the response to the ongoing migrant situation in Chicago met on Monday at City Hall, according to NBC Chicago Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle both attended the meeting with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson as hundreds of migrants continue to arrive in the city.
Johnson was in Los Angeles over the weekend to attend the African-American Mayor Association meetings, and also attended the Grammy Awards before returning to Chicago on a late night flight, according to Ahern’s reporting.
At least he was able to see one of the best Grammys in years.
These days, it is harder than ever to make ends meet for hardworking families in Chicago, particularly in our city’s Black communities.
Rapidly rising costs have exacerbated longstanding inequity and injustice rooted in our city’s historical and contemporary actions, such as redlining and discriminatory housing policies that stagnated Black homeownership rates and kept significant investment away from the city’s Black community.
Through redlining, banks declared certain areas as hazardous and unworthy of loans, and restrictive covenants, racist property managers and landlords, and homeowner associations kept Black families away from the city’s most attractive neighborhoods. In the end, Black families were essentially barred from qualifying for home loans and left unable to build generational wealth.
Families like mine were left essentially barred from qualifying for loans for homeownership and were not able to build generational wealth. As of last year, there are 90% more Black Chicagoans in redlined areas than in surrounding neighborhoods. It’s no wonder that a recent report put Illinois as the worst state in the nation for racial financial inequality.
We must take action to make it easier for Black Chicagoans to thrive, and our government can play a major role by helping more Black families keep more money in their pockets.
That’s why I have proposed the creation of a permanent Child Tax Credit (CTC), which would give Illinois parents who earn at or below the median income a $300 tax credit per child.
This policy will have a monumental impact on all communities, especially Black and Brown communities. Preliminary estimates provided by the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and Economic Security Project show that 60% of the money set aside by the new credit would go directly to Black and Brown families. […]
The Child Tax Credit I’ve proposed alongside my colleagues and with the support of over 40 statewide organizations would also indirectly benefit small and large businesses across our state.
Research has shown us that 80% of tax refund checks are redirected to local businesses through purchases at local stores. In fact, a recent study conducted by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute has demonstrated that a CTC would generate close to $1 billion in new economic activity in Illinois.
Provides that the Act may be referred to as the Voluntary Do Not Sell Firearms Act. Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Provides that a person may voluntarily waive his or her firearm rights by filing a voluntary waiver, in a form determined by the Illinois State Police, with the clerk of a circuit court. Provides that the person shall also surrender any current Firearm Owner’s Identification Card or concealed carry license that has been issued to the person. Provides that the clerk of the circuit court must request a physical or scanned copy of photo identification to verify the person’s identity prior to accepting the form. Provides that the person filing the form may provide the name of a family member, mental health professional, substance use disorder professional, or other person to be contacted if the filer attempts to purchase a firearm while the voluntary waiver of firearm rights is in effect or if the filer applies to have the voluntary waiver revoked. Provides that a person who has filed a voluntary waiver of firearm rights may file a revocation of the voluntary waiver if at least 7 calendar days have passed since the voluntary waiver was initially filed. Provides that a person who knowingly makes a false statement regarding the person’s identity on the voluntary waiver of firearm rights form or revocation of waiver of firearm rights form is guilty of a Class 2 felony. Provides that the Illinois State Police shall develop a voluntary waiver of firearm rights form, a revocation of voluntary waiver of firearm rights form, and instructions for the surrender of firearms. Provides that records produced pursuant to the amendatory Act are not subject to disclosure as public records under the Freedom of Information Act. Amends the Freedom of Information Act and the Firearm Dealer License Certification Act to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.
Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the Department of Corrections shall establish an Office of Workplace Safety. Provides that the Office shall assess the Department’s compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act and any other applicable health and safety rules, and make recommendations for improvements to processes and procedures to improve safety in the workplace. Provides that the Office shall also prepare an annual report on the Department’s state of compliance with all applicable health and safety laws and rules, plans for the future to increase compliance and further promote safety in the workplace, and any serious accident which occurred resulting in serious injury or death including lessons learned from those accidents and remedial measures undertaken as a result. Provides that this report shall be sent to the Director of Corrections, the Governor, and the General Assembly. Provides that the Director of Corrections shall appoint the Chief Workplace Safety Officer to administer the Office, who shall have a professional background and training in industrial and workplace safety or industrial hygiene. Provides that the Chief Workplace Safety Officer may employ subordinate employees at the Chief Workplace Safety Officer’s discretion to assist the Chief Workplace Safety Officer in carrying out the Chief Workplace Safety Officer’s duties. Provides that the Chief Workplace Safety Officer or any designated employee of the Office may conduct a workplace safety inspection of any property, equipment, or workplace under the control or supervision of the Department at any time, and shall conduct random unannounced inspections as often as deemed necessary. Provides that any person who fails to cooperate with an investigation inspection or who gives false testimony or documentary evidence shall be subject to discipline, or in the case of a person committed to the Department of Corrections a loss of privileges. Provides that violent actions by committed persons and the use of force by correctional officers and staff shall not be within the purview of the Office of Workplace Safety. Provides that the provisions of the amendatory Act are subject to appropriations.
Creates the Digital Voice and Likeness Protection Act. Provides that a provision in an agreement between an individual and any other person for the performance of personal or professional services is contrary to public policy and is deemed unenforceable if the provision meets all of the following conditions: (1) the provision allows for the creation and use of a digital replica of the individual’s voice or likeness in place of work the individual would otherwise have performed in person; (2) the provision does not clearly define and detail all of the proposed uses of the digital replica or the generative artificial intelligence system; and (3) the individual was not represented by legal counsel or by a labor union acting in a specified capacity. Provides that the Act shall apply retroactively. Provides that any person who is currently under, or has entered into, an agreement with an individual performing personal or professional services containing an unenforceable provision shall notify that individual in writing that the provision is unenforceable by January 1, 2025. Effective immediately.
Creates the Paraprofessional Fast Track to Teaching Degree Pilot Program Act. Makes findings. Provides that the Paraprofessional Fast Track to Teaching Degree Pilot Program is created for a 2-year degree pathway by which paraprofessional educators may enroll to achieve the education requirements to attain a professional educator license in this State, which shall comply with the standards of the State Board of Education and the Board of Higher Education. Provides that, subject to appropriation, beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year or, if funds are not appropriated for the Program that academic year, beginning with the academic year in which funds are appropriated for the Program, the State Board of Education and the Board of Higher Education shall coordinate with each other to assign a qualified individual to serve as a Program director to develop the curriculum for the Program. Provides that one public elementary or public secondary school and one public university in this State shall be chosen to develop a program for transitioning paraprofessionals to teachers. Includes the core components of the Program. Provides that the State Board of Education and the Board of Higher Education must submit a report to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Legislative Reference Bureau detailing the impact of the Program and then the Program is dissolved and the Act is repealed. Effective immediately.
* ICYMI: Pritzker, Johnson, Preckwinkle meet to discuss Chicago asylum-seekers. NBC Chicago…
- Mayor Brandon Johnson is expected to give an update today.
- Governor Pritzker said the meeting was productive and that the three officials got along well during the conversation.
- There are 13,442 asylum-seekers currently living in 28 active shelters. There are a total of 41 currently awaiting placement in those shelters, including 34 at the landing zone and four more in Chicago police buildings.
* Isabel’s top picks…
* Capitol News Illinois | Former GOP lawmaker’s trial again delayed amid last-minute hospitalization: McCann had been granted an extension of his trial in late November after ditching his court-appointed attorney the morning opening arguments were set to begin and announcing he’d instead be representing himself. At the time, he told reporters he was confident in his ability to defend his case because “God’s got this.” But 10 weeks later, McCann was missing in action in U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless’ courtroom. His standby attorney Jason Vincent – the only one of his most recent team of court-appointed attorneys he’d allowed to continue being associated with his case – said his client was in the hospital having been ill over the weekend, including passing out on Saturday night.
* Daily Herald | Casten heading into primary with huge cash lead over opponents: With early voting for the March 19 showdown set to begin Thursday, Casten’s campaign committee reported having a little more than $1 million saved for advertising, consultants and other expenses that might come up in what’s left of the primary race, according to a year-end campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission. In stark contrast, Democratic challenger and Oakbrook Terrace resident Mahnoor Ahmad’s campaign had less than $4,200 saved at year’s end, records show.
* WTAX | Bailey’s border broadcast: Bailey, the former state lawmaker and 2022 Republican candidate for governor, is now running in the 12th Congressional District in southern Illinois, saying U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro), the incumbent, has not done enough to keep the border secure. Joining Bailey was the vice chair of the Illinois Freedom Caucus. State Rep. Blaine Wilhour (pictured, left) (R-Beecher City) is facing a primary fight to keep his seat in the Illinois House.
* Daily Southtown | Park Forest use of drone in arrest is part of debate on use of unmanned crafts: Autonomous drones and the role they should play in Illinois policing continues to be debated in the nine years since the Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act was passed. Lawmakers in 2023 passed the latest amendment, allowing police to fly drones over large public gatherings without a warrant to hopefully stop mass crime events, such as the 2022 Fourth of July mass shooting in Highland Park. “When we pass legislation that allows law enforcement to potentially overstep privacy, I get a little wary about the slippery slope of what that could look like,” Democratic state Sen. Rachel Ventura of Joliet said after the bill passed her chamber in May. “At the same point, we have to find that balance on the spectrum between freedom and safety.”
* WTTW | Chicago Principals Association Leader Calls for Accountability After CTU President’s ‘Concerning’ Comments, Union’s ‘Divisive Campaigns’: In a letter written Feb. 2 to CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, Chicago Principals and Administrators Association President Troy LaRaviere wrote, in part: “On Thursday, January 25, 2024, (Hozian’s) safety and well-being were threatened by CTU President Stacy Davis-Gates, who encouraged two Stevenson teachers to “punch your principal in the face,” and then publicly celebrated this comment by repeating it to a room filled with approximately 200 people participating in the Sustainable Community Schools Initiative.”
* Center Square | Illinois legislators return to capitol Tuesday: Top of mind is the state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Illinois taxpayers will hear more about how Gov. J.B. Pritzker plans to spend their tax dollars during his budget and State of the State address Wednesday, Feb. 21. He’s indicated there will be a lot of priorities legislators will have to balance.
* The Crusader | Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton launches Illinois Healing-Centered Task Force: Created by Senate Bill 646, the IHCTF will coordinate existing projects, identify the impact of intergenerational trauma to develop preventative solutions and facilitate broader community engagement. This work will be used to inform legislators on applying trauma-informed principles to the policymaking process.
* Block Club | Pilsen Lot Being Cleaned Up Ahead Of Huge Affordable Housing Development: The site is contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbons and lead, the city said. total petroleum hydrocarbon is present from a leaking underground storage tank that was removed from a nearby former Go Time gas station, while the lead contamination is from a manufacturing plant that was on the site when it was owned by National Lead.
* Semafor | Leading US lawmaker on China committee says he doesn’t want a TikTok ban: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), the ranking Democrat member on the House Select Committee on China, said he had concerns about TikTok’s U.S. operations but did not support a total U.S. ban on the app. “I don’t want to see a ban,” Krishnamoorthi told Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant at Semafor’s Principals Live event on Monday. “The concern is this: If it’s owned by a company thats beholden to the CCP, then you have a new level of concern beyond the social media companies.”
* Farm Week | IL farmers featured in Super Bowl commercial: Little did Matt Boucher know a social media post spotlighting three generations on his farm would springboard his family to a role in a Super Bowl commercial. The fourth-generation Livingston County farmer and his daughter will be featured in a commercial highlighting the fact that 96% of Illinois farms are family-owned.
* Crain’s | Rivian teases first look at smaller, less expensive electric SUV: The model, which Rivian executives have said will be a midsize SUV, is expected to be priced from roughly $40,000 to $60,000, and is slated to be available in 2026. The older R1 line has an average selling price starting at $73,000. The R2 will be marketed at a price point where there are currently not a lot of options, Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe has told investors.
The federal trial of former state senator and gubernatorial candidate William “Sam” McCann on wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion was on hold Monday after McCann was said to be in the hospital.
Court documents indicate that McCann’s standby counsel, Jason Vincent, informed Central District Judge Colleen Lawless that McCann’s wife told him that he had been admitted to the hospital and would be undergoing a procedure Monday.
Lawless then asked the Central District’s probation office to look into the matter, asking all those involved from McCann to his wife and the hospital to provide proof of his hospitalization. If needed, they could ask for a subpoena if they ran into resistance.
* Illinois Fraternal Order of Police press release…
The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) State Lodge has issued a statement regarding Illinois House Bill 4603, proposed legislation that would prohibit law enforcement officers from stopping vehicles for infractions such as speeding, improper lane usage, obstructed windshields, defective headlights, expired registration stickers, or failure to wear safety belts. Evidence obtained in any of these instances would also be deemed inadmissible in court. The bill was pulled from immediate consideration by its sponsor, Rep. Justin Slaughter, after a public outcry against it, but the legislation is still alive in the House Rules Committee:
“Of all the anti-police laws we have seen in recent years, this truly takes the pro-criminal cake,” said Illinois FOP State Lodge President Chris Southwood. “How many lives will be lost if we can’t stop dangerous drivers? Such a law will only benefit lawbreakers, and common sense must have taken a vacation when this bill was drafted. Thankfully, the howls of indignation over this preposterous piece of legislation forced the sponsor to remove it from immediate consideration, but the bill is still far from dead. We urge the members of the Illinois General Assembly to never let such a potential legal lunacy rear its unhinged head.”
* It’s not often you see a poll that has 70 percent of Americans agreeing on anything…
* SJ-R | Democrat, Republican lawmakers give support to bipartisan estate tax reform: State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, and Rep. Sharon Chung, D-Bloomington are leading identical legislation — Senate Bill 2921 and House Bill 4600 — in both chambers. As Chung explained, the legislation also would allow for the surviving spouses to receive any unused exemption amount and provide a pathway for the next generation to hold on to the family farm.
* Play Illinois | Illinois iGaming Bill Shows Signs Of Life, Assigned To Gaming Committee: A stalled bill from 2023 that would legalize Illinois online casinos has regained a pulse. House Bill 2239, which was first introduced by Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, Jr. in February 2023, was recently assigned to the House Gaming Committee. Before that, there had been no activity on the bill since March 2023.
* The Pantagraph | Illinois’ partially-open primaries help political parties, discourage some from participating: Under the letter of Illinois election law, any registered voter showing up to vote in a primary must state their “name, residence and party affiliation” to the precinct’s election judges. Next, one of those officials “shall thereupon announce the same in a distinct tone of voice, sufficiently loud to be heard by all persons in the polling place.” This language has been present in Illinois’ election code since before women gained the franchise in 1920. Like many other antiquated laws, this dramatic reading no longer takes place in practice at modern-day polling places.
* Capitol News Illinois | Copays take effect for immigrant health programs as cost estimates continue to decline: Advocates for the programs contend they are not only lifesaving but also cost-saving in the long-run as they give individuals access to preventative care rather than making them reliant upon expensive emergency room visits to treat conditions that worsen due to lack of care. Opponents of the programs, namely Republican lawmakers, have criticized them as an expensive enticement for people illegally residing in the U.S. to relocate to Illinois.
* Tribune | Inmate’s release 25 years ago paved way for Illinois ban on executions, but death penalty debate continues nationwide: Twenty-five years after the dramatic freeing of Porter, executions in the United States have been on an uptick for the past several years, although nowhere near as prevalent as they had been historically. Last year, 24 people were executed nationwide, compared to 18 in 2022 and 11 in 2021, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center, a criminal justice nonprofit based in Washington D.C. In 1999, the year Porter was released from custody, 98 executions had occurred across the country, the most of any year since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report. Two of the executions in 1999 were carried out in Illinois.
* The Telegraph | County looking at public camping ordinance: Madison County officials are considering emulating Alton, which recently passed an ordinance dealing with camping on public property. […] Under the ordinance, approved in November and set to take effect six months from then, it would be unlawful for people to camp on any public street, bridge, par, public property or public area where that activity would obstruct or interfere with the intended use of the property.
* Tribune | Chicago police sergeant involved in two controversial fatal shootings now running for Cook County judge: Sgt. John Poulos, who is also a licensed attorney, is running for a vacant North Side judicial seat against three opponents: local attorneys Michael Zink and Nickolas Pappas, and Nadine Jean Wichern, chief of the civil appeals division in the Illinois attorney general’s office. At the end of last year, thanks primarily to loans from his wife, Poulos had about $500,000 in his campaign coffers, far more than his three challengers combined.
* WGN | Lake County Sheriff Martinez Jr. pleads guilty to reckless driving: The sheriff was indicted on Jan. 6, 2022 after being accused of fleeing from Crown Point police on Sept. 18, 2021. A felony charge of resisting law enforcement was dropped in exchange for pleading guilty to reckless driving, a misdemeanor.
* Robert Vargas | Chicago shouldn’t renew its ShotSpotter contract: As Chicago decides whether to renew its contract for SoundThinking’s gunshot detection technology called ShotSpotter, it is essential to weigh the evidence, as city leaders do with public safety interventions like CRED. The city granted an extension to the ShotSpotter contract last summer and must decide whether to renew the contract no later than February.
* Crain’s | Alden Global Capital-linked firm emerges as a top delinquent tax buyer: A venture that shares an address with a nonprofit led by Alden’s co-founder was a top buyer of unpaid taxes in the annual auction held by the Cook County treasurer’s office in January, buying about $1.75 million worth of delinquent taxes on more than 600 properties, according to data provided by the Cook County treasurer’s office under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Including paying the taxes, interest and administrative fees, the firm spent almost $2.4 million to be the fifth-largest buyer in this year’s auction by number of properties purchased, records show.
* ABC Chicago | Metra train riders continue to report problems with Ventra app Monday: “When I first got on the train, the app was working fine,” Metra rider Ed Svaldi said. “And then about halfway through they said the app was down they’re having issues and I when I went to go do it again to take the tickets it wasn’t working.” Monday morning’s commute was the true test of the system after last week’s ticketing nightmare when the Ventra app crashed as Metra rolled out a new fare structure on February 1.
* Streetsblog | Study: Subsidizing Transit Actually Makes It More Efficient: In a fascinating recent analysis, researchers found that metro areas that received more government subsidies per capita were more likely to run buses and trains with lots of passengers on board, rather than running inefficient, wasteful routes with just a few heavily subsidized riders per vehicle.
* WBEZ | Household income and education levels are on the rise in most parts of Chicago: Between the five-year periods ending in 2012 and 2022, the median household income in Chicago grew from $59,000 to more than $71,000 in inflation-adjusted 2022 dollars. For Cook County, median household income improved from about $68,000 to more than $78,000.
* Chicago Mag | Someone Has to Wear the Jacket: “Wear the jacket” is a uniquely Chicago phrase. It means to take the blame, or to take the fall, and it generally applies to an underling whose career is sacrificed to save his boss’s skin. In an episode of the Sun-Times’s “Chicagopedia,” columnist Neil Steinberg explained the term’s origin
* Block Club | Chicago’s South Side Wins Big At The Grammy Awards: Englewood native Lil Durk received the Grammy for Best Melodic Rap Performance for his single “All My Life,” featuring hip-hop superstar J. Cole. This was Durk’s first Grammy win out of four nominations and Cole’s second; his first was from his feature on “a lot” with 21 Savage back in 2020.
* SEIU Healthcare is demanding higher wages and a “path to retirement” for 45,000 home and child care workers. That’s a whole lot of people. Press release excerpt…
As Illinois faces a care crisis where families can’t access affordable care and workers can’t afford to save for retirement, 45,000 Illinois home and child care workers are escalating their campaign to publicly demand a strong contract with a path to retirement and livable wages.
Care workers are sending their most direct message to Governor Pritzker yet with a package of new TV, digital and newspaper ads pushing for Pritzker to settle a fair contract.
While the frontline care providers are appreciative of the Governor’s ongoing leadership advocating for IL working families, they are calling upon him to take immediate action to solve Illinois’ care crisis.
Yesterday, Chicagoans opened up their Sunday Chicago Tribune to see a full page ad blaring, “GOVERNOR PRITZKER, ILLINOIS HAS A CARE CRISIS,” and directly calling on the governor to settle a fair contract with caregivers who “have waited long enough for a path to retirement and livable wages.”
The print appeal hit newspaper stands as an emotional TV ad hit screens in Chicago and Springfield highlighting a care worker’s direct-to-camera appeal for a realistic pathway to retirement:
Sheryl, Care Worker: I take care of people that have devastating needs. I’m 71 year’s old and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to afford to retire.
We live from paycheck to paycheck, we have to rely on credit cards and worry about going bankrupt. Governor Pritzker, we waited long enough. We need a path to retirement now.
We’re there to help people, but who’s helping us?
* The Question: Your thoughts on the merits of this campaign?
* Joni Mitchel wrote this song when she was in her early twenties. It seemed to take on far more meaning when she sang it last night at the age of 80…
Can you even imagine what it means to sing the lyrics to "Both Sides Now" when you're in your eighties? That song has always held so much wisdom, and now it feels even weightier. pic.twitter.com/yNVg7CJ6NG
* According to a document from the City of Chicago, 284 asylum-seekers arrived at staging centers during the week ending this past Friday. That’s up a bit from the 214 who arrived the previous week.
Annie Gomberg, a lead organizer with the Police Station Response Team who has been on the ground aiding migrants, said there’s a lot of confusion about the policy and the process of what happens next.
“Not everybody is going to be able to access state vouchers for housing,” Gomberg said, “and when you do not have the capacity to work and you don’t have resources to put yourself into your own apartment, when you have children that are in school, and all of the illness and injury and other things as well as the trauma of this journey, that’s a lot for people to have to unpack.”
Jessica Darrow, a professor at the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, has been studying refugee resettlement for years and said this current humanitarian crisis stems from decades of disinvestment in low-income housing.
“Accessing housing is a lot more complicated than a policy that ideally gives people rental assistance, or even saying that landlords can’t discriminate based on a national immigration status,” Darrow said. “The fact is, we do have a city that does not have nearly enough low-income housing and people will not be able to find apartments unless they can also find work, which means they have to have work authorization. There’s so many steps that are really out of the control of this city’s administration and really out of control of volunteers. We’ve got people working so hard to plug holes that are then constantly flooding again.”
* In other news, Ald. Raymond Lopez has put the migrant issue front and center as he attempts to generate news media coverage for his congressional campaign against US Rep. Chuy Garcia. How’s that campaign going so far? Lynn Sweet…
Dozens of people rallied in Chicago Saturday for a solution to the city’s migrant crisis.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights held its annual summit in Pilsen.
Community groups, activists and labor unions joined together calling for solidarity and support for migrants.
“We are way overdue in creating a system of migration rooted in compassion and in justice,” said U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Illinois).
* From Isabel…
* CBS Chicago | Chicago suburb receives nearly $2 million to run shelter for migrants: The money allows [Oak Park] to operate its temporary shelter program. Some of the funds will go to a local nonprofit so it can operate a new temporary shelter at a former Catholic school through the end of June. Other money will be used for legal services to help migrants with their applications for asylum.
* Block Club | El Árbol Mutual Aid Group Opens Free Store In Logan Square For Migrants, Neighbors: The store opened Wednesday with about 25 people coming by to take advantage of the free items, said Daniel Orkin, a lead volunteer and El Árbol organizer. While it’s mostly geared for migrants, the store is open to anyone in the neighborhood who needs free winter items or personal items, Orkin said.
* Tribune | A Chicago man offers housing and community to hundreds of migrants: Joselin Mendoza sleeps on the floor of a cold stone basement with her two kids at a house in Roseland. The two-story house has no furniture and 22 other migrants from Venezuela sleep on mattresses or blankets on the floor. Their clothes and stuffed animals are stacked in neat piles nearby. The property’s owner Chris Amatore came by in a truck one day in January and offered her the chance to leave a city-run shelter before she and her family were kicked out. […] He has now resettled close to 500 migrants in 15 buildings around the city, spending $150,000 of his own money, he said. Amatore’s solution isn’t a long-term fix — for himself or the migrants, who are grateful for the vacant buildings they now call home.
* The Heartland Alliance is integral to the region’s social service delivery system. From the Tribune…
One of the city’s leading social service organizations, beset by a pair of financial crises that last year engulfed its housing and health care divisions, could be on the verge of splitting up.
The turmoil at the Heartland Alliance, a sprawling nonprofit encompassing five divisions providing a vast array of social services, threatens to upend important safety net programs at a time when Chicago is experiencing an influx of migrants, many of whom need help with health care and housing.
Heartland Alliance’s housing division, which grappled with inflation and declining rent collections during the pandemic, ceased operations last spring and needs buyers for the roughly 1,000 affordable units it operated in Chicago and Wisconsin.
Heartland’s health division, struggling to cover escalating health costs and expenses associated with a surge of migrants in its shelters, indefinitely furloughed more than 150 employees between September and November and cut back programming. It’s now considering spinning off into an independent organization, according to a written statement from Mary Kay Gilbert, interim executive director of Heartland Alliance Health, and Chief External Affairs Officer Ed Stellon. Health care centers in Englewood, Uptown and the Near West Side remain open. […]
Founded in the 19th century as Travelers and Immigrants Aid by legendary reformer Jane Addams, Heartland Alliance’s five divisions employed about 1,700 by 2021 and served up to 500,000 people annually.
Dozens of employees are taking a 20% pay cut at Alivio Medical Center, a key health care provider for migrants and asylum seekers on the West Side.
Those getting their hours reduced from 40 to 32 a week range from executives to medical assistants, nurses and front-desk staff, spokeswoman Terri Rivera said in a recent interview. She has since left Alivio. Doctors were spared from the cut so they can take care of more patients to generate more revenue, Rivera said, though they could be trying to do so with less help. For example, she said a medical assistant now might share their time between two doctors instead of one.
“No services have changed or hours changed,” Rivera emphasized.
She added that no one has been laid off, but also confirmed some employees have quit over the furloughs. She would not say how many total people have been furloughed, but said Alivio still has about 250 employees across seven clinics. […]
Like many community health centers, Alivio treats a large portion of low-income and uninsured patients. On its website, Alivio harkens back to why the health center was founded in 1989: to fill a void by providing medical care for an underserved population of immigrants in the Pilsen, Little Village and Back of the Yards neighborhoods. Historically these patients have had little access to medical care given language and cultural barriers and fear of seeking medical care because of their immigration status, Alivio explained.
Lately, many migrants arriving in Chicago have come to rely on Alivio’s clinic in Pilsen. This area is home to the largest city-run shelter where about 2,500 people are staying. As of Jan. 19, about half were children, according to data shared by the city. […]
And compared with other community health centers, Alivio is reimbursed far less for the behavioral health care it provides to low-income or disabled patients who have Medicaid health insurance, data show. This year, Alivio is getting paid back about $54 per visit — the lowest reimbursement rate for community health centers in the state. Other clinics are paid back between $72 to $83 per visit.
Two of Chicago’s largest medical groups laid off employees Thursday, citing money troubles.
University of Chicago Medical Center officials say the hospital is facing the “same challenges” other health systems have, which led to the 180 layoffs.
“The fact is many outside pressures including higher supply and labor costs are converging as healthcare delivery rapidly evolves,” president Tom Jackiewicz and Mark Anderson, executive vice president of medical affairs, wrote in a memo to employees on Thursday. “Additionally, we grew our staff to address the pandemic, which was necessary for that moment but cannot be maintained.”
Laid-off employees, about 2% of the medical center’s staff, were given severance packages, U. of C. representatives said in a written statement: “The majority of affected positions are not direct patient facing, and these changes will not affect the quality of patient care.”
After five days, Lurie Children’s Hospital says it’s still actively responding to a cyber security attack.
Lurie Children’s Hospital is working with law enforcement agencies to investigate a system-wide network outage.
The cyberattack started last Wednesday. Computers, internet and phones remain all offline, making it difficult for patient families to access important medical information.
…Adding… Press release…
State Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, is reacting with outrage after Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan had its trauma center designation revoked on Friday, following the failure of its owners to properly manage it.
“Waukegan is a low-income, working-class community that is now without a trauma center hospital,” Mayfield said. “This is a huge problem in terms of equitable access to care no matter what the reason. But for this to be happening because a company bought a hospital only to almost immediately allow it to fall into insolvency—to the point where there is no budget and doctors and staff are not being paid—is outrageous.”
Licensing examiners conducted an on-site investigation of Vista on Jan. 29, finding that, among other things, Vista had no written budget, and that staff—including physicians and specialists—either had not been paid in months or had seen their payroll checks returned for insufficient funds. A report by the Lake County Coroner indicated that this was a primary reason behind an exodus of staff which led in turn to Vista no longer meeting the criteria to remain a trauma center.
Losing trauma center designation means that Vista can only treat minor injuries, with more seriously injured patients needing to be transferred to other hospitals. Vista also is now no longer eligible to participate as a hospital in the Medicare program.
After two other changes in ownership over the last five years, Vista was purchased by American Healthcare Systems, a for-profit company, in July 2023.
“Waukegan needs its hospital to remain open, fully staffed and fully operational. Waukegan families need and deserve access to the same basic services as does every other community in Illinois,” Mayfield said. “American Health Systems and Vista Hospital have an obligation to swiftly and completely get their house in order and address these issues. If they can’t do it, then they should step aside so that someone else can. Continued neglect and failure at the expense of Waukegan families is unacceptable.”
Two lenders are alleging Petersen Health Care failed to repay a total of nearly $51 million in loans.
Seventeen health care facilities owned by the Peoria-based company are part of the loan foreclosure proceedings in two separate court cases.
Two facilities are in the Peoria area: Timbercreek Rehab & Health Care in Pekin, and Fondulac Rehabilitation & Health Care Center in East Peoria. One facility is in Missouri and the rest are located across Illinois, including in Canton, Galesburg, Kewanee and Monmouth.
Republican Dennis Reboletti is trying something different in a state legislative race: Stake out a “moderate” position on abortion in a party that completely rejects that stance and in a race against a solidly pro-choice Democrat.
Reboletti, the Addison Township supervisor, has no GOP primary opposition, so he’s essentially free to be the first Republican legislative candidate in recent memory to attempt to thread this needle. No other House GOP candidates are known to have this position, which makes the race worth watching. It’s not going to be easy, to say the least, and a similar tactic came up short in another major DuPage County race in 2022.
Two years ago, the Senate Democrats spent millions of dollars to defeat Reboletti, then a state representative from Elmhurst, when he tried to challenge state Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs). The Democrats focused heavily on abortion rights, and Reboletti lost by almost 10 points.
This year, Reboletti is once again trying to make his way back to the General Assembly, challenging Marti Deuter in an open seat race created when freshman Rep. Jenn Ladisch Douglass (D-Elmhurst) abruptly announced in September that she wouldn’t run again.
Douglass just barely defeated incumbent Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) by 364 votes in a 2022 race that leaned heavily on Mazzochi’s full-throated opposition to abortion. Mazzochi also tied herself closely to seemingly every possible right-wing group imaginable during that election and refused to cooperate with the House Republican Organization. She had decent name recognition, which probably kept it close, but Democratic money and the abortion issue did her in at the end of the day.
Douglass ran a good suburban race and Mazzochi ran a bad one, but that was then, and now Deuter, a longtime Elmhurst alderperson, is the one to beat. The district leans strongly Democratic at the top. Joe Biden won it in 2020 by nine points. No statewide Republican has won the district since Bruce Rauner took it by 5 points in 2018. But the district map was drawn so heavily Democratic that it’s one of the better chances the Republicans have.
Reboletti appeared on WIND Radio several days ago and told host John Anthony that developments since the overturning of Roe v. Wade have “really bothered me.”
Reboletti said he would support allowing voters to decide whether to approve a constitutional amendment on abortion rights. “I think that my belief is women have that right to choose,” he said. “I don’t think we should be in the middle of that.”
Reboletti quoted former Democratic President Bill Clinton’s oft-repeated statement that abortions should be “safe, legal and rare,” and said he opposed public funding of abortions and that he opposes “partial-birth abortion.”
The pro-choice Personal PAC has already endorsed Deuter in the race, and it’s highly doubtful that Reboletti’s recent comments would have made much of a difference. Personal PAC demands 100% support for its legislation, so a middle ground would not be met with approval.
Compromise candidates have not done well nationally, and a pro-choice middle ground came up short in another DuPage County race in 2022. Republican Greg Hart ran ads featuring his spouse vouching for his pro-choice stances, but Hart himself wasn’t as forceful on the issue. He lost to then-Rep. Deb Conroy (D-Elmhurst) by 2.5 percentage points. Conroy received about 18,000 fewer votes than Gov. J.B. Pritzker in DuPage while Hart received about 24,000 more votes than anti-abortion Darren Bailey. That may have been more about local politics, but still.
Another important point here is that the Illinois AFL-CIO has not endorsed either candidate so far. Unions seem to be split. The Chicago Laborers’ District Council PAC gave Reboletti a $750 contribution last October and the state firefighters union contributed $1,000 last month, while the Carpenters Union gave Deuter $2,000.
Reboletti reported raising just $12,600 in the fourth quarter. He spent $7,000, including a $1,000 contribution to U.S. Rep. Mike Bost in his primary against far-right Republican Darren Bailey. Reboletti’s Bost contribution appeared to be making a statement about the divide in his party between the purists and everyone else, but that can also be easily twisted by the other side as him supporting the 100% anti-abortion, pro-Trump Republican Bost. Reboletti ended the quarter with just $16,000 in the bank and has reported no large contributions since.
Deuter loaned her campaign $5,000 last quarter, raised another $16,000, spent only $1,000 and ended with just under $20,000 in the bank. Deuter was endorsed by DuPage County Board Chair Conroy last month.
…Adding… From Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) in comments…
When I first started working in this space, there were pro-choice Republicans in both chambers, working in partnership with advocates and the Democrats to hold the line against efforts to roll back rights in Illinois. Some of those folks were supportive of restrictions that pro-choice advocates disagreed with, but there was respectful space to discuss those issues. I’ve always known there were members of the Republican caucus who are not comfortable with the party’s obsessive focus on stripping away reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, but were afraid to draw a primary. I look forward to more of his colleagues coming to their senses.
Amends the Department of Human Services Act. Requires the Department of Human Services to implement a Child Care Collaboration Program by no later than July 1, 2024 to facilitate high quality collaborative programming between child care and other early care and education providers and funding streams in order to increase, through collaboration, the quality and quantity of early care and education for families in Illinois who are eligible to receive child care assistance under the Department’s Child Care Assistance Program. Provides that to be eligible to participate in the Child Care Collaboration Program a provider must meet certain eligibility requirements, including: (i) be a profit or nonprofit early childhood center or licensed family child care home; (ii) receive or be eligible to receive child care assistance funding; and (iii) be a part of an existing or pending collaborative arrangement with a Head Start or Early Head Start Program or with a pre-kindergarten program funded by the Illinois State Board of Education through the Early Childhood Block Grant. Sets forth approvable models of collaboration and application requirements for providers seeking approval of their existing or proposed child care collaboration program. Provides that each eligible provider that receives Department approval of its existing or proposed child care collaboration program shall receive an annual contract from the Department that allows for the advance payment of child care services at a rate that is based on the license capacity of the program. Provides that a family’s eligibility for collaboration services under the approved child care collaboration program shall be determined in accordance with all current child care rules, with certain exceptions, including, but not limited to: (1) a family’s eligibility period for collaboration services shall be up to 36 months to coincide with the family’s eligibility for a Head Start or Early Head Start Program or an early childhood or preschool program funded through the Early Childhood Block Grant; and (2) no child care co-payments shall be assigned or collected from the family. Effective immediately.
Two proposals in the Legislature would better protect our health information, and legislators need to take action on both.
Health data has become a potential gold mine for advertisers, data brokers and others who traffic in such things. Millions of people across the country use devices to track their heartbeats, how many calories they consume, how well they sleep and where they travel. […]
A bill in the Illinois Legislature would make it unlawful for anyone to sell or offer to sell a consumer’s health data without permission. The bill did not pass last year, but privacy advocates have worked with big tech companies to address their concerns. Now it’s time for the Legislature to pass it. […]
Meanwhile, as David Struett reported in Thursday’s Sun-Times, a related and broader bill in the Legislature introduced last year by state Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, D-Berwyn, would bar tech companies from collecting, processing or transferring a wide range of personal data unless doing so is reasonably necessary and proportionate. That bill needs to get out of the Rules Committee and be thoroughly discussed by lawmakers.
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that cable or video providers shall cease charging customers for modems and routers, whether rented together or separately, when the customer has paid to the provider the wholesale cost of the modem or router, or modem and router if rented together, plus a reasonable mark-up not to exceed 5% of the modem, router, or modem and router wholesale cost to the provider. Provides that the cable and video provider shall provide notice regarding the discontinuance of rental charges to the customer in each billing statement. Provides that the notice shall include a disclosure of rights and responsibilities relating to the maintenance of modems and routers.
While most Illinois schools have school resource officers, a Republican state lawmaker hopes to pass a plan this spring to allow retired law enforcement to work as school safety officers. Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) told WAND News Friday that more school security could help prevent fights and other violence seen recently in Decatur Public Schools.
Under House Bill 4216, Illinois school districts could have the ability to hire fully-trained school safety officers starting January 1, 2025. Spain said several of his local school leaders have asked lawmakers to consider this idea.
“They’re left feeling vulnerable because, certainly, there is a deterrent effect where having an armed law enforcement professional in place in your school can be preventing these unthinkable tragedies,” Spain said.
His legislation could require the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board (ILETSB) to create a new course on de-escalation, use of force, mental health awareness, officer wellness, child abuse and neglect, and cultural competency.
Amends the Illinois Gambling Act. Provides that gaming special agents employed by the Illinois Gaming Board shall be deemed to be qualified law enforcement officers or, for retired gaming special agents formerly employed by the Illinois Gaming Board, shall be deemed qualified retired or separated law enforcement officers in Illinois for purposes of coverage under the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 and shall have all rights and privileges granted by that Act if the gaming special agent or retired gaming special agent is otherwise compliant with the applicable laws of this State governing the implementation and administration of the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 in the State of Illinois. Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Exempts gaming special agents and retired gaming special agents from the unlawful use of weapons violations for carrying or possessing firearms in a vehicle or concealed on or about their person or carrying or possessing firearms on or about their person upon any public street, alley, or other public lands within the corporate limits of a municipality.
Amends the Retention of Illinois Students and Equity Act. Provides that a noncitizen graduate student who is an Illinois resident but who does not possess a valid visa or status as a lawful permanent resident is eligible for State financial aid and benefits.
Amends various Acts relating to the governance of public universities in Illinois. Provides that the governing board of each public university shall waive any admissions application fee for a student transferring from a public community college in this State if the transferring student is enrolled in the last semester of a degree program and is on schedule to graduate with a degree. Effective immediately.
Creates the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Act. Requires the Department of Agriculture to develop and administer a Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program to enhance local food processing, aggregation, and distribution within the State through the award of annual grants. Specifies that eligible grant applicants include certain entities that store, process, package, aggregate, or distribute farm products raised in Illinois. Provides that grant awards shall be between $1,000 and $150,000. Describes match requirements for grant recipients. Describes allowable expenses. Requires the Department to create an independent Steering Committee to guide the implementation and evaluation of the grant program. Describes the Steering Committee’s composition and responsibilities. Establishes various grant application requirements. Requires the Director of Agriculture to report certain information to the Governor and General Assembly each year. Limits the liability of program administrators. Contains provisions concerning termination of a grant agreement under the Act. Defines terms. Effective immediately.
Authorizes the Director of Natural Resources to execute and deliver a quitclaim deed to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation for specified real property located in DeKalb County, subject to specified conditions. Effective immediately.
* ICYMI: Mayor Johnson tells state lawmakers he wants 10 school board members elected this year — not all 21. Sun-Times…
- Some of the most critical details of the city’s first-ever school board elections remain up in the air just nine months from Election Day.
- Johnson, who previously hadn’t publicly shared his view on the debate, said this week he would like to stick with the original legislation.
- The original legislation was a compromise, establishing a hybrid board before transitioning to a fully elected one. Most pushing for an elected board — including the CTU — had wanted all 21 seats elected simultaneously.
* Isabel’s top picks…
* KXAN | Records: Abbott’s migrant busing has cost Texas $124 million: According to documents Nexstar obtained, Texas has paid $124,603,616.19 to bus more than 100,000 migrants from the state’s border communities to Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver and Los Angeles as of Jan. 10. That equals out to 2,245 buses year to date, an average of 45 migrants per bus.
* WTTW | Shootings, Homicides in Chicago Both Down at Least 25% to Start 2024, According to Police: “We are trending in the right direction,” Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said when discussing the city’s crime trends during an appearance Wednesday before the Economic Club of Chicago. “But we also understand that there are people who are still being affected, and we’re going to continue to work for those people.”
* WGN | Police chief, pantry owner latest to say they’re victims of Dolton dysfunction: This isn’t the first time the Henyard administration has been accused, even sued, over allegations of political targeting by people inside and outside of local government. This week, former Dolton police chief Robert Collins filed a lawsuit against the village claiming the mayor wrongfully fired him in October. “Henyard discharged [Chief] Collins simply because his wife is friendly with some individuals who Henyard believes to be political opponents,” the lawsuit claims.
* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…
* SJ-R | Unemployment claims in Illinois declined last week: Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Illinois dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday. New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 9,945 in the week ending Jan. 27, down from 12,261 the week before, the Labor Department said.
* SJ-R | Trial of former state senator scheduled to begin Monday in federal court: U.S. Central District Judge Colleen Lawless will preside over the bench trial for William “Sam” McCann on federal wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion charges. McCann was indicted in February 2021 on charges that he misused over $200,000 in campaign funds over five years from May 2015 to June 2020. Prosecutors say the funds were used to pay for a wide range of personal items, such as a Ford Exposition, a Ford F-250, a motor home with a recreational trailer, and a family vacation in Colorado.
* SJ-R | ‘Meet voters where they are’, UIS grad running for GOP primary nod: Vying for the Republican nominee in Illinois Congressional District 13, Thomas Clatterbuck is facing off against Virden native and Army veteran Joshua Loyd in the Republican primary. The winner in the March 19 primary will then take on Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski in November. Both GOP candidates have served the country in varying ways and share many of the same policy initiatives, said Clatterbuck, a law student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Yet, Clatterbuck wants voters to fill the circle next to his name come March 19 for one reason: experience.
* Sun-Times | Illinois incumbents in Congress have fundraising advantage over rivals heading into March primary: The main challenger to Rep. Danny Davis is City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin. Davis has more cash on hand, but Conyears-Ervin raised more than Davis last year. Kina Collins, an executive in a nonprofit, is making her third try to oust Davis. There are several others in the race, none with substantial fundraising numbers. Collins so far has not gotten the robust fundraising help from progressive groups that boosted her in 2022. The district is drawn, under civil rights laws, to increase the power of Black voters.
* Center for Illinois Politics | Trump lost voters in independent-voting suburbs, could that translate into a boon for Haley?: Collin Corbett, a Republican strategist and pollster based in the Northwest suburbs, said in Illinois right now, “enthusiasm is so low that Trump is winning by default. If Haley could excite Republicans and even bring some traditional (conservatives) back in, she could create some needed momentum. She’s going to have to do well in these next couple states and get people excited in order to be relevant here.”
* Sun-Times | Left-wingers will not be ignored: Trying to be thorough, I sought out Kristi Keorkunian-Rivers, another protest organizer. Does the justification matter if they end up supplying images for Fox News to terrify their sheep into defeating Biden? ”I would say that if the Democrats lose then they didn’t meet expectations, not that our disobedience is the problem,” said Keorkunian-Rivers. “Democrats will never shift to more appropriate policies until we make them. Left to their own devices, they just slide more and more to the right.”
* Tribune | Financial crisis at Heartland Alliance leads to furloughs, program cuts and an attempt to sell hundreds of affordable housing units: Heartland’s health division, struggling to cover escalating health costs and expenses associated with a surge of migrants in its shelters, indefinitely furloughed more than 150 employees between September and November and cut back programming. It’s now considering spinning off into an independent organization, according to a written statement from Mary Kay Gilbert, interim executive director of Heartland Alliance Health, and Chief External Affairs Officer Ed Stellon. Health care centers in Englewood, Uptown and the Near West Side remain open.
* Daily Herald | A time of change: Suburban office market adjusts as tenants downsize and shift to higher-end buildings: Despite bright spots including the Federal Aviation Administration’s relocation and Culligan’s expansion in Rosemont, the market for suburban office space continued to soften during the last months of 2023, new data shows. The FAA will move to 108,000 square feet in the O’Hare Gateway Office Center in Rosemont, while Culligan is adding 66,000 square feet at Riverway West, according to Chicago-based Savills’ fourth quarter market report.
* Sun-Times | Ex-Chicago gang leader’s third chance gets him an invitation to the White House: Rodney “Hot Rod” Phillips is a former Black Disciples member featured in “The Interrupters,” a documentary about felons hired to intervene in conflicts. But he wound up back in prison. “When I came home, I rededicated myself back to the work,” he says. “The flame was lit.”
* Daily Herald | Controversial West Chicago trash site halted by state board: The decision by the Illinois Pollution Control Board delays but doesn’t kill the project, which was opposed by some Latino residents who called the plan racist. Opponents said that their community would be a landing place for garbage hauled from white communities, including Naperville and Wheaton.
* Sun-Times | Ventra app back up and running for Metra, but the real test comes during Monday commute: The new fee structure is meant to simplify pricing and attract new riders. Among the changes, Metra replaced the 10-ride ticket with a day pass five-pack available only on the Ventra app. Prices are now based on zones traveled. A monthly pass costs $75 from Zone 2 to Zone 1; $110 from Zone 3 to Zone 1; and $135 from Zone 4 to Zone 1.
* Beacon-News | Kane County plans for carbon neutrality by 2050: In the short-term, the draft Climate Action Implementation Plan has the goal of reducing emissions to 25% below the county’s emissions in 2019. Kane County’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 were already falling, down nearly 5% from 2010 despite the county growing in population by around 3% and the economy growing by over 18%.
* AP | 1 icon, 6 shoes, $8 million: An auction of Michael Jordan’s championship sneakers sets a record: The pair he wore in the second game of the 1998 NBA Finals was sold through Sotheby’s last April for $2.2 million, a record for a pair of sneakers. The highest auction price for any Jordan memorabilia was $10.1 million for his jersey from the first game at that series, according to Sotheby’s, which sold it 2022.
* Jim O’Donnell | Is DraftKings weighing a plan to shake up sports media in Chicago?: Draftkings stock was selling for about $15 per share less than a year ago. It closed Friday at $41.59. Some informed speculators project that it will hit $100 in 2025. […] News that Theo Epstein is back as a senior adviser and minority partner with the Fenway Sports Group is another gut shot to the pursuit of championships in Chicago. The future Hall of Famer would have been a godsend as a controlling principal in a fresh White Sox ownership group. (Dream on.)
* WCIA | Sen. Bennett honored at Gibson City Fire Department: The award thanked Senator Bennett for his role in getting the new tax credit law aimed at supporting volunteer firefighters. It passed on the state level this past spring. As of Thursday, volunteer firefighters from across the state can now qualify for up to $500 of credit on income taxes.
* Mother Jones | “The Algorithm” Does Not Exist: In 2009, when Facebook changed its newsfeed significantly for the first time, there wasn’t much uproar over “the algorithm.” Now we’re all talking about it—whatever “it” is. The algorithm and its ramifications have been the focus of congressional hearings and scholarly debates. In an article on the collapse of Twitter, writer Willy Staley noted “vague concerns about ‘the algorithm,’ the exotic mathematical force accused of steering hypnotized users into right-wing extremism, or imprisoning people in a cocoon of smug liberalism, or somehow both.” But “the algorithm” does not exist.
* ARS Technica | Google will no longer back up the Internet: Cached webpages are dead: A lot of Google Bot details are shrouded in secrecy to hide from SEO spammers, but you could learn a lot by investigating what cached pages look like. In 2020, Google switched to mobile-by-default, so for instance, if you visit that cached Ars link from earlier, you get the mobile site. If you run a website and want to learn more about what a site looks like to a Google Bot, you can still do that, though only for your own site, from the Search Console. The death of cached sites will mean the Internet Archive has a larger burden of archiving and tracking changes on the world’s webpages.
* Triibe | A look into the Black women’s suffrage movement in Chicago: We can’t talk about abolition today without talking about the Black women integral to the movement. In Chicago, Ida B. Wells was essential to building political power for Black women. As an investigative journalist, teacher, anti-lynching crusader and mother of six, Wells was already influential to the national political arena before making an impression on Chicago politics.
