As budget discussions continue and the General Assembly nears adjournment, the chairs for the House Higher Education, Appropriations-Higher Education and Mental Health and Addiction Committees are encouraging their colleagues to support increased funding for college campus mental health services.
“The governor’s proposed budget outlines a 5% increase in higher education operational funding,” Higher Education Chair Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, said. “This is needed funding that universities should take advantage of to reinforce and boost their on-campus mental health offerings. These services help those who are suicidal, facing substance abuse issues, depression and other serious challenges that deserve support and awareness.”
“While there was always a need for stronger mental health services, this pandemic is putting increased strain on all of us,” Mental Health and Addiction Chair Deb Conroy, D-Villa Park, said. “This has been a tumultuous couple of years, with little sense of normalcy on campuses. Three years ago we passed legislation that would provide mental health services to support our students on college campuses. It is critical that we put the financial investment in our budget to fund this legislation to ensure every student can reach their full potential. Let’s make sure students have the resources they deserve to access the support they need.”
“In the past 20 years, the number of college students with clinical depression and suicidal tendencies has tripled, and approximately 1.6 million students sought counseling assistance last year,” Appropriations-Higher Education Chair La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago, said. “It is perhaps no wonder that acts of violence on campuses have increased. One-third of all college students have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, a 14% increase in the last decade. Only 25% of college students receive treatment. The pandemic has exacerbated this issue. In fall 2020, 89% of college students experienced stress or anxiety because of COVID-19. Graduation rates are lower for students with mental health conditions, especially Black, Latinx and low income students. Dropout rates are 2.5 times higher. There was a time when there was a stigma around seeking mental health support now students are testifying in Springfield pleading for more mental health support on college campus. We cannot leave Springfield this year without increasing funding for colleges to provide mental health support for Illinois’ students.”
“We want all of our students to succeed, and that starts by creating a healthy environment that includes accessible mental health support,” Higher Education Vice Chair Maurice West, D-Rockford, said. “We need to be mindful of the unique challenges students are currently facing, and our budget should reflect this critical aspect of the academic experience.”
“Campus mental health cannot be overlooked as we put together a budget this year,” Mental Health and Addiction Vice Chair Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, said. “Together, our committees have held hearings that have provided valuable insight on how mental health is handled at our universities. By increasing our investment in higher education operations, we can give our institutions the resources they need to reach more students.”
“Investing in mental health services now will have a beneficial impact for years to come,” Appropriations-Higher Education Vice Chair Nicholas Smith, D-Chicago, said. “The more students we can help deal with their challenges in a professional, healthy way, the better their mental health will likely be down the road. Let’s make sure campus mental health is a priority in this budget.”
* Media advisory…
This Wednesday, starting at 3pm, Rep. Camille Lilly and other IL State Legislators will join restaurant owner and worker advocates gathering for a press conference at the Lincoln Steps to rally support for the One Fair Wage Act (HB 5139), which would end the subminimum wage in Illinois.
The legislation was introduced in response to a wage shortage crisis across Illinois. One Fair Wage has issued multiple reports demonstrating that raising wages for restaurant workers who work for subminimum wages is critical to helping the industry recover. One Fair Wage has also tracked over 200 restaurant owners in Illinois who have voluntarily raised wages for tipped workers in order to recruit staff during the state’s worst-ever staffing crisis; this bill would create a level playing field for these responsible restaurant owners and help them fully reopen by sending a signal to millions of workers that wage increases will be permanent.
WHERE: Lincoln Steps, IL State Capitol Building**
WHEN: Wednesday, March 30, 3:00pm CT
WHO: Restaurant Owners, Restaurant Workers, Representatives from the Illinois Full and Fair Wage Coalition Including Speakers from One Fair Wage, Women Employed & Shriver Center on Poverty Law
**In Event of Rain, Press Conference will take place across the street, at the Illinois State Library in the Atrium
“Tens of thousands of Illinois tipped workers have left the restaurant industry and are not willing to return until they can earn a full and fair wage—with tips on top. Illinois workers deserve to earn a wage that allows them to support themselves and their families,” said State Rep. Lilly.
“Looking at the data and speaking to workers, the crisis in Illinois’ restaurant industry is clear,” said Saru Jayaraman, President of One Fair Wage. “If the industry is to survive, the state must raise the wage and pay tipped workers a full livable wage with tips on top.”
“NOW is the time to end the subminimum wage in Illinois, by any means necessary. We must end this harmful practice and devaluation of human labor,” said Antoinette ‘Jewel’ Simmons, a longtime Illinois restaurant worker.
“The subminimum wage issue IS a women’s issue because women are overrepresented in the restaurant industry but are highly underpaid,” said Starr De Los Santos, Senior Coalition Manager at Women Employed. “As an organization, Women Employed is committed to closing the wealth gap at the intersection of race and gender, and to do this; we need to build the economic power of women in Illinois that are in low-paid jobs. This includes ensuring an end to the subminimum wage that creates gender pay inequity in the restaurant industry, perpetuating the gender pay gap and leading to disproportionately higher poverty rates for women.”
“Prior to the panedemic, food service workers nationwide reported experiencing the highest rate of sexual harassment of any industry,” said Wendy Pollack, Director of the Women’s Law and Policy Initiative at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law. “Tipped workers are more vulnerable to harassment and have less power to reject customer harassment because they are so reliant on tips for their economic well-being. Since the pandemic began, workers report a dramatic increase in sexual harassment. In the states that have eliminated the tipped subminimum wage, harassment has decreased by half. The time is now for Illinois to eliminate the tipped subminimum wage and pay workers the full minimum wage with tips on top.”
Mo Carter, owner of MJB Restaurant Group, stated the following in support of the bill, “Part of the matter of “The Great Resignation” is the right to earn not just a livable wage but a life-sustaining one. Consistent, strong staff are the support beams to ownership and they’re relying on their employers to recognize that worth.”
A new report out by One Fair Wage has found that as the restaurant industry — both owners and workers — continue to struggle throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, federal relief provided to restaurant owners in total exceeded $73 billion and, on average, was 30 times higher than the support provided to struggling workers.
* Press release…
State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood) passed a measure through the Senate Tuesday that would ensure customers get a discount when supermarkets put products on sale.
“When shoppers check out at the supermarket, they don’t always see the sale price of an item on the screen during the transaction,” Loughran Cappel said. “Customers are often left unsure if they received a discount because the screen only shows the final price of each item.”
While retailers provide notice of discounts through various methods such as receipts, in-store promotions, advertisements, and price tags, there is nothing written in law concerning how prices and discounts are displayed during checkout.
To ensure shoppers receive their discount, Loughran Cappel moved House Bill 2910 which would require supermarkets to show both the regular and sale prices of items as they are rung up so customers can immediately see if they are getting discounts.
“This legislation increases transparency regarding discounts offered on grocery store items,” Loughran Cappel. “Shoppers will now be reassured at the checkout when they see their savings listed on the screen.”
House Bill 2910 passed both chambers and now heads to the governor’s desk for final approval.
* Press release…
State Senator Adriane Johnson (D-Buffalo Grove) moved legislation out of the Senate Education Committee to prohibit public high schools from withholding a student’s grades, transcripts or diploma due to unpaid balances on a student’s account today.
“Students are so much more than a set of credits,” said State Senator Adriane Johnson. “They are scholars and future contributors to our society, and we should do all we can to further their academic careers and not contribute to unnecessary burdens.”
Current law does not address withholding of grades, transcripts of diplomas for students for financial reasons whatsoever. The law only speaks to academic performance, established local goals and objectives, age, and other social reasons.
Under House Bill 4243, the prohibition would last for 3 years and would require school districts to catalogue and report the total amount of unpaid accounts due to the prohibition of withholding grades, transcripts, or diplomas to the Illinois State Board of Education.
“This is an equity issue and this practice almost exclusively affects low-income students,” said Johnson. “Plus, there is no real evidence that withholding a student’s transcript encourages parents to pay the bill.”
House Bill 4243 passed the Senate Education Committee and will be heard before the full Senate for further consideration.
…Adding… Press release…
In response to the condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida in June 2021, State Senator Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) spearheaded a measure that would increase transparency for Chicago residents who live in high rises that passed the Senate Tuesday.
“It is the unit owners that pay monthly assessments into the reserve funds; therefore, these funds should be transparent to unit owners,” said Feigenholtz. “People deserve the peace of mind that their condominium association can make necessary repairs.”
A reserve study identifies the current status of the reserve fund and a stable and equitable funding plan to offset ongoing deterioration, resulting in sufficient funds when those anticipated major common area expenditures actually occur. This study helps homeowners and condominium associations determine how much in reserve funds they should maintain.
House Bill 4158 would require a homeowner or condominium association who conducts a reserve study to keep it within its books and records, which by law the individual property owners have a right to inspect.
“Reserve funds are set aside for future financial obligations such as major repairs and maintenance,” said Feigenholtz. “In addition, being able to access information about the reserve studies keeps unit owners informed of the health and readiness of the association’s ability to address needed renovations and upgrades for their building.”
House Bill 4158 passed the Senate and heads to the House for concurrence.
The Illinois General Assembly is barreling toward the end of session, and among unfinished business is legislation to address a rise in crime during the COVID era. It’s a top-polling issue in the 2022 elections and one that both parties are looking to address.
Republicans are pushing for bills that boost funding for police, set a minimum 10-year sentence for anyone convicted of selling a gun to a felon, and automatically transfer cases of aggravated carjacking or armed robbery that involve a minor to adult court. Democrats have teased bills to address carjacking, ghost guns, and organized retail theft. The governor’s budget, meanwhile, includes a $240 million allocation towards community-based violence prevention.
* Press release…
Piers and public access points to Lake Michigan will soon be safer thanks to a measure advanced by State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) that will help install essential rescue equipment.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe when they head to the beach this summer,” Peters said. “I am glad that the General Assembly is taking an essential step to protect our families who visit beaches on Lake Michigan.”
House Bill 4165 requires owners of piers or drop-offs on Lake Michigan to install public rescue equipment . The measure also establishes tracking and reporting requirements for local governments that own a pier or drop-off on Lake Michigan.
Nationally, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children under the age of 5, the second leading cause for children under 15, and the third leading cause for people under 30. There are significant disparities between Black and white populations in drowning death rates, with African American males from ages 15 to 19 facing the highest per-capita rates of drowning.
The measure originated from a controversy between residents of the Rogers Park neighborhood and the Chicago Park District over a lack of life saving rings on lakefront piers.
“We have had too many tragic and, in many cases, preventable deaths on Lake Michigan,” Peters said. “This is a long overdue safety measure that will help make all of us safer when we enjoy the lake this summer.”
The measure passed the Senate on Tuesday. It now heads to the governor’s desk.
Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, signed a letter stating claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election should be investigated. Now her bid for a second term is benefiting from spending by a PAC whose leader is suspected of voter fraud.
That letter, to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was sent in December 2020, before Miller was sworn into her first term on Jan. 3, 2021. In a press release, issued before she took office, Miller, maintaining falsely Trump won the election said, “Even a glancing review would uncover the greatest heist of the 21st century.”
With Miller’s interest in pursuing voter fraud, it is worth noting that a Sun-Times examination of money bolstering Miller’s bid for a second term shows she is benefiting from a $74,054.74 independent expenditure by the Right Women political action committee, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission. […]
Last May, Miller’s campaign got a direct $5,000 donation from Freedom First, a political action committee created by Mark Meadows when he was a North Carolina Republican congressman.
Debra and Mark Meadows are suspected of voting from a mobile home in North Carolina where they never lived.
* And this one is from US Rep. Rodney Davis’ campaign…
Public records reveal that Mary and Chris Miller’s business, while physically in Illinois, is incorporated in the state of Delaware, a known domestic tax and regulatory shelter. Despite both being elected politicians in the State of Illinois, the Millers have chosen to send their tax dollars to Delaware instead. Why?
“Mary Miller has taken carpet-bagging to a new level. Not only does she live in another Congressional district, but her family business is incorporated in another state - Delaware. Miller likes to present herself as a common farmer, but she’s engaged in legal strategies used by corporations to dodge taxes and avoid scrutiny of their business. Like a true politician, Miller has mastered the art of saying one thing and doing another. She needs to come clean about why her business is incorporated in a state that’s over 750 miles from her farm. What is Mary Miller hiding?” - Davis campaign spokesperson Aaron DeGroot
While both are politicians, Mary Miller and her husband Chris are also corporate officers and co-owners of Miller Bros Farms. Corporate records filed with the Illinois Secretary of State’s office shows that the Millers incorporated their business in the State of Delaware, not Illinois.
Delaware is considered by many to be a domestic tax and regulatory shelter due to the benefits the State of Delaware provides to businesses that incorporate within their state. Businesses that incorporate in Delaware can keep certain corporate records private and are subject to a favorable legal system.
Mary Miller likes to present herself as a common farmer, but she’s engaged in legal strategies used by corporations to dodge taxes and avoid public scrutiny. Miller has not discussed publicly why her business is incorporated in another state that’s roughly 760 miles away from her farm. What is Mary Miller hiding?
Miller recently touted an endorsement from Club for Growth, a DC-based dark money group that’s opposed to the Farm Bill, while her family’s business has raked in over $1 million in government subsidies from Farm Bill programs over the years. Chris Miller, has received $942,419 in USDA subsidies. Miller Bros. Farms, Inc. and Miller Bros Inc, have received $104,742 and $34,871 in USDA subsidies, respectively.
State Rep. Kam Buckner (pictured) (D-Chicago) will serve a year on conditional discharge, because he pleaded guilty this month to driving under the influence.
In March 2019, police found him asleep at the wheel near the Capitol. He refused a Breathalyzer test and failed field sobriety tests.
If he successfully completes the year’s probation, Buckner will not have to serve a 28-day jail sentence.
Buckner, a former University of Illinois football player, must pay $1,915 in fines and costs, according to court records.
Climate change is taking a central role in a key House race in Illinois, where two Democratic incumbents are taking shots at each other’s records.
Rep. Sean Casten, a moderate who sits on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and once led an energy efficiency company, argues that he holds the climate mantle in the race.
But Rep. Marie Newman, an outspoken progressive, in recent weeks has challenged Casten on climate, arguing he takes a narrow focus on the issue and is too close to corporate and fossil fuel interests.
— Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi has been endorsed by Secretary of State Jesse White in his bid for reelection in the 8th Congressional District.
— Anna Valencia has been endorsed by state Reps. Theresa Mah (2nd), Anne Stava-Murray (81st), and Terra Costa Howard (48th) in her bid for secretary of state.
— Delia Ramirez, who’s running in the newly drawn 3rd Congressional District, has been endorsed by the Illinois Nurses Association, Architectural and Ornamental Iron Workers’ Union Local 63, Transportation Communication Union/IAM, and Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division.
* Hearing there are some very difficult internal issues with her consultant…
The formal kick off of Cassandra Tanner Miller’s (R, Elgin), also known as “CTM”, congressional primary campaign in the 11th District set for Thursday, March 24 in downtown Geneva was abruptly postponed early Thursday afternoon to a date to be announced.
The verbiage of the email sent included the following:
“Please note that we are needing to reschedule the Campaign Kickoff event that was planned for this evening at Copper Fox in Geneva.
“One thing I’m learning about political campaigns is you never know what to expect or what will come up on a daily basis.
“After talking with the venue, we are going to push our Campaign Kickoff back and we will be following up with everyone with new details for our official Kickoff event.“
* Reditus might eventually become an issue in the gubernatorial race, but Rep. Luft is involved in a high-profile local primary, so it could be a thing there, too…
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. JB Pritzker’s daily media briefings were appointment viewing for many.
There were fewer high-profile places to be than standing next to the governor as he updated Illinoisans on the state’s coronavirus response. On May 8, 2020, Reditus Labs CEO Aaron Rossi shared the stage with Pritzker. At the time, Reditus was emerging as one of the state’s leading companies for coronavirus testing.
“I’d like to congratulate the governor and state officials for reaching (testing) milestones that they have today,” Rossi declared during the news conference.
That wasn’t Rossi’s first interaction with an elected official, and it was far from his last. Rossi would transform a little-known company of fewer than 10 employees into a coronavirus testing behemoth, largely with taxpayer-funded state contracts.
Questions into how much government help Reditus and Aaron Rossi’s other companies received — and how Reditus got it — have come into focus now that Rossi faces federal charges that he lied about his income to the Internal Revenue Service and civil complaints from several business partners accusing him of extravagant personal spending and shady accounting involving Reditus and his other businesses.
One legislator who has been instrumental in assisting Reditus’ rise, Pekin mayor and state Rep. Mark Luft, has distanced himself from Rossi since those charged were filed.
As our Gerrymandering Threat Index predicted, the 2021 Redistricting Cycle is rife with partisan gerrymandering. RepresentUs partnered with the Princeton Gerrymandering Project (PGP) to grade and analyze redistricting maps this cycle.
Illinois received an “F” for its state Senate maps, but a “B” for its House maps, which are nested within the Senate districts. Odd. It also received an “F” for its congressional maps.
…Adding… Forgot to post this…
We cannot stand idly by as Republican governors wage incessant attacks on the LGBTQ+ community.
Everyone deserves a state where you can be your authentic self. As long as I'm governor, the state of Illinois will see you, support you, and welcome you with open arms. https://t.co/XvFpImoBMn
Today, U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (D-IL) announced he has been endorsed by the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois and the Chicago Fire Department Fire Fighters Local 2. The endorsement of AFFI, a statewide union in Illinois, expands a growing list of Rep. Casten’s major endorsements.
“Rep. Sean Casten has been a tireless advocate for firefighters, unions, and working families,” said Chuck Sullivan, President of AFFI. “Sean understands the importance of standing up for workers and has delivered as a leader in labor. We’re proud to endorse him.”
“Illinois’ firefighters routinely put themselves at risk to save lives and protect property in our community,” said Rep. Sean Casten. “We owe it to them to fight for priorities like fair wages and improved workplace conditions. I’m honored to have them with me in this fight.”
Rep. Casten has previously been endorsed by nine other unions and also received the recommendation for re-election by the DuPage County Build and Construction Trades Council, which is composed of 30 unions throughout the Chicagoland area. Working people and labor unions across the 6th District are strongly backing Rep. Sean Casten and his record of fighting for working families.
Despite JB Pritzker shamelessly appearing at the Illinois State Police centennial anniversary event [today], it will be lost on no one that it’s Pritzker who signed the most anti-law enforcement bill in Illinois history - the same bill that is defunding local police departments and letting criminals back into our communities as crime continues skyrocketing across the state.
Will Pritzker even bother to mention to today’s crowd that it is his very own Prisoner Review Board who supported paroling James Taylor in August 2020, who was convicted of killing State Trooper Layton Davis in 1976?
JB Pritzker’s anti-law enforcement policies are devastating police departments across Illinois, as officers resign in numbers while citing Pritzker’s mandated changes that have made it harder for police to do their jobs. In some cases, the resignations have taken out full departments leaving communities without any police officers at all.
In addition to a central Illinois Police Department being permanently disbanded due to JB Pritzker’s anti-police bill, a suburban department is also reporting significant challenges. Fifteen police officers have left the Oak Park Police Department since 2020, with Police Chief LaDon Reynold noting “the industry of policing…going through a transformation,” and a city trustee faulting, “the lack of support for our police department from elected officials and from the community at large.”
Piatt County Sheriff David Hunt, Christian County Sheriff Bruce Kettlekamp, and Chris Southwood, president of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, also decried the effects of Pritzker’s policies in Springfield last month, emphasizing the increasing number of law enforcement officers leaving the profession due to the lack of support from elected officials.
Richard Irvin, Mayor of Aurora and gubernatorial candidate, has denounced Pritzker’s defund the police movement and has a proven record of standing with law enforcement to reduce crime.
“JB Pritzker can attend as many ceremonies as he wants, but it won’t erase the fact that he signed one of the most egregious anti-police laws that is defunding local police departments, putting criminals into our communities and placing lives in danger,” said Irvin for Illinois spokesperson Eleni Demertzis. “Illinois families need a governor who will prioritize their safety over criminals.”
* Today, a reporter noted to Gov. Pritzker that he said he stood by his appointments to the Prisoner Review Board who were rejected or forced out of office by the Senate. But, Pritzker was asked, does he stand by those same board members’ decisions to release convicted cop killers?…
Pritzker: Look, let me start by saying that we appoint highly qualified candidates to serve on the Prisoner Review Board. This is a very, very difficult job. Let me just outline for all of you that every case that comes before them is a difficult one. Someone that comes before them has committed some awful crime in the past. And they’re charged with looking at all the facts and circumstances from the beginning when the crime took place, to their term in prison, and how they were rehabilitated or not, whether they caused problems when they were in prison or not, whether they would be a danger to the public if they were released, all those things are taking into consideration. By the way, a majority of the people that come before the Prisoner Review Board are rejected. So it’s actually many fewer cases than anybody would like to admit that where they’re actually recommending that someone be released. And I will just say it’s an incredibly thankless job. Very, very difficult. We have Republicans on that board, we have Democrats on that board. They work together across the aisle, they don’t even think, I think, of their their party affiliation when they’re doing the job.
Now to have Republicans attack them and their character and their biographies, to have Republicans essentially trying to tear apart this agency of government. I mean, this is what the GQP has been all about, tearing government apart. I think we ought to stand up for the integrity of the people that get appointed, and the very tough decisions that they have to make. But obviously, we’re going to move forward and keep the PRB operating as best we can.
Q: Do you stand by their decisions?
Pritzker: Listen, I don’t see all of the details of each decision that they make. It’s easy to do what the Republicans do. They take the original crime that took place, often decades and decades ago. And they just talk about the headline of that crime and don’t talk about everything else that’s occurred, including what the victim’s statements have been, including the victims’ families statements, including other information that may have come forward in the subsequent decades, in order to make their decisions. So it’s hard to second guess the work that they do. It’s very easy just to say, this person committed an awful crime some many years ago, and to say we’re gonna throw away the key, leave them all in prison. That’s what you’re gonna end up with, if that’s what people want, well let’s hear that. But I don’t think that’s what people wanted when we created the Prisoner Review Board.
Please pardon all transcription errors, but “GQP” is not a typo. Pritzker slowed down to say each letter very clearly…
Blend of GOP + QAnon. The GOP stands for “Grand Old Party”, the Republican Party of the United States of America, a conservative political party. The usage of “Q” refers to Republican politicians either supporting the QAnon conspiracy theories or becoming closer to extremism and fascism.
* Also, the PRB has allegedly not always been careful about notifying victims. From last year…
The man who killed Illinois State Police Trooper Layton Davis in 1976 was released from prison Thursday under a new law that allows parole for medical reasons. […]
Hyche is the first prisoner released under the new law, according to Kahalah Clay, chief legal counsel for the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. […]
The trooper’s family is upset they didn’t get to voice opinions about Hyche to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
“We were notified that there was going to be a parole hearing in March and that we had until Feb. 9 to get objection letters in,” said the trooper’s grandson. “Then we found out yesterday – on the 9th – that they had already convened the medical board and that they had already submitted their recommendation to the parole board and that the parole board on the 8th of February had already made a decision to release him.
* And the governor had no qualms about criticizing Kim Foxx for trying to release violent convicts the other day. Here’s a recent report from Mary Ann Ahern…
MAA: At a campaign stop on the West Side, Governor Pritzker distanced himself from Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. Republican opponents blame Foxx and Pritzker for the huge crime bill signed one year ago. Foxx’s office is asking for early release for prisoners quote, if the original sentence no longer advances the interests of justice. Pritzker’s opponents like Republican state Senator Darren Bailey say that may lead to the early release of dangerous criminals.
Bailey: “People in Chicago, they don’t feel safe because they’re not safe. And unfortunately, that has spread across the entire state.”
Pritzker: “I think that Kim Foxx, you know, obviously she’s the prosecutor, the Cook County State’s Attorney. She has the right to make these decisions on her own. I’m just saying these are decisions I would have said to her: ‘Let’s start with nonviolent criminals.’
…Adding… Richard Irvin campaign…
In a heated moment today when the governor was called out for his hypocrisy in attending a police memorial as the Senate continues to reject his Prisoner Review Board appointees by wide bipartisan votes, JB Pritzker had the audacity to suggest that victims and their families are asking for these criminals to be released or paroled early.
Pritzker’s Prisoner Review Board granted parole to the following cop killers despite all of the victims’ families showing up to the parole hearings or writing letters to OPPOSE parole for these murderers:
Joseph Hurst: Convicted of killing Chicago police officer Herman Stallworth and wounding Stallworth’s partner with a bullet to the face. In February 2021, the PRB voted 8-4 to parole Hurst.
Johnny Veal: Convicted of killing Chicago police officers James Severin and Anthony Rizzato. In February 2021, the PRB voted 8-4 to grant parole to Veal.
James Taylor: Convicted of killing State Trooper Layton Davis during a traffic stop, and attempting to kill a motorist who witnessed the murder. In August 2020, the PRB voted 8-5 to grant parole to Taylor.
“It is clear that JB Pritzker is scrambling to hide from the fact that public safety has deteriorated throughout all of Illinois because of his dangerous anti-law enforcement policies,” said Irvin for Illinois campaign spokesperson Eleni Demertzis. “We have a governor who puts violent criminals ahead of victims, law enforcement, and entire communities. It’s time to take back our state.”
From Sen. Plummer in regard to the Governor calling Senate Republicans the GQP:
“In the spirit of Margaret Thatcher, when one’s opponents resort to low grade personal attacks, it shows that they have no legitimate political arguments left.
“I am embarrassed for the Governor. While I understand he is frustrated, this entire mess falls on his lap and these comments are beneath the dignity of the Office he holds.
“The Governor has never been accustomed to being told “no” and now that he has been told “no” by senators of both parties, I think he should take a deep breath and reevaluate the direction his Administration is taking when it comes to public safety.”
* I can’t speak for Rep. Kelly, but I, like many others, have been behaving the past week like I did in the old days and maybe I should start being more careful…
As part of the surveillance testing in the Capitol, I tested positive for Covid today. Thankful for my booster, so far just some mild symptoms. I’ve got the remote legislative session command center set up in the Springfield apartment & ready to power through this week. #Twillpic.twitter.com/NdJGIz7rNg
COVID-19 is generally less severe in vaccinated patients but that does not mean breakthrough infections will be benign, a large study shows. Researchers analyzed data collected by the U.S. Veterans Affairs Administration from 16,035 survivors of breakthrough infections, 48,536 unvaccinated COVID-19 survivors and nearly 3.6 million uninfected people. At six months after infection, after taking their risk factors into account, people with breakthrough infections had lower rates of death and long-term lingering health problems than COVID-19 patients who had not been vaccinated.
But compared to people who never had COVID-19, those who had breakthrough infections had a 53% higher risk of death and a 59% higher risk of having at least one new medical condition, particularly problems affecting the lungs and other organs. Even when breakthrough infections did not require hospitalization, the increased risks of death and lasting effects were “not trivial,” the research team reported on Monday on Research Square ahead of peer review.
“The overall burden of death and disease following breakthrough COVID-19 will likely be substantial,” the researchers conclude.
According to his campaign website, GOP gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin has vowed to “fight tooth and nail to bring honest and good government back to Illinois.” But his own record as Aurora mayor raises questions about how political donations flowed from companies that were awarded municipal contracts and benefits.
A review of state campaign filings and Aurora public records shows that a company that donated more than $135,000 to political funds connected to Irvin also received millions in city contracts. That same company was also the beneficiary of legislation pushed by Irvin that could prove lucrative. It follows a pattern of Aurora businesses donating to Irvin and receiving tens of millions in public aid and tax incentives, as first outlined in a 2018 story from the Aurora Beacon-News.
Scientel Solutions is an Aurora-based telecommunications company that bills itself as a “technology integrator,” and has contracted with municipal governments to specialize “in networking, drone defense, security and smart city solutions.”
One of those municipal governments is the city of Aurora itself, which has awarded more than $3.2 million in tech and security contracts to Scientel during Irvin’s tenure, according to Aurora public records. One of the contracts was for “Network Infrastructure Managed Services of city-wide network infrastructure,” at a cost of $1.8 million. The other was a three-year, $1.3 million contract to maintain city security cameras.
An examination of state campaign filings shows that Irvin’s mayoral political committee has received at least $67,000 in combined contributions from Scientel, the company’s CEO Nelson Santos, his wife, and from company employees. […]
Scientel’s communications tower has drawn intrigue in the financial world because of its reported use in the lucrative and murky world of high frequency trading. That’s where big trading companies rely on computer algorithms to conduct a large volume of transactions in fractions of a second, and benefit from technology that allows them to do it faster than other traders. […]
“All of Scientel’s contracts went through a competitive bid process managed by a third party in which third party made the recommendations to City Staff who then selected Scientel as the prime. These decisions are generally made on the basis of the applicant’s experience and pricing,” the statement reads. […]
When asked to confirm or deny the company’s use of Scientel’s tower, a Citadel spokesperson declined comment to WTTW News. After this story’s publication, a Citadel spokesperson amended their initial response and said, “We don’t use the Scientel tower.”
Three months after receiving the OK to come to Aurora, the company, Scientel, donated $10,000 to Irvin’s campaign fund, records show. The April donation was one of the three largest single donations the fund had ever received from anyone other than Irvin himself and followed a smaller $500 donation in January 2017 [before the project was approved].
Campaign donors have other ties to the city as well. In 2017 — Irvin’s first year in office, and the most recent year for which the city’s treasurer’s report listing vendors is available — more than $12 million of the city’s over $80 million in payments to vendors went to companies that had donated, would soon donate or were affiliated with donors to Irvin’s campaign fund, city and election records show. Most of those companies had also done business with Aurora the year before Irvin became mayor, according to records. […]
Irvin stressed that donations he receives are legal and controlled by the state board of elections, and that no project is approved without a city council vote. […]
“If they’re legal, they’re legal,” Ald. Judd Lofchie, 10th Ward, said [of the campaign contributions]. “But I do think we need to be careful of the…perception that donations can create.”
Ald. Lofchie voted for the Scientel project, went on to run a losing campaign for mayor against Irvin and was quoted bashing Irvin in the WTTW story.
* Meanwhile, Dan Proft’s new Super PAC is supporting Darren Bailey for governor, but that hasn’t kept him from commenting on the other candidates, including Irvin…
Well, the same goes for one mayor of Aurora, recently minted Republican, Richard Irvin, who is the Republican part of the Combine’s choice for the Republican candidate for governor. You know, because they want to keep the situation we’ve had, as long as I’ve been on the planet, which is, as Bill Cellini said, memorialized in a John Kass column, ‘When we’re in we’re in and when they’re in we’re in, we’re always in.’
‘Richard Irvin is going to fight tooth and nail to bring honest and good government back to Illinois.’ You’ve probably seen his commercials, you’ve heard him on our airwaves. But according to this WTTW report … [Reads aloud part of WTTW story.]
Is that a problem? Or is it only a problem when Democrats do it? Which has basically been the Illinois Republican Party’s position also since as long as I’ve been on the planet. Which is why the Illinois Republican Party is generally a legal fiction. And which is why I so enjoy, I so, so enjoy being lectured by Combine Republicans about what it takes to win elections. ‘Proft doesn’t know how to win elections.’ Do you know how to win elections? You do? And how are we in the super-super minority in the Illinois House and Senate and have been for the better part of a decade? How did the crime boss there, Mike Madigan, from the Southwest Side, rule the roost for the last four decades? We know how to win elections and to what ends in the rare occasion you do with a Rauner? How did that advance the flag for Illinois’ future those four years? Not to mention going back to … George Ryan, Edgar and Thompson. Anything to avoid conservative reform, that should be the Illinois Republican Party’s motto. They’re fraudsters. They have been, they continue to be and Richard Irvin is their latest frontman.
I’m Richard Irvin. When I ran for mayor, Mike Madigan campaigned against me. I beat him. Now Governor Pritzker is afraid that I’ll beat him, too.
There’s nothing the left fears more than Republicans who look like me and think like us; that all lives matter; that cops should be defended, not defunded; that handouts keep people down. But maybe that’s what liberal politicians want.
* The spot begins with county sheriffs complaining about “anti-police rhetoric,” career politicians, etc. and then talking up Jesse Sullivan, who says, “I’m an outsider and a man of faith called to protect and serve. They’ve got our backs. They deserve a leader who has theirs. Let’s go save Illinois”…
…Adding… Welp, they removed the ad. I’ll look around to see if it’s elsewhere. Sorry.
…Adding… Check out the front license plate on the car on the far left. That sure looks like an official police plate to me. This pro-law enforcement ad might not be so, um, pro-legal…
…Adding… The final version of the TV spot is here. I’ve asked the campaign about the use of law enforcement vehicles in the campaign ad.
A slight correction - copied/pasted "voting no" in the part of the key indicating five members of the Black Caucus, but actually they didn't vote. Same effect, of course, but a different action with moderately different intent. Updated graphic: https://t.co/VvIm1DC05kpic.twitter.com/G0WzdYM2S4
One Prisoner Review Board member resigned on Monday, while another was rejected by the Senate in an evening vote.
Oreal James resigned by way of a letter to Gov. JB Pritzker before going to the Senate for a vote. Hours later, Eleanor Kaye Wilson failed to get the 30 votes needed to confirm her appointment. Wilson received 15 votes to confirm her appointment and 31 votes against while 13 members did not vote.
Monday’s developments represented the latest shakeup on the governor-appointed board that has seen heavy Republican scrutiny in the past year as the Senate repeatedly delayed hearing several of Pritzker’s appointees to the board that determines whether offenders should be released from Illinois Department of Corrections custody and what the terms of their release should be.
The board also makes recommendations on clemency, arbitrates the calculation of good time credit, and reviews cases of those who violate the terms of their parole to decide whether they should be returned to prison. The job pays roughly $90,000 per year.
The board has become a proxy for the larger political battle in Illinois over how to address crime heading into this year’s elections. Republicans have been critical of the board’s makeup under Pritzker, saying there has been a lack of transparency and an overly lenient attitude toward convicted criminals.
But even Senate Democrats have privately expressed reservations about Pritzker’s appointees to the board, according to a source familiar with the nomination process who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Records provided by the Senate GOP show that James and Wilson voted to release prisoners on parole in about 45% of all cases that came before them. On the Senate floor Monday night, Sen. Terri Bryant, a Republican from Murphysboro, cited Wilson’s votes in favor of the release of various convicted cop killers as a reason to reject her appointment.
Several senators have raised concerns about the board’s decision last year to approve parole for Joseph Hurst and Johnny Veal, two men accused of killing Chicago police officers more than 50 years ago.
It’s the latest and most damning hiccup for a board that faced GOP-led accusations about the transparency of the governor’s appointments and the decisions of his nominees. The board’s duties include deciding which prisoners are eligible for parole and reviewing recommendations for executive clemency. It is under a microscope during a campaign year in which Republicans are accusing Pritzker of being soft on crime. […]
Senate Democrats did not take a position as a caucus on Wilson’s nomination. And in addition to the 14 voting against her appointment, another 12 Democratic senators opted not to vote at all.
“The murder of a police officer is more than an attack on an individual, it is an attack on the rule of law itself,” state Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, told the Sun-Times after voting against Wilson’s appointment.
“No individual who commits such a heinous crime should be eligible for parole. The Prisoner Review Board should ensure that the most severe crimes are met with the most severe sanction under the law.”
* ILGOP…
It’s been reported that Governor JB Pritzker will be at the Lincoln Statue at the State Capitol this morning to commemorate the Illinois State Police’s centennial anniversary with a press conference to follow.
As a reminder, a man who was previously denied parole and had served roughly 15% of his sentence for the murder of a state trooper was recently released by Pritzker’s Prisoner Review Board (PRB), utilizing new measures signed into law by the Governor to gain his freedom. The slain trooper’s family was not given the opportunity to object to the killer’s early release.
As reported by the Effingham Daily News…
“The man who killed Illinois State Police Trooper Layton Davis in 1976 was released from prison Thursday under a new law that allows parole for medical reasons.”
“Aaron Hyche, 71, who fired the shot that killed Davis, had been denied parole after a hearing in August. A relative of the trooper said the family was initially told the medical hearing would not be until March, and was surprised when Hyche was released before they could object.”
…
“The trooper’s family is upset they didn’t get to voice opinions about Hyche to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.”
It’s hard to square Pritzker’s honoring of state law enforcement today when he continues to stand by his handpicked PRB that voted to release Hyche.
PRB member Eleanor Wilson, who voted to release the cop killer’s accomplice, James Taylor, resigned this week rather than face further scrutiny for her decisions to release violent criminals from prison early. Pritzker praised Wilson, saying, “The Governor is disappointed that a highly qualified nominee will no longer be able to serve on the Prisoner Review Board and he thanks Eleanor Wilson for her service and dedication to justice.”
We have just one question for the Governor. On a day meant to remember the history and sacrifices of our state troopers, will Pritzker apologize to the family of Trooper Layton Davis?
…Adding… Gov. Pritzker’s office…
The Governor is disappointed that a highly qualified nominee will no longer be able to serve on the Prisoner Review Board and he thanks Eleanor Wilson for her service and dedication to justice. The Pritzker administration remains committed to ensuring that highly qualified nominees fill these critical roles on the Prisoner Review Board, especially because we must fulfill our constitutional and statutory obligations for clemency and parole as well as key public safety functions of the board.
As smash-and-grab burglaries and supply chain thefts across the state have increased, State Senator Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs) is working alongside the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office to crack down on organized retail crime.
Senator Glowiak Hilton will outline their plan to address organized retail theft and illicit trade at a press conference Tuesday.
WHO: Senators Suzy Glowiak Hilton and Doris Turner, alongside President & CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association Rob Karr, Owner of Wild Rose Boutique Monica Zanetti, Executive Director of the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association Jim Kaitschuk, and Chief of Legislative Affairs from the Illinois Office of the Attorney General Ashley Wright
WHAT: Press conference on plan to combat organized retail crime
WHEN: Tuesday, March 29 at 11:30 a.m.
WHERE: Blue Room, Illinois State Capitol and live on BlueRoomStream.com
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA) and Illinois Office of Attorney General (OAG) have collaborated to create a comprehensive legislative package to address organized retail crime (ORC). Highlights include:
Focuses on Organized Retail Crime The proposal creates and specifically defines a violation of organized retail crime (ORC). ORC is usually committed by an individual or individuals who work together to steal merchandise and resell the item(s) for profit to fund other illegal activities such as gun, drug, and human trafficking.
Deters Smash-and-Grab Thefts Smash-and-grab thefts occur when a group of individuals rush into a retailer and destroy retail property or threaten retail team members while stealing a great amount of inventory in a short period of time. This sometimes involves the use of vehicles and other tools to gain entry into the retailer or to the merchandise.
Deters Supply Chain Thefts Individuals are increasingly involved in stealing merchandise while it is in transit between the manufacture and distributor and the retailer. This involves raiding delivery trucks and cargo containers on trains.
Reduces Criminals’ Ability to Avoid Prosecution
• The proposal provides jurisdiction to any state’s attorney where any element of ORC takes place to prosecute the whole crime. For instance, if the conspiracy, theft, and selling all occurred in different jurisdictions, each jurisdiction would have the ability to prosecute the whole crime. It also provides the Attorney General the use of the statewide grand jury to prosecute ORC.
• If cell phones or the internet are utilized to plan and carry-out ORC, any state’s attorney may have jurisdiction to bring action.
• The proposal allows the Illinois Attorney General the flexibility to also pursue RICO charges against Illinois and multi-state criminals.
Provides Dedicated Enforcement Resources The proposal seeks to provide annual funds to the Office of the Attorney General for additional investigators and attorneys to focus exclusively on ORC. It also provides grant money to states attorneys across Illinois whose communities tend to be the focus of ORC. This grant money will be used to add additional states attorneys dedicated exclusively to ORC.
Addresses Online Fencing ORC rings increasingly use technology and the anonymity of online third-party marketplaces to sell their stolen goods. The proposal requires online third-party marketplaces to verify the seller and the goods offered for sale and the seller to provide contact information. This action will help police outlets used to monetize stolen merchandise, which often funds other illicit activities including gun, drug and human trafficking. The proposal mirrors an agreement that was reached on the federal level by stakeholders and currently sponsored by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.
Enhances Public and Private Coordination The proposal calls for a formal collaboration of all stakeholders involved in addressing ORC. The collaboration is designed to provide real-time information and intelligence-sharing and collaboration between asset protection investigators and federal, state, and local law enforcement partners involved in combating ORC related issues at the local, regional, and national levels
Requires Timely and Proper Notice The proposal requires timely and accurate notice of court proceeding to retailers that are victims of ORC, ensuring they can participate in the legal process.
A state senator says the same “all hands on deck” approach that Illinois’ governor took to expunge cannabis convictions should be used to clear the backlog of Concealed Carry License applications. […]
Illinois law requires a resident to have a state-issued Firearm Owner’s Identification Card (FOID) to purchase or own guns or ammo. There is no open-carry allowed. Concealed carry must be permitted through a Concealed Carry License (CCL) issued by Illinois State Police.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinoisans applying for state-issued FOID and CCLs were waiting in excess of a year or more in some cases.
During a Senate committee last week, state Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysborow, told Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly that problems persist despite a clearing of FOID card backlogs.
“You’ve increased the ability to get those done, but to date I still have some folks that are waiting 18 months on CCL,” Bryant said.
Kelly said they’re working on it.
“That is the last category that we have to address,” Kelly said. “We are steadily heading in the right direction and my hope is by the time we get to the summer, we’ll be well within the statutory timeframe there.”
Data compiled by ISP shows that in February, the average time frame for processing new CCL applications was 115 days. That’s within the 120 days allowed by state law. It’s taking an average of 110 days if fingerprints are provided when it’s supposed to take no more than 90 days. The agency does not publish the average time it’s taking to issue CCL renewals.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve the State of Illinois while on the Prisoner Review Board. I took seriously the responsibility to apply the law as it is written in our constitution. These laws direct the board to be fair to all without bias or prejudice. This too, is all you have ever asked of me. It is my hope I have fulfilled this request completely.
It has been an honor to be a member of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, please accept this letter as my resignation as of today 3/28/22.
Respectfully,
Oreal James
The Republicans and some Democrats are still not comfortable with PRB member Eleanor Wilson, who is the godmother of Barack Obama’s daughters.
By the way, the governor has withdrawn the appointment.
Ahead of today’s Senate Executive Appointments Committee hearing to review JB Pritzker’s appointments to the Prisoner Review Board (PRB), the Irvin for Illinois campaign is calling for lawmakers to stand with police and reject Pritzker’s extreme appointees who have repeatedly voted to release cop-killers.
Last week, the Senate rejected another Pritzker appointee to the board - Jeffrey Mears - in a bipartisan vote. This week, the Senate will vote on two more Pritzker PRB appointees - Oreal James and Eleanor Wilson - who voted to grant parole to the following offenders:
• Joseph Hurst: Convicted of killing Chicago police officer Herman Stallworth and wounding Stallworth’s partner with a bullet to the face. On February 25, 2021, the PRB voted 8-4 to pardon Hurst, with Oreal James and Eleanor Wilson voting in favor of parole.
• Johnny Veal: Convicted of killing Chicago police officers James Severin and Anthony Rizzato. On February 25, 2021, the PRB voted 8-4 to grant parole to Veal with Oreal James and Eleanor Wilson voting in favor of parole.
• James Taylor: Convicted of killing State Trooper Layton Davis during a traffic stop, and attempting to kill a motorist who witnessed the murder. In August 2020, the PRB voted 8-5 to grant parole to Taylor, with Oreal James and Eleanor Wilson voting in favor of parole.
Even radical Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx strongly opposed parole for Johnny Veal, saying his killing of officers Severin and Rizzato had been a “cold-blooded execution”. But Pritzker’s extreme PRB still voted to put him back on the street.
“JB Pritzker continues his attack on police officers through these latest appointments,” said Irvin for Illinois spokesperson Eleni Demertzis. “On top of his anti-police bill, today Pritzker has again turned his back on the police by continuing to support the confirmation of these candidates. Pritzker should withdraw their appointments permanently, and if he refuses, the Illinois Senate should vote to reject them.”
Illinois faced revenue shortages during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As revenues plummeted by more than $1.1 billion, Illinois did not have reserves to help fund emergency supplies, such as Personal Protective Equipment for the state’s public health response.
Illinois had to borrow from the Federal Reserve so medical bills could be paid to Illinois health-care providers fighting on the front lines of the pandemic. Borrowing was a last resort, given that Illinois didn’t have other options like a Rainy Day Fund to draw from.
With only about $60,000 in the state’s Rainy Day Fund at the time — which would cover less than 30 seconds worth of state operations — Illinois’ reserves were grossly inadequate in terms of providing the resources needed to properly address the public health crisis caused by the pandemic.
State Senator Darren Bailey launched a nearly $400,000 TV ad campaign touting proven conservative of standing up and fighting with parents and students and against the failed establishment in Springfield. In addition, Bailey’s campaign released the following statement.
“Republicans deserve a nominee who is actually a Republican. Working families and taxpayers deserve a Governor who will stand up to the failed establishment in both parties and fight for them. Darren Bailey is the conservative choice and the only one in this race with a proven record of standing up and fighting against Pritzker’s mandates and failed and extreme national agenda. Darren has fought against every tax increase in Springfield. In addition, he has fought for law enforcement, safer communities, and bringing more opportunities to Illinois. We have led in every poll in this primary, and this ad buy will only build on the momentum our grassroots movement continues to build.”
Announcer: A 3rd Generation farmer, Darren Bailey learned the values of hard work, honesty and faith.
Darren took those values to Springfield. Stood up to the Madigan machine – fighting every single tax increase. Sued Governor Pritzker AND WON to keep Illinois open.
Now Darren is running for governor with a plan to cut taxes…
…Increase police funding.
…and prevent voter fraud.
Darren Bailey, the only true conservative Republican for Governor.
* In this case, it’s an approp bill. Press release…
Law enforcement in Illinois needs an estimated $759 million in state funding to pay for all the new mandated training, combat the surge in violence and address a growing shortage of officers at the state and local level, according to an analysis from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police released March 28, 2022.
“As we have said many times in recent years, we welcome more training, we welcome new technologies such as body cameras and license plate readers, and we want to be held accountable in an increasingly transparent world,” said ILACP Executive Director Ed Wojcicki.
“But it costs money to do all of this, and legislators and others have been asking how much. Now we know: It is at least $759 million as an initial investment in public safety in Illinois.”
The Illinois Chiefs’ detailed analysis has five major categories and encourages the General Assembly to fund these items before adjourning next month:
Technology and Equipment $206.5 million
ILETSB and Training $96.5 million
Community Policing and Community Engagement $100.0 million
Recruitment and Retention $276.4 million
Officer Wellness Programs $80.0 million
“We also now know that about 60% of Illinois law enforcement agencies are not fully staffed; they have shortages and are having a more difficult time recruiting and retaining officers,” Wojcicki added.
“Some officers are retiring. Some are going into other lines of work, and some are going to other states that they consider to be more police friendly, such as Indiana and Missouri.”
Legislators are considering a bill aiming to bring more accountability and transparency to tax increment financing, a funding tool used by many municipalities to pay for economic development projects in areas considered blighted and run down.
Some suburban communities are among the groups opposing the legislation they argue will limit their ability to spur economic development. But many school districts, park districts and similar taxing bodies support it, because they believe it will limit the amount of tax money that TIFs draw away from them. […]
The proposal introduced by Gillespie and co-sponsored by state Sen. Melinda Bush, a Grayslake Democrat, limits the life span of a TIF to 10 years instead of 23 years. And the joint review board, which is made up of one representative from each taxing body and one member of the public, has the power to approve or disapprove the extension of a TIF to 15 years. Currently, the legislature must approve a TIF extension for up to 35 years.
* Press release…
State Senator Bill Cunningham advanced a measure in the Illinois Senate that makes it easier for callers to reach 9-1-1 from hotels and businesses during an emergency on Thursday.
“This initiative will help ensure a quick response during times of an emergency,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs. “We are removing barriers that hinder people from calling 9-1-1 and making it easier for first responders to locate the caller.”
Under current law, multi-line telephone systems require dialing “9″ or another number to reach an outside line. Places like businesses, hotels and government buildings use these systems to handle two or more calls coming in at the same time. Under the new law, MLTS vendors and manufacturers must configure new systems to support direct dialing 9-1-1.
The goal of this legislation is protect people and specifically children. In 2013, a women was killed in a hotel room by her estranged husband. Her daughter attempted to call 9-1-1 four times, but the calls never went through because the hotel’s multi-line telephone system required her to dial “9” before making an outbound call. Illinois will follow suit with other states who have already passed this legislation.
House Bill 5502 will also update regulation on multi-line systems to provide accurate information about the caller’s location within a building or complex. Far too often, large hotels or complexes use multi-line systems and it is difficult for emergency response to get an exact location on the caller. This ensures people who need help during an emergency are able to be located by first responders.
“This legislation will save lives and could save your child’s life,” Cunningham said. “I want to thank the Illinois State Police for bringing this issue to our attention.”
House Bill 5502 passed the Energy & Public Utility Committee on Thursday and awaits further consideration before the full Senate.
We’re in the midst of “petition challenge” season, when candidates and their allies try to knock their opponents out of races by challenging signatures they’ve gathered to get on the ballot.
The process of gathering petition signatures in Illinois is burdensome and outdated. And those expensive and time-consuming challenges can keep good people out of office, especially those who lack the wealth or party connections they need to play the game.
Luckily, there’s a solution. Reform for Illinois worked with state Rep. Kelly Cassidy to introduce HB 4966, which would allow election authorities to adopt digital signature programs. These programs dramatically reduce invalid signatures and help avoid challenges.
The legislature has a chance to make life easier for candidates and improve representation for Illinoisans. We urge lawmakers to bring our state into the 21st century and adopt this common sense reform.
If you think the ever-present attorney advertisements that you see in Illinois are an eyesore, get ready to see more of them if a bill passes the Illinois General Assembly and is signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
As someone who watches the cost of insurance and is concerned about the factors that drive costs up, I’m worried that a piece of legislation zooming through the House and Senate is not being vetted appropriately and has the potential to increase insurance costs for everyone.
Senate Bill 1099 is being pushed by influential trial lawyers who benefit from big-ticket lawsuit settlements. The bill would allow third-party investors to “loan” money to people who have been hurt while they wait for their court cases to move through the legal system. The “lenders” would be allowed to charge interest rates to the injured of 18% every six months for nearly four years.
That’s predatory. It should not be allowed to become law. The end result would be more abuse of personal injury litigation, which would drive up the costs of insurance for all of us.
- James Coston, CEO, Corridor Rail Development Corp.
* Press release…
Today, the Gun Violence Prevention PAC (G-PAC) and State Representative Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) announced the introduction of House Bill 5731, new legislation to protect communities from dangerous ghost guns.
“Ghost guns pose a great threat to our communities. Unregulated by the federal government, these homemade firearms are flooding our streets and taking too many innocent lives,” said State Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago). “To be blunt, these are weapons that are used so one can’t get caught. I am proud to introduce life-saving legislation that will stop ghost guns from harming our state.”
“These untraceable, homemade ghost guns are a clear and present danger to our communities,” said Kathleen Sances, President and CEO of G-PAC. “Their easy availability is a constant threat to children, families and first responders and provides deadly firepower for people, especially white supremacist and terrorist groups, who want to commit acts of violence without being detected.”
This piece of legislation cracks down on these unregulated firearms that anyone - including minors and prohibited purchasers - can buy and build without a background check. Parts and kits to build these unserialized and untraceable weapons can be bought online and assembled at home in just 15 minutes. They are also intentionally marketed as unregulated and untraceable to appeal to those who want to avoid background checks and gun traffickers.
House Bill 5731 will ensure that:
• The transfer, purchase, manufacture, importation, and possession of ghost guns is illegal
• Printing ghost guns with 3-D printers is prohibited
• Guns that are currently unserialized can become serialized and trackable
Nationwide, law enforcement discovered 10,000 ghost guns in 2019, but countless others are on the streets. However, there are no federal restrictions on who can buy gun kits or parts or on how many someone can buy. The absence of national leadership has led ten states to implement laws regulating ghost guns to keep their children, families and communities safe from gun violence.
Ghost guns make up a growing percentage of gun violence across the country, which has claimed more than nine thousand lives so far this year. Chicago police confiscated 455 ghost guns in 2021 (more than twice as many as in New York City), andmore than 40% of guns recovered by California ATF officers in 2020 were ghost guns.
Alongside Rep. Buckner and G-PAC’s Kathleen Sances, advocates from Brady United and Moms Demand Action Illinois joined the press conference and spoke in support of the new bill.
“We cannot continue to allow gun traffickers to control our communities with fear and bloodshed,” said Annliese Dickman, City Program Manager for Brady United. “Ghost guns pose a major threat to every single person in our state, and we need to pass an essential policy that limits the possession of these dangerous weapons.”
“Ghost guns are dangerous, impossible to trace, and too easy to obtain without a background check – and they don’t belong in our communities,” said Maria Pike, a survivor of gun violence and volunteer with Moms Demand Action Illinois. “Protecting our communities from ghost guns cannot wait, especially as gun violence continues to devastate our state and ghost guns are turning up with alarming frequency at crime scenes in Illinois. We’re grateful to stand here today and join the call for lawmakers to prioritize this critical bill.”
“As gun violence has skyrocketed in communities across Chicago, Illinois, and the country, more and more of the guns fueling it have been ghost guns,” said David Pucino, deputy chief counsel at Giffords Law Center. “These untraceable weapons are sold by cynical companies evading our gun laws to flood the streets with unregulated weapons. We need legislation to stop this, legislation that says if your company is selling the ability to make a gun you must be regulated as a gun seller. This bill will do that and we are proud to support it.”
* Press release…
As a result of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus four-pillar agenda, specifically the Education and Workforce Equity Act, State Senator Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) announced a $17 million grant to create the first-ever state-funded Freedom Schools network.
“Freedom Schools have a proud history and major significance for African Americans,” Lightford said. “These schools represent a long tradition of engaged citizenship, personal empowerment and academic excellence. I know this experience will have a positive impact on students, their families, and the whole community.”
Because of the monumental education package to rid Illinois of systemic racism, the Phillip Jackson Freedom School Grant was created to ensure Black students receive quality education across the state.
The Phillip Jackson Freedom Schools will offer students a wide range of academic and social learning opportunities, provide quality teaching experiences, a progressive school climate and an equitable curriculum. The first Freedom School was created in the 1960s to allow marginalized communities to get the same educational opportunities as their white counterparts.
Also, the Philip Jackson Freedom School will guarantee teachers feel empowered by the community to ensure students are getting the representation and leadership they need.
“Better representation is important for students of color as they statically do better and stay longer in school,” Lightford said. “The Philip Jackson Schools is warranted to liberate not only our Black students but also our Black teachers.”
Lightford is honored that the Freedom Schools network is named after the life of Philip Jackson, a longtime advocate of educating youth in Chicago public schools and metropolitan areas.
The Phillip Jackson Freedom School Grant application is now open to public schools and universities, community colleges, and not-for-profits, community-based organizations.
* The Tribune spent a decade writing stories about annual population estimates, and the paper’s editorial board published dozens of “exodus” screeds in response. Let’s be clear here. There’s zero doubt that people are leaving Illinois for other states (and the same thing is happening elsewhere, too), but the woman featured in this Tribune story says at the very end that she’s planning to come back to Chicago. And there’s nothing in the story about how the intense hype of the past decade concluded with only a tiny net population decline…
Dayna Lynn Nuckolls spent most of her life in Chicago and the south suburbs but was already planning to leave when COVID-19 struck.
She was fed up with the winters and conflicts in Chicago Public Schools, and when the pandemic boosted her business — she’s an astrologer and spiritualist — she made the leap, taking her young child with her to New Orleans.
“I think the energy of migration has been very high,” said Nuckolls, 38. “It’s been a much more supportive environment to make big moves like that. The timing just worked out for me.”
When Nuckolls left the Chicago area in July 2020, she was on the cusp of a trend: More than 100,000 people in Chicagoland followed suit over the next year, migrating to other domestic destinations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In all, accounting for other population changes due to birth, death and international migration, metro Chicago lost more than 91,000 people between July 2020 and July 2021, aligning with other large metro areas that saw people flee cities as the pandemic continued to upend life in 2021, according to new population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
…Adding… Oops. Forgot to include this. From the US Census Bureau…
Coverage estimates from the [Post-Enumeration Survey] varied by race and Hispanic origin. DA coverage estimates for these characteristics are not yet available. As further explained in the Using Demographic Benchmarks to Help Evaluate 2020 Census Results blog, DA will first need to reconcile differences in how vital records categorize race with census results not yet released.
The PES data show that:
• The Black or African American alone or in combination population had a statistically significant undercount of 3.30%. This is not statistically different from the 2.06% undercount in 2010.
• The Hispanic or Latino population had a statistically significant undercount rate of 4.99%. This is statistically different from a 1.54% undercount in 2010.
• American Indian or Alaska Native alone or in combination populations living on reservations show a statistically significant undercount rate of 5.64%. This was not statistically different from a 4.88% undercount in 2010. The American Indian or Alaska Native population alone or in combination living in American Indian areas, but not living on reservations, was not statistically different from zero in 2020 or 2010.
• The non-Hispanic White alone population had a statistically significant overcount rate of 1.64%. This is statistically different from an overcount of 0.83% in 2010.
• The Asian alone or in combination population had an overcount rate of 2.62%. This is statistically different from 0.00% in 2010.
• The Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination population had an estimated overcount rate of 1.28%. This rate is not different from an estimated 1.02% overcount rate in 2010. Both are not statistically different from zero.
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith has now been slapped with an eighth contempt of court order for failing to place a teen in the department’s care appropriately.
The order was issued by Juvenile Court Judge and former County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy.
In this case, a 14-year-old girl was taken into temporary DCFS custody last September. Since then, she has been moved 21 times. She was stuck in a psychiatric hospital and was then moved around to different shelters, hospital emergency rooms, DCFS offices, and emergency foster placements.
In February, the judge ordered DCFS to place the teen in a residential facility. That order was not carried out, and the teen ran away.
Building more emergency shelters and funding more foster homes seems on the surface to be a logical way to start improving a troubled child welfare system in Illinois.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has been beset by images of children sleeping in department offices because they have nowhere else to go, reports of children spending too much time in restrictive psychiatric facilities, and a lack of sufficient foster parents to accommodate children who have been removed from their families.
The department has issued three calls for proposals asking providers to submit plans for building emergency shelter capacity, emergency foster homes and programming for youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The proposals address the apparent shortage of housing and services for many of the state’s most vulnerable youth.
But a group that has been at odds with DCFS for decades about how the department cares for those caught up in the child welfare system has blasted the proposals as the wrong thing at the wrong time.
“This is precisely the sort of ill-considered, misdirected, counterproductive, fiscally irresponsible, and panic-driven activity that Plaintiffs have been working to prevent” during ongoing litigation, reads a recent post on the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) website.
“It is troubling that the department is actively encouraging providers to develop more shelter beds and emergency foster homes to serve the ‘one percent of youth’ DCFS acknowledges it currently struggles to place – those who are stuck in psychiatric hospitals beyond medical necessity, those stranded in emergency rooms due to lack of psychiatric hospital capacity and those who have lost their placement due to extreme behaviors.”
“Every expert has told the department that these youth do not belong in shelters, and DCFS knows from its own failed experience that these youth are not accepted by emergency foster homes because they lack the supports to address these youths’ severe, immediate needs,” the post concludes.
So if more emergency services aren’t the answer, how do you fix the Illinois child welfare system?
After a judge last week issued a contempt of court order for the eighth time against Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith, Aurora Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin is calling on JB Pritzker to remove him from his post noting children in the state’s care are continuously put in unsafe conditions.
Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert called the agency “a colossal waste of taxpayer money,” and noted that the current dysfunction happening at DCFS is something he has never witnessed prior to the Pritzker Administration:
“In the more than 30 years that I’ve been practicing in Juvenile Court, I cannot recall a single prior instance where a judge held the DCFS director in contempt. And now it’s happened eight times in eleven weeks. That’s how dysfunctional DCFS has become.”
This is just another chapter in the string of failures at Pritzker’s state agencies.
“It’s a disgrace that JB Pritzker has allowed this critical agency to falter to the point that multiple court interventions have been required to protect vulnerable children in the state’s care,” said Irvin. “Decisive action must be taken in order to improve DCFS and ensure that no other children are wrongfully put in dangerous situations and abandoned by the state. Pritzker needs to take ownership of this failure and find a new responsible director who will right the wrongs of this agency.”
* Response from the Pritzker campaign…
Instead of using vulnerable children as political pawns, Richard Irvin should finally own up to the fact that he explicitly advertised his legal services to abusive parents and promised to defend them against their rights being terminated for abuse or neglect.
The team running and bankrolling Irvin’s campaign are the very same people who orchestrated some of the most devastating cuts to DCFS the state has ever seen and the impact of Rauner’s budget slashes are still being felt today. Governor Pritzker remains committed to righting those wrongs by investing in help for children in our state’s care.
…Adding… From an NBC 5 story, here’s Sen. Darren Bailey’s response…
I’m sick and tired of hearing this blame on Rauner or on Trump, or whatever it is they want to blame it on. Take responsibility and make changes. Director Smith has been in charge of DCFS since day one.
* John Amdor and I were talking last week about the legislative efforts to pass a crime bill this session and during the course of the evening he mentioned a couple of bills that he thought were important. I asked him to submit something for possible publication. Amdor is a lobbyist with the firm Nekritz, Amdor and Andersson, which represents the John Howard Association, the Illinois Justice Project and the Juvenile Justice Initiative…
Over the past ten years, I’ve been fortunate to learn from law enforcement leaders about the challenges women and men in their field face and what they believe ought to change. When I discuss gun violence and prevention with my neighbors on the South Side of Chicago, it strikes me that their vision and desire for what policing and public safety should be isn’t so dissimilar from what law enforcement officers want.
The unifying thread between rank-and-file law enforcement and those they serve is the desire for mutual respect and trust founded on a common set of facts about community needs. They want a system where people know that their fundamental rights are honored. They also want a system where their person and property are secure.
Gun violence has risen across the country and it’s clear that communities in every part of Illinois don’t feel protected. Last year, the state continued a recent trend of increasing money for law enforcement and funded violence prevention programs at a level that finally began matching the scale of the problem. But that funding has not hit the streets and there isn’t a way for the public and policymakers to understand what is being done and how it’s working.
The system we have doesn’t allow information about public safety and security to flow between police, policymakers, and the public. Political choices determine how the government collects and distributes policing data. That means neither cops nor citizens have confidence that resources and manpower are distributed efficiently, effectively, or fairly.
The good news is that we have an opportunity to make new choices. There are proposals before the General Assembly right now that can help strip the politics from law enforcement and meaningfully contribute to stronger relationships between police and communities.
Leader Jaime Andrade has introduced HB5212. The bill would end the practice of recording shooting incidents as criminal damage to property. There aren’t many people who think that a bullet coming through a window is in the same realm as vandalism. But that’s what happens too often and it’s not fair to residents who feel scared in their own homes and can’t receive the resources they deserve when the data doesn’t support them.
Senator Elgie Sims’ SB3937 requires the Chicago Police Department to report their investigations’ “clearance rates.” The bill ensures the public can hold their leaders accountable and helps administrators more effectively allocate police resources throughout the city.
These are two examples of legislation that the General Assembly could pass to help continue expanding data-driven policing and evidence-based public safety. Alongside these, the state should better coordinate and measure the effectiveness of the billions spent each year on policing, probation, prison, and community-based violence prevention.
People understand gun violence, carjackings, and property crimes can’t be eliminated overnight. But they do expect they’re told the truth about the scope of the problems and the nature of the solutions. There’s an opportunity in the next two weeks to pass some bills that do just that. Let’s get it done.
Nearly four years ago, legislation that aimed to help low-income electricity customers was making its way to the floor of an Illinois House chamber tightly controlled by its longtime speaker, Michael Madigan.
The bill’s main advocate: Madigan’s daughter, then-Attorney General Lisa Madigan. One of its primary opponents: Commonwealth Edison, the state’s largest electric utility.
By the time the Illinois General Assembly’s spring session was over, ComEd won — because, according to federal prosecutors, Michael Madigan paved the way.
In what may be one of the most intriguing chapters of the federal indictment filed earlier this month against ex-Speaker Madigan, prosecutors alleged he greenlighted efforts to kill his own daughter’s legislation as he pressed ComEd to give jobs to two political allies, including a coveted position on the utility’s board of directors.
“His own daughter’s legislation” is a bit much. They were occasionally at odds, even when she was in the Senate. It was nothing personal with him, just business. And maybe crooked business, if the feds are proved right.
Even today, ComEd said it opposed the plan “because it would have hurt customers.” The utility estimated it would have cost customers $20 million upfront to cover expenses, such as customer system modifications and training, as well as an additional $146 million annually, ComEd’s Shannon Breymaier said.
“It would have put significant restrictions on ComEd’s ability to collect utility service charges from customers who could afford to pay their bills and required costly changes to ComEd’s billing and collection systems,” Breymaier said in an email. “Those costs ultimately would have been paid by our customers, not ComEd.”
Following a review by state bureaucracies, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office has lifted a freeze on funding for projects earmarked by Illinois’ now-indicted former House Speaker Michael Madigan.
The temporary freeze came after a group of nine Democratic state representatives requested it in the wake of Madigan’s 22-count indictment on corruption charges on March 2. […]
But two days after their initial letter to Pritzker the same group of lawmakers, led by State Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, backtracked and asked Pritzker to unfreeze the funding after getting pushback from other lawmakers in the state’s Latino caucus. […]
In an email to the BGA on Wednesday, the governor’s top spokeswoman said the review has been completed and the governor ordered the funds released in a March 11 letter. The governor’s office also provided the memos from state agencies detailing the results of the review.
There is no indication in the documents provided to suggest the Pritzker-ordered reviews touched on the lawmakers’ initial requests to examine whether the projects were “appropriate” or whether any conflicts of interest existed.
A few chapters are set pieces, capturing the vicissitudes of Illinois politics. There is the drama of June 30, 1988, as Republican Governor Jim Thompson joins Madigan to try to fund a new ballpark for the White Sox when the team is all but on a plane to Florida. The deed had to be done before midnight, when a change in the legislature’s makeup would doom the effort. But Madigan “made time stand still”—literally. He stopped the clock at midnight so that he and Thompson could twist arms while opponents sang that “Na na na na / Na na na na / Hey, hey-ey, goodbye” song that Sox fans use to jeer opposing pitchers off the field.
The episode is so much fun, with that near-biblical stopping of the sun, that it’s possible to overlook—puff away the obfuscating fog of fandom—that government officials were bending the law to put public money into the pockets of a private business.
There’s a chapter on “Operation Cobra,” Madigan’s stealth plan to temporarily raise the state’s income tax in 1989. It passed the House in less than a day with only Democratic votes.
Long said that the legislative attack “caught Thompson totally surprised,” writing that it was “the biggest raw power play I ever saw Speaker Madigan pull off.”
By contrast, when lawmakers voted in 2017 to approve a Madigan-backed plan to end the state’s two-year budget impasse, Long said that Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner “knew it was coming and he couldn’t do anything about it because Madigan outmaneuvered him politically.”
The old-timers’ Operation Cobra stories often kept me awake at night wondering if I’d talked to enough people that day to ensure I didn’t get surprised like Thompson was.
hTe specter of former House Speaker Michael Madigan is entering the campaign on how the City Council’s ward maps will be redrawn.
In a new poll commissioned by the Latino Caucus and its supporters, respondents were informed that the Chicago United map supported by the City Council’s Rules Committee and the Black Caucus “was drafted by Michael Madigan’s lawyer.”
According to a polling memo obtained by Playbook, more than two-thirds, 69 percent, of respondents indicated “that is a convincing reason to vote against the Chicago United map.”
The memo states: “Perceptions of Madigan aren’t just negative, they are intensely negative — nearly two-thirds (64 percent) give him a strongly unfavorable rating. Negative perceptions of Madigan extend across all regions of the city and important voter subgroups like Democrats (84 percent unfavorable), Independents (85 percent unfavorable), and white voters (91 percent unfavorable).”
And just in case we didn’t get it, the memo continues, “Madigan is nearly universally disliked in Chicago.”
OK, except the Latino Caucus has a Madigan person of their own working on the remap. So, if they go there, the other side may as well and any advantage goes up in smoke.
Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, who is running as a Democrat for Illinois Secretary of State, has amended her statements of financial interests after questions raised by NBC 5.
Valencia’s husband Reyahd Kazmi is a lobbyist, and as required, Valencia must list any companies that do business with the city that her spouse/or partner received compensation for of more than $5,000 a year.
Valencia initially amended her 2021 forms on March 15 after NBC 5 first revealed Valencia did not list Monterrey Security, a company with clout-heavy city contracts. Besides Monterrey Security, Valencia also amended her 2021 form to include two other businesses that were not listed initially: Chicago Commons and Black Dog Corporation.
On Friday, the Chicago Board of Ethics has posted on its website that Valencia has amended her 2020 ethics statements.
Valencia’s campaign spokesman, insisting the amendment was done the same day on March 15, forwarded to NBC 5 a form her campaign says was emailed to the Board of Ethics, but the form had no one’s name on it and was not dated or signed. The word “amendment” was misspelled. […]
If Valencia should become the Secretary of State she would be in charge of the registration of lobbyists.
After the Illinois House and Senate voted to pass legislation to partially pay down the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund debt, top Democratic leaders gathered for a Statehouse press conference to boast about their accomplishment.
Yes, they admitted, it was only a partial pay down. The debt is $4.5 billion, and they patched it with $2.7 billion in federal money from the American Rescue Plan Act. But the Democrats pointed out Illinois is using a higher percentage of its federal ARPA aid on its debt than surrounding states, including Indiana.
Most states had to borrow money from the federal government when the 2020 COVID shutdowns created an unprecedented flood of unemployment benefit applications, and states simply didn’t have enough money on hand to meet the enormous demand. But the Democratic spin avoided the fact that surrounding states didn’t have the same level of crushing debt as Illinois.
While Indiana and Illinois both underfunded their trust funds before the pandemic, Indiana’s resulting problem wasn’t as great as Illinois’ partly because that state was more aggressive than Illinois about reopening businesses earlier in the pandemic. But that Hoosier decision came with a different and much more devastating cost, because Indiana’s COVID death rate is significantly higher than in Illinois rate, and it’s even higher when you look at the figures after vaccines were widely available.
Perhaps more to the point, Indiana and other states, unlike Illinois, used a significant chunk of their Trump-era CARES Act allotment to pay down their trust fund debts, so their resulting need for ARPA money to shore up their funds just wasn’t as critical as ours. Illinois’ budget situation at the height of the pandemic was, of course, worse than surrounding states because of decades of fiscal mismanagement here, so the CARES Act money was desperately needed elsewhere.
Business groups were generally upbeat after the bill’s passage. A joint business statement called the legislation a “positive step” toward “addressing” the “massive” shortfall in the trust fund.
“We’re hopeful that negotiations will continue to resolve the remaining balance of this unprecedented deficit,” said the statement from the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Businesses of Illinois and the Associated General Contractors of Illinois.
The appreciation from business groups was definitely not matched by the Republicans’ tone. They fretted that since all the debt wasn’t eliminated, the rest would have to come from employer tax hikes and worker benefit cuts. Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie issued a statement predicting the bill will have a “devastating” impact on businesses — the same businesses whose industry representatives called the bill a “positive step.”
The Republican crocodile tears over potential benefit cuts for unemployed workers is super rich for a party that almost uniformly demanded those very same unemployment benefits be slashed last year so the resulting poverty would force people back to their lousy jobs. I mean, I was born at night, but not last night.
Democrats were also quick to point out that not a single congressional Republican voted for ARPA in the first place. So, Illinois Republicans are angry about not getting their way on how the ARPA money was spent when their party didn’t want the ARPA money to begin with.
The Democrats showed some political acumen by including other debt elimination in the bill, including paying off all the remaining debt in the College Illinois program and spending $300 million more on pension debt than required by law.
The package also included paying off close to a billion dollars in past-due debt for public employee and retiree group health insurance. The provision is a godsend for Springfield-area health providers, which have dealt forever with a state that has shown little to no interest in their fiscal well-being.
Yet every Republican in that region voted against the bill, including appointed Rep. Sandy Hamilton (R-Springfield). Hamilton is challenging Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield), and her “No” vote will likely be used against her this fall.
But, hey, the state’s wealthiest resident, Ken Griffin, is basically calling the shots for the GOP this election year because he has an abundance of what Republicans so desperately need right now: cash.
And you could bet your house (and the Senate) that Griffin would be very angry if the Republicans signed on to any sort of measure that could possibly involve future tax hikes on businesses.
Griffin was also no fan of the federal ARPA program, by the way.
* The Senate left town yesterday, the House adjourned hours ago, the comments are slow except for an argument about Jesuits in the open thread, and I have some plans. So, I’m knocking off early. Let the good times roll…
Let the stories be told
Let them say what they want
Locked into a tough primary race for re-election, U.S. Rep. Marie Newman has signed on to legislation that would ban the increasingly controversial practice of members of Congress trading stock in individual companies.
But Newman’s conversion to that issue is recent—very recent. Only in the last month have Newman and her husband voluntarily ceased the practice themselves, this after trading stock worth $5.8 million in 2021. That was enough to rank her ninth among the 535 members of the House and Senate, right behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is eighth. […]
Newman’s campaign says her family’s investment decisions did not affect her public conduct, and there is no direct sign to the contrary. But in 2021, she and her husband, Jim Newman, engaged in numerous trades that involved companies with major issues before Congress.
For instance, according to disclosures tracked by Washington, D.C., website Capitol Trades, they bought or sold tens of thousands of dollars of stock in Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, the three pharmaceutical firms whose anti-COVID vaccines were purchased in large numbers by the federal government after receiving approval from Congress.
* I’ve been asking the Democratic Party of Illinois and others who’ve pledged not to cross the WTTW picket line how far they would go with this, particularly whether they would take questions from WTTW reporters. I asked because I remembered a presidential candidate refused questions from an NBC reporter during a strike at that network several years ago. Most said they were waiting for word from IBEW Local 1220, and now here it is via the state party…
Those honoring the picket line are asked to not have any direct on the record communications with WTTW reporters via phone, email, etc. However, if there is a public press event (e.g. a press conference), WTTW reporters cannot be barred from attending those events.
If candidates choose to answer WTTW’s questions at those public press events, the union will not consider that crossing the picket line, I was also told.
DPI’s spokesperson said today that if candidates ask, they’ll forward the union’s guidance. The governor’s spokesperson says they will comply with the union’s request.
…Adding… Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s spokesperson says she will be complying with the union’s request.
* Gov. JB Pritzker endorsed US Rep. Danny Davis this morning, but the Davis campaign hasn’t yet sent out any sort of notice. They promised me something almost two hours ago, so here’s the take from Davis primary opponent Kina Collins…
Today, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced that he will be lending his support to Congressman Danny Davis in his re-election. Rep. Davis is being primaried by Kina Collins, a national gun violence prevention advocate, with deep roots on the West Side of Chicago. In response to the endorsement, progressive frontrunner Kina Collins released this statement:
“Over the last year, Danny Davis has shown the voters of IL-7 that he has some powerful friends, but once again, he is more interested in using his favors to strengthen his own grip on power than in securing attention and support for the people in the communities he is supposed to be fighting for. This endorsement is just the latest example.
“The reality is that Rep. Davis is finally starting to recognize how much trouble he’s in. He is inviting big establishment supporters to visit our community months before election day and expects their names to be enough to convince our communities to vote for him. We see Rep. Davis using his political power — not for us, the residents of this district, but to try and save himself.
“We don’t want an establishment-backed candidate who only calls in his political favors to save his seat. The residents in IL-7 deserve someone who can fight and deliver for our district.
“Our district deserves real transformative change and someone with a vision that is ready to fight for them. I am that person for IL-07.”
In the last few months, Kina Collins has earned the endorsement and support from powerhouses including Indivisible, National Organization for Women, The People’s Lobby, Sunrise Movement Chicago, Justice Democrats, and many more. Kina’s broad coalition of endorsements includes many progressive grassroots organizations that are ready to see true leadership in IL-07.
* I told you about this yesterday, but here is Politico’s story…
An unusual petition challenge could see two Democratic Illinois Supreme Court candidates kicked off the ballot.
Lake County Judge Elizabeth Rochford is challenging the petitions of Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering and Kane County Judge Rene Cruz in the Democratic primary battle to fill the vacant 2nd District Supreme Court seat. A few candidates in other Supreme Court races are facing similar challenges.
The challenges have nothing to do with authenticity, which is usually the beef in these cases. Instead, it’s about how many signatures are actually required.
According to Rochford’s elections attorney, Michael Dorf, Rotering and Cruz used numbers from the State Board of Elections that “miscalculated the signature requirements. They read the law in a different way than it should be read,” he told Playbook. Instead of the 334 they thought they needed, Dorf said 791 signatures should be required. Dorf is a high-profile election attorney who represented Lightfoot’s campaign to get on the ballot in 2019.
He says his team followed the statute, used county records that make up the 2nd District, and “did the multiplications and division by one-third” to come up with the numbers.
Rotering’s election attorney, Ed Mullen, says he’s confident “the plain language of the statute” and “relevant legal precedent… support the minimum signature calculation.” Cruz’s attorney didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
On Tuesday, the challenges will be assigned to Election Board hearing officers who will rule on the challenge — which could be appealed by either side and then head to court. If Rochford’s campaign is victorious in kicking her challengers off the ballot, she would bypass a primary and slide into the general election in November.
* HGOPs…
It has now been several weeks since federal prosecutors dropped a 22-count indictment against former Speaker Michael Madigan, following a string of investigations, indictments, arrests, and cover-ups. For many Illinoisans, the stain of corruption on our politics feels like something we may finally be able to remove, but House Democrats who were “made by Madigan” are finding the stain a stubborn blemish they seem unable to hide.
“After years of accepting millions from former Speaker Madigan, Democratic incumbents cannot shake the ghost of their former leader,” said Jayme Siemer, Executive Director of the House Republican Majority. “Now that these made-by-Madigan Democratic House members have primary opponents, will they finally step away from their indicted former leader?”
Among some top Primary Election races, House Democrats have a Madigan problem.
Fran Hurley:
Accepted $201,977 in campaign contributions from Madigan.
Supported Madigan for Speaker FIVE times.
Curtis Tarver:
Accepted $37,167 in campaign contributions from Madigan.
Supported Madigan for Speaker TWO times.
Natalie Manley:
Accepted $584,870 in campaign contributions from Madigan.
Supported Madigan for Speaker FOUR times.
Justin Slaughter:
Accepted $53,065 in campaign contributions from Madigan.
Supported Madigan for Speaker THREE times.
Mike Zalewski:
Accepted $203,934 in campaign contributions from Madigan.
Supported Madigan for Speaker SEVEN times.
Thaddeus Jones:
Accepted $248,732 in campaign contributions from Madigan.
Supported Madigan for Speaker SIX times.
Kathleen Willis:
Accepted $614,156 in campaign contributions from Madigan.
Supported Madigan for Speaker FOUR times.
Led charge against Ethics Reform legislation on the House Floor.
Sonya Harper:
Accepted $76,335 in campaign contributions from Madigan.
Supported Madigan for Speaker THREE times.
Democrats have been silent on these tainted funds, with no indication members will donate these funds to charity, a practice often used by politicians to dispose of funds taken from undesirable sources.
Jesse Sullivan’s campaign released the following statement ahead of an upcoming Prisoner Review Board parole hearing for convicted murderer and rapist Curtis Brownell:
“In 1977 Curtis Brownell kidnapped, raped, and killed Louise Marie Betts. Four months later, he was caught attempting to do the same to a pregnant woman, who he kidnapped, raped, and attempting to kill by running over her over with his car. In addition to these gruesome crimes, he’s admitted to sexual abuse of a child.”
“Because Brownell’s crimes were committed prior to 1978, he is entitled to a parole hearing every 3-5 years. Given the questionable judgement that J.B. Pritzker’s appointed Prisoner Review Board has shown in the past, we urge the Board to stand with the families of his victims and to reject parole for Curtis Brownell. He presents a clear and present danger to society, and he should not be released.”
* Cases are up by a few hundred, or 7.7 percent from last week. Hospitalizations, a lagging indicator, are still dropping, down 11 percent. ICU usage decreased 27 percent and ventilator usage was down about 5 percent. Deaths fell by 11 percent. Test and case positivity rates are both up slightly from last week, but we’re talking fractions of a point. New vaccination doses are down again, this time by 7 percent. IDPH…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 8,039 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including an increase of 109 deaths since March 18, 2022.
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 3,061,224 cases, including 33,307 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Since March 18, 2022, laboratories have reported 563,249 specimens for a total of 56,891,628. As of last night, 470 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 64 patients were in the ICU and 33 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from March 18-24, 2022 is 1.4%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from March 18-24, 2022 is 1.6%.
A total of 21,315,893 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 7,513 doses. Since March 18, 2022, 52,589 doses were reported administered in Illinois. Of Illinois’ total population, more than 76% has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, more than 68% of Illinois’ total population is fully vaccinated, and almost 50% is boosted according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
All data are provisional and will change. Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found at https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19.html.
Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic. To find a COVID-19 vaccination location near you, go to www.vaccines.gov.
While numbers are still low in the city of Chicago in terms of new COVID cases, there is an uptick in cases that has been noted by health experts. As of Thursday, the city is averaging 177 new cases of COVID per day, a 29% increase over a week ago when the city was at 137.
Omicron’s more contagious subvariant, BA.2, has more than doubled in prevalence over the past two weeks in the U.S. and now represents more than 34% of Covid-19 infections that have undergone genetic sequencing, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week.
BA.2 has been steadily growing as a proportion of the Covid variants circulating in the U.S. since Feb. 5, when it represented about 1% of genetically sequenced virus samples, according to the CDC. BA.2 probably already accounts for 50% of new infections in the U.S. because many people are taking tests at home that aren’t picked up in the official data, according to Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
Data from Walgreens, which conducts testing at its pharmacies nationwide, shows BA.2 as the dominant variant, at 51% of all positive Covid cases for the week ending March 19.
Though BA.2 is rising in the U.S., leading public health officials are not expecting another dramatic surge in new cases, largely due to the level of immunity the population has from vaccination and the fierce outbreak during the winter omicron wave.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that elected public officials and their campaign committees may, in limited circumstances, use campaign funds to pay criminal defense attorney fees. […]
They partially rejected the committee’s argument that payment of criminal defense fees is always permissible solely because the General Assembly did not specifically include them in the list of prohibited expenses. But it also partially rejected Sigcho-Lopez’s argument that the legal fees were a prohibited “personal debt.”
Instead, they found that because the General Assembly had not specifically prohibited the payment of criminal defense attorney fees from campaign funds, it is reasonable for the Board of Elections to rule on a case-by-case basis.
On the other hand… (w)e cannot ignore that not all allegations by political rivals are sound and that baseless allegations are at times asserted against public officials because of their very capacity as public officials. See Williams v. Graves County, No. 5:21-CV-21-TBR, 2021 WL 2828517 (W.D. Ky. July 6, 2021) (plaintiff’s civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) (18 U.S.C. § 1962 (2018)) allegations were conclusory and unsupported by specific plausible factual allegations supporting a claim for any of the predicate offenses); Green v. William, No. 1:17-cv-266-PLR-SKL, 2017 WL 6892910 (E.D. Tenn. Dec. 15, 2017), report and recommendation adopted, No. 1:17-cv-00266, 2018 WL 387630 (E.D. Tenn. Jan. 11, 2018) (complaint’s rambling allegations mentioning, among other things, extortion and bribery by public officials failed to show entitlement to relief); Huffmaster v. Foster, 565 F. Supp. 2d 693, 698 (S.D. Miss. 2008) (allegations by politician that other members of his political party committed acts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud were insufficient in that politician’s complaint did not specifically identify anything any of the defendants was alleged to have done to support the claims); Hawkins v. Schirack, 659 F. Supp. 1, 3 (N.D. Ohio 1986) (because routine check would have disclosed no basis in fact for public official’s suspected involvement in illegal contract allegations but would have disclosed that the amended complaint was filed for harassment purposes by political rival, public official was entitled to award of reasonable attorney fees).
In such a case, the payment of legal defense fees from campaign funds may be appropriately considered as a payment “in connection with the nomination for election, election, or retention of any person to or in public office” … Therefore, in limited circumstances, pursuant to the plain language of the campaign disclosure and regulation provisions of the Election Code, the Board may appropriately allow the use of campaign funds to pay for legal expenses in defending such allegations. […]
Until the General Assembly amends the statute to, for example, specifically prohibit payment from campaign funds for legal fees incurred in defense of criminal allegations against a public official or candidate, the issue requires the Board’s consideration on a case-by-case basis, applying the plain language of the applicable statutory provisions. In this case, despite the parties’ arguments regarding legal defense fees incurred as a result of public corruption allegations, the record here reveals that Solis had not been indicted on criminal charges but only that he had worked with federal investigators using his official capacity to expose public corruption.
Notice that all four cases cited above were civil cases, not criminal. Also note that the justices used the lack of a criminal indictment as reason to allow Solis to use his campaign money for attorneys.
What this may imply is that somebody who is indicted maybe can’t use campaign money for defense attorney fees, but they left it up to the State Board of Elections to decide things on a case by case basis.
The State Board of Elections is the same bunch of people who, as one elections attorney said today, “can’t handle deciding whether to issue a $50 or $500 fine, and you’re going to allow them to ask people to provide them with protected attorney-client information? It’s insane.”
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx will start asking judges to give early release to some long-serving inmates sent to prison by former administrations under a new resentencing initiative.
The state’s attorney’s office this week filed three resentencing motions, with two more planned for later in the month. Advocates said the hearings, expected next week, will make Cook County the first jurisdiction in Illinois to take advantage of a new state law that empowers prosecutors to identify prisoners whose sentence “no longer advances the interests of justice.”
(a) The purpose of sentencing is to advance public safety through punishment, rehabilitation, and restorative justice. By providing a means to reevaluate a sentence after some time has passed, the General Assembly intends to provide the State’s Attorney and the court with another tool to ensure that these purposes are achieved.
(b) At any time upon the recommendation of the State’s Attorney of the county in which the defendant was sentenced, the State’s Attorney may petition the sentencing court or the sentencing court’s successor to resentence the offender if the original sentence no longer advances the interests of justice. The sentencing court or the sentencing court’s successor may resentence the offender if it finds that the original sentence no longer advances the interests of justice.
(c) Upon the receipt of a petition for resentencing, the court may resentence the defendant in the same manner as if the offender had not previously been sentenced; however, the new sentence, if any, may not be greater than the initial sentence.
(d) The court may consider postconviction factors, including, but not limited to, the inmate’s disciplinary record and record of rehabilitation while incarcerated; evidence that reflects whether age, time served, and diminished physical condition, if any, have reduced the inmate’s risk for future violence; and evidence that reflects changed circumstances since the inmate’s original sentencing such that the inmate’s continued incarceration no longer serves the interests of justice. Credit shall be given for time served.
(e) Victims shall be afforded all rights as outlined in the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act.
(f) A resentencing under this Section shall not reopen the defendant’s conviction to challenges that would otherwise be barred.
(g) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit the power of the Governor under the Constitution to grant a reprieve, commutation of sentence, or pardon.
* Excerpt from an op-ed by Alan Spellberg, who left the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office last year...
I believe that judges should deny the petitions and refuse to order resentencing pursuant to the statute because it violates the separation of powers as it improperly delegates the Governor’s exclusive clemency authority to the judiciary. Article II, section 1, of the Illinois Constitution provides that “[t]he legislative, executive and judicial branches are separate. No branch shall exercise powers properly belonging to another.” Furthermore, Article V, section 12 provides that “[t]he Governor may grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses on such terms as he thinks proper. The manner of applying therefore may be regulated by law.” In construing these provisions, the Illinois Supreme Court has consistently and repeatedly held for nearly 130 years that judges improperly encroach upon the Governor’s exclusive authority whenever they attempt to reduce a convicted defendant’s lawfully imposed sentence based upon post-conviction behavior and circumstances. […]
More recently, the Illinois Supreme Court stated in People ex rel. Madigan v. Snyder, 208 Ill. 2d 457, 472 (2004), that “[o]ur constitution confers the pardoning power upon the executive branch of the State government, and the Governor alone can prevent the infliction of punishment after a legal conviction.” (Emphasis added). Likewise, in People v. Howard, 363 Ill. App. 3d 741 (1st Dist. 2006), the Appellate Court held that the ability to consider a defendant’s post-conviction circumstances as a basis for reducing a valid sentence falls exclusively within the Governor’s clemency power and is beyond the authority of the judiciary. Id. at 751-52. The Howard court explained that “‘[t]o hold *** that the court has power to amend a [valid] sentence after the prisoner has served a part of it would infringe upon the exclusive power of the governor under the Constitution to commute sentence’” (Id. at 751 (quoting People v. Fox, 312 Mich. 577, 581-82, 20 N.W.2d 732, 733 (1945)), because “‘[t]he judicial process ends at sentencing, at which point the executive branch of government takes over and the defendant is directed to the correctional and rehabilitative process. . . . The judiciary phase of the criminal process–imposing a penalty–is complete’”). Id. at 752 (quoting State v. Stenklyft, 281 Wis. 2d 484, 544, 697 N.W.2d 769, 798 (2005)).
* The argument surfaced in a Cook County courtroom yesterday when SA Foxx’s prosecutors presented their first resentencing case…
“It’s constitutional? Takes away the governor’s only right? What he does is resentence people through clemency,” [Cook County Associate Judge Stanley Sacks] said. “… Isn’t that something for the governor to do?”
“That’s one avenue, but that’s mercy. There’s also justice,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Nancy Adduci, who explained that the new law simply “revest(s) jurisdiction” back to the courts so a judge can consider a new sentence.
The effort is also a “re-entry initiative,” Adduci said in court. Prosecutors have identified people who could help them understand the challenges they face upon release from prison; Miles has agreed to collaborate in that effort, and prosecutors have petitioned for his resentencing in part as an incentive for that cooperation, she said.
“We’re trying to improve the fairness of the system,” Adduci said in court. Miles’s sentence was fair at the time Sacks handed it down, she said, but “people change, circumstances change.”
“The question is, has the person been rehabilitated, and can the person help us understand the concept of re-entry … help us understand what people need when they re-enter society,” she said.
“I’m not a social worker,” Sacks said. “All I know is, he commits burglaries … oh, he’s changed in custody? We’ll see.”
Foxx argued resentencing inmates would address “the fact that many Black and Brown people are still incarcerated today under failed policies of the past, even though they have been rehabilitated and pose little threat to public safety,” and save the state money that could be used elsewhere.
But none of the three men prosecutors have motioned for resentencing are expected to be incarcerated past next year. […]
Prosecutors actually had to withdraw one of the three motions Thursday at a different hearing because the defendant will likely be released before the judge would make a ruling.
Assistant State’s Attorney Nancy Adduci told Judge Timothy Joyce that prosecutors had since received “new information” that Roland Reyes was expected to get out of prison as early as next week after serving his full sentence for an aggravated robbery conviction.
She’s causing all this uproar over three people who are getting out soon anyway?
*** UPDATE 1 *** Foxx is getting plenty of attention, but a white, tough on crime state’s attorney in Will County actually brought the first such case and almost nobody has noticed…
Cole, 38, is the first person in Illinois to have his prison sentence reconsidered in part with new powers granted to prosecutors under SB2129 — an amendment to the state’s criminal code that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law last summer. It allows prosecutors to ask judges to revise sentences when “the original sentence no longer advances the interests of justice.” […]
Still, the law is being cited for the first time, in Cole’s case, by Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow — a seven-term incumbent Democrat with a tough-on-crime reputation.
In 2003, a jury convicted Cole of first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from a shooting at a busy intersection in Joliet, just 6 miles from Stateville’s doors, according to court records. Cole was driving a car with another man, Travaris Guy, in the passenger seat. They were stopped at a traffic light next to another vehicle when Guy shot at the people inside — killing 39-year-old David Woods and wounding his 19-year-old daughter, according to court records. […]
“Guy’s testimony established that he acted with an unreasonable belief of self-defense so that the shooting was not a first-degree murder,” Glasgow wrote in his motion asking Will County Judge Daniel Kennedy to recall Cole’s case. “Obviously, this evidence was not available to Cole during his trial, and the result is that Cole is serving a sentence for a first degree murder that never occurred.” […]
The court hearing in late February that cut Cole’s sentence by two-thirds was brief. Cole spoke tearfully about his past and the future.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Restore Justice…
Our view is that the Resentencing Initiative codified already existing revestment powers.
The group sent along a link to this story from 2019, before the bill was passed and signed into law…
The first inmate released based on a petition from the Illinois Prison Project walked out of the Lake County jail Wednesday after a judge agreed to shave the end of his sentence, due in part to the inmate’s failing health.
Larry Hayes, now 82, has early dementia and worsening glaucoma, according to family members and Jennifer Soble, executive director of the Chicago-based Illinois Prison Project. […]
Michael Melius, chief of prosecution protocol and conviction review for the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, said that after Soble petitioned for Hayes’ release, the case was reviewed by State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim, who then asked Melius to review it as well.
Melius said it was decided not to object to the petition in the case of Hayes due to his age, physical status and the fact that he had served the vast majority of his sentence, factoring in the time off for good behavior. He had been scheduled for release in December 2020.
“It wasn’t like someone just saying, ‘I’m old and I want to get out,’” Melius said, in stressing such releases are not routine.
Lawmakers at the state Capitol have been working to find a solution to a $4.5 billion problem. The state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, the pool of money used to pay out unemployment insurance benefits, sank $4.5 billion into debt during the pandemic.
On Thursday, the Senate gave final approval to paying $2.7 billion of funds from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan Act to address the problem, though it still leaves the fund $1.8 billion in the hole.
The funding is coming through a piece of legislation, SB 2803, sponsored by Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, and Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora. Both hold leadership roles in the General Assembly’s budgeting and financial process.
The bill passed the House of Representatives on a 68-43 vote Wednesday night with solely Democratic support. It passed the Senate Thursday afternoon on a 39-16 vote. It now goes to the governor for final approval.
The measure also would use about $1.4 billion in surplus state funds to pay off old employee health insurance bills, shore up a college savings plan that has been headed toward insolvency and make additional deposits into the state’s woefully underfunded pension plans. […]
But Republicans, who since last spring have repeatedly criticized the majority party for not addressing the unemployment fund debt in the current year’s $42 billion operating budget, maintained that only about $1.2 billion of the federal relief money has actually been spent. That would leave enough to cover the full unemployment fund debt if the other allocations were abandoned. […]
Ongoing negotiations with business and labor groups over separate legislation to fill the remaining insurance fund hole have touched on the possibility of issuing bonds that likely would be repaid through increased payroll taxes on businesses and reduced or shortened benefits.
Republicans urged reallocating other ARPA funds, particularly a $1 billion sum allocated last year to capital projects, to pay down the entire debt to stave off the negative consequences for employers and workers.
Republican Senators, in a Thursday news conference after the vote, did not identify any other ARPA funds that they would like to see reallocated to be put toward the trust fund. […]
Democrats called their action a fiscally prudent measure that goes a long way to addressing the trust fund problem while allowing other necessary expenditures of ARPA funds.
“You know as well as I do that we’ve used the ARPA funding during this emergency to support those institutions and those businesses who have been on the frontlines and delivering health care in our communities,” Harris said in response to Republican criticisms Wednesday.
He pointed to spending for hospitals, nursing homes and purchases of personal protective equipment, as well as trust fund payments to gig workers and increased unemployment payments to workers which were paid by the federal government.
The Gray TV Illinois Capitol Bureau asked Democratic leaders if they considered running two separate bills to have more bipartisan support. Gov. JB Pritzker said it doesn’t make sense to see Republicans vote against a bill that could help address debt and help businesses in the long run.
“On the Republican side, it seems like they have perhaps more support from big business,” Pritzker said Thursday. “And I would just say that businesses across the state, small and large, benefited mightily from the work that was done through this bill to reduce their tax burden.” […]
Sen. Win Stoller (R-Peoria) said this will still create one of the “largest tax increases on employers in Illinois history.” He said the move to only use $2.7 billion from the ARPA funds to address the debt will cause significant benefit cuts for unemployed Illinoisans. Stoller said the state will try to borrow money to get out of the problem through bonding and create more debt.
“That’s one, actually, that we know how to do in this state, and that’s going into debt,” Stoller said. “Even with all of our practice going into debt, we’re even screwing that up. If we had decided to bond just six months ago, and had gone down that path, we would be facing an interest rate of about 1.5 percent.”
Pritzker said he’ll sign the partial payment as soon as the bill hits his desk, even as early as Thursday evening, saying it will be “between labor and business to decide how we’re going to pay off any deficit that exists.”
State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said Republicans support paying down debt, but they want to pay down the whole debt. Not doing so could lead to tax increases on businesses, benefit cuts for the unemployed and continued interest payments that taxpayers would be responsible for.
“They’ve had $16 billion [of federal COVID-19 tax funds] over the last two years and they couldn’t fix this,” Rose said during a news conference.
It’s now up to business and labor groups to negotiate how to plug the gap.
* On to press releases. The most important is this one from the Joint Employers…
The Joint Employers have released the following statement regarding today’s vote to ease the deficit facing the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund:
“Today’s vote will inject $2.7 billion from the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) into the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Illinois employers appreciate the Governor and members of the General Assembly for taking this positive step in addressing the massive $4.5 billion in outstanding debt. We’re hopeful that negotiations will continue to resolve the remaining balance of this unprecedented deficit.”
The Joint Employers include the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses of Illinois and the Associated General Contractors of Illinois.
* Comptroller Mendoza…
“I’d like to join business and civic groups around Illinois praising the General Assembly and Governor Pritzker for a great step in the right direction to responsibly pay down $4 billion of Illinois’ bills with the passage of SB 2803 today.
• The bill spares Illinois businesses an onerous tax hike by devoting a larger-than-expected $2.7 billion in federal ARPA funds – more than our neighboring states – toward paying off Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund advances.
• It allocates $900 million to address legacy debt for state employee health insurance – money that previous administrations have kicked the can on from one budget to the next.
• It provides $300 million extra to the state’s pension funds, which will reduce the pension shortfall by $1 billion between now and 2045.
• And there’s $230 million to pay off the College Illinois tuition program, saving taxpayers $75 million.
This is the kind of responsible budgeting that will keep those first-in-20-years credit upgrades coming for Illinois.
I will continue to work with Illinois’ congressional delegation on their effort to extend the interest waiver on the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, saving state taxpayers an estimated $70 million or more in interest.”
* Senate GOP Leader McConchie…
“Illinois has long been known for its financial issues, and today’s decision to leave a large hole in the unemployment trust fund is just another example of how Democrats continue to mismanage this state. Despite this payment, Illinois still has the fourth largest deficit in the country and is left with the second largest shortfall in state history. The impact this will have on employers across the state will be devastating. To no fault of their own, they were forced to lay off workers and close their doors, and will now be on the hook to pay for the unemployment costs ensued by the pandemic and the fraud that engulfed the Department of Employment Security. These industries and their workers deserve better, but they were failed today.”
* DPI…
Today, the Illinois Senate joined the Illinois House of Representatives in passing SB 2803 to pay off over $4 billion in debts, support working families, and help get our state’s finances back on track. Statehouse Democrats passed the legislation without a single Republican vote, which will help pay down Illinois’ unemployment insurance trust fund debt by using funding provided by the American Rescue Plan…which Congressional Democrats also passed without a single Republican vote last year.
“First, Congressional Republicans voted against the American Rescue Plan to deliver relief to small businesses, working families, and state and local governments. Now, statehouse Republicans—including 2022 statewide candidates Darren Bailey, Tom Demmer, and Avery Bourne—have voted against using those dollars to pay down our state’s debts in a fiscally responsible way,” said Jake Lewis, Deputy Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois. “Bruce Rauner’s fiscal mismangement racked up billions in unpaid bills and nearly plunged our state into junk status. Thankfully, Democrats are working to put Illinois’ finances back on track and move our state forward—no thanks to a single Illinois Republican.”
* Sen. DeWitte…
On Thursday, Senate Democrats passed an ill-advised and incomplete plan to address the state’s multi-billion-dollar Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund deficit. Following the party-line vote, State Senator Donald DeWitte (R-St. Charles) issued the following statement:
“It’s incredibly disingenuous for Governor Pritzker and his Democrat legislative leaders to paint this vote as a victory. This action will lead to the largest tax increase on jobs in Illinois history. Employers who have been treated poorly and with complete disregard throughout the pandemic will be left holding the bag and left responsible for filling the remaining multi-billion-dollar deficit in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.
“Responsible states across the nation took their federal ARPA funds and prioritized the replenishment of their states’ unemployment insurance funds, but not Illinois. Governor Pritzker and legislative Democrats made a conscious choice to use the majority of the ARPA funds on pork projects and other election year gimmickry to buy support and votes from constituents in an election year.
“Yet again, Governor Pritzker and the Democrats are turning their backs on the business community. Their action guarantees a significant tax increase on every Illinois job through higher employment insurance costs, and a decrease in benefits for every Illinois worker. Especially as we head towards what many believe will be another recession, when unemployed workers turn to Illinois’ unemployment system, their benefits will be reduced due to the greed shown by the majority party. Even if the majority party chooses to borrow funds to plug some or part of the remaining hole, the result is the same: a huge tax increase and millions and millions in new interest costs.”
* DGA…
Last night Richard Irvin’s running mate and Ken Griffin’s handpicked Lt. Gov. candidate Avery Bourne voted against legislation to pay off $4.1 billion in debt and accomplish several key goals laid out by Gov. JB Pritzker in his budget proposal.
Since March, Irvin’s Rauner Reboot costar has refused to engage in good faith on legitimate solutions to help working families deal with the challenges caused by the pandemic, and yesterday’s vote is no exception.
Bourne won’t address the multi-billion-dollar deficit in the unemployment insurance trust fund, and she’s made it clear that she’d rather see working families and small businesses suffer than work with the governor to find bipartisan solutions to the challenges Illinoisans face today.
Meanwhile, after decades of fiscal mismanagement, Gov. Pritzker is righting the wrongs of previous administrations. He passed balanced budgets, eliminated the state’s nearly $17 billion backlog in unpaid bills, and continues to lead Illinois on a path toward fiscal stability.
“Between misleading voters on the campaign trail, avoiding reporters, and voting against legislation that will lead to fiscal stability, Richard Irvin and Avery Bourne will have a lot of explaining to do ahead of the messy GOP primary,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “No matter what they say, the Republican gubernatorial candidates are not in the party of fiscal responsibility.”
* Sen. Bryant…
On March 24, Senate Democrats rammed through legislation that underfunds the state’s massive $4.5 billion Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund deficit that State Senator Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) is calling both ill-advised and financially irresponsible.
Senate Bill 2803 appropriates only $2.7 billion from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 funds for the state’s UI Trust Fund. Sen. Bryant noted that the late additions in the bill, including roughly $1.4 billion of the state’s General Revenue Fund for paying old health insurance bills, a $300 million boost to pension payments, and paying more than $200 million in College Illinois debt, were positive proposals that could have easily gained bipartisan support if they had not been lumped with the shortchanging of the UI Trust Fund.
“This proposal will still leave our state’s UI Trust Fund with a $1.8 billion debt that will force businesses to fill that hole by either paying the highest business tax increase in recent Illinois history or cutting benefits to workers. Instead of using our federally gifted funds to fix this problem, we continued to delay which allowed the debt to grow,” said Sen. Bryant. “By shortchanging the UI Trust Fund, we are going to harm the people who need the most help within our state. This will hurt our hospitality and restaurant industry, an industry who is still struggling to recover from the Governor’s imposed shutdowns, more than anyone else.”
The state of Illinois received $8.1 billion of ARPA funds from the federal government, which was designed to be used to for COVID-19 relief and help with economic recovery. The federal government approved ARPA funds to be used on items like the UI Trust Fund, which prompted several states to use their APRA dollars to fully fund their own deficits.
“What Democrats did today is simply not right. It’s wrong for our state to lay the burden of fixing this problem on our state’s employers when they did absolutely nothing to create the debt. It’s even more disgraceful that Democrats decided to force this upon them when our state was given nearly double the amount of funds needed to replenish this deficit.” continued Sen. Bryant. “We could’ve and should’ve avoided this by allocating some of the billions of federal dollars we got from the federal government last year. However, when we asked Democrats and the Governor to put the federal dollars into the trust fund, they chose to ignore us and claimed we had plenty of time to address the problem. Now, a year later, we are being told by those same people that we are out of time and that this is the best that our state can do.”
* Quotes from Gov. Pritzker’s press release…
“We are continuing our responsible use of federal dollars by providing $2.7 billion in tax relief to businesses and benefit protections for workers,” said Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park). “At the same time, our investments in college savings, health insurance and the retirement security of teachers, prison guards, state troopers and university workers will again demonstrate strength through stability for the hard-working people of our great state.”
“This is what fiscal responsibility looks like,” said House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside). “We’re putting $4 billion toward our state liabilities and saving taxpayers more than a billion dollars. It’s disappointing that every Republican voted against this responsible legislation, but I’m proud Democrats are united in building a strong financial future for Illinois.”
“This General Assembly has made a firm commitment to paying down debt,” said Assistant Majority Leader Senator Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago). “By dedicating $2.7 billion to the unemployment trust fund, we are not only doubling down on that commitment, we are protecting employers from higher taxes and employees from benefit cuts.”
““I’m proud of this unprecedented change to catch up on some outstanding debts to continue improving our state’s credit standing,” said Leader Linda Holmes (D-Aurora). “Allotting $2.7 billion to the Unemployment Trust Fund, as well as substantial earmarks for group health insurance bills, the College Illinois Program and extra pension payments, is a big step to boost our fiscal standing. It also provides a sense of security for Illinois residents, including current and retired state workers and their families.”
“With this legislation, the State of Illinois is living up to its obligations, paying off billions in debt and making sure working families aren’t left footing the bill,” said Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago). “This is what responsible leadership looks like and I’m grateful to Governor Pritzker and Democrats in the General Assembly for coming to the table and getting this done.
With our budgets balanced and our bills paid, Illinois is on its best fiscal footing in years,” said Assistant Majority Leader Jay Hoffman (D-Belleville). “This legislation builds on that incredible progress, paying off billions in debt, some of it many years-old, and leaving our state better off for future generations.
“I’ve always been a strong advocate of balanced budgets, and today Illinois Democrats have done even more than simply balance our budget – we’ve paid down $4.1 billion in debt,” said Assistant Majority Leader Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston). “Our efforts today mean taxpayers will save billions over the long run, and comes with the peace of mind that we’re putting our fiscal house back in order.”
“This is a $4.1 billion down payment on the future Illinois residents deserve,” said Assistant Majority Leader Marcus C. Evans, Jr. (D-Chicago). “We’ve put the state in the best fiscal position it’s been in since the 21st century – and we did so while continuing to prioritize the other key investments we’re making in a strong state.
“At a time when Illinois families are experiencing rising costs in their everyday lives, it’s never been more important to put the interests of taxpayers first – and that’s what Democrats in the statehouse did today,” said Assistant Majority Leader Elizabeth Hernandez (D-Cicero). “We’re paying off $4.1 billion now, saving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and putting Illinois families first.”
“This bill is the right thing to do for businesses, labor organizations and everyday Illinoisans,” said Senator Elgie R. Sims Jr. (D-Chicago), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “I want people to know that if they need temporary help providing for their families, no matter the reason, Illinois has their back. Paying down debt, making additional pension payments and fully funding Illinois Colleges is the fiscally responsible move that could lead to another credit upgrade.”
“I’ve said before that it’s a hard truth for some, but Illinois’ fiscal condition is in its best shape since September of 2001, and I’m incredibly proud to be part of the team that is making this historic debt payment,” said Representative Michael J. Zalewski (D-Riverside). “Everyone from ratings agencies to the Civic Federation is right to praise Illinois for the steps we’re taking to put our fiscal house in order, and I’m committed to continuing this work with next year’s budget.
“Democrats in the statehouse are proving that we can invest in justice, education, and opportunity while also being responsible with our resources,” said Representative William Davis (D-East Hazel Crest). “Illinoisans can be proud to know that our state is in its best fiscal shape in decades – and we’ll use the rest of session to bring more progress to working people.”
*** UPDATE *** The governor signed the bill just now…
Governor Pritzker today signed SB2803, which pays off $4.1 billion in debt and saves taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in interest payments. The Governor and Democratic leaders in the General Assembly gathered Thursday to celebrate the passage of the unprecedented measure, noting that watchdog groups like Civic Federation are praising the fact that Illinois is “in a much stronger financial position than it has been for many years” under Governor Pritzker’s prudent leadership and partnership with the General Assembly.
What I said is students should not be indoctrinated and that parents should have a voice in their education in the state of Illinois. We should make sure that we give parents the opportunity to to participate in their youth’s education.
Hannah Meisel followed up to ask if he thought kids were being indoctrinated here. Irvin ignored her question.
— Lobbyist reform: Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd) has 15 aldermen on board for an ordinance that would clamp down on lobbying in city government. As we mentioned yesterday, the move was prompted by reports that City Clerk Anna Valencia failed to disclose her husband’s income as a lobbyist.
Valencia called the ordinance “a political stunt” since Tabares has endorsed her opponent for the secretary of state race, Alexi Giannoulias. Hanah Jubeh, Giannoulias’ campaign manager, responded that Valencia is “finger-pointing” instead of “taking responsibility.” NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern has more
It’s clever. You gotta give ‘em that.
* US Rep. Mary Miller has been endorsed by the Club For Growth. Here’s the Rodney Davis campaign’s response…
Carpet-bagging politician Mary Miller is touting the endorsement from a Washington, DC, group opposed to the Farm Bill, even as her family businesses have raked in over $1 million in government subsidies from Farm Bill programs over the years. The Club for Growth is the most prominent advocate for defeating the Farm Bill, calling it in 2018 “…nothing less than socialism with a Republican seal of approval on it.” Why would Mary Miller tout an endorsement from a group so hostile to her own constituents? Does Mary Miller agree that the Farm Bill is nothing less than Socialism?
“Like a true politician, Mary Miller has mastered the art of saying one thing and doing another. She has personally profited off Farm Bill programs to the tune of $1 million even as she touts the endorsement of a group who opposes the Farm Bill. By bragging about receiving the endorsement of Club for Growth, Miller is telling Illinois farmers that she wants to go back to Washington and work with a group who is actively opposed to the interests of the Illinois agriculture community. Miller should be ashamed for aligning herself with a group so outwardly hostile to our way of life. She should renounce her endorsement from Club and publicly reject any financial support they may be willing to offer.” - Davis campaign spokesperson Aaron DeGroot
Club for Growth, a DC based dark money organization, has been one of the leading opponents of the Farm Bill, federal legislation with vital programs that support the American farmer, agribusiness, and rural America as a whole. Club for Growth opposed the Farm Bill in 2018 and 2014 and is expected to oppose it again next year.
Club for Growth also runs a DC-based Super PAC that will be one of Miller’s biggest backers in her campaign for Congress. Miller said she was “honored” to be endorsed by Club for Growth. They are opposing Rodney in part because of his support for legislation like the Farm Bill, which delivers for Illinois Farmers.
Meanwhile, Mary Miller’s family business has received over $1 million in government subsidies from Farm Bill programs over the years. Mary Miller and her husband Chris are officers and co-owners of Miller Bros Farms, which is incorporated in the state of Delaware, a domestic tax shelter.
Chris Miller, has received $942,419 in USDA subsidies. Mary’s businesses Miller Bros. Farms, Inc. and Miller Bros Inc, have received $104,742 and $34,871 in USDA subsidies, respectively.
Rodney Davis is a strong supporter of the Farm Bill and the benefits it provides to Illinois farmers. As a member of the House Ag Committee, Rodney served as a Farm Bill conferee in 2013 and 2018, negotiating a successful Farm Bill and improving its programs twice. Rodney regularly meets and talks with Illinois farmers and members of the Illinois Farm Bureau and advocates for their concerns in Congress. He knows how vital Farm Bill programs are to farmers in Illinois and across the country. He is a proud recipient of the Illinois Farm Bureau ACTIVATOR endorsement for the 2022 Primary election.
Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois violated a federal conflicts-of-interest law by disclosing two personal stock trades about two months past a federal deadline, according to financial records reviewed by Insider. […]
“Representative Schneider inadvertently did not hit the ’submit’ button when entering a stock transaction in December,” spokesperson Maggie Harden told Insider in a statement. “He discovered the error last week and immediately submitted the data and paid the associated late fee. The mistake has now been fully resolved.”
* I told you yesterday that it looked like US Rep. Mike Quigley is testing the waters for the 2023 mayor’s race with a new poll. From Greg Hinz’s subsequent report…
Lightfoot shrugged off news of the polling by Quigley. “What I focus on every day is doing my job. The politics will take care of itself,” she said when asked about the polling at a press conference. “I’ll make my case to the people. The voters will be the ultimate decision makers.”
Today, Alderman Gilbert Villegas announced the endorsements of four new members of Congress from across the country. U.S. Representatives Salud Carbajal (D-CA 24), Joe Neguse (D-CO 4), Kai Kahele (D-HI 2), and Richie Torres (D- NY 15) released the following statement in support of his campaign.
“In an uncertain world with ordinary people facing tremendous economic challenges, voters need a proven fighter like Gilbert Villegas in Congress. Gilbert’s service in the Marine Corps, leadership in the Teamsters union, and service to the people of Chicago in the City Council give us confidence he’ll focus on the right priorities and get things done for the people of Illinois. We’re proud to support his campaign,” said U.S. Representatives Carbajal, Neguse, Kahele, and Torres.
Villegas released a response in reaction to the endorsements.
“It’s incredibly humbling to receive the support from so many incredible public servants from across this great country.” said Alderman Gilbert Villegas.”Our campaign is gaining momentum every day because we’re staying focused on the issues that matter most to the voters.”
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate fell -0.2 percentage point to 4.8 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased by +19,600 in February, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The January monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report from +8,600 to +10,800 jobs. The January unemployment rate was unchanged from the preliminary report, remaining at 5.0 percent. The February payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflects activity for the week including the 12th.
In February, the industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment were: Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+8,300), Manufacturing (+4,800), Leisure and Hospitality (+4,800) and Educational and Health Services (+4,300). The industry sectors that reported monthly payroll declines were: Professional and Business Services (-3,400) and Financial Activities (-400).
“Illinois’ economic outlook remains positive,” said Deputy Governor Andy Manar. “The Pritzker Administration and IDES are dedicated to helping employers and workers connect across any industry and in every corner of the state. To find the latest opportunities and resources, businesses and job seekers can visit Get Hired Illinois or IllinoisJobLink.com today.”
“Illinois continues on a positive economic trajectory, with unemployment rates going down and job numbers going up in key industries, such as transportation, manufacturing, and hospitality,” said DCEO Director Sylvia I. Garcia. “Under Governor Pritzker’s leadership, DCEO will continue to make economic recovery our highest priority with a focus on workforce development and attracting and supporting businesses that create good-paying jobs.”
The state’s unemployment rate was +1.0 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate reported for February, which was 3.8 percent, down -0.2 percentage point from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was down -2.1 percentage points from a year ago when it was at 6.9 percent.
Compared to a year ago, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +244,800 jobs, with gains across all major industries. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases were: Leisure and Hospitality (+96,600), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+41,400), and Professional and Business Services (+41,300). In February, total nonfarm payrolls were up +4.3 percent over-the-year in Illinois and up +4.6 percent in the nation.
The number of unemployed workers was down from the prior month, a -2.8 percent decrease to 308,600, and was down -28.8 percent over the same month for one year ago. The labor force was up +0.4 percent over-the-month and up +2.0 percent over-the-year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.
* Press release…
In a report released today, the Civic Federation offered its support for Governor JB Pritzker’s proposed FY2023 budget. The budget benefits from extraordinary revenue growth as the State has recovered strongly from the pandemic, with surpluses projected for FY2022 and FY2023. As detailed in the analysis, Governor Pritzker has prioritized the use of much of the surpluses to pay down debt, increase reserves, make supplemental payments and advance other priorities that the Civic Federation supports. The State is in a much stronger position than it has been for many years, as recognized by two recent credit rating upgrades, and the backlog of unpaid bills is the smallest it has been in many years. The full report is available at civicfed.org/FY23ILRecommendedBudget.
“The Civic Federation is pleased to support Governor Pritzker’s budget recommendation for the coming fiscal year, including responsible allocation of billions of dollars in federal aid and the prudent use of surplus funds to begin to chip away at some of Illinois’ staggering longtime financial burdens,” said Civic Federation President Laurence Msall. “Before the window of opportunity opened by this stability slams closed, the Governor, Illinois General Assembly and all leaders in Springfield must develop a comprehensive plan that will stabilize the State of Illinois’ finances in the long-term and prepare for future unexpected economic adversity.”
The Federation strongly supports Governor Pritzker’s proposal to use higher-than-expected State revenues to make supplemental pension payments beyond the statutory minimum, a step which has never been taken since implementation of the 50-year statutory funding plan in the 1990s.
“The Governor’s proposal is in stark contrast to gimmicks and dubious accounting changes that have historically been implemented to make or reduce already insufficient statutory payments,” said Msall.
In addition to the aforementioned supplemental payments and proposed rainy day fund contributions, the Civic Federation can support three of the four tax relief proposals included in the budget recommendation. Proposals for suspension of the sales tax on food and drugs, a property tax rebate and some license-fee waivers are narrowly targeted, have limited revenue impact and will sunset after one-year. The fourth proposal—a freeze in the scheduled cost of living increase in the motor fuel tax—provides minimal benefit to consumers and risks significant loss of current and future revenue while potentially setting a negative precedent for further tax freezes or even reductions at the expense of critical transportation improvements.
Civic Federation recommendations for the State of Illinois, all of which align closely with the primary recommendation to establish a long-term financial plan, include eliminating Prompt Payment Act interest penalties in favor of more market-based rates, using a portion of American Rescue Plan funding to pay down outstanding Unemployment Trust Fund liabilities, establishing a rainy day fund equal to 10% of General Funds revenues and various transparency and modernization initiatives.
“At the risk of sounding like a broken fiscal record, everything comes back to long-term planning for the State of Illinois and its local governments,” said Msall. “The COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over, there are significant disruptions in the international economy right now and we cannot be certain when another disruption will emerge. These would cause uncertainty for even the most fiscally stable of governments. Accordingly, it is vitally important that State leaders make plans and investments to ensure that Illinois is in a strong position to weather whatever storm comes next.”
JUSTICE OVERSTREET delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.
Justices Garman, Michael J. Burke, and Carter concurred in the judgment and opinion.
Chief Justice Anne M. Burke and Justices Theis and Neville took no part in the decision.
Byron Sigcho-Lopez, the alderman for Chicago’s 25th Ward, filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections (Board), alleging that his predecessor’s campaign committee, the 25th Ward Regular Democratic Organization (Committee), unlawfully paid personal legal fees from campaign funds. The Board dismissed Sigcho-Lopez’s complaint, and Sigcho-Lopez filed for administrative review in the appellate court. On administrative review, the appellate court affirmed the Board’s dismissal. 2021 IL App (1st) 200561. This court allowed Sigcho- Lopez’s petition for leave to appeal (Ill. S. Ct. R. 315 (eff. Oct. 1, 2020)), and for reasons other than those set forth by the Board and the appellate court, we affirm the appellate court’s judgment and the Board’s dismissal. […]
Until the General Assembly amends the statute to, for example, specifically prohibit payment from campaign funds for legal fees incurred in defense of criminal allegations against a public official or candidate, the issue requires the Board’s consideration on a case-by-case basis, applying the plain language of the applicable statutory provisions. In this case, despite the parties’ arguments regarding legal defense fees incurred as a result of public corruption allegations, the record here reveals that Solis had not been indicted on criminal charges but only that he had worked with federal investigators using his official capacity to expose public corruption. Considering the evidence before the Board, we find that the Board’s conclusion—that Solis’s legal fees amounted to a proper expenditure not prohibited as “satisfaction or repayment” of a personal debt (10 ILCS 5/9-8.10(a)(3) (West 2018)) but incurred “to defray the customary and reasonable expenses of an officeholder in connection with the performance of governmental and public service functions” (id. § 9-8.10(c))—was not clearly erroneous. Thus, we affirm the Board’s decision, finding that the complaint was not factually and legally justified.
There was no dissent.
…Adding… I was scheduled to appear on Jak Tichenor’s Illinois Lawmakers show earlier, so I didn’t have much of a chance to read through this carefully worded opinion before posting it. The justices focused primarily on what the campaign finance statute forbids. For example…
Whether legal defense fees amount to a personal debt that does not defray the customary and reasonable expenses of an officeholder in connection with the performance of governmental and public service functions must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
In the case sub judice, the parties ostensibly agree that campaign fund payments expended for personal use are prohibited by the Election Code. Sigcho-Lopez argues that legal fees expended for the criminal defense of public corruption charges amount to personal debt prohibited as a campaign fund expenditure, and the [25th Ward Regular Democratic Organization] argues that legal fees expended for the criminal defense of public corruption charges are not personal in nature because the public corruption charges would not exist irrespective of the public official’s position.
* The justices chose to “apply the plain language of the relevant campaign disclosure and regulation provisions of Illinois’s Election Code”…
In doing so, we reject the Committee’s argument that legal fees incurred as a result of public corruption and criminal activity, resulting in conviction even, may be subsidized by campaign funds because they are not personal debt incurred irrespective of the officeholder’s position. We cannot ignore that a public official’s actions that result, for example, in convictions of official misconduct or corruption are “clearly committed for their own interests.” … The essence of a conviction for official misconduct, conflict of interest, or public corruption is that the public official has attempted “to personally enrich himself or another by an act exceeding his lawful authority as a public servant.” […]
(W)e also reject the contention that, because an officeholder could not engage in public corruption absent his position as officeholder, his personal legal defense fees for proven official misconduct or public corruption may be subsidized by campaign funds as an expenditure “to defray the customary and reasonable expenses of an officeholder in connection with the performance of governmental and public service functions.”
* The court then noted a New Jersey Supreme Court decision which ruled that using campaign funds to defend against corruption charges was not an ordinary and necessary expense: “A grand jury indictment is not a customary, or usual, or normal incident of holding public office, nor does it occur in the regular course of events,” that court decreed…
This court agrees. Allowing campaign monies to subsidize public corruption amounts to an unreasonable interpretation of the Election Code.
* But…
On the other hand, we also reject Sigcho-Lopez’s contention that legal fees incurred to pay for a public official’s criminal defense against investigations or charges of public corruption amount to a per se prohibited personal debt pursuant to the plain language and spirit of section 9-8.10(a)(3) of the Election Code (10 ILCS 5/9-8.10(a)(3) (West 2018). We cannot ignore that not all allegations by political rivals are sound and that baseless allegations are at times asserted against public officials because of their very capacity as public officials. […]
Therefore, in limited circumstances, pursuant to the plain language of the campaign disclosure and regulation provisions of the Election Code, the Board may appropriately allow the use of campaign funds to pay for legal expenses in defending such allegations. See Wright, 174 Ill. 2d at 404 (holding ordinance invalid to the extent it attempted to indemnify officials convicted of crimes for their attorney fees and costs incurred in their unsuccessful criminal defense but making no express determination regarding the authority of any municipality or home rule unit to indemnify its officers and employees for legal expenses incurred in a successful defense); see also State v. Ferguson, 709 N.E.2d 887 (Ohio 1998) (although public officeholder may generally not use campaign funds to pay for legal defense against criminal charges, use of campaign funds to pay attorney fees incurred in connection with dismissed indictment that failed to state prosecutable violation was not prohibited attorney fees).
Clear as mud?
…Adding… Press release…
The following is a statement from Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) in response to today’s Illinois Supreme Court ruling in Byron Sigcho-Lopez v. Illinois State Board of Elections, 2022 IL 127253:
“If the law allows corrupt politicians to use campaign funds for legal defense fees, then it’s time to change the law.”
…Adding… Press release…
In response to the Illinois State Supreme Court’s decision today to dismiss cases in which campaign funds are used for criminal defense fees until specific legislation prohibiting the practice is put into law, State Representative Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst), issued the following statement:
“With this decision, the Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear that the General Assembly needs to act immediately. We have seen millions in campaign funds expended by Mike Madigan on his own legal defense for his corruption indictment. Madigan may be the most prominent, but he is certainly not the only politician to selfishly do so. The people of Illinois deserve better.
Officials using their campaign funds for their own defense after they are tangled up in public corruption scandals is yet another example of how insider power and privilege in Illinois protect their own. I filed legislation, HB 2929 because we cannot allow campaign donations to finance corrupt politicians’ efforts to keep themselves out of jail.
Unfortunately for the people of Illinois, like numerous other pieces of legislation filed by myself and my colleagues to tackle out of control corruption in Illinois, Democrats have refused to allow these bills to be heard and voted on. Democrats have stifled every attempt made this spring to restore public trust.”
* This bill is still on First Reading in the originating chamber. Long way to go. But it’ll get some local attention…
In an effort to improve consumer protections in health care and hold health insurance companies accountable, the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI) worked closely with Representative Sue Scherer and Senator Doris Turner on legislation to further enhance consumer protections within the state’s Network Adequacy Transparency Act (NATA). The landmark law ensures consumers have access to a network of health insurance providers that meets proper time and distance standards.
HB5729 will give IDOI the authority to put in place more stringent time/distance standards than current federal requirements for many specialties to ensure consumers can access in-network providers close to home. Under the bill, the Department will pursue emergency rules to update time/distance network adequacy standards to help protect consumers’ access to care. The bill also provides for greater transparency in IDOI’s enforcement efforts, removing a confidentiality requirement for market conduct exams to allow the Department to inform consumers that an insurance company is undergoing an exam, while keeping details confidential until exams are finalized. Market conduct exams are the Department’s primary enforcement tool to review the practices of insurance companies regulated by the Department.
“Sen. Turner and Rep. Scherer have worked tirelessly to make sure that their constituents get the care they deserve, and I appreciate their willingness to work with my Department of Insurance to ensure that our laws are strong enough to protect consumers’ care,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “This legislation will make our system operate more transparently and give people and regulators more tools to hold health care insurers accountable.”
“I care deeply about improving and expanding access to healthcare for my constituents. I’m glad to partner with the Department to help protect and inform Illinois insurance consumers. This legislation enhances penalties to ensure compliance with state laws,” said Representative Sue Scherer. “Also, it creates more generous provider-to-patient ratios for network adequacy than are currently recommended under federal regulations for many specialties.”
“The new law will provide necessary oversight with the creation of a Network Adequacy Advisory Council, comprised of consumer, provider, and insurer representation,” said Senator Doris Turner. “The council will regularly update network adequacy requirements, including reviewing time and distance standards, and ratios to apply to all provider networks. This is what health insurance consumers need, and our state leaders will deliver.”
Earlier this week, the Department issued fines totaling $339,000 for Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), the parent company of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois for violating the material change notice requirement in the state’s Network Adequacy and Transparency Act. The Department found that the company did not properly file updated network adequacy filings following the termination of its contract with Springfield Clinic.
“The new law provides for additional consumer protections when a provider contract ends, and it strengthens network adequacy requirements with robust penalties for noncompliance” said IDOI Director Dana Popish Severinghaus. “We want to protect patients from having to travel far from their homes or wait too long to receive care. The Department can now establish strict wait times, and if the wait time to see a particular provider is excessive, the insurer must pay for the patient to see an out of network provider at an in-network rate. Current statutory requirements are also improved upon for both issuers and providers to update their provider network directories with accurate information.”
[US Rep. Rodney Davis] has signed on as a co-sponsor of legislation that would require providers to follow notification laws in a minor’s resident state when the minor travels to another state for an abortion.
Illinois recently repealed its notification law, which required the parents of a minor be informed their child was seeking an abortion. Notification will not be required after June 1.
About 1,180 of the 46,243 abortions performed in Illinois in 2020 were for girls 17 and under — 1,092 age 15 to 17 and 88 under 15 years old, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. That number was down from 1,343 for the same age group the year prior. […]
“The extreme abortion expansion laws pushed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Democrats are a disgrace,” Davis said. “I am proudly pro-life and strongly support the rights of parents to be involved in their children’s lives. This legislation I’m supporting would make sure that when a minor crosses state lines into Illinois to receive an abortion, their home state’s parental involvement in abortion laws are upheld.”
That’s how many children in Illinois sank back into poverty after monthly federal child tax credit payments ended in December, according to one estimate. Another estimate pegged the number at 150,000. Nationwide, 3.7 million children are in families that lost these payments of $250 to $300 a month depending on the age of the child.
“Giving families that extra boost each month works,” as Joanna A. Ain, associate director of policy for Washington, D.C.-based Prosperity Now, told us. Her group and others have been pushing Congress to resurrect the monthly payments and make them permanent, a move we endorse. They aren’t hopeful Congress will act anytime soon, nor are we.
Reinstating this vital lifeline for some of the country’s neediest people is unlikely because it’s tied up with President Joe Biden’s massive Build Back Better initiative, which is all but dead.
There is something state lawmakers can do, however: Pass a state child tax credit. This was a key component of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s platform when he was running for governor and later when he tried unsuccessfully to get the income tax referendum on the ballot.
* Press release…
A measure by State Senator Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) to offer nutritional, plant-based lunch options to students across the state advanced out of the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday.
“Students may require plant-based meal options for religious, health-based or other, personal reasons,” Koehler said. “Our schools should be prepared to offer nutritional options for students with dietary restrictions.”
House Bill 4089 requires school districts to provide a plant-based school lunch option that complies with federal nutritional standards to any student who submits a prior request.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture encourages the use of fresh fruits and vegetables in school meals, and offers a Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to grant access to students at least twice a week at times during the school day other than meal periods. The USDA encourages schools to develop innovative and varied methods to offer the fruits and vegetables to students, and a plant-based lunch option would be one way of doing so.
Plant-based school lunch options would also suffice as Halal options for Muslim students so long as there are no alcohol or alcohol byproducts, such as vanilla extract or other extracts, used in the preparation of the meal.
“All students deserve the opportunity to have a well-rounded, nutritional meal at school that meets their dietary needs,” Koehler said. “For some kids it may be the only substantial meal they get that day, and they need to be able to make the most of it.”
The legislation now awaits further consideration.
*** UPDATE *** Likely about to become a law…
A plan will be presented this fall to replace dismantled vehicle emissions inspection stations in Chicago after a measure spearheaded by State Senator Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) passed the House Wednesday.
“This legislation will help restore a much-needed service to the residents of Chicago and the near suburbs,” Martwick said. “People shouldn’t have to drive for miles and wait in long lines to test their vehicles.”
Senate Bill 1234 would require the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to submit a written report to the General Assembly by Oct. 1 2022, which would include a plan to replace the dismantled emissions inspection stations within the city of Chicago. The plan would help establish a pilot program or permanent replacement program as well as a timeline to implement the plan.
The measure is designed to address the lack of available vehicle emissions testing stations in Chicago following the closure of four stations in 2016. Test sites in Bucktown and Harwood Heights were closed leaving the city of Chicago without a testing station. Two suburban facilities in Elk Grove Village and Tinley Park were also closed.
“The closure of these stations in 2016 created a burden for our residents, and I’m glad that we are one step closer to creating a plan that will make emissions testing more convenient for the residents of Chicago and the near suburbs,” Martwick said.
Senate Bill 1234 passed the House Wednesday with bipartisan support. It now heads to the governor’s desk.
* Suburban House Democrat proposes lifting ban on nuclear expansion to build microreactors: Rep. Mark Walker (D-Arlington Heights) sponsored a measure that would allow data centers, factories, or other large energy consumers to install smaller nuclear microreactors on site to help lighten the load on the rest of the energy grid that is becoming increasingly reliant on wind and solar energy.
As you likely know, on Wednesday, March 16, members of IBEW Local 1220 called a strike against Window to the World (“WTTW”) Communications, the Chicagoland PBS affiliate. IBEW represents over two dozen workers responsible for various productions and shows on the channel, including the nightly local affairs program Chicago Tonight.
WTTW is currently inviting Democratic candidates in the 2022 primary elections to participate in their “2022 Primary Election Voter Guide.” We have been informed by the Chicago Federation of Labor and the Illinois AFL-CIO that participating in WTTW programming while the strike is ongoing would be considered crossing a picket line.
DPI Chair Rep. Robin Kelly has sent a letter expressing our support for IBEW Local 1220 and requesting Democratic candidates be given an opportunity to participate in programming, including the “2022 Primary Election Voter Guide,” after the strike is resolved. Until then, while the Democratic Party of Illinois supports the general mission of public television and understands the need for campaigns to communicate with voters this election cycle, we hope that you consider the seriousness of crossing a picket line before choosing to participate.
Workers are the backbone of the Democratic Party, and we will continue to stand with labor unions in the fight for fairness for all working people.
* Chair Kelly’s letter to WTTW…
March 24, 2022
Sandra Cordova Micek
President and Chief Executive Officer Window To The World Communications
Dear Ms. Micek:
As you know, on Wednesday, March 16, members of IBEW Local 1220 called a strike against Window to the World (“WTTW”) Communications. IBEW represents over two dozen workers responsible for various productions and shows on the channel, including the nightly local affairs program Chicago Tonight.
In recent days, we have become aware that WTTW is inviting Democratic candidates running in the 2022 primary elections to participate in their “2022 Primary Election Voter Guide” programming. We have been informed by the Chicago Federation of Labor and the Illinois AFL-CIO that participating in WTTW programming while the strike is ongoing would be considered crossing a picket line, and we have in turn notified Illinois Democratic campaigns.
While we support the general mission of public television, the Democratic Party of Illinois stands in solidarity with IBEW Local 1220 in their fight for a fair contract. Our hope is that a fair contract agreement can be reached soon, and that Democratic candidates who would like to participate in WTTW programming, including the “2022 Primary Election Voter Guide,” without crossing the picket line will be given an opportunity to do so once the situation is resolved.
Sincerely,
Rep. Robin Kelly
Chair, Democratic Party of Illinois
As the first strike in WTTW-Channel 11’s history enters its second week, politicians are being urged to honor the picket lines — both real and virtual. In an email to political candidates Wednesday, the Chicago Federation of Labor asked them not to participate in remotely recorded Zoom interviews on the public television station while the strike goes on. Local Union 1220 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, representing more than two dozen technicians, graphic artists and floor crew members, walked out March 16 over work jurisdiction and job protection issues. Among those who declined to appear on the “2022 Primary Election Voter Guide” was Chicago Alderman Pat Dowell, who’s running to succeed U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush in Congress. “Whether in person or online I will not cross a picket line at WTTW,” Dowell said. “I encourage other candidates not to be a part of the WTTW Voter Guide until the workers’ demands are met.” On-air employees and producers at the station, represented by Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, continue to do their jobs under contracts that bar sympathy strikes. A Window to the World Communications spokesperson said: “The company stands ready to return to good faith negotiations with the bargaining team’s representatives as soon as possible.” The last work stoppage at a Chicago station resulted in an 11-week lockout for camera operators, news writers and other technical workers represented by the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 in 1998. It was part of a nationwide labor dispute at the ABC Television Network.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Speaker Welch’s office…
In response to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1220 members striking against WTTW-Channel 11, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and the Democrats for the Illinois House released the following statement:
“IBEW represents over two dozen workers responsible for many of the stories and television productions that help to inform and shape our communities. These workers, and union workers everywhere, are the backbone of our state and our party. We stand in solidarity as they advocate for fair collective bargaining. We ask all Democratic Candidates running for the House to stand with us and not cross the picket lines. We will continue to stand with unions and the men and women of IBEW Local 1220 in their fight for fairness for working people.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Gov. Pritzker’s campaign…
In response to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1220 members striking against WTTW-Channel 11, Governor JB Pritzker released the following statement:
“I’ve always supported the right for workers to organize and bargain collectively. Until WTTW-Channel 11 can come to an agreement on a fair contract, I stand in solidarity with the men and women of IBEW Local 1220 and will honor their strike.”
…Adding… Comptroller Mendoza…
I stand in strong solidarity with members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1220 in their fight for a fair contract. I encourage WTTW to settle this dispute fairly and quickly. In support of our working men and women on the picket line at WTTW, I will respect the picket line and will not cross it.
In response to Tuesday’s vote in the Illinois Senate to reject Jeff Mears’ appointment to the Prisoner Review Board, Illinois Prison Project Executive Director Jennifer Soble released the following statement:
“With Tuesday’s vote, some lawmakers made clear their intention to eviscerate the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. It’s the latest in a constant drumbeat of vitriol and hyperbole meant merely to incite fear and scrounge up election-year favor. Human lives are not political bargaining chips.
“An unencumbered Prisoner Review Board is vital to a functioning legal system. Among its many duties, the PRB processes and makes recommendations on requests for clemency — a mechanism enshrined in the Illinois Constitution and intended by our state’s framers as an important check on the legal system. It’s meant to bring justice to people sentenced to unjustly long prison terms, and to recognize growth and transformation in a system that does neither. It works in concert with the legal system, not in opposition to it.
“Before lawmakers began dismantling it, the PRB was the most diverse in Illinois’ history. For the first time, it truly reflects the lived experiences of people across our state and was composed of people with varied and important experience from all aspects of the criminal legal system. The recent attacks on the PRB not only leaves it too small to carry out some of its most crucial functions, but is also an attack on diversity and equality in government.
“I urge lawmakers to fully empower the PRB to carry out its duties as generations of lawmakers intended, not to cripple it for political gain.”
* Press release…
Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois responded the recent debate and inaction in the Illinois Senate regarding the confirmation of members to the Illinois Prison Review Board. The following can be attributed to Ben Ruddell, Criminal Justice Policy Director for the ACLU of Illinois:
The Prison Review Board (PRB) plays a critical role in our state’s criminal legal system and in the lives of thousands of Illinoisans each year. It offers individuals who have already served significant time in prison a meaningful opportunity for consideration of release and a chance to make a positive contribution to their families and communities upon release. That system should not grind to a halt because of a recitation of offenses of those who stood before the PRB versus the life changes and proof of rehabilitation that led to grants of clemency (and parole). Illinois should not permit Willie Horton era fear mongering to be advanced over the need for justice and compassion in our system. Illinois must take the action needed to prevent the suspension of the meaningful work that the PRB does to foster justice and equity in case outcomes and right size our state’s prison population. Doing harm to individuals across Illinois in a vain attempt to look tough on crime has failed for years. It must end.
We encourage the Senate to vote – up or down – on the members of the PRB by assessing the qualities and traits that each candidate brings to the work – not on mischaracterizations of their voting records. We need a functioning PRB.
* The governor was asked about the PRB issue yesterday and he mostly blamed the Republicans, who hold a mere 18 seats in a 59-seat chamber…
I think what the Republicans are trying to do now is to essentially break down a function, an important function of government. They want to do away with it, just like during the Rauner years. So much was done to break down the functions of government, agencies of government. This is not right. And as you may know, if we don’t appoint enough members to the PRB, if they’re not approved, the PRB will not be able to have a quorum. And that quorum wouldn’t therefore be able that lack of a quorum wouldn’t therefore be able to keep people in prison, who are brought back when they violate their parole conditions. So this is a huge problem. And I think that it’s something that the Senate has to take into account as they look at the rest of the appointees
But Pritzker was then asked if it bothered him that “even some Democrats in the Senate are a little concerned about some of your nominees”…
It does. It bothers me that they’re listening to the Republican rhetoric, which is, once again, false. They’re telling false stories. It’s a lot of Facebook fakery about these folks who are nominated. These are people who have served well and honorably in their positions as we’ve appointed them, and deserve to be approved. […]
The stories that they’re telling are false about the people that are being brought up before the Prisoner Review Board. It’s easy to say this person did something wrong, we ought to keep them in prison, why would you offer parole to somebody? But the reality is that that’s exactly the function. Every person that gets brought up before the Prisoner Review Board is somebody who’s done something wrong in their lives. Sometimes they committed a violent crime, sometimes a non-violent crime. But whatever, they get brought up before the parole board when it’s appropriate, the Prisoner Review Board. And they have to make decisions, and they can’t always make the decision that the Republicans would like to have made. They should make rational decisions based upon the facts.
State Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, serves on the Executive Appointments Committee and said Republicans are not spreading fake news. They’re highlighting high leniency rates of the nominees serving on the board leading to convicted criminals being let free.
“The governor has been playing games with this for over a year and the games have caught up with him,” Plummer told The Center Square. “The fact of the matter is he’s been skirting the constitutional process because he’s not comfortable that the Senate Democrats will even support his nominees because they’re so troubling.”
Republicans have highlighted for months how the governor has appointed members to the PRB, withdrawn them after the Senate doesn’t take them up, and then reappoints them, starting the clock over for when they must be approved.
Plummer said that wouldn’t be a problem if the governor put his ego aside and filled vacancies with appointees that get bipartisan support.
“And to sit down and work with the legislative branch to put forward people who represent mainstream values of Illinoisans,” Plummer said. “This isn’t a Republican or Democrat issue. This is just a common sense issue and the governor is failing this common sense issue.”
…Adding… Press release…
Restore Justice Illinois urges members of the Illinois State Senate to approve Governor JB Pritzker’s nominees to the Prisoner Review Board (PRB). The PRB is a vital component of state government, performing functions authorized by law and demanded by the Illinois Constitution. These duties include consideration of parole for people convicted before 1978 and vetting of clemency petitions in order to make recommendations to the Governor.
Earlier this week, state senators failed to confirm one Prisoner Review Board appointee, Jeff Mears, who had served in the role for one year. Now, five more of the Governor’s appointees await confirmation and could come before the Senate Executive Appointments committee on Monday, March 28 at 3:30 p.m. To perform their core functions, the PRB needs a quorum of eight members out of the total 15. If the Senate fails to approve the five members, it will only have three; each of the five remaining appointees must be confirmed for the Board to function.
At stake in the coming hearing are the fates of hundreds of individuals who await their last chance at early release. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many incarcerated people and their families are desperate to reduce the final years of lengthy sentences to prevent what was a term-of-years sentence from becoming a death sentence due to inadequate access to health care and the risks inherent in congregate living situations.
Concerns voiced by some members of the State Senate are focused on votes taken by individual members in high-profile parole cases from the 1970s. Members are not being challenged on grounds relevant to their performance of the constitutionally mandated functions of parole and clemency reviews.
“No one is alleging Mears or others are corrupt. No one is saying they are not doing their jobs. This is not a ‘me too’ moment, nor is it an attack on member qualifications. No. These attacks are being made by politicians playing a game of arm-chair quarterback with real people’s lives,” Restore Justice Founder and Executive Director Jobi Cates said. “PRB members have a grave, even sacred duty to review the individual in front of them, weighing their rehabilitation and potential for redemption against the severity of their offense and likelihood of re-offense. To second guess decisions made after deep and serious review and debate to score political points is simply reckless.”
In addition to examining clemency applications and making recommendations to the Governor based on an intensive review of these applications, PRB members assess and vote on parole opportunities for people sentenced before 1978. In 1978, Illinois joined a minority of states that abolished discretionary parole. After abolishing discretionary parole, the Illinois prison population skyrocketed from roughly 6,000 incarcerated people in the 1970s to more than 48,000 at the peak in 2014. Since 2015, leaders in both parties, including Governor Bruce Rauner, Governor Pritzker, and members of the Illinois General Assembly have all prioritized reducing the prison population.
To make decisions, the PRB studies, considers, and debates all aspects of a person’s case and criminal history, and they consult with mental health experts. They seek input from victims, examine the person’s prison behavioral record, identify the likelihood of the person reoffending, and consider the person’s release plan. Victims are allowed to support or oppose release, and an opponent of the release is allowed to participate in the hearing.
There are currently 27,500 people in Illinois prisons, fewer than 50 of whom are parole-eligible. Those individuals have a legal right to a fair, thorough, and timely review. And, 20% of the people incarcerated in Illinois state prisons are elderly, some rehabilitated simply through the process of aging. It is not in Illinois’ interest to deny these people a chance to make a case for sentence reduction. People who serve long sentences for serious crimes rarely re-offend, and imprisoning eldelry people costs the state millions of dollars a year. Let’s instead allow the PRB to assess whether someone is capable of returning home and rejoining their community.
In a crowded race, candidates vie for any advantage they hope will mean the difference on Election Day — such as being listed first on the ballot.
Whether that coveted position will turn the tide for Darren Bailey remains to be seen, but the state senator from southern Illinois was celebrating Wednesday after he won the lottery for the top spot on the June primary ballot for governor.
“GOOD NEWS: we’re first on the Republican Primary ballot to fire JB Pritzker,” the Xenia Republican shared on Facebook and Twitter following the lottery. […]
“It’s tradition. It’s part of the summer camp aspect of campaigning,” [Christopher Mooney, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago] said. “But does it have an impact on average? No, it doesn’t. But again, in an individual case, who’s to say? We don’t know.”
Jesse Sullivan got the last spot on the ballot.
* Kina Collins fundraising email…
With the help of over 100 volunteer petition circulators, our campaign submitted six times the minimum number of petitions required to get on the ballot. But to be first on the ballot in Illinois, you have to win a lottery. Literally.
Well, guess what? We WON the lottery. Yesterday, we found out that my name will be listed first on the ballot on June 28th. Above the incumbent! This is a huge opportunity for our campaign. Studies suggest that being first on the ballot can add as much as 10% to a candidate’s vote share.
Texas primary and runoff elections provide an ideal test of the ballot order hypothesis, because ballot order is randomized within each county and there are many counties and contests to analyze. Doing so for all statewide offices contested in the 2014 Democratic and Republican primaries and runoffs yields precise estimates of the ballot order effect across twenty-four different contests. Except for a few high-profile, high-information races, the ballot order effect is large, especially in down-ballot races and judicial positions. In these, going from last to first on the ballot raises a candidate’s vote share by nearly ten percentage points.
Governor’s races are high-profile, high-information contests and Collins is running against a legendary political figure. The study found a big impact on down-ballot races with “high rates of voter abstention.” This is mainly due to voter fatigue as they move down the ballot. Local judges are often at the bottom, so that’s where the biggest voter abstentions are and where ballot position is most important.
…Adding… Alexi Giannoulias fundraising email…
This month has been a defining moment for our campaign for Secretary of State. We filed our petitions and are now officially on the ballot, winning the FIRST position on the ballot. I’m immensely grateful for all the overwhelming support we’ve received as we head into the final 100 days of the primary campaign. We could not have achieved this momentum without your early support of our campaig
This is, of course, another high profile, up-ballot race.
The Illinois House has approved legislation to fill most of a huge hole in the state’s unemployment trust fund with leftover money from the last federal COVID relief bill, the American Recovery Plan Act.
But Springfield Republicans say the figure agreed to in the bill is too stingy and would force a “back-door tax increase.” And with negotiations between labor and business groups over how to refill the remaining $1.7 billion hole at least temporarily stalled, the money will have to come from a combination of tax hikes on employers and benefit cuts for workers, they contend.
The legislative action came Wednesday night on a largely party-line 68-43 roll call, when the House voted to allot $2.7 billion of the state’s remaining $3.5 billion in ARPA funds to fill a $4.5 billion gap in the trust fund that covers unemployment claims within the state. The Senate had passed $2 billion earlier, but called that a placeholder.
A spokesman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker confirmed that he supports the $2.7 billion figure allocated in the legislation, but House GOP leaders and gubernatorial hopeful Richard Irvin charged that the state should allot all $3.5 billion in available ARPA money.
Pritzker and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly previously allocated about $4.6 billion from the federal relief plan for a variety of purposes such as grants for hospitals, violence prevention programs and infrastructure projects.
But Republicans, who since last spring have repeatedly criticized the majority party for not addressing the unemployment fund debt in the current year’s $42 billion operating budget, maintained that only about $1.2 billion of the federal relief money has actually been spent, leaving enough money to cover the full debt in the unemployment fund.
[…]
Illinois and a host of other states borrowed from the federal government in the early phase of the pandemic to keep unemployment checks going out to out-of-work residents as businesses shut down, in large part due to Pritzker’s executive orders.
Lawmakers are up against an April 1 deadline to allocate the federal relief dollars to the unemployment fund. If they don’t act by then, rules from the U.S. Treasury Department would prohibit Illinois from reducing the amount or length of unemployment benefits until 2025.
As of Wednesday, the state had already accrued $41 million of interest on the debt at a rate of 1.59 percent. That interest was due to be paid by Sept. 30, according to the U.S. Treasury.
By November, without action, that interest was expected to grow to $80 million, Hoffman said. Interest can’t be paid through ARPA, so it would require a General Revenue Fund allotment, he added. Taking action by November would diminish that amount, he said.
The measure also allocated $898 million to pay off old group health insurance bills, an added $300 million to pension payments beyond statutory levels and $230 million to pay off the unfunded liabilities of the College Illinois savings program – all cornerstones of Gov. JB Pritzker’s debt retirement initiatives put forth in his budget proposal. Those allotments will come from the state’s General Revenue Funds from an anticipated Fiscal Year 2022 surplus.
The pension spending would create $1 billion in savings to the state’s pension system over its life, while the group health insurance payments would save over $100 million in interest and the College Illinois payment would create a $75 million savings, according to estimates from House Democrats.
* Gov. Pritzker…
Illinois is putting our fiscal house in order and paying off our debt. I applaud House Democrats for prioritizing legislation that will use our resources in the most fiscally responsible way: SB2803 will pay down more than $4.1 billion in debt. I especially appreciate the tireless work to dedicate additional revenues to one-time efforts that will produce a stronger budget for years to come, and I extend my gratitude in particular to Leaders Greg Harris, Marcus Evans and Jay Hoffman and Reps. Will Davis, Robyn Gabel, Lisa Hernandez and Michael Zalewski for advancing this priority.
I’m disappointed that Republicans are putting their politics ahead of fiscal responsibility while Democrats in the General Assembly are taking the lead to put our fiscal house in order.
SB 2803 Key Facts
• As amended in the House, SB 2803 accomplishes several key goals the Governor laid out in his State of the State and budget proposal, paying off $4.1 billion in debt:
• Dedicates a substantial amount of remaining ARPA recovery fund dollars to ($2.7 billion) to stabilize the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, helping small businesses
• Eradicates unfunded liabilities in the College Illinois! program, which has been on the brink of insolvency
• Pays of nearly $900 million in legacy debt for employee health insurance
• Makes an extra payment of $300 million to the state’s pension funds, reducing liabilities over $1 billion
* Rep. Mark Batinick…
In response to the Illinois House’s passage of Senate Bill 2803 on Wednesday night, State Representative Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) released the following statement:
“House Republicans have had a plan for a year: plug the $4.5 billion hole in our Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and solve the problem. The plan passed tonight was rushed and only fixes a little over half the problem and spends the rest on Democrat pork projects.
“The reality of the situation is there is still a $1.8 billion shortfall in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund that will need to be plugged. How will it be plugged? Either through tax increases on jobs or benefit cuts on people who receive unemployment insurance.
“The fiscally responsible route we could have taken would have been to pass legislation paying off our debt in full to avoid these two consequences. This would have also avoided unnecessary interest penalties and prepared us financially in case there’s another emergency. The legislation passed out of our chamber tonight instead will help fulfill Governor Pritzker’s spending wish list and leave taxpayers on the hook for the remaining balance in the fund.”
* Richard Irvin…
Aurora Mayor and candidate for Governor Richard Irvin released the following statement after the House voted to pass JB Pritzker’s latest tax hike on Illinois families:
“After trying to pass the largest tax hike in our state’s history, the Tax-Hiker-In-Chief is trying once more to tax Illinois families and businesses out of this state. Thanks to his reckless disregard for shoring up the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, Illinois employers and workers will have to make up the difference, resulting in billions of dollars in tax increases and benefit cuts. Tonight’s vote is yet another example as to why voters don’t trust Pritzker and Springfield politicians to do anything right, and exactly why we must take our state back.”
Illinois workers will see cuts to their unemployment benefits, and the fund will continue to accrue millions in interest charges. Many other states across the country used federal stimulus funds to repay loans to their unemployment systems, but under Pritzker’s lead, Illinois spent those dollars elsewhere. Despite warnings and urging from lawmakers to utilize federal ARPA money to replenish the fund, he instead willfully chose to use the money for election-year gimmickry and increased state spending that will now result in raising taxes on the residents of Illinois.
If we don’t pass a law regarding ARPA funds use for unemployment insurance by the end of the month, the ability to reduce benefits – and use ARPA dollars – comes off the table.
Labor doesn’t want to reduce benefits. But Democrats are advancing legislation to try to make sure the traditional balance used to solve these problems remains viable.
The GOP is going to all vote no, which would have the effect of stringing out the process and likely, ironically, reduce options and put far more dire consequences on business.
…Adding… This is how Speaker Chris Welch is framing the issue for his constituents back home…
House Democrats vote to pay off over $4 billion in debts
On party lines, the Illinois House approved a measure to get the state’s fiscal house in order and pay off over $4 billion in debt. This proposal includes:
• $2.7 billion in the unemployment trust fund that took a serious hit during the coronavirus pandemic
• $300 million in extra pension payments which will yield more than $1 billion in savings
• $900 million toward the group health bill backlog likely saving taxpayers $100 million in interest payments
• $230 million toward the College Illinois program to ensure 25 thousand families have funding for education
“This is exactly what fiscal responsibility looks like,” said Speaker Welch. “It’s disappointing that every Republican voted against paying off our debt, but I’m incredibly proud Democrats are united in building a strong financial future for Illinois.”
…Adding… Sullivan campaign…
Jesse Sullivan, Republican candidate for governor, released the following statement in response to the House passage of SB 2803:
“J.B. Pritzker has never met a tax hike he doesn’t like. And his failure to pursue commonsense budgeting is now costing Illinois families and businesses millions of dollars. The governor could have fixed this problem more than a year ago by using federal aid money to replenish our unemployment insurance trust fund, as more than 30 states have done. Instead, he went on a corrupt spending spree, including $1 billion in capital projects controlled by Democrats. Taxpayers and small businesses deserve better.”
…Adding… The Senate just passed the bill 39-16. From Leader McConchie…
Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) issued the following statement after the Illinois Senate passed legislation that failed to fully fund the Unemployment Trust Fund:
“Illinois has long been known for its financial issues, and today’s decision to leave a large hole in the unemployment trust fund is just another example of how Democrats continue to mismanage this state. Despite this payment, Illinois still has the fourth largest deficit in the country and is left with the second largest shortfall in state history. The impact this will have on employers across the state will be devastating. To no fault of their own, they were forced to lay off workers and close their doors, and will now be on the hook to pay for the unemployment costs ensued by the pandemic and the fraud that engulfed the Department of Employment Security. These industries and their workers deserve better, but they were failed today.”
Republican candidate for Treasurer Tom Demmer today launched a new digital ad taking Democrat Mike Frerichs to task for supporting a tax in retirement income in the run-up to the 2020 election. Frerichs was supporting Gov. JB Pritzker’s radical graduated tax amendment that would have increased taxes on Illinois families and then Frerichs took it a step further by saying it could ultimately be used to tax retirement income.
Demmer’s new ad, titled “Taxing”, outlines Frerichs past tax increase history along with his most recent support of considering taxing retirement income.
“Our State Treasurer is supposed to protect your retirement—not tax it. As Treasurer, I’ll be on your side,” said Demmer.
In addition to the new digital ad, Demmer also launched a new online petition where voters can demonstrate their opposition to the Frerichs plan of taxing retirement income. The online petition can be viewed here.
