It’s honestly… less than stellar. I like Jesse Sullivan a lot. I think he’s dynamic. Darren Bailey is trying to exist on masks, you know, that’s great, whatever. That will get you a win downstate. You’re not going to win the state of Illinois. It’s a little disappointing when you just look at the fact that in Illinois, you have this race to the far right. And it’s not a far right state. I don’t know how many times I hear people tell me, ‘if you just activate the base, we can win Illinois.’ Well, listen, the base is very activated, and we can’t win Illinois unless we win back the suburbs, right, the suburbs that Republicans used to win all the time.
I think if I ran for governor, I think I’m the only candidate that can win, at least that’s out there now. Maybe Jesse Sulllivan. Again, I like him. But I do recognize the difficulty of a primary in this environment. And I recognize that we’re in a moment where I think there’s some people that would rather torch their chances at winning the Illinois governor’s race than dare vote for somebody that’s a conservative, but doesn’t like Donald Trump. So, you know, it’s a unique moment.
He was asked about Ken Griffin’s money and he said he was uncomfortable with it, but since Gov. Pritzker will spend whatever it takes, then OK. But he didn’t know who Griffin would endorse.
* Kinzinger repeated his mantra about the suburbs, then added…
And I think most importantly recognize that we’re not going to win the state House or the state Senate. So you’re gonna have to compromise. And I think looking at a Larry Hogan model or a Charlie Baker model in Vermont, or the governor of New Hampshire, Sununu, and say, ‘Look, some of these guys, for instance, are pro life like I am, but I’m also not going to go out and make my governorship about pro life issues because it’s not a pro life state. So let’s focus on what we can fix on the budget, on poverty and things like that.’ But I’m afraid, again, that they party focus is all going to be on purity. And in that case is going to be a tough win for anybody.
After reviewing the General Assembly’s congressional maps drawn with 2020 U.S. Census data, Governor JB Pritzker signed the new U.S. House district map that reflects Illinois’ diversity and preserves minority representation in Illinois’ delegation in accordance with the federal Voting Rights Act.
“These maps align with the landmark Voting Rights Act and will ensure all communities are equitably represented in our congressional delegation,” said Governor JB Pritzker.
A landmark achievement of the civil rights movement, the Voting Rights Act prohibits practices and procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color or membership in a protected language minority group. Building on and strengthening that consequential law, the Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2011 ensures redistricting plans are crafted in a way that preserves clusters of minority voters if they are of size or cohesion to exert collective electoral power. The maps signed into law today meet those requirements by creating a second district of significant Latinx representation that reflects the community’s rapid growth on the west side of Chicago.
The district boundaries also account for population changes in the state, particularly in the regions that saw the most population loss as recorded by 2020 U.S. Census.
The Illinois Congressional Redistricting Act of 2021 (HB 1291) takes effect immediately.
There’d been some weird grumbling about him not signing it right away, but I just kept telling people to be patient.
…Adding… Change Illinois…
Never before have Illinoisans seen such a brazen show of how corrosive politician-led redistricting can be for voters and communities across the state. For the third time, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a map, mired in a process lacking transparency, putting partisan self-interests above the needs of people in communities across the state.
The result is a congressional map of predetermined winners and losers in nearly all seventeen districts. The map is undemocratic and leaves all voters without choices, undermining the very elections that are supposed to allow voters to hold officials accountable.
The culmination of the legislative and congressional remapping further exemplifies the need for redistricting to be placed in the hands of independent commissioners who have no political or personal incentives to pervert redistricting as a tool to silence people and secure power for the few. We must forge a better path forward that empowers people in communities with fair elections so they can define their futures.
Current and future generations of Illinoisans deserve fair maps.
* I’m thinking if they were truly serious about inflation, they wouldn’t be injecting even more money into the economy, but whatever. [That was mostly snark, by the way.] Here’s Center Square…
“We may not be able to address at the state level the root causes of inflation, we can and we think it is our responsibility to provide relief,” Bourne said. “And that’s why today we’re proposing inflation tax relief for Illinois families.”
State Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, wants to give up to $400 of tax credits to taxpayers under certain income thresholds.
Single tax filers up to $75,000 would get $200 back, joint filers up to $150,000 would get $400 and head of household filers up to $112,500 in income to get $200.
“Four hundred dollars won’t make all the problems go away, but it could have a positive impact,” Demmer said. “It could be an extra week or two of groceries, it could be an extra few utility bills, it could be the difference between being able to buy new shoes or winter coats for your kids.”
To pay for the $1.4 billion plan, Demmer suggested reprioritizing state spending to be offset by some of the $8 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds.
“We can dedicate funds to pay down our unemployment insurance trust fund debt and deliver relief to taxpayers,” Demmer said.
* Federal law banned using ARPA money for tax reduction, but then last week happened…
A federal judge has blocked the U.S. Treasury from enforcing a provision of the American Rescue Plan Act that prohibited states from using the pandemic relief funds to offset new tax cuts. […]
The judge described the tax-cut restrictions as “a federal invasion of State sovereignty” that was “unconstitutionally ambiguous” — leaving states guessing as to whether their tax cuts would trigger a repayment of federal funds.
“The Tax Mandate’s restriction on direct or indirect state tax cuts pressures States into adopting a particular — and federally preferred — tax policy,” Coogler wrote. That “may disincentive” states “from considering any tax reductions for fear of forfeiting ARPA funds,”
This plan wouldn’t be ambiguous in the least. But, we’ll see how that all works itself out. The plan probably isn’t going anywhere, obviously, but the media is all abuzz about inflation these days, so I’m sure this will get a lot of coverage.
For the entirety of the pandemic Republicans have refused to engage on meaningful solutions aimed at helping working families deal with the resulting economic challenges. While Republicans now try and weigh in 18 months too late, this administration is hard at work putting billions of dollars of rental and mortgage assistance, small business grants, and utility assistance into the hands of working families, all of which passed without help from the GOP caucuses.
Adding to the irony is the fact that Republicans staunchly opposed the fair tax which would have provided tax relief to 97 percent of Illinoisans. Since Republicans in Illinois now support providing direct relief for the costs that are weighing on working families, we look forward to their support of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda and would urge them to share their views on this with their counterparts in Washington.
Today, U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) announced endorsements from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 701 and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) Local 30.
“Congressman Sean Casten has been a longtime friend and advocate for working families and IBEW,” said Frank Furco, IBEW Local 701’s Business Manager. “Sean never hesitates to stand up for union members and is in lockstep with the IBEW on workers’ rights. As our community continues on the path to economic recovery, Sean has been fighting in Congress to ensure good-paying union jobs are brought to the 6th District. We’re proud to endorse him as the best candidate to fight for workers in the 6th District.”
“Congressman Sean Casten has dedicated his career to creating quality, good-paying jobs, both as an entrepreneur and a Member of Congress,” said Ryan Anderson, IUPAT Local 30’s Business Manager. “Sean has fought tirelessly to protect workers’ rights, ensure safe and fair workplaces, and bring real careers with real benefits to the 6th District. We believe he is the best candidate for workers in the 6th District.”
“Having good-paying union jobs is absolutely essential to a strong and equitable economy,” said Rep. Sean Casten. “I’m thrilled to have the endorsement of two organizations who are composed of so many 6th Districts union workers specializing in telecommunications, utilities, construction, manufacturing, painting, drywall finishing, and so much more. Thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Build Back Better Act, we know that more union jobs are coming to Illinois. I look forward to continuing to be a voice for working families in the 6th District.”
Both Furco and Anderson said they will work hard to make sure their union and family members in the Sixth District learn of their endorsement of Rep. Casten and turn out to vote in next June’s primary.
* This afternoon…
Today, Congresswoman Marie Newman announced that she had received the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Illinois State Council in her bid for re-election in Illinois’ new 6th Congressional District.
The SEIU Illinois State Council, comprised of SEIU Healthcare, Local 1, and Local 73, represents thousands of home care and child care providers, security officers, janitors, public employees, medical professionals, first responders and social service workers living and working in Illinois’ new 6th Congressional District.
“Congresswoman Marie Newman is a proven advocate for working men and women in Illinois,” said SEIU State Council President Tom Balanoff. “I know that our members can always count on Congresswoman Newman to stand up for workers rights and fair wages. We are proud to endorse Congresswoman Newman for reelection in Illinois 6th Congressional District.”
“Bold policies aimed at expanding access to child care, home care, and long term care are investments in good union jobs. Congresswoman Newman understands that. She has been an unwavering champion for investments in our caregiving workforce, a workforce much like our membership that is majority women,” said SEIU HCII President Greg Kelley. “Congresswoman Newman is fighting for an economy that works for everyone and has been an active partner in building a workforce that centers racial and gender equity.”
“Congresswoman Newman has stood in solidarity with our members on numerous occasions,” said SEIU Local 73 President Diane Palmer. “Her support for working men and women is resolute and we know that she will never back down on the issues that matter to our membership. Congresswoman Newman stands for working families and is the best choice for labor in this race. We are proud to stand with her.”
“SEIU members have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, working in our hospitals, schools, and office buildings to keep this city and state functioning. These men and women have sacrificed greatly and they deserve tireless support in Washington as we continue the fight for safe and fair working conditions, better wages, and the right to organize. To receive their endorsement is a true honor and I hope to have the opportunity to continue fighting for my SEIU brothers and sisters in Congress,” said Congresswoman Marie Newman.
* August 2021: Judge sides with Springfield hospital refusing ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patient
* Sept. 2021: Illinois judge to rule on Pritzker’s latest motion to dismiss dining prohibition lawsuit
I assume that the governor’s and attorney general’s offices are fairly pleased. Cook would’ve been better, but Sangamon has been dealing with these cases because the Supreme Court has transferred so many of them to the county. It’s almost become a specialized rocket docket.
* Considering what we already knew, this is predictable…
Under Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s directive, all city employees had until Oct. 15 to report their vaccination status but could choose to undergo regular COVID-19 testing, rather than get shots, through the end of the year. After police unions challenged the vaccine mandate in court, though, a judge suspended the Dec. 31 date for members to be fully inoculated, saying that needed to go through arbitration. Other unions representing city workers are also now seeking the same. […]
(A)s of Friday, 35 police and 26 Fire Department workers were on no-pay status. […]
As of Monday, 84% of Chicago police had reported their vaccination status on the city portal, including the lieutenant. But he is also among the 23% of respondents who indicated they are not fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, the Fire Department was at a 97% response rate and, like police, about 23% of them said they aren’t completely inoculated
The vast majority of Chicago cops and firefighters are fully vaccinated and we don’t know how many more are waiting on their second shot. There’s more ground to cover (and will be once the arbitrator rules), but that’s still good news. The paranoid whiners are outliers.
* The big problem here is that infected kids can infect people like their grandparents, who are most susceptible to breakthrough cases. And if the oldsters aren’t vaxed, well, it can be really bad…
Coronavirus cases in children in the United States have risen 32% from about two weeks ago, a spike that comes as the country rushes to inoculate children before the winter holiday season, pediatricians said.
More than 140,000 children tested positive for the coronavirus from Nov. 11-18, up from 107,000 in the week ending Nov. 4, according to a statement Monday from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
Over the previous seven days including Friday, Michigan reported 53,575 new COVID-19 cases, the highest weekly caseload since the pandemic began in March 2020.
As of Sunday, 3,785 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized across the state, including 784 in intensive care units. The vast majority of patients in the ICU and on ventilators, the MHA noted, are unvaccinated.
The state’s record for most adult hospitalizations with confirmed cases of the virus occurred on April 19 with 4,158 inpatients.
Federal emergency relief teams from the U.S. Department of Defense are on their way to Minnesota to help doctors and nurses at two Minnesota hospitals. When the rest of the state is celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, they’ll be fighting the state’s COVID-19 surge.
The shortage of ICU beds is so severe, doctors warn emergency care across the state is being compromised. Hennepin Healthcare says they are turning down up to 50 transfer requests a day for their advanced trauma facilities, as Minnesota grapples with one of the worst infection rates in the country.
“If you get into a car accident in rural Minnesota and are in need of complex trauma care, the additional 12 to 24 hours you have to wait for a bed to open up might mean the difference in long-term functional outcomes,” Dr. Daniel Hoody said. “If you are critically ill with non-COVID illness or COVID illness in a rural hospital not equipped to care for you, the additional wait times might be the difference between life and death.”
Hennepin Healthcare is the state’s largest Level 1 trauma center, and it’s so backed up it had five patients on ventilators in the emergency room Monday. HCMC says it has cancelled or postponed most non-emergency surgeries and procedures.
The National Guard has also been activated.
* On a lighter note, I’m pretty sure my friends and I would’ve done this to get out of going to school back in the day. So I have to admire the effort…
A school in the U.K. has warned parents to monitor their children while taking lateral flow COVID tests, after word spread that fruit juice can cause false positive results.
Gateacre School, in the English city of Liverpool, emailed parents on Wednesday to alert them that it had emerged children had become aware that orange juice and other similar drinks can trigger a false positive result on a lateral flow test.
It’s safety – not money or the pandemic – keeping the holiday lights off the Capitol dome in Springfield this season.
Worker safety is paramount, but Henry Haupt, a spokesman for the Illinois secretary of state’s office, says there’s more: an engineering study determined the observation deck – atop the dome and at the base of the flagpole – can no longer support the light strings, which become heavy with ice and are typically up for a couple of months on either side of the holiday season.
Lights on the Capitol dome won’t be used for the second consecutive year. Engineers have recommended that an observation deck, which is typically used to anchor the lights, should be fortified.
“We are working with the Capital Development Board to procure funding for this project,” said Henry Haupt, spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White.
This is the third holiday season in a row that we’ve been waiting on CDB to do something. There’s construction around the Statehouse because of the 2019 capital bill, but this little problem can’t be fixed?
When creating our State-by-State Guide to Taxes on Middle-Class Families, we estimated the overall income, sales, and property tax burden in each state and the District of Columbia for a hypothetical married couple with two children, combined wages of $77,000, $3,000 of other income, and a $300,000 home. That information also allowed us to cobble together the following list of the 10 least tax-friendly states for middle-class families (the least-friendly state is listed last).
• State Income Tax Range: 4.95% (flat rate)
• Average Combined State and Local Sales Tax Rate: 8.83%
• Median Property Tax Rate: $2,165 per $100,000 of assessed home value
Sorry, Illinois, but you’re the least tax-friendly state in the country for middle-class families. For all three taxes we’re tracking – income, sales, and property taxes – you tax middle-income residents at an above average rate (at least). And for one of those taxes, the rates are extremely high. That’s enough to put the Land of Lincoln in the most undesirable spot on our list.
At first blush, the state’s 4.95% flat income tax rate doesn’t seem that steep when compared to other states’ top tax rates. And that’s true if you’re talking about wealthy residents. But for middle-class taxpayers, the income tax rate is on the high end. When we ran tax returns for all 50 states and the District of Columbia for our hypothetical middle-class family, the Illinois income tax bill was tied for the ninth-highest in the country.
Sales taxes in Illinois are high, too. There’s a 6.25% state tax on purchases in Illinois (1% on groceries and prescription drugs). Plus, up to 4.75% in local taxes are tacked on in certain places within the state. All told, the average combined state and local sales tax in Illinois is 8.83%, which is the seventh-highest combined sales tax rate in the U.S.
The tax situation really goes downhill fast for Illinois residents when you look at the property taxes they have to pay. Property taxes in Illinois are the second-highest in the nation. If our hypothetical family purchased a $300,000 home in the state, their average annual property tax bill would be an eye-popping $6,495.
A graduated income tax could’ve eventually eased all those issues, but whatevs. Five of the “most-friendly” states all had graduated income tax rates. The other five had no income tax.
The pandemic is far from over in Winnebago County.
That was the message local officials sent to the public Monday as they announced that Winnebago County is now seeing 502 cases of the virus per 100,000 people and a test-positivity rate of 10.1%, indication of another winter surge.
There have been 539 cases reported countywide in the last three days, and a total of 126 people, including two infants, are currently hospitalized.
And with Thanksgiving just days away, Sandra Martell, Winnebago County public health administrator, said she expects the situation to get worse as unvaccinated people from different households gather to celebrate. […]
Dr. Stephen Bartlett, OSF HealthCare’s chief medical officer, said Rockford medical centers are handling the situation well at the moment, but they could be forced to curtail elective surgery and other services if the COVID situation doesn’t improve.
The county’s vax rate is 61.4 percent, among the lowest in the region.
The Illinois State Board of Education could put more school districts across the state on probation just as the agency has put eight schools on notice for failure to comply with the state’s COVID-19 policies. […]
On Friday, ISBE listed eight schools on probation.
Seven were private schools: St. Johns Lutheran Parochial School in Coles County, St. James Lutheran schools in Adams County, Vandalia Christian Academy in Fayette County, Christian Liberty Academy and Valeo Academy in Cook County, Kankakee Trinity Academy in Kankakee County, and Visionway Christian School in Christian County.
Hutsonville Community Unit School District 1 in Crawford County is the only public school on probation.
“Due to the district’s continued failure to demonstrate compliance with the universal indoor masking requirements, the State Superintendent has determined that the recognition status of your district is hereby changed to On Probation, effective immediately,” said a letter ISBE sent to Hutsonville on Friday.
Hutsonville School Board President Chad Weaver told Illinois Radio Network they’ve had their mask-recommended policy in place all school year with few students wearing masks. He said COVID-19 cases have been on par with other districts. […]
In their letter to Hutsonville, ISBE said they can either appeal or submit a plan for corrective action by Nov. 30.
Weaver said the district requires masks on school buses, capturing federal dollars tied to such policies. And, they’re ready to make masks mandated if local conditions call for it. But, state dollars could be at stake for not complying with ISBE’s mandate.
“Basically the new set of rules that ISBE put out is at least a kangaroo court version of due process,” Weaver said.
Legal bills have been minimal, Weaver said, but some in the public have offered to cover the costs to keep masks optional.
Weaver said the quiet part out loud when he mentioned the school bus mask mandate connected to federal dollars. The district will only comply if it hits their budget. So be it.
A Bloomington state senator is pushing back against former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s view that Illinois will not be a top-tier state next year for funding in Republican races for governor and U.S. Senate.
Christie made the remark in Chicago, during a speech at the Chicago Union Club. Christie was promoting his new book about how to get the Republican Party past former President Donald Trump.
State Sen. Barickman, R-Bloomington, said Christie should wait a bit on his conclusion that Illinois is not competitive in those statewide races.
“I don’t think the answer on that issue is fully yet known. Whether we are a top-tier state for funding largely depends on who the candidates are,” said Barickman. […]
“Suburban voters I think are not going to be overly motivated by social issues per se. I think they’re going to be driven by property taxes, crime, high quality schools. We can’t do it if our candidate is a non-starter with the suburban households where there are so many votes,” said Barickman.
As for Republican chances in Illinois in next year’s midterms, when Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth are seeking reelection, Christie likened the situation to a famed “Peanuts” cartoon.
“Sometimes Illinois is a little bit like Charlie Brown and the football and Lucy, and how you think you’re gonna get it and then you wind up on your back,” said Christie, who as head of the Republican Governors Association was actively involved in the election of one-term GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2014.
“I think there could be Republican gains here but it’s not a top-tier state in terms of where Republicans are targeting money,” he said, referring to lower-ballot races such as those for Congress. “If we’re spending money in Illinois in October of next year, we won the House and Senate already. That’s called piling on once you do that.”
Democrat Nikki Budzinski of Springfield, a labor activist who worked in President Joe Biden’s administration until earlier this summer, has secured an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Springfield in her run for U.S. Congress in the 13th District.
The announcement came Sunday at Durbin’s Springfield home. […]
Democrat David Palmer, 35, a Champaign resident who is a Country Financial Insurance broker and financial planner, lives in the 13th District.
Palmer, who is Black, said the new 13th District would include majority Black East St. Louis which would be a boost to his election chances.
Still waiting to see what Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) plans to do.
…Adding… A commenter claims Rep. Ammons announced her re-election campaign today. Checking.
…Adding More… Rep. Ammons got back to me just now to confirm that she’s running for reelection.
* Meanwhile, on to a press release…
Michael Rabbitt, business transformation leader at Argonne National Laboratory, and a community activist, who is seeking the appointment to replace retiring State Representative of the 15th House district in Illinois, John D’Amico, has received the endorsement of 39th Ward Neighbors United, an independent political organization that fights for racial, social, and economic justice in Chicago’s 39th ward. Rabbitt’s strong performance yesterday’s People’s Candidate Forum, coupled with this key endorsement, gives him momentum heading into Tuesday’s appointment meeting.
The ward with the most weighted vote is the 39th and Sen. Ram Villivalam is the committeeperson. Contrary to what you might have read elsewhere, Villivalam had nothing to do with the Neighbors United endorsement.
State law mandates the area committeepersons of the party of the resigned incumbent meet within 30 days to pick the replacement, which means in D’Amico’s case by Dec. 8. The selection is by weighted-vote, based on the turnout in the 2020 Democratic primary, which was 35,637. The apportionment is as follows 38.2 percent in the 39th Ward, 32.6 in Maine Township, 17.7 in Niles Township, 9 in the 41st Ward, and the rest scattered. Joe Cook, the 41st Ward committeeperson, has said he won’t seek the job. The choice will serve through the end of 2022 and have an edge in the June 28 primary.
Michael Rabbitt of Wildwood was in the race before D’Amico quit. He works for Argonne Laboratories as a manager. He is an advocate of police reform and affordable housing. He models himself after Will Guzzardi, Lindsay LaPointe and John Arena, and is waging a door-to-door campaign. He will be the leftmost candidate.
Others in the contest, who will likely seek selection, are Dan Cotter, an attorney from Edgebrook and former LSC president and CBA past president, Casey Smagala of Albany Park, a 2019 39th Ward aldermanic candidate who is close to Villivalam, Mike Kelly of Mayfair, a firefighter who is the football coach at St. Edward’s parish school, Liam Kelly, who ran for subcircuit judge in the 2020 primary, and whose brother Eamon is Evanston Township committeeperson, and Dean Alonistiotis, who works for MWRD commissioner Kim Du Buclet.
Mike Kelly is close to former Rep. D’Amico.
…Adding… Candidate list courtesy of the 39th Ward…
-Dr. Christina Brophy (Triton College; Professor of History & Humanities)
-Daniel Cotter (Howard & Howard PLLC; Attorney)
-Vince Fattore (Lexington Group; Chief Information Officer)
-Judy Kehoe (AAIA/A.C.E.S., Inc.; Contracting Specialist)
-Michael J. Kelly (Chicago Fire Department; Firefighter/EMT)
-John Melaniphy III (Village of Niles; Director of Economic Development)
-Michael Rabbitt (Argonne National Laboratory; Business Leader)
An Illinois youth gambling prevention program is rolling out a holiday campaign to prevent the gifting of Illinois lottery tickets to children.
Focus Youth Gambling Prevention, a program of the Springfield-based Illinois Association for Behavioral Health, has allied with community organizations from across Illinois to raise awareness about the risks associated with giving lottery products as gifts to minors, especially during the holiday season.
The Illinois group’s initiative, organized by the National Council on Problem Gambling, the International Center for Youth Gambling Problems, and High-Risk Behaviors at McGill University under the “Gift Responsibly Campaign” banner, is being funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates Focus Youth Gambling Prevention’s commitment to corporate social responsibility through the Gift Responsibly Campaign, which raises awareness about the risks associated with giving lottery products as gifts to minors during the holiday season — or any time of the year,“ said Sarah Martin, Focus Youth Gambling Prevention’s Prevention Program Coordinator. “Research linking early exposure to gambling to future problem gambling and other risky behaviors is why ‘Focus’ is involved in the campaign.”
Lotteries are a ticket to later-in-life gambling problems, expert says.
“We are very appreciative of the efforts of ‘Focus’ to educate adults and youth about the potential consequences associated with underage lottery play,” said National Council on Problem Gambling Executive Director Keith Whyte. “The evidence clearly shows that exposure to gambling as a youth increases the probability of gambling problems later in life. Regardless of what time of year it is, adults should find gift options for children other than lottery tickets.”
Starting on December 1, Focus will launch its campaign that offers guidance and alternative ways to gift to children this holiday season without the need to give Illinois lottery tickets. This will include providing information on the gift responsibly campaign, discouraging adults from gifting lottery tickets to kids, and offering suggestions for other gifts.
“Our message is a simple one: lottery tickets are appropriate gifts only for adults,” said Martin.
* The Question: Have you ever given a lottery ticket to a kid? Or, did you ever receive a lottery ticket as a present when you were a kid?
It is a violation of this Act for any person to sell or attempt to sell, or for any recyclable metal dealer to purchase or attempt to purchase, any of the following: […]
4) any catalytic converter not attached to a motor vehicle at the time of the transaction unless the seller is licensed as an automotive parts recycler or scrap processor.
(b) This Section shall not apply when the seller produces written documentation reasonably demonstrating that the seller is the owner of the recyclable metal material or is authorized to sell the material on behalf of the owner. The recyclable metal dealer shall copy any such documentation and maintain it along with the purchase record required by Section 3 of this Act.
1. The name and address of the recyclable metal dealer;
2. The date and place of each purchase;
3. The name and address of the person or persons from whom the recyclable metal was purchased, which shall be verified from a valid driver’s license or other government-issued photo identification. The recyclable metal dealer shall make and record a photocopy or electronic scan of the driver’s license or other government-issued photo identification. If the person delivering the recyclable metal does not have a valid driver’s license or other government-issued photo identification, the recyclable metal dealer shall not complete the transaction;
4. The motor vehicle license number and state of issuance of the motor vehicle license number of the vehicle or conveyance on which the recyclable metal was delivered to the recyclable metal dealer;
5. A description of the recyclable metal purchased, including the weight and whether it consists of bars, cable, ingots, rods, tubing, wire, wire scraps, clamps, connectors, other appurtenances, or some combination thereof;
6. Photographs or video, or both, of the seller and of the materials as presented on the scale; and
7. A declaration signed and dated by the person or persons from whom the recyclable metal was purchased which states the following:
“I, the undersigned, affirm under penalty of law that the property that is subject to this transaction is not to the best of my knowledge stolen property.”.
A copy of the recorded information shall be kept in an electronic record-keeping system by the recyclable metal dealer. Purchase records shall be retained for a period of 3 years. Photographs shall be retained for a period of 3 months and video recordings shall be retained for a period of one month. The electronic record-keeping system shall be made available for inspection by any law enforcement official or the representatives of common carriers and persons, firms, corporations or municipal corporations engaged in either the generation, transmission or distribution of electric energy or engaged in telephone, telegraph or other communications, at any time.
Sec. 8. Penalty. Any recyclable metal dealer or other person who knowingly fails to comply with this Act is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense, and a Class 4 felony for the second or subsequent offense. Each day that any recyclable metal dealer so fails to comply shall constitute a separate offense.
Sec. 9. Injunctions. The Illinois Attorney General or the State’s Attorney for the county in which the recyclable metal dealer is located may initiate an appropriate action in the circuit court of the county in which a recyclable metal dealer is located to prevent the unlawful operation of a recyclable metal dealer, or to restrain, correct, or abate a violation of this Act, or to prevent any illegal act or conduct by the recyclable metal dealer.
A catalytic converter is a device that looks like a small muffler within the exhaust system. It’s designed to convert the engine’s hazardous exhaust into less harmful gases.
To accomplish this, manufacturers use platinum, palladium and rhodium. The value of these precious metals has skyrocketed in recent years. On Nov. 18, the prices for these metals were listed as $1,049, $2,080 and $13,300, respectively. That’s per troy ounce. (It takes 1.09 regular ounces to make a troy ounce, which is the measurement standard for many precious metals.)
In 2017, the value of rhodium was $779.23 per troy ounce.
With gold in their eyes and power tools in their hands, thieves make quick work of removing catalytic converters from the underbelly of gas-powered vehicles. That’s Part 1 of the problem. Part 2 is how easily they can turn these car parts into cold, hard cash with no questions asked.
The converters are very easy to steal and the task can take less than two minutes. Selling them isn’t as easy, because no matter what the Daily Journal claims, you can’t take them to just any metal recycling center. You have to know somebody, or know somebody who does.
The illicit buyers are either transporting the stolen goods out of state or are processing the valuable materials themselves or in a regional location and then reselling those materials on the legit market. And if that’s the case, permanently marking your catalytic converter likely won’t deter theft.
* A small sampling of recent headlines from a quick Google News search…
(F)or example, in California. As CBS 2’s Jim Williams reported, State Farm Insurance said its customers’ claims for catalytic converter thefts jumped 175% between June of 2020 and June of 2021. Cities like Miami, Phildelphia, Denver and Pittsburgh report seeing the same trend.
The state could try regulating the sale of rhodium, but I doubt that’ll work, either.
The feds need to jump in here now, but so do the automakers. This is beyond ridiculous.
After Sunday’s Christmas parade horror in Waukesha, Wisconsin, an Illinois Democrat appeared to portray the tragedy as a form of payback for Friday’s acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha.
“It was probably just self-defense,” read one of a series of mocking social media posts from Mary Lemanski, who is listed as the social media director for the Democratic Party in DuPage County, Illinois.
Lemanski also describes herself as an acting student with the famed Second City comedy group.
“Living in Wisconsin, he probably felt threatened,” read another post attributed to Lemanski, referring to the SUV driver in the Waukesha case.
The DuPage Democrat then offered onlookers her own perspective on the Sunday attack.
‘I’m sad,’ Lemanski shared later that night. ‘I’m sad anytime anyone dies.’
‘I just believe in Karma and this came around quick on the citizens of Wisconsin.’
Then, in another, more judgmental, message directed to the citizens of the state that saw both of the contentious attacks, the staffer proclaimed, ‘You reap what you sow, Wisconsin.’
Her tweets are now deleted, but you can see them all at the links above.
The DuPage Democrats deleted that post, and rightly so. She shouldn’t have been using the official site to announce her resignation.
* Twitter…
We are deeply saddened by the tragedy in Waukesha.We are aware of statements made by a former member of our organization and find them to be incredibly insensitive and not in alignment of who we are as an organization. Our organization does not support hate in any form
* So much has been written about the Rittenhouse case nationally and in Illinois, but I’ve avoided it because it was a Wisconsin court case. Various Illinois pols reacted after the verdict, but I’m ignoring them, too. Do yourself a favor and read Mark Brown…
Many people are going to have trouble accepting the Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty verdict, but I think there would be fewer of them if they’d watched the trial, beginning to end, as a jury does.
It bothers me deeply that Rittenhouse killed two people with a gun a 17-year-old shouldn’t have had in a fight he shouldn’t have been anywhere near.
But, as I wrote before the jury began its 26-plus hours of deliberations, it’s the correct verdict based on all of the evidence and the law.
It really was self-defense. Rittenhouse wasn’t the aggressor in the chain of events that led to the shootings. […]
I certainly pray people won’t be emboldened by this verdict to show up with their guns every time there is a protest over a matter of public dispute. But I fear some will.
Despite what people are saying, Rittenhouse’s acquittal should not be seen a victory for white supremacists (though I’m sure that crowd is celebrating) any more than a guilty verdict would have been a victory for antifa.
On the other hand, if those redneck clowns in Georgia get away with the shotgun lynching of Ahmaud Arbery, now, that would be a victory for white supremacists.
Take a very deep breath or three before commenting, please. There are plenty of other websites that encourage you to spew anything that comes to mind. This ain’t one of them. Also, remember that you’re often being manipulated…
Divide & conquer: A sample of 32,315 pro-Rittenhouse hashtag tweets, Nov 19-20, showed 29,609 with disabled geolocation. Of those, 17,701 were listed as “foreign”, but a deep scrub revealed most of those were in Russia, China, and the EU. @Tara_Writer@TAPSTRIMEDIA#Rittenhouse
Of these tweets, we conducted manual validation (yes, manual) - including confirmation of other indicators (language, location reference, self id, etc). The original data set was a representative sampling, and searched for key hashtags - #rittenhouse#FreeKyle and more
“The Democratic Party of DuPage County immediately severed all ties with Mary Lemanski once became aware of her callous and reprehensible posts. She does not speak for us and we unequivocally reject her statements about the tragic events that occurred yesterday in Waukesha. We as a party denounce violence of any kind. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families impacted by this heinous act, which shocked and saddened us all.”
- Democratic Party of DuPage County Chair Ken Mejia-Beal
South suburban economic development boosters met Thursday with state officials for the first time in three years to discuss the proposed South Suburban Airport near Peotone, an official said Friday.
State lawmakers who represent the region likely prompted the meeting by sending a letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, said Rick Bryant, an aide to U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Matteson. […]
The congressional aide said he informed state officials that Amazon and others are using the Rockford airport as a cargo hub but eyeing an airport in Gary, Indiana, because it is closer to Chicago-area distribution centers, Bryant said. […]
Gary’s airport is landlocked and cannot expand beyond a single runway, Bryant said. Amazon and others would prefer a site with multiple runways that is not already congested with commercial air traffic, he said.
“In the long term we have a better site,” Bryant said. “In the short term Gary has the upper hand.”
* That letter was quite something…
As representatives of the Chicago Southland, we are disappointed by your Administration’s steadfast opposition to a proposed South Suburban Airport, which is potentially one of the largest commercial developments to locate in Illinois in decades.
We know this because your Administration:
1) Hired consultants to find alternative uses for the selected airport site;
2) Eliminated Phase I Engineering for a proposed airport interchange from IDOT’s five-year plan (rendering a budgeted $162 million line-item for constructing that interchange essentially meaningless);
3) Refused meeting with private developers interested in financing the project;
4) Refused meeting with regional leadership to discuss next steps;
5) Sat idly as UPS expanded its Rockford air cargo hub across the state line to Gary Airport; and
6) Sat idly as Amazon built new air cargo hubs in many Midwestern states - but not Illinois.
For thirty-five years, Illinois governor after Illinois governor, FAA administrator after FAA administrator, aviation/economic impact study after aviation/economic impact study have concluded that Metro Chicago needs a third major airport to handle future capacity demands. Studies also conclude the ideal location for that airport is the FAA-approved site near Monee.
The Southland is blessed with the nation’s busiest network of road and rail infrastructure. A new airport would be essential to an innovative, world-class, multi-modal, mega e-commerce cluster. As longtime Southland residents, we’ve witnessed our region overlooked. We will no longer stand idly by for any Governor who does not make improving the economic quality of life in our region a top priority.
Thus, we write to respectfully ask your Administration to immediately:
1) Begin Phase I Engineering on the proposed airport interchange on I-57 at mile marker 332;
2) Complete land acquisition with funds already appropriated by the General Assembly;
3) Refresh the Environment Impact Study;
4) Complete the final airport “master plan” and seek a Record of Decision from the FAA.
Finally, there is great private-sector interest in the airport, thus, we urge the State to draft a master development agreement and solicit bids from private companies willing to finance, construct, maintain and operate the airport on State-owned land.
The Southland, with our extraordinary transportation assets, has the potential to be a model 21st Century e-commerce hub that could be the envy of the nation. But that will only happen if the State defines its role and demonstrates its commitment to lead a public-private partnership.
We thank you for your time and remain eager to work with your Administration on this ambitious, overdue, innovative investment in Illinois’ near- and long-term future.
The letter was signed by Sen. Michael Hastings and Reps. Will Davis and Kelly Burke.
Gov. Pritzker has focused quite a lot of attention on the Rockford airport. And south suburban types are upset at his lack of focus on their region on numerous other issues as well, including things like the Illiana Expressway and water issues within the inner ring suburbs like Dixmoor.
* Will Lee has perhaps the best out-migration story I’ve ever read in today’s Tribune. The anecdotes are interesting and relevant and so is the data…
Illinois in general saw some of the largest losses of Black residents during the last decade of any state except New York. As Chicago’s Hispanic and white populations have increased in the last decade, the city’s Black population dropped by 84,738 since 2010, the second highest decline after Detroit. […]
The outward trend is hardly a single phenomenon as the Midwest’s Black population has fallen by more than 130,000 people in the last 10 years, according to the Brookings Institution’s analysis.
The Atlanta, Dallas and Houston metro areas have gained the most Black residents between 2010 and 2020. […]
“We’ve never recovered from losing manufacturing jobs from the ‘70s on and … the manufacturing jobs disappearing was replaced by the era of mass incarceration where we sent people to prison for many offenses … many of them drug,” said Daniel Cooper, the planning council’s director of research. […]
The Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metro area had the eighth highest gain of Black residents during the past 10 years, with more than 72,000 new arrivals. In addition to Chicago, Phoenix has gained a number of people from Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. Many believe the new arrivals from blue states helped tip the 2020 presidential election for President Joe Biden.
If nothing else, Illinois Democrats need to look at this very real issue as a significant threat to their political dominance. In 2010, Gov. Pat Quinn defeated Republican Bill Brady by 31,834 votes. Would that have happened today?
Some Illinois House Democrats got a bit of a shock during a private caucus meeting held not long after the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed its proposed redistricting plan with a federal three-judge panel the other day.
MALDEF is claiming the legislature’s district remap plan unconstitutionally discriminates against Latinos and has filed suit. The group distributed a copy of its counter-proposal, and there was all sorts of bad news for incumbent Democrats.
The MALDEF proposal doesn’t take into account where members live, where their kids go to school, where their parents go to church. Its sole purpose is to maximize Latino representation in the two legislative chambers.
So, you wind up with a situation where Chicago Democratic Reps. Theresa Mah and Edgar Gonzales are drawn by MALDEF into the same district. Mah, an Asian-American, currently represents a Latino district with strong influence from Asian-American precincts. And that pairing is just one example.
The Republicans’ proposed remap is even worse for Democrats. The Republican proposal uses the redrawing of Latino districts to create ripple effects on more than a couple of dozen other districts, which allows them to make room for new Republican districts.
That’s basically the whole point of this exercise for the GOP: Use alleged Voting Rights Act violations as an opportunity to find ways to create new winnable districts for Republican candidates.
The Republican remap plan submitted to the federal panel also reportedly pairs Assistant House Majority Leader Jay Hoffman with fellow Democratic Rep. LaToya Greenwood in the Metro East. Democrats had dispersed Black voters among three different districts to make them all winnable by Democrats. That would make the non-East St. Louis district more winnable for the GOP.
The East St. Louis NAACP has also filed suit, and its map proposal takes Black residents away from Rep. Hoffman and Rep. Katie Stuart and creates a majority-Black district centered in East St. Louis. That would also mean bad electoral news for Hoffman and Stuart.
House Democrats were reminded during a private caucus meeting last week that MALDEF and the other plaintiffs still have to prove the new redistricting law the Democrats passed is unconstitutional before the plaintiffs can even claim that their proposals would remedy the situation.
There was no talk of Democratic leaders trying to negotiate a compromise. Instead, they’re confident their proposal will withstand judicial scrutiny. In the meantime, calm was urged.
“If that’s their position, they’re going to lose,” predicted one longtime Democratic participant in remap efforts. “What they ought to do is somewhat modify the MALDEF and Republican maps to do some damage control overall for themselves.”
MALDEF won a landmark remap case in Illinois that ended up creating two Latino Senate districts in 1981. Then-House Speaker Michael Madigan learned his lesson from that loss during his first-ever remap attempt and never poked the MALDEF bear again.
Fast forward 40 years. We have new legislative leaders, and MALDEF is making the same sorts of legal arguments it made in 1981, which is why some argue the Democrats need to work out a compromise that could save some districts here and there.
But why was there no legislative compromise when the maps were being drawn with groups like the Latino Policy Forum, which has been arguing forcefully for months that the remap plan is unconstitutional?
The simple answer is the Democrats firmly believe they have a winning legal strategy, and their prime objective was to help Democrats and attract Democratic votes to the remap bill, which meant catering to the remap demands and desires of individual Democratic members - making sure, for example, that their kids’ schools and their parents’ churches are in their new districts.
One way the leaders in both chambers were able to prevent outside influence was to warn their members that if they talked to an outsider about the remap process, they’d get hit with a subpoena.
From my own experience trying to pry loose information on the remap, I can tell you the warnings worked amazingly well. I and others I know all heard back the same basic thing: “I can’t talk to you, or I’ll get subpoenaed. And I don’t want to be dragged into this lawsuit.” The Latino groups simply didn’t know what was going down.
Members were also informed that, while many of the newly created Latino-“influenced” districts did not have adequate population to elect a Latino candidate, ongoing population shifts and the aging of people who are now too young to vote would combine to create majority Latino districts in the next three to five years or so.
That argument, I’m told, will be vigorously contested by MALDEF and others in court.
* Another reminder that Ken Griffin has money to burn comes to us from Bloomberg…
Citadel Founder Ken Griffin bought a first printing of the U.S. Constitution which sold for a record-setting $43.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction, the auction house announced Friday. […]
Griffin said he will loan the document to Billionaire Alice Walton’s Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The artifact carried a presale estimate of $15 million to $20 million and belonged to collector Dorothy Goldman. Her late husband, S. Howard Goldman, had purchased it for $165,000 in 1988.
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau has called for his community to reopen faster than is outlined as part of Governor JB Pritzker’s plan.
He says it just can’t wait.
“The governor’s plan would not allow restaurants to reopen until at least June 26. Frankly, most of our small, family-owned restaurants will not survive that long,” Mayor Pekau said.
Mayor Pekau posted video on social media Thursday. The village said that it may lose $2.7 million this year in sales tax revenue because of COVID-19 restrictions, so it has laid out its own plan to reopen businesses at a faster pace.
Pekau said Pritzker’s plan is based off “weird science” and has used an “asinine display of logic” in his guidance to restart the state after COVID-19’s peak.
Less than one week after Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau used taxpayer monies to file a vague and unclear lawsuit against Gov. Pritzker demanding that COVID-19 restrictions be eased, the coronavirus struck close to home.
According to sources, an employee in the Village Manager’s Office at Orland Park Village Hall has tested positive for Coronavirus.
Although this is the first confirmed case of COVID-19 at Orland Park’s Village Hall – other government agencies have reported cases – Pekau’s high profile publicity, his demand restrictions be eased, and his taxpayer-funded lawsuit against Gov. Pritzker’s coronavirus plan has made Orland Park the symbol of a growing movement of people who believe the virus is more of a myth than a threat.
A federal lawsuit filed by the Village of Orland Park against Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been denied by the U.S. District Court of Northern District of Illinois.
The lawsuit – which was filed in June by the Village, an Orland Park restaurant and two Orland Park residents – claimed the governor’s executive orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic violated the U.S. Constitution, Illinois Constitution and the Public Health Act.
However, in an opinion filed on Aug. 1, Judge Andrea R. Wood denied the Village’s motion, stating the “plaintiffs have a negligible likelihood of success on the merits of those claims.” Wood also wrote that the “plaintiffs have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of any of their federal claims based on traditional constitutional analyses.”
The federal lawsuit filed by the Village of Orland Park against Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been dropped, records show.
After months of discussion and investigations, the dismissal of the case on Tuesday did not give an explanation as to why the village decided to voluntarily drop the lawsuit. Mayor Keith Pekau, reached by phone Friday morning, said “it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It was pretty clear that [the judge] was going to say that we don’t have standing in a federal court and take it back to a state court, which obviously costs a ton of money… when it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re open,” Pekau said, adding that from August to now, the village has spent “almost no money” on the case.
Trustee Dan Calandriello, who was opposed from the start to the litigation, said the consensus during Monday’s closed-door session was drop the matter.
“The feeling was it was time to finish this thing,” he said.
Calandriello, who is an attorney, said he believes the total legal bill for Orland Park will be about $70,000 and was critical of the expense at a time when municipal revenues have been affected due to the pandemic.
“At the end of the day this was not productive,” he said.
The Village Board of Orland Park voted 7-0 Tuesday to approve a resolution that opposes Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mask mandate and any vaccine mandate against COVID-19. […]
Pekau went on to state that Illinois has been under a state of emergency for 600 days, during which time the governor had issued 97 executive orders. “These are the actions of a dictator,” the mayor said.
I think it’s rather sad how some elected officials keep making the pandemic about politics rather than public health.
Leaders in Orland Park, for example, seemed incapable of discussing mask and vaccine mandates last week without criticizing Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
“We’re ruling by fiat, and by one man, we’re not ruling by legislative action,” Mayor Keith Pekau said during a rambling, 25-minute diatribe at the Sept. 7 Village Board meeting. […]
Pekau refused to answer [WGN-AM’s Steve Bertrand’s] question about whether the mayor was vaccinated. […]
Pekau is hardly the only warrior for the aggrieved who seems like an opportunist using the pandemic to gain attention and score political points.
Mayor Keith Pekau is running for Congress in the 6th Congressional District, according to federal documents filed Monday.
The Orland Park mayor had not formally announced his candidacy as of Thursday afternoon, but registered Pekau For Congress as a committee under the Federal Election Commission Monday afternoon.
Currently, the 6th District is represented by Democratic incumbent Congressman Sean Casten. … Democrat Marie Newman [has announced she will run] against Casten in a primary contest. Pekau has registered to run as a Republican.
Special Guests: Jeanne Ives and Other Local Leaders
WHAT: Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau has fought career politicians and the radical left to help his hometown put “people over politics.” Now, he’ll take that fight to the halls of Congress. Pekau will formally announce his campaign for the 6th Congressional District at a local small business.
WHEN: Monday, November 22 at 10:00am
Press can arrive at 9:30am to set-up.
WHERE: Alexander Equipment Co., 4728 Yender Ave, Lisle, IL 60532
WHY: Keith Pekau is the common sense, local leader 6th District residents need in Washington to take on the extreme politicians. His record of results stands in stark contrast to the failed far-left politics of Marie Newman, Sean Casten, and Nancy Pelosi.
EXTRA: Pekau’s public Campaign Kick-Off Event is that evening (November 22nd) at 5:30pm at Fox’s Pizza & Irish Pub in Orland Park.
Today, the Illinois Supreme Court allows Deerfield’s 2018 assault weapons ban ordinance to stand. The case challenged Deerfield’s authority to adopt the ordinance but did not challenge the validity or constitutionality of the ordinance. The Supreme Court’s ruling accepted Deerfield’s arguments concerning home rule authority and statutory interpretation.
Rep. Bob Morgan said, “Today is a tremendous day for Deerfield. The Illinois Supreme Court decision affirms that local municipalities have the ability to control the weapons in their communities. This makes Deerfield safer and is a win for the community.”
Following the shooting at Marjory Stone Douglas High School, Deerfield’s leadership team listened to residents, especially high school students who called for the assault weapons ban. Deerfield Mayor Daniel C. Shaprio said, “I continue to believe that these weapons have no place in our community.”
* It’s a bit more complicated than that. From the Supreme Court…
In this case, one Justice of this court has recused himself, and the remaining members of the court are divided so that it is not possible to secure the constitutionally required concurrence of four judges for a decision (see Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, § 3). Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed. The effect of this dismissal is the same as an affirmance by an equally divided court of the decision under review but is of no precedential value.
Justice Michael Burke took no part in the decision.
* The Illinois Municipal League summed up the issue last year…
The Illinois Appellate Court for the Second District (Appellate Court) reversed a portion of the circuit court’s injunction prohibiting the enforcement of a Village of Deerfield (Village) ordinance regulating firearms. The Appellate Court held that the provisions of the ordinance regulating assault weapons were a valid exercise of the Village’s home rule authority, but that to the extent the ordinance provisions restricting high capacity magazines regulated handgun ammunition, the injunction was affirmed. Easterday, et al., v. The Village of Deerfield, 2020 IL App (2nd) 190879 (December 4, 2020).
As a result of the deadlocked Supreme Court, the decision of the Illinois Appellate Court, which ruled the weapon ban was legal, remains in effect as the final word. […]
One of the central arguments in the case was whether Deerfield’s 2018 restrictions should be considered an amended law or a new law.
When the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation in 2013 allowing state residents to carry concealed firearms, the law included a provision that allowed home rule municipalities like Deerfield to regulate assault weapons within a 10-day window or lose the opportunity to do so.
Acting within the 10 day time limit, the Deerfield Village Board of Trustees enacted an ordinance regulating the storage and transportation of the specified list of guns but did not prohibit ownership or possession of the guns.
Then in 2018, after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Deerfield officials moved to amend their ordinance to ban certain firearms.
Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell joins Crain's reporters Greg Hinz and A.D. Quig as they discuss Illinois' infrastructure plans, the Build Back Better bill, and more.
House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch rose so quickly to the top of the General Assembly that he found himself learning on the job and seeking out mentors as he tried to guide his caucus through a historic legislative year.
Welch spoke to former House Speaker Michael Madigan on three different occasions during the legislative session, and he turned to another veteran politician for insight, too: Willie Brown, who served as speaker of the California Assembly for 15 years. He and Welch are part of a very small club of Black legislators to serve as speaker. Brown says just six in the nation’s history.
Welch first sought out Brown when he was trying to rally votes to become Illinois speaker in January. “He gave me some advice and encouragement and said when you get this done come out and we’ll talk,” Welch told Playbook Thursday.
Earlier this week, Welch took him up on the offer and met Brown at his San Francisco office. “An opportunity to sit down with Willie Brown in his town? I couldn’t turn that down,” he told Playbook.
Welch had also talked to Brown by phone during the legislative session “to run a few scenarios by him for his advice.” The subject each time was related to member management issues. “It’s the hardest part of the job,” Welch says.
Brown definitely knows member management. When his chamber lost the majority in the 1994 Republican landslide, he eventually convinced two Republicans to side with Democrats.
There was a time here when the Illinois House was divided 60-58 and I joked back then that I was praying every night for the Democrats to lose one seat just to see what Madigan would do in case of a tie. Could he do what Brown did? Alas, we never got the chance to see.
The Illinois State Board of Education hopes to approve a new rule that would further cement Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive order mandating that Illinois teachers, staff and school contractors be vaccinated against COVID-19 or go through weekly testing to be inside schools. […]
Under the proposal, teachers and other staff could still be exempt from getting the vaccine if they have a medical issue or strongly held religious beliefs. However, the proposed rule could allow schools to require unvaccinated staff to get tested twice per week if there is a COVID-19 outbreak. Schools could also bar staff from entering buildings if they have any COVID-19 symptoms. […]
Not all ISBE board members were happy with proposal. ISBE member Roger Eddy, a former state lawmaker and head of the Illinois Association of School Boards, said the board shouldn’t use rule-making to overrule the subject of multiple court cases.
“I think that allowing the courts, as one of the three branches of government, to weigh in on this would be a far more prudent way to proceed at this time,” Eddy said.
There was a time when Republicans opposed activist judges dictating policy rather than trying to get the policy right to begin with.
I mean, seriously, since when do members of a state board vote to abdicate their authority to slightly change some rules to the whims of judges?
The National School Boards Association has apologized to its members for its letter last month to President Joe Biden in which the group sought federal help in countering threats, harassment, and violence targeting school officials and said that some of the actions could be classified as “domestic terrorism” or hate crimes.
In a Friday letter to NSBA members, the group stated that while the safety of its members and schools in general was its top priority, “There was no justification for some of the language included in the letter. We should have had a better process in place to allow for consultation on a communication of this significance.”
Lots of Facebookers were sure up in arms about that.
* So, I was a bit surprised that the state’s Republican congressional delegation minus Adam Kinzinger waited until late yesterday afternoon to issue this press release…
Today, Congresswoman Mary Miller (IL-15) led a letter with members of the Illinois Congressional delegation urging the Illinois School Boards Association to withdraw from the National School Boards Association.
On September 29, 2021, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent a letter to the Biden Administration asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to treat concerned parents, advocating for their children peacefully, as “domestic terrorists.”
“Parents should never be treated as domestic terrorists for showing up at school board meetings to advocate for their kids,” Miller said. “Many school boards across the country are trying to force racist Critical Race Theory, a perverted sexual education curriculum, and transgender policies that are harmful to teenage girls. We must empower the role of parents in their children’s education, and we hope that the Illinois School Boards Association will withdraw from the National School Boards Association.”
The Illinois School Boards Association (ISBA) plans to meet today and discuss their continued involvement with the National School Boards Association (NSBA).
“The FBI is still “tagging” parents they deem threatening at school board meetings,” Miller said. “I believe that Illinois parents and families should play a central role in their children’s education, not the federal government.”
Not over the top at all. Also, it’s the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB). The full letter, which has the name right, is here. The press release was sent after the IASB meeting ended, by the way.
* I reached out early this morning to IASB Executive Director Thomas Bertrand for comment. His reply…
Hi Rich,
Thanks for your email.
On 10/20/21 I sent a message to IASB members that stated that IASB is currently not a dues paying member of NSBA. Last year the IASB Board of Directors suspended membership in NSBA (for this year) because of concerns that have persisted over time with the national organization. The IASB Board affirmed that decision yesterday at its regularly scheduled board meeting.
The Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) supports school board members in their civic duty to represent their community and provide quality educational opportunities for all students of the district. The letter to President Biden was sent without the knowledge or input from the state associations that NSBA represents. While the letter drew attention to reports of physical and verbal threats made at some publicly held school board meetings, including isolated incidents here in Illinois, the incendiary language used in it detracted from that message.
This is not the first disagreement that IASB has had with NSBA. Prior to this incident the IASB Board of Directors was evaluating its relationship with NSBA. IASB previously expressed concerns to NSBA about problems related to governance, transparency, and financial oversight. IASB suspended payment of dues to NSBA for 2021-2022, and sought to address these concerns through changes to the governance structure of the national association.
In other words, the indoctrination is being implemented implicitly rather than explicitly and thanks to the actions of the Illinois State Legislature, it is only going to get worse. Illinois has embraced Culturally Responsive Teaching Standards, which encourages teachers to embrace woke ideology. Additionally, the Governor has signed Senate Bill 818, which requires schools to implement the National Sex Education Standards beginning in kindergarten. Students as young as 8 years old will now have curriculum that teaches them about masturbation and other sexually explicit material.
Add to this the willingness of the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Education Association to not only go along with the Governor’s overreaching school mask mandates but to encourage these mandates, and the wokeism in our schools is inescapable.
He sure likes that word “woke.” All-purpose.
If you want to know what’s really going on with Culturally Responsive Teaching Standards, click here for a reasoned, factual piece. And SB818 does not require all schools to do anything and parents can opt their kids out.
Some people just gotta be angry all the time. I don’t get it.
(The Center Square) – As a group of schools continues to get court protection against punishment from the Illinois State Board of Education, another Illinois district is gearing up for a legal fight to make masks optional. […]
In Vandalia, School Board Vice President Joe Schall said the board was unanimous this week in returning to mask optional policies starting Dec. 6. […]
“Our budget is $100,000 for our tort, so we’re going to set up a trust,” Schall said. “There will be more details to follow, but if you feel necessary, if you feel compelled to donate to the cause as our legal bills may go over our budget, you are more than welcome to do that.”
Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza, her staff and other volunteers passed out 160 turkeys and hams as well as other donated food to Cairo residents at the Arrowleaf community center today. Laborers’ Local 773, which represents workers in fields such as construction and railroad maintenance, donated the meat and bags of food. Krispy Kreme in Marion also donated boxes of doughnuts.
Alexander County, of which Cairo is the county seat, has the lowest vaccination rate of Illinois’ 102 counties, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. So among the offerings at this year’s giveaway were vaccine shots administered by the Southern Seven Health Department.
“Residents throughout the state can greatly benefit from the protection these free COVID-19 vaccinations provide against severe disease,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “That’s why my office wanted to make sure the people of Cairo were given an additional opportunity to get vaccinated.”
This is the fifth year the Illinois Office of Comptroller has helped coordinate and distribute donations in Cairo so that in-need families can put a Thanksgiving meal on their dinner tables. The Office of Comptroller worked with Arrowleaf, a human-services nonprofit, to coordinate and host the donations. Arrowleaf also offered clothing and coat donations during the event.
“I’m a strong believer in the people of Southern Illinois. While the region has its own unique challenges, I want its residents to know they are not alone,” said Comptroller Mendoza. “The whole state and I support regrowth and regeneration in Cairo and the surrounding region, which is a beautiful area that my family and I love to visit.”
Comptroller Mendoza reiterated her promise to expedite payments for the development of Cairo’s new international port, expected to bring jobs and economic development to the region,’ noting, “Cairo needs more than one shot in the arm.”
Comptroller Mendoza was joined at the donation event by State Sen. Dale Fowler, R-Harrisburg, State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, and Cairo Mayor Thomas Simpson.
“I’ve been vaccinated. It’s not only a personal choice but also a choice about protecting others, like your family,” said Mayor Simpson.
Southern Illinois residents can call their local county health departments to schedule a free COVID-19 vaccination. People who are unsure of who to call can call the Southern Seven Health Department at 618-634-2297 for more information.
“It’s a blessing to see these officials and groups come together to provide these meals. It’s wonderful that they are taking notice of Cairo and working to support its regrowth,” said Mayor Simpson.
Comptroller Mendoza also dropped off food donations at the Cairo Women’s Shelter for survivors of domestic abuse and their children in Cairo this morning. On Wednesday, she met with the founders of The Giving Tree Fund in Sesser, a charity that coordinates donations of Christmas gifts and necessities for area youth and their families.
“During the holidays, it’s an especially great time to make note of the charitable nature of so many of our neighbors and fellow Illinois residents. I’m honored to be able to meet with and support the efforts of those working to better their communities,” said Comptroller Mendoza.
* Photos…
I’m told about a dozen people got their shots at the event.
* The Question: Do you participate in any holiday season charity events? Explain either way, please.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate fell -0.2 percentage point to 6.0 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased by +40,900 in October, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The preliminary report for September monthly payrolls was revised from +9,200 to +11,000 jobs. The September unemployment rate was also revised from the preliminary report, decreasing from 6.8 percent to 6.2 percent, as a result of a large downward revision that the BLS introduced to September statewide unemployed. More information on the September unemployment rate revision can be found in the attachment to this news release.
The October payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflects activity for the week including the 12th. The BLS has published FAQs for the October payroll jobs and the unemployment rate.
In October, the three industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment were: Professional and Business Services (+17,700), Leisure and Hospitality (+8,400) and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+7,700). The industry sectors that reported the monthly payroll declines were: Information (-1,500) and Educational and Health Services (-500). […]
The state’s unemployment rate was +1.4 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate reported for October, which was 4.6 percent, down -0.as 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 8.1 percent.
Compared to a year ago, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +190,300 jobs, with gains across nearly all major industries. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases were: Leisure and Hospitality (+60,800), Professional and Business Services (+50,000), and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+37,200). Financial Activities (-5,200) was the only industry group that reported jobs losses. In October, total nonfarm payrolls were up +3.4 percent over-the-year in Illinois and +4.1 percent in the nation.
The number of unemployed workers was down from the prior month, a -3.4 percent decrease to 370,400, and was down -27.7 percent over the same month for one year ago. The labor force was up +0.1 percent over-the-month and was down -1.6 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.
Explanation of the revision to the September 2021 Illinois statewide unemployment rate
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has examined state labor force data for unusual monthly changes, also referred to as outliers, and made monthly adjustments based on a statistical evaluation of the monthly changes. Without these adjustments, the BLS statewide labor force models would have discounted a portion of the pandemic impact and would not have reflected accurately the current labor force conditions. Historically, these types of adjustments to monthly state labor force data occur during the annual benchmarking in February of each year, but they have been implemented on a monthly basis since the beginning of the pandemic to be more responsive to the recession’s impact.
In January 2021, BLS introduced an adjustment to the State of Michigan’s labor force model in response to a detected outlier. This adjustment inadvertently created distortions to statewide labor force estimates for Michigan and other states within the East North Central Division (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin) for January and all subsequent months through September 2021. One part of the monthly statewide labor force estimation process involves adjusting monthly statewide employed and unemployed estimates to equal monthly Census Division employed and unemployed levels. In turn, Census Division employed and unemployed estimations are adjusted to national monthly employed and unemployed estimates, which ensures that the sum of all states equals national employed and unemployed levels.
The distortions to the state labor force estimates occurred gradually through September 2021 but were only recently identified by the BLS after Illinois and another East North Central Division state raised concerns about their monthly 2021 statewide labor force estimates. The BLS has found that distortions to the Illinois labor force estimates are limited to January-September 2021.
Effective October 2021, BLS changed its approach to detecting and adjusting for outliers in monthly statewide labor force data. This change has reduced distortions to the revised September 2021 statewide labor force estimates and the preliminary October 2021 statewide labor force estimates for Illinois and other states in the East North Central Division. The distortions made to January–August 2021 statewide labor force estimates will be modified during the annual benchmarking process in February 2022.
The federal government has corrected Michigan’s unemployment rate upward by 1.7 percentage points, above the U.S. average.
Federal officials cited an outlier in statistical modeling amid sharp job swings during the coronavirus pandemic.
The September unemployment rate is now 6.3%, but it had been 4.6% — below the national rate. The October number, also released Wednesday, dipped to 6.1%.
As Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., mulls his 2022 options — another House run or governor bid — he made a noteworthy Chicago stop on Monday: at a meeting with members of the Fraternal Order of Police and other law enforcement officials organized by a House GOP task force.
Davis, 51, from downstate Taylorville — a former Hill staffer first elected to Congress in 2012 — is well known in the Capitol but has a slim profile in the Chicago area.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 president John Catanzara — a very strong supporter of former President Donald Trump — just quit his Chicago Police Department job to avoid discipline charges and is flirting with a 2023 run against Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
The GOP-friendly FOP hosted on Monday a session with Davis and Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., the chair of the American Security Task Force, created by House Republicans and with only GOP members.
He didn’t even tell anyone he held that meeting until well after it ended.
* But it sure got Sen. Darren Bailey’s attention. From the Republican gubernatorial candidate’s daily Facebook live video…
And even today, we see a US Congressman up in Chicago for the first time ever taking an interest in Chicago all of a sudden. Why? Because they don’t think they can win their US congressional districts, so why not make a run for governor? Friends that’s the mentality of the Republican Party and it must stop. We need to remove bad leaders. I will assure you that as your governor, I will help make the weak leaders better.
Not trying to pick on Bailey here, but this theory that Rodney Davis is too afraid of a possible Mary Miller primary bid to run for reelection is definitely on the goofy side. Miller would have to run in a whole lot of turf currently represented by Davis. And, as for Miller’s current turf, Davis made a whole lot of lifelong contacts when he was running John Shimkus’ district operation. Unlike his successor Miller, Shimkus actually ran a good constituent services program.
Yesterday, the House voted to censure Representative Paul Gosar (AZ-04) after he posted a photoshopped anime video of him killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and attacking President Biden.
The only two Republicans that voted for censure were Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) and Liz Cheney (WY), meaning Rodney Davis voted in favor of his Republican colleagues using vitriolic rhetoric against other members of the house, and the President of the United States.
That’s interesting, because here he is in 2017 saying that Democrats were using hateful, vitriolic rhetoric when saying that people would die if the Republicans healthcare plan passed.
I believe wholeheartedly that our movement, which includes you, we have the Republican gubernatorial nominee locked in. Everything we do now is building towards the general to get Pritzker out of office, and I believe it’s going to happen.
* Speaking of Pritzker, this is a big stretch, even though I hear it regularly…
Then he was on hand at the White House this week for President Joe Biden’s signing ceremony of his signature $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Perhaps Pritzker also was there to measure the drapes, check the paintings and consider the décor?
Maybe he did the same while visiting in July to lobby the Biden administration for more infrastructure money for the Land of Lincoln. The governor believes Illinois has a number of projects shovel-ready for some of the $17 billion the state is expected to receive for the 2022 construction season because of his vast Rebuild Illinois program.
While Democrat Pritzker is seeking reelection next year to a second four-year term in Springfield, there’s an adage in politics that even while running for reelection, one is always seeking the next office. Could a presidential run be in J.B.’s future? […]
We know he once looked to Washington, D.C., before he ran for governor. Pritzker expressed interest in the U.S. Senate seat of Barack Obama when he was elected president in 2008.
Um, no. He asked for an appointment to state treasurer in case Alexi Giannoulias was called to DC by Obama. There were those who thought he would get a Cabinet appointment if Hillary Clinton had won in 2016, but she lost and he ran for governor.
You get invited to the White House by a president, you go. Simple as that (well, okay, there was a recent exception). Also, I know plenty of politicians who are content to run for reelection without constantly plotting their next upward moves.
Illinois GOMB says next bond issue well tentatively sell competitively Dec. 1, it's $400M of general obligation paper with about $175M going to fund ongoing accelerated pension benefit buyout program, remainder for capital…..
S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook to positive from stable and affirmed its ‘BBB’ rating on the State of Illinois’ general obligation (GO) debt outstanding, its ‘BBB-’ rating on the state’s appropriation-backed debt, and its ‘BB’ rating on the state’s moral obligation debt. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings assigned its ‘BBB’ long-term rating to the state’s $400 million GO bonds series A and B of December 2021, with a positive outlook. […]
The positive outlook means that there is at least a one-in-three chance that we could raise the rating within the two-year outlook period given Illinois’ continued improved transparency and budgetary performance. While pension-related fixed costs are likely to persist, if funding of the actuarially determined pension obligations does not continue to improve and the state’s forecast budgetary outyear gaps do not meaningfully narrow, we could revise the outlook to stable. If funding of the actuarially determined pension obligations continues to improve and the state resolves its forecast budgetary outyear gaps in a timely way, we could raise the rating. […]
Illinois’ strengthened operational reporting and controls and improving economic condition are leading to positive budgetary performance. The state now forecasts fiscal 2022 will close on June 30 with a $418 million surplus. This projected surplus includes $1 billion to complete repayment of the Municipal Liquidity Fund (MLF) borrowings from the Federal Reserve, a $928 million repayment of interfund borrowing, a proposed $913 million supplemental appropriation to reduce the health insurance reserve fund backlog, and a $300 million proposed contribution to the almost empty budget stabilization fund (BSF). This follows fiscal 2021’s strong results showing a $2.7 billion general fund surplus that also included a $1 billion MLF paydown. Not including the MLF paydown, the surplus represents more than 6% of fiscal 2021’s total expenditures. […]
As strong as the current performance is, the five-year forecast could indicate that this positive performance may not be short-lived. One year ago, the five-year forecast delivered in the annual Economic and Fiscal Policy Report from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) showed five consecutive outyear budget gaps of $4.2 billion-$4.8 billion annually. The November 2021 report shows a considerably more manageable budget gap forecast, with the largest expected deficit occurring in fiscal 2025 of $1 billion and all other years below that. In the annual budget cycle in a state with the resources that Illinois has, we view it to be able to close a $1 billion gap without any extraordinary measures. […]
The positive outlook reflects our anticipation that continued economic recovery will deliver revenues in line with forecast, the state will take action to rebuild the BSF, and that regular revenue and expenditure reporting will lead to timely actions to deliver a fiscal 2022 surplus.
…Adding… Fitch also assigned a positive outlook…
The Positive Outlook reflects Illinois’ preservation of fiscal resilience through the pandemic, coupled with unwinding of certain nonrecurring fiscal measures. Continued improvements in operating performance and structural balance could support a return to the pre-pandemic rating or higher. […]
Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive rating action/upgrade:
–Sustained progress in reducing the state’s liability burden by maintaining recent improvements including further reducing accounts payable closer to a level more consistent with normal operations, or fully repaying federal and interfund borrowings in the next fiscal year;
–Continuation of the recent pattern of more normal fiscal decision making, including on-time budgets that address fiscal challenges primarily with sustainable measures;
–Narrowing of the structural budget gap by better matching recurring revenues with recurring spending, including funding pensions at actuarially determined levels.
Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative rating action/downgrade:
–Failure to implement plans for early retirement of federal pandemic loans and repayment of interfund loans in fiscal 2022;
–Actions that materially exacerbate structural budget challenges, such as substantial use of one-time federal aid for recurring expenditures in future years.
The word “normal” in the context of Illinois fiscal matters has rarely been seen in years past.
The Teachers Retirement System, the largest of the five that make up the state’s pension system, said its newly released fiscal 2021 actuarial results “revealed that since the 2019 inception of two benefit buyout programs, TRS members have collected $534 million in advance benefit payments, which has led to a $70 million reduction in the required state contribution in the new fiscal year.” […]
The Teachers’ Retirement System recently published its preliminary fiscal 2021 financial report showing its funded ratio moved up to 42.5% after holding steady around 40% for several years and its unfunded liabilities dropped slightly to $79.9 billion from $80.7 billion due in large part to stellar investment returns of 25.5% for fiscal 2021, according to Segal Consultants.
The state’s total fiscal 2020 tab was $141 billion. If the others show similar results to TRS the total figure would mark a reversal in the steady rise.
* The four declared Republican gubernatorial candidates appeared on a Wirepoints Facebook program yesterday to talk about pensions. Here’s a transcript of what they said. I’ve tried to clean up some of the repeated words and other tics, but I didn’t have all day. I’ve highlighted actual policy ideas for those of you who would rather not read everything. And, as always, please forgive any transcription errors.
Well, good morning everyone. It’s nice to be with you. Ted, I’ve made no bones about it since the beginning, late June of 2017, you have a lot of responsibility for me entering into government, as a state representative, when I was totally checked out, people across this state, indeed, don’t truly understand this burden. Because once Illinois is unable to sell bonds, once they’re unable to borrow money, and the interesting thing is check out our last, you know, 20 years worth of budgets. And you know, I’m a farmer, and if I have a bad year, and I lose money, I can’t go to the bank and borrow money and say that I made money. That’s what Illinois is doing, because this money must be paid back. So getting on board understanding this, you know, the pension problem in 2017. You know, I did something about I saw the problem I was concerned about the future and for our grandchildren jumped in ran for state representative against someone who had been voting for just just more tax debt, more pension debt. And that’s been the fight since day one. You know, I get out being blessed to be able to serve as a state representative for the last two years. And now as senator, when I talk to the people, all across the the pensioners, I find that I find something in common. No one feels secure about their future. And I certainly believe that when a promise has been made, it should be honored. And I think that it is very important that we communicate to these pensioners that we you know, we are trying, working, wanting to uphold your earned obligation. But we have got to sit at the table and work and come up with solutions. And as two years in the House, and now one year in the Senate, I found another, a common point. Union bosses and the political elites, they don’t want to talk about this. They just they just keep wanting to push kick the can down the road, as you suggest. And it is becoming an enormous problem. So gosh, I’ve been sharing Wire Points information since day one, people are responding to it.
I did something that anyone would have said probably would have been the broad side to a campaign just a month after announcing. I drew up and introduced a constitutional amendment to remove the Pension Protection Clause, because as I sit in committees, as I talk to union bosses, which they’re, you’re correct, they won’t hardly talk to you unless you force the issue. Many times it’s because I had an audience in a committee and was abruptly shut down that we’re not talking about any problems solutions, because there are, we had tier two a few years ago and no, yes, we it is protected by the Constitution. Yet when I go out, and I talk to the people that are working, they are very uncertain, very concerned about their future. So it must be talked about. So I sat and I thought well, what in the world can I do to try to create conversation? So I introduced this constitutional amendment to remove the the Pension Protection Clause. And interestingly enough, it garnered conversation, people are now coming to me as they see this platform expanding and they’re wanting to talk.
Governor Pritzker, you know, he loves to to chastise the Republican saying that we have no solution saying that we’re anti union saying that we’re trying to take away everyone’s pension, which is absolutely untrue, we have got to come up with some solutions. Wire Points has some wonderful starting points. I like to tell people that I liken it to purchasing a piece of farm equipment or purchasing a vehicle that we start somewhere and then we bring people to the table. And that’s just exactly what the Republican Party has to do. That’s what I will do.
As your governor, I will bring people to the table. I don’t want to talk to the union bosses, I don’t want to talk to the political elites, I want to talk to the men and women of IDOT, of Department of Corrections just on and on and on who are very concerned as they should be about their feature. We’ll sit down, we’ll come up with some solutions. You know, it’s obvious that 401k plans must supersede it’s obvious that we have to, you know, we’ve got to work with a reasonable COLA, we’ve got to have obviously, you know, health insurance participation and all this can be done. And as much of your research Ted suggests that in 15 to 20 years, we can begin to right this ship. We can come up with a final fix so that we’re not worried or concerned or talking about pension problems anymore, and then we can make Illinois the great state that we know that it should be and that we can help make the The people that are working so hard and diligently under state government secure in their future. So I just want to thank you so much for allowing this for your research for your concern about Illinois. Thank you.
His constitutional amendment is here. And the long-established 2045 target date for paying off the pension liability is not much more than 20 years from now.
…Adding… It’s being debated in comments, but putting workers on a 401(K) plan would increase costs to Illinois taxpayers because of Social Security payments and any matching 401(K) contributions. The real problem here is the unpaid debt, not the “normal” costs. And moving workers off the pension systems would also mean the state would have to come up with money lost from employee contributions.
Thank you very much Ted for putting this together. I really like the fact that we have four people running for governor as conservatives. And as conservatives we hopefully look at the future whether it’s bright or dull and shine a light on it, and this is what we’re doing. We’ve got trouble ahead. And if we don’t fix it if we don’t look forward to fixing it as conservatives, it’s not going away. And so I like the fact that we have four governors running on the Republican side that are all looking at this issue hard and fast. And Ted, we appreciate your guidance because we’ve all been watching your you know, your your everything you’re writing, and we we get it so I appreciate that. We better face this problem. If we don’t our state is going to is going to go to hell in a handbasket.
And so here’s the thing. I was at breakfast this morning with a friend of mine. He was he was showing me that he’s paying his bill in Florida for his place in Florida. $300,000 place It was less than $1,500 for his annual taxes. Okay, where I live in Woodstock, Illinois, that would be $12,000. Okay, Ted, so when you you show that 2% of value? I think that’s 2019. I’m very confident we’ve got more than that. 2.2 or 2.3 Wherever that was, we’re up closer to three in my opinion. That’s how far we’ve I’ve seen my property value right my property taxes go up. At the same time property taxes have gone down. I got another a couple examples. East St. Louis to St. Louis. Boy St. Louis they’re booming. East St. Louis is looking terrible. Just like you said, the border town. Decatur I think you used, it’s sickening to see the depreciated value that the loss in value to our border counties and heck, across our state of Illinois, depreciation of value instead of appreciation. We have all this crazy inflation, everything else and we’re still down in values for most homes in Illinois. Since 2008. That’s tax theft. This isn’t fair for any Illinoisan to have, you have to go through this. When I was looking at a friend of mine’s property of the day to look at repaving a parking lot for him, this building this building would cost $30 million to rebuild about a $500,000 parking lot to repave. He can only spend like 20 or $30,000 to patch it up. Because he says the value of the building is no more than one or $2 million today. Because his taxes are 500,000 a year on a building with like, zero to $3 million in value is his estimated value. Okay, on a building that would cost 30 million to rebuild. So it’s not just the residential properties that were getting crushed on. It’s our commercial properties as well. And so you’re seeing vacancy everywhere in retail and office and this isn’t going to stop if we don’t face the facts. And then the crazy thing Ted is, what are we getting for it if these high taxes were actually paying down that the some of the principal on this debt, that’d be one thing we could talk about, but we’re not even paying down any principal, it keeps growing. We’ve been paying down all the interest on this debt. So if we don’t face it now we’re going to be a dark place in years to come. And great leadership like I believe we have on this call will face this tough problem, like politicians usually don’t. And I gotta tell you, visionaries look to the future bright or dull and they really, you know, they understand what to do to fix the future and I gotta tell you that the future looks great in Illinois, if we can fix it, when we fix this problem and only when we fix it. The goal is to save the pension for pensioneers, but you can’t do it if you don’t look at the future of it. I say there’s when I think of the the it’s just not property taxes you know, we’re pumping up our gas tax you know second highest I think in the country now we’re looking at you know a sales tax everywhere you know, different different pockets raising your sales tax and Cook County number one or two in the country today. With this all this all trickles down to to to unsustainable living for working class families, and we better stop and we better stop ait fast so I admire the fact that we’ve got for four people seriously running for governor and I believe we need to band together this doesn’t need to be a point of differentiation between us in my opinion with help from from smart people in economics like yourself Ted, and people across the country have fixed this problem. We should band together have a solution for this problem together and know that anybody that votes for the Republican that wins they are going to get common sense can’t-be-bought leadership, like I’m gonna bring to the table because I tell you what, we haven’t seen that in Illinois in a long time. So I thank you so much for having us on. And thank you to the other three, gubernatorial candidates for being on because I know you guys are serious as I am about fixing In this problem.
You go on a program that’s about pensions and you don’t bother to do any sort of research about what to do about pensions except mouth vague platitudes? C’mon, man.
Well, thank you. Thank you, Ted. And thank you to Wire Points for your important work on this absolutely critical issue. I also want to echo what Gary said about my fellow candidates, I’m glad that you’re taking us seriously and dedicated to solutions. Lastly, I want to also thank those of you who are tuning in and watching this. Thank you for taking the time to educate yourself about what is a very critical issue facing our state. Now, my name is Paul Shimpf and I’m running for Illinois Governor because our state needs common sense, conservative leadership that we can trust. I am not a career politician, you’re going to hear me talk about the causes of this shortfall. In a couple minutes. I was not part of that problem. I spent my adult life in the United States Marine Corps. I got out as a lieutenant colonel in 2013, I came home, wound up getting involved in politics, because I think you have a duty to try to make your state your country and your community a better place. So I was a state senator from 2017 until beginning of this year, I’m not a state senator anymore, but I am not a career politician.
Look, the current status of our pension system is simply unsustainable. The insolvency of our pension systems threatens the very financial stability of our state. You know, and this is something that leaders do have to be talking about. Ted mentioned out-migration from Illinois. I was shocked when JB Pritzker gave his last State of the State speech. And he didn’t even mention the fact that people were leaving our state that we were hemorrhaging population. You know, JB Pritzker has not led on this issue. The numbers that Wire Points just unveiled are absolutely alarming and shocking. But it’s important that we also realize that we did not get into this mess overnight. We have been as a state digging this pensions hole that we now find ourselves in for decades. And it’s important to understand that there’s not going to be any silver bullets or magic beans type solution that’s going to get us out of this quickly. The number one driver for our pension shortfall is simply the Illinois politicians not making the required pension payments. And you know, I’m military, I can’t help myself. But there is no other way to describe it than simply dereliction of duty by the Illinois General Assembly. And that negligence is not going to be able to over be overcome instantaneously. But we can solve this problem. However, it’s going to require sacrifice in time and fiscal responsibility. Now, in 2019, JB Pritzker, his very first budget, saw our state increase spending across the board, despite the fact that we had record revenue coming in. We had a real opportunity in 2019, to do something to move ourselves in the right direction. Unfortunately, we missed that opportunity. I was one of just a handful of Republican senators who voted no on that first Pritzker budget, and I voted no because the increased spending and failure to pay down the pension shortfall made our situation much worse in the long run. That no vote that I cast on that first Pritzker budget. And that was a no vote in opposition to the Republican leadership in the House and Senate who supported that budget. That no vote is how you know that I’m serious about solving this fiscal this pension crisis that our state faces. JB Pritzker and the Democratic Party that he leads have had absolute control over Illinois government for three years now. And what have they done to solve this problem? Nothing, absolutely nothing. The only solution that JB Pritzker offers to this, or any other challenge that our state faces is increased taxes, increase government spending. JB Pritzker simply does not have the leadership capability to handle this crisis. This is yet another example of what I’ve been calling the Pritzker leadership deficit. It is real and it is adversely affecting our state like ever Another challenge our state faces, we need leadership, not outrage to solve our pensions crisis. Illinois needs a leader who can be tough, trusted to tell the truth, give measured analysis, offer solutions and then unite our state. I am that leader. And I’m asking for your trust. And your vote in the upcoming Governor election in 2022. Thank you so much for listening to me today.
Schimpf’s solution is to spend more money on pensions and spend less money on other things. Of course, the devil is in the details. What gets cut? Education? Public safety? Healthcare?
Great, Ted. Thanks for having me. And thanks, everyone, for joining this really important conversation. So I think back when I think of the pension issue, I think of sitting when I was telling my dad, I was going to run for governor, and I was sitting on his back porch of his house, it’s, I’m his neighbor. And so as we’re looking out over our corn and soybean fields, and my dad said, Hey, listen, he’s a retired public school teacher, and he said, Hey, if you’re going to take away my pensions, I’m not going to vote for you. And I said, Hey, you know, what, you taught me better than that, you taught me that your word is your bond. And, you know, a man is only as good as his word. And the state made a contract with a set of individuals that owned up to their part of that contract. Now, it’s incumbent upon us to actually care for these pensioners that are receiving these by actually making good on that promise. And as you know, you pointed out Ted 39% funded that is an insecure future for these retirees that we’ve made a promise to. So now you need to recognize, okay, we’ve got to do something serious about this, not by taking away any earned benefits from those who have earned them, but by reforming the system, drastically reforming it. And you think about JB Pritzker, his leadership, or lack of leadership on this, it’s really a head in the sand approach to the most important issues facing our state, whether that’s crime, or the pension issue. I’m not a politician. I’m a common sense problem solver who looks at you know, a business person who says what is the core problem here? What is the root cause problem that our state is facing? And politicians don’t like to do that, because then that means they own the problem. And they actually own solving the problem, and getting real outcomes for the people of the state. That’s why JB Pritzker has avoided taking it on. And so, for me, it’s just making that recognition that being a common sense problem solver is what we need to take this on. And I don’t think this is a partisan issue, I think it can be a bipartisan issue and approach. I think, back in 2013, there was a real initiative in a bipartisan way to get this done. I was able to serve over in Afghanistan, doing counterinsurgency work as a Department of Army civilian. In this work, what I learned was, you put the mission first, you don’t care who’s on the right and the left of you what their ideologies are, you know, what you care about is getting the job done getting the outcomes for those who are in need. And, and that’s what we need, as a leader of our state, someone who’s willing to step in and take this problem head on. Also, I approached this as a job creator, someone who I created Altar, a venture capital firm to back entrepreneurs, creating jobs around the world. I recognize what is needed from the government in order to create an atmosphere that business businesses and job creators want to be in. We are doing the exact opposite of that here in Illinois, we’re creating a really unfriendly business environment. And don’t take it from me as a business person. Take it from Warren Buffett, you know, the Great Investor who said, Hey, one of the first things we look at whenever we’re looking at investing into a new state is what are their unfunded liabilities. And when you look at Illinois being this extreme outlier, we’re not going to be able to create the jobs of the future here in Illinois for our children, if we have this, I call it it’s like a crack under the sea, it’s pulling everything else down along with it. And we need to point it out, we need to identify it, we need to have a bridge builder who can actually solve it. And that’s the last piece is we need someone who can actually be a common sense problem aolver work with people on the other side to be able to get outcomes here. And there are a lot of potential outcomes. I know today’s not about solutions. But there are a lot of potential solutions out there. But it’s going to take the right type of person who’s able and willing to work with the other side to actually get the results and outcomes the people of Illinois deserve. So I want to be that fighter, as your governor to actually step up and say we need to care about our retirees, those who have earned a pension. We need to care about them so much that we make this system solvent. We also have to care about the tax. There’s making sure they’re not getting around to the deal moving into the future, we need to care about the job creators here in Illinois and have a governor who will stand up for them and make this a business friendly state. So please check out Jessesullivan.com. I know I’m new to politics, but I’m not new to Illinois, and I love our home, I want to fix it. And I want to work together with the next generation of leaders here in Illinois that are going to make it happen.
OK, my eyes glazed over so much at all that excess fluff that I couldn’t accurately edit the statement. Sheesh. He started out strong talking about his dad, though.
Charlie Wheeler has forgotten more about the Illinois Legislature than most reporters will ever know — and he hasn’t forgotten much, least of all the time an ill-tempered state senator purposely dumped a bowl of hot soup on him.
Longtime readers of the Chicago Sun-Times might remember Wheeler by his elegant byline, Charles N. Wheeler III, matched by the equally elegant writing style he used to explain the legislative complexities in a way everyone could understand.
More recent readers might know him for his insightful comments, offered from his perch as director of the public affairs reporting program at the University of Illinois-Springfield, where he has helped mold a generation of top young journalists.
Wheeler, 77, is retiring this summer after an amazing 50-year run as a close observer of the Springfield scene — the first 24 years with the Sun-Times, the last 26 running the reporting program.
* Today is Charlie’s 80th birthday, so I thought we could honor our occasional blog commenter with a caption contest…
Happy birthday, Charlie!
…Adding… From Charlie…
Hi Rich,
Thank you so much for the kind words in your post about my birthday in yesterday’s Capfax. Thanks too to all the commenters who responded to your captions request, they really gave me a chuckle, especially those relating to my Santa Claus-like appearance and presumed octogenarian tastes. In my defense, I’d mention that I have heard of ear buds, but unfortunately they don’t work well when your ears are already plugged with hearing aids, thus the traffic controller headset.
I would have included my thanks as a Point of Personal Privilege in the comments section, but I spent most of the day with my daughter and grandkids, and by the time I saw the post, I figured it was too late to add anything. But I did want to let you know that I appreciate the shout out.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker attended a fundraiser last night for state Sen. Mike Simmons, a signal to any potential primary challenger that the recently appointed lawmaker from Chicago’s 7th District has the deep-pocketed governor’s support.
Simmons is Black and the state Senate’s first openly LGBTQ+ member, a point of pride for the party.
But Simmons also didn’t take a position on the most prominent piece of legislation the General Assembly tackled this year: the clean energy bill. The governor fiercely supported it, and traveled the globe to celebrate it at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.
At the time of his vote, Simmons told constituents he was concerned that the legislation would raise residents’ electric bills by $4 or more a month. Simmons took a pass — voting “present” — out of principle, knowing that the legislation would easily pass anyway.
By not holding that vote against him, Pritzker seems to be signaling that he doesn’t use litmus tests when it comes to supporting fellow Democrats.
It’s a turn-around from how the Democratic Party handled a lawmaker who sat out a vote on a crucial issue in 2019. Then-Democratic state Rep. Yehiel “Mark” Kalish, the General Assembly’s first member also serving as an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, passed on voting for the Reproductive Health Act, a law that enshrined abortion rights into state law. Kalish checked with the bill’s sponsor beforehand to be sure that it could pass even with his non-vote.
But his fellow Democrats turned on him nonetheless because he had said during his appointment interview that he would vote for the bill. He later lost his reelection bid in 2020.
Similarly, Simmons said during his appointment interview that he’d support the clean energy bill — which is why a few 47th Ward Democrats in his district are now concerned about his non-vote.
There is a huge difference between Simmons’ climate/energy bill vote and the backlash against Kalish: None of the groups behind the climate/energy bill are up in arms and demanding Simmons’ political head be put on a platter. Kalish’s flip-flop infuriated the pro-choice groups, particularly at Personal PAC, which, like it or not, has been a hugely powerful and influential pro-choice organization for decades here.
So, Kalish had to go. And so might Simmons if the AFL-CIO teamed up with the environmental groups to angrily demand his ouster. That hasn’t happened. Also, Personal PAC is more of an all-or-nothing organization. Its motto is “Pro-choice or no choice.” Labor and the enviros are more about the art of driving hard legislative bargains.
…Adding… Good point in comments…
The bill changed drastically between his commitment and his vote. By all means feel free to hold him to it, but then expect more non-answers from politicians like “It depends on what’s in the bill.” Or “I support the principle of promoting clean energy, but cannot make any commitments until I see the bill.”
I’m sure onlookers looooove that kind of response, but that’s what you incentivize.
State Senator Neil Anderson has announced that he will run for re-election in a sense, but in a new Senate District.
Republican Anderson hails from Andalusia, Illinois, and has been representing the nearby 36th District in the Quad Cities area.
Anderson is a firefighter and paramedic for the City of Moline, where he holds the rank of engineer.
The newly redrawn maps by the Democratic-controlled legislature very narrowly put Anderson in the 47th where he will run to represent parts of Knox, Rock Island, Warren, McDonough, and Fulton counties.
That new district is much more Republican than his current district. It’s already been interesting to watch his generally pro-labor voting record change to voting against the climate/energy bill.
* Rep. Dan Brady has been in office nearly 20 years and represents a very GOP district. His campaigns have mostly been cakewalks…
As of Sept. 30, Brady had nearly $190,000 in his campaign coffers. By comparison, the top two Dem campaign coffers are owned by Giannoulias, who ended September with more than $3.4 million in the bank, and Valencia, who raised more than $707,000.
But Brady was undaunted by the financial challenges. The longtime state rep said he’s been the underdog — and underfunded — in every campaign he’s ever been in but “there’s no hill for a climber.”
Click here for a bit of electoral history.
…Adding… Mayor Lightfoot was asked yesterday about FOP President John Catanzara’s threat to run for mayor…
A suburban businessman admitted Wednesday he rewarded then-state Sen. Martin Sandoval with thousands of dollars for Sandoval’s help speeding up the sale of property in McCook in a scheme that also involved former Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski.
Vahooman “Shadow” Mirkhaef, who ran Cub Terminal in McCook, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy during a hearing held by video before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland. He also agreed in his 18-page plea deal to cooperate with federal prosecutors.
The judge did not set a sentencing date for Mirkhaef.
Mirkhaef’s plea deal refers to a “Public Official A.” A source identified that person as Tobolski, who also served as mayor of McCook. A lawyer for Tobolski declined to comment Wednesday. Tobolski pleaded guilty to an extortion conspiracy last year and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. His sentencing is also on hold.
The man who led southwest suburban Crestwood for nearly a decade admitted Wednesday not only that he took a secret $5,000 cash payment from a red-light camera company’s representative, but that he did so while promising tickets there would “creep up higher.”
Louis Presta even bragged about the higher percentage of red-light traffic violations approved by Crestwood and issued to drivers in February 2018, telling the person with an ownership stake in SafeSpeed LLC, “You got a new sheriff in town.”
Those details were revealed when Presta, 71, pleaded guilty Wednesday to corruption charges and told U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin he resigned his position with the village Tuesday night. Crestwood lawyer Burt Odelson said a special meeting has been set for Nov. 23 to try to pick an acting mayor who would serve through the next municipal election in April 2023.
* Karen Ann Cullotta, Tracy Swartz and Joe Mahr at the Tribune…
An uptick in youth COVID-19 cases in Illinois in recent weeks is fueling school outbreaks and student quarantines, just days before the start of the Thanksgiving holiday break.
In the past two weeks, the average number of youth cases reported, ages 0-17, has risen from 628 a day to 1,020 a day, which equates to a 62% increase, based on a seven-day average, according to a Tribune analysis of state health department data.
All age groups are seeing major jumps, with a 57% rise in cases for those ages 0-4, a 59% rise for those ages 5-11, and 71% rise for ages 12-17. […]
But the recent figure, accurate through Tuesday, remains notably lower than the pandemic’s highest average daily tally of new youth cases — 1,532 — which was reported exactly a year earlier, on Nov. 16, 2020. […]
“In the last 30 days, one in four Chicago COVID cases have been in children under age 18, whereas over the whole pandemic, it’s been about half that, one in eight. Some of this is because there’s more testing happening, of course, in schools that we’ve talked about, but this is also just a reflection that many children are only now getting the opportunity to be vaccinated.”
Illinois children ages 5 to 11 are receiving their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a faster pace than most kids their age across the country.
So far, Illinois Department of Public Health officials say nearly 11.6% of children ages 5 to 11 have received their first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said that by the end of Wednesday, 10% of the nation’s children in that age group will have received their first shots. That amounts to roughly 2.6 million American children.
“For perspective, it took about 50 days for us to reach 10% of adults with one shot,” Zients said at a briefing Wednesday. “And when the polio vaccine was first rolled out for kids in the 1950s, it took about three months to cross 2.5 million shots in arms.”
Mask-wearing is the single most effective public health measure at tackling Covid, reducing incidence by 53%, the first global study of its kind shows. […]
Results from more than 30 studies from around the world were analysed in detail, showing a statistically significant 53% reduction in the incidence of Covid with mask wearing and a 25% reduction with physical distancing.
Just over one month after making public plans to run for Macon County sheriff in 2022, Howard Buffett is dropping out.
The 66-year-old Decatur philanthropist, businessman and former sheriff announced Saturday that he is suspending his campaign, citing uncertainty over his eligibility and desire to prevent more instability following the 2018 sheriff’s election, which was resolved just a week ago. […]
Under the law, sheriffs must now complete the Minimum Standards Basic Law Enforcement Officers Training Course as prescribed by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board. […]
Buffett was appointed sheriff in 2017 following the retirement of Thomas Schneider. He completed the final 14 months of Schneider’s term, vowing not to run for a full term.
Before that, he was a volunteer in the sheriff’s office.
“Howard received a waiver from the state training and standards board for his extensive previous law enforcement experience. Many of us, including myself, thought that the waiver and the 705 certificate were equivalent,” Schneider said. “Unfortunately that is not the case.”
Yeah, well, as it turns out Buffet shouldn’t have received the waiver.
An official in charge of training police across Illinois was fired in September on the recommendation of the state’s top government watchdog, who found he improperly granted a law enforcement certification to philanthropist Howard Buffett after Buffett had donated millions of dollars to support the training agency’s efforts.
The state’s executive inspector general’s office found that Brent Fischer, executive director of the state’s Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, granted the certification to Howard Buffett, son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, even though Buffett didn’t have the qualifications to be a part-time law enforcement officer, according to the IG’s report released Wednesday.
A Decatur business executive, Howard Buffett, 66, served as the appointed sheriff of Macon County in central Illinois for a little over a year until November 2018. This spring, he announced he’d run for the job, but ended his campaign shortly afterward, citing changing qualifications written into sweeping criminal justice reforms that were signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker earlier this year.
In a 30-page report, which identifies Buffett only as “Individual 1,” the inspector general’s office concluded that Fischer granted Buffett a certification despite knowing he didn’t meet the state-mandated qualifications. Fisher also inappropriately issued Buffett a waiver to skirt the normal process, the IG found.
On May 6, 2021, the Office of Executive Inspector General (OEIG) opened an investigation into whether Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) Executive Director Brent Fischer improperly provided a Law Enforcement Officer certification to [Individual 1], certifying [Individual 1] as a part-time law enforcement officer without [Individual 1] having the requisite training.
[Individual 1], through his [Charitable Organization 1], has made substantial donations to various law enforcement entities and projects throughout the years. Of significance, in 2016, [Individual 1] donated property to ILETSB and spent approximately $15 million dollars to build a training facility on the property; in 2017, [Individual 1]’s [Charitable Organization 1] provided $250,000 in transition costs, $330,000 in instructor salaries, and two vehicles for the startup of the Macon County Law Enforcement Training Center; and in the summer of 2019, [Individual 1]’s [Charitable Organization 1] executed a lease of a building to ILETSB for one-dollar annual rent. Executive Director Fischer and ILETSB have also made requests to [Individual 1] for funds, including a donation of $275,000 and another $10,000 to support the ILETSB canine program.
In 2018, the Macon County Sheriff’s Office sought a waiver for [Individual 1] so that he could serve as a part-time undersheriff. Although waivers had previously only been granted to officers who changed jobs and had been through the prescribed minimum standard basic training course or an equivalent training course out of state, [Individual 1] was approved for a waiver by Mr. Fischer on January 11, 2019 without having completed such a training course. In addition to approving the waiver, Mr. Fischer provided [Individual 1] with a certification dated January 11, 2019, indicating that [Individual 1] was certified to be a part-time law enforcement officer when, in fact, [Individual 1] did not meet the requirements for certification. [Individual 1] proceeded to provide this ILETSB certification to other entities in support of his law enforcement credentials.
On October 16, 2020, [Individual 1’s Political Committee] filed a statement of organization with the Illinois State Board of Elections, supporting [Individual 1]’s candidacy for Sheriff of Macon County in 2022. On June 12, 2021, during the course of this investigation, [Individual 1] announced that he was suspending his campaign for Macon County Sheriff explaining, in part, that it was “open to interpretation whether” he met the new Sheriff eligibility requirements. One of those requirements includes having a certification attesting to the successful completion of a training course as prescribed by ILETSB or a substantially similar training program of another state or the federal government.
