Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Retailers lose bid to help defend Illinois swipe fee law

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Bloomberg Law…

Retailers can’t join in the defense of an Illinois law banning bank “swipe fees” on sales taxes and tips, a federal judge ruled.

The National Association of Convenience Stores, the National Retail Federation, Food Marketplace Inc., and two Illinois merchant trade groups had sought to become intervenor defendants in litigation over the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act.

But Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul (D) is providing an adequate defense of the law, so there’s no need for additional defendants, Judge Virginia M. Kendall of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled Friday.

* From Judge Virginia Kendall’s ruling…

What’s more, because the state adequately represents Illinois merchants’ interest in the IFPA, permitting Proposed Intervenor Defendants to join the lawsuit would needlessly “use up the [C]ourt’s time and resources.” Even though the State does not oppose the proposed defendants from joining the suit, it does not mean that Proposed Intervenor Defendants could not delay the litigation down the line. When a new defendant joins, he acquires “control of the suit” and a “right to conduct the case in a way that may undermine the interests of the original plaintiff.” Depending on how the litigation proceeds, allowing Proposed Interveor Defendants to join the suit could unduly delay the suit.

* Crain’s…

In December, Kendall granted a preliminary injunction sought by the banking industry preventing implementation of the law, but it applied only to federally chartered banks and credit unions.

A status hearing on the case is scheduled for Feb. 4.

The retailers can still participate in the case in an amicus curiae, or friends of the court, basis.

“We think we would have added quite a bit to the case in terms of demonstrating the false claims that banks were making,” said Doug Kantor, general counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores. “That said, we have a lot of confidence in the Illinois attorney general.”

* Ben Jackson/EVP, Illinois Bankers Association and Ashley Sharp/SVP, Illinois Credit Union League…

We welcome today’s court order denying the merchant groups’ request to join the litigation over the IFPA. These groups have already done enough damage to consumers and small businesses in the state by advancing this misguided law in the first place. This is a win for the Illinois economy and another step forward for our case against a very bad law.

* Rob Karr, president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association…

While we certainly believe retailers who are paying these fees should have been granted status, the legal process is ongoing and we look forward to a full examination of the opaque swipe fee payment structure banks, processors, and credit card companies have for too long enjoyed.

* More…

Payments Dive | Third of U.S. small businesses add credit card surcharges:

* NBC | The fight over credit card swipe fees enters a new year with no end in sight: And as many shoppers ditched cash for plastic cards or mobile payment apps, businesses have seen credit card transactions swell. They made up 32% of all U.S. consumer payments in 2023, up from 24% in 2019, according to a Federal Reserve study. Cash shrunk its share to 16% over the same period, down from 26%.

* NYT | As Cash Fades, Small Retailers Embrace Efforts to Rein In Swipe Fees: As a pandemic precaution, droves of customers gave up cash in favor of contactless payment methods like tap to pay, and the percentage of Ms. Riordan’s sales processed through a card network rose to 75 percent, up from 65 percent in 2020. Now, so-called swipe fees are her third biggest expense, behind payroll and rent, amounting to roughly $18,000 a year. “There is no room to pay more — we’re just operating so thin,” Ms. Riordan said.

9 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update to today’s edition

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

Question of the day

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Tribune has a budget story up, and it points to some of the more overlooked aspects of the problems the state faces…

In its November report, the governor’s budget office also pointed to pressure from continued inflation in medical costs and “moderate growth rates in the various categories of state spending.”

Another challenge stems from previous overpayments of certain tax revenues to local governments as a result of unanticipated consequences of a state tax law enacted in response to provisions in Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, said Natalie Davila, a public finance economist who has worked with the Illinois Municipal League and previously as director of economic and tax policy research at the state Department of Revenue.

To correct those overpayments, the state held back about $1.6 billion from municipalities last budget year and additional funds this year, providing temporary boosts to state revenue that won’t be repeated in the coming year, Davila said. […]

But no single issue accounts for the entire increase in expected spending, and the public projections so far don’t account for many of the top-of-mind political issues likely to drive the debate this spring.

* Medical cost inflation is a serious issue…

Commercial health care spending growth is estimated to grow to its highest level in 13 years, according to PwC’s newest research into annual medical cost trend. PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI) is projecting an 8% year-on-year medical cost trend in 2025 for the Group market and 7.5% for the Individual market. This near-record trend is driven by inflationary pressure, prescription drug spending and behavioral health utilization.

HRI is also restating the 2023 and 2024 medical cost trends as higher than previously reported based on the input of health plans we surveyed and their trend experience. This unfavorable trend reflects higher than expected utilization of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs as well as higher acuity (higher levels of care) inpatient and outpatient utilization. Inpatient and outpatient utilization were driven by demand from care deferred since the pandemic, which was met by newly created capacity as sites of care shifted to outpatient, professional and ambulatory care settings.

The WTW Global Medical Trends Survey projects medical inflation to rise by 8.7 percent this year.

Medical inflation has not been that high in 13 years.

* Gov. JB Pritzker last week…

It’s very important that we live within our means in this state, and that we not resort to tax increases as a way to, you know, to balance the budget, right? And so that’s what the communication we’ve had with our agencies and looking at all the priorities that we need to take care of.

* The Question: Do you agree or disagree with the governor’s pledge not to raise taxes to balance the budget? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.

online polls

40 Comments

There’s No End To Credit Card Swipe Fee Greed

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Credit card companies collect more than $172 billion in swipe fees from customers and businesses each year, but it’s not enough to satisfy their greed. As consumers and retailers continue to grapple with inflation, Visa raised swipe fees on January 1.

Gov. JB Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and the General Assembly took a stand against swipe fee greed by passing the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, which limits swipe fees from being charged on the sales tax and tip portion of transactions. This law will provide tangible relief to Illinois families and retailers of all sizes.

While Visa and Mastercard fight to protect their unchecked duopoly in court, Illinois policymakers have sent a clear message that enough is enough.

Comments Off

C’mon, man

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Wut…

Mailers “don’t move the needle in an election cycle anymore”? Tell that to the Democrats, who spent $7.4 million on direct mail from August through November.

Just saying, but unilateral disarmament is never a great idea.

* But the man who has been lashing out at McCombie for weeks didn’t stop with direct mail…

No mail, no digital. When you don’t have the cash to go up on Chicago broadcast TV, you gotta make do with what you can muster.

OK, yes, the HGOPs didn’t pick up any seats, but the House Democrats didn’t pick up any, either, even though the House Speaker was confidently predicting a big year for months. Considering the Republicans were outspent nearly 4-1 in the fourth quarter ($12.9 million to $3.4 million), it could’ve been a whole lot worse.

DeVore’s largest expenditures during the last half of 2022 were the $240K in checks to repay the money he lent to his campaign. He lost by 445,000 votes.

27 Comments

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Shaw Local…

State Sen. Rachel Ventura introduced a measure that would prevent the odor of raw or burnt cannabis from being the sole reason for police to search a vehicle, driver or passenger without a warrant.

“The Supreme Court gave a conflicting directive in its recent ruling between raw and burnt cannabis, shifting a huge burden to law enforcement to know the difference,” Ventura, a Democrat from Joliet, said in a news release. “This bill aims to clean up that court ruling by directing law enforcement to consider all factors – not just odor – in deciding if the law has been broken.” […]

Under Senate Bill 42, cannabis odor alone would not allow for a search of the driver or passengers of a vehicle, and a vehicle and its passengers may not be detained based on only the odor of cannabis.

Additionally, the legislation would remove current law requirements that cannabis possessed in a vehicle must be stored in an odor-proof container, but it continues to require that cannabis be stored in a secured, sealed or resealable child-resistant container, according to the release.

* Rep. Anthony DeLuca filed HB2405…

Amends the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Provides that if a minor (1) has previously been placed on probation for an offense that involves the possession or discharge of a firearm not causing any injury; and (2) is convicted of a subsequent offense involving the possession or discharge of a firearm not causing any injury, then the court shall require the minor to participate in social service programs offered through juvenile probation and comply with referral recommendations for no less than 3 months. Provides that if the minor does not complete the referral recommendations, the court shall commit the minor to the Department of Juvenile Justice to complete the recommended services. Provides that a minor convicted of a subsequent offense involving the use of a firearm causing serious injury, great bodily harm, or death shall be committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice with the Department providing services, including, but not limited to, education, mental health services, drug treatment, and mentoring.

* Tribune…

The fight over the future of hemp in Chicago moved to the City Council on Thursday, weeks after a push by Mayor Brandon Johnson helped block state legislation to strictly license, tax and regulate the often high-inducing products. […]

While no vote was taken Thursday, the possibility of an ordinance to allow hemp’s continued widespread sale in Chicago won a critical early sign of approval from the Johnson administration. […]

But [ Ald. William Hall, who first proposed a hemp tax last fall as a potential way to earn the city more revenue,] insisted in his own news conference that his bid for hemp regulation “is not an opportunity for blood money.” The dozens of Chicago smoke shops that sell hemp products should not be “penalized” or “destroyed” by the stricter regulations that have stalled at the state level.

The Pritzker-backed state legislation would amount to a “prohibition” on hemp, Hall said. He argued that the bill is really a push by wealthy marijuana companies to box out stores selling hemp products.

* Rep. Bob Rita filed HB1814…

* HB1843 from Rep. Suzanne Ness would prevent cities from banning roommates that are not related by blood…

Amends the Zoning Division of the Illinois Municipal Code. Removes a provision giving the corporate authorities in each municipality the power to classify, to regulate, and to restrict the use of property on the basis of family relationship. Provides that the powers enumerated in provisions relating to zoning powers of a municipality may not be used in any way that violates or otherwise contradicts any other applicable State or federal law, including the federal Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Prohibits a municipality from adopting zoning regulations that prohibit 2 or more individuals who are not related by blood from living together in the same residence. Provides that a municipality may not adopt zoning regulations that prohibit the creation of a community-integrated living arrangement or housing for a community-integrated living arrangement. Limits home rule powers.

* Sen. Patrick Joyce filed SB1473 last week…

Amends the Illinois Horse Racing Act of 1975. Removes provision stating that no organization licensee conducting its race meeting in a county bordering the Mississippi River and having a population greater than 230,000 may be a host track for its race meeting. Makes changes in provisions regarding organizations that may not conduct a horse race meeting, the standardbred racetrack in Cook County, the application for an organization license, and wagering. Adds provisions concerning the standardbred racetrack in Macon County. Effective immediately.

* Sen. Rachel Ventura…

Following the water rate hikes that affected Bolingbrook and the surrounding area, State Senator Rachel Ventura introduced a measure that would allow municipalities to buy back their private water lines through a ballot referendum. The measure is being supported in the house by Representative Dagmara Avelar.

“Water is essential to all life — I believe water should never be privatized for this reason. We cannot allow profits to be put over people,” said Ventura (D-Joliet). “I will continue to work with my colleagues to protect access to clean, affordable drinking water, as well as advocate to reform water policies that have continually hurt consumers.”

SB 1513 follows recent water rate hikes in Bolingbrook and surrounding areas in July 2024, which sparked public outrage with residents citing already high water bills and rising living expenses. Under the proposed legislation, a municipality would be able to buy back their water rights from private water utility companies using eminent domain, led by a vote via referendum in any regular election. […]

Senate Bill 1513 currently awaits committee assignment.

24 Comments

Bruce Rauner on steroids

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…

To many Statehouse types, some of last week’s news out of Washington, DC felt eerily familiar.

Last Monday night, the White House announced a sweeping new policy that would’ve at least temporarily defunded trillions of dollars of government spending on everything from the National School Lunch Program, to Head Start, to cancer and sleep disorders research, and on and on through 50 small-print pages.

So, some Illinoisans rightly pointed out that former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner also tried crashing government spending by defunding vital social services and other programs.

But what the White House attempted last week differed from Rauner’s misrule in a very big way: Rauner thought he could use massive funding cuts resulting from a budget impasse as “leverage” (his word) to force Democrats to break their ties with labor unions.

The Trump administration offered no such “grand bargain.” Instead, they ordered the complete funding cut-off of some two thousand government grants and programs until they could be assured that none of them conflicted with their ideological demands, including, “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility,” “gender ideology,” etc., all with the end result of “ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government,” according to a memo issued by the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget Matthew Vaeth. The examination process had no stated end date, so some or even most of those programs could’ve been suspended indefinitely.

As we learned during the Rauner years, providers typically have very little cash on hand, and that’s mostly by design. The federal government, for instance, doesn’t just hand out a year’s worth of funding to some small social service group. The providers get their money in small bites, often around payroll dates. So, even a two-week funding halt could seriously harm many of these organizations.

The president didn’t actually need to halt a dime of funding to examine these programs for ideological conformance, of course. He could’ve just, you know, had his people look at them, which gives you a big clue that this action was much more than just some limited “anti-woke” ideological policing (along with the mysterious and highly suspect cut-off of certain states’ access to the Medicaid computer portal).

Opponents of the order rightly pointed out that Congress long ago passed a law protecting its strong constitutional appropriations powers by mandating the executive to spend the money it appropriates, with very limited exceptions. And, by late afternoon a federal judge paused the cuts until a temporary restraining order hearing could be held on Monday.

Again, the Rauner specter re-emerges. The courts back then forced the state of Illinois to pay its employees and fund certain vital programs even without a budget. So, the state limped along for two years while non-Medicaid human service providers, contractors and others slowly died on the vine. The horror (state funding for things like a program to help teenage rape survivors was eliminated) finally ended 793 days after it began, when Republicans joined Democrats to increase taxes and pass a budget over Rauner’s vetoes.

The White House withdrew the order, but then the White House press secretary insisted that the cuts would still happen even without the directive. Another lawsuit, filed by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and several colleagues from across the country, began to move forward.

That process came to a head on Friday when a federal judge issued a sweeping temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from doing anything that could reduce spending already approved by Congress. Judge John J. McConnell even quoted a ruling that Trump-appointed US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh handed down when he was a circuit court judge, “even the President does not have unilateral authority to refuse to spend the funds.”

The state could similarly be in for years of court fights over this current federal spending battle, and likely more in the future, while, as under Rauner, the institutions and people down below try to survive.

There’s no way that this state government can adequately plan for what might happen next because nobody knows what will happen next. I mean, who could’ve predicted perhaps the most aggressive challenge ever to the US Congress’ constitutional appropriations powers would be launched last week?

Really the only thing the state can do now is to be even more prudent with its budgeting. President Trump wants to cut programs that deviate from his ideology. If he can convince Congress to go along, a judge won’t be able to step in. He could also try another way to get around the court’s mandate (and the US Constitution).

29 Comments

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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

6 Comments

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

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Applications open for 26th Senate District seat. Daily Herald…

- State law requires the seat to be filled within 30 days of a vacancy.

- To get an application, contact Derek Murphy at (630) 901-6126 or derek@isrvf.com. Applications are due by Feb. 7. A decision is expected Feb. 14.

* Related…

∙ NPR Illinois: State Senator Dan McConchie discusses the Accessibility Policy Institute
∙ Daily Herald: What will happen to McConchie’s campaign cash after he leaves office?

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* WTTW | Paper Mail Is Seen as a Source for Drugs in Illinois Prisons. How Is It Tracked?: It’s unclear exactly how many drugs are entering IDOC facilities through the mail, according to data obtained by WTTW News. From January to mid-December of 2024, 779 synthetic cannabinoids were discovered, according to data. The “point of discovery” for that drug type was 188 by mail, while 410 were discovered “in cell” and 156 were discovered “on person.” That data also showed there were 419 suspected synthetic cannabinoid overdoses last year, of which 229 were “staff exposures.”

* Tribune | A disappearing witness, an odd choice of hold music and the Fighting Irish: 5 strange things you might not know about the Madigan trial: Given the outsized lore of Madigan as a Machiavellian figure who preferred to rule in shadow, there’s perhaps no better — or weirder — selection for his law firm hold music than “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” the 1875 orchestral classic depicting Peer Gynt’s fantasy about meeting the Norwegian troll king Dovregubben. The jury learned this odd fact when prosecutors played a key wiretapped conversation from June 2017, which began when FBI mole Daniel Solis called the speaker back at Madigan & Getzendanner. “One moment please,” the receptionist said, before the ominous sounds of percolating bassoons and cellos slowly filled the courtroom … bup bup bup bup BUP bup bup … interrupted when Madigan picked up with a friendly, “Hey Danny.”

* NYT | Health Programs Shutter Around the World After Trump Pauses Foreign Aid: In Uganda, the National Malaria Control Program has suspended spraying insecticide into village homes and ceased shipments of bed nets for distribution to pregnant women and young children, said Dr. Jimmy Opigo, the program’s director. Medical supplies, including drugs to stop hemorrhages in pregnant women and rehydration salts that treat life-threatening diarrhea in toddlers, cannot reach villages in Zambia because the trucking companies transporting them were paid through a suspended supply project of the United States Agency for International Development, U.S.A.I.D.

*** Statehouse News ***

Former House Speaker Welch's chief of staff Tiffany Moy joins heavyweight Statehouse lobbying firm pic.twitter.com/6uM4pMj48r

— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) February 2, 2025

* Crain’s | Judge blocks retailers from joining credit card fee fight between Illinois and banks: U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall of the Northern District of Illinois denied retailers their bid to join Illinois as defendants in a lawsuit brought by bankers attempting to block a law limiting the amount of fees collected in credit card transactions. Adding more defendants could lead to a slowdown in the proceedings, Kendall said.

*** Statewide ***

* Daily Herald | How our state stacks up: New report shows how Illinois compares to others on taxes, spending, other metrics: The 70-page report shows Illinois ranked fourth in terms of total tax dollars collected with $63 billion in tax revenue in 2023. However, Illinois ranked 13th in per capita tax collections, at $5,019 per person. “When observing revenue-related rankings on a per capita basis, some believe that if a state is able to operate on tax rates that create relatively low per capita figures, the better the financial situation for the people of that state,” the report notes. “Others, however, would view low per capita figures as missed opportunities for revenue growth, and subsequent program spending.”

* Sun-Times | Illinois deer harvest by hunters jumped more than 6 percent: Illinois hunters harvested 10,445 more deer during the 2024-25 seasons than during the the ’23-24 seasons or an increase of more than 6.5 percent. My instincts say that at least some of that increase is related to the mild weather during the bulk of the seasons.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Hemp fight moves to City Hall as aldermen debate regulation, tax: As aldermen sparred in a council committee meeting alongside dueling hemp sellers and marijuana dispensary owners, the council appeared far from agreement on the safety and fairness of potential local regulations — despite all sides agreeing that the unregulated product that can get users high must face some restrictions. While no vote was taken Thursday, the possibility of an ordinance to allow hemp’s continued widespread sale in Chicago won a critical early sign of approval from the Johnson administration.

* Tribune | Study that will help adjust where Chicago police officers are deployed finally in the works: The study has been a political hot potato for years, and city leaders will soon face the question of how to distribute the department’s limited number of police officers in an effective way that satisfies the city’s array of constituencies — and legal obligations. The workforce allocation study won’t be finished until year’s end. But of CPD’s roughly 11,000 sworn police officers, more than half are assigned to the department’s 22 patrol districts and are potentially subject to movement.

* Sun-Times | Several hundred ducks found dead from suspected bird flu along Lake Michigan: The largest concentrations of sick mergansers were found Saturday at North Avenue Beach and Oak Street Beach. Other birds with symptoms were reported from Hyde Park to Wilmette between Friday and Sunday.

* Crain’s | Google searching for tenants at revamped Thompson Center: CBRE leasing agents representing the Mountain View, Calif.-based company in recent weeks have quietly marketed seven floors of the 17-story building at 100 W. Randolph St. to prospective users, according to sources familiar with the property. Google is 10 months into a drastic overhaul of the 1.2 million-square-foot building in partnership with Chicago-based real estate developer Prime Group and Capri Investment Group, and the company intends to purchase the property from the development team when the renovation is finished.

* WBBM | Study: Rat populations on the rise in cities thanks to warm weather: When it comes to why some cities saw increases, researchers noted that denser human populations, a jump in urbanization, and an increase in warmer weather all played a part. The lead author of the study, Jonathan L. Richardson, an associate professor at the University of Richmond, shared with CBS News that the latter was found to play a large role in the trend.

* Daily Herald | Start your engines — Jeep is back and hybrids are hot at the Chicago Auto Show: The reset means Camp Jeep will once again tower over McCormick Place’s South Building, igniting a testosterone-off with Ford’s Bronco Mountain. “You have this wonderful clanking and clacking in the background of the show, which gives a great dynamic to the whole thing,” Consumer Guide Automotive publisher Tom Appel said.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora officials say special census postponed by federal government: Aurora’s upcoming special census, which was originally set to begin in early February, has been postponed by the federal government as the U.S. Census Bureau awaits the installment of new federal leadership, city officials announced early Thursday morning. City officials have previously said that they believe Aurora was undercounted in the 2020 decennial census, costing the city millions of dollars in lost tax revenue.

* Daily Herald | Why the biggest changes to the suburban office market since the pandemic may arrive this year: Much depends on how influential the new back-to-office directive for federal government employees will be on the private sector, according to Nick Schlanger, director of research services for Oakbrook Terrace-based commercial real estate agency NAI Hiffman. “A lot of companies look to the federal government, in recessionary times and at all times,” he said. “That kind of serves as a testing ground for the logistics.”

*** Downstate ***

* WTTW | Starved Rock to Receive $30M in State Funds for Much Needed Improvements, Maintenance: Illinois is showering some love on its natural resources, with officials on Friday announcing $60 million in funding for improvement projects at five parks and historic sites. The lion’s share of the money — $33.8 million — is being funneled to Starved Rock, which is consistently ranked as Illinois’ most popular state park.

* WaPo | Nothing lasts forever for No. 14 Terps, who lose to Illinois for first time: With the No. 14 Terrapins down by a point and 1.8 seconds remaining Sunday afternoon against Illinois, Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” began playing over the loudspeakers: Palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy … The Terps came out of a timeout and ran a sneaky set in which their star guard inbounded the ball to Allie Kubek and got it right back as she stepped across the baseline. The senior immediately rose up for a clean look at a midrange jumper, but her shot careened off the rim. The miss left Maryland with its fourth loss in five games, a 66-65 heartbreaker on senior day at Xfinity Center.

*** National ***

* WIRED | The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk’s Government Takeover: WIRED has identified six young men—all apparently between the ages of 19 and 24, according to public databases, their online presences, and other records—who have little to no government experience and are now playing critical roles in Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project, tasked by executive order with “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” The engineers all hold nebulous job titles within DOGE, and at least one appears to be working as a volunteer.

* Bloomberg | Dollar General Tells Stores to Let ICE Talk to Staff, Customers: “If Agent seeks to speak with customers, please ask Agent to be discrete and as least disruptive as possible to store operations and to conduct the interview outside the store,” the memo seen by Bloomberg News said. The memo also instructed managers to immediately inform higher-ups if federal agents visit the premises, take note of agents’ credentials and inquire how they can help them. It says agents should not be allowed into non-public parts of the store without a warrant and should not be provided employee information without direction from the company.

* AP | Greyhound to stop allowing immigration checks on buses: Greyhound, the nation’s largest bus company, said Friday it will stop allowing Border Patrol agents without a warrant to board its buses to conduct routine immigration checks. The company’s announcement came one week after The Associated Press reported on a leaked Border Patrol memo confirming that agents can’t board private buses without the consent of the bus company. Greyhound had previously insisted that even though it didn’t like the immigration checks, it had no choice under federal law but to allow them.

* CNN | How an arcane Treasury Department office became ground zero in the war over federal spending: The top civil servant at the Treasury Department, David Lebryk, left unexpectedly on Friday after Trump-affiliated officials expressed interest in stopping certain payments made by the federal government, according to three people familiar with the situation. […] According to one person familiar with the department, Trump-affiliated employees had previously asked about Treasury’s ability to stop payments. But Lebryk’s pushback was, “We don’t do that,” the person said.

* NYT | Canada and Mexico Move to Retaliate on Trump Tariff Orders: Mexico and Canada immediately vowed to impose tariffs of their own. The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, announced retaliatory tariffs starting with 25 percent tariffs on approximately $20 billion worth of U.S. goods on Tuesday, with $85 billion more to follow within three weeks.

3 Comments

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

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

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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

Comments Off

Reader comments closed for the weekend

Monday, Feb 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Comments Off

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This Nirvana reunion was a huge surprise last night…

All in all is all we are

Comments Off

Federal judge issues sweeping TRO to block Trump administration budget cuts (Updated x3)

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background from yesterday…

A Federal district court judge in Rhode Island is continuing to weigh the legality of the Trump administration’s move earlier this week to freeze trillions in congressionally approved Federal funding despite the administration’s action on Wednesday to rescind the order that authorized the freeze effort.

On Monday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) declared a freeze on most Federal grant and loan program payments with an aim to defund Federal programs that don’t align with the president’s agenda – creating nearly universal confusion as agencies and funding recipients alike scrambled to fall into compliance with the order and understand how it would impact them.

Subscribers had access to the proposed TRO from the various state attorney general plaintiffs as well as the response from the federal government.

* Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island today…

In Count I, the States allege that the Executive’s actions by the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) violate the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) because Congress has not delegated any unilateral authority to the Executive to indefinitely pause all federal financial assistance without considering the statutory and contractual terms governing these billions of dollars of grants.

In Count II, the States allege that the Executive’s actions violate the APA because the failure to spend funds appropriated by Congress is arbitrary and capricious in multiple respects.

In Count III, the States allege that the failure to spend funds appropriated by Congress violates the separation of powers because the Executive has overridden Congress’ judgments by refusing to disburse already-allocated funding for many federal grant programs.

In Count IV, the States allege a violation of the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution. U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. law 1.

And in Count V, the States allege a violation of the presentment (U.S. Const. art. I, § 7, cl. 2), appropriations (U.S. Const. art. I, § 7), and take care clauses (U.S. Const. art. II, § 3, cl. 3) (the Executive must “take care that the laws be faithfully executed . . .”)

* More…

The Court finds that, based on the evidence before it now, some of which is set forth below, the States are likely to succeed on the merits of some, if not all, their claims. The reasons are as follows:

• The Executive’s action unilaterally suspends the payment of federal funds to the States and others simply by choosing to do so, no matter the authorizing or appropriating statute, the regulatory regime, or the terms of the grant itself. The Executive cites no legal authority allowing it to do so; indeed, no federal law would authorize the Executive’s unilateral action here.

• Congress has instructed the Executive to provide funding to States based on stated statutory factors—for example, population or the expenditure of qualifying State funds. By trying to impose certain conditions on this funding, the Executive has acted contrary to law and in violation of the APA.

• The Executive Orders threaten the States’ ability to conduct essential activities and gave the States and others less than 24 hours’ notice of this arbitrary pause, preventing them from making other plans or strategizing how they would continue to function without these promised funds.

• Congress appropriated many of these funds, and the Executive’s refusal to disburse them is contrary to congressional intent and directive and thus arbitrary and capricious.

• Congress has not given the Executive limitless power to broadly and indefinitely pause all funds that it has expressly directed to specific recipients and purposes and therefore the Executive’s actions violate the separation of powers.

* Reasoning…

The Executive’s statement that the Executive Branch has a duty “to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities,” (ECF No. 48-1 at 11) (emphasis added) is a constitutionally flawed statement. The Executive Branch has a duty to align federal spending and action with the will of the people as expressed through congressional appropriations, not through “Presidential priorities.” U.S. Const. art. II, § 3, cl. 3 (establishing that the Executive must “take care that the laws be faithfully executed . . .”). Federal law specifies how the Executive should act if it believes that appropriations are inconsistent with the President’s priorities–it must ask Congress, not act unilaterally. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may ask that Congress rescind appropriated funds.3 Here, there is no evidence that the Executive has followed the law by notifying Congress and thereby effectuating a potentially legally permitted so-called “pause.” […]

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote when he was on the D.C. Circuit:

Like the Commission here, a President sometimes has policy reasons (as distinct from constitutional reasons, cf. infra note 3) for wanting to spend less than the full amount appropriated by Congress for a particular project or program. But in those circumstances, even the President does not have unilateral authority to refuse to spend the funds. Instead, the President must propose the rescission of funds, and Congress then may decide whether to approve a rescission bill. […]

The Court finds that the record now before it substantiates the likelihood of a successful claim that the Executive’s actions violate the Constitution and statutes of the United States.

The Court now moves on to the remaining three injunction considerations.

Irreparable Harm

The States have put forth sufficient evidence at this stage that they will likely suffer severe and irreparable harm if the Court denies their request to enjoin enforcement of the funding pause. […]

Balance of the Equities and Public Interest

As the Court considers the final two factors, the record shows that the balance of equities weighs heavily in favor of granting the States’ TRO. […]

Mootness

The Defendants now claim that this matter is moot because it rescinded the OMB Directive. But the evidence shows that the alleged rescission of the OMB Directive was in name-only and may have been issued simply to defeat the jurisdiction of the courts. The substantive effect of the directive carries on.

“Quoting Kavanaugh was genius,” said a pal today.

* Conclusion…

Consistent with the findings above, and to keep the status quo, the Court hereby ORDERS that a TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER is entered in this case until this Court rules on the States’ forthcoming motion for a preliminary injunction, which the States shall file expeditiously.

During the pendency of the Temporary Restraining Order, Defendants shall not pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate Defendants’ compliance with awards and obligations to provide federal financial assistance to the States, and Defendants shall not impede the States’ access to such awards and obligations, except on the basis of the applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms.

If Defendants engage in the “identif[ication] and review” of federal financial assistance programs, as identified in the OMB Directive, such exercise shall not affect a pause, freeze, impediment, block, cancellation, or termination of Defendants’ compliance with such awards and obligations, except on the basis of the applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms.

Defendants shall also be restrained and prohibited from reissuing, adopting, implementing, or otherwise giving effect to the OMB Directive under any other name or title or through any other Defendants (or agency supervised, administered, or controlled by any Defendant), such as the continued implementation identified by the White House Press Secretary’s statement of January 29, 2025.

Defendants’ attorneys shall provide written notice of this Order to all Defendants and agencies and their employees, contractors, and grantees by Monday, February 3, 2025, at 9 a.m. Defendants shall file a copy of the notice on the docket at the same time.

Defendants shall comply with all notice and procedural requirements in the award, agreement, or other instrument relating to decisions to stop, delay, or otherwise withhold federal financial assistance programs.

The TRO shall be in effect until further Order of this Court. A preliminary hearing, at which time the States will have to produce specific evidence in support of a preliminary injunction, will be set shortly at a day and time that is convenient to the parties and the Court.

*** UPDATE 1 *** Speaker Chris Welch…

The Trump administration’s unlawful order should never have been issued. I’m grateful to Attorney General Raoul’s leadership in this fight for the resources families need to make ends meet, afford rent, put food on the table, and get ahead.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Gov. JB Pritzker…

As I’ve said since it was released and as was previously supported by Tuesday afternoon’s action in court, these cuts were a blatantly illegal power grab intended to cripple programs that provide essential services for millions of the most vulnerable Americans. This ruling specifically calls out the falsehood told by the White House Press Secretary that the retraction of the order does not affect the intent to cut funding. I’m grateful to Illinois Attorney General Raoul and the other Attorney’s General who brought this action, and I pledge to continue to fight unlawful and harmful authoritarian actions like these on behalf of Illinoisans

*** UPDATE 3 *** Comptroller Mendoza…

Millions of Illinois residents, young and old, urban and rural, Republican and Democrat, who receive federally funded state services can be thankful that a federal judge today blocked the Trump administration’s confusing, unconstitutional and dangerous funding freeze.

The constitution empowers the president to align federal spending with Congressional appropriations, not presidential priorities, the judge wrote.

Veterans and poor people who need health care in all 102 counties of Illinois, college students trying to finish their semesters, and school kids in Head Start programs should not be held hostage to political games.

Even as presidential staff try to backpedal, this week has been filled with panic for our most vulnerable residents. These actions create chaos rather than stability and predictability, putting American lives at risk.

My office is closely monitoring the situation and will keep getting payments out as fast as we can.

13 Comments

Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Michael Hicks on the “great state of Illiana (or is it Idinois?)…

Many downstate Illinois residents dislike Chicago’s strong influence in the state. Last year, a total of 33 counties voted to secede from Illinois and form their own state. Huston invited those counties to join Indiana. He even created a commission to study the possibility.

That’s first-rate trolling.

I thought it’d be fun to think through the prospect of Indiana picking up these 33 counties. Would it be good for Indiana? Would it be good for those counties? Would it be good for the remaining 69 Illinois counties? […]

Adding the [Illinois] secessionist counties to Indiana would cut [Indiana’s] per capita income enough for us to slide from 14th to 11th place from the bottom. Only 18.6% of adults in these counties have completed college, while the Illinois total is 36.7%. This new “secessionist” state would instantly be the least well-educated state and would be right about where the USA as a whole was in the late 1980s.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Parents: School didn’t help our child after an older child repeatedly sexually assaulted her: A Stonington couple hopes the Illinois General Assembly takes their daughter’s sexual abuse more seriously than the Taylorville school district seems to. Ashley and Chadd Peden (pictured) appeared at a statehouse news conference Wednesday with State Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) and State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Murrayville). Their bill would require an immediate expulsion in such cases.

*** Statewide ***

* NBC Chicago | Real ID appointments filling up ‘fast.’ Tip to know if you want to secure your spot: Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said last year that his office was stepping up efforts to ensure that residents get REAL ID-compliant identification prior to the May 2025 deadline, but acknowledged there are “tremendous concerns” about what will happen as the deadline arrives. “We feel pressure … Our facilities will swell up, and it will be a problem if people don’t get out and get their REAL ID’s,” he said at the time.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Judge hands 32-month sentence to developer convicted in scheme to bribe Ald. Edward Burke: In sentencing Charles Cui, U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall said Cui violated the trust the public put in him as a lawyer through his corruption, and exacerbated it by later lying to federal agents and failing to turn over crucial emails to a grand jury in an attempt to cover it up. Kendall also said a message had to be sent to “other developers here in the city, especially those who are trying to make money on real estate and development of properties.”

* WBEZ | Taxpayers are out more than $30 million on University of Illinois’ scuttled South Loop project: The DPI project was still going forward last summer as two pro sports teams — baseball’s White Sox and soccer’s Fire — were looking to build their own, separate stadiums on Auchi’s land. The current status of those stadium plans is unclear. Dutta says it’s possible that the work the companies did on that proposal might still be able to be used to build on the Far South Side site of the planned Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park.

* Tribune | Obama Presidential Center subcontractor sues over cost overruns, alleges discrimination: Robert McGee, the owner of II in One, a South Side firm that provided concrete and rebar services for the center starting in 2021, sued New York-based Thornton Tomasetti in federal court earlier this month, seeking to be paid back for roughly $40 million in construction costs the local firm covered itself along with its joint venture partners. II in One blamed Thornton Tomasetti for changing standards, saying the company made an “improper and unanticipated decision” to impose new rules around rebar spacing and tolerance requirements, subjected the company to “excessively rigorous and unnecessary inspection,” and extensive paperwork that “impacted productivity and resulted in millions in losses.”

* Sun-Times | Art Institute’s elaborately displayed tooth, thought to belong to John the Baptist, turns out not to be: Researchers took samples from the tooth in 2016. The results, not widely disseminated, showed it was from someone in the 5th century, too young to belong to Jesus’ sainted contemporary.

* Tribune | Chicago Sky to face Brazil in a preseason game on LSU’s campus to celebrate Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso: The Chicago Sky will play a preseason game against the Brazilian national team on LSU’s campus on May 2. The event will celebrate the team’s pair of second-year stars, pitting Kamilla Cardoso against her native country’s team while bringing Angel Reese back to Baton Rouge for her first game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center since her senior season with the Tigers.

* Block Club Chicago | Volunteer-Run Avondale Maker Space Raising Funds To Buy Building From Landlord: The volunteer-run membership group has been negotiating with its landlord since at least September; the members will be able to buy the building if they raise $300,000, Plasterer said. […] Close to $100,000 has been raised for the mission so far, said Andrew Wingate, another member leading fundraising efforts. The group has a year to raise the money it needs, and its members hope to find various revenue streams over the next several months.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Teacher’s comment about deportations at Dixmoor school sparks fear as threat of ICE raids loom: Amid community fears of potential raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Guadalupe Gutierrez sensed more chaos when her cousin came home from Dixmoor’s Rosa Parks Middle School crying. “He told me, ‘I’m scared to go out,’” Gutierrez said Tuesday. Gutierrez said her cousin and other students told her their teacher came into class holding up a newspaper with a story about potential mass deportations under President Donald Trump and saying, ‘I can’t wait for this to happen.’” […] The teacher said Thursday that “these are all false allegations,” declining to elaborate further.

* CBS Chicago | Solidarity volunteers patrol Chicago neighborhoods, responding to tips of possible ICE raids: A group in the western Chicago suburbs say they are taking action over changing immigration policy. They’ve created teams looking for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in progress and responding to tips about immigration detainments. The group describes themselves as advocates for immigrants and says they want them to know their rights. They spent part of their Wednesday making the rounds in Elgin.

* Daily Southtown | Judge reverses special prosecutor decision in Will County veto case: A Will County judge Thursday reversed his December ruling that would have appointed a special prosecutor to represent 10 Will County Board Republicans in a road widening dispute with County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant. Ten board Republicans filed a lawsuit last year against Bertino-Tarrant after she vetoed a resolution that would have stopped the planned widening of 143rd Street to five lanes through Homer Glen. Bertino-Tarrant originally signed the resolution that asked the county’s division of transportation to explore a three-lane alternative, but later said that was in error and issued the veto.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | ‘I strongly denounce this hate’: Champaign mayor responds to council member’s swastika post on Facebook: Council member Davion Williams changed his profile picture to the image of a swastika. The post quickly drew criticism in the comments, with people responding that the symbol is hateful. Williams replied, saying the swastika had been used for thousands of years prior across multiple cultures and religions to represent “good fortune, well-being, and spirituality” and symbolize “peace, prosperity, and the cyclical nature of life.” “I have just seen the swastika on Council Member Davion Williams Facebook page. I strongly denounce this hate,” she said. “I will be issuing a full statement today on this, but I did not want to let this hate happen without taking an immediate stand.”

* WCIA | Central IL nursing administrators call for communication to protect patients: People in long-term care facilities trust people like nurses to take care of them, but some people in the industry in Central Illinois say that doesn’t always happen. They say a nurse in St. Joseph has been disciplined for stealing drugs several times — and she still has an active license. They’re frustrated by what they see as a lack of communication between the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). IDPH deals with the violations and disciplines the facilities. But when it comes to individuals who commit the acts, they see them continuing to work with little to no consequence.

*** National ***

* Investigate Midwest | Trump’s funding freeze chills agriculture industry: Rob Larew, president of the National Farmers Union, said farmers and ranchers throughout the U.S. were confused by this week’s order. “We’re getting questions from our members who have made investments on a number of fronts, everything from commercial kitchens to building out processing to even big questions about the IRA,” said Larew, referring to the Inflation Reduction Act. “We have very few answers right now and lots of questions.”

* BOLTS | This City Inspired A New National Standard for Policing Homelessness. Now It’s Cracking Down Even More: Since the campsites opened last summer, many have raised concerns over the conditions, which are gravel lots with portable toilets and no running water. Disability Rights Oregon (DRO) condemned conditions at the sites in letters to Bartholomew and the local police chief in September and October 2024. The organization cautioned that a requirement that residents vacate their plots every week, forcing them to shuttle back and forth between the two designated campsites if they had not secured housing, was “effectively impossible” for some with disabilities.

* AP | RFK Jr. kept asking to see the science that vaccines were safe. After he saw it, he dismissed it: But Kennedy repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus that childhood vaccines don’t cause autism and that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives, and he falsely asserted the government has no good vaccine safety monitoring. While appearing to ignore mainstream science, he cited flawed or tangential research to make his points, such as suggesting Black people may need different vaccines than whites.

* Reuters | Exclusive: Musk aides lock government workers out of computer systems at US agency, sources say: The two officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said some senior career employees at OPM have had their access revoked to some of the department’s data systems. The systems include a vast database called Enterprise Human Resources Integration, which contains dates of birth, Social Security numbers, appraisals, home addresses, pay grades and length of service of government workers, the officials said.

10 Comments

Madigan trial roundup: Jury instructions; Breakdown of all charges; Get notified of a verdict

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* You can read all 100+ pages of the jury’s instructions by clicking here. Happy hunting.

Click here to see the Tribune’s breakdown of the charges against Madigan and McClain.

* You can click here and here to follow the Madigan trial. If you want live updates on the trial, the Sun-Times will be texting out the latest on jury deliberations and the verdict. Click here to sign up.

* ABC Chicago…

The jury in Madigan’s corruption trial returned to court on Friday morning to begin its third day of deliberations.

On Thursday, the jurors sent out a note asking for more highlighters and White Out.

They also let the judge know that on Fridays, they will only deliberate until 3 p.m.

* Tribune…

“Apparently there is some kind of arts and crafts going on back there,” U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey quipped after reading the Thursday note. When another message from the jurors arrived later in the day, the judge joked that it would be a red flag only “if they start asking for pipe cleaners and macaroni.”

The panel was sent back to deliberate at about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday after attorneys presented roughly 27 hours of closing arguments this week and last. Jurors will have to consider 23 counts against Madigan alleging an array of schemes to enrich his political allies and line his pockets. McClain is charged in six of those counts.

To assist their deliberations, jurors have about 100 pages of legal instructions, dozens of undercover recordings, and hundreds of emails, texts and other documents entered into evidence.

* While we await a ruling, federal courthouse reporters Jon Seidel and Jason Meisner flagged these stories…

Sun-Times | ‘Facts and common sense’: Chicago’s corruption jurors reflect on past trials as Ed Burke’s case nears:

* Tribune | In State of State speech, Gov. J.B. Pritzker says Illinois needs to ‘root out the purveyors of greed and corruption’: “We must root out the purveyors of greed and corruption — in both parties — whose presence infects the bloodstream of government,” Pritzker said in his midday speech before the General Assembly. “It’s no longer enough to sit idle while under-the-table deals, extortion and bribery persist. Protecting that culture or tolerating it is no longer acceptable. We must take urgent action to restore the public’s trust in our government,” he said.

HGOPs demand Dems hold Statehouse hearings if Mayor Johnson won’t testify to Congress

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* First, some background from WTTW…

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday declined to respond to a request from the Republican chairperson of the U.S. House Oversight Committee about the city’s self-proclaimed status as a sanctuary city.

Instead, Johnson referred questions to the city’s top lawyer, Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry, who said the letter sent by U.S. Rep James Comer (R-Kentucky) was under “legal review.”

The letter from Comer, which does not have the legal force of a subpoena, also invites Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and New York City Mayor Eric Adams to a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Feb. 11. […]

Comer’s letter also requests all documents and communications related to Chicago’s sanctuary status, including those between each city, non-governmental organizations and state officials. State law also prohibits law enforcement agents from assisting federal immigration agents.

* OK, on a related note, I received a few of these releases today from the House Republican Organization…

Harry Benton Must Stand with Taxpayers, Not Illegal Migrants

Springfield, IL – While Illinois taxpayers shoulder the hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on sanctuary city policies, Rep. Harry Benton has remained silent. This week, Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson was invited to testify before Congress and provide documentation on Chicago’s “sanctuary city” policies. Chicago’s mayor is pushing back, showing an unwillingness to be transparent. Benton has been silent.

The people of Illinois are paying the price for Mayor Johnson’s radical agenda, and Harry Benton refuses to ask where the money is going. If Brandon Johnson won’t testify in Washington, then Benton must stand up and demand hearings in Springfield to bring transparency and accountability to this mess.

While Illinois families struggle with rising taxes, crime, and underfunded services, Benton continues to protect the failed policies draining state resources. Instead of demanding real solutions, he’s choosing to bury his head in the sand while taxpayers foot the bill.

The people of Illinois deserve answers. Will Benton deliver them, or continue protecting Chicago’s radical sanctuary city policies?

The 97th District comprises portions of Will and Kendall Counties.

* Similar one for Rep. Stuart. Excerpt…

The people of Illinois deserve to know just how much they’re paying for Chicago’s sanctuary city chaos. If Mayor Brandon Johnson refuses to answer questions in Washington, then Katie Stuart should demand hearings in Springfield to find out exactly what’s happening, how much it’s costing taxpayers, and who is paying the price.

* And Rep. Ness…

Taxpayers have already spent hundreds of millions of dollars covering the costs of Mayor Johnson’s disastrous immigration policies, yet Suzanne Ness refuses to ask where that money is going. If Johnson won’t testify in Washington, then Ness must stand up and demand hearings in Springfield. People across Illinois deserve answers.

* Meanwhile, Marter is already running again…

Congressional candidate Jim Marter released the following statement today, denouncing U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood’s repeated failure to support the safety and well-being of American women. Marter emphasized Underwood’s recent votes against key bipartisan legislation designed to protect women from violence, particularly crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

“In the first month of 2025, Lauren Underwood voted against the Laken Riley Act and the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, both of which had broad bipartisan support,” said Marter.

“She even refused to support the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. That’s three major votes in a single month that prove Lauren Underwood is not for women; she is for radical ideologies. She continually votes against the safety of American citizens, disregarding the victims of violence, perpetrated by criminal illegal aliens.

“Underwood has demonstrated an alarming lack of concern for the safety of women in her district. She has shown she is even unwilling to deport the most dangerous criminals—including rapists, pedophiles, and murderers. She is putting American women, our wives and daughters, neighbors and loved ones, in harm’s way. Additionally, her votes disproportionately endanger marginalized communities, where many of these violent criminals continue to victimize innocent people.”

Underwood defeated Marter by 10 points in November, doubling Kamala Harris’ five-point winning margin in the 14th District.

14 Comments

Garbage in, garbage out

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I very much agree with the Chicago Tribune editorial board that one of the state’s three employee recruitment ads is cringey as all getout. But the Tribsters based their overall argument - that the state doesn’t really have a recruitment problem - on faulty data…

But as the state looks to lure more employees to join its ranks, it’s worth noting that state government added 15,600 jobs, among the highest gains of any industry statewide, from December 2023 to December 2024, according to an Illinois Policy Institute analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The editorial board just hired a former IPI employee, so of course they’d use those numbers.

* I reached out to the comptroller’s office to double-check. Here’s the actual state headcount based on W2s issued, including temporary workers/contractors like snow plow drivers…

State employee headcount end of December 2024: 80,039

So, that’s an increase of 1,807 people, a 2.3 percent rise above the previous year, not an increase of 15,600.

* From the governor’s press secretary…

The Tribune’s editorial is an insult to hardworking state employees who dedicate their lives to serving the people of Illinois. State employees show up every day to do the critical work of supporting working families, making sure taxpayers receive benefits, providing healthcare services, and serving in law enforcement. Attracting and retaining talent to the state workforce positions Illinois to succeed.

Having a job where good healthcare is available, competitive benefits, and a commitment to public service is something we are proud of. After state government was stripped to the studs during the previous administration, Governor Pritzker took the necessary steps to rebuild a government that actually functions.

That takes time and it takes great people.

* OK, but, to my eyes, this TV/online ad makes state workers look like goldbrickers…

Super cringe.

* This is a much better recruitment ad…

* And so is this…

15 Comments

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Capitol News Illinois…

Some Illinois Democrats are pushing the General Assembly to pass legislation that would require the state’s five pension systems to divest from fossil fuel companies.

Under Senate Bill 130, the pension systems for legislators, state employees, university employees, teachers and judges would be prohibited from investing in any fossil fuel companies or their affiliates. Pension systems would be required to complete divestment in fossil fuel companies by 2030 but would be prohibited from making any new investments in them once the bill is signed by the governor.

Fossil fuel companies covered under the legislation include subsidiaries, affiliates and parent companies of 200 publicly traded companies with the largest fuel reserves in the world, the 30 largest public companies owning coal-fired power plants and any company with fossil fuel operations at the core of its business. […]

Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, a budget leader in the House, said he believes divesting from fossil fuel companies will ultimately lead to better investment outcomes for pension systems as lawmakers search for ways to improve pension liabilities. Illinois has a $143.7 billion unfunded pension liability, according to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

* WGLT…

Democratic state Sen. Dave Koehler has started his sixth term seeking to advance legislation in several key areas including agriculture and the environment, but concerns about the state budget could overshadow much of lawmakers’ work during the spring session. […]

Koehler said he is interested in passing bills related to agriculture and the environment this spring. His bill, the Clean Transportation Standard Act, would seek to limit carbon emissions in transportation by creating a credit marketplace advised by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Companies could earn credits from this marketplace for using plant-based fuel or switching to electric vehicles. Airline, rail, ocean-going, and military fuel would not be included. […]

Koehler also said he is planning to reintroduce a bill to raise the threshold for the estate tax to prevent farmers from losing their land to estate taxes. The bill did not get out of committee last year. […]

Koehler also plans to sponsor a bill with Rep. Sharon Chung to increase funding for Illinois State University through a change to the higher education funding formula.

* Rep. Barbara Hernandez filed HB2367 yesterday…

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Eliminates provisions that a person must serve various percentages for particular offenses. Provides that the rules and regulations of the Department of Corrections shall provide that the individual in custody shall receive one day of sentence credit for each day of service in prison other than when a sentence of natural life imprisonment has been imposed. Provides that each day of sentence credit shall reduce by one day the incarcerated person’s period of incarceration set by the court. Provides that within 6 months after the effective date of the amendatory Act, the Department of Corrections shall recalculate each incarcerated person’s release date by crediting each person one day sentence credit for each day the incarcerated person has spent in prison on the current sentence. Provides that an incarcerated person serving a term of natural life imprisonment shall be eligible to accumulate sentence credit so that in the event that his or her sentence is reduced to something less than a sentence of natural life imprisonment, it can thereafter be credited toward his or her new sentence. Makes technical changes. Effective January 1, 2026.

* St Louis Post Dispatch…

Two state lawmakers have filed bills that would officially “lock the clock” by making daylight saving time permanent.

This would end the decades-long practice of Illinois residents setting their clocks forward one hour on the second Sunday in March and setting it back one hour on the first Sunday in November.

The bills, proposed by Reps. Bob Morgan, D-Highland Park, and Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, would keep the time set as it is during the spring and summer. The practical effect of this would be darker mornings and lighter evenings during the fall and winter seasons. […]

In Illinois, at least a dozen bills on the subject — most of them within the past 10 years — have been filed by members of both political parties. Most of them aimed to move the state to permanent daylight saving time.

Nearly all those bills died without receiving a committee hearing in its chamber of origin. However, the Illinois Senate in 2019 overwhelmingly passed legislation sponsored by then-state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, that would have transitioned Illinois to permanent daylight saving time pending federal legislation repealing or amending the Uniform Time Act of 1966. That bill, however, never got past the gatekeeping House Rules Committee.

More Illinois-related executive directives, orders and lawsuits

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Lots going on right now…

Illinois is a bit below the national birth rate average (51.8 births per 1,000 women here vs. 54.5 nationally). So, not good for us, unless and until someone successfully sues.

But here’s something to think about: Nationally, live birth rates for ages 15-19 fell by 67 percent between 2005 and 2023, from 39.7 births per 1,000 women, to 13.2 That has been one of the top drivers of lowering the overall birthrate.

Illinois does pretty well on that measurement. In 2023, for example, just 3.5 percent of all live births were delivered by those under 20 years old. Here are the same results for the surrounding states which would qualify for those additional USDOT funds…

Minnesota, man. I really wish we could be more like that state.

* OK, let’s move along. Chalkbeat…

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday seeking to withhold federal funding from K-12 schools that teach “discriminatory equity ideology” or “gender ideology.”

The order defines discriminatory equity ideology as anything “that treats individuals as members of preferred or disfavored groups” rather than as individuals. That includes the idea that people can be inherently privileged or oppressed because of their race or gender, which likely targets concepts such as white privilege. […]

Federal funding accounts for about 8% to 10% of funding for K-12 schools but can represent a much larger portion in high-poverty schools and districts. […]

It’s also unclear whether the federal government has the authority to do this. Federal law prohibits federal officials from telling schools what they can and cannot teach. The American education system is set up such that decisions about what kids should learn are made at the local level.

So, maybe expect another lawsuit.

* More from the article…

On Tuesday, the Department of Education opened a civil rights investigation into a Denver high school that converted a girls’ restroom to an all-gender restroom based solely off a local news report, rather than a formal complaint. That probe could be a preview of how the federal government might deal with schools that the Trump White House believes are ignoring or somehow flouting the executive order, without a time-consuming complaint or investigative process.

Coming to a school near you.

* Also, I’m still waiting to hear back from the Illinois State Board of Education on the potential loss of funds if this executive order stands…

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that aims to steer large amounts of federal money away from public schools and toward private-school vouchers and other “educational alternatives.” […]

The executive order sidesteps Congress and directs the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to find ways to take existing money that goes to public schools, child care providers, and nonprofits and give it to families to use at private schools or for homeschooling expenses. […]

The order also directs the Department of Education to prioritize school choice programs in its discretionary grants.

The state board didn’t even give me the courtesy of acknowledging receipt of my question.

…Adding… The state board of education finally got back to me…

Hi Rich,

We do not have a definition of discretionary to make this determination and have not been provided any guidance on this issue from the U.S. Department of Education.

* Let’s move on to a locally filed lawsuit. Click here to see the amended complaint. From the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights…

– On Wednesday, Chicago organizers withdrew pending motions requesting an emergency court order against the Trump administration’s raids in Chicago. Given that the Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and a host of deputized federal law enforcement agencies have already begun their operations in Chicago, organizers will focus on responding to the immediate needs of communities while gathering additional evidence about the wide scope of rights violations federal law enforcement is creating in Chicagoan communities. These violations are far beyond the First Amendment violations alleged in this lawsuit.

The lawsuit will remain active while organizers engage in widespread outreach and fact finding on the ground. Local groups are committed to sharing vital know-your-rights information with local immigrant communities, monitoring immigration enforcement operations in Chicago, and growing the sanctuary movement even in the face of repression and the chilling effect from the Trump administration. […]

Filed on January 25, the lawsuit was brought forth by Just Futures Law, Community Justice Civil Rights Clinic of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and MK Law on behalf of four organizational plaintiffs: Organized Communities Against Deportation (OCAD), Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC), and Raise the Floor Alliance (RTF). In the filing, groups claim President Trump’s animosity toward sanctuary cities motivates his administration’s plan to unconstitutionally target and conduct raids in Chicago, a violation of groups’ First Amendment rights, an attempt to quash the sanctuary movement.

* And here’s another one, this time from AFSCME…

Today, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), represented by Democracy Forward and Bredhoff and Kaiser PLLC, filed suit against the Trump administration challenging efforts to politicize the civil service through illegal executive orders.

The lawsuit asserts that President Trump illegally exceeded his authority in attempting to unilaterally roll back a regulation that protects the rights of civil servants. The suit also names the Office of Personnel Management for its role in failing to adhere to the Administrative Procedure Act in its attempts to roll back this same regulation.

“AFGE is filing suit with our partner union today to protect the integrity of the American people’s government,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “Together, we can stop the efforts to fire hundreds of thousands of experienced, hard-working Americans who have dedicated their careers to serving their country and prevent these career civil servants from being replaced with unqualified political flunkies loyal to the president, but not the law or Constitution.”

“Schedule F is a shameless attempt to politicize the federal workforce by replacing thousands of dedicated, qualified civil servants with political cronies,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “Our union was born in the fight for a professional, non-partisan civil service, and our communities will pay the price if these anti-union extremists are allowed to undo decades of progress by stripping these workers of their freedoms. Together, we are fighting back.”

The lawsuit is here.

21 Comments

Pritzker blocks pardoned Jan 6 rioters from state jobs

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* NBC…

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is blocking those who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol from working in state jobs, ignoring President Donald Trump’s attempt to offer them a clean slate last week in a sweeping set of pardons and commutations.

Late Thursday, Pritzker directed the state’s Department of Central Management Services, the state’s primary hiring authority, to restrict hiring of those who took part in the attack on the Capitol by declaring they had taken part in “infamous and disgraceful conduct that is antithetical to the mission of the State.” […]

Pritzker’s new directive marks the first and most direct pushback to Trump’s power spree that has tested the bounds of presidential authority through a fray of executive orders, including some that have drawn judicial rebuke. The Democratic governor of the Midwestern blue state has for years acted as an antagonist to Trump.

Pritzker’s directive is likely to draw legal challenges, but sources familiar with it said that working through the personnel code was thought to serve as the best legal footing should it face court pushback.

* From the directive…

One of my most important duties as Governor is protecting public safety in the State of Illinois.Recently, Donald Trump issued more than 1,500 clemencies and pardons for individuals who were convicted or accused of rioting at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. These rioters attacked law enforcement officers protecting people in the Capitol, disrupted the peaceful transfer of power, and undermined bedrock principles of American democracy.

These rioters were accused or convicted of a combination of felonies and misdemeanors, including but not limited to: violence against law enforcement officers, threats against Members of Congress, destruction of federal property, and many other crimes. These crimes attacks threatened public safety as Members of Congress, staff, and other workers who were forced to hide from the violence for hours.

I am committed to building a State workforce that upholds our shared values and delivers results for the people of Illinois. Our State workforce must reflect the values of Illinois and demonstrate honesty, integrity, and loyalty to serving the taxpayers. No one who attempts to overthrow a government should serve in government.

The State’s Personnel Code, administered by the Department of Central Management Services (CMS)and by you as its Director, requires the rejection of candidates for State employment who have engaged in infamous or disgraceful conduct (20 ILCS 415/8b.4). To protect the integrity of our workforce and safety of our State, I hereby direct CMS to apply the State Personnel Code and consider any participation in the January 6 insurrection as infamous and disgraceful conduct that is antithetical to the mission of the State.

Thank you for your leadership at CMS building a workforce that reflects our shared values, prioritizes public safety, and prevents these rioters from attacking the rule of law in Illinois.

* Related…

NPR | Criminal records of Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by Trump include rape, domestic violence:

* Law & Crime | ‘Efforts to … erase the insurrection’: Deletion of Jan. 6 database by Trump administration appears to violate federal law, watchdog says: The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a federal watchdog group, has penned an open letter to the Inspector General of the Department of Justice and the Archivist of the United States, urging them to “take action” and investigate the DOJ’s removal of its Jan. 6 database — detailing criminal charges and convictions related to the 2021 Capitol attack — which they call a “likely violation” of federal law.

36 Comments

Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Retail provides one out of every five Illinois jobs, generates the second largest amount of tax revenue for the state, and is the largest source of revenue for local governments. But retail is also so much more, with retailers serving as the trusted contributors to life’s moments, big and small.

We Are Retail and IRMA are dedicated to sharing the stories of retailers like the Berchtolds, who serve their communities with dedication and pride.

Comments Off

Pritzker rejects tax hikes to balance budget: ‘If we balance the budget again this year, I believe people will finally see that Illinois can govern itself’

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Gov. JB Pritzker was asked yesterday about the so-far blocked presidential executive orders on federal spending…

My sense is, I haven’t heard anything new, that things have calmed down quite a lot.

Having said that, there is no indication, you heard this from the White House press secretary, there’s no indication that the Trump administration has any intention of pulling back on the idea of a freeze or even an elimination of major federal programs that benefit people in the state of Illinois, Meals on Wheels, Head Start, Medicaid, things that really matter to people every day. Not to mention grant programs for state police, for local police, those are all things that are at risk as a result of the threat that was made.

And it’s clearly their intention to carry it out. It’s just that they got so much negative feedback all in one day from all across the country, including from Republican elected officials, Democratic elected officials and just nonprofits across the country. So, you know, I think they’re rethinking how they can still accomplish the goal without getting all the negative feedback. […]

We’re doing our best to put together a budget that is balanced. We’re doing our best to think about the contingencies that we might have to have as eventualities because of what we think might be coming from the Trump administration.

But every day we’re going to have to communicate to all the nonprofits and all the people in our states, and by the way, Republican mayors, Republican local elected officials that we talked to over the last 48 hours, deeply concerned about what the threat is to their local communities.

And so I think that, again, if we keep the pressure on and we keep communicating that, hopefully, hopefully they will be deterred from the worst parts of what they’re intending. Are we for efficiencies? Of course, we are. We all want to find efficiencies in government, and if they can find some and help us effectuate them, that’s great, but cutting programs massively to basically give a massive tax break to the wealthiest people in the country does not seem like something the American people will tolerate

Please pardon all transcription errors.

* After reiterating his opposition to the very costly pension reform bill, Pritzker said this…

We have worked so hard over the last six years to get nine credit upgrades, and I believe we have others that are coming to us because of being prudent. And if we balance the budget again this year, I believe people will finally see that Illinois can govern itself.

I heard that when I went to New York my first year in office. In fact, my first month in office. I met with the credit rating agencies, I met with the bond investors. And I heard this thing. I never heard anybody like, the most insulting thing you can get as a state, which is ‘We don’t think Illinois knows how to govern itself.’ And can you imagine?

And so I said, ‘Wait, well, I just took over. So could we, you know, could you give us the benefit of the doubt?’ And the answer was, essentially, no. ‘We’ve seen you mishandle budgets in Illinois,’ and not me, but previous administrations. ‘And so we need to see some consistency. We need you to balance the budget. We need you to make progress, etc.’ And I said, we’re going to do that. And I told them how we do it, and guess what? We’ve done it, and that’s why we’re getting credit upgrades, and we want to stay on that path.

So that, to me, is the most important thing we can have. Whatever it is that we do on the pension system has to be within the context of making sure we’re improving our credit. And if you think credit ratings don’t matter, let me tell you, hundreds of millions of dollars get spent in interest payments if we don’t get that right. And if we do get it right, savings of hundreds of millions of dollars, either in the potential for tax cuts or spending on the things that we really need to invest in.

* Also…

It’s very important that we live within our means in this state, and that we not resort to tax increases as a way to, you know, to balance the budget, right? And so that’s what the communication we’ve had with our agencies and looking at all the priorities that we need to take care of.

* Meanwhile, Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi and the people who cover him need to learn to read a room…

Kaegi touted the need to pass “circuit-breaker” legislation in the General Assembly during Wednesday’s appearance. Supporters have floated several forms of a circuit-breaker program in recent months. Most involve a rebate or credit to low- or fixed-income homeowners who see their property tax bills rise above a certain percentage. Kaegi’s plan would apply to “the bottom half of people who are experiencing spikes of 25% or more,” he said Wednesday. “We know the key is making it a priority in Springfield.”

Ald. Desmon Yancy, 5th, and Ald. Mike Rodriguez, 22nd, joined suburban mayors from Hazel Crest, Burnham and Dixmoor at the news conference, saying quickly rising tax bills for low- and fixed-income homeowners are becoming unsustainable.

“My residents, the working-class residents of our communities, need stability so that they are not driven from their homes,” Rodriguez said. “We see just east of my ward significant displacements, and, yes, gentrification happening. We want to be on the vanguard of preservation.”

While Kaegi said his proposal has sponsors in both the Illinois House and Senate, it does not have a funding source for an estimated $200 million price tag.

It’s batten down the hatches time, Fritz.

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Chicago sued by white men barred from Bally’s casino investment. Tribune…

- Richard Fisher and Phillip Aronoff allege they were unable to invest in the project because they’re White men, according to the suit filed Wednesday in federal court by the American Alliance for Equal Rights.

- The suit challenges a provision in the Illinois Gambling Act requiring gaming companies to establish diversity programs that award 25% of contracts and other agreements to women and minority-owned businesses.

- American Alliance for Equal Rights focuses on lawsuits targeting DEI initiatives and “distinctions made on the basis of race and ethnicity,” according to its website. The organization was founded by conservative legal activist Edward Blum.

* Related stories…

∙ Higher Ed Dive: Lawsuit targets Illinois college scholarships aimed at increasing teacher diversity
∙ Education Week: Top Affirmative Action Foe Has New Target: Scholarships for Aspiring Minority Teachers
∙ WaPo: McDonald’s sued over scholarships for Hispanic and Latino students

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* QC online | Illinois GOP lawmaker says she’s received ’some phone calls’ on undocumented IDOC inmates: Since then, Bryant claims she has received phone calls from employees about undocumented inmates. She instructed her staff to not ask for names of those calling her office in order to ensure they are not reprimanded. “I asked for the offender’s name, the offender’s institutional number, and what facility the offender is in which they’re located,” Bryant said at a press conference at the state Capitol on Tuesday. “So I don’t know if it’s their family who are calling, I don’t know if it’s staff at the facilities that are calling, specifically because I don’t want to know who those folks are, and then I can protect them from those who would go after them for reporting someone who has violated federal law.”

* Tribune | Madigan jury, flush with office supplies, finishes first full day of deliberations without reaching verdict: So far the only communication from the jurors has been about scheduling — and office supplies. Shortly before noon Thursday, they sent a note to the judge asking for more highlighters, sticky notes and white-out. That followed requests on Wednesday for “more pens and highlighters and tape” as well as “at least five more copies of the indictment.” “Apparently there is some kind of arts and crafts going on back there,” U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey quipped after reading the Thursday note. When another message from the jurors arrived later in the day, the judge joked that it would be a red flag only “if they start asking for pipe cleaners and macaroni.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* 21st Show | ‘It makes you wonder what is next’: Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza reacts to freeze on federal aid: Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza reacted to the freeze and how the state is reacting, including Attorney General Kwame Raoul and other states suing to stop Trump’s Executive Order. Besides that, she said the chaos caused by the changes has made many anxious. “We should always be looking to find efficiencies in government, to find wasteful spending… this is certainly not the way to go about it. It was a master class in incompetency,” said Mendoza. “It’s easy for people to say we should cut something until it’s their child’s cancer treatment that gets cut.”

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Illinois state flag has fans, and could keep flying after design contest: Ted Kaye, a vexillologist, or person who studies flags, calls it a “seal on a bedsheet” — an unflattering term for a flag design in vexillology circles — and said Illinois needs a rebrand. He noted that the flag’s details can’t be distinguished at a distance and that the white background can’t be used on graphic designs because the white bleeds into the background. […] [Rep. Terri] Bryant said she was not clear on what the costs of changing the flag might be and plans to request an estimate during the spring legislative session. But [Sen. Doris] Turner said she is confident the costs won’t be high. She noted that the commission is made up of volunteers and said the state would follow Utah in replacing flags gradually as they wear out.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | New CPS Board boosts its legal tab as it faces its outgoing CEO in court: Initially, the board approved a $40,000 contract for firm Cozen O’Connor in mid-November, just two and a half months ago. While the amount is not much in the scope of a $9.8 billion budget, it shows that costs are adding up in a leadership drama that has gripped Chicago Public Schools since the summer. At its root is a bitter disagreement between the CEO and the mayor’s office over how to deal with a budget deficit and how to settle the Chicago Teachers Union contract.

* WGN | Irish immigrant living in Illinois faces growing fear amid nationwide federal immigration raids: She said she initially tried to fix things with an attorney but was told that she had no options to make things right. So she stayed, fell in love, and later became pregnant. But things eventually took a turn for the worse. “The relationship became extremely, like, abusive,” the woman said. “And any time I tried to leave with my children he would tell me, you know, ‘You’re not a citizen, they’re not going to let you take her.’”

* Tribune | Chicago sued by white men barred from Bally’s casino investment: Bally’s Corp. and the City of Chicago were accused of discriminating against white men in a lawsuit by a conservative legal group challenging a $1.7 billion casino project that offered a 25% ownership stake only to women and people of color. The city violated the civil rights of Richard Fisher and Phillip Aronoff, who said they were unable to invest in the project because they’re White men, according to the suit filed Wednesday in federal court by the American Alliance for Equal Rights.

* Tribune | For first time in 92 years, Walgreens suspends quarterly dividend amid financial struggles: The change comes amid struggles for the Deerfield-based retail pharmacy giant. Walgreens announced plans in October to shutter 1,200 stores over the next three years, including in Chicago. Walgreens has been cutting costs for years, including through layoffs in Illinois and other locations. Walgreens said in a news release Thursday that it was suspending quarterly dividends “as management continues to evaluate and refine its capital allocation policy consistent with the company’s broader long-term turnaround efforts.”

* Crain’s | WBBM gains ground as Chicago radio listeners demand real-time news: Driven largely by interest in the 2024 presidential election, WBBM Newsradio 780 AM saw its audience grow from a 4.8 to 5.7 in Nielsen’s annual audio ratings. The station held its No. 3 spot in the 2024 rankings and outperformed rival WGN Radio 720 AM, which saw listenership decline from 3.2 to 2.9, landing it tied for eighth.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | A serial killer prowling the suburbs? Here’s the truth behind viral posts: It wasn’t long before police there received numerous online messages and phone calls about the ominous reports, Deputy Chief Victor DiVito told us this week. It’s not clear exactly who’s behind the hoax or why, but versions of the post have appeared in groups from Pennsylvania to Washington state and Wisconsin to Louisiana. “It’s instilling fear, obviously, nationwide,” DiVito said.

* Daily Herald | Northwest Community Healthcare cuts more than 100 jobs, discontinues inpatient psychiatric services: Endeavor Health, which now runs the Arlington Heights hospital following a series of mergers and acquisitions, announced the job cuts to employees Wednesday and in a legal public notice published Thursday in the Daily Herald. The layoffs are tied to the upcoming discontinuation of inpatient psychiatric services effective April 11 and are expected to include nurses and others with specialized skills who work at the NCH Behavioral Health Center, 901 W. Kirchoff Road.

* Daily Herald | ‘Losing this funding will cause deaths’: Suburban leaders blast Trump’s federal funding freeze: “I am not being melodramatic when I say this — losing this funding will cause deaths,” said Laura Fry, Executive Director of Live4Lali, an Arlington Heights-based nonprofit group fighting substance abuse. Fry joined representatives from other suburban social service agencies at an online news conference Thursday to discuss the potential impacts of Trump’s $3 trillion funding freeze, the fate of which is unclear. Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart and Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart also participated in the discussion, which was hosted by U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider of Highland Park.

*** Downstate ***

* Rockford Register Star | Letter carrier’s campaign for Rockford City Council raises federal Hatch Act concerns: A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier’s campaign for Rockford City Council is raising questions about a 1939 law that prohibits federal employees from participating in a partisan elections. Lawrence Steward, 41, of Rockford, grew to prominence when his friend and colleague Jay Larson was killed during a bloody March 27 spree of violence last year that left four dead and seven wounded in a Rockford neighborhood. Grief-stricken letter carriers across the region turned to Steward for guidance and leadership as president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Local 245. Steward said he has no plans to drop out of the election.

* WCIA | I-155 back open after standoff with driver, State Police say: State Police said they responded to Milepost 9 near Emden around 10 p.m. on Wednesday to help a driver on the highway. But, a portion of the interstate was closed in Logan County after the individual refused to leave their car. By 2 p.m. on Thursday, the individual still refused to leave their vehicle. As of 7 p.m. on Thursday, State Police confirmed that the individual was taken into custody and transported to an area hospital for treatment. All lanes of I-155 are open.

* Illinois Times | How the 1908 Race Riot led to the NAACP: On Aug. 14-15, 1908, mobs and demonstrators destroyed at least 21 Black businesses in Springfield and burned the homes of more than 40 families. Among those killed during the riot was William Donnegan, a prominent elderly Black cobbler and real estate investor who was lynched across from his house at Spring and Edwards streets. The day after Donnegan was dragged from his home, an out-of-town journalist named William English Walling came to Springfield and interviewed many local people. He published an article, “Race War in the North,” two weeks later in the New York periodical The Independent. Racial violence and lynchings were sadly common in many cities at that time. In 1905, W.E.B. DuBois and a few others had founded the Niagara Movement, a national civil rights organization.

* Illinois Times | Rail project gets closer to completion: During a presentation Friday, Jan. 24, at the Citizens Club of Springfield, city and county officials outlined plans to finish work on the sixth and final “usable segment” of construction to accommodate the new two-lane railroad along the 10th Street corridor. Construction of overpasses and underpasses is aimed at improving traffic flow and eliminating excess train noise between Stanford Avenue and Sangamon Avenue. The final usable segment, which will begin construction in spring 2025 and is expected to be completed in 2027, will include the North Grand overpass located from 11th to 19th Street, and the North Grand Avenue underpass from Ninth to 11th Street.

* Illinois Times | SIU’s economic impact: Illinois taxpayers support the Springfield-based medical school to the tune of $41.1 million in state general revenue funds each year, according to SIU spokesperson Catie Sheehan. That total is part of the $219.4 million in GRF money for the entire system, which also includes SIU’s campuses in Carbondale and Edwardsville. The report said the state’s investment in the medical school generated almost $36 million in tax revenues during the most recent fiscal year.

*** National ***

* WTTW | Pritzker Says Trump ‘Unfit to Lead’ After President’s Response to Fatal DC Plane Crash: An American Airlines flight from Kansas that was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on a training flight collided. Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River, and authorities report no one survived. “While times of tragedy should be focused on mourning the victims and getting answers to their loved ones, we face the unfortunate reality that we must be honest with the nation about: Donald Trump is unfit to lead during moments of crisis like these,” Pritzker said in a Thursday evening statement, saying that “before victims have even been identified, Trump is blaming people.”

* CNN | Trump Administration’s Halt of CDC’s Weekly Scientific Report Stalls Bird Flu Studies: Its scientific reports have been swept up in an “immediate pause” on communications by federal health agencies ordered by Dorothy Fink, the acting secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Fink’s memo covers “any document intended for publication,” she wrote, “until it has been reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee.” It was sent on President Donald Trump’s first full day in office.

* ProPublica | Boxed Up: A Portrait of an Immigrant Community Living Under Threat of Deportation: Box by box, the Nicaraguans who milk the cows and clean the pens on Wisconsin’s dairy farms, who wash dishes at its restaurants and fill lines on its factory floors, are sending home their most prized possessions, bracing for the impact of President Donald Trump’s mass deportations.

6 Comments

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

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

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Comments Off

Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Friday, Jan 31, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Comments Off

Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* KFVS…

A sudden rise in illnesses cancels classes at a growing number of Heartland schools.

Scott City, New Madrid County and eight other districts are dealing with the flu, COVID and more.

Anna School District #37 in Illinois canceled classes for two days because of the number of sick students. Now, leaders say they are using that time to deep clean school buildings for the protection of all students and staff.

“We’re going through. We’re wiping down all the lockers, the handles, all the doorknobs on the table tops, anywhere we can go,” said Superintendent Brent Boren. “We’re seeing Type A influenza, COVID and norovirus and it seems to hit all at once.”

*** It’s Just A Bill ***

* WTTW | Companies That Participated in the Slave Trade Could Face New Rules in Illinois Under Proposal: Companies that participated in the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries could have to fess up and pay up if they want to do business with Illinois in the 21st century. State Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago), sponsor of the Enslavement Era Disclosure and Redress Act (House Bill 1227), said it’s a way for corporations that profited on the backs of enslaved people to help repair the legacy of harm caused for generations of Black Americans.

*** Chicago ***

* Daily Line | Ethics board recommends end to decades-old ‘unwritten’ practice after OIG report on mayor’s acceptance of expensive gifts: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office failed to make a record of gifts the office has accepted publicly available and denied the Chicago Office of the Inspector General (OIG) access to a “gift room” where items such as luxury handbags and nice shoes were being stored, the OIG alleged in an advisory issued Wednesday. As a result, the OIG and Board of Ethics have advised the mayor’s office to no longer follow an “unwritten agreement” with the ethics board that has allowed the mayor’s office to skirt government transparency rules for decades.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | How are Chicago schools responding to increased immigration enforcement? Here are five examples.: In Brighton Park, a majority Latino neighborhood on the city’s southwest side, an elementary school principal has been sharing his experience as an immigrant, so that families feel more comfortable. In Pilsen, a predominantly Latino neighborhood and historically a neighborhood where Mexican families have immigrated to, a high school launched an emergency immigration chat and told parents that it’s OK for students with immigration concerns to stay home.

* NBC Chicago | Former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke requests commutation, reducing prison sentence: According to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney, Burke has filed an application for a commutation of his sentence. A clemency case has been opened, and the petition is under review, according to the department’s website. The petition was filed in 2025, but it is unclear what date. That application is now up for President Donald Trump’s administration to grant or deny. It can take months, even years, before a sentence commutation is granted or denied. The application goes through several levels before it reaches the president’s desk.

* Block Club | Rogers Park Business Alliance Expands Classes For Entrepreneurs With New State Funding: The Rogers Park Business Alliance, a local chamber of commerce, was recently awarded a grant through the state’s Economic Empowerment Centers Program, which gives money to groups that provide local business support. With the infusion of $250,000 in state funding, the Rogers Park Business Alliance is rolling out Grow More/Progresando Más, a bilingual program to assist minority-owned small businesses in the neighborhood, said executive director Sandi Price. The money will be used for personnel to lead classes and events at no cost to business owners, she said.

* WBEZ | Charlie Trotter’s son fires up the stoves at his father’s legendary Chicago restaurant: “People under the age of 40 don’t know who Charlie Trotter was, and my goal is to change that,” Dylan said. Charlie died of a stroke in 2013, less than a year after closing the restaurant. “This is a historic Chicago landmark that should be known by everyone, young and old,” said Dylan. “I think the younger generation should look back at history and see: How did we get to where we are now?”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Cook County state’s attorney to push for prison sentences in machine-gun cases: According to the policy, prosecutors on their own cannot enter into a plea agreement for a probation term or other punishments that do not involve prison time in cases where the defendant used or possessed “any machine gun conversion device, extended magazine, drum magazine, automatic switch, as well as a privately made firearm, ghost gun and/or defaced firearm.” Assistant state’s attorneys can seek permission from a supervisor if they believe the policy should be modified in individual cases, but officials said supervisors would likely only waive the terms in specific circumstances.

* WGN | ‘It got real crazy:’ The inside story of bad blood that boiled over into a brawl during a Thornton Township board meeting: Seconds after making slurs about Tiffany Henyard’s sex life and parenting, a fight erupted on the floor of the township meeting, with community activist Jedidiah Brown and Henyard’s boyfriend, Kamal Woods, coming to blows. Henyard herself even jumped in. “She ran from behind the table with a microphone in her hand and she hit me with it while another one of her staff members was kicking me in the head and I was defending myself against Kamal and other individuals,” Brown said.

*** Downstate ***

* WMBD | UPDATE: I-155 still closed in Logan County as ISP crisis team negotiates with driver: The Illinois State Police is asking drivers to avoid a five-mile stretch of Interstate 155 on Thursday, saying there has been “an incident.” […] The Illinois State Police has provided more information on the “incident” that is ongoing in Logan County. According to the state police, at 10 p.m., troopers responded to a motorist assist call on Interstate 155 northbound near Emden, milepost 9, in Logan County. The motorist then and now is refusing to leave the vehicle.

* KHQA | Western CUSD 12 shuts down for the week amid Influenza A outbreak: Western Community Unit School District 12 in Barry, Illinois will not hold classes the rest of the week due to an outbreak of Influenza A and other illnesses. On Tuesday, January 28th, when they made the announcement, nearly half of the students and a third of the staff were out sick in some buildings.

* NPR | Criminal records of Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by Trump include rape, domestic violence: Theodore Middendorf was accused by Illinois prosecutors of “Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child.” Prosecutors said in a court filing obtained by NPR that Middendorf “committed an act of sexual penetration.” Indiana state records indicate that Middendorf’s victim was 7 years old. Middendorf entered a guilty plea in that case in May 2024 and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. He is currently registered as a sex offender in the state and remains in custody on those charges. Separately, Middendorf pleaded guilty to destruction of government property for striking a window at the U.S. Capitol with a flagpole on Jan. 6. He had not yet been sentenced for his role in the Capitol riot when the Justice Department moved to dismiss his case following Trump’s order.

* SJ-R | All of Springfield’s McDonald’s soon to be owned by same person: As of Feb. 1, Mike Kasprzyk will own all 11 Golden Arches in the Capital City after purchasing two stores from to other franchise operators, Dr. Paul and Mary Breznay and Kim Derringer, in December. The back-to-back acquisitions doubled Kasprzyk’s Springfield footprint after only entering the market last year.

*** National ***

* NYT | Staffing was ‘not normal’ at airport tower, according to a preliminary F.A.A. report.: The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways. Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one. This increases the workload for the air traffic controller and can complicate the job. One reason is that the controllers can use different radio frequencies to communicate with pilots flying planes and pilots flying helicopters. While the controller is communicating with pilots of the helicopter and the jet, the two sets of pilots may not be able to hear each other.

* Chalkbeat | Trump executive order seeks to steer federal funds to private school vouchers: The executive order cites disheartening national test scores released Wednesday as one justification, saying families need options outside the public system. Securing federal funding has been a longtime goal of supporters of vouchers and educational savings accounts, which families can tap to pay for private education. Until now, with the exception of a voucher program in Washington, D.C., the use of taxpayer dollars for private education largely has expanded through state policy. A proposal to use federal tax credits to fund private school scholarships has not advanced in Congress — though new versions were recently introduced.

* The Atlantic | Why States Took a Gamble on Sports Betting: “I interviewed Charlie Baker, the former governor of Massachusetts who signed the bill legalizing bookmaking there in 2022, and then a few months later became president of the NCAA and has become a really vocal champion for limiting the amount of betting on college sports, particularly in light of the brutal harassment that college athletes and coaches get whenever their performance costs someone a bet,” Funt recalled. “It’s honestly horrifying, the sort of stuff they see on social media and in real life. And he has said point-blank, ‘I wish, in hindsight, this had stayed in Las Vegas.’”

* AP | Trump administration revokes deportation protections for 600,000 Venezuelans: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday that the Trump administration has revoked a decision that would have protected roughly 600,000 people from Venezuela from deportation, putting some at risk of being removed from the country in about two months. Noem signed a notice reversing a move by her predecessor, Alejandro Mayorkas, in the waning days of the Biden administration to extend Temporary Protected Status. The change is effective immediately and comes amid a slew of actions as the Trump administration works to make good on promises to crack down on illegal immigration and carry out the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history.

Illinois Freedom Caucus complains about punishment

Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’ve been telling subscribers about this battle. From an Illinois Freedom Caucus press release…

The punitive measures Minority Leader Tony McCombie has taken against conservative House members are a blatant attempt to shut out conservative voices in the General Assembly, according to the Illinois Freedom Caucus members.

Because of irreconcilable differences in policy, approach and results, several House Republican members could not in good conscience support Leader McCombie in her run for Minority Leader. Instead, they opted for a respectful low profile swearing in ceremony at the Capitol. As a result of not receiving their votes for leader, the Minority Leader instituted childish retaliatory actions. Specifically, she has denied the following services from State Reps. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich), Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville), Chris Miller (R-Hindsboro), Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City) and Marty McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills):

• Spokesman positions on legislative committees
• Access to larger offices that were consistent with their seniority in the House Republican Caucus
• Access to their state websites, emails, and email newsletter services
• Access to Communications staffers including access to social media sites, audio and visual services, graphic design, and press release services
• Secretarial services at the Capitol
• Biography services
• All press conference assistance services

• All outreach assistance services
• Media tracking services
• Access to Bill Analysis
• Access to research assistance from House Republican staff
• Access to House Republican staff generated media lists

The Illinois Freedom Caucus is issuing the following statement:

“Minority Leader Tony McCombie has officially declared war on conservatives. She seems to be more interested in going after conservative members of her own caucus than she is in taking on the Democrats who control every level of government in our state and who have run our state into the ground.

Our goal is to win seats so that we can advance a conservative Republican agenda in Illinois. While we do not believe Tony McCombie is the kind of leader we need to accomplish this goal, we nonetheless support the mission of the House Republican Caucus. We do not care about offices, titles or other accolades that go along with being an elected official. We are solely focused on enacting the kind of policies we need to turn our state around and voting against the bad policies. The idea that our own leader would impede our efforts is a major disappointment, but we will not be deterred in our fight to restore Illinois. She can put us in broom closets for all we care because it won’t change our resolve for our mission.

Our only regret is that the person who has presided over zero pickups in the last election and who is so desperate to be the minority leader is also so completely unserious about her job. We are not the ones who are suffering because of her bad leadership – it is the millions of Republican voters who are suffering at the hands of her failures. They deserve to have a Republican Leader who embraces conservative voices and works to unify the party, rather than a leader who attacks conservatives and demands absolute loyalty like a monarch.”

* Politico…

They missed McCombie’s criticism of Democrats during the recent inauguration because they held their own separate inauguration.

“This decision was not made lightly and remains subject to further review,” McCombie said in a statement. “Leadership resources are a privilege, not an entitlement, and they are allocated to those committed to advancing our caucus’s priorities — not fueling distractions.” There’s also a concern that the Freedom Caucus sometimes blurs the line of being a political organization. That’s not allowed when doing work in the Capitol. […]

McCombie isn’t the first to take away some privileges. Former House GOP Leader Jim Durkin also pulled back the benefits.

That statement wasn’t specifically a response to the above press release, I’m told.

26 Comments

Roundup: Jury begins deliberations in Madigan corruption trial

Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

You can click here and here to follow the Madigan trial. If you want live updates on the trial, the Sun-Times will be texting out the latest on jury deliberations and the verdict. Click here to sign up.

* Capitol News Illinois…

[O]n Wednesday, after three months of listening to testimony followed by a marathon week of closing arguments, the lead prosecutor in Madigan’s corruption trial presented that idiom to jurors before they were finally released to deliberate.

In a final attempt to weaken defense attorneys’ arguments over the racketeering, bribery and other corruption allegations against Madigan and his co-defendant, longtime Springfield lobbyist Mike McClain, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu told jurors that Madigan and McClain were neither “stupid” nor “beginners.”

“Mr. Madigan and McClain are adept at making sure Mr. Madigan’s fingerprints are not left at the scene,” Bhachu said of an episode involving a proposed land deal that forms the basis of five charges against the defendants. “They’re not playing checkers. They’re playing chess. And the two of them are grand masters of corruption.”

It was a line Bhachu used nearly two years ago in closing arguments in a related trial in which McClain and three other former executives and lobbyists for electric utility Commonwealth Edison were charged with bribing Madigan.

* Sun-Times…

When Michael J. Madigan’s longtime friend penned a retirement letter in 2016, he compared the record-breaking Illinois House speaker to Chicago’s famous “Boss” mayor, the late Richard J. Daley.

Michael McClain wrote that “Illinois is a great state because of your hand on the rudder, and you know instinctively now, just like Richard J. Daley, when to start, slow or turn off the engine.” […]

“He also had something else in his hand,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said. “He had the trust that was placed in him by each and every member of the public. But in guiding that ship, if you will, Mr. Madigan abused that trust. He lost his way. He was blinded by profit. By power. By his desire to stay in power.”

Madigan threw that trust “overboard, abandoned it,” Bhachu said. And, in the final argument in Madigan’s four-month trial, Bhachu told the jury “you have the evidence” to hold Madigan accountable for “that sunken trust.”

* Courthouse News Service…

Madigan and McClain’s attorneys, during their closing arguments, attacked Solis’ credibility. Madigan’s attorney Dan Collins went so far as to call him a “malignant tumor at the heart of this case.” […]

They pointed out that Solis testified he feigned his interest in the state board job as part of his undercover work. In a secretly recorded June 29, 2017 conversation, Solis also asked an uncertain property developer named Andy Cretal if there would be a “possibility” for Madigan to get legal work from his company ZOM Living’s “Union West” apartment project.

Bhachu, on Wednesday, countered that Madigan had plenty of chances to walk away from dealing with Solis — especially after June 23, 2017, when in another conversation Solis implied the Union West developers understood development “works” via quid pro quo arrangements. Madigan also continued helping Solis find a state board job in 2018, even after Solis told the then-speaker “I’ll continue to get you legal business” that June.

“Use your common sense here,” Bhachu told the jurors during his rebuttal closings on Wednesday.

* Today’s jury update…

The jurors are asking for more highlighters, sticky notes, white-out, etc.

"Apparently there's some kind of arts and crafts going on," Judge Blakey says.

They also inform the judge they'll break for lunch at noon.

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) January 30, 2025

* Tribune…

The panel, which was selected anonymously, also announced they had elected Juror 16 as their foreman, a white man who appears to be in his 40s or 50s who said during jury selection he was born and raised in Chicago’s 19th Ward on the Far Southwest Side, where he still lives.

His parents were close friends with the previous 19th Ward alderman, Virginia Rugai, he said. He also knows the current alderman, Matt O’Shea, but does not discuss city operations or personal matters with him, he said.

The juror also said he had not done much political work apart from voting, and his recent contact with the ward office was limited to getting a block party permit. He works as an insurance underwriter and has three children, he said.

Juror 16 also said during selection that he did not want to be on the panel.

* More…

WTTW | A Jury Will Now Decide Michael Madigan’s Fate. Here’s a Breakdown of the Landmark Corruption Case:

17 Comments

Pritzker says Dem gov convo with Schumer was ‘good,’ but doesn’t discuss details

Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* The New York Times…

A group of six Democratic governors pressed Senator Chuck Schumer of New York during a tense call on Wednesday night to be more aggressive in fighting back against President Trump’s nominees and agenda, all but begging the minority leader to persuade Senate Democrats to block whatever they could.

The call, described in detailed notes as well as interviews with two participants and five other people briefed on the conversation, revealed the growing tensions among Democrats about how forcefully they should oppose Mr. Trump. Mr. Schumer convened the call to discuss a collective response to the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans, which was pulled back on Wednesday. […]

Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Gov. Maura Healey of Massachusetts each told Mr. Schumer that Senate Democrats should not vote for Mr. Trump’s nominees after the administration issued a memo freezing the funding. […]

Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas, who is the chairwoman of the Democratic Governors Association and helped organize the call along with Mr. Pritzker, said their party needed to do a better job with its digital outreach in response to Mr. Trump. She called for Democrats’ online strategy to become “down and dirty.”

* The governor was asked about the call today during an unrelated news conference…

Pritzker: As to the call that we had last night with Leader Schumer in the US Senate. It was a productive call. We had a lively conversation about the challenges that people in our states are going through as a result of the threat of the freezes that appear to be the aim of the Trump administration. And Leader Schumer was receptive to things that we had to say. Understood, you know, he’s from New York. They also had the same things happen to them in New York, and he heard directly from people that are his constituents. So it was a good conversation. I think Chuck-

Reporter: Have the lines of communications reopened between the state and federal government?

Pritzker: Yeah, I haven’t heard of a failure to communicate between the two after that day. When there was so much of a challenge and we had some of our people rejected having conversations with our counterparts at the federal level. I haven’t checked in to see if those conversations have reopened. But my sense is, I haven’t heard anything new, that things have calmed down quite a lot.

Having said that, there is no indication, you heard this from the White House press secretary, there’s no indication that the Trump administration has any intention of pulling back on the idea of a freeze or even an elimination of major federal programs that benefit people in the state of Illinois, Meals on Wheels, Head Start, Medicaid, things that really matter to people every day. Not to mention grant programs for state police, for local police, those are all things that are at risk as a result of the threat that was made.

And it’s clearly their intention to carry it out. It’s just that they got so much negative feedback all in one day from all across the country, including from Republican elected officials, Democratic elected officials and nonprofits across the country. So I think they’re rethinking how they can still accomplish the goal without getting all the negative feedback.

25 Comments

Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* IPM Newsroom…

In 2018, Joseph Dole was one of a group of students facing about 20 lawmakers. He didn’t have any public speaking experience, so he was a little nervous.

The students were in Stateville Correctional Center on life sentences. They had studied law journals and studies and formed teams, each arguing for the most effective way to bring parole back to Illinois. […]

Although the Illinois Department of Corrections canceled the class soon after the public debate, the students kept pushing their vision. They wrote House Bill 3373 (also known as Senate Bill 2129) for last year’s General Assembly and are introducing the bill again this year. […]

The state abolished its parole system in 1978. Prior to that, a board could let people out before completing their sentence.

“What we have now is a determinate sentencing scheme where you give people a fixed sentence. There’s no reviewing their progress throughout the sentence,” said fellow student, Raúl Dorado.

* Sun-Times…

For more than four years, a bill to establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board has floated through the halls of Illinois’s Statehouse to no avail. […]

[Rep. Nabeela Syed, D-Palatine,] and state Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, filed the bill in each of their chambers of the General Assembly. Their biggest challenge could be just getting the bill to the floor. […]

In sessions past, the bill failed to reach that threshold. This year’s version is the same as past years, but while its substance hasn’t changed, Syed says legislators’ opinions have.

“I believe, especially now more than ever, we have the ability to get more than enough members on board to get legislation like this across… coming off of election season, many of my colleagues have heard at the doors that people can’t afford groceries, they can’t afford to pay their mortgage and they can’t afford their prescription drugs,” she said.

* Center Square…

A sexual assault involving school kids in a small central Illinois community has prompted an Illinois lawmaker to take action.

State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, said he was shocked to find out that the student who committed the sexual assault was allowed to stay in class. […]

McClure introduced legislation that would require school districts to expel a student for at least one year for committing a sexual assault or sexual violence. He said many people have reached out to him after he presented the legislation. […]

Democratic lawmakers in Illinois have a long history of rejecting legislation that is considered a “penalty enhancement.” McClure said he doesn’t classify the bill as a penalty enhancement but a safety enhancement, and it is his hope that the offending student will go to an alternative learning center and get the treatment needed to get them on a better path.

* Rep. Kam Buckner filed HB1894 yesterday…

Amends the Election Code. Provides that a person is not prohibited from photographing his or her own ballot at any time during the voting process or from viewing a photograph of a completed or partially completed ballot. Provides that any person who gives, promises to give, or receives any money or other valuable consideration in connection with the dissemination or viewing of a photograph of a completed or partially completed ballot is guilty of a Class 4 felony. Effective immediately.

Illinois election code…

Except as permitted by this Code, any person who knowingly marks his ballot or casts his vote on a voting machine or voting device so that it can be observed by another person, and any person who knowingly observes another person lawfully marking a ballot or lawfully casting his vote on a voting machine or voting device, shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony.

* Sen. Willie Preston…

Today, legislators and advocates gathered to announce the filing of Senate Bill 74 and House Bill 1224, landmark legislation to reform Illinois’ retainage policies.

“This legislation is about fairness and modernizing our laws to support Illinois contractors,” said State Senator Willie Preston (D-Chicago), chief sponsor of Senate Bill 74. “Our small businesses and workforce deserve payment practices that reflect the realities of today’s economy.”

The bills aim to end the practice of withholding payments from contractors across the board and instead adopt federal standards that impose retainage only when specific project issues arise. The bills would only apply to state agencies and public universities, not local governments or private developments.

Advocates called on lawmakers to support the legislation and act swiftly to pass it during the current session. “We urge lawmakers to recognize the urgency of this reform. Retainage policies affect thousands of workers and businesses across the state. The time to act is now,” said Jaemie Neely, Executive Director of the Federation of Women Contractors.

Advocates emphasized the detrimental effects of the current policy on contractors and small businesses, noting how delayed payments disrupt cash flow, limit job growth and threaten livelihoods.

“Retainage reform is a critical step toward fostering a healthier business environment in Illinois. Contractors should not have to wait for money they’ve rightfully earned,” said Jacky Gomez, Executive Director of the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association.

By aligning Illinois’ policies with federal standards, the legislation aims to provide contractors with the financial flexibility they need to complete projects efficiently while ensuring accountability in construction practices.

* WAND…

Sen. Sally Turner (R-Lincoln) has reintroduced a bill to allow tiny homes to be exempt from a 2023 state law requiring all homes to be built with electric vehicle charging capacity.

Turner told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the well-intended law is actually a costly mandate for nonprofit organizations like the Central Illinois Veterans Commission.

“One of our most unique services in the CIVC is our tiny home projects we provide veterans with affordable permanent housing, and it’s tailored to their specific needs,” Turner said. “We have many of them that are handicapped and need that handicap accessibility.”

The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and now heads to the Senate floor. Senators unanimously approved the same bill last year, but the plan died in the House.

22 Comments

Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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

Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Illinois’ eighth graders outperform their peers in all but one state in national math and reading test. Tribune…

* Related stories…

∙ Chalkbeat Chicago: NAEP scores: How did Illinois students do on the ‘nation’s report card’ in 2024?
∙ Press release: Illinois’ 8th Grade Students Outperform National Averages in Both Reading and Math on ‘The Nation’s Report Card’
∙ WIFR: Illinois students beat national math, reading scores

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* WSIL | Brick thrown through window of State Representative Severin and State Senator Bryant’s joint office building: Both Severin and Bryant say they condemn the violent incident at their office and shared the following statement… “It is our honor to represent the people of Southern Illinois, and we take our responsibility to be their voice seriously. Our commitment has always been to advocate for policies that improve the lives of our constituents and all Illinoisans. Acts of violence like the one committed against our district office this morning will not deter us from that mission – instead, it only strengthens our resolve.

* NYT | In Tense Call, Governors Push Schumer to Fight Harder Against Trump: Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Gov. Maura Healey of Massachusetts each told Mr. Schumer that Senate Democrats should not vote for Mr. Trump’s nominees after the administration issued a memo freezing the funding.

* WBEZ | Illinois settles two lawsuits linked to prison education programs: The department agreed to pay $90,000 to five men who say officials retaliated against them for debating parole reform in front of state legislators. In the other settlement, the state will pay $5,000 to a peer educator fired for teaching about racist Jim Crow literacy tests. Both cases involved prison education programs, and both showed prison officials struggling to respond when those programs prompted incarcerated people to engage with sensitive political and social issues.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WBBM | Gov. JB Pritzker yet to decide on run for third term: “Families of politicians go through a lot that they shouldn’t have to,” he mused. “They didn’t choose, necessarily, to be in that life. So that’s part of the decision-making process. And of course, the other part is… what’s ahead? What could we accomplish if we kept going?”

* Tribune | Assessor Fritz Kaegi says Chicago properties worth a combined $50.8 billion in 2024, calls for bill relief in Springfield: Kaegi touted the need to pass “circuit-breaker” legislation in the General Assembly during Wednesday’s appearance. Supporters have floated several forms of a circuit-breaker program in recent months. Most involve a rebate or credit to low- or fixed-income homeowners who see their property tax bills rise above a certain percentage. Kaegi’s plan would apply to “the bottom half of people who are experiencing spikes of 25% or more,” he said Wednesday. “We know the key is making it a priority in Springfield.”

*** Statewide ***

* Journal & Topics | Del Mar Resigns As State GOP Co-Chair Effectively Immediately: In early December, Del Mar announced his intention to resign from his role as state party co-chair. At the time, he told the Journal he planned to explore a run for a statewide office and would step down as state party co-chair in January or February. […] Del Mar in his letter Wednesday said: “I can no longer, in good conscience, remain in this role while awaiting a successor and facilitating a transition. To be clear I will remain in my duly elected role as state central committeeman, (of the) 5th Congressional District.” Del Mar is also the Palatine Township Republican committeeman and is running for reelection as Palatine Township highway commissioner in the April 1 election.

* Crain’s | After Trump’s opening volley on grants, Illinois’ research universities on alert: NU ranks 30th in the country, having received $678 million in federal support in 2023, according to data from the National Science Foundation. Data for 2024 is not yet available. UChicago, 41st, and U of I, 43rd, were awarded $477 million and $460 million in 2023, respectively. About 40% of funding for basic research, much of it done at universities, comes from the federal government, according to the NSF.

* Crain’s | Trump’s moves to curb abortion spending spell trouble for Illinois: “It’s going to increase the retribution that the federal government will take on the state of Illinois,” said Margie Schaps, executive director of the Health & Medicine Policy Research Group. “They’ve shown themselves to be vindictive.” Asked today how it was responding to the Trump administration’s recent actions, a Pritzker office spokesman told Crain’s: “During this time when reproductive health care has been under assault, Illinois will remain a state where every person is entitled to the full range of reproductive health care, including family planning services, birth control and abortion.”

* WTVO | Illinois receives 2 F’s on tobacco control report card: Illinois received an F grade in tobacco prevention and cessation funding as well as an F in restrictions on flavored tobacco products. Graders gave the state an A grade for having smoke-free air and access to cessation services, in addition to a C grade for tobacco tax.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | New CPS Board president says he took the volunteer job because ‘I love this city’: Sean Harden says he knows this question is on many people’s minds. The 51-year-old single man with no children says he pursued becoming president of the Chicago Board of Education because he saw an area where he could step up. […] Harden faced an avalanche of criticism last week after it surfaced that he had requested a CPS driver and a car that would cost the school district $150,000. FOX News’ Paris Schutz reported that story based on internal CPS documents shared by sources. Harden points out that past board presidents have had cars and drivers, though the last two did not. The last president to have the service was Frank Clark, but he ended it some time between 2015 and 2018, CPS said. And budget crises are, as history shows, nothing new for CPS.

* Sun-Times | Text from Johnson to firefighters’ union president could ignite stalled contract talks: Asked what it will take to bring negotiations to a close, Cleary said: “Don’t give me what I could have gotten three-and-a-half years ago: an average, b.s. contract. Give me a good contract. Reward us for waiting so long.” Johnson directed his negotiating team to draft a substantive proposal on the outstanding issues of pay, benefits, staffing and equipment. Cleary wouldn’t reveal details of that latest proposal, which will be the subject of this week’s talks. The goal is to narrow to a handful the number of outstanding issues that must be decided by an independent arbitrator.

* Tribune | ‘I did something wrong’: Chicago man arrested by ICE asks forgiveness, victim’s mother supports possible deportation: In another video shared on social media, Pavuluri is shown sitting inside a black sedan as a federal agent opens the door and allows a reporter from the pro-Donald Trump website Frontline America to stick a microphone in the 31-year-old man’s face and question him. Pavuluri, who was born in India, explained he had been in prison since 2018, serving an eight-year sentence for a drunken driving incident that killed 20-year-old Mariyah Howard of Beecher. He had been released from prison only 16 days earlier, according to Illinois Department of Correction records. Looking into the camera, he asked for a “fair chance” and pleaded for grace from no one in particular. “I did something wrong,” said Pavuluri, who was in the country on a student visa at the time of the crash. “I’m sorry about what I did.”

* Sun-Times | Historian Shermann ‘Dilla’ Thomas partners with DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center: “We are thrilled that Dilla is joining our DuSable team,” Perri Irmer, DuSable’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “His knowledge of Chicago’s rich history and his dynamic approach to social media and storytelling will be a wonderful avenue to reach and engage with our community and with new audiences. We are excited for the future and look forward to the impact he will make in this new role.”

* Sun-Times | Gene Schroeder, NFL’s oldest known living ex-player who was once close to George Halas, dies at 95: In the summer of 1952, a young Gene Schroeder, fresh off his first season with the Chicago Bears, found himself at a party in Washington D.C. He was “kind of famous” among the partygoers for his sports ability by then, Carole Schroeder, his eldest daughter, told the Chicago Sun-Times. There he met his future wife, Doris Richey. They fell in love, and married only months later. Their connection laid the foundation for much of his life. When later asked how he managed to sustain a long and healthy life, he’d always give the same answer: “Sixty wonderful marriage years to a wonderful woman and a wonderful family.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | Thornton Township board ‘deeply disturbed’ over brawl during meeting attended by Tiffany Henyard: Henyard’s lawyer said Wednesday says she was “verbally assaulted and her personal safety threatened” at the Tuesday night meeting. Thornton Township trustees issued their own statement bemoaning what they described as “chaos and violence.” “We are deeply disturbed by the events that transpired during last night’s board meeting,” the trustees said Wednesday morning.

* Daily Herald | ‘We were a little shocked’: As ICE knocks on doors in the suburbs, immigrant groups push solidarity: Last weekend, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers “were just knocking on doors at an apartment complex in Waukegan,” Ortiz said. If the agency is “targeting people with criminal backgrounds, why aren’t they holding warrants?” Immigrant Solidarity DuPage Coordinator Cristobal Cavazos headed to Palatine on Sunday after hearing of a contingent of ICE officers parked near a popular Hispanic grocery store. “They say, they’re just looking for criminals, don’t worry. But in the process, they nab anybody that they can get,” Cavazos said.

* Daily Herald | Forest preserve district sues to acquire property, while West Chicago wants housing there: The district is seeking to acquire roughly 43 acres or so on the north side of North Avenue, a bit west of Route 59. The tract is adjacent to the existing Pratt’s Wayne Woods Forest Preserve, and contains a remnant old oak ecosystem with more than 200 mature oak trees, noted Executive Director Karie Friling. “Some of these trees are more than 100 years old and are part of a unique, undisturbed ecosystem critical for supporting diverse wildlife, including insects, birds, and mammals,” Friling said in a written statement. “Adjacent development would degrade the ecological value of existing protected lands within Pratt’s Wayne Woods, diminishing its role as a sanctuary for wildlife and a resource for the community.”

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | Springfield may have new procedure for appointing vacant city positions: An ordinance about a new procedure to appoint certain vacant positions within the city of Springfield is up for debate after a debate of its own at Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting. The ordinance, which will be taken up by the full city council on Feb. 4, seeks to create a formal appointment procedure when appointing a new mayor, treasurer or clerk. Public comment would be an active part of the process prior to a vote.

* WCIA | Rantoul mayor says village needs change to keep up with growth in community: Mayor Charles Smith said it could cost millions, and it all has to do with infrastructure. He said with several big businesses opening up in town and more on the way, they need a complete overhaul. The village currently has construction crews working on water and sewer expansion. Smith said the village also provides its own electrical service to the community and some of the system is outdated.

* WTVO | These neighbors are suing the Winnebago Landfill over littering, odor complaints: Illinois passed two new laws last year, requiring landfills to have cleaning facilities for trucks, and for garbage truck drivers to secure tarps over their load to prevent litter from escaping. However, DeBlauw said he hasn’t seen much of a change since the laws were enacted. “I don’t think that they abide by any cleaning of the truck,” he said. “They come out and … if it’s muddy or whatever they spread their mud out on the road…and you pick it up on your car when you drive by. And I don’t see where, if there are those laws, I don’t see where they’re following them.”

*** National ***

* ABC | Bird flu is ‘widespread’ among birds in Massachusetts, state officials say: There has been a history of intermittent bird flu outbreaks in Massachusetts since early 2022, officials said. In early January, an outbreak of bird flu was suspected of causing the death of Canada geese, swans and other birds in Plymouth. Now, more positive cases are being reported, officials said.

19 Comments

Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Comments Off

Isabel’s afternoon roundup (Updated)

Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Comments Off

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* A little déjà vu yesterday…

...Adding… Pritzker had a little fun with Elon’s adolescent joke…

I salute @TheWienerCircle, not Nazis. https://t.co/JFNoBvN807 pic.twitter.com/Y3zArkieE5

— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) January 29, 2025

* The Illinois Generative AI Task Force…

Today, the Illinois Generative AI and Natural Language Processing Task Force released a new report that provides the first in-depth analysis by the state on the far-reaching effects of generative AI on civil rights, education, labor, consumer protections, and the environment. The report outlines critical recommendations for AI regulations and standards in Illinois.

Task force members, led by co-chairs Rep. Abdelnasseer Rashid (D-Bridgeview) and Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago), Secretary Sanjay Gupta of DoIT, labor leaders representing AFSCME Council 31, SAG-AFTRA, and joined by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview), the ACLU and others, held an event on Wednesday to announce the report.

“This report serves as both a call to action and a roadmap for ensuring that generative AI is harnessed responsibly in Illinois,” said Rep. Adelnasser Rashid, co-chair of the task force, “We need to foster innovation, while safeguarding against the very real risks that AI poses to privacy, equity, and public trust. Technology can be used to uplift – but only if there is transparency and accountability.” […]

Key recommendations include:

- Supporting Workers: Implementing proactive measures to reskill workers, protect labor rights, and mitigate economic displacement caused by AI automation.
- Safeguarding Civil Rights: Cracking down on algorithmic discrimination in hiring, housing, banking, healthcare, and other industries to ensure that AI does not perpetuate and amplify systemic bias and racism.
- Protecting Democracy: Regulating the use of deepfakes in political ads and communications to safeguard against misinformation and inference in our elections.
- Enhancing Privacy and Consumer Rights: Strengthening data protection laws and implementing privacy-first principles in AI applications to safeguard consumers’ rights and data.
- Fostering Sustainable AI Development: Encouraging the development of energy-efficient, low-carbon AI technologies to minimize environmental impacts. […]

Rep. Rashid will be asking the General Assembly to extend the task force into the future to allow for ongoing monitoring of the effects of AI in Illinois.

Click here for the full report.

*** Statehouse News ***

First on the agenda is the agreed bills list: Senate Bills 26, 27 and 83 have passed the #SenJudiciary committee.

— IL Senate Democrats (@ILSenDems) January 29, 2025

* Capitol News Illinois | State lawmakers weigh TikTok’s value: Rep. Patrick Sheehan, R-Lemont, posted his only two videos to TikTok in January. He said he likes comedy, recipe and workout videos, and he wants to reach out to his constituents. “My kids are on the platform, and they kept saying ‘Hey, you know, RFK Jr. is on the platform, and we see his videos everywhere. Now President (Donald) Trump’s on the platform, he’s everywhere, Joe Biden’s everywhere,” Sheehan said. “So, I got kind of interested in seeing how they were reaching out to a whole different type of audience, so I decided to get on.” Sheehan said he wasn’t concerned about using TikTok right now, despite the national security concerns.

* Tribune | State lawmakers move measure aimed at protecting warehouse workers amid complaints that demands for speed hinder safety: The measure, passed by state lawmakers earlier this month, is in response to reports that warehouse workers are too often pushed beyond their physical limits. In December, Amazon reached a $145,000 settlement with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration over accusations that conditions at an Illinois warehouse left workers exposed to elevated risks of injury. If Pritzker signs the bill into law, Illinois would join five other states that have similar measures on the books and dozens of others that have introduced legislation attempting to address warehouse workplace issues.

* IDPH | IDPH Awards $4.5 Million in Grants to Support Governor Pritzker’s Birth Equity Efforts Across Illinois: The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced it has awarded $4.5 million to 12 groups across the state funded through Governor JB Pritzker’s 2024 Birth Equity Initiative. The grants, ranging from $100,000 to $700,000, were awarded through a competitive process and are designed to support innovative, community-based efforts that have the potential to reduce inequities in populations historically at higher risk for adverse birth outcomes. “Illinois has one of the most robust birth equity initiatives in the entire nation and today’s announcement brings us closer to a state where every mother – no matter her race, economic status, or ZIP code – is afforded the right to a safe and healthy pregnancy,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “We’re grateful to our community-based grantees who are assisting pregnant women and families to drive healthier births, improve long-term health outcomes and create more culturally responsive care infrastructure.”

*** Statewide ***

* KWQC | Illinois, Iowa eighth grade reading scores among highest in US on report card: But Illinois and Iowa showed mostly steady results, and eighth graders excelled in reading. Only two states scored higher than Illinois, and three in Iowa. Overall, Illinois is doing fairly well, especially compared to the national average. Math has seen a little improvement, but reading is staying steady with slight dips. Overall, Iowa shows steady results but with slight declines, especially in math and reading over the years, but it’s still performing better than the national average in most areas.

* Tribune | Advocate Health Care closing all 47 of its clinics inside Illinois Walgreens stores: Advocate noted that, as part of a recently announced plan to overhaul how it provides care on the South Side of Chicago, it will open care locations in churches and community centers where advanced practice providers (such as nurse practitioners or physician assistants) will address common needs such as colds, sore throats, flu and chronic disease management, over video calls. It also plans to expand services at its Imani Village outpatient clinic on the South Side.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Fritz Kaegi has finalized his Chicago property assessments. Now come the appeals: Commercial property values in Chicago grew last year by more than residential ones, according to new numbers from Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi, suggesting some of the local property tax burden will shift from homeowners to landlords when bills come out later this year. But that’s all likely to change in the months ahead. Kaegi today released the final figures from his 2024 reassessment of all Chicago properties, estimates that show the total assessed values of real estate citywide grew by 23% between 2023 and 2024.

* Unraveled | Cop who shot and killed Dexter Reed quits amid investigations: Officer Alexandra Giampapa, who played a lead role in the deadly traffic stop that killed Dexter Reed, Jr. last year, has resigned from the department as investigations into past misconduct mount. She was one of four CPD officers who fired at the 26-year-old during a traffic stop on March 21, 2024. Police records obtained via Freedom of Information Act request show the five-year veteran resigned from the department on November 17. Her resignation comes months after the Civilian Office of Police Accountability opened new investigations into a pattern of dozens of other potentially unlawful investigatory stops conducted by Giampapa and her team. Two weeks after her resignation, city lawyers tentatively reached an undisclosed settlement with Reed’s family.

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s shuttered Pitchfork Fest faced escalating costs, ‘compromises’ in bookings, co-founder says: Mike Reed says he felt increased pressure from Condé Nast, the festival’s new owners, to chase after commercial pop acts such as Justin Bieber or Demi Lovato, signaling to him they were unaware of the alternative nature of the music that made Pitchfork special in the first place.

* Crain’s | Griffin Museum of Science & Industry lands $10M grant to renovate historic South Portico: The project, which is supported by the grant from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation — the largest donation in the foundation’s history — aims to increase accessibility to the museum, add modern amenities such as a cafe and create a new public space connecting the museum to the Columbian Basin and the rest of Jackson Park.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan hospital asks court to remove coroner from death investigation; accuses her of ‘vendetta’: Reacting to what it believes is a vendetta against Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, Vista Health Systems sued Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek Tuesday while seeking an independent investigation into the death of hospital patient Chelsea Adolphus of Waukegan. […] For the past year, Spiegel said Banek has posted critical and “false” remarks about the hospital on a dedicated social media page after she was relieved of her duties as a nurse anesthetist at Vista.

* Sun-Times | Cook County sends first installment of tax bills to 1.8 million property owners: Property owners can choose to make payments online at cookcountytreasurer.com. Over 12,000 owners have paid through the website, totaling $64 million in online payments. “Each year more and more people use our website to pay their property tax bills online,” Pappas wrote in a statement. “People like the convenience of paying online and not having to come downtown to pay in person or write a check and pay for postage.”

* Patch | Man Taken By ICE In Lake Co. Arrested For DUI 20 Years Ago: Family: A Waukegan father and grandfather who came to the United States from Mexico more than 30 years ago — and who was charged with a DUI more than 20 years ago — was arrested by ICE over the weekend. His daughter, Yenitza, told the Lake County News-Sun Andres Marquina obtained a green cardafter coming to the U.S., worked in a warehouse and raised a family in the U.S. He was working with an attorney to get the driving while under the influence charge expunged from his record.

* ABC Chicago | Elgin family says undocumented man who had not committed any crimes taken into custody: Less than an hour later nearby, officers, including ICE, smashed a car window to take another man into custody. After asking the man in the passenger seat to get out of the car, the window was smashed in Elgin early Tuesday morning. The man was on the phone with his wife as it was happening.

*** Downstate ***

* WAND | Sangamon County Juvenile Detention reopens: The Sangamon County Juvenile Detention is reopening after more than a year. The facility had been shut down after an armed teenager took another juvenile hostage and was killed by police officers in the fall of 2023. Kent Holsopple, the Director of Probation and Court Services, said Sangamon County worked closely with the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts to reopen the Juvenile Detention Center. “With the new security measures in place, including the use a body scanner, and adequate staffing levels the Administrative Office gave approval for Sangamon County to begin accepting juveniles who meet criteria for detention. Over the next 45 to 60 days as we proceed with the reopening we will work toward bringing juveniles currently being held in other counties back to Sangamon County,” Holsopple said in a statement.

* Sun-Times | Eastern Illinois University student dies in off-campus shooting after ‘disarming’ police officer: When officers arrived, they encountered Yahacov Dennis, 22. “A rapidly evolving event” then took place, and Dennis disarmed a police officer of his gun before turning it on himself and firing, police said. […] In a message shared on X, state Rep. Kam Buckner, Dennis’ cousin, said he was devastated by the loss. “While there are still more questions than answers, one thing that is certain is how deeply we loved him,” Buckner said.

*** National ***

* ABC | Fact-checking RFK Jr.’s claims on vaccines, pesticides at confirmation hearing: Claim: Kennedy: ‘I probably did say, Lyme disease is “highly likely a militarily engineered bioweapon”‘Context: Lyme disease is caused by a type of bacteria and spreads through the bite of blacklegged ticks.

* AP | Fed hold rates steady, says job market is solid, inflation ’somewhat elevated: The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged Wednesday after cutting it three times in a row last year, a sign of a more cautious approach as the Fed seeks to gauge where inflation is headed and what policies President Donald Trump may pursue. The Fed reduced its rate last year to 4.3% from 5.3%, in part out of concern that the job market was weakening. Hiring had slowed in the summer and the unemployment rate ticked up, leading Fed officials to approve an outsized half-point cut in September. Yet hiring rebounded last month and the unemployment rate declined slightly, to a low 4.1%.

21 Comments

Chicago IG sting exposes decades-old handshake agreement that exempted mayors from ethics ordinance

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tribune…

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office improperly blocked public access to a City Hall room where they said they store Gucci bags, designer cufflinks and other gifts, according to an investigation by the city’s Office of the Inspector General.

A report released Wednesday by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg found Johnson’s office violated the city’s ethics policy that requires mayors to record gifts above $50 and “accepted on behalf of the City” in a publicly available log maintained on the 5th floor of City Hall. Covert OIG investigators visited the mayor’s office last June but were denied access to the log.

The report says Johnson’s staff refused to hand over the list of gifts and directed the undercover investigators to make a Freedom of Information Act request instead. The mayor’s office then allegedly blew past the deadline to respond and only produced an incomplete list of gifts over a month later after the OIG made an official document request.

* Sun-Times…

Perhaps most troubling to the inspector general was how difficult it was to secure the information, which is supposed to be “promptly” reported to the Chicago Board of Ethics and the city comptroller so the items can be added to “an inventory of the city’s properly.”

Witzburg found every mayor since Eugene Sawyer in the late 1980’s has been exempt from those rules, based on an informal agreement with the Board of Ethics that has never been put into law.

Wait. What?

* From the Office of Inspector General’s report…

OIG has been informed by [the Chicago Board of Ethics] of a 1989 arrangement made between BOE and Mayor’s Office during the administration of Mayor Eugene Sawyer. This arrangement, never codified in the text of the [Governmental Ethics Ordinance] as a further exception to the general rule prohibiting accepting gifts and never adopted in a formal BOE advisory opinion, allows the Mayor to disregard provisions of the GEO that require gift disclosures to BOE. Instead, pursuant to this unwritten agreement, successive mayors have been advised by BOE that they may keep a publicly available log of gifts instead of making statutorily required gift disclosures to BOE. This unwritten arrangement purported to relieve successive mayors from their responsibility of obtaining approvals from BOE and making disclosures to BOE that are expressly required of all City employees and officials by the GEO. According to BOE, this informal arrangement has continued until the present day and is communicated by BOE to mayoral staff during ethics trainings and in informal ethics opinions. BOE’s website does not clarify that gifts to a mayor would not be disclosed on BOE’s website due to the arrangement between BOE and the Mayor’s Office.

The arrangement between BOE and the Mayor’s Office, which excuses mayors from making statutorily required disclosures to BOE, is contrary to the plain language of the GEO and undermines requirements of the GEO that promote accountability and public transparency. BOE communicated to OIG that, pursuant to the arrangement, the mayor should log gifts “in a publicly available log book” which is “kept in the 5th floor suite of offices in City Hall.”

Yeah, maybe they should codify that.

21 Comments

Today’s must-read

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Grace Hauck and Janelle O’Dea at Illinois Answers…

Samantha Slecka spent the better part of three days strapped down to a chair in Madison County Jail in the summer of 2022. It was the same jail where her fiancé had attempted suicide only months earlier.

She had been arrested and detained for meth possession and a warrant for possession of a controlled substance—a charge that was later dropped. Despairing, in withdrawal, and calling out for help in her cell, Slecka said she tried to take her own life.

In response, jail staff restrained her in a chair for 36 hours, then again the following day for nearly 12 hours. She said it was days before she saw a mental health professional.

“I was just screaming the whole time because it just … felt like I was being punished,” said Slecka, 40. “To not have even the ability to move anything—it’s just pretty traumatizing.”

In Illinois Answers’ investigation into the use, misuse, and abuse of restraint chairs in Illinois county jails, Madison County stands out. From 2019 to 2023, the jail reported more incidents exceeding the chair manufacturer’s upper limit–10 hours–than any other jail in the state. Neighboring St. Clair County restrained more people than Madison County did, but largely for shorter periods. […]

In most cases, county records indicated the person restrained had a diagnosed mental illness or need for mental health crisis intervention. Multiple people defecated or urinated on themselves while restrained, which experts often say is evidence of extended restraint or improper care.

* The county jail’s administrator claims improvements are happening…

Endicott assumed the role of jail administrator in August of 2023. He said inquiries from Illinois Answers in early 2024 prompted him to review and reform the jail’s policies and practices around the use of restraint chairs.

A few months ago, Endicott updated the jail’s system for documenting supervision checks on people restrained, switching from handwritten logs to electronic software. He said he has increased de-escalation training, which he believes has already led to “improvements” in reducing the need to use restraint chairs.

Endicott said he also plans to require staff to video all uses of restraint chairs. That hasn’t always happened in the past. When Illinois Answers requested video of one 17-hour incident from 2019, the county said no video was recorded.

St. Clair County also has a major problem. Go read the rest.

4 Comments

White House rescinds federal spending freeze order (Updated x5) - Judge will grant TRO after Leavitt statement

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* NBC News Senior National Political Reporter…

🚨🚨 The White House is RESCINDING the memo that took effect yesterday on the federal aid freeze.

Story tk w/ @PeterAlexander @kate_santaliz. Memo below. pic.twitter.com/nUxWFDxwzs

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) January 29, 2025

Should be fun watching how all the cheerleaders for that unconstitutional nonsense yesterday react now - or whether the White House doubles down in a different way.

If you want to cut the federal budget, you gotta pass a bill.

The original memo is here, and the spreadsheet with impacted programs is here.

…Adding… More from NBC…

A senior administration official confirmed to NBC that the original OMB memo is rescinded, and said that additional guidance is to come.

…Adding… People are already rushing to their favorite reporters to take credit. From The Hill…

The decision came amid strong behind-the-scenes pushback from Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, according to a GOP senator who was apprised of the decision to reverse the policy order. […]

GOP senators had been flooded with calls from community leaders who expressed confusion and concern about losing federal grants.

…Adding… NY Times…

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, emailed the following statement after the retraction of the funding memo:

“In light of the injunction, OMB has rescinded the memo to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage. The executive orders issued by the president on funding reviews remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments. This action should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the president’s orders on controlling federal spending. In the coming weeks and months, more executive action will continue to end the egregious waste of federal funding.”

The “dishonest media coverage.” Hilarious. Leavitt couldn’t answer questions about it yesterday.

They could’ve done funding reviews without unilaterally (and unconstitutionally) cutting off funding. This was such an unnecessarily cruel plan that was doomed to failure.

…Adding… This is from the EO on government funding…

Each agency, department, or commission head, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Director of OMB, and the Director of OPM, as appropriate, shall take the following actions within sixty days of this order:

terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” offices and positions (including but not limited to “Chief Diversity Officer” positions); all “equity action plans,” “equity” actions, initiatives, or programs, “equity-related” grants or contracts; and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.

provide the Director of the OMB with a list of all:

agency or department DEI, DEIA, or “environmental justice” positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures in existence on November 4, 2024, and an assessment of whether these positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures have been misleadingly relabeled in an attempt to preserve their pre-November 4, 2024 function;

Federal contractors who have provided DEI training or DEI training materials to agency or department employees; and

Federal grantees who received Federal funding to provide or advance DEI, DEIA, or “environmental justice” programs, services, or activities since January 20, 2021.

direct the deputy agency or department head to:

assess the operational impact (e.g., the number of new DEI hires) and cost of the prior administration’s DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” programs and policies; and

recommend actions, such as Congressional notifications under 28 U.S.C. 530D, to align agency or department programs, activities, policies, regulations, guidance, employment practices, enforcement activities, contracts (including set-asides), grants, consent orders, and litigating positions with the policy of equal dignity and respect identified in section 1 of this order. The agency or department head and the Director of OMB shall jointly ensure that the deputy agency or department head has the authority and resources needed to carry out this directive.

So, unless they want another court fight, they won’t be terminating much of anything. And the rest is what they should’ve been doing in the first place: Examining spending and reporting back to OMB.

…Adding… This is a different judge in the state attorneys general lawsuit…

39 Comments

Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

We Are Retail and IRMA are dedicated to sharing the stories of retailers like the Berchtolds, who serve their communities with dedication and pride.

Comments Off

Today’s quotable: ‘I mean, it’s your job’

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here if you need it. Press release…

JERSEYVILLE — Today, Governor JB Pritzker joined the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and local leaders to announce Regional Site Readiness Program awards totaling $31 million to support site readiness activities at 24 sites across the state. The program includes two competitive funding opportunities: Planning grants to support due diligence activities, studies and site plans, and Capital Ready grants to support capital infrastructure improvements. Through this funding, 13 Planning grantees and 11 Capital Ready grantees will undertake due diligence and development projects to better prepared sites to attract future investment and new job opportunities in the industrial sector across Illinois’ Economic Development Regions.

“Readiness planning, assessments, infrastructure improvements – these things are all the fundamental work that must be done for businesses and investments to flourish and jobs to grow across the state,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “In every corner of Illinois, there are communities that are overflowing with untapped potential but do not have the resources and support they needed to fully realize it. Now, standing in front of you, I’m happy to say a whole lot has changed – we are investing in our sites, we are thinking about the future, and we are growing economic development across the state.” […]

“Economic growth has a unique power to bring people together. It transcends differences and unites us around a common goal. These resources allow us to pursue developments that are not only the right fit for Jerseyville but align with our values, strengths, and ambitions,” said Jerseyville Mayor Kevin Stork. “Thank you again, Governor, DCEO, and Intersect Illinois for your partnership, vision, and belief in Jerseyville.”

* Pritzker took questions today from reporters. One asked whether he was concerned that Illinois, as a “Blue State,” would have contingencies on federal aid moving forward…

This upsets me, this whole conversation. Because, you know, once you get, I get it, you run in an election, and it’s, you know, it’s the red kid, you know, the Republican candidate against the Democratic candidate. And you know, you’re battling it out. It’s a battle of rhetoric.

And finally, the voters vote. Then you take office. Your responsibility is to all of the people that you lead and represent. So, you know, I’m a Democrat, but I know I did not win Jersey [laughs], Jerseyville. And I know that there are areas of the state that I didn’t win. It’s my responsibility nevertheless, to help build business opportunities and help education systems grow and, you know, get better, and invest in our community colleges and universities. I mean, it’s your job.

And so the idea that a president would target certain areas that didn’t vote for him, I think is something I hope we will not come to accept as okay. It’s not okay. So, that’s disturbing to me.

Do I think that this President will take out his revenge against states that didn’t vote for him? All I can say is, I hope not, and I’m going to try like heck to make sure that they don’t. And I do think that, as discovered yesterday, a lot of these programs, they affect red states, blue states all the same. And so it’s a bad idea to target when you’re going to hit some others that you didn’t know you would.

Darren Bailey defeated Pritzker in Jersey County 74 percent to 23 percent.

Discuss.

Roundup: McClain’s defense wraps up closing arguments

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Sun-Times…

The long relationship between Michael J. Madigan and Michael McClain played a central role in multiple corruption trials over the last few years in Chicago, and a jury will soon begin to consider a sweeping racketeering conspiracy case against both men.

But first, McClain’s attorney sought Tuesday to define the relationship between Madigan and McClain for the jurors. Defense attorney Patrick Cotter told them that McClain was a lobbyist to Madigan, as well as an adviser. But, Cotter said, “he was also his good friend.”

“We know, now, he’s not,” Cotter told the jury. “And that’s — I guess that’s a casualty of this case. But it was real.”

Soon after Cotter made that comment, McClain reached for a tissue from his seat on the other side of the courtroom, and he pressed it against his eyes.

* Tribune…

McClain was a diligent — if sometimes “blunt” and “earthy” — lobbyist who never agreed to or knew about any bribery scheme, his attorney Patrick Cotter told jurors in closing arguments Tuesday. He only ever acted out of a commitment to his clients and a true respect for Madigan, Cotter said.

“Did this very real, very unique and — I would submit based on the overall evidence in this case — very decent human being actually have the intent to engage in a conspiracy to bribe the person he thought of as his closest friend?” Cotter asked. […]

He brought up McClain’s retirement letter to Madigan, which was shown by prosecutors earlier in the trial and included a personal message to the speaker about their close bond.

“This was a very private letter,” Cotter said, adding that McClain “never in a million years” would have thought one day it would be held up in court as evidence in his own corruption trial.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Cotter on Tuesday also went after the government’s other star witness, former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, who began cooperating with the FBI after agents approached him in January 2019 and secretly recorded meetings with McClain and their other colleagues.

Cotter reminded the jury of Marquez’s “long history of lying,” including to a judge during his divorce proceedings a decade ago and last spring when he attempted to buy a gun in Arizona and did not check the box that said he was convicted of a felony.

When questioned on cross-examination in November about McClain bringing job recommendations to ComEd from Madigan, Marquez acknowledged that it was part of McClain’s job as the utility’s chief external lobbyist – and that not all of the recommendations were hired.

Cotter also pointed out that Marquez kept his contention vague when testifying about the purpose of the alleged bribery conspiracy, repeatedly saying giving jobs and contracts to Madigan allies was to keep Madigan “positively disposed” toward ComEd’s legislative agenda.

* Cotter also went after FBI mole Danny Solis’ credibility. Jon Seidel…

Cotter: "Danny Solis shouldn't be trusted for anything. Anything. But he certainly shouldn't be trusted for something as important as a major federal crime charged against Mike McClain."

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) January 28, 2025

* WTTW…

Another scheme outlined by prosecutors involved Madigan and McClain’s alleged efforts to illegally steer business to the speaker’s private property tax law firm amid efforts to develop a state-owned parcel of land in Chinatown into a commercial development.

Cotter denied that McClain was involved in any bribery in any of those alleged schemes and said that if there had been any recording or email that laid out the breadth of those allegations, the government would have found it and used it at trial.

“It’s not there,” Cotter said, “because the story isn’t true.”

After Madigan and McClain’s respective defense teams finish their closing remarks, the government will next present rebuttal arguments Wednesday before jury deliberations begin.

5 Comments

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* The State Journal-Register…

Illinois Senate Republicans Tuesday announced they would again try to repeal a law that limits state and local law enforcement’s participation in federal immigration enforcement.

Sponsors seek to reverse aspects of the 2017 law that prohibits law enforcement from participating, supporting or assisting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Illinois law enforcement can currently only work with ICE if presented with a federal criminal warrant or otherwise required by federal law.

Senate Bill 1313 would rather require state law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE, “ensuring undocumented immigrants charged with or convicted of a felony are identified, reported, and deported,” according to a news release.

The bill is sponsored by State Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Andalusia) and was filed Tuesday morning. Additional legislation, sponsored by State Senators Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) and Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport), seeks to repeal the Illinois TRUST Act in its entirety.

* Sen. Lakesia Collins’ filed SB1224…

Creates the Fantasy Sports Consumer Protection Act. Provides that the Illinois Gaming Board may regulate the conduct of fantasy contest operators under the Act. Allows the Board to levy and collect fees, surcharges, civil penalties, and, on adjusted gross fantasy contest receipts imposed under the Act, monthly taxes, and identifies other powers and duties of the Board. Includes restrictions, including requiring licensing, of fantasy contest operators. Includes license requirements and requirements for allowable fantasy contests. Contains provisions relating to denial of a license, independent audits, reporting and investigation of prohibited conduct, taxes, compulsive gambling and voluntary self-exclusion, and supplier diversity goals for fantasy contest operators. Amends the Sports Wagering Act. Excludes fantasy contests from the definition of “sports wagering”. Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that participants in fantasy contest wagering shall not be convicted of the offense of gambling when conducted in accordance with the Fantasy Sports Consumer Protection Act. Excludes any real estate, vehicle, boat, or any other property whatsoever used for the purposes of gambling under the Fantasy Sports Consumer Protection Act from the definition of “gambling place” under the offense of keeping a gambling place. Amends the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. Grants the Illinois Gaming Board emergency rulemaking authority to implement the Fantasy Sports Consumer Protection Act. Effective immediately.

* Rep. Curtis Tarver filed HB1839 yesterday…

Creates the Safe Autonomous Vehicle Act. Provides definitions. Provides that upon notification to the Secretary of State, a Motor Vehicle Manufacturer may commence a safe autonomous vehicle project with a vehicle installed with an Automated Driving System after providing notification to the Secretary of State and after self-certification under certain conditions. Provides that the Manufacturer shall determine the geographical boundaries of the project and shall maintain incident records and provide periodic summaries to the Secretary of State and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Provides that the Participating Fleet in the program shall be insured by the Manufacturer who shall assume liability for incidents where the automated driving system technology is at fault for that incident. Provides that any person operates a vehicle with automated driving system technology without first satisfying the eligibility requirements in the Act shall be fined $10,000 for a first violation and a second or subsequent violation is a Class A misdemeanor. Preempts home rule powers. Effective immediately.

* Sen. Michael Hastings in the Tribune…

Illinois homeowners and drivers are increasingly blindsided with unwelcome news from their insurance companies that their homeowner and auto premiums are going up — in some cases, by double-digit percentages. […]

The General Assembly must prioritize two solutions this spring. The first is the Insurance Rate Fairness and Consumer Protection Act, which would limit excessive rate hikes and protect consumers from arbitrary pricing practices.

This bill that I have sponsored would require insurers to seek approval from the Illinois Department of Insurance before raising premiums. If the department does not approve the increase within 60 days, the insurer cannot implement the hike. Additionally, rate increases will be capped at 15% per year, unless the insurer can provide exceptional justification — such as increased claims from natural disasters or changes in the regulatory landscape. […]

Another bill, the Insurance Rate Transparency Act, would ensure consumers are fully informed about the cost of their insurance policies before they are forced to renew to address the many people who are caught unaware until their renewal notices arrive with dramatic premium increases.

* SB1342 from Sen. Don DeWitte…

Amends the Video Gaming Act. Provides that a municipality with a population that is greater than or equal to 1,000,000 may not pass an ordinance prohibiting video gaming within the corporate limits of the municipality. Provides that, in such a municipality, video gaming may be prohibited only by referendum. Preempts home rule powers. Provides that a tax of 34% is imposed on net terminal income in such a municipality and shall be collected by the Illinois Gaming Board, of which 83% shall be distributed to the Regional Transportation Authority and 17% shall be distributed to the municipality in which the terminal is located. Makes conforming changes.

* HB1844 filed by Rep. John Cabello…

Creates the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act. Creates the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Fund as a special fund in the State treasury for the purpose of holding bitcoin as a financial asset. Provides that the State Treasurer may accept gifts, grants, and donations of bitcoin from Illinois residents and governmental entities for deposit into the Fund. Provides that the State Treasurer shall hold all bitcoin deposited into the Fund for a duration of at least 5 years from the date that the bitcoin enters the State’s custody. Allows the State Treasurer, after this period, to transfer, sell, appropriate, or convert to another cryptocurrency any bitcoin in the Fund. Adds provisions concerning the management and security of the Fund; reporting requirements; and voluntary donations of bitcoin by Illinois residents. Provides that the State Treasurer may adopt rules necessary to administer the Act. Effective immediately.

20 Comments

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on? Please keep it Illinois-centric!!

5 Comments

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Subscribers know more. ICYMI: Trump administration’s surprise federal funding freeze sows havoc across Illinois before being blocked by federal judge. Tribune…

* Related stories…

∙ Sun-Times: Trump’s federal funding freeze on hold — as ‘chaos, confusion and fear’ grip Chicago
∙ Capitol News Illinois: ‘Blatantly unlawful’ federal spending freeze sends state scrambling
∙ Sun-Times: GOP plan to cut Medicaid expansion could cost coverage for 900K Illinoisans, Dems say

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* SJ-R | Illinois Supreme Court will take up State’s petition on Sean Grayson’s detention: Oral arguments will be heard by the high court after the State and defense attorneys for Sean P. Grayson file briefs. The petition, or PLA, asks the Supreme Court to address a Nov. 27 ruling from the Fourth District Appellate Court that would have cleared the way for Grayson’s release from detention under the Pre-Trial Fairness Act, which is part of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today, or SAFE-T Act.

* WGN | ‘I’m worried about him’: Undocumented father of 4 removed from Elgin home during raid targeting different man: Ramos was wanted for a parole violation for aggravated battery with a firearm and charged with attempted first-degree murder. Family members said Ramos has not lived at the home for months. […] Agents did not find Ramos, but they did encounter 44-year-old Raul Lopez, a father of four who was living in the country illegally. A task force spokesman told WGN-TV that ICE was part of the team and removed Lopez from the house after finding him hiding in the attic.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Tribune | Illinois GOP sues over Democratic legislative remap, calling it ‘not just a little corrupt’: In their lawsuit, Republicans argued the boundaries drawn to give Democrats supermajorities in the state House and Senate are in violation of both the state constitution’s mandate that elections be “free and equal” and a requirement that districts be drawn compactly. The legislative boundaries enacted into state law in September 2021 were “drawn with the primary motivation to ensure Democrat victories and is anything but ‘free and equal,’” the lawsuit argues. “The Enacted Plan thus denies voters their equal right to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice.”

*** Statewide ***

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Illinois’ 4th grade NAEP scores drop in both reading and math: The latest round of test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as NAEP, released on Wednesday shows that Illinois students who missed school or went through the interruptions and struggles of remote learning may still have gaps in their education from that time. However, Illinois eighth grade students — who would have been in fourth grade when the pandemic started — either held steady or outperformed their peers in 2022 in reading and math but their scores lagged behind their peers who took the exam in 2019.

* Tribune | If you’re arrested by ICE in Illinois, what happens next? Legal experts explain the process: Nearly everyone else is up to the discretion of ICE on whether or not they should be detained, Hallett said. Deciding factors that go into that process include whether ICE believes a person is a flight risk, poses a danger to their community or even whether an ICE facility has enough beds to hold someone. “In many cases, ICE is sort of forced into releasing people because there simply aren’t beds available to detain them,” Hallett said.

* Daily Herald | Bicyclist fatalities: How Illinois aligns with — and differs from — national trends: Time of day for fatal bike crashes in Illinois differed significantly from the national trend. NHTSA refers to this as the “time/light condition,” reporting, “over half (56%) of bicyclist fatalities occur in dawn, dusk, or nighttime conditions; the highest proportion.” In contrast, 87% of Illinois bicyclists were killed during those same time/light conditions, based on 20 of 23 crashes in which time of day was identified.

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | CTA Says Federal Funding for Red Line Extension Still Expected Despite Freeze: “Our position is that the Red Line Extension Project’s full funding grant agreement that the CTA and (Federal Transit Administration) executed recently, like similar grant agreements that the CTA secured for projects such as the Red Purple Modernization Program, is a binding and legal commitment by the federal government to provide the committed and obligated funds,” CTA spokesperson Tammy Chase told WTTW News in a statement. “As a result, we do not interpret any recent activity to have any impact on the federal government’s commitment to fund this essential transit project.”

* ABC Chicago | ICE arrestee from local weekend raid ordered released by federal judge: After spending roughly 48 hours in federal custody - first at the HSI offices in Lombard, then at the MCC Chicago federal prison - Martinez-Cermeno is scheduled to be released from custody Tuesday evening. While prosecutors mentioned that there is an “ICE detainer” for Martinez-Cermeno, and that ICE would likely take him into custody upon his release, the judge said this was legally unacceptable as ICE did not have the proper judicial warrant to detain him further, and that an ICE detainer is only a “civil request.”

* Block Club | Chicago Emergency Response Times Are Worsening. A Slain Rapper’s Mom Wants to Know Why.: Weekly’s lawsuit highlights a persistent chorus of concerns over Chicago’s emergency response times, which critics say are too slow to help injured people. In Illinois, the state’s administrative code requires fire departments to measure EMS response times against a standard of six minutes, one minute longer than the National Fire Protection Association’s widely followed five-minute standard. Weekly’s lawsuit states that the city’s failure to transport Duck sooner delayed his access to care that could have potentially saved his life.

* WTTW | Johnson Declines to Immediately Respond to Request to Testify to Congress About Sanctuary City Status: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday declined to respond to a request from the Republican chairperson of the U.S. House Oversight Committee about the city’s self-proclaimed status as a sanctuary city. Instead, Johnson referred questions to the city’s top lawyer, Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry, who said the letter sent by U.S. Rep James Comer (R-Kentucky) was under “legal review.”

* Crain’s | Johnson’s invited to talk sanctuary cities in Congress, but will he go?: Johnson said he’d be willing to meet with Trump to discuss immigration issues, but has not reached out to the White House. “If the president of the United States of America wants to meet with me, I’m a phone call away,” he said.

* Dan McGrath | Wrapping up a miserable year in Chicago sports: The White Sox literally set a record for ineptitude with their 121 losses, but if you thought that was as bad as it gets, along came the Bears. They’ll finish 4-13 barring some unlikely miracle on Green Bay’s frozen tundra. They’ve done worse seven times in their century-long history — remember 1-13 in 1969? — but the 11-game losing streak the team will carry into next season is more representative of its flailing futility than the record.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* FOX Chicago | Tiffany Henyard involved in scuffle at heated Thornton Township meeting: According to those present, Henyard’s boyfriend confronted the activist, Jedidiah Brown, leading to an altercation. Henyard reportedly pushed her table aside and ran to the back of the room, allegedly joining the brawl. Police were on the scene as the situation unfolded.

* Shaw Local | Will County schools, local governments evaluate plans after Trump’s call to freeze federal funds: Lockport Township Supervisor Alex Zapien said the potential ramifications of the pause on federal funding are “concerning,” with several vital initiatives that could be affected. “For example, [Lockport] Township currently has an ARPA-funded senior bus project in progress and this may face delays or disruptions depending on the length of this pause. Furthermore, our partnership with the fire department on a mental health counseling program, which serves residents who heavily rely on Medicaid, could be jeopardized if Medicaid funding in Illinois is indeed blocked as is being reported,” Zapien said.

* Daily Herald | ‘A better toolbox’: Winter presents unique opportunities for restoration work in forest preserves: The large-scale restoration work of removing aggressive, invasive species and helping native ones flourish follows seasonal changes across the collar counties. […] “When you’re out chainsawing down trees and dragging brush, it is super physically intensive, and so you are not cold because you’re working so hard,” said Shaela Rabbit, natural resources specialist with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. “When it’s not very cold and the ground isn’t frozen, that means that we can’t have large equipment helping us clear, and we can’t get as much done as during the winter.”

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | ‘More questions than answers.’ White House memo sends Springfield agencies scrambling: One project that still could be left in the lurch is the Springfield Rail Improvements Project, according to U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield. Budzinski called Trump’s freeze on federal funding “reckless.”

* 25News Now | City of Bloomington leaders contemplate solutions to ‘terrifying’ reality of housing market: During Tuesday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting, Bloomington Normal Economic Development Council President and CEO Patrick Hoban said as the population continues to grow, there is already a need for 4,500 houses in 2025. “The terrifying part is if you project that out to 2030 and 2035, it’s saying you need 16,000 houses,” Hoban said. According to Mid-Illinois Realtors Association President Tracy Patkunas, there are only 99 homes on the market right now in Bloomington-Normal.

* 217 Today | A school district in northern Illinois banned smartphones this year. How is it going so far?: In today’s deep dive, we’ll learn about a school district in northern Illinois that banned cell phones in their high school and middle school hoping it would help students both socially and academically.

*** National ***

* NBC | ICE makes close to 1,200 arrests in one day: Data first obtained by NBC News shows that Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a total of 1,179 people on Sunday, which is more than the 956 arrests that the agency posted on X on Sunday night. But just 613 of those total arrests — nearly 52% — were considered “criminal arrests.” The rest appear to be nonviolent offenders or people who have not committed any criminal offense other than crossing the border illegally.

* NYT | Kennedy, in His Own Words: Flu, Diabetes, Autism and More: For years Mr. Kennedy has questioned the safety of vaccines, including those for polio and measles, two diseases that continue to harm children. More recently, he has said that he’s not planning to take vaccines away from Americans but wants to release safety data to the public — even though nearly all of the data is already publicly available.

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

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

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

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Comments Off