Afternoon roundup
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I really do like the direction Jeremy Gorner is taking the Tribune’s Statehouse bureau. That shop has produced yet another high-quality story…
While failing to get a budget done by its self-imposed deadline, the Illinois General Assembly passed measures addressing issues ranging from abortion rights to full-day kindergarten during its spring session, which this week goes into overtime.
It was the first full session since the November election, when Democrats won victories in every constitutional office and expanded their overall supermajority in the General Assembly. Despite the single-party control, legislators didn’t complete their work Friday as scheduled and will reconvene Wednesday to get back to work on a spending plan that became complicated by the spiraling costs of a health care program for immigrants.
Here’s a look at some of the bills heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.
It’s a comprehensive look and well worth your read.
* Heather Wier Vaught…
The law that prohibited out-of-state donations to judicial committees and capped contributions at $500K was permanently enjoined on May 18. The order followed an agreement between the Attorney General and plaintiffs, in which the Attorney General opted not to appeal and the plaintiffs agreed not to file a motion to recover legal expenses.
* This is the very definition of “do-nothing.” From Block Club Chicago…
From the time buses full of migrants began arriving in Chicago last summer, city officials scrambled to find them places to stay. And even when they did, officials often failed to communicate their plans to alderpeople, advocates or other community residents.
Yet as the pace of arrivals built into a humanitarian crisis, the City Council committee responsible for overseeing immigration issues didn’t ask questions or propose solutions.
In fact, for more than a year, the council’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights didn’t meet once, though it is tasked with making sure immigrants are treated humanely.
By the time the committee finally convened in late April, the migrant crisis was overwhelming Chicago’s social service systems. With nowhere else to go, families ended up sleeping on police station floors. City officials have turned shuttered schools and park field houses into makeshift shelters, and more migrants are on the way from border states.
But the committee still didn’t take any action.
Hilarious. Not.
* Illinois PIRG…
Legislation to phase out the use of single-use plastic polystyrene foam foodware in state facilities passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly last week and is being sent to Gov. Pritzker for his signature. Also last week, Oak Park became the first municipality to pass a ban on polystyrene foam foodware as part of a broader ordinance tackling single-use plastic waste.
The EPA estimates that Americans throw away almost 70 million plastic foam cups every day. Twenty-two million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes each year and just over half of that ends up in Lake Michigan alone. Already, eight states and roughly 200 cities and municipalities have enacted bans on polystyrene foam containers.
Under the state legislation passed last week, sponsored by state Sen. Laura Fine and state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, no state agency may purchase polystyrene foam foodware after January 1, 2025, and no vendor with a state contract may distribute any foam products to customers after January 1, 2026. Under the ordinance passed by Oak Park, restaurants may not sell or distribute polystyrene foam foodware after January 1, 2024.
The Coalition for Plastic Reduction, a coalition of more than 35 organizations across Illinois championed legislation that would phase out foam foodware statewide starting in 2024. That legislation passed the state House but not the state Senate. The coalition plans to push for the full statewide ban in next year’s legislative session.
* Appellate Justice Jesse Reyes has been gearing up hard to run for the Supreme Court. In the meantime, here’s the Illinois Latino Agenda…
The Illinois Latino Agenda (ILA) is calling on the Cook County Democratic Party to slate a Latino for the Illinois Supreme Court in the 2024 primary election when Justice Burke’s term officially expires. ILA and other networks believe that there are plenty of well qualified Latinos with experience in judicial matters to warrant slating a Latino candidate for the State’s highest court.
Last fall, more than 25 Latino leaders from the community, government, and private sectors, were unified in voicing their disappointment with the Illinois Supreme Court’s appointment to fill the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court Anne Burke vacancy. The Court denied the historic opportunity to appoint Illinois’ first Latino Supreme Court Justice when it selected Justice Burke’s recommended nominee.
“The Illinois Supreme Court sorely lacks Latino representation in a state where Latinos make up 18% of the population and are one of the fastest growing demographics” Jose M. Muñoz, Co-Chair of the Illinois Latino Agenda, said. “We demand a fair opportunity to elect the first Latino Supreme Court Justice with the support of the Cook County Democratic Party.”
Cook County’s District 1, where the latest appointment was made, has a Latino population that is 26% and growing. The Cook County Democratic Party stands at the forefront of rectifying an inequity that has existed for far too long by slating a Latino candidate that would create a truly diverse elected Supreme Court
“The Illinois Judiciary has a growing number of Latinos, the most it has ever had in its 205 year history, yet a Latino has never sat on the Illinois Supreme Court,” said Juan Morado Jr., Chair of the Latino Leadership Council and Illinois Latino Agenda member. “There is undoubtedly a pipeline of Latino Judges that the Cook County Democratic party can slate for Illinois’ Supreme Court and we strongly urge them to do so.”
“If there was ever a time to bring true diversity and equity to the Illinois Supreme Court, the time is now,’ said Sylvia Puente, Co-Chair of the Illinois Latino Agenda and President and CEO of the Latino Policy Forum. “Latinos are embedded in Illinois, our communities contribute to our state’s economy and culture, and we deserve to be represented at all levels of government, the Illinois Supreme Court should not be an exception.”
Other stakeholders, including political leaders and bar associations, are expected to make their own statements in the upcoming days.
The Illinois Latino Agenda (ILA) is a coalition of 26 Latino leaders, most of whom head Chicago’s largest Latino-serving organizations.
* Harsh judgement on Proft’s part, but all HGOPs were individually asked to sign the letter and these did not…
* And congratulations to all of us for surviving Mass Death Day!…
Luc Montagnier is, indeed, still dead.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* WCIA | Illinois may crack down on generic drug price gouging with proposal advanced in legislature: In the bill, price gouging is defined as “an increase in the price as 30% or more within the preceding year, 50% or more within the preceding 3 years, or 75% or more within the preceding 5 years.” It also must be found the price hike burdens consumers because of little to no competition in the marketplace. The bill does exempt if companies raise the price because of production cost increases.
* WTTW | Illinois Bills Look to Crack Down on Deepfakes and Doxing, Would Allow Civil Suits: Illinois lawmakers are working to catch up with artificial intelligence developments and social media by passing a pair of bills cracking down on deepfakes and doxing. Both measures give victims the ability to bring a civil lawsuit against an alleged perpetrator — a step that has raised alarm from civil liberties advocates and media groups like motion picture and cable organizations.
* Crain’s | New EV registrations: GM, Ford, Rivian chip away at Tesla’s share: EV registrations numbered 257,507 for an increase of 63 percent. Total industry registrations were just over 3.69 million, Experian said, an increase of 8.4 percent.
* Chicago Tribune | Threats of violence don’t belong in the state Capitol. Sen. Neil Anderson must apologize: Nonetheless, the language used by Republican Sen. Neil Anderson of Andalusia during the debate over a bill introduced by Democrat Rep. Katie Stuart was shocking, to say the least. Stuart’s bill, which was debated Thursday, provided (with certain conditions) that “any multiple-occupancy restroom may be identified as an all-gender, multiple-occupancy restroom and designated for use by any person of any gender.”
* Sun-Times | I’ve been riding CTA all my life. It’s time for a reckoning on public transit’s problems.: “I’ve been riding the CTA since my mother was pregnant with me,” Natalie Moore writes. “I don’t mind the peddling, whether it’s music, socks or incense sticks. … But when safety and cleanliness become problems, change must be afoot.”
* Crain’s | Aldermen revive effort to make COVID-era outdoor dining program permanent: The program was twice extended for a year, but when Lightfoot sought to make the program permanent, the effort fell apart amid pushback from the City Council that the ordinance would take them out of the decision making process and because powerful interests had lined up on opposing sides of the closure of a portion of Clark Street in River North.
* Sun-Times | University of Chicago’s new international police academy teaching policing successes of New York, Los Angeles, not Chicago: Homicide rates plummeted in those cities over the past 30 years. “We haven’t seen that same success in Chicago, where murder rates have remained stagnant for 30 years. That needs to change,” said Kristen Mahoney, director of the new academy.
* Sun-Times | From inside Cook County Jail, chess spreads across the globe: Chicago hosted an international conference on teaching chess to detainees in jails and prisons. Officials from the International Chess Federation and corrections agencies from around the world are exploring how chess can be used to help rehabilitate incarcerated people.
* Crain’s | CEO pay disclosures are getting weird: Michael Pykosz’s compensation as CEO of Oak Street Health dropped by $50 million to a “negative” $48.4 million last year. Anders Gustafsson did better at Zebra Technologies, but his pay was a negative $17.5 million. Dover CEO Richard Tobin finished $13.7 million in the hole.
* Community Voices | Springfield’s African American History Museum grows with addition of Executive Director Nalo Mitchell: Nalo Mitchell is the Executive Director of the Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum. She sat down with Vanessa Ferguson on Community Voices to discuss how she plans to increase outreach in the community and provide inclusive exhibits. She also shared information about the many things to see in the museum and how her family history ties into one of the featured exhibits.
* County Herald | Illinois Law Enforcement Raises Record $1 Million at #CopOnARooftop Event for Special Olympics: The #CopOnARooftop event, which has become an annual tradition, brings together law enforcement personnel, Dunkin’ franchisees, and volunteers who camp out on rooftops of participating Dunkin’ locations. The purpose of the event is to raise funds and awareness for the Special Olympics Illinois.
* SJ-R | Budzinski, joining local Reps., banned from entering Russia: Following new sanctions from the Biden administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation released a new list of political and corporate leaders banned from entering the country. Joining former President Barack Obama and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, among the 500 added officials on Friday was U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield.
10 Comments
|
* News-Gazette…
Danville police are declining to release information about damage recently done to a building identified as the future site of a new abortion clinic.
“Due to coordinating efforts with federal authorities, we will not be releasing information at this time,” said Danville Deputy Police Chief Josh Webb. “The initial release of information will come from either the FBI or the U.S. Attorney’s Office once they have a press release prepared.” […]
The property was sold in March to Indianapolis-based McGhee Investment Group, which has the same address as Clinic for Women, an Indianapolis abortion provider. […]
Damage done to the Danville building followed a May 4 passage of an ordinance by the city council that would ban the shipment of abortion pills and other items intended for abortions.
* Urbana-Champaign Reproductive Justice passes along allegations from the National Abortion Federation…
More from the alleged suspect is here.
*** UPDATE *** The News-Gazette has updated. Was he trying to be a suicide bomber?…
Philip J. Buyno was charged with terrorist threat, burglary, conspiracy to commit arson, attempted arson and criminal damage to property in excess of $10,000.
According to a court filing by Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy, Buyno “intended to cause or create a risk and created a risk of death or great bodily harm by using his vehicle as an incendiary device to burn down the building” at 600 N. Logan Ave., Danville.
The filing also states Buyno drove a vehicle loaded with flammable material into the building at 600 N. Logan, intending to damage the building by fire.
14 Comments
|
It’s just a bill
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Capitol News Illinois…
While rank-and-file lawmakers awaited the budget details Friday, several other major, wide-ranging initiatives were filed in a similar last-minute fashion. That included an expansive cannabis regulatory bill, a change to Illinois’ strongest-in-the-nation biometric privacy law, a broad elections bill and an ethics proposal prohibiting political donations from red light camera companies among other reforms.
CANNABIS: A bill that aims to implement a variety of reforms to Illinois’ burgeoning cannabis industry would change dispensary operations and restrictions on craft growers. […]
The amended Senate Bill 1559, among other things, would increase canopy space for craft growers from 5,000 square feet to 14,000 square feet. It would also allow dispensaries to operate drive-thru windows and offer curbside pick-up services, making sure they prioritize medical patients.
BIOMETRIC PRIVACY: Business groups balked Friday after Democrats dropped a bill that would change Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act, a first-of-its-kind law that allows individuals to sue companies over improper collection or storage of information such as fingerprints or facial scans. […]
Friday’s amendment to House Bill 3811 stipulates that “the same biometric identifier from the same person using the same method of collection has created a single violation,” but business groups said the language was too vague. They also assailed the proposed fine increase for negligent violations from $1,000 to $1,500 and decried the addition of another type of biometric data to the law – electronic signatures – as a giveaway to trial lawyers.
* SB281 passed through the GA on Friday in shell bill HB2862. The Labor Tribune…
The Illinois AFL-CIO and Chicago Workers Collaborative stood with legislators, advocates and workers on Latino Unity Day to urge the passage of the Temp Worker Fairness and Safety Act (SB281).
“Passing the Temp Worker Fairness and Safety Act is a crucial step to address the uptick we are seeing in workplace deaths among Black and Brown workers,” said Senator Robert Peters, the bill’s Senate sponsor. “We cannot continue to ignore the plight of these workers and their families. We must take action to ensure that they are protected from exploitation and unsafe working conditions.” […]
The Temp Worker Fairness and Safety Act would support workers by improving safety standards, and mandating equal pay for equal work after a 60-day grace period. It creates a whistleblower right of action to allow worker advocates to bring enforcement actions against abusive employers. […]
The Illinois workforce includes 650,000 temp workers, 85 percent of whom are people of color. Data shows that temp workers are seriously injured at three times the rate of direct hire employees. Furthermore, these workers face high rates of wage theft and are paid, on average, $4 per hour less than their direct-hire colleagues doing the same or comparable work.
* Bloomberg…
Lawmakers are advancing pioneering legislation that would protect people traveling to Illinois seeking abortions from being tracked by out-of-state police.
The bill, approved by the Illinois Senate Friday night, would prohibit local police from sharing data collected by license plate readers with out-of-state law enforcement departments that seek to use it in abortion-related investigations.
An increasingly hostile abortion access landscape, combined with an explosion of law enforcement surveillance technology, has created new risks for pregnant people traveling to obtain abortions even in states where it is legal. Privacy advocates have warned that automated license plate readers (ALPRs) especially, which are used by traffic and law enforcement officials to identify law-breaking drivers, could be a powerful tool for investigators looking to track people’s movements into abortion-friendly jurisdictions. […]
Illinois’ legislation, which is now going back to the House for final adjustments before being sent to the governor, applies not only to law enforcement agencies, but to private businesses or even individuals that have access to license plate reader data.
* State Journal-Register…
Senate President Don Harmon introduced an amendment to House Bill 3062 earlier this week, which sets courtrooms in Sangamon and Cook counties as the only locations where actions alleging constitutional violation brought-on by legislation or executive orders can be heard.
Harmon, along with Gov. JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, have often been at the center of recent constitutional challenge lawsuits. The bill passed on a 37-16 vote and now returns to the House for a concurrence vote as part of next week’s extended session.
“These cases are all going to end up in Springfield or Chicago,” he said during floor debate Friday evening, referring to the Illinois Supreme Court’s presence in both cities. “It’s our judgment that it is best to simply, streamline that process and make sure these cases are all heard in an organized fashion.”
Spirited debate led by Senate Republicans claimed the bill would be unfair to many downstate communities due to the extended travel time needed to make it to these courtrooms.
3 Comments
|
Question of the day
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Republican Party Chair Don Tracy…
In recent months, some individuals have published fake news about the Illinois Republican Party’s policy on endorsements in primary elections. First, it was said that the State Party sent mail in last year’s gubernatorial primary in support of one of the several gubernatorial candidates and against other Republican candidates for Governor. That claim is false. Pursuant to longstanding policy, the State Party did send mail supporting State House candidates in last year’s primary, but did not send any mail in the primary in support of, or against, any gubernatorial candidate.
More recently, it has been claimed that the State Party recently established an “Endorsement Committee.” That claim also is false. Several months ago, I appointed an “Endorsement Policy Committee” to review our current policy of not endorsing in statewide primaries and compare how that is handled in other states including Virginia. That Committee has never met. And, a majority of the State Central Committee appear not to support reviewing that policy at this time.
Therefore, our current policy of not endorsing in statewide primaries will continue for the foreseeable future.
* The Question: Should the Illinois Republican Party take more or less of a role in statewide primaries? Explain.
41 Comments
|
* Inside Climate News…
Increasingly, warehouses crop up beside neighborhoods, exposing people living nearby to exhaust fumes from starting, stopping and idling trucks. And these diesel plumes carry a host of potential health threats to the public, including low birth rates, respiratory illnesses, even dementia.
These are the findings of a recent report from the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group that, using proximity-mapping technology, found that about 15 million people live within a half mile of a warehouse in 10 states it examined, including more than one million children under 5 years old. […]
The problem is especially acute in Illinois as a freight-handling, crossroads transportation hub where the study showed nearly two million people, including 138,000 children under 5, live within a half mile of a warehouse. […]
The Environmental Defense Fund tallied 17,600 warehouses in the 10 states it examined, 2,401 in Illinois, with the homes of Black, Latino, Asian and American Indian people disproportionately affected. […]
The pattern of unequal warehouse distribution holds across all states, the study found, but in Illinois, the disproportionality is double what would be expected given the state’s population. The same was found to be true for Colorado and Massachusetts.
* Last month, Warehouse Workers for Justice released a report detailing air pollution in Joliet and Elwood. Herald News…
Warehouse Workers for Justice on Wednesday released a report saying air pollution in residential areas in the vicinity of the Joliet and Elwood intermodal facilities is at unhealthy levels and urging a move to electric trucks.
The report comes after a study by WWJ monitoring pollution from particulate matter 2.5 in the air at four locations in Joliet and Elwood over eight weeks.
“This report was born from health and safety concerns of warehouse workers and local residents living close to warehouses, highways and ports who are growing increasingly worried about levels of chronic lung conditions like asthma and [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] in the area,” Madison Lisle, co-author of the report, said at a news conference.
One participant in the study said that more than 1,000 trucks could be counted at one Joliet intersection in a two-hour period.
* Sun-Times Editorial Board…
In the closing days of the Illinois General Assembly, some lawmakers are supporting a dubious idea: adding managed toll lanes to a section of Interstate 55 between the Dan Ryan Expy. and I-355.
What transportation planners really should be doing is focusing on clean air, reviving public transit — in line for big post-pandemic funding cuts — and finding other low-cost alternatives to driving. Transportation is the No. 1 source of greenhouse gas emissions in Illinois, and it also releases particulate matter and other pollutants. Expanding interstates is not going to fix that. […]
I-55 does suffer from traffic congestion, especially where the road shrinks from three lanes to two. Intermodal facilities on the Southwest Side have added to the truck traffic. But urban planners have long known that adding lanes to deal with congestion also puts more vehicles on a particular road — which in this case would increase vehicle emissions on the Southwest Side. And where is the discussion of adding infrastructure for electric vehicles?
The most successful route to reducing congestion is to provide people with alternatives, including safe, reliable and frequent public transit. Any move for public-private financing demands a lot of discussion to make sure it benefits the taxpayers.
* Sen. Rachel Ventura cited pollution from semi-trucks for her “no” vote on the Peotone Airport bill. WJOL…
Illinois lawmakers have passed legislation which takes steps toward the development of a new airport. If the governor signs the bill, it will direct the Illinois Department of Transportation to create a list of qualifications for proposals to build a cargo airport in Peotone. The project has been debated for around 40 years. IDOT has spent nearly $100 million acquiring land in the area over the years.
But Joliet State Senator Rachel Ventura (D-Joliet) voted against House Bill 2531 – which would bring a new freight airport to Will County. Ventura spoke out during Senate debate against the bill, citing increased cargo truck traffic along with local opposition from the Will County Farm Bureau and a majority of Will County Board members.
In response, she released the following statement:
“If this airport is built, the residents of Will County are going to face increased truck traffic on our roadways and interstate highways. This cargo airport is going to bring more freight into the region that will be transported to intermodal yards via roadways instead of using railways. Overall, the airport is a bad deal for Will County residents who are likely to see more congestion, more accidents, more pollution, and higher property taxes to pay for road repairs.”
10 Comments
|
* Background is here if you need it.
* From the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act…
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to conflict with the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004 and the rules promulgated thereunder.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to apply to a contractor, subcontractor, or agent of a State agency or local unit of government when working for that State agency or local unit of government.
* I received this email on Friday…
Hello Mr. Miller,
Thank you for everything you all are doing over at Capitol Fax. An amendment was just filed on BIPA reform. But, the bill does nothing to protect small fingerprint vendors and locksmiths, who follow the rules to a T and are true stewards/SMEs of the law, from frivolous lawsuits. Fingerprint vendors are vertically integrated throughout the state in healthcare, cannabis, FOID/CCL, gaming, DCFS, etc. See the attached listing of areas where fingerprint vendors are integrated. BIPA is not complicated law at all, but the locksmith Act exemption in BIPA doesn’t really have any teeth. BIPA even has an exemption for subcontractors of government agencies, but you still need to defend against an expensive, frivolous lawsuit. The exemptions are, effectively, rather circular. I think that those who flout the law or are not in compliance should pay a dear price for violating consumers. However, licensed, regulated entities who follow the law should not be subjected to damaging or crippling causes of action brought by nationwide law firms that are frivolously seeking a settlement from Illinois small businesses. […]
I think a “simple” fix would be to amend the Locksmith Act or JCAR rules to allow the “aggrieved” to seek relief through IDFPR or injunctive relief. This way BIPA is not watered down and the locksmith act exemption gains the teeth that the 2008 legislature intended. Again, thank you for your blog and stellar journalism .
* I followed up and asked about what he called “circular” exemptions…
BIPA allows a private right of action. The locksmith act does not provide a private right of action or any consumer relief. BIPA points to the locksmith act and the locksmith act rules point to BIPA. The circular logic is licensees can maintain their IDFPR license, follow all the BIPA rules (written notifications, obtain consent in writing, retention schedule), and still be sued even when the plaintiff/lawyer knows that the rules were followed. It’s a loophole and it’s incredibly damaging to small businesses. While they can be successful in defending themselves in court by showing how they followed the rules, the legal fees and insurance claims are abundant. These matters last months or even years. The IDFPR exemption lawsuit loophole should be closed and I think it can be by giving IDFPR a stake in ensuring BIPA is being conformed to among its licensees. This leaves BIPA intact, as it should be.
* From the original House floor debate in 2008…
Rep. Ryg: Senate Bill 2400 creates the Biometric Information Privacy Act which will be applicable to private entities doing business in Illinois. It sets collection and retention standards while prohibiting the sale of biometric information. It provides exemptions as necessary for hospitals, organ donation efforts, licensed fingerprint vendors working with State Police doing background checks and private subcontractors working for a state or a local unit of government and banks that are covered under Federal Law.
The bill passed the House unanimously. Here’s one reason why…
This Bill is especially important because one of the companies that has been piloted in Illinois, Pay By Touch, is the largest fingerprint scan system in Illinois and they have recently filed for bankruptcy and wholly stopped providing verification services in March of 2008. This pullout leaves thousands of customers from Albertson’s, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Jewel Osco, Shell, and Sunflower Market wondering what will become of their biometric and financial data. The California Bankruptcy Court recently approved the sale of their Pay By Touch database. So, we are in very serious need of protections for the citizens of Illinois when it comes to biometric information. I know of no opposition to the legislation and I’ll attempt to answer any questions.
There were no questions.
8 Comments
|
Better management, please
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WCCU TV…
People across the state are waiting on refunds after installing solar panels to their homes and businesses in an effort to lower their electric bills. […]
FOX Illinois contacted [the Illinois Power Agency] and it responded with a statement saying how the organization went through a change in administration, which caused other areas to be impacted: “the need to create a new portal and build a new, larger team, incentive payments have not been processed in as timely or urgent a manner as we’d hoped.”
This lasted from July 1st to September 1st of 2022, and more than 2,000 families are waiting in line plus more who applied during that pause.
The IPA blamed its vendor, Energy Solutions, and claims its backlog is being whittled down.
8 Comments
|
* Center Square…
Republicans decry end of scheduled session without budget from Illinois Democrats […]
Friday, on the last day of scheduled session without a budget, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said Republicans have not been invited by the Democratic majority to help craft the budget.
* Capitol News Illinois…
House Republicans’ lead budget negotiator Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb, said members of her party have been essentially uninvolved or uninvited to budget negotiations throughout the spring session.
“We have attempted numerous meetings with the House Democratic budgeteer, with the speaker and the governor,” Hammond said at a Capitol news conference. “Only one group has met with us on more than one occasion; that is the governor and his team. No negotiations with others have occurred.” […]
Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville, said he expected the budget to once again be filed “at the last minute” and quickly pushed through by the supermajority party, a customary process in recent years.
* Mike Miletich was the only one of this bunch to run the Senate Republicans’ statement…
“Our budgeteers have been meeting throughout the budget process and the Leader and the budgeteers plan to continue conversations,” said Senate Republican Leader John Curran’s (R-Downers Grove) spokesperson Whitney Barnes.
I’m told that Curran has met with the governor and the Senate President and the SGOP’s budgeteers have sat down with the SDem’s budgeteers.
10 Comments
|
It’s almost a law
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Fox Chicago…
An anti-carjacking initiative, crafted by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, has been approved by the state’s General Assembly.
Although the bill is awaiting Governor JB Pritzker’s signature, it mandates automakers selling vehicles in the state to establish a 24/7 hotline for tracking carjacked cars or cases involving kidnappings. […]
With 488 carjackings occurring in Cook County from January to date, 88% of cars are recovered within 72 hours.
Sheriff Dart believes this initiative will lead to a decline in carjackings, and the tracking service would be provided free of charge to car owners.
* Center Square…
A bill that passed the Illinois Legislature requires school principals to report bullying to parents within 24 hours. Some opponents say that is not feasible.
House Bill 3425, sponsored by state Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, passed the Illinois House in March. The measure passed the Senate earlier this month. Some school associations opposed the bill, saying a 24-hour time limit puts an undue burden on schools.
Mark Klaisner, president of the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, told The Center Square that the 24-hour deadline is not feasible. […]
In conversations Klaisner has had this spring, he said school administrators tell him “we’re all about stopping bullying and working with parents.” The problem, he said, “is we can’t always ensure that there will be a 24-hour turnaround in reporting back to the parents, especially if the bullying is happening after school on social media.”
* Effingham Daily…
After spending several years advocating for laws protecting stranded drivers from injury or even death, Distress Bandanna announced that both houses of the Illinois General Assembly have voted in favor of Senate Bill 2028, which would amend the state’s driver safety protocols to include new information and guidance for drivers who are stranded and those who might come across stranded vehicles on the road.
Both Illinois House and Senate voted unanimously to pass SB2028 on May 16.
If the bill is approved by Gov. J.B Pritzker, the state’s safety protocols for stranded drivers would be updated and new language would be added to the Illinois Rules of the Road by the Illinois Secretary of State.
According to the bill, the updated protocols, among other things, advise drivers on how to pull safely out of traffic and into a safe location, use hazard lights, when to stay in a stranded vehicle, and when and how to safely exit a stranded vehicle.
* Crain’s…
Among the health care measures sitting on Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk awaiting signature is a measure making behavioral telehealth permanent for Illinois Medicaid recipients. Senate Bill 1913 has been approved by both houses of the General Assembly.
The bill allows Illinois Medicaid patients to continue to receive behavioral health telehealth care remotely. The state already has made delivery of substance use disorder and mental health treatment via telehealth permanent under commercial insurance plans in 2021.
“As soon as Governor Pritzker announced in February the formal end date of his COVID-19 public health emergency orders, the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health leadership knew that the continuance of telehealth services for Medicaid patients would enter an uncertain, unwelcome legal gray area,” Illinois Association for Behavioral Health CEO Jud DeLoss said in a statement.
“Within hours we had legislation written and swiftly recruited state Sen. Laura Fine and state Rep. Jenn Ladisch Douglass to serve as legislative champions, who expeditiously advanced the bill.”
* WTTW…
Revenge porn, or the non-consensual sharing of sexual images, has been a felony in Illinois since 2014. In 2019, in the wake of since-resigned state Rep. Nick Sauer posting images of naked women without their consent, Illinois allowed victims to sue for civil damages.
The deepfake legislation (House Bill 2123) piggybacks onto that law, adding “digitally altered sexual images” to it.
A victim of a sexual digital forgery can sue for $10,000. […]
The proposal (House Bill 2954) seeks to create a civil liability when someone non-consensually posts private information online with the intent to “harm or harass” and with “reckless disregard that the person whose information is published would be reasonably likely to suffer death, bodily injury or stalking” and that sharing the information would cause a person to “suffer significant economic injury or death” or that it would cause the individual to “suffer a substantial life disruption.” […]
Both measures passed the House and Senate without opposition and require signatures from Gov. J.B. Pritzker before becoming law.
20 Comments
|
Since 2018, Uber and Arizona State University have provided 5000 qualified drivers and their families with 100% tuition coverage.
Comments Off
|
We can stop talking about this now
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
From Illinois law: “No unit of local government shall levy any tax on stock, commodity or options transactions.”
That statute has long been targeted for elimination by the Chicago Teachers Union and its allies. The CTU reliably shuns any proposal to increase property taxes across the board, instead pushing often-times “magical” solutions as alternatives. It’s one way the union has maintained its popularity among Chicago voters.
And new Mayor Brandon Johnson, who spent much of his career working for the CTU, made it clear during his inaugural address that he will eschew property tax increases, lumping them in with onerous fines and fees.
“We have a structural deficit,” Johnson told his audience. “And we have to invest in people. And we have to do that without breaking the backs of working people with fines, fees and property taxes.”
During the campaign, Johnson proposed a 1%-2% “Big Banks Securities and Speculation Tax” that would raise $100 million. So, naturally, there’s worry he will try to use his considerable contacts in the General Assembly and CTU’s clout to persuade Gov. J.B. Pritzker to reverse his position on allowing Chicago to impose a transaction tax and ease the city’s structural deficit.
When he was asked last month about the transaction tax, Pritzker said, “Obviously, what we all want is a thriving financial services economy in the state and the city. I have not stood for a transaction tax, because I think it would be easy for those companies’ servers to move out of the state.”
The financial services industry employs thousands of Illinoisans. And one of the leaders of that industry left Chicago in a huff last year. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin abruptly announced his move to Florida after shutting down funding for his preferred Republican gubernatorial candidate, Richard Irvin. Griffin and Pritzker have exchanged verbal jabs ever since then, and Pritzker has repeatedly full-on attacked Griffin’s Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
It’s not a stretch to believe Griffin would love to see more Illinois-based companies relocate to Miami. Crain’s Chicago Business, citing “multiple industry sources,” recently reported that investment firm Guggenheim Partners, which has strong Chicago ties, “is on the verge of deciding to move its headquarters to Miami, the Florida city to which Citadel recently decamped.”
And lots of heads turned last week when Bloomberg reported that CME Group CEO Terry Duffy indicated the company could leave Chicago. CME has already sold all of its real estate in the city and the state, Duffy said.
“In our leases, we have a language in there that says if there’s something that’s ill-conceived from the city or the state, that our leases are null and void,” Duffy said on a Bloomberg podcast. “We’re in a very strong position. If we had to leave, we could leave.”
Duffy did make it clear that “we like Chicago,” saying he wants to be “part of the solution, not a part of the problem.” Also, if you listen to the podcast, Duffy made a point to say he realized that campaign rhetoric often changes when people assume office and have to govern.
And Johnson’s own campaign website claims: “We should raise revenues from activities that won’t leave and cost us jobs.”
While Duffy has strong, lifelong ties to Chicago, he is clearly not happy with how the city has been run. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Duffy said: “Three o’clock in the afternoon, my wife got carjacked right in the city of Chicago, and it’s absolutely insane what’s going on here.”
Duffy said he was also upset with the response he received from then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot about how the homicide rate was falling. “I said, ‘Don’t go there. Please don’t go there.’ One is too many.”
I would assume Duffy has been inundated with offers to move his company elsewhere since the progressive Johnson’s election. Company headquarter locations are very often subject to the whims of the CEO.
Duffy said during his most recent interview he hadn’t yet talked with the new mayor. “I’m hopeful that he reaches out, I don’t care if it’s me or whoever, and talks about these things.”
So, I reached out to the two legislative leaders to see where they stood on allowing home rule units like Chicago impose a tax on electronic transactions.
Spokespersons for both Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Chris Welch said their bosses opposed the idea.
This thing is off the table.
…Adding… The Chicago news media freakout over a proposal by a couple of fringe groups continues unabated in Crain’s Chicago Business…
When pressed for insight on the mayor’s own attitude toward these proposals, a senior adviser told Crain’s, “if we were for these ideas, we would have said it.” And yet, given many opportunities to express opposition to these measures, the adviser said only: “Everybody should have a right to put their ideas into the public square.”
That’s not exactly comforting. Nor is the pushback from some observers who have been quick to argue these are merely fringe ideas that would be dead on arrival in Springfield, where many of these measures would have to be blessed before they could be implemented. Messaging matters — especially at a time like this, when investor and employer faith in Chicago as a great place to do business is faltering. If the mayor truly isn’t considering things like a city income tax, a wealth tax, a financial transactions tax or any of the other ideas contained in this report, he ought to say so, loudly and unequivocally.
Oh for crying out loud…
“We put out a plan that we had to [argue about internally] a hundred different times. It was about $800 million. This is $12 billion. So it has nothing to do with what we’re trying to do,” Johnson’s senior adviser Jason Lee told the Sun-Times.
The final amount was “based on our kind of sober analysis of what might be feasible. … Their employee head tax is proposed to raise $100 million a year. Our head tax was proposed to raise $20 million a year. … They raise $2 billion off the income tax alone. We didn’t have an income tax in our plan. We didn’t think that was the right thing to do. They have a wealth tax. We don’t have a wealth tax.”
Chicago had four years of a mayor saying everything “loudly and unequivocally,” and she still flip-flopped on a regular basis after hemming herself in.
25 Comments
|
Comments Off
|
Comments Off
|
Open thread
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* It’s Monday! Hope you all had a relaxing weekend. What’s going on?
9 Comments
|
Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Tribune | While stymied on a budget, Illinois legislators addressed issues including abortion, book bans and south suburban airport during spring session: Also sometimes known as “crisis pregnancy centers,” these anti-abortion nonprofits operate across the country and often open near or even next to clinics where abortions take place. The bill allows the Illinois attorney general to investigate claims that a pregnancy center engaged in fraud, deception or false pretense, and centers that violate the law could be fined up to $50,000.
* Daily Herald | Four years in, Rebuild Illinois has been a success — but more can be done: Rebuild Illinois has generated $2 billion in additional transportation funding annually. As a result, four years into the six-year program, Illinois has repaired 5,000 miles of highway, restored nearly 500 bridges, constructed more than 700 safety improvements, and supported 3,800 local transportation projects.
* WBBM | Bill to extend telehealth services for Medicaid recipients awaits Pritzker’s signature: Like so many things during the pandemic, treatment sessions for Medicaid recipients battling mental health and substance abuse went online. With the end of the state’s COVID emergency orders, state lawmakers have passed a bill allowing those services to continue.
* Effingham Daily | Bill aims to protect stranded Illinois drivers: After spending several years advocating for laws protecting stranded drivers from injury or even death, Distress Bandanna announced that both houses of the Illinois General Assembly have voted in favor of Senate Bill 2028, which would amend the state’s driver safety protocols to include new information and guidance for drivers who are stranded and those who might come across stranded vehicles on the road.
* WTTW | Critics Say Chicago’s Elected School Board Won’t Reflect the District’s Student Population Unless Map is Redrawn: “There is very little difference between the original map released and the current map,” activist Eli Brottman testified at a Friday hearing on the second attempt, despite input and sample maps he and others provided. “It feels as if the General Assembly is not using that feedback.”
* WIFR | New bill worries some local shop owners: Erik Carlson owns Buckbee Weed Co. in Rockford and worries if the bill and the tweaks added to it become a law, his business will take a major hit. He says it would ban the sale of hemp products in businesses that aren’t classified as licensed dispensaries.
* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson’s pick for deputy mayor for community safety signals strategy change: Garien Gatewood will focus on “the other aspects of public safety beyond law enforcement that are so critical to our agenda,” Johnson’s senior adviser Jason Lee says.
* Crain’s | Johnson’s labor allies move to undo Lightfoot’s 11th-hour McPier board pick: The measure — pushed by allies of new mayor Brandon Johnson and organized labor groups headed by the Chicago Federation of Labor — would reverse Lightfoot’s decision, announced in the final days of her tenure, to place her deputy mayor for economic development on the board that oversees the city’s McCormick Place convention center and Navy Pier.
* Chicago Mag | Yesterday’s Radicals Have Become Today’s Establishment: Brandon Johnson’s mayoralty is seen as the culmination of teachers union militancy that began in 2012, when his predecessor Rahm Emanuel closed 50 schools. But as Johnson pointed out, the union movement that produced him has such a long history in Chicago that yes, it is striking that we’ve waited so long for one of its members to become mayor.
* Tribune | While DNC coming to Chicago might provide good vibes, experts say economic boost might be overhyped: Much has been written about the squishiness of pre-convention economic benefits, along with the costs cities end up eating themselves getting ready for the pomp and circumstance. While boosters have predicted economic returns of $150 million or more to cities that hosted them recently, economists say those numbers have been overblown.
* The Triibe | ‘Fox and Friends’ staged Naperville interview criticizing Mayor Brandon Johnson: One of the men, Lavondale “Big Dale” Glass, is an assistant director of violence prevention for Project H.O.O.D., a nonprofit whose founder endorsed Vallas. The other man, Andre Smith, was paid more than $10,000 by Vallas‘s campaign committee, and told The TRiiBE he ran field operations for the campaign. Glass told The TRiiBE that he didn’t work for Vallas’s campaign and was not aware Smith had been a paid Vallas operative.
* NYT | As Rahm Emanuel Pushes Japan on Gay Rights, Conservatives Bristle: The U.S. ambassador has enthusiastically embraced his host country. But critics say he has overstepped diplomatic bounds with his advocacy on equality.
4 Comments
|
Live coverage
Monday, May 22, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
Comments Off
|
|
Support CapitolFax.com Visit our advertisers...
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
|
|
Hosted by MCS
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax
Advertise Here
Mobile Version
Contact Rich Miller
|