Pritzker hits the road
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Subscribers were told about this the other day. From a press release with some contact information redacted by me…
Daily Public Schedule: Wednesday, May 27, 2020
* BROLL OPPORTUNITY *
What: Gov. Pritzker to tour flood preparedness operation along the Illinois River.
Where: Meredosia North Levee, 403 Lake Road, Meredosia
When: 10:00 a.m.
Note: Due to social distancing guidelines, IOCI will provide broll coverage of this event. The broll will be available for download HERE.
What: Gov. Pritzker to hold media availability.
Where: Meredosia City Hall, 924 IL 104, Meredosia
When: 10:45 a.m.
Note: Questions can be sent to the pool reporter: xxx OR to xxx.
What: The Pritzker administration to hold a daily press briefing on COVID-19.
Where: Jackie Joyner Kersee Center, 101 Jackie Joyner Kersee Cir, East St. Louis
When: 2:30 p.m.
Watch live: https://www.Illinois.gov/LiveVideo
Note: Questions can be sent to the pool reporter: xxx OR toxxx. IOCI will provide coverage of this event, available for download HERE.
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* The governor talked about some good news on hospitalization rates and then took questions: The last time we were here was prior to the announcement of your staffer who was diagnosed. Can you give us a quick update on how that person is doing?…
That person is fully recovered, that person is back at work, and doing just fine. So thank you for asking.
Make sure to pardon all transcription errors.
* I have a list of questions here. A lot of them have to do with Allen Skillicorn this morning announcing that he was going to be going out with a recall affidavit for you, claiming you failed to stay with IDES, and you’ve overstepped your authority. Can you respond to that affidavit?…
Well I’m glad to hear that the representative apparently has changed his mind and now believes that we ought to fund state government instead of hollowing out the way that he has voted over the course of his career. Because it is a fact that IDES and other agencies like the Department of Public Health have been frankly left behind after many years of representatives like that one voting to have a budget stalemate for two years in which we had no budget, and no funding for our budget in the state, and has consistently voted against budgets that would fund vital agencies that we now frankly need very badly in this pandemic.
* He said you were late to the ball game to respond and prepare for knowing that your stay at home or was going to cause millions of people to be called not essential and to lose their jobs. He said more should have been done sooner, how much of this problem do you bear responsibility for?…
I think what he forgets is that the stay at home order, which is very much like what’s happened all across the nation, was a vitally important part of slowing down the transmission levels of COVID-19. Many many fewer people have died, many many fewer people have gone into ICU beds or hospital beds than would have had we not acted quickly at the beginning and in the middle of this. Remember what [garbled] the doctor who stood here on the day that we put the stay at home order in place, said, which is, you know, the consequence of all the work that we did is nothing will happen. I understand his point, his point is that now that you see things I assume that he wanted the stay at home order at the beginning, although he never has expressed that
* What he said today was in effect that you should have anticipated. So many people were going to filing for unemployment should have done more with a website sooner should have hired more people sooner to deal with what he says you should have anticipated…
Well, you couldn’t possibly anticipate that we would have a number of unemployment filings that was an enormous multiple of that which occurred during the Great Recession. Nobody expected that, nobody knew in fact, when this pandemic would begin to subside in any way. In fact, the pandemic itself has not, but the reaction of the people of Illinois has really kept people safe. So the IDES website was designed 10 years ago, we’ve talked about this and. And of course, when this became clear that we were going to see a rush of applications. We acted as quickly as we could with a system that frankly you can’t just snap your fingers and replace. You have to be as I have often said, you’re building the plane while trying to fly it and you’re trying to fly it well, putting a million passengers on board, an almost impossible job but one that IDES has handled as best it could. Now, the number of people who man the phones, I have to say that there are federal requirements for the training of somebody who answers the phone because of the privacy considerations. And so we’ve only been able to grow that very modestly. We brought everybody that we could to the front line to answer phones we’ve expanded the number of phone lines, put new systems in. So people are getting their calls answered, and about the clip of 2000 per day. And we continue to work very, very hard to respond to people who could not get their application filed online but again I want to say to anybody out there that has not filed for unemployment that needs to file for unemployment, that your best bet is to go online that system is now handling, many many many multiples of what it could handle at the very beginning of this epidemic. And I want people to make sure that they get the unemployment benefits that they deserve.
* In New York, they got help from Google to get their site up and running. Do more people need to be hired for the phone lines and should another company be brought in to help with the computer system?…
Well as with New York we brought in outside contractors as well. And that’s why our systems are working so much better now than they were at the very beginning. And so I want to compliment the people that IDES working with outside contractors to expand that online capability, as I said just a moment ago. We’re bringing people on as fast as we can, but again with the requirements for the the federal government puts on who can be on those phone lines, really managing incoming filings. What we’ve done is tried to offload the calls that aren’t individual privacy consideration calls and tried to either put them to people who are not trained at taking by the federal government level two, taking those filings. So they can take the kind of helplines sorts of calls or when people go online, they now have the ability to speak with somebody online on a chatbot.
* Over the weekend, first of all, so many people are out and about. My colleague Sarah Sheltie is asking about this memorial day weekend. First of all, were you in Lake Geneva at all and if not, did you at least see the video of all the people that crowded the streets around the lake there as well as the Indiana Dunes and what’s your reaction to so many people, most of these people are probably coming from Illinois just ignoring all the social distancing we’re doing here, going to these other states, and then coming back?…
Well, the answer to the first part of that question is I think you’ve seen me every day on camera with this backdrop, or in Springfield, for the last 75 days or so. I have not been out of the state for, I don’t know since before sometime in very early March before this pandemic hit, before we had a disaster declared in the state.
So that’s the answer to the first part of that question. In terms of people who are going and partying and not wearing masks, leaving the state, doing things that are essentially against the rules here in Illinois. But okay in some other state I think I just want to point out that I just read yesterday that there was a 16% increase in hospitalizations in the state of Wisconsin since the stay at home order was rejected by their Supreme Court, and a 30% increase in Milwaukee in hospitalizations. So I think that’s an example of what can happen if people don’t follow the mitigations that are supposed to be put in place that are supposed to keep people healthy and safe. So I would caution people.
Look, nobody stopped anybody from traveling, that’s never been the case, anybody can travel. What we’ve suggested to Illinois residents because we want Illinois residents to be safe, is to follow the same rules for yourself when you travel that you would have if you were at home. To see these crowds I am terribly dismayed frankly I think that the challenge here is I want every resident of Illinois safe I want them to keep themselves safe. They have the ability to do that. And so people who choose not to either, haven’t been reading the newspaper, aren’t following the rules, don’t seem to understand how dangerous this pandemic is. And I want to be clear to everybody that’s watching and to all the reporters, so that you can report it out, the pandemic is still here. Just because the numbers are moving in the right direction in the state of Illinois, that does not mean that the virus has gone away. It’s still there. The reason that we’re doing so much better here in Illinois than we would otherwise have is because people have worn face coverings, that people are washing their hands, they’re doing the things to keep themselves safe, that they should be doing and following the executive orders that I’ve put in place.
* Some Illinois houses of worship have capacities of hundreds or even thousands California’s letting them reopen with capacity limits this weekend as long as they don’t have more than 100 people at a time. In which phase do you plan to allow houses of worship to be able to do the same. And to that point. Have you asked IDPH to come up with guidelines for churches for when they could open?…
We’ve done even more than that Craig, we’ve asked churches to come with their ideas about how they can do it safely. As you’ve seen, we have allowed drive up services. We are working with churches for outdoor services. We want people to be able to worship. I think it’s vitally important. All we want to make sure is that when they do it that they’re safe and so we’ll work with any churches, or taking plans for churches and trying to work with them you saw that the Catholic Church came up with a very workable plan that I think is, you know, something a model for people to follow. So I encourage anybody that has an interest in putting forward a plan to do it safely because I know the vast majority of faith leaders just want to do it right they want to keep their parishioners safe as IDPH began the process of coming up with its own guidelines, much like they did with the legislature for them.
* Darren Bailey’s case was in court downstate. My colleague Mike Flannery just asked, the US Department of Justice, saying the stay at home order exceeded your legal power under state law, and that a state judge should handle this case rather than transferring to federal court. No decision made on that today but what is your take on that, what’s your response to the offense getting involved last Friday?…
It’ll be made by a federal judge about whether the case should go to federal court, but they’re clearly those cases have as their basis some accusation that a constitutional right is being taken away. And so, that’s a federal matter if it’s a constitutional right. So they’re just wrong. I understand that that the justice department, which is very much under the political thumb of the White House, is encouraging their appointees to weigh in on things like this. It’s a highly political thing to do, very unusual if you ask most people that have served in those capacities in the past. But, that’s what the White House has chosen to do.
* The ban on evictions is set to expire on Friday, along with your stay at home order that you said, that order will be extended to allow the state to enter into phase three. Will a continued ban on evictions be part of that new order?…
Yes.
* What is the state doing to help fund COVID-19 therapies and can you provide any update on antibody testing information that the state has and why is that not being reported?…
Dr. Ezike: It’s a loaded question. So, the state itself is not the one that does research itself to identify, we don’t have labs where we’re trying to come up with the therapies. Once those therapies go through their normal process and then are FDA approved of course they’ll be used throughout the state so it’s not really within the purview of IDPH.
Your second question was regarding antibody testing. So yes, there is antibody testing that has been happening through the state. Again, I think, as we may have discussed in the past, there’s still a lot of questions out there regarding the significance of the antibody tests. We know that we have a way to look and see if people may be developing antibodies. There are different types of antibodies there’s the [garbled] antibody there’s the [garbled] antibody. And so trying to figure out what level of antibody would would then pretend immunity and if it does pretend immunity is it. How long is that immunity for so not being able to answer those questions not having any reference standards that we can use. We can’t do much with it now. We did convene a group of infectious disease epidemiologists immunologist and biologists to review this issue and see if there was a more definitive role for antibody tests in the state of Illinois, to help with the reopening plan and and that team of experts did deliver that report and said, at this time, we can’t do anything with it yet but we are hoping we will get to a point where it can have a more prominent role in decision making and plans and determining herd immunity etc.
* Can you clarify the numbers when we look at the number of positive COVID-19 tests that does that indicate the number of people infected, when people have multiple tests throughout their illness are those tests counted in the total positive test numbers….
Dr. Ezike: We know that certain people may have multiple specimens that were taken and so if you want to have the positivity rate for people over people tested total positive people over people tested total that would give you that would be comparing the same thing and the numerator and the denominator and so we want to give. How many people are actually positive cases over how many people were totally tested and so that is the number that we’re trying to give as the percent positivity and so we’re trying to make sure that that’s what the data represents, and that’s what we’re trying to report going forward.
Pritzker: It appears to be a very small number of people who are getting multiple tests. So it isn’t like there’s some massive overstatement of the number of positives but it’s very unusual to for people to go get multiple tests.
* A southern Illinois winery announced they will not be requiring their staff to wear masks because they can be a quote reservoir for COVID-19 particles and quote create a false sense of security and risk our staff and guests’ health. Are there any kind of special precautions or considerations wineries across the state should be considering as they move into phase three?…
Dr. Ezike: I think an important point to mention there is that if someone is wearing a mask, again, the primary goal was that you were not expelling a virus. So if someone was wearing their mask we were at a place, a place of business and establishment, and they thought that they were spewing out virus that would suggest that you thought you had infection and were not staying home, and were risking spreading that. So I would say, as the first word of caution, I would say, if you think you are ill or you have signs that you are ill, you should be staying home in the first place and probably shouldn’t be at any place of business. But then in general, when people are a symptomatically transmitting the virus, we know that if there are two people. If one person has the virus. If they wore a mask and this individual didn’t, there would be a lower transmission lower risk of spread because this person had a mass. If both of them were wearing a mask there would be an even lower risk of spread. If both of them were wearing a mask and staying socially distance is six feet, even lower. So, we know that each of these measures are additive and help decrease the overall risk of transmission. And so I think all of our goals should be to decrease transmission because in fact, despite even having a negative test yesterday you could be positive today. And since we don’t know when we’re seeing that there’s a growing amount of asymptomatic transmission, we should all be employing every tool at our disposal to decrease the possibility of transmission.
* Do you recommend self quarantining for anyone who visited Lake of the Ozarks over Memorial Day weekend? It’s a popular destination for folks in the metro east and some Missouri counties in Kansas have issued a self quarantine recommendation…
Dr. Ezike: I would just say that that is some of the risk that we all are subject to as things start to open up. You know, things will, I think the whole state is going to evolve into phase three. And as you think about going for that haircut, you don’t really know where, you know, the people helping you or people, other people in the shop you don’t know where they have been. And so yes I would love if everyone around me who thinks they have been in a high risk place could stand down, but it’s probably not going to happen. But the least that we can do is to wear our mask and promote the social distancing so that if someone does have something we can decrease the amount of transmission that would be possible to the best of our abilities with the techniques that we have available to us.
* Since both an administrative rule and proposed statute to tighten enforcement have failed to advance, are there any real teeth to your emergency orders what will the state do to those who violate the orders?…
Yeah, well we’re left with the enforcement mechanisms that we have, or any rules that we may put forward going forward. But as you know, I talked about this. We’ve tried to avoid using those other methods of enforcement and that includes taking away people’s license to do business, and includes the possibility of closing a business. Those are not things that I wanted. In fact, I asked, implored the legislature to give me a tool. Our intention when we put an emergency order forward was to have the ability and emergency rule rather forward was to have the ability to simply to issue a citation which is a much lower level of consequence for people than having their license taken away to do business entirely. So, I then asked the legislature simply to pass something. They were unwilling. I think they abdicated their responsibility and a lot of them talked about, we know that they’re a co equal branch, well then you’ve got to take a co-equal a level of responsibility when you’re asked to and they were unwilling to, so we’re going to have to pursue whatever tools are available to us.
* Governor, when will you sign takeout cocktails are you planning any other measures to help bars and restaurants make it through the pandemic?…
Yeah, I’m so glad that that passed and I’m, I hope to sign that as soon as it’s available to me as you know it needs to be passed over by the clerk of the House and the Senate. And I’ll sign it as soon as it comes to my desk.
* How can people safely expand their quarantine circle in phase three when groups of 10 are allowed, can you hug grandparents, should you only see the same family and friends?…
Dr. Ezike: I can’t give anybody a COVID free pass.
As you expand your circles obviously there’s a additional risk of transmission, because, again, we don’t necessarily know who is harboring the virus and who isn’t so hopefully if people are all being as careful as you are and they have used their mask and social distance to the extent possible, hopefully their risk is low. But again, the more you increase your circle the larger that circle is absolutely the more risks but people have to learn to coexist with COVID and so you know we’ve. I know that people have done a really good job and they’ve stayed at home and now as they’re coming out, they will have to make these calculated decisions and assume a risk that they’re comfortable with, so risk benefit ratio again, there’s no way to know for sure if someone is harboring the virus or not. And that’s a that’s a little bit of a wild card. And so you can do what you feel is appropriate, take all the mitigation strategies that we do have an employee those. Use your mask and keep your distance. And after that, that’s the most I can offer, I can’t promise anything after that.
* Illinois is the only state so far that officially plans to tap the Fed liquidity facility. Is that because Illinois has limited options partly and partly given past financial decisions that led to almost no rainy day fund and resulted in higher borrowing costs?…
Well, what I can tell you is that it was the decision of the legislature to not implement more cuts.
And, you know, in a common belief and hope, I guess that the federal government will in fact offer support to state and local governments all across the nation. But look, I think everybody understands that in the middle of this pandemic we’ve, every state has lost tax revenue and had increased expenditures that are you know related to COVID as well as some that are tangential, but only occurred as a result of COVID. So we’re going to need help. There’s no doubt about that. And I think that was the reason the legislature did what it did. But look they’ve also did not cut as much as I think they probably could and so we’ll be, I’ll have to continue to look at the budget along the way. They gave me the authority to do that here.
* Does the state have a backup plan if President Trump goes through with his plan to pull back National Guard troops who helped with contact tracing and delivering food to nursing homes?…
We’re going to need to make those deliveries, we’re going to need to make the, fill in what we need to if the federal government is not going to help out by supporting our National Guard troops. We obviously have the ability to fund those or choose to fund those if we decide to. But either way, we’re not going to let those services fail.
* Could you explain what happened in the GA with the cannabis bill? There’s some confusion about whether a deal had been made with the governor’s office to move it forward…
No. There was no deal made with the governor’s office, they just could not get it moved forward between the House and the Senate.
In the answer to the next question, the governor said he and Dr. Ezike believe “we seem to have come off the peak.”
* New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the state will no longer allow COVID-19 patients who are positive to be discharged from hospitals to nursing homes. What is the current policy in Illinois and is there any plan to change it?…
Well, again, it’s the idea here is to keep everybody in nursing homes safe and to make sure that nursing home patients have somewhere to go.
And so, nursing home residents do have the ability to go back to nursing homes. And to the extent that they have not been determined to be entirely COVID free, they would probably not be let out of the hospital. So we’re going to be very careful about that. People have already come out of the hospital and gone home. And we have not seen transmission from somebody who has come out of the hospital and then transmitted it to somebody in their nursing home.
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* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,178 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 39 additional deaths.
Cook County: 1 male 30s, 2 females 40s, 1 female 50s, 3 males 50s, 1 female 60s, 4 males 60s, 4 females 70s, 11 males 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
DuPage County: 1 male 70s
Fayette County: 1 male 70s
Kane County: 1 male 80s
LaSalle County: 1 female 90s
Madison County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s
McHenry County: 1 female 60s
Peoria County: 1 female 70s
St. Clair County: 1 male 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 113,195 cases, including 4,923 deaths, in 100 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 17,230 specimens for a total of 786,794.
Since this crisis began, there have been 22 positive staff and 47 positive residents at the Illinois Veterans’ Home at Manteno. Sadly, ten of those who tested positive for COVID-19 have passed away. The Veterans’ home in Anna has seen five residents test positive, one resident in LaSalle, and no positive cases at the Veterans’ Home in Quincy.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered.
* Dr. Ezike said today at the media briefing that the above numbers today are lower because of weekend reporting, but the hospitalization numbers are believed to be accurate…
3788 people were hospitalized with COVID-19. And of those 3788, 1035 patients were in the ICU and 590 individuals were on ventilators.
She added…
And I do want to share that for the week ending May 16, we reported a total of 780 deaths. While 780 deaths of course represents 780 individuals who lost their lives, and families and loved ones and communities who are mourning those deaths, it still signals the first week that there have been fewer deaths than the previous week. And so I am hopeful that this fact is the beginning of a downward trend. But of course, that also depends on all of us, and making sure that we’re doing all that we can to decrease the transmission of this virus.
She also said the state received its third shipment of remdesivir last week.
…Adding… Gov. Pritzker…
COVID related hospitalizations, which had been holding steady a couple of weeks ago, have now dropped to a six week low, with nearly 1200 fewer beds in use by COVID positive patients. And hospital beds and ICU Bed Availability are both above 30%.
* Monday’s press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,713 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 31 additional deaths.
Cook County: 1 female 30, 1 male 30, 1 male 40s, 1 male 50s, 2 females 60s, 1 male 60s, 4 females 70s, 3 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s, 3 males 90s
La Salle County: 2 male 60s
Madison County: 1 male 70s
McDonough County: 1 female 60s
St. Clair County: 1 male 80s
Union County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 90s
Will County: 1 male 70s
Winnebago County: 1 female 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 112,017 cases, including 4,884 deaths, in 100 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 21,643 specimens for a total of 769,564. The statewide 7-day rolling positivity rate, May16 – May 22 is 12%.
* Sunday’s…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,508 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 67 additional deaths
Coles County – 1 female 60s, 1 female 90s
Cook County – 1 female 20s, 2 males 30s, 1 female 50s, 5 males 50s, 1 female 60s, 9 males 60s, 4 females 70s, 9 males 70s, 11 females 80s, 6 males 80s, 7 females 90s, 3 males 90s
DuPage County – 1 female 60s
Macon County – 1 male 60s
Madison County – 1 unknown 80s
McLean County – 1 male 80s
St. Clair County - 1 female 80s
Winnebago County – 1 female 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 110,304 cases, including 4,856 deaths, in 100 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 25,674 specimens for a total of 747,921. The statewide 7-day rolling positivity rate, May15th – May 21st is 12%.
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* WUIS…
Reports across the country of retail workers being physically attacked for enforcing safety rules, like the wearing of face masks and social distancing, prompted Illinois lawmakers to take action. A measure was passed getting tougher on those who commit such acts.
Both the house and senate agreed to enhanced penalties – over questions if the plan would actually be a deterrent and concerns the change could be used to target minorities.
Most progressive legislators have long opposed penalty enhancements. But this particular bill was pushed hard by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, so opposition shrank.
* More…
Rep. Marcus Evans Jr., D-Chicago, said the bill “sends a clear message” to workers in Illinois and across the country that they “must be respected and protected.” He said retail workers assaulted for telling people to wear masks showed that the bill is needed.
Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, D-Naperville, said a person striking a retail worker would already be guilty of a crime, so the measure is indeed an enhancement of the charge that would have been filed. She opposed such an enhancement and triggered a heated response from Hoffman, who shouted at her to “vote no” on the measure if she didn’t agree with it.
Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said the measure was proof that penalty enhancements can be an effective tool. But Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, who said she opposes penalty enhancements in general, echoed Evans in saying it was about support for workers rather than increasing penalties. […]
“If we want to help the front-liners, let’s give them and their families some protection, some health care and a pay increase,” [Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago] said.
* More…
Sen. Elgie R. Sims Jr., D-Chicago, said he supports the measure because it is “narrowly tailored” to protect public safety while improving victims’ rights.
The six-month window following state or municipal emergency declarations could be revisited in the fall veto session depending on the status of the coronavirus pandemic, said Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood.
“I think it’s really important that we support those essential workers who are being attacked with some stricter penalties,” she said. “None of us in the Senate Black Caucus, of course, love these enhanced penalties, but we do know that we’re in a crisis and we have to act on this in this way.”
I guess international pandemics can change peoples’ thinking.
* But, in reality, this was a union omnibus bill…
The measure would also extend disability pay for public employees whose recovery is hindered by COVID-19.
Another portion of bill would assure employees of a horse track that receives a state license for video gambling be informed about the ability to form a union. The track workers would be given rights under the National Labor Relations Act.
The bill passed the House 95-10-5 and passed the Senate 47-3.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Dan Petrella goes over some of what didn’t get done during the special session…
∗ A bipartisan commission had a March 31 deadline to propose changes to the state’s government ethics and lobbying laws in response to an ongoing public corruption probe that has stretched from City Hall to the Illinois Capitol. Once the pandemic hit, that was put on hold, and the issue was not addressed in the special session.
∗ Another bipartisan task force was supposed to come up with proposals to ease the state’s enormous property tax burden. Its work devolved into partisan squabbling, and a final report was never issued. In response to the pandemic, lawmakers approved a measure that would allow counties to suspend interest and penalties on late property tax payments for 120 days or until there is no longer a statewide public health emergency due to COVID-19. But nothing was done to deal with the long-term problem.
∗ The special session began with lawmakers on a bipartisan panel blocking Pritzker’s emergency rule that would have made businesses that violate his stay-at-home order subject to a Class A misdemeanor. Lawmakers promised a legislative fix but adjourned until November without approving one.
∗ Two versions of an agreement to make some changes to the state’s recreational marijuana law were in the Senate but never called for House votes.
* Senate President Harmon was asked about the ethics bill after session ended…
* Why didn’t the legislature take up an ethics reform bill? Why did a casino expansion bill and a toll bridge for Will County pass, but not ethics reform?…
As you know, the bipartisan, bicameral Ethics Commission is doing its work. Its report has been delayed. We’re eager to get that report and to act on it. But in this special three plus one day session, we did not think we could responsibly take that up. That deserves more careful and thoughtful legislative…
* Would you consider calling a special session for ethics reform?…
Well if we’d passed the virtual session, perhaps. But I don’t think anyone is eager for us to call everyone back here. I hope everyone goes home, does another test and that we find no one has tested positive as a result of being here in session. But until then, I’m not going to predict any return to Springfield.
* The Question: What issue(s) important to you did not get addressed during the special session? Explain.
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COVID-19 roundup
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* White House to states: You’re on your own…
The Trump administration’s new testing strategy, released Sunday to Congress, holds individual states responsible for planning and carrying out all coronavirus testing, while planning to provide some supplies needed for the tests.
The proposal also says existing testing capacity, if properly targeted, is sufficient to contain the outbreak. But epidemiologists say that amount of testing is orders of magnitude lower than many of them believe the country needs.
The report cements a stance that has frustrated governors in both parties, following the administration’s announcement last month that the federal government should be considered “the supplier of last resort” and that states should develop their own testing plans.
Go read the rest.
* New amended general order from the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois…
Criminal jury trials will not be conducted before August 3, 2020, and trials scheduled to begin before August 3, 2020, will be reset by the presiding judge. This continuance is necessary because criminal jury trials require: (i) the gathering of a large number of persons in the Jury Department; (ii) at least 12 jurors seated in the courtroom to hear evidence; (iii) 12 jurors to deliberate in the jury room; and (iv) five to six weeks’ notice in advance of trial to summon jurors. The advance-notice requirement makes any earlier date impractical because it is not known what large-gathering guidelines will be in place. Social-distancing guidelines might render juror participation difficult or unsafe, including during juror check-in and jury selection. For these same reasons, in cases impacted by this trial continuance, the Court excludes time under the Speedy Trial Act through August 3, 2020, because the ends of justice outweigh the interests of the parties and the public in a speedy trial.
* SJ-R…
Secretary of State offices will begin reopening June 1 with an initial focus on drivers who couldn’t get the services they needed during the last 2½ months during various stay-at-home orders.
Most facilities outside of the Chicago area will not reopen until June 2. The exception is the facility in Springfield on Dirksen Parkway that will reopen June 1.
During the first two months driver services facilities are open, they will focus only on serving new drivers, people with expired driver’s licenses and state ID cards and those who need vehicle transactions such as titles. The secretary of state’s office said there are more than 700,000 expired licenses and ID cards that need to be renewed and 1.9 million expired license stickers.
During that time, people are encouraged to continue using the secretary of state’s web site to conduct business with the office. People can obtain new license plate stickers, obtain a duplicate driver’s license or ID card, obtain a driving record abstract or renew a license through the Safe Driver Renewal program. The secretary of state web site is located at cyberdriveillinois.com.
* News-Gazette…
Illinois football and men’s basketball student-athletes can start returning to campus June 3 in three different waves.
Returning student-athletes are first, followed by transfers and incoming freshmen and then student-athletes that might have higher risk indicators in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first round of the Illini’s return process for just those two sports is expected to take the rest of that week with voluntary workouts tentatively set to resume June 11 for those two sports.
The actual return process is a complex one, with multiple steps that will begin even before student-athletes make their way back to Champaign.
* Illinois does something right…
tates are spending billions of dollars stocking up on medical supplies such as masks and breathing machines during the coronavirus pandemic. But more than two months into the buying binge, many aren’t sharing details about how much they’re spending, what they’re getting for their money or which companies they’re paying.
An Associated Press survey of all 50 states found a hodgepodge of public information about the purchase of masks, gloves, gowns and other hard-to-get equipment for medical and emergency workers.
Illinois has one of the most detailed tracking websites, showing the date, vendor, purpose, quantity and price of each purchase. In most states, it’s not that easy. Some provided similar information only after the AP pointed to laws requiring the release of government documents.
* Comptroller Mendoza compiles that list. Speaking of Mendoza…
* On to headlines from the Chicago Tribune’s live blog…
Home Run Inn suburban Chicago factory churns out nearly 80,000 frozen pizzas a day to meet soaring demand during pandemic
Allstate extends its rebate as motorists continue to stay off the roads during the COVID-19 health crisis
Advocate Aurora Health invests in US maker of N95 masks, other PPE
Preckwinkle vetoes COVID-19 address-sharing with first responders, a first in her tenure
Officials see signs COVID-19 is contained at Cook County Jail, while experts caution measures need to remain in place
Packed pool party gone viral in Missouri earns rebuke from state health director
A different Memorial Day in Chicago: Crowds are out, livestreamed ceremonies are in
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announces reopening rules for businesses as Illinois is poised to move to next phase and loosen restrictions
* Sun-Times live blog…
Preckwinkle vetoes plan to give first responders addresses of COVID-19 positive residents
Worry, haste, retail therapy: What have we bought and why?
What casinos look like in a post-pandemic world
Chicago’s new normal: When will tourists come back?
What we leave behind and what we welcome as city moves toward reopening
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* NPR has a pretty comprehensive story online about evaluating risks of various activities…
Getting a haircut: medium to high risk
A haircut involves “close contact and breathing that is extended for several minutes,” [Dr. Abraar Karan, a physician and public health researcher at Harvard Medical School] notes. “This is the primary mode of transmission that we know happens. And cloth masks certainly are not perfect for this.”
[Dr. Andrew Janowski, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Washington University in St. Louis] says this is one of the highest-risk scenarios on this list, because there’s no way to keep 6 feet from someone cutting your hair. “All it takes is [having] one asymptomatic but infected worker, and suddenly many customers are at high risk of infection,” he says.
What alters risk? [Dr. Emily Landon, a hospital epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist at University of Chicago Medicine] believes the risk is not terribly high if both you and your haircutter wear masks and if COVID-19 is not very prevalent in your area. Look for a salon or barbershop that has (and enforces) policies to protect its employees, like wearing protective gear and sanitizing hands, she says: “By protecting their employees, they’re protecting you too.”
And make sure that your barber or stylist is all business, says Karan: “Stopping to chat at close distance like this is something we all love doing with our barbers normally. This is not the time for it.”
I’ll be asking my barber to get tested this week.
* Excerpt from the new state guidance for personal care businesses…
PHYSICAL WORKSPACE
i. Minimum guidelines
1. Service provider should display signage at entry with face covering requirements, social distancing guidelines, and cleaning protocols, in multiple languages as needed
2. Service provider should configure space to allow for at least 6-ft. of distance between customers
3. Service provider employees should maintain social distance to the extent possible while performing services
4. Service provider should remove shared items (e.g., magazines) from waiting areas and configure any seating to be 6-ft apart to allow for social distancing
a. Any surfaces in waiting area (e.g., seats) touched by customers should be disinfected after use
5. Service provider should eliminate service of all beverages
6. Water fountains, except for touchless water bottle refill stations, should be made unavailable for use (e.g. turned off, covered, area blocked)
a. If no touchless fountain is available, water may be served in sealed, single-use water bottles
ii. Encouraged best practices
1. Display visual markers 6-ft. apart at customer queuepoints
2. If practical, install impermeable barriers between work stations
3. If practical, implement touchless transactions
4. Reduce number of items on surfaces to allow for easier cleaning, including any retail items available for purchase
5. Remove shared products (e.g., beauty testers) from displays and discourage handling of display items
6. Make hand sanitizing products available for employee and customer use
7. Where building management practices allow,increase air turnover rates in occupied spaces and increase outside make-up air to the maximum extent practical
STAFFING AND ATTENDANCE
i. Minimum guidelines
1. Maximum of 50% of capacity OR 5 customers allowed per 1000 sq. ft. of usable space (see DCEO guidance)
a. For salon suites, capacity limits should be applied within each suite
2. Service provider employees should social distance from customers while not performing services
3. Service provider should limit the occupancy of common areas/ break rooms to allow for social distancing of 6-ft or greater by removing/ decommissioning furniture or staggering break times; this guideline is not intended to diminish employees break time requirements
ii. Encouraged best practices
1. If practical, alter hours of operation to adequately spread out customer traffic and allow for additional cleaning time
2. Stagger shift start and end times to minimize congregation of employees during changeovers
3. If practical, group employees in clusters and schedule groups on same shifts to reduce cross-team exposure
Thoughts?
* By the way, here are all the activities in the story with their associated risks…
A BYOB backyard gathering with one other household: low to medium risk
Eating indoors at a restaurant: medium to high risk
Attending a religious service indoors: high risk
Spending the day at a popular beach or pool: low risk
An outdoor celebration such as a wedding with more than 10 guests: medium to high risk
Using a public restroom: low to medium risk
Letting a friend use your bathroom: low risk
Going to a vacation house with another family: low risk
Staying at a hotel: low to medium risk
Getting a haircut: medium to high risk
Going shopping at a mall: risk varies
Going to a nightclub: high risk
Going camping: low risk
Exercising outdoors: low risk
Click here to see the reasoning behind these risk levels and what can be done to mitigate the risks.
* Related…
* Second stylist at same Missouri hair salon tests positive; nearly 140 exposed to coronavirus
* Great Clips customer who was possibly exposed to COVID-19 speaks out
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Budget roundup
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
The Illinois General Assembly passed a maintenance-level $40 billion state budget Saturday night and early Sunday that would rely heavily on federal funding to close a gaping pandemic-driven deficit. […]
State agencies that have been most affected by the pandemic, such as those dealing with public health and welfare, would see funding increases under the spending plan. […]
The budget would not provide school districts with the $350 million increase in state aid that was set out in a 2018 rewrite of the education funding formula. Districts would instead receive the same amount they received this year. Universities also would be funded at their current levels.
* WBEZ…
The spending plan that the legislature’s Democratic-led majorities settled on relies on borrowing up to $5 billion from the Federal Reserve next year. The governor has also called on Congress to enact another economic relief package to buttress state budgets, though it remains unclear when – or even if – that federal money will arrive.
“There’s a storm – a giant storm – blowing across our land and blowing across the state of Illinois,” House Majority Leader Greg Harris, D-Chicago, said as he argued against making drastic cuts in government funding to schools, first responders and other government programs.
“We as a legislature and as a state, do we stand up as a bulwark?” Harris said, speaking at a Springfield convention center where the House convened in order to give representatives more space for social distancing. “Do we stand up as a shield to try to shelter people in our communities from the storm? Or do we say, ‘No, we need to retreat, we need to fold in and we need to do less?’”
The budget plan includes $3.8 billion from the federal CARES Act to deal with the coronavirus crisis in the next year, including funding for testing, contact tracing and additional health measures at the state’s prisons, some of which have been subject to coronavirus-related outbreaks.
All told, the Illinois Department of Public Health’s budget would be increased by 144% compared to last year. School funding to the state Board of Education is slightly increased from last year, accounting for $13.2 billion of the state budget. And lawmakers will make the full required payments to the state’s pension funds – more than $10 billion that’s owed to the vastly underfunded systems that give retirement benefits to teachers, university and state employees.
* Capitol News Illinois…
The $42.8 billion budget keeps spending roughly flat from a year ago despite revenue for next year decreasing by an unknown number of billions and the potential of even further economic devastation should COVID-19 see a resurgence in the fall that coincides with a virulent flu season. […]
“The ability for an administration to engage in emergency rulemaking and have control of more than $7 billion of state funds, with only broad strokes, broad umbrellas of programs and allocations for those dollars, I think should give members of this body pause,” Demmer said.
Rep. Gregory Harris, D-Chicago, said during debate the fact that the Legislature passed a full budget instead of a lump sum appropriation showed that it was exercising more oversight than other states were doing for their governors.
* Mike Miletich at WSIL TV…
“If we’re going to balance this budget, I would rather not do it on the backs of people who would lose their jobs if we were to cut money to our schools, cut money to our first responders,” said House Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago). “I don’t want thousands of people more out of work.”
Harris notes there is a “huge” revenue shortfall, and it’s still unknown when the federal government will discuss sending the additional funding to states.
“The ability for an administration to engage in emergency rule-making and have control of more than $7 billion of state funds with only broad strokes, broad umbrellas of programs and allocations for those dollars, I think should give members of this body pause,” said House Deputy Republican Leader Tom Demmer.
He adds the budget is only balanced “on a wing and a prayer.” The Dixon native emphasized it relies on $5 billion in borrowing or “magical revenue” coming from the federal government “with no strings attached.”
* News-Gazette…
Democratic State Sen. Andy Manar spoke for many when he said that “we made a choice not to present a budget to this chamber that slashes the state budget at a time when we’re dealing with a global pandemic.”
“That was our choice. That was a simple choice for me because the last thing we need to be doing is cutting public health programs, cutting health care programs, cutting school funding, cutting programs for small businesses, or cutting pensions or laying off state employees,” he said. […]
Despite the obvious risks, Pritzker said he is putting his faith in the federal government “to do the right thing.”
“This isn’t something special for Illinois, it really is a problem that every state is experiencing,” he said of his desire to “get dollars from the federal government to support our state.”
* WBBM…
Other priorities include increased unemployment eligibility and expanding workers compensation protections as well as $500 million to rental and mortgage assistance, help with utilities and homelessness prevention. […]
The new budget includes over $600 million in grants for small businesses and more than $900 million to the Illinois Department of Public Health for COVID-19 testing programs and contact tracing over the next year
That was all from federal funds.
* Hannah…
The troubled Department of Children and Family Services will see a $126 million increase in funding over last year, which represents a 10 percent boost. Small areas of state government like the Illinois Arts Council, State Police Merit Board, and Prisoner Review Board will see decreases in the tens of thousands of dollars, while the community mental health services will see a $10 million decrease from $134 million in funding last year. […]
While the budget modestly trims some line items, the state is authorized to spend $970 million more than it did last year, which State Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorne Woods) blasted as irresponsible given the economic downturn Illinois is experiencing along with the rest of the country.
“In that environment, you would think that we would be cutting spending on non-essentials as so many families have been forced to do across the state,” McConchie said. “But no, we don’t reduce the spending given the low drop in revenue that we are expecting.”
McConchie said the General Assembly would’ve been better off approving a short-term budget to keep the state operating until the full economic impact of the virus and accompanying shutdown is known.
A short-term budget would also be a punt, and likely encourage a ratings downgrade. They can come back in the fall and readjust as necessary.
* Finke…
The $42.8 billion is larger on paper than last year’s budget, but Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, a lead budget negotiator said much of the increase is to repay short term borrowing that was needed to keep the state afloat.
“It’s very much of a status quo budget. To keep it where it is now,” said Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, a principal architect of the budget. “There’s a few places that there’s some increases for critical areas that couldn’t keep up, like DCFS. But it is pretty much keep everything as is.” […]
“We have done nothing to try to cut anything,” said Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer. “I feel we are using COVID as a reason to continue to be irresponsible. Anyone who votes for this is voting for irresponsibility.”
As Harris noted in debate, the budgeted amounts are maximum spending levels. Pritzker is “free” to cut as much as he wants within the law (including court rulings). So, yeah, Davidsmeyer was right. The GA basically punted it all to the governor.
* Senate President Don Harmon was asked about whether it was responsible to pass a budget that is so heavily dependent on borrowing…
There is so much we don’t know today that we hope to know in a few months. We don’t know the depths of the economic hit we’ve taken from this virus. We don’t know how much more we’re going to have to spend in order to respond to it. We don’t know whether the voters are going to approve a constitutional amendment in November. We don’t know how the federal government is going to respond, although I believe that they will. And we don’t know who is going to be in charge in Washington for the next four years. In the next several months, we’re going to know all of that, and that will give us much better information about how to put together a durable state budget
* Sun-Times…
House Majority Leader Greg Harris, D-Chicago, in turn acknowledged the plan “may not be the world’s best budget.” And he pointed out that Republicans largely fought alongside former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner during a historic budget impasse.
“But at least we have a budget,” Harris said. “And to be lectured by some people who for two years let another governor run this thing with zero budget and running up a $17 billion backlog of bills, is an interesting experience,” Harris said, before the House approved the bill 62-47.
* Gov. Pritzker was asked if he’d be “comfortable” if Bruce Rauner was wielding the same authority as the GA gave him…
Well no, that’s why I ran against him and beat him.
The problem with giving governors (or presidents, for that matter) so much authority is that every now and then (more often in Illinois) the voters elect somebody who can’t be trusted with it.
Much more here.
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* After the remote legislating bill went down in the House, the Senate unanimously passed a new rule…
The President, in consultation with the Minority Leader, may establish a process by which Senators and members of the public may participate remotely in hearings for standing committees, special committees, subcommittees or special subcommittees, and service committees. […]
In times of pestilence or public danger, the Senate may adopt a motion to allow a member to remotely participate and vote in the regular and special sessions of the Senate, provided that at all times a quorum of members is physically present at the location of session.
If a bill clears the Senate with the bare minimum majority and one of those votes is a remote vote, you gotta wonder if someone will sue.
Thoughts on this?
By the way, the new rule also created a new Pensions committee, which doesn’t yet have any members. It also changed the Government Accountability and Pensions Committee’s name to the Government Accountability and Ethics Committee.
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Ann Williams…
Hi Rich, hope you are well and survived an interesting end of session. Wow. I agree it was not ideal and difficult to really get the work we need done. However, I am introducing a standalone remote meeting bill using the same or similar language that went down in the house. I certainly hope we never get to the point we have to use it, and it’s far from an ideal way to legislate, but I think the current crisis has taught us we need to be prepared for the unexpected and the unthinkable. If the pandemic were to get worse or a second wave were to hit to a degree we simply could not meet safely in person, we need to be prepared. By not doing so, we risk our ability to serve our communities in times of extreme crisis.
* Sen. Rob Martwick…
The past four days of special session were an incredible success. The GA came together, worked in the most collaborative and bi-partisan manner, passed legislation that is crucial to the response to and recovery from the pandemic, and provided for the continuity of essential government services. As wonderful as it was, there was one epic failure: remote operation of the General Assembly. I have underlying health conditions. If I contract Covid-19, I am at high risk of serious complications and death. So, I followed the IDPH guidelines and stayed home. When President Harmon told me the Chicago Casino bill was at risk of failing, I drove down to Springfield to do my part to ensure the bill’s passage. The revenue from the Chicago casino is crucial to stabilizing Chicago’s finances, securing pensions for our police and firefighters, and protecting our homeowners from huge property tax increases. Honestly, I was terrified, but I had to go. No one should be required to risk their lives to participate in democracy. However, put my personal case aside and consider what this means: While this “special session” was a huge success, there was NO regular session. There are thousands of bills and initiatives that did not get their due process. People in Chicago have been waiting a dozen years for an Elected Representative School Board, yet that, like so many thousands of other important measures, was not deemed “essential” legislation. We did not do the work of the people, and until there is a vaccine or effective treatment, we probably will not. Every legislative body in this state and in many other states have recognized that they must get back to work and have adopted virtual operations to allow them to do so. The technology supports it and it is working well. I am grateful for the leadership of President Harmon and Leader Brady in adopting rules that will allow the Senate to convene committees, take testimony, and vote to advance legislation. This is good for me, but we need to do more to ensure that there is seamless operation for every member of the GA to advance the interests of their constituents and I am committed to working with Ann Williams and my former colleagues in the House to ensure they, like the Senate, join this movement so that they can get back to work too.
* But check this out from the NRCC…
Hey –
Fake Nurse Lauren Underwood recently voted along partisan lines to allow Members of Congress to collect their taxpayer-funded paychecks by sitting at home and phoning in their vote to the US Capitol instead.
Quite a few of Nancy Pelosi’s minions are already taking advantage of their proxy voting scheme.
So while nurses are on the frontlines risking their lives to treat COVID-19 patients, Fake Nurse Lauren and her Democratic colleagues can’t even show up to work.
–
Carly Atchison
NRCC
Regional Press Secretary
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ISP: “We’re between a rock and hard place”
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line…
Also left on the cutting room floor was a bill that would have allowed the Illinois State Police to cite businesses who defied his stay-at-home order with a Class A misdemeanor instead of the Illinois Department of Public Health pulling a business’ license.
Earlier in the week, Pritzker withdrew emergency rules that would have allowed for the same after public outcry over the rules. He instead asked the legislature to codify the rules, but Democrats were wary of forcing it through.
On Sunday, Pritzker said he was “very disappointed” lawmakers did not take up the bill and that the legislature “failed” on the matter.
“It was a complete abdication of responsibility,” Pritzker said.
* Jamie Munks at the Tribune…
“They were unwilling to vote on anything like that or they didn’t get it done and so we’re going to have to look at other mechanisms,” Pritzker said. “But the fact is I think the legislature failed in this regard.”
* The problem here is that state law mandates a Class A misdemeanor for violations. Pritzker’s emergency rule had to conform to state law. It would be preferable if violations were a business offense or some other such thing. Legislators, however, were in no mood to touch the topic because IDPH’s emergency rule kicked up such a hornet’s nest. Senate President Don Harmon…
We could not agree on what the appropriate measure would be. It was a compressed schedule. This all came to light on the first day of our session. We remain committed to working with the governor to find a path. We just didn’t have the bandwidth to get that done.
Except the General Assembly isn’t scheduled to return to Springfield until November.
* From Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly…
State agencies, the AG, local police, local health departments and emergency management have all asked the Illinois State Police for help with enforcement. We don’t want to take anyone to jail, we don’t want to harm struggling business licenses, and we provided language for a civil penalty so these agencies and first responders could get the support they asked for. These folks are now all left with closing a business or letting the virus spread. We’re between a rock and hard place.
Thoughts?
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Stay Safe Today, Be Vigilant For Tomorrow
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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Illinois is hurting, families are in mourning, and people who have the least have been hit the hardest. Communities of color are bearing the brunt of the pandemic, suffering greater loss and greater financial strain.
We face unprecedented times, but Illinois is strong and will be ready to lead us through recovery with solutions that put the state back to work. As we emerge from this crisis, new and good-paying jobs will be key to the state’s recovery.
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The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition is committed to helping Illinois recover and building a better, cleaner, and more equitable future for us all and for generations to come.
For more information, visit ilcleanjobs.org.
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Our Democracy Is Too Important, The Fight Continues
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The deadline to let voters decide if we should reshape our constitution and redistricting process has passed, but our fight continues. Fixing the foundation of our democracy is too important and we still can move forward toward a better redistricting process.
The Illinois Redistricting Collaborative, a diverse coalition of 34 organizations, is committed to standing with the 75% of Illinois voters who want an independent citizen-led commission.
Lawmakers can stand with Illinois voters and our diverse, statewide coalition by committing to passing meaningful legislative reforms before next year’s decennial redistricting.
Gerrymandering is voter suppression and we must end it. We can join the ranks of people in both red and blue states across the country who have made improvements to their redistricting process.
Learn more by visiting changeil.org/get-involved.
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Always zoom out on crowds
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WGN…
A group of protesters gathered downtown on Memorial Day to voice their concerns over the on-going Illinois stay-at-home orders.
Demonstrators gathered at Grant Park Monday because they think the shutdowns have gone on long enough and want the state to reopen.
The group gathered at the lakefront and came waving flags and carrying signs. They said their purpose was to honor the fallen on Memorial Day. But they were also protesting what they think is the unconstitutional lock down across America by certain politicians on a day that honors 1.4 million servicemen and women who died in defense of the country.
In a statement to WGN, Clay Clark with the group Thrive Time, said they were seeking to free fellow Americans from what it considers to be oppression.
* Sun-Times...
Some demonstrators hoisted signs that promoted conspiracy theories and many chose not to wear face coverings, flouting measures recommended by health experts to contain the deadly disease as they pressed closely together to hear the speakers yell into a megaphone.
The rally, which overshadowed a similar event outside the Thompson Center on Monday, was ultimately shut down by Chicago police officers enforcing Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order.
For hours, the crowd was whipped into a frenzy by a cast of Republican firebrands that included Darren Bailey, a state representative from downstate Xenia who’s locked in a court battle over Pritzker’s order; and Stephen Moore, a writer and television pundit who advised President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential bid.
Bailey, who was ejected from the Illinois House last week for refusing to wear a mask, has emerged as the Legislature’s loudest critic of Pritzker’s order.
* Tribune…
The crowd, which held signs saying “F-U-J-B” and “Fire Pritzker,” called on Bailey to run for governor. He told the audience it was “time to replace career RINOs,” a pejorative term for Republicans who aren’t considered conservative enough.
“If God opens a door, I’ll go through that door,” Bailey said as the crowd erupted in cheers. “But it’s going to take a lot of work.”
He’s far more concerned with making the GOP a smaller, more “pure” party than he is winning a governor’s race, which he cannot possibly do. Beware all purists.
* The group wasn’t exactly large, however…
* Historical factoid…
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Last winter, a buddy of mine asked me if I thought I could cover state legislative sessions from a remote, perhaps warmer, location.
I’ve been writing about Illinois politics and government for 30 years. Like many of my more experienced colleagues, I’ve developed an extensive list of sources and contacts that I can reach out to. I can also watch General Assembly floor debates and many committee hearings on the Internet.
So, after pondering the question for a bit, I said I might be able to do it for three years.
You may not believe this because House Speaker Michael Madigan has been in office since 1971, but there is a huge and regular turnover of legislators.
As of January, the median number of years served by House and Senate Republicans was four. The median was six years for House and Senate Democrats, according to data compiled by my pal John Amdor.
Because of that turnover, I’d eventually become too unfamiliar with the players and couldn’t effectively do my job.
And then came COVID-19. The spring legislative session was canceled for two months. I, like everyone who covers this stuff, became focused almost solely on the pandemic’s impact on Illinois and the state’s response and wound up working longer hours than during normal sessions, which usually keep me busy night and day.
The legislative leaders eventually decided to reconvene for a few days in late May and as I write this the General Assembly is on its third day in Springfield.
The leaders announced that reporters would be corralled into tiny spaces and, as a result, have no direct, ethical access to legislators and other Statehouse players beyond maybe catching up with them as they walk or drive to their Springfield isolation residences.
So, I figured this would be a good time to test my theory about remote reporting. I decided not to go to the Statehouse (where the Senate met) or to Springfield’s convention center (where the House met) and work from my Springfield home instead.
It’s been a weird experience.
After a while, you develop a sense of the Statehouse. You can, for instance, learn to spot a relevant group of people talking outside the legislative chambers or the governor’s office and then try to peel off one or more of them to find out what’s going on.
You can watch who is entering or leaving the governor’s office, or the House speaker’s office or some other important place and follow up.
You can stake people out who won’t return your calls or texts. You can hang outside of meeting rooms or in areas where interesting and knowledgeable people tend to gather (I call them “watering holes”).
You can roam the halls and wander into offices and hope you hear something useful. You can also get totally lucky by literally bumping into people as you walk around a corner or after popping into some random hearing.
After session ends for the day, you can buy drinks and dinner to maybe loosen lips or build working relationships, or pull other folks aside in restaurants and taverns.
You can make your own luck, but you have to be there.
None of that has been possible during this special session. If legislators are wandering around, reporters and lobbyists aren’t allowed into the area to chat with them. Members are also advised not to meet with anyone and the restaurants and taverns are all closed.
It hasn’t been easy, but I think I’ve done OK. I’ve been constantly worried that I’m missing something, but come to think of it, I’m always like that.
Still, I have not enjoyed the experience. I like my privacy, but I’m also a very social person. I need to be around people and the session has been driving me a little nuts. No more remote reporting during crunch time for me.
The session also has allowed me to think about the concept of remote legislating. When the pandemic began, I was for it. Why risk bringing in folks from literally every corner of the state to one centralized location? The Statehouse is a virus petri dish on a good day. But a deadly virus circulating through the state wasn’t worth the risk.
I’ve since had a change of heart.
I completely understand that we’re in an international crisis right now and I’ll give them this session without further complaint. But this cannot continue. My experience is showing me that a representative democracy is impossible to maintain without including the public. It should be used only in rare and limited circumstances.
*** UPDATE *** Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line has some of the debate on the remote legislating bill that failed to pass…
State Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield), who represents the capital city, defended the Illinois constitution’s contention that the General Assembly’s meetings be held in the “seat of state government” and doubted the efficacy of virtual meetings.
“I know for a fact that gaming bill that we passed earlier today would not have passed if we weren’t in this setting right now because all the conversations we had back and forth allowed that bill to happen,” Butler said.
Others backed him up, including State Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) who said virtual meetings were not nearly as effective and denied the public the right to be part of the process.
“This is the people’s house, it’s not the people’s Zoom,” Flowers said.
But State Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago) said remote voting was about protecting the health and safety of lawmakers, staff and the public.
“It seems like some of this body forget that we are in the midst of a global pandemic,” Williams said.
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Open thread
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Pearson and I both tried to relax yesterday after an insane week of work…
Many thanks to Chef Mike at Maldaner’s for the pickled wild ramps that he hunted himself and the honey from his rooftop hive. The man is a complete gem.
Also, just FYI, I’m seriously thinking about taking two or three days off next week.
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* Gov. JB Pritzker held a press conference today to announce “industry-specific guidelines” to reopen businesses in Phase 3, which he claimed would bring “approximately 700,000 Illinoisans back to the workplace.” We’ll see whether that pans out, but in the meantime, click here for the press release and click here for the guidance page. We’ll discuss it Tuesday.
* On to questions for the governor. This budget keeps funding flat for schools and universities. This was a big talking point last night. [But the budget] gives lawmakers a pay raise. And several people are concerned about that. How can you tell Illinoisans this was the right move?…
Well, as you know, actually the appropriations bill does not have those dollars in it. So even though the budget seems to have it in there, it was taken out I think maybe perhaps both in the BIMP and in the appropriations bill. So I do not think that legislators will in fact get a raise this year.
Certain lawmakers still think that’s there…
Some do, but I have to say I’ve spoken with several including Heather Steans, including Senator Manar and others who seem to feel that, no, they managed to get that out of it and took care of it either in the BIMP or the appropriations. I have to tell you that at least when I heard it at 11 o’clock last night, I don’t think I recall which one of those bills.
[A little aside here: The provision is not in the BIMP, but Senate President Harmon said last night ‘there’s not a dollar in our budget appropriated to pay any cost of living adjustments for legislators.”
That doesn’t matter, however. The COLAs are on auto-pilot. Click here for a good explainer about why and why the comptroller can’t legally stop them, as was claimed last night. They have to vote themselves to stop it from happening.]
…Adding… From a Senate Democrat: “We appropriated the COLA separately last year and passed it. This year we zeroed it out but left the COLA language in the bill with a ‘$0′ next to it. It would be different if the budget was silent and didn’t even reference COLA but that isn’t the case. It says “$0″ next to the COLA which is quite unprecedented.”
That might work, but I dunno what the courts will do here.
* The emergency proposal that would have given relief to renters and homeowners failed to get enough support from the General Assembly. Advocates are saying today thousands may end up homeless once this COVID-19 [eviction] moratorium is lifted because of lobbyists and the real estate industry. What will you do to make sure these families will be able to keep their homes? This is a big concern…
It is a big concern and as you know I’ve already done quite a lot to try to make sure people do stay in their homes, both by banning or putting a moratorium on evictions during this pandemic, as well as providing assistance through our homeless assistance funds in the Department of Human Services which goes to rent payments. And then this budget actually does put quite a lot of money forward to support people in their rent payments their mortgage payments who need it. It’s much more than was there in last year’s budget, for example, a multiple. And so I think that’s a good start. There’s no doubt, though that what we had to do and I think this was fair, there are a lot of people who are, they own a home, just their own home and they may be renting out a part of that home, perhaps a duplex. And so when you say well gee, we’re going to give a rent moratorium for the people who live in the duplex, that may be the only income that the person who owns that home has. They may be in the business of renting out a part of their own home. And so that’s just one example, but there are a lot of very small owners of property who are suffering too, along with the people who live in those residences. So I just want to be clear that what we’re trying to do is to find a middle ground here so that neither side is suffering the terrible effects of being evicted or not having any income at all. And that subsidization, and it’s hundreds of millions of dollars, will benefit quite a lot of people.
* I’m curious about why the state didn’t offer more relief to municipalities. I know the LGDF boost. But there’s only $125 million across 1700 municipalities, and there’s $250 million in CARES Act money for coronavirus reimbursement. But what is there to prevent layoffs of first responders and other cuts, due to the drop off of local tax revenues. After all, municipalities are a creature of state government…
Well, that’s one of the reasons why we need a new federal act for state and local governments. I know that [IML President] Brad Cole would agree with me that if we can get the federal government to move finally, and there are bills, there’s one that’s passed the House, there’s one that’s been introduced in the Senate, that will do that. That’s something I’ve talked a lot about, I made remarks about it here today about the state, but it’s also true for local governments. That package which is for state local governments is different than the COVID reimbursement package that passed before. This would give unrestricted dollars so that all of us, state governments and local governments, are able to keep the services up the people so badly need. You know the irony, the terrible irony is that during a pandemic, during an emergency, your revenues go down in a state, and the need goes up. … There’s really only in the in a global pandemic in a national emergency, there’s only one level of government that can help to fill that hole for local governments and for state governments and that’s the federal government.
* Last night Representative Tom Demmers said that this budget would only be balanced, it’s relying on a wing and a prayer because of the federal government. What would you say to that?…
Well I don’t know if he considers his colleagues, his Republican colleagues in the Senate, the wing and the prayer. But yeah, we’re relying upon them to do the right thing for Republican led states and Democratic led states. This isn’t something special for Illinois. It really is a problem that every state is experiencing. And so I hope that Republicans will step up here instead of simply complaining about the you know the need that the state has to do, what I’ve been doing and what so many others what Dick Durbin has been doing and others, to try to get dollars from the federal government to support our state, because they’re really the ones who need to come help all 50 states.
* So those that said that this is just kicking the can down the road the same old song and dance. What do you say to that?…
Well, they’re just I don’t know, they’re reusing a refrain from years gone by. That’s not the case at all. But kicking the can down the road, have you ever seen a pandemic hit Illinois or the nation, the way that this is? Have you ever seen a national emergency like this before? This is unprecedented and we’re all of us trying to manage through it. But here’s the thing we can’t do, we can’t overlook our working families or the people who are most in need, or most vulnerable and just say ‘Well let’s cut $5 billion. Hey, the coronavirus came along and tough luck to people who desperately need the state government and local governments to step up to the plate and help them out.’ Now’s the time when you need government to be there for you. So I hope that Republicans like Representative Demmer will reach out to their colleagues in the US Senate the Republicans in the US Senate to do the right thing.
* Governor, I have some questions on the budget, but I’m going to start with a process one. You mentioned you’re not sure what you heard at 11 o’clock last night, I think, in the Senate that day. I know all of us that were here can really feel that to our core, but there were a tremendous amount of wide-reaching COVID-19 measures. The budget, all of those were negotiated with working groups that didn’t have any public input. You said it yourself, you don’t know what you heard, we had to just as we went we had four of us reading all these bills. Is this an effective way to go through the legislative process?…
Well, again, this is a highly unusual moment in the world. You’ve never seen a legislative session like this. I’ve never. And I will say that although the public wasn’t able to come into hearings that the legislature had, that their representatives of both sides of the aisle were in fact in the working groups. It wasn’t a one sided set of working groups there were bipartisan groups working on these things. Sometimes they would ask for input and guidance from the executive branch and sometimes not. So, nobody thinks that this is our preferred way to operate to do everything in four days. Indeed, I was hoping that the legislature would have gotten together much earlier, it was their choice about when. I can completely understand. You saw how many people had pre existing conditions and either weren’t able to come, or people who are just deeply concerned about coming because they were concerned about getting coronavirus. So I have great sympathy for that. It’s a terrible circumstance that led to just having four days of session, but at least a budget went through and we were able to get a few important things done so that we can operate going forward.
* We all know this contains $5 billion in borrowing. You said you hope we don’t have to resort to that. But say the CARES act, a second CARES act doesn’t come through. Do we have a dedicated revenue stream or do we even have a plan to pay back that?…
Well there’s no doubt, we’re going to have to revisit the budget if the federal government doesn’t come through. I think all 50 states are going to have to be revisiting their budgets i the federal government doesn’t come through.
* Aree you pretty certain that on top of the federal assistance you will need to borrow the maximum $5 billion allowed from the municipal liquidity> Given the circumstances, would that count against Illinois in terms of what bond houses consider indebtedness? [Aside: That’s a good question. If borrowing from the Federal Reserve hurts out bond rating, we’re in junk territory.] What’s the 30 year rate on that, and doesn’t it just take us deeper?…
I believe the 30 year rate is something on the order, it’s certainly lower than the borrowing rate for the state of Illinois normally is. This is a Federal Reserve window. So it’s, I believe a little above 3%. I don’t know the exact percentage on the borrowing. But it was necessary and I’m glad that the MLF was available to every state. And I consider it short term borrowing because my hope again is that the federal government will help all of the states and municipalities, so we’ll be able to pay that back.
* Last year, Deputy Governor Dan Hynes asked agencies to prepare an actual actionable scenario to cut up to six and a half percent of their budgets. House Appropriations chairs and others have worked on scenarios where they could cut as well. We’ve seen an unprecedented drop in revenues. Yet, if you’re not going to implement any of those cuts now why even go through those practices?…
Well you’re assuming that none of that is included in the cuts that were in fact made in the budget. What I would tell you is that there was a strong look at what could be cut. Remember though, this is all in the frame of a vastly increased need by families, workers, individuals all across the state. And when we were looking for budget the budget challenge and trying to balance a budget before coronavirus all came along we were not thinking that we would have vastly increased need for rent and mortgage assistance, vastly increased need for supports for small businesses and all the other things that we needed to do in this budget package. So, it was a very good exercise and you saw that we did in fact implement hundreds of millions of dollars of cuts. Last year, we found ways to make some of the suggestions work. But in this pandemic, in this budget, as you know we need to take care of people.
* Are you going to extend your disaster proclamation when it [expires] and [replace it] with an altered stay at home order?…
We’re looking at how we would we want to make sure that we can implement the Restore Illinois plan. And that we’re taking care of the health and safety of the people of Illinois is paramount, so we’re looking at it.
* Republicans couldn’t force a vote to check your executive authority. But there is the commission which is I think 14 lawmakers, mostly Democrats that will report to lawmakers by July one. How is this not going to be as useless as countless other commissions that have been enacted, especially considering most of the state could be in phase four by the time this commission issues its first report?…
Well, the legislature has chosen not to be involved in many of the decisions that needed to be made by the executive branch. And I think, when you think about it, that’s why you have an executive branch. In an emergency, I can act quickly, the executive branch can act quickly. There’s no way that the legislature, you remember that week in March, when we had to successively issue orders, right, when we said that people couldn’t get together in large groups, when we had to close down schools when we had to close down restaurants and bars. Those were all decisions that were being made in very quick succession. There’s no way that the legislature could have been involved in that, decision-making in a quick fashion that’s why you have an Emergency Management Act. And it’s why you have an executive. And I would say that in the middle of an emergency in a pandemic it’s a good thing that we have emergency capability to get things done rather rather quickly. So, I’m in favor of working with the legislature I just did that over the last four days. Indeed, I would remind everybody that for the two and a half months or whatever up to this point, I have regularly spoken with not just the Republican and Democratic leaders but also Republican and Democratic members of the House and the Senate. Many of them didn’t mention that in their speeches on the House floor.
* So they did mention that this budget gives you even more authority to move money around. They say you never earned it. What kind of precedent do you think you’re setting with the executive power that you have right now? And would you be comfortable if Bruce Rauner was wielding that authority?…
Well no, that’s why I ran against him and beat him.
So, I, here’s the thing. This talk about earning the authority. Nobody knew a pandemic was coming along. There’s just no way that anybody had any clue that we would be in this situation that we’re in right now. And I would, I would do anything, give anything to not be in this situation, to not have this virus attacking people all across our nation. But here we are. So, I think that there’s a recognition anyway that we’re going to have an unusual year here. Things are not going to be going back to normal, as people know them, soon. We’re trying to get back to as much normal as we can. But as I’ve said, I mean you all came in here wearing face coverings, I presume not just because it’s required in the capital right now, but because it’s good for you for your own health. As you go out and venture out in the world I think we all understand that there are lots of things that all of us are doing that are quite unusual. And I think it’s going to stay that way for some time. So I’m going to try very hard to operate as I have, by the way, with transparency and letting everybody know what we’re doing, and also why we’re doing it. And the biggest thing is listening to the science and the data to make the decisions that we’re making.
* You said you’d be very disappointed if lawmakers don’t pass a bill allowing for small fines for disobeying your orders. They didn’t. Is there another emergency rule coming? And is there any point to such an extra rule if we’re going to be in phase three in five days?…
I am very disappointed. I think it was a complete abdication of responsibility on the part of the legislature.
Look, it was the director of the Illinois State Police, it was the Illinois State Police that asked for this enforcement authority. None of us want to exercise the ability to take away somebody’s license that’s been given to them by the state to do business. Nobody wants to shut down a business. What we were looking for is a way to issue a citation. Tthat really was what the director of the State Police asked for. And then we left it to the legislature to decide what that citation would be. And I was hopeful and expectant that they would deliver to me a bill that said that. But they were unwilling to vote on anything like that, or they didn’t get it done and so we’re going to have to look at other mechanisms. But the fact is that I think the legislature failed in this regard.
* Politico wants to know what you would like to see brought up during veto session…
Oh my gosh. I don’t think I’ve projected that far in advance.
* Comment on the Justice Department opposing Illinois’ state at home order?…
It’s been clear that the White House and the Attorney General have turned this into some sort of political attack against Democratic governors. But the fact is that my uppermost concern and consideration is the health and safety of the people of our state. And as you’ve seen I think I’ve operated with transparency and also with a desire to move things forward so people can get more back to normal. You know the idea that they would intervene iin a case in this state as opposed to some other state is I think for others to speculate why, but again I think there’s a lot of politics.
* After watching some highly partisan debates take place the last four days, do you think Springfield is as polarized as Washington?…
I do not. I know that there were many Republicans who stood up and they were on the attack, they’re, one or two from an area of the state the southeastern area of the state, that were particularly vitriolic, both outside the Capitol and inside the Capitol, or at least the session.
But I have to tell you, I talk to Republicans all the time, individually directly, and even some who stood up and you know and they were playing to the crowd at home by attacking and turning it into something partisan, honestly. When I talk to them individually, they just are concerned for the people in their districts, and they’re trying to express the, the anxiety that I think people are experiencing. We all are. You know this virus is still out there, we still haven’t figured it out. Nobody has, how to defeat it. The researchers are doing their best, but we are going to have to live with this for some time and it has different effects on different people across the state in terms of just their mindset. But I do not believe that Illinois is as divided a state as the rest of the nation is, and I have believed that from day one. I think all of you have seen I’ve worked across the aisle every day that I’ve been in office. Sometimes we disagree, sometimes I take a position and they’ve got the opposite position. That’s politics. But, the truth is we all have the best interests of the people of the state of Illinois. So I think we’re in a pretty good position to continue to work together going forward.
* Quick roundup…
* Notable bills passed on last day of abbreviated legislative session
* Pritzker unveils huge Phase 3 guideline list
* Pritzker ‘Disappointed’ that Lawmakers Failed to Pass New Rule to Punish Businesses Ignoring COVID-19 Order
* Pritzker Cites ‘Progress’ In Legislature’s Emergency Session - The governor got a budget, but he hit lawmakers for “abdication” in not giving him tools to enforce his emergency pandemic orders.
* Pritzker says lawmakers took ‘significant action’ to help state
* Pritzker: Changes To State Budget Accounts For COVID-19 Pandemic
* Chicago casino, budget get green light, in waning hours of special session
* Illinois lawmakers send Gov. J.B. Pritzker $40 billion maintenance budget that relies heavily on federal funding
* Lawmakers approve budget, adjourn session
* Lawmakers pass budget package to close out special session
* Illinois legislators pass bill sought by Mayor Lori Lightfoot that could bring Chicago casino closer to reality
* Big wins for Lightfoot and Pritzker in the just-wrapped Springfield session
* Editorial: After rocky start, legislative session like no other delivers casino win to boost Chicago and state - The grownups asserted themselves in the Illinois Legislature, settled things down and accomplished more than we might have predicted.
* Despite challenges in courts, Pritzker expects to issue more rules, possible extended orders
* Justice Department says Pritzker’s executive orders ‘appear to reach far beyond’ his emergency authority
* Press release: Business and Civic Leaders Applaud Governor J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly for Supporting Small Businesses and Immigrant Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the FY 2021 State Budget
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* How do you think the session went?…
I think it went remarkably well. We were very worried about the risks, but I was proud of how our members did observe social distancing. But most importantly how everyone wore face coverings, which allowed us to do our work together in the chamber. I think we we got through this all right and provef that we can in fact legislate in this time, however challenging it might be.
Um, not really.
* Could the General Assembly have met sooner than now and why didn’t you?…
It was a real challenge to put this plan together, and the risks were significant. And I don’t think it’s something we should repeat frequently, given the uncertainty. I’m glad we were able to compress it into four days and get all of our work done. And as we learn more about this virus we’ll be able to figure out a plan to protect ourselves, our staff and our families and still do our jobs.
Please remember to pardon all transcription errors.
* Was it responsible to put together a budget with so much borrowing? The Rauner administration, for example, had a $4 billion hole for the grand bargain…
There is so much we don’t know today that we hope to know in a few months. We don’t know the depths of the economic hit we’ve taken from this virus. We don’t know how much more we’re going to have to spend in order to respond to it. We don’t know whether the voters are going to approve a constitutional amendment in November. We don’t know how the federal government is going to respond, although I believe that they will. And we don’t know who is going to be in charge in Washington for the next four years. In the next several months, we’re going to know all of that, and that will give us much better information about how to put together a durable state budget
* The decision to meet by Zoom of the entire General Assembly failed in the House. Your thoughts on that?…
My pressing need was to make sure that when we met here, those members who had peculiar or particular issues that would prevent them from being here could still participate. The people they represent are entitled to be represented, and the Senate rules we adopted tonight will make that possible.
* The cannabis cleanup bill… what happened there?…
The Senate passed it twice. I don’t know what happened in the House. I’ve been focused on our work over here.
* How do you think your colleagues would characterize how you steered the chamber during this?…
You’ll have to ask them. My goal has been to make sure that our members had all the information that I had, so that they could understand and respond with me. I am incredibly grateful for the teamwork that our caucus showed. People came together after a contentious Senate President’s election. We all put those rough edges to the side and focused on representing the people that sent us here to Springfield, and I’m really proud. My Majority Leader Kimberly LIghtfortd really stepped up and helped us get through this. The whole leadership team and every member of the Senate Democratic and Republican found a way to contribute.
* On cooperation with the governor…
We’ve been doing a lot of phone calls of late, But he’s been a good partner, and I can’t imagine facing this pandemic without him or with any of any other governor.
* Why not take a vote on the governor’s Restore Illinois plan?…
Because it’s not a legislative measure. I’m not entirely sure what that question is, so I’m sorry.
* Why was no legislation passed to provide an alternative to the governor’s emergency IDPH rule?…
We could not agree on what the appropriate measure would be. It was a compressed schedule. This all came to light on the first day of our session. We remain committed to working with the governor to find a path. We just didn’t have the bandwidth to get that done.
* Did your chamber have the votes for the remote voting bill? Would you have rather seen the FOIA provisions taken out in favor of remote voting?…
I don’t know exactly what happened in the House with that bill and how the calculus was reached. If you saw on the Senate floor, we approved Senate rules unanimously that provided for a degree of virtual participation. I’m confident we would have been able to pass that in the Senate.
* Do you think anyone in your caucus should apologize to Sen. Martwick for forcing him to travel to Springfield only to have his vote end up not mattering?…
No, it really wasn’t anything foreseeable. These are very dynamic circumstances, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am and how grateful I’m sure Mayor Lightfoot is for Rob Martwick’s incredible sacrifice to jump in a car and come to the Capitol when he had legitimate reasons for not being here. These things happen quickly and I would say that at three points along the drive I could have told him to turn around and go back, but suddenly realized I probably would need him. So no predicting until the votes are on the board.
* How do you think the legislative cost of living pay raise will play with the general public when more than 1 million Illinoisans are out of work? How can you guarantee that lawmakers will not get the COLA when there’s nothing in the BIMP that’s specifically prohibiting it?…
I thought Sen. Manar was incredibly clear on the floor in debate that there’s not a dollar in our budget appropriated to pay any cost of living adjustments for legislators.
Follow up…
Senator Steans in the floor debate was similarly as clear. The comptroller who writes the paychecks has ensured us that she will not be paying any increase in the salary based on the appropriations in the past.
* Why didn’t the legislature take up an ethics reform bill? Why did a casino expansion bill and a toll bridge for Will County pass, but not ethics reform?…
As you know, the bipartisan, bicameral Ethics Commission is doing its work. Its report has been delayed. We’re eager to get that report and to act on it. But in this special three plus one day session, we did not think we could responsibly take that up. That deserves more careful and thoughtful legislative…
* Would you consider calling a special session for ethics reform?…
Well if we’d passed the virtual session, perhaps. But I don’t think anyone is eager for us to call everyone back here. I hope everyone goes home, does another test and that we find no one has tested positive as a result of being here in session. But until then, I’m not going to predict any return to Springfield.
* As the debate went on, I saw almost every Senator… on the floor, conversing in the back, and they were rather close to one another. It didn’t seem to be, at least at this vantage point, a lot of social distancing going on. What would you say about that, when Illinoisans across the state are having to conduct themselves that way because the Department of Public Health has told them to?…
Well, if I understand the directions from the Department of Public Health correctly, we were asked to socially distance or wear face coverings. And as you saw everyone on the floor was wearing their face coverings. And I think that that the first line of defense. There was more social distancing by a longshot than there would be on a normal session day. And I’m proud of our of our colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, for observing that.
Um, not really.
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Madigan’s closing statement
Sunday, May 24, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Speaker Madigan’s comments just before the House adjourned…
As we prepare to adjourn, I’d like to thank again the nurses and first responders who are facing risks to keep people safe and healthy. During this special session, we have stood up for all of those whose lives have been disrupted by this pandemic. Our state budget provides needed funds for testing, healthcare, parental assistance, unemployment benefits, resources for small business and job training. We worked together with business and labor groups to protect frontline workers who have been exposed to the virus. We have provided immediate relief for property taxpayers. We worked to help students and teachers succeed, whether the instruction occurs in the classroom or online. We’ve expanded access to healthcare and provided additional support for hospitals. We know that many more important decisions for our state are yet ahead. And we know our work on these issues must continue together. I want to thank Leader Durkin for his outstanding cooperation. I want to thank all members of the House and all staff of the House. I want to thank the convention center for hosting us. Making the arrangements for the use of this building and for all of the internal requirements was a huge task. And so I ask all of you to acknowledge, compliment and thank the person who made it all possible, my chief of staff Jessica Basham. [Applause] And with that, ladies and gentlemen, safe travel, try to enjoy your summer. Thank you very much.
…Adding… Press release…
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan released the following statement:
“The COVID crisis has changed our state in profound ways. It has claimed the lives of family members, veterans, our most vulnerable residents, and in particular it has brought tragedy in communities of color. The people of Illinois are grappling with significant challenges to their daily lives and historic levels of unemployment, especially those least able to afford it. Nurses, doctors, first responders, and frontline workers across Illinois continue to battle COVID-19 and face risks to keep us safe.
“This special session, House Democrats stood with all of them, passing legislation ensuring essential services continue uninterrupted, and providing resources for the many people whose lives have been affected by this pandemic.
“That begins with making difficult decisions to pass a state budget that provides much-needed funds for testing, access to health care, rental assistance, unemployment benefits for those facing layoffs and furloughs, resources to help small business owners rebuild their life’s work, and job training for people whose careers have been disrupted. This budget package provides needed flexibility to keep services running during the crisis, while also increasing legislative oversight of state spending to aid in a strong, fair recovery.
“Working across the aisle, we worked with business and labor groups to pass a package of protections for first responders, health care workers and other essential employees who have been exposed to the virus while on the job.
“We provided immediate relief for property taxpayers by suspending late payments and tax sales, and took steps to ensure seniors, veterans and people living with disabilities will be able to keep their tax exemptions without having to reapply.
“We worked to help students and teachers succeed – whether instruction occurs in the classroom or online. We also expanded Medicaid, increased access to tele-health and mental health resources, and secured additional support for hospitals battling the virus in rural and low-income communities.
“We recognize that many more important decisions for our state are yet ahead, and our work will continue to help the people of Illinois during these challenging times.”
…Adding… The veto session calendar is here.
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Sunday programming note
Saturday, May 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* If the House and Senate finish up work tonight, I won’t be blogging tomorrow, except about this…
Daily Public Schedule: Sunday, May 24, 2020
What: Gov. Pritzker to hold press availability.
Where: Illinois State Capitol, Governor’s Office, Springfield
When: 11:00 a.m.
Watch live: https://www.Illinois.gov/LiveVideo
Since this will not be a COVID-19 media briefing, I won’t be covering it live like I usually do. I will, however, post something about it.
And if one or both legislative chambers do convene tomorrow, I will be blogging as usual.
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* Sen. Rob Martwick (D-Chicago) decided not to come to Springfield because he has some health issues that put him at increased risk if he catches the COVID-19 virus. But the Senate just added Martwick to the roll call and he confirmed to me that he is in Springfield.
More in a bit.
…Adding… “I was told they needed one more vote,” Martwick told me. That one vote, he said, was for the gaming bill.
“They’re not making me go to the floor,” Martwick explained. There’s apparently a gentleman’s agreement not to verify the roll call so Martwick doesn’t have to actually push his button.
“We really need that casino,” Martwick said, in order to keep the city’s first responder pension funds from going completely broke.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Martwick tussled during last year’s mayoral campaign. She owes him a big one.
…Adding… The agreement not to verify a medically vulnerable Senator has precedent. Sen. Bill Haine was very ill in 2017 when he came back to Springfield to vote to override Gov. Rauner’s veto of the budget and income tax hike. He never left his office.
But this also means 8 Democratic Senators refused to take one for the team to spare Martwick from returning to the Statehouse (40 Senate Democrats minus the three who couldn’t return equals 37 and the rollcall was at 29).
*** UPDATE *** The Senate passed the gaming bill 42-14. That’s final passage. On to the governor’s desk. And they didn’t need Martwick.
…Adding… Roll call…
…Adding… Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker released the following statement after Senate Bill 516 passed the Illinois General Assembly:
“After decades of attempts to build a Chicago casino, I’m proud that by working together this administration and General Assembly has secured its future and paved a path forward for hundreds of millions of dollars annually to repair our schools, hospitals and higher education buildings across the entire state of Illinois. I look forward to signing this legislation that provides a reliable funding stream to our historic $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital program, and I thank the bipartisan members of the legislature as well as Mayor Lightfoot for bringing this bill across the finish line. Together, we are creating jobs and rebuilding our state.”
Press release…
STATEMENT FROM MAYOR LIGHTFOOT ON PASSAGE OF CHICAGO CASINO BILL
“With critical votes this evening, the Illinois state legislature has passed a bill that makes the possibility of a financially viable Chicago casino a reality. This moment is decades in the making, and represents a critical step toward shoring up our city’s pension obligations, as well as driving huge levels of infrastructure funding and fueling thousands of new jobs for all of Illinois. We are grateful to many lawmakers in both chambers, especially Illinois House Representatives Bob Rita, Jay Hoffman and Kelly Cassidy and State Senators Bill Cunningham and Kim Lightford, in addition to the leadership in both houses - Speaker Madigan, President Harmon, Leaders Durkin and Brady in particular - who were instrumental in the passage of this important legislation. Additional thanks are due to our partners in organized labor, particularly the Chicago Federation of Labor, and its President, Bob Reiter. Thank you to members of the Chicago City Council. And thank you to our fellow mayors, the restaurant and hospitality industries, and of course to the Governor for his dogged and public support of the bill, and we look forward to him signing this bill into law in the near future.”
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* House Amendment 5 to SB2135 added some new language today…
In times of pestilence or an emergency resulting from the effects of enemy attack or threatened enemy attack, members may participate remotely and cast votes in sessions, by joint proclamation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, and committees of either the House of Representatives or Senate may participate remotely pursuant to the rules of the chamber. The House of Representatives and the Senate shall adopt rules for remote participation.
The rules of the chamber may require that a quorum of the members is physically present at the location of the session or the committee meeting. As used in this Section, “participate remotely” means simultaneous, interactive participation in session or committee meeting by members not physically present, through means of communication technologies designed to accommodate and facilitate such simultaneous, interactive participation and where members of the public may view such meetings or sessions. This subsection (b) is inoperative on and after June 1, 2022.
Interesting that the rules “may” mandate a physical quorum.
[Hat tip: Amanda Vinicky]
*** UPDATE 1 *** After what seemed like days of debate, the full bill fell short and is now on Postponed Consideration…
More…
Five Black Caucus members (Ammons, Buckner, Flowers, Meyers-Martin, Tarver) three Downstaters (Ammons, Bristow, Yednock) and suburbanite Stava-Murray.
Rep. Lamont Robinson voted “Present.” Rep. Delia Ramirez did not vote. All other Democratic non-voters have excused absences.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The bill has been amended to remove just about everything except keeping some zoological parks open without charging the public.
*** UPDATE 3 *** I gotta slow down. The bill was amended, but everything is still in it and the zoo stuff has been changed.
*** UPDATE 4 *** Argh!!! The FOIA language has been removed. Remote voting and everything else is still in. I may have a small glass of red wine.
*** UPDATE 5 *** OK, I’m gonna walk away from my computer for five minutes. Remote voting is OUT. Oy.
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2,352 new cases, 75 additional deaths
Saturday, May 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* There will be no media briefing today…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,352 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 75 additional deaths.
- Cook County: 1 female 20s, 1 male 30s, 2 females 50s, 4 males 50s, 6 females 60s, 8 males 60s, 7 females 70s, 8 males 70s, 6 females 80s, 5 males 80s, 1 unknown 80s, 8 females 90s, 2 males 90s
- DuPage County: 1 female 90s, 1 female 100+
- Kane County: 1 male 30s, 1 male 70s
- Lake County: 1 male 60s
- Macon County: 1 male 90s
- Madison County: 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s
- Will County: 2 male 50s, 2 females 80s
- Winnebago County: 1 female 50s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 107,796 cases, including 4,790 deaths, in 100 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 25,114 specimens for a total of 722,247. The statewide 7-day rolling positivity rate, May14th – May 20th is 13%
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered.
…Adding… Hospitalization numbers from the governor’s office…
Total COVID patients in hospitals: 3753
Total COVID patients in ICU: 1027
Ventilators used by COVID patients: 607
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House approves gaming bill 77-32
Saturday, May 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is about as close to a miracle as you’re gonna get. Lots of people worked very hard to get this done. On to the Senate…
* A bit more info…
There were so many moving parts to this. The negotiators really did a remarkable job.
…Adding… From the pool report…
Rep. Rob Rita is the sponsor of this casino plan that passed out of the House Executive Committee last night. Floor amendments 5 and 6 were quickly adopted. Amendment six made technical changes to the Danville Casino and Chicago tax rates. Amendment #7 moved out of Rules committee quickly. This would move the application deadline for sports betting licenses back one year (2021). This amendment is also quickly adopted on the floor. Members than pause action for a break and several small groups gathered on the floor. (Rita joined several House Republicans) […]
Amendment #9 was adopted for the casino bill. This moves the deadline for fees from casinos and race tracks to July 2021, instead of this year. Rep. Tim Butler says he appreciates Rita’s hard work on the bill. Rep. Wheeler also thanks all of the staff who worked on the massive gaming bill. Rep. Hoffman recognize the amount of work the General Assembly has put toward gaming bills over the last year. “If you voted for the bill last May, you should be voting for this.” Rep. Moylan asked about revenue sharing in this bill. He says the city of Des Plaines needs some relief. He is mad that isn’t included in the bill. Several other lawmakers thanked Rita for his work with staff on the bill. The House passed SB 516 on a 77-32 vote. The measure now moves to the Senate for approval.
…Adding… A few deets from Ryan Keith…
Chicago Casino:
· Changes the initial 33.3 percent AGR tax to new structure
Reconciliation payment:
· Changes reconciliation payment schedule for casinos from 2 years with interest to 6 years without interest
Moves up new table game tax rate to July 1, 2020, from when the first new casino opens in the original bill
Danville:
· Allows IL Gaming Board to extend the casino application period for six months if a license isn’t granted. [Clarified further in a recent amendment.] Had originally been introduced as SB 3686 by Sen. Scott Bennett
State Fair
· Requires Department of Agriculture to purchase one or more terminal operators to place video gaming terminals at the Illinois and Du Quoin State Fairgrounds.
It also cleaned up/delayed some sports betting deadlines at the request of the Illinois Gaming Board.
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* From the Senate pool report today…
SB2052 — Sen. Castro
Concur with House on their amendments (TIF Districts)
Righter: Said the House, “in what I am sure was an unintentional oversight,” left out a community in his district [Charleston] from this bill. He said he and others have been working for a few days to address that issue. He added he was “compelled to support my colleagues” and vote on it despite his community not being included.
SB2683 — Sen. Righter
Adopt an amendment
Floor amendment adopted, moved to third reading
Righter: Carries language that would extend a TIF district in the city of Charleston. Fixes what he pointed out about SB2052.
Lightford: Rise in support. It’s “important that we leave no community out when it comes to TIF and financing to help our communities…glad we did have a vehicle … “
A standing ovation followed the successful vote
* OK, let’s back up a bit. The Charleston TIF would be in Rep. Chris Miller’s (R-Oakland) district. Last weekend…
Yeah. Probably not a good move.
* On Thursday, the House passed SB2052, which didn’t include Charleston’s TIF extension, 97-14. Miller voted against it.
Friday morning…
GOP REBELLION!
A group of House Republicans say they’re fed up with how the General Assembly is addressing the state’s financial woes, and they’ve formed a new caucus to do something about it.
Miller is a member of that new sub-caucus.
Also on Friday, Miller asked the House Executive Committee to advance his own TIF bill for Charleston. It was rejected 5-6, with GOP Rep. Grant Wehrle also voting against it.
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin then personally intervened and Exec unanimously approved sending the bill to the floor.
* Today, Sen. Dale Righter, who also represents Charleston, found a vehicle bill, worked his colleagues hard and passed the stand-alone through his chamber, ultimately receiving a standing ovation for his efforts.
I refer you back to what I wrote on Thursday…
And when Sen. Righter retires, who’s going to advocate for Eastern Illinois University? Who’s going to put in the hard work that Righter did to make sure that part of the world gets its fair share from the state?
Nobody, that’s who, unless Bailey or one of his regional colleagues finally start acting like adults.
And now we wait to see what Rep. Miller (no relation) and the House do about the two Charleston TIF bills awaiting action in the chamber.
*** UPDATE *** The House decided not to take up either bill. So Charleston still doesn’t have its TIF extension.
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* Jennifer Smith Richards and Robert McCoppin at the Tribune…
The state has stopped providing total numbers of novel coronavirus cases and deaths linked to long-term care facilities in Illinois, instead disclosing information only on homes with newer outbreaks.
The Illinois Department of Public Health changed its reporting criteria Friday to highlight nursing homes and other facilities that have had at least one new coronavirus case in the last 28 days. Information about homes that struggled with an outbreak earlier in the pandemic but haven’t had recent new cases no longer is being published.
For example, the Tribune reported May 15 that, for the first time, a nursing home outside the Chicago area had reported at least 20 deaths. That was Villa East in Sangamon County, which had 21 workers and residents die of the coronavirus.
But because Villa East had no new cases recently, it was excluded from this week’s reporting and those 21 deaths have disappeared from the public-facing data. The only downstate nursing home listed with 20 deaths now is Edwardsville Care Center in Madison County near St. Louis. It had one new COVID-19 case since the last public data release on May 15.
“Our priority is to focus on those facilities currently experiencing an outbreak, and also to provide to the public the current status of COVID-19 in Illinois,” department spokeswoman Melaney Arnold wrote in an email to reporters.
That explanation is ridiculous. There are plenty of historical data tables on the IDPH website.
*** UPDATE *** I’m told IDPH will restore the historical outbreak data, but will specify which homes have current outbreaks and which do not.
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End of session cheat sheet - 2020
Saturday, May 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A PR pal sent this to his clients at about 11:30 this morning. I updated it with some cannabis info…
Done
SB 2099 — $5 billion borrowing for budget. Passed both houses.
SB 2541 – Hospital assessment. Passed both houses.
HB 2455 – Labor-business agreement on worker’s comp/unemployment. Passed both houses.
SB 1863 – Election omnibus, including vote by mail. Passed both houses.
SB 1569 – Education omnibus. Passed both houses.
HB 2096 – Local government omnibus. Passed both chambers.
SB 471 – Various COVID response measures. Passed both chambers.
SB 1864 – Healthcare omnibus. Passed both chambers. [Amendment 6 filed in House - strips out most telehealth language.]
SB 516 – Gaming. Passed both chambers.
SB 2135 – Legislative oversight of Governor’s reopening plans. Passed both chambers. [Amendment passed to remove remote legislating, FOIA provisions, etc.]
HB 357 - BIMP. Passed both chambers.
HB 64 – Capital plan reappropriations bill.
SB 264 – Budget. Passed both chambers.
Not done
If you have any additions, subtractions, updates etc., let me know in comments or via text or email. Thanks!
…Adding… There’s been some harsh “lobbying” by a leftist group on behalf of Rep. Ramirez’s legislation…
The idea that $2,500 in campaign contributions will “buy” the vote of a pretty quality legislator is a bit much.
From Rep. Ramirez…
I’ve been working the last eight weeks to help Illinoisans not to get thrown out of their homes and making sure that tenants and landlords have relief during this crisis. I knew nothing about this flyer as I’ve been focused on working collaboratively with all my colleagues to pass the most substantive relief for all during this time.
…Adding… Pool report…
And for those of you waiting for SB3066 (the rent relief measure), it will not come up in the Senate today, I’m told. Stakeholders and lawmakers could not reach an agreement. Instead, check the budget for an increased allocation to IDHA, who will administer a program to offer related relief to renters and homeowners.
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Social media isn’t real life
Saturday, May 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Carnegie Mellon University…
Scrolling through your Twitter feed, it may not be obvious when you come upon a bot account — something that is more likely to occur in the era of COVID-19. Carnegie Mellon University researchers have discovered that much of the discussion around the pandemic and stay-at-home orders is being fueled by misinformation campaigns that use convincing bots.
To analyze bot activity around the pandemic, CMU researchers since January have collected more than 200 million tweets discussing coronavirus or COVID-19. Of the top 50 influential retweeters, 82% are bots, they found. Of the top 1,000 retweeters, 62% are bots. […]
“We’re seeing up to two times as much bot activity as we’d predicted based on previous natural disasters, crises and elections,” said Kathleen Carley, a professor in the School of Computer Science’s Institute for Software Research and director of the Center for Computational Analysis of Social and Organizational Systems (CASOS) and Center for Informed Democracy & Social - Cybersecurity (IDeaS.) […]
Carley’s research team uses multiple methods to determine who is or isn’t a bot. Artificial intelligence processes account information and looks at things such as the number of followers, frequency of tweeting and an account’s mentions network. […]
More than 100 types of inaccurate COVID-19 stories have been identified, such as those about potential cures. But bots are also dominating conversations about ending stay-at-home orders and “reopening America.”
Many factors of the online discussions about “reopening America” suggest that bot activity is orchestrated. One indicator is the large number of bots, many of which are accounts that were recently created. Accounts that are possibly humans with bot assistants generate 66% of the tweets. Accounts that are definitely bots generate 34% of the tweets.
“When we see a whole bunch of tweets at the same time or back to back, it’s like they’re timed,” Carley said. “We also look for use of the same exact hashtag, or messaging that appears to be copied and pasted from one bot to the next.” […]
A subset of tweets about “reopening America” reference conspiracy theories, such as hospitals being filled with mannequins or the coronavirus being linked to 5G towers.
“Conspiracy theories increase polarization in groups. It’s what many misinformation campaigns aim to do,” Carley said. “People have real concerns about health and the economy, and people are preying on that to create divides.”
Carley said that spreading conspiracy theories leads to more extreme opinions, which can in turn lead to more extreme behavior and less rational thinking.
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* Finke…
Although they did not finish their work, lawmakers did make progress on some issues. The Senate approved Senate Bill 1589 that contains a number of provisions to address education issues that have come up because of the coronavirus, including waiving some requirements for educator license applicants and waiving a requirement that teacher candidates must student teach in the spring of 2020.
Both chambers approved a hospital assessment program that will secure and extra $450 million in Medicaid reimbursements for the state without using any state dollars. The $3.9 billion will enable the state to pay higher fees to physicians who treat Medicaid patients, something they have pressed for for years.
Lawmakers also approved a bill allowing counties to delay imposing penalties for late property tax payments and also to postpone property tax sales. Sangamon County has already announced it will delay imposing penalties. Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, said the law is needed because state’s attorneys have given conflicting advice on whether the action can be taken without a state law.
Both chambers also approved a plan for the state to borrow up to $5 billion from the Federal Reserve to cover the costs of some state expenses that could be in jeopardy because of falling tax revenues because of the coronavirus.
Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said the state may not borrow the entire amount depending on how much aid comes from Washington to compensate for economic damage caused by the virus.
* Tribune…
Earlier Friday, a House committee voted to send a budget plan to the House floor that would keep spending essentially flat from the current budget year, and give Pritzker increased leeway to manage the budget as the state continues to grapple with the financial toll of the coronavirus pandemic.
That spending proposal was created with the knowledge that any future coronavirus-related aid from Washington “will come in long after we have left here,” House Democratic leader Greg Harris said during a House Executive Committee hearing on Friday. […]
Deputy GOP leader Tom Demmer of Dixon raised concern over “delegating very broad and emergency rule authority over hundreds of millions or billions of dollars.”
“I would encourage the body to really consider, is it appropriate to, with no other legislative guidance or intent or parameters, allow for emergency rule to control the appropriation of what will be a very, very significant sum of money in the upcoming year?” Demmer said.
They popped a new approp bill late last night addressing some of those concerns. Click here to read it. There’s also a revised BIMP. Click here for that.
* And it wouldn’t be a session without this…
And Democratic lawmakers are trying to revive a Chicago casino plan with a reworked tax structure. While amendments were still brewing, the House Executive Committee on Friday night approved the latest version. Chicago would still have the highest tax structure in the state.
* More…
But a committee on Friday evening got the effort started, and advanced a plan (Senate Bill 516) to the House floor where it may be heard on Saturday.
The bill would give operators of both the Chicago casino and all other casinos six years, rather than the two they have now, to pay an upfront fee (known as a reconciliation fee) that runs hundreds of millions of dollars.
Tax rates on gambling at the Chicago casino would also be reduced, though still at rates higher than other casinos.
The measure’s sponsor, state Rep. Bob Rita, indicated late Friday that more tweaks are expected.
* And there’s been a snag with new cannabis legislation. The bill approved by the Senate allowed for easier relocation by existing operators. The industry thought it had an agreement late last night, but this is from the governor’s office…
The Governor believes that social equity applicants deserve a chance to acquire their licenses, acquire their real estate, open, and be in operation before further advantage is provided to existing license holders. Any re-location by existing industry operators needs to take place at least one year after the awarding of the upcoming 75 dispensary licenses, the first to include social equity applicants. The Governor is supportive of the reasonable concerns of the Black Caucus and will be standing with them to ensure the most equitable cannabis law in the nation remains as such.
…Adding… The Senate just passed an amended version of the cannabis bill, but the legislation is still at odds with the governor.
* Related…
* Workers’ comp omnibus passes both houses
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Open thread
Saturday, May 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is now my phone’s notification sound…
Not sure what we’re going to get for comments today, but keep it Illinois-centric and be kind to each other. Thanks.
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* Press release…
Speaker Michael J. Madigan released the following statement Friday:
“In three days of special session, Democrats and Republicans have taken significant steps forward under extraordinary circumstances. Working together, we have passed bipartisan protections for first responders, nurses, and other essential workers – with the support of both business and labor. We have continued our work toward a state budget and voted to secure funding that will ensure vital services like health care, education, and resources for those facing layoffs and furloughs are met.
“When committing ourselves to this session, we acknowledged that the work before us would take at least three days. We must continue our work to provide relief and support to all Illinois communities and the people of Illinois affected by this unprecedented crisis. The House will convene tomorrow to continue our work.”
*** UPDATE *** The Senate will convene at 10 tomorrow morning.
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* AP…
Despite an economy decimated by shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Illinois House is poised to consider a $42.64 billion operating budget for next year, a 6.8% increase over current spending that is heavily reliant on federal assistance.
The governor’s stay-at-home order aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus left shops closed and more than 1 million Illinois residents out of work. But Democrats who control the General Assembly expect $36.96 billion in revenue for the fiscal year that begins July 1, Majority Leader Greg Harris said. That would leave a $5.8 billion hole lawmakers would look to Washington to fill.
Man, is that ever a dangerous proposition. The cuts the governor will have to make on his own if the feds don’t come through are going to be the ugliest we’ve ever seen, and the courts may order the state to spend anyway, like they did in the Rauner years. True ugliness is on the way if DC doesn’t come through.
Back to the AP…
The proposed $42.6 billion in spending outpaces the $39.9 billion outlay approved last spring for the current spending plan, before expected cushioning this week, according to budget documents. But it’s $852 million, or 2%, less than what Pritzker proposed in February, just weeks before COVID-19 prompted him to close nonessential businesses and issue a stay-at-home order. […]
The $7.2 billion in general state funds that would go to K-12 schools for the formula ensures the statewide minimum increase the law requires, but nothing more for individual districts.
* WBEZ…
Included in the budget is billions of dollars for coronavirus-related spending, from $600 million for contact tracing and testing, to more than $200 million for small business grants for those forced to close up shop.
Total CARES Act spending for this fiscal year is $2.8 billion and $3.8 billion in FY21.
* Center Square…
The budget includes $90 million in increased spending for the State Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency Fund created by a separate bill for the current fiscal year. For fiscal 2021, there is an undetermined appropriation in the Local Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency Fund from the CARES Act.
There’s also $210 million for the Illinois Housing Development Authority to provide COVID-19 relief, which includes emergency rental assistance. […]
For the state’s universities, there’s a total of nearly $1.2 billion, an increase of nearly $1.8 million from the year before. There’s increased spending of $1.4 million for Chicago State University, $120,000 less for Illinois State University, $2,000 less for Southern Illinois University, and half a million more for the University of Illinois. All other universities will have flat funding levels from fiscal 2020. […]
There’s $100 million less for the State Employees’ Group Health Insurance plan than what was in the governor’s proposed budget.
There’s an increase of $16.6 million to the Department of Children and Family Services for expansion of Family Preservation Programs.
Illinois’ veterans homes will get $13.1 million more to cover costs associated with pandemic preparedness.
The Department of Corrections gets $40.1 million more than last year, an increase of 2.7 percent.
The proposed budget also reduces Motor Fuel Tax money to local governments by $31 million.
* Meanwhile…
Senate Bill 2099 as amended by the House creates the Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency, or CURE Borrowing Act and authorizes the state to borrow up to $5 billion from the Federal Reserve. The money would be used to cover projected revenue losses for fiscal year 2020, which ends June 30, and fiscal year 2021, which begins July 1.
The measure now heads to the Illinois Senate for concurrence.
$5 billion isn’t $5.8 billion.
As I write this (6:40 pm), the bill is awaiting Senate action.
…Adding… The Senate passed the borrowing bill. From the pool report…
The Senate reconvened at about 6:45 p.m. and Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) presented and passed SB 2099. The bill creates the Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency Borrowing Act and allows the governor to borrow up to $5 billion through the Municipality Liquidity Facility program through the federal CARES Act to help stabilize the FY21 budget.
“We are not proposing to borrow $5 billion on day one. It is a credit facility, essentially a bridge loan. We will borrow as needed to meet current obligations,” Harmon said.
Senate Republicans were opposed to the measure. Sen. John Curran (R-Downers Grove) and Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) argued that Democrats are rushing the bill and that lawmakers should wait until they actually know how much money they’ll receive from the federal government through the next coronavirus stimulus package. Rezin said “We (Republicans) haven’t even seen the budget yet.”
“I would say this,” Harmon said. “Borrowing is far from optimal but it’s certainly the best option among the bad options we have. This is the time the government should be spending — when others can’t.”
SB 2099 passed 37-19.
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* Todd Feurer at CBS Chicago…
A Clay County judge who has repeatedly criticized Gov. JB Pritzker’s stay-at-home order again ruled against the governor on Friday, but stopped short of issuing a statewide temporary restraining order that had been sought by a downstate business owner.
James Mainer and HCL Deluxe Tan had filed a new lawsuit on Thursday, seeking to have the governor’s executive order declared null and void. At a hearing on Friday, Mainer’s attorney, Thomas DeVore, sought a temporary restraining order barring the governor from enforcing the order statewide, but instead Clay County Judge Michael McHaney granted an order only for Mainer and his business.
The temporary restraining order exempts Mainer and HCL Deluxe Tan from the stay-at-home order until June 5, when McHaney will hold another hearing on the plaintiffs’ bid for a permanent injunction.
“Waiting until such time as a hearing might be had on the determination on the merits of the injunction is too great a risk for James and HCL, given their freedom and livelihoods are being stripped away in violation of Illinois law every hour that passes,” McHaney’s ruling states.
The TRO is here.
* Jon Seidel…
The judge mocked the order, echoing popular complaints, and said, “if I go to Wal-Mart, I won’t get COVID. But if I go to church, I will.”
At his daily news briefing, Pritzker said, “it’s clear that the judge in Clay County has his own political agenda.”
* Meanwhile…
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* Press release…
The Illinois Senate approved an expanded vote-by-mail program that has garnered increased popularity across the state and country amid public health concerns over voting and elections during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Senate President Don Harmon voted for the expanded vote-by-mail program and issued the following statement:
“This is an overdue step toward modern convenience and safety in our elections,” said Harmon. “It’s unfortunate it took a global pandemic to convince people of its value, but expanding vote by mail is a needed election reform that I hope voters will utilize.”
Under the proposal:
· Any person who has voted in the past two years (2018 General Election, 2019 Consolidated Election or 2020 Primary Election) would receive an application for a ballot in their mailbox.
· Any person who registered to vote after the 2020 Primary Election would also receive an application.
· General Election Day, November 3, 2020, would be a state holiday.
This does not preclude in-person voting opportunities on and/or before Election Day.
The legislation is SB1863.
After the Senate’s 37-19 vote, the legislation’s next destination is the governor’s desk.
* Citizen Action/Illinois…
“This bill is an important step to protect people’s right to vote,” said Julie Sampson, co-director of Citizen Action/Illinois. “The coronavirus outbreak upended elections elsewhere and caused confusion for voters when polling places closed. With these reforms, Illinoisans can vote by mail, in the language of their choice, without risking potential exposure to COVID-19. Sending the registered voters an application to vote by mail is the least we can do.”
* Press release…
“The reforms in this law are an important first step toward ensuring that no voter has to risk their health in order to exercise their right to vote in November,” said Just Democracy Chair and Common Cause Illinois Executive Director Jay Young. “We are particularly pleased that, as our coalition has called for, the law keeps these emergency changes temporary to avoid any permanent obstacles to voting. However, advocates and election officials will need to act decisively to address some important gaps left out of this law.”
Coalition members raised several remaining challenges, including:
• The law falls short of protecting access to limited English proficient voters. Ballot applications and educational materials must be accessible to all citizens.
• The law does not direct officials to consider community input when closing or consolidating polling places, decisions that land with greater impact on communities of color.
• The law doesn’t protect the rights of voters facing the gravest health threats - including those in nursing homes, jails, and hospitals - or even require local election authorities to give public notice of procedures for these communities.
Nothing from opponents in my email.
…Adding… AARP IL…
“Older Illinoisans should not have to risk their lives or their health to exercise their right to vote,” said Bob Gallo, State Director of AARP Illinois. “With voters set to go to the polls on November 3, we believe that Illinois should take action now to ensure that all registered voters can cast their ballots safely. […]
“These are challenging times for all Illinois residents,” Gallo said. “ Older adults in this state must be able to rely on their elected officials for leadership to ensure that the largest voting bloc in our population, the 50+ voter, can continue to have a safe and secure way to exercise their right to vote during this unprecedented time.”
* Governor…
“The right to vote is the foundational pillar of our democracy — and, now, as our elected leaders are making some of the most consequential decisions of our lifetimes, it’s more important than ever that people have every ability to make their voices heard,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I applaud Leader Kelly Burke, Senator Julie Morrison, the Women’s Caucus and leaders in the General Assembly for working to ensure Illinoisans can continue to exercise their right to vote during these unprecedented times. Sending vote-by-mail applications to residents who have participated in recent elections will allow more people to vote from the safety of their own homes and help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. I look forward to signing this legislation when it reaches my desk and I encourage all eligible voters to exercise their right to vote at every available opportunity.”
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* Gov. Pritzker began his briefing today by saying all regions under his Restore Illinois plan are on track to move into Phase 3 on May 29…
But we can’t have a conversation about going back to work without talking about childcare. If we don’t have childcare, a large portion of the workforce, especially women who too often bear a disproportionate burden, will be without any way to move forward without caring for their child themselves. From the start of this public health emergency, Illinois has recognized the importance of childcare for working families. We focused especially on essential workers, continuing to work outside of the home. And for that reason we included childcare in the list of essential businesses, starting with our first stay at home order.
And over 2500 childcare homes and 700 centers have been providing care over the past few months. That’s about 15% of the previous operating capacity of our childcare system.
When I issued the stay at home order, we implemented an emergency childcare system that provided access to childcare in small group settings for essential workers, people who ensure our public safety and help others families to get food, gas, pharmacy goods that they need. And I’m particularly proud that Illinois made sure that all essential workers, from nurses and doctors to grocery store clerks and food producers were eligible for the state’s Childcare Assistance Program. Meaning the state covered most, if not all, of the cost of childcare for our emergency childcare providers and for the essential workers who use them. And to help keep emergency childcare centers up and running, the state offered a one time stipend, and paid enhanced reimbursement rates for emergency childcare for 30% above what we usually pay to reflect the additional costs of providing care in smaller settings.
In sum, we’ve been focused on supporting essential workers and protecting the health of children and childcare staff. And I’m pleased to say that this approach has proven successful. To date, Illinois has not seen significant transmission of COVID-19 in child care settings, which is encouraging evidence that child care can be provided safely. Public health experts emphasize, however, that there is much that we still don’t know about this new virus. How it spreads and especially what effect it has on children. Therefore moving forward Illinois must take a cautious approach that appropriately balances the need to greatly expand childcare, with the need to lessen the risk of spreading coronavirus.
We gathered input from over 80 stakeholders from all around the state, including childcare providers, childcare Resource and Referral agency staff, legislators, advocates, state agency officials and of course, public health experts on everything from new health and sanitation protocols to staff training needs to what supports families will need as they return to childcare. Their insights are reflected in the plan that my administration is issuing today, shaping our roadmap for safely increasing access to childcare as parents return to work.
Following the guidance, all of the 5500 childcare providers who are not currently operating are being asked to reopen when their community moves into phase three of the Restore Illinois plan. For the first four weeks that they’re open, providers will be able to serve no more than 10 children per classroom. Once they have provided care safely for four weeks, and have gotten accustomed to the new health, social distancing and sanitation routines, they will be able to expand to larger group sizes, though not yet their fully licensed capacity on the strong advice of public health experts.
These new group size limits will be roughly 30% lower than the levels they were at before the pandemic. For our licensed homes which tend to be smaller, most will be able to operate at standard capacity.
With all centers and homes online, this would bring us to more than three quarters of our previous childcare landscape in Illinois. Providers that have been successfully operating as emergency childcare providers can move immediately to these new maximum capacities when their region enters phase three. Most licensed childcare homes will also be able to reopen to their licensed capacity, recognizing childrens’ need for quality early learning experiences. All providers will be expected to resume compliance with all licensing standards related to curriculum, learning environment and staff qualifications.
Please remember to pardon all transcription errors.
* He also addressed church guidance…
My team and I have received a lot of excellent proposals and ideas from different religious groups on how to safely expand their services. Let me address that specifically from a broad standpoint I can say that outdoor faith services, including, but not limited to drive-in church services, will be welcomed in phase three. And we continue to collaborate with faith leaders to ensure that they can hold services and safe and creative ways that allow for worship, while protecting their congregants. I know worship is as essential as food and water for most of us, and it’s my priority to provide guidance to ensure that it can proceed safely.
* On to questions for the governor. The budget in the House is $5 billion or more unbalanced. How much federal funding are you counting on to fill the gap?…
Well, we don’t know what the federal government’s going to provide, but we believe that at least the two proposals that have been made in the Senate and in the House. Each provide for enough, so that we will be able to fill the hole that’s been created by the tax revenues lost during COVID-19. … the hole that’s being filled is also MLF dollars. And those dollars would simply be repaid with the dollars that come in from the federal government.
* What do you know about the progress of legislation to codify modification of your repealed IDPH emergency rule?…
Well, my understanding is that the legislation, though there’s still a possibility that it may go through, is something that the legislature does not appear to want to raise and hold a vote on. I haven’t heard the latest.
I’ll be very disappointed, I mean the legislature has been asking for months and months, they’ve wanted to come together because they consider themselves, and they are, a co-equal branch of government, along with the judiciary branch and the executive branch. And it is their obligation, frankly, to do their duty. They don’t seem to want to help in any way, dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, by offering us the ability to use a small enforcement mechanism that we’ve asked for.
* The budget package that is out there, it appears you would have pretty broad discretionary authority over a lot of spending decisions. You give details about how you would intend to use the authority, what your priorities are and how Illinois would pay back the short term borrowing 5 billion note?…
Well I talked about the short term borrowing just moments ago, so I’ll just address the rest. Look, I put a budget forward, back in February. I think everybody understands what my priorities are for the state and I’m going to follow those priorities going forward.
* Earlier today Leader Bill Brady of the Senate said that everybody ought to stay in town. He does not want to go home. The legislature and the governor should continue to talk about the Restore Illinois so there is enough legislative input. What do you think of that as well as his statement that yeah I talked to the governor he listens then he does what he wants anyway?…
Well that’s, Bill knows better. The truth is that I’ve talked to many many Republican legislators. You’ve seen changes that I’ve made along the way. Many of them have been recommended by Republican legislators. And staying in town, look again they are a co-equal branch, the legislature has the ability to do that. They’re doing quick work. I also think they want to make sure that everybody is safe. You saw that there were some legislators who could not even come because they have comorbid conditions. And so we want to make sure that everybody gets out of Springfield when they do in a safe fashion, but look it’s up to them and I’ll be here.
* President Trump has declared houses of worship essential. What are your plans for churches, synagogues mosques and other institutions. What are your thoughts about President Trump’s threat?…
Well, we’re going to continue to operate on the basis of science and data and I’m as anxious as anybody to make sure that our churches or mosques or synagogues open back to where they were before COVID-19 came along. We’re gradually moving in that direction, but there’s no doubt the most important thing is we do not want parishioners to get ill because their faith leaders, bring them together, we hope that faith leaders will continue to do as the vast majority of them have done which is to worship, sometimes online, sometimes in other capacities as we’ve talked about outdoor and driving.
* Mayor Lightfoot essentially wants to be able to offer Chicago restaurants the option of indoor giant dining in June, cities for weather and desire to give owners the ability to generate enough revenue to help keep them afloat [sorry for the weird transcription]. Is this something you’re willing to reconsider. Or will the mayor, and Chicago restaurants have to wait till phase four?…
Well, I too would like everything to reopen in the fashion that it was at before. Again, what I’m being advised by the epidemiologist says that indoor dining at least during this next phase, we need to be extraordinarily careful, watch the numbers with outdoor dining with the service. The servers who will be wearing masks, but the people sitting at tables may not be and of course the food has the potential to carry the virus so we just want to be very very careful and watch what happens with the opening up that we’ve already allowed in phase three.
* IDES has sent out a release about the data breach investigation. Representative Terri Bryant says no one’s answered her questions about what happened. She doesn’t believe only one person saw the information. How can you or the department be certain that only one person saw that personal information?…
Well, they can look at the log data, but here the IDES has been extraordinarily careful and taking extra precautions here by making sure that that the contractor has provided for more than 35,000 people the ability to track their own credit reports to make sure that nothing goes wrong for them.
* It’s been more than a month since two lawyers married to one another, Leslie, and Jones and Thomas Johnson were murdered in their Oak Park, home, more than a month since state police joined the investigation. We’ve heard almost nothing What can you tell us about that case?…
I don’t have details about the case but I’m happy to refer you to the State Police for that.
* It’s known that you communicate with Cardinal Cupich. Have you had direct communication with any other Illinois bishops specifically, the one here Bishop Thomas Praprocki?…
I have not heard from Bishop Praprocki. I have spoken with a number of Bishops and pastors, just this morning I spent about a half an hour on the phone with a pastor, and that’s a regular occurrence for me frankly, including of all faiths.
* We’ve been talking about it for weeks the impact the virus is having on African Americans, Latinos there’s a new poll out this morning showing blacks are nearly three times as likely to personally know someone who died from the virus than white Americans. Why is it the legislature doing a bill to help address the COVID-19 racial divide?…
I can’t speak to why the legislature, what the legislature would have done with a bill but I can say this, that statistic that you cited doesn’t surprise me. The African American community honestly has had the greatest toll brought up against them in terms of deaths. The comorbid conditions that often exists in the African American community because of historical racism because of the failure to provide the right kinds of health care in the community, are some of the reasons why that exists. Now of course we’re working very hard to protect people in communities of color, African American community and the Latino community by providing testing by doing contact tracing by making sure that we’re educating people about how important it is that they follow the rules that they stay at home, that they use face coverings and so on.
* It’s going to be a warm memorial day weekend in Chicago under the stay at home orders. What’s the state police’s plan to help Chicago and other cities keep residents safe? Separately a concerned viewer wanted to know if authorities have noticed drag racing on the Edens and Kennedy Expressways late at night near Chicago…
Unfortunately, as you know that’s been going on for some time the state police have been trying to track down those people who are committing those crimes.
In terms of the broader instruction or guidance for law enforcement, I think they’re well aware that this is going to be a difficult weekend that there are people who maybe not purposely you know but just by virtue of it’s Memorial Day weekend people have an extra day off, not they’re used to getting together with their friends and so on. I really want to provide a caution to all the people who are listening to please remind your friends and your family that I know that this is an unusual time, I asked you to take unusual precautions, wear your face coverings. That may be the most important thing I can say to you, wash your hands, make sure you’re not gathering in large groups with one another. It is time for us to do something unusual. Keeping each other safe is the most important thing that we can do and so following those edicts or, you know, those suggestions anyway will keep your friends and family safe.
* Are you prepared to support a Chicago casino bill. And do you expect one to be approved today?…
Yeah, I was very clear I think yesterday about my support for the Chicago casino bill. I think it’s very important not only for the city of Chicago, but for the state. And so I’m hoping that the legislature will do as I think it is. It is desired to do by them and so you know I’m looking forward to signing that bill.
* Have you been part of the negotiations? How quickly will construction start and when with the money start flowing in troubled pension funds?…
I can’t answer all those questions but I can say that as you know I’ve advocated for this because since the very beginning, I want to make it work for the city of Chicago. We set the basic parameters for this bill and so there may be aspects of it that are still being worked on even this afternoon, and our team is certainly tracking that, but the basics here are still intact and those are the things are most important.
* Do you think there is a Republican strategy at play here with the coronavirus hoping to seize on the growing frustration of the stay at home orders, as you play for as a play for GOP votes in November, using, trying to counter it by linking Republican lawmakers to fringe anti semitic protesters accusing them of trying to suppress voting by opposing vote by mail and favorite budget cuts regardless of the total?…
I didn’t link Republican elected officials to Nazi demonstrators, they linked themselves. There were elected officials that are in the bank of Springfield building right now who were out there speaking in front of the crowds that were holding pictures of Hitler swastikas, and they knew they were there. They were holding up signs that said death to tyrants. And then they had other signs that depicted me and Hitler. So I would say that the Republicans have tagged themselves, and for as long as they do not call out the elected officials of their own party they are a part of the very problem that way that the existence in this country of allowing hatred and bigotry to perpetuate.
* A Clay County Circuit Judge can [garbled] your coronavirus restrictions unconstitutional is hearing your lawsuit today, it could overturn your executive order statewide. Considering this is Memorial Day weekend, what options do you have in the event the judge does strikes down your order? And do you worry a defeated court case could signal to everyone that it’s a free for all?…
No, it’s clear that the judge in Clay County has his own political agenda.
I can also say that the decision in that court, if it goes against us, really only applies to Clay County because it’s been decided already in Cook County Court it’s been decided already in Sangamon County Court upholding my ability to issue disaster proclamations and executive orders associated with a disaster in the state of Illinois.
* The legislature is not going to do anything to [change the laws] that are denying people employment benefits. That tells us there’s information the governor can take on penalty weeks without legislative action. You’ve previously said that that’s not true, it requires a legislative change. The bottom line are people need help. What are you going to do?…
Well, again, we’ve been working with the legislature I hope they get this right this afternoon but this is on them right now.
* How late do you expect the legislature to go and are you planning to stay here until they’re done?…
That’s my current plan. I don’t know how late that they’re going to go and if they end up with all the major pieces of legislation done. And it’s really down to some minor issues. Maybe I’ll leave earlier, but I doubt it. I’ve been here, as you know, last year I was here for every last minute of the legislature and I intend right now to do that.
* Do you agree with the approach Mayor Lightfoot is taking on not reopening Chicago’s economy with the rest of the state?…
Again I’ve, we’ve left this up to local officials to make decisions that are best for the people who live in their communities. We’ve tried to set a standard of safety and health for the entire state and we’ve done it. As you know, we have a regional plan. So as far as I’m concerned, the decisions that get made at the local level are in fact up to those local elected officials, as long as they’re maintaining the proper health and safety standards that we’re setting.
* Some law enforcement agencies have received letters from FEMA warning them that relief funds could be denied for not enforcing the executive order. Were these letters sent before the amendment making violations a crime was removed?…
There was not a timing set for a letter like that, um, I know, I’m aware of the letter. It’s a letter really about making sure that people understand that they won’t get FEMA reimbursement if they don’t follow the rules that the federal government sent out.
* Governor Pritzker, what is your response to State Senator Chapin Rose after he collected feedback from local leader leaders across 10 counties, as they shared their fears for their communities and the timeline concerns between each phase. Have you gotten a chance to read those letters and what’s your response?…
I’m not sure if that’s something I’ve received recently. I’ve received a lot of plans and I can’t specifically identify the one that came from Senator Chapin Rose, I’m as you know I’m trying very hard to read and listen to all of the ideas that come from across the state, indeed, we’ve incorporated many of those ideas into the executive orders as we move forward. If I haven’t seen that one and I’ll go back and make sure that I do. If I haven’t seen that one I will make sure and do it and again one more thing, the opinions of local officials about how it can operate, how this can operate better in their local areas does have an effect on the way that I think about how we should [garbled] these orders going forward.
* Will children need to wear masks at childcare centers?…
The requirement here is that any child that’s two and under is not required to wear one. We have actually a smaller group requirements for those very young children than we do for slightly older children. Yes older children are going to be masked. Obviously if they aren’t medically able to wear a mask then they don’t have to. But again, the more people that are wearing a face covering in a group setting, the better.
* Will Arlington Park and other tracks be able to open with spectators this summer?…
The bigger challenge in that question is the spectator question. We’re still working on what the guidance might be for them to be able to run races. We want people to be able to enjoy watching races that can be done remotely. You’ve seen that the major league sports are doing that or at least they’re attempting to do that. So we’d like other sports to be able to, again, we just want to make sure that folks are working the backstretch and everybody that’s involved in it is kept safe.
* What evidence do you have that coronavirus can spread through food, CDC does not seem to indicate evidence for that…
I guess I can’t speak to all of the reasons that it may be that it’s more around the plates and the other items that are being served. So, perhaps, Dr Ezike can address this.
Dr. Ezike: The CDC actually did just update their guidance regarding the transmission, the spread of the virus. The emphasis is that spread is happening, particularly between people. So, yes, we know that there is some measure of contacts of surfaces, resulting in infection, but the majority is between person to person spread. And so we know in indoor settings where space is limited, where there are a lot of people within a certain density that causes a certain density that makes it more likely that there’ll be transmission, or spread amongst individuals we know that in the kitchen, you have a lot of people together, working together, between the servers and the people preparing the food. So again it’s the density that occurs from in this restaurant type setting that is most likely the biggest part of spread as we know that it’s more person to person.
* Any insight on one visitor restrictions can be lifted at nursing homes?…
Dr. Ezike: So again I think everyone is well acquainted with how a population that, in which the residents do not leave the location, I think it should be clear, where then the infection comes from the virus does not come up de novo from nowhere. It actually is brought into the facility. So it is clear that the more people that are coming in, the higher chance for the virus to be brought in. There actually has been clear guidance from the federal from CMS stating that absolutely visitation should not be something that we loosen up, even as we move into new phases, that should be one of the last things that we should consider doing. And so I think locally we had come to a similar conclusion.The federal government has offered similar guidance that visitation and bringing more people and the risk of more infection into the place with the most vulnerable population is not the way to go. So, no we’re not looking at relaxing visitation right now, but you still urge that despite being physically distance and not being able to physically connect that we really promote people having ways to virtually connect or electronically connect through so many of the ways that we’re all using now whether it’s zoom or WhatsApp or iPads or WebEx we want to use as many opportunities as we can to have people still connect that physical that actual connection, whether it’s, although it can’t be physical is so key, and is helpful and is needed by our by our loved ones that are in these long term care facilities
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2,758 new cases, 110 additional deaths
Friday, May 22, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,758 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 110 additional deaths.
Boone County: 1 male 40s
Cook County: 5 males 40s, 2 females 50s, 3 males 50s, 8 females 60s, 13 males 60s, 3 females 70s, 9 males 70s, 10 females 80s, 12 males 80s, 6 females 90s, 4 males 90s
DuPage County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
Kane County: 1 male 50s, 2 males 70s, 1 unknown 70s, 1 male 90s
Kankakee County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
Lake County: 1 female 50s, 2 males 50s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 2 female 90s, 1 male 90s, 1 female 100+
LaSalle County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
Madison County: 1 female 90s
McHenry County: 1 male 80s
Peoria County: 1 male 50s
St. Clair County: 1 unknown 90s
Will County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
Winnebago County: 1 female 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 105,444 cases, including 4,715 deaths, in 100 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 25,113 specimens for a total of 697,133. The statewide 7-day rolling positivity rate, May 13-19, 2020 is 13%.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. Information for deaths previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted.
* Dr. Ezike…
As of last night, we had reported to us that 3928 individuals were in the hospital with COVID-19, and of those, 1060 patients were in the ICU and 589 patients on ventilators.
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* WTVO…
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is threatening to withhold federal funds from local law enforcement if they refuse to enforce his executive order.
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) sent a letter to local police officials on May 20th, warning them that federal funding could be withheld from their department. The letter said, “Failure to execute or enforce the [executive order] could be considered noncompliance with the [Public Assistance Program Grant] Agreement condition to comply with all applicable state laws, regulations and policies thus placing the applicant’s funding in jeopardy.” […]
“To threaten any law enforcement agency that they’re not going to give us funding, that’s bully tactics. And I’m not going to be bullied,” said Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana.
Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle added, “It is outrageous that the Governor is threatening retaliation against these leaders and the men and women of their offices. He is insulting heroic police officers, corrections officers and local voters.”
OK, now read the state’s letter. You’ll notice that in order to receive federal disaster funding from the state (which is the grant recipient), local law enforcement agencies must certify they are complying with “all applicable federal and state laws, regulations and policies.” If those agencies claim to be following those laws, regulations and policies and are not, they can lose their funding. And if they’re not obeying Pritzker’s EO, the state contends they could be ruled out of compliance for the grant money.
That’s pretty standard stuff for almost every sort of federal and state grant. Nobody, but nobody is entitled to grant money if they’re not following the rules. Kinda weird that some sheriffs are claiming to be above the sort of law that everyone else has to follow if they want government money.
Also, federal regulations prohibit disaster relief to an applicant for “damage caused by its own negligence.” Reopening in advance could trigger that regulation, the letter states, “if the act of reopening resulted in increased costs for emergency protective measures.”
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Today’s quotable
Friday, May 22, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit the other day on a motion for an emergency injunction filed by Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church…
IT IS ORDERED that plaintiffs-appellants’ emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal, filed on May 15, 2020, is DENIED. Based on this court’s preliminary review of this appeal for purposes of this motion, we find that plaintiffs have not shown a sufficient likelihood of success on the merits to warrant the extraordinary relief of an injunction pending appeal.
The Governor’s Executive Order 2020-32 responds to an extraordinary public health emergency. See generally Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905). The Executive Order does not discriminate against religious activities, nor does it show hostility toward religion. It appears instead to impose neutral and generally applicable rules, as in Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990).
The Executive Order’s temporary numerical restrictions on public gatherings apply not only to worship services but also to the most comparable types of secular gatherings, such as concerts, lectures, theatrical performances, or choir practices, in which groups of people gather together for extended periods, especially where speech and singing feature prominently and raise risks of transmitting the COVID-19 virus.
Worship services do not seem comparable to secular activities permitted under the Executive Order, such as shopping, in which people do not congregate or remain for extended periods. Further, plaintiffs- appellants may not obtain injunctive relief against the Governor in federal court on the basis of the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Frank H. Easterbrook, Michael Stephen Kanne and David Hamilton issued the order. Easterbrook and Kanne were both nominated by President Ronald Reagan.
…Adding… As if on cue…
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* By Jennifer Smith Richards of the Chicago Tribune and Jodi S. Cohen of ProPublica Illinois…
While much of the attention related to COVID-19’s impact on vulnerable populations has focused on deaths at nursing homes, infection rates are remarkably high in another kind of residential setting: state-operated centers for adults with cognitive or behavioral disabilities.
As of Thursday, more than 1 in 5 people living in these developmental centers had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, state data shows. That’s more than double the infection rate seen in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, where confirmed cases account for about 7% of residents, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Of about 1,650 people who live in the seven developmental centers, which are scattered throughout the state, at least 355 have tested positive, or 21.5%. Eight residents have died, as have four workers.
These facilities share some characteristics with other congregate-care settings, such as shared living quarters and the need for workers to bathe residents, change diapers and perform other intimate tasks. But the developmental centers face specific challenges in fighting the virus. Many residents can’t wash their hands on their own or wear masks. They may not understand why their families aren’t coming to visit or why they can’t leave the home for their usual activities.
So when COVID-19 arrived in the facilities, it spread quickly.
At Elisabeth Ludeman Developmental Center in Park Forest, 59% of about 340 residents and about 13% of the 900 workers had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday. More than 37% of residents have tested positive at the Jack Mabley Developmental Center in Dixon, in the western part of the state, which has about 112 residents. So have 13% of the roughly 215 workers.
Only the William Fox Developmental Center in Dwight, the smallest of the seven centers with 80 residents, has reported no cases to date. […]
At Shapiro, 71 residents had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Thursday— about 15% of the resident population. And at the Murray Developmental Center in Centralia, about 11% of residents had tested positive. Many were asymptomatic; many already have recovered, workers and family members said. […]
Many Illinois adults with developmental disabilities live not in the state-run centers but in privately operated facilities as well as hundreds of group homes. The state recently began tracking cases in many of the midsize private facilities that often serve people with more significant medical needs and have suffered some severe outbreaks. For example, at Golfview Developmental Center in suburban Cook County, a privately operated 135-bed facility, there have been 94 confirmed coronavirus cases and 10 deaths, according to the state.
There’s more. Go read the rest.
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Thursday session roundup
Friday, May 22, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Capitol News Illinois…
The Illinois Senate took the chamber’s last step in putting language for a graduated income tax constitutional amendment on the November general election ballot and publishing arguments for and against the measure in pamphlet form.
The Illinois Constitution Amendment Act requires the General Assembly to prepare a brief explanation of the proposed amendment, a brief argument in favor, a brief argument against, and the form in which the amendment will appear on the ballot in a pamphlet that will be distributed to voters.
That means each household with a registered voter will receive the information, which is contained in Senate Joint Resolution 1, by mail.
The arguments against were prepared by Republicans, and the arguments for by Democrats.
The language is here. This is what will appear on the ballot…
The proposed amendment grants the State authority to impose higher income tax rates on higher income levels, which is how the federal government and a majority of other states do it. The amendment would remove the portion of the Revenue Article of the Illinois Constitution that is sometimes referred to as the “flat tax,” that requires all taxes on income to be at the same rate. The amendment does not itself change tax rates. It gives the State the ability to impose higher tax rates on those with higher income levels and lower income tax rates on those with middle or lower income levels. You are asked to decide whether the proposed amendment should become a part of the Illinois Constitution.
* Finke…
Illinois voters will automatically receive an application to vote by mail before the November election in an attempt to avoid exposing people to the coronavirus by making them vote in person.
The vote-by-mail bill was the most controversial bill acted on by lawmakers Thursday, the second day of the abbreviated General Assembly session.
The House and Senate also worked on other measures, including workers compensation changes, extending the expiration dates of some laws and making technical changes to help local governments deal with the effects of the coronavirus. […]
The House approved the bill by a 72-43 vote, but not until the representatives spent nearly three hours debating the bill.
* Team Tribune coverage…
In the Senate, lawmakers voted 50-4 to approve a bipartisan bill to help coronavirus victims that would make it easier for them obtain worker’s compensation benefits.
The measure, an accord struck between business groups and organized labor, would allow “essential” workers who contract COVID-19 to qualify for worker’s compensation benefits with the assumption that the virus was contracted on the job. The rules, which would expire Dec. 31, apply to first responders and others exempt from Pritzker’s stay-at-home order.
In order to qualify, workers’ jobs would have to require them to come into contact with members of the public or to work in a location with more than 15 employees. The agreement would require anyone diagnosed after June 15 to have a positive test for COVID-19.
* Sun-Times…
The Senate also approved a cannabis measure that makes changes to the current law that legalized recreational marijuana, including changes to advertising restrictions, taxes, making it easier for medical cannabis dispensaries to move and giving more flexibility to state cannabis regulators.
With many cannabis dispensaries facing hiring backlogs as they wait for potential employees to pass background checks, the bill also will allow the new hires to begin work while the background check is being conducted.
…Adding… The Pritzker administration, I’m told, is not pleased with some of the language in the cannabis bill pertaining to allowing recreational dispensaries to move. They think that could undermine the rollout of the social equity program and are working to make some changes.
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Budget bill starts to move
Friday, May 22, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The House Executive Committee moved the budget bill, SB264, to the floor today on a partisan roll call…
This post may be updated with news stories.
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*** UPDATED x2 *** Um, no
Friday, May 22, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gateway Pundit…
Illinois lawmakers are attempting to pass legislation to give government the ability to confiscate property from business owners and citizens during state emergencies like the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Senator William E. Brady, the Illinois Minority leader in the state senate, introduced legislation on Wednesday that will give government the right to confiscate property from business owners who defy their lockdown orders.
Senator Brady is a Republican.
Oh no!
But, alas, not true. Brady’s bill, in part, amends the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act. Brady would prohibit the governor from issuing more than one 30-day disaster proclamation without approval of the General Assembly. The confiscation language referenced in that widely read blog is in existing state law.
…Adding… Apparently this is spreading like wildfire. People don’t understand that underlined text is the new stuff. So, ISRA has weighed in to defend Brady. Click here.
* Politico…
SCOOP: A group of House Republicans say they’re fed up with how the General Assembly is addressing the state’s financial woes, and they’ve formed a new caucus to do something about it.
“Everyone can see the system is screwed up. The problem is there aren’t that many people working on solutions to fix the state’s fiscal problems,” Republican Rep. Blaine Wilhour of Effingham told Playbook. “So that’s the driving force. It’s not a personality thing or an indictment, per se, on leadership. It’s just giving a voice to the regular working people in Illinois who are getting throttled day by day by inept government.”
The Illinois Taxpayer Freedom Caucus will still operate under the Republican Party, the lawmakers said in a release provided to Playbook. But the new caucus will focus on “structural and ethical reforms [that] Illinois desperately needs.” […]
The Tax Freedom Caucus has 20 members out of 44 House Republicans — sizable enough to make a difference in a GOP vote. Wilhour says other Republicans may also join, too. The group will elect officers soon.
Historical note: It’s been more than 40 years since the last big intraparty rebellion in the General Assembly. In the 1970s, the late former Sen. Dawn Clark Netsch helped lead a group of independent Democrats known as the “Crazy 8” to get more attention for progressive issues.
This assumes that the caucus will hire staff and propose actual policies like other sub-caucuses do.
Also, House Republican Leader Lee Daniels was challenged bigtime after the Democrats picked up a super-majority in 1990. And the Crazy 8 was mainly an anti-Daley thing. Click here for some history.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Center Square…
State budget aside, there’s more than $4 billion in federal COVID-19 aid for local governments a report says is being held by state officials, and members of Congress are demanding answers.
The National League of Cities found that Illinois is one of 32 states that are withholding federal funding from most municipal governments, including rural communities.
[US Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville] said before more federal funds are freed for Illinois, he’s demanding to know why about $4.9 billion in federal funds stalled out.
“We can’t be as good of advocates as we’d like to be if we don’t know where the $4.9 billion that’s already coming to Illinois is being spent,” Davis said.
“No funding is being held at all,” Pritzker responded. “We need enabling legislation. We needed the legislature to actually get together to provide that enabling legislation and that’s what’s happening the next day and a half.”
We discussed Congressman Davis’ exact same complaint two weeks ago today…
This requires legislation and we have presented this plan to all four caucuses of the General Assembly for their consideration. We look forward to Congressman Davis supporting that plan when the General Assembly returns to Springfield.
C’mon, Rodney. Keep up.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Some guy I never heard of at the Daily Line…
The three-day legislative session in Springfield this week will be without a handful of legislators who didn’t make the trip out of health concerns, including one positive Covid-19 diagnosis from a state representative from Chicago. Many are calling for the ability to vote remotely.
“Every legislative body in this state from the smallest to the largest is operating via remote operations except for the General Assembly. Congress is doing it for God’s sake. We need to get into the 20th century,” said Sen. Robert Martwick (D-10).
Martwick, whose district encompasses parts of the Northwest Side of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, is not in Springfield because he said he’s following the guidance of the Illinois Department of Public Health which advised legislators with serious health conditions not to make the trip. Martwick said he was diagnosed in 2016 with coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes after suffering a heart attack.
There is a possibility that the general assembly will vote to allow remote operations, he said, and that it could be added to one of the proposed omnibus bills via amendment.
That conflicts with Senate President Don Harmon, whose spokesperson John Patterson told news outlets in March saying that the legislature can’t hold remote meetings.
That’s a completely manufactured “conflict.” Harmon supports remote voting. Ridic.
…Adding… The article, published today, also claims that Rep. Curtis Tarver missed the session. Tarver was in town and voted yesterday. I usually expect much better from that publication. But they used a Chicago freelancer on this one.
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