Gov. JB Pritzker visited the ‘Hub City’ on Thursday afternoon.
Pritzker was in town visiting Kennay Farms Distilling with a film crew in tow. He recognized the distillery for its work early in the COVID-19 pandemic when it adapted to making hand sanitizer rather than spirits. A member of Pritzker’s video team reached out to Kennay Farms Owner Rick Kennay and asked in the days before to set up a tour and interview, Aubrey Quinn, in charge of marketing at the distillery, said.
“It was a pretty cool experience,” Quinn said. “We were pleased they picked us out. We felt pretty special. It was cool to meet them. They were shooting video for four hours. They wanted to see products bottled. We bottled a single barrel whiskey. They filmed shots around the tasting room and we walked across the street to eat lunch. It was casual. We talked about the transition that we made last year.”
Quinn said that when the Kennays made the choice to switch to hand sanitizer last year, they didn’t think they would still see the impact and recognition over a year later. The family enjoyed bringing in the people that did the work to be recognized on Thursday. […]
Rochelle Mayor John Bearrows spent about five hours with Pritzker during his visit. He was sworn to secrecy upon learning the Governor would be coming to town three days earlier. They ate lunch together at Acres Bistro.
Governor J.B. Pritzker was in Staunton on Wednesday June 30, to shoot a commercial and talk to local business owners and residents. Pritzker and his crew shot the commercial at the Blackbird Bakery and Cafe, which is described as an ‘artisan cafe and bakery’ established by Harry and Emily Paul, and located on East Main Street.
Ashli Pernicka, who is currently both a baker and helping to run the front of house, answered some questions over her break regarding the Governors visit. When asked if the staff at Blackbird Bakery knew about the Governor’s visit beforehand she replied, “just a few days in advance we got some phone calls about it, asking if we were willing to have him come down and film a commercial here, about small businesses and his response to the pandemic, and just Emily and Harry’s story over the past year, so we did know about it.” Pernicka added, “we had some people we had told about it, close family and friends… but nobody really knew about it.”
Harry Paul, who co-owns the bakery with his wife, Emily and is a baker, took some time to answer questions about the visit as well. When asked how he felt the visit went, Paul replied, “it went well, it was fun, he was a nice guy and he was here for a couple hours.”
Gov. Pritzker sat down with the Paul’s to ask some questions about their life, family, and business. Paul says, “He just asked us about our business and how we did with the pandemic, and how we’re doing now. He was very complimentary and was looking around, checking out our place, and Staunton. I know he walked down the street a little bit too.”
We love seeing successful public campaign financing programs. Connecticut is demonstrating that #publicfinancing can lead to better governance. https://t.co/4LDh6sXhRW
— Reform for Illinois (@Reform4Illinois) July 6, 2021
Connecticut grabbed national headlines in 2005 and 2006 when the legislature and then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell enacted a sweeping campaign finance reform package that not only established public funding for state races, but also:
• Barred campaign committees from selling ad books to raise business and other special interest funds.
• Dramatically limited political action committees’ abilities to transfer funds.
• And restricted contributions by lobbyists and state contractors.
The Citizens’ Election Fund receives most of its funding from the sale of abandoned property. Candidates qualify for public funds by first raising seed money in small increments, between $5 and $250, from individuals. […]
The $27 million in public funds spent on state elections in 2018 — $12.8 million on legislative races and $14.2 million on gubernatorial and other statewide contests — represents 1/7th of 1% of all General Fund spending that year.
More importantly, advocates of the system say, as lobbyists’ influence over campaigns has dropped, legislators and governors have been more willing to revisit corporate and other business tax breaks.
An equivalent amount for Illinois would be a little over $60 million for all legislative and statewide races.
* The Question: Should Illinois adopt a similar campaign finance system? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
City Clerk Anna Valencia picked up the support Tuesday of the woman who is expected to lead the Democratic ticket next year, securing the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth in Valencia’s bid to succeed outgoing Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.
Duckworth, who is seeking a second term herself, is the first statewide elected official to weigh in on the heated four-way Democratic primary race for secretary of state.
In a video announcing the endorsement, Duckworth said she “can’t think of a better person to represent us and, more importantly, to serve the people of Illinois.”
“She comes from Granite City, she knows what working families are going through, she knows what every single one of us has faced in terms of difficulties in our life, but she’s persevered, and she’s continued to work hard,” Illinois’ junior senator said in the video. “I hope someday young girls and boys say ‘I want to be just like Anna.’ I certainly do.”
Probably worth mentioning that Sen. Duckworth backed another state party chair candidate against US Rep. Robin Kelly. Rep./Chair Kelly is a longtime Giannoulias ally.
Republican state Rep. Dan Brady hasn’t entered the race to lead the Secretary of State’s Office — he’s still considering it — but a poll he initiated shows him just five points behind Alexi Giannoulias, a frontrunner in the Democratic race.
The Ogden & Fry poll asked respondents: If the election for Secretary of State were held today, for whom would you vote, Giannoulias or Brady? Results showed 43.8 percent of respondents would vote for Giannoulias, the former state Treasurer, compared to 38.7 percent who said Brady. Nearly 18 percent were undecided. […]
Poll numbers show two-thirds of downstate respondents had never heard of Giannoulias or Brady.
Translation: Few actually know who either of those guys are and Giannoulias is performing at almost precisely the generic Democratic level for this poll while Brady is above the generic Republican level. Brady has more solid GOP support in this poll (90 percent) compared to Giannoulias among Dems (82 percent). But the Republican is also doing a bit better among independents (34-26), who often tend to lean more GOP.
Some believe that lies about election laid the foundation for the insurrection. Bost voted to overturn the results of Pennsylvania and Arizona hours after the riots.
“I’m not worried about what history does with that,” Bost said. “Did they or did they not run their elections according to the Constitution? And the answer again is they did not.”
Narrator: They did.
* A silly story that produced an even sillier reaction last week…
Has anyone told him that he can't be appointed to this position by local committeemen? https://t.co/iRbZpiRyON
* For decades now, every time there’s a Chicago crime spike, some politician demands that the National Guard be called up. Republican gubernatorial candidate Gary Rabine is no exception to this hard and fast rule…
“As the leader of our state, Governor Pritzker needs to take a more active role in what is happening in our City,” Rabine said. “Real leaders get involved to solve the tough problems. They get their hands dirty. They work endlessly until they find resolution. We have blood in the streets. This is real life, Illinois citizens are being shot and killed at record numbers, this is a war zone. We need the Governor of our state to be an engaged leader who is involved and who will give problems of this magnitude the sense of urgency they deserve.”
Last weekend in Chicago there was a record-breaking weekend for violence as more than 104 people were shot with 19 fatalities. At least 13 of the people shot were children. Rabine said bad policies that are ruining policing have created these unforgivable outcomes.
“We have a Governor who not only is doing little to make our state safe, but he is also actively working to bring chaos and crime to our neighborhoods,” Rabine said. His Prisoner Review Board has used the pandemic as an excuse to release hundreds and hundreds of inmates – many of whom are violent offenders in Illinois communities. He signed into law a so-called ‘police reform’ bill that will only serve to make our communities and our police less safe. Gov. Pritzker must see the national news coverage of our City, depicting our City as a war zone. The lack of safety and security to our communities is unexceptable”
Rabine said it is time for Pritzker and the state to step up and lead to protect the citizens of Illinois. When it comes to real leadership, Pritzker doesn’t know what that looks like, he apparently has never had to lead in a crisis.
“If I were Governor, I would lead an urgent initiative to solve this dier problem,” Rabine said. “I would be putting major pressure on Mayor Lightfoot to get this situation resolved and when that doesn’t work, I would look at activating the National Guard to help clean up the streets and make the City safer. I would personally be doing everything I could to give the families of Chicago, Illinois the safety and security they deserve. Our communities deserve better than this massive lack of leadership currently displayed.”
I generally let this go, but I couldn’t help but notice the large number of typos in that release.
…Adding… Rabine’s spokesperson just called to say he inadvertently sent out the wrong version of the release. Click here.
Anyway, local crime is usually considered a local issue, but there are items in the new state budget that address local crime.
* Meanwhile, Rabine’s campaign bused in protesters to today’s Biden event. Pics from a subscriber…
Illinois superintendents are pressuring the state board of education to release public health guidance immediately as school districts prepare to reopen classroom doors in the fall.
The Large Unit District Association, which represents 52 of Illinois’ largest school districts and more than half a million students throughout the state, sent state superintendent Carmen Ayala a letter this week demanding that the state publish public health guidelines for schools aligned with the Phase 5 reopening plan.
“We request that social distancing, quarantining, and masking guidelines in schools be consistent with health guidelines of Phase 5 as applied to other venues in Illinois,” said the letter.
John Burkey, executive director of the Large Unit District Association, said in an interview with Chalkbeat Chicago that school districts are excited to get students back into classrooms after the pandemic year, but district leaders need immediate guidance to bring back students. […]
The state board of education passed a resolution in May requiring school districts to reopen in the fall with limited exceptions for remote learning. Since school districts have to operate at full capacity, the letter raises concerns about social distancing, masks and quarantining students who have or are exposed to COVID-19.
“Under the 6-feet social distancing guidelines, it is impossible for most of our schools to operate at 100 percent capacity, “ said the letter. “Using 3-feet social distancing guidelines, full capacity is possible in most cases, but only with significant modifications.”
* The state board has responded by saying that updated CDC guidance is expected sometime in early July. In the meantime, schools should plan for “both looser CDC guidance and the potential that current guidance will remain in place”…
Wednesday, Jul 7, 2021 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Lawmakers are on the verge of passing legislation that would raise electric rates and turn Illinois into an exporter of jobs and importer of energy from neighboring states with higher carbon intensity. While masquerading as a clean energy bill, the proposal would shut down highly efficient, state-of-the-art power plants in Illinois in favor of energy produced in states that are far behind on meeting carbon reduction goals. Legislators must reject this plan and keep energy affordable, reliable and made in Illinois.
Coming online in 2012 during the Obama-Biden Administration and purpose-built with $1 billion of emissions controls, Prairie State Energy Campus stands apart from older, traditional coal plants. Employing more than 650 full-time workers and another 1,000 union contractors, Prairie State has also partnered with state and federal officials to study ways to further cut emissions. Illinois Electric Cooperatives and municipalities that own Prairie State are committed to keeping energy affordable and reliable while we invest in a cleaner energy future, but we cannot let policy get ahead of technology. Forcing a premature closure of Prairie State will have affordability and reliability impacts for Illinois electric cooperative and municipal consumers. Prairie State is the bridge to Illinois’ energy future.
Ogden & Fry,conducted a seven-question poll on Saturday June 26, 2021, with 554 respondents. Respondents were selected by random sampling of likely voters.The margin of error for this poll is +/-4.25% at the 95% confidence interval.
They did a test question of how respondents voted last year and were pretty close on the Biden vs. Trump result, 56.1-38.4 (57.5-40.5).
Illinois residents on Medicaid will have access to more services and some families with children in a state health insurance program may no longer have to pay premiums, thanks to a bill Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law Tuesday.
The new law puts into place an array of measures aimed at improving access to health care and affordability for those on Medicaid, which is a state and federally funded health insurance program for low-income people. More than 3 million people in Illinois were on Medicaid as of fiscal year 2020.
The law will give those on Medicaid access to marriage therapy and smoking cessation counseling, as well as require that every patient experiencing an opioid-related overdose or withdrawal be admitted to hospitals overnight when medically necessary. It increases the rates Medicaid will pay providers for certain services and will provide community-based support for veterans.
It will also require coverage of kidney transplant medications for undocumented people, among other things.
Among many provisions, the bill provides that people covered under Medicaid will continue to be eligible throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency and for up to 12 months after the emergency expires.
It also calls on the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to establish a program for implementation of certified community behavioral health clinics by Jan. 1, 2022, and to develop a “comprehensive behavioral health strategy” that is to be submitted to the governor and General Assembly by July 1, 2022.
Other provisions include recognizing veteran support specialists as mental health professionals under the state’s Medicaid plan; coverage of both individual and group tobacco cessation programs; requiring in-patient treatment for anyone experiencing an opioid overdose or withdrawal if it’s determined to be medically necessary; coverage of kidney transplant medications regardless of a patient’s U.S. residency status; and providing a 10 percent increase, through March 31, 2022, in reimbursement rates for supportive living facilities, to be paid for with federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
House Majority Leader Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat and member of the Medicaid working group, said this year’s bill is aimed at addressing many of the health care disparities that have existed in Illinois for years but which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stephanie Altman, with Shriver Center on Poverty Law, said the new law ensures more people impacted by the pandemic are covered, despite their income and employment status, with a provision that continues Medicaid eligibility up to a year after the COVID-19 emergency is lifted by the governor.
“This legislation will also make health care coverage for children under the All Kids or CHIP program guaranteed under Medicaid without monthly premiums and reduce the harmful turning on and off of health care coverage permanently in Illinois,” Altman said at the signing ceremony in Downers Grove Tuesday.
The Illinois Health and Hospital Association praised aspects of the new law, including allowing inpatient detox services more than once in 60 days and requiring inpatient coverage for opioid withdrawal treatment, if medically necessary.
“There are other notable provisions in the Medicaid Omnibus legislation including a provision to require reimbursement for vaccinations at 70% of the median regional maximum rate; inpatient reimbursement for long-acting injectable medication for mental health and substance use disorders; a pilot program to prevent ‘lock-out’ kids who are staying beyond medical necessity; and reimbursement for immunosuppressive drugs for kidney transplants covered for noncitizens who meet residency and income criteria,” the group said in a policy position last month.
The bill passed both chambers without any opposition.
President Joe Biden will make his first trip to the Chicago area as president Wednesday with a visit to northwest suburban Crystal Lake, where he will push a portion of his domestic agenda aimed at easing the financial burden on working- and middle-class families.
Biden is scheduled to stop at McHenry County College to make the case for creating free community college, extending the child tax credit and achieving universal pre-K education, all facets of his American Families Plan that so far has garnered little support from Republicans.
While Biden carried Crystal Lake in the 2020 election, then-President Donald Trump won McHenry County as a whole, with 50% of the votes to Biden’s 47%.
The stop is the latest by Biden to swing regions of the country to highlight his efforts to drive a strong recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which he has dubbed his Build Back Better agenda.
McHenry County is the only collar county Biden lost last year.
The president will discuss his American Families Plan, which includes checks of up to $300 for eligible families starting this month, and will be selling a bipartisan $973 billion deal on infrastructure.
“I’m excited about his coming, I know he wanted to go to one of the collar counties to visit suburban communities so I’m glad that he’ll do that,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday at an event in Downers Grove.
Assuming the infrastructure plan squeaks through Congress, it will dovetail with Illinois’ six-year capital plan passed in 2019, Pritzker said. […]
Republican state Sen. Craig Wilcox of McHenry is attending the event. “It certainly is momentous when a president comes to visit a part of the country that hasn’t seen that type of a visit before,” said Wilcox, a retired colonel in the Air Force. “For McHenry County, for Crystal Lake, for MCC, it’s a great honor to have any president come.”
I asked Psaki at the briefing, “Could you just explain a little bit more of how this trip to one of the redder parts of the bluest states in totality can advance the Biden policy and political agenda since there’s no swayable members of Congress? They’re all for you?”
Psaki said, “I would see this as less of a political trip” and that Biden “ran as someone who would represent not just Democrats, not just Republicans, not just independents, but all people.” […]
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker will greet Biden when he lands Air Force One at O’Hare Airport before Biden takes a helicopter to McHenry College. Lightfoot will have a meeting with the president at the airport. Pritzker’s meeting may be in McHenry.
Biden and Lightfoot will huddle after Chicago suffered its most violent weekend of 2021, with 104 shot and 19 killed.
Just past the midpoint of 2021, the Chicago area is about to surpass the total number of expressway shootings for all of 2020.
As of Tuesday morning, the Illinois State Police had been called to 117 expressway shootings. That is more than twice the 51 shootings at this same time last year. And just short of the 128 for the entire year of 2020.
The menace of expressway shootings has been a vexing one for the Illinois State Police, who have previously noted to NBC 5 that the problem is especially severe here in comparison to other states.
And arrests are rare. Contrary to popular belief, expressway gunfire in Chicago is not typically spawned by road rage. Would-be victims often know their assailants and frequently refuse to cooperate with police.
* CBS 2 has been reporting on the super-slow rollout of expressway cams for quite a while. Here’s a story from early June…
But for years now, CBS 2 has tracked the delayed installation and upgrades of the cameras rolling on Illinois’ expressways. The 600 cameras up now still can’t record video.
Back in February, the Illinois Department of Transportation announced a $12.5 million investment of taxpayer dollars for cameras and license plate readers that will go up in 47 different locations – specifically meant to help investigate expressway shootings.
So, where is that technology now?
IDOT told us to ask Illinois State Police, who told us they’re still in the planning phase:
“In February of 2021, IDOT provided a $12.5 million grant to cover the costs of engineering, permitting, and labor associated with the purchase and installation of automated license plate readers (ALPR), controllers, servers/software, electrical power, and communications equipment required to install ALPR systems. The maintenance of the ALPR systems for up to two years is also included in this agreement. ALPR installations at 47 locations will include specialized cameras to read the license plate numbers of vehicles moving in traffic. The installations will also include a communication system to backhaul the video images to a central location where additional software is used to query and match license plates to existing license plate and vehicle databases. The purchase and installation of ALPR systems, software, and specialized cameras will aid in the investigation of Cook County expressway shootings. Currently, the Statement of Work is being finalized and a contract will follow to cover hardware and licensing for the next five years.”
* The law has been on the books since January of 2020. From a press release…
The Tamara Clayton Expressway Camera Act (Expressway Camera Act) was signed into law on July 12, 2019 and became effective on Jan. 1, 2020. On Feb. 4, 2019, Ms. Clayton was on her way to work when she was tragically shot and killed while driving on Interstate 57 near Cicero Avenue. ISP investigators responded and the investigation into her death remains open and ongoing. The Expressway Camera Act requires the ISP, IDOT, and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) to conduct a program to increase the number of cameras along expressways in Cook County. The images from these cameras will not be used for petty offenses, such as speeding
One of the bill’s original sponsors, Rep. Thaddeus Jones, was so incensed by the delay that he called for the resignation of Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman in January.
For the first time in nearly 16 months, Illinois has gone a full day without losing a resident to COVID-19.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported no new COVID-19 fatalities Monday, which hadn’t happened previously since March 16, 2020 — a few days before Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered residents to stay inside their homes as much as possible to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.
It’s still possible one or more fatalities could eventually be added to the rare zero-total. Officials often adjust daily figures based on delayed reports from hospitals, especially after a holiday.
And the grief is far from over. The state reported 11 deaths over the weekend, and another 16 Tuesday.
But for now, the end of a miserable 476-day stretch with viral deaths is the latest sign of optimism for a state slowly emerging from the pandemic.
In the U.S., Illinois’ neighbor to the west, Missouri, is currently seeing the highest per-capita COVID infection rates in the nation, driven by that Delta variant. And Illinois’ three EMS regions that border Missouri are seeing an uptick in test positivity as well.
The Metro East’s 7-day average test positivity rate reached 5.1% as of June 3, the latest date made available by IDPH. The region’s test positivity rate has been climbing for two weeks, and has now reached positivity rates it hasn’t experienced since February. In contrast, the city of Chicago’s 7-day average COVID test positivity rate currently stands at 0.5%, after reaching a low of 0.3% early last week.
The Southern Illinois and West Central Illinois regions have also seen sharp rises in their COVID test positivity rates in the last week.
Counties with some of the lowest vaccination rates are in those three regions — especially Alexander County, which has lagged behind the rest of the state since vaccines began rolling out in December. Only 14.6% of Alexander County’s residents of all ages are fully vaccinated, compared with the entire state’s 48.9% vaccination rate.
You cannot on the one hand constantly harp about decades of Illinois credit rating downgrades and then blithely dismiss the first bit of good Illinois rating news since George Ryan was governor.
It’s OK to step away from the “Illinois is awful” screaming for a moment in the wake of last week’s upgrade of Illinois’ bond rating by Moody’s Investors Service. While not the end of our problems by any means, this signals yet another important fiscal turning point.
Illinois’ long credit ratings slide began in May of 2003, when both Moody’s and Fitch dinged the state’s grade. The last upgrade the state was granted before last week’s action was 21 years ago, in June of 2000. The last time Moody’s upgraded Illinois’ rating was June of 1998. House Speaker Chris Welch had just barely graduated law school at the time.
The state’s credit rating was downgraded a total of 24 times starting in 2003. Eight of those downgrades, a third, came during just 20 months of former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s fiscally catastrophic administration. To say he had an outsized impact would be putting it mildly.
The climb back began in 2017, when some Republicans joined Democrats to pass an income tax hike over Rauner’s veto. It was a turning point. The downgrades all but stopped.
Just remember those above two paragraphs when Rauner’s impasse cheerleaders try to dismiss this Moody’s upgrade. We’d be in a far worse spot right now had they and Rauner won.
And, yes, of course the federal government has played a huge role in Illinois’ fiscal rebound over the past year or so. It has repeatedly pumped up the economy, which unexpectedly boosted Illinois’ coffers to the point where it didn’t need to use federal funds to patch its budget holes or tap federal aid to pay back federal borrowing.
The state did so well that it ended the fiscal year, which concluded on June 30, with an expected $2 billion surplus. That surplus will allow it to pay off $2 billion in pandemic-related borrowing this fiscal year.
According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Congress has committed $126 billion to Illinois, mostly to the private sector, with about a third of the total in loans.
The airline industry in Illinois alone will receive almost $16 billion, about twice what the state government received this spring from the American Rescue Plan Act.
But it’s not like Illinois got a special deal out of Uncle Sam. The aid has been distributed fairly evenly among the states. California ended its fiscal year with an $80 billion surplus.
Prudently, most of that $8.127 billion in federal money for Illinois’ government hasn’t been appropriated. $1 billion was spent on one-time capital appropriations and $1.8 billion was spent on mostly one-time grants or temporary aid allowed by the federal government.
That leaves more than $5.3 billion in reserve. The hope in many states is that the federal government will wipe out their huge unemployment insurance trust fund debts. If not, some of that $5.3 billion might be used here to cover some of Illinois’ hole, sparing employers a gigantic tax hike.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Elgie Sims has been telling me for weeks that he was confident the new state budget would result in a credit rating upgrade.
Sims is not only a budget expert (joining the Senate’s budget staff after graduating from college in 1993), but he’s also a bond lawyer. He knows what the industry is looking for, and he and many others did what they could to deliberately produce a well-received budget.
Illinois has been one step away from junk bond territory since the Rauner days, so, no matter what you think of the New York rating agencies, the urgent importance of upgrades cannot be overstated.
“We stayed the course, we did not do anything irresponsible with that federal money, we paid down all that debt,” which Sims said is exactly what the ratings agencies wanted to see.
Rating agencies also prefer sustainable state revenues. The new budget permanently closes $655 million in corporate tax “loopholes,” as the governor calls them. Gov. J.B. Pritzker noted last week the move helps permanently pare down the state’s still-large structural deficit, which passing the progressive income tax last year could’ve all but eliminated.
Obviously, this federal boost won’t last. And Moody’s warned that pension and other state obligations “could exert growing pressure as the impact of federal support dissipates, barring significant revenue increases or other fiscal changes.”
But now they have some time to tackle the problems.
Reaction has spanned the spectrum with market participants mostly saying it was deserved given the state’s fiscal progress and its COVID-19 pandemic recovery. Some said the upgrade was expected, a reason for the state’s narrowing spreads over the past few months. But they are quick to underline that’s the near-term view and chronic pension strains, past decisions that favored one-shots, an ongoing structural imbalance and out-migration weigh heavily on the state’s fiscal foundation.
“I think it’s important to bear in the mind Illinois is still the lowest-rated state” and “no one has waived a wand” and erased the state’s high liabilities, governances challenges and financial operating difficulties, Moody’s lead analyst Ted Hampton said in an interview last week. “But I think what’s going on now really represents the first very strong positive movement — positive enough to warrant an upgrade. It is to some extent a turning of the tide but the state still has a long way to go to look like the bulk of other states.” […]
Illinois should see some direct benefit when it next enters the market by drawing a broader base of buyers as some can’t purchase bonds at the Baa3 level and could help some hold on to the bonds. “To the extent that some buyers have an incrementally higher floor of credit quality” the state could draw more interest, Mousseau said.
“I think that the Moody’s upgrade will help the state GO and other related credits get better pricing when they next sell bonds,” said John Ceffalio, senior municipal research analyst at CreditSights Inc. “If Illinois continues on this credit path, which I expect, then it will lead to further positive ratings actions during fiscal 2022.”
* Took a good long look at what’s out there and it’s pretty darned slow. So, I made a management decision to shut it down for a bit. I’ll talk with you next week. Have a great Independence Day holiday…
State Rep. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport), pointing to a couple of all-night sessions in 2021, is sponsoring a bill to, except when legislative leaders declare an emergency, restrict floor votes to the hours between 6 a.m. and midnight.
“I just don’t think the average citizen believes is appropriate to have a committee meeting at one in the morning and pass a $43 billion (budget) bill, say, at three in the morning,” Chesney said.
Chesney says this is intentional; an annual tactic by supermajority Democrats to tire everyone out and pass big bills when neither the public nor the media are awake and paying attention.
* The Question: Good idea or not? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
Two major credit ratings agencies, Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service, have dropped Illinois’ credit outlook to “negative” from “stable” on expectations that economic fallout from COVID-19 will strain state budgets.
Both currently rank Illinois bonds just one notch above non-investment grade debt, also known as “junk” status, while the third major agency, Fitch Ratings, puts Illinois slightly higher at two grades above junk. The Prairie State has the lowest rating among states across all three agencies.
A public finance watchdog said the latest report on Illinois’ finances from Fitch Ratings is evidence the state is on the verge of having a junk credit rating.
Fitch gave $850 million of borrowing the state issued a BBB- rating. Some of that borrowing is for the state’s pension buyout program, the rest is for capital projects.
Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski said the pension buyout program is a distraction and not providing real savings. He said the Fitch report shows state’s politicians are running out of options and are costing taxpayers more by borrowing more money.
S&P called the Pritzker budget “dubious” and said enacting it could ”weaken the state’s credit trajectory,” which is already at a junk-bond-skirting BBB- in the S&P credit-rating table. Fitch Ratings explicitly warned Illinois that enactment of the Pritzker budget will place the state in risk of a credit downgrade.
A third major credit-rating office, Moody’s Investors Service, has also ranked the State of Illinois only one notch above junk-bond level.
The Illinois Republican Party also warned in 2019 that Gov. Pritzker could drive the state into junk bond territory.
* The ILGOP has often used downgrades to whack Democrats. A sampling…
More on @QuinnForIL's "positive reports" from credit agencies: Fitch rates IL "A-," lowest of any state. Downgraded 4x under Gov. Quinn.
* And, of course, there’s the Tribune editorial board…
Won't anyone stop lending us money already? MT Wall Street credit agency warns Illinois could face credit downgrade under Gov. Pritzker's budget plan. https://t.co/OaRRiocuth
And now that Illinois has earned its first credit rating upgrade in 21 years? Nothing. Zip. Nada. Nix, neinFrankenstein, as we used to say in Germany.
It’s not that I expected any joyous announcements, but I did expect something. Must take awhile to reprogram their talking points software. Or maybe their unified system was hit with a ransomware attack.
…Adding… Eleni Demertzis with the HGOPs…
The Democrats’ ransomware attack upon the US Treasury was successful, and the state has been able to pass a budget with the bailout cash. We are all old enough to remember a time when Governor Pritzker told us a graduated income tax was needed to save our state’s finances. Seems like he might still have retrograde amnesia.
The federal aid to the state was not used to balance the budget. And the governor said accurately yesterday that the state’s structural deficit remains, although it was pared back with $655 million in corporate loophole closures.
…Adding… For those either deliberately or ignorantly unclear on the concept in comments, what I meant was that I expected responses like this one from IPI after a 2013 California upgrade…
California’s fake reforms yield credit upgrade
I mean, at least give us a little grumpiness or something. Instead, crickets. By the way, those “fake reforms” led directly to California’s very real budget surplus of $80 billion today.
Lawmakers and advocates are calling for outside oversight of the Illinois Department of Corrections after a WBEZ investigation revealed a pattern of alleged beatings by guards in an area of Western Illinois Correctional Center where there was no video camera coverage.
The investigation documented nine people who separately accused a group of officers of beating them in the same area. Prison records show staff were aware of a blind spot that lacked cameras and of repeated accusations of violence, but the violence persisted until guards allegedly beat a prisoner named Larry Earvin to death in that same location. Federal prosecutors have charged three guards for the beating.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has declined multiple requests to comment on WBEZ’s investigation or the repeated allegations of abuse. Pritzker’s silence continues a pattern in which his director of prisons has refused to do an interview about staff abuse and accountability despite requests over two-and-a-half years.
State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray said she was “horrified” by WBEZ’s findings. “The fact that somebody had to die before that was adequately taken care of, I think is atrocious,” Stava-Murray said. […]
“It’s not just how many cameras are there and where are they placed. It’s who’s reviewing the footage? How often is the footage being reviewed? Is it made publicly available? Is it being shared? Is it being reported?” Jennifer Vollen-Katz [the executive director of the John Howard Association] said.
* So, I checked in with Jordan Abudayyeh…
Protecting the safety of staff and individuals sentenced to IDOC custody is the highest priority of this administration. Under the leadership of Acting Director Rob Jeffreys, we have increased security measures statewide. These measures include, but are not limited to:
• The installation of 79 new cameras at Western Illinois Correctional Center over the last year.
• The institution of a unit management system at several facilities, including Western Illinois, to create greater contact between counselors, security staff, and people in custody. This approach increases opportunities for communication and improves the Department’s responsiveness to the concerns of incarcerated people.
• The hiring of an attorney to serve as Chief Inspector. Chief Latoya Hughes is charged with providing oversight of the statewide grievance system and identifying needed reforms to ensure the process is fair, consistent, and responds to the needs of the incarcerated population.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE 1 *** I missed this one earlier in the week. Holy moly…
Three Choate Mental Health administrators have been indicted on felony charges related to their work at the state-run facility. […]
All are accused of violating the Department of Human Services investigating protocol, his office stated in a news release.
Tripp alleges these violations started a chain of events that impeded an active investigation by Illinois State Police-Division of Internal Investigation of a staff member battering an individual served at the facility. Felony charges are pending in this case. […]
The indictments come after a string of other arrests last year tied to the institution. In all, eight current or former employees were arrested on charges connected to their employment at Choate.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Rep. Deb Conroy…
Rich, the Choate situation is a huge red flag to our state that we must prioritize mental Heath and SUD. This is absolutely unacceptable that the very inadequate facilities we do have are not safe. It is long overdue, but today I submitted language to require Illinois to have a Mental Health and SUD Czar. We are at a crossroad of crisis and opportunity with a moral responsibility to act.
…Adding… Sen. Fowler…
State Senator Dale Fowler (R-Harrisburg) issued the following statement regarding the indictment charges:
“The abuse that came to light in 2018 at the Choate Mental Health facility was disturbing. To know that staff tasked with the care of some of the most vulnerable in our state were capable of such mistreatment was unsettling. Now we have three administrators, who should have worked to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the residents within this state-run facility and held their staff accountable for their actions, accused of misconduct and violating proper investigative protocol in regards to those abuse allegations. It is deplorable.
“As administrators, these individuals had a responsibility to protect those entrusted with their care. If it is proven that these officials ignored their duty and acted in any way to prevent justice for the residents harmed within Choate, they should be held accountable for their actions.
“Under the circumstance of the situation and with the seriousness of the charges, I urge the Administration to place all three individuals on administrative leave immediately.”
On June 28th, the Union County State’s Attorney announced that Bryant T. Davis, Teresa A. Smith and Gary K. Goins have all been charged with official misconduct, a Class 3 felony.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Sen. Bryant…
Three Choate Mental Health administrators are actively employed with the Illinois Department of Human Services despite being recently indicted on felony charges stemming from the abuse accusations of 2018 at the state-operated developmental center in Anna.
State Senator Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro), who serves as the Minority Spokesperson of the Senate Behavioral and Mental Health Committee, issued the following statement:
“It is unconscionable that the individuals charged with covering up and interfering with an investigation into the abuse of residents are continuing to actively work and have access to the staff and facility—the very facility in which they failed to properly protect the vulnerable residents under their care. It’s simply inexcusable.
“These individuals must immediately be put on administrative leave until these allegations are thoroughly investigated.
“As we’ve seen with the recent tragedy at the LaSalle Veterans Home, failure to take the appropriate steps necessary to ensure the safety of residents and our most vulnerable have serious consequences.”
On June 28th, the Union County State’s Attorney announced that Bryant T. Davis, Teresa A. Smith and Gary K. Goins have all been charged with official misconduct, a Class 3 felony.
Ramirez had put a hold on the bill to allow Mayor Lori Lightfoot a chance to make her case for what to include in the coming trailer bill. Ramirez and Lightfoot met last week to discuss the issue, but Ramirez has said all along that she wanted the bill on the governor’s desk by the end of June.
This post may be updated.
*** UPDATE *** From Leader Ramirez…
State Representative Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, has lifted her motion to reconsider HB 2908. The legislation that creates a path to a fully-elected school board for Chicago Public Schools will now be sent to the governor’s desk. This action comes after meeting with stakeholders to begin discussing outstanding issues that may be addressed in trailer legislation during the fall veto session.
“Parents should have a voice in their children’s education and now Chicago will be in line with the rest of Illinois on this issue. Returning this right to Chicago parents, the overwhelming majority of whom support this measure, is an honor. Their participation in this process was invaluable and shows that they will be active participants in the electoral process which begins in 2024.
“I appreciate the support I’ve received from my fellow legislators, especially state Senator Martwick, who shepherded this measure through the state Senate. As a long time supporter of an elected school board, it is my hope that Gov. Pritzker will sign this measure into law expeditiously.”
…Adding… Apparently, it’s Lift the Brick Day in Illinois…
The Illinois Supreme Court today issued two new orders which will resume statutory time restrictions for speedy trials on October 1 and relax social distancing requirements in courthouses. Both orders are effective immediately.
“It is important to note that our courts remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic and thousands of court proceedings have taken place via both in-person and virtual hearings,” Chief Justice Anne M. Burke said. “However, conducting criminal jury trials has been very difficult. These two orders will help our courts prepare for a return to a full slate of jury trials.”
M.R. 30370, In re: Illinois Courts Response to COVID-19 Emergency/Social Distancing, states that “Chief Circuit Judges of the State are permitted to relax or eliminate social distancing requirements,” and notes that the decision to do so should be based on local conditions.
M.R. 30370, Illinois Courts Response to COVID-19 Emergency/Speedy Trial, states that statutory time restrictions will no longer be tolled and that “all days on and following October 1, 2021, shall be included in speedy trial computations contained in section 103-5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 and section 5-601 of the Illinois Juvenile Court Act”. This provides the chief circuit judges at least 90 days to prepare for the tolling to be lifted.
The order also states the days prior to March 20, 2020, and April 3, 2020, when the Court put out orders tolling the statutory time restrictions for section 103-5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 and section 5-601 of the Illinois Juvenile Court Act, will be included in speedy trial computations.
(T)he court’s suspension of speedy trial rules has contributed to a growing backlog in the Cook County criminal court, leaving thousands of mostly Black and Latinx people locked in the Cook County Jail and on electronic monitoring for more than a year awaiting trial. Experts worry that the backlog will worsen throughout the summer, when shootings and other types of violent crimes normally increase.
Defense attorneys who spoke with Injustice Watch said the justices have to do a better job balancing public health needs with defendants’ rights to a speedy trial.
“It is our contention that not enough of these [backlogged] cases have resolved, and much of that has to do with the fact that there are really no speedy trial rights available,” said Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. “The need to resolve these cases is great for our clients. The mental trauma, anxiety, anticipation is overwhelming.”
Illinois GOP Reps. Rodney Davis and Adam Kinzinger — both being mentioned as potential 2022 governor candidates — joined with Democrats on Tuesday to approve a measure to remove statues of Confederate leaders from the U.S. Capitol.
The move would, among other things, take down a bust of Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, who in 1857 authored the Supreme Court Dred Scott decision that said people of African descent brought to the U.S. were not citizens. The plan is to install a bust of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court justice, in his place.
The measure passed the House on a 285 to 120 roll call. A similar piece of legislation was advanced last by the Democratic-controlled House only to stall in what then was a GOP-run Senate. Now the Democrats run the Senate.
Kinzinger and Davis were among the 67 Republicans joining Democrats in backing the measure. Freshman Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., did not vote.
Democratic Illinois secretary of state candidate Alexi Giannoulias added another union to his growing list of supporters, garnering the endorsement of the Laborers’ International Union of North America a little less than a year before the June primary.
That endorsement spans the union’s 15 locals and nearly 23,000 members as part of the labor organization’s Cook County base as well as an additional 26 local chapters and 17,000 members downstate.
A spokeswoman for Giannoulias’ campaign said employees from 16 different unions, including the laborers, work in the secretary of state’s office.
* I told subscribers about this development last week. Notice that Rep. Mazzochi doesn’t say what office she is running for…
Illinois Democrats targeted Republican state Rep. Deanne Mazzochi for termination with extreme prejudice — in other words, political oblivion.
But the Elmhurst Republican has decided she won’t retire quietly to the sidelines. In fact, once she makes up her mind which direction she’ll go, Mazzochi said she plans to fight hard to maintain her place in the political arena.
“I certainly will be a candidate in the 2022 elections,” said Mazzochi, an Illinois House member since 2018. […]
Regardless of what happens, however, Mazzochi is running — for something. Although she recently contributed $150,000 to her campaign fund, Mazzochi said she doesn’t have “an established timeline” to make a decision on how or where to proceed because the situation is so fluid.
…Adding… Young Democrats of Illinois…
On June 26th, with a keynote from Dr. Robin Kelly the Young Democrats of Illinois held their convention to elect the new Executive Board. Quinne Welter will succeed Arielle Maffei as President, Saghi Sandra Hosseini will step in as the Executive Vice President with Dan Asonye, 1st Vice President, Bobby Mannis, 2nd Vice President, and Akanksha Balekai, 3rd Vice President. Followed by Marla Johnson as Secretary, Anthony Vega as Treasurer, and Izzy Dobbel and Thomas Maillard as the National Committeepeople. They will expand on the groundwork laid by the previous Executive Board, grow the organization, and represent Illinois at the Young Democrats of America convention in August.
* I haven’t talked much about the buyouts at the Tribune, but that paper’s editorial page continues to have an outsized influence on Illinois politics (deserved or otherwise) and there are some major changes afoot. Robert Feder…
The buyouts may be over but the bleeding hasn’t stopped for the Chicago Tribune. On Tuesday Kristen McQueary, editor of the Tribune’s editorial page, announced that she’s quitting too. “After nine years on the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board and page editor since March of last year, Friday will be my last day at the paper,” McQueary tweeted. “I applied for the buyout, but my application was not accepted. I’ll be pursuing other opportunities. Stay tuned!” It’s not known why McQueary’s buyout bid was rejected but her departure leaves the Tribune minus another stellar talent. “To be sure, she and I differ on quite a few issues, but I have no doubt of her integrity and her heart,” newly departed Tribune columnist Eric Zorn said of McQueary. “She ran the Edit Board with grace, energy and humor during a very difficult year and has the affection and appreciation of the liberals, the moderates and the conservatives whom she supervised.” McQueary joined the Tribune in 2012 from Chicago Public Media and the Chicago News Cooperative. The Rockford native and graduate of Illinois State University and the University of Illinois at Springfield previously worked for the Daily Southtown and Peoria Journal Star.
With much of the Chicago Tribune newsroom already being gutted under the new management of Alden Global Capital, it’s all hands on deck these days. In a surprise plot twist, Chris Jones, who’s been the Tribune’s esteemed theater critic for 20 years, is the favorite to replace McQueary as editorial page editor, sources say. It’s hard to imagine Jones bowing out as Chicago’s preeminent drama critic just when theaters are opening again. But it’s been hard to imagine a lot these days. Come to think of it, other than making money and wrecking newspapers, does Alden Global Capital even have an editorial philosophy?
In announcing Jones’s appointment, effective July 12, Par Ridder, general manager of Chicago Tribune Media Group, wrote in an internal email: “As Chicago’s pre-eminent culture critic, he has a deep understanding of the city, his home for 30 years, and has built a reputation as frank, fair-minded and scrupulously accurate. Can there be more important attributes for an editorial page editor?
“Chris is committed to upholding the Tribune’s leading citizen status, and its statement of principles, which include the newspaper’s commitment ‘to inform and lead public opinion, to foster commerce and industry, and to furnish that vital check upon government which no constitution can.’”
Jones, 57, joined the Tribune full-time in 2002. A native of Manchester, England, he was educated at University of Hull and The Ohio State University and taught at Northern Illinois University and DePaul University. He also wrote about theater for Variety.
“Today, the Tribune announced me as the new editorial page editor, meaning that I will be in working with a variety of opinion columns and joining an editorial board that is smaller than in the past. But, I hope, mighty in the city,” Jones wrote on Facebook Wednesday.
“I’m still the theater critic, which is important to me and the paper, and I will review the major shows as I have for the past 20 years. It is my hope that other, diverse, freelance voices will also join our theater coverage, going forward. While these are very challenging times at the paper, there remains a strong commitment to the Chicago theater.”
Wednesday, Jun 30, 2021 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Last week, a comprehensive climate and equity deal was within reach.
Then, fossil fuel companies tried to kill it. Again.
The truth is, fossil fuel companies don’t want any climate legislation. They like the status quo, which lets them pollute our planet, harm our communities, and pad their profits.
The stakes are clear. Without action, thousands of union workers and solar installers may lose their jobs, while the climate crisis worsens and BIPOC communities continue to have limited access to clean energy opportunities and the jobs they create. That’s why it’s so important for legislators to stand with the people, not fossil fuel companies.
At a press conference last week, Governor Pritzker made it clear that he “will not sign a bill that doesn’t meet the gravity of the moment.” The legislature should take this opportunity to return to Springfield and pass the most comprehensive and equitable climate and energy bill in the country as soon as possible.
* This is a very well-written piece by Joe Mahr at the Tribune. Here’s an excerpt, but you should read the whole thing…
Records obtained by the Tribune show the flood of fraud happened after IDES failed to follow federal recommendations to adopt free fraud-fighting tools that were made available in 2019. Only recently did the agency begin using those tools. A separate process to help identify problematic claims also didn’t become fully functional until February, nearly a year into the pandemic.
At the same time, Illinois has not joined some other states in implementing safeguards meant to detect and stop sketchy claims at the door, before they are accepted into an overburdened system. Though critics say these methods can cause problems by interfering with legitimate claims, some officials in other states credit them with significantly decreasing fraud.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security has yet to report how much money it believes was siphoned away. But if the amount tracks with national estimates, it could involve billions of dollars.
In Illinois, the fraud became so rampant last year that it overwhelmed IDES as its top leadership was undergoing a transition. Five months into her new job as IDES’ top administrator, Kristin Richards lamented to her staff in a December email that she was “stunned by fraudsters’ tenacity.”
Illinois won a one-notch upgrade Tuesday from Moody’s Investors Service, action that turns the rating tide for a state stung by more than a decade of downgrades that left it one cut away from a speculative grade.
Moody’s moved its general obligation and Build Illinois sales tax-backed ratings up one level to Baa2 from Baa3. It continues to assign a stable outlook.
Illinois’ management through the COVID-19 pandemic and prudent actions with its rosier revenue projections and $8.1 billion in new federal relief from the American Rescue Plan Act drew Moody’s praise.
“Just a little over six months ago, there was a raging debate over whether Illinois would be able to hold onto its investment grade rating,” Ty Schoback, a senior municipal research analyst for Columbia Threadneedle Investments, which owns Illinois debt as part of $17 billion in muni assets, said in an interview.
“It’s truly just a night and day situation and outlook for the state,” Schoback said. “To Illinois’s credit, despite their reputation and their history with fiscal decisions, they’ve made highly prudent choices.”
Illinois finances have been buoyed by the economic recovery as revenue exceeds expectations and the state receives $8.1 billion in aid from President Joe Biden’s rescue plan. The state is paying back the outstanding portion of the $3.2 billion it borrowed from the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending facility last year with higher-than-anticipated tax collections. The state has cut its unpaid bills to less than $3 billion. That backlog had reached more than $16 billion in 2017 during the state’s budget impasse.
“They need to just not mess it up,” Schoback said. “They need to maintain their discipline on pensions, moving to structural balance.”
Moody’s said Tuesday it upgraded Illinois’ bond status due to “material improvement in the state’s finances,” specifically the $42 billion budget Democrats pushed through the legislature last month. The agency said the budget repays emergency federal borrowing the state did in the depths of COVID last year and will keep the state’s bill backlog “in check” without dipping too far into the $8 billion in federal funds coming to Illinois from the American Rescue Plan.
Moody’s also gave the budget credit for increasing contributions to the state’s five pension systems, though it acknowledged Illinois’ pension debt — $144 billion in unfunded liabilities at last calculation — is “unusually large” and poses a long-term challenge to the state and could “exert growing pressure” on the state as “federal support dissipates,” barring new revenues or reductions in spending, the analysis said.
Still, Democrats were in a self-congratulatory mood Tuesday. In a statement, Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) obliquely referred to the budget impasse and those who cheered Rauner on during the standoff with Democrats from 2015 to 2017.
“Stability and responsibility produce results,” Harmon saiid. “You don’t need to ruin people’s lives to have sound fiscal policies and positive outcomes.”
Laurence Msall, the president of the Civic Federation, said the governor deserves credit, but the state is not yet out of the woods.
“From a fiscal analysis standpoint, this is positive news — it’s reflective of a more conservative budget approach that he has taken in the last year,” Msall told the Sun-Times. “It’s a step in the right direction, but much heavier lifting, and much harder work is needed, if we’re going to move from being barely investment grade to an A-rated credit or ideally a double A or triple A, which 13 other states are.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the change a “major milestone.”
“I say with full certainty, Illinois’ fiscal situation is heading in the right direction for the first time in the 21st century,” the Democrat said. […]
The state’s general obligation rating — now Baa2, up from Baa3 — is still relatively low, but moving up a notch means Illinois should save money when it goes to the bond market; Pritzker estimated those savings will be worth tens of millions of dollars.
The upgrade will also give Pritzker something to boast about as he’s expected to soon begin campaigning for another term. Pritzker has thus far evaded saying whether he’ll run again, but with the June 28, 2022 primary now a year away, decision time should come soon.
While the upgrade from Moody’s is welcome news, it only returns the state’s rating to where it was before the last of three downgrades during the tumultuous tenure of Pritzker’s predecessor, former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Bill Bergman, director of research for Truth in Accounting, said credit ratings can be misleading.
“The rating has turned positive for some reason, the outlook anyway, which doesn’t mean much since they are borderline junk anyway in Illinois,” he said.
The Illinois economy showed strong signs of recovery during the first quarter of 2021 as businesses continued to reopen from the pandemic and direct government payments flowed to businesses and individual consumers.
Data released last week from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis showed the state’s economy grew at an annual rate of 6.4 percent during the quarter as its gross domestic product – the market value of all goods and services produced by labor and property – approached its pre-pandemic level.
That growth rate was on par with the rest of the nation and slightly ahead of the pace set by most of Illinois’ surrounding states. But the state’s total GDP, at just under $770 billion annually, remained below where it was two years earlier, before the pandemic. […]
The most improved sectors of the Illinois economy were also among the hardest-hit by the pandemic – arts, entertainment and recreation, which grew at a 38.6 percent annual rate, followed by accommodation and food services, which grew at an 18.4 percent pace.
Durable goods manufacturing also showed strong improvement with a 13 percent growth rate, as did the information sector, which includes the media, which grew at a 14 percent rate.
