* From the Boycott Du Quoin State Fair Facebook page…
Family legend has it that one of my ancestors was deployed to southern Illinois during the Civil War to put down a Copperhead rebellion. The Copperheads were so vicious that the Illinois governor called out the militia during a state constitutional convention over fears that they might try to seize control of the government.
[A boycott] would only be cutting off the region’s nose to spite its own face, seeing as we really wouldn’t be helped any to lose the economic boost the fair brings here annually. (And we can’t help but fear poor fair attendance this year could give the state reason to disinvest in it.)
* The Question: Should the state stop funding the Du Quoin State Fair next year? Make sure to explain your answer in comments.
Businessman and former candidate for Chicago mayor Willie Wilson said he’d like to talk to Governor Pritzker about the new state budget.
Willie Wilson said the increases in the gas tax and license plate fees in the new state budget hurt poor and middle class voters. He said he would like to talk to Governor Pritzker about creating a state budget that takes some of the pressure off of the working class. But right now, he said, his calls are going unanswered.
“Governor, I have sent you three or four emails, I’ve sent you a letter, I’ve called you two or three times. Your people have not responded back to me,” Wilson said.
I sent a FOIA request to the governor’s office that very day asking for any “e-mails, letters and phone log records from Willie Wilson to the governor and/or employees of the governor’s office since April 1, 2019.” The governor’s FOIA person eventually responded that she needed additional time to check the records.
For some reason, I remembered my FOIA request yesterday and fired off an email to the governor’s office asking what the heck ever happened to their response.
* Turns out, they sent it to me on June 25th and I didn’t notice it. Oops. I was in Chicago that day for the cannabis bill signing, which may have been why I didn’t see it…
Re: FOIA Request # 2019-152
Dear Mr. Miller:
June 25, 2019
This letter is in response to your Illinois Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request received on June 11, 2019 seeking: “e-mails, letters and phone log records from Willie Wilson to the governor and/or employees of the governor’s office since April 1, 2019.”
The Governor’s Office conducted a search and found no records responsive to your request.
So, apparently, Mr. Wilson wasn’t telling the truth. No surprise and it means little now because so much time has passed, but I’ll remember that the next time he makes a similar claim.
*** UPDATE *** My FOIA was for attempted contacts dating back to April 1. But the Wilson people sent me some documents showing attempted contacts before April 1…
They also sent me a photo (click here) of Wilson seated next to Pritzker at the 103rd birthday party for Elizabeth Jordan in mid-June, as well as this social media post from the event…
From Wilson’s spokesman…
I was standing beside him on Monday June 17th at a luncheon for this 103 y.o. Woman at 1546 west water st, blue island 11am when he asked the Governor ‘why he had not returned his calls?’ And JB said ‘ he didn’t know and would call him from the car now’ - and never did.
Sorry about that, Reverend! If the governor did promise to call him, he should.
A Cook County watchdog’s investigation concluded Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against her former chief of staff was “reasonable,” but said the county needs to come up with a better way to consider complaints of improper behavior by employees when they’re off the clock.
In a summary released Monday, Inspector General Patrick Blanchard noted that the woman who accused then-Preckwinkle chief of staff John Keller of inappropriately touching her in 2016 initially was unwilling to come forward. When the woman decided to do so months later as Preckwinkle geared up to run for mayor, Preckwinkle looked into the woman’s account and took action, Blanchard added.
The woman’s “hesitancy to come forward was reasonable,” Blanchard wrote. “The president’s assertion that she would not take action against an employee based on unsubstantiated rumor is also reasonable.”
Blanchard went on to note a lack of clarity about how to handle allegations relating to county employees’ behavior outside work that could “bring disrepute on the county.” He recommended the process for such cases “be clarified so to eliminate any confusion surrounding whether a report can be filed under these circumstances and how to do so.”
A Preckwinkle spokeswoman said the office recently received the recommendations and have “taken them under advisement.” Stephanie Henson also said the county is putting in place recommendations from an anti-harassment panel Preckwinkle formed in the wake of the Keller firing.
The full report is here. The IG claimed the investigation turned up no “culture of sexual harassment or discrimination.”
* Our old friend Emily Miller helped bring this case to light and she sent out a statement yesterday…
I understand the desire to believe that the culture of sexual harassment and discrimination are pervasive everywhere other than in Cook County government, and it would be nice if that were true.
Based on my personal experience and the experiences shared with me by other women who I believe, I disagree with the finding that there is no pervasive culture of sexual harassment in Cook County government.
Unfortunately, women will continue to miss out on opportunities for professional advancement because of the culture of sexual harassment. The fact is that I could not consider accepting a position in Cook County government because it would have been dangerous for me to work for a man that assaulted my friend and harassed other women I know. If that’s not indicative of a culture of sexual harassment, we need a new measuring stick.
I look forward to the day when the process works for women and whistleblowers and will continue advocating for culture shifts. This finding is not a setback—it’s a spotlight on the work that lies ahead, and I’m ready for it.
Illinois motorists over Independence Day weekend were greeted with higher prices at the pump.
The driving cause? Illinois’ gas tax, which doubled overnight, making Illinoisans subject to the highest state and local gas tax burden in the Midwest. This will cost the average driver around $100 more per year. […]
Rush University Medical Center, part of a private health system with annual revenues of $2.4 billion, will receive a $14 million grant from Illinois taxpayers.
The state will send $50 million in capital plan grants to parks and recreational units for improvements, such as pickleball courts. The Chicago Park District will receive $15 million for a new field house at Jackie Robinson Park.
Taxpayers will float $5 million to Northwestern University to purchase new science equipment. The private university boasts an endowment of $11 billion.
Those are vertical projects and therefore not funded by the Motor Fuel Tax increase.
* A couple of civil suits, a sexual harassment case and a possible federal investigation can do this to you…
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s principal political committee has spend a whopping $1.2 million in legal bills since fall 2017, according to state campaign finance reports.
The majority of those costs was paid to Chicago law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. The most recent quarterly financial report, filed on July 15, showed Madigan’s political committee paid that firm $140,564 for “legal fees.”
In total, Friends of Madigan paid $284,260 in legal fees between April 1, 2019, through June 30, 2019.
By comparison, a Board of Elections search found that Madigan’s personal committee reported spending no money on legal fees between 1/1/2016 and 7/1/2017. He’s spent $1.3 million on legal fees and services since December of 2002.
* Related…
* Chicago Ald. Marty Quinn says federal investigators have not contacted him, despite raid of brother’s home: ‘I know what you know’
Wait until rank and file state union members realize the new fair tax vote in Nov 2020 will also allow the state legislature to change pension details at will. ASCME leadership is very quiet on this topic so far. Now that will be fun to see hard core Democrat State workers standing with anti tax increase Republicans. Heck, that vote might even put Illinois in play for Trump. It will be like the anti gay marriage ballot feature that Karl Rove used to win six borderline states for Bush against Kerry. Illinois State Republicans will look like geniuses because Democrats are just too inept to get out of their own way. Same problem at the national level. Trump can’t losel because he is up against termites.
Um, what? The graduated income tax proposal has nothing to do with changing the constitutional protections of government pensions.
* I asked if he was insane. His reply…
So you claim the Fair Tax bill does not open the Pension System up for adjustment or you are just too lazy to research it? I’m a ASCME steward and we are starting our plan to protect our pensions from the ground up since leadership seems to be in denial. Trying to educate Media these days against their myopic, biased worldview is always eye opening but never a surprise. Have a nice pointless career.
Anyone who claims to be a shop steward and misspells AFSCME should not call anyone else lazy, particularly since they’re dead wrong about the graduated tax proposal and the pension system. I mean, click here and read it yourself. It ain’t in there.
* I reached out to AFSCME Council 31 for assistance and received this reply from Anders Lindall…
It’s understandable that years of attacks on pensions by powerful political forces have raised the level of concern and vigilance among public service workers and retirees who rely on that modest income in retirement. Even so, this is obviously a very confused person. The fair tax constitutional amendment has nothing to do with pensions and in no way affects any constitutional provision other than fixing the state’s unfair, outdated and inadequate income tax structure.
Union members and every Illinois voter should know, plain and simple, that voting YES for fair tax reform means that 97% of taxpayers will pay less or the same, rich people will pay their share and the state will raise more than $3 billion a year for schools, public services and to pay its past-due bills.
We’ll continue to educate union members on the need for fair tax reform like more than 30 other states and the federal government, where wealthy people pay a higher rate and working people a lower rate. And we’ll continue to correct any misinformation that may arise, making clear that this amendment has nothing to do with pensions or any other issue.
* I forwarded that to my pen pal and he replied this morning…
First, thank you for your efforts here. Secondly, any Constitutional language adjustment that allows a more direct change to taxing Illinois wage earners does indeed put everything on the table. It may be a 1% vale added tax for bailing out pension, it could also be rate changes at any level of the wage scale. What this bill does is open the process protected by the existing Illinois Constitution. In a more competent or less corrupt institution maybe we could roll the dice. In Illinois? No. Maybe you have witnessed something different than most witnesses to our finances since 1980? May I suggest a subscription to Crain’s Chicago Business to begin your recovery from Springfield gullibility. I have worked in Springfield handing envelopes to these dedicated drones. One who voted present and later moved into much larger job. The change in language in this bill does indeed open the options for future bodies and selected tax targets. For this staff member to state otherwise indicts him as either incompetent or a liar. Have him stand up and be identified as such. He has company down there.
An iconic nonprofit thrift store is crying poor in the face of looming payroll increases, and it is announcing plans to layoff disabled employees in order to take on the extra cost.
However, the 501(c)(3) organization pays no taxes, collects state funding, was awarded state contracts, and has special permission from the federal government to pay disabled workers well below the minimum wage floor.
Sharon Durbin, President and Chief Executive Officer at Land of Lincoln Goodwill, told dozens of disabled thrift store workers they would no longer receive a paycheck as a result of the state’s new minimum wage increase, and she warns future job cuts could still be coming to the last 11 remaining disabled employees still on the payroll.
Durbin runs the Central Illinois nonprofit branch that oversees 15 retail locations and more than 450 total employees. She wrote about “upcoming changes to the Vocational Rehabilitation Program” in a letter dated June 14th. Her letter said the program “is funded through the Illinois Department of Human Services,” but the funding “does not cover all of the significant costs of the program.”
The abrupt shift not only comes as disappointing news to dozens of disabled workers in the area, including some who live in group homes without their parents, but it also threatens to weaken the core promise of Goodwill’s mission statement. […]
Durbin’s son, Brian Durbin, was hired onto the Executive Leadership team and makes an annual salary of $95,747 at the nonprofit. […]
Durbin acknowledged that her group already pays the sub-minimum rate for 27 of 50 disabled workers, however, inexplicably, she says the nonprofit is “progressing away from that.” The federal formula requires employers to pay disabled workers based on a productivity scale at a rate commensurate with the work they complete. […]
The organization’s 990 tax documents from 2018 reveal Durbin takes home an annual salary of $164,849 plus another $6,145 in benefits.
Seems to me that this is the opposite of what “goodwill” means. Hey @GoodwillIntl - You can’t say our donations “create jobs” when your greed means your clients don’t get paid while your CEO makes $165K & her son makes $95K https://t.co/FjAFQkBd5r
— Rep. Kelly Cassidy (@RepKellyCassidy) July 16, 2019
Senate Majority Leader…
What a sorry excuse for a charity. The comments I read were ridiculous, disappointing and, frankly, disgusting.
Land of Lincoln Goodwill CEO Sharon Durbin, who pulled paychecks from disabled workers, happens to share some rather extreme political views on her Facebook page.
Here, she compares liberals to Nazis & suggests lax public school dress codes & sex ed invites school shootings. pic.twitter.com/4ZJA9yogKb
Durbin also posted this meme saying "everyone outside of Chicago has no voice" in Illinois. She worked for IDOT under the Blagojevich administration, and her nonprofit receives state funding and state contracts. pic.twitter.com/JiJTvZ4qD2
*** UPDATE 4 *** This info was also posted in comments earlier today…
It's interesting when you look at their 990s - CEO Sharon Durbin made $134,912 in 2014 and increased to $164,849 in 2017 (current 990). CFO Ron Culves made $49,845 in 2014 and increased to $106,063 in 2017. But they can't manage the increase in minimum wage? BS.
*** UPDATE 5 *** I followed up and was told that a committee hearing “is something we are currently reviewing”…
News that Land of Lincoln Goodwill in Springfield is laying off dozens of workers with disabilities without a valid explanation is drawing concern from State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield).
“It is disheartening that Goodwill would use false excuses to terminate the employment of reliable, hardworking staff with disabilities in Illinois,” Morrison said.
Morrison – who is chair of the Senate Human Services Committee and founder of the Special Needs Caucus – passed a series of measures this year aimed at increasing state employment of individuals with disabilities, all aimed at breaking down the barriers to employment.
Sharon Durbin, the President and Chief Executive Officer at Land of Lincoln Goodwill in Springfield, communicated to laid off employees the reason for their job loss was due to the state’s recent enactment of a minimum wage increase. Because they hire workers with disabilities, however, Goodwill is permitted by the U.S. Department of Labor to pay these workers below the minimum wage. In addition, the first increase in Illinois’ minimum wage will not take effect until January 1, 2020.
According to a recent WCIA report, Sharon Durbin’s salary at Land of Lincoln Goodwill is more than $160,000.
In 2018, Goodwill received nearly $400,000 in state grants and contracts solely to be used for workers with disabilities.
“What are these contracts going toward if not for the employment of individuals with disabilities?” Morrison said. “That is something we will be looking into. We need Goodwill to return to its mission of working to lift up those experiencing barriers to employment, especially those with disabilities.”
This afternoon on the show: we were scheduled to talk to the CEO of the local Goodwill as a firestorm erupts about their decision to cut jobs for disabled people, but we were told moments ago that she’s now unavailable.
*** UPDATE 7 *** From Kathy Carmody, CEO of the Institute on Public Policy for People with Disabilities…
Community agencies across Illinois that support people with disabilities have had to work vigorously to develop creative and mission-driven solutions to the challenges we face in providing quality and essential services. While the pending long-overdue increase in minimum wage will have a significant fiscal impact on all social service organizations, directly impacting the very people we exist to serve should be the last place an organization goes to balance its ledger.
CITY OFFICIALS TO PROVIDE DETAILS ON THE HUMANE CAPTURE OF THE ALLIGATOR IN HUMBOLDT PARK TODAY AT 10:00 A.M.
WHO: Leadership from Chicago Animal Care and Control, and the Chicago Park District
WHAT: Officials will provide details about the safe and humane capture overnight of the alligator spotted in the Humboldt Park Lagoon last week.
WHERE: HUMBOLDT PARK BOATHOUSE, 1301 N. Humboldt Blvd. Chicago
WHEN: TODAY, 10:00 a.m.
WHY: The Humboldt Park alligator has captured the imaginations of the entire City of Chicago and beyond and has united residents who have been following this story for the last week. The City’s top priority has been to keep residents and park patrons safe while facilitating the safe and humane capture of the alligator. Officials will inform residents about the plan that led to his successful capture and the next steps for him.
The alligator will be in attendance.
Kind Regards,
Jenny Schlueter
Assistant to the Director
Chicago Animal Care and Control
* I thought he’d be bigger…
…Adding… Florida man…
Nice to meet ya #HumboldtGator! Thanks to Frank Robb, who rescued the 4ft. alligator from the lagoon at 3 am this morning, for helping make this introduction possible. pic.twitter.com/ldW3jyXlHt
— Chicago ParkDistrict (@ChicagoParks) July 16, 2019
* Considering Friday’s news about the federal raid on former Ald. Zalewski’s home and the reporting of how the feds were “seeking records” about House Speaker Michael Madigan, a top Madigan ally and ComEd, how much longer do you believe Madigan will remain as House Speaker?
Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
We were double-checking a location on the map and stumbled across this interesting place name, southwest of Peotone. Does anyone have a Photograph of this or is the map just Foolin'? @DefLeppardpic.twitter.com/pQPuaFzfke
The lagoon with the interesting name is located near the broadcast tower for Bible Broadcasting Network station WCPQ. Google lists the radio station location as WBUS-FM. The call letters have changed several times over the years. The last time the station was called “The Bus” was in the 1980s and 1990s when it played rock music.
A post to a fishing forum from 2015 sheds some light on the area, “You can find it, but I don’t think you can find it by googling for it as a phrase, and it’s not really a lagoon. It just happened to be the closest spot that FishMap had for me to check out for Rainbow Darters and Southern Redbelly Dace. Neither of which I found while there, unfortunately. It’s a small spot on the Rock Creek as it passes under S. Center Road SW of Peotone.”
I’m still hearing chatter that former gubernatorial hopeful Jeanne Ives is planning to enter the race, perhaps as soon as this weekend. An Ives candidacy would amount to a surrogate rerun of her contest against former Gov. Bruce Rauner, who has endorsed Sanguinetti. Ives hasn’t been returning phone calls. […]
Look for immigration policy and Donald Trump to be huge issues next year if [former Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti] indeed is the nominee. She and Casten already have clashed over his decision to support the opening of a Trump impeachment inquiry.
Asked about the president’s tweets over the weekend, in which he said of four Democratic congresswomen, “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” the spokesman for Sanguinetti, who is the daughter of an Ecuadorian immigrant and a Cuban refugee, said she has no comment.
I asked around and heard the same thing Greg did.
* Sanguinetti sent out this press release earlier today, perhaps in a bid to get ahead of Ives…
The Evelyn Sanguinetti for Congress campaign today announced more than 40 new endorsements from elected officials, activists and Republican leaders for Evelyn’s election to Congress for Illinois’ 6th district.
“I am so thankful and humbled by the amount of support I have received in the short amount of time since announcing my campaign for United States Congress,” said Evelyn Sanguinetti, candidate for Illinois’ 6th Congressional District. “Through my conversations with 6th District constituents and the overwhelming support I have received, it is clear the 6th is ready for change and I promise to work my hardest to ensure this district is properly represented in Washington.”
Adam Kinzinger, United States Congressman (IL-16)
Mark Kirk, Former United States Senator (IL)
Judy Biggert, Former United State Congresswoman (IL-13)
Corinne Wood, Former Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
Dan Cronin, DuPage County Chairman
Steve Balich, Will County Board, Founder of the Conservative Committeeman Project
Fred Bucholz, DuPage County Recorder
Greg Hart, DuPage County Board Member
Kitty Weiner, Elk Grove Rotary, Political Strategist
Robert Corbino, of Downers Grove
Jack Novak, Downers Grove GOP Township Committeeman
Michael Konewko, Winfield Township GOP Committeeman
James Doerge, of Cook County
Liz Eilers, Director At WLUJ
Jim Ruhl, Naperville Township GOP Chairman
Stephanie Rhinesmith, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Sam Maggio, Vietnam Army Veteran, Wheaton IL
Mark Senak, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Yvonne Sencial Bolton, Former Republican National Hispanic Chairwoman
Ron Menna, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Meaghan Jorgenson, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Tom Elsner, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Bob Cherry, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Tim Whelan, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Mike Formento, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Flo D’Angelo, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Christina Martin, Downers Grove GOP Township Committeeman
Don Rickard, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
James Wool, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Bob Krzyzewski, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Jim Norris, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Carl Miller, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
David Norck, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Paul Bischoff, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Thommen Poozhikunnel, Milton GOP Township Committeeman
Mark Thomas, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Greg Moffett, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Arthur Grant, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Chick Briner, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Christopher Davis, Downers Grove GOP Township Committeeman
Alex Ion, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Joe Duffy, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Noel Manley, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Tim Waz, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Deborah Kraus, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Jonathan Nelson, Downers Grove GOP Township Committeeman
Jaye Wang, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Cynthia Schneider, Naperville Area Republican Women’s Organization
State Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, said elected officials encouraging local law enforcement to not cooperate with federal immigration officials was dangerous.
“To say that we’re going to not cooperate with federal agents to deal with illegal immigrants is a violation of the law and I think that, I don’t know, I think the consequences of this can be most severe,” Miller said.
He said elected officials can’t pick and choose which laws to obey, be they state or federal laws.
There are no federal laws mandating complete state and local police cooperation on immigration matters.
Elected officials, including two Republican lawmakers, talked with residents Saturday about two controversial efforts, one that would separate Chicago from the rest of the state and another to encourage more counties to pass resolutions declaring themselves gun sanctuary counties. […]
“This is shrinking all the time, but the last I checked [Illinois] had the 18th largest economy in the world – in the world – and we have done almost everything that we can possibly do to destroy that,” said state Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, referencing high taxes and regulations. “So just think about what would happen if we, instead of having the highest of everything, if we were the lowest of everything … we would be thriving.” […]
Effingham County was the first county to pass a resolution to be a sanctuary for legal gun owners from burdensome gun laws.
Effingham County Board Vice Chairman David Campbell started the gun sanctuary resolution efforts. He said it’s grown to more than half the state. He was also at the Springfield town hall event Saturday.
“We need Sangamon County [to pass a gun sanctuary resolution] so we can get the rest of the counties to jump on board,” Campbell said. “They see Sangamon do it, they’re going to jump on, a lot of the other ones.”
Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul has publicly said that county state’s attorneys have prosecutorial discretion on whether or not to charge people for violating state gun laws.
A new day, and a new reason for some people to hate Illinois.
Hating the state you live in is a pretty strange phenomenon, but a popular one in Illinois. In fact, I think of it more as a self-hate, honestly. People whine and moan and complain about Illinois loudly and often. And these are people who were born here and have lived here their entire lives.
Huh?
I have lived in eight states and one U.S. territory and have never seen anything like it. If complaining about your home state was an Olympic sport, Illinois would take home gold permanently.
There has been a spike in the incessant whining recently as a new gas tax, increased vehicle registration fee, new tobacco tax and a few others have gone into effect.
If you were to believe a lot of people you know locally, or from the sampling of unhinged comments on social media, you would believe Illinois is basically the deepest level of hell, or whatever other horrible place you could spend eternity in, like Kansas. […]
I hope that some of those apparently tortured people will leave, and I hope they find the utopia they believe is out there.
The reality is they will eventually find themselves miserable there too. Funny how that seems to work.
* Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA writing in the Daily Herald…
As a person who makes his living in the political world, a big part of what I try to do is separate my emotions from rational thought in hopes of being able to see the world as clear-eyed as possible. So, it is with much sadness, but after considerable rational analysis, that I have decided to say goodbye to the state of Illinois, the place that from this point on will have the qualifier of being my “childhood home.” I have officially made the move to Florida.
Like many other young people who are statistically likely to have their best earning years ahead of them, this decision will help me avoid the high taxes, excessive regulation and the corruption of Illinois politicians and government.
This is something I have been contemplating for awhile, but a combination of family, friends, loyalty and simple inertia have held me back from making the move. The results of the 2018 elections in Illinois and the rise to power of those who believe in growing the size of government, increasing regulations and strengthening labor unions — all at the expense of the individual, entrepreneurs and businesses — all helped make the choice relatively straightforward for me.
In some ways, I don’t feel like I’m leaving Illinois. I feel as though Illinois left me.
The fact is that a majority of the money from the infrastructure bill goes to Downstate Illinois. As you know, the many roads, the miles of roads all across the state, the bridges, the significant investment necessary, it’s in mostly Downstate Illinois. […]
Universities around the state are mostly, almost entirely in districts represented by Republicans. And that’s where hundreds of millions of dollars, in fact billions when you add it all up, are going. So, the money is getting distributed I think very fairly across the state.
At the time, I said I was looking forward to the fact check.
Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh responded to our inquiry not with details from a specific state plan but rather with some math and historical perspective, starting with the fact that the governor’s program dedicates 74% of funding to transportation projects. Well more than half of that, the summary of his plan details, is slated to go to roads and bridges.
“He was focused on roads and universities,” Abudayyeh said in an email. “Downstate roads make up the vast majority of the state’s roads and bridges.
“Of Illinois’ roughly 16,000 miles of IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) roadways, 83% are located Downstate,” she continued. “Historically, the traditional distribution of road funds has been approximately 55% going to Downstate projects, with the remaining 45% going [to] non-Downstate projects.”
While that statement dealt with transportation issues, neither Pritzker nor anyone in his office provided the information needed to back up the claim about the overall allocation of infrastructure money under the plan. So we won’t be rating it at this time. […]
Experts we spoke with confirmed the historic 55/45 funding split Pritzker’s office used to defend his claim, noting it’s been common practice for decades even though it isn’t prescribed by state law. […]
Our analysis of last year’s IDOT report bears out that trend. Estimated funds for projects in Cook County and its five collars comprised 41% of the department’s allocations for state roads and bridges over the six-year period.
After six fruitless days of searching for an elusive alligator in the Humboldt Park Lagoon, the city announced it’s bringing in an expert from Florida and shutting down part of the park in a stepped-up effort to trap the gator.
The orders came from the top — Mayor Lori Lightfoot, according to Ald. Roberto Maldonado.
The city’s Animal Care and Control Department said it “is grateful to the Chicago Herpetological Society for its onsite assistance,” but didn’t say if the group’s alligator hunter known as Alligator Bob was now out of the mix.
Alligator Bob, a volunteer, has toiled in the lagoon for six days, day and night, baiting traps and paddling his canoe around looking for the gator. He was on the job Sunday, but later packed up his traps and left the park.
Chicago animal control officials have closed the eastern half of Humboldt Park and have hired an expert from Florida as the search for an alligator in the park lagoon enters its second week.
The closure, which includes streets near the park, was done on the advice of the expert, Frank Robb, and is aimed at making the area around the lagoon as quiet and free from distractions as possible, according to Chicago Animal Care and Control. […]
Robb, who owns Crocodilian Specialist Services in St. Augustine, Fla., arrived in Chicago on Sunday and “immediately began assessing the park and lagoon,” according to the statement.
Robb’s LinkedIn page claims he’s been a “Self-employed Alligator Trapping Agent” since May of 1997. His media clips are here.
For the second time this year, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin has stripped one of his member’s access to a House communications staffer.
Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, is the most recent to lose his state-funded communications staff member. Earlier this year, Rep. Dave McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, lost his comms staffer for criticizing fellow Republican Rep. Steve Reick for allegedly making “racist” comments and calling on House GOP Leader Jim Durkin to resign for being a “fake Republican” and “corrupt insider.” McSweeney, who wants to run statewide in 2022, said he paid for his own communications staffer, so he wasn’t concerned.
The problems with Miller (no relation) started coming to a head last month when his Facebook page displayed an Americans for Prosperity Illinois post calling on readers to “Keep Rep. Brady accountable for raising the gas tax.” The post featured a photo of Rep. Dan Brady, a Deputy House Republican Leader.
Rep. Miller claimed later that his Facebook account had been hacked. “Thanks for the heads up,” he told me after denying he’d made the post. I was dubious of the explanation, to say the least.
And the attacks on his fellow Republicans continued. Earlier this month, he wrote on Facebook “Republicans don’t vote for tax hikes,” and called the GOP members who voted to raise the Motor Fuel Tax “Republicans in name only.”
Miller claimed in another post (which, like pretty much everything else quoted here, has also disappeared from his Facebook page, but was saved by the House Republicans) that gasoline was 30 cents a gallon cheaper across the Indiana border and wrote “Thank Dems and Rinos.” And he talked some smack about Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, who voted for the gas tax hike. “She done the same crap last time on the budget.”
“The House Republican caucus does not tolerate attacks on fellow members,” said Leader Durkin’s spokesperson Eleni Demertzis when asked about the staff move.
”Apparently people that vote against tax hikes must be punished,” Rep. Miller responded, claiming that the move reminded him of junior high school.
Miller also said he was “very emotional” after losing his comms staffer. “It’s going to be tough without him.” But he posted a photo on his Facebook page, also since deleted, of his wheat combine with the text “Mission accomplished! Wheat cut. [Staffer’s name] gone. Prayers have been answered.” Asked about that, Miller said it was a “weak moment” and said he was probably spending too much time on his combine.
Rep. Miller issued a formal statement the following day quoting the Illinois Republican Party Platform’s plank about opposing tax hikes.
“It apparently is completely acceptable to violate a clear tenet of the Republican Party platform as no one who voted for the tax increases is being penalized in any way,” Miller said in the release. “I make some comments about my disappointment in Republican support for tax hikes and that is what gets our Republican leadership angry.”
“I will continue to speak my mind and will continue to oppose tax increases,” Miller continued. “The vast majority of my constituents are furious about the tax increases approved this spring. I hear from them every day and the message I give to them is that I will stand with them by opposing tax hikers regardless of their political party affiliation.”
Notice that he said he will oppose “tax hikers.” That would include members of his own Republican caucus.
Miller is a member of what’s known in Springfield as the Eastern Bloc, a handful of anti-tax, pro-life, ultra-conservative House members from eastern and southeastern Illinois. They haven’t had an impact on the Statehouse outside of occasionally getting a little publicity by using over-heated rhetoric. And now at least one of them has decided to go after fellow Republicans.
It’s difficult not to wonder where all of this goes for Leader Durkin, who heads up a super-minority caucus that is fractured into at least two even smaller camps.
Rep. McSweeney, for one, has been a constant thorn in Durkin’s side all year. And the Eastern Bloc members are apparently trying to reignite the party’s old circular firing squad habits of attacking fellow Republicans (say whatever you want about former Gov. Bruce Rauner, but he and his people put a stop to that stuff for a few years) and they and other members, including Durkin’s own House Republican Organization chairperson, are calling on Chicago to be kicked out of Illinois while a fight continues festering in southern Illinois over the Confederate flag.
I wouldn’t want to be that guy.
* Rep. Miller responds…
What intraparty struggle? I did not realize that Democrat light was the same thing as the Grand Old Party I am a proud member of. Republicans oppose tax increases. Period. https://t.co/eXUg77Z7QP#twill
Federal agents recently executed a search warrant on the Southwest Side home of retired Chicago Ald. Michael Zalewski, and sources familiar with the investigation say they were seeking records regarding the alderman’s longtime political ally, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. […]
Part of the probe centers on efforts to get work for Zalewski at ComEd and the interactions between Madigan, Zalewski and longtime ComEd lobbyist and Madigan confidant Michael McClain, according to three sources familiar with the federal investigation. The three sources declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak about the investigation. […]
The younger Zalewski’s wife, Carrie, was appointed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in April to head the Illinois Commerce Commission — which is ComEd’s chief regulator. […]
Contacted by phone at his Quincy home, McClain declined to discuss the federal investigation but expressed confusion about what the agents might be investigating.
“There’s nothing against the law about asking for a job,” he said.
* ComEd statement…
Exelon and ComEd have received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois requiring production of information concerning its lobbying activities in the State of Illinois. Exelon and ComEd have pledged to cooperate fully and are cooperating fully with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in expeditiously providing the requested information.
Those two companies have a huge Statehouse presence. They employ a ton of lobbyists connected to all four caucuses, but Speaker Madigan does have a whole lot of his people on contract over there, as the WBEZ story points out.
Former Ald. Michael Zalewski (23rd) has hired one of the city’s leading criminal defense law firms, the first confirmation he is caught up in the sweeping federal investigation of the City Council.
Newly-disclosed campaign finance reports show Zalewski paid $25,000 in May to Breen & Pugh, whose name partners Thomas Breen and Todd Pugh are considered among the city’s go-to lawyers for politicos in trouble.
Some of their recent clients have included former Donald Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos, sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI in the Russia investigation; former Mayor Richard M. Daley nephew R.J. Vanecko, sentenced to 60 days in jail for the death of David Koschman; Chicago police officer Joseph Walsh, acquitted of conspiring to falsify reports in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald; and Cook County Judge Joseph Claps, acquitted of bringing a gun into the courthouse. […]
Zalewski resigned his aldermanic seat in May 2018, in partial recognition of the overwhelming Hispanic majority in the 23rd Ward that would have made re-election difficult. He was replaced by state Rep. Silvana Tabares, an ally of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
From what I’ve heard, the G is/was interested in that replacement process. Zalewski did have plenty of other reasons for getting out of the city council, including the Latinx composition of his ward and his maxed-out pension.
Public records indicate Zalewski, who was making more than $114,000 a year as an alderman, has been having money problems recently. The IRS filed two liens totaling $185,634 against Zalewski for unpaid taxes in the past two years, records show. The most recent, filed in March, was for $99,770. The IRS last November filed a lien for $85,864.
It wasn’t the first time Zalewski had faced financial difficulties. In 2001, he and his wife, Mildred, filed for bankruptcy, which they emerged from a year later.
* This may or may not be related, but you may recall that a formal request for a federal investigation of Madigan’s political operation was made by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners back in December. To my eyes back then, it looked like a case could be made for suborning perjury. And once these federal investigations start, they can go pretty much anywhere.
* One more bit that may or may not be related…
My name is Sarah Mckay, I’m married to Kevin Quinn. I have stayed silent long enough, I have two children that I love more than anything in the world, they are currently uninsured, while he has insurance, he made $14,000 in January, he’s being ghost pay rolled by Madigan goons.
* The Tribune has published yet another editorial about its “solutions” for higher education. Here’s one bit…
Pause to let that sink in: Nearly half of public school students spurn the universities their own families’ tax dollars built, and support, in order to leave Illinois — often just across the border to Wisconsin, Indiana and Iowa. Some flee farther: The University of Alabama is a much more popular destination for Chicago-area kids than you’d imagine.
Those states have invested big bucks in their schools’ infrastructure, something that the Trib is skeptical about doing in Illinois…
That’s why you get so much unimaginative overlap, such as both Eastern Illinois University and Western Illinois now in line to get $100 million science buildings. The rationale is that both schools need new science buildings … to continue doing business as usual. Never mind that, at both universities, enrollment has plummeted.
Um, maybe enrollment is plummeting partly because the state hasn’t made the proper investments? EIU’s current science building is a joke. And the Tribune, remember, was all about the impasse, which just about killed off three or four universities in this state. No planning. Just death. So smart.
What should be done to improve school performance and attract more students? Pritzker, a businessman who surely sees that many of the universities have lost their luster, can demand that they specialize in certain areas of academic focus. Sure, let each offer some courses in all major disciplines, but concentrate upper-level offerings in each field at one or two campuses. Pritzker also can demand answers to questions that boards and administrators always duck: Should some of Illinois’ dwindling universities merge? Given demographic trends, should any of them be mothballed? Should one or two evolve into, say, residential community colleges with two-year career training?
We asked Nyle Robinson, interim executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, if a rethink is in the cards. We were glad to hear him, too, say the arrival of a new governor “is an obvious time to have such discussions.”
* I emailed the IBHE about Robinson’s comment and the editorial…
One of the things the Tribune suggested in that editorial was merging and/or mothballing universities. Does ED Robinson share that view? What other points does he agree with in that editorial?
* From Nyle Robinson, interim executive director, IBHE…
We are always happy to have a new governor’s interest in higher education. We are particularly pleased with Gov. Pritzker’s commitment to this sector for many reasons, including the fact that the health of a state’s economy is tied to the health of its higher education. The FY 2020 budget was the best for higher education operations since at least FY 02. It also was the best capital program for higher education in decades. However, one good year will not fix the damage of decades of disinvestment. Universities and community colleges received a 5% increase for FY 20. In FY 16 they only received 30% of what they received in FY 15 and the budget impasse ended with a permanent 10% decrease in FY 18.
Those facts must be taken into account when considering what Illinois wants, and needs, its higher education system to be. Community colleges, public universities, and private colleges are constantly reviewing its programs and structures. Coursework is updated, majors and minors change as employment needs shift, and institutions evolve to meet the demands of the workforce and students. College and university staff meet regularly with employers to align coursework with job needs. Unfortunately, during the budget impasse, many colleges and universities were pushed into making the cuts they could make in the short term to lower costs quickly, rather than making strategic choices.
However, a confluence of events makes this an ideal time to look at Illinois higher education system. There being a new Governor who has expressed support for higher education, both in his words and in his deeds. We are in the second year of budget stability and at the start of a six-year capital program, after a long drought in capital support. That will modernize and refresh campuses. Making them more attractive to perspective students.
In addition, the state higher education master plan is ten years old. It is the time modernize it as well. IBHE has started work on a new plan and we have had initial discussions with the Governor’s office about how to best undertake the gathering of input. Everything should be on the table in such a process.
But, as a 33-year veteran of state government, I am skeptical of reorganizations. Reorganizations are certain to cause disruption, but the benefits are less certain. It is easier to envision the upsides than it is to see the barriers. Also, while universities may benefit from highlighting their top programs, the downsides of cutting programs too severely must be considered. While the state is concerned about outmigration, the fact is most students will start school within 100 miles of their home. This is particularly true of poor and minority students, who are making up an ever-increasing portion of the student population and isolating programs in different, possibly remote, portions of a large state will make them inaccessible to older students with jobs and family responsibilities. Just one example, stripping programs from Eastern will only make Indiana schools more attractive, some of them are closer than other Illinois schools. Also, it is better and easier to connect students with jobs close to where they are studying.
Higher education is dynamic and evolving. The workforce is evolving. The student population is evolving. New modes of delivering higher education are becoming more prevalent, and attractive. We believe that reforms of our state system are merited but reorganization is not likely to be the most productive way of responding to the changing landscape. [Emphasis added]
* Amanda Kass and Andrew Crosby of the UIC’s Government Finance Research Center have published a white paper about local first responder pension funds. They examined 336 municipalities which have 516 police or fire pension funds - about 80 percent of all non-Chicago funds.
They were looking to see if any municipalities were getting around the state “pension intercept” law. From their white paper…
Starting in fiscal year (FY) 2016, the enforcement mechanism allows the State Comptroller to intercept state- sharing revenue if municipalities’ contributions to their police and fire pension funds fall short of what their contributions are supposed to be under state law. That intercepted revenue is then re-directed to the pension systems to make up for the shortfall in governments’ contributions. A premise of the pension intercept is that state intervention can help ensure the fiscal sustainability of local governments and their retirement funds.
They found that most municipalities appeared to be making their statutorily required pension payments. But they found 22 which looked hinky. After obtaining information from those municipalities, they came to this conclusion…
We found that while the majority (14 municipalities) were indeed shorting their pension funds, only two municipalities had state-sharing revenue intercepted: Harvey and North Chicago.
Not good. If the state takes no action, the problems in those municipalities are going to only get worse.
* I followed up with Ms. Kass to ask if there could be more than 14 municipalities shorting their pension funds…
Hi Rich:
Shorter answer: There could be more, but it’s really difficult to determine without collecting data from all municipalities. I don’t have confidence is coming up with a specific estimate. I would say that for 2016 there were 163 municipalities whose actual contributions look like they were less than 100% than the IDOI recommendation. That alone, however, does not indicate those municipalities shorted their pension funds, but that is the number of places I’d examine to see if they did short. I just want to be careful about the language.
Long explanation: We compared municipalities actual contributions to IDOI’s recommended contribution, which we defined as a “payment ratio.” A payment ratio of 1 means that a municipality’s actual contribution equaled the IDOI recommendation; less than 1 means the contribution was less than the IDOI recommendation. The 22 we looked at had average payment ratios below 0.5 for some time between 2005 and 2016, so these seemed like the most extreme cases of shorting.
Out of the 336 municipalities, there are 163 municipalities that had a payment ratio of less than 1 for 2016; however, I can’t provide a good estimate of how many of those shorted. Out of that pool of 163, 60 have payment ratios of 0.9 or above. The payment ratio being below 1 could be because the municipality hired an actuary and that actuary’s recommended contribution was less than IDOI; it could be because the municipality’s actual payment is not aligned with the correct IDOI recommendation; or it could be because the municipality shorted. Many may have hired their own actuary and not used IDOI, but information about whether a municipality or pension fund hires its own actuary doesn’t seem to be collected by IDOI (at least not in a spreadsheet or easy to use way). For the 22 municipalities we looked at, only five used IDOI’s recommendation.
The 3rd party actuaries’ figures varied widely from the IDOI recommendations, and the difference between IDOI and the 3rd party actuary was not consistent over time even for the same municipality. Because of this we couldn’t even identify a likely lower boundary for the payment ratio–meaning coming up with a cutoff point for payment ratios less than 1 to distinguish between likely shorting and just difference between 3rd party actuary and IDOI). This is why we limited to just looking at the most extreme cases (the 22 municipalities).
Pension funds can trigger the intercept for any shortfall in the actual contribution. Chicago’s contributions to its pension systems for 2018 (per the information in its CAFR) were only about 2% less than required, but the systems have still triggered the intercept against the City.
As animal experts deploy a new strategy to try to capture and rescue the elusive alligator in Humboldt Park, concern is rising over the reptile’s health.
After several days of occasional sightings, the approximately 5-foot-long American alligator hasn’t been seen in more than 24 hours. […]
“We’ve gone 24 hours without a confirmed sighting of the animal. I’m not gonna speculate, but you guys will anyway,” [Alligator Bob] told reporters. “He could’ve been sick or injured when they threw him in here. … ‘Oh, I fed him something and he’s poison and he’s not eating. Oh, I dropped something and broke his back. Oh, I stabbed him when he bit me.’ There’s 100 things.
“We might be looking for a carcass. The water temperature is 74 degrees, just like any other body, it’ll come floating to the surface. But I’m not saying he’s dead. He’s just missing.”
[Chicago police officers] arrested a total of 84,717 people in 2018 compared with 82,663 in 2017, a 2 percent increase, according to the Chicago Police Department. […]
So far this year, felony arrests have continued to rise, according to the police. There were 47,467 arrests through Sunday compared with 43,831 over the same period of 2018, an 8 percent rise.
Still, in 2009, there were 181,254 arrests. The police department’s arrest totals had steadily decreased year after year until 2018.
Martin Preib, second vice-president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said, “A central factor in the decline of arrests is the false vilification of the police by the activist media.”
Um, what? Is this an admission by the union of a police slowdown?
There’s only one consensus on extending Route 53 into Lake County and that is — the issue has dragged on for many years.
Since the 1970s, the project has been studied multiple times, analyzed to death in myriad committees and voted on in a 2009 referendum where residents said yes.
This month will mark another turning point. The Lake County Board could put the Route 53 extension on the back burner at a meeting Tuesday.
If they do, the Illinois tollway — the latest entity to carry the Route 53 torch — might announce it’s pulling the plug on a related $25 million environmental study this month.
Three recently elected Democratic County Board Members are praising the Pritzker Administration’s decision today to end the most recent study of the long-controversial Route 53 extension. Moving on from this project after nearly 60 years of uncertainty will allow Lake County to better explore comprehensive, 21st Century solutions to our transportation needs.
Jessica Vealitzek (D-Hawthorn Woods) said, “I applaud the decision by the Tollway Authority. There are many things we can do to relieve congestion in Lake County, but extending one road for $3 billion isn’t the solution. It’s going to take more than that–a 21st-century, comprehensive transportation plan.”
Julie Simpson (D-Vernon Hills) said “I want to thank Governor Pritzker, the Tollway board, and everyone who fought along side us to put this environmentally devastating, fiscally irresponsible, archaic project to bed. We will now be able to move forward with a modern transportation plan to address the many infrastructure needs that have been held hostage for the last 50+ years.”
Adam Didech (D-Buffalo Grove) said “We’re finally free of a 60-year-old albatross. This decision, coupled with the Governor’s successful capital bill, puts Lake County on a path toward modern, comprehensive solutions to our transportation needs. I’m glad we’ll be moving forward with consensus projects like the Route 22 expansion.”
All 3 Democratic members were elected to the Board in 2018, replacing long-time Republican supporters of the now-scuttled project.
* Press release…
The Village of Hawthorn Woods thanks Illinois Tollway Executive Director José Alvarez for terminating this latest round of studies on the controversial Route 53 Extension. This decision appears to recognize that the same conditions that have derailed every other bid to extend Route 53 – a glaring lack of political consensus in support of the project and a chronic shortage of funds to build it – remain facts of life today.
We hope that this decision represents the permanent demise of the proposed extension, so that Lake County can begin efforts to make the transportation improvements that we can all agree on. Those concepts include arterial lane widenings, grade separations where roads cross railroads, and enhanced commuter rail service. After all, these common-sense and cost-effective improvements to the Lake County’s transportation system have languished for decades, while one futile effort after another was mounted to extend Route 53.
In the wake of this decision, we call on the Tollway, the Illinois Department of Transportation, and the Federal Highway Administration to decommission the Route 53 corridor and work with relevant state and local agencies to convert it into a permanent greenway for public recreational use and environmental stewardship.
Dating back to when the state first proposed the extension in the 1960s, it has spent massive sums of money on repeated studies of the project and land purchases linked to its right-of-way. And each time, those efforts resulted in the same outcome: An admission that there is too much opposition, too little money, and to great of a negative impact to the environment to warrant the continued studies of the project. And all that time, Lake County commuters remained mired in traffic congestion that could have been eased through other avenues.
After six decades, the record is clear: Grassroots opposition to the project is staunch; money to build it is too scarce; and the irreparable damage it would inflict on Lake County’s treasured, but fragile, natural areas is severe.
Let’s put our roadbuilders to work now, instead of lining the pockets of consultants with millions of dollars that could be invested in our infrastructure. With this decision in place, Lake County can finally advance our local plan to effectively relieve traffic congestion, protect the beauty of its landscape, and enhance our collective quality of life.
UPDATE: The Illinois Gaming Board has awarded a contract to Union Gaming Analytics out of Las Vegas to conduct the "feasibility study" on a #Chicago#CasinoCoin That's 5 days past deadline but still rapid turnaround for a gov't bid. Results on Aug. 12 ->https://t.co/tQLzWLg6ST
As Rockford’s push for a casino continues, at least one proposal appears to be in the works.
On Tuesday, Hard Rock International CEO Jim Allen and Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen plan to announce the proposed development of Hard Rock Casino in Rockford.
Allen and Nielsen will be at the former Clock Tower Resort at 7801 E. State Street. The announcement is expected around noon.
Nielsen has traveled to Springfield on behalf of his city at least a couple of times. Not sure if many people knew he was hoping to open a casino. But, hey, that looks like a pretty cool combination.
Nevada hopes to be the first state to create its own banking system for the booming marijuana industry, which has generated more than $150 million in tax revenue since 2017, according to Nevada Treasurer Zach Conine’s office.
Since the drug is still illegal under federal law, most banks won’t accept cannabis businesses as clients. As a result, the multimillion-dollar industry is mainly a cash business — at least for now.
Under a three-year pilot program, Nevada will allow marijuana businesses and consumers to deal in electronic tokens. The system will work much the same way as in in casinos, where players buy and bet with chips. “You exchange cash for casino chips and those chips transfer around the casino,” says Conine. “At the end, you convert them back into cash.”
The initial idea is for consumers and businesses to use an app to buy tokens, which could then be used at any marijuana business or for paying state and local government. Consumers could use them at dispensaries. Dispensaries could use those tokens to pay growers, who in turn could use tokens to pay a tax bill to the state. At that point, the state would convert the tokens back into dollars.
Repeals the Reproductive Health Act. Creates the Illinois Abortion Law of 2019 containing the provisions of the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975 before its repeal by Public Act 101-13, as well as provisions defining “viability” to include when, in the medical judgment of the attending physician based on the particular facts of the case before the attending physician, the unborn child has a fetal heartbeat, and defining “fetal heartbeat” as the cardiac activity or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the gestational sac.
House Republican Allen Skillicorn, who is mulling a 2020 Congressional campaign, filed the anti-abortion measure in Springfield to respond to what he called “truly appalling legislation.”
Skillicorn, a two-term representative from East Dundee, wrote in a statement, “It is now conceivable that a 14-year old girl lacking parental consent and advanced in her pregnancy could receive an abortion from a ‘health worker’ in a facility lacking minimum medical standards, as practitioner and facility licensing have been revoked. And if she would die due to negligence, no record of the death due to a botched abortion would be reported.”
“That is a complete disregard for reality,” [Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago], who sponsored the bill in the House, said. “[Skillicorn] operates from a position that people are stupid and not smart enough to know the truth.” […]
The measure did also remove the state’s ability to grant special licenses to abortion clinics, but supporters say they did so as a precaution to eliminate so-called “trap laws” that were “put in place to close all abortion clinics,” Cassidy said. By removing the requirement for outpatient abortion clinics to seek a state license, the Reproductive Health Act prevents future legislatures or state agency directors from targeting a facility’s license as a means to revoke access to the procedure, similar to what is currently happening in the state of Missouri.
In this regard, Skillicorn’s hyperbolic hypothetical is a gross over-exaggeration, and not literally true. According to state law, doctors and facilities that perform abortions still have to be licensed medical practitioners and still must meet strict health, safety, and medical guidelines, just as any other surgeon, physician, or hospital have to comply with state and federal safety standards. The change in the law only removes an older provision that added an extra regulatory hurdle specifically for abortion procedures. Some smaller outpatient abortion facilities that provide abortion by injection or by pill may not have to be licensed as surgery centers, but the medical professionals performing the procedures still must be professionally trained and licensed.
* The House Republicans have been blogging about Illinois history this year. Here’s their latest…
On Sunday, July 9, 1933, a fire broke out in a store room on the 5th floor of the Capitol’s south wing. It quickly spread to the 6th floor office of the division of oil inspection, and the nearby offices of the division of agriculture and the state supervising architect.
* The fire was eventually extinguished, but only after significant damage had been done by the flames and by the large amount of water used to combat the conflagration. The place was drenched, including the House chambers.
But the story doesn’t end there. An important meeting had been scheduled for the very next day…
Earlier that year, Congress had started the process of adding a 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, an amendment which would repeal the 18th Amendment enacting prohibition. Illinois had enthusiastically embraced the cause.
The General Assembly adopted a joint resolution calling for a state convention to meet and discuss ratifying the repeal amendment. In April both houses and the Governor had enacted House Bill 441, setting by law the time and place for the repeal convention to meet: 12 noon, Monday, July 10, 1933, in the House chamber. That is, the very chamber which was now full of water and crumbling, falling plaster.
Elections for delegates to the convention had been held on June 5, and all 50 delegates were members of the “wet” slate, delegates who favored repeal of Prohibition, defeating their “dry” counterparts.
“Before a galaxy of distinguished visitors in the crowded House of Representatives, the 50 wet delegates to the repeal convention formally will place Illinois in the procession of states knocking out the dry paragraphs of the constitution,” the Illinois State Register had predicted on the day of the fire.
They were right about everything but the location.
While water was still dripping into the chamber, the jokes had started floating around: wet chamber, wet delegates.
“The hall had been all arranged for the repeal convention, but became sadly ‘wet’ before its time,” quipped the Journal.
Jokes aside, though, the convention did face a very real problem. The time and place of the convention had been specifically set by law. Convention delegates were arriving in the capital city while the smoke was still rising from the statehouse. The designated location was clearly unsafe. In the hours after the fire, a plan began to come together.
The Trump administration is moving forward with a nationwide immigration enforcement operation targeting migrant families, despite loud opposition from Democrats and questions over whether it’s the best use of resources given the crisis at the border.
The operation could happen as soon as this weekend after being postponed by President Donald Trump late last month. It would pursue people with final deportation orders, including families whose immigration cases were fast-tracked by judges in 10 major cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
* Press release…
In the face of renewed threats from President Trump to conduct immigration raids, Governor JB Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul reiterated their commitment to working hand in hand to use every tool at their disposal to protect Illinois’ immigrant families.
“Immigrants are an essential part of what makes this country great. In Illinois, we welcome and protect them, despite threats from President Trump,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “In the face of a coordinated attempt by the President to stoke fear, exploit division, and force families into the shadows, Illinois stands as a firewall against the president’s attacks on our immigrant communities. To every hardworking immigrant resident of our great state: Illinois is and always will be a welcoming state for all.”
“Despite what the president would have people believe, every Illinois resident has constitutional rights, regardless of citizenship or immigration status,” said Attorney General Kwame Raoul. “I urge every immigrant to Know Your Rights – the first one being that you do not have to open your door to immigration agents. I also encourage Illinois law enforcement agencies to review my office’s Guidance to Law Enforcement, which details changes to state law, to ensure they do not violate those rights.”
As the state’s chief executive, Gov. Pritzker has directed all state agencies that the state of Illinois will not coordinate with ICE on federal immigration enforcement. In addition, the governor signed two pieces of legislation into law last month that help make Illinois a firewall against President Trump’s attacks.
House Bill 1637
Keep Illinois Families Together Act
HB 1637 prohibits local law enforcement agencies from engaging in federal immigration enforcement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
While local law enforcement agencies in 21 states, including Wisconsin, participate in the 287(g) Program — an ICE program that allows local law enforcement officials to identify and remove undocumented residents from the U.S. — Illinois now statutorily prohibits participation. This bill ensures witnesses of all backgrounds can come forward and report crime to their local police. HB 1637 took effect on June 21, 2019.
House Bill 2040
Private Detention Facility Moratorium Act
HB 2040 bans immigrant detention centers in the state of Illinois, which halted the proposed federally-run center in Dwight, Ill. Specifically, the bill prohibits state, county and local governments from entering any agreement or making any financial transactions with a private detention facility, with an exception for contracts with providers of ancillary services such as medical or food services.
This law made Illinois the first state in the nation to ban private civil detention centers, after the state already banned private criminal detention centers. HB 2040 also took effect on June 21, 2019.
Attorney General’s Office Updated Immigration Guidance
Know Your Rights
The Attorney General’s office has updated its Guidance to Law Enforcement to provide an overview of changes to Illinois laws that include prohibitions on engaging in immigration enforcement. The Attorney General is also reminding immigrant residents and service providers in immigrant communities of the office’s free Know Your Rights resources. The comprehensive materials available in several languages give residents guidance in situations where they are confronted by a police officer or immigration agent in public or at home. A full fact sheet can be found here.
Every resident of Illinois has constitutional rights that protect them if they encounter law enforcement, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. The Attorney General’s office encourages people to read and carry a Know Your Rights card with them in case they are approached by law enforcement or immigration authorities.
The Attorney General’s office also encourages individuals to contact the office to report instances of discrimination or harassment by calling its Civil Rights Hotline at 1-877-581-3692.
An effort by the state of Illinois to consolidate hundreds of separate financial reporting systems has cost $150 million more than estimated.
Auditor General Frank Mautino’s audit of the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology found that the cost of the Enterprise Resource Planning project exceeded the initial five-year, $250 million estimate by 60 percent largely because of an aggressive implementation schedule. It began by tackling 260 separate financial reporting systems.
“It’s running behind and you’ve had cost overruns because of the implementation, they pushed hard in the beginning, which caused conversion problems and implementation problems because it’s trying to do so much,” Mautino said.
The audit found that the current estimated $400 million rollout should cover the rest of the implementation, scheduled for completion early next year. But Mautino noted some of the bigger challenges remain — mega-agencies such as the Department of Human Services and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which handle public assistance and Medicaid health care coverage, have yet to come online.
The audit, covering a two-year period that ended in June 2018, found 30 deficiencies. They included the failure to consolidate computer services among all 38 agencies required by a 2016 executive order by former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, late payment of vendors resulting in $20 million in late-payment interest, shoddy control of inventory and assets, and failure to follow written policies about which personnel have the authority to make such changes as computer coding.
Because of the significance and pervasiveness of the findings described within the report, we expressed an adverse opinion on the Department’s compliance with the assertions which comprise a State compliance examination. The Codification of Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (AT-C § 205.72) states a practitioner “should express an adverse opinion when the practitioner, having obtained sufficient appropriate evidence, concludes that misstatements, individually or in the aggregate, are both material and pervasive to the subject matter.”
The agency also failed to conduct employee performance evaluations in a timely manner, and failed to submit reports to the state about employee diversity on time, or even at all in the case of the Asian-American Employment Plan Survey for the 2017 fiscal year.
After employees were terminated, many of them kept their state cell phones for weeks, or even months. The audit found that of nine terminated employees sampled for the audit, six of them kept their cell phones for anywhere between 46 to 291 days after the termination of the employee, costing the state $1,576. One of the former employees slipped through the cracks entirely, and DoIT was not aware that the cell service for a terminated employee had been costing the state $52 per month until the auditors notified the agency.
The auditors also noted that some of DoIT’s employees and contractors “had not completed security awareness training or cybersecurity training, completed the annual acknowledgement of compliance with security policies, obtained proper authorization for access rights, or request forms were submitted late, or not properly approved; and removed access rights in a timely manner.”
Additionally, the audit found that 551 laptops and desktops were not up-to-date with the latest anti-virus product and 3,692 were not up-to-date with the latest anti-virus definitions.
