* As we’ve already discussed, the governor can’t make this trip because of his fractured leg. From a press release…
Senior members of the Pritzker Administration will lead a 5-day trade mission to Japan for the annual U.S. Midwest Japan Association Conference, marking the first international trade mission for the administration.
The mission will take place in Tokyo from September 6 to 11 and will bring together leaders in business and government to highlight the strengths of the Illinois economy and opportunities for investment for foreign companies. The Illinois delegation will be led by Anne Caprara, Chief of Staff to Governor Pritzker; Dan Hynes, Deputy Governor for Budget and Economy; and Erin Guthrie, Acting Director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the full delegation consists of over 30 business and economic development leaders from across the state.
“Our state has enjoyed a strong relationship with Japan for decades, and with this first overseas trip, this administration looks forward to building on those deep ties,” said Governor Pritzker. “With a diverse and growing economy, world-class education system, and our status as one of the world’s most vital transportation hubs, Illinois is a smart investment, and this administration will continue to spread that message far and wide.”
Illinois is the largest exporting state in the Midwest and the fifth largest exporting state in the country. Last year alone, bilateral trade between Illinois and Japan exceeded $12 billion. The state is home to the largest number of Japanese company locations in the Midwest, with over 46,000 Illinoisans currently employed by Japanese companies in Illinois. These companies include Koito Manufacturing, Kotobuki Company, the parent company of Beam Suntory and Hinckley and Schmitt, as well as Astellas Pharmaceutical.
Illinois was a founding member of the U.S. Midwest Japan Association and has operated a trade and investment office in Japan for over 30 years.
“Japan is an important economic partner for Illinois. I’m proud to join Governor Pritzker’s trade delegation to showcase great opportunities to attract foreign investment in our state and expand markets for Illinois companies,” said Mark Denzler, president & CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. “Manufacturers account for 93 percent of Illinois exports and rely on strong global relationships.”
“Japan is a crucial market for growing product startups,” said Haven Allen, CEO of mHUB. “I’m honored to be a part of this delegation to MWJA and look forward to building relationships to strengthen connectivity and investment between our regions.”
“The relationship between the Midwest Region of the United States and Japan is a critical one,” said Melissa Washington, Vice President of Governmental and External Affairs for ComEd. “Illinois is a great and inclusive place for all businesses across the globe. With ComEd’s highly reliable, and affordable energy infrastructure, we look to continuing to grow trade and business relations both domestic and abroad at this annual conference.”
“It’s an honor to be selected to represent Illinois’ tech community overseas,” said Mark Lawrence, CEO of SpotHero. “The Pritzker administration has been a strong champion for Chicago’s fast-growing technology sector, and I am humbled by the opportunity to share the innovative and important work happening in Chicago and throughout the state on an international stage.”
15 Comments  
|
Question of the day
Thursday, Sep 5, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I have a number of errands to run that can’t be done after work or on the weekend, so I’m outta here for a bit. How about your predictions for tonight’s big football game?…
The Green Bay Packers have dominated their rivalry with the Chicago Bears since Aaron Rodgers has led the green-and-gold offense, but Chicago went 12-4 last year, qualified for the playoffs and returns the top-ranked defense. Green Bay has a new head coach and new outlook, and the two NFC hopefuls face off in the 2019 NFL Kickoff Game on Thursday night at 8:20 p.m. ET from Soldier Field. Matt LaFleur takes over as head coach in Green Bay, while Matt Nagy enters his second year in Chicago after a successful rookie campaign. The latest Packers vs. Bears odds show Chicago as a three-point favorite, down from the opening line of -4. The over-under, or total points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 46.5 after opening at 46. In the 17-year history of the NFL Kickoff Game, the home team has won 14 times.
20 Comments
|
Fodder for the right
Thursday, Sep 5, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The mayor’s people retracted her statement, but the damage is being done and this quote is gonna be repeatedly recycled for the next 14 months. Austin Berg at the Illinois Policy Institute…
The new mayor is already in a world of trouble. She’s staring down a large city budget gap she can’t close without action from House Speaker Mike Madigan. She’s in heated negotiations with some of the nation’s most extreme labor unions (the Chicago Teachers Union has already set a date for a strike vote.) And her city continues to lose taxpayers to other states.
In the face of this, Lightfoot spoke the truth about the progressive income tax. Voters across Illinois, Democrats and Republicans, should take note.
“We can’t keep taxing the hell out of all of our people who make substantial incomes,” Lightfoot told the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board.
“That’s not right, it’s not fair and it’s not going to work.”
37 Comments
|
* Tribune…
Illinois paid an estimated $4.6 million in state and federal money to health insurance organizations to cover people on Medicaid who were dead, according to a federal audit released this week.
The state paid the money to Medicaid managed care organizations — insurers that administer Medicaid benefits for the state — between Oct. 1, 2015 and Sept. 30, 2017, according to a federal audit released Tuesday. Medicaid is a state and federally funded health insurance program for the poor.
Now, the state has been advised to try to get the money back and repay the federal portion of $3.2 million.
Auditors said the error occurred because the state did not enter the Medicaid beneficiaries’ dates of death into its system used to process payments and track eligibility and enrollment information. The state attributed that error to a technical flaw in the system, according to the audit.
* This is not an Illinois-only problem. From the HHS Office of Inspector General…
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (State agency) pays managed care organizations (MCOs) to provide covered health care services in return for a monthly fixed payment for each enrolled beneficiary (capitation payment). Previous Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews found that State Medicaid agencies had improperly paid capitation payments on behalf of deceased beneficiaries. We conducted a similar review of the State agency, which administers the Medicaid program. […]
The State agency made payments of approximately $11 billion to Medicaid MCOs during our audit period.
Hopefully, the state can get the MCOs to pony up.
11 Comments
|
Justice was served in Schock case
Thursday, Sep 5, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’ve seen a lot of harrumphing since yesterday about the federal charges being dropped against former US Rep. Aaron Schock. “Didn’t he essentially commit the same crimes as former US Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.?” many have asked. Why, then, was J3 sent to prison and Schock allowed to walk free?
The answer boils down to how the two investigations/prosecutions were conducted.
* Jim Dey wrote a pretty good summary back in March of how this case crumbled…
Before it was over, the case was assigned to three different judges, and the original prosecution team of Tim Bass and Patrick Hansen was removed from the case by their superiors in Washington, D.C., for prosecutorial misconduct.
In fact, topsiders in D.C. removed all the federal prosecutors from the Central District from the case and replaced them with a new prosecution team from the Northern District in Chicago.
Although the case against Schock collapsed Wednesday, its impending doom was foreshadowed in September. That’s when Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Hayes, chief of the criminal division in the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s office, said a new prosecution team under his supervision would “get to know the case and evaluate it” before making decisions on how to proceed.
It was that promised review of the evidence, two different grand-jury investigations and the indictment that failed to pass muster with the second group of prosecutors.
* This was a hardball prosecution from the beginning. From a Schock legal filing…
[The government] Recruited a staffer to be a confidential informant who covertly recorded Mr. Schock, a sitting Member of Congress, in his District Office and elsewhere; covertly recorded staff members represented by counsel; misrepresented himself as represented by the same attorney representing those staff members; attempted at the government’s direction to steal privileged documents; and covertly stole documents and more than 10,000 emails that were the personal property of Mr. Schock as a Member of Congress
All done without a warrant, mind you.
* More from that same filing about the confidential informant and federal tactics…
The government’s apparent obsession with Mr. Schock’s sexuality and whether or not he “dated” Karla Gonzalez was fueled from the very first conversation with the government’s confidential informant: “C/S [Confidential Source] did not know for sure Schock’s relationship status, but heard gossip that ‘something was going on’ with Shea Ledford. . . . C/S believed Schock’s ex-girlfriend Karla Gonzalez was not a ‘real girlfriend,’ and was a ‘beard.’” As with so many other things, the government’s CI was wrong. But that did not stop the government from trying to prove him right for the next two years.
Indeed, the government asked twelve additional witnesses questions on these topics. We have detailed below where the grand jury transcripts or government reports of interviews make clear that these topics were discussed with ten of those witnesses. But troublingly, it appears based on our own investigation that government reports for two other witnesses omit information regarding these types of inquiries.
They got into some really detailed questioning of witnesses on this topic. Click here to read it all.
* And then this happened…
The Schock case is complicated by the embarrassing admission, following emphatic denials, of possible obstruction of justice. The Acting U.S. Attorney finally admitted on 11 occasions, his attorney told the grand jury Schock “had failed to appear” before the grand jury (a defendant is not required to appear before a grand jury).
* The judge was furious…
The federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former Rep. Aaron Schock leveled an unusual public complaint Tuesday that he was misled by a prosecutor on the case.
Judge Colin Bruce, of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, also ordered the prosecution to conduct a review of all its court filings in the matter for potential inaccuracies.
* The feds got him removed from the case…
…Bruce ordered the government to review all court filings in the case to determine whether they contained false or misleading claims. Furthermore, Bruce ordered that acting U.S. attorney Patrick Hansen, as opposed to Bass or anyone else, conduct the review.
It was an unusual step for a federal judge, and it didn’t sit well with Bass or others in the U.S. attorney’s office, according to a motion in an unrelated case filed last week by federal prosecutors. Lisa Hopps, a paralegal in the U.S. attorney’s office, saw Bruce’s order as “an unfounded personal attack” against Bass, according to last week’s filing made in response to a request for a new trial made by Sarah Nixon, who was convicted of international kidnapping in 2016 for taking her child to Canada during a custody dispute with the child’s father. Nixon is asking for a new trial based on improper emails exchanged between Bruce, the judge in her case, and employees in the U.S. attorney’s office.
Upset by Bruce’s criticism of Bass, Hopps told Bass about emails that she’d received from the judge nearly a year earlier during Nixon’s trial, when the judge in emails sent to Hopps critiqued the performance of prosecutors and assessed odds for acquittal. Such emails from judges, who are supposed to refrain from commenting on cases outside courtrooms, are considered improper.
* And then DC stepped in and removed the prosecutors…
The increasingly odd corruption case filed against former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock took another bizarre turn Thursday when local prosecutors were removed from the case by their superiors in Washington, D.C.
A few months later, the feds decided to drop all the charges against Schock in exchange for some reimbursements. It was the right decision.
24 Comments
|
* Rep. Dave McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) just called to say he’s decided not to run for reelection, but he will complete his current term in office.
McSweeney said he wants to focus on a statewide bid in 2022, either for US Senate against Tammy Duckworth or for secretary of state if Jesse White retires.
It’s tough to see success in the current political environment, but a statewide GOP win isn’t totally out of the question if President Trump loses next year and the new Democratic president has a rocky start (think 1994 and 2010).
McSweeney said he’s forming a super PAC, likely a 501(c)(4), that he’ll use to buttress a statewide bid. He plans to start campaigning statewide soon, but he has been speaking at various Lincoln Day dinners over the past year.
McSweeney said he has been encouraging Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin to run for his House seat, but McLaughlin has so far made no commitments.
* Rep. McSweeney has fought battle after battle with House Republican Leader Jim Durkin over the years. In retaliation, Durkin has pulled McSweeney’s state staff and McSweeney has called him a corrupt, anti-Trump RINO. A McSweeney exit will undoubtedly lower the tension on the Republican side of the aisle.
Durkin’s spokesperson Eleni Demertzis released a brief statement today: “We wish him well.”
…Adding… Rep. Mark Batinick…
David McSweeney was one of my earliest supporters. While there was friction within our caucus over the last few years, I’ve always appreciated his independent streak and willingness to challenge authority. Rep. McSweeney has been fighting for property tax relief, transparency, and reform at every level of government. We need reformers in Springfield.
Rep. McSweeney will no doubt bring his tenacious approach and reform agenda to a statewide run. I wish him the best.
34 Comments
|
* Rebecca Anzel…
Catholic protesters rallied at the Illinois Statehouse Wednesday, denouncing lawmakers’ recent expansion of abortion rights and potential votes to further that agenda.
Led by Father Edward Ohm, of the Diocese of Peoria and based in Lincoln, a group of about 30 met to ensure their legislators know they are “not in favor” of laws recently enacted by the General Assembly and Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, including the Reproductive Health Act and a package of tax increases. […]
Meanwhile, high taxes in Illinois, Ohm said, are “wrecking havoc on people’s lives.”
“Churches need people to help them when it comes to keeping the doors open on the weekends,” he said. “…The funds are not as plentiful as they used to be because more people are paying taxes and, on top of that, more people are moving out of state.”
* Brian Mackey…
“We want to follow what God wants us to do in this life, and some of the things that they’re promoting goes against God’s will in our life,” Ohm said after the service.
But some Democrats say more needs to be done on abortion. Their party controls both the Illinois House and Senate, and they hope to repeal the parental notification law when the legislature returns to Springfield this fall.
Among that group is State Rep. Chris Welch, a Democrat from Hillside and co-sponsor of the parnetal-notification repeal legislation.
“Sometimes, some families communicate better than others,” Welch said. “But I don’t think that’s a business for the legislature to get involved in.”
41 Comments
|
SIUC chancellor looks on the bright side
Thursday, Sep 5, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We talked a bit about Southern Illinois University’s enrollment drop yesterday. SIUC Chancellor John Dunn wrote about it as well. Here’s an excerpt…
Our official fall 2019 enrollment is 11,695, down 8.75 percent. You may be wondering why a decline might be considered positive, but there are a lot of details underneath the overall total that signal a change in direction.
Let’s start with retention. Our freshman to sophomore retention rate, reflecting the percentage of last year’s first-time freshmen who returned this fall, is 75 percent. Consider that it was 71 percent last year and 67 percent the year before. This is news to celebrate, as retention is as critical to our enrollment as recruitment.
Looking at the freshman class, our average ACT score has risen to 24.30, up from last year’s more than 20-year record of 23.65. We are continuing to attract strong students who will find success at SIU. At the same time, we continue to weigh every applicant’s potential carefully as we know that grades and test scores don’t tell the full story.
The number of transfer students was relatively flat at 1,268, increasing by 7 students – or less than 1 percent. This is the result of outstanding efforts to connect with our community college partners and identify pathways for our transfer students.
And while the number of first-time students has declined fewer than 100 students to 1,037, or 8.47 percent, this follows decreases of 24 and 20 percent the previous two years. New programs in nursing, business analytics and other areas will help close this gap in the future. We are heading in the right direction.
Graduate enrollment is also relatively flat at 2,683, down 26 students or just under 1 percent. Last year it was down 8.29 percent.
International enrollment is down 13.9 percent, which is not unexpected given policy changes both in the United States and abroad. While some of this is out of our control, we are working diligently on international recruitment.
While helping out at the SIU tent at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, I had the opportunity to talk with a visitor: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. He offered some wisdom on the challenges of turning around the state, noting that it’s a lot faster to go downhill than it is to climb back up.
This is true for SIU Carbondale, as well. I note that we had predicted this enrollment decline not only because we had a large graduating class last spring followed by the smaller classes that are still in the pipeline, but also because it will take time to change strategies and perceptions, some of which are tied to the state budget impasse.
Every one of us has a part to play, whether you are in the classroom, maintaining our facilities and beautiful campus, supporting students as they make decisions about classes or campus life, or helping tell our positive story within the larger community. Every single interaction you have with a current or prospective student has the potential to make a difference. Remember my motto: “It’s personal.”
If nothing else, it’s a refreshing attitude.
(Hat tip: Ted Cox)
15 Comments
|
State budget gives court system some relief
Thursday, Sep 5, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rebecca Anzel…
Illinois’ judicial branch will use its first budget increase in six years in part to alleviate costs paid by local governments, court officials said.
This is the first time in almost 30 years the state’s courts were allocated the financial resources by the General Assembly to fully reimburse counties for salaries and probation services, an official said.
* The story is based on a recent column by Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Lloyd Karmeier…
Year in and year out, conflict between the executive branch and the General Assembly exacerbated the state’s financial woes and sent the courts scrambling to find new strategies for meeting their obligations under the law. At one point, the state went nearly 800 days without a full budget. For five straight years, the Supreme Court’s appropriation level remained flat as the expenses we were required to meet continued to mount. We were rapidly approaching the breaking point, especially with respect to reimbursement for probation services.
Fortunately, there has been a dramatic change. This year – for the first time – I was able to report to my colleagues at the Conference of Chief Justices that Illinois could not only boast of a functional court, but also of a government that was finally able to provide the judicial branch with a timely and workable budget. For Fiscal Year 2020, our appropriation from the General Revenue Fund was increased to $405,321,200, a figure that is $60.5 million higher than each of the previous five years.
While substantial, this long overdue increase is hardly a windfall. Rather than fund new initiatives, it will be used primarily to catch up on existing financial responsibilities that have continued to rise even as our budget remained stagnant. Most significant will be the change in our level of probation reimbursement, which had fallen far below statutory requirements.
* Back to Anzel’s piece
Statute mandates the Supreme Court reimburse counties for probation costs. Instead of being locked in a jail cell, a person on probation is allowed to “contribute to their communities,” keep a job and maintain contact with their family, Kara McCaffrey, assistant director of Administrative Services, said. It is a period of supervision different from parole, which is overseen and paid for by the Department of Corrections.
“Because of shortening the judicial branch of their requested amounts, those shortages were passed on through probation back to the communities simply because the court has very limited options in their budget,” Rich Adkins, assistant director of Probation Services, said.
2 Comments
|
* Press release…
The Illinois Policy Institute promoted its executive vice president, Matt Paprocki, to president of the nonprofit research organization. John Tillman will remain chairman and CEO of the Institute.
Paprocki will also serve as chairman of the recently formed Illinois Policy PAC. IPPAC gives taxpayers a platform with lawmakers and decision-makers in Springfield, and provides them the same kind of legislative access unions, corporations and other special interests have enjoyed for decades. As a nonpartisan, independent committee, the PAC supports Democrats and Republicans willing to fight for Illinois taxpayers. PAC activity can be viewed at illinoissunshine.org.
Statement from Matt Paprocki:
“The Illinois Policy Institute is the only research organization that helps taxpayers understand how public policy affects their lives and gives them a voice in Springfield. We are a team of economists, policy experts, communicators and leaders. I am proud and honored to work with an amazing team.
“We are thankful to have thousands of donors and hundreds of thousands of Illinois citizens who support our work because they believe in our mission. Our team provides taxpayers with a voice that can compete with the special interests that have long dominated in Springfield.
“I was a staffer in the legislature for seven years before joining the Illinois Policy Institute, and I always admired the Institute’s ability to fight for what’s right – not what’s easy. I will steward what John and the team have built, and will honor the Illinois Policy Institute’s founding vision: To fight for policies that empower people, not government. To do that, we need to build bridges. Our democracy works best when we work together and that will be a principle that drives me forward in all our work in Springfield and around the state.”
Statement from John Tillman:
“This evolution in our leadership structure properly reflects the great work Matt has done to lead our team on the daily fight to advance fiscal responsibility, criminal justice reform and, more broadly, a reform agenda that will put Illinois back on the track to prosperity for all of its citizens. Further, Matt’s role with the Illinois Policy PAC will help the team better advance our agenda with leaders on both sides of the aisle who share our common interest in reforms that put the people of Illinois first instead of special interests.”
I respect Matt and wish him well. He was behind the group’s push to find bipartisan sponsors for their bills this past spring, which was encouraging to see. And it’s also worth noting that Tillman went out of his way to say that the Institute was not formally part of his lawsuit to invalidate billions of dollars in state bonds.
We’ll see how this new PAC does. Its top contributor so far is the Government Accountability Alliance, which appears to be Tillman’s umbrella group for his various organizations.
19 Comments
|
* July…
Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts’ designer Wilmette home is worth more than twice as much as previously thought — and that could more than double his property tax bill next year and trigger a tab of at least $60,000 in back taxes and interest.
That bottom line emerged Tuesday as the Cook County assessor’s office completed its reassessment of Ricketts’ property following a Tribune story that revealed the Republican National Committee finance chairman had been paying taxes as if the older, smaller house he’d torn down more than a decade ago was still there.
* Today…
The Cook County Board of Review has referred to the state’s attorney its investigation of Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts’ property tax appeal on his designer Wilmette home after concluding that Ricketts and his real estate lawyer made “misrepresentations” that lowered tax bills by tens of thousands of dollars.
The tax appeals panel concluded that it “does not have sufficient evidence to establish” that either Ricketts or attorney James FortCamp “knowingly misled” officials. But the board also noted it does not have the authority to compel those involved to testify under oath. […]
Ricketts’ attorney, former federal prosecutor Patrick Collins, wrote a four-page letter to the tax board that described the appeal as “a series of good faith miscommunications.”
“While Mr. Ricketts takes responsibility for the errors, there was no intent to deceive anyone,” the letter read.
30 Comments
|
Tribune asks “Where’s the urgency?”
Thursday, Sep 5, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune editorial on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and pensions…
We’re grateful to hear an elected official confront the details of the pension crisis and commit to solving it, regardless of the potential political cost. So far the responses from Springfield have been empty. A lot of: We look forward to hearing what the mayor has to say. …
Where’s the urgency?
True, Lightfoot is thin on details. She told Crain’s Chicago Business that handing out generous cost of living allowances to government retirees is “unsustainable,” and she wants to see “structural changes” to the pension system. But what exactly does she want from the state? How does she propose balancing the 2020 city budget? How much will she raise taxes if Springfield does help her — or, by contrast, refuses to help her — with pension relief, taxing authority and the possibility of a Chicago casino? To be determined.
What we know for certain: Chicago has a pension disaster. Springfield has one, too. Future stability and prosperity are on the line. Lightfoot doesn’t have a plan yet, but says she’s determined to act.
That puts her one step ahead of Springfield.
Thoughts?
46 Comments
|
Sign of the times
Wednesday, Sep 4, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
The Illinois Terrorism Task Force today announced significant steps to improving trauma management training at schools in Illinois. Following the recommendations of the School Safety Working Group, more than 7,000 STOP the Bleed kits have been distributed to schools in Illinois ahead of the 2019-2020 school year.
STOP the Bleed is a national campaign intended to train, equip and empower bystanders to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. A STOP the Bleed kit contains a C-A-T tourniquet, QuikClot Bleeding Control Dressing, Emergency Trauma Dressing, MicroShield Mask, Nitrile gloves, Trauma shears, Permanent marker and Instruction card.
“Our top priority will always be preventing violence from occurring, but we must also be prepared for worst case scenarios.,” said Acting IEMA Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau. “STOP the Bleed kits and the training that comes along with them can save lives and I applaud the Illinois Terrorism Task Force for implementing this program statewide.”
This summer, the Regional Offices of Education distributed one STOP the Bleed kit to each school in Illinois. Each school district is being asked to train a minimum of five teachers/staff in each building where children attend school. Upon completion of this training, the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, via the Regional Offices of Education, will distribute an additional five kits to the school.
“STOP the Bleed kits provide the tools to help the public save lives, but the knowledge and confidence to save a life comes with proper training,” said Mary Connelly RN, Director of the Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team (IMERT). “With more certified trainers, the mission of helping and protecting our communities can grow.”
The Illinois Terrorism Task Force is calling on those in our medical community, volunteer organizations and police and fire community to join this mission. In order to meet the demand of the more than 5,000 public and private schools in Illinois, more trainers are needed to provide this invaluable hands-on training. IMERT, in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Public Health Division of Women’s Health, has pledged to train one thousand school nurses by February 2020. Yet, even more help is needed. The 90-minute STOP the Bleed training was developed by the American College of Surgeons specifically for the public and is offered by trained healthcare and public safety volunteers at no associated cost to the school. To find a training course, or learn more about how your organization can help provide training, visit www.Ready.Illinois.gov.
22 Comments
|
SIUC continues enrollment plunge
Wednesday, Sep 4, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Daily Egyptian…
This semester, 1,037 incoming freshmen are enrolled at SIU [Carbondale]. Total enrollment for fall 2019 is 11,695.
This is a drop of 8.75% from fall 2018 when SIU total enrollment fell under 12,817. On-campus enrollment dropped to less than 10,000 in Spring 2019. […]
SIU reached its peak enrollment in 1991 with almost 25,000 students. Since then enrollment has been on the decline.
Gonna be a hard, long slog to turn that campus around.
* Meanwhile…
34 Comments
|
Schock officially cleared of all charges
Wednesday, Sep 4, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The feds totally botched this from the very beginning…
Former 18th District Congressman Aaron Schock was officially cleared of federal criminal charges alleging he used his campaign funds for private finances. Completing what is known as a deferred prosecution deal, federal prosecutors in Chicago dropped all charges against the former Peoria-based congressman after he completed a probationary period where he stayed out of trouble and paid back nearly $68,000 to his campaign funds that he used for personal expenses. Schock has also worked out a plan with the Internal Revenue Service to pay back taxes.
* Tribune…
After he resigned in 2015 amid a federal investigation, Schock was hit with a sweeping criminal indictment in Springfield alleging he used his government and campaign funds to pay for personal luxuries, including private jets, skybox tickets at Soldier Field, and paying for travel to get a haircut.
Schock denied the allegations and his legal team accused the lead prosecutor in Springfield of pursuing the high-profile case to advance his own career.
In a stroke of luck, the case was transferred last year to Chicago because the judge overseeing the matter was accused of having improper contact with the prosecutors’ office in an unrelated case.
In announcing the deferred prosecution deal in March, the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago said it had taken a fresh look at the charges and decided it would be a “fair and just” outcome, especially given that Schock has no criminal record and resigned from public office.
* Sun-Times…
That deal reached in March required Schock to repay $67,956 to his campaign committees and also pay outstanding taxes due from the years 2010 through 2015.
He also admitted, on the record, that he sought reimbursement for mileage without documentation that led to reimbursements “that exceeded the number of miles actually driven” and that he took tickets he’d landed at face value, for events like the World Series and the Super Bowl, and resold them for a profit. […]
The agreement and subsequent dismissal of charges marks a rare and stunning victory for Schock. Although he admitted to the above accusations, Schock did not plead guilty to any criminal offenses.
“There’s a difference between mistakes and crimes,” Schock said in March after the agreement was approved.
31 Comments
|
Question of the day
Wednesday, Sep 4, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From one of the more unusual press releases I’ve received in a while…
In recognition of his decades of service to the people of Illinois and his extraordinary life, Shaw Media has published an editorial calling for a “Jesse White Day” in the state.
An editorial calling for statewide recognition for White, a Chicago native serving a record-setting sixth term of office as Secretary of State, appears in Shaw Media’s six daily newspapers and websites across Northern Illinois today, with the company’s weekly newspapers following suit later this week. The piece has also been shared with the Illinois Press Association’s more than 400 member publications.
“Voters have recognized White’s service and character time and again, handing him landslide victories in six statewide elections. Amazingly, he has received more than 60 percent of the vote in each of his five re-election bids,” the editorial states. “White, a Chicago Democrat, became the first African-American elected Secretary of State in 1998. Now in the first year of his sixth consecutive term, he has held the post longer than anyone in state history. He still works daily for the people of Illinois, leading a state agency that provides more direct public service than any other.
“He has a decades-long track record of serving with honor and competence. In fact, he has accomplished more in terms of public service than most people could hope to accomplish in five lifetimes.”
Sam Fisher, president and CEO of the Illinois Press Association, said his organization supported the call for statewide recognition for White.
“The Illinois Press Association is proud to support the effort by Shaw Media to call for a ‘Jesse White Day,’ ” Fisher said. “We have distributed the editorial call to our member newspapers, encouraging them to publish in an the effort to recognize an outstanding public servant for his years of dedicated service to the state of Illinois.”
I guess term limits wouldn’t be good in this case?
* From the editorial…
Before he was a public servant, White was a student at Alabama State College in Montgomery in the 1950s, where he experienced racial discrimination in the Jim Crow South. While there, he attended a church where Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor, and participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott organized by King and Rosa Parks.
White has said it was King who inspired him to enter public service and help people.
Rather than be turned off by racial injustice, White worked to make America better. He eventually spent 16 years in the Illinois General Assembly, followed by eight as the Cook County Recorder of Deeds before his record-breaking run as head of Illinois’ largest government agency.
There are few politicians with a biography as inspiring as Jesse White, who has taken Illinois from the nadir of Operation Safe Road to truly providing safe roads for citizens.
We are calling on the Illinois House, Senate and Gov. JB Prtizker to declare a statewide “Jesse White Day.” The Honorable Jesse White is truly an Illinois treasure, and the time is right to recognize his remarkable service to our state.
All Illinoisans, and particularly younger ones, should appreciate the value of White’s lifelong service and leadership. The recognition will not only spotlight an exemplary individual, it might inspire others to follow in his footsteps, as King’s leadership inspired White himself.
* The Question: Do you agree with Shaw Media and the Illinois Press Association that Illinois should declare a Jesse White Day? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
polls
34 Comments
|
* Bond Buyer…
The municipal bond market has a message for first-year Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot: go light on one-time maneuvers, avoid fiscal gimmicks, and move the city toward structural balance. […]
“We are looking for a reliance on structurally balanced measures to close the gap,” said Carol Spain, lead analyst for Chicago at S&P Global Ratings, which rates the city’s general obligation debt BBB-plus.
If the city is using one time sources, S&P would look for “the structural gap to be closed within the near term in the next couple years,” she said. “What we are looking for is a credible plan” that doesn’t solely rely on measures requiring state approval that might not come to pass or that are cyclical or volatile in nature.
* Sun-Times…
A major bond rating agency said Tuesday that “any measure that would lower annual contributions into Chicago’s pension systems” would be seen as a negative — potentially jeopardizing the city’s current BBB+ rating. […]
In a three-page report released Tuesday by S&P Global Ratings — titled “How Chicago Closes Its Fiscal 2020 Budget Gap Will Be Pivotal To The Rating” — the agency noted that “outside of a massive property tax increase, [the city] has limited options to raise significant, predictable revenues through a single tax or fee increase without state legislation that would expand the city’s revenue-raising authority.” […]
S&P said it expects that the city “will continue a trend of using surplus tax-increment financing district revenues to plug the budget gap,” but the agency sees that revenue source as “unpredictable and therefore one-time in nature.”
“The city also maintains substantial reserves, which are crucial to the current rating, and we would consider the use of reserves to offset ongoing expenses — rather than for ‘rainy day’ or one-time purposes — negatively,” the agency added. “Given the magnitude of the gap, we expect some use of one-time revenues.”
* Crain’s…
On the other hand, the New York firm said, “We would view measures that either trim liabilities through benefit reductions or a dedicated revenue stream toward pensions positively.” S&P didn’t get specific, but officials have talked at reviving what now appear to be moribund plans for a Chicago casino that could help pay pension debt or moving to reduce the 3 percent annual compound COLA that about half of the city’s retirees now are scheduled to receive, perhaps by amending the Illinois Constitution.
Not gonna be a constitutional amendment in the coming years.
* Read every word of today’s Daily Line excerpt…
The ratings agency also warned Lightfoot and the City Council not to look to state lawmakers for immediate solutions, including an amended tax structure for a casino as well as the green light to impose higher taxes on the sale of homes worth more than $500,000. Both proposals are not sure bets — and revenues could take years to materialize, if ever.
“In our view, further state aid is unlikely in the near term given the state’s own financial pressures, and legislators may be hesitant to raise widespread taxes while they are also asking voters to consider an income tax increase,” according to the statement. “We are looking to see whether any plan that hinges on legislative support or carries implementation risk is credible, meaning that it is politically feasible, relies on realistic revenue expectations, and can be executed within a reasonable timeline.”
22 Comments
|
* Sallet went on a media tour before departing for DC. Tribune…
When Jeffrey Sallet took over as boss of the Chicago FBI in late 2017, one of the biggest political corruption investigations in the city’s history was quietly simmering.
A year later, it boiled over with the FBI’s public raid on the City Hall offices of powerful Ald. Edward Burke, touching off a seemingly never-ending series of bombshell developments, from a sweeping indictment against Burke to the revelation that his longtime colleague, Ald. Daniel Solis, had been secretly wearing a wire.
As Sallet prepares to depart later this month for an executive position at FBI headquarters in Washington, he says there is still a lot more still to be revealed about the ongoing corruption probe. And while he won’t be here to see it, Sallet said he’s proud to have helped send a message to politicians “that it is not business as usual.”
“Our corruption program is extremely busy,” Sallet said in an interview Tuesday from the FBI offices on the West Side. “While there have been plenty of overt actions that have occurred, the city of Chicago should expect more to come.”
* Sun-Times…
Now, on his way out, Sallet said he still loses sleep about violent crime and other mass acts of violence. What doesn’t keep him up at night, he said, is another topic that has roared back into the headlines during his tenure — public corruption.
“I don’t lose sleep about the corruption,” Sallet said in an exit interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. “The people that are corrupt public officials, I assure you, are losing sleep about us. And I think that’s more evident now.” […]
He also said the FBI aims to send the message that “the people of the City of Chicago should demand and expect honest government.”
“Anybody who is getting shaken down by a politician should come in and tell us because it’s unacceptable, and I promise you, we’re going to do something about it,” Sallet said.
* WGN TV…
“I think people in the City of Chicago are sick of being victimized by politicians,” he said. “Sick of paying to play. Sick of politicians not working for them and them having to work for the politicians.”
During his short time in Chicago, the city has watched Ald. Ed Burke get indicted, Ald. Carrie Austin become ensnared in a federal investigation, former Ald. Danny Solis cooperate with law enforcement and people close to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan could find themselves in trouble with the law.
Sallet said one way to stop all of it is term limits — the longer politicians are in office, the more powerful they become.
38 Comments
|
* Emily Hoerner at Injustice Watch…
Two Illinois Department of Corrections officers accused in lawsuit of civil rights violations against a transgender woman publicly shared memes or other posts that mocked members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community.
A third officer, named in a separate suit brought by another transgender prisoner, posted a Facebook meme disapproving of homosexuality, among other troubling posts.
Each of the correctional officers identified themselves as department of corrections employees on Facebook.
Last month, correctional officer John Mercks went on Facebook and shared a looped video clip writing, along with a crying-laughing emoji, “what it’s like working at a prison.”
The video shows a cut of actor Bruce Willis smiling in response to a person dressed in a short skirt, followed by Willis’ smile vanishing as it becomes clear that the individual wearing the skirt does not conform to traditional gender roles.
Mercks has shared a handful of offensive and explicit memes and other posts mocking the transgender community, women, and claims of sexual assault or physical violence.
The correctional officer shared another meme last month showing a professional wrestler in the process of body slamming another wrestler to the ground with text reading: “I assisted the inmate to the floor! Corrections 101.”
“The coincidence is unreal right now,” Mercks wrote alongside the meme with a crying-laughing emoji.
Mercks is currently named in a lawsuit brought by a transgender woman who said that when she was imprisoned at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center in 2017, Mercks and several other officers beat and sexually assaulted her.
Strawberry Hampton, the woman who brought the suit and was incarcerated under her previous name Deon Hampton, contended she was forcibly removed from her cell, stripped of her clothes, repeatedly punched and kicked and called a homophobic slur.
Three months before the incident alleged in the lawsuit, Mercks shared an offensive and explicit meme on Facebook that displayed an image of Caitlyn Jenner, along with the term “tranny.”
Mercks also shared several anti-semitic, Islamophobic and racist memes. In one, he shared an image of a plow driving through a pile of dead bodies along with a joke about Jews. Another shows several hanged men, described in the image as “Islamic wind chimes.” A third shows singer Celene Dion holding an infant in her hands. “If you hold a black baby to your ear, you can hear the police sirens,” the meme reads. Above the post, Mercks commented “Dear gawd” with a crying-laughing emoji.
Correctional Sgt. Joseph Dudek, also named in Hampton’s lawsuit, is identified as one of the officers Hampton said in the complaint beat and assaulted her. Dudek has publicly shared memes on Facebook that make fun of online support for Muslim refugees and individuals who identify as transgender, and link a man’s lack of interest in guns with his sexuality.
A third correctional employee, Sgt. Gary Hicks, is named in a separate lawsuit brought earlier this year by a transgender prisoner identified only as Tay Tay. Formerly housed at the Shawnee Correctional Center, Tay Tay said in the suit that Hicks called her a homophobic slur and used other inappropriate language in 2018. The woman also said in her suit that she told Hicks she felt unsafe and threatened by her cellmate, but that he did not let her out of her cell or allow her to file a grievance. According to the lawsuit, she was later raped by her cellmate.
On Hick’s public Facebook page, he shared a meme in July that deemed homosexuality a sin, and reposted Islamophobic memes. He also commented on his interest in being part of the fight if civil war or government overthrow unfolds in the United States and shared an image of soldiers standing in front of a military tank draped in the confederate flag.
It’s a free country and they can post whatever they want on their stupid Facebook pages, but this is just disgusting and it sure does seem to boost Strawberry Hampton’s claims.
Click here to donate to the not-for-profit journalism group.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Illinois Department of Corrections…
IDOC takes these matters very seriously and has zero tolerance for bigotry of any kind. The employees are on leave pending active IDOC investigations into these posts. Based on the result of these investigations, the department will take all appropriate disciplinary action.
IDOC also pointed to these rules…
· Employees shall not engage in conduct that impairs their ability to perform their duties and responsibilities in an impartial manner.
· The Department shall require employees to conduct themselves in a professional manner and, whether on duty or off duty, not engage in conduct that is unbecoming of a State employee or that may reflect unfavorably on or impair operations of the Department.
Punishment can include discharge.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Ghirlandi Guidetti, Staff Counsel, ACLU of Illinois…
The Injustice Watch report is troubling, but holds little surprise. IDOC’s deliberately poor treatment of prisoners who are transgender in Illinois led the ACLU to file a class action lawsuit on their behalf. At a recent hearing in federal court in East St. Louis in this case, our clients reiterated the disrespect, mistreatment, and danger they face each day. In short, it is a story of dehumanization of our clients. It is little wonder that some personnel take this cruel ignorance to social media, expressing such disdain for persons in their care and custody. The Governor and the IDOC Director need to address this issue and fix this problem – as quickly as possible.
42 Comments
|
Reefer sanity starting to prevail
Wednesday, Sep 4, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Edwardsville…
In a split vote, 3-3, the city council failed to pass an ordinance Tuesday to prohibit the sale of recreational cannabis within city limits. […]
The city’s next steps will be to amend the city’s tax code to permit these sales and start working on zoning regulations to define where within city limits such shops will be allowed.
City Administrator Kevin Head said at least one recreational cannabis seller has contacted the city about setting up shop as an expansion of its current medicinal marijuana store. The nearest medical marijuana dispensaries to Edwardsville are in Sauget, Collinsville and Litchfield. There is also one in Effingham.
“Alcohol and tobacco kill far more than marijuana does and probably everyone in this room knows someone who has done or is using marijuana and we’re all still functioning adults,” Alderman Will Krause, one of the measure’s biggest proponents said last month during a committee meeting.
* Woodstock…
The Woodstock City Council approved an ordinance on Tuesday establishing a 3% tax on the gross sales receipts of recreational marijuana retailers. […]
Council voted, 5-1, in favor of the proposal, with council member Darrin Flynn voting against it.
Flynn, who asked that the item be removed from the consent agenda for separate consideration, said that setting the tax at the cap may discourage new businesses from coming to Woodstock, especially if neighboring municipalities set lower taxes.
“It’s a new industry, and it’s a new business, and we have to show that we are open for business,” Flynn said.
Flynn could turn out to be right. We’ll see. Price may not turn out to be as important as product quality and diversity and the shopping experience.
* St. Charles…
The government operations committee voted 5-3 Monday to implement a 3% municipal cannabis retailers’ occupation tax starting next year. That would tack onto an existing 2% local sales tax, meaning St. Charles would collect 5% of gross recreational marijuana sales, pending city council approval. […]
Under the current law, the city can implement a local tax of up to 3% beginning Sept. 1, 2020, Finance Director Chris Minick said.
But the Illinois Municipal League has requested a legislative amendment that would move up that date to coincide with the legalization of possession and sales.
They should probably leave the law right where it is. Let these things get started before the taxation kicks in.
* Urbana…
Anyone who buys cannabis for recreational purposes in Urbana when it becomes legal Jan. 1 can add another 3 percent tax to the total bill.
On Tuesday, aldermen unanimously approved implementing a Municipal Cannabis Retailer’s Occupation Tax, which could help the city address its pressing structural deficit.
But the Urbana City Council wanted to be clear that Tuesday’s vote was only about a tax and not other issues concerning public consumption, future dispensaries and other local regulations. […]
Mayor Diane Marlin added that a number of issues including zoning of future dispensaries; social consumption, such as in bars or other establishments; and criminal-record expungements and the associated workload and financial implications will “all be addressed in the coming months.”
* And then there’s Naperville…
Naperville City Council members voted late Tuesday night to prohibit sales of recreational marijuana, but also expressed support for a plan to let voters revisit the topic with a future ballot question.
Council members voted 6-3 to ban all types of recreational marijuana businesses and to ask staff members to develop the language of a referendum question, which they can consider putting on a later ballot. […]
3C Compassionate Care Center, a medical marijuana dispensary on Quincy Avenue, will be allowed to continue its medical operation, but is not permitted to sell the drug for recreational use at its Naperville shop or any other site in town.
The business recently was granted one of the first recreational dispensary licenses from the state, but state regulations say businesses must follow all municipal zoning rules and other local laws.
Sigh.
44 Comments
|
* That “boycott” really worked well, didn’t it?…
The Du Quoin State Fair may have just ended, but it’s clear that the 2019 event was a major success. The 2019 Grandstand sold nearly 15,800 tickets this year, 26% higher than last year’s total of just over 12,500. Revenue from the grandstand entertainment also increased over 2018. Between the musical acts, racing and monster trucks $356,795 was generated, generating $97,000 more than last year, a 37% increase.
“The Du Quoin State Fair is an economic engine for Southern Illinois, and I’m happy to see that the fair grew dramatically compared to last year,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “MK and I enjoyed spending time at the fairgrounds, and it’s wonderful that so many people came to enjoy the vendors and performers, as well as support a time-honored tradition that uplifts the entire region.”
“These early numbers show not only the success we had this year, but our potential to grow in the future,” said Josh Gross, Du Quoin State Fair Manager. “We’ve already started working on 2019’s lineup and have no doubt it will be bigger and better.”
An official wrap-up of the 2019 Du Quoin State Fair is underway. Attendance numbers for this year’s Du Quoin State Fair are still being calculated and are expected to be released shortly.
I guess that old adage about all publicity being good publicity worked this time.
…Adding… But of course they don’t believe it. From the boycott page which has since been rebranded…
31 Comments
|
Fun with rationales
Wednesday, Sep 4, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Kankakee Daily Journal…
Also this year, [Rep. Lindsay Parkhurst, R-Kankakee] opposed increasing the gas tax to 38 cents per gallon, from 19 cents. It was the first hike in nearly three decades.
She said she was against increasing the tax so much at once. Under the new law, the tax would rise with the inflation rate. She said the state should have had inflationary increases over the years.
“We should have made sure we had infrastructure funded all along,” Parkhurst said.
Elected in 2016, Parkhurst said she was for proposed road improvements near the expanding CSL Behring plant near Bourbonnais. That will likely be made possible because of a $45 billion highway bill that state lawmakers passed earlier this year. Parkhurst voted against that bill because it also included the gas tax hike.
Gotta start somewhere, Representative. If the Motor Fuel Tax had kept up with inflation after it was last increased, it would be 38 cents per gallon today.
17 Comments
|
Today’s word: “Productive”
Wednesday, Sep 4, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Pritzker is hobbling around on crutches after breaking his femur. And he’s spending a lot of time on the phone, including with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who put a lot of political pressure on the governor in her speech about the city’s finances last week.
Of that conversation, the mayor’s office said the two shared a “productive discussion late last week about ways to work together to address the shared challenges and opportunities facing our state and Chicago’s communities,” Lightfoot spokeswoman Anel Ruiz said.
The two “have productive conversations regularly, and they spoke again late last week,” Pritzker spokeswoman Emily Bittner said. “As the Mayor works to build support for her ideas among legislative leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers, the Governor expects that they will continue to have productive conversations.”
Do you buy it?
27 Comments
|
|
Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
|
   
|
Hosted by MCS
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax
Advertise Here
Mobile Version
Contact Rich Miller
|
