* I asked Sen. Link earlier today if he was the unidentifed Senator in the Arroyo complaint and he said he wasn’t. But both the Sun-Times and the Tribune say he is. Tribune…
JUST IN: The Tribune has confirmed that longtime state Sen. Terry Link of Vernon Hills wore a wire on Rep. Luis Arroyo in hopes of leniency for income tax fraud. Link denied it when asked earlier today. “Anybody can tell you anything,” he said. https://t.co/r1phBgkyEXpic.twitter.com/VXE8gC44Rs
Link, who is an assistant majority leader in the Senate, is not named in the criminal complaint, but referred to as a cooperating witness or CW-1.
Link started cooperating with the feds in 2016 but was initially closed as a source on Nov. 3, 2016, after he allegedly submitted false income tax returns, the complaint states. Link expects to be charged in relation to his taxes, according to the feds, and is working with them now in hopes of getting a break on any sentence he may receive.
In one secretly recorded conversation, Link asks Arroyo what’s in it for him if he helps sponsor Arroyo’s legislation.
The first Arroyo sitdown was in Highland Park. The Senator said he was in the “twilight” of his career. And it was a gaming issue. Again, he denies it. Keep that in mind.
*** UPDATE *** Strongest denial yet…
Link says he has not dealt with the feds in their corruption probe, didn’t wear a wire, wasn’t offered kickbacks and didn’t have tax problems as the Arroyo complaint alluded to: “The answer is no. Just leave it at that. I really don’t know what to say. I am not witness No. 1.”
And for good measure, Link wanted to make this point loud and clear after the day he had today in Springfield: “I wouldn’t know why anybody would want to cooperate with any law enforcement if this is the abuse you’re going to take if you are cooperating.”
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan released the following statement Monday:
“The charges filed against Representative Arroyo are very serious. We have already contacted Representative Arroyo’s counsel to determine whether he will resign as state representative. I urge Representative Arroyo to resign from the House of Representatives, effective immediately. If he refuses, I will take the necessary steps to begin the process to remove him from office.
“Additionally, I have instructed my staff to begin bringing together stakeholders and experts to closely examine our ethics and lobbying laws and find ways to strengthen existing law.”
* More…
Speaker Madigan says Arroyo’s attorney has said he will step down from chairing the Appropriations-Capital committee but is urging Arroyo to resign from the House or else he’ll “begin the process to remove him from office.” pic.twitter.com/TSSUVWWHvL
The Illinois House expelled one of its members Friday, but state Rep. Derrick Smith remains on the November ballot and still could be re-elected. […]
The Illinois Constitution prohibits either house of the General Assembly from expelling a member more than once for the same offense. So, Smith could reclaim his seat by winning the election.
That’s what happened the last time the House kicked out a member, in 1905. Rep. Frank Comerford, D-Chicago, was ejected after accusing his colleagues of corruption and besmirching their “good name and reputation.” But Comerford won the special election called to fill his seat.
Smith was, indeed, reelected. And then he was convicted and had to resign.
It's official: Illinois Supreme Court's Chief Justice is Anne Burke –>
(Meanwhile her husband, Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, is fighting federal bribery and racketeering charges. Next court hearing is set for Jan. 23) https://t.co/7ingw89IWm
Illinois State Rep. LUIS ARROYO has been charged in federal court with offering a bribe to a fellow state lawmaker in an effort to influence and reward the lawmaker for supporting legislation that would benefit Arroyo’s private lobbying client.
Arroyo, 65, of Chicago, is charged with one count of federal program bribery, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Arroyo made an initial court appearance this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez and was ordered released on a personal recognizance bond. The next court date was not immediately set.
The complaint was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI; and Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Stetler and James Durkin.
Arroyo has represented the 3rd District in the Illinois House of Representatives since 2006. He has also managed Spartacus 3 LLC, a private lobbying firm in Chicago.
According to the complaint, on Aug. 2, 2019, Arroyo offered to pay $2,500 per month to an Illinois state senator in return for the senator’s support of sweepstakes-related legislation that would benefit one of Arroyo’s lobbying clients. On Aug. 22, 2019, Arroyo met with the senator at a restaurant in Skokie and provided him a check for $2,500 as an initial payment, with the expectation that additional payments would be made for the next six to 12 months, the complaint states. The check was made payable to a nominee of the senator for the purpose of concealing the illicit payment, the complaint states.
Federal program bribery is punishable by up to ten years in prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
* More…
Interesting insight into "CW-1," who is an unnamed state senator in the Luis Arroyo case. The person has been an FBI source since 2016 but filed a false income tax return and expects to be charged. pic.twitter.com/eM6zZ5Kjzp
Luis Arroyo: "I cannot work as a legislator with somebody if it's illegal … That's just like being part of the mob or being part of a gang that's selling drugs. I can't be part of that." pic.twitter.com/sF6XOwJmRx
*** UPDATE 2 *** House Republican Leader Jim Durkin just called on Rep. Arroyo to resign by the end of the day or he would be filing paperwork to invoke House Rule 91, which reads in part…
Disciplinary proceedings may be commenced by filing with the Speaker and theMinority Leader a petition, signed by 3 or more members of the House, for a special investigating committee. The petition shall contain the alleged charge or charges that, if true, may subject the member named in the petition to disciplinary action by the House and may include any other factual information that supports the charge or charges.
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the governor…
These are extremely troubling charges. Corruption, deception and self-dealing have no place in our government, and public officials who betray the public trust have forfeited the privilege of serving. While this investigation and court case continue, Rep. Luis Arroyo must immediately step down from his committee chairmanship, or be removed.
City records maintained by the Board of Ethics show Arroyo lobbied aldermen on “sweepstakes” legislation on behalf of a firm, V.S.S. Inc. Arroyo and his wife, Maribel, operate Spartacus 3.
Aldermen twice considered legislation to change the city code to ban “free play option” or “sweepstakes” machines that might look like poker, bingo, craps, keno, eight-liner or other similar gaming machines, but don’t require money to play. The City Council changes came amid increased scrutiny of the machines from WBEZ, but neither measure managed to pass.
The complaint suggests Arroyo was planning to pursue legislation in this veto session regarding sweepstakes gaming.
State Rep. Luis Arroyo, a Chicago Democrat, has been hit with a federal charge alleging he agreed to pay a state senator $2,500 a month in bribes in exchange for the senator’s support on legislation involving video gambling sweepstakes games that would benefit one of Arroyo’s lobbying clients.
The 13-page criminal complaint, made public Monday when Arroyo appeared in U.S. District Court, revealed that the undisclosed state senator whom Arroyo allegedly agreed to pay has been cooperating with the FBI since 2016 when he was confronted with evidence that he had filed false income tax returns.
Arroyo delivered the first of the promised $2,500 checks to the senator at a restaurant in Skokie on Aug. 22 as the state senator secretly recorded the conversation, according to the complaint.
“This is, this is the jackpot,” the complaint quoted Arroyo as telling the senator.
The feds secretly also recorded some of Arroyo’s conversations over the phone as well as conversations with the state senator, according to court records.
In one secretly recorded conversation, the state senator asks Arroyo what’s in it for him if he helps sponsor Arroyo’s legislation.
Arroyo allegedly responded: “I’m a paid consultant, okay? . . . If you put a price on it, I mean, if you want to get paid, you want somebody else to get a check monthly, a monthly stipend, we could put them on a contract. You tell me what it is. Tell me what you need.”
House Minority Leader Jim Durkin said if Arroyo doesn’t step down by the end of the day, Durkin will file a motion via House rules to begin a special investigation that could lead to Arroyo’s removal.
Durkin said the motion would have to be approved by House Democrats, but he couldn’t say how long the process would take. Durkin said he’s been told nothing by Democratic leadership about Arroyo’s arrest.
“It’s as fast as the Democratic leadership wants it to go,” Durkin said. “I will ask that we move expeditiously and we’ll move accordingly. We can do this in the nest few months. It has to go through the rules committee and has to be approved by the Speaker.”
*** UPDATE 5 *** Stay tuned…
Speaker Madigan will address the media after a caucus meeting with House Democrats.
At restaurant meeting, Rep. Luis Arroyo and the state senator left the table to talk privately, the charges allege. Senator: "This is you and I talkin' now. Nobody else." Arroyo: "Whatever you tell me stays between you and me. That's my word." The senator was wearing a wire.
* Rep. Arroyo (D-Chicago) chairs the House Appropriations-Capital Committee. He worked with Sen. Martin Sandoval, the former chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, on the infrastructure bill…
///BREAKING/// Illinois State Rep. Luis Arroyo of Chicago was arrested Friday on public corruption charges and is appearing in a federal courtroom now. He’s sitting in court with lawyer waiting for the hearing to begin. Details to come.
…Adding… Rep. Arroyo gave up a spot in leadership to take over the chairmanship of that approp committee.
Arroyo’s recent contributions include $5,000 on September 24th from Rick Heidner’s Gold Rush Amusements, Inc. He received $2,500 that same day from ComEd.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Wow…
Hearing for state Rep. Luis Arroyo starting now. He’s charged in a criminal complaint with bribery of a state official. Maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Arroyo has already negotiated the terms of bond and will be released. He’s been ordered to have no contact with “Individual A” in the charges, who is another state elected official.
Arroyo's son, Cook County Commissioner Luis Arroyo Jr, was here in the county building for budget hearings earlier this morning. He ducked out before this news came out and hasn't returned. https://t.co/mThWXWY8gk
His attorney is Terence Gillespie. The Sun-Times reports he’d negotiated a $10,000 unsecured bond.
…Adding… Arroyo has a side business called Spartacus 3…
Spartacus 3 offers the most comprehensive Municipal and County business advocacy services. The combined experience of over 20 years in government operations paired with the unparalleled individual skills of our team offer you focus, leadership and reliability for a successful partnership. We will assess the need, identify a strategy with you, procure the necessary documentation and advocate for your business through legislative and regulatory processes until your objective is accomplished. […]
The Spartacus 3 team excels at every dimension of winning political campaigns and has penned many victories in it’s score card. Winning a political or government campaign requires a sharp message. It also requires a sharp field and targeting plan, rapid response, political outreach, press strategy and direct voter contact, all executed without mistakes. Your path to victory starts with us.
*** UPDATE 2 *** One of the items listed to be seized on the Sandoval warrant was anything related to “sweepstakes” businesses and/or anything “any issues supported by any of those individuals or businesses.” I do not know if this is related, but Arroyo and his company registered to lobby the Chicago City Council this year on a “Sweepstakes Ordinance.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Yep. It’s related…
Govt’s bribery case against Rep Luis Arroyo involves effort to pay an unnamed Illinois state senator on behalf of a lobbying client to advance gambling sweepstakes legislation, US Atty spox says. The spokesman would not say whether that unnamed senator is Marty Sandoval.
Arroyo’s office released a statement Monday, saying that he “would politely decline to answer any questions concerning today’s events. Suffice it to say that Rep. Arroyo entered a plea of not guilty and believes that he will eventually be completely vindicated of the charges against him.”
I’m told the governor will be issuing a statement soonish.
Many Chicago politicians have gotten the itch through the years to try their hand at the restaurant and bar business in hopes of having a place of their own to eat and drink with friends and play the big shot.
What distinguishes Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski from the others is that he used taxpayers’ money to get his own place.
As the mayor of McCook, the least populous town in Cook County, Tobolski led an expensive renovation of a village-owned “pub” into what its website describes as an “upscale dining establishment mixed with a classic social club.” […]
“It’s like a boys club. They treat this place like their basement,” said Autumn Pippenburg, who worked as food and beverage director for the McCook Athletic & Exposition Center, known as “The MAX,” and its adjoining restaurant, Alta Grill.
By Pippenburg’s account, Tobolski used the taxpayer-subsidized dining spot as his private hangout, often staying past closing time to drink with pals while running up tabs he sometimes didn’t pay. Tobolski regularly went behind the bar to pour himself a drink or wandered into the kitchen to order up items not on the menu — and insisted the restaurant always be prepared to serve him his favorite dish: grilled octopus, she said.
Prior to her job at The MAX, Pippenburg ran a staffing agency that supplied women to sell and cut cigars at Casa de Montecristo, a Countryside cigar lounge which has been mentioned in federal search warrants and was a Tobolksi hangout.
There’s also Rick Heidner’s Gold Rush Gaming, which supplies the video gaming equipment to The Max. Both Heidner and his company were featured in Sen. Martin Sandoval’s indictment. Sebastian Jachymiak and his Technicraft Inc. auto body shop make an appearance, as does Simo “Sam” Krneta, who was found guilty of battery in an alleged sexual assault of Pippenburg. Omar Maani of SafeSpeed LLC was a regular, Brown tells us. And he gives us a couple of tantalizing previews of what might be to come.
Mark is invaluable because he’s the rare newspaper columnist who thinks like a reporter. He did it again with this piece.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has won plaudits lately from even conservative opinion-makers for making the right moves on corruption. But I am going to register an objection in a bit.
When Senate President John Cullerton dithered about what to do with Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) after the powerful Transportation Committee’s Statehouse and district offices and home were raided by federal agents, Pritzker called on Sandoval to quit the chairmanship or be removed.
“Let me be clear,” Pritzker said, “While Sen. Sandoval is under investigation, it’s in the best interest of the state that he no longer serve as chairman of the Transportation Committee. If he doesn’t step aside, he should be removed.”
When the Senate Democrats finally released an unredacted version of the Sandoval Statehouse search warrant and Cesar Santoy’s name was on it, Pritzker quickly pulled Santoy’s nomination to the Illinois Toll Highway Authority, saying he wanted to “make sure no cloud is carried over to any work done by the tollway.”
After word got out that the City Club of Chicago’s office was raided and that its longtime president Jay Doherty was reported to be under federal investigation, Pritzker ordered people in his administration to cancel their speeches to the group.
Just about everybody who is anybody has spoken at City Club events, including presidential candidate Donald Trump (and even me, once a year for several years around Christmastime).
“While questions remain about the City Club’s involvement in the ongoing federal investigation, the administration is recommending state agencies pursue alternative forums to communicate with the public,” Pritzker’s communications director Emily Bittner said, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
Pritzker decreed early on that no bill would move during the fall veto session that benefits Exelon and ComEd, which have received two federal subpoenas, one relating to Sandoval and the other relating to their lobbying activities.
Doherty, by the way, is a ComEd lobbyist. That stance has caused Pritzker to take some heat from environmental activists, who have been pushing a clean energy bill that would benefit Exelon’s nuclear power plants, but the governor would not budge.
Pritzker, the Champaign News-Gazette recently editorialized, has “made it clear that anyone who is compromised for whatever reason will be shunted aside at least until clouds of impropriety have dissipated.”
You won’t see much positive stuff published about liberal Democratic governors in that paper’s editorial page, but the editorial board appears to be impressed, even claiming on another occasion that the “comity” Pritzker brought to his dealings with the Illinois General Assembly “is a far cry from the relentless struggle in which former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner engaged with Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan from 2015 to 2019.”
So, I was a little surprised to read this headline from the governor’s press office last week about the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget: “GOMB Releases Five-Year Forecast Showing Significant Long-Term Challenges Without Fair Tax.”
As you know, the governor was able to convince the Legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot next year to enact a graduated income tax, which he markets as the “Fair Tax.”
When asked, the governor’s office insisted the press release was within the law, even though it can be read as a taxpayer-funded entity openly favoring a question that is in front of voters, which could be seen as a no-no.
State law defines a campaign contribution as “a gift, subscription, donation, dues, loan, advance, deposit of money, or anything of value, knowingly received in connection with the nomination for election, election, or retention of any candidate or person to or in public office or in connection with any question of public policy.”
A “question of public policy” is later explained as a question “to be submitted to the voters” or “electors.” And “anything of value” is defined as “any item, thing, service, or good, regardless of whether it may be valued in monetary terms according to ascertainable market value.”
The governor obviously cannot issue a state government press release saying: “GOMB Releases Five-Year Forecast Showing Significant Long-Term Challenges Without Sen. Harriet Jones” before her reelection.
And school boards get in trouble for using taxpayer resources to promote property tax referendums. The governor’s office indicates that since they’re not coming right out and saying “Vote for the Fair Tax” they’re within the law.
Meh.
Pritzker shouldn’t be openly campaigning on behalf of a ballot issue on state time, even if it has been blessed by his highly capable lawyers. It can be both legal and unseemly, after all.
“Without structural changes like the Fair Tax, Illinois will continue to struggle to make ends meet, pay our bills on time and deliver vital services, like public education and public safety,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “While years of mismanagement has created these issues, we have a strong path forward and solution with the Fair Tax, which will ask the wealthiest 3 percent to pay more while 97 percent of Illinoisans will pay the same or less.
* As I told subscribers this morning, House Speaker Madigan’s chief eithics officer Justin Cox sent this memo to House Democrats late Friday afternoon…
With session starting back up and the Fair Tax constitutional amendment now set to be on the ballot, I want to remind you that the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act prohibits you (as well as State staff) from using State resources and State time to advocate for or against the constitutional amendment. Treat it as you would any other political activity. I have attached ethics guidance explaining the what you can and can’t do in relation to the amendment.
* Explain how you or your member voted on SJCRA 1 and the reasons for that vote.
* Provide a purely objective, factual statement regarding what the amendment does (i.e., “The proposed amendment eliminates the requirement that the income tax be at a non-graduated rate.”), rather than a statement meant to persuade (i.e., “The amendment allows Illinois to make the rich pay their fair share.”)
Following 14 hours of negotiations on Saturday, leaders from the Chicago Teachers Union said its most recent proposal asks for an additional $38 million in funds over the city’s latest offer. But Arnie Rivera, CPS’ chief operating officer, said that divide is actually much larger during Sunday’s news conference.
“On an annualized basis, the proposals that we discussed with CTU yesterday were closer to $100 million,” Rivera said, adding that the proposal is “just not anything that we can consider financially.”
“Lincoln Yards and the 78 got billions of public dollars to bankroll their new neighborhoods for rich people—dollars that should have gone to our schools,” Sharkey said in the statement.
I tend not to believe any dollar numbers floated by the CTU.
As for the teacher talks, the most remarkable thing to me is that the Chicago Teachers Union continues to insist on its own set of facts, using math in, what, base 6?
The first example is its continuing instance that CPS got $1 billion in new money from the state for classroom needs. Wrong. It got some money, but a good two-thirds of that money was to pay old pension debt, and most of it came from a Chicago property tax hike—the very levy that was too toxic for Lightfoot to touch.
Example two is CTU’s continuing instance that tax-increment financing pots, notably the $1.2 billion in subsidies allotted for the proposed Lincoln Yards megaplex, can be raided for school usage. Wrong—and for a simple reason: The money doesn’t exist yet. It won’t exist until Lincoln Yards is up and running and produces $1.2 billion in new property taxes, years and years from now.
Sixteen months ago, prominent organizer and minister Leon Finney Jr. decided to ring in his seventy-fifth birthday bash with some big news: the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation was launching an initiative to give South Side black communities a multimedia production center. Just a few doors down from his Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church, Finney packed a historic Bronzeville mansion with the fruits of his networks and resources, creating Urban Broadcast Media (UBM). His vision: to “allow people of color to have a voice.”
Since then, donors such as PNC Bank, ComEd, and Community Trust Credit Union have invested about $700,000 to renovate the brightly colored house on King Drive for UBM, which is now filled with state-of-the-art acoustic equipment, rentable recording studios, and production rooms. Finney sees UBM as a black-owned media enterprise in the same vein as The Chicago Defender, Negro Digest, or any other historical black media institution in the U.S., and as a means of regaining control over the way black Chicagoans’ stories are told. In a world where a few large corporations control the vast majority of media outlets, the efforts of local broadcasting centers, especially those for black media, are often overshadowed.
Federal authorities have launched a wide-ranging criminal investigation of the Rev. Leon Finney Jr. amid allegations from a federal bankruptcy judge that he engaged in fraud, self-dealing and mismanagement while running a nonprofit that managed a quarter of all public housing units in Chicago.
The revelation of the criminal investigation comes less than a week after the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Finney had stepped down from the nonprofit Woodlawn Community Development Corporation shortly after the firm filed for bankruptcy in October, pulling the curtains back on its finances.
The campaigns of two of Chicago’s most powerful politicos paid Rev. Leon Finney Jr.’s struggling media nonprofit more than $100,000 last election cycle to help bring out voters to the polls despite the company never holding a business license, records show.
Most of the money came from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s campaign, which paid Urban Broadcast Media $93,540 in five installments between March and October of last year, according to campaign finance records.
The JB for Governor campaign fund recorded those payments as “media buys” in their financial report to the Illinois State Board of Elections, but deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks acknowledged the money actually paid for field canvassing.
“The work was mistakenly listed as media buys instead of strategic field consulting on the committee’s campaign finance report and is being amended,” Fulks wrote in a statement to the Sun-Times.
Um, they paid a not-for-profit media company almost a hundred grand to do “field consulting”?
With less than a handful of vetoes to deal with, the whole tenor of the session will be determined by how much other stuff lawmakers decide to tackle. And there’s a pretty long list of stuff they could do if they are inclined.
Bills to ban flavored vaping products and to cap out-of-pocket costs for insulin are definitely on the agenda. Both proposals have some intense opposition, so it’s not necessarily a slam-dunk for either one. (Then again, opposition to the insulin bill comes from pharmaceutical and other business interests, which don’t always engender a lot of sympathy in these here parts).
Gov. J.B. PRITZKER said he’s still going to push his idea to consolidate hundreds of downstate police and fire pension systems. But more and more lawmakers seem to not want to rush this idea.
There are other possibilities, but lawmakers may be inclined to basically just rest on the laurels of what was a pretty productive spring session.
It’s hard to say for sure at this point on anything. But I will just remind you that a whole lot of folks were predicting that very little would be accomplished in May, and then everything passed.
* Some really good session previews have been published since Friday. Hannah Meisel begins with the elephant in the room…
Lawmakers will return to Springfield Monday nearly five months after a momentous spring legislative session that saw the passage of massive bills from recreational marijuana legalization to a $45 billion infrastructure plan.
But the political climate has shifted significantly since early June, since the existence of widespread federal corruption probes was revealed over the summer and fall. The inquires appear targeted at Democrats and their allies, but the investigations have also shaken Republicans and longtime Springfield lobbyists who work for bipartisan interests across industries.
Federal agents raided the home, Springfield and district offices of State Sen. Marty Sandoval (D-Chicago) in late September. Since then, search warrants released by the state Senate and other local government bodies revealed federal agents are searching for information about dozens of individuals and businesses. […]
State Sen. Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) was indicted in August on 45 counts of embezzlement for allegedly keeping a ghost payroll job with the Teamsters Joint Council 25 in the early years of his time in the Senate.
Neither senator is expected to participate in Veto Session.
The feds also appear to be circling closer to House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago).
Lightfoot has a lot riding on the veto session, which will serve as a major test of her influence in Springfield. When she unveiled her budget plan at a special City Council meeting Wednesday, Lightfoot said the math only works if state lawmakers and Pritzker give Chicago permission to implement a graduated tax on real estate transactions. She also called on the General Assembly to rework the tax structure for a proposed city casino to make it more attractive to potential investors and to “develop a statewide pension reform package.”
But Lightfoot’s $11.65 billion 2020 budget plan doesn’t count on any revenue from the casino or any savings from pension changes at the state level, which could allow the mayor’s office to focus its lobbying efforts on pushing through the real estate transfer tax before the legislature adjourns for the year in mid-November. Her plan calls for raising the tax on the sale of residential and commercial properties worth more than $1 million.
Lightfoot had been saying for months that her spending plan would rely on help from Springfield, but she long left many key people in the dark on the specifics. Her office didn’t brief Pritzker’s staff on the details until a week before she publicly unveiled her budget and four days after she laid out her proposals for rank-and-file lawmakers who represent the city. After her Wednesday budget address, Republican leaders said they were still waiting for details.
Pritzker and legislative leaders have put the onus on Lightfoot to marshal support for her proposals. The mayor’s office declined to comment on its legislative strategy. […]
“Everyone knows that they have a difficult mountain to climb,” [House Majority Leader Greg Harris] said.
In recent days, a task force formed by Pritzker recommended the state consolidate 649 suburban and downstate police and firefighter pension funds into just two, saying the move would generate billions of dollars in additional earnings and cut administrative costs over the next 20 years.
The funds would be consolidated into one each for firefighters and police. The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council “expressed strong concerns about the recommendations” of the task force in a statement, while the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois said it supports the recommendations.
Pritzker said this week language for the bill “is being put together now.”
“There are many people who understand that if we want to keep property taxes down, we want to bring them down, that we want to stop the hikes that are occurring everywhere, we’ve got to attack property taxes everywhere we can,” he said. “One of them is to attack it by making sure that our police and fire pensions are reasonably well funded.”
The bill would not, however, address the more than $130 billion in unfunded pension liabilities facing state government, as the funds that would be consolidated are funded by local municipalities, not the state.
Make sure to click on all the links above. There’s just too much content to excerpt here.
…Adding… This is the city’s chief financial officer…
CFO on state prospects for real estate transfer tax and casino changes….We continue to have productive conversations…we feel optimistic about our ability to secure those two revenue sources for our budget and for the outyears.
What: Gov. Pritzker to announce his support for legislation requiring that Illinois college athletes be compensated for their likenesses.
Where: Illinois State Capitol, Governor’s Office, Springfield
When: 9 a.m.
“Student athletes are the backbone of the college sports industry, and they deserve the same opportunity as everyone else to earn compensation based on the use of their name and their image and likeness,” Pritzker said on WGN AM-720. […]
The California law allows college athletes to hire agents and make money from endorsement deals with sponsors, despite objections from the NCAA. The move would take effect in 2023, the same time frame in the Illinois legislation. […]
“I just have this problem with the commercialization of undergraduate and collegiate sports. I still believe in the concept, even though it seems to be waning, of the scholar athlete,” [House Republican Leader Jim Durkin] said.
* The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Chris Welch, responded to Leader Durkin via a press release…
Leader Durkin either hasn’t read the bill or confused over the reality of NCAA, a heavily “commercialized” multi-billion dollar business that has benefited nearly everyone except for the student athletes. He is clearly out of step with Republicans across the country like Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Congressman Mark Walker (R-NC) demanding Congressional action to get College athletes paid.
* He also provided a list of dot points…
* The bill does NOT require schools to pay players or give them a cut of ticket sales. Rather, it allows then to earn money by selling the rights to their own name, image and likeness - same rights and opportunities that every American should have in a free-market economy.
* Student athletes would NOT be able to sign endorsement deals that conflict with their team’s sponsors.
HB3904 brings equity to student-athletes whose talent and labor generates significant revenue for the colleges and universities that they serve. This legislation won’t cost the NCAA or our schools a single dollar while creating a strong recruitment practice for Illinois schools. While colleges have been quick to create support systems to help tech titans like Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg turn their ideas into multi-billion dollar money making businesses, young men and women who stimulate the economics of the NCAA should also be able to secure their own economic well-being. I am proud to be the chief sponsor of this legislation to advance educational and financial equity for student athletes.
Welch also noted on Rick’s program that music students at universities like Northwestern can earn money by playing music when they’re not studying. Athletes should be given the same sort of right.
Today, The Cook Political Report announced their ratings change of Betsy’s race in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District from Lean Republican to Toss Up. In their write up of the report, Cook cited Betsy’s record of strong fundraising and multiple recent missteps by incumbent Republican Rodney Davis.
This ratings change reflects the continuing momentum behind Betsy’s candidacy. Betsy has received endorsements from EMILY’s List, End Citizens United, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, JStreet PAC, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the Illinois Democratic County Chairs Association, and many other local and national organizations.
Cook Political Report IL-13 Write Up:
Londrigan impressed Democratic strategists by coming within 2,058 votes (less than one point) of knocking off GOP Rep. Rodney Davis in 2018. The race wasn’t initially in Democrats’ top tier of targets but the professional non-profit fundraiser raised $4.2 million and outspent the self-styled moderate incumbent. She barely stopped running and had $721,000 in the bank to the incumbent’s $905,000 at the end of September.
Londrigan comes across more crisply and seasoned than she did as a first-time candidate in 2018. She partially blames her narrow loss on unexpectedly long lines to vote at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign she says were caused by a GOP election administrator who has since left office. Driving out a large student vote in this college-heavy district is the key to Londrigan’s chances in 2020.
This race is already engaged: Democrats are hammering Davis for accepting an upgrade to fly first class during the government shutdown, taking corporate PAC checks and telling a Washington Post reporter “I don’t see what the big deal is, frankly” regarding President Trump’s proposed G-7 summit at Doral (Trump carried this seat by just five points in 2016). Davis hopes to be able to tie Londrigan to a more liberal nominee. It’s a Toss Up.
* Mark compares this ranking to the one Cook issued two years ago…
* From an email sent by Speaker Michael Madigan’s chief of staff Jessica Basham to all House Democrats…
There will be a House Democratic Caucus on Monday, October 28, 2019, immediately following session, in Room 114. The topic for caucus will be an overview of items up for potential consideration during the Veto Session.
* The Question: Your predictions for this caucus meeting?
* Labor strikes are serious business, but it’s important that striking workers try to keep morale as high as they can. Most strikers just shout chants on the picket lines, but the CTU has taken this to a whole other level. My personal favorite…
An instant-classic strike cover song from striking teachers in Chicago ♥️🔥♥️ @carlyraejepsen can you show your support for Chicago educators and share this? pic.twitter.com/Du7FoNb4Ny
* But not all of the strike videos are about fun. Some contain serious messages…
From the line: last year, @CTULocal1 social worker Alexandra was responsible for 4 different south side schools. Now, she is the lone social worker for 1500 students in Marquette Park. pic.twitter.com/tmZiXywHwV
A group of 30 Chicago Public Schools athletes and students arrived at City Hall to speak with Mayor Lori Lightfoot shortly after noon on Friday.
The group, led by Simeon football players, announced its intention to show up on Wednesday. They wanted to voice their frustration over the impact the Chicago Teachers Union strike is having on CPS students and athletes.
Lightfoot left City Hall just minutes before they arrived.
“I think she’s afraid,” Simeon senior Khalyl Warren said. “She is showing fear. But it is ok. We assumed she would be here to say a couple words, say something that we wanted to hear. Something for our teachers, something for us. But if she walked away, she walked away.”
A Cook County judge will rule later Friday about whether Jones College Prep cross country teams can participate in a state regional event this weekend.
The case has broad implications for other Chicago Public Schools students who also want to compete in state meets while their teachers and coaches are on strike.
About 100 students attended the hearing at the Daley Center on a complaint filed Thursday by 14 parents of the cross country students against the Illinois High School Association and the Chicago Board of Education that seeks a temporary restraining order to allow the athletes to compete in the state playoff events during the strike, including Saturday morning’s cross country regionals.
Judge Eve M. Reilly said she would issue her decision by 5 p.m.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has put a hold on appearances by state officials at the City Club of Chicago, directing subordinates and agencies that report to him them not to participate in panels sponsored by the prominent public affairs group.
The order went out in recent days after news broke that federal agents last May had seized computer and paper records at the club’s downtown headquarters, including records of club President Jay Doherty, a lobbyist whose clients include Commonwealth Edison. The U.S. attorney’s office has issued two subpoenas to ComEd in actions linked to a federal probe of state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Cicero, as well as other individuals close to House Speaker Michael Madigan. Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd CEO and most recently head of all utility operations for ComEd parent Exelon, retired suddenly earlier this month without explanation.
The first hint that Pritzker wanted to freeze relations with the club—a bipartisan group whose luncheon forums have included presidents, governors, mayors and other dignitaries—came earlier this week, when an appearance by Illinois Tollway Executive Director Jose Alvarez was abruptly cancelled.
The tollway declined to explain the move, but since then, a series of other state officials also have scrubbed upcoming appearances, including leaders of the Illinois State Police, Department of Transportation and Illinois State Board of Education and a top tech adviser to Pritzker.
*** UPDATE *** Treasurer Michael Frerichs is scheduled to speak at the City Club next month. His spokesperson told me this afternoon that he plans to keep the engagement.
As the first Asian American elected to the Illinois State Senate and the first Indian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly, I am unfortunately surprised by the accusation that Senator Durbin is anyone short of a champion for ALL immigrant families.
This “Divide and Conquer” strategy, as it relates to the different immigrant communities. by Donald Trump has been a longstanding, deep concern of mine. The notion that the Trump administration and Senate Republicans are pro-immigrant is absurd. They are cynically using this issue to appeal to immigrants, who are rightfully frustrated and who have faced severe injustices, with a flawed solution.
I would ask the immigrant communities who are behind this particular legislation consider the following:
1) Today it is other immigrant communities that Donald Trump and Republicans want to target. Tomorrow it could be you. Wouldn’t you want people to stand together in a way where every community can thrive and prosper?
2) Let’s set the record straight. Senator Durbin has been a staunch supporter of comprehensive immigration reform and ALL immigrant communities throughout his career.
He LED the bipartisan effort for comprehensive immigration reform in 2013, which included lifting the per-country caps and clearing the backlogs for ALL immigrants waiting in line for green cards.
It passed with 68 votes. President Obama made it clear he would sign this legislation. Republican House Speaker John Boehner wouldn’t call it for a vote. Where was Donald Trump at that time? What did Senator Mike Lee do that time (HINT: He voted NO)?
To question Senator Durbin’s record on immigration is to not know the facts.
3) If you are serious about achieving a resolution, let’s sit down and try to work it out. Don’t smear the record of someone who has fought for our communities for decades.
The President and his apologists in Congress have stopped all immigration measures in the Senate. No committee action, and no meaningful floor debate. Join me in calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to hold a hearing.
The Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, which would eliminate the per-country cap for employment-based visas, was once again stalled in the Senate Sept. 26.
The authors of S386, Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Kamala Harris, D-California, have asked for unanimous consent on the measure, which has received support from numerous Indian American advocacy groups, including Immigration Voice. Unanimous consent allows a bill to come to the floor on an expedited track, but cannot be used if a single senator objects.
Currently, Indians who have approved green card applications are stuck in a queue with an average wait time of 75 years before they receive a green card, due to per-country caps which state that no country can receive more than 7 percent of all employment-based green cards available that year. S386 — and HR 1044, which passed the House in July — would eliminate the per country cap. In the first of three phases, Indian Americans would be eligible for 85 percent of all green cards available that year, and 90 percent the following year.
“Let’s be clear — lifting green card country caps alone without increasing green cards … will not eliminate the backlog for Indian immigrants,” Durbin said in a Senate session last week.
“And it will dramatically increase backlogs for the rest of the world,” he said.
Durbin’s competing legislation, the Relief Act, vows to clear the entire backlog over a five-year time frame and is endorsed by such organizations as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
But the Cato Institute’s Bier told the Nikkei Asian Review that a proposal to issue more green cards has little chance of being enacted by the Trump administration, which has an antagonistic stance on immigration.
* A group called Immigration Voice placed an ad in the Chicago Tribune slamming Durbin…
The group has also raised about $160,000 online so far to run more ads…
Senator Dick Durbin is trying to trick immigrants into believing that he is not anti-immigrant. However, now everyone knows that Senator Durbin is not at all sincere about the parody bill he is using to attack the Fairness Bill. […]
Senator Durbin falsely claimed that this is a “Republican” bill. In reality, this bill was written by the Democratic Immigration Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren and passed with 224 Democratic votes in the House, including the entire Illinois House Delegation. The companion bill in the Senate has 15 Democratic Cosponsors.
Though Senator Durbin gets furious and red-faced whenever anyone tries to add our kids, who are in danger of losing their legal status once they age out in the backlog, to his Dream act so that they too have legal protection once they age out—he has no trouble or shame sabotaging this bill because he resents the people who it will help, which includes children like Manhitha, Uma Shreya, and Ankitnoor.
The conservative Club for Growth has launched digital advertisements in four key Congressional Districts, including Illinois’ 14th CD. They point is to encourage voters to tell their 2018-elected representatives to “stop supporting the phony impeachment process and instead start solving problems. Part of the reason they picked IL’s 14th CD is it is among four districts nationwide whose seats were flipped from Republican to Democratic in 2018.
Lawmakers will be back at work for veto session on Monday. One of the first things they plan to look into are proposals to ban flavored e-cigarettes and tobacco products.
Several Republicans, Democrats and the governor have all voiced support behind the idea.
Owners of vaping stores from around the state came to the capitol to remind lawmakers of the devastating impact a ban would have on their business. Managers said if a flavor e-cig ban passes, they will not be able to sell more than 90 percent of the items in their stores.
While convenience stores would not be hit as hard, because they have other items to sell, leaders in their industry say a ban is not the answer to keep the products away from children.
In a hearing set for Monday, lawmakers will discuss House Bill 3883, which would ban flavored products for vaping.
Dan Reinke, owner of 3D Vapor, which has shops in the Metro East area, said that will affect adults who use flavored e-cigarettes to kick tobacco.
“What we have that got into the situation that we’re in today is a black market problem and banning flavored vaping products is only going to create a worse black market problem,” Reinke said.
The proposed flavor ban won’t just impact e-cigarettes. Josh Sharp, executive vice president of the Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association and the Illinois Association of Convenience Stores, said it would also ban flavored tobacco products such as menthol. That will affect gas stations in border communities he said.
“All you’re going to do is disperse these consumers,” Sharp said. “They’re still going to get the product. So this bill doesn’t at all solved the problem that it’s intended to, or that it seeks to.”
The original bill excluded menthol, the current amended version removed the exclusion. That is creating quite a bit of controversy. The sponsor, Rep. Deb Conroy, told me today they are currently “working through” that aspect of the legislation. Without a tobacco menthol ban, she said, “we are sending people back to cigarettes” with the favored vaping ban.
* The Illinois Association of Convenience Stores claims that flavored tobacco cigarette products, including menthol, make up 38 percent of all sales. Last fiscal year, the tobacco tax on cigarettes brought in $739 million, so menthol and other flavored products brought in about $282.5 million. Other tobacco product revenues totaled $36.7 million last year, opponents say and 79 percent of those products are flavored, they claim, for a total of $28.9 million. Vaping brought in $13 million last year. 82 percent of that is supposedly flavored, so that’s $10.7 million for a grand total of about $322 million.
Now, all menthol smokers and flavored vapers are not gonna go total cold turkey. Nor will all of them head out of state or to the black market. Many will start smoking regular cigarettes or tobacco flavored vapes. All of that state revenue will not disappear, but a chunk of it will.
About $160 million a year is expected from new taxes on cigarettes and e-cigs to fund the state’s vertical infrastructure program. Using the same formula from above, that works out to about $65 million in revenue from favored products. Again, all that revenue won’t disappear, but some will.
* Whenever a government completely completely bans something addictive or habit-forming or, in the case of cannabis, pleasurable, it risks creating or enlarging an underground market. And those markets are often run by not so nice people. Just sayin…
In 2016, Kim Foxx unseated an incumbent in Cook County, Illinois, vowing to transform the nation’s second-largest local prosecutor’s office and to bring more accountability to shootings by police while also reducing unnecessary prosecutions for low-level, non-violent crimes.
One year into her term, Foxx did something no other state’s attorney had ever done: she released six years of data outlining what happened in every felony brought to her office, offering an unprecedented view into the decision-making of prosecutors and its impact.
Our analysis of this data provides the first detailed look at the more than 35,000 cases that flow through Foxx’s office every year. We found that since she took office she turned away more than 5,000 cases that would have been pursued by previous State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, mostly by declining to prosecute low-level shoplifting and drug offenses and by diverting more cases to alternative treatment programs. Foxx has not finished her term, so these trends could yet change.
Foxx declined to pursue criminal charges in 2,850 potential felony cases, many of them involving shoplifting. Before Foxx took office, about 300 felony shoplifting cases were filed each month. Under Foxx, that number has fallen to 70 cases.
Foxx’s office dismissed 2,300 drug cases that Alvarez likely would have pursued. Often, the accused individual was sent to treatment and counseling instead of court. […]
Violent crime in Chicago and Cook County is on the decline. Murders and shootings in Chicago are at their lowest level in four years. Robberies, burglaries and vehicle thefts in the city are at 20-year lows. Crime in Cook County has been trending down for longer than that.
The Marshall Project study emphasizes that it’s impossible to credit Foxx’s approach to prosecutions for any of this. We just don’t know. Crime rates go up and down for all kinds of complicated and interrelated reasons.
But it is equally true that Foxx’s critics can’t point to a single piece of empirical evidence, other than the random anecdote, to make the case that her policies have made the people of Cook County any less safe.
According to the Marshall Project, the Chicago police have increased arrests for unlawful use of a weapon by 40 percent. And, despite all the garment-rending by a certain class of pundits, lots of offenders are still being charged.
In May of this year, for example, the CPD made 487 UUW arrests and Foxx’s office filed felony charges against 442 of the alleged offenders, or about 91 percent.
In May of 2016, Anita Alvarez’s last full year in office, the CPD made 321 UUW arrests and Alvarez’s office filed felony charges against 288 of them, or about 90 percent.
* Rush Darwish hasn’t received much publicity in his Democratic primary bid against Congressman Dan Lipinski and second-time challenger Marie Newman. Until today, that is…
At a campaign kick-off event in June, Darwish in a speech incorrectly said Lipinski got $15,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel influential lobbying group. However, AIPAC is not a political action committee, does not endorse and does not donate to campaigns. AIPAC members and allies, like anyone, can contribute as individuals and use their personal networks to raise money for candidates.
Darwish provided no details to back up his $15,000 assertion when the Sun-Times asked him about it, saying “what I can do at this stage” is “take a closer look. … So if I technically said it wrong, then, I would have to look into that.”
Also at that kick-off event, Darwish turned to Newman, who ran for the seat in 2018.
Darwish said Newman “flipped” her position on the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement targeting Israel and “opposes the right of return, opposes equal rights for all and supports a two-state solution,” which Darwish said no longer “works.”
Darwish then said that Newman, when “asked by key members in the community, our community, ‘Marie, why the change of heart?’ she admitted, ‘I want to attract more Jewish donors.’”
Newman told the Sun-Times the Darwish tale is “an absolute lie.” Go read the rest because there’s more from Lynn Sweet.
Several southwest suburbs that federal agents recently visited as part of a wide-ranging corruption investigation have been using an insurance company that employs Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s son.
Alliant/Mesirow Insurance Services and company executive Andrew Madigan — neither of which has been accused of any crime — add an intriguing link to people federal authorities appear to be interested in.
Among them: Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski, who doubles as the mayor of McCook and whose office was raided Sept. 26. McCook village records show Tobolski invited Andrew Madigan in 2011 “to submit a proposal” to help secure liability coverage.
“Due to the sensitive nature of insurance, I have been very cautious about switching our program in the past,” Tobolski wrote. “However, I trust that you will be direct with the Village regarding our insurance options and potential cost savings and would like you to assist the Village.”
A year later, Tobolski wrote to the underwriting branch of another insurance firm to say the village had hired Alliant/Mesirow — then called Mesirow — as its “exclusive insurance brokers” for property, general liability and auto insurance, records show.
The search warrant served on McCook contains no references to insurance and Alliant/Mesirow does a lot of business in the suburbs. So, it could be an intriguing coincidence.
But, I mean, who really knows for sure about anything with this probe?
A wide-ranging federal corruption investigation has apparently not yet reached the Illinois House of Representatives.
WGN Investigates sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the clerk of the Illinois house. The request was for copies of law enforcement subpoenas sent since January 1. But the clerk said the Illinois House has not been subpoenaed.
