* As noted earlier in two different posts, the governor held his first press conference in well over a month today.
Before even taking questions, Pritzker called on Sen. Martin Sandoval to either resign from or be removed from the chairmanship of the Senate Transportation committee. “Corruption and self-dealing will not be tolerated,” he said. “Sometimes I have to say some difficult things to the leaders,” he said later in response to a question about whether he’d talked to Senate President John Cullerton about Sandoval.
* I told subscribers this morning that the governor’s office told me IDOT has received no federal subpoenas. Pritzker said this afternoon that neither the governor’s office nor IDOT had been served with subpoenas or search warrants. He also said this…
I know there’s reference [in the Sandoval search warrant] to some IDOT employees, but, as of now anyway, there’s no allegation, there’s no interviews that we’re aware of, that have been requested.
He also said he didn’t know who the unnamed IDOT officials were.
* He was asked about Sandoval’s involvement in the capital bill…
We were at odds with Sen. Sandoval in a number of very important ways. He, in fact, put forward a different capital bill than the one that was ultimately put through. And his was rejected, and amendments he put forward were rejected. So, I feel confident that the procedures that were gone through were good ones. But as I say, as we go through and those projects are reviewed we’re going to make sure and identify any challenges that may exist so that we’re doing the right thing and the entire thing’s on the up-and-up.
Sandoval introduced a “horizontal” capital bill weeks before the governor’s office was prepared to issue its own. As subscribers may recall, it caused some tension.
Pritzker later mentioned something I told subscribes about on Monday. Pritzker said there was opposition from IDOT over Sandoval’s pressure to use recycled asphalt shingles, a business dominated here by Mike Vondra.
* The first question out of the gate was about our Question of the Day, the $250,000 appropriated to the Village of McCook “for costs associated with upgrades to the municipal building.” Pritzker’s response…
All of the allocations that are made have to go through a rigorous process before they are paid out, before those projects are initiated. That is one that is in place. It of course means that we should make sure that it is transparent, that it’s done completely on the up-and-up and I am making sure that we’re reviewing all the policies and procedures so that any projects that get approved are approved with the utmost confidence that these are done in the best interest of taxpayers and nothing of the sort of corruption or self-dealing that has been alleged.
* He was also asked about his fractured leg, which has kept him from most public appearances…
For the last couple days anyway it’s felt pretty good.
He told reporters that they’ll be seeing him more now.
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* The outside illuminating lights at the Statehouse were shut off years ago during the impasse. Here’s a photo from last week…
* Last night…
* Brenden’s story…
In perhaps the most visible sign the state has emerged from the darkness of a more than two-year-long budget impasse, the lights illuminating the Illinois State Capitol dome were switched on Tuesday night for the first time since 2015.
Illinois Secretary of State spokesman Henry Haupt confirmed the return of the lights, which were shut off due to the impasse as the state fell as much as $12 million behind on its City Light, Water and Power tab.
The dome lights have been upgraded to LED, which significantly reduces electrical costs. The Secretary of State’s office, which maintains the Capitol Complex, estimates that the cost comes out to about $4.33 per day, or just under $1,600 per year.
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* Your move, Mr. Senate President…
…Adding… The governor apparently told Cullerton this himself and not just blindside him with a media announcement…
*** UPDATE *** The answer is apparently “No”…
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* Sun-Times…
A long-awaited legislative inspector general’s report requested by former political consultant turned #MeToo whistleblower Alaina Hampton concludes Kevin Quinn — a former top political aide to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan — violated sexual harassment provisions now in place.
But the harassment in question happened before those provisions were added to state law as part of a revamped ethics act. That revamp was part of a cleanup effort after a swath of #MeToo allegations last year. […]
But since Quinn no longer is a state employee, he can’t even be disciplined for that violation. Current Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope — who adopted Porter’s findings — recommended that a memo from the speaker be placed in his official personnel file; the memo would state that he violated that provision and that “he never be rehired as a State employee or contractor.”
A separate legislative inspector general’s report about former Madigan chief of staff Tim Mapes was also released on Wednesday. Pope, too, found that Mapes “violated the Ethics Act by engaging in conduct of a sexual nature with the purpose and effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, and offensive working environment.” Pope wrote that Mapes also refused to cooperate with the investigation. He, too, will get a memo in his file and can never be rehired as a state employee.
* Tribune…
Pope said her predecessor referred the matter to the Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to consider criminal charges against Quinn, but Raoul declined to prosecute Quinn over the Hampton allegations.
Well, that’s new.
* More…
[Pope] cited Mapes for “conduct of a sexual nature with the purpose and effect of creating an intimidating, hostile and offensive working environment.” […]
In response, Mapes’ attorney called the allegations “baseless and untrue.” […]
The accounts from Garrett, whom Pope “found … to be entirely credible,” were corroborated by three other employees in the speaker’s office, including two witnesses who “worked closely with Mapes and generally had good relationships with him,” according to the report.
The letter from Mapes’ attorney is quite something. No apology, defiant to the end.
* Kevin Quinn documentation…
* LIG summary report
* Speaker Madigan response
* Alaina Hampton response
* Kevin Quinn response
* Tim Mapes documentation…
* LIG summary report
* Speaker Madigan response
* Tim Mapes response
*** UPDATE *** Speaker Madigan…
The former Legislative Inspector General reviewed my actions and determined Ms. Hampton’s allegations against me were unfounded. She advised me that my office took the investigation seriously and made a reasoned decision as to how to impose consequences for Kevin Quinn’s misconduct.
I have strengthened and improved protections for victims of harassment in both my office and across my political organizations. These changes include instituting mandatory training on sexual harassment, intimidation, and other important workplace protections, and creating strong reporting mechanisms to report workplace complaints. I am committed to ensuring that anyone who reports a complaint is protected, they are treated fairly and that everyone has a safe and welcoming work environment.
* And this is from Ald. Marty Quinn…
The Legislative Inspector General’s report reiterates the statement I made in February 2018 and confirms my handling of this situation. When Ms. Hampton notified me of inappropriate text messages from my brother, I took immediate action. I also did exactly what she asked me to do. I understood Ms. Hampton wanted the text messages to stop and I made sure she was never contacted by my brother again. I have never wavered from creating a safe and productive workplace and I never will.
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* Obviously, President Trump is not beloved in the city (just the opposite), so attempting to motivate census participation by framing it as an act of defiance could turn out to be a pretty smart move by the mayor…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to convince Chicagoans to take part in the upcoming U.S. census by casting it as an act of defiance against President Donald Trump’s administration.
The city will launch a campaign to try to get participation up to 75% of the population from an estimated 66% 10 years ago, Lightfoot said Tuesday. The push comes in spite of what the mayor said is Trump’s attempts to suppress the number of residents who fill out the forms in Democratic-leaning parts of the country with large immigrant populations like Chicago.
“I think we can make a very compelling case as to why this is, in some ways, the ultimate form of protest, which is to be counted and not let somebody treat you as invisible and drive you into the shadows,” Lightfoot said at a news conference to announce her administration will earmark $2.7 million to help increase census turnout in 2020. “So I think we have a very compelling message in opposition, frankly, to what the prevailing conservative, anti-immigrant message is, to get people motivated to get counted.”
Trump wanted to include a question on 2020 census forms asking people their citizenship status. While the U.S. Supreme Court rejected that idea, Lightfoot acknowledged there is still widespread concern among undocumented immigrants that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will try to use census information to deport them.
* More…
Lightfoot said she would ask the City Council to set aside $2.7 million in the 2020 budget for outreach efforts to be led by well-established community organizations familiar with Chicago’s hard-to-count residents — immigrants, refugees, renters, those who are homeless; people with disabilities; those who don’t speak English, young children; seniors citizens; and college students. […]
“We’re looking at $1,400 per year per person that we stand to lose if we don’t get people counted,” Lightfoot said. “You add that up across tens of thousands over a decade, that’s real money that’s not coming to Chicago.”
The city’s effort will get an assist from Chicago-based advertising firm FCB, which will build and launch a citywide campaign free of charge.
The campaign will paint the Census as a “true tool of empowerment,” said Michael Fassnacht, president and CEO of FCB Chicago.
Thoughts?
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* Crain’s…
The University of Illinois plans a $100 million center to develop smart technologies in partnership with a division of Foxconn and the long-planned Discovery Partners Institute.
The Center for Networked Intelligent Components & Environments will be based on the Urbana-Champaign campus as part of the Grainger College of Engineering. […]
Foxconn Interconnect Technology will fund the $50 million over 10 years. The unit is separate from Foxconn Technology Group, the electronics-assembly business that is building a factory near Kenosha, Wis., and is funding $100 million in engineering research at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
* Daily Illini…
Foxconn’s presence at the University already includes a space in the University’s Research Park, as well as Lu’s recent $21.5 million investment toward a five-story addition to the University’s mechanical engineering building.
Researchers from Foxconn Interconnect and the University will be working together at the new center to focus on research for a wide range of projects, including the interaction between humans and robots, new measurement techniques for nanoscale components, methods for capturing manufacturing data and new data-processing techniques in sensors.
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Chris Cleveland calling it quits
Wednesday, Oct 2, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz…
He’s a survivor, a long-lived Republican and conservative activist in an overwhelmingly Democratic city who not only kept his party job but got noticed over the past decade. And now he’s hanging it up.
That’s Chris Cleveland, the GOP committeeman of the Lincoln Park 43rd Ward, who announced in recent days that the search is on for his successor because “the time has come for me to get back to the private sector,” specifically running the software company he owns.
Cleveland, who also chairs the Chicago Republican Party, actually managed to find some success in a city that, despite its reputation, still is home to hundreds of thousands of GOP voters.
As he noted in an email to supporters and in a follow-up interview, he sued both Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and the Chicago Board of Elections (winning both), challenged the nominating petitions of dozens of Democrats, opened two offices in the ward and actually fielded a semblance of an organization with precinct workers and election judges. He even had some fun, filing a civil rights complaint after a Chicago alderman tried to block opening of a Chick-fil-A outlet in his ward.
Go read the rest.
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* Patrick Elwood at WGN…
Residents in Lyons left a City Hall meeting frustrated Tuesday evening. The meeting came just days after the town’s City Hall was raided by federal agents.
The village’s monthly public meeting started at 7 p.m. and was over by 7:06 p.m. Those residents who wanted to say a few words were not allowed to speak.
The FBI raided the town halls of Lyons, McCook and Summit, and just days before that, raided the Cicero and Springfield offices of Sen. Martin Sandoval. […]
As a WGN reporter interviewed Earl Johnson, a Lyons resident who is an outspoken critic of Mayor Christopher Getty, a man who residents said is an ally of Getty walked by and spilled soda as the on-camera interview was conducted. He then set off his car alarm.
* Some on-scene tweets from the BGA…
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* Cole Lauterbach at Center Square…
A new analysis from credit rating agency S&P predicts cities in areas like Southern Illinois must get ready for “credit challenges” as money moves out of coal.
As investors, both in public and private sectors, make an effort to invest in things like renewable energy, S&P said coal-reliant areas could experience added budget pressures due to a loss of not only tax revenue should a mine or coal-fired plant close, but the also the local tax base after workers leave the area for other opportunities.
“In S&P Global Ratings’ opinion, reliance on coal-related revenue and economic activity, absent diversification, may result in long-term credit deterioration for some U.S. government entities,” the report said.
Specifically to Illinois, the authors pointed out that coal accounts for less than 1 percent of the state’s GDP and the state doesn’t collect a severance tax on coal. This, the authors said, would ensure that the decline of the coal industry in Illinois would have a minimal effect on the state’s overall economy.
Southern Illinois, however, would be one of the more intensely-affected regions.
“In localized areas where there is a power plant closure, where there is a mine closure, that can have a more negative economic impact in that area,” credit analyst Timothy Little said.
U.S. coal production is in decline, with half of those operating in 2008 having been since shuttered, but Illinois’ coal production has bucked that trend, according to S&P.
“Over the past decade (2007-2018), production increased 52% compared to declines or flat production in the nine other major coal-producing states and a 34% decline in coal production nationally,” the report said, attributing that increase to strong export demand and relative ease of extraction compared to other areas.
The report’s ominous warning is due, in part, to a larger movement of ethical investing referred to as environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, initiatives that focus on sustainability factors among other issues.
“The ESG components to our ratings are just as important as some of the financial metrics that are key,” S&P analyst Kurt Forsgren said.
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Danville picks casino operator
Wednesday, Oct 2, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Jennifer Bailey at the Danville Commercial News…
D-Vegas has been a long-running nickname used by some residents for Danville, it being the opposite of a bright lights big city.
Now after a 30-year wait for a casino, Danville is living up to that nickname and could be called that by a lot more people. The casino renderings of Haven Gaming LLC’s casino resort and entertainment center is reminiscent of a Las Vegas-style property.
The Danville City Council voted 12-0, with Ward 4 Alderman Mike O’Kane absent and a vacant Ward 1 seat at the start of the meeting Tuesday night to accept the casino steering-committee’s recommendation of Haven Gaming as the casino operating partner. Haven Gaming is a team of about seven people with more than a century of gaming experience combined with casinos, for example in Joliet, Michigan City, Ind., and in California.
The proposed casino will have 1,250 slot machines, 40 gaming tables and also sports betting lounges and bars, a 2,500 seat entertainment venue, conference/banquet center, 300-seat buffet, a boutique hotel and rooftop spa/salon, pool and lazy river, celebrity-style restaurants and other amenities. There also will be waterfall and other outside features.
* Artist rendering…
Nice.
* Sun-Times…
“This has been a long time coming,” a tearful Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said before the City Council unanimously passed a measure approving a proposal from a politically connected casino development group that includes a powerful ex-state lawmaker who resigned in controversy earlier this year.
Nearly 25 years after the General Motors foundry shut down in nearby Tilton, the once-prospering city of Danville — where Abraham Lincoln practiced law before his political ascent, and where actors Dick Van Dyke and Gene Hackman grew up — has seen its number of residents shrink to about 30,000, according to U.S. Census estimates. That’s a population decline of about 30% from its heyday in 1970.
And now, more than 30% of Danville residents live below the federal poverty line, more than double the statewide poverty rate of about 12%, Census figures show.
But state and city leaders are betting a casino can help turn that tide, despite the fact casino attendance and revenue figures have been steadily declining for years as video gambling machines have proliferated at at thousands of bars, restaurants, lounges and rest stops since they launched in Illinois in 2012.
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* From the capital bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Martin Sandoval…
The sum of $250,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the Build Illinois Bond Fund to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a grant to the Village of McCook for costs associated with upgrades to the municipal building.
McCook, of course, was one of the towns visited by the feds last week two days after Sen. Sandoval’s offices and house were raided.
* The Question: Your top ideas for how McCook should spend its municipal building upgrade money?
*** UPDATE *** The governor was actually asked today about this appropriation. Pritzker said all projects will be reviewed, “so that any projects that are approved are approved with the utmost confidence that these are done in the best interest of taxpayers and nothing of the sort of corruption or self-dealing that has been alleged.”
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* Robert Herguth, Mark Brown and Jon Seidel at the Sun-Times…
Federal agents who blitzed several southwest suburban towns last week were asking questions about a politically connected red-light camera company, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. […]
As part of the wide-ranging investigation, the feds executed search warrants at the village halls of McCook and Lyons last week as well as the insurance agency office of Lyons Mayor Chris Getty. The feds also interviewed the mayors of Summit and Crestwood, which has not been previously reported.
SafeSpeed’s CEO is Nikki Zollar, a former high-ranking state government official. One of the company’s paid consultants is Patrick Doherty, who is the chief of staff to Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski. Tobolski doubles as the mayor of McCook. […]
The feds interviewed Summit Mayor Sergio Rodriguez about SafeSpeed last week, sources said. Summit has an arrangement with the company to operate two red-light cameras at a single intersection in town. Rodriguez did not return phone messages seeking comment.
Go read it all.
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* If you look at the federal warrant served on Sen. Martin Sandoval’s Statehouse office last week, you’ll see they were looking for: “Evidence and instrumentalities concerning violation of Title 18, United States Code.”
Here’s the list of the sections the feds listed in the warrant with a brief explanation of each one from the US Department of Justice and other sources. Click the individual section links for more info…
* 371 - The operative language is the so-called “defraud clause,” that prohibits conspiracies to defraud the United States. This clause creates a separate offense from the “offense clause” in Section 371. Both offenses require the traditional elements of Section 371 conspiracy, including an illegal agreement, criminal intent, and proof of an overt act.
* 666 - Section 666(b) requires that the organization, government or agency must have received, in any one year period, “benefits in excess of $10,000 under a Federal program involving a grant, contract, subsidy, loan, guarantee, insurance, or other form of Federal assistance.”
* 1341 - Mail fraud.
* 1343 - Wire fraud
* 1346 - Definition of “scheme or artifice to defraud”
* 1349 - “Any person who attempts or conspires to commit any offense under this chapter shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the attempt or conspiracy.”
* 1951 - Interference with commerce by threats or violence
That last one is pretty chilling.
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* Sun-Times…
A search warrant executed on State Sen. Martin Sandoval’s Capitol office last week shows federal authorities were looking into “items related to any official action taken in exchange for a benefit.”
Items included those related to five unnamed Illinois Department of Transportation employees, a highway company, several unnamed lobbyists, “any business owned and controlled by Martin Sandoval,” several municipalities and a political organization, among other entities. Names were redacted by state officials after the Sun-Times filed a Freedom of Information Act request last week to the office of the Illinois Senate Democrats.
Officials obtained several items from Sandoval’s office, including several iPhones, a laptop computer and an Apple computer, as well as a “Friends of Martin Sandoval” spreadsheet from December 2017, filed labeled “IDOT,” USB drives and shredded paper. They also seized a statement of economic and documents referencing the town of Cicero. Sandoval has had a lucrative contract for years with the town to provide translation services for the town newsletter.
* This is one gigantic probe…
* I transcribed the search warrant because it’s pretty interesting…
1. Items related to [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] Official A, [redacted] Official B, any business or partner related to any of those individuals, [redacted] Inc., [redacted] Official A’s company, [redacted] any employee, officer or representative of [redacted] [redacted] a [redacted] lounge, and/or any issue or supported by any of those businesses or individuals, including but not limited to [redacted] [redacted] .
2. Items related to [redacted] Lobbyist A, and or Lobbyist B.
3. Items related to [redacted] Inc., [redacted] Inc., any business owned or controlled by Martin Sandoval, any client of such business, any person or entity that has made payment to or agreed to make payment to any such business, any official action related to such businesses, Municipality 7 Attorney, Municipality 7 President, Municipality 7 President’s Political Organization, Municipality 7 Attorney’s law firm, and/or Political Action Committee 1.
4. Items related to [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] and/or Concrete Company A.
5. Items related to [redacted], [redacted], any employee officer, partner, representative, or business related to either of those individuals, [redacted] [redacted] Inc. [redacted], any employee officer, partner or representative of those businesses, [redacted] and/or any issue or supported by any of those businesses or individuals, including but not limited to [redacted].
6. Items related to [redacted], any employee officer, partner, representative, or business related to [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] LLC [redacted] Corporation, any employee, officer or representative of any of those businesses, and/or any issue or supported by any of those businesses or individuals.
7. Items related to Construction Company A Official 1, Highway Company A Official 1, Highway Company A Official 2, any employee, officer, partner, representative, or business related to either of those individuals, Construction Company A, Highway Company A, any employee, officer or representative of any of those businesses, and/or any issue or supported by any of those businesses or individuals.
8. Items related to [redacted], [redacted], [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] [redacted], [redacted] Associate A, [redacted] Associate B, [redacted] Associate C, any employee officer, partner or representative of those businesses related to any of those individuals, [redacted] Corporation, [redacted][redacted] LLC, [redacted] Corporation, [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] Inc., [redacted] Club, the [redacted] [redacted] Foundation, [redacted] Corporation, [redacted] Companies, [redacted] Ltd., [redacted][redacted] Associate A’s Company, any employee, officer or representative of any of those businesses, and/or any issue or supported by any of those businesses or individuals, including but not limited to [redacted].
9. Items related to [redacted] [redacted] any employee, officer or representative of any of those businesses, [redacted] Official A, [redacted] Official B, [redacted] Official C, [redacted] Official D, and/or any issue or supported by any of those businesses or individuals, including but not limited to [redacted].
10. Items related to IDOT Official A, IDOT Official B, IDOT Official D, IDOT Official E, and/or IDOT Official F.
11. Items related to any official action taken in exchange for a benefit.
Whew.
Wonder what the dealio is with IDOT Official C.
…Adding… Here’s the list of seized items…
He had five mobile phones in his office?
*** UPDATE *** Jordan Abudayyeh at the Governor’s office…
This administration expects public servants to be held to the highest ethical standards, and it is unconscionable to use elected office for monetary gain in any way. State agencies will fully cooperate with any investigation. Corruption and self-dealing will not be tolerated, and employees who have fallen short of these ethical standards will be disciplined, up to and including termination, and should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
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* Kankakee Daily Journal…
Kankakee Mayor Chasity Wells-Armstrong is passing up the opportunity to apply for the soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat held by Democrat Toi Hutchinson.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Anthony DeLuca says he is interested in the position.
By state law, Democratic Party leaders in Hutchinson’s 40th District get to choose her replacement. She announced last week she was resigning to take a state job.
…Adding… Great point by Hannah…
Out of about 71 thousand votes Hutchinson received in 2016, Will County provided a not inconsequential 17 thousand of them.
* Man, there will be a lot of races in Will County next year, both in the primary and the general. Here’s Ted Slowik at the Daily Southtown…
Former state Sen. Larry Walsh Sr., 71, a Democrat from Elwood, announced in August that he would not seek a fifth term as Will County executive. Walsh, who first won the countywide office in 2004, said he plans to serve out his term. Walsh, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014, has said he plans to focus on his health. […]
On the Democratic side, Walsh supports Nick Palmer, of Joliet, his longtime chief of staff. Palmer faces a primary challenge from 49th District state Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, of Shorewood.
Three Republicans and a Democrat are already vying to replace Margo McDermed, of Mokena, as state representative for the 37th District. McDermed, 69, who was first elected to the seat in 2014, announced in July she would not seek another term. The district covers parts of Frankfort, Homer Glen, Joliet, Lockport, Mokena, New Lenox, Orland Park and Tinley Park. […]
Also last week, Democrat Pat McGuire, of Joliet, announced he would not seek reelection as state senator representing the 43rd District. McGuire previously served as Will County treasurer and on the Joliet Township High School District Board of Education.
So, that’s Hutchinson, the elder Walsh, Bertino-Tarant, McDermed and McGuire. Sen. Sue Rezin is running for Congress, so if she wins that seat will open up (and while the congressional race will mainly be focused elsewhere, Will County will still be important). And Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) could find himself in the general election fight of his life next year (about 15 thousand total votes were cast in the Will County portion last year). There were less than 2,000 votes in freshman Rep. Anne M. Stava-Murray’s district within Will County last year, but every vote will matter in that district next year.
…Adding… I forgot to mention that people are lining up to run against GOP Rep. Mark Batinick as well, including Plainfield Trustee and ironworker Harry Benton. There were about 35 thousand votes cast in the Will County part of the district last year. And, of course, Rep. John Connor is running for Sen. McGuire’s seat, which opens up that House district.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Oct 1, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Four more reasons why this state needed a capital bill…
* The Question: What are the problematic state roads/bridges/etc. in your area that urgently need repair?
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New laws
Tuesday, Oct 1, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Illinois companies can no longer ask job applicants or their previous employers about their pay history under a law that took effect Sunday. Supporters say the measure will help close the pay gap between women and men.
Sarah Labadie, associate director of policy for Women Employed, a nonprofit advocating for equal pay for women in the workforce, said the main goal of the law is to restructure how companies pay their workers so that pay discrepancies aren’t perpetuated.
Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, who co-sponsored the legislation signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, said she hopes the new law will even the playing field.
“Women tend to make less than their male counterparts. If (a company is) basing it off past wages, it causes them to continue to get paid less. Employers will no longer be able to make wage offers by using previous wage history,” Moeller said.
The paper goes on to detail the new law.
* Progressive Railroading…
Indiana Rail Road Co., the Association of American Railroads and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association have asked a federal judge to stop Illinois from enforcing a new law that requires a minimum of two crew members on trains.
In a lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court yesterday against the Illinois Commerce Commission, the railroad and associations argue that federal regulations preempt the crew-size law that Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker signed in August. The law is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2020.
Pritzker signed the law three months after the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) determined that “no regulation of train-crew staffing is necessary or appropriate” for railroads to operate safely, according to the lawsuit.
“In recent decades, technological breakthroughs have allowed railroads to gradually decrease average crew sizes —from about five in the 1960s to just two today — while compiling an ever-improving record of safety,” the court filing states. “Now, the nation’s railroads are poised to deliver even safer and more efficient service.”
The lawsuit is here.
* Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore)…
Every October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month across the nation, but this year especially, we have reason to take notice of this cause here in our own community. Local breast cancer screening rates have fallen below the state and national average. DeKalb County’s breast cancer screening rate is 65%. The statewide average is 78%, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
My family, like so many others in our community, has been impacted by women battling breast cancer. As a husband and father of a college age daughter, women’s health issues are a kitchen table issue in my house, just as I’m sure it is in homes across the State of Illinois. To help make a difference, I sponsored a bill this spring to broaden the availability of mammogram screening, SB 162.
On August 26, Governor Pritzker came to DeKalb to sign my bill into law at Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital, which just last week celebrated the opening of their new Breast Health Center. Our new law requires both private insurance and Medicaid to cover several preventative measures to help women detect breast cancer. Mammograms, ultrasounds and MRIs will now be covered when deemed medically necessary by a physician, advanced practice nurse or physician assistant, effective January 1, 2020.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, upwards of ten thousand women in Illinois are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. With the new law increasing access to preventative care, early detection and treatment can help save lives.
My bill, which is now Public Act 101-0580, passed both the House of Representatives and State Senate unanimously this spring, making it a bipartisan achievement we can all be proud of. I would like to thank the breast cancer survivors and advocates whose support was pivotal in getting this new law passed. Together we will continue to make major strides to prevent breast cancer and ensure that women have access to the screenings and life-saving care they need.
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It’s just a bill
Tuesday, Oct 1, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Center Square…
After California did so, Illinois lawmakers are now racing each other to get legislation to Gov. J.B. Pritzker to allow college athletes to be paid for their name, image, and likeness, something the NCAA has long prohibited. […]
In just five days, two bills have been filed in the Illinois House of Representatives that would do the same in Illinois.
Wow. Two bills. Quite the race.
* Capitol News Illinois…
Rep. Daniel Didech, from Buffalo Grove, proposed legislation Thursday that would prohibit the state from requiring staff to travel to states with laws effectively banning abortion or requiring investigations into the cause of a miscarriage. It would also bar the government from reimbursing an employee for travel to one of those states.
In the first six months of 2019, 12 states passed some form of a law restricting access to abortion. Those states surround Illinois to the east and southwest, and cut a swath south to the Gulf of Mexico. They include neighboring Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.
“What these other states are doing is, to me, very dangerous. To a large extent, yes, abortion is a big part of it, but it’s not entirely about abortion,” Didech said. “As a member of the Legislature, I have the responsibility to protect our state employees.”
State government staffers travel for a number of reasons, including conferences, litigation and training as required by a grant or license. The bill includes exclusions to allow for some of those trips to continue in extenuating circumstances.
The bill is here.
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* Kaiser Health News…
Patricia Powers went a few years without health insurance and was unable to afford regular doctor visits. So the Missouri resident, who lives near St. Louis, had no idea that cancerous tumors were silently growing in both of her breasts.
If Powers lived just across the Mississippi River in neighboring Illinois, she would have qualified for Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for low-income residents that 36 states and the District of Columbia decided to expand under the Affordable Care Act. But Missouri politicians chose not to expand it — a decision some groups are trying to reverse by getting signatures to put the option on the 2020 ballot.
Powers’ predicament reflects an odd twist in the way the health care law has played out: State borders have become arbitrary dividing lines between Medicaid’s haves and have-nots, with Americans in similar financial straits facing vastly different health care fortunes. This affects everything from whether diseases are caught early to whether people can stay well enough to work. […]
A recent University of Michigan study found Medicaid expansion substantially reduced mortality rates from 2014 to 2017. The researchers said Illinois averted 345 deaths annually while Missouri had 194 additional deaths each year. The same trends held for other side-by-side states such as Kentucky (did expand) and Tennessee (did not), New Mexico (did) and Texas (did not).
And it’s not just the averted deaths. It’s also the averted debilitating impacts of untreated or partially treated illnesses and injuries and the crushing debts which often lead to bankruptcies and the inability to work or be productive citizens…
In neighboring Illinois, getting Medicaid through the expansion helped Matt Bednarowicz avoid debilitating medical debt after a motorcycle crash.
The wreck crushed his left foot, requiring doctors to insert pins. Without Medicaid, he would have faced thousands of dollars in medical bills.
“The debt would have been greater than I could comprehend overcoming,” says Bednarowicz, who is now 29.
His Medicaid kicked in “just in the nick of time” to cover the surgery, Bednarowicz says. It also allowed him to get psychiatric help for depression. More than a year later, he’s able to get around well — even jog — and works as a caregiver for an elderly man.
Having insurance helps people like Bednarowicz stay productive, says Riopedre.
21 Comments
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Anecdotes vs. data
Tuesday, Oct 1, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Chicago Tribune editorial…
Homebuilder Jerry James, president of Glenview-based Edward R. James Partners, doesn’t need to study statistics to grasp the sluggishness of the local housing market. He lives it. “This is the toughest I’ve seen it, and I’ve been in the business since 1985,” James says.
Catering to empty nesters, James sees the investment losses homeowners are experiencing when they downsize. Why is it happening? “Increasing taxes on property as a result of the pension situation is it in a nutshell. People’s homes aren’t appreciating, and tax bills are going up. It’s a bad combination that doesn’t feel good to anybody.”
Stagnant and depreciating home values throughout Illinois have become an offshoot of what we’ve been calling the “Illinois Exodus.” Last year’s estimated net reduction of residents hit 45,116, the worst of five straight years of population decline.
* Chicago Civic Federation…
The full market value of real estate in Cook County was approximately $585.8 billion in tax assessment year 2017. Tax year 2017 is the most recent year for which data are available. The 2017 total value estimate represents an increase of $26.1 billion, or 4.7%, from the 2016 estimated full value. … The 2017 estimates represent the fifth year in a row in which real estate values in Cook County increased after six straight years of decline. […]
Readers should note that the trends identified in this report do not necessarily apply to individual properties. This is because: 1) they are estimates; and 2) they reflect medians, which by their nature do not represent the individual experience of every property.
56 Comments
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* From the U of I’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs…
The University of Illinois Flash Index registered an unexpected gain to 105.5 in September from its 105.1 level in August.
“Despite numerous reports of slowing U. S. and global economies, Illinois appears to be doing well,” said University of Illinois economist J. Fred Giertz, who compiles the monthly index for the Institute of Government and Public Affairs.
However, Giertz said a word of caution is in order. “A large one-month change in the index can be the result of unusual variations in tax receipts patterns rather than true economic impacts,” he said.
The jump in the index comes after it had hit its lowest level so far for the year in August. See the full Flash Index archive.
Two of the three components of the Flash Index, individual income and corporate tax receipts, were up around 10 percent from the same month last year after adjusting for inflation and rate changes. Sales tax receipts were down slightly.
The unemployment rate in Illinois fell slightly to 4.0 percent, the lowest in many decades. In addition, the Illinois rate was only three-tenths of a percentage point above the national rate.
The Flash Index is a weighted average of Illinois growth rates in corporate earnings, consumer spending and personal income as estimated from receipts for corporate income, personal income and retail sales taxes. These are adjusted for inflation before growth rates are calculated. The growth rate for each component is then calculated for the 12-month period using data through September 30, 2019. An index reading above 100 denotes growth.
19 Comments
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Some hiring progress at DCFS
Tuesday, Oct 1, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line…
In recent years, the volume of calls coming into DCFS’ hotline — 800-25-ABUSE — has risen precipitously, and hotline staffers have not been able to keep up with the increase in calls. A May audit from Auditor General Frank Mautino’s office found that timeliness for completing investigations declined significantly between 2015 and 2017, both the focus of the biennial audit and the timeframe in which the state went without an operating budget for two years. […]
In the wake of media attention and increased legislative scrutiny on the troubled agency throughout 2019, DCFS last month told lawmakers it plans to hire 20 more workers for the hotline as part of an overall plan to add dozens more people to DCFS’ payroll, including 71 more child protection investigators.
In order to hire the 20 additional hotline workers as fast as possible, a unit within AFSCME Council 31, the umbrella union that represents most state employees, has waived a provision in its contract that requires internal candidates — who are also covered by AFSCME’s contract — to get the first chance at those jobs.
The overarching AFSCME contract for state workers normally requires job vacancies to be first posted internally bidding for at least 10 working days to give internal candidates the first shot at openings.
AFSCME Council 31 spokesperson Anders Lindall said it’s not unusual for individual units within AFSCME Council 31, including the unit that covers DCFS workers in Springfield, where the hotline is located, to negotiate certain waivers in a supplemental agreement in order to achieve a goal — in this case, reducing call volumes for overwhelmed workers.
But there’s another potential contract-related issue, so go read the rest.
* More progress reported by Justin Carter at WICS TV…
A few weeks ago, we told you DCFS is struggling to hire bilingual employees.
It’s state law to have at least 194 on board.
As of July, there are 189 bilingual employees on DCFS staff. […]
In June 2018, under the Rauner administration, DCFS only had 158 bilingual employees on staff.
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* Steve Stein…
Illinois Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady knows his back is to the wall in the Senate.
There are 40 Democratic senators. Brady is one of only 19 Republican senators.
“But that doesn’t mean we can’t get things done,” Brady said Monday during a stop at Morton Industries.
“This state has liberal financial tendencies,” he said. “We (Republican lawmakers) can be the voice of fiscal responsibility. Government has to spend money, but it needs to be efficient, effective spending, and spending that people can afford.
“We can either be disruptive or find common ground with the Democrats. We’re looking to find common ground.”
Brady did talk about areas of sharp disagreement, including the minimum wage law. But when you’re that outnumbered you basically have two choices: 1) Scream your opposition and likely change nothing; or 2) Sit at the table and try to change bills a little more to your liking. The Republicans (particularly in the House) got more accomplished in the General Assembly this year than they did in four years partnering with a brick-throwing GOP governor.
23 Comments
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Um, no
Tuesday, Oct 1, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Um…
Another pressure point is CTU’s demand to increase the number of social workers to a recommended one-per-220 students over three years. The cost would be an unfeasible $800 million, according to the city
* No…
* Um…
* No…
Martin Sandoval, C.P.A., will serve as a Business Administration Expert on the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Board of Trustees. With over 25 years of experience in business, strategic planning and financial management, Sandoval is the founding partner of Compass Associates. He previously was a Director of Corporate Development of Sara Lee Corporation and did similar work for organizations such as the McDonald’s Corporation and Arthur Andersen.
We discussed this yesterday. It’s a different Martin Sandoval.
Also, that hiring story is odd. RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard called Pace on the plaintiff’s behalf to recommend him for a job and Sen. Sandoval’s son got it instead. According to claims made in the story, no hard evidence has yet surfaced to directly establish that Sen. Sandoval actively helped his kid get the gig.
…Adding… Um…
Citing ‘unpredictable legislative and regulatory landscape,’ Sterigenics won’t reopen
Sterigenics, the company that owns a shuttered medical sterilization facility that’s been in the crosshairs of lawmakers and activists for its history of releasing a cancer-causing chemical into the Willowbrook area, will not reopen that facility.
Citing what the company called an “unpredictable legislative and regulatory landscape in Illinois,” it announced Monday that it would exit its sterilization operations in Willowbrook.
Nowhere is this highly important fact mentioned…
Sterigenics also said it was unable to reach an agreement to renew the lease on the building it uses on Quincy Street in Willowbrook.
Forget about the regulatory environment. No lease, no business.
19 Comments
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Reefer madness is definitely still a thing
Tuesday, Oct 1, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Last night’s Decatur City Council meeting was quite something. Aldermen voted to ban the sale of cannabis and even voted not to allow the construction of growing and processing centers…
“What I heard unequivocally from law enforcement was, ‘You will never get enough money to cover the problems this will bring,’” [Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe] said, speaking before the vote. “I went to health officials, ER doctors, those that work with overdose patients every day, and they said, ‘Don’t do this.’”
1) Lots of people in Decatur are already consuming cannabis. They’re just doing it illegally. The city has now sided with the black market. And every “study” that purports to show unusually large increases in police costs has been thoroughly debunked.
2) Maybe those ER doctors thought the mayor was asking about opioid overdoses, because nobody has ever died after ingesting too much weed.
The council even rejected an opportunity to see what their constituents really believe…
[Ald. Bill Faber] unsuccessfully attempted to amend the ordinance to attach a referendum, effectively asking the question of the public on the next election’s ballot. “My aim is to get the issue decided by the community,” he said.
You get the distinct feeling from reading the article that the city council doesn’t want to know what the public actually thinks.
* Meanwhile, leave it to the folks at Center Square to come up with a negative Illinois-related spin…
A federal measure that would allow marijuana business access to banks could mean a boom in investment, but it could put a dent in Illinois’ budding cannabis revenue projections.
For years, the business of medical and recreational cannabis has been “cash-only” due to federal banking laws forbidding access to banks. The SAFE Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives last Wednesday using a parliamentary procedure but with bipartisan support nonetheless. It would remove the federal prohibition on FDIC-insured banking institutions doing business with a company that sells medical or recreational cannabis.
The nonprofit Tax Foundation said the purveyors of pot are likely jumping for joy over the prospect, but states who charge an excise tax on the monetary value of the product could see tax revenues fall short.
“With the access to financial services, greater competition could occur because a lot more startups who can then get access to startup loans to finance can get into the market to make it more competitive and drive down prices,” said Ulrik Boesen, senior policy analyst.
Illinois will become the 12th state to legalize recreational cannabis in 2020.
This theoretical business boom, Boesen said, would increase the availability of choices for consumers, making competition for Illinois’ cannabis connoisseurs intensify.
That could result in lower sale prices, Boesen predicted, meaning less money for Illinois and the local governments.
“If prices go down and your tax system is tied to these prices, your revenue goes down,” Boesen said, adding that predicting revenue on a high-volatility market like cannabis is difficult.
More entrepreneurship, more innovation and more competition would all be good things, regardless of the possibly nominal impact on tax revenues.
…Adding… Not to mention that this state limits the number of license-holders, which the out of state dude probably didn’t comprehend. That article is so awful on so many levels.
37 Comments
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Open thread
Tuesday, Oct 1, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m having trouble deciding what to post at the moment. It could just be that I’ve spread myself too thin…
Anyway, keep it Illinois-centric and be nice to each other, please. Thanks.
22 Comments
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