Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
A growing chorus of labor unions, government officials, business and industry voices, and the academic community are speaking up about the critical role that carbon capture and storage (CCS) can play in helping Illinois reach its clean energy goals. The Capture Jobs Now Coalition is supporting legislation (SB3311/HB569) to advance CCS projects in our state while prioritizing jobs and economic development in local communities.
Pat Devaney, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, and Mark Denzler, President and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association:
“CCS also presents an incredible opportunity for Illinois’ economy and its highly skilled work force. A recent state-commissioned report by the University of Illinois estimates CCS development has a potential statewide demand of 14,440 jobs. And that’s on top of the thousands more jobs CCS can protect by helping decarbonize important Illinois industries as our state, country and world increasingly embrace a net zero carbon future.” (April 2023)
After rejecting a plan to turn the shuttered Green Acres Country Club into a residential subdivision and watching a senior living development proposal fall apart last year, the village of Northbrook is now facing the prospect of a massive water treatment facility being built on what its leaders have dubbed the “emerald” of the north suburban community.
The DuPage Water Commission this week paid $80 million for the 127-acre former country club and golf course between Dundee Road and the Interstate 94 Edens Spur, according to people familiar with the deal. The sale netted a massive profit for the seller, a venture led by former Colliers Chicago chief executive David Kahnweiler, which bought the property in 2018 for nearly $9.8 million, according to Cook County property records.
DuPage is trying to go around Chicago for its water, which it’ll pay $122 million this year alone.
* DPI…
[Yesterday], the Democratic Party of Illinois held an election of Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC) members for membership to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for the 2024-2028 term. Membership had long been decided behind closed doors, but today’s election marks the first open contest for deciding Illinois’ membership to the DNC. Chair Lisa Hernandez, who spearheaded this new structure to promote decision-making power within the DSCC and encourage committee members to run for spots on the DNC for the next term, released the following statement:
“Today, we achieved exactly what we had envisioned–a fair and open process to ensure Illinois is represented well on the Democratic National Committee for the next four years. Not only did we accomplish this and empower our Democratic State Central Committee, we set a precedent for transparency in our Party,” said Chair Hernandez.
During this evening’s meeting, the DSCC appointed Speaker of the House Emmanuel “Chris” Welch and Senate President Don Harmon as base members of the Democratic National Committee for the 2024-2028 term, as well as selected the following five base members to represent Illinois on the Democratic National Committee for the 2024-2028 term:
1. Committeewoman Robin Kelly
2. Committeewoman Delia Ramirez
3. Committeeman John Cullerton
4. Committeewoman Kristina Zahorik
5. Committeeman Dan Hynes
DPI was deliberate in ensuring newly-selected DNC members also represented gender diversity. After Speaker Welch and Senate President Harmon were selected, the two women with the highest number of votes were selected. The remaining three seats were filled by the two men and one woman who received the highest number of votes, underscoring our commitment to gender parity and inclusivity.
Woodford County’s Public Safety Committee unanimously passed a resolution that would declare the county a non-sanctuary county, which now requires final approval from the County Board.
Non-sanctuary status means a county will not provide taxpayer funded services for migrants if they were to enter the county. About 12 counties across Illinois have declared that status.
The main point of emphasis of the meeting was the emergency action plan, a proactive plan of action if an influx of migrants were to come to Woodford County. Potential options such as using a Peoria Charter bus and driving the migrants to Chicago were discussed.
Yes, I’m sure that’ll happen. Right after the BLM protesters arrive to create havoc.
* Press release…
The Du Quoin State Fair is pleased to announce four Grandstand acts in addition to harness racing and ARCA and USAC auto races. Tickets go on sale at a 100 Days Out celebration on Saturday, May 18, and you’re invited to join us!
Tickets to all announced Du Quoin State Fair Grandstand shows can be purchased starting Saturday, May 18 at the Du Quoin Grandstand box office for in-person sales only from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. Ticketmaster sales open at 12 p.m.
In addition to box office ticket sales, the 100 Days Out celebration will include concessions, a plant sale and a book sale from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. The public is invited to attend this free event.
Du Quoin State Fair Grandstand Lineup:
Saturday, August 24 features #1 hitmaker Mitchell Tenpenny is a multi-faceted entertainer: singer, songwriter, producer and performer. Since the release of his debut 3X platinum-certified #1 hit single, “Drunk Me,” Mitchell made recent chart history with the shortest span between #1 songs at three weeks apart with “Truth About You” and “At The End Of A Bar.” Catch him on tour this year with Jordan Davis and Luke Combs.
The Marshall Tucker Band headlines the Grandstand Sunday, August 25 with no shortage of southern rock songs from 20 studio albums. “Can’t You See” is perhaps their most iconic and immediately recognizable hit, but this six-man band has influenced countless artists throughout their legendary journey that began in 1972.
On Thursday, August 29, the Du Quoin State Fair welcomes KANSAS. With a career spanning five decades, sixteen studio albums and five live albums, KANSAS has firmly established itself as one of America’s iconic classic rock bands. “Carry On Wayward Son” continues to be one of the top five most played songs on classic rock radio, and ‘Dust In the Wind’ has been played on the radio more than three million times.
Ashley McBryde takes the stage on Friday, August 30. Ashley McBryde takes the stage on Friday, August 30. McBryde has earned some of the industry’s biggest accolades, including a Grammy and CMA and ACM awards in addition to being a member of the Grand Ole Opry. The Arkansas native’s latest critically acclaimed album The Devil I Know is available now.
The Du Quoin State Fair has two headline acts yet to be announced for the 2024 Grandstand. Watch for those announcements in the coming weeks. The Du Quoin State Fair runs from August 23 - September 2. Admission to the fair is free. Parking is free on Friday, August 23 only. Parking is $15 for Gate 1, and $10 for all other gates. Seasonal parking passes are available for $30, good for duration of the fair. To learn more, visit https://dsf.illinois.gov/
* Rockford graduates are getting major help paying for college: The group of 182 graduates will receive full-tuition scholarships to either Rockford University, Rock Valley College, or Northern Illinois University. Awards and special recognition will also be given to individuals, partners, and community sponsors who have impacted the organization.
* Rockford Unveils $25,000 Forgivable Loan Program to Boost Business Growth: To qualify for the program, applicants must be for-profit businesses established on or before May 1, 2024, and situated within Commercial or Industrial zoned areas within the City of Rockford municipal boundaries, specifically in eligible census tracts. Eligible projects encompass enhancements to business operations, such as the acquisition of new equipment.
* 27 Future Teachers Graduate Debt-Free in Rockford’s Innovative Program: In a groundbreaking initiative, 27 individuals are embarking on their journey to becoming full-time teachers, with a unique twist—they’re doing it tuition-free. Spearheaded by Rockford Public Schools (RPS), Northern Illinois University (NIU), and Grow Your Own, this program aims to cultivate exceptional educators for the Rockford community.
* More…
* Civic Federation: State of Illinois FY2025 Recommended Operating and Capital Budgets: Analysis and Recommendations: The Civic Federation today released its analysis of the State of Illinois FY2025 proposed budget, finding the State remains in an improved financial shape due to strong revenue performance and effective management. However, the Federation recommends the State exercise caution in spending in FY2025 as its revenue growth is slowing and advises the State to look toward developing a plan for a modernized, sustainable tax structure to meet its long-term needs.
* Gov. Pritzker, Fire Marshal Rivera remember fallen Illinois firefighters and honor firefighters for heroism: Fallen Chicago Fire Department Firefighter/EMT Jermaine Pelt, Chicago Fire Department Firefighter/EMT Andrew “Drew” Price, Chicago Fire Department Lieutenant Jan Tchoryk, Chicago Fire Department Lieutenant Kevin Ward, and Maroa Countryside Fire Protection District Chief Larry Peasley were honored during the fallen firefighter memorial.
* Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin Fined $10K for Firing Whistleblowers: In all, the Board of Ethics has fined Conyears-Ervin a total of $70,000 in the past month. In April, the board found Conyears-Ervin committed 12 total violations of Chicago’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance for violating her fiduciary duty to the city, for the unauthorized use of city property and prohibited political activity by using city resources to host a prayer service.
* Civil rights group says Chicago mayor, top cop should take tougher action against officers linked to extremist Oath Keepers: The letter notes that many of the cops admitted joining between 2009 and 2013 “when the Oath Keepers were one of the most active and combative antigovernment extremist groups operating in the U.S.” At the time, the Oath Keepers feared the U.S. government “was moving the world toward a one-world government,” or new world order, an extremist conspiracy theory with “antisemitic overtones,” the letter states. “In response to this fear, the Oath Keepers encouraged their members to disobey laws that do not adhere to their false interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and Second Amendment,” according to the letter.
* Unlikely allies? Suburban mayor, GOP legislator backs Bears’ lakefront plan: The Rosemont mayor, who doubles as assistant House minority leader, publicly endorsed the plan Monday. Stephens — the sole Republican legislator whose district includes Chicago — also spoke of forging a relationship with an unlikely ally: Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. “I’m bullish on the Sox and Bears. I believe in investing in those types of deals,” Stephens said after the monthly Rosemont village board meeting Monday morning. “They’re good for Chicago and Illinois.”
* With name change, it’s the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: Get ready to visit “the Griffin.” The Museum of Science and Industry on Sunday is officially becoming the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, a name change in recognition of a $125 million donation in 2019 from the founder and CEO of the Citadel hedge fund.
* New Rules to Overhaul Electric Grids Could Boost Wind and Solar Power: Federal regulators on Monday approved sweeping changes to how America’s electric grids are planned and funded, in a move that supporters hope could spur thousands of miles of new high-voltage power lines and make it easier to add more wind and solar energy. The new rule by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees interstate electricity transmission, is the most significant attempt in years to upgrade and expand the country’s creaking electricity network. Experts have warned that there aren’t nearly enough high-voltage power lines being built today, putting the country at greater risk of blackouts from extreme weather while making it harder to shift to renewable sources of energy and cope with rising electricity demand. …. The commission approved the rule by a 2-1 vote, with the two Democratic commissioners in favor and the lone Republican, Mark Christie, opposed. Mr. Christie said the rule would allow states that want more renewable energy to unfairly pass on the costs of the necessary grid upgrades to their neighbors.
* Medical residents are starting to avoid states with abortion bans, data shows: The AAMC analysis found that the number of applicants to OB-GYN residency programs in abortion-ban states dropped by 6.7%, compared with a 0.4% increase in states where abortion remains legal. For internal medicine, the drop observed in abortion-ban states was over five times as much as in states where abortion is legal.
On May 13, 2024, at approximately 7:53 p.m., Illinois State Police (ISP) officials investigated a traffic crash in Will County involving an ISP trooper’s squad car hit by a motorist who failed to move over.
On the above date and time, an ISP squad car was parked on the right shoulder on Interstate 55 northbound near milepost 252, north of IL59, with emergency lights activated, handling a traffic crash. The trooper was sitting inside of the squad car with his seatbelt fastened when his squad car was struck by a gray Toyota Corolla. The trooper was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Corolla, 31-year-old Asante Williams of Bolingbrook, IL., reported no injuries on scene. Williams was cited for the Move Over Law – Failure to Yield to Stationary Emergency Vehicle, Failure to Reduce Speed to Avoid an Accident and Improper Lane Usage.
Already in 2024, ISP has suffered 15 Move Over Law-related crashes with seven troopers injured. In 2023, ISP had 21 Move Over Law-related crashes with seven troopers injured and suffered 25 crashes in 2022, leaving 13 troopers injured. ISP reminds the public that the Move Over Law, also known as “Scott’s Law,” requires all drivers to move over when approaching an emergency vehicle, or any vehicle with its emergency or hazard lights activated.
A person who violates the Move Over Law faces a fine of no less than $250 and no more than $10,000 for a first offense. If the violation results in injury to another person, the violator’s driver’s license will be suspended for a mandatory period of anywhere between six months and two years. Additional information can be found at the following link: https://isp.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/340d57cd956c453da2de25af804c268d.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Retail provides one out of every five Illinois jobs, generates the second largest amount of tax revenue for the state, and is the largest source of revenue for local governments. But retail is also so much more, with retailers serving as the trusted contributors to life’s moments, big and small.
Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Provides that the amendatory Act may be referred to as the William P. “Bill” Wozniak Memorial Act. Amends the Secretary of State Act. Provides that the Secretary of State, in collaboration with the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, shall install and maintain: (1) automated license plate readers in positions around the State Capitol Complex that offer the most strategic advantage for security monitoring and incident response; and (2) hardened security posts in the State Capitol Complex where law enforcement personnel of the Secretary of State Police Department and other security personnel are stationed while on duty. Provides that the Secretary of State shall replace, install, and maintain: (1) enhanced security screening devices at entrances of secured areas in the State Capitol Complex; and (2) identification card verification checkpoints at entrances of secured areas in the State Capitol Complex. Provides that the Secretary of State shall identify acceptable forms of identification that may be used to gain access to secured areas in the State Capitol Complex. Provides that the Secretary of State shall adopt rules to: (1) establish a chain of command based in Springfield for police and other security personnel responding to an incident at the State Capitol Complex; (2) authorize administrative personnel based in Springfield to issue emergency orders in response to an incident at the State Capitol Complex; (3) provide mitigation and response training to law enforcement personnel of the Secretary of State Police Department and other security personnel who are stationed at the State Capitol Complex; (4) create a volunteer training program to allow security personnel employed by the Secretary of State to successfully complete firearm training and qualify to carry firearms only while on duty at the State Capitol Complex and provide incentive compensation to all trained and qualified individuals; and (5) adopt and enforce security procedures for legislators, staff, lobbyists, and visitors entering the State Capitol Complex, including procedures to allow law enforcement personnel of the Secretary of State Police Department and other security personnel to perform additional screening on any individual seeking to enter a secured area at the discretion of the law enforcement personnel or security personnel.
In his more than two decades as a law enforcement officer, Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres has witnessed plenty of reckless behavior and dangerous driving on suburban roads.
But nothing compares to what he’s seen over the past few years of what officials are calling an “epidemic” of drivers fleeing from police, often at high speeds that put everyone on the roads in peril.
“The drastic increase in fleeings we’ve seen in recent years is a level of lawlessness I haven’t seen in my 23 years in this profession,” Arres said at a press conference last week promoting legislation aimed at deterring such behavior and punishing those who commit it.
Senate Bill 1807, introduced by Senate Minority Leader John Curran of Downers Grove and co-sponsored by several fellow suburban lawmakers, would make fleeing by car from the police a Class 4 felony, instead of the misdemeanor it is today.
Without question, there is some point of judgment for police between simply allowing criminal suspects to speed away with no fear of a chase and pursuing them at high speeds through busy suburban roadways, with circumstances varying from the traffic and road conditions to the level of crime under suspicion. But the judgment of the offenders also needs some influences of its own, and the potential of adding another felony and more prison time to whatever penalties drivers already face surely can give them cause to consider restraint.
From Benjamin Ruddell at the ACLU of Illinois…
The linked article cites data showing an increase in reported fleeing incidents in Naperville/DuPage County—not statewide. But even if there was evidence of a statewide trend, what is lacking here is any evidence whatsoever that the proposed solution—a penalty enhancement—would provide any “greater deterrence” as suggested by the quoted police chief. In general, research shows that increasing penalties does little to nothing to deter crime. Why would we think this is any different?
There is no data cited about how many of the individuals in these reported Naperville/DuPage incidents were charged with fleeing and eluding, or the disposition of those charges. That would be important information in evaluating the claim that the upward trend in incidents has anything at all to do with the criminal penalties. There is also no data cited about the frequency of fleeing incidents in jurisdictions that classify this offense as a felony, as compared to Illinois.
As in other contexts, identifying something as a problem doesn’t mean that enacting harsher penalties would be any kind of solution to that problem. At this point, the burden of proof should fall squarely on the proponents of these measures to demonstrate that their proposed solutions can actually be expected to work. They haven’t done that here.
Discuss.
* Leader McCombie…
During a subject matter hearing held at the Capitol last week to address ongoing delays within the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), the agency announced a revised deadline for implementing necessary updates.
Persistent delays, breakdowns in communication, lost applications, and general dysfunction have sparked bipartisan frustration with IDFPR, issues that were initially brought to light during a subject-matter hearing last summer. Since then, deadlines for improvement have come and gone, and the new date of June 8th was revealed last Wednesday.
At the same time IDFPR is facing significant delays impacting countless Illinois residents, including essential workers, a different state agency continues to improve efficiency. The Secretary of State is offering “do it online” renewals for drivers licenses, marking a stark contrast to the troubles of IDFPR, which offers online renewals for only some licenses.
“House Republicans want to get people to work, so let’s fix the simple things, address the growing procurement issues and eliminate red tape,” said House Minority Leader Tony McCombie.
McCombie has been vocal about the issues at IDFPR and filed legislation to solve problems at the agency. The Leader introduced the License Convenience Act (House Bill 4855), to mandate the department to accept electronic payments for licenses and fees–but the bill was prevented from moving forward in the Illinois House, despite bipartisan support.
“This is about fixing things in our state that aren’t working, this agency is not adequately serving residents and we must invoke change,” continued McCombie.
Some legislators tell me that they spend more time helping constituents deal with IDFPR than anything else. It’s just ridiculous. People shouldn’t have to go through this.
* Rep. Rashid and Sen. Porfirio…
Today, State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid (D-Bridgeview) passed legislation out of the Illinois House that protects renters by requiring landlords to provide important information about flooding risk and history. SB 2601, sponsored by State Senator Mike Porfirio (D-Lyons Township), passed the Senate on April 10th with bipartisan support.
“This bill is a crucial step toward ensuring the safety and wellbeing of tenants across the state,” said Sen. Porfirio. “By requiring landlords to disclose flood hazards, we are arming renters with the knowledge they need to protect themselves and their families from potential harm.”
“Even one flooding event can be financially catastrophic to a family,” said Rep. Rashid. “With climate change making floods much more common and extreme, this is one important step we can take to protect working families.”
Prospective renters should know whether the unit they are considering renting has a history of flooding or lies in a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Special Flood Hazard Area. This information will help them make informed decisions about whether to purchase flood insurance. Many renters may not know that flooding protection is not typically included in renter’s insurance.
Through this bill, property owners must inform prospective tenants if their property lies within a high-risk flooding area. Additionally, landlords renting out units on lower levels, including garden, basement, and first floor units, must disclose whether any of these units have experienced flooding within the past decade.
SB 2601 is now on its way to Governor Pritzker’s desk.
* More…
* Illinois legislators try again on statewide public defender legislation: Harmon pulled his bill and supporters went back to the drawing board, coming up with a 42-page bill that was filed Monday. The measure lays out in much greater detail how a statewide public defender would be selected and how the office would assist county public defenders throughout Illinois, although a source of funding still has not been identified.
* Lawmakers weigh Illinois child tax credit as they negotiate budget: Though lawmakers filed a bill proposing the tax credit, lawmakers would pass it through the state budget. “It’s a $300 credit that’s going to go to half the children in the State of Illinois. We get there by offering the credit to families that are making about the median income of the State of Illinois,” said Erion Malasi with Economic Security for Illinois, an organization supporting the credit.
* Prosecutor opposes bill to help moms whose babies are born with drugs in system: The hope is that by taking away the threat of losing custody of a baby, mothers would be more likely to seek treatment. The initiative was prompted by a finding that the leading cause of death in Illinois among expectant or new mothers is drug use. Almost one-third of the 263 such mothers who died in 2018 to 2020 died of substance use, the state Department of Public Health reported. The proposed change in the law would create a task force to develop a plan for helping infants and mothers exposed to illicit drugs during pregnancy. These family recovery plans would include medical care, recovery support and referrals to community services for the child and caregiver.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Protect Illinois Hospitality is a coalition of tipped workers, chambers of commerce, service operators, and local small businesses who strongly support keeping the tip credit available for Illinois businesses.
Despite years of trying to convince Chicagoans that public school students here are making remarkable academic progress, most residents give the schools a grade of C and say students are not learning enough.
That’s according to a poll released Tuesday by Public Agenda, a nonpartisan research organization. WBEZ and the Sun-Times collaborated with Public Agenda and the Joyce Foundation, which funded the project.
“People are not giving city schools high marks,” said David Schleifer, vice president and director of research at Public Agenda, which focuses on researching challenges facing democracy and uncovering solutions. “Also, there’s definitely this awareness that white students in the city have access to better public schools than students of color.”
Schleifer notes that parents and others don’t blame teachers but rather see the lack of learning as an effect of poverty and other challenges affecting students. Some 71% of Chicago Public Schools students come from low-income families. Still, poll respondents say leaders are more caught up in petty political battles than on what is best for children. They are not confident money is being spent effectively.
* Background is here if you need it. Personal PAC’s Sarah Garza Resnick…
It is an unacceptable decision on the part of the Senate to remove coverage of abortion services from HB5142, the Governor’s Birth Equity Bill. This bill, as passed by the House of Representatives, would end cost-sharing and extend coverage for all services for pregnancy, postpartum, and newborn care. Abortion services are inseparable from this category of care. Eight other states, including California and New York, have already passed similar legislation. Illinois trusts women and there is no reason why we should not join these other states in removing another barrier to accessing abortion care.
Resnick promised a “war” over this when I called her.
I have calls and messages out to the Senate sponsor, Lakesia Collins, and the Senate President’s office. The House sponsor, Majority Leader Robyn Gabel, referred me to Senate President Don Harmon.
* From the governor’s office…
Conversations regarding the Governor’s Birth Equity Initiative in the Senate are ongoing, but we’re proud of the broad support the bill received in the House. The Governor has been clear that Illinois trusts women to make decisions about their healthcare and abortion is a vital part of their healthcare options. He will not sign a bill that treats abortion differently than other birth equity provisions.
Recent research from Global Strategy Group has found that the Healthcare Protection Act and the Birth Equity Initiative are deeply popular among the Illinois electorate, especially provisions that ban junk health plans and require prior approval for rate increases. What’s more, they stand to boost support for Democratic state legislature candidates who support them.
I’ve asked for toplines.
…Adding… From Rep. Kelly Cassidy, who chairs the Dobbs working group…
I am grateful to Governor Pritzker for being true to our promise to ensure access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care to everyone in our state. Copays are a barrier to access, especially for low income people. We should not be emulating the states around us making it harder for people to access care.
…Adding… The Senate sponsor, Sen. Lakesia Collins (D-Chicago), told me she will not move the bill if it’s amended to strip out abortion coverage.
Sen. Collins had sponsored an identical Senate bill, but couldn’t get more than a subject matter hearing in the Insurance Committee. Now, though, the insurance industry is neutral after negotiations she participated in, and she said she told Senate President Harmon that they’d reached a point where the bill needed to be called.
Collins said Harmon told her that he “cares about the issue a lot,” but that there were still some issues with the bill. Asked what those were, Harmon told Collins it was the abortion coverage issue and he’d work on it.
“And then I find out today that they stripped the whole piece around abortion out,” Collins said, adding that no members from her side of the aisle had ever approached her about the topic being a problem. “I don’t know where the pushback is coming from.”
Collins said since the House was unlikely to pass an amended version and the governor won’t sign it, there’s no purpose in moving the bill forward. “You’re basically killing the bill,” she said.
“This has been a long time coming,” she said of her bill. “There have been advocates fighting around this for a very long time who are looking forward to this bill passing. And it’s like, here we are fighting about something to me that’s just fundamental.”
…Adding… Senate President Don Harmon…
I wish the governor would have reached out to me. We are working through this important issue with the caucus to inform and educate people about what it does so we can build consensus.
FULLY FUNDING THE EVIDENCE-BASED FORMULA: FY 2025 PROPOSED GENERAL FUND BUDGET, the newest report released today from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA, finds that at the current rate of state funding - $300 million per year – Illinois’ Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act (EBF) will not be fully funded until FY 2034. That is 17 years after the EBF was first implemented - or seven years past what is required in statute. CTBA notes in the report that if the state could increase the Minimum Target Level from $300 million to $500 million annually, the EBF could be fully funded by FY 2030 - three years after the date established for full funding under the statute. “Taking such action would benefit districts across Illinois, saving students from four years of attending underfunded schools,” according to the report.
The new report follows CTBA’s recently-released Educating Illinois: A Look at the Evidence-Based Funding Formula, Volume II, which finds that Illinois’ funding formula for K-12 Education has worked towards its promise of closing the drastic funding gaps between school in property-rich and property-poor districts, as well as between schools in predominantly white communities and schools that serve predominantly Black and Latinx students. The EBF puts the funding responsibility on the state to ensure equity for districts with less local resources by distributing new K-12 funding to those districts that are furthest away from having adequate resources, and furthest away from hitting their respective “Adequacy Targets” –which is the amount the research indicates is required to provide the level of education the students they serve need to succeed academically.
Funding of the EBF is making a positive difference in the fiscal capacity of school districts statewide, CTBA finds. In FY 2018, 657, or 77 percent, of all districts in Illinois were underfunded. Seven years into the implementation of the EBF things have improved, with the number of underfunded districts declining to 525, or 62 percent, of all districts. Overall, from FY 2018 through FY 2024, the state increased formula funding for K-12 under the EBF by $1.8 billion. Tier 1 and Tier 2 districts – those with the biggest funding gaps - collectively received 99 percent—or $1.78 billion—of that new Tier funding. Now, seven years later, the EBF has drastically changed public education funding allocation and has worked to close Adequacy Funding Gaps for students across all regions of the state and from all demographics by continuing to increase the state level investment each year.
Emphasis added.
This is what Mayor Brandon Johnson, CPS and the CTU have been talking about with their mantra of how the state “owes” city schools $1.1 billion.
* Meanwhile…
Today, advocates from the Fund Our Futures Coalition gathered outside the Capitol to urge support for a budget that generates revenue and consistent funding for essential programs to support Illinois’ low- and moderate income families, including a Child Tax Credit. This action follows a memo issued last week by Governor J.B. Pritzker’s office indicating that cuts to grant programs and discretionary spending would be required if the Illinois General Assembly does not pass new revenue sources in Illinois’ FY25 budget. In light of these developments, Erion Malasi, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Economic Security Illinois responded with the following statement on behalf of the Illinois Cost of Living Refund Coalition:
“With the cost of living on the rise and growing demand for a state Child Tax Credit from families, advocates, union leaders, and even our own Governor, we call for a compassionate budget for Illinois. Our lawmakers must show courage and creativity by exploring progressive revenue options to ensure this year we can create and implement a robust Child Tax Credit that makes it easier for Illinois families to afford life’s essentials, like rent, groceries, or clothing. We will proudly stand behind long-term progressive revenue solutions proposed by the Governor’s Office, and any additional sources from the General Assembly if they can ensure the enactment and maintenance of critical policies that will help families flourish and reinvigorate our local economy.”
Advocates in the Illinois Cost-of-Living Coalition have been pushing for a Child Tax Credit for the past three years, in conjunction with allies in the House and Senate. Bills SB 3329 / HB 4917 introduced by State Senator Omar Aquino and State Representative Marcus C. Evans, Jr., respectively, would offer $300 for Illinois families who earn less than the median income. Such a credit would benefit 1.4 million kids and generate over $1 billion in local economic stimulus. In February, Governor Pritzker delivered a promising budget address which called for the creation of a statewide Child Tax Credit that would return $12 million to taxpayers with children under age 3.
The Illinois Cost-Of-Living Refund Coalition, which successfully led the fight for the Earned Income Credit expansion, is leading the advocacy effort for the Child Tax Credit. The coalition includes more than 50 nonprofit, labor, consumer advocates, immigrant rights, and grassroots, community-based organizations across the state. (See list of member organizations below).
A critical resource for Chicago families is now at risk, as tens of thousands of Illinois students could lose their after-school care.
About 300 programs could close when federal grants distributed by the Illinois State Board of Education expire next month. That includes after-school programs such as the ones Stephanie Garcia oversees at James Shields Elementary School in the Brighton Park neighborhood and seven other schools. […]
Susan Stanton is an advocate for after-school programs. She is the executive director of ACT Now Illinois – a coalition for ensuring access to after-school and youth development programs - and she is calling on state lawmakers for $50 million.
“We can’t just think of these as programs that are great to have if there’s funding available,” Stanton said, “but they absolutely are essential.”
Stanton estimates about 40,000 kids statewide will be impacted in predominantly underserved communities. […]
In a statement, the Illinois State Board of Education said they requested $26 million in state funds for after-school programs – which is a $1 million increase from the 2024 fiscal year.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The price-setting board proposed in HB4472 is not the solution for Illinois. It would give bureaucrats the power to arbitrarily set medicine prices, deciding what medicines and treatments are “worth” paying for. We can’t leave Illinoisans’ health care up to political whims. Let’s make it easier, not harder for patients to access their medicines. Click here to learn more.
Chicago Public Schools expert witness says in deposition that sexual assault is not always traumatic
Jane Doe is 38 years old now, but the pain she says she suffered at the hands of a Chicago Public Schools (CPS) high school English teacher more than 20 years ago remains fresh.
“I have nightmares almost every night,” she said in her first on-camera interview about her experience. “It’s still really hard to talk about it.”
Jane was referring to inappropriate contact she said she had with a teacher at Gordon S. Hubbard High School in Chicago’s West Lawn Neighborhood. […]
In fighting Jane Doe’s lawsuit, CPS is paying an expert witness, Chicago psychiatrist Dr. Prudence Gourguechon, to testify about her views on childhood sexual abuse, student-teacher sexual relationships, and the impact of trauma after sexual abuse. […]
For example, when asked if under any circumstance is a teacher having sex with a student in high school is not sexual abuse, Dr. Gourgeuchon said, “I don’t know if every circumstance would qualify as sexual abuse.”
When asked if sexual assault is traumatic for the person experiencing it, she said: “It depends. It depends on the detail and how they’re defining who’s claiming what and what actually happened. I can’t make an across-the-board statement.” […]
When asked about Jane Doe’s case CPS provided CBS 2 the following statement:
The District believes that students who are harmed as a result of a legally-recognized failure on the District’s part should be compensated in a reasonable manner that will remedy injuries to the student. In doing that, the District also has a responsibility to the taxpayers who fund the District to ensure that it resolves these cases in a manner that is not just legally justified, but also financially responsible. Unfortunately, disagreements often arise about legal responsibility and what is reasonable compensation in any given case. The purpose of litigation is to resolve those disagreements. The District attempts to come to mutually acceptable resolutions in all cases of this type, and continues to do so here.
Beyond this, the District will not comment while the litigation is pending.
Q: Have you vetted or looked at potential replacements for CTA President Dorval Carter?
A: Well, as you know, discussing personnel issues, I actually find that to be irresponsible, and I’ve said that repeatedly. And so, what I’m committed to doing right now is making sure that our ridership continues to go up, which it has. We have hired more people, which we’ve done that, I’ve made a commitment to doing that. Our better streets for buses, it’s the first initiative of its kind to build a better street signal, sidewalk infrastructure. These are all investments that I have put forward in order to build a CTA that we can be proud of. And again, as far as personnel matters, I don’t discuss those publicly.
Q: Why?
A: Because it’s not responsible. Should your employer discuss individuals’ employment status out loud about who they’re going to fire and keep?
Q: In fairness though, these are also employees, not just of yours, but of the city, right? The CTA president also serves Chicagoans and they have a lot of questions about him and all of the appointments that you make.
A: Having questions about how we build a transportation system that ultimately meets the needs and demands of the people of Chicago, those questions are welcome. Determining who I get to fire and hire, I find that to be irresponsible and I won’t discuss personnel matters publicly.
That interview undoubted set off the city council.
With federal stimulus funds drying up and a combined $730 million fiscal cliff looming, the Illinois General Assembly is considering a proposal to consolidate the Chicago area’s four mass transit agencies — the RTA, CTA, Metra and Pace — into a single super-agency with beefed-up powers.
“It’s a bit of an inflection point where we need to figure out what we’re going to do,” Vasquez said.
“When you’re asking for funds from the state or federal government, folks there to issue the funds are going to wonder what the leadership looks like to have the confidence to invest that money. If we’re not bouncing back the way other cities are, it might be harder to get those funds.”
Alderpeople will introduce a resolution next week demanding the resignation or firing of CTA President Dorval Carter, adding to the mounting challenges facing the veteran transit leader.
The largely symbolic measure highlights more than a dozen reasons why the CTA is in need of change and follows Gov. JB Pritzker’s comments that the agency was due for an “evolution” of leadership.
Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), chief sponsor of the resolution, said it is effectively a “vote of no confidence” and is urging Mayor Brandon Johnson to fire Carter if he doesn’t resign. […]
Alderpeople who have signed on in support of the resolution include Alds. Daniel La Spata (1st), Peter Chico (10th), Marty Quinn (13th), Raymond Lopez (15th), Derrick Curtis (18th), Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), Jessie Fuentes (26th), Ruth Cruz (30th), Felix Cardona (31st), Scott Waguespack (32nd), Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33), Bill Conway (34), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), Andre Vasquez (40th), Brendan Reilly (42nd), James Gardiner (45th), Matt Martin (47th), Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th) and Maria Hadden (49th).
Whew.
* Ald. Brian Hopkins does make a good point, however…
“The agency is in a tailspin. He doesn’t seem to recognize it right now. … If he shows up tomorrow with an acknowledgement sweeping changes are needed, a real plan to do it, let’s get to work,” Hopkins said. “But this is not a problem solved by just firing Carter. We have to be careful as elected officials to scapegoat, just to say we did something.”
Rebuilding the CTA is more than about just one person, even the top person. And finding someone who is qualified to do that job isn’t just a snap of the fingers kinda thing. If this was so easy, the system would already be fixed.
But, yeah, Carter has come to symbolize all that’s wrong with the CTA. And he doesn’t appear to even know it.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Getting needed care for any health issue is best done sooner than later. For patients insured through Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs), preauthorization denials are all too common. These inappropriate denials delay care, leading to poorer health outcomes while reducing MCO costs and increasing shareholder profits.
The prior authorization processes of MCOs are inconsistent and complex. One Illinois MCO had a 41% denial rate while another denied 15% of prior authorization requests, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) found.
What’s more, MCO’s self-report scattered outcomes from the appeals process, which requires countless hours of physicians and hospital staff. One Illinois MCO reported overturning 57% of denied prior authorization requests. Another said it overturns 63% of denied prior authorization requests on appeal.
What would prior authorization reform mean for patients? It would mean living fuller, healthier lives without unnecessary time away from work, school or family responsibilities. It would mean less stress, better health outcomes and a more productive future.
The Illinois hospital community urges legislators to pass commonsense legislation to streamline access to care and improve health outcomes by eliminating inappropriate prior authorization practices and embracing care coordination. Support IHA’s MCO prior authorization reforms.
Uh-oh. The Mayor's Advisory Council on LGBTQ+ Affairs flatly denies it was part of a Pride Parade agreement announced by 5th Floor. Mayor's office has angered many by shortening route, limiting participants in the parade. Background: https://t.co/NaK95RHypbpic.twitter.com/8cJQFaWM0Y
The tweet provoked a quick response from the mayor’s office, which denied the claim. They eventually sent me this email chain which showed that at least one person from the advisory council was kept in the loop.
* Today…
A press release was issued from the Mayor’s Press Office on May 10, 2024. The Mayor’s Advisory Council on LGBTQ+ Affairs was listed as a signatory to the joint statement. While advisory council chair Jin-Soo Huh did provide input on technical parts of the statement, there was no explicit agreement for the advisory council to sign on to the letter. Having the advisory council join a statement requires review and input from the full advisory council, which did not take place. As soon as the press release was sent, Huh reached out to the Office of Community Engagement and the Mayor’s Press Office asking for a correction to be sent. This request was denied.
As members of the advisory council, we are disappointed that the initial changes to the Pride Parade were made by the City without consulting the LGBTQ+ community given the significance of this event. While we understand that there are logistical and safety considerations due to festivities after the Pride Parade, selectively enforcing an ordinance without any community engagement is unacceptable. No decisions should be made about us without us. While we are glad that our advocacy in a short time frame did lead to more groups being able to participate in the parade, we are disappointed that the Pride Parade will have fewer entries and a shorter route compared to prior years.
The LGBTQ+ community is a resilient one and we know that Pride will be a celebratory event. We look forward to celebrating with fellow members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies.
Respectfully,
Members of the Mayor’s Advisory Council on LGBTQ+ Affairs
Maliyah Arnold
Dr. Christopher Balthazar
Donald Bell
Miguel Blancarte, Jr.
Robert Castillo
Stefanie Clark
Starr De Los Santos
Anna DeShawn
Jin-Soo Huh
Kim L. Hunt
Mony Ruiz-Velasco
Sanjeev Singh
Stephanie Skora
Less than two weeks after AT&T Illinois’ bill to end mandated land line service became law in 2017, the utility’s then-president, Paul La Schiazza, allegedly received a request from a relative of House Speaker Michael Madigan to sponsor a non-profit event.
The unidentified relative said the idea came “at the suggestion of our good friend, Mike McClain,” a former lobbyist and Madigan’s longtime confidant, according to a new prosecution filing. La Schiazza forwarded the request to a colleague in the legislative affairs department on July 12, 2017, writing “this will be endless,” according to the filing.
“I suspect the ‘thank you’ opportunities will be plentiful,’” the colleague allegedly emailed back, referring to the recent passage of AT&T’s coveted landline legislation expected to save to company millions of dollars.
“Yep,” La Schiazza allegedly responded. “We are on the friends and family plan now.”
The email exchange, which was disclosed for the first time in a recent court filing, gets to the heart of the bribery case against La Schiazza, who is set to go on trial in September on charges he approved a scheme to funnel payments to a Madigan associate in exchange for the speaker’s help passing legislation important to the company.
A ransomware attack has forced hospital group Ascension’s computer systems offline and diverted ambulances away from some of its emergency departments, including one in the Chicago area.
The hospital group that operates Ascension Resurrection in Chicago, St. Alexius in Hoffman Estates and Alexian Brothers in Elk Grove Village said it was a victim of a “cybersecurity event” after noticing “unusual activity” on its computer network on Wednesday.
It confirmed Saturday that it is recovering from a ransomware attack and is working with cybersecurity experts and the FBI. Ascension did not say when its computer systems would be restored.
* Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker joined Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) Director Lizzy Whitehorn, Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dulce Quintero, and other leaders today to celebrate the success of the campaign to keep eligible Medicaid customers enrolled in coverage during the yearlong unwinding from the federal Continuous Medicaid Coverage Requirement.
During this yearlong process, nearly 3.8 million individual Illinois Medicaid customers went through care redeterminations for the first time since March 2020. Redeterminations are an annual verification to ensure customers remain eligible for Medicaid benefits before their coverage is renewed for the next year.
Throughout this unwinding process, Illinois has consistently been among the leading states in its effort to keep eligible customers enrolled in Medicaid. Roughly 73% of Illinois Medicaid customers have retained their coverage throughout this process according to the latest data available from HFS, which administers the Illinois Medicaid program. […]
According to a Kaiser state redetermination data tracker, Illinois is among the 10 states with the lowest percentage of customers terminated for procedural reasons, such as unsubmitted redetermination forms or lack of a response to a request for more information to verify eligibility before the deadline. HFS is now returning to the regular practice of conducting redeterminations annually for all Medicaid customers in the state.
The story is the same, although the details differ, in a half-dozen small Midwestern cities. A house in Fond du Lac, Wis., sold swiftly and closed at $10,000 over its asking price. In Racine, a house went on the market on a Friday, got a full-price offer, and was under contract to a buyer by Sunday. In Champaign, a seller boosted her asking price by $25,000 just before her house went on the market and still got a full-price offer the first day.
Home prices are rising so fast in those and three other small cities in Illinois and Wisconsin that this swath of the Midwest dominated the National Association of Realtors’ May 8 report on U.S. home price increases during the first quarter of the year. […]
The other five Midwestern cities in the top 10 were No. 2 Kankakee, where prices are up 22%; No. 3 Rockford, 20.1%; No. 4 Champaign-Urbana, 20.0%; No. 6 Racine, 19.0%; and No. 8 Bloomington, 18.5%. Cities in Tennessee, New York, New Jersey and Maryland filled out the rest of the top 10.
Prices in those cities are rising at more than twice the speed of Chicago. The median price of Chicago-area homes sold during the quarter was up 8.8%, according to the same report.
The national median price was up 5 percent from a year earlier.
* Letter to the editor from Madison County Board Chair Kurt Prenzler, who got clobbered 62-38 in the March primary…
Four years ago, we were in lock down and on May 2, 2020, I wrote a letter to Gov. J.B Pritzker, requesting that our county be allowed to re-open. Hearing nothing, the county board voted 26 to 2 to re-open, according to our own schedule.
Later, the county board passed resolutions encouraging school districts to let parents make decisions regarding masks (July 2021) and opposing employer-mandated covid shots (January 2022).
During the past four years I wrote letters to the editor, encouraging people to think for themselves regarding the covid shots.
What did we learn? […]
Is there a way for us to hear alternate views?
Yes, may I suggest X / Twitter, purchased by Elon Musk in 2022. The platform now allows a variety of views, which are often banned from main stream and other social media.
* Did you see it?…
*** Feds ***
* Ex-Loretto Hospital exec charged with helping embezzle $500,000 amid COVID crisis: A former high-level executive at Loretto Hospital has been hit with federal charges alleging she helped embezzle nearly half a million dollars from the small safety-net facility on Chicago’s West Side at the height of the COVID-19 crisis. Heather Bergdahl, 37, who currently lives in the Houston area, was charged in a criminal complaint made public Monday with embezzlement from a federally funded program. Bergdahl was arrested on Thursday night shortly before a scheduled flight to Dubai. She’s scheduled to have a detention hearing in U.S. District Court in Houston on Monday, court records show. An attorney for her was not listed on the docket.
*** Chicago ***
* U. of C. study shows cops at high risk of misconduct also at elevated risk for off-duty trouble: The study, which examined 10 years of Chicago Police Department data as part of implementing the federal consent decree, found that police misconduct was predictable based on an officer’s history of complaints. It suggested that a relatively simple system of tracking past complaints to prevent future incidents could have a public value of “infinity,” considering the potential to avoid costly lawsuits that result from high-profile incidents of officer misconduct.
*** Infrastructure ***
* DigitalBridge CEO: Data Centers To Run Out Of Power In 2 Years Or Less: Data centers are going to be starved for power in as little as two years, according to DigitalBridge CEO Marc Ganzi, who offered a warning for the industry during the company’s first-quarter earnings call last week. “Power is really the constraining factor” for industry growth, Ganzi said. “And that’s going to become more evident to you and to the rest of the investor community over the next two years.” Ganzi said he told investors two years ago that data centers would run out of power in five years. “Well, I was wrong about that,” he said. “We’re running out of power in the next 18 to 24 months.”
* Press release: Rebuilding Springfield: Rails and rest stops highlight another historic construction season: Entering one of its busiest construction seasons ever, the Illinois Department of Transportation announced today that major projects in the Springfield area are planned or underway, fueled by Gov. JB Pritzker’s historic, bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital program. Six major projects combined represent a total investment of nearly $103 million, improving safety and mobility while sustaining and creating good-paying jobs throughout the region.
* Johnson offers relief to home, business owners soaked by high water bills tied to underground leaks: The City Council’s Finance Committee on Monday unanimously approved the mayor’s two-year plan to offer nearly $2.4 million in financial relief to homeowners and business owners drowning in water bills tied to leaks in underground service lines repaired on or after Jan. 1, 2023. The measure could be passed by the full Council next week.
* ‘Right now, it’s almost a nightmare’: After years of crashes, IDOT eyeing fix for exit ramp in Elgin: Elgin resident Christopher Hilton’s wish is simple — a yard without careening cars. After years of screeching tires and hawklike vigilance when his three kids play outside, his wish may be granted. The Illinois Department of Transportation is considering closing an exit ramp from Route 20 to Route 25 by way of Illinois Avenue, where Hilton lives with his wife, Cassie Ross.
* ‘Tis the Season: Repaving starts on DuSable Lake Shore Drive: From Lawrence Avenue to Hollywood Avenue, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) has started repaving North DuSable Lake Shore Drive. It marks the first phase of a project that is expected to continue until late June.
*** Suburbs ***
* Embattled Campton Hills trustee resigns: Saying he is tired of fighting efforts to remove him from office, Campton Hills village Trustee Timothy Morgan has resigned. Morgan was elected last year, but a 2002 felony DUI conviction in Michigan dogged his ability to keep his seat. Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser warned Morgan not to take his seat because the conviction made him ineligible. Morgan said he resigned at Tuesday’s village board meeting, a day before he was scheduled to be deposed on civil litigation brought by Mosser’s office aimed at removing him.
*** Downstate ***
* Metro-east city named among the ‘cheapest, safest’ places to live in US. Here’s why: Edwardsville made the list for its grocery prices, crime rate and cost of living. The metro-east city had the highest crime rate of any locality on the list, but was still “relatively low” at 5.5 per 1,000 residents. The average cost of groceries is $431 per month in Edwardsville, according to the analysis. Lake in the Hills, Ill., also made the list and had the lowest crime rate of the 15 cities. Mundelein rounded out the three Illinois towns in the ranking with one of the lowest housing costs.
* Kraft Heinz explores a sale of Oscar Mayer: The Chicago-based food maker has enlisted the help of Bank of America and Centerview Partners to test the waters of a potential sale of the hot dog and deli meat brand, the report said, emphasizing that it remains possible no transaction actually materializes.
* Here’s how Boeing delivery delays are hitting Chicago ahead of busy summer travel season: Southwest Airlines is slashing the number of flights it will offer out of O’Hare by 33% this summer, according to data from aviation firm Cirium, as it deals with delays getting planes from Boeing and weak financial results. Boeing delays also caused American Airlines to suspend a flight from O’Hare to Paris, and prompted United Airlines to offer pilots voluntary time off in May and June. O’Hare will ultimately have more scheduled flights from May to August than it did last year, according to Cirium, including from the airport’s two main carriers, American and United.
* Peoria distillery earns two medals in ‘prestigious’ spirits competition: Two Peoria-made products were awarded medals at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. BLACK BAND Distillery’s Straight Wheat Whiskey earned gold, while its Peoria Bourbon secured a silver medal. “(Getting) a nod from San Fran World Spirits Competition at any level – meaning like of any medal – (is) fantastic,” said Chris Ober, founder and principal distiller at BLACK BAND. “So, we’re really happy with the outcome this year.”
*** National ***
* Canadian wildfire smoke chokes upper Midwest: At least some smoke could drift as far south as Iowa and Chicago, leaving skies looking milky by late Tuesday or early Wednesday, said Rafal Ogorek, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Chicago office.
* Tennessee woman denied abortion after fetus’ ‘brain not attached’ slams state ban: A Tennessee woman who was denied an abortion despite a severe abnormality that meant her fetus would die during the pregnancy says the state’s anti-abortion laws resulted in her losing an ovary, a fallopian tube, and her hopes for a large family. “The state of Tennessee took my fertility from me,” Breanna Cecil, 34, told The Independent. State lawmakers “took away my opportunity to have a family like my own biological family because of these horrible laws that they put in place.”
Four would-be state legislative candidates, including one from Northbrook, are suing state officials over a new law forbidding political parties from slating candidates after primary elections.
The plaintiffs — all Republicans — also are seeking an emergency temporary restraining order to prevent enforcement of the law so they can appear on Nov. 5 ballots. The lawsuit names the Illinois State Board of Elections and state Attorney General Kwame Raoul as defendants. […]
The elections board has said it will accept petitions from slated candidates by a previously set June 3 deadline, and it is encouraging such candidates to file. The board will consider any challenges to those petitions filed by June 10 — again, as scheduled.
The elections board — comprised of four Democrats and four Republicans — will hold hearings to consider any objections. Those likely would be held July 9, a board spokesman has said.
Article III, Section 1 of the 1970 Illinois Constitution guarantees the right to vote to every United States citizen of at least 18 years of age who has been a permanent resident of Illinois for at least 30 days preceding any election.
“Legislation that affects any stage of the election process implicates the right to vote.” Tully v. Edgar, 171 Il. 2d 297, 307 (1996) (emphasis in original). Thus, “the right to vote is implicated by legislation that restricts a candidate’s effort to gain access to the ballot.” Id., citing Anderson v. Schneider, 67 III. 2d 165, 172-73 (1977).
But for P.A. 103-0586, Plaintiffs would comport with the provisions of 10 ILCS 5/8-17 (2023) and 10 ILCS 5/7-61 and stand as candidates for office in the November election.
Plaintiffs were all designated to fill the vacancies in nomination by their respective Representative or Legislative Committees prior to the enactment of P.A. 103-0586.
P.A. 103-0586 removed the provisions of 10 ILCS 5/8-17 that would allow Plaintiffs to gain access to the ballot, after that process had already begun.
P.A. 103-0586 impairs the rights of suffrage exercised by Plaintiffs and others in the 2024 general election by restricting Plaintiffs’ efforts to gain access to the ballot by changing the rules in the middle of that process.
‘When the means used by a legislature to achieve a legislative goal impinge upon a fundamental right, the court will examine the statute under the strict scrutiny standard.” Tully, 171 Il. 2d at 304.
The Illinois Supreme Court has recognized that the right to vote is a fundamental constitutional right, essential to our system of government. Fumarolo v. Chicago Board of Education, 142 Il. 2d 54, 74 (1990).
The elimination of the process of filling ballot vacancies used by Plaintiffs set forth in P.A. 103-0586 does not advance a compelling state interest in preventing Plaintiffs from accessing the ballot in the November 2024 general election.
The provision of P.A. 103-0586 eliminating the process of filling ballot vacancies used by Plaintiffs is not necessary to achieve the legislation’s goal.
Nor are the provision of P.A. 103-0586 eliminating the process of filling ballot vacancies used by Plaintiffs the least restrictive means available to attain the legislation’s goal.
The fact that P.A. 103-0586 would prohibit Plaintiffs from accessing the November 2024 general election ballot using the process set forth in Section 7-61 of the Election Code as it existed prior to the enactment of P.A. 103-0586, but would permit other candidates to be listed on the November 2024 general election ballot who completed the process set forth in Section 7-61 of the Election Code prior to P.A. 103-0586’s enactment is sufficient to show that P.A. 103-0586, as applied to Plaintiffs, fails strict scrutiny.
P.A. 103-0586, as applied to Plaintiffs, fails strict scrutiny analysis and, thus, unconstitutionally restricts Plaintiffs’ fundamental rights to suffrage by negating their efforts to gain access to the ballot.
Plaintiffs need immediate relief from the revisions to 10 ILCS 5/8-17 in order to lawfully comply with the June 3, 2024, deadline to file their nomination petitions with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
* Tully v. Edgar dealt with a new law that ended the terms of elected University of Illinois trustees. The Supreme Court sided with the trustees…
Legislation that nullifies the votes cast in a valid election and removes the elected trustees from office midterm is not necessary to or narrowly tailored to achieve the legislature’s presumed goal. There is no suggestion that the currently elected trustees are incompetent. Nor is there any assertion that the immediate removal of those trustees is necessary to improve the quality of education at the University of Illinois.
Moreover, it is evident that the legislature’s goal could be achieved by other means that would not impinge upon the fundamental right to vote. The legislature could certainly provide that, upon the expiration of the terms of office of the currently elected trustees, successor trustees will be appointed rather than elected. We conclude that the section of the Act which provides for the removal of the elected trustees midterm is not necessary to achieve the legislature’s presumed goal. Nor is the immediate removal of the elected trustees the least restrictive means of achieving that presumed goal. We therefore hold that the portion of the Act that removes the sitting trustees from office does not meet the strict scrutiny standard and is violative of the right to vote guaranteed under the Illinois Constitution.
Tessa Weinberg: Mayor, the CTU is also beginning contract negotiations with a demand for 9% raises or the rate of inflation, whichever is higher. At the same time, the district faces a budget deficit of at least $391 million, which is only likely to grow. Is that request realistic? Where will that money come from?
Mayor Johnson: You know, again, the state of Illinois owes the city of Chicago $1.1 billion. And, you know, we cannot lose sight of that. There has been a real concerted effort over the course of decades now to disrupt public education in this city. And without, you know, full cooperation from the state of Illinois, you’re going to leave one of the largest school districts in the entire country woefully underfunded. And I’m going to continue to advocate to make sure the people of Chicago receive their just due.
Mayor Johnson: You know, as far as making critical investments to build a better, stronger, safer Chicago, of course, there will be ongoing debates and conversations about that. Here’s the problem. We have a 100-year-old building that has owed hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. That’s the problem.
Fran Spielman: It’s a 100-year-old building that’s been rebuilt. It was rebuilt totally in 2003. It was totally rebuilt, that stadium.
Mayor Johnson: So stay with me then. I’m glad you brought that up, because not only is it a 100-year-old building that there’s no, with no dome, so no public benefit for it. We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.
When it was, quote-unquote, rebuilt in 2003, 67% of the dollars that were used were public dollars to build a stadium where there’s no public benefit in which we still owe debt to. I’m saying is, I have put forth, so stay with me, I have put forth a solution to the problem. What is that solution?
That the Bears are willing to put $2 billion into the stadium, so their own money, billionaires putting their own money in it, while visitors, the hotel tax, pays for the rest. So we’re talking 72%, almost 75% of the building being paid for by the billionaires. And then there’s another 28% that comes from ISFA, which is designed to build stadiums.
The only function of ISFA is to build stadiums. And so I have this problem, the city of Chicago has this problem, and Illinois has this problem, that you have a 100-year-old building that has hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, and we can’t even use it beyond the 10 or 12 games. So if someone else has another solution that addresses this problem, then they should put that on the table.
Now, the Bears, of course, have a responsibility to continue to make their case, but the bottom line is this, I’ve said from the very beginning, whatever we do, we have to invest in people. That’s what I’ve done this first year, and there has to be a public benefit and a public use for it. The Bears have put together a proposal that absorbs 72% of the cost, and the other cost will be paid for by visitors.
If someone else has a better solution to that, they should put it on the table.
Mariah Woelfel: If we want to stay on Bears for a second, Mayor, I mean, that is the breakdown when you look at the stadium itself, but the overall plan will rely on $1.5 billion in federal and state funding for infrastructure improvements. How much time and political capital are you spending to try to secure that federal funding and state funding from those legislative bodies? And does that add unnecessary strain on your relationship with those legislatures? While we’ve already heard in this interview, you’re using a lot of that political capital to try to solve the migrant crisis. Is it worth it to spend time and energy on a sports stadium when you need those relationships for other priorities?
Mayor Johnson: So the question is, is it worth spending my time to put forth a vision that puts thousands of people to work and provide public benefit and public use, as well as infrastructure needs for the entire city of Chicago?
Mariah Woelfel: Or does it strain your relationship…
Mayor Johnson: Listen, I hear what you’re asking. You’re asking me, is it worth my time to actually show it for the people of Chicago? It will always be worth my time to ensure that we’re investing in people.
That’s what I promised I would do, and that’s what I’m doing. As far as the infrastructure needs, I’m not sure if enough people get enough opportunity to hear more about the inflation reduction act. We’re talking about billions of dollars.
This is an unprecedented amount of resources available for infrastructure. This is actually what the Biden-Harris administration, this is what they want us to do. One of the top tourist attractions for the state of Illinois is the campus in which we’re talking about.
Now, that’s not the only place that needs infrastructure, so my ask is not limited to this particular development. It’s also a need for us on the southeast side, where there are real environmental hazards that have been there for a generation now. And so we have service lines that need to be replaced.
This is not about one stadium. This is about our vision for the entire city of Chicago. And so I’m always going to show up for the people of Chicago. And because there’s a need for real critical investment, something that has not happened in a substantive way for at least the last 40 years, I am proud to show up for the people of Chicago, calling for those types of investments.
Tessa Weinberg: On the Bears, you know, they also are seeking to keep revenue from other events like concerts that take place at the stadium, which would leave a major hole in the Park District’s budget. Will you commit to not allowing the Bears to keep that revenue?
Mayor Johnson: This is a proposal. So there’s still negotiations that are being done around, you know, revenue sharing. This is a proposal.
A group of aldermen are calling on Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to replace embattled Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter.
Nineteen aldermen, including several progressive Johnson allies and other more conservative aldermen, have so far signed onto the resolution that also calls for Carter to resign, according to lead co-sponsor Ald. Matt Martin, 47th. Though nonbinding, it’s the sharpest City Hall rebuke of Carter yet as the leader’s CTA continues to struggle with hiring, service cuts, lagging ridership and a looming financial cliff.
The Sports Betting Alliance, a coalition representing BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics Sportsbook, is warning Illinois customers that a proposed tax rate increase in the state will seriously affect how they participate in sports betting.
If a proposed sports betting tax rate increase to 35%, up from 15%, in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s (D) state budget is approved, customers will be hit with fewer promotions and worse odds from operators that are already struggling in the state, a Sports Betting Alliance spokesperson told Sports Betting Dime.
The alliance has been encouraging Illinois sports betting customers to reach out to their constituents to oppose the bill. More than 35,000 emails have been sent in opposition so far, said Nathan Click, Sports Betting Alliance spokesperson. […]
“From the consumer side, a 133% tax rate increase will mean worse odds and few, if any, promotions. It means less left for companies to invest in technology upgrades, responsible gaming efforts and their customer support teams. It’s also a subsidy to bookies and illegal market: Legal operators have just started to make serious inroads into Illinois’ robust illegal sports betting market. Worse odds, no promotions, worse product all give the offshore illegal market apps (who pay no tax) a massive leg up when competing for customers,” [Sports Betting Alliance spokesperson Nathan Click] said.
Parents across the state continue to receive the call no one wants to receive: the call that their child has consumed delta-8 THC and is being transported to the hospital. Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford is spearheading a measure to regulate these pervasive, unlicensed products.
“We are working diligently to protect consumers of all ages, help our cannabis industry flourish, keep the promise to our social equity communities, and not stifle reputable hemp business establishments,” said Lightford (D-Maywood). “Effective regulation is about safeguarding public health and fostering a sustainable, trustworthy market.”
A recent study by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that more than 11% of high school seniors report using delta-8. In response, Lightford is sponsoring Senate Bill 776 to regulate hemp derived THC, including delta-8 products.
The regulation of hemp derived THC products would be similar to how the state regulates cannabis as it relates to taxing, testing, advertisement and more. While the possession limits would be the same as cannabis, limits would be cumulative with the possession limits of cannabis. Therefore, people could not possess more than 500 milligrams of cannabis or hemp concentrate-derived THC products.
Under the Lightford-led measure, businesses making the products would be required to follow the same guidelines as those within the cannabis industry. Any person working with hemp in a non-intoxicating form would simply be required to register their business and pay a $100 fee.
To ensure equality and fairness, only Social Equity Dispensaries – those that are owned by underrepresented individuals or disproportionally affected groups – would be able to sell these products until July 1, 2026. After that, more businesses could sell hemp concentrate-derived products. The transition is similar to the privilege given to medical dispensaries during the first few years of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.
“The current unregulated market undermines social equity license holders who have long worked to establish a legal, well-regulated business,” said Lightford. “As we move toward regulation of hemp and delta-8 products, we must ensure we do so in a way that is equitable and provides opportunities within the evolving industry.”
With two weeks left before the General Assembly’s spring session is set to adjourn, negotiations continue on a labor union-backed initiative that would allow Illinoisans to skip religious and political work meetings without reprimand.
Dubbed the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act,” Senate Bill 3649 advanced out of the Senate on May 2 with only Democratic support.
The Illinois AFL-CIO labor organization brought the measure to Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, in an effort to ban what the unions refer to as employer-sponsored “captive audience meetings” pertaining to religion and politics. Labor advocates say the meetings give employers an opportunity to coerce employees to listen to anti-union rhetoric.
Employers found breaking the law would have to pay $1,000 per violation and provide relief to the wronged employee as the court dictates, which could involve paying owed wages and reinstating their position. […]
Rep. Marcus Evans, D-Chicago, a union ally and chair of the House Labor and Commerce Committee, is the measure’s House sponsor. He said he believes there is enough support for it to pass in the final two weeks – although a minor amendment could be forthcoming.
* Sen. Simmons…
To protect patients from unnecessary medical bills, State Senator Mike Simmons passed legislation out of the Senate on Thursday that would prohibit hospitals from billing a patient who cannot pay.
“When folks get hospital bills that don’t make sense and shouldn’t have been billed to begin with, it erodes confidence in the healthcare system writ large and leaves people afraid to seek care,” said Simmons (D-Chicago). “That is entirely unnecessary and this bill will ensure those folks can get to the doctor without worrying about getting a bunch of bills they cannot afford to pay.”
Senate Bill 2442 prohibits hospitals from directly billing a patient who has a household income at or below the 200% federal poverty line, that qualifies them for free care. Last year, Simmons supported the passing of a new law that requires hospitals to proactively screen for and enroll patients in Medicaid, health insurance and financial assistance beginning July 1.
“Healthcare costs should never be the reason people forgo care. Nor should anyone live in fear of sudden sticker shock from unexpected medical bills arriving in the mail,” said Simmons. “When that happens it represents a systemic barrier to accessing healthcare, which leads to untreated medical conditions and premature death for too many of our family members, neighbors and friends.”
Several constituents in Simmons’ district with low or no income have expressed stress and fear from receiving bills from hospitals and healthcare facilities despite demonstrating a lack of income. This legislation is an example of constituent-led policy, a hallmark of Simmons’ office, and will prohibit hospitals from billing patients who do not have the income to pay.
“No individual or family should be forced to decide between eating or paying hospital bills,” said Simmons. “This critical additional step is designed to protect healthcare consumers from unfair billing practices and abusive collection tactics. It will ultimately save lives, and lead to healthier households and communities.”
Senate Bill 2442 now heads to the House for further consideration.
Legislation filed by State Representative Norine Hammond to assist local road districts with funding challenges was unanimously passed by the Illinois House last month.
House Bill 5190 provides that the allocation to road districts shall be made in the same manner and be subject to the same conditions and qualifications as are provided by current law concerning the allocation to road districts of the amount allotted from the Motor Fuel Tax Fund for apportionment to counties for the use of road districts. It further provides that any funds allocated to a county that are not obligated within 48 months shall be considered lapsed funds and reappropriated in the same fund. The lapsed funds shall be used to provide additional monetary assistance to townships and road districts that have insufficient funding for the construction of bridges that are 20 feet or more in length.
Hammond’s legislation is an initiative of the Illinois Association of County Engineers.
“My legislation addresses the funding challenges that local road districts have had concerning maintaining roads and bridges by updating the current funding formula for local road districts,” said Rep. Hammond. “I’m grateful to the Illinois Association of County Engineers for working with me on this issue and I thank my House colleagues for their unanimous support.”
House Bill 5190 passed the Illinois House on a vote of 114-0-0 and now goes to the Illinois Senate for further consideration.
* Press release…
Advocates for healthy Illinois farm fields are uniting again this spring to urge legislators to provide more support for farmers’ use of cover crops to protect our soils and water supplies.
Environmental advocates and experts are teaming up with Illinois farming organizations to push for $3.1 million in new state funding to support expansion of the highly popular Fall Covers for Spring Savings Program (FCSS), as state legislators debate and formulate Illinois’ next state budget.
The FCSS gives farmers whose applications are accepted a $5-an-acre subsidy on their next year’s crop insurance for every acre of cover crops they plant. These crops are proven to help prevent environmentally and economically damaging soil erosion and other climate and weather challenges. Unlike other similar programs, the more cover crops farmers plant over the years, the more benefit they yield.
Many Illinois farmers have voluntarily embraced this program, giving landowners the flexibility they need to make the best choices for their fields and farm operations to maximize their production and conservation efforts. The main challenge is that the program’s popularity far exceeds the funds available to meet the demand.
In Fiscal Year 2020-2021, 50,000 acres of cover crop benefit were provided under a $300,000 state budget amount. For the 2022-2024 Fiscal Years, the program was more than doubled to a $660,000 budget and 100,000 acres. But in all cases, immediate demand caused all the money to go almost as quickly as the program was opened for applications.
Now, advocates say the time is right to expand the program to provide the incentives for 500,000 acres of eligible land, at a $3.1 million program cost. They expect that will allow 400,000 more acres to take advantage of the powerful benefits of cover crops, including the removal of carbon dioxide that equates to more than 37,000 vehicles off Illinois roads each year, nearly 1,000 rail cars burning coal, and more than 21,000 homes’ energy use.
Cover crops also help build land resistance to floods, reduce the risk that drought causes crop yield losses, improve soil and water quality, and improve farmers’ long-term return on their investment.
The cover crop increased funding proposal is included in Senate Bill 3814 sponsored by Sen. Patrick Joyce, and House Bill 5757 sponsored by Rep. Janet Yang Rohr. Both bills have strong bipartisan support in the Legislature and are expected to be considered in the upcoming budget discussions.
What are the most representative — dare we say, most American — states in the nation? And what does that even mean?
Our friend Lenny Bronner, The Washington Post’s tousle-haired political-stats wunderkind, needed an answer. You may recognize Lenny from his vote-night telecast appearances, or maybe from what his LinkedIn page calls the “Stanford Austria Club — Kaffeehauskulturverein.” Regardless, for his election models, Lenny needed to know how well results in one state could predict those in another.
So he churned through Census variables, creating indexes of how similar U.S. states are to one another — whereupon we realized that his work would be perfect for a less important purpose: finding the most typical and most unusual places in America.
Ever the Austrian, Lenny suggested a careful procession through the data. We started with the variable that, other than party identification, best predicts Americans’ votes. We’ll pause here to give you a chance to guess the answer. But — spoiler alert — it’s race.
So which state most closely mirrors the nation as a whole in terms of racial makeup? By mixing metropolis with corn palace, Illinois reigns as the most demographically “normal” state in America.
They then looked at about 30 other values, including religion, income, education and employment mixture and came up with this ranking…
* Gov. JB Pritzker was asked today about the memo from his deputy governor to state agency directors last week telling them that opposition to the governor’s revenue proposals meant they should start preparing to make $800 million in cuts to next fiscal year’s budget…
Q: I’m wondering where you’re seeing that opposition…?
Pritzker: I don’t think it’s some faction or another. Yeah, there were just, there were some some talk in caucus meetings that were occurring in the House or the Senate, in which people had raised concerns or objections, some of which is misinformation or they don’t have the right information about what we’re doing.
For example, there’s some people who think that the increase in the sports betting percentage tax is against sports betters themselves. That’s not the case. It’s only on the sports betting companies, right DraftKings, FanDuel, other companies like that. And similarly on the other manner, which is somewhat complex, net operating loss carry forwards. Not everybody’s familiar with those but we actually have lowered the tax on that operating cost, net operating loss carryforwards from what it had been there’d been a limitation of 100,000 we raised that limitation to 500,000. So more companies could take deductions essentially on their taxes.
So, having said that, we realized that we may not be able to get to all of the members or explain it properly to all of them and just wanted to make sure that they understood, you know, that that, you know, our leaders of our agencies needed to understand, that if those new revenues don’t come through that we’ll probably be hearing from the legislature about cuts that they want to make. And so we wanted to put everybody on notice. That’s the real purpose of that memo.
Sounds like the governor could’ve been working members earlier.
Q: You said within some caucuses.. what caucuses…?
Pritzker: Yeah, I think I couldn’t identify them for you. I think you know, more broadly, obviously, there are Republicans who objected to some of it. There are Democrats who’ve expressed some objection. We’re hoping that people come to a better understanding of it or, or they decide to make changes to the budget. Remember, I introduced a budget in February. This is the normal process, right? It’s a balanced budget. Then it goes to the legislature. It’s really up to the legislature at that point to make decisions about whether they like what was in that original budget, what they might want to change. For the most part, the legislature has accepted my budgets, you know, 90, 95% of them, and made tweaks to them that they’ve seen fit or that we’ve negotiated over time. And then at the end, there’s a vote on it. So, my one principle around this budget is it’s got to be balanced. So whatever happens here, we’re not going to overspend. We’re not going to start sweeping dollars from accounts that had been done before I became governor. We’re not going to go back to the old practices of making us a credit unworthy state. And so we’ve got to balance the budget. And that’s really the real message that I think everybody in the legislature knows that I’m sending.
Much of the Illinois Statehouse appeared to be girding itself for battle with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson before his Springfield visit Wednesday.
After dramatically announcing to Chicago reporters earlier in the week the city’s families are “owed” $1 billion from state government, particularly education, Gov. J.B. Pritzker sent two distinct messages to the building.
First, Pritzker notified state agency directors to start preparing for $800 million in budget reductions next fiscal year because of lack of legislative support for the governor’s revenue proposals. The directors were told to focus on “grant programs and other discretionary spending that has increased in recent years.”
Then, the governor’s office issued an extensive background memo laying out how much more money Chicago’s school system has received from the state, including a $265 million increase in its annual General Revenue Fund outlays since fiscal year 2019, which worked out to a $1,542 per student hike, or a 30% increase.
The annual Early Childhood Block Grant appropriation was increased by $66.4 million in the same time period. Plus, more money for teacher pensions and enough money from the state’s evidence-based funding formula mean Chicago Public Schools is now funded better than more than 400 Illinois schools and has moved out of the critically underfunded Tier One level to Tier Two.
And then, the Senate Executive Committee, tightly controlled by Senate President Don Harmon, unanimously approved Harmon’s bill, opposed by Johnson, to protect selective enrollment schools from closure, changes to admissions and disproportionate budget cuts until a fully elected school board is seated.
The measure (House Bill 303) was scheduled for a hearing before Johnson made known he was coming to Springfield. But instead of delaying passage out of deference to Johnson, it was put on the agreed bill list, which was quickly zoomed to the floor without debate, where it may be amended.
Perhaps sensing the headwinds, Johnson’s lobbying crew belatedly distributed a one-page memo to legislators containing far more modest budget requests than Johnson had previewed to city reporters and nothing about direct public school funding.
The mayor’s office asked for a little more money from the Local Government Distributive Fund; some lead service line replacement debt forgiveness and more money for lead removal from licensed daycare centers; a change in state law to allow the city to collect more for its 911 services; and money to replace what ultimately turned out to be a federal budget cut for domestic violence hotline funding.
As a result, the mayor did not bring up the $1 billion “owed” for schools during meetings with any of the leaders, I’m told. Instead, he focused on that one-pager, which in one instance was printed from my website to be used during the discussion.
The governor’s office starts putting the budget together in the fall, and they work through February to craft it. That’s the best time to make initial budget requests. A mayoral visit to Springfield in May should be for a victory lap, or to shore up last-minute support for the budget.
A reporter asked Johnson if maybe he should be in town more often or make his budget requests earlier in the process. “Well, look, we’re at the right time,” Johnson said. “As you all know, you all have been covering Springfield for a very long time, you know when stuff gets done. So we’re down at the right time.”
Um, now is when things are finalized. The governor, advocacy groups and legislators have been pushing their own budgetary priorities for weeks, even months. Coming to town with two weeks left can mean settling for leftovers, and if the budget is as tight as the governor says, there may not be any leftovers.
Meanwhile, the Chicago City Council’s Black Caucus was in Springfield the same day for a long-planned lobby day. For whatever reason, the mayor did not attempt to coordinate with the caucus after he belatedly announced his Statehouse trip. That seems odd.
The mayor also held a Springfield press conference. Asked about education funding, the mayor said he wanted to push for that $1 billion over time. When asked whether his proposals would “jump the line” ahead of other school districts, Johnson said, “This is not a zero-sum game. There’s more than enough for everyone.”
Except there’s not, which is what the mayor’s top allies at the Chicago Teachers Union will be told when they visit Springfield en masse for their own lobby day to demand that billion dollars the mayor didn’t bring up.
* Also, the mayor didn’t bring up either of these two topics when he met with the leaders, but Politico asked him about them anyway…
Q: During your trip to Springfield last week, did you get a sense lawmakers might be willing to give an inch on the Bears or Chicago Public School students?
A: Regarding school funding: “The state of Illinois recognizes that the algorithm or the funding formula that they voted on [in 2016] shows the people of Chicago are owed $1.1 billion. So that’s just a fact. Now whether or not they decide to provide the city of Chicago what they deserve. I mean, that that’s something that I’m going to continue to push for. But that really comes down to leadership in Springfield to determine whether or not the largest school district state of Illinois deserves its just right.”
A: Regarding the Bears: “The proposal that the Bears have put forward provides public benefit and public use. It would build a dome stadium that gives public benefit and public use with billionaire dollars and visitor dollars [i.e. hotel taxes]. This stadium would not only be built by billionaires and visitors, it would be publicly owned. If someone thinks we can do better than 72 percent of it being financed by ownership and the other 28 percent with visitors, they should speak now.”
Regarding the Bears, the mayor apparently forgot about the $1.5 billion he agreed to spend of state taxpayers’ money on the project. And he apparently wasn’t reminded via a follow-up question, either.
Monday, May 13, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The price-setting board proposed in HB4472 is not the solution for Illinois. It would give bureaucrats the power to arbitrarily set medicine prices, deciding what medicines and treatments are “worth” paying for. We can’t leave Illinoisans’ health care up to political whims. Let’s make it easier, not harder for patients to access their medicines. Click here to learn more.
* ICYMI:Mark Walker has been appointed to 27th SD. Here’s the press release….
Mark L. Walker, formerly the state Representative for the 53rd District, was appointed today as the new state Senator for the 27th District.
“I’m honored to become the new Senator for the 27th District,” Walker said. “Over my time serving the 53rd District in the House, I’ve represented most of the people and communities of the 27th District. It’s great to be representing them again and I’m excited to continue advocating for our communities in Springfield.”
Former state Senator Ann Gillespie resigned her seat on April 14th, 2024, following her appointment by Governor Pritzker as the Acting Director of the Dept. of Insurance. In accordance with the vacancy replacement process, the local Township Democratic Committeepeople comprising the 27th District met on May 11 to fill the vacancy. Walker received the majority of votes to become the new Senator for the District.
“Sen. Gillespie was a tremendous Senator and I thank her for her service to the 27th District,” Walker added. “I’m looking forward to a seamless transition into this new position so we can continue working for Illinoisans delivering another balanced budget, meeting our pension obligations, and building an Illinois for all.”
The 27th Senate District contains most or parts of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Rolling Meadows, and Schaumburg.
Governor Pritzker will be at the Lawndale Christian Health Center at 9:30 am to celebrate Medicaid redetermination efforts. Click here to watch.
*** Isabel’s top picks ***
* Capitol News Illinois | Stateville may close as early as September under Pritzker’s prison plan: Top officials with the Illinois Department of Corrections testified in front of a key panel of state lawmakers. The 12 members on the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability face a mid-June deadline to make a recommendation on the governor’s plan to close and rebuild a pair of prisons in central Illinois and in Chicago’s south suburbs. But no matter what the panel decides, the Pritzker administration can go ahead with its plans so long as money is built into the state’s next budget.
* WBEZ | Local election officials hope to report aggregate vote totals this November: Election officials in Chicago and Cook County are exploring how they can work together to report their aggregate ballot numbers in the days after Election Day following widespread confusion among voters in March’s primary election. The tight race for the Democratic Cook County State’s Attorney nomination saw mail-in, provisional and military ballots trickle in up to two weeks after primary Election Day, with Eileen O’Neill Burke winning by just over 1,500 votes.
* NPR | Medical residents are starting to avoid states with abortion bans, data shows: Isabella Rosario Blum was wrapping up medical school and considering residency programs to become a family practice physician when she got some frank advice: If she wanted to be trained to provide abortions, she shouldn’t stay in Arizona. Blum turned to programs mostly in states where abortion access — and, by extension, abortion training — is likely to remain protected, like California, Colorado and New Mexico. Arizona has enacted a law banning most abortions after 15 weeks. “I would really like to have all the training possible,” she said, “so of course that would have still been a limitation.”
*** Statehouse News ***
* Capitol News Illinois | Labor-backed bill banning ‘captive audience’ meetings awaits House action: With two weeks left before the General Assembly’s spring session is set to adjourn, negotiations continue on a labor union-backed initiative that would allow Illinoisans to skip religious and political work meetings without reprimand. Dubbed the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act,” Senate Bill 3649 advanced out of the Senate on May 2 with only Democratic support.
* Daily Herald | Legislation could help lower concrete’s carbon footprint in Illinois: ‘It’s literally what the world is made out of’: Lawmakers and advocates are looking to offset greenhouse gas emissions from one of the world’s most consumed materials second only to water — concrete. The building material’s main binding ingredient, cement, represents a whopping 7% to 8% of global carbon emissions. But experts say it’s not likely construction projects will slow down any time soon — or that a zero-emission replacement will crop up like EVs have for gas cars, for instance. […] Rather than replace concrete, the leading solution is to transform it.
* SJ-R | Calls continue for an increase in pay for Direct Service Professionals in Illinois: Due to higher turnover rates and vacancies, state legislators and Direct Service Professionals are asking for $3.00 rate wage increase. The call for a rate increase comes after a $2.50 wage increase for the workers in Fiscal Year 2024. Skipping an increase for Fiscal Year 2025 means that there have been two consecutive years without wage rate increases.
*** Statewide ***
* Pontiac Daily Leader | 2024 list of Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois released. Here’s what’s on it: The sites, announced during a Tuesday news conference, include historic homes, banks, places of worship, factories, theaters, office buildings, schools, courthouses and cultural centers. “This year’s ‘Most Endangered’ sites are not only incredibly important places in their communities, but many are large-scale buildings that sit prominently in highly visible areas near city centers, in historic districts or on state-owned land. Their neglect is seen and felt,” Bonnie McDonald, president and CEO of Landmarks Illinois, said in a news release.
* PJ Star | OSF, other medical professionals found liable in $41 million malpractice lawsuit in Illinois: A jury in the Circuit Court of Cook County has awarded $41 million to a 72-year-old lawyer whose cerebral artery stroke was brought on by medical mismanagement at the Peoria-based OSF HealthCare System, according to a news release from the law firm representing him. Craig Pierce was awarded the verdict on Tuesday against OSF, an Illinois nephrologist, a kidney care corporation and a dialysis service. According to his lawyers, this is the largest award in Illinois history for a medical malpractice case with a plaintiff over 70 years old.
*** Chicago ***
* Tribune | Mayor Johnson on the record: The full Tribune Q&A as he approaches 1 year in office: Q: What do you see as the area that most needs improvement within your administration? A: Well, I mean, look, we’ve had 40 years of gross neglect and disinvestment within the city of Chicago, right? And we’re talking about real severe disinvestment. I’m not sure if either one of you were here during the time in which schools were closed. It’s a very profound, lasting impact that it has had on the people of Chicago. And when mental health clinics are shuttered, that creates a lot of frustration that leaves a gaping hole, right? And so part of my responsibility, of course, is to address the age-old systems of failure and to build a better, stronger, safer Chicago, and that is something that I’m committed to doing. That’s what the people of Chicago elected me to do.
* Tribune | Mayor Johnson at one year in office: Former activist grapples with being the boss: Jason McGrath, a Chicago-based strategist who was a pollster for the last three mayors, said Johnson should be concerned about these “calls coming from inside the house.” “It’s a very, very hard job, and I think he’s finding now that it’s a lot easier to throw bombs from the sideline than it is to be in the ring and actually defuse them,” McGrath said. “Right now, there are too many people who are openly criticizing him who should be with them. And if that’s not a flashing red light yet, it certainly will be soon.”
* Sun-Times | Chicago cop convicted in Capitol riot has been fired from the police department: Karol Chwiesiuk spent roughly 10 minutes inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as a mob attempted to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Chwiesiuk was ultimately sentenced to three months of home detention in January. However, his dismissal from the police department is only tangentially related to his case in federal court. A police spokesperson said he was “terminated for a break in service, in violation of the city’s personnel rules.”
* Tribune | U. of C. study shows cops at high risk of misconduct also at elevated risk for off-duty trouble: The study, which examined 10 years of Chicago Police Department data as part of implementing the federal consent decree, found that police misconduct was predictable based on an officer’s history of complaints. It suggested that a relatively simple system of tracking past complaints to prevent future incidents could have a public value of “infinity,” considering the potential to avoid costly lawsuits that result from high-profile incidents of officer misconduct.
* WTTW | Social Service Organization The Ark Celebrates Reopening of $21.5M Renovated Facility Serving Chicago’s Jewish Community: The facility now has the capacity to serve an additional 1,000 clients per year, bringing the total to about 5,000 clients annually. The new building is 60% larger than the original. The renovations include a four-fold increase in the size of its food pantry, which features new walk-in refrigerators and freezers. The pharmacy was relocated to the first floor for better accessibility, and the community space doubled in size.
* Daily Herald | DuPage County clerk to county: Pay my bills: In a Tuesday memo to DuPage County Board Chairwoman Deborah Conroy, Kaczmarek requested that all the invoices approved by her office be submitted to the treasurer for payment. The move would bypass approval from the county auditor. If the invoices are not paid, Kaczmarek said she would “instruct the state’s attorney to commence legal action on my behalf in my official capacity.”
* Daily Herald | DuPage County Forest Preserve invites Stephen Colbert to be featured in follow-up cicada video: A viral cicada video that the DuPage County Forest Preserve District put out last week has reached new and national heights, inviting attention from the likes of CNN, NPR and Stephen Colbert. Colbert joked about the video, which features forest preserve district employees acting out the life stages of cicadas, on “The Late Show” Wednesday night. A former member of Chicago’s Second City improv troupe, Colbert quipped that he would have killed for the role of cicada larvae back in his Illinois acting days.
*** Downstate ***
* BND | Cahokia 187 is getting a new high school. Here’s the timeline, design & financing: District 187 will pay back the lease certificates with corporate personal property replacement tax funds it gets annually from the state and interest earnings for the first two years of repayment, Assistant Superintendent Arnett Harvey told the BND. Starting with the third year, the district will continue paying off the certificates annually with revenue it will get from two retiring tax increment financing districts within the school district’s boundaries.
* PJ Star | After 31 years as a Journal Star reporter and photographer, Leslie Renken says goodbye: In May of 1993 I drove up out of the desert to work at the Journal Star. Peoria was literally a breath of fresh air after working for three and a half years in Odessa, Texas. All the things that were missing in Odessa, like humidity, trees, drinkable tap water, and historic architecture, were present in Peoria. And it felt a lot like coming home, since the move meant I would be only three hours from my family in St. Louis, a far cry from the 18-hour drive to west Texas.
* WCIA | Central Illinois woman gets state award for volunteer service: Sarah Rochnowski has been volunteering in the area for over half of a decade. Now, she has won the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award. Rochnowski said she never thought about getting recognized when she set out to give her time to others, but now she has even more motivation to volunteer. She said it’s always been about others.
*** National ***
* ProPublica | IRS Audit of Trump Could Cost Former President More Than $100 Million: Former President Donald Trump used a dubious accounting maneuver to claim improper tax breaks from his troubled Chicago tower, according to an IRS inquiry uncovered by ProPublica and The New York Times. Losing a yearslong audit battle over the claim could mean a tax bill of more than $100 million. […] But when Trump sought to reap tax benefits from his losses, the IRS has argued, he went too far and in effect wrote off the same losses twice.
* Crain’s | Small Midwestern cities are killing it in home price growth this year: Home prices are rising so fast in those and three other small cities in Illinois and Wisconsin that this swath of the Midwest dominated the National Association of Realtors’ May 8 report on U.S. home price increases during the first quarter of the year. In a three-month period when the median price of homes sold nationwide was up 5% from a year earlier, prices in Fond du Lac were up 23.7%, the highest in the country, according to the NAR report.
* WSJ | There’s Not Enough Power for America’s High-Tech Ambitions: —Bill Thomson needs power fast. The problem is that many of the other businesspeople racing into Georgia do too. Thomson heads marketing and product management at DC Blox, which in recent years built a string of data centers in midsize cities across the fast-growing Southeast. The company more recently set its sights on Atlanta—the would-be capital of the region—joining a slew of tech and industrial firms piling into the state.
* Daily Beast | We Asked Baristas, Retail Workers, and Servers About Their Comfiest Shoes: Most people, except maybe people who use the word “summer” as a verb, will work a service job at some point in their life. And while the vocations under that umbrella vary from barista to line cook to showroom sales associate and beyond, they all require one thing: surviving long shifts—and often long shifts on their feet for eight hours straight.
* Independent | Scientists celebrate ‘first step’ in making food allergies history: Sibel Sonmez-Ajtai, paediatric allergy consultant and principal investigator at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This study is enabling us to do something we would never have dreamed of doing before – giving patients the foods we know they are allergic to. “This treatment is not a cure for a food allergy, but what it achieves is life-transforming.
* Isabel is on sick leave for a few days I’ve told her to take it easy, so, as I write this, I’m not sure if she’ll be posting her hugely popular morning briefing today. In the meantime, talk amongst yourselves.
May 25th in Murphysboro I am going to be unveiling an Illinois State Historic Association Marker on the Southwest Corner of the Jackson County Courthouse Lawn dedicated to the life of Lawrence “Big Twist” Nolan. He was a notable Blues Singer, Drummer, and Harmonica Player, born in Terra Haute, but lived his life “off the road” in Murphysboro from 1956 until his death in 1990.
I am not sure how many historic markers are dedicated to Blues Artists in Illinois, but I am confident this will be the first in Southern Illinois.
The unveiling is going also include a street party with live music from Tawl Paul and the Ivas John band. Numerous members of the Nolan family are coming in from across the country for it. Just thought it might have some Friday music post potential.
P.S. The marker was funded by the City of Murphysboro, Jackson County, Murphysboro Tourism, Jackson County NAACP, and myself.
Yesterday, a Lake County Judge granted the State’s petition to detain Jared Honegger, 24, who is being charged with four counts of child pornography.
After the detention hearing, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart stated,
“Our office is committed to protecting all children in Lake County, and I commend the Sheriff’s team and the Attorney General’s Office for their investigation. This offender is now jailed indefinitely because of our new system that does not allow him to post cash and be released. Others charged with this exact same crime have been able to post cash in the past, and those days are over.”
During the detention hearing, the State argued that Honegger’s pre-trial release would pose a real and present threat to the community because the videos and images found in Honegger’s phone are a form of violence, sexual in nature, and that if it weren’t for people like Honegger consuming that content, there would not be a demand for predators to continue making child pornography and harming children.
The State further argued that Pre-Trial Bond Services does not have the ability to engage in 24-hour surveillance of Honegger’s home and would not be able ensure Honegger wouldn’t continue downloading and disseminating child pornography if he had pre-trial release.
Since September 2023, individuals who are charged with possessing or creating child pornography are no longer eligible to use cash to post bond in order to obtain pre-trial release. The SAFE-T Act prevents violent offenders and sex offenders from being able to post cash bond if a judge determines they are dangerous to the community.
Honegger’s next court hearing is scheduled for May 28 at 1:30 p.m. for preliminary hearing.
* State of Illinois…
On the eve of the anniversary marking the end of the Public Health Emergency (PHE) declarations put in place at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the State of Illinois released a playbook detailing measures the state should take to prepare for future public health emergencies as well as recommendations for future administrations that may have to navigate public health crises.
“Following a once-in-a-century event like the COVID-19 pandemic it is critical that we take the time to thoroughly study how our state responded to the emergency and seek to learn lessons that will put us in a stronger position the next time such an all-of-government response is required,” said Governor JB Pritzker.
The playbook was produced through a review of the impact of COVID-19 on Illinois residents, with a focus on health and human services outcomes; compiling lessons learned during the pandemic; and developing forward-looking recommendations to improve preparedness for future public health emergencies and non-emergency state operations.
The playbook lays out three phases of any response: establishing the response, activating the response and delivering the response. Under those headings, 14 steps the state should take are identified as it mobilizes state agencies, other branches of government, health system partners, and outside experts and stakeholders to deliver a coordinated disaster response.
The after-action report found that the strengths of the state’s response included: strong central leadership at the top, including setting out a clear vision and priorities; a data-driven approach; a focus on equity and prioritizing underserved communities in allocating resources; effective use of community relationships and public private partnerships; and effective use of executive orders that speeded up the deliver of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other resources.
The report noted that the focus on equity contributed to achieving better rates of vaccine uptake for non-white Illinoisans than non-white residents in all but one peer states.
While the report indicated that Illinois demonstrated clear strengths in the COVID-19 response, it also identified lessons learned that can improve future responses to infectious disease public health emergencies.
The key challenges that Illinois state agencies experienced at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic were: limited planning for a major infectious disease emergency that required a whole-of-government response; limitations on health and operational data infrastructure and capabilities; lack of real-time data needed to measure and respond to health equity needs and broader health impacts; variations in the effectiveness of community engagement; and depletion of the public health workforce due to attrition and a slow hiring process.
The Redneck Fishing Tournament, an annual quest to have fun while ridding the Illinois River of an invasive species, is ready for another run this summer.
The tournament, hosted by the 279 residents of Bath, takes place along the Illinois River, which forms the western border of the village. This year’s event will be Aug 1-3. Activities on the first day are dominated by a kids’ fishing tournament.
The tournament is a blend of fun and a serious mission. The fun is the festivities and the fishing. The serious part is fundraising and trying to reduce the number of copi, formerly known as Asian carp, in the Illinois River.
“Ugly fish, cold beer, good causes and great times. If you haven’t experienced the Redneck Fishing Tournament, you owe it to yourself to check it out,” said tournament organizer Nikki Gregerson.
* Tribune | Migrant mourns death of child, one of the many unaccounted for in Chicago: ‘Without money, you’re nobody’: The Venezuelan mother lost her 3-year-old — Luciana Valentina Suarez Calderon — at the end of April to a bacterial infection in Chicago. But without the $2,750 needed for a funeral, Calderon had to wait in mourning while her daughter’s body sat at the morgue for days. “I wanted people to be able to visit her body to say goodbye. If I had the money, I would have taken her out immediately,” Calderon said. “Uno sin plata no es nadie. Without money, you’re nobody.”
* Tribune | Cook County judge seals documents in highly-scrutinized case of man accused of stabbing child: Crosetti Brand, 37, who has a documented history of violence against women, is charged with murder, attempted murder and other felonies in a March attack he allegedly perpetrated just one day after he was released from prison where he was sent after threatening Jayden’s mother weeks earlier. The killing spurred grief and outrage in the community and raised questions about safeguards for domestic violence victims and the Illinois Prisoner Review Board’s handling of Brand’s release. […] “The People make this request out of concern that any publication of pretrial pleadings … may receive further media attention and may affect the Defendant’s ability to receive a fair trial,” the state’s motion to seal reads.
* WGN | Man opens up on alleged sex abuse from former Chicago priest known as ‘Father Happy Hands’: Larry Kubbins, 60, held a press conference opening up about the alleged abuse by the Rev. Daniel Mark Holihan, who died in 2016, and had a message for survivors across the world. “It’s been a weight I’ve had for almost 50 years,” Kubbins said. “They need to not be afraid to report it. I was not smart enough to listen to my mother and walked away from it.” […] The Illinois Attorney General’s Office said Holihan has 40 reported survivors.
* Sun-Times | Chicago Democratic convention leaders ready for anything, but see no echoes of 1968. ‘There is really … no comparison.’: With less than 15 weeks to go before a national spotlight descends on Chicago, Democratic National Convention leaders are swatting away comparisons to 1968 and trying to get ahead of worst-case scenarios. That includes combing through social media posts to prepare for what-ifs, trying to target disinformation, vetting 12,000 volunteers and meeting frequently with Chicago officials and police.
* Sun-Times Editorial Board | To save Greyhound bus service in Chicago, the city has to take the wheel: Yet the city — and the state — don’t seem to care about the very real possibility of Greyhound being evicted within months from its longtime Harrison Street bus terminal, as a scathing report by DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development found. Other bus lines, including FlixBus (which now owns Greyhound), Barons Bus, Burlington Trailways and others, are at risk of being evicted too.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Shaw Local | McHenry former, current aldermen violated anti-harassment policy in comments about city worker: investigation: McHenry Alderman Victor Santi and former Alderman Shawn Strach violated the city’s anti-harassment and whistleblower policy for comments made about a city employee to other local officials, the city’s labor attorney has determined. […] The portion of the city’s personnel policy manual Kelly said the two violated states in part: “Although conduct may not rise to the level of unlawful harassment from a legal perspective, the city wants to protect its employees from abuse and to prevent conduct from becoming so severe or pervasive as to alter the conditions of an employee’s employment, create an abusive, intimidating or hostile working environment.”
* ABC Chicago | Wife of Lockport Township man accused in hate crime shooting de-deputized during investigation: The wife of a man accused in a hate crime shooting in the south suburbs is now under investigation too. The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said she is a correctional sergeant at the Cook County Jail. She has been de-deputized while authorities look into the case. […] Prosecutors described what had been a years-long history of animosity between the neighbors, with Shadbar frequently using racial slurs toward Robertson’s two children, who are Black. That includes on May 7, the day of the shooting.
* Sun-Times | ‘I suffered a lot’: Suburban Chicago woman claiming Zantac caused her cancer takes the stand in Cook County trial: Her suit alleges that the drug’s active ingredient, called ranitidine, turns into a cancer-causing substance called NDMA as it ages. The suit, one of thousands against the drugmakers, is the first to make it to jury trial. In December 2022, a federal judge in Florida dismissed roughly 50,000 claims because “no scientist outside this litigation” concluded the drug causes cancer.
*** Downstate ***
* BND | ‘We are in bad shape.’ East St. Louis bridge closing raises concerns in community: Residents, businesses and public officials are raising concerns about safety, impeded access to their neighborhoods and other issues due to the April closing of a bridge on 26th Street in East St. Louis. […] “It has my area blocked in and a lot of my elderly people are having problems,” said Kinnis Williams Sr., Democratic precinct committeeman for the area. “ It’s an old neighborhood, and there are a bunch of elderly people living there. They are concerned and I am concerned for them.”
* WMBD | Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to deliver keynote address at Tazewell/Peoria County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner: The groups have announced that Mike Johnson will be the keynote speaker at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner. The event will take place at Four Points by Sheraton in Peoria on June 1st. Tazewell County Republican Chairman Jim Rule tells WMBD’s “Greg and Dan” that Congressman Darin LaHood (R-Dunlap) helped bring the Speaker to central Illinois. “When we gave him the idea that this is who we wanted, he kinda looked at me cross-eyed and said ‘Really?’ And [I] said ‘yeah’.” Rule said. “So, his team and the Johnson team worked closely together, and he was able to get this done.”
* WSIL | Saluki Recruitment Tour heads to Hollywood: After the success of SIU’s takeover of Southern Illinois, Chancellor Austin A. Lane has decided to bring the tour out-of-state to Hollywood. Lane and SIU alumni will visit the hub of filmmaking in the U.S. in continued efforts to recruit more students to the school. “Whether you’re a student, alumni or fan, this is your chance to connect with the Saluki spirit in the heart of the entertainment world,” said the school.
* WCIA | New Architecture Book Features Hidden Gems In Central Illinois: The book is a collaboration between Architect Jeffery Poss and Photographer, Phillip Kalantzis-Cope. […] The book releases on May 15, 2024. The Krannert Art Museum is hosting a Book Launch event that day from 4-6pm in the main level of the East Gallery, where the authors will be present to discuss the book and available for signing.
* Sun-Times | Bears third-round pick Kiran Amegadjie won’t practice this offseason: Kiran Amegadjie, the Bears’ third-round draft pick, won’t practice this offseason as he recovers from a quad injury. The Bears expect him to be healthy in time for training camp in July, coach Matt Eberflus said before Friday’s rookie minicamp practice. The swing tackle played only four games for Yale last year before suffering the injury. The Bears expected they’d have to bring him along slowly when they picked him 75th overall last month.
*** National ***
* Crain’s | Gannett fires Michigan editor who shared staffing concerns: Sarah Leach, an editor who oversaw 15 Michigan dailies and weeklies for Gannett, has been fired for talking to an industry organization about Gannett operations.[…] In an interview with Crain’s, Leach acknowledged she was the unnamed source for that story, and was fired after the Poynter reporter, Rick Edmonds, sought comment from Gannett on why the company was stalling on its announcement to boost staffing.
* NPR Illinois | The FAFSA failure: This is usually an exciting time for students looking ahead to college. But trouble with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid means the dream of higher education could be in jeopardy for some students in need. We take a look at the impact it’s having.
* AP | Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson needs conservatorship because of mental decline, judge rules: At a hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gus T. May approved the petition filed by the 81-year-old Wilson’s family and inner circle after the death in January of his wife, Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, who handled most of his tasks and affairs. “I find from clear and convincing evidence that a conservatorship of the person is necessary,” May said at the brief hearing. The judge said that evidence shows that Wilson consents to the arrangement and lacks the capacity to make health care decisions.
The publisher of a chain of Republican-favoring newspapers derided as “pink slime” has agreed to remove specific street addresses and birthdates for “hundreds of thousands” of Illinois voters after being sued by Democratic Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
Both Raoul’s office and Lake Forest-based Local Government Information Services agreed to an order from a Lake County judge that the sensitive information be removed from the company’s nearly three dozen online platforms by 5 p.m. Monday.
The order signed by Lake County Circuit Judge Daniel L. Jasica also bars the company from publishing that material while Raoul’s newly filed lawsuit wends its way through court. […]
State election law permits political committees to obtain information about voters but stipulates that it “be used only for bona fide political purposes” and not for “commercial solicitation or other business purposes.” Violation of that provision is a felony.
Proft did not respond to a query from WBEZ. LGIS’s president, Brian Timpone, could not be reached for comment.
[On Thursday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson] held a meet-and-greet with lawmakers and labor leaders at the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations, or AFL-CIO, Illinois headquarters. […]
The mayor also joined with labor leaders in advocating for a new Bears stadium in Chicago, which would provide many new jobs.
“The problem that we have is we have a 100-year-old building that is owed hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. And it doesn’t have real public access, public benefit or for public use,” Johnson said.
* The Question: Now that the stadium plan the mayor negotiated with the Chicago Bears has been declared a “non-starter,” do you think the Bears will use that as an excuse to move to Arlington Heights? And, if so, who gets the blame? Explain.
Volkswagen filed a federal lawsuit in December [of 2022] describing a bill that overwhelmingly passed both Illinois legislative chambers and was signed into law in 2021 as “crony capitalism at work: redistributive legislation that takes hundreds of millions of dollars from some (but not all) motor vehicle manufacturers and, for no public purpose, deposits that money directly into the pockets of politically favored Illinois [car] dealers.” The automaker claims the law is costing it an extra $10 million a year.
The bill in question (HB3940) was hotly opposed by automotive manufacturers. The law forces manufacturers to reimburse car dealers at a much higher rate (the auto industry says it’s a 50% higher rate) for warranty repairs. The bill came about after a labor dispute between dealerships and a mechanics union. They apparently decided to let the carmakers pay to resolve their monetary dispute, although the mechanics ended up on strike anyway because the dealers allegedly kept the new windfall initially instead of passing it through.
Just about every state legislator has multiple auto dealers in their districts, and Democrats have been eagerly allying themselves ever closer with organized labor in past years, so the bill hit a sweet spot with both parties and cleared the House 85-24 and then passed the Senate without a single dissenting vote a few weeks later.
The manufacturers say the law is costing the industry $240 million a year. Yes, you read that right. $240 million. Per year. They claim Illinois has the highest warranty repair costs in the nation. By far.
Volkswagen Group of America, the stateside subsidiary of German auto giant Volkswagen, lost its year-and-a-half old lawsuit against the Illinois state government on Monday after a federal judge in Chicago decided it failed to properly state some of its claims and lacked standing to pursue others. […]
Deflating Volkswagen’s equal protection claim, [U.S. District Judge John Tharp Jr.] concluded newer electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla, Lucid and Rivian are not bound by the Motor Vehicle Franchise Act or Multiplier Act amendment in the same way as the older company — in part because the younger businesses don’t make use of a traditional network of franchise dealerships like Volkswagen has for decades. […]
Tharp ruled that Volkswagen lacks standing to bring its First Amendment claims. He found the Multiplier Act doesn’t prohibit the company from raising prices in Illinois to cover its new expenses, nor does the law bar Volkswagen from telling customers that the Multiplier Act is the reason for the increased prices.
After an extensive Illinois State Police (ISP) investigation into a bomb threat at two state facilities in Springfield last month, 23-year-old Gabrielle Williams was taken into custody yesterday, May 9, 2024.
On April 22, 2024, the Illinois Department of Human services received a call from an individual saying a bomb had been installed at a public aid office building and the Illinois State Capitol. This threat was relayed to the ISP Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center, which implemented the State Agency Facility and Employee (SAFE) Threat Protocol. The Secretary of State (SOS) Capitol Police and its Hazardous Device Unit quickly cleared the grounds of the Capitol, while ISP and the Springfield Police Department secured the other state facility until the SOS Hazardous Device Unit could clear that building. The SAFE Threat Protocol also triggered an investigation by ISP special agents. Using cellular information and conducting interviews, ISP special agents were able to identify and locate the suspect.
“ISP took immediate action upon receiving information about this bomb threat and implemented our SAFE Threat Protocol,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “Deploying ISP resources as quickly as possible allows our special agents to track down crucial information, identify suspects, and make arrests. ISP and our law enforcement partners in Springfield take every threat seriously and will track down and arrest those responsible for this criminal conduct.”
The SAFE Threat Protocol has three main objectives:
- capture, assess, and route threat information
- investigate threats towards state employees, offices, and executives
- maintain a comprehensive understanding of the material reported and outcomes
“I want to thank our Secretary of State Police, Illinois State Police, and Springfield Police for collaborating on this investigation and making an arrest,” said Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. “We take the security of the Capitol Complex and the safety of its employees, public officials, and visitors extremely seriously. We will never tolerate threats of violence and will do everything within our power to hold those responsible and accountable for their actions.”
Williams is being held in the Sangamon County Jail pending a pre-trial detention hearing. A Clear and Present Danger report has been submitted to the ISP Office of Firearm Safety. A Clear and Present Danger report is filed when a person poses a threat to themselves or others. When ISP affirms a clear and present danger determination, if a person has a Firearms Owner Identification Card or an application for one, it will be revoked or denied.
ISP thanks the various local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, including the U.S. Marshals Service, who assisted during the investigation and arrest of Williams.
Williams has been cited for Class 4 felony disorderly conduct for making a false bomb threat. If convicted, Williams faces between 1-3 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000. The offense is probationable.
Mugshot…
Willams was arrested last year on a retail theft charge.
Friday, May 10, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The price-setting board proposed in HB4472 is not the solution for Illinois. It would give bureaucrats the power to arbitrarily set medicine prices, deciding what medicines and treatments are “worth” paying for. We can’t leave Illinoisans’ health care up to political whims. Let’s make it easier, not harder for patients to access their medicines. Click here to learn more.
* Some news media outlets are still reporting that Mayor Brandon Johnson lobbied the governor and legislative leaders for a billion dollars in additional school funding. From Tina Sfondeles’ report yesterday…
Democrats were prepared to talk to Johnson about his Monday reference to $1 billion owed to Chicago Public Schools due to years of underfunding under the state’s school funding formula — but the issue wasn’t even broached during a nearly 30-minute meeting with the governor.
* But the CTU is coming to town next week along with CPS, and they will try to talk to legislators about the $1 billion demand. Ben Bradley…
Chicago Public Schools leaders are giving more than 600 teachers and staff members a paid day-off so they can go to Springfield to lobby lawmakers for more money.
A CPS spokesperson confirmed it’s working in conjunction with the Chicago Teachers Union on the legislative push just as the two sides begin contract negotiations. Schools CEO Pedro Martinez and board of education president Jianan Shi will also take part in the lobbying day on May 15. […]
“Chicago Public Schools is committed to standing alongside Chicago Teachers Union and other organizations to advocate for our fair share of funding from the State of Illinois,” a school district spokesperson said in an emailed statement to WGN. “While we are grateful for increased funding in this year’s budget at the state level, we continue to be uniquely disadvantaged by several funding inequities when it comes to pensions, capital projects, and the State’s own Evidence-Based Formula.”
* Mayor Johnson was asked by reporters this week whether Chicago was trying to jump the line ahead of other school districts with this $1 billion demand…
No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying that the state of Illinois has the funding formula that we all follow to ensure that there’s equity. But this is not a zero sum game. There’s more than enough for everyone. This is about equity. And so what the students need in Cairo, in Tamms, Illinois, or Waukegan, or in East St. Louis, or Rockford. Those students need it, Chicago as well. This is an opportunity for us to do right by the people of Illinois. Chicago being obviously the economic engine of the state. This is not about a line. This is not about a line. It’s not about what you get and what you don’t get. This about what we all deserve.
As you have seen by now, CPS leadership has rolled out school budgets across the district, including cuts to schools and staff across the city. These budgets won’t create the schools our students deserve. As CTU members, we have been consistently clear that the state isn’t fully funding its own equity formula, underfunding CPS by more than $1 billion each year. We need Governor Pritzker and our state legislators to fully fund all Illinois schools, including Chicago Public schools.
If we’re going to get what we need, we must push for it. We need you to come to Springfield with us next Wednesday, May 15, to advocate for more school funding.
It will be an exciting and important day.
We’ll talk with your legislators about the need for real investments in our schools. They need to hear directly from you about how the lack of sufficient school funding impacts your students. And, a large presence of red shirts at the capitol will tell the Governor and our Springfield lawmakers that they must support our students and fully fund our schools.
CTU will provide transportation and lunch for the day. We’ll leave from the CTU Center, 1901 W. Carroll Ave. Please arrive by 6:30 a.m. for a departure of no later than 7 a.m. We’ll arrive at the State Capitol around 10:30 a.m. and head back to Chicago around 2 p.m.
CTU members will be eligible for a release day to attend this important effort to advocate for our schools and our students. The time and effort you will spend making this trip to Springfield is an important investment in your work and our students and families’ futures.
We have an opportunity this year to transform our schools like never before. We have presented CPS with transformative contract proposals that would provide every child, in every school, in every neighborhood with a better, fuller school day. More arts programming, bilingual supports, a librarian and a library in every school, and healthy, green schools are among the items we are beginning to negotiate with CPS.
But we won’t be able to truly transform our schools without additional funding for CPS. That’s why your presence in Springfield next week is so critical.
Can we count on you to help us secure the investments we need to create the schools we deserve?
Friday, May 10, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Illinois could become the first state to eliminate prior authorization for mental health care, which would put “patients before profits,” said A.J. Wilhelmi, President and CEO of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA).
IHA and the Illinois hospital community strongly support Gov. JB Pritzker’s legislation to reform predatory health insurance practices and protect patients. The Healthcare Protection Act (HB 5395) would address a top challenge for hospitals in “delivering timely and appropriate healthcare, especially when it comes to critically important mental health services,” Wilhelmi said.
The Governor’s legislation would prohibit prior authorization for inpatient mental health admissions for the first 72 hours. This change would ensure patients receive the specialized mental healthcare they need and deserve.
Wilhelmi noted the “bill that would ensure healthcare professionals are the ones making final decisions when it comes to their patients’ medical care, not insurance bureaucrats,” adding that insurance companies use prior authorization to benefit their bottom line at the expense of the patient.
IHA urges passage of HB 5395 and passage of legislation that addresses the same issues with Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs), which deny coverage requests at twice the rate of Medicare. Support HB 4977 and SB 3372.
A Chicago mother, Suzy Flack has recorded a Mother’s Day video to urge legislators in Illinois to pass medical aid-in-dying legislation as quickly as possible to honor her only son, Andrew ‘Drew’ Flack, who died from cancer.
The video comes as Illinois legislators consider the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (SB 3499) which would allow mentally capable, terminally ill adults with six months or less to live the option to request a prescription for medication that they could decide to take to die peacefully. To see the video, click here.
Andrew was a special education teacher and an avid hockey player who spent his last months of life advocating for medical aid in dying in his home state of Illinois by recording a video for Compassion & Choices and through his blog and podcast. Fortunately, he had moved from Illinois to California before he became ill, so Andrew had the option to use California’s End of Life Option Actto die peacefully. Andrew died on November 16, 2022. He was only 34 years old.
“That option was so comforting to Drew,” Suzy says in the video. “Even m ore than death itself, he feared that his body would just deteriorate to the point where he had no quality of life.”
For two years, Andrew endured numerous rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery after he was diagnosed in 2017 with stage III colorectal cancer. Unfortunately, the painful treatments did nothing to cure the cancer. In December 2020, doctors told Andrew his cancer was terminal.
“When Drew found out [he] was terminal…I asked him, [I] actually pleaded, please come back home.” Suzy says in the video. “It was a hardcore ‘no,’ because Illinois did not offer the option of medical aid and dying.“
This majority spans the demographic, political, racial, and religious spectrums, including 87% of Democratic voters, 86% of Latino voters, 73% of voters living with disabilities, 69% of Independent, African American/Black, White, and Catholic voters, 58% of non-Catholic Christians and 50% of Republican voters. In contrast, fewer than one in five Illinois voters (17%) oppose medical aid in dying.
“The way he died and the peacefulness of it,” she said. “That is something I will be carrying around forever.”
Suzy recalled that evening of November 16, 2022, when Drew took the medication, surrounded by his loved ones, including Jaxson, his roommate’s dog. She said a nurse mixed the medication and gave Andrew a spoon with raspberry sorbet.
“Within two minutes, he was snoring, and my ex-husband looked over at me…we both smiled, because Drew had not had a good night’s sleep for many years,” she said. “…The snoring was just music to our ears. Drew’s final words before he fell asleep were, ‘I’m happy.’”
Illinois lawmakers hope to recruit more people to the early childhood education workforce by creating a scholarship program.
The Illinois Student Assistance Commission would work with the Board of Higher Education and Illinois Community College Board to design the program and solicit feedback from an advisory committee. […]
Advocates noted that the scholarship program would be subject to state appropriations.
House Bill 5024 passed unanimously out of the House Child Care Accessibility and Early Childhood Education Committee Thursday. The proposal now heads to the House floor for further consideration.
A bill in the Illinois legislature would health insurance companies cover continuous glucose monitors (CGM) for all diabetics.
Sponsored by state Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Lake Forest, the bill is currently in the state House of Representatives after the state Senate passed it unanimously on April 10. It is a follow-up to legislation requiring insurers cover CGMs for people who have type 1 and 2 diabetes. Under the bill, all types of diabetes, including gestational diabetes, would be covered beginning Jan. 1 2026.
“As family physicians, we strongly support improved access to care for our patients. For diabetic patients, using CGMs has been shown to improve blood-glucose control even in the absence of other interventions,” said Illinois Academy of Family Physicians President Dr. Emma Daisy.
The bill would also require insurance companies cover CGMs prescribed all doctors and nurse practitioners not only endocrinologists.
Cancer patients in Illinois may soon be guaranteed insurance coverage for their wigs.
The Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Thursday requiring insurers cover wigs and scalp prostheses for people who lose their hair due to radiation or chemotherapy or due to a hair-loss condition like alopecia. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, insurers will be required to cover at least one wig or scalp prosthesis every 12 months.
“It will give women empowerment to feel better about themselves knowing they can get a hairpiece and wigs are expensive,” said state Rep. Yolanda Morris, D-Chicago, the bill’s House sponsor.
The bill now heads to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk. The state Senate passed the bill unanimously April 12.
* Sen. Paul Faraci…
State Senator Paul Faraci advanced legislation to extend the Energy Assistance Act, which provides low-income households with financial assistance on utility bills. […]
Faraci’s measure would eliminate the scheduled sunset date on a state fund that finances two needs-based assistance programs – the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP). The fund was set to shut down Jan. 1, 2025.
LIHEAP and PIPP offer bill payment assistance to low-income residential utility customers by helping eligible households pay for home energy services. Both assistance programs are administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity. […]
House Bill 4471 passed the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee on Thursday and advances to the full Senate for consideration.
About 130 state residents journeyed to the Illinois State House May 8 to lobby legislators for an easier name-change process, a grant-making program helping schools with sex education and other measures aimed at supporting the LGBTQ+ community. […]
Among Equality Illinois’s agenda items is Senate Bill 2930, which requires nonprofits that report grants of $1 million or more to other charitable organizations to disclose diversity information about their boards on their websites. […]
Equality Illinois is also pushing two house bills aimed at making it easier for transgender people to update personal documents to better reflect their gender identities, Ziri said.
House Bill 5164 modernizes the state’s name-change process by allowing name-change records to be impounded and removing the requirement that people publish their name change in a newspaper.
The other measure, House Bill 5507, allows Illinois residents to request documentation from a state judge that they could use to update birth certificates held by another state or country.
Both bills have already passed the Illinois House of Representatives.
* ICYMI: Measure to create new state agency for childhood services now on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk. Tribune…
- The new agency would be an umbrella for early intervention for children with disabilities and developmental delays from the Department of Human Services; preschool programs overseen by the Illinois State Board of Education; and day care licensing responsibilities handled by DCFS.
- The Senate passed the bill in a 56-0 vote.
- The bill is part of Pritzker’s suite of initiatives aimed at enhancing early childhood services in Illinois. The governor has also pushed for greater preschool funding.
* Sun-Times | Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline deluged with calls, hindered by lack of shelter beds: According to the report, the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline saw a 90% increase in calls, texts and messages in 2023, compared to pre-pandemic levels. […] The network, which operates the state’s hotline, reported 47,349 contacts made in 2023 — up 27% from 2022 and 90% from 2019. The National Domestic Violence Hotline has not yet released its data for 2023, but it too reported a “historic high” in 2022, with more than 2,000 calls, chats, and texts received per day.
* WBEZ | Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul sues company for publishing voters’ personal data: A publishing company whose politically slanted newspapers have been derided as “pink slime” is being sued by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul for illegally identifying birthdates and home addresses of “hundreds of thousands” of voters. Raoul’s legal move against Local Government Information Services accuses the company of publishing sensitive personal data that could subject voters across Illinois to identity theft.
* WGN | CPS to let teachers skip school to lobby lawmakers for more money: hicago Public Schools leaders are giving more than 600 teachers and staff members a paid day-off so they can go to Springfield to lobby lawmakers for more money. A CPS spokesperson confirmed it’s working in conjunction with the Chicago Teachers Union on the legislative push just as the two sides begin contract negotiations. Schools CEO Pedro Martinez and board of education president Jianan Shi will also take part in the lobbying day on May 15.
* WICS | Educators react to legislation aiming to address the teacher shortage: Quincy Public Schools superintendent Todd Pettit said this bill would help those who may have test anxiety because it is a difficult exam to pass. However, he’s unsure if it would help with the shortage in the long run. “Will that assist us with, you know, teacher recruitment and retention? Of course, more people that are in the pool of applicants, that [would] certainly assist us in filling those open positions. But I think that would remain to be seen,” Pettit said.
*** Chicago ***
* South Side Weekly | Many School Districts Have Reformed or Removed Police Since 2020: Starting fall of 2024, there will no longer be any police working as school resource officers (SROs) in CPS. The new policy, passed by the Board of Education in February, is aligned with a significant number of other school districts. According to a report from the advocacy nonprofit Chicago Justice Project, 10 percent of the nation’s largest school districts have reduced the number of police in schools since 2020, and another 27 percent have removed police completely.
* Sun-Times | The ups and downs of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s roller coaster first year: In an interview with the Sun-Times and WBEZ, Johnson reflected on his “remarkable journey” to the mayor’s office and the very “different trajectory” he followed to get there. He’s proud of fulfilling so many items on his progressive to-do list and described a year of accomplishments tempered by impatience. “There are frustrating moments that I do have where you … just wish you could address everything at the same time,” Johnson said. “That’s just unfortunately not where we are — just because the damage has been so severe and it has been so widespread,” especially in “historically marginalized” communities.
* Sun-Times | Crooked Bridgeport bank was ‘a rat’s nest,’ judge says, sentences ex-board member to year and a day in prison: George Kozdemba, a retired manager for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, spent 20 years on the board of Washington Federal Bank for Savings until regulators shut it down in December 2017 because it was being looted by its president, CEO and board chairman, John Gembara. He was found dead days before the bank closed. “I can’t minimize the significance of the criminal activity that caused that bank collapse,” U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall told Kozdemba as she ordered him to spend a year and a day in prison and pay a $25,000 fine.
* Sun-Times | Pedal mettle? Bicycling in Chicago doubled in 5 years, but bikers still worry about safety: Biking is up 119% between the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2023, the study showed. That’s the largest jump in any of the country’s 10 largest cities. […] “Imagine how many more people would be biking if it was safer,” said Christina Whitehouse, founder of the bicycle safety advocacy group Bike Lane Uprising.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Sun-Times | Secret Service building secret Democratic convention communications center in southern suburb: Why so far from the main convention locations of the Loop, where the delegates are booked in eight hotels; the McCormick Place complex, the site of daytime meetings and press briefings; and the United Center, where President Joe Biden will be nominated for a second term? It’s called, in law enforcement lingo, “being off the X.” “The X is the event,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Chicago Sun-Times about the location. “You want to be far enough away from the event so that if something were to occur it doesn’t affect your ability to command and control your response.”
* My Stateline | Northern lights possible across northern Illinois this weekend: These blasts of electrically charged particles help make the northern lights visible from the poles to as far south as the mid-latitudes. A few of these CMEs in particular were ejected into space hours after the other, hence why the Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G4 geomagnetic storm watch for tonight and Saturday morning. […] Again, with each opportunity to view the northern lights comes a few uncertainties. The first of course being the timing in which the solar storm impacts the the Earth’s atmosphere.
*** Downstate ***
* SJ-R | Springfield urgent care clinic transitioning to SIU Medicine. Here’s what to know: The care previously provided at Memorial Care on North Dirksen Parkway will move to a federally qualified health center administered by SIU Medicine at 3220 Atlanta Street on the north side. The change will impact urgent care employees at the North Dirksen clinic, who have been offered the option to transfer employment to SIU Medicine or move to another Memorial Care location.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
“Eliminating the tip credit in Illinois would not only harm our hospitality industry and hardworking tipped employees but also inflict a negative trickle effect on businesses across various sectors. This legislation threatens to increase operational costs for businesses, leading to potential job losses and decreased consumer spending,” echoed Peter Tokar III, President & CEO of the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce. “It is imperative that policymakers consider the broader economic impact and work collaboratively with stakeholders to find effective solutions that support both businesses and consumers alike.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s latest appointment to the Regional Transportation Authority board is another politically connected pastor who until today was unaware of the $730 million fiscal cliff facing the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace.
All but two members of the City Council’s Transportation Committee approved the confirmation of the Rev. Ira Acree to the RTA board today. Acree’s appointment will go to the full City Council on May 22.
The mayor can appoint five members to the RTA’s 16-member board. While the Chicago Transit Authority generates revenue from the farebox, the RTA provides the CTA with supplemental funding for operating expenses. The RTA is also tasked with overseeing the budgets for the CTA, Metra and Pace.
Johnson’s pick for the RTA board comes after the mayor recently appointed Garfield Park Pastor Michael Eaddy to the CTA’s board, a move that reflected a Chicago tradition of choosing board members who boast more political connections than transit experience.
Acree told Vasquez he drove to City Hall to appear at his confirmation hearing to sit on the board overseeing the CTA, Pace and Metra — although he added that he relied on the CTA as a teen and now uses it to get to the Loop to avoid paying for parking.
“I don’t have to use CTA,” Acree said. “I’m fortunate to have a car. But I use CTA often when I come downtown, because even though I am a working pastor, these parking tickets are super high.”
Acree, who endorsed Johnson during the 2023 election after backing former Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2019, said, if confirmed, he would use his seat on the RTA board as an extension of his work as a civil rights leader.
“Instead of holding protests, I’ll be on the inside and be very instrumental in making changes,” Acree said, adding that his “diverse voice” and “unique skill set” will be an asset to the board.
[Ald. Scott Waguespack] then asked Acree how he would address the $730 million budget shortfall facing the RTA, a well-publicized crisis facing the agency as federal COVID-19 relief funds start running out.
“Well, No. 1, this is my first time hearing about a $735 million shortfall, so I would not want to respond to that today without doing the research,” Acree said.
After the hearing, Acree told reporters he misspoke when he said he was not aware of the massive financial cliff facing the RTA. “Misstep, a lot of pressure,” he said. “I know about it.”
When Acree was asked what he would do about the critical issue, an aide promptly ushered him away. “Let me have time to think about it and I can respond later,” he said as he walked away.
Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) and Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) were the only two aldermen on City Council’s transportation committee to “nay” Acree’s appointment in a voice vote. […]
“The preparation was clearly not there, and to hear him say the mayor didn’t even call him, there was no conversation about any of this, is striking when you hear how really frustrated everybody in the city is about the public transportation system,” Vasquez said following the hearing.
Waguespack appeared to stump Acree when asking him if he supported farebox integration for CTA, Pace and Metra as state lawmakers consider a consolidation of the transit agencies.
Acree added it would be “unfair to pass judgment” on Carter until he joined the board and received more information. Waguespack disagreed.
“I think it’s very important to know, before you go into this position, what some of your judgements are going to be of leadership,” Waguespack said. “We churn out transit experts from our universities here in Chicago…yet we’re lacking in that leadership both at the CTA and the RTA.”
Statehouse reporters asked Mayor Brandon Johnson yesterday about Acree’s experience…
Q: Your pick to head RTA and Reverend Acree today, in his confirmation hearing said that this was the first he was hearing of that structural deficit of over $700 million. When you were selecting him, what kind of experience in transit did you look for? And do you think that he’s gonna pick more of that up as he works the job?
Mayor Johnson: Well it’s lived experience. Look, the systems have been designed to focus primarily on those who have more of a sort of ‘corporate response’ to the world. My approach is to ensure that everyday people who rely on these systems are at the table to help make decisions around how we build a system that works for everyone.
Q: And does that kind of comment, instill confidence in state lawmakers, as you’re down, you’re asking for more money for the city for RTA for all sorts of things?
Johnson: Well, again, people who are closest to the problem can tell you that right now, we don’t have a reliable, affordable system that speaks to the needs that people have.
We have working people who are trying to get to and from their spaces, the type of congestion that we are experiencing in the city of Chicago is one that has to be addressed.
And again, I’m putting forth people that have real lived experiences, to the challenges that we are experienced in these particular communities. And I have absolute confidence that his lived experience will help us keep a real voice to those families.
Thoughts?
* Nick Blumberg at WTTW covered the CTA board of directors meeting yesterday…
The Chicago region would face devastating consequences for residents without its public transportation system, including a huge spike in pollution, a major drop in economic activity and millions of canceled activities, according to a new study.
The report was conducted by MIT and Argonne National Laboratory researchers and presented at a Chicago Transit Authority board of directors meeting on Wednesday. CTA President Dorval Carter said the agency will use the report as “a major foundational point for our overall advocacy of the transit system,” an effort to get Springfield lawmakers to address the fiscal cliff facing transit when billions in federal COVID-19 relief funding runs dry.
But Carter didn’t address another huge measure introduced in the General Assembly last week that would see CTA, Metra and Pace merged into a single transit agency replacing the current Regional Transportation Authority. […]
While board chair Lester Barclay and one public commenter briefly mentioned the proposed governance reforms, Carter kept mum on the issue and focused his comments on funding and the MIT/Argonne report.
From service to staffing, and from reliability to ridership, the Chicago Transit Authority is falling short of post-pandemic public transportation recoveries in comparable cities, according to an analysis of data by WGN News.
Comparing ridership numbers from 2019 to 2023, the CTA’s “ridership recovery” lags behind systems in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Boston, and slightly edges past New York’s MTA, a system, with more than six times the CTA’s daily ridership.
The CTA, the nation’s second largest public transportation system, has cut service on rail lines by 22 percent, and service on city busses by 7 percent, according to publicly available data analyzed by Commuters Take Action, a public transportation advocacy group. […]
In January the CTA held a job fair to attract new bus and rail operators – trying to fix what the labor shortage. According to the latest available data, the system has lost at least 200 bus operators and 150 rail operators since before the pandemic. […]
The problems, though, persist for customers. Those concerns ultimately land on the desk of CTA President Dorval Carter. Despite several requests from WGN News, the CTA did not make carter available for an interview.
* Related…
* Block Club | ‘Out Of Control’ Pigeon Poop Problem At Belmont Red Line Station Finally Cleaned Up, Ald. Says: After pleading with CTA President Dorval Carter and his staff to address the deplorable conditions of the Belmont stop, Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) was happy to announce the station has been deep cleaned and the pigeon poop removed. […] About a month ago, Lawson wrote a letter to Carter’s office asking the CTA president to visit the Belmont stop — the busiest CTA station north of the Loop — and see for himself how dirty and damaged the station had become.
* Forest Park Review | CTA proposes new billboard, residents adamantly oppose it: The CTA proposed the 120-foot-tall billboard with two, 60-foot-wide LED screens that are always on, though they’re dimmed at night, at the southeast corner of the CTA Blue Line station in Forest Park. The CTA pitched the billboard to advertise goods and services, according to a staff report made last month by Steve Glinke, director of the village’s department of public health and safety. Because the billboard is slated to be on CTA property, Forest Park won’t get any money from the billboard’s advertisements. CTA said it’s still in discussion with the village and will have answers to questions at a later date.
Today, Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC) awarded $1.7 million in grant funding to 40 small and mid-sized manufacturers across the state through the Made in Illinois Grant Program. The Made in Illinois program provides up to $50,000 in matching grant funding to local Illinois manufacturers to support innovation and strategic advancements in manufacturing. IMEC served as grant administrator for this program.
“Manufacturing is on the rise in Illinois and my administration is providing local manufacturers with the resources they need to compete in the future,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Thanks to this grant, 40 diverse recipients across the state will receive the capital they need to advance innovation in their field.”
The program originally allocated $1 million in funding and was increased to $1.7 million due to resounding interest in the program from Illinois’ small and mid-sized manufacturers. The Made in Illinois program underscores the State of Illinois’ commitment to strengthening its manufacturing base which is a vital component of the state’s economy. By providing financial support to local manufacturers, the program encourages innovation and advancement within the industry while contributing to job creation and economic prosperity throughout Illinois communities.
*** Statehouse News ***
* Illinois Times | Future of Logan Correctional Center uncertain: The price tag for doing this would be about $935 million, Alex Gough, a spokesman for Pritzker said. State Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, said this estimate likely understates the cost of building a prison in the Chicago suburbs.
* Triibe | Prison educators and abolitionists have mixed feelings about Pritzker’s proposal to rebuild Stateville and Logan correctional facilities: “I give him [Pritzker] credit for saying these buildings are terrible, and we need to just tear them down. I’m gonna give him credit for that,” Avalon Betts-Gaston said. She’s the executive director of the Illinois Alliance for Reentry & Justice, which aims to create alternatives to incarceration, reduce recidivism, and end mass incarceration. However, Betts-Gaston disagrees with state officials building new multi-million dollar carceral facilities while the root causes of crime and violence still aren’t being addressed.
* Illinois Times | Legislation would support local journalism: The number of journalism jobs at Illinois newspapers has dropped 86% since 2005, but press advocates see signs of hope in proposed college scholarships, state tax credits, scholarships and other subsidies to benefit local news outlets. “I’m cautiously optimistic we will see something,” Sam Fisher, former president of the Illinois Press Association, said as the scheduled May 24 adjournment of the Illinois General Assembly’s spring session approaches.
* Daily Herald | ‘Time for action is now’: Wheaton residents call for pedestrian traffic light on Roosevelt Road: Wheaton residents and educators implored state lawmakers to help save lives and fund a stoplight on a perilous stretch of Roosevelt Road at a Wednesday hearing in Springfield. “The time for action is now,” said resident Debbie Suggs, 77. “Every day of inaction brings us closer to another tragedy.” Community members, including Marian Park apartment dwellers and St. Francis High School leaders, are seeking help to pay for a traffic light at Roosevelt, east of County Farm Road.
*** Statewide ***
* NBC Chicago | Ascension hospitals report ‘disruptions’ to clinic operations following suspected cyber attack: The hospital system announced the disruption Wednesday, saying it had “detected unusual activity on select technology systems.”"At this time we continue to investigate the situation,” the hospital operator’s statement read in part. “We responded immediately, initiated our investigation and activated our remediation efforts.”
* Chalkbeat | Not just oppression: Lessons from one state on how schools can get Asian American history right: The work happening in Illinois offers insight into what can help. It’s common for teachers to feel overwhelmed and think: “I need to teach this, I don’t even fully know this yet,” said Ouk, the visiting inclusive education director at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s College of Education. To address that, teacher trainers say they’re modeling lessons, showing teachers where Asian American voices and experiences naturally fit within existing curriculum, and sharing strategies that are useful for teaching the history of many marginalized groups.
* NPR | Their first baby came with medical debt. These Illinois parents won’t have another: The first-time mother, a high school teacher in rural Illinois, had developed high blood pressure, a sometimes life-threatening condition in pregnancy that prompted doctors to hospitalize her. Then [Heather Crivilare’s] blood pressure spiked, and the baby’s heart rate dropped. “It was terrifying,” Crivilare said. She gave birth to a healthy daughter. What followed, though, was another ordeal: thousands of dollars in medical debt that sent Crivilare and her husband scrambling for nearly a year to keep collectors at bay.
*** Chicago ***
* WTTW | Johnson’s Senior Leadership Team More Diverse Than Previous Mayors’ Cabinets: Analysis: In all, the 34 appointments Johnson made between May 2023 and April 2024 that require confirmation by the Chicago City Council reflect the city’s racial diversity, as measured by the 2020 census, more closely than the appointments made by his two predecessors, former Mayors Lori Lightfoot and Rahm Emanuel. The second Black man elected Chicago mayor, Johnson tapped more Black Chicagoans to serve in positions of authority than Chicagoans of other races, according to WTTW News’ analysis.
* Block Club | Police Rapidly Caught A Cop Killer. Families Of Slain Chicagoans Wonder: What About Us?: The group rallied Tuesday afternoon outside Chicago Police Area 1 Homicide Department, 5101 S. Wentworth Ave., to demand police resolve the investigations into their loved ones’ deaths with the same urgency as they did the fatal shooting of Officer Luis Huesca. A third of all murders recorded in 2023 in Chicago happened within the Area 1 boundaries, Chicago Police Department data shows. “Some of these mothers have been waiting for two years for justice. Officer Huesca’s mother, all she needed was 10 days,” said Baltazar Enriquez, director of Mother and Families United for Justice Committee of Chicago, a committee of the Little Village Community Council.
* Block Club | CHA Residents Rip CEO At Hearing: ‘We Need Something Much Better Than This’: Scott faced withering criticism and calls to resign from residents and even a member of the CHA’s governing board. They said the agency has let its properties deteriorate while failing to build additional homes during a citywide affordable housing crisis. Several resident leaders ripped Scott for rarely visiting CHA properties.“Tracey Scott, you seem to have forgotten that you are a guest here at CHA — you have outstayed your welcome,” said Francine Washington, speaking directly to Scott. Washington, a longtime CHA resident, has served on the CHA board since 2014.
* Chicago | Frustrations rise after 9-year-old girl attacked by unleashed dog in Horner Park: ‘She was traumatized’: The attack has left some residents with mounting frustrations toward unleashed dogs in public. Just a few hundred feet from the attack is a gated, 25,000-square-foot designated dog park. “There’s no reason this should have happened,” Sieracki said. “A kid should be able to go play on the grass and do cartwheels and not have to worry about being attacked by dogs.”
* WBEZ | You don’t have to be famous — or even from Chicago — to get an honorary street sign: Chicago started commemorating people who left their mark on the city through honorary street signs starting in the 1960s. It was an easier way to celebrate notable people without the logistical nightmare of officially changing a street name. The system was formalized in 1984 and has been in place since, with some tweaks over the years to try to slow down overzealous alderpeople. Today, you’ll find the little brown signs in every ward of Chicago, informally paying tribute along one or two designated blocks.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Daily Herald | Republican leaders slating legislative candidates despite new law banning it: Suburban Republican Party leaders are slating candidates for state legislative races that didn’t draw primary contenders despite a new law designed to prevent such aspirants from being considered by voters. The action is being encouraged by the Illinois State Board of Elections, which has said it will accept petitions from such candidates by a previously set June 3 deadline. The board then will consider any challenges to those petitions filed by June 10 — again, as scheduled.
* Daily Herald | Campton Hills trustee resigns amid legal fight with state’s attorney: After barely serving a year, Campton Hills Trustee Timothy Morgan resigned at the end of Tuesday’s village board meeting. He said he was tired of fighting the Kane County state’s attorney’s office to keep his seat. Morgan was elected last year, but a 2002 felony DUI conviction in Michigan dogged his ability to keep his seat.
* Pioneer Press | Arlington Heights School District 25 nurse fired over allegations of mishandling students’ meds: The Arlington Heights School District 25 Board of Education voted to fire the nurse at the center of a case the district has called a misuse of prescription medications, with the board president calling the situation a “breach of trust” that is “distressing and concerning.” The board voted 6-0 at a special meeting Wednesday night to fire registered nurse Tory Eitz, who had been the nurse at Westgate Elementary School for five years. Westgate is one of nine schools in District 25 and enrolls nearly 600 students in grades K to 5.
*** Downstate ***
* Illinois Times | Renovations, repairs ramping up at state fairgrounds: “Spring means construction here on the Illinois State Fairgrounds. And we’re still in the middle of a $58 million economic investment in the fairgrounds to address years of deferred maintenance,” said Rebecca Clark, Illinois State Fair manager. After completing the Coliseum roof overhaul in 2019, the crew now tackles a $16.8 million transformation.
* WCIA | Springfield rolls out new crisis plan for severe weather, other emergencies: City officials said the plan was developed using lessons learned from last year’s derecho, which wreaked havoc on Springfield’s power grid. The crisis highlighted the need for effective communication during such an emergency; since then, officials worked to create a robust crisis communication strategy that ensures timely and accurate information when people need it most.
* SJ-R | Ace Hardware acquires local franchise Bishop Ace across central Illinois: On May 9, a division of the Ace Hardware corporation announced the agreement to acquire Bishop Ace Hardware, a local 13-store chain in central Illinois which partnered with Ace in 1960. Bishop Ace owns and operates the Ace Hardware store in Chatham on North Main Street and two Springfield Ace Hardwares on North Walnut Street and Wabash Avenue. The buyout will be completed on July 28 of this year with the transition.
* WCIA | 12 construction projects underway, starting soon in Macon Co.: 12 major construction projects are either underway or scheduled to begin in Macon County over the coming months, IDOT announced. Officials said the upcoming construction season is expected to be one of the busiest ever. The 12 projects, all under the scope of the Rebuild Illinois capital plan, will represent a state investment of nearly $195 million to improve safety and mobility.
*** National ***
* Yahoo | Healthcare: Latinos still ‘experience particularly high uninsured rates,’ new data shows: Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made significant strides in healthcare coverage since it became enshrined into law in 2010, there are still racial and ethnic groups with high uninsured rates. According to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) exclusively shared with Yahoo Finance, the Latino uninsured rate in the US stands at 18%, twice as high as the US average.
* AP | Guns are being stolen from cars at triple the rate they were 10 years ago, a report finds: The rate of stolen guns from cars climbed nearly every year and spiked during the coronavirus pandemic along with a major surge in weapons purchases in the U.S., according to the report, which analyzes FBI data from 337 cities in 44 states and was provided to The Associated Press. The stolen weapons have, in some cases, turned up at crime scenes. In July 2021, a gun taken from an unlocked car in Riverside, Florida, was used to kill a 27-year-old Coast Guard member as she tried to stop a car burglary in her neighborhood.
* NYT | Cass Elliot’s Death Spawned a Horrible Myth. She Deserves Better.: Elliot was a charismatic performer who exuded infectious joy and a magnificent vocalist with acting chops she did not live to fully explore. July 29 is the 50th anniversary of her untimely death at 32, a tragedy that still spurs unanswerable questions. Might Elliot, who was one of Johnny Carson’s most beloved substitutes, have become the first female late-night talk show host? Would she have achieved EGOT status? […] For years, the origin of the story that Elliot died from choking on a ham sandwich — one of the cruelest and most persistent myths in rock ’n’ roll history — was largely unknown. Then in 2020, Elliot’s friend Sue Cameron, an entertainment journalist, admitted to publicizing it in her Hollywood Reporter obituary at the behest of Elliot’s manager Allan Carr, who did not want his client associated with drug use. (Elliot died of a heart attack, likely brought on by years of substance abuse and crash dieting.)
* Poynter | Gannett fired an editor for talking to me: Sarah Leach, an experienced editor overseeing 26 Gannett community papers in four states, was fired via video conference first thing the morning of Monday, April 29. She was accused, she said, of “sharing proprietary information with (a reporter for) a competing media company.” […] Lyons did not say how the company identified her as a source. As best Leach and I can figure, they must have tapped into her office email. “That’s the only way I can think of that they could have known,” she said.
* I told subscribers to expect this on Tuesday, then told them about the memo yesterday and then again this morning. Here’s Capitol News Illinois…
[One of Gov. JB Pritzker’s] lead lieutenants this week sent a letter to the head of the state’s agencies instructing them to identify $800 million in collective budget cuts if lawmakers don’t deliver on Pritzker’s tax requests.
“As we continue to work with our General Assembly partners to pass our sixth consecutive balanced budget, it has become clear that opposition to proposed revenue is significant enough to direct agencies to prepare for the possibility of reductions to proposed spending,” Deputy Gov. Andy Manar wrote in the letter to agency directors dated May 7.
And finally, as your agency prepares for the impact of $800 million in potential spending reductions, please focus on grant programs and other discretionary spending that has increased in recent years.
* Back to CNI, which quoted Assistant House Majority Leader Jay Hoffman during his appearance on Jak Tichenor’s revived Illinois Lawmakers program about the memo…
“Now – I don’t know that I agree with the deputy governor on having to have all these revenue enhancements in order to have a balanced budget. But we if we have to make some reductions, we’ll make them.”
Should be fun to watch.
The governor proposed about $1 billion in tax and revenue enhancements during his budget address. As noted in the story, a recent report from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget shows next fiscal year’s revenue is expected to increase by $295 million over an earlier projection.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said he came to Springfield on Wednesday to fight for equitable education funding and to make sure Chicago receives its fair share of resources.
But there was more geniality than specificity in private meetings with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and legislative leaders just three weeks before a self-imposed May 24 spring session adjournment date.
Democrats were prepared to talk to Johnson about his Monday reference to $1 billion owed to Chicago Public Schools due to years of underfunding under the state’s school funding formula — but the issue wasn’t even broached during a nearly 30-minute meeting with the governor.
* Some stuff in this Crain’s article didn’t actually happen (see above), but here’s one nugget…
Beyond the huge increase in funding for CPS, the city’s lobbyists circulated a one-pager with lawmakers, obtained by Crain’s, with a targeted list of four demands totaling up to $115 million in funding and policy changes to increase the city’s tax revenue.
The city is also seeking the restoration of $1.26 million to fund a confidential hotline for domestic violence victims. The line-item was included in previous state budgets and funded by a federal program, but was stripped out when the federal money was eliminated.
Asked if he had received any commitments for funding those and other items, Johnson told reporters…
Well, what I’ve received was is a real commitment that we have to address these issues. Now as you go during the budgetary process - this is something that I experience as the executive sitting in Chicago - there are demands that people have, there are resources that we are dealing with, it just making sure that we appropriate as many dollars to these areas that there is real agreement around that we have to address. It’s just a matter of how much. Yeah, it’s just a matter of how much.
Several members of the Chicago City Council Black Caucus also met privately with Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch on Wednesday, in what was dubbed an informal city lobbying day. Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th), the mayor’s hand-picked Education Committee chair, said it marked the first time in five years that members of the caucus had come to Springfield.
“The thing we’ll do next year is we’ll come in January. We come earlier. We get earlier access,” Taylor said. “We can get a lot of those things that we’re looking for.”
Ald. Taylor learned something yesterday. Sfondeles made note of that when she asked the mayor this question yesterday…
Sfondeles: Do you see this as a reset for yourself to be here more often, to be more part of this process, and a little bit earlier in the budgetary year?…
Johnson: Well, look, we’re at the right time. Right. As you all know, you all have been covering Springfield for a very long time. You know when stuff gets done… So we’re down at the right time. You know, as far as building stronger relationships, that’s what I’ve been doing since I’ve been in office over the last year. And what you’re seeing is a concerted effort from the city of Chicago to ensure the people of Chicago that we are fighting every single day to make sure that the City of Chicago, the economic engine for this state, receives its share in terms of equity and justice.
Thursday, May 9, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
A growing chorus of labor unions, government officials, business and industry voices, and the academic community are speaking up about the critical role that carbon capture and storage (CCS) can play in helping Illinois reach its clean energy goals. The Capture Jobs Now Coalition is supporting legislation (SB3311/HB569) to advance CCS projects in our state while prioritizing jobs and economic development in local communities.
Pat Devaney, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, and Mark Denzler, President and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association:
“CCS also presents an incredible opportunity for Illinois’ economy and its highly skilled work force. A recent state-commissioned report by the University of Illinois estimates CCS development has a potential statewide demand of 14,440 jobs. And that’s on top of the thousands more jobs CCS can protect by helping decarbonize important Illinois industries as our state, country and world increasingly embrace a net zero carbon future.” (April 2023)
Thursday, May 9, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Retail provides one out of every five Illinois jobs, generates the second largest amount of tax revenue for the state, and is the largest source of revenue for local governments. But retail is also so much more, with retailers serving as the trusted contributors to life’s moments, big and small.
As state lawmakers hold hearings targeting the role of pharmacy benefit managers – an influential arm in how the health insurance industry prices prescription drugs – multiple state agencies are considering how to better regulate the industry. […]
Attendees at recent committee hearings referenced House Bill 4548, which aims to change Illinois’ insurance law so state government can better regulate PBMs. Proposed changes include having PBMs disclose the net cost of drugs covered by a health benefit plan, and restricting PBMs from ushering patients toward using pharmacies owned by associated companies.
Last year’s audit recommended consistent monitoring of PBMs, including requiring an annual report, which is outlined in HB 4548. The bill also outlines measures requiring PBMs to pay pharmacies a dispensing fee and reimburse them at a rate equal to the national average drug acquisition cost dictated by Medicaid.
The bill remains in a procedural committee in the House, making it unlikely to pass by the General Assembly’s end-of-May adjournment.
Student teachers in Illinois could soon be paid for their work. Sponsors and advocates believe this change would be a great way to recruit and retain future teachers.
A plan moving in the House would require the Illinois Board of Higher Education to distribute a stipend of up to $10,000 per semester for student teachers.
Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora) told the House Higher Education Committee Wednesday that there are currently 5,400 student teachers across the state. Advocates estimate the new stipend program could cost between $54-$60 million. […]
House Bill 4652 passed out of the House Higher Education Committee on a partisan 8-4 vote and now heads to the House floor.
Illinois insurance companies may soon be required to coverall medical necessary colonoscopies.
The state Senate Insurance Committee unanimously passed a bill requiring colonoscopy coverage beginning in 2026. Insurers are currently only required to cover the procedure if it’s part of a follow-up exam recommended by a primary care physician. The bill would require coverage if a patient displays signs or symptoms of colon cancer or has an existing colon condition regardless of age. […]
The bill now heads to the Senate floor. The state House of Representatives passed the bill on April 19 with broad bipartisan support.
Senate Bill 3592, dubbed the Strengthening Community Media Act, passed the Democratic-controlled Senate 43-13, mostly along partisan lines, on April 17, and headed to the House floor after passing a House committee May 1 on an 18-8 vote. […]
The legislation would create state-funded college scholarships for students pledging to work at local news organizations in Illinois for at least two years after graduation and require 120 days prior notice before local newspapers can be sold to out-of-state companies.
Senate Bill 3591, titled the Journalism Preservation Act, would require online platforms such as Google and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to pay fees to newspapers and other media organizations when linking to, displaying or otherwise presenting digital news content. […]
SB 3591 hadn’t received any votes in the House or Senate as of May 7, but still could be considered in the waning days of the session, according to bill sponsor Steve Stadelman, a Democrat from the suburban Rockford community of Loves Park.
* Sen. Natalie Toro…
To reduce the risk of unnecessary violent confrontations between law enforcement and people with autism, State Senator Natalie Toro introduced legislation requiring officers to go through autism-informed responses in their training. […]
While people with autism may be able to manage their communication differences or behavioral challenges with supports at school, work or in their daily lives, they may experience unique challenges when interacting with the police. Without proper training on how some people with autism communicate, law enforcement may interpret their behavior as being noncompliant with questioning or instructions. This has caused interactions between law enforcement and autistic individuals to escalate quickly, resulting in unnecessary use of force, trauma or death.
Law enforcement data suggests people with disabilities are seven times more likely to have encounters with the police, making their understanding of how to best approach interactions with autistic individuals essential. Senate Bill 3201 would require law enforcement to go through training on autism-informed responses, as well as best procedures and techniques when engaging with autistic individuals. The legislation requires all permanent and part-time law enforcement officers and correction officers to complete this training every two years. […]
Senate Bill 3201 passed the Senate Special Committee on Criminal Law and Public Safety on Wednesday. It now goes before the full Senate for further discussion.
Illinois is one step closer to cracking down on the latest style of electronic cigarettes designed to look like highlighters, erasers and other school supplies.
State lawmakers want to ban vaping companies from advertising, marketing or promoting e-cigs that could confuse parents or teachers into thinking the devices are common items. […]
The legislation would be enforced by the Illinois Department of Revenue, Attorney General and local law enforcement.
Senate Bill 2662 passed unanimously out of the House Executive Committee Wednesday. The proposal now moves to the House floor for further consideration.
In an effort to help working parents across Illinois, state Senator Jil Tracy and Representative Randy Frese have teamed up to create a bill that would authorize daycare centers to operate for 24-hours.
Senate bill 3207 would not only allow daycare centers to operate 24/7, but also provide care for up to 12 hours if a parent of the child is employed in a position that requires regularly scheduled shifts.
According to Senator Tracy, the inspiration behind this bill came from the request of a Quincy daycare provider that would like the option to provide a 24-hour service. […]
Senate bill 3207 would direct DCFS to adopt new rules that allow childcare centers to operate 24/7 and help working families across the state.
The bill passed the Senate with support on both sides of the aisle and now heads to the House for a final vote.
* Sen. Julie Morrison…
Private drones flown over public parks, sports games and sensitive wildlife has created the need for regulation. State Senator Julie Morrison introduced a measure to give local governments the authority to adopt reasonable rules for the airspace over their public park property. […]
House Bill 4715 would allow local governments to adopt reasonable rules for use of the airspace over their public park property by private drones. This applies only to publicly owned property that is used for recreational or conservation purposes.
Morrison’s measure also includes an exception for drones used by commercial users with connection to infrastructure such as railroads and utilities.
House Bill 4715 passed the Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday and moves to the full Senate for further consideration.
Every year we see something new in the legislature. Today in Revenue Committee we were surprised with a live performance in support of tax credits for the theater industry in Illinois. pic.twitter.com/fu1TwIEU9d
Thursday, May 9, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In providing care to 3.6 million Medicaid customers, Illinois hospitals have seen the negative impact of managed care organizations’ (MCOs) prior authorization practices. It’s one of the biggest barriers to healthcare for children, people with disabilities, seniors and other adults with Medicaid coverage, who are disproportionately people of color.
Inappropriate denials that lead to delayed care can worsen an individual’s health and lead to poor outcomes. Prior authorization can also exacerbate health disparities and “create barriers to care for medically underserved patients, patients of color, LGBTQ+ patients, patients in rural areas, and those at risk for poor health outcomes,” according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
What’s more, MCOs deny coverage requests for needed procedures or medical tests at twice the rate of Medicare, according to a 2023 U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services study. The Illinois Health and Hospital Association urges lawmakers to pass legislation that addresses harmful prior authorization practices and eliminates barriers to healthcare for Illinois’ most vulnerable populations.
Medical decisions should be in the hands of patients and medical professionals, not insurance companies that reduce costs and increase profits by denying care that doctors recommend. Support IHA’s MCO prior authorization reforms.
* ICYMI: Mayor Brandon Johnson talks school funding, Bears stadium and ‘less high-profile budget needs’ during Springfield visit. Tribune.…
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson met with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state lawmakers on Wednesday to make his pitch for more state funding for critical city operations such as the public schools, and to discuss the Chicago Bears’ $3.2 billion domed stadium proposal. […]
Johnson’s budget requests at the Illinois State Capitol came on the same day a state Senate committee approved legislation opposed by the mayor’s key ally, the Chicago Teachers Union, that would extend a school closure moratorium for all of the city’s public schools by two years. The CTU has labeled the measure, initially drawn up to protect selective-enrollment schools, as “racist,” as the union presses to invest more money in neighborhood schools.[…]
Johnson previously has said his Springfield wish list includes $1 billion in state funding that’s “owed” to the “families of Chicago.” That money would include greater state aid under the evidence-based funding formula and additional teacher pension funds. […]
Pritzker also has indicated that belt-tightening is needed to secure his $52.7 billion budget proposal, which is now negotiated by state lawmakers ahead of a scheduled May 24 adjournment.
There was no full accounting of specifics disclosed by city or state officials on what the progressive mayor discussed at Wednesday’s meetings. But a meeting with progressive Democratic lawmakers involved some “less high-profile budget needs,” such as lead service pipe replacement, according to state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago Democrat.
* SJ-R | Lawmakers, organizations express frustration over continued licensing delays in Illinois: Under legislation signed into by Gov. JB Pritzker in December, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation had 90 days, or until March 7 to enter into contract with a technology vendor to build a new computer software system. Now two months after the deadline, lawmakers pressed IDPFR officials during a subject matter hearing in Springfield on Wednesday. “I mean, the reality is, Mr. Secretary (Mario Treto Jr.), this is a self-imposed deadline,” state Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, said during the House Health Care Licenses Committee hearing. “And you told us 90 days and then you said another 90 days, it would be implemented… it is very disappointing that this didn’t happen.”
* Sun-Times | Hemp sellers push back on delta-8 ban as lawmakers tackle unregulated cannabinoid market: [Rep. La Shawn Ford’s] bill would limit sales to people 21 or older, prohibit name-brand lookalike packaging and require manufacturers to undergo product testing to obtain $500 licenses. Products would be taxed 10% at wholesale and 10% retail. […] That stands in opposition to a bill introduced last month by state Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Hillside, that would halt sales of mind-altering, hemp-derived products pending a lengthy evaluation to set consumer safety standards.
* WTTW | New DCFS Director Shares Vision for Troubled Agency: ‘It Requires Collaboration’: Heidi Mueller is taking on the big task of leading the beleaguered Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). […] The director said core priorities for her are ensuring kids have the best placement and increasing the number of placements available. She attributes these historic problems, in part, to a lack of government investment in DCFS. Pritzker’s 2025 budget proposal invests $100 million into the agency.
* Capitol News Illinois | State officials offer last goodbye to former Thompson Center as renovations begin: “It already looks better than when we owned it,” Gov. JB Pritzker quipped on Monday. The Thompson Center, built in 1985, gained a reputation for being difficult to maintain. At the time of its sale, the governor’s office said the state spent $17 million annually on the building due to “operational inefficiencies” and that bringing it up to standard would have cost more than $325 million.
* WTTW | Key City Panel Advances Johnson’s Pick to Serve on RTA Board After Tense Hearing: Acree repeatedly struggled to articulate exactly what changes he would make if confirmed to the RTA board to serve a five-year term, declining to answer questions about Johnson’s specific transit agenda and how he would implement it as a member of the 16-person board charged with financial oversight. Board members earn $25,000 annually and meet once per month.
* Block Club | Pastor’s Appointment To Transit Board Advances Despite Saying He Rarely Rides CTA: “As a man, I don’t have to use CTA. I’m fortunate to have a car. But I use the CTA often when I come Downtown,” Acree said. “I came up on the CTA. I know the glory days. I looked at my own leadership skills, my ability to collaborate with diverse stakeholders…and I thought this would be a great opportunity to come here and share my wisdom and the networks I represent.
* Sun-Times | City Hall thrown under the bus: Report rips ‘do nothing’ effort to save Greyhound terminal: The city of Chicago has adopted a “do nothing approach” and offered no substantial plan to either purchase the station or propose an alternate site before Greyhound’s lease ends in October, according to the report by DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development. The report builds on the Institute’s brief from last year, when it established the need to save the station that serves a half-million riders yearly, many of whom are low-income or disabled. The terminal at 630 W. Harrison St. was put up for sale last year by a company that wants to sell it to a residential high-rise developer.
* Sun-Times | City to pay $1.75M to family of woman found hanged at South Side police station:
The $1.75 million settlement, on the agenda for Monday’s meeting of the City Council’s Finance Committee, will resolve a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the sister of Chavez. That lawsuit claimed the 10 officers involved in the arrest denied Chavez basic medical care after she repeatedly asserted she was a veteran dealing with PTSD, and an officer escalated the tension after aggressively shouting at Chavez.
* Sun-Times | Uniting Voices Chicago receives largest-ever gift, from anonymous donor: “We are thrilled that we were given this anonymous gift and someone recognizing us from New York City … that they are recognizing the work that we’re doing,” said the organization’s president, Josephine Lee. Among other things, the gift will “at least double” the available scholarships for domestic and international tours, a spokesman for the organization said. It will also help pay for the continuing education of the organization’s music teachers.
* WBEZ | Musician Steve Albini — ‘provocateur, troublemaker, firestarter’ — had an outsized influence on Chicago’s sound: Albini’s influence as a recording engineer and punk sage spanned genres and all levels of the recording industry. He worked on more than 2,000 albums in his lifetime. Many of those were among the most important bands of his generation, from America’s punk underground — with bands such as Slint, Silkworm, Jawbreaker, Pegboy, Tar and the Jesus Lizard — to mainstream stars like Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Cheap Trick, Bush and the Pixies.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Daily Southtown | Calumet City mayor promises to pay back disputed credit card charges after aldermen flag spending: Thousands of dollars in charges made on Calumet City’s municipal credit card that aldermen say could not be fully explained by Mayor Thaddeus Jones led aldermen Tuesday to recommend policy changes, including taking away Jones’ access to the card. A city spokesman said Wednesday Jones will repay the city for some of the expenses. Aldermen in April asked Jones to provide more information about a series of charges that showed up on an itemized bill listing totaling more than $13,000, including hotel stays in New Orleans, Uber rides and meals the aldermen did not remember being for city business.
* Lake County News-Sun | Lake County GOP chair angered by new ballot-access law; ‘We will challenge it in court’: Lake County Republican Central Committee Chair Keith Brin is angry about a new law eliminating the ability of political parties to nominate candidates for offices where no nominee was selected in the primary election. He is planning a challenge. “You only change the rules when you think your party is going to lose,” Brin said. “That’s exactly what the Democrats have done. It’s offensive. It’s terrible.”
* ESPN | Three more former Northwestern players file hazing lawsuits: Former linebacker Nathan Fox, who played for Northwestern from 2015 to 2019, and two men identified as John Doe filed the lawsuits in Cook County circuit court this week. Both Fox and the whistleblower, identified as John Doe 22, spoke with attorney Maggie Hickey, whom Northwestern hired to investigate John Doe 22’s allegations after they were first brought forward in late 2022. Hickey’s investigation found that the player’s hazing allegations could largely be corroborated but that there was no evidence Fitzgerald and other coaches and staff members had knowledge of the incidents. After Hickey’s investigation concluded, Northwestern suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay. The whistleblower then went public with his allegations in the Daily Northwestern campus newspaper, and Northwestern president Michael Schill fired Fitzgerald two days later.
* Crain’s | DuPage Water Commission pays $80 million for shuttered Northbrook golf club: After rejecting a plan to turn the shuttered Green Acres Country Club into a residential subdivision and watching a senior living development proposal fall apart last year, the village of Northbrook is now facing the prospect of a massive water treatment facility being built on what its leaders have dubbed the “emerald” of the north suburban community.
* Daily Herald | Food scrap collection services growing, but not in all suburbs: Like Oak Park, several suburbs have gone one step further than ride-along services, offering a subscription composting program that allows residents to compost year-round. But while Oak Park’s compost service is with its regular trash and recycling hauler, some towns partner with local composting haulers. For instance, Hoffman Estates offers subscription through Evanston-based Collective Resource Compost Cooperative and Morton Grove through Chicago-based WasteNot.
* Daily Herald | Lisle police chief out following employee complaint: On Monday, village trustees approved the agreement that allows Kevin Licko to use unused sick and vacation time and stay on as a sergeant until he retires on Oct. 1. […] Licko was placed on leave in February following an employee complaint against him. Mayor Christoper Pecak and Village Manager Eric Ertmoed declined to comment on the complaint or the investigation that followed.
* WICS | HSHS Medical Group, St. John’s Hospital set to leave Aetna network by July 1: Effective on July 1, HSHS Medical Group and St. John’s Hospital in Springfield will no longer be in the Aetna network. Officials say negotiations between the two parties are ongoing but as of right now on July 1, HSHS Medical Group and St. John’s Hospital will no longer be in the Aetna network.
*** National ***
* AP | Net neutrality restored as Federal Communications Commission votes to regulate internet providers: Net neutrality effectively requires providers of internet service to treat all traffic equally, eliminating any incentive they might face to favor business partners or to hobble competitors. The public interest group Public Knowledge describes net neutrality as “the principle that the company that connects you to the internet does not get to control what you do on the internet.”
* WaPo | Fish are shrinking around the world. Here’s why scientists are worried: Overfishing and human-caused climate change are decreasing the size of adult fish, threatening the food supply of more than 3 billion people who rely on seafood as a significant source of protein. […] “This is a pretty fundamental question,” said Lisa Komoroske, a conservation biologist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “But we still don’t understand why.”
* Reuters | Exclusive-In Tesla Autopilot probe, US prosecutors focus on securities, wire fraud: Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems assist with steering, braking and lane changes - but are not fully autonomous. While Tesla has warned drivers to stay ready to take over driving, the Justice Department is examining other statements by Tesla and Chief Executive Elon Musk suggesting its cars can drive themselves.
