It’s just a bill
Friday, Apr 19, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Interesting that one of the proponents of the regulatory bill is a lobbyist for the developer…
Futuristic technology could give Illinoisans their own personal robots that follow wherever they go, and carry supplies like groceries.
In anticipation of a summer rollout of this technology, the Illinois General Assembly is moving a bill to regulate it. […]
His bill is primarily in response to a particular product, the personal robot gita, in development at Massachusetts-based Piaggio Fast Forward, an affiliate of the Italian company that makes Vespa scooters. […]
Aaron Winters, an Illinois lobbyist who represents Piaggio, said it’s expected to be available by this summer, which is “why it is important for the legislation to pass.”
But the product’s potential raises concerns about pedestrian safety and home rule powers, among other things.
* I didn’t realize this…
An Illinois toddler died nine years ago after suffering third degree burns from bathwater. The Illinois House last week approved legislation to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
The measure would require all new water heaters be equipped with a safety valve.
It was introduced in honor of Mikayla King. Her mother, Jennifer King, recounted the event to lawmakers last month. […]
During the trial, King said, experts testified that 2,000 people suffer severe scald injuries each year, despite the fact that safety technology has been available for more than 30 years.
But the safety feature was only offered on their high-end water heater models.
Ugh.
* I didn’t realize this number was so high…
During a routine 2008 traffic stop in Chicago, LaSheria’s life was permanently changed. After being stopped, she learned that her driver’s license was suspended for parking tickets received in 1999, and that the debt had grown to more than $2,500. After struggling for weeks to support her family without transportation to and from work, she filed bankruptcy, hoping to get her license back. But the bankruptcy plan did not clear her debt, which ballooned to nearly $8,000. Today, LaSheria is still making monthly payments to the City of Chicago because of parking violations made nearly 20 years ago.
Sadly, this is not an isolated case. There is a hidden crisis in Illinois: Each year, nearly 50,000 licenses are suspended because drivers cannot pay tickets, fines or fees, and for other reasons that have nothing to do with driving. These suspensions are not aimed at making our roads safer. Instead, they force people to choose between unemployment and the risk of going to jail for driving on a suspended license.
Eighty percent of Illinoisans drive to work, and many employers require a driver’s license. When a person’s license is suspended, they are at risk of losing their job — one study of drivers in New Jersey showed that happened more than 40 percent of the time. License suspensions also punish families, because people need to drive to get their kids to school, buy food and access health care. When a person must choose between meeting their family’s needs and paying a fine to the government, they prioritize their family. […]
This year, Illinois legislators have a chance to rectify this injustice. The License to Work Act, sponsored by state Rep. Carol Ammons of Urbana and state Sen. Omar Aquino of Chicago, would eliminate driver’s license suspensions as a penalty for unpaid tickets and most other non-moving violations. It is crucial that our representatives in Springfield pass this legislation as soon as possible.
* Other bills…
* Proposed law would require Illinois children to start school by age 5, threatening kindergarten redshirting: “This needs to be a parental choice, and the state should not be mandating it,” said Alexandra Eidenberg, founder of the Chicago women’s and children’s rights lobbying organization We Will, and the mother of four children, including 5-year-old twins who attend Romona Elementary School in Wilmette. Eidenberg said members of her group are “extremely” opposed to the bill, which, if passed, would go into effect in the 2020-2021 school year.
* Chicago Public Schools Withholding Millions From Charter Schools In Spending Standoff: At Wednesday’s Chicago Board of Education meeting, members will be asked to approve a resolution that will set out how the school district wants to fund its charter schools. CPS Chief Operating Officer Arnie Rivera said once charter schools agree to have state law changed to align with the resolution, “we will cut the rest of their check.”
* Is Illinois’ Gas Tax Running On Empty?: If Illinois had had a variable rate in place over the last ten years, the per-gallon charge would have increased by 8 cents without any action by the legislature. That’s according to Carl Davis, research director at ITEP.
* Lawmakers Approve Jet Fuel Tax Crackdown: After years of noncompliance, Illinois lawmakers are moving forward with legislation that would require local taxes on jet fuel go to aviation-related projects, not into local coffers.
* Wage-theft bill sparks debate about repeat offenders: The floor debate over House Bill 1653, which passed the chamber by a party-line vote of 69-43 earlier this month, put on display what it means for a party to be in a superminority, conservative lawmakers said.
* Car Sharing Lobbyists Battle Car Renting Lobbyists, Driving State Lawmakers Crazy
* Families Of Children With PANDAS Disorder Still Struggling To Get Insurance Coverage
* 90% of U.S. school boards are picked by voters, but not in Chicago. Here’s why that could change.
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Question of the day
Friday, Apr 19, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The 6th CD is represented by freshman Democrat Sean Casten…
* The Question: Her chances? Don’t forget to explain your answer, please.
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* The Dispatch-Argus takes a deep dive into Western Illinois University enrollment, which has declined 35 percent over the past decade…
Ten years ago, WIU had just 515 Hispanic and 887 black undergraduates. In the current academic year, WIU has about 850 Hispanic undergrads and 1,400 black undergrads — an increase of more than 60% for each group. […]
But the diversification of campus has accompanied white flight. While black and Hispanic enrollment has climbed, white enrollment has done the opposite, falling about 50% since fall 2008. […]
A review of data from the 62 Illinois counties deemed “rural” by the federal government shows that rural enrollment at WIU has fallen by 48% over the last decade.
But the rate of rural decline is surpassed by the rate of suburban decline. A large part of WIU’s decrease comes from the five “collar counties” surrounding Chicago, including Kane County west of Chicago (down 51%), north suburban Lake County (down 59%), and Chicago’s western neighbor DuPage County (down 63%).
In 2008, the collar counties sent 2,725 students to WIU. In 2018, that number had dropped to 1,190.
While rural areas experienced a 15 percent decline in high school graduates between 2006 and 2016, the suburbs saw a 7 percent increase.
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* Illinois News Network…
An Illinois-based public health organization is seeking public funds to battle against anti-vaccination rhetoric that it says has fueled a measles outbreak.
The Illinois Public Health Association is seeking a grant from the state to bring the fight to those who spread misinformation about vaccinations.
Executive Director Tom Hughes said the online presence of the anti-vaccination movement has resurrected the measles virus just as it was about to be officially eradicated from the country. […]
State data shows that most schools have immunization rates of more than 95 percent in Illinois, but only nine percent of the state’s private and public schools are at 100 percent. That means there are about 40,000 students enrolled in Illinois schools who have not been vaccinated, according to state data.
The data is here.
Keep in mind that a few of those kids are too sick to be vaccinated. That’s one very strong reason why everyone else needs to get their shots. Those vulnerable kids (and babies too young to be vaccinated) could die if they contract measles.
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* The Illinois Municipal League continues its push for public safety pension fund consolidation…
Illinois has more than 650 separate downstate municipal public safety pension funds. According to the IML, the math adds up to more than 10 million residents paying the bill for 40,000 pension participants. […]
“We are trying to resolve the issue of poor returns, not-great management, and create a system that can sustain these funds.” [said Brad Cole, IML executive director.]
There are 1,298 municipalities in Illinois, Cole said. Those with populations of 5,000 and larger are required to have pension funds if they have police and fire departments. […]
Unfunded pension liabilities are an ongoing concern for many cities, including Moline. Cole said Moline’s fire pension fund is only 33% funded, and the police pension fund is 44% funded.
* Coincidentally, the Illinois Auditor General just released its audit of the Department of Insurance. Part of the probe looked at whether Insurance is complying with a state law to examine each of those same public safety pension funds every three years. The Auditor General went back to 2004, meaning that in the audit period, Insurance should have examined each of those funds four different times.
Here’s what the Auditor General Found…
* 2 public safety pension funds were examined three times in 14 years (one examination missed)
* 230 funds were examined two times (two missed)
* 383 funds were examined once (three missed)
* 1 fund was never examined (four missed)
* 36 funds were currently under examination (17 missed one to two examinations, 18 missed two, 1 missed three)
In response, the Department of Insurance said it was seeking legislation to shift to an audit of the funds every five years, instead of three.
Brilliant.
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Raoul turns up the heat on bus company
Friday, Apr 19, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ten days ago…
Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced a consent decree with a transportation company that requires it to end its practice of discriminating and harassing customers and their families. The consent decree resolves a lawsuit the Attorney General’s office filed in 2018 against Suburban Express, Inc. and owner Dennis Toeppen.
The consent decree was entered today by Judge Andrea Wood in the Northern District of Illinois to resolve allegations that Toeppen and Suburban Express discriminated against customers on the basis of race, national origin and religion; harassed customers with public shame and ridicule; and intentionally compromised customers’ personal information. Suburban Express is a company that provides bus services to students at colleges and universities in Illinois, Iowa and Indiana to the suburban Chicago area and Chicago airports.
The Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit against Suburban Express and Dennis Toeppen alleging the defendants engaged in discrimination against customers, including a December 2017 mass-marketing email to customers that touted bus rides with, “Passengers like you. You won’t feel like you’re in China when you’re on our buses.” The lawsuit also alleged Suburban Express encouraged its employees to avoid certain students who appear not to speak English when distributing coupons for bus services. According to the lawsuit, Toeppen even posted an online video mocking Asian students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The consent decree is here.
* Two days ago…
A statement on the company’s Facebook page continued to dispute the claims of the lawsuit and said the terms of the consent decree imposed “some minor requirements” on the company.
“Madigan’s lawsuit contained numerous false, unproven, unproveable (sic) and legally inconsequential allegations,” the statement said. “Suburban Express felt that it was being extorted by the state, but chose a $100k payment to state rather than spending $250k-$500k defeating the lawsuit.” […]
Suburban Express’ statement also asserted that Raoul’s office mischaracterized the agreement and said it’s considering its own legal action against Raoul and a top deputy.
“Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s press release on the matter is false and defamatory in the extreme, in that it claims his office proved the various false and unproven allegations,” the statement said.
…Adding… From the company’s website…
We speak English only. If you are not fluent in English, please have someone who is fluent in English assist you with your travel plans and purchase.
Suburban Express is required to display the below paragraph by a recent agreement with hypocritcal, extortionist Illinois politician Kwame Raoul. Thinking of opening a business in IL? Think again. High taxes and opportunistic, parasitic governement [sic] place a high burden on job creators in Illinois. Note that we have never engaged in any discriminatory conduct. Rather, this is a big show foisted upon us in order to ingratiate certain voters to elected officials.
* Also Wednesday…
Suburban Express and owner Dennis Toeppen have allegedly violated a consent decree reached last week with the Illinois attorney general.
According to a motion filed Wednesday morning by the AG seeking a $10,000 fine, Suburban Express posted defamatory webpages of customers and failed to post a nondiscrimination statement everywhere it was required to.
Toeppen has also brought back his notorious “Page of Shame,” which includes phone numbers, email addresses and home addresses of customers he says had dishonored payments, were “fare cheaters” or have been banned from Suburban Express.
“The Consent Decree requires Defendants ‘not to penalize customers based solely on online comments about any Defendant, including reviews,’” Assistant Attorney General Jeff VanDam wrote. “Defendants flouted this requirement immediately after entry of the Consent Decree by posting a defamatory web page that penalizes a customer through viciously attacking the customer solely for online comments about Suburban Express.”
The web page includes screenshots of that customer’s Yelp reviews of Suburban Express, links to the Google Maps page for what Toeppen says is her childhood home and links to her LinkedIn page. It also criticizes her mental health.
* Yesterday…
The company also allegedly attacked a person of “Asian origin” by labeling them an “insane … spoiled child” and saying the individual reminds them of a prominent Asian-American who advocates against discrimination, adding that readers should Google that activist “for a good laugh.” […]
Reached via email Thursday, Toeppen claimed he was on vacation in the days after the consent decree was signed and stated he believed he had 30 days to “cure any breach” of the agreement, “whether intentional or accidental.”
Toeppen also took issue with the “refunds” outlined in the decree, stating that term never appears in the agreement. Instead, he says his company internally is referring to payments resulting from the decree as “Vote Purchase Payments” and “Beer Money for Suburbanites.”
The term “refunds” isn’t in the agreement, but this is…
The time period for customers to seek payments under this Consent Decree shall commence on the Effective Date and shall end 180 days after the Effective Date.
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New tollway director, ICC chair named
Friday, Apr 19, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
The Illinois Tollway on Thursday named Jose Alvarez, the former COO of the Chicago Housing Authority, as its executive director, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration completed a full sweep of the tollway’s board.
Alvarez also served as deputy chief of staff for Chicago Public Schools and chief of staff for the state superintendent of education for Washington, D.C., schools.
Alvarez replaces interim director Kevin Artl, who previously served as chief operating officer. Artl led the agency after former Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman, whom former Gov. Bruce Rauner appointed in 2018, left the board in mid-March.
* Daily Herald…
“He’s been there and done it,” tollway Chairman Will Evans said. “He’s got experience running a large agency; the CHA is, I think, the second largest housing authority in the United States.
“You’ve got a large organization that he’s been used to managing, he made a lot of changes and it’s really a great team member that’s going to join us.”
Alvarez’s hiring comes with the backing of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, who on Feb. 28 replaced the entire tollway board in the wake of concerns about cronyism in hiring and contracts. Usually, governors let tollway directors finish out their terms.
Alvarez replaces former Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman, an influential Republican, who was picked with support from former GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner in February 2018. Gorman exited March 15 this year.
* Daily Energy Insider…
Gov. JB Pritzker made two new appointments to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) this week, naming Commissioner Carrie Zalewski chairman and adding Maria Bocanegra to the commission.
Both positions still require approval from the Senate. That said, outgoing ICC chairman Brien Sheahan has already congratulated Zalewski on her new position, which follows her recent, five-year term appointment to the ICC. By contrast, Bocanegra will serve only a four-year term.
Both women come to their positions from backgrounds as attorneys and in public service. […]
Zalewski has worked as a state regulator, on the Illinois Pollution Control Board and as Assistant Chief Counsel for the Illinois Department of Transportation, in addition to private practice work. She also received her education in-state, at Chicago-Kent Law School and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. […]
Bocanegra has served as an arbitrator at the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, in the public seat on the Labor Advisory Board for the Illinois Department of Labor, in addition to her private practice work. She is a graduate of DePaul University College of Law and Quincy University.
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* CBS 2…
Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park appears to be saved again, at least temporarily, after a series of back-and fourth court rulings over the future of the hospital.
Last week, a Cook County judge blocked the hospital’s owners, Pipeline Health, from moving forward with plans to close the facility. When the company allegedly violated that order, another judge ordered them to restore nearly all hospital services or face daily fines of $200,000.
On Thursday, an Illinois Appellate Court panel tossed out the first judge’s temporary restraining order against Pipeline Health, stating Melrose Park had no standing to seek the TRO.
Hours later, the Illinois Supreme Court put the restraining order back in place, giving Melrose Park an opportunity to file an appeal by Friday afternoon.
* Tribune…
The decisions Thursday followed months of an escalating drama over the future of the 230-bed hospital, particularly in the last couple weeks as the sides have battled one another in court over whether the hospital should be allowed to cut services earlier than expected.
Pipeline Health bought Westlake, West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park and Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago, for $70 million in January. Pipeline pledged at the time to save the hospitals. Just weeks after that purchase, Pipeline stunned community leaders, saying it would close Westlake by July because financial losses exceeded projections, threatening to drag down the other two hospitals.
Melrose Park sued Pipeline and its leaders, accusing them of lying about their intention to close Westlake, so they wouldn’t face opposition while seeking approval from a state review board to buy the hospitals.
Last week, Pipeline announced it would suspend many services at Westlake early, saying staffing had dropped to unsafe levels. Melrose Park sought and received a temporary restraining order to stop Pipeline from cutting services early, at least until after a state review board could consider Pipeline’s application to close the hospital. A Cook County Circuit Court judge found Pipeline in contempt of court for violating that order Tuesday and ordered Pipeline to restore most services at the hospital by Thursday morning.
On Wednesday, Pipeline offered to give the hospital to Melrose Park — a move that the village called a “stunt.”
* Sun-Times…
Pipeline Health, the new owners of Westlake, had been held in contempt of court Tuesday for violating the restraining order. The company had until Thursday morning to restore service or run the risk of being fined $200,000 a day.
“We believe when the entire Illinois Supreme Court reviews the case, it will agree with today’s earlier decision: The Village of Melrose Park has no standing,” Pipeline CEO Jim Edwards said in a statement Thursday evening. […]
“Before Pipeline purchased the hospital, it promised — under penalty of perjury — to keep Westlake open and to continue providing charity care to the community,” Ari Scharg, the village’s attorney, said.
Last month, a lawsuit was filed by the village against Pipeline, accusing the California-based company of fraud. That case is still pending.
* ABC 7…
The Illinois State Health Facilities and Services Review Board is expected to make a decision about whether the hospital will stay open for good by April 30.
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*Yoink*
Friday, Apr 19, 2019 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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Our sorry state
Friday, Apr 19, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Jerry Nowicki…
Since March 2014, 20 state-licensed skilled-care nursing homes have closed for financial reasons, while many of those continuing to serve the state’s neediest elderly populations face staffing shortages and operating deficits caused by diminishing state government investment. […]
“These facilities are closing, and I can tell you more are going to close,” said Pat Comstock, executive director of the Health Care Council of Illinois, a nursing home advocacy group. “It’s happening because we have a situation in Illinois where they can no longer financially survive.”
The pace of closures has quickened in recent years, with five skilled-care nursing facilities – those that house the sickest and most vulnerable – closing from 2014 to 2016, six closing in each of 2017 and 2018, and three already shutting their doors in 2019, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
To fully quantify the issues facing the industry and their possible solutions, HCCI commissioned a study conducted by the business advisory firm Plante Moran, the Claude Pepper Center of Florida State University, and managed care Medicaid expert Meredith Duncan.
The 85-page report states Illinois’ Medicaid ranks 49th in the nation for Medicaid reimbursement rates, and nursing homes lose approximately $15,000 per year – or an average of $41 per day – for each Medicaid-funded patient. Those shortages create a $649 million single-year funding shortfall across the industry in Illinois.
There’s a lot more to this story, so click here for the rest.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Apr 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
A street festival unlike any other will be held in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood this weekend: a daylong celebration of weed.
Saturday is April 20, or 4/20, a day that has evolved into a nationwide celebration of marijuana. In the cannabis community, the term 420 is a slang reference to smoking weed. The term reportedly dates back to the 1970s, when a group of Northern California high schoolers began meeting after classes at 4:20 p.m. to light up. Use of “420” gradually spread and grew into a marijuana holiday of sorts on April 20.
Corporate America has latched onto the 420 celebrations in various ways, sometimes by using April 20 as a day to promote or launch snack foods that stoners with the munchies might crave. Last year, Burger King brought back its spicy chicken nuggets on 4/20, and Lyft offered $4.20 discounts. Conagra, the Chicago-based company behind brands like Healthy Choice and Slim Jims, is launching a special flavor of its Andy Capp’s crunchy snacks for 4/20 this year called “fully baked” Hot Munchies.
In Illinois’ growing marijuana industry, 4/20 is a way to get pot brands front and center with a new set of potential consumers, while educating people on local laws and products. Marijuana is still only legal in Illinois through the state’s medical cannabis program. Local growers plan new product rollouts on Saturday, and dispensaries will be offering discounts.
* The Question: Have you ever consumed cannabis? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
survey solutions
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We could really use a capital bill
Thursday, Apr 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Whew…
* From the story…
Irene Ferradaz, spokesperson for the CTA, said a “small portion of the East retaining wall fell away from the viaduct structure.”
Crews arrived Thursday morning to check the area for any structural issues and they reported none.
Ferradaz said the concrete experienced “spalling,” where pieces can flake and fall off.
“This happens with older concrete,” she said. “CTA workers removed the debris and are checking the surrounding structures and have found no other issues.”
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Today’s must-read
Thursday, Apr 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Illinois Times has a story today about DCFS …
If you think DCFS workers need to develop a tough hide to do the work, you’d be right. But they also consider the job to be a calling, a career to which they feel an emotional attachment.
“I don’t think people comprehend how much we care,” said Heidi Creasy, a Peoria area investigator who has been with DCFS for 10 years. “When something goes wrong, no one is more distraught and upset than we are. I have one particular case that I will never get over. Ever.” […]
[Stephen Mittons, a 24-year DCFS child protection investigator] said there are three response codes that trigger his investigations: normal, where he has 24 hours to initiate the investigation; emergency, where he must respond within two hours; and action needed, where some type of response must be made within 15 minutes.
“At any given time my day can be interrupted by an emergency or action-needed case where I have to drop what I am doing at that point to turn my attention to that new case,” Mittons said. “In this job, you can never really rest and think it may be an easier case. You never really know what is going to be behind that door unless you knock on it.”
Investigator Creasy said she walks away from each situation hoping that she had all of the input she needed to make the right decision. But even a case where an investigator finds nothing wrong can come back to haunt DCFS, and Creasy said that’s the result of unrealistic expectations for the agency.
“Just because I had contact with a family doesn’t mean that the kid is a ward of the state,” Creasy said. “If somebody calls in a report and says a family doesn’t have food, I go out and check for food. There’s food, the refrigerator is full, there’s milk, there’s formula, there’s everything, then something happens to that kid later in the year. That goes on the list that we had involvement and failed the family.”
Go read the whole thing.
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* Jaclyn Driscoll at Illinois Public Radio has a thoughtful, balanced story today about efforts to legalize cannabis…
Back in Jan. when Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave his first budget address to a crowded room full of lawmakers, the first revenue-generating idea he mentioned for fiscal year 2020 was legalizing recreational cannabis. But, it wasn’t really about the money, he said.
“I have noted many times that I don’t view this issue through a purely financial lens,” Pritzker said. “I think we should take this action for our state because of the beneficial criminal and social justice implications and the jobs it will create.”
Revenue estimates for an adult-use program have ranged anywhere from $350 million to more than a billion dollars for the state. Even with those numbers, the lead sponsors of the legislation reiterate it’s still is not the reason why legalizing cannabis is important.
“Step one is ending prohibition, undoing the harm of the war on drugs,” state Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) told a public forum earlier this year. “And then, there will be revenue.”
Politicians advocating for legal marijuana haven’t wavered on this point, even through the months of negotiation to craft the legislation. But, not everyone believes it.
Teresa Haley, the president of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP, opposes legalization efforts — although she supports expunging records and releasing people from jail or prison for minor pot crimes. But, one of Haley’s main concerns is what happens after they are released.
* Tribune…
On Wednesday morning, a handful of opponents gathered outside the district office of state Sen. Emil Jones III, a leader of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, to push back on the idea that legalizing marijuana would benefit communities like the Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side.
“This is not about social justice,” said Abu Edwards, national director of state affairs for Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a nonprofit organization opposing legalization. “This is about big corporations and big greed coming into communities like Chicago and opening up dispensaries in low-income African-American communities. And the African-American community is not going to benefit from it.
“If we’re going to talk about real social justice reform, then let’s separate legalization of marijuana and social justice.”
Omari Prince, field director of the Illinois chapter of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said the group has been meeting with lawmakers in Springfield throughout the spring legislative session and is heartened that a majority of House members — including several members of the Black Caucus — have signed on as cosponsors of a resolution urging lawmakers to slow down on the issue.
“This is not a done deal,” Prince said.
* From the presser…
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Chumming the sharks
Thursday, Apr 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* There are a few different angles to this WCIA TV story, but let’s start with this one…
A political media firm that charged Illinois Republicans more than $2.1 million in the 2018 election cycle also made payments to House Republican Leader Jim Durkin’s right hand political operative David Walsh. […]
Durkin’s spokesperson confirmed the payments were made, and that Durkin knew about them, but declined to comment on the story. The secretive transaction caught many top House Republicans off guard and aggravated existing concerns about the potential for vendors making “kickbacks,” “spiffs,” or offering other incentives to consultants.
Walsh is far and away Durkin’s highest paid political consultant. Public records show Walsh earned more than half a million dollars from the Republican House leader’s campaign committee for work dating back to 2013.
Redfield, a campaign finance expert and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois Springfield, said the payment illustrated a process that could easily be exploited as a sort of dark money loophole.
“When you get in a posture where someone can essentially engage in self-dealing, it’s not only the public trust in understanding transparency, but the people that are trying to operate and win campaigns want to make sure things are above board,” Redfield said. […]
“David Walsh is an advisor to me and helps me develop business ideas that have nothing to do with the Illinois House,” CEO Brett Buerk explained in a phone call. “To suggest that we somehow had to pay him in order to get work is offensive. We had the Illinois House as a client going back to 2011. Our business relationship with Walsh has only been for the last 18 months.” […]
According to several sources in the House Republican caucus, Representative Mike Unes of Peoria questioned why so many high priced consultants who failed to deliver results remained on the party payroll. Durkin responded by booting Unes from his leadership team. Reached by phone, Unes declined to comment on the falling out.
Rep. Unes voted for the 2017 tax hike and, despite being in leadership, contributed just $15K to the HRO campaign committee last year and ended 2018 with $642K in the bank. That may explain some things.
Walsh says he consults on non-campaign issues and adamantly denies any connections between the spending and his consulting. And Buerk was so upset about the story that he reportedly threatened to sue.
As the article also notes, Walsh didn’t include his client’s name on his economic interest disclosure form when he was a member of the MWRD board, but state ethics laws don’t require consultants (and attorneys) to disclose the names of their clients and I’m not aware of anyone who does (although some could, I suppose).
The House Republican Organization spent just $190K on Majority Strategies during the 2018 cycle. By contrast, HRO spent $389K on Majority Strategies in 2016. You’d think that number would go up after Walsh started, not down. And despite House GOP Leader Jim Durkin’s hugely expensive 2018 GOP primary against a Dan Proft/Local 150-backed candidate, Majority Strategies didn’t get a dime during the effort.
* However, the Illinois Republican Party spent $1.9 million of that $2.1 million during the same period. And the vast majority of that was spent on House Republican candidates. Legislative leaders wash money through both state parties to save on postage costs, and they control how that money is spent. The state party spent $414K with Majority Strategies in the 2016 cycle and nothing before that.
In a world like this when everybody is an automatic suspect, consulting for a campaign vendor - even if it is totally unrelated work - is gonna bring some heat. And that’s especially so considering the HRO’s losses last year. People will always look for someone to toss under the bus. Walsh, despite whatever his intentions may have been, gave his enemies a too-easy opportunity.
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More population loss for state’s metro areas
Thursday, Apr 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois News Network…
U.S. Census data released Thursday showed the population in every one of the state’s metropolitan areas declined in the past year for the first time.
The Chicago metropolitan area, which includes suburban cities and portions of Wisconsin and Indiana, reported the largest population decrease in the nation, shrinking by an estimated 22,068 people. That represents 0.23 percent of the area’s total population of about 9.5 million people.
Population in the Danville area shrank by 1.26 percent, representing an estimated 970 people. Nationally, only three other communities saw a bigger percentage decline. It also marked Danville’s largest decrease in population in recent years, the next highest being a loss of 778 in 2014. […]
Other metropolitan areas that saw population losses included Decatur (821), Springfield, (1,539), Carbondale (590), Kankakee (520), Rockford (594) and the Bloomington-Normal area (157).
* Tribune…
From 2001 to 2007, downstate metro areas added 144,089 residents, mostly driven by gains in migration. But in the last seven years, those areas have lost a third of that gain, about 43,000 people.
As for the state’s rural counties, they have been losing population since 1997 as residents’ deaths outpace births and more people move out than come in. […]
While many experts bemoan the drops in population, Chicago demographer Rob Paral examined Cook County’s most recent numbers and found “neither cause for joy nor cause for alarm.”
Because Cook is such a large county, the number of residents lost is less important than the percent change, he said. Cook County’s population increased for several years after 2010, Paral said, and while it’s been falling since 2015, the percent decrease has been minimal. […]
“There’s not some mass exodus going on,” he said. “I think this is important, because for many years there was a worry that somehow the county was just going to have accelerated loss, but that’s not what we see. People were using the loss of population here … as a hook to hang their favorite issue on. They would say it was because of taxes, or because of this and that. But the numbers don’t really support the idea that we have some kind of dire problem.”
Since 2010, Cook County’s population has dropped by 14,533 people. That’s a decline of 0.28 percent. You obviously want to see growth, and the problem did worsen starting in 2015, but you’d think the numbers were much more dire by reading the headlines.
The more problematic numbers are in rural Downstate areas. But, that’s been a national issue for a very long time.
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* Tribune…
The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is throwing its support behind the massive transit center and megadevelopment proposed over train tracks near Soldier Field, which it says could create $120 billion worth of new jobs, taxes and other economic benefits over the next four decades.
The nonprofit business organization, which represents more than 1,000 companies in the Chicago area, on Wednesday unveiled a report outlining the potential impact of the proposed One Central project on the local economy, tourism and regional transportation. […]
One Central would create a massive transit center that would bring together CTA, Metra and Amtrak trains, as well as bus station and a bus or tram route on an existing access road along train tracks between the McCormick Place convention center and the Loop.
One Central will need all the help it can get as it tries to coordinate plans with transit agency leaders, handle the concerns expressed by neighbors and alderman and deal with a new mayor. Landmark will need all of them on board before it can break ground.
It’s unclear how the developer plans to finance the complex project, and whether it might include state or federal funds. Landmark has previously said it does not intend to seek tax-increment financing from the city.
The Chicagoland Chamber’s report is here.
* Sun-Times…
The “deck” or “table top,” as Chicagoland Chamber CEO Jack Lavin likes to call it, would transform a 34-acre site that is now a “barrier between neighborhoods and lakefront attractions” into a transit center unlike any Chicago has seen.
Metra rail lines, Amtrak, the CTA Orange Line and a so-called “Chi-Line” along an under-used dedicated busway would all come together in one location. With trams or buses, Chicago would finally have its elusive downtown “circulator” linking McCormick Place, the Museum Campus, Navy Pier, Millennium Park and downtown hotels. […]
It shows an unsightly plot of land that now generates just $23,000 in annual property tax revenue could become a $120 billion cash cow over the next 40 years.
Even if the $3.8 billion “Civic Build” that includes the “table top and transit center” requires a significant contribution from Chicago taxpayers, it would be worth the investment, Lavin said.
It would dramatically increase the number of people living within a 45-minute commute of downtown, and could support 42 million CTA and Metra riders by year 40. That translates into $3.6 billion in “cumulative farebox revenue,” the study shows.
* Curbed…
Despite the chamber’s glowing endorsement and Landmark Development’s claim that One Central won’t seek controversial tax increment financing (TIF), the project will need to overcome some political obstacles before it becomes a reality.
It will need to win over incoming Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a growing City Council contingent that has vowed to be less friendly to large developer interests, and—perhaps most importantly—local 3rd Ward Alderman Pat Dowell who already said she will push for significant reductions to One Central’s height and density.
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“Prosecutorial discretion”
Thursday, Apr 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Effingham County State’s Attorney Bryan Kibler last month told a raucous crowd the origin story behind the “Second Amendment sanctuary county” movement, which began in Effingham a year ago and now includes 64 of the state’s 102 counties, counties in three other states, and nine more states in which counties are eyeing similar nonbinding measures. And as Illinois legislators, emboldened by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, look at more gun-control measures, counties are looking at more ways to resist them. […]
Kibler has said state’s attorneys are able to weigh decisions on a case-by-case basis and that will continue. When explaining discretion, he often uses the example of a man from Mississippi who was passing through Effingham County on his way to visit relatives in Chicago. The man had a small revolver visible inside a driver’s-side door compartment when he was pulled over. He originally was arrested by a state trooper for having a loaded weapon in the car.
“I said, ‘get him out of here and give him his gun back.’ The state of Illinois should not be making a felon out of this man,” Kibler said.
Kibler also said the central and southern parts of the state are dealing with high rates of methamphetamine use and police and the state’s attorney’s office don’t have time to pursue minor gun cases.
“We don’t have the luxury of trying to enforce the laws that come on down from high from liberal jurisdictions while we’re making record numbers of arrests in a meth epidemic,” he said.
* New Yorker…
[Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx] runs the second-largest prosecutor’s office in the country, responsible for prosecuting crimes in Chicago and a hundred and thirty-four municipalities. Her staff sees almost half a million cases every year. Prosecutorial discretion is one of the pillars of our justice system, and it is her job to discern what deserves her staff’s attention, as opposed to what has grabbed the most public attention. “I cannot run an office that is driven by anger and public sentiment,” Foxx said on Saturday.
The onslaught of criticism against Foxx exposes an uncomfortable truth about the depth of America’s attachment to mass incarceration. In theory, criminal-justice reform is more popular than ever. A majority of Americans support reducing punishment, especially for nonviolent offenders. Across the political spectrum, voters want law enforcement to focus more resources on the most serious crimes. But there’s no way to reconcile what we claim to believe and what commands our outrage. There are currently two million incarcerated people in this country. Another four and a half million are under some other form of correctional control. Yet, with the Smollett case, it is leniency that gets the attention. There’s a common belief that criminal-justice reform is one of the few bipartisan issues left in politics. But our thirst for punishment is equally politically salient.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Chicago. In 2014, the Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke shot Laquan McDonald, an African-American teen-ager, sixteen times. Dash-cam footage shows that McDonald was walking away from Van Dyke when the officer began shooting, and that he continued shooting for thirteen seconds after McDonald fell to the ground. The video is deeply distressing, and makes it impossible to characterize McDonald’s death as anything less than the execution of a child. But, for thirteen months, the former state’s attorney Anita Alvarez chose not to charge Van Dyke with murder. In the end, she only brought charges against him when the video was going to be made public, in November, 2015. (In January, Van Dyke, who was convicted of second-degree murder, received a sentence of nearly seven years in prison.)
For eight years, Alvarez had aligned herself with law enforcement, aggressively prosecuting even minor crimes. In 2010, Cook County Jail, the largest single-site jail in America, was so crowded that federal authorities stepped in, requiring that the county reduce the population. But, by 2013, the inmate count had only increased, and Alvarez continued to file unnecessary charges, including prosecuting people for misdemeanor marijuana possession three years after the state decriminalized it.
40 Comments
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House in, Proctor out
Thursday, Apr 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* In…
Former Rock Island County Democratic Chairman Doug House has been hired by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker as deputy secretary of transportation. […]
House said his main responsibilities will be dealing with state and federal legislation and communications. […]
“I’ll be overseeing any legislation dealing with transportation issues,” House said. “And I’ll work to gain support for important legislation, including a capital bill. It’s a really exciting and important time to be coming on in that capacity.
House chaired the Democratic county chairs’ organization until shortly after the election. He played a significant role in Gov. Pritzker’s campaign, and helped build up local party operations. Doing legislation and communications means he’ll have more of a political role at IDOT, so he should be fine.
* Out…
Springfield Ward 5 Ald. ANDREW PROCTOR won a second four-year term on the City Council on April 2, but eight days later, he lost his state job as chief legislative liaison for the Illinois Department of Labor.
The $80,000-a-year position is at-will, Proctor is a Republican and new Gov. J.B. PRITZKER is a Democrat.
“It was somewhat expected,” Proctor said. “But then, being held on for so long, almost three months, it was kind of a surprise.”
In his position lobbying for the agency, Proctor had worked for passage of a bill the governor has now signed to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025.
“I think it was needed,” Proctor said. “And I’m glad there were some tax breaks for businesses.” He said he was “happy to work on it,” and he and others at the department also have been working on other things for the governor’s office.
Proctor is a former advocacy director for the Illinois Chamber (that TrackBill program I’m involved with is a direct result of his time at the Chamber), and he had some labor support during his aldermanic reelection campaign.
By all accounts he did fine at IDOL under Pritzker, but having Bruce Rauner’s Labor liaison on staff rubbed some folks the wrong way. It wasn’t an ideal look.
32 Comments
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MLB open thread
Thursday, Apr 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bat-tossing: Harmless fun, harm to the game or no big deal either way?
58 Comments
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